Action, Adventure, Excitement, Part 4
                              Chapter 28

Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 23:13:58 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 00:02:25 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003612
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001825 Driscoll said:

> On Mon, 06 Apr 1998 22:59:22 -0700 In Message # 00003594
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001807 Gareth L Owen said:
>
> Ahead is a beach, at the end of the beach a short cliff and above
> that towers the outer wall of the Azeronium device complex, in a
> tasteful shade of hot pink. Dead seabirds float on the water,
> apparently poisoned by the air or the sea or something, the only
> obvious entrance on this part of the wall is a landing deck of some
> sort near the top of the wall.

 Driss nears the beach and looks at the scene about him. "Looks liek
the only way to go is up. Hang on." Pulling a small grappel gun out of
the satchel, Driss magneticly fires a piton with a line attached into
the rock of the cliff. Tugging on it to test the line, Driss then hits
th retract switch and begins being pulled up the cliff. Pausing it
halfway, he heold on with one hand and tosses a smalll dagger down to
the boat puncturing it and causing it to begin to sink.
 *What'd you do that for?*
 *We're not going to need it one way or another cuz I'll be damned if
I _leave_ this way if we succeed and if we fail...I doubt they'll be
letting us leave anyways.*
 *I love these inspirational discussions.*
 *Ain't they great. Keep your mind locked on Roland and Morgan. I
really don't want to have gone through all this just to lose them
anyways.*
 At the top of hte line, Driss finds hand and footholds in the rock
and detatches the piton, stashing the grappel gun away. Then with
amazing speed he climbs the stone cliff as if it were a ladder.
 Reaching the top of the cliff, Driss paused to examine the wall for
detection devices. Not noticing any he decides the aliens must have
just depended on the sheerness of the wall and guards at the top for
defense. But it doesn't pose that much of a problem to a master theif
like Driss. Still just climbing might not be the best answer.
 Pulling out part of his cloak from the satchel Driss retrieved a
small scanning device. Making his way along the thin patch of ground
in front of the wall, Driss scanned the wall, or more percisely the
area behind it until he found a room that scanned empty of all life
forms and any large caches of technology.
 Replacing the scanner, he pulls out a hemispherical shaped device and
attaches it to the wall. Driss taps a code into the keys on the top
and holds his hand on the device as it begins to hum. The hum starts
spreading all through his body until his molecules are phased with
those of the wall and he has able to simply step through the solid
wall. Yanking his hand through quickly still clutching the device, he
deactivates it and replaces it in the cloak.
 Turning he takes in his surroundings.
===========================

Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 23:14:09 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 01:01:08 -0500 In Message # 00003613
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001826 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Mon, 06 Apr 1998 18:15:44 In Message # 00003602
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001815 Morgan said:
<a snip in lines saves time>
>   Just before entering central command, Roland sends a quick, tight
>'burst' of information to the AI twins via cyberpsi (the mode chosen
>to avoid detection) of all the data he has gleaned from the enormous
>machine(?).

#Transmission received. Good hunting, Uncle.#

#Grandmother, forwarding transmission from Uncle Roland regarding
internal workings of Anglessey(sp?) AzDev. Transmitting...{}#

#Wow. Way out of their league...#
===========================

Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 23:14:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable (2)

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 01:01:11 -0500 In Message # 00003614
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001827 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Mon, 06 Apr 1998 18:55:56 In Message # 00003603
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001816 Morgan said:
>
>   /Oh, great. Just what we need. More conspiracies. Where's Fox
>Mulder when you need him? I hate biotech. The constant shifts give me
>headaches./ Roland pauses. /Just a minute. I thought that the Greys
>were on the side of _Order_ in this whole mess. After all, didn't
>whatsisname-Arioch-bring us here to _fight_ the Greys? I thought they
>were working for MolloM, whoever _he_ is. This tech is way too
>chaotic for their style./
>
>/'Chewie, I've got a _bad_ feeling about this,'/ Morgan quotes. /The
>rest of you getting this?/ she sends to the others.

/Two things cross our minds, Aunt Morgan. Hot pink and biotech remind
us of a race encountered by the Doctor during his stint on Earth. A
being called Axos landed on his earth in 1971. It was a dangerous
parasite which was eventually trapped in a Time Loop with the help of
the Master. However, without more data, we would not guess this is the
same thing.

/The second thought is on the presumption that this is a straight
fight. We do not pretend to comprehend Chaotic beings, but it does
seem possible that this _could_ be an issue of Shadows versus Vorlons.
But again, without more data we can not be sure. Call it a 'guess'./
===========================

Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 23:14:28 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE4: Aquatic Attack - Gold Coast - Australia

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 01:01:15 -0500 In Message # 00003615
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001828 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Mon, 06 Apr 1998 21:08:56 -0500 In Message # 00003605
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001818 Zia said:
>
<snip>
>*Interesting.* Sheila pushes the Gargoyle (TM) sunglasses back up her
>nose, and asks Molly. *If you know, and wouldn't mind telling me, who
>was the smith who made your blades? Yourself?*

*Not me. Coz and Ephekt were gifts at the end of my sword-training by
a female ronin. I later learned they were ancient rune weapons, forged
for a scientist who loved the samauri. Apparently, she understood more
about science than I thought, having said these weapons fit with my
natural 'butterfly effect'. I don't think I am that bad. Ok, so there
was the time I was trying to learn the shurikan and it missed the
target, slicing the rope holding up a large gong, which fell and hit a
plank, sending a pot on the other end through the air and landing on
the head of a beggar who decided thievery was a better idea and was
trying to make his getaway until the pot covered his eyes and he ran
straight into the village magistrate.

*Now that I think about it, there was also the time I was hanging
laundry and dropped a sheet that happened to land on the head of a
horse, who reared up, tossing his rider into a trough. When the rider
got out, he happened to bump into the woman he had been searching for
for the past 5 years. He would have left town and missed her
otherwise.

*Then there was the time several escaped prisoners were hiding in the
stable and I happened to forget a lantern in one of the stalls. It got
knocked over and set the pile of hay they were resting in on fire.
They put it out but not before the whole town knew they were there.*

Molly looks thoughtful. *Hmm...maybe she was right...*

>Sheila
>Sunbathing on the Gold Coast
>It's a hard life, being an adventurer...

Ain't it, though? <g>
===========================

Date: Mon, 6 Apr 1998 23:14:38 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 01:01:18 -0500 In Message # 00003616
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001829 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Mon, 06 Apr 1998 22:07:53 In Message # 00003610
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001823 Morgan said:
>
>   On his way to central control, Roland 'hears' this.
>   /From what little we know at the moment, Stardragon, removing the
>lock would be a good idea. Keeping our many enemies off this world is
>a good idea, but not enough of one to risk what those things will do
>is they blow their tops./ (Insert image from end of LiS: the Movie
>here. <g>) /Folx? Opinions?/

/Uncle,/ the twins send, /We think you missed an option that the
Stardragon offered. We think you want to maintain the lock while
allowing the Devices to continue drawing power. That is, lock out
everything but the power the Devices are drawing. That is one of your
options, Stardragon?/

>While Roland is concentrating on dealing with his 'bosses', Morgan
>touches bases with the rest of the CAoL. Seeing Knytt's firefight,
>she thinks she catches a familiar face. /Knytt? How's it going over
>there?/

^Stranger, Morgan asks how everything is going here. You ready to chat
with everyone? Oh, there are some new faces in the group, besides
those two,^ Knytt sends, referring to his daughters, ^Up to you, I'm
fine either way.^

><OOC: We were about to comment when we noticed the use of the
>^private^ notation. If either of you want to keep Stranger's return
>quiet for now respond accordingly, but OOC we're wanting to get in
>touch with him IC at the earliest opportunity :-).>

<OOC: I'll leave it up to him. Knytt presumes there is a good reason
for hiding when Stranger can guess the CAoL is here. So he will let it
be his decision to reveal himself.>
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 00:34:41 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 00:25:02 -0700 (PDT) In Message # 00003617
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001830 Nemisis said:

> On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 01:01:08 -0500 In Message # 00003613
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001826 Michael Jon Knight said:
>
> #Grandmother, forwarding transmission from Uncle Roland regarding
> internal workings of Anglessey(sp?) AzDev. Transmitting...{}#

#Data Received.#

> #Wow. Way out of their league...#

#What bothers me most is, such reliable consistant results from a
Chaos based effect.#
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 08:03:54 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 09:04:46 -0500 In Message # 00003619
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001832 Zia said:

>   On his way to central control, Roland 'hears' this.
>   /From what little we know at the moment, Stardragon, removing the
>lock would be a good idea. Keeping our many enemies off this world is
>a good idea, but not enough of one to risk what those things will do
>is they blow their tops./ (Insert image from end of LiS: the Movie
>here. <g>) /Folx? Opinions?/

From Zia (though I'm sure Roland will pick up the other four in the
'background') via Nemesis' relay into the CAoL lens-minilink, #/That
is no longer a risk. The Arc would absorb the explosion before it
reached cobalt bomb level. But collateral earthquake and tsunami
damage would still be very severe. Currently, I am considering several
offensive techniques, but I need to complete the review of the CAoLers
hard and software before I release a cybervirus or create a bacterial
agent to work specifically against the Az structural materials. Or,
more likely given their biocapability, a hundred or so such things./#

#/Alternatively, if the Stardragon releases the lock I could just
shift all Az devices off this Shadow, and into a 'dead' alternate
Shadow Earth without a human population. If I shift the Greys as well,
that leaves them 'winning' their objective so they shouldn't be back.
This would take significantly more effort./#

The petite brunette suddenly grins at Nemo, and speaks aloud, as well,
#/"Or, I could get Knytt, Molly, and Driss together and just put one
doozy of a jinx on all the 'Black Hats' for a while. Or any of the
other seven ideas I'm currently evaluating. That certainly sounds like
the most fun, now that I have some significant amount of influence
over the destiny of this place. However I do it, need to get it
started - the air smells nasty, and I could be shopping instead."/#

>   Just before entering central command, Roland sends a quick, tight
>'burst' of information to the AI twins via cyberpsi (the mode chosen
>to avoid detection) of all the data he has gleaned from the enormous
>machine(?).
>
>#Transmission received. Good hunting, Uncle.# from the Twins.
>#Grandmother, forwarding transmission from Uncle Roland regarding
> internal workings of Anglessey(sp?) AzDev. Transmitting...{}#
>#Data Received.# Nemesis replies.
>#Wow. Way out of their league...#
>#What bothers me most is, such reliable consistant results from a
> Chaos based effect.#

(This only happens if the Sealed Link Crew could 'hear' that
transmission through to Nemesis. Zia is the only 'cyber' among the
Crew, so...)
#/"Why? Chaos effects are unpredictable within their uncertainty
range, but they ARE exceedingly stable within that. Life itself is a
Chaos effect. You only say that because you haven't known Morgant very
long./#

^Zia, cool it with the personal cracks, please. Your lips are loose.^
from James.

Zia contritely shuts up on the subject of chaos, and anyone in
Timbuktu can observe a faint blush. ^Then you'll just have to tighten
'em back up, James.^

She continues smoothly to cover the 'break' to the others, #/Nemesis,
can you feed me whatever was in that stream about the chemistry of
their changed atmosphere, and the pink building material, at a
slightly slower rate? {}This is the maximum squeal speed I can
actually decode without great effort./#

Then she listens to the Twins speculate, and Morgan with them, about
just who and how many 'Black Hats' there are involved. She diffidently
waits until they've named off all their suspicions, and then #/I can't
say about the Naturalists - she means the B5 Shadows by that or the
User - Vorlons. I know there are at least three antagonist-level perps
working somewhat cooperatively against you, however. I've seen two of
them, and the third has attacked once and taken very ineffective pot
shots. Which means they're in place with an ambush and just waiting
for it to happen, I'm afraid./# On the telepathic link, it's clear
that Zia doesn't consider herself a part of the CAoL.
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:35:00 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 23:47:53 -0700 In Message # 00003621
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001834 Gareth L Owen said:

Michael Jon Knight wrote:
> ^Stranger, Morgan asks how everything is going here. You ready to
> chat with everyone? Oh, there are some new faces in the group,
> besides those two,^ Knytt sends, referring to his daughters, ^Up to
> you, I'm fine either way.^

^Guess there's no point hiding anymore^ Stranger ejected the mag from
his Beretta and slammed a new one home ^Reckon the Greys know I'm
here^

/Hi everyone/

Strangers mind is suddenly there on the link, if anything stronger and
more assured than before.

"/Ow!/"

Stranger looked at his arm, something had burned through the cloth of
his jumpsuit and was burning his skin. It seemed to have dripped from
above.

He looked up, a hole in the ceiling was dripping some sort of liquid,
which seemd to be ... acidic?

He stepped back.

"Gruber? We may have a.."

The ceiling across the room collapsed and an alien appeared out of the
debris.

Stranger drew both his pistiols and emptied them into the creature,
he'd seen these before and his only hope was to blow it apart before
it got to him. The bullets shattered the smooth carapace, ripping off
the inner jaw and splashing acidic blood backwards from the creature.

"/XENOMORPH!!/" Stranger sounded almost panicy.

Gruber turned from the window to see the alien disintergrate in a hail
of bullets.

"Relax, you got it."

Both Strangers pistols were empty, their slides locked open.

Another one fell through the hole in the roof.

"Run!"

Stranger turned and his foot plunged through a hole in the floor,
where the creatures blood had splashed, he felt something tear as a
jagged shard of wood penetrated his leg.

"Bugger!"

He half twisted and pulled his lightsaber out, as the creature hit him
in the back and  the lightsaber flew from his hand. The creatures whip
like tail arced over Stranger head and things would have gone very
badly for Stranger had not Gruber blown the end of it off. Acid
dripped across Strangers face, burning scars across both cheeks.

The creature leapt for Gruber, who, sensing it was time to leave, fell
out the window.

In the street Knytt's party hear the gunshots and shortly after a
figure falls out the window, rolls to his feet and starts running. An
alien, emerges from the window after him, all teeth and shiny carapace
and leaps after him.

<OOC: Yes, _those_ aliens>
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:35:11 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE 4: Atmospheric Effects

On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 23:56:01 -0700 In Message # 00003622
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001835 Gareth L Owen said:

> On Mon, 06 Apr 1998 20:54:16 -0500 In Message # 00003604
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001817 Zia said:
>
> Zia groans. "This is going to be harder than I thought. Okay, scrap
>most of plan A. I'll start working on Plan B, after I see if at the
>least the Arc's covered sections are transforming back to normal. And
>then, I'll need to do a projection on if I can do the change fast
>enough to pull ahead."
>
> <ooSC: If you can let me know how this might work out, Stranger? And
> anything I might notice in the meantime in their setup that might be
> an exploitable weakness >

<OOC: Well the Az devices seem to transform atmosphere slowly, so if
the Arc works fast enough it will reverse the process, there is also a
subtle warping of spacetime caused by the Az devices, very weird
stuff>
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:35:21 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 23:50:51 -0700 In Message # 00003623
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001836 Gareth L Owen said:

gamer wrote:
>  Replacing the scanner, he pulls out a hemispherical shaped device
> and attaches it to the wall. Driss taps a code into the keys on the
> top and holds his hand on the device as it begins to hum. The hum
> starts spreading all through his body until his molecules are phased
> with those of the wall and he has able to simply step through the
> solid wall. Yanking his hand through quickly still clutching the
> device, he deactivates it and replaces it in the cloak.
>  Turning he takes in his surroundings.

OOh, lessee, howabout a huge room, filled with rack upon rack of
organic equipment, maybe sensors, maybe computers, maybe something
else entirely. No obvious aliens here at the moment. Plenty of exists,
it's a very big room, with several layers of overhead catwalks,
stairs, etc.
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:35:31 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 00:00:00 -0700 In Message # 00003624
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001837 Gareth L Owen said:

Morgan wrote:
>    As they go, Roland is using his powers as subtly as possible to
> read information from the computers as they pass...plans for the Az.
> device, Grey tech, battle strategies, their motivation for
> colonization, anything he can get his mind on.

Nothing in the computers about the Az. devices, plenty of pland and
parameters for their ships and weapons, nothing about battle plans,
nothing cultural at all. Oh, and a large number of humans live within
the complex.

> ^Call it women's intuition, call it paranoia. Just don't be
> surprised if all hell suddenly breaks loose.^
>
>    Roland sends a smile through the link. ^Honey, I'll be _amazed_
> if we get through this whole thing without being made. I have an ace
> up my sleeve. Well, on my right ring finger. You know what I mean.^

They are ushered into a 'debriefing room' it contains a horseshoe
shaped table with a dozen Greys with workstations, one of which has a
translator device next to it. It speaks...

"Deliver your report 3-RP9-7!"

<OOC: Still nobody trying to kill you, and I wanna hear your report
:-) >
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:35:44 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 00:05:50 -0700 In Message # 00003625
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001838 Gareth L Owen said:

<OOC: This actually comes before the last post to Straategy I made,
BTW>

Michael Jon Knight wrote:
>>The figure looked around
>>
>>^Knytt?^
>>
>>^Hey! I've been looking for you. Cool tank.^
>
> ^It's the cat's. Lets Pyewackett come out and play with the big
>guns.^

^Every cat should have one.^

> ^Yeah, Stranger, we've been looking-^ Knytt shot one of the Grey
> 'Grunts' just emerging from a nearby garage, ^-for you, too. Or more
> aptly, a Mr. Black that we suspected might be you.^

^Mr Black that's me, I've been trying to unify Earth's surviving armed
forces^

A tall handsome blonde carrying a big gun entered the room Stranger
was in, so Stranger placed three bullets in his chest, which kind of
put him off.

> ^Uh, the blonde Technoterrors are my adopted 'daughters'. Though who
> adopted who is a matter of some debate. Don't be surprised to be
> called Uncle. Its just their way of looking at the CAoL. Oh, and
> they aren't as old as they look.^

^Makes a change^ Stranger stepped to the window and scanned for more
targets

> "Dad! You going to stand around all day or fight?" Melissa shouted
> from the left house. Grep fired a plasma blast at Melissa, catching
> an alien in the chest behind her.
>
> "You should talk, sis! How'd you miss him?" Knytt fired from street
> level toward Grep, catching an alien slipping up behind her as well.
>
> "Neither of you are perfect." Knytt said.

Stranger emptied his magazine into a closed doorway across the street,
the door swung open and a dead Grey fell out of it.

> ^By the way, Stranger, there is a large carpet bag in the back
> compartment of the 'tank'. I found a rather nice cache of rifles,
> shotguns, pistols, a couple uzis and ammo for all in a house down
> the block and stocked up. They aren't plasma weapons, but they seem
> to be effective enough.^

^Great, a pair of Uzis would be nice^
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:35:55 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 23:53:16 -0700 In Message # 00003626
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001839 Gareth L Owen said:

> On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 00:23:35 EDT In Message # 00003608
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001821 Dane0R0A said:
>
> <OOC: The Stardragon isn't even aware of the Greys. It only came
> here because it "heard" the twins broadcast a message that "the
> Discie killer" was here. It was "here" only long enough to lock this
> world up, get distracted, and then verify that the murderer was
> dead. It WOULD however become aware of the spacial stresses being
> created, and what was causing them.>

<OOC: OK, guess I lost track of what Stardragon knew, same end result
anyway. He's also likely to notice a number of Grey ships attempting
to open gates into the world and failing miserably, they're all coming
from the same other dimension>
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 18:34:10 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 20:06:53 -0500 In Message # 00003627
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001840 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 00:05:50 -0700 In Message # 00003625
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001838 Gareth L Owen said:
>
><OOC: This actually comes before the last post to Straategy I made,
>BTW>

<OOC: Well, it does in this one for certain. ;)>

>Michael Jon Knight wrote:
<snip>
>> ^Uh, the blonde Technoterrors are my adopted 'daughters'. Though
>> who adopted who is a matter of some debate. Don't be surprised to
>> be called Uncle. Its just their way of looking at the CAoL. Oh, and
>> they aren't as old as they look.^
>
>^Makes a change^ Stranger stepped to the window and scanned for more
>targets

Knytt grins in reply.

>> "Neither of you are perfect." Knytt said.
>
>Stranger emptied his magazine into a closed doorway across the
>street, the door swung open and a dead Grey fell out of it.

Knytt arches an eyebrow.

>> ^By the way, Stranger, there is a large carpet bag in the back
>> compartment of the 'tank'. I found a rather nice cache of rifles,
>> shotguns, pistols, a couple uzis and ammo for all in a house down
>> the block and stocked up. They aren't plasma weapons, but they seem
>> to be effective enough.^
>
>^Great, a pair of Uzis would be nice^

Knytt nods and hops onto a step that forms on the side of the Robot.
Grabbing a handhold, he sends, ^On the way.^

>On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 23:47:53 -0700 In Message # 00003621
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001834 Gareth L Owen said:
>
>^Guess there's no point hiding anymore^ Stranger ejected the mag from
>his Beretta and slammed a new one home ^Reckon the Greys know I'm
>here^

^I'd say it was a good bet,^ Knytt sent, sending a burst of high-
energy particles into a second story window.

>Stranger drew both his pistiols and emptied them into the creature,
>he'd seen these before and his only hope was to blow it apart before
>it got to him. The bullets shattered the smooth carapace, ripping off
>the inner jaw and splashing acidic blood backwards from the creature.
>
>"/XENOMORPH!!/" Stranger sounded almost panicy.

Knytt swears, "Pick up the pace, cat!"

Pyewackett sent out a short telepathic command and the Robot zipped
down the street, Knytt blasting any followers from his position on the
side.

>In the street Knytt's party hear the gunshots and shortly after a
>figure falls out the window, rolls to his feet and starts running. An
>alien, emerges from the window after him, all teeth and shiny
>carapace and leaps after him.

Grep leapt out of her window and landed in the middle of the street as
Knytt suddenly found himself in the window she had just been in. She
gave a feral grin as she morphed into a simple grey tanktop and grey
slacks. Grabbing the Xenomorph, she threw it over her shoulder 15
meters down the street. She found herself holding an arm, dripping
acid blood on the pavement. Dropping it, she ran at the alien.

Pyewackett meanwhile guided the tank to the window Gruber fell out of.
"Stranger, are you alright?"

/Melissa, we'll go help Stranger. Pyewackett, drop the cargo and
provide air cover./

The robot turned and the back compartment opened, dropping a Mary
Poppins-ish carpet bag. "Reform: Pyewackett Bird." the robot said. The
robot melted and reshaped into a miniature Cylon Saucer. It flew out
over the street and hovered above the houses, picking off snipers and
slowing enemy troops.

Knytt and Melissa appeared inside the house. Knytt stood guard as a
medical bag formed in Melissa's left hand. Opening it, she looked at
Stranger.

"Pleased to meet you, Uncle Stranger." Melissa said in her Marilyn
Monroe-esque voice. "Let's have a look at your leg. And while we're at
it, how about something for those acid burns? We should be able to get
you in good enough shape to last until Grandmother can have a look at
you."

"Grandmother is Nemesis." Knytt says, as he fires several shots
through the hole in the ceiling. Movement could still be heard above
them. "Damn, moving toward the street." Knytt muttered as he leaned
through the broken window, looking up toward the second floor.

The Xenomorph landed behind Stranger and Melissa (who paid it no
attention but kept working) "Stay low," she muttered to Stranger.
Knytt blasted the alien without looking, sending it staggering
backwards to land in a heap. Eventually, the acidic blood ate through
the charring around the hole in the chest, but it was a safe distance
away by that time.

"Nice thing about these particular models, they cauterize the wound as
soon as they make it." Knytt said, matter-of-factly. "I'll check
upstairs." he added, bounding up a flight of stairs.

Melissa brought the large carpet bag of ammunitions over to Stranger.
"You looked in need of some protection. Should keep you busy while I
work, anyway." she added with a child-like smile.
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 20:36:25 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 14:55:10 PST In Message # 00003628
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001841 Nemo said:

> On Mon, 06 Apr 1998 22:07:53 In Message # 00003610
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001823 Morgan said:
>
>    On his way to central control, Roland 'hears' this.
>    /From what little we know at the moment, Stardragon, removing the
> lock would be a good idea. Keeping our many enemies off this world
> is a good idea, but not enough of one to risk what those things will
> do is they blow their tops./ (Insert image from end of LiS: the
> Movie here. <g>) /Folx? Opinions?/

/If he can destroy the installations without doing serious damage to
the planet, that would be the best option. If he can't, then we need
to synchronize a few things. Given the time until the units explode,
we have time to finish our 'locks' as well as take other measures
before Stardragon has to drop his lock./

/I have a couple of ideas, but I want to discuss them in as secure a
setup as possible./
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 20:36:35 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:48:23 PST In Message # 00003629
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001842 Nemo said:

> On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 09:04:46 -0500 In Message # 00003619
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001832 Zia said:
>
> The petite brunette suddenly grins at Nemo, and speaks aloud, as
> well, #/"Or, I could get Knytt, Molly, and Driss together and just
> put one doozy of a jinx on all the 'Black Hats' for a while. Or any
> of the other seven ideas I'm currently evaluating. That certainly
> sounds like the most fun, now that I have some significant amount of
> influence over the destiny of this place. However I do it, need to
> get it started - the air smells nasty, and I could be shopping
> instead."/#

"/Well, if you want to try a major shift such as that, I might be of
help. My thought had been to leave the generators alone and shift the
universe out from under them./" :-)
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 20:36:46 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE4: Aquatic Attack - Gold Coast - Australia

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:58:03 PST In Message # 00003630
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001843 Nemo said:

> On Mon, 6 Apr 1998 19:07:41 -0500 In Message # 00003600
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001813 Michael Jon Knight said:
>
> Molly sits down on her duffle bag after Pyewackett leaves.
>
> *So, let me get all this straight. This is Earth. But, it is being
> terraformed by the Grey aliens. That explains all the ships on the
> Sub-Etha. The beach I have landed myself on is in Queensland,
> Autralia. Your name is Nemo.* Molly adds, looking at Nemo,

*No, I am called Nemo. In one sense, I do not have a name. In another,
it is not something you could comprehend.*
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 20:36:55 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE 4: Atmospheric Effects

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 17:04:18 PST In Message # 00003631
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001844 Nemo said:

> On Mon, 06 Apr 1998 20:54:16 -0500 In Message # 00003604
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001817 Zia said:
>
> <ooSC: If you can let me know how this might work out, Stranger? And
> anything I might notice in the meantime in their setup that might be
> an exploitable weakness - although you've given me a big one
> already. Based on Chaos? And I'm running an Amberite with the
> Pattern in her Blood? Hmmm. Though, if you need the atmosphere
> (ack!) to make the game's mood proper, make it a LONG fix. Let me
> know, though, if you want this to be impossible. I'll have Zia give
> up and start 'rescuing' people off the planet. Even if she has to
> speak nicely to Hydra to get the 'barrier' removed. Although I'd
> much rather have a half-decent shot at saving the planet, if I can.>

Please note that Nemo, for one, is concerned about more than just the
humans. He won't give up on the planet until the other "intelligent"
species (dolphins, whales, giant Squid, Yeti/Sasquatch, and others not
known to current science) have been wiped out. And if they have been,
he won't worry about leaving the planet intact.
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 21:34:06 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE4: Aquatic Attack - Gold Coast - Australia

On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 23:02:43 -0500 In Message # 00003632
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001845 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:58:03 PST In Message # 00003630
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001843 Nemo said:
>
>*No, I am called Nemo. In one sense, I do not have a name. In
>another, it is not something you could comprehend.*

Molly looks at Nemo for a moment or two, then sighs. *O...kay... Well,
you do _answer_ to 'Nemo' correct? I would hate to shout 'Nemo, watch
out for the truck.' if you did not understand that I meant you.
Miscommunications of that nature can be embarrassing.*
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 22:35:09 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 22:31:28 In Message # 00003633
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001846 Morgan said:

>On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 00:00:00 -0700 In Message # 00003624
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001837 Gareth L Owen said:
>
>Morgan wrote:
>
>>    As they go, Roland is using his powers as subtly as possible to
>> read information from the computers as they pass...plans for the
>> Az. device, Grey tech, battle strategies, their motivation for
>> colonization, anything he can get his mind on.
>
>Nothing in the computers about the Az. devices, plenty of pland and
>parameters for their ships and weapons, nothing about battle plans,
>nothing cultural at all. Oh, and a large number of humans live within
>the complex.

   Roland notes the frequencies of any force shields and controlling
equipment on the ships. He also notes the specs for the personal
weapons; with the matter controller, he can create any such inorganic
items on demand.

<snip>
>> "Unit 3-RP9-7 reporting for debriefing."
>>    ^You think they'll bite?^ Roland sends.
<snip internal dialogue>
>They are ushered into a 'debriefing room' it contains a horseshoe
>shaped table with a dozen Greys with workstations, one of which has a
>translator device next to it. It speaks...
>
>"Deliver your report 3-RP9-7!"
>
><OOC: Still nobody trying to kill you, and I wanna hear your report
> :-) >

   (OOC: I was kinda hoping you'd give me the chance! <G>)
   Roland 'salutes,' or does whatever is appropriate to acknowledge
the command of a superior, and begins.
   "This unit engaged the extradimensional invaders as directed."
Roland generates a hologram depicting the use of the probe on
Armagedon's forcefield. "They possess technology far in advance of
this world's most advanced equipment. Only this unit's Matter
Converter allowed the initial strike force to penetrate the field;
without it, the recon force would have been destroyed by their
automatic defenses."
   Outwardly, Morgan is merely standing at attention while 'the
Reborn' is giving his report. Inwardly, she is 'watching' for any
movement through life sense, and is holding a conversation with Knytt
and Stranger (to be posted later).
   The hologram changes; though while the initial projection was sharp
and accurate, this projection is static-filled and indistinct. "At
this juncture the probe team was engaged by the forces of the enemy.
   "It was a rout."
   There is a static jump, and the scene becomes a motionless image of
demolished robots and dead creatures. "The biological unit beside me
was the only other survivor, and this unit only escaped destruction by
simulating said destruction. There was an apparently robotic
adversary, the approximate size of a heavy tank, who could have
destroyed a much larger force singlehanded. Only this unit's Matter
Converter allowed it to survive any length of engagement. The other
enemy units did not seem to be in any immediate danger from the strike
force at any time."
   Roland pauses. "As the Masters have made explicit that the
abandonment of this world is an unacceptable option, it is the expert
opinion of this unit that this site be the primary target of the
Masters' full power." /And maybe, if they actually _buy_ that, they'll
ignore the rest of our forces around the world. But I doubt it./ "This
unit does not have adequate experience to designate a threat level to
this enemy, but it is well beyond what has been filed as equal to
Omega level resistance. (OOC: Worse than the worst case scenario,
IOW.) Perhaps worst of all is the threat of other beings that seem to
have followed them here. Though said beings seem to be antagonistic to
the enemy, they do not seem willing to entertain alliance with the
Masters; they would have proposed such an alliance if they had. They
are perhaps an even greater threat than the initial force itself."
   /Let them chew on _that_ for a while,/ Roland sent grimly.
/Maybe...just maybe...these Greys can work in _our_ favor for a
change./
   There is a brief pause. "If the Master has no further questions,
this unit wishes to take the surviving biounit and return to base for
retrofit and preparation for second probing strike. End report."
   (OOC: Well, Stranger? Do they buy it, or do we get to *cough cough*
have to blast our way out of the Azeronium device?)
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 22:35:20 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 22:31:32 In Message # 00003634
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001847 Morgan said:

>On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 20:06:53 -0500 In Message # 00003627
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001840 Michael Jon Knight said:
>
>>On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 23:47:53 -0700 In Message # 00003621
>> In alt.callahans Post # 00001834 Gareth L Owen said:
>>
>>^Guess there's no point hiding anymore^ Stranger ejected the mag
>>from his Beretta and slammed a new one home ^Reckon the Greys know
>>I'm here^
>
>^I'd say it was a good bet,^ Knytt sent, sending a burst of
>high-energy particles into a second story window.
>
>>/Hi everyone/
>>
>>Strangers mind is suddenly there on the link, if anything stronger
>>and more assured than before.

/Welcome back, Stranger!/ Morgan sends. /So we were right about the
identity of the mysterious 'Mr. Black'?/

<snip appearance of alien>
>>"/XENOMORPH!!/" Stranger sounded almost panicy.

/Shit./ Morgan relays the new info to Roland in a quick burst, so as
not to interupt his report to the Grey.

>>Stranger turned and his foot plunged through a hole in the floor,
>>where the creatures blood had splashed, he felt something tear as a
>>jagged shard of wood penetrated his leg.
>>
>>"Bugger!"

Morgan has to work to suppress her healer's instincts. Leaving right
now to aid an injured comrad would be baaad. Fortunately...

<snip>
>Knytt and Melissa appeared inside the house. Knytt stood guard as a
>medical bag formed in Melissa's left hand. Opening it, she looked at
>Stranger.

Morgan relaxed, knowing Stranger was in good hands.

<snip>
>"Grandmother is Nemesis." Knytt says, as he fires several shots
>through the hole in the ceiling. Movement could still be heard above
>them. "Damn, moving toward the street." Knytt muttered as he leaned
>through the broken window, looking up toward the second floor.

   As Knytt looks up, he hears a rather solid pounding running behind
him. The Twins can easily see Sil doing her 'Bionic Woman' impression
as the chaingun began to protrude from her back.
   "Die, you miserable acidbags," she says in a mechanically even tone
as the chaingun bursts to life. A dozen Aliens fall with practically
no collateral damage.

>The Xenomorph landed behind Stranger and Melissa (who paid it no
>attention but kept working) "Stay low," she muttered to Stranger.
>Knytt blasted the alien without looking, sending it staggering
>backwards to land in a heap. Eventually, the acidic blood ate through
>the charring around the hole in the chest, but it was a safe distance
>away by that time.

   "I love cybernetic targeting. Hey, could I ride with one of you?
Roland seems to keep forgetting me." Sil smiles indulgently.
"Admittedly, he does have all this 'cosmic leader' stuff weighing him
down, but it _would_ be nice if he left me some wheels."

/Sweetie,/ Morgan sends with a smile, /I think it's more a case of he
knows you're very capable of taking care of yourself. There seems to
be an inverse relationship between his worry level and a comrad's
abilities./

   /You can get around on your legs as easily as I can,/ Sil replies
with mock acerbity, /but I don't see _you_ hoofing it when you don't
have to./ She sends a mental grin to make sure the tone remains light.

Morgan's 'voice' sounds slightly bewildered. /No, I can 'port. And you
can do that astral..../ She remembers Sil commenting that she doesn't
know how she does that or how it works. /Oh. Sorry. We'll have to put
our heads together and do something about that once we get back./

   /Just give me an Akira bike and I'll be happy,/ Sil grins. /I'm
sure that _someone_ among the cosmically-powered in this bunch can
whip one up./

As Roland finishes his report, Morgan's thoughts return to the
mission. /Stranger, while you're being ministered to, do you have any
intelligence to share? Considering we're in the middle of things here,
just about anything might help./
===========================

Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 23:39:21 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 00:29:07 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003636 (and
3637)
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001849 (and 1850) Driscoll said:

> On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 22:31:32 In Message # 00003634
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001847 Morgan said:
> 
>    /Just give me an Akira bike and I'll be happy,/ Sil grins. /I'm
> sure that _someone_ among the cosmically-powered in this bunch can
> whip one up./

 The 3' tall semi-transparent Chaos comes floating lazily through any
objects in his way and begins orbiting Sil's head. "Now why ask _them_
for it if Pheonix gave you all this power? Just whip one up yourself.
It's really not that hard. I could even show you, though i've seen
five year olds whip up harder items without any coaching when they're
given the right power."
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 05:33:29 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 07:26:31 -0500 In Message # 00003639
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001852 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 22:31:32 In Message # 00003634
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001847 Morgan said:
>
>>On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 20:06:53 -0500 In Message # 00003627
>> In alt.callahans Post # 00001840 Michael Jon Knight said:
<snip>
>   "I love cybernetic targeting. Hey, could I ride with one of you?
>Roland seems to keep forgetting me." Sil smiles indulgently.

"Who said I had cybernetic targeting?" Knytt said with a wicked grin
as he bounded up the stairs. "Sure, we can arrange a ride." /Sil, if
you would join Grep in removing ground-level targets I think we can
actually get out of here fairly quickly. Don't shoot the mini-Cylon
Ship. Pyewackett would be cross. Not to mention he is our ride out of
here./

<snip>
>As Roland finishes his report, Morgan's thoughts return to the
>mission. /Stranger, while you're being ministered to, do you have any
>intelligence to share? Considering we're in the middle of things
>here, just about anything might help./

/So what else is new?/ Knytt sends with a chuckle.
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 07:35:15 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: AAE 4: When the Used Food Hits the Rotary Impeller

On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 09:29:39 -0500 In Message # 00003640
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001853 Zia said:

Zia groans. "This is going to be harder than I thought. Okay, scrap
most of plan A. I'll start working on Plan B, after I see if at the
least the Arc's covered sections are transforming back to normal. And
then, I'll need to do a projection on if I can do the change fast
enough to pull ahead."

<ooSC: If you can let me know how this might work out, Stranger? And
anything I might notice in the meantime in their setup that might be
an exploitable weakness >

<OOC: Well the Az devices seem to transform atmosphere slowly, so if
the Arc works fast enough it will reverse the process, there is also a
subtle warping of spacetime caused by the Az devices, very weird
stuff>

Zia examines the devices with the Sealed Link's senses, as she can
take in the 'global' picture that way. "Damn. I never had any time to
study chronomancing... and I don't like messing with unknowns." Her
eyes narrow in consternated thought.

Nemo:
>"/Well, if you want to try a major shift such as that, I might be of
> help. My thought had been to leave the generators alone and shift
> the universe out from under them./" :-)

#/ (absently) That is about how it works, except I just mold the
Shadow to exclude what I don't want. But my uncle always said never
destroy what you don't understand... and I really don't understand
these devices. Who built them? Why tailor them to the Grey atmosphere?
They're not Grey - the ceiling heights, the doors, the windows, tools
and control surfaces... all of them, just aren't _right_ for Grey
physiology./#

#/ Is anyone well-versed in time effects? This is a rather odd.../#
Zia starts to send to Knytt, and 'sees' the battle, and the Stranger,
at the same instant. Then the Stranger's distinctive mental voice hits
the CAoL link.

There is a pause only perceptible to Nemo and Nemesis (and other
super-fast machine thinkers) and the Sealed Link severes all
communication through Nemesis. Zia mutters something indistinct about
'luck' aloud, and then the knotting blue energy of the linkage returns
about her.

Simulataneously, James sets down the coffe mug and raises his hands in
a mystical gesture. Sheila sits bolt upright and raises power about
her as well, although she states to Molly, "Got to run, dear. Have
fun." Morgan, and Sera at the Church, simply vanish. The power knots
called up around the other linked Node Managers gradually fade out,
along with the pentagramic intererior lines of the Solomon's Seal.
Just the mystical circle remains, glowing about 12 times as bright as
it had been. The Amber Crew 'vanishes into thin air without a trace'.

And any new magic attempted within 20 feet of the surface of Earth
will fail - the raw power of the spells or attempts being drawn into
the Low Circle. The Arc above begins transmuting atmosphere as it
sweeps steadying along, moving retrograde the Earth's rotation. With
two loops at work, and twice the speed normal rotation of Earth (1
spin 24/hours normal, 1 spin at 12 hours for twice, 2 loops makes 6
hours) the complete atmosphere of Earth is being shifted back to
normal every 6 hours. My, talk about your air exchanges.

<<ooSC: Now THAT'S ventilation (sung to the tune of "That's
Entertainment")
<Ducking peanuts and running.>>>
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 09:01:21 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE 4: When the Used Food Hits the Rotary Impeller

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 10:45:08 -0500 In Message # 00003641
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001854 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 09:29:39 -0500 In Message # 00003640
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001853 Zia said:
<snip>
>#/ Is anyone well-versed in time effects? This is a rather odd.../#
>Zia starts to send to Knytt, and 'sees' the battle, and the Stranger,
>at the same instant. Then the Stranger's distinctive mental voice
>hits the CAoL link.

Knytt, Melissa and Grep send simultaniously, #/Enough to be
dangerous.../#

>There is a pause only perceptible to Nemo and Nemesis (and other
>super-fast machine thinkers) and the Sealed Link severes all
>communication through Nemesis. Zia mutters something indistinct about
>'luck' aloud, and then the knotting blue energy of the linkage
>returns about her.
>
>Simulataneously, James sets down the coffe mug and raises his hands
>in a mystical gesture. Sheila sits bolt upright and raises power
>about her as well, although she states to Molly, "Got to run, dear.
>Have fun." Morgan, and Sera at the Church, simply vanish. The power
>knots called up around the other linked Node Managers gradually fade
>out, along with the pentagramic intererior lines of the Solomon's
>Seal. Just the mystical circle remains, glowing about 12 times as
>bright as it had been. The Amber Crew 'vanishes into thin air without
>a trace'.

Through the link, Knytt, Melissa, and Grep say exactly what Molly says
to Nemo, all at the same time.

#/Something I said?/#
 *Something I said?*
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 11:35:51 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 12:09:44 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003642
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001855 Driscoll said:

> On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 23:50:51 -0700 In Message # 00003623
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001836 Gareth L Owen said:
>
> OOh, lessee, howabout a huge room, filled with rack upon rack of
> organic equipment, maybe sensors, maybe computers, maybe something
> else entirely. No obvious aliens here at the moment. Plenty of
> exists, it's a very big room, with several layers of overhead
> catwalks, stairs, etc.

 Driss takes in the sight of the warehouse. "More of this Organic
stuff. Great. I don't even know if that scanner would have noticed
this stuff or not. I should have figured from those rifles." Then
taking a look down at himself, "But somehow I don't think a sopping
wet soldier in a not quite right uniform is going to fool anyone right
now so I'll just let anyone who comes in here wonder why there's a
puddle of salt water in the middle of the floor.
 Pulling the cloak out of hte satchel driss strips and tosses the
clothes into the satchel and the satchel back into his cloak. Then
clipping the cloak back on he looks over the shelves again. "Still
this might have been a good place to come in. I sure hope there's no
cameras watching me. Last thing I need is to find myself on some home
video TV show stripping and stealing."
 He moves down the racks, grabbing pieces of equipment at random and
tossing them in his cloak, occasionally pausing to draw a plastic
explosive-looking charge out of his cloak and hiding it back in a
shelf. After planting about a dozen such charges and gathering a score
of strange equipment into his cloak, Driss pulls out a coniclar shaped
device and attaches it to the back wall of one of the shelves and sets
the timer on it for 30 seconds.
 /Hey Nemo/ Sends Roscoe /Make sure to keep radio frequency {} jammed
until I ask otherwise. Driss just planted a bunch of Explosive charges
with radio detonators and a radio transmitter beacon set to activate
in 30 seconds. Just in case we need a bit fo distraction to get out of
here./
 Satistfied, Driss draws his cloak around himself and the Cloak of
Shadows around himself to turn invisible. Then he steps out into the
halls to go find someone to requesition a uniform from.
 Finally he spots someone his size, walking with two other humans and
a grey. *Cool. we'll just follow them til we can get him alone.*
 A couple of seconds later Zia's team vanishes and magic gets short
circuted and Driss appears. "Hey! Who in the hell are you? And where's
your clothes?" Driss doesn't bother to reply but slings two throwing
daggers into the throats of two of the humans, and a flying roundhouse
kick to the head of the third. Driss lands in front of the grey and
moves to strike out but suddenly finds himself telekinetically thrown
back down the corridor into the wall at the end with enough force to
break his back and smash his skull.
 He slides down the wall leaving a trail of brain matter and blood as
the grey approaches cautiously to inspect the kill. But Driss doesn't
die quiet so easily. His hand darts into the cloak and emerges with a
silenced H&K MPK-9 sub machine gun. The gun clicks rapidly as 9mm
Hydrashock hollowpoints riddle the grey's body.
 Driss moves quickly to retrieve the uniform from the unconcious human
and grabs the case he was carrying. Dressing quickly he opens the case
to find an assortment of odd tools. "A tech. I had to change places
with a tech in a place filled with organic technology. Just what did I
do to deserve such a rotten turn of luck all of a sudden?"
 A collage' of Chaos's greatest scenes starts going through Driss's
mind as Roscoe picks and chooses memory snapshots to send. Driss gives
a shiver. *Ok OK I know the what and to who now. But I'm not abotu to
go askign HIM to change my luck. right now I need to do some quick
housekeeping.*
 From his cloak Driss pulls out two small tracked devices with field
emitters on them. Setting each on the edge of the floor closest to the
walls, Driss activates them and jumps back. A field of energy erupts
from between them and disolves the blood and brain matter on the wall
behind them. Then they begin making their way quickly down the hall,
slowing down at each body to make sure it is comepletely disolved.
Another human comes down an adjacent hallway and turns to walk right
into the field. He doesn't even have time to scream before the field
turns him into ions.
 As they reach the end of the hall they deactivate adn Driss stows
them away in his cloak again. Then looking at the case in his hand, he
dumps the tools into the cloak, folds up the cloak so that he can
reach inside wihtout drawing it out of hte case, puts it in hte
toolcase and snaps the case shut again. Then with a look of pure
innocence Driss makes his way down the corridors trying to figure out
what is where, finding Roldand and Morgan, and finding anything of
real note about htis place.
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 13:03:35 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 12:36:56 In Message # 00003643
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001856 Morgan said:

>On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 00:29:07 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003636 (and
>3637) In alt.callahans Post # 00001849 Driscoll said:
>
>> On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 22:31:32 In Message # 00003634
>>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001847 Morgan said:
<snip>
>>    "I love cybernetic targeting. Hey, could I ride with one of you?
>> Roland seems to keep forgetting me." Sil smiles indulgently.

Knytt said:
>"Who said I had cybernetic targeting?" Knytt said with a wicked grin
>as he bounded up the stairs. "Sure, we can arrange a ride." /Sil, if
>you would join Grep in removing ground-level targets I think we can
>actually get out of here fairly quickly. Don't shoot the mini-Cylon
>Ship. Pyewackett would be cross. Not to mention he is our ride out of
>here./

   /No, _I_ have cybernetic targeting. I just love this body./ She
begins sniping at the Xenomorphs, shooting each through the head with
a quick burst. /To quote Dr. Teeth, 'easier done than said.'/

<snip>
>>    /Just give me an Akira bike and I'll be happy,/ Sil grins. /I'm
>> sure that _someone_ among the cosmically-powered in this bunch can
>> whip one up./
>
> The 3' tall semi-transparent Chaos comes floating lazily through any
>objects in his way and begins orbiting Sil's head. "Now why ask
>_them_ for it if Pheonix gave you all this power? Just whip one up
>yourself. It's really not that hard. I could even show you, though
>i've seen five year olds whip up harder items without any coaching
>when they're given the right power."

   Sil doesn't blush-the HIT Mark body isn't designed for that-but her
embarrassment is obvious. /"Well, I _am_ trying to keep damage to this
reality to a minimum...but I just plain forgot."/ She carefully
arranges the local molecules so as not to cause undue disruption to
space/time, and in short order there's a more or less exact duplicate
of Kaneda's motorcycle. "I see _you're_ still around," she adds to
Chaos. "I was beginning to feel jilted." She smiles winningly, mounts
the bike, and kickstarts it. The motorcycle roars to life, and she
rockets off, running over one of the Xenomorphs as she continues her
sniping.
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 14:07:15 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 15:00:28 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003644
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001857 Driscoll said:

> On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 12:36:56 In Message # 00003643
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001856 Morgan said:
>
>    Sil doesn't blush-the HIT Mark body isn't designed for that-but
> her embarrassment is obvious. /"Well, I _am_ trying to keep damage
> to this reality to a minimum...but I just plain forgot."/ She
> carefully arranges the local molecules so as not to cause undue
> disruption to space/time, and in short order there's a more or less
> exact duplicate of Kaneda's motorcycle. "I see _you're_ still
> around," she adds to Chaos. "I was beginning to feel jilted." She
> smiles winningly, mounts the bike, and kickstarts it. The motorcycle
> roars to life, and she rockets off, running over one of the
> Xenomorphs as she continues her sniping.

 Chaos waves at some rubble and it reforms itself into a Harley
Davidson. Then sprouting a black leather jacket, James Dean head and
mirrored sunglasses, he hops onto it and rides after Sil. "Nah babe. I
had things to do, people to screw over. You know how it is."
 Zipping past Sil, Chaos pulls a bootlegger reverse on his bike, but
it keeps going in reverse. He gives her have a smile and a wink as he
takes off the sunglasses, oblivous of hte objects he's phasing through
to keep from crashing. "You know though with great power comes great
resonsability. You shouldn't just forget about it like that. Liek how
you're using it. if you considers forming one motorcycle 'damage to
this reality' well then how can you consider ending the existance of
dozens of true inhabitants of this reality by a group of dimention
hoppers as preserving it? Pretty Chaotic if I do say so myself, at
least for a group who keeps spouting the need and necessity for
maintaining Order."
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 15:04:29 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 21:37:20 -0700 In Message # 00003645
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001858 Gareth L Owen said:

Morgan wrote:
> <snippety>

The Greys listen to the debriefing as inscrutably as ever.

>    There is a brief pause. "If the Master has no further questions,
> this unit wishes to take the surviving biounit and return to base
> for retrofit and preparation for second probing strike. End report."
>
>    (OOC: Well, Stranger? Do they buy it, or do we get to *cough
> cough* have to blast our way out of the Azeronium device?)

all but two of the Greys get up and leave.

"Negative 3-RP9-7, we have no requirement for two active RP9 units at
this time, you will terminate the surviving biounit and then terminate
yourself."

A small hatch opens in the floor and a very large pistol is lifted
into the room on the end of a mechanical arm, grip towards Roland.

The Grey looks on impassively.

<OOC: How's that? <VEG>>
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 15:04:38 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 21:47:10 -0700 In Message # 00003646
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001859 Gareth L Owen said:

Michael Jon Knight wrote:
> Grep leapt out of her window and landed in the middle of the street
> as Knytt suddenly found himself in the window she had just been in.
> She gave a feral grin as she morphed into a simple grey tanktop and
> grey slacks. Grabbing the Xenomorph, she threw it over her shoulder
> 15 meters down the street. She found herself holding an arm,
> dripping acid blood on the pavement. Dropping it, she ran at the
> alien.

Gruber swung round, dropping to a crouch he started to reload his
shotgun.

"Stranger!"

> The robot turned and the back compartment opened, dropping a Mary
> Poppins-ish carpet bag. "Reform: Pyewackett Bird." the robot said.
> The robot melted and reshaped into a miniature Cylon Saucer. It flew
> out over the street and hovered above the houses, picking off
> snipers and slowing enemy troops.

/Guys, the man the alien was chasing is with me OK, Don't kill him!/

<OOC: As soon as Knytt gets a good look at him he'll probably realise 
that he's Gruber, who is supposedly Stranger's 'mortal' enemy/

> "Pleased to meet you, Uncle Stranger." Melissa said in her Marilyn
> Monroe-esque voice. "Let's have a look at your leg. And while we're
> at it, how about something for those acid burns? We should be able
> to get you in good enough shape to last until Grandmother can have a
> look at you."

"Hi. The acid burns ar fine, just surface damage, if you could free my
leg I'd be obliged."

> "Grandmother is Nemesis." Knytt says, as he fires several shots
> through the hole in the ceiling. Movement could still be heard above
> them. "Damn, moving toward the street." Knytt muttered as he leaned
> through the broken window, looking up toward the second floor.

"Watch those buggers Knytt, they're fast."

> The Xenomorph landed behind Stranger and Melissa (who paid it no
> attention but kept working) "Stay low," she muttered to Stranger.
> Knytt blasted the alien without looking, sending it staggering
> backwards to land in a heap. Eventually, the acidic blood ate
> through the charring around the hole in the chest, but it was a safe
> distance away by that time.

"Nice shooting."

Melissa found that Strangers leg was fairly easy to free, although the
wound was quite ragged and messy, it would require a certain amount of
cleansing.

> Melissa brought the large carpet bag of ammunitions over to
> Stranger. "You looked in need of some protection. Should keep you
> busy while I work, anyway." she added with a child-like smile.

Stranger smiled back.

/I like her already/

He selected a pair of Uzis from the bag, quickly he ejected their
mags, checked them, reloaded and cocked them with a satisfying
<SHACLACK!>. Folding the wire stocks forward he gripped one in either
hand.

By now Melissa had freed his foot and was almost done binding it.

Gruber stepped back in through the window.

"You OK?"

Stranger grinned at him. "YEah, owe you one their, that alien would
have nailed me if it wasn't for you."

Gruber didn't look exactly pleased at this information.

Upstairs Knytt found another pair of aliens which he happily
despatched, then he found a room filled with a dozen alien egg pods.
All were split open and empty...
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 15:04:50 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 16:48:14 -0500 In Message # 00003647
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001860 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 12:36:56 In Message # 00003643
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001856 Morgan said:
>
>   /No, _I_ have cybernetic targeting. I just love this body./ She
>begins sniping at the Xenomorphs, shooting each through the head with
>a quick burst. /To quote Dr. Teeth, 'easier done than said.'/

As a Xenomorph exploded backwards out the upstairs bedroom window,
Knytt sent, /Ah, gotcha. I was _going_ to say that, _actually_, my
finger slipped./

A quiet singing floated down the stairs and from the hole in the
ceiling amidst the shrieks of the 'Bugs' and weapons fire, which was
now shifting from machine guns to flame throwers to other more exotic
sounds:

"What would you do if I shot holes in you," <Screech!>
"Would you stagger and bleed over me?" <machine gun>
"Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
"And I'll try not to miss purposely." <squeal-boom>

"Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends," <Shriek!>
"Mm, I aim high with a little help from my friends," <ka-chunk-boom>
"Yer gonna fry with a little help from my friends." <squeal-splatter>

"What do you do when I blow you away?" <Screech-squeal>
"Does it worry you to die alone?" <ka-chunk-boom>
"How would you feel if I told you today,
"'Don't be sad, I'll send your friends along?'" <squeal-boom-splatter>

"Cause, yer gonna die with a little help from my friends," <Shriek!>
"Mm, say good-bye with a little help from my friends," <flame thrower>
"Mm, gonna fry with a little help from my friends." <Screech!>

"Do you bleed acid, buddy?" <ka-chunk-boom-shriek-splatter!>
"I bleed acid, its in my blood."
"Could it be antibodies?" <walking across floor>
"It could, but I wouldn't lay odds.".

Knytt looked down from the hole in the ceiling, holding a large
Ripley-esque machine gun/grenade launcher/flame thrower.

"All clear up here."

He steps off the edge and floats down as if on an invisible wire.

>On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 15:00:28 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003644
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001857 Driscoll said:
>
> Chaos waves at some rubble and it reforms itself into a Harley
>Davidson. Then sprouting a black leather jacket, James Dean head and
>mirrored sunglasses, he hops onto it and rides after Sil. "Nah babe.
>I had things to do, people to screw over. You know how it is."
> Zipping past Sil, Chaos pulls a bootlegger reverse on his bike, but
>it keeps going in reverse. He gives her have a smile and a wink as he
>takes off the sunglasses, oblivous of hte objects he's phasing
>through to keep from crashing. "You know though with great power
>comes great resonsability. You shouldn't just forget about it like
>that. Liek how you're using it. if you considers forming one
>motorcycle 'damage to this reality' well then how can you consider
>ending the existance of dozens of true inhabitants of this reality by
>a group of dimention hoppers as preserving it? Pretty Chaotic if I do
>say so myself, at least for a group who keeps spouting the need and
>necessity for maintaining Order."

Knytt's Ripley combo shifts forms into a rocket launcher and he aims
across the street. Pulling the trigger, the rocket passes straight
through Chao's James Dean head and goes down a sewer. A few moments
later, one of the houses a block down the street being used by the
Grey for a stronghold explodes.

"Oops, must have hit a gas line. So, we're getting predictable, Chaos?
You're getting bored with us, is that what you're saying? I'm hurt.
Here we are, busting our butts providing you with tons of
entertainment and you call us 'boring'!" Knytt smirks.
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 16:06:03 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 16:34:24 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003648
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001861 Driscoll said:

> On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 16:48:14 -0500 In Message # 00003647
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001860 Michael Jon Knight said:
>
> "Oops, must have hit a gas line. So, we're getting predictable,
> Chaos? You're getting bored with us, is that what you're saying? I'm
> hurt. Here we are, busting our butts providing you with tons of
> entertainment and you call us 'boring'!" Knytt smirks.

 "Tish and Tosh, I never said you people were predictable nor boring.
Only Hypocrits." Chaos retorts. A second later the motorcycle falls
into the open manhole Knytt's rocket went down and a large splash of
sewage comes up.
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 16:35:30 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 18:08:22 -0500 In Message # 00003649
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001862 Michael Jon Knight said:

<OOC: Ok, it tells below how aliens reproduce and other gory childish
stunts. You decide if you want those images in your mind while you
eat. ;) Personally, I am suddenly craving seafood. See below for why.>

>On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 21:47:10 -0700 In Message # 00003646
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001859 Gareth L Owen said:
>
>/Guys, the man the alien was chasing is with me OK, Don't kill him!/
>
><OOC: As soon as Knytt gets a good look at him he'll probably realise
>that he's Gruber, who is supposedly Stranger's 'mortal' enemy/

<OOC: It's been a while, and Knytt never got a good look at him to
begin with. The cat and twins won't know him either.>

/Eh?/ Knytt sends a bit confused, /Kill him? I don't even know him./

>"Hi. The acid burns ar fine, just surface damage, if you could free
>my leg I'd be obliged."

"Of course," Melissa says, peeling a few small bandage-like pads and
placing them over the scars, "But no sense in not taking care of them
as well." She scans the floor and Stranger's leg.

>> "Grandmother is Nemesis." Knytt says, as he fires several shots
>> through the hole in the ceiling. Movement could still be heard
>> above them. "Damn, moving toward the street." Knytt muttered as he
>> leaned through the broken window, looking up toward the second
>> floor.
>
>"Watch those buggers Knytt, they're fast."

"I remember." Knytt said, looking at the upstairs window.

>> The Xenomorph landed behind Stranger and Melissa (who paid it no
>> attention but kept working) "Stay low," she muttered to Stranger.
>> Knytt blasted the alien without looking, sending it staggering
>> backwards to land in a heap. Eventually, the acidic blood ate
>> through the charring around the hole in the chest, but it was a
>> safe distance away by that time.
>
>"Nice shooting."

"Danka."

>Melissa found that Strangers leg was fairly easy to free, although
>the wound was quite ragged and messy, it would require a certain
>amount of cleansing.

Gently removing a portion of the floor and picking out those bits in
Stranger's leg, Melissa took a small device from the bag and ran a
violet light over the wound, then bandaged it carefully but in a quick
professional manner.

>> Melissa brought the large carpet bag of ammunitions over to
>> Stranger. "You looked in need of some protection. Should keep you
>> busy while I work, anyway." she added with a child-like smile.
>
>Stranger smiled back.
>
>/I like her already/

/Why, thank you,/ Stranger 'hears' in stereo, /We like you too./

>Upstairs Knytt found another pair of aliens which he happily
>despatched, then he found a room filled with a dozen alien egg pods.
>All were split open and empty...

<insert my last post and filk here, ending with...>
At 04:34 PM 4/8/1998 -0700, gamer wrote:
> "Tish and Tosh, I never said you people were predictable nor boring.
>Only Hypocrits." Chaos retorts. A second later the motorcycle falls
>into the open manhole Knytt's rocket went down and a large splash of
>sewage comes up.

"Okay, Chaos, as long as we aren't boring." Knytt replies, shaking his
head.

As Knytt looks back from his spot at the window with the rocket
launcher, he says, "There's a dozen eggs up there. Couldn't tell how
long they had been open, so watch out for face-huggers. And dead
face-huggers. Means they've already implanted someone, for those not
in the know. If you find someone with a face-hugger on him who isn't
struggling, kill him. He's dead already, just a matter of waiting for
the thing to rip through the stomach and ribcage to confirm it."

"Father, we think we can scan and remove them before they do damage. A
small gateway to outside the body then shoot the implanted embryo with
a plasma gun."

"Ok, scratch that. Tell Melissa or Grep. Speaking of whom," Knytt
adds, leaning out the window and shouting, "Daughter! Are you done
disassembling that alien yet?"

Grep stood in the center of a ripped apart alien, acidic blood and
gore running down her arms and legs, soaking her tank-top and slacks
with no effect. She held up the head, her fist punched through the
under carapace. She pulled something and the mouth popped open and a
smaller mouth popped out in time to her words, "Yes, dad! I'm done
playing now."

"Kids," Knytt muttered as he shook his head. "I had a cousin who used
to do that with his crab claws when we ate seafood."

Melissa grins, "We're disgusting."

"I prefer to call it playful," Knytt replied with a smirk.
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 18:33:59 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 21:24:50 EDT In Message # 00003650
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001863 Dane0R0A said:

In a message dated 98-04-07 02:15:29 EDT, you write:
<< /Uncle,/ the twins send, /We think you missed an opion that the
Stardragon offered. We think you want to maintain the lock while
allowing the Devices to continue drawing power. That is, lock out
everything but the power the Devices are drawing. That is one of your
opinions, Stardragon?/
  >>

/Yes. I would have removed the lock earlier, except I had other things
on my mind. I figured (when I returned) that since nobody here
reminded me, that you wanted the lock to remain. On a side issue I
note that there are a number of vessels trying to break through my
lock, do you want me to let them through, hold them out, or destroy
them?/ The Stardragon responds. /I sense there are a number of like
vessels on this world,/ it continues.
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 20:05:03 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 19:36:00 In Message # 00003651
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001864 Morgan said:

>On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 21:37:20 -0700 In Message # 00003645
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001858 Gareth L Owen said:
>
>Morgan wrote:
>> <snippety>
>
>The Greys listen to the debriefing as inscrutably as ever.
>
>>    There is a brief pause. "If the Master has no further questions,
>> this unit wishes to take the surviving biounit and return to base
>> for retrofit and preparation for second probing strike. End
>> report."

Morgan waits silently next to Roland. /I guess we're only in _real_
trouble if they decide they don't want the extra RP9 unit,/ she quips
nervously.

>all but two of the Greys get up and leave.
>
>"Negative 3-RP9-7, we have no requirement for two active RP9 units at
>this time, you will terminate the surviving biounit and then
>terminate yourself."
>
>A small hatch opens in the floor and a very large pistol is lifted
>into the room on the end of a mechanical arm, grip towards Roland.

/We're in trouble./

>The Grey looks on impassively.
>
><OOC: How's that? <VEG>>

<OOC: You eeeeeeevil....>

   Roland nods. "As the Master commands." He reaches for the pistol...
   ...and the entire room fills with electricity, shorting out all
monitoring systems, closing the room's doors, and rendering the Greys
in the room unconscious. Roland and Morgan are untouched.
   /Well. This is just peachy./ Roland levitates one of the Greys off
its chair and sits down. /Let's see how much I can do with this thing.
Fortunately, the Matter Converter is similar tech to the Azeronium
device. I think.
   /Okay, folx, we're sort of in control of the Azeronium device-a
situation that will probably last for seconds if that long. Advice
would be appreciated./
   Roland attempts to convince the system that the short was caused by
a faulty Greytech/biotech interface.
   /Hey Morgan, idea. There are two Greys and two of us. We
shapeshift, we read their memories, and walk out, making some comment
about poor worksmanship./

/Worth a try,/ Morgan replies. She begins to shift into the form of
one of the Greys...

And fails. Her eyes go wide as she stares at Roland. /Oh, shit. My
magick isn't working. I can't shift, and when I tried to sense life
energy from _you_ just now I got diddly. I didn't sense any damping
fields when we came in - do you think they 'made' us and put one up
when the fireworks started?/

   /It's possible,/ Roland admits ruefully. /I can't sense how far the
effect reaches-at least across the whole device. OTOH, my psi powers
are working perfectly. Creatures like these should have a _lot_ harder
time of jamming magick than psi./ Roland frowns. /Are you willing to
try something new?/

Morgan puts one arm around Roland, squeezing him tightly. /Like what?/
she asks nervously.

   /Well, I _thought_ that my Changeling powers worked solely on
me-but we were able to merge during the battle with Jadis. It's
possible that _I_ can change your shape...in theory./

/I think that we should save something that risky for when we've run
out of other options,/ Morgan demurs.

   /I'm open to suggestions.../
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 20:05:15 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 19:49:42 In Message # 00003652
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001865 Morgan said:

>On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 15:00:28 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003644
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001857 Driscoll said:
>
> Chaos waves at some rubble and it reforms itself into a Harley
>Davidson. Then sprouting a black leather jacket, James Dean head and
>mirrored sunglasses, he hops onto it and rides after Sil. "Nah babe.
>I had things to do, people to screw over. You know how it is."

   "Never would have guessed," Sil responds dryly enough to dehydrate
the Mediterranean.

> Zipping past Sil, Chaos pulls a bootlegger reverse on his bike, but
>it keeps going in reverse. He gives her have a smile and a wink as he
>takes off the sunglasses, oblivous of hte objects he's phasing
>through to keep from crashing. "You know though with great power
>comes great resonsability. You shouldn't just forget about it like
>that. Liek how you're using it. if you considers forming one
>motorcycle 'damage to this reality' well then how can you consider
>ending the existance of dozens of true inhabitants of this reality by
>a group of dimention hoppers as preserving it? Pretty Chaotic if I do
>say so myself, at least for a group who keeps spouting the need and
>necessity for maintaining Order."

   Sil sighs and rolls her eyes at the sight of the hard-riding Chaos.
"I was careful _not_ to cause damage while making this beauty. As for
the rest, turning a few xenomorphs into kibble isn't going to cause
the universe to tear apart." Sil becomes introspective. "And now that
you mention it, neither is this power. I was concerned that further
use of cosmic energies would risk unravelling reality, but apparently
Mom _deliberately_ made the use of this power a restorative one unless
consciously used otherwise." She winks at Chaos. "Bet you can't do
_this._" She spins the morotcycle around on one wheel and begins
rocketing in the opposite direction, cyberclaws popping from her
fingertips as she charges an Alien. She slices off its arms and
deposits some sort of chemical into the creature's acidic bloodstream.
In moments, a counteragent has calcified and the thing looks like a
marble statue.
   "Hmm...Xenomorph de Milo," Sil comments, frowning. "Not as good as
I thought."
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 21:06:22 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 21:56:32 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003654
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001867 Driscoll said:

> On Wed, 08 Apr 1998 19:36:00 In Message # 00003651
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001864 Morgan said:
>
>    /Well, I _thought_ that my Changeling powers worked solely on me-
> but we were able to merge during the battle with Jadis. It's
> possible that _I_ can change your shape...in theory./
>
> /I think that we should save something that risky for when we've run
> out of other options,/ Morgan demurs.
>
>    /I'm open to suggestions.../

 Roscoe's mind 'speaks' up, /Driss and I are somewhere on one of the
lower levels of this place. We can provide backup if you can tell us
the fastest route to get to you. Also Driss has been planting a few
explosives here adn there that should be a pretty good distration at
the least. I already told Nemo what frequency the radio detonators and
beacon were on so he can detonate them at any time by opening up that
frequency, just kindly let Driss adn I know first so we can try to get
out of the blast areas./
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 21:06:33 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Strategy!

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 12:37:21 PST In Message # 00003655
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001868 Nemo said:

> On Tue, 07 Apr 1998 22:31:32 In Message # 00003634
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001847 Morgan said:
>
> <snip appearance of alien>
>>>"/XENOMORPH!!/" Stranger sounded almost panicy.

Nemo suddenly gets rather busy.

>    /Just give me an Akira bike and I'll be happy,/ Sil grins. /I'm
> sure that _someone_ among the cosmically-powered in this bunch can
> whip one up./

Nemo sends:

/What color scheme would you like?/

The bike appears almost immediately after the answer.

/Be careful, I'm saturating the city with helpers. Don't shoot them.
For one thing, 'Return fire if fired upon' is rather high on their
priority lists. Here are the ID patterns.{}/

There are a number of shapes ranging from a flying unit that is a dead
ringer for the Martian craft from George Pal's "War of the Worlds" to
a small "crawler" on treads such was seen roaming the Deathstar in
Star Wars to a "mechanical centipede" the diameter of a piece of
garden hose. And numerous other shapes.

The supply of "rubble" near the church is *greatly* depleted.

<OOC: Nemo has gotten tired of bad guys sneaking around, and the
thought of an "Aliens" type colony is the last straw.>

The "helpers" are partially programmed, partially controlled.

Priorities:
1. Destroy Xenomorphs, all life stages
2. Attack Greys inside perimeter
3. Report movements outside the perimeter
4. return fire if attacked with non-missile, non-melee weapons (this
   is to limit the instances where scared humans get attacked for
   firing on these weirdies)
5. Report and observe any non-hostile non-terran lifeforms
6. Report any non-terran materials/artifacts
7. Report injured or otherwise distressed humans
8. Record presence of terran lifeforms, report at standard intervals
9. Patrol City
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 21:06:43 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE4: Aquatic Attack - Gold Coast - Australia

On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 12:32:39 PST In Message # 00003656
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001869 Nemo said:

> On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 23:02:43 -0500 In Message # 00003632
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001845 Michael Jon Knight said:
>
>>On Tue, 7 Apr 1998 16:58:03 PST In Message # 00003630
>> In alt.callahans Post # 00001843 Nemo said:
>>
>>*No, I am called Nemo. In one sense, I do not have a name. In
>> another, it is not something you could comprehend.*
>
> Molly looks at Nemo for a moment or two, then sighs. *O...kay...
> Well, you do _answer_ to 'Nemo' correct? I would hate to shout
> 'Nemo, watch out for the truck.' if you did not understand that I
> meant you. Miscommunications of that nature can be embarrassing.*

With a straight face Nemo replies:

*Yes, I hate having to replace trucks.*

THEN he grins. :-)
===========================

Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 23:05:04 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 00:43:52 -0500 In Message # 00003657
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001870 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 21:56:32 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003654
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001867 Driscoll said:
>
> Roscoe's mind 'speaks' up, /Driss and I are somewhere on one of the
>lower levels of this place. We can provide backup if you can tell us
>the fastest route to get to you. Also Driss has been planting a few
>explosives here adn there that should be a pretty good distration at
>the least. I already told Nemo what frequency the radio detonators
>and beacon were on so he can detonate them at any time by opening up
>that frequency, just kindly let Driss adn I know first so we can try
>to get out of the blast areas./

Something catches Pyewackett's eye and he dips down in the
mini-saucer. Bobbing back up, he creates a tiny point of light in
front of his nose.

Pyewackett pipes up over the link, /Kids, go up. Past two stories
above the ground...uh, this machine calls it 20 feet. I can see it
here in London, too. Somebody is sucking the energy from any new
spells cast. Try using a real simple spell as a sort of canary to
check when you've gotten high enough. Globe of daylight or something.
Whatever it is, isn't hurting me, but it is stopping me from
spell-casting below 20 feet above the ground. Just who thought this
idea up anyway? I'll bury them in litter for it./

Knytt remarks, /It also stops our enemies from casting spells, too./

Pyewackett sends back, /Yeah, but a warning would have been nice. And
maybe the casters of this spell aren't on our side, hmmmmmm?/

Meanwhile, Molly looks around the Australian beach. Digging around in
her dufflebag, she pulls several lengths of oddly shaped tubing out
and begins fastening them together. When she is finished, she has put
together a bicycle with a couple of flat paddles where the wheels
would be. A clear quartz crystal sits in a headlight housing and a
reinforced basket over the back paddle is where she straps her
dufflebag.

*Think I will get a bit of exercise. Go for a ride. See ya in a bit if
you're still here when I get back.*

Molly grasps the handlebars and concentrates. Then she whips to look
off to one side. *Do what?!*

She holds up a hand and concentrates again. She stops and looks at
Nemo.

*Did you see that? No, probably not.* Molly starts breaking down the
bike. *I was trying to levitate my tree-trimmer and the energy for the
spell just-zip!-whisked off. So I tried a real simple spell, just a
globe of daylight. It went-poof!-off in the same direction. What was
that Sheila doing anyway? She had enough magic around her to light up
Times Square, but I can't even cast a routine spell? Something's
rotten in Down Under, man.* Finishing with the last of the bike, she
suddenly looks up at Nemo, looking a bit nervous, then back to her
bag, shaking her head to rid herself of the feeling.

Molly flops down on the sand in front of her bag, a sketch pad and
charcoal pencil in hand. Leaning against the bag, Molly starts
sketching the coastline, looking a bit peeved at first, then relaxing
as she gets into the work.
===========================

Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 11:09:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 09:42:51 PST In Message # 00003658
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001871 Nemo said:

> On Wed, 8 Apr 1998 12:09:44 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003642
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001855 Driscoll said:
>
>  /Hey Nemo/ Sends Roscoe /Make sure to keep radio frequency {}
> jammed until I ask otherwise. Driss just planted a bunch of
> Explosive charges with radio detonators and a radio transmitter
> beacon set to activate in 30 seconds. Just in case we need a bit fo
> distraction to get out of here./

<OOC: Driss is *damn* lucky that he has *good* gear. Cheap gear just
listens for any signal at the right frequency and goes "boom". If the
frequency is jammed, that means there's *lots* of "signal". And they
go boom as soon as you arm them.
 Driss must be using stuff that requires a specific code sequence to
trigger. And even then, having the transmitter *that* close makes it
hard to jam!>

Nemo sends:

/You must be related to the Lucky Duck!/
===========================

Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 11:11:26 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 09:56:37 PST In Message # 00003659
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001872 Nemo said:

> On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 00:43:52 -0500 In Message # 00003657
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001870 Michael Jon Knight said:
>
> Knytt remarks, /It also stops our enemies from casting spells, too./
>
> Pyewackett sends back, /Yeah, but a warning would have been nice.
> And maybe the casters of this spell aren't on our side, hmmmmmm?/

Nemo sends (note that this is multiple person to person links,
*excluding* Stranger and Gruber, but including the rest of our group):

^I think it's our Amberite 'friends'. They went "poof" as soon as
Kyntt's 'friend' showed up. And the start of the efect pretty much
matches.^

On the Gold Coast.

*Molly, I'm sure it wasn't anything you said. But I think they have
something to do with the magic problem.*
===========================

Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 11:36:53 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Straaagety! (sic)

On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 12:26:02 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003660
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001873 Driscoll said:

> On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 09:42:51 PST In Message # 00003658
>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001871 Nemo said:
>
> <OOC: Driss is *damn* lucky that he has *good* gear. Cheap gear just
>  listens for any signal at the right frequency and goes "boom". If
>  the frequency is jammed, that means there's *lots* of "signal". And
>  they go boom as soon as you arm them.
>
>  Driss must be using stuff that requires a specific code sequence to
>  trigger. And even then, having the transmitter *that* close makes
>  it hard to jam!>

 (OOC: I know all that and yess these ar very sophisticated. that's
why I said Plastic explosive LOOKING. heheheh they're actually
ultra-tech bombs Driss picked up in his wanderings. The beacon will
take a total of 5 seconds to activate the bombs once the white noise
is dropped and the signal is sent. The signal is actually music. (The
first five seconds of Twisted Sister's _The Fire Still Burns_. When
the bombs detonate they don't explode normally, they're more a
thermite type explosive, super heating to app 5000 degrees F (which
usually causes other things to explode)

> Nemo sends: /You must be related to the Lucky Duck!/

 Roscoe qwips back, /What do you explect from a past Avatar of Chaos?
'Course that luck seems to be going sour lately.../
===========================

Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 11:37:04 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Thu, 09 Apr 1998 11:29:19 In Message # 00003661
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001874 Morgan said:

>On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 00:43:52 -0500 In Message # 00003657
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001870 Michael Jon Knight said:
>
>Knytt remarks, /It also stops our enemies from casting spells, too./
>
>Pyewackett sends back, /Yeah, but a warning would have been nice. And
>maybe the casters of this spell aren't on our side, hmmmmmm?/

Morgan replies, /We'll see what we can do. We're sort of hemmed in
here at the moment though. BTW, 20' above _which_ ground level? Ground
level in Los Angeles and Denver, for example, are two very different
things./ She sends a wry grin. /I'm just glad it only seems to be
affecting stuff we try to cast _now_. If standing effects like, say,
my _torc_ were affected, I for one would _really_ be in deep doo./

<OOC: Please send good thoughts our way. Roland is down with something
respiratory, and when you're temping being out sick is a _bad_ thing.
Thanks :-).>
===========================

Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 11:37:15 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: AAE: Flights of fancy

On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 12:35:29 -0700 (MST) In Message # 00003662
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001875 Driscoll said:

 Iron Man streaked across the black waters like a humanoid missile. He
took in no notice of anything below him or around him so preoccupied
was he with his own thoughts.
 ^Do you have any idea where we are Justin?^
 ^Huh? Oh Ummm I think that coastline over there is Normandy.^
 ^And just why are we going to France?^
 ^We're not.^
 ^Then why are we here? I can't compute this.^
 ^Neither can I Jim. They know. I know it. They must. The Controller
is dropping too many clues to my idenity for them not to be suspicious
by now. And how can you disprove facts?^
 ^Oh and I'm sure you jetting off and disappearing while The
Controlelr is doing god knows what in your name helps matters a lot.^
 ^I need to think alright? sheesh. sometimes I wonder why I ever gave
you that AI programming. You're becoming a regular mother hen.^
 ^I don't know what chickens have to do with anything, but if I am
becoming a regular anything, I am becoming you.^
 Iron Man slowed to a halt and just stood there in mid-air. ^What?^
 ^It's only logical. you are our only source of personality to study.
therefore our mind is becoming an emulation of your own. You simply
don't want to hear what you should be telling youself.^
 ^Ok where'd you get the Psychology programming?^
 ^Again from you. One of your minors at Columbia remember?^
 ^You're right. I have to admit it. Flying out there doesn't solve
anything, but I needed to think. Duty verses survival. Fight or
flight. I don't know if I should stay but I don't really want to run.^
 ^You told me before you were ready to face whatever reactions they
might have when they found out. Face them bravely wiht no denials and
no combattiveness...^
 ^But then I came so close. and I realized how close I came. And what
could have happened to me. I can't let the Army of Light kill me. Not
until I've had my revenge on The Controller. Not until I've stopped
the evil I started.^
 ^But if you abandon them hasn't The Controller won anyways?^
 Iron man just stood there in midair, silent and unmoving.
 ^Justin?^
 ^Yes.^
 ^Hasn't he?^
 ^Yes. YES. _YES_ but... but it's one thing to talk brave about how
you'll handle something when it happens, it's another thign entirely
to do the same when it does.^
 ^So you're going to run away?^
 ^No!^
 ^Then what are you planning to do?^
 ^I don't know, but I don't think France is anywhere in those plans.^
 Iron Man did a backflip in mid-air and rocketted towards England
again.
===========================
<originally sent in html code>
On Thu, 09 Apr 1998 15:31:51 -0500 In Message # 00003663
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001876 Zia said:

>>Pyewackett pipes up over the link, /Kids, go up. Past two stories
>>above the ground...uh, this machine calls it 20 feet. I can see it
>>here in London, too. Somebody is sucking the energy from any new
>>spells cast. Try using a real simple spell as a sort of canary to
>>check when you've gotten high enough. Globe of daylight or
>>something. Whatever it is, isn't hurting me, but it is stopping me
>>from spell-casting below 20 feet above the ground. Just who thought
>>this idea up anyway? I'll bury them in litter for it./

~ooSC: Here's an unclaimed character set. Oh, right. Instead of 'yer
name is mud', it'll be 'yer name is kitty litter' ROTFL!~

>>Knytt remarks, /It also stops our enemies from casting spells, too./
>>
>>Pyewackett sends back, /Yeah, but a warning would have been nice.
>>And maybe the casters of this spell aren't on our side, hmmmmmm?/
>
>Morgan replies, /We'll see what we can do. We're sort of hemmed in
>here at the moment though. BTW, 20' above _which_ ground level?
>Ground level in Los Angeles and Denver, for example, are two very
>different things./ She sends a wry grin. /I'm just glad it only seems
>to be affecting stuff we try to cast _now_. If standing effects like,
>say, my _torc_ were affected, I for one would _really_ be in deep
>doo./

<ooSC: 20 feet above the dirt under your feet, basically. If anyone
can detect magic-slurpin' field strength... don't ask ME how, they
might find it's 'stronger' close to ground level. It was actually
supposed to be UNDER the ground, but even for a Mathemagician,
computing the true volume of the planet Earth on the fly and doing a
field absorbance calculation of that magnitude involves a certain
level of precision. And she might be cybered, but she isn't computer
herself. :) Based on what she asked Nemo earlier, I expect he might be
able to guess where they went. If not why...>

><OOC: Please send good thoughts our way. Roland is down with
>something respiratory, and when you're temping being out sick is a
>_bad_ thing. Thanks :-).>

<ooSC: ouch. Been there, and done that. Hope he gets better soon!>
===========================

Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 17:36:24 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 20:10:05 EDT In Message # 00003664
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001877 Dane0R0A said:

<<  Roscoe's mind 'speaks' up, /Driss and I are somewhere on one of
the lower levels of this place. We can provide backup if you can tell
us the fastest route to get to you. Also Driss has been planting a few
explosives here adn there that should be a pretty good distration at
the least. I already told Nemo what frequency the radio detonators and
beacon were on so he can detonate them at any time by opening up that
frequency, just kindly let Driss adn I know first so we can try to get
out of the blast areas./
  >>

/If you need a diversion, I can shell the place, with 0.5 kiloton
mini-shells,/ Armagedon offers.
===========================

Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 19:35:36 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: AAE: A hunting we will go...

On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 17:25:25 PST In Message # 00003665
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001878 Nemo said:

In London, Nemo's creations start to spread out. The centiped slither
thru mouse sized holes in the rubble and the ground, searching. The
"minitanks" zip around on the roads and sidewalks investigating
everything. Other machine/creatures crawl over and thru buildings,
keeping to the shadows, but examining everything. Overhead, the
manta-shaped "saucers" float gently probing invisibly at the ground
and sky.

Occasionally, one will stop as it encounters appropriate raw
materials, and in a matter of seconds, a second unit is created. Bot
go on their way, leaving the area to be covered per unit much the
same.

Rats quickly learn to avoid the centipedes after blunting some teeth
and getting painfully shocked. The few cats, dogs and other creature
in that size range don't have to learn by experience, they give the
intruders a wide berth.

Occasionally a human spots one of the ground units. Most do their best
to not be noticed. A lesson that the survivors of the invasion have
learned well. A few, thinking them some new Grey trick, attack. They
are surprised when the machines respond "'Ey Guvnor, no need for that.
We're on your side!" They start to wonder if it may be true when the
attacks aren't returned.

The Borg who have been left around the city start moving in to deal
with items found by the horde. Here an injured person, there a few
fragments of items that aren't from this world.

The first contacts between the Grey infiltrators and the horde are
almost comical.

A minitank zips around a corner into the middle of a group, and
quickly retreats after shooting several of them in the ankles. Those
shot go down with broken ankles. The others chase the mintank around a
corner only to find themselves facing a manta. A beam flicks out and
they are gone.

Elsewhere a centipede finds a clutch of Xenomorph eggs. A signal goes
out and while the adults are attacked by other units, centipedes
destroy the eggs.
===========================

Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 20:05:26 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: AAE IV: Mission: Improbable

On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 21:52:06 -0500 In Message # 00003666
 In alt.callahans Post # 00001879 Michael Jon Knight said:

>On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 09:56:37 PST In Message # 00003659
> In alt.callahans Post # 00001872 Nemo said:
>
>> On Thu, 9 Apr 1998 00:43:52 -0500 In Message # 00003657
>>  In alt.callahans Post # 00001870 Michael Jon Knight said:
>>
>> Pyewackett sends back, /Yeah, but a warning would have been nice.
>> And maybe the casters of this spell aren't on our side, hmmmmmm?/
>
>Nemo sends (note that this is multiple person to person links,
>*excluding* Stranger and Gruber, but including the rest of our
>group):
>
>^I think it's our Amberite 'friends'. They went "poof" as soon as
> Kyntt's 'friend' showed up. And the start of the efect pretty much
> matches.^

^Just great. The one being bandaged by Melissa is Stranger, btw, an
old rummie and comrade in arms. Not sure who the other one is.^

>On the Gold Coast.
>
>*Molly, I'm sure it wasn't anything you said. But I think they have
> something to do with the magic problem.*

*Wonderful,* Molly says, *Once again, caught in the cross fire. Where
are your friends at? If I am going to be swept up in this conflict
anyway, I might as well pick a side.*

<Assuming Nemo says London>

*Hmm, can't ley line my way there. Guess I'll have to hitch a lift.*

Molly digs around in her dufflebag, withdrawing a small black box (a
Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic she calls it), a short black wand with a few
switches and dials (her Electronic Thumb), and a black sphere with a
couple of retractable antennae on top and a hole on the bottom. She
holds the last thing up.

*This is what I call a Smack-Down. A friend of mine, Doug, invented
it. Probably highly illegal, because I plug one end into the Sub-Etha,
and shove the Thumb into the other end, and ba-da-bing-ba-da-boom, the
nearest passing ship of a certain size will land here, whether its
pilot wants it to or not. Barring that, it will guide you to the
nearest landed ship. Depending on how much of a hurry you're in. I am
in a particular hurry. And sometimes, if the gentle approach won't
work, ya gots ta get agressive.*

She plugs it all together, flips the dial for long-range, atmospheric,
single-seat craft, sets it on top of her dufflebag and waits for the
results.
===========================