| We learn of the dark underbelly that Drederigo is a part of while Probe's
winding up to attack at 2147 . The man was part of a vile project to produce
super soldiers....out of the dragon's research on human subjects. Then
before all Hell breaks loose, we see that the top brass and the Corporation
has sent some people to look after things (and the plot thickens when we
see some side communication between an AI and a human) at 2147 also.
A few grenades latter, the Duke's troops are truly up the creek without a paddle. In the process of running to rally the troops, Dred gets a call he can't refuse....from Minestus (his boss). Damaged in mind, but still able to act, the drooling duke runs and grabs a horse, then rides off like one possessed. Fred and folks give chase while the female AI is freeing the prisoners in the dungeons and in process of securing the castle from the duke's forces (who are pretty much out of it with the tear gas). Fred finally is able to catch up with his father, and is shocked to see what has happened to him. The man is a drooling idiot....and agent to Minestus! Seeing the man's damaged mind, Fred decides to let the Duke get into the Southern Caverns and lead the adventurers to Minestus....letting Dred lead them safely around or safely through booby traps. Re: 2172 , 2173 , 2183 , 2188 ). Shocked at turn of events, the adventurers search for the means to follow. Meanwhile, the dark wyrm is winding up for the summoning spell (despite a few complications.... 2193 ). Minestus' spell is disturbed when the AI called Probe throws a flash/bang grenade right in his face! The spell instead pulls forth analogous people (besides the infants of Fred 3): 3 Freds, 3 Astras, 2 Synizns, 1 Sigin, and 1 Duke Drederick D'Honaire. That along with the Crystallics the Freds were carrying. They defeat the evil dragon by destroying his Hoard back in the
Southern Cavern's (a dragon's Hoard is linked to it's lifeforce) and retreat
from the ruins of Atlantis when water from the sea starts to leak in. The
mages are able to use the combined magical might of the extra Crystallics
to patch the holes in the magical dome of Atlantis and fall upon a deal
with the Military (brokered via Probe) for them to create a more permanent
and lasting dome made of ultrahard Alliance building materials so that
the mages and others are able to use Atlantis as a means of getting back
to their homes.....eventually (though the mages had little hope of being
able to find their home worlds....). In exchange for this, the mages will
try to find a cure for the Phage that keeps the Alliance from using the
mineral wealth of Tiberium on Terra Prime.
Those who are suffering from the effects of lycanthropy and are who wish it are cured of lycanthropy. Thus 2 sets of Freds and Astras, their children, and a Synizn are restored to their rightful forms. The analogs decide that for the time being that they must use nicknames to help distinguish themselves from their twins in speech and such. The three Freds and Astras put a number behind their nam (from 1 to three) while the Synizns take on the names that fit their form. That is one takes on the name of Demifox Synizn, one takes on the form of Dragon Synizn. The one from Terra Prime takes on the name of Manbear Synizn. They get Renamed by Malachi Dronocis, their sworn Dragon Circle leader, because a dragon's name is seen as being handed down by their goddess herself....and thus sacred. The names had to be changed in order for their goddess to be able to gather them at the end of their lives. They all also fall upon a problem. It soon becomes clear that damage done to the magical teleportation network left over from the days of Altantis has become dangerous and is threatening to destroy this world. This is not desirable by all parties (including the Alliance). The mages do have a way to shut down the slipgates with their Crystallics but will wait for the final signs so as to be able to use these powerful artifacts in the quest for a Phage cure. Somewhere down in the Southern Caverns a long vanished enemy reappears.
The Orcs! They've been able to overpower the magical wards that had been
damaged by the bomb that destroyed by Probe's atomic hand grenade and now
are back, ready to seek out vengeance and dominance over what they call
the lesser races.
In the meantime there are a few more mundane tasks at hand to handle.
Drederick, Fred 1 (with children in tow), Fred 2 (with children in tow),
and Astra 2 go to Walants (at the bequest of Queen Astra) to give aid AND
to help keep this annoying semilegal Malbacton smuggling city under Aqualarian
control. We also have Astra 3 and a small group of adventurers going off
in a quest of their own in the hopes that this world's version of Dr. Vincent
Priceless, with his combined knowledge of both science and magic (and how
to combine both) will be able to find a way to cure the hybrid sickness
of magic and science called the Phage.
But instead of getting help from this Vincent, they get sucked into a magical trap set up by him. Them and some other analogs who got sucked into Terra Prime by a malfunction of the Terra Prime slipgate system. These others had come together in an effort to find out just what
the heck is going on in this new world they find themselves on. They don't
go directly to their other version of themselves, for they've seen via
magic mirror that they seem to be cooperating with an alien group of golems.
See, the ones known as Dragon Fred and Malachi D'Honaire have mistaken
the Golems for the set of golems of their world who'd been a bit more than
a little hostile to them.......
They soon come to the conclusion after a while that there must be something
done more than merely try to spy via magic mirror to get information. They
go out and abduct (and inadvertently help) Inquirer (an AI of Probe's unit
and his daughter in a sense) and an analogous Alicia (Alicia 2).
Inquirer had come across a set of vampires (another Fred and a Master
Vampire called Varney) set on draining Alicia and another Astra of their
blood and the female AI had rescued them. Somewhere along the way, however,
this Astra had died due to the Phage (vice being drained of blood by the
vampires). It dawned upon Inquirer that there must have something been
missing within this Astra's makeup that allowed the Phage to effect her....something
lacking in her immune system that the resident Astra had. She had stored
the dead body for hopes of later analysis to find the lacking part in a
hope that would lead to a cure for the Phage. She then also lent medical
aid to the unconscious Alicia 2 and then went about reporting her findings
and hopes to the circling Military ships above. However, some double dealing
(secretly on the payroll of some Lizard operatives) Phantom Agents (the
Alliance's civilian branch of the intelligence gathering community) intercepted
the communication. They were able to send a signal that froze Inquirer
in pain so they could come down via their own Avatar units and eliminate
the possible cure of the Phage. The AI got converted to a true golem when
in the course of magically trying to garner information from her mind got
sucked into a magical gem. They melded the gem back to her Avatar body.....and
thus Inquirer became a golem in truth.
She allied herself with these other analogs (and Alicia 2) since she
knew that somebody up in the Military had to have been feeding the treacherous
Phantoms information to have been able to betray her so quickly. She needed
allies so she joined up with the allies here.
She then is sent by the Others to gather genetic material to get material
to compare the living Astras with the now deceased (and cyro-frozen) Astra
in search of a cure. She uses magical items that make herself invisable
and steals some combs and brushs that contain hairs from several living
Astras (and thus DNA in the strands of hair).
Later, after a small break where she performs a marriage ceremony between
Dragon Fred (who'd been human turned manfox, then turned dragon to join
with his new found love) and Malachi D'Honaire, the one known as Sigin
Vulpine (a Sigin turned demifox from Fred 4's universe), Carradene 2 (a
Carradene from Fred 4's universe), and Rosepaw (the vixen mate of Sigin
who'd become intelligent when he took her as a Dragonmage Familiar) had
planned a rather nice wedding present. It would benefit both newlywed AND
the world in general. The idea was to repair the ozone layer damaged by
the Enemy atomic attack with the two Crystallics they had. It would take
a while, but at least they could get a start with this first step. But
the Crystallics are intelligent (unknown to their users) and have something
of a sense of humor. They combine their powers with the other Crystallics
(who'd been instructed to perform the same task) and instead of taking
months or years....it took seconds (the combined powers of Crystallics
is multiplicative, not additive....and VERY powerful indeed).
This would lead to a mad scramble by the Others to try to find a cure
for the Phage, for the sudden repair of the ozone layer was WAY too public.
The Phantoms may figure out something is up and seek out to eliminate those
who had the means of curing the Phage in a more brutal and effective means
in desperation. In other words, they may lash out at Probe's group....and
Inquirer's group if they were found.
Thus eventually they fall upon the idea of enlisting this world's version
of Dr. Vincent Priceless (an analog of an associate of Malachi D'Honaire
back on her world).
They instead fall victim to the same trap that ensnares the other adventures. They are all collected and placed inside Dr. Vincent's mage tower. Inside the Tower were collected: (From the Manimal Universe) Dr.Vincent (ghost) Dragon Malachi Dronicis, Queen Regent of Ethiopia ManBear Synizn (From Manimal Universe 2) Dragon Fred Dragon Malachi D'Honaire (From Walants Universe 2) Dragon Synizn (From Walants Universe 3) Fred 3 Astra 3 Fred & Astra's 7 babies DemiFox Synizn Dragon Sigin Dr.Vincent (living) (From Walants Universe 4) Carradene 2 Sigin Vulpine Rosepaw Sigin & Rosepaw's 12 kits (From Vampire Universe) Alicia 2 (From Alliance Universe) Probe Inquirer a Phantom intelligence officer (From Lizard Empire Universe) 3 Lizard soldiers The ghost Dr.Vincent reads his captives' minds (in the process, the living Dr.Vincent learns everything his ghost counterpart does) and then the ghost tries to possess the body of the AI Inquirer. He is repulsed and flees to his dead body which is hidden in the Tower. Inquirer read the ghost's mind during the aborted possession and both she and the living Dr.Vincent have discovered some unsettling secrets. Some of the Alliance Phantom operatives are allied with the Lizard Empire. (To do what?) The Phantom operatives are an example of "good cop turning bad." Basically, the operatives had been bought off by the Lizards. Thus, the Lizard soldiers were able to get so close to Terra while it was guarded by the Military. If any Military official came aboard, they'd find the Lizards in holding cells awaiting interrogation and eventual liquidation according to the subverted Phantom operatives. The operatives don't feel bad about betraying the Military, for THEY know that as soon as the planet is secured by the Military, and the Military uses the Tiberium to batter the Enemy into oblivion.....that the Military will turn it's eyes upon Home and try to "set things right." The Company had been preparing for that day, but with the wildcard that Terra represents, it threw everything into disarray. The Company had even LESS time now than they'd thought they'd had. The operatives were just doing what they felt was right, and making a quick credit or three on the side. If the Lizard Empire can't have the world, they will blow it up. But first they must deal with the ghost of Dr.Vincent. He hasn't been defeated but will return soon. So they decided to blow up the Tower, thus incinerating his remains and sending him off to the great beyond. However, there might be a chance that the ghost somehow was able to recover before the destruction of his Tower and teleport his body elsewhere, out of harms way (Author note: that's EXACTLY what he did, and now vows vengeance for the destruction of his lovely Tower). In case the ghost's body remained intact, the Regent of Ethiopia is in the process of contacting an old friend, one Belboz the necromancer (not evil as his other counterparts from other realities....surprisingly). A necromancer should be able to more easily ascertain the status of the ghost of Dr. Vincent, hopefully. While they await the return of the ghostly necromancer, the dragons and the other magic users are busily using the combined might of five Crystallics to heal the wounds the Lizards have inflicted on Terra. They remove the radioactive scars left upon the land, replace the vegetation that had been burned away. They also heal the people who were suffering from radiation sickness. At last, exhausted, the adventurers in Ethiopia are relaxing around the diner table, congratulating themselves on a job well done. They aren't so happy when they find out that something is afoot in other parts of the world. Down in Panaras, the Pack is happy that they had finally been able to get their ambassador, Astra 1, off so she could finally do what she'd been hired to do, when the news that Manbear Synizn was missing puts them into a tizzy. They finally find out, after a few hours of searching, that the Manbear got sucked into the dungeon's of the ghostly Dr. Vincent, but was alive and well. Still, their was a sense of tension in the air. They found out what was wrong in a bit. Now, there is one other faction arrayed against a cure for the Phage. There is the Enemy, who doesn't want the Alliance to have Terra for obvious reasons. However. there are also factions within the Company who have enough forward vision to see what will come of the defeat of the Enemy so soon! They had been stockpiling resources for the upcoming war between Company and Military in the hopes that enough of a show of force could casuse the Military to perhaps await and see if this faction could actually carry our it's plans of reform so a Civil War wouldn't be necessary. "Civil war?" you ask? Well, let's just say that the Company hasn't been doing a too good of job at governing (in fact....did a piss poor job of it). Home has become something out of a Bladerunner novel, and the Military isn't too happy about this. The Military has said on occasion that the Company needs to clean up it's act, but to no avail. Now, if the Alliance/Enemy war ends soon (and with the Tiberium of Terra....it'll happen), the Military will turn it's eyes on the Company and wrest control from it. The resulting Civil War will kill a lot of people, and that's what Seeker's faction is hoping to avoid. Seeker has taken on the appearance of the Oracle, a revered prophetess from the land of Aqualaria. The AI murdered the original so that he could fashion a body that mimicked the old lady, then he set off so that he could gain the trust of either Astra or Astra 2 so as to latter make it easier for him to get close and kidnap them....and use them as a bargaining chip. The AI would demand the Crystallics for the Astras. In doing so, the AI hoped that the loss of the Crystallics would stop any hope of a cure for the Phage. Well, it worked with Astra 2. Seeker found that the defense forces surrounding Astra didn't make him confident that kidnapping her was feasible...... However, with the fallout of the betrayal of the Phantoms became known, it caused the shadowy allies of Seeker to panic, and thus set the AI off to hurry up his time table. Seeker tried to capture Astra 1 (who'd renamed herself Para-Astra in relation to the "revelation" the Oracle had revealed to her), but was having no luck. The sleep gas grenade had gone off, but Fred 2 and Astra 2 had enough wit to cover their mouths and get away from the AI when it had tried to collect..... The short of it right now is that a suspicious Astra has discovered the deception, and she and Will have contacted Fred the Manfox for aid. Fred has contacted Malachi Dronocis for a magical lift to Walants to protect Astra 2. The dragoness gave 2 Crystallics to Inquirer (who was now a mage from the knowledge she'd gotten from the ghost Dr. Vincent's failed attempt to displace her from her gem), and the group of manimals (Fred, Alicia the Shefox, and Loam)....along with Probe and Inquirer appeared in the midst of Walants, and quickly tracked down Astra 2 (through the sound of battle between her and Fred 2 against Seeker). Oh, before I finish here, Astra 2 has discovered that she's in love with Fred 2. Fred 2 was more than willing to sacrifice his life so that Astra 2 could escape Seeker. This touched Astra 2 to the core, and the Amazon warrior found that she was now in love with Fred 2.
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