Uphill Battle

[Dracos]

Dracos glanced at Tom, ~You did hear that right?  Hopefully he'll be quick about it...but that's a bit more of a stretch in tech levels than I was expecting.  Though I suppose it fits, man going from the barest of cave living all the way up to seizing the stars.  The very dream of discovery.~

Dracos

[Brian]

Tom doesn't know what Phil is talking about, but it rapidly becomes clear.  A silver needle flashes down from the sky -- no, wait.  That's not a needle.  That's a gigantic length of hand-crafted space-vehicle, complete with glowing energy apertures.  They appear to be emitting the hum, as it turns out.

The thralls (and Quincy) all look up in alarm as it rumbles through the atmosphere trailing a stream of brisance.  That bright stream quickly fades as it comes nearer, perhaps 50 meters overhead, almost brushing the tallest trees.  Then it reforms from the barrel apertures around the central rotating ring of the cylinder, and a meters-wide blast of energy blinds everyone as it vaporizes a section of forest probably a half a kilometer away.  Another shaft of energy licks out just as everyone is recovering their vision, picking off some distant target, along with a few others -- but these are all narrower, tamer cousins to the one that reduced a neighboring vale into a streak of ash.

A klaxon sounds from above -- or actually, has been sounding this entire time come to think of it.  But then it cuts off, and a voice thunders through some amplification device on the ship: "Prepare for immediate boarding and retrieval."  Then the ship slowly comes about, hovers over the blasted area, and sinks until it can lower a ramp.  Belatedly, Phil and Tom realize that the craft is named, Starflare.

[Carthrat]

You know, Phil, when there's going to be a gigantic motherfucking spaceship coming to pick us up, it'd really be nice if you'd let me know before the fact. Not ALL of us are psychics, you realise!

"Ah. Yes, I see," he replies, dryly.

[Dracos]

"something tells me we should accept their invitation," Dracos glanced about before settling on Tom.

~Actually, I thought you heard Bjorn's greetz as well.  Guess he couldn't transmit to all of us at one go.  Anyhow, I'm curious as to what kind of Space  Captain Harlock figure he's ended up in.~

Placing a hand on Quincy shoulder he steadied the man a bit, "A surprise this might be...but let us see why it has appeared here.  It will be safe."

Dracos

[Carthrat]

Bjorn's in there? How did he find us?

With some trepidation, Tom nods at Phil's words. "A few of you should stay back here, but we'll go see what's up for now."

[Dracos]

~When you've had enough bullets fired at you, you will stop asking how allies show up,~ Dracos dispensed with painfully garnered wisdom of the ages.

"Doubtful...  If it was hostile, we are standing targets...if it isn't, odds are even a man on horse would have trouble keeping up," Dracos tries steering his horse gently towards the on ramp.

Dracos

[Carthrat]

You lost me, but alright.

"Call me picky, then," shrugs Tom. "I'd just like to know what's first."

[Dracos]

Dracos shrugged, continuing on, clearly years of deadly attacks had primed him to truly act cautiously.

Dracos
Ya roight.

[Bjorn]

On Riggins' heels, still in the Starflare's airlock, Bjorn waves to Tom and Philip, at once managing to convey "hi" and "hurry the hell up."  It might be difficult to make out his pygmy frame next to the much larger colonel, however.

[Carthrat]

Tom heads on board, peering up at Bjorn.

[Dracos]

Dracos waves the others on board behind him.  "So...Bjorn Christianson, I presume,"  He asks more for the benefit of others and to encourage the getting of whatever story involved this.

Dracos

[Brian]

While he's still Bjorn, he's also shorter and darker than anyone remembers him being.  The man in military dress (there are several, actually -- eight, plus one of obvious rank) smiles warmly.  The ramp's steps won't accommodate a horse, so he says, "Greetings, indigenous peoples!  I am colonel Westley Riggins, and would like to welcome you aboard His Majesty's Ship, the Starflare."  He pauses, frowning, as he eyes the obviously dressed priest.

The men surrounding him are all carrying rifles (but they aren't aimed at anyone).  At a glance, they are of vastly superior quality to the muskets, with a bit of a steam-punk feel to them.  Cannisters of glowing electrical energy seem to be screwed in as ammunition, flickering occasionally as the charge moves towards one end of the cannister or another.

"Er.  I'd like to ask you all to come aboard.  If your horses are a must, we'll prepare the gantry; shouldn't take more than a few minutes.  All the same, we should withdraw from this territory before anyone arrives.  That smoke flare will be visible beyond the Meridian."

[Dracos]

Dracos nodded and dismounted his horse, taking his stuff and not pressing the point, letting them handle the animal how they would. "Thank you,  colonel.  I suspect once the surprise dies down, we will come to appreciate your gracious welcome."

Dracos

[Brian]

A segment of the ship folds down from above, and a crane lowers a platform.  It looks big enough to carry two horses comfortably, and the pair of technicians handling it have hobbles and hoods -- all the gear required to load horses without them spooking too much.  Still, the operation will probably take a few minutes, all told.  Enough time to fetch the men left at the hilltop and bring them to the ship, at least.

"I do hope so," he says brightly.  "Please, this way?  Unless you need to fetch your friends...."  He glances pointedly at the hilltop, where about half of the freed thralls are still waiting uncertainly.

[Dracos]

"Tom, are you satisified?  Why not get the others and get ready?" He suggested, hinting tom off to gather the others and return, even as he walked on, resisting the urge to let his mouth run with the questions on his mind for now...

Instead letting his eyes do the talking for him as he caught Bjorn's gaze.  ~So...  shall we begin the debriefing?  Via your giant spaceship, I suspect you have more interesting things to share than I.~

Dracos