Departure is imminent
You go in search of TQ-02.
You find him limping behind the droid chassis.
You tell him to come with you and Alpha Rauthaz.
He thinks your crazy for listening to that murderous psychopath.
You tell TQ-02 that she has already agreed to not kill you
and you can dispatch her later once you're both on the ship.
You lock shoulders to support TQ-02's weak right leg.
Alpha Rauthaz is quickly becoming impatient.
But what about Leeanne, you can't leave her here in this condition.
You'll need to get her aboard the ship in order to repair her in safety.
But how will you ever roll her in the condition you're in.
Maybe you could kick her chassis in tandem or-
Bwaaah!
You think it might be time to go.
You're a fugitive from your home and a hostage of
a capricious maniac with psychic powers.
At least you'll finally get to pilot an actual spacecraft.
You could use a change of scenery anyway, and
it couldn't hurt to take a voyage anyway.
A voyage, in space.
DING DING DING
Chapter 1 completed.
Since the last Recap
TQ-03 had waited patiently for several hours before realizing that her anonymous message
did little to rally the mutants to her revolutionary cause. Realizing that the condtion of her
conduct may lose her credibility she cleaned her dormitorium and went outside to solicit the
help of the first mutant she saw in assisting the rebellion. The mutant cheerfully acquiesces to
her request and she prepares for a grand mutant rally. TQ-03 instructs her reprogrammed droid 00AEEF
to compose a song and speech for the occasion while she creates banners and insignia for the movement.
She adorns herself and 00AEEF with the symbols of the resistance and meets with the mutant movement to
find out that it consists of only four members.
In another time and universe, TQ-666 the sorrowful limbless Sectoid is delivered at
last to the Surrealm where he is told by his deliverer that he is in possession of the meta,
an ability that allows the realm to conform to the mindset of the metaholder.
In reaction to the stress, the blank realm immediately transfigures itself into a dark
forest full of stationary carnivorous polyps, ad beset by constant rain. In response to the voices within
his head, TQ-666 raises spearlike metallic mountains from the ground and stops the rain by
conjuring an enormous incandescent eye above the land that constantly leaks molten metal.
With the forest on fire and the voices growing ever louder, TQ-666 sinks within his own mind as
his body is encased in a shell of salt spreading from his tears.
Back on Mezizz, TQ-04, was busy tending to the next generation of Sectoids
when he came to the conclusion that his friend ZA-02134 would have
been recycled prior to birth had he noticed her mutation earlier, a problem
only he would have been affected by. In response to this realization, TQ-04
vows not to cull any more mutants. Almost immediately after his oath, he
is assigned to decant ZC-04, a horrifyingly aberrant mutant that he can't suffer
to live. In a mistake, TQ-04 decants ZC-04 and has a panic attack before running
off and attempting to find his supervisor to deal with this problem. His supervisor,
TM-405, who is already reluctant to assist TQ-04, having already been familiarized
with his overreactions, is led to the decanting tube where ZC-04 is already missing.
Recognizing TQ-04's stress, TM-405 give him the day off and suggests he get a frozen yogurt.
TQ-04 obliges, later taking a walk to a yogurt shop where he finds himself unfamiliar
with the protocol for ordering. TQ-04 mistakenly orders himself a gargantuan and
elaborate dish called the Gran Mungo and solicits TQ-05's help in finishing it.
Overeating, TQ-04 passes out on the floor of the yogurt bar and dreams of the Surrealm
TQ-04 wanders the Surrealm, climbing a cyclopean mountain of salt at the behest of foreign whispers.
In a cave in the mountain TQ-04 encounters minuscule creatures that serve to solicit his help in
reviving some strange entity in a broken version of his native tongue. TQ-04 destroys most
of the creatures before additional creatures use a strange device to play
a familiar song.TQ-04 awakens refreshed in an infirmary tube before seeing ZC-04 peering in at him.
TQ-04 faint in the tube looking worse for all the effort.
Meanwhile on Zerblex-14 Alpha Rauthaz was preparing to kill TQ-01 before
TQ-02 interceded with the mechanical arm of his Port-o-Bunker. TQ-02
knocked RAuthaz unconscious and stole her palladium circlet. Quickly grabbing
an unconscious TQ-01, TQ-02 sped through the halls of Zerblex 14 wreaking
havoc and damaging property. The team rammed into a droid which then malfunctioned
so as to think it was a southern Belle named Leeanne Beauregard. TQ-02 and TQ-01 had
nearly reached the docking wing of the station when they hit a hover dolly pushed by
TQ-30 and incapacitated the Port-o-Bunker's motor. Thrown clear, both TQ-01 and Leeanne
were injured greatly in the crash. Still conscious within the Bunker, TQ-02 was forced to endure
debasement from TQ-30 for making her late.
Minutes later Alpha Rauthaz awoke with a slight supply of psychic powers, utilizing
her knowledge of Sectoid psychology, Rauthaz rallied several dozen Sectoids in search of
TQ-2 and her circlet. Droids quickly mistook the gathering for a riot and apprehended
many of the search party members. Alpha Rauthaz attempted to use the droid deactivation
codeword to dispatch the droids but was stopped by prior meddling on the part of the
secret cabal. The droids, instead of deactivating, played a holographic recording by General
Gamma Magenta that explained the cabal's future plans for a democratic empire and their
plan to trap Rauthaz in Zerblex-14 for the rest of her life by isolating it from any ships, her
own being the only one yet to depart from the spaceport.
Unable to convince the Sectoids to continue siding with her, Rauthaz detonated the droids
with her psionic powers and flew in the trail left by TQ-02's reckless driving of the bunker.
Rauthaz quickly locates TQ-02 who had been foolishly wearing the circlet within the bunker.
Poised to murder TQ-02 in an incredibly violent and painful way, Rauthaz was interrupted
by TQ-30 and promptly killed her with a mind bullet. Distracted from her revenge, Rauthaz
noticed that she was at the gate to the spaceport complex and that escape was within her reach.
Deeming freedom more important than the circlet, Rauthaz sped down the corridor, having left
TQ-02 behind.
Having heard that there was only one remaining ship to make their escape in, TQ-02
assembled a dangerous hoversled out of the hover dolly and Leeanne's power supply.
using the cobbled together craft, TQ-02 and an unconscious TQ-01 sped after Alpha
Rauthaz. Attempting to dispatch Rauthaz, TQ-02 threw the circlet at her but failed to hit her
and lost the crown altogether. Approaching dangerously close to Rauthaz, TQ-02 begins to
panic but is reassured by a recently awakened TQ-01 who proceded to use all of the power
in his power armor to knock Rauthaz out of flight and into the sign marking the lase active
starship gate. Unable to change the trajectory of the hoversled, the Sectoid brothers bail.
TQ-01 makes it out fine, but TQ-02 breaks his right leg. Through no little effort, TQ-01
manages to move both the injured TQ-02 and limbless Leeanne to the gate before
encountering Rauthaz again, who plans to quickly kill him. Desperately, TQ-01 remarks that
he's a pilot, which gave Rauthaz the idea that he may be useful. Together, the three go through
the gate towards The last ship to visit Zerblex-14 in 300 years.
Damn, I know I'm an awful writer but there was a ton of that stuff.
I'll be sure to find someplace to put the summaries of chapter 1 to help newcomers.
because navigation is terrible on the forums. The archive doesn't have anything on it now but it should be pretty impressive once all 730 images are added.
I'm probably going to take a little break for the rest of the day this update took me like 3 hours to do.