Desist soon cut a Croc sized hole and the Guardians entered the Gorg vessel. The shuttle bay had no real atmosphere, and showed signs of combat. There were three parked shuttle class ships, one of apparent non-Gorg design. There was no sign of the Art vessel. The Guardians thoroughly explored the shuttle bay, analyzing the door and lift mechanism. Finally the Guardians triggered the lift and went to the next level, little realizing the doom that awaited them.
The lift rose erratically, showing signs of damage. A panel in the ceiling above opened, and the Guardians went to the next level. The level appeared to be a weapons room, and had one occupant. A massive spiderlike creature faced the Guardians. It appeared to be metallic and had a missile launcher attached. Entropy called for the Guardians to spread out, even as Quiasar offered greetings. Entropy and Crocodile flanked the creature, which without replying attacked Crocodile in hand to hand combat.
The Guardians responded immediately. A variety of assaults hit the creature, henceforth called a "Slaughterdroid". Despite the bombardment, the Slaughterdroid continued his fight against Crocodile. The Guardians shredded the creatures armor, but could not fell it. Meanwhile, Crocodile received two titanic blows that destroyed his armor. Quiasar nobly shielded Crocodile with his forcefield, only to see the SD rip through, crushing Crocodile and stunning Quiasar.
Doctor Desist and Entropy hit the SD hard. He turned and focused on Shadow Knight. Shadow Knight, trembling visibly, put all his energy into a massive blast that drove the SD back momentarily. The SD then bore down and swung wildly, pressing SK against the wall. Desist and Entropy fired, futilely trying to distract the SD. Quiasar, meanwhile, aided the fallen Crocodile, giving him oxygen and dragging him clear of the fight.
Finally, DD and Entropy teamed up, felling the SD. Entropy reloaded his weapon as Quiasar, still dragging Crocodile, started to lower the lift. Doctor Desist flew down to the landing bay, joined by the still shaking SK. Entropy looked up to find himself alone with the SD. Wisely, Entropy chose to join the withdrawal rather than press the attack. Below, Quiasar had already moved Crocodile into the Nostromu. There, Quiasar began to assemble his ACME spacesuit for Crocodile, whose own suit was in shreds. Shadow Knight, suffering from nervous exhaustion, boarded the ship and collapsed.
Doctor Desist and Entropy took positions of defense in the landing bay, waiting for the death that stalked them. In less than a minute, their vigil was rewarded as the SD ripped apart the flooring and peered down. His gaze was filled by the fiery fury of the defenders as twin beams of energy knocked him back. Repeatedly the SD attacked, only to be driven back by the combined onslaught of the two Guardians.
Meanwhile, the only other battle ready Guardian, Quiasar, noticed another ship registering on the sensors. He saw a small shuttle pod coming from the inner planets. The pod seemed to be going wide of the Gorg derelict, so Quiasar snagged it gently with his forcefield. Further investigation showed that the pod had one occupant, the former Guardian White Leopard!
In the landing bay, the situation abruptly turned. After repeated failures to enter the bay, the SD successfully forced its way through the beams of destruction and launched downward. Desist caught the slower moving Entropy and flew out of the derelict. Entropy boarded the Nostromu while Desist remained outside. Warned of the coming assault, Quiasar and Shadow Knight manned stations. The still shaking SK had White Leopard observe the operation of the laser so he could go back to his nap.
The SD flung itself into space and floated toward the Nostromu. Both Shadow Knight and Desist opened fire, knowing that the SD could not be allowed to reach the ship. The ship's massive laser cut into the SD. Lights in the ship dimmed as the incredible laser drew power. Struck down, the SD drifted helplessly. Quiasar maneuvered the ship around, keeping the weapons trained on the SD. As it regained function, it was knocked back by SK and Desist. Now Entropy, manning the particle accelerator, joined the fray, sending the SD flailing backwards. Despite a lengthy intense pounding, the SD continued to struggle, barely showing the immense damage it had taken, enough to destroy all the Guardians twice over.
The Guardians, realizing their inability to destroy the SD, switched tactics. Quiasar snagged the unconscious SD. Using the forcefield, Quiasar kept the SD pinned as the Nostromu slowly accelerated. Everytime the SD struggled, White Leopard put him down with the laser. As soon as the Nostromu neared lightspeed, the SD was released, spinning helplessly into the voids of space.
The triumphant Guardians returned to the Gorg derelict. Some Guardians, notably Quiasar and Shadow Knight, refused to go back aboard the Gorg ship. Quiasar was drained physically and mentally from having his FF pieced in battle and keeping a hold on the SD through space. Shadow Knight, though completely unharmed, felt that the potential extinction of multiple species, including Homo Sapiens, was insufficient motivation to skip his regular nap. Entropy, pointing out that the only Guardian actually wounded in the fight, Crocodile, was willing to go back, pointed out that any delay could cause the death of more Gorgs or Art personnel. He added that the Earth was in danger of being attacked at any moment and now was not the time to rest. Crocodile, Doctor Desist, Entropy, and White Leopard all answered the call of heroism, leaving their friends behind.
The weapons level was briefly searched. Damage seemed limited, but nothing of interest was found. The Guardians triggered the lift again, and rose to new heights. The third level to be explored appeared to be another gunnery level. It too was occupied by a metallic creature, though this one was different from the SD. Entropy motioned for WL to cover the wounded Crocodile, while he offered greetings in English. When the robot swung to face Desist, Entropy nobly (if unnecessarily) attempted to intercept the blast. Desist, however, was far more at home in the low grav environment than Entropy, and easily dodged the flame attack. White Leopard moved against the robot, passively neutralizing its armament with ice.
With its weapons disabled, the robot became cooperative. The robot turned out to be a Gorg repair droid. The GRD was a useful source of information, providing information about the Gorgs, their ship, and the attack. The Guardians first tried to find survivors, but the recuperation room had been hard hit during the attack, and all injured Gorgs had been killed. The Guardians next tried to find an intact command post. Though the secondary bridge had been destroyed during the last stand of the Gorg officers, the primary command post was only disabled. With the GRD's help, Entropy was able to reboot some systems. Before long, the Guardians were able to hear the background of the war from the science room. Exterior scanning was restored, giving the Guardians security from external attack.
The details extracted from the Gorg computer were alarming. The Armada, a powerful (presumably nomadic) spacegoing alliance had freed the Krittagorf, a alien of incredible power who had threatened the earth before. Together, they had proved to be deadly to the three races the Krittagorf seemed interested in. Attacks on Gorg homeworld and earth were imminent. The Gorgs hoped that terran paranormals would be able to find creatures of myth that could aid them. These mythical beings, however, would take a lifetime to reach even with Gorg technology. The Guardians were able to repair the Gorg cruiser communications and broadcast their findings to Earth, warning of the danger.
With the bulk of the mission over, the Guardians gathered and took stock. No Gorgs were left to help. The lack of ART bodies and spacecraft confirmed the earlier theory that the ART team had left, taking their wounded and/or dead. The next move, then, was up in the air. They could return to earth now, but there was nothing they could do there. Even if the earth was attacked immediately, they would make no real difference. Most Guardians agreed that the Gorg ship was an asset that could be added to earth defenses. That required a thorough search before moving it. The GRD had theorized multiple SD attackers, based on the damage pattern. The Guardians doubted its findings, but shared its caution. While the rest of the Guardians rested, SK put his uncanny abilities to work. Hours of searching were condensed to minutes as SK wove his wondrous web of darkness. He found motionless bodies, damaged rooms, and some very active SD's.
The report sent the Guardians into dismay. Just one of the creatures had routed the combined might of the team. Now, with Crocodile's skin shredded into so many boots, and the Guardians exhausted, fighting was out of the question. Not even the presence of former Guardian WL could turn the tide. The SD was simply too massive, too strong to defeat in battle.
Entropy, however, refused to despair. He had a cunning plan. All they needed to win were "rabbits". While Quiasar frantically searched his "bag O' Holding" , and the Guardians stared blankly, Entropy elaborated. His plan was simple. The SDs were incredibly strong, and equally stupid. What was successful before (a panicky retreat), could be modified into a sound plan. Two "rabbits", would attract the SD's attention, then run. The SD would follow them into the shuttle bay, then space, where he could be dealt with.
The Guardians discussed and modified the plan, then deployed. Entropy and Doctor Desist played the rabbits. Quiasar had already moved the Nostromu out of the danger area. He and WL now maneuvered a Gorg shuttle into position in space. Crocodile and the GRD hid in another shuttle, where they could blast at the SD. Shadow Knight deployed as a backup in the upper decks where he could watch, move the Gorg guns, and report.
Desist started the rabbit gambit, triggering the door that separated them from the SD. Entropy fired from point blank range. He noted that this SD showed sings of damage from earlier battles against the Gorgs and/or ART team. Desist palmed the door shut, then grabbed Entropy, flying to the elevator. The elevator slowly (very slowly) began to descend. The SD slammed through the door in pursuit. The SD launched after the lift, to be met by concentrated fire from the defenders. Stunned the SD drifted down towards the lift. The lift continued down, bearing a somnolent SD and two very nervous Guardians.
Abruptly the SD revived. With one sweeping motion, the SD cut through Entropy's suit and skin with equal alaricity. Gushing blood, Entropy was propelled through the massive bay four, finally smashing against the wall. In the low gravity environment, the blood formed a surreal mist against the dim light as the SD pursued Entropy's flying body. The pain of impact revived Entropy. He opened his eyes to see the charging SD, who blotted out all other sights with its massive presence. Entropy ducked under the SD's charge and ran back to the lift. The following SD was met by twin beams of destruction as Entropy and Desist fired, driving it back. The lift continued downward. As it passed the lower gun level, the two Guardians flew to the shuttle bay doors. There they waited, watching for the death that stalked them so implacably. Then, with the tortured scream of twisted metal, the SD ripped the ceiling door off and descended. Spidery legs gripped the walls as the killer, terrifying in his majestic lethalness, came to rest on the shuttle bay floor. Entropy fired another shot, more to keep the SD's interest than any hope to harm. Desist grabbed Entropy and flew out into space. This SD proved more cautious than its predecessor, carefully keeping a grip inside as it tracked the fleeing Guardians. It fired a missile, but Desist evaded it with contemptuous ease. Crocodile opened fire, the shuttle gun knocking the SD into space, where Quiasar skillfully snagged it with his FF. The shuttle slowly accelerated, pushing the SD forward. Every time it attempted to move, WL fired the shuttle lasers, adroitly blasting it into submission. The shuttle was sluggish, but the massive creature was eventually launched into space as the Guardians went ahead 2-0.
Entropy rested in the parked shuttle with Crocodile. The slightly modified plan was put in motion, with WL as the rabbit. The plan worked perfectly until the two Guardians reached the landing bay. There, Doctor Desist, had one of his infrequent but impressive brain locks. Somehow assuming that a Tibetan raised in a 12th century environment would be completely at home in the three dimensional vacuum of space, DD abandoned WL in the shuttle bay.
With the only true flyer in the Guardians leaving, WL, not surprisingly, chose to fight rather than hurl herself into the unknown. The Guardians were treated to the most impressive HTH fight in the galaxy, as WL held her own against the ultimate killing machine. Quiasar attempted to snare WL from behind with a FF, but failed. At last WL yielded to the pleas of the Guardians and threw herself into space.
Though Quiasar and Entropy helped WL board the shuttle, the SD was too quick. It followed closely, fastening itself onto the shuttle. Only the combined fire from both shuttles preserved the plan from Desist's unexpected timidity. This SD soon joined its follows spinning off into space. The plan was quickly efficiently deployed for the last SD. The Gorg ship was free for exploration.
Entropy and White Leopard searched the ships while the rest of the Guardians rested. Entropy reported that nothing vital was found. A damage report was established. The ship could not travel for some time. The Guardians attempted to clear the shuttle bay of the spiderlike ship, but failed. The discussion of their next move was still going on when a message from Chess arrived. The earth was under massive attack, and defeat was imminent. The Guardians needed to return and save the day.
An urgent call from earth disrupted the Guardians preparations to leave. Homer Grimsby had sent an emergency call to the Guardians. The pirate Armada had attacked earth, knocking out satellites, launching strategic nuclear weapons, and invaded. An alliance of forces: paranormal, military, and criminal had met the invaders but the pirates were winning. The data bursts sent from the Gorg ship had been analyzed and the results placed in the vaults. Only the Guardians had the power to retrieve it.
The Guardians left immediately. Quiasar kept maximum speed until the last second, gambling that a wild reentry would be preferably to ship to ships combat. His tactics paid off as the Armada proved to have ten times the strength that the Gorgs had estimated. Only a few wild shots hit the Nostromu as the Guardians plunged earthward. The Nostromu ended up in the far pacific. Crocodile began to pilot us towards Chess headquarters, as he would stay onboard. The planet showed signs of devastation and bombardment as the Nostromu headed home. The area surrounding the headquarters was littered with bodies, including the mightiest heroes of the planet. Only strange looking creatures were walking about, all humans were downed.
Using his force platform, Qman swooped down, picked up Freeze, and deposited the Guardians at the front door. The fight outside was brief. Both sides exchanged a few meaningless shots. As reinforcements for the pirates approached, including at least one SD, the Guardians fled inside. White Leopard sealed the entrance to Chess headquarters in ice, giving the Guardians time to breathe. A search was initiated, with the Guardians almost immediately finding a war party. A group of raiders had started interrogating Homer. Blocking the way in was a massive gun emplacement. Not surprisingly, a major row developed quickly. Quiasar nobly freed and protected Homer while the rest of the Guardians did the actual fighting. Before long, Entropy and WL captured the gun emplacement, leading to victory. The only one wounded in the fight was the already weak Entropy.
A checkup on Freeze and Homer was unpleasant. Freeze was cold and stiff, even more so than usual. The greatest hero ever known was dead! Homer was in a coma. Several Guardians conceded that he never seemed so lucid or pleasant before, though he was even more useless than normal. Quiasar identified the room as the entrance to the vaults. The Guardians took stock of the situation. The Guardians decided to check out the rest of the complex before taking the elevator down. Shadow Knight used his darkness and found a large group of people in an adjoining room.
Quiasar readied his C4 and the Guardians prepared for a slaughter. As SK opened the door, he saw the majority of the creatures were captured humans, guarded by pirates. SK showed that he could still surprise the team. He acted heroically, jumping into the room to forestall Quiasar. WL and Entropy rushed in to support him and the fight was on. Entropy took up a position to protect the hostages, while Quiasar topped that by enclosing the entire hostage area with a force field.
Among the pirates were ferocious lion like creatures with an unusual ability. Their roar disrupted the inner ear, causing disorientation, dizziness, and fatigue. SK went down in a heap. WL went into a meditative trance, trusting in her armor as she sought to eliminate the disharmony. As Desist and Quiasar stayed outside, fighting from a distance, only Entropy was left to fight. Though more dead than alive, Entropy methodically took out guard after guard. Before long, even SK was encouraged enough to stick up his head and fire a shot. Though decimated, the Guardians had won again.
The Guardians went to work immediately securing their victory. Entropy and Quiasar dragged the energy gun emplacement into the hall, guarding the entrance. WL reinforced the barricade. DD dispensed medical supplies and comfort to the injured and frightened hostages. Shadow Knight dispensed suggestions from his post, lying down on the floor. SK, showing his typical knack, annoyed people no end.
With these preparations complete, the Guardians asked SK to search the remainder of the floor. SK put his darkness up and reported two rooms with occupants. A few seconds later he reported that a struggle had started in one of the rooms. Entropy and the Qman raced to assist. With precision teamwork and pinpoint timing, the two heroes threw sonic grenades into the room. Qman then mopped up the remaining feeble resistance and rescued the hostage, the Queen of CHESS, Alexandria Huntington.
Desist examined the Queen. He reported that she would regain consciousness in a few minutes. The Guardians decided to use that time to clear out the last room. Quiasar and Entropy went to the hall and prepared to attack. There, fate, intervened for the first time on the side of the Guardians. Entropy, exhausted and heavily wounded, asked to be kept in a support while the Qman attacked. Quiasar agreed and went on. Carefully he edged up to the door, and, with one smooth motion, opened it and threw in a sonic grenade. One of the two aliens was downed by the attack, but a grenade had flown the other way as well. Quiasar was hit at close range by a radiation grenade, and down he went.
Entropy entered the room and dragged out Quiasar. Only his incredible constitution had kept the Qman alive. Entropy realized that the radiation grenade would have destroyed him had he been there. Doctor Desist revived Quiasar but advised rest. The Queen had improved enough to answer questions about where the remaining alien was. The decision was made to attack again. SK, though unwilling to engage in combat, led off with a sneak attack. SK shoved C4 through a nearby wall and then ran. The explosion did do damage, but the pirate stayed up. He chased after SK . Shadow Knight then made a tactical error. The plan called for him to run up the main hall leading the pirate into a well prepared trap, with multiple heavy guns awaiting him. SK instead ran away, hoping the pirate would, for whatever reason, ignore him and attack a fortified position.
SK paid a heavy price for his timidity. The pirate caught him and fired at him. SK went down in flames. Entropy and WL ran to the rescue. WL kicked the pirate clear of SK. Entropy put out the fire and moved him clear of the battle. The last intact Guardian fought the last pirate for the possession of Chess headquarters. The outcome was never really in doubt. White Leopard dominated, driving the pirate back and down. The Guardians had won.
With the battle over, the heroes caucused. The Queen was able to provide few details about the vaults or the situation on the earth. She recommended that the Guardians continue their quest for the Gorg data. She planned to attempt to rescue the President. It took all the Guardian's persuasive efforts to stop her from destroying the defensive barricades and charging out. Eventually, a sound plan emerged. The Queen would hide and wait until the pirates broke in, then circle around them. The hostages would break out the back wall and flee. Quiasar would lead the Guardians down into the vaults.
Quiasar was exceedingly cautious, taking every precaution as he typed in the first password. The Guardians descended down in the elevator. Two very cold aliens were there. The Guardians allowed them to stagger into the elevator and leave. The small elevator area led into a larger room, with a panel on the first side, where a new code could be typed in. For a second time, fate intervened. The first deployment was vetoed by Entropy as it put all Guardians in danger. He insisted that WL remain in the elevator room so reinforcements would be available. The remaining Guardians rested briefly, then walked into the room to the keyboard panel. After a brief discussion, Quiasar started typing. A few keystrokes later, the trap was sprung. Freezing gas poured into the room and all was silent.
Using his forcefield to manipulate the keys from a distance, Quiasar guessed a code but failed, triggering the trap. Repeated efforts to crack the code failed, though a systematic approach seemed to yield results. After some time, the Guardians felt they had all digits but the last, but nothing seemed to work. When it became apparent that even Desist was stumped, Entropy took the problem back to the start, questioning their assumptions. Shadow Knight vigoriously objected, feeling that any retreat meant that a solution would take forever. Entropy however, quickly proved a central belief was incorrect, destroying their earlier logic. Once motivated, SK proved to be a great help, seeing and corrected the error. Together, Entropy and SK rapidly solved the code, and the door was open.
The next room had a powerful gravity field embracing it. Desist floated through unaffected, and searched the next doorway. Quiasar was too strong to be stopped, and helped Entropy. Desist, finding no panel like before, Desistingrated a small hole and pushed his helmet through., videoing the next room. The Guardians then received a shock. There was a man in the next room!
After Desist cut a hole in the door, the Guardians met the next defense of the vaults, the Dragonmaster. The pale man in green did not believe the Guardians story, though he did accept their identity. After the Guardians agreed to wait, the Dragonmaster called upstairs. Not surprisingly, no one answered. The Guardians made a number of offers, from giving a video camera to a dragon and sending it upstairs, to going personally with the Dragonmaster so he could verify their account.
The Dragonmaster tried (and failed miserably) to reason out the situation. He finally decided that the Guardians had (somehow) destroyed most of Washington DC as well as Chess headquarters. Now, of course, they wanted into the vault. Why a team powerful enough to destroy Chess would want these trinkets was never adequately explained. The Dragonmaster had no way of knowing, of course, since Chess brillantly refused to let any communication exist between the Dragonmaster and the outside world. Why Chess put everything useful into vaults that could not be accessed in an emergency was also a mystery. Now that the earth had been conquered and the bulk of the human population massacred, it seemed that Chess had left the vaults sealed just a touch too long.
The Dragonmaster pretended to agree to investigate if the Guardians walked back to the ice room. When they entered it, he triggered the trap. Like most Chess agents, the Dragonmaster was incredibly dense. Only two Guardians were affected, and WL quickly thawed them. Not surprisingly, the Guardians were very annoyed by this treachery. Quiasar's mood stayed black as Desist and Entropy made snide comments.
"Good thing you are a trusted Chess agent, Quiasar, I hate to think what would happen if they didn't trust you"
"Looks like Homer's ideals of betrayal and assasination have rubbed off on the troops"
"Like we always say, Quiasar, never trust a Chess agent"
The Dragonmaster rapidly learned the folly of not listening as he and his two dragons were pummeled into submission in a very quick battle. Curiously enough, only Entropy cared about the Dragonmaster at this point. After all, the Dragonmaster couldn't help the fact he worked for corrupt fools like Homer. He allowed the Dragonmaster a graceful surrender. The Dragonmaster was convinced as the totally victorious Guardians maintained their story. He could provide few details about the vault defenses, but agreed to protect against any pirate attacks, as well as tending to Homer.
The next room was defended by a variety of lasers. The Guardians experimented with force fields and ice shields before simply destroying the lasers. They moved on, to a staircase leading down. There, a figure with a sword guarded the room at the bottom. The defender proved to be some sort of android, with a stock speech and limited intelligence, much like any other chess agent. The Quiasar dropped C4 by the android, but the android then charged up the stairs, avoiding the blast. A brief struggle ensued, with the resulting destruction of the android.
Now that the Guardians had descended to the next level, they decided to play no more Chess games. Desist opened a hole to the next floor down and Entropy dropped down to investigate. Another android appeared to challenge him and it was quickly disposed of. The entrance to the next room was open and apparently unguarded. A visual inspection revealed no clues. A sword was tossed into the next room and nothing happened. When Entropy attempted to walk through the doorway, however, the trap was sprung, and a powerful energy barrier threw him back.
As the barrier only protected against organic intrusion, Quiasar used his ff to turn the defense off. Then, the Guardians were confronted by the final defense. A final keyboard was in front of a large safe, the famous vault. The correct code would open the vault. Any mistake would trigger a gamma bomb. The vault was made of a superdense metal that protected against any frontal attack. Any attempt to break in would also trigger the bomb. After some debate, the Guardians moved back into the Dragonmaster's room and closed the door.
Quiasar stood alone outside. Straining his ff to the utmost, he bent it down to the keyboard and started typing. The Guardians heared the fury of the explosion as it rushed up and pounded against the door. When the din died down, the door was opened. The Guardians saw the transformed Quiasar and realized nothing would be the same again. Quiasar had gone cosmic.
CONCLUSIONS AND FOLLOW UP We found the coordinates to Primeon, and resolved to journey there. The contents of the vault could have prevented great suffering on the earth and perhaps helped the human race to advance had they been shared earlier, but now they were useless. The Guardians took everything of military value, but only the robes offered any practical help