++ Distress signal caught ++
++ Signal source [TAZ]King.Kong.Kabal ++
++ Data node ++
++ IKN-Zakkenayo::We will avenge our fallen ones..++
++ BHG|Gilgamesh'.Genji::now, this space if for the Core ++
++ %Attacked by numerous vessel bearing various flags% ++
++ Amatsu-Mikaboshi::one mind, one goal.. ++
++ IKN-Zakkenayo::Show no mercy ++
++ %Shields failure% ++
++ Tengoku.Kyoi::one purpose ++
++ Gerrit.Reuter::Zoner. You are in violation of Directive 8 mein friend. ++
++ Mikazuki::No mercy. Fine by me ++
++ Mikazuki::No mercy then ++
++ %Hull integrity failure% ++
++ Wilde.Zweifel::" they are unable to defend any of them...." ++
++ Wilde.Zweifel::" They are doomed to die...." ++
++ Wilde.Zweifel::" You have chosen your way....you have chosen your destiny...."
++ %Corrupted data detected% ++
++ End of node ++
++ Distress signal lost at 180:240:290 ++
++ Pods signals caught ++
++ Pods signals lost ++
++ Pods signals lost ++
++ Pods signals lost ++
++ End of feed ++
The vision of a ship, hunted by plenty of vessels...
The vision of that spaceship, destroyed...
The vision of the debris of what was once a fine and pleasant home for the member of his cabal..
Josh sighed and opened his eyes. Each time he was trying to rest, he was seeing the end of his beloved ship.
He sat up and took a look at the others members of the cabal.
Brother Reverend Magoun was shaking his head, reading aloud what appeared to be "the curse of greyface".
He could hear him whispering "...was sinful because it contradicted the ways of Serious Order. "Look at all the order around you,"...".
Despite the lack of light in the cabin, he could notice the bags under his eyes.
He turned his head and looked at Sheelah and Katelinn pressing against eachother to keep some warmth.
Josh suddenly shivered. That was right... It started to be so damn cold inside that bloody escape pod.
Looking back at them, he sighed again. He couldn't say if they were asleep or not.
He looked around to find the last pope... Lao...
"...And from that, he deluded honest men to believe that reality was a straightjacket affair and not the happy romance..."
Ignoring Magoun, he moved to the small astrogation room. He found him there, trying once again to boost the distress signal of the pod.
Putting his hand on Lao's shoulder, he said "Any good news?" "I'm afraid not, Josh the Dill... It seems we derivated a lot due to the attraction of this dark star... And i believe we left since a while the regular navigation routes."
Josh sighed once again "Yes... That's what we were afraid of." He patted on Lao's shoulder a couple of times "Get some sleep anyway. You're here since a while. I will take the watch"
Lao stretched and reluctantly left the room, looking at Josh's face "Seems you need to sleep as well..."
Josh sighed another time and collapsed into the small chair.
He could still hear the brother reverend reading in a drone "...at that particular time, for absolutely no one thought to observe all the disorder around them and conclude just the opposite. But anyway..."
He then heard Lao saying "Damnit Magoun! Stop it already"
The man known as Josh the Dill, founder of King Kong Kabal, shook his head and thought about the bloody mess they were in.
He had no clue if the other members of his cabal survived... They had to leave the King Kong Kabal in emergency and even if his pod was the last to launch, he couldn't say if the others made it.
Two weeks... Two weeks they were in the pod, waiting for someone to catch their distress signal. They barely had enough supplies to hold one more week...
Josh looked at the makeshift job Lao did to boost the signal and almost grinned. He then tried again to reach someone "Kallisti. This is Josh the Dill of the Discordian vessel King Kong Kabal. Anyone reads me? We need some help here..."
He stopped to think about who would receive this call. Would they be saved by fellow zoners? By an improbable Order ship doing some exploration far from the regular navigation routes?
He frowned. ...Or they could simply be found by some infested pilots... By slavers... Or by Corsairs who would just take everything they can and leave them here...
"Our fate is in Eris's five fingered hand" He whispered...
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He was taking a break at Freeport 11 after escorting some Zoner traders to the station. He had finished a meal and returned to his ship to do some systems checks. As he was, strange signals crossed his coms.
"Kallisti. This is Josh the Dill of the Discordian vessel King Kong Kabal. Anyone reads me? We need some help here..."
The message repeated itself once, then again but with some breakage and finally, nothing.
"Dammit!" he hollered. He increased the power to his com array and made a broadcast, "Josh, this is DeGarmo on the Moonstone. Where are you?"
He was ten years old and lost in the temple labyrithian corridors.
The young boy he was could hear the voices of a congregation, coming from no where.
Mine brain has meditated on the spinning of The Chao;
It is hovering o'er the table where the Chiefs of Staff are now
Gathered in discussion of the dropping of The Bomb;
Her Apple Corps is strong!
He turned left at the next junction. As he was walking, the corridor became darker and darker. Uncertain, he looked behind. Nothing could be seen.
The young boy he was felt like crying. His father left him here, alone. He told him he had to finish the trip alone.
Josh took his courage in both hands and started to advance again. The voices could be heard, Closer.
Grand (and gory) Old Discordja!
Grand (and gory) Old Discordja!
Grand (and gory) Old Discordja!
Her Apple Corps is strong!
He chose to move right at the next junction.
After a few minutes, the corridor became bloody illuminated. He had to almost close his eyes to not be blinded.
With difficulty, he kept walking. The voices were even closer now.
She was not invited to the party that they held on Limbo Peak;
So She threw a Golden Apple, 'sted of turn'd t'other cheek!
O it cracked the Holy Punchbowl and it made the nectar leak;
Her Apple Corps is strong!
Josh suddenly faced a large door. He put his hand on the handle, uncertain if he should open it or not.
The voices stopped a few seconds ago and he found the sudden silence oppressive. The young boy he was tilted his head and opened slowly the door.
A priest and four Brothers were standing on the corners of a pentagon drawn on the floor. As if he was reacting to an automatic reflex, Josh moved to the center of the pentagon.
He then realized he was not anymore a child. Less pleasantly, he also noticed he was now naked.
Josh mind was almost catching on the references of this dream. And he was close to understand he was actually dreaming. Or was he?
The four brothers assumed a squatting position and returned to a standing position... Four times.
The priest looked at him with a strict face. Assuming a theatral voice he said
"I, Malacypse, Epsikopos prime, Ordained Priest of the Paratheo-anametamystikhood of Eris Esoteric, with the Authority invested at me by the High Priest of It, Office of the Polyfather, The House of the Rising Podge, POEE Head Temple; Do herewith Require of Ye: "
The priest grinned and gave him an amused look.
"ARE YE A HUMAN BEING AND NOT A CABBAGE OR SOMETHING?"
Strangely, Josh couldn't speak. He nodded.
"THAT'S TOO BAD. DO YE WISH TO BETTER THYSELF?"
Josh nodded once again.
"HOW STUPID. ARE YE WILLING TO BECOME PHILOSOPHICALLY ILLUMINIZED?"
He nodded for the third time.
"VERY FUNNY. WILL YE DEDICATE YESELF TO THE HOLEY ERISIAN MOVEMENT?"
The priest, the brothers, the room with the pentagram... Everything disappeared in a blink. Josh opened his eyes, noticing someone was tapping on his shoulder.
- "Hmmm?"
- "Josh... You're alright? I thought i heard a voice"
That was the voice of Katelinn. He turned his head to look at her.
- "Hey... Erm... I think i heard it too"
She studied him for a while and smiled softly
- "You did? You were mumbling something about cabbages... Got some visions again?"
Josh looked away, not sure how he could explain what he experienced. The memory of the... dream... Was going away anyway.
Meanwhile Katelinn was checking the logs.
"I'm sure i heard something. It woke me up... Ah! There it is!" She smiled "Look at this! Someone received our transmission!"
Josh raised an eyebrow. That was good news... However... He checked the logs, afraid to see the signature of someone they should be afraid of. He sighed of relief when he saw the TAZ signature.
"We're lucky it seems."
He noticed he was talking to himself. Katelinn already moved back to the cabin to inform the others.
He took the communicator, hoping there was enough juice to send another message.
"DeGarmo... You are Christopher, right? Eris that's good to hear your voice, old chap."
Josh allowed himself to grin quickly.
"Now about where we are... That may be problematic... Looks like the astrogation instruments are upset due to this dark star... The Kabal was destroyed in Kiribati field, and i believe we were attracted by this black hole... To the extent we left the regular navigation routes. You are the first one to reach our signal, so far"
Josh paused and cleared his throat. He was afraid to ask, but had to.
"Tell me, Chris... I doubt you have good news... But i need to know...Did you receive any signal from the others pods of the Kabal? I don't know what happened to the others members of my cabal since we left the ship."
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Chris made his way to the position provided in the Kiribati Field. He hoped not to have to use them but his weapons were hot. As he got closer, he began triangulating there position. As he did, he spoke to keep them occupied.
"Josh, you are the only signal I received. I'll expand frequencies a bit to see if it makes any difference."
At the fringe of his scanning range, he picked up an object, a pod. He moved at impulse to get his direction. Once that was confirmed, he headed to the pod at cruise speed.
"Josh, sit tight. You are within tractor range," Chris announced. Almost immediately, he tractored his pod into the cargo hold where some crewmen went to tend to him.
"We've got him, Sir," announced one of the crew over his com badge.
"Awesome!" Chris answered, "if he's up to it, send him up here. Maybe he can help me find the others.....if there are any others to be saved."
While he waited, Chris scanned the area, continuing his search, his guns still hot.
Josh sighed when he heard Chris's answer. He then moved back in the small cabin to inform the others they were about to be tractored.
They looked relieved, happy even. Josh was sharing their relief, but he had concerns bothering him as well.
After a short while, the pod's airlock opened.
Sheelah curiously sticked her head out of the pod and smiled when she saw the crew men. "Hey..." She looked back "Looks like we're saved! I stopped to hope so.."
The five survivors walked out of the pod.
Josh looked at Sheelah and Katelinn. The two ladies soon sat on the ground and started to discuss about trivial things. A way to let the tension go away, he guessed.
Lao was looking around, obviously trying to identify the origin of the tech used on this ship.
Magoun's was leafing through his book, certainly trying to find a passsage fitting the circumstance.
Josh would have enjoyed to stay with them a bit, however he had to see Chris.
He moved to a crew member and bowed "Kallisti. My name is Josh the Dill. Thanks for your help gentlemen." He smiled "I have a request however. I would like to see your captain as soon as possible; Mr. DeGarmo, that is"
The man nodded "Actually, he wants to see you too. I will escort you to the bridge, if you like."
"Much appreciated. Please give me a few seconds however" He turned back "Friends, i must see Chris. Stay here, or wherever our hosts wish you to stay." He grinned timidly "Oh... And please don't mess around too much. Thanks. I will be back soon." He waved at them and followed the crew member...
~~~
Josh entered in the bridge and noticed a man with long hairs. "That must be the infamous guitarist" he thought.
He seemed to be absorbed by his task, so Josh stepped there and waited a few seconds.
"Ahem. Kallisti, Mr. DeGarmo" he said with a grin after a while. "Thank you for rescuing us"
Josh then made a somewhat embarrassed face "Erm... Apologies for the smell. I believe we didn't take a real shower since two weeks."
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Chris snickered a bit, "Famous? No but I appreciate the sentiment." He then continued, "There isn't a place to freshen up beyond some crew quarters. They'll have to do. I'm just glad to see that you are all in one piece."
Chris looked at him, "Should I keep scanning or is everyone accounted for? I don't want the Nomads to de-cloak and overrun us too."
"Well... We were fifty five on the Kabal... And... Hmm" Josh thought a bit "Six pods launched form the Kabal"
He sighed "I have no idea where the others pods are however... I could contact them..."
Josh paused, gathering his memory "We were attacked by those ships... Erm... Actually i think the crew of those ships were infected. Would explain a lot of things... Then..." He thought for a while "There was quite a battle after that... Between those ships and an order fleet, i believe..."
He shrugged "So... Maybe some pods were tractored by an order ship.... If so... There may be hope to see some of my friends again..."
Josh sighed "If they were tractored by those hostile ships... well... I'm afraid there is not much hope"
He looked around "And... They could be here as well... Somewhere.... You see, Chris, i don't have much intel to help finding them. I was hoping someone caught their signal by now..."
He looked at him "But i will understand if you decide to leave the area... I mean... The place can be really dangerous and i wouldn't want to cause more deaths."
Josh rubbed his coat as if he wanted to remove some dust of it. "The decision is not an easy one to take... You are in charge here however. Your call"
"Ahem... Let's headback to the freeport then" Josh said, noticing Chris hesitation. "I will see there if i can hire some people to search extensively around here... I need to do everything i can to save my people"
"You did a lot already" He patted on Chris's shoulder and headed back to the hold of the gunboat. He found there the remaining members of his cabal.
Brother reverend Magoun was reading to them the Book of Uterus. Some members of the crew, curious, were listening to Magoun's preach.
The two ladies seemed to have fell asleep and Lao was commenting the doubtful parts of the diatrib... Which was pretty much everything of it.
He waked up the two ladies and asked to a crew member "Could we have a cabin... With a shower preferably? We would really need one" He grinned softly...
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Having searched the area for more survivors and found nothing but debris, Chris powered up his cruise engines and headed for Freeport 11. His first officer took the controls while he escorted the two ladies to a crew cabin.
"I do apologize, Ladies, but this is more of a combat vessel and crew quarters are limited as are showers," he explained as he escorted, "but, these will have to do."
He brought them to some crew quarters, each with a personal shower. "If you need anything else, do let me know."
Chris returned to the bridge and continued the flight back to Freeport 11.
Josh sighed and sat on the little quarters.
The others were relaxing and waiting their turn to take a quick shower.
He wanted to close his eyes and take a little nap but they would surely arrive to the freeport soon.
Sheelah appeared, drying her blonde hairs. She sat near him and laughed.
"Lao and Katelinn are fighting... To claim the shower cabin"
He smiled quickly "Magoun?" "He's trying to separate them i think..." She chuckled "And..." She stopped.
From the bathroom, they could hear them bicker. Magoun was trying to calm them down. "Lady... Gentleman... Don't make me declaim a zen story again." "Oh shut up Magoun! Go back to your hole." "Ouch! Don't pull my hairs!" "One night in a coffee house, a self-ordained Zen Master said to him, "go to the dilapidated mansion you will find at this address which I have written down for you. Do not speak to those who live..." "Damnit Magoun!"
A few seconds later, Magoun emerged from the bathroom, trying to escape from Katelinn who was hitting his head with his Principia Discordia tome.
"Well... Seems you're busy Katie... So i will take that shower first"
Lao closed the door of the bathroom. Katelinn stopped to run after Magoun "Oh snap..." "Please stop hitting me..."
Josh, slightly amused, sighed "...Calm down folks. Don't make me call Chris to send here some security guards"
Sheelah looked at Katelinn "Speaking of which... This Chris is handsome don't you think? First time i meet the guy."
Katelinn played with her left earing "Yeah... I guess... I heard he does some concerts at times in Canaria..."
Josh got on his feet reluctantly "I should take off before you two... Ahem..." He walked away and opened the quarters door "I will check where we are"
He tried to remember how to get to the bridge, thinking they should be close to the freeport already...