back to Journal entry 16, or the Iron Empires index

 

98 Apex 599 (or 29 July 12606 AD); presuming time is flowing along back home, the date there is the 13th of March, 2012 AD. For the residents of Hanzhou, on the planet Aleif, it's the 17th of September, 2280 AD. The Terrans are in Saint Peter's basilica -- known locally as the Thunder Pagoda -- in the Chamber of Wind and Thunder.

 

Along with the Thunder Knights of the Roman army, and a force of 120 Kerrn, the Terrans are defending the Pagoda from the forces of Hell which wish to recapture it. Much of the defense is being carried out by a couple of air-defense laser mounts brought through a Gate Ripper by the Kerrn. That first Gate Ripper is still up and functioning, providing the connection to Omshiip; the parts for at least one more Gate Ripper are being brought through the first one by the Kerrn. Besides the Kerrn defensive force, most or all of the Kerrn at the research station near Omshiip have come at least briefly through the Gate (to make themselves immune to temporality changes).

 

Within a couple of hours, a few thousand Kerrn arrive through the Gate Ripper; most immediately return. Heavier weapons are set up. Duke Hawksmoor leaves for the Gate of Dreams; the Terrans follow soon after, bringing a few Kerrn to the Gate of Dreams.

 

Back on Aleif, the rescued children are being checked out in the MASH-type hospital, and then flown to Hanzhou. The Terrans meet with the Roman Army officer in charge; they agree to remove most of the Roman troops in the area (to prevent making this spot too obvious a target), leaving only communications relays to interface with the Kerrn. The Kerrn don't want to be seen by the Vaylen, either, and remain in Hell.

 

Everyone gets a check in the Military Science skill, just for being around all this logistical hoo-haa.

 

The Terrans are flown back to Hanzhou, where there's a media frenzy! "Kidnapped children rescued from Hell! Brave foreign knights accomplish deeds of daring-do!" They are invited to a royal banquet to be held tomorrow night.

 

99 Apex 599

 

Lots of repairing, healing and so forth during the day; bouquets of flowers, poorly-spelled thank-you notes, etc.

 

In the evening, there's a big gathering, high in the main tower of the Inner City. The dinner itself is pretty formulaic, but mighty good for anyone's ego. Afterwards, the Terrans are asked to join the Thunder King, Duke Hawksmoor, the head of the Curia Speculatoria, and some other senior advisors for wine, walnuts and planning.

 

The Thunder King isn't particularly attached to the Thunder Pagoda; he doesn't like Hell much, and would just as soon never go back. A discussion of possibilities brings up:

 

• each of the Four Monarchs can, hmm, magically-telepathically contact any of their siblings, if both of them are in Hell

• each of the Monarchs can allow their own Pagoda in Hell to be destroyed (by removing the spells which protect it)

• a 3:1 advantage might be even odds to destroy a Pagoda from within:  that is, three Monarchs against one. But, it's never been tried.

• the Monarchs are mortal (though long-lived), and probably vulnerable to lots of weapons, etc. in a non-magical location (i.e., the Iron Empires juncture)

• persons who are at least 1/64th demon blood can't be taken over by naiven ... maybe even fainter traces of demon ancestry will do.

   

The Terrans (and the Kerrn) have Gate Ripper coordinates for the following locations:

 

• the Thunder Pagoda

• Omshiip, in the Iron Empires Juncture
  

• the Fire Pagoda

• the Vaylen research base on Britilthen, in the Iron Empires juncture
  

• 760 San Aleso Avenue, Sunnyvale, in the contemporary (2012) Juncture

• some "old" coordinate sets for locations in Hell, the 11th Century Juncture, etc. that probably don't work any more

 

The Thunder King agrees to help the Terrans (by contacting his siblings if needed, and by preparing to destroy the Thunder Pagoda); but in return, he requires them to complete a Quest.

 

The Quest of Sir Gawain's Infatuation

Sir Gawain has declared his infatuation with Princess Angelica. She is currently at the castle of Sir Medoro of Mahel, in the Kingdom of Uttar (although Gawain does not know this).   Gawain has a history of rather destructive rescues of women he's infatuated with. He in fact destroyed Castle Valk (Duke Namo's fortress) a week ago, but Angelica had already eloped with Sir Medoro.   Once Gawain finds out where she's at, he'll launch an assault on Sir Medoro's castle. The Roman Empire was involved in a war ten years ago; Uttar was one of the nations on the other side. The Thunder King does not want the Roman Empire to appear to be taking aggressive action against Uttar -- therefore, Angelica must be removed from Uttar before Gawain finds her.   Angelica's father is King Vantrid of Yoghini. She was abducted from her home a year ago by Sir Merfin of Humbaria. He in turn lost her to Duke Namo of Valk. She "eloped" with Sir Medoro from Duke Namo's castle a couple of weeks ago; Medoro has sworn to protect her.   Medoro's castle, Mahel, is located high in the Vadi Mountains of Uttar; it is protected by a score of Finshat troops. His crest shows a snake (technically a biscione) swallowing (or regurgitating) a man .   Angelica must be removed from Uttar, but not harmed; and not brought back (by the Terrans, anyway) to Hanzhou. The Thunder King will provide a mercenary/smuggling heavy transport aircraft to carry the Terrans and their Iron to Uttar, halfway around the world.

 

Heavy Strategic Transport Aircraft, Index 0

Two pilots, electronics/navigation officer, crew chief. STOL tactical lift aircraft, powered by 4 alcohol-fuel turbofan engines. Max takeoff weight about 250 tons. Cruise speed 1000 kph, NOE speed 250 kph, range 10,000 kilometers (on 100,000 liters/80 tons of alcohol). Can carry 75 tons of cargo, or up to 130 troops; loading through side doors or rear ramp. Index 0, cost 200,000 Σ.

 

100 Apex 599

 

O'Reilly draws up plans for the Iron Chute, and works with the Roman army to test and produce a half-dozen or so.

 

103 Apex 599

 

Testing drops of the Iron Chute. It's got about a 3:1 glide ratio, and in two test drops, lands within 300 meters of the target when dropped from about 2,000 meters.

 

104 Apex 599

 

Everyone gets to take their experience checks from the assault on Hell.

 

105 Apex 599

 

The Terrans, their Iron, the utility sled, and lots of supplies are moved by freight elevators down to the moat level of Hanzhou before dawn. Then they travel in a covered barge to the shore, and in several large trucks (in fact, they are some of the big articulated trucks used in the attack on the Chamber of Wind and Thunder) to a remote airstrip about 40 kilometers from the city. The large transport airplane is already there; the Terrans and their gear are loaded aboard, and the plane takes off.

 

The flight to the north flank of the Vadi Mountains takes about 12 hours, including some diversions around unfriendly airspace. During the flight the crew chief and pilots arrange some communications frequencies, telephone numbers, etc. with the Terrans. The plane will be passing near the camp every two days, in the mid-evening. Arriving after sunset, the plane lands on a wide, gravel-and-dried-mud plain; the Terrans and their equipment are unloaded in ten minutes, and the plane leaves. The Terrans establish their camp, covered by a big camo drape.

 

106 Apex 599

 

O'Reilly, Black and McClellan take the utility sled to scout the mountain near Mahel, about 150 kilometers from the camp. After observing from a ridge a couple kilometers away, they climb and sneak over near the castle, and send in a recon midge to scout the interior. The outside looks kinda like Jabba the Hutt's palace. There are only about 20 or 25 guards, and a dozen staff. The princess is in a guarded room, adjacent to Sir Medoro's room.

 

They return to the camp and sleep through the day. In the afternoon, a transport helicopter flies over the mountains from the southwest, and lands on the castle's helipad. After sunset they prepare for their assault:  O'Reilly and McClellan are in Iron, Burns and Black are in Anvil -- Burns will be piloting the utility sled. MacDougall remains at the camp, monitoring the radio and ... well, fretting, I suppose.

 

107 Apex 599

 

After midnight, the utility sled rushes to the helipad and lands! O'Reilly begins pot-shotting antenna, cameras, etc.; McClellan and Black bust through the door into the stairwell, and Burns begins using the utility sled to push the helicopter off of the helipad.

 

Black goes up to the security office and stuns the two guards on duty; but he sadly discovers that the local computers use different connectors, different programming languages, and in fact a different interface language (a dialect of Hindi) than anything he's got experience with.

 

McClellan heads down to the quarters level; there, he stuns a guard on duty in the hallway. Sir Medoro (a young, bald man with one arm) emerges from a door near the end of the hallway, and is promptly hit with a stunner round. McClellan enters Angelica's room by force; she trying to hide under her bed. While McClellan wryly observes her ineffective attempts at escape, he is shot in the ass from behind -- from someone across the hall! Fortunately, by then O'Reilly has arrived on the quarters level -- he fires a bomber HE round into the open door.

 

McClellan and O'Reilly bring the stunned princess up the stair; O'Reilly helps Black plant a bomb in the security room (oops, there were stunned guards there). The Terrans load themselves and the princess onto the utility sled, and speed back to their camp (which takes about an hour). The princess recovers from being stunned, but is still trussed up; it turns out she speaks Fed and Latin (her native language).

 

She's upset about being shot with a stun dart, and somewhat bruised and banged up during the escape from the castle; and about the lack of chivalrous behavior by the Terrans. She's apparently got no romantic feelings for Sir Medoro. Some back-and-forth on where she'd like to be "dropped off" reveals she would really hate being abandoned -- that would imply she is worthless! Maybe the Terrans would be willing to take her to the Theodicy of Nellish (a sort of city-sized convent)?

 

The Terrans contact the transport plane, which arrives within half an hour, lands for less than ten minutes, and off they go. The crew of the plane suggest going to the Conclave of Chordi, a smugglers' haven. However, before any decisions can be made, the plane is contacted by Uttarese interceptor craft. Crud!

 

The transport plane is being ordered to immediately divert to Drillshahad, or be shot down. The transport has no way of knowing where the interceptor aircraft are; the Terrans briefly consider trying to shoot down the interceptors, but decide not! The plane has been ordered to descend and lower its landing gear; O'Reilly suddenly remembers the Iron chutes! The transport crew agrees to fly slowly (about 200 kph) which will give the Terrans about an hour to prepare for bailing out -- after that, the plane will be over rugged mountains, or more populated/monitored Uttarese territory.

 

With the assistance of the crew chief, the Terrans prep the Iron for airdrop (half an hour's work) and load their gear into the utility sled. The transport crew suspects they won't be getting away from Drillshahad very soon.

 

Once the rear ramp opens, the crew chief starts throwing garbage, debris and illicit goods (the crew has a few) out the back. The plane crew says this is a pretty typical activity for a plane being diverted for a customs enforcement search. Once the storm of chaff and space blankets is at its peak, the five Iron suits are rolled off the ramp (on static lines), quickly followed by the utility sled with the five Terrans and Princess Angelica.

 

The sled, piloted by McClellan, dives/falls quickly for the ground, and (once there) quickly zips into a dark, overhanging ravine. The Terrans unpack their jumbled-up stuff and set up camp. A bit of time is taken to properly treat McClellan's butt-wound.

 

After dawn, Black and O'Reilly set out to find the Iron suits. Four of them are found before sunset, spread over many kilometers of rugged landscape; but Burns' remains missing. MacDougall dons his Iron to help with the search, and with loading the Iron into the utility sled. One at time, the three other suits are returned to the camp; all of this searching, loading, flying, unloading etc. keeps the Terrans busy till well after sunset.

 

A couple of largish transport helicopters (think Sea Stallion size) are seen flying out over the desert just after sunset.

 

108 Apex 599

 

In the morning, O'Reilly and Black get into their Iron, and fly out on the utility sled, driven by McClellan. Burns' Iron is found underground, in a collapsed lava tube; with a bit of work with ropes and Iron, it's extracted.

 

After stashing all five sets of Iron at the camp, O'Reilly, Black and McClellan fly the sled into the Gundadesh Collective -- it's an 8 hour trip, and they don't arrive at Pumping Station #12 (population about 500) until after dark. Fortunately, while the conditions at the Pumping Station are dirty and spartan, the "collective" is more like "hippie collective" than "Stalinist work camp". The locals mainly speak a variant of Fed Standard (aka English). They share (pretty basic) food and water with the Terrans. The Collective comrades tell the Terrans that any long-distance communications, mail, etc. would have to be done at Collective Center, about an hour's flight further into the dunes.

 

Thus the Terrans fly to Collective Center, population about 10,000. There's a proper airport there, and the Post Bureau, where O'Reilly makes a telephone call to the "managing partner" of the smugglers. He agrees to send another plane to Pumping Station #12 if the Emperor agrees to pay -- if the plane gets there, but there's no pay, it will go badly for the Terrans!

 

The Terrans fly back towards the camp in the Vadi Mountains, about a 9 hour flight.

 

109 Apex 599

 

The utility sled with O'Reilly, Black and McClellan returns from the Collective, and the Terrans begin the long, arduous process of moving their Iron, their gear, themselves and Princess Angelica to Pumping Station #12. This involves many trips back and forth in the sled. The princess isn't too thrilled with the shapeless Comrades' Coveralls she's given, or the Comrades' Chow she gets to eat.

 

110 Apex 599

 

A bit after dawn, a long-range transport zeppelin arrives at Pumping Station #12, and picks up the Terrans and their stuff.

 

Long-range Transport Airship, Index 0

A lighter-than-air vehicle, in the form of a triangular lifting body. It has a three-man crew (2 pilots and a crew chief); in military service one or two gunners may be added. Propulsion and most maneuvering is provided by four alcohol-powered turboprop engines, mounted in separate steerable pods on the sides. 2,500 liters (1.6 tons) of alcohol give it a range of about 2,500 kilometers; cruise speed is 250 kph, and the ceiling is 7,000 meters above nominal sea level. It can carry 40 or 50 troops (depending on seating and how they're equipped) or 12 tons of cargo. Some military models have door guns (one on each side, and one on the rear ramp). Index 0, cost 3,000 Σ.

 

The Conclave of Chordi, a sort of libertarian pirate town, is about 1,300 kilometers east of Pumping Station #12; the trip will take 5 hours. The Terrans discuss what do do with/for/about Princess Angelica, and how to summon Gawain without being stomped by him! They arrive at Chordi mid-afternoon.

 

It's 110 Apex 599; or 10 August 12606 AD; or 25 March 2012 AD; or 29 September 2280 AD ... the Terrans are in the rather piratical town known as the Conclave of Chordi, on Aleif. It's sort of like a libertarian version of a Somali pirate village -- very law-abiding within the town, very rapacious outside of town. People like everyone else to believe their agreements are binding.

 

By now, all the Terrans should have checks in Climb, Iron, Pilot Sled, and Spot Hidden.

 

On to Journal Entry 18