Gathering on the outskirts of Glasgow, those members of the party borne
north by the Brigantia set down beside a station-box on the train route
into the city, said train box being occupied by a UNIT corporal.
He informed them of the cordon currently around the city, including
aerial support and a naval blockade, and pointed them in the direction
of the cordon’s command post, under the command of Major Wilkes
(Colonel Wilkes’ brother).
Arriving there, they received a summation of the situation – the UNIT
safehouse was monitored at all times by radio, which had cut off with a
chilling scream approximately a day and a half before present date. The
cordon had been initiated as soon as they could get it into place, and
now they were simply awaiting the moment when enough troops could be
spared from the remnants of the Battle of Cornwall to mount a
full-scale return to the city.
Happily, Major Wilkes noted, the last time creatures like these were
seen in action, they could possess only on a one-for-one basis, and
seemed uninterested in doing further harm beyond that (the cases being
the rogue warrior Sven and, of course, the party’s own Colonel
Smythe-Holmes).
So with only five life-forms loose in the city, the threat to citizens,
in theory at least, was minimal.
At this point, Mr Verne emerged from the Brigantia bearing a plank on
wheels. (Don’t ask. Just don’t.)
A plan of action, if somewhat misguided, was conceived; the Brigantia
would move in above the city, while Mr Verne and the Colonel, stalwart
men both, advanced into the city with one of the large walkie-talkie
units and investigate more closely.
Lord Marlborough’s aerial observation made out, in Glasgow’s warehouse
district, a collapsed building; three stories high originally, to judge
by the buildings around it. They communicated this fact to the foot
investigators, who began to journey in that direction.
Mr Thompson then took over observation and observed the warehouse
district itself in more thoroughness, his eldritch vision picking out
five forms with nonhuman shapes and energies in the warehouses around
the collapsed building, but none in the building itself. Of course, the
rubble could be distorting his view…
However, before Mr Thompson could report this to the team, Mr Verne
decided to try out some manner of trick involving his plank, and fell
over down the stairs of the library. Mr Thompson, sensing this via
their link, started mock-applauding, and the matter was forgotten.
We cut at this point to a scene of Jasqu working the weights in the
Brigantia’s gym.
Our courageous duo reached the warehouse area, and immediately and
logically decided to have a poke around the collapsed building. On his
plank, Mr Verne naturally got there first, and dismounted to probe the
damaged areas.
Before the Colonel could join him, a machine gun opened up, slashing a
row of bullets across his back.
The Colonel’s unique physical structure absorbed these blows with
virtually no damage, however, and he swivelled to face the target,
drawing his Pelham-remodelled Thompson.
As he opened fire on the warehouse, however, so did Inspector Stevens.
From his position as blue boomstick gunner on the Brigantia.
So much for taking them alive.
Three more buildings – and three more life forms – went the same way.
Even Thompson snatching the rifle from one of the goo-warriors didn’t
deter Stevens from the trigger.
The Mayor called Major Wilkes to ask if the party could tone down the
artillery a bit.
Eventually, the Colonel decided that if he were to take a prisoner for
interrogation, he’d have to take matters into his own hands, and
actually stepped into the next warehouse.
Meanwhile, Mr Verne tripped a switch somewhere on his trip through the
ruined UNIT warehouse compound, and found himself encased in a black
metal box. A brass plaque on the outside read ‘Memento of the Syrtis
Major campaign’
Thompson immediately descended in a Pelham flier to investigate, and
through his eldritch vision noted a sixth lifeform – in the box with Mr
Verne. Thompson watched helplessly as the lifeform spirited Verne away
in much the same fashion Thompson had been transported before.
And then the ooze seemed to disappear… Thinking quickly, Thompson
scanned the perimeter of the box and found a hole through which the
goo-warrior was escaping, one drip at a time.
“Who are you?”
The liquid flowed. And spelt out: Friedrich
will do.
“Where are you taking Verne?”
I think you know.
“How do you expect to escape?”
A way has been prepared.
The dripping stopped abruptly. The eldritch energies powering the
creature – at least, the pint on display here - disappeared.
At this point, the Colonel succeeded in taking the final entity
prisoner and marched him out into the street. Mr Thompson collected the
dead liquid into a container and they returned to the Brigantia.
Dr Herman and Lord Marlborough bolted together an airtight container
with a window, table, and chair, for interrogation, and they put the
Colonel’s captive in it.
Meanwhile, Mr Verne found himself wandering the streets of Victorian
London behind a seemingly-oblivious Mr Thompson. Going through
Thompson’s door, he found himself alone in Herr von Gruber’s study.
Remembering Thompson’s tale of capture, he tried first to rifle the
desk, but the lock was beyond his pickpocketing ability, and instead
wrote a note and slipped it under the door. The note read simply:
I know where you live.
After the briefest of pauses, Herr von Gruber re-entered the study,
holding the note.
“So do I,” he said. “What of it?”
“Can I go?”
“Well, I’ve no facilities or wish to keep you here. But I hardly want
to return you through our preparations; I underestimated your group
badly enough before the Cornwall debacle. I will make no such mistake
this time; when I return to Britain, it will be to a glorious victory.
First, Europe shall fall.”
“So… what?”
“The Friedrichs will return you.”
Herr von Gruber reached into a pocket, produced a wad of notes. “Why he
brought you here in the first place I’m not sure. Understand, however,
this; you will lose.”
Mr Verne hurled the plank at his captor, who produced a sabre from
nowhere and slashed the item in two in an instant.
He tossed the money onto the table. “Compensation. Goodbye, Mr Verne.”
Verne picked up the money, counted it. Five hundred marks. “How much
will this buy me?” he asked.
“I’m sorry?”
How much information on your plans will this buy me?”
Herr von Gruber snarled. “Guard your genitals, sir.”
A vicious downward slash with his sabre enlightened Verne as to his
meaning, and as he collapsed with pain, Friedrich enveloped him once
more, and he slowly, haltingly, made his way back to Glasgow and the
Brigantia. Thankfully, his mental link with Thompson enabled the
Brigantia’s medical bay to be ready for him.
Emony froze the offcuts with her powers. With the surgical and magical
expertise aboard the craft, they expect his discomfort to be only
short-term. However, for now they do not have the time to make repairs.
Swift applications of Emony’s healing powers returned him to
competence, and they progressed to the interrogation of the captured
entity.
It turns out that all the goo-warriors on Earth have adopted the name
Friedrich as a convenient frame of reference; that they come from Alpha
Centauri; that they eat stone; and that they have a mental link
throughout the species.
Further probings along the theme of ‘what can Herr von Gruber be
offering?’ produced the following interesting revelations; they can
only be killed permanently by a thing they call The Terror, which is at
the same time a species, a weapon, and an element somewhere in the
undiscovered chunk of the periodic table; that the Colonel’s semi-alien
abilities are caused not by their technology, but by a fully-dead
member of their race.
And, of course, that the possessed Martians deep in Mars’ prehistory
(about ten thousand years prior to current date, in fact) were a team
of goo-warrior commandoes inspired by Jack Camden’s time-hopping antics.
Herr von Gruber is, of course, offering them an end to the Terror, to
which end Lord Marlborough has made a counter-offer, while trying to
elicit more information on what the Terror actually is so he can try
and back up his claims.
Friedrich relayed this offer to his superiors, and then disappeared,
gradually fading from the cell…
A guest performance this week: Victor, as Lieutenant Sebastian Bird,
hotshot pilot, late of the RFC, inducted into UNIT’s superscience
division as a test pilot.
As the crew regathered in the Brigantia, they received a call from
Colonel Wilkes. He wanted to hire the ship, and it’s aircraft hanger
(something of a surprise to Lord Marlborough, this part) to house an
experimental new plane, the Riddle Red, and carry it to Bavaria, from
where it could take surveillance photos of the von Gruber estate for
UNIT’s strategists to consider – the Riddle Red’s key lack being the
size of it’s fuel tanks.
They agreed, and promptly set course for London to pick him up.
While in London, after taking on Lieutenant Bird and re-rigging the
aircraft hanger, the team finally took stock of the information
contained within the inventory Mr Verne stole some time previously.
This information being, of course, that green boomsticks and other
military equipment wasn’t solely being despatched to Brest and the
invasion of Cornwall, but also to Lisbon and Milan. Thus they decided
to take something of a touristy route to Bavaria and von Gruberschloss
– via Brest, then on to the central junctionhouse in middle France,
thence to Lisbon, on to Milan and finally around to Bavaria and the
castle itself.
And they were going to leave a path of destruction in their wake.
Already, the reporters were calling the conflict in Europe the Great
War; Germany, it seems, has steamrollered its foes almost into the
ground; soon, as von Gruber promised, they must surely turn back to
Britain.
Unless something can slow them…
Arriving above Brest, Inspector Stevens swiftly opened up with the blue
artillery piece, shattering the covered shipyard and boiling the water
within, before turning its energies upon the train station recently
installed by the invaders. This done, they proceeded south to the
junctionhouse, where Inspector Stevens switched to the green metal
piece, discharging its blast into the highly reactive weaponry secured
in the warehouse. The resultant blast levelled and scorched the terrain
for three miles around, and the Brigantia came about to face the next
stop on its tour; Lisbon.
En route, just before reaching the Spanish border, they observed
pursuit; a squadron of four Black Zeppelins and five biplanes, which Mr
Thompson’s keen senses revealed to be armed with green metal weaponry.
Lieutenant Bird scrambled into the Riddle Red’s cockpit and launched
into the air as Inspector Stevens and – somewhat surprisingly – Emony
took up their positions at the blue and green boomsticks respectively.
Bird took his craft down steeply, leading three of the biplanes away
from the pack and enticing them into an aerial dogfight. The Brigantia
itself, however, attempted simply to outrace the zeppelins.
Bird spectacularly outmanoeuvred his pursuers, turning in a heartbeat
from hunted to hunter – startling him along the way as he noticed the
German flag blazoned on the crafts’ sides; the first blatant commitment
the party had seen. A burst of machine gun fire, an application of his
Navigation Hazard knack, and the damaged ‘plane took another with it on
its path from the sky. A quick Immelmann, and another burst of fire
tore apart the final pursuer. Glancing above, he saw the remainder of
the squadron dive upon him for vengeance as the firing began between
the Zeppelins; Bird nudged the Riddle Red lower, diving beneath the
treeline and practically skimming the ground, denying himself valuable
manoeuvrability but forcing his hunters to his level.
Stevens’ first salvo took one of the Zeppelins unawares, tearing it
apart. The remaining trio began carefully to move into more difficult
positions for the Brigantia’s gunners, successfully evading Emony’s
first shot and both gunners’ second. Return fire during this time
smashed a hole in the side of the Brigantia, tearing apart the port
dining room, before our heroes’ shots finally won the day.
Scant feet above the ground, meanwhile, the pursuing craft finally lost
their battle to avoid the trees; the twin explosions letting Lieutenant
Bird know it was safe to return to the Brigantia. Accordingly, he rose
and docked once more, and the airship continued its journey, only a
little the worse for wear – and, from this point on, uninterrupted to
Lisbon, though as the journey continued they saw more and more evidence
of fierce battles past beneath them – and here and there, dotted about
the human forms, dead Friedrichs…
Coming into sight of Lisbon, they observed the German flag flying proud
above the tallest building in the city, and halted, trusting to the
Brigantia’s stealth cloud to keep them hidden.
A plan was formed; Mr Thompson, Colonel Smythe-Holmes, and Mr Verne
would investigate the city on foot, as less conspicuous. Lieutenant
Bird would remain as hidden as possible while in the air, ready to come
to their aid at a moment’s notice, while Emony’s remarkable synergistic
abilities co-ordinated it all and provided communication between the
quartet.
So it was done; they set down a little distance outside the city, and
proceeded in. Meanwhile, on his second pass, Lieutenant Bird observed,
in a walled courtyard near the borders of the city, a group of twenty
men with strange backpacks donning brass helmets. The group
collectively realised the incipient danger of the rocketmen, and
Lieutenant Bird disappeared deeper into the city, circling a building,
to await their coming and set a trap.
Mr Verne, however, determined to do what he could to ground the
squadron, climbing the wall of the courtyard under the protection of
his abilities in clouding the minds of observers.
Sadly, for once, this screen failed him, and he was seen by the group’s
sergeant. A blistering pistol shot knocked him from his perch, and he
fell to the ground unconscious and seriously injured. Mr Thompson,
accordingly, dragged him to a safe pickup point and returned to the
city.
Readying his enhanced Thompson gun, the Colonel made his way around the
courtyard, holding the gun ready to open fire on the rocketeers as they
emerged, as he thought, above the walls.
As he reached the gateway side, however, the heavy wooden gates flew
open and, with a roar like cannonfire, the squadron emerged
horizontally. Stalwart as ever, the Colonel stood his ground, pouring
fire into their ranks and gunning down four as they emerged. The rest
of the group rose swiftly into the air as they drew level with him and
disappeared over the nearby roofs… toward Lieutenant Bird, who was
fortunately aware of this through the mental link.
Thompson rejoined the Colonel on the ground, and they stood together.
Watching the images in their minds, and waiting.
Bird met his hunters head-on, tearing four more apart with his guns and
flashing through them, taking his much larger craft down to
street-level, tearing through the
city.
Leading them inexorably back to the Colonel and Mr Thompson.
Some didn’t make it; perhaps four hit walls, oncoming cars, or ploughed
through windows en route, taking themselves out of the fight. As the
final eight came back,
Mr Thompson stretched out one hand, muttered something under his
breath, and one of the squadron’s jetpack materialised in his hand, its
owner meeting a cars windscreen head-on. The Colonel’s fire brought
down a further three before they were once more out of sight. Bird’s
craft circled the block, travelling fast enough that he caught up with
his pursuers and blasted three more from the sky before they returned
to the two operatives on the ground. Drawing his sabre, the Colonel
smiled grimly.
A single well-placed slice tore the final rocketeer in two.
Bird returned to his lofty aerial surveillance. The Colonel and
Thompson delved further into town, tangling with a machine-gun nest
that left the Colonel, too, in need of medical attention before
Thompson’s terrifying magics spooked its crew and set them fleeing.
Undaunted, the occultist continued on into the centre of the city alone.
Arriving in front of the town hall, his eldritch vision picked out a
vast number of the Friedrichs.
Smiling cruelly to himself, he drew and loaded his flare pistol.
Red for dead…
The flare travelled true, exploding on the Hall’s door. And, above,
Inspector Stevens needed no second invitation.
Two brilliant cyan bolts slammed into the structure, shattering it and
exposing the underground railroad beneath.
Intrigued, Thompson descended, and set off to the south.
After perhaps two hours of Thompson’s walking through the subterranean
darkness, Lord Marlborough decided enough was enough. Through Emony’s
synergic link, they informed Thompson that they’d return after he
emerged, and set course for Milan, their next stop.
After perhaps another three hours, Thompson hove in sight of light. He
encountered a group of Geordie engineers, building the railroad –
which, they cheerfully informed him, would run on to a station in
Gibraltar. They seemed stunned to hear that the war had touched
England, and confided that they were working for a German, having built
for him a station in a Bavarian valley already. The names Neville and
Oz were mentioned.
Above Milan, meanwhile, the party noticed three key additions not
represented upon their ordnance survey maps; namely, one of the new
stations, a barracks, and some manner of covered manufactory.
The first two targets were swiftly destroyed, but no amount nor type of
firepower seemed to have an impact on the manufactory…
A new permanent player this week: Dave joins the cast late, as UNIT
Captain Samson Willdrake, the pneumatic man, working with the Milan
resistance against the Germans.
As the Brigantia’s bombardment began, Captain Willdrake received a
message on his radio-set from UNIT, asking for the daily situation
report. Willdrake reported the bombardment, and was required to offer
them all possible assistance.
UNIT then called the Brigantia, enquiring if they’d mind assisting
Willdrake in return, and they sent down a landing party to investigate
the impervious structure.
This party consisted of Colonel Smythe-Holmes, Mr Verne, and Emony, who
descended into the streets to meet the Captain and Marissa, head of the
resistance. By a combination of freezing ice sorcery, Thompson fire,
and Willdrake’s iron will and steel fists, the guards at the
manufactory were overwhelmed and the party entered cautiously.
Inside, they discovered two production lines; one of Big Berthas, one
of armoured tanks. Black metal coated, they were presumably impervious.
Upon discovery, the workers moved to defend themselves, clambering into
tanks or onto the firing positions of the nearest Big Bertha. The
Colonel blasted the Bertha gunner in two with his trusty Thompson; Mr
Verne turned invisible and started advancing upon the first unoccupied
tank, and Emony raced to occupy the gunner seat on the Bertha to
prevent it being turned upon the group once more.
On the Brigantia, Lord Marlborough had a brandy.
Captain Willdrake was shot by the lead tank, damaging his brass finish
severely. Recovering swiftly, he vaulted on to the turret and tore the
hatch off. The gunner looked up for a moment, and Willdrake knocked him
unconscious.
The Colonel advanced on the tank. A burst of green energy through the
hatchway and the driver, too, was dead.
And with that the factory workers’ resistance was gone. Willdrake
turned the factory over to Marissa and her crew, feeling that Milan’s
resistance would now have a far easier time of it, and the party,
fortified by the pneumatic man, returned to the Brigantia.
At this point, Mr Thompson encountered the Friedrich who ran Lord
Marlborough’s estate on Mars, arrived with the samples of what had been
Phobos. The pair headed toward Milan, as the Brigantia came about to
retrieve England’s errant son, the two craft meeting in the air above
the Mediterranean. Dr Herman immediately took the Phobos samples and
rushed to the Pelham box to examine them, discovering through his
efforts that Phobos had been composed in no small part of the blue
metal, but that in its oxidised state – after the detonation – it was,
sadly, useless.
There was some speculation at this point as to whether this meant that
the blue metal was in fact The Terror of which the Friedrichs spoke of,
confirmed by the employee-Friedrich (who, it was revealed, had been
expelled from the race’s hivemind due to his actions during the closing
stages of the Syrtis Major campaign).
This led to a few moments’ wondering how the metal could be a race, but
the party dismissed this, ultimately, as something to investigate
later. Obviously, instead, the situation of the German tunnel to
Gibraltar had to be investigated first, and the Brigantia set course.
Barely had they arrived when an explosion broke out from the bowels of
the island, toppling the Rock. So great was the magnitude of the blast
that even some of the Fleet was damaged; two of the larger vessels
close to the blast were sunk. Shaken, Inspector Stevens vehemently
denied responsibility.
Sadly, Lord Marlborough and company turned about. This was the final
straw. On to Bavaria now – and heaven help von Gruberschloss.
The situation was, however, not as simple as might at first have
appeared. The castle was equipped with the boomstick artillery – some
pieces of which, such as the Big Bertha, undoubtedly had greater range
than the Brigantia’s own. A new plan was hatched; Mr Thompson, Mr
Verne, the Colonel and Mr Willdrake descended some way off and made
their way in on foot to disable the defences while the Brigantia made
ready.
Lord Marlborough had a plan, you see; sketching out ideas rapidly, he
designed and built a prototype green metal bomb. If he could get it to
react with the Big Bertha, the blast should be enough to level the
castle.
Accordingly, the Brigantia rose above the ceiling of the artillery, and
made ready.
Meanwhile, with the aid of Mr Verne’s aura of invisibility, Captain
Willdrake’s strong right arm and a bag of grenades, our heroes made
their way into the courtyard where the Big Bertha was housed. Willdrake
yanked the barrel out of shape, and the others made their way swiftly
into the building, the Colonel pausing to open fire on a resistance
pocket on the ground floor, and Verne and Thompson ploughing upstairs
as fast as they could toward Herr von Gruber’s study.
As the Colonel continued progress up the stairs, the good captain
ascended the barrel of Bertha and leaped through a second floor window,
landing on a dining table and rolling spectacularly off to come to a
halt at its end – and scaring the chambermaids. The two UNIT men made
their way upstairs together, and arrived outside von Gruber’s office
just as Thompson and Verne made entry.
To find von Gruber dead in his chair, a knife buried to the hilt in his
throat, a white envelope on the desk before him.
Said envelope was addressed to Lord Marlborough. They stood there for a
moment, taking stock, and the castle… well, ignited. Suddenly the place
was burning around them. They started to leave.
But Mr Thompson decided to investigate the letter’s contents; Emony
relayed said fact to Marlborough via her psychic connections. He became
somewhat annoyed, and ordered Inspector Stevens to drop the bomb.
Somehow, the heroes on the ground made it out alive, outrunning the
detonation by mere moments. Returning to the Brigantia, they handed the
unopened letter over to Lord Marlborough.
Berlin
11/07/22
My dear Lord Marlborough,
I congratulate you on the skill inherent in disarming von
Gruberschloss’ defences and entering the castle.
It will, of course, be precious little use to you as you and your
meddling cohorts burn. Herr von Gruber was a dreamer. I am not. You are
defeated, and Britain will fall.
Yours sincerely
Count Otto von Bismarck.