Agenda
Episode Eleven
"Invasion"
Adventure - Aberrant - Aeon Trinity
The three start taking down members of the Huang-Marr Conspiracy, with various affiliates of the group being tracked outside the wastelands of Paris and in the shadows of the New York arcology. Their trail leads them to find the final member of the conspiracy, a woman named Dita Disray who is currently hiding out at Eyrie Station. Wu telepathically extracts more and more information of the Conspiracy for later legal raminifcations.
But then it happens. A psionic backlash of such intensity that causes all the psions in the world to black out for a few minutes. The last time a backlash of this intensity occurred was when the Esperanza crashed and destroyed Paris. As they recover the terrible news reaches them: the Earth is under attack and a space station has become the front line of the conflict. Eyrie had lost over 75% of its population and the backlash caused by the hundreds of deaths was just the beginning of worse things to come. Strangely, almost as if in response to the massive deaths, the psions receive a sudden influx of psionic energy, boosting their innate Psi levels to new heights.
A group of Legionnaires were enroute to the space station to help and the three volunteer to assist. Autumn Lacierda Wu makes arrangements with the Legionnaire and Orgotek extends some assistance as well, providing the three with bioVAS suits. Arming themselves with weapons, the group quickly joins the Legionnaires in their shuttle and are blasted into space. The shuttle, enroute, suffers massive damage and the Legionnaires opt to eject from the shuttle all make their way to the control center of the station. Each player characters is escorted by one of the Legionnaires but due to none of the three having training in space combat, the three lose consciousness as they crash safely into the station.
Dr. Casperzak of the Aesculapian Order awakens alone. His Legionnaire escort is dead and he had no idea where the others are. Thankfully, Autumn's telepathic powers are strong enough to reach him, and she establishes a Network in order to keep in touch with him. Casperzak learns the others are currently engaged in combat, having landed in an area where the alien invaders, frog-like photomanipulative things called Chromatics are present. Eric Langley uses his Photokinesis abilities to detect the nearly invisible creatures and Autumn shares his perceptions with the Legionnaires, allowing them to target the aliens much more effectively.
As they fight their way to the Control Center, Casperzak early gets pinned down by a few Chromatics. The others discover a null-zone where all their devices (save for biotech) seem to fail them. As they approach the area, Langley creates a holographic duplicate of Wu and has it walk into the null zone. The hologram disrupts as well, leading them to realize the area seems to be some kind of localized EMP. Wu steps in, risking the danger, and suddenly a thin line of energy creeps out from the wall and dances into a fractal wave of crisscrossing energy that wraps around Wu without hurting her. The lasers whip around and the others discover there were Chromatics stalking them, but thankfully the lasers made them visible. As the bursts of gun fire bring the aliens down, Langely discovers the source of the lasers and EMP turns out to be the Prexy himself, Alex Cassell who is currently sitting half-delirious from a stomach wound that has left his intestines hanging out! Emergency services becoming a priority, Wu decides to try something she wasn't sure would work. Using her telepathy to its limits, Wu shares Dr. Casperzak's memories with Langley's, allowing Eric to access Casperzak's medical expertise to work with his own abilities to medically assist Cassell and cauterize the wounds. The treatment would at least allow him to survive a bit longer, until a more appropriate treatment can be administered.
The group finally meets at the entrance to the Control Center, with Casperzak using his powers to ease the pain Cassell was suffering from. Chromatics continued to close in on them, so the Legionnaires continued to delay them with gun fire while Langley and Cassell interfaced with the door to open it. As the door opens, however, gun fire erupts from inside and clips Wu on the shoulder. They file into see a woman cowering near the console units, with a dead body and a suit case nearby. The woman, they quickly discover, is actually their target, Dita Disray herself. She is easily disabled, and when the others grab hold of the suitcase, they open it to discover it contains weird technology that looks like nothing they have seen before. At least nothing any of them have seen, save for one person: Alex Cassell curses aloud upon seeing them and mutters, "Damn it! Doyen tech!" When asked what he means, the Prexy refuses to explain at first. But their attentions are pulled away as they realize the Space Station's main computer was not following their instructions. Langley, while interfaced, discovers what is going on. A rogue program was rewriting codes and when Langley attempts to affect the program, it reveals itself to be some kind of sentient energy form. As the group confronts the form, and the Chromatics swarm the area, the players begin to understand what they are exactly facing: the rogue energy form turns out to be the now insane Switchboard, who once was a super hero but now was so twisted by Taint and traumatized by being lost in space when she tried to ride a signal back to Earth after being left on the moon by Divis Mal.
The group attempt to overwhelm her with distractions, but the computer mind of Switchboard remains too complicated a force to be reckoned with. Langley could not do enough to disrupt her thought processes. But Casperzak comes up with an impossible solution and uses his Mentatis to relieve her of her madness, even if just for a few minutes. Wu attempts to convince Switchboard that she truly wishes to help her, and that she believes that things could be better if she could only communicate with them. Switchboard takes that as an offer and Transmits Wu and herself away, leaving the rest of the team at the Eyrie Station.
*
Axel Cassell admits everything to Eric Langley, and now explains to him what the Doyen are and why things have been revolving around Langley. The fragment of the code they had "copied" of Switchboard becomes the framework they use to create the Pax Program which they shunt through the Gravity Chamber to send into the past. And the German's secret visits and messages to Langley are explained further. The truth is, Langley isn't even a real person. He is a genetic duplicate of a man from the 1920s. A clone of the man named Samuel Warren. The German brings out the Mask of the Sleepwalker and asks Langley to wear it.
And as he does, Langley feels the strangely familiar voice of the Sleepwalker. And realizes he has never felt more complete until today.
"Time to save the world," the German admits, "Or at least, save our friend Michael Donighal."
*
Wu stares at the strange world she has been delivered to. Biotech towers and floating cities stretch across the horizon. Chromatics crawl around the aberrants like pets. And a handsome man with red hair and a friendly smile approaches her and reaches a hand out for a handshake.
"Welcome to Eden, Autumn Lacierda Wu. I am Michael Donighal, the man once known as Divis Mal. It is now up to us to try to save the world."
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