WoAF - Game Session 65

Captain "Sam" Samwise stared out the Mech's forward window into the blackness of space. In the distance, towards the brilliantly shining quarter moon, a thin yellow-orange plasma streak betrayed the presence of the Mech that Lexi had hijacked two hours earlier. Below them, the Earth's atmosphere was illuminated along the horizon, with wide streaks of space debris glinting above dark clouds of brown and gray. Several intertwining streams of iridescent light flickered with lightning as they flowed across the upper atmosphere like serpents. Sam's attention, however, was on the space-faring Mech far ahead of them. It had at least two hour's head start and was cruising at maximum speed. He contemplated Lexi's previous explanation as to why he had commandeered the Mech, and he found the explanation less than satisfactory. 

His problem was that he was not at all convinced that the molecular cloud threat was real. He suspected Lexi had ulterior motives and he wanted to know what they were. But the good Captain was not in a position to extract any information that Lexi was unwilling to provide. They were separated by thousands of miles of space, and it would be impossible for them to catch up with Lexi unless he slowed his ship down. He glanced out the port window to check Major Sekston's flight path. Her Mech, gleaming blue, white and chrome, was still glowing around the head and shoulders from the atmospheric friction.  The plasma trail behind her blazed fiercely as she throttled to maximum power as she sought to catch up with Sam. He then glanced over at Fred, who had picked a piece of macaroni out of his pocket and was dusting it off, presumably with the intent of eating it. Samwise quickly turned away to look out the forward window again.  The long orange-red plasma trail of Lexi's Mech vanishing into the distance frustrated him.

He wasn't exactly a Molecular Cloud Denier, but he had never thought of it as being an actual problem. And certainly not one that required the immediate attention of the world's first Positronic-Brain enabled android. And besides, above all else, Samwise wished to put Lexi's new brain to good use determining if it would be possible to resolve the Cat's Paw Dilemma of the incredible Ultra-Drug, a tiny sample of which had been given to him by Doctor Danger earlier that morning. If they could solve that problem, then the rag-tag human armies of North America could raise a new legion of Ultra-Warriors, and quite plausibly defeat the Black Manticore's Lizardman Force that had issued forth from Las Vegas in a tsunami of war.  Sam also suspected he might be able to use a refined version of Ultra to create a new Bio-Augmentation for himself. One that through extensive genetic, cellular and neurological enhancement could vastly exceed normal human capabilities and physiology. It was a dream of his. But it required the help of Lexi's Positronic-Brain. And consequently Sam had a vested interest, and because of this was inclined to disbelieve and dismiss Lexi's story.

Captain Samwise flipped the switch on the console to activate his microphone.

"Lexi," he said, "I'm confused. We've travelled together since we left Federation Command at Kitt Peak, almost a month ago. And just now you're bringing this molecular cloud issue up?"

"It should have been brought up a long time ago, sir," replied Lexi calmly, his voice crackling with static over the speaker.

"What made you aware that this is a priority?" asked Sam.

"I was exploring a historical archive on the topic. In the 1990's the question of the molecular cloud had been raised by astrophysicists, and research had been ongoing for some time, but the Ultra-War caused all research on this question to be abandoned. Now, it must be picked up again. And there is no time to lose.  This should have been done a decade ago."

"What archive did you research this in? You were captured by Brain V, and then returned back to mission, and at no time did you indicate any other emergencies that needed to be taken care of."

"Sir, that is quite true," replied Lexi. "When I was reconstructed by Brain V, I was given the rare and wonderful opportunity to access and store a rather fascinating Scientific Data Archive. I have been steadily going through since I left the Black Wind V facility. When I came across this item it piqued my interest, and so I started looking into it more deeply. I came to my conclusion early this morning."

"I'm sorry, Lexi," Sam countered, "but the timing doesn't quite make sense. If you found out about this while you were with Brain V and you were able to bring the Mechs to us, why didn't you just go to the molecular cloud straight away?"

"I wasn't aware of the issue, yet," replied Lexi calmly, "as I had not accessed that part of the archive until this morning at 2:47am."

"And why did you not inform us of the seriousness of this issue before rushing off? Why did you lie to Major Sexton in order to commandeer the Mech?"

"Technically, I didn't lie, sir," replied Lexi. "What I told Major Sexton was that I have a new mission and I needed the Mech. Both of those statements are factually true."

"If I might say, Captain, yes," Major Sexton broke in, "I apologize for the confusion, but that is what Lexi actually said. I assumed he meant a new mission from Federation Command... but he didn't explicitly say that.  I should have been more discerning."

Lexi went on.

"Captain Samwise, I understand that you might feel that my statements were a bit deceptive, perhaps. To tell you the truth, I was concerned that if I reported my reasoning, Federation Command would have hampered the initiative, and I honestly believe that this is the most important thing that can and must be done at this time.  We are already late in the game on the molecular cloud, and it could be too late as it is. And so I didn't want to take the risk that the deliberation process among Federation officials would get bogged down in a bureaucratic snafu. That is why I took the Mech without informing you in advance. This mission is too urgent to delay.  I had planned to inform you after the fact, from space, once I began the mission and had some hard data to report back."

"So you believe that if your analysis concludes what you suspect about the molecular cloud, that you can actually effect a change in the cloud? That you can prevent it from affecting the Earth?"

"I won't know that until I conduct the analysis, sir," replied Lexi.  "But it is possible."

"But based on your research, and the knowledge and technology that you have on hand, how do you even imagine that you could affect a solution without the Federation's help? With just one Mech?"

"In fact," replied Lexi, "I should point out that the Mechs were not only designed by Brain V as instruments of science, but they are also quite advanced instruments of engineering. With this Mech, given sufficient time, I believe I could utilize the resources in space to conduct whatever operations may be necessary. And since I do not need food or water, or sleep, I am perfectly capable of bringing the Mech's considerable powers to bear on the problem, even if it should take what you as a human might feel is a great deal of time.  So the answer to your question is, yes."

"Alright," replied Sam, realizing that arguing with Lexi was not likely to result in the course of action he wanted.  He paused to think about what Lexi had said. 

"I see your point, Lexi. Had you informed me early on of this plan, there is a good chance I would have stopped you, yes. And it is also likely that a bureaucratic process to evaluate your idea would have then been initiated, and it may have turned into a snafu. This is also true. I won't deny that."

"In fact," replied Lexi, "there is an 81.7% chance that you would have engaged me in a bureaucratic process, which would have had a 94.3% chance of been bogged down in political debate. Given the slow communications between you and Federation Command, there was too great a risk of an unwarranted and unacceptable delay. No offense intended."

"None taken," replied Sam quietly. "Well, Lexi, I have another problem with you running off by yourself."

"You do, sir?"

"I have just received a sample of the Ultra-Drug," said Sam, pausing there for emphasis.

"The Ultra-Drug?" asked Lexi with a surprised tone. "It was my understanding that no such samples should exist."

"It was a surprise to me, also," replied Sam. "I was hoping to get your assistance in analyzing the samples I received to find a way to synthesize a safer version.  If we can resolve the Cat's Paw Dilemma then --"

At that moment a brilliant white light blazed through the front windows of every vessel in the vicinity. Fortunately the Mech's all responded by instantly deploying Radiance-Shielding across every window, otherwise the crews would have likely been permanently blinded, if not worse. As it was the blindness was temporary, and in a few moments they could see again. The Mech's shielding absorbs high energy light, but allows lower frequencies to pass harmlessly through. Hence they were able to see what was happening outside through the front windows after a few moments.

And what they saw was beyond shocking. The entire north pole of the moon had suddenly been engulfed in an enormous nuclear explosion. A huge plume of white hot gas and dust was rising over the surface of the moon.  The instrument panels on the vessel's dashboards had all lit up with warnings and alarms across multiple spectrums.

"What the HELL was that?!" exclaimed Captain Samwise. They tried zooming in with the Vizi-Screens, but they had been rendered temporarily inoperable, and showed only a frazzled white static across their view-plates. Samwise tried to remain calm as he considered the implications of this astonishing event.

Fred, who had earlier take a few green and purple pills, was in a daze. But this woke him up.

"What the FUCK was that?!!" he sputtered as he stared out the window. "That's impossible! What was it? An asteroid? It must have been monster-sized! That needs to be checked out!"

"Major Sekston," Sam barked into his mic, "can you read me?"

"I can, Captain," she replied over a thoroughly static-filled radio wave.

"What do you think could have caused that?" he asked.

"That was the largest nuclear blast I have ever seen," she reported.

"Yes," replied Sam. "It needs to be checked out."

Lexi's voice came over the speakers, crackling and static-laden. "I am picking up a significant amount of radiation from the blast, Captain Samwise. By the size of the explosion, I estimate it was somewhere in the 500 megaton range.  I do not believe bombs of this size were ever contemplated in any military command I have knowledge of.  Even the largest bomb ever tested, the Soviet Tsar Bombe, was only 50 megatons."

"Could someone even have launched a nuclear missile from the Earth at the moon?" asked Fred, furiously calculating on his keypad.

"It is possible that an ICBM was launched and struck the moon," said Lexi, "but I see no evidence of such a launch so far."

The Mechs could move at twenty-five thousand miles per hour, and so could get to the moon in nine and a half hours at maximum speed.

"Lexi," asked Fred, "Would you be willing to meet us at the moon, if we go to investigate?"

"Under the circumstances," replied Lexi, "I have no objections.  However, you would not want to get too close to the site.  Radiation intensity is extremely high."

"How far out would we need to stay?" asked Fred.

"I would say that by the time we get there, at least 80 miles," answered Lexi.

"We appreciate your coming with us," said Fred. "We could use your Positronic-Brain to figure this one out."

"I will be happy to be of assistance, if I can," replied Lexi.

And so the two Mechs directed themselves towards the moon.

"Captain Samwise," said Lexi after about five minutes of transitioning trajectories.

"Yes, Lexi?"

"My forward sensors are picking up a radiating source in near-space. It is a relatively weak signal. I am forwarding the our Vizi-Screen view to your onboard system."

Samwise switched the Vizi-screen from Forward Sensor Array Mode to pick up the transmission, and plotted the exact coordinates into the navigation control system. He saw once again the same blips they'd seen earlier but forgotten about. They appeared much more clearly now, as Lexi's Mech was two hours ahead, and the view from his ship much closer in. It was a set of fifty static blocks, and then another set of blocks outlined in red, about a thousand yards from the first set, and set in a single line. Whatever this was, Samwise had no idea.

Meanwhile, on Shadow Hawk, at this time, our heroes had dispatched the terrible Moon-Entity, and Vallnam had just finished Mind-Probing the technicians to validate their mental states, with results he found quite acceptable.

"So," said Captain Samwise, "we just witnessed a massive nuclear explosion on the moon, and now we are seeing a string of radioactive signatures seventy-five thousand miles off of Earth's orbital plane. Very interesting. I suspect these two things may well be linked.  I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that if what happened on the moon just now also happened on Earth, that would be the end of civilization right there. We need to find out what those blips are, and we need to find out yesterday."

"It should take us about two and a half hours to get to where the blips are located," said Major Sekston, "while Lexi should be there in approximately a half hour at his current speed."

~~~ *** ~~~

Meanwhile on Shadow Hawk, Vallnam was pleased to know that the technicians were safe to bring to Earth. They were still observing the moon, the north pole of which was covered with a fierce red glow. Jacob left Nikola Tesla with the technicians on the UFO while he teleported back to the deck of Shadow Hawk to confer with Ling and Vallnam. For their part, the technicians were awed and amazed to see Nikola alive, and were quite effusive in their exclamations of admiration and joy. He was probably the third most famous person in Eisenhelm, and was considered the primary architect of the fortress, and the inventor of many of it's most advanced designs and mechanisms. It was he, in fact, who had created the Red-Mercury Plasma-Vortex engines for the UFOs, created their navigational control systems, the stealth technology, the metallic tape computer array systems, and a host of other equally fantastic inventions. He was the most esteemed technician of them all, until the Regime had turned on him, and imprisoned him for so-called "insubordination". They fawned all over the poor man, fed him whatever crackers and tidbits they could muster, and brought him a cup of hot tea.  He was pleased to see he hadn't been forgotten, and accepted their accolades without demure.  Fortunately, he'd had the foresight to equip the UFOs with Blackout-Glass, a material that acted in a similar fashion to the Mech's Radiance-Shields, and consequently the crews of both ships had been spared permanent blindness as well, but in their case it would be hours before they could see through their portholes again.

The three Shadow Hawk heroes were debating their next course of action. Although aware of the Mechs, they had not yet noticed the change in trajectory they'd taken. They were still seventy-five thousand miles away, and not of immediate concern.  A yellow indicator light on the control panel alerted Ling as to the change in the Mech's status.  She had other fish to fry at the moment, and so turned back to Vallnam who was still speaking.

"I think our next step is to rid the solar system of the remaining Cobalt bombs," he was saying. "I think, Ling, you were going to go to Earth with the technicians and introduce them to Federation Command."

"What's the status of the Giant Robots?" asked Ling.

"They have not been activated, yet," replied Jacob. "Once they're activated they will be able to fly themselves down to the surface of the Earth. They can't really fly around at will, because they weren't designed for that, but they should be able to land, at least."

"Alright," said Ling. "We need to finalize our plan. It's a given that we want to keep Shadow Hawk a secret. The UFOs are in Stealth Mode, so they're safe from detection at this point."

"Ling, you can take the fifty Robots, eighteen technicians, and two UFO's to Earth with Nikola, while Vallnam and I head out of the Solar System with remaining forty-nine Cobalt bombs," said Jacob as he tabulated trajectories, weights and speeds on his arm-mounted analyzer.

"I think I would need Jacob to help with bringing the Robots down to Earth," said Ling. "I'd like a backup since I'm going to be busy introducing the technicians to Federation Command."

"That would leave just me to fly the forty-nine bombs out into deep space beyond the solar system... alone... eh?"

"I don't know," said Jacob, "To be honest, Vallnam isn't the best pilot in the world, as you might recall."

"Maybe," replied Vallnam, annoyed by the aspersion to his skill, despite it's veracity, "but if you need a Tarot Reading, who you going to go to?"

"Anyway," interrupted Ling, "We haven't been listening in on what's going on with the Mechs.  I see they changed course.  Let's tune in and find out what's going on."

And with that they switched back to listening in on the radio frequency of the Mechs.  They noted the confusion and alarm among the Mech's crews, that they'd changed course, and noted that the lead ship would arrive shortly at their location. They had to make a move.

"They won't be able to detect Shadow Hawk, or the UFOs in stealth mode, but what about the Giant Robots and the bombs?"

"I don't see why they wouldn't be able to detect that giant radioactive junk pile," replied Jacob flatly.

"And the Giant Robots?" asked Ling.

"It's not as if those giant hunks of metal are exactly stealthy or anything," he said.

"This could be a good case of kill a few birds with one stone," offered Vallnam. "We can contact them from the UFOs, which they already know about, and explain what happened on the moon."

"So who is doing what in what order?" asked Jacob.

"You and I are going to go with the UFOs to meet the Mechs," replied Ling, "and introduce the technicians as 'people we rescued from the moon', while Vallnam flies the bombs away in Shadow Hawk. That way they won't have a chance to see Shadow Hawk. Once we explain to Sam what happened, he won't need to go to the moon to investigate, and we can bring everyone back down to Earth."

"What if Vallnam runs into trouble on his way out of the solar system?" asked Jacob. "I mean what if he runs into a meteor storm, or aliens, or anything unexpected?"

"I am assuming that I can put Shadow Hawk on auto-pilot and it will know what to do," replied Vallnam.

"Well, no," said Ling. "I don't think so. Shadow Hawk relies on us to provide directions.  She can do amazing things, but we have to tell her what to do.  I don't think she will do anything of her own volition.  But maybe we can help from afar since we'll be wearing our Shadow Hawk suits and those are in some way linked to the main ship, anyway?"

"Well, I'm not so sure, but there's a lot of unknowns," replied Jacob. "No one has ever gone out of the Solar System. This isn't a little thing we are going to do. We plan to take the bombs outside the Oort Belt. No one has ever done anything like this before. We have no idea what to expect. And no, I don't think Shadow Hawk is going to make any decisions for us. We need to tell her exactly what we want her to do. I think we should be treating this more like a major adventure, not just a quick little Sunday jaunt to the country. I'm pretty sure that leaving the Solar System is going to be kind of a big deal. Sending Vallnam flying off with forty-nine 500 megaton Cobalt bombs out into the depths of space by himself just sets off all kinds of red alerts in my head, you know."

"Well, now that you put it that way," said Ling, "I suppose you're right. You and Jacob can take Shadow Hawk out, while I head to Earth with the crew out there. That does make sense, after all. I'll manage with the Robots. It's fine."

Jacob and Vallnam both knew that this was like your girlfriend says, "No, no, it's okay. You go out with the guys and have fun tonight, and I'll just stay home by myself and watch TV. It's fine.  Really."

Nothing about that is going to be fine. No sir.  No way.

"My regards to Lt. Brisbane," said Jacob with a little smile.

"Yeah, definitely, me too," added Vallnam, twiddling his fingers.

"I know you won't forget, Ling," said Jacob, "that when you meet your dad, there's no need to say anything about Shadow Hawk. But what are we going to tell him when we come back? I mean like, do we have a cover story to explain where we just disappeared to for twenty-two hours?  I'm pretty sure he's going to wonder."

"Well, you don't need to come down to the planet," suggested Ling. "You guys could just pick me up when you get back, and we can take it from there."

"Oh that's right. We don't really even need to go back to Earth, do we?" said Vallnam.

"Maybe you can touch base with Linda when you're down there," suggested Jacob.

"Yes, I haven't seen her in a long time," replied Ling. "I hope she's doing okay." 

"From what I recall," said Vallnam, "Pita is like a superhero. I'm sure she's doing extremely well."

Jacob narrowed his eyes and said, "Hmmm... you and Pita have a thing, don't you?"

"Well you would too, if you hung out with him more," replied Vallnam with a laugh.

"It must be that gleaming smile of his," said Jacob with a dry smirk.

"Oh yes, and that twinkle in his eye," answered Vallnam enthusiastically.

"Ok, so I think we have a plan," said Jacob. "Vallnam and I will take the bombs and you'll go to Earth. But what are you going to say to Sam if he tries to commandeer you for Federation Command missions, and stuff?"

"What rank is he?" asked Ling.

"I believe Lexi is still referring to him as a captain," said Jacob.

"Fine.  He can't pull rank on me, as I'm a captain, too," she said, "And I'll just defer to my father if he tries.  I'm sure I won't have any trouble with Captain Samwise."

And with that, they settled on the plan.

 

And that is where we left things that night.