|
Being the journal of Void Engineer and Defender of the Border Nicholas Calen. The character of Nicholas Calen is a creation of Blake Sorensen, and may not be used without permission. |
|
|
Being the journal of Void Engineer and Defender of the Border Nicholas Calen. The character of Nicholas Calen is a creation of Blake Sorensen, and may not be used without permission. |
[Oak Island, July 19]
It occurred to me that I could use some sort of defense against Sterling's mental manipulations. While Arden and Derrick were discussing the 'spirits', I gave Ditmer a call. I knew there was some sort of 'Mental Interference' blocker device that PsiOps had been testing out, and wanted to see if he could get access to one for me.
Turns out he could, a small chip that fits behind the ear, just above the DEI port that should block any psionic intrusions. Hopefully it will be sufficient against Sterling.
Set up a quick Quantum Field Inversion targeted on my GPS, and received the chip. Went ahead and slipped it on and activated it while Derrick was exploring the well. I think he just wanted an excuse to get muddy.
[Moose Head/Oak Island, July 19]
Just as I was slipping on the mindshield chip, Mac gave me a call. Turns out Sterling wanted to have a word with Mac, Mark, and Johnny, and Mac wanted me to listen in, in case something went wrong.
It was a very interesting conversation, and Sterling made it clear that he's
1. not sure what's under the island, but believes it has the power to 'restore the balance'.
2. Being guided by the same mysterious sphinx entity that Johnny is, and has gotten a similar number of messages.
Also said that the other traditions consider him a fool. Interesting choice of words given the Ahl-i-batin/Celestial Master records of how they trained a 'fool' to fight the Devil King, and who would have no knowledge of the task set before him.
Sterling also apologized for trying out the mental whammy on the three of them. Says he normally uses it to make things go smoothly, and they were the first three 'Awakened' people who had shown up at the site. Most others simply protest the project from afar.
I told Mac to suck up to Sterling, and try and find out where he got his information. Turns out he'd found some old under the guidance of the Sphinx. So, whatever this sphinx is there's more than one, it's a group with multiple agendas, or it's schizophrenic. Whatever the case, it's manipulating a lot of power into positions to do something without giving anyone all of the information.
Also wants to meet with the rest of us. Not sure how I feel about it, but seems we have little choice if we want any hope of finding out the truth.
[Oak Island, July 19]
After Mac, Johnny, and Mark finished talking to Sterling, Arden and I kept looking around while Derrick explored the well. She kept saying something about how the spirits were in flux, then got a determined look on her face and told me to look away. I decided not to argue and went back to examining the excavations.
It was no wonder they'd had so much trouble. The very structure itself had been altered somehow - energized to manipulate itself into collapse if anyone should try and break through.
Arden's cry caught my attention, and I hurried back to find her seated in the mud, naked. Her arms were bleeding, and her knife and Tarot cards were...flying...around her head. I wasn't sure what to make of it, but Mac was still on the phone and relayed through Mark that it would probably be best just to leave her alone.
She did come out of it, about the time Derrick re-emerged, and said she'd tried contacting the Sphinx. Apparently this sphinx entity was less than helpful, even cautioned her about the dangers of contacting it, but did say that she was where she needed to be, and that the decision whether to open the thing would be made by the person who had to make the decision.
That got me thinking though. My only contact with this supposed Sphinx really doesn't fit the pattern. I saw the messenger, back in Vegas. There was no tagline about enigma, or the path to Ascension. Was someone else involved, playing the manipulation game? If so, who? And why? I know there was a plot against me, I confirmed that from the Iteration X data I pulled while I still had access.
The whole attack at 57 was a cover - far from being the one to call in the attack, I was one of the primary targets. Suppose I could tell the others about that, maybe they'd stop blaming me for the other deaths, but I honestly don't care enough to re-open it. Obviously, my 'death' at the hands of other agents didn't have the desired effect of getting my parents to back off of their support of the Plan, anyway.
But this manipulator who sent us to the club used the cover of the Sphinx. The pattern doesn't fit for it to be a genuine message from the entity the others are hearing from.
What does this mean, though? There's another entity out there in competition trying to place me in opposition? That would be an awfully arrogant supposition. More likely, ItX used the Sphinx as a cover to try and get me into their crosshairs, and Hwang, who apparently did get a genuine message, just grabbed me as a convenient asset. So, either I'm a pawn of another player, or a wild card. Would be nice to figure out which.
[Moose Head/Oak Island, July 19-20]
We were just getting ready to head back when Mac reported that Johnny had suddenly gotten a strange look on his face and just started walking out the door, not responding to anyone's questions.
I noticed about this time that the wind was picking up, and night was beginning to fall. It also smelled like rain was coming, which was odd, because the forecast had called for clear weather, and there wasn't really anything on the radar when I'd looked earlier that afternoon.
Derrick and Arden stood there dithering about the best way to get back and help track down Johnny, but I just left them to it and headed for the docks, figuring there would be something there I could use. And there was, a bunch of rowboats. The channel was getting kind of choppy, and the weather was turning bad fast, but I figured I could make it across.
I looked around for Arden and Derrick, but saw no sign of them. Wasn't that worried, they can take care of themselves. I pulled the boat out, and got about halfway across before the storm really broke. The rain was slashing almost sideways, and the boat was filling with water. I was only getting a few good rows in between bailing, but at least the little wooden boat was holding together. Surprisingly well, in fact, it didn't seem to have any leaks of its own, just filling up from the waves sloshing over the side.
It was very invigorating.
By the time I got across, the waves were surging above the seawall, one of which pushed my boat up and over, beaching me well up from the normal shoreline.
I tuned into the local radio broadcasts, which told me that we were getting hit with the remnants of Tropical Storm Juan, which had suddenly, and inexplicably, grown in strength to a category three hurricane.
I hurried along the streets, stopping here and there to help people who were frantically trying to get boards up over windows, and finally made it back to our rented cottage. It was holding up pretty well, someone had gotten the storm shutters closed. Hard to believe Kyle would have come up with that. Maybe one of the locals came by and told him he should do it.
Quickly checked in with Mac - they were dragging Johnny back to the house. Apparently the wonder child was sick of receiving instructions from the great beyond and had tried to chuck his little charm into the ocean. Derrick apparently tackled him in yet another fantastic display of problem solving skills.
Satisfied that things were more or less under control, I headed in and put a kettle on to wait out the storm.
[Moose Head, July 20]
Headed out first thing the next morning. The storm all but disappeared as quickly as it had blown in, but there was plenty of cleanup work to do. A number of houses had collapsed, and several others had been severely damaged. Amazingly enough, not a single person was killed, and those injuries that occurred were fairly minor.
Shortly after we returned to the house, and just as I was lying down for a nap on the couch, Sterling showed up, asking to postpone our group's tour of the island with him. He also introduced himself to everyone he had not yet met, though I feigned sleep. I doubt he was fooled, but I preferred to listen in without drawing attention. I also kept my hand on my pistol, just in case I needed it quickly.
The long and the short of Sterling's pitch is that he's willing to take the risk that the Devil King, or the Winds of Hell, or whatever force of destruction may or may not be under the island will be released when the safeguards are opened. Derrick, of course, wanted to go and open the damn thing straight away, beliveing that we were all just being manipulated into that action anyway and had no choice. I tend to agree that we are being manipulated, but I'm certain that opening the chamber beneath the island would be a bad idea.
Sterling claims to want to restore the balance, and go back to a time when the Traditions and the Union worked together to help humanity. Idealistic nonsense, especially coming from someone who says he's willing to unleash the winds of Hell themselves upon anyone who opposes him.
Mac did let slip some of the info we had about the ahl-i-batin possibly being involved in the creation of Oak Island, as well as the fact that they have been fairly active recently, and may not be too happy with someone opening their little prison, but Sterling was not swayed.
He left, promising to show us what he had found so far on a trip to Oak Island the next morning. I have to consider what he means by getting the traditions and the Union to work together against a common threat. Should I tell him what the VE's are up to? Seceding from the Union, planning all out war on Iteration X, possibly working with the Ahl-i-Batin? I just don't know. I don't want to see this opened, so it may be time to ensure that doesn't happen.
[Moose Head, July 20]
And just like that, I was online again. No fanfare, just a message waiting from Sgt. Meyers saying 'Welcome back.' and I had access to my Convention. Not even sure if that's the right word anymore.
First thing I did was look for any information on the timetable for the Plan, but they were still being pretty cautious about that. Must not have all the network leaks plugged.
I was able to look up some fairly interesting data on Oak Island, though, from the Celestial Master days. The original Arabic records were fairly cryptic, almost poetic, but there were some annotations and analysis that was fairly clear.
The most disturbing thing about the record are the various names given to the Devil King. The Great Trickster, the Cunning One, the Falling Light, Weaver of Words, and Honey-Voiced one. The King of Secrets. The Lightbringer.
Most seemed typicly metaphorical, but the last one caught my eye. It seemed familiar, so I did some crossreferencing.
I guess now I understand why we keep coming across references to Hell. Several of the predominant mudball religions uses the name Lightbringer for the ruler of Hell, the devil himself. Not the best omen, for those who believe in such things.
Anyhow, this Devil King rent the souls of those who opposed him, and these shards howled around him as a wind, trying to exact vengeance. The Devil King was immune, but others of the 'Wise' - other enlightened men and women, apparently - were killed, and their souls were likewise destroyed to become part of this wind.
The 'Wise Fool' said that the Devil Kingshould be 'bound to himself, that he might not harm others again.'
Some sort of meeting took place between the Fool and the Devil King, after a great pursuit. The fool accused him of being a murderer, but the response was that it was solely in defense. The Fool 'demanded that he cast off his distempered weapon of Spirit and surrender himself to judgement. The Falling Light noted that the winds were only weapons to those who made themselves enemies, and he refused to surrender to tyrrany in the disguise of justice.'
"And there was great confusion amongst all who heard them." Well, I can sure as hell sympathize with that.
Reading some into this, they argued for some time while a 'Great Shadow' above them awaited their decision. But, something, or someone, from Outside (a nephandus?) attacked and slew both Fool and Devil King, releasing the Shadows and increasing the power of the Soul Winds. The Winds then claimed the 'ones from beyond'.
These winds were unleashed on the world until the 'Subtle Ones', the Ahl-i-Batin as we've learned, created a net to capture the winds and buried them on the Isle of the Sacred Tree.
The account ends with a warning that to release the Winds would return the world to Chaos, and a countervailing prophecy that 'the Blighted Souls would return when the Walls of Science fell. There will come a time when the Wind contained would seem as a soft zephyr, a time when the Winds of Hell would engulf the World. Only then could the Winds be released to serve the will of prisoners reborn.'
The Walls of Science certainly seem less stable now than at any time in the past 500 years, but I still see no reason to risk releasing whatever is underneath the Island. I think I'll keep that last bit of prophecy to myself, wouldn't want anyone to interpret this as a good reason to open the damn thing up.
[Moose Head, July 20]
There was one thing I found particularly disturbing about Sterling's tales. He told us that one of the driving forces behind his desire to uncover whatever is under the Island is a recurring dream. A dream where he is standing in a world of metal and automatons, where everything is controlled by a seemingly benevolent mechanical entity that is secretly neither mechanical, nor benevolent.
He tries to expose the entity for the malevolence it is, but none will listen to him. And the scene he described is one I know. A place I've seen, that I know, that I've visited. Autocthonia. And the entity he tries to unmask is the supposed AI at the facility's heart.
Of course, the VE haven't exactly been broadcasting their discovery of exactly what that entity is, but I know Sterling's dream is accurate. The AI is an Outsider, one that's using ItX to further its own ends, an accusation that the Iterators vehemently deny and refuse to consider. It's the major reason for the VE's secession, though, for it's feared that this entity has corrupted even parts of Control.
But do I tell Sterling this? Would it convince him to stay his hand? And would it endanger the VE's who will be leading the attack on Autocthonia?
[Moose Head, July 20]
While I was pondering how much to tell Sterling, Derrick pulled out the so-called 'wonder' that Johnny had been wearing as a Necklace. The readouts from my shades told me nothing about it, until he handed it back to the singer.
Instantly, it flared back to life, Primal energies swirling about it. Obviously, in the hands of someone untrained in the arts of prime manipulations, it would not function. Several people passed it around, and determined that Mark was most skilled at such procedures, and Sterling had no talent at all for it.
Unfortunately, Johnny doesn't want the damn thing back. Seems he thinks it's part of the entity that's been manipulating him. Good for him. It's about time we started acting like we actually have a choice in what we're doing. Too little too late, I fear.
Of course, taking it to the extreme of not caring if someone killed him is a bit too much. I'm kind of concerned about how quickly Derrick volunteered to help, too. He's been very bizarre lately.
Obviously, Johnny is one of the keys to this whole scavenger hunt, and I think we're gonna need him before its over.
[Moose Head, July 20]
Sterling said one of the driving factors behind his decision to seek the power buried on the Island was the number of comrades lost to the Iterators Pogrom. Interesting. The Pogrom was reinstated less than a month ago, and yet he's been poking around the island for the better part of a year.
He has a taint to his resonance, one that I recognize, for I've seen it in my own. The man has killed, and more than once. Not necessarily a bad thing, but he is trying to sell us on the fact that if unleashed, he would only use the power on the island for defense. One doesn't leave that sort of a trace after only using force in defense.
He has no idea what is on the island, but seems to place blind faith that it will do what he wants, either because he can control it, or of its own volition.
And the man is not only a master manipulator, but one of the most skilled Masters of mental procedures active on the mudball at present.
Can we really trust anything he says?
[Moose Head, July 20]
Everyone had gotten quiet at this point, probably going through the same introspection I was, when Mac spoke up, telling us that Oz was calling.
Apparently something had happened to Zydeco. She had passed out, at roughly the same time that Johnny tried to get rid of his Wonder, and showed no signs of coming around, despite his best efforts. Something trying to send Johnny a message, maybe.
After Mac text-messaged me that info, he bounced the call over to my speakerphone, Oz greeted us all and was introduced, somewhat disconcertedly, to Sterling.
He then let us know that the Pogrom had hit Vegas hard, wiping out a good chunk of the Awakened of the city. Although the Batini had been showing up to fight them back, the city as a whole was mostly under Iteration control.
They had managed to hold the two nodes - the Ranch and the Pyramid, but it was looking dicey. I felt a bit guilty at not being able to tell him that ItX would soon have other things to worry about, but I didn't dare mention it over an insecure line.
He was surprised that I was there, too, given that Area 51 had been abandoned. He seemed a little betrayed; I think he had expected the VE to side with the deviants if something like this came down. All I could tell him to explain was that things were happening he couldn't see.
I hope they happen soon.
[Moose Head, July 20]
Sterling left us, saying we should be able to travel to the island in the morning, and we each turned to our own business. Kyle disappeared back into his room to do whatever it was that had been preoccupying him, and Mac went to make coffee.
I started reading through the news feeds when several bulletins caught my attention. Global markets were suffering catastrophic collapses around the world - I quickly checked out what I could, and confirmed my worst suspicions.
Syndicate operations around the world were falling into chaos, and I realized why - all contact with Control had been lost. Those who tried to reach them found empty offices and conference rooms - they were just gone.
In the vacuum of power, chaos was taking over. Infighting had gripped the upper ecehlons, as several administrators started trying to carve out pieces of empire for themselves, and the world was suffering as a result.
NWO had been completely paralyzed, some agents siding with ItX regarding the Pogrom and others defecting to fight alongside the Traditions. In the confusion, however, their ranks had been decimated by several swift strikes from Pogrom forces.
The Progenitors had pulled themselves into a hole - no news at all was coming out of their constructs.
And the VE have almost completely withdrawn from the mudball. A few BCD units are still floating around, ducking most everyone while trying to keep up with our duties, but most of our forces have been consolidated in preparation for the attack on Autocthonia.
The Union has fallen.
[Moose Head, July 21]
I broke down and told the others what I had found out about the Union, as well as the fact that the VE were planning an all out assault on Autocthonia.
The news that the Union was collapsing into civil war came as a shock to Mark and Arden, who had not heard, and Johnny didn't care.
Kyle came back downstairs, then. Told us about a dream he'd just had, where a Batini had come to him, and shown him the seal of the prison on the island.
She had walked a specific pattern, and told him to do the same on the actual seal, that it would help return it to Mount Qaf, and the Batini, where it belonged.
I don't trust this dream, though. The Batini are notoriously private - why would they share such a secret with an outsider? Why not just come retrieve it themselves?
[Oak Island, July 21]
We set out on one of the survivng boats. Luckily the excavation equipment had been lashed down securely, so it was quickly loaded on and was ready to ship out to the island.
I had a feeling we weren't going to need it, though. All of the signs, portents, and dare I say it, omens seemed to be focusing on getting us to the point of the seal, while showing little concern over what we would do once there.
I bet we find our way to where we're supposed to be without digging so much as a shovelful.
And whether I think we should open it or not seems pretty damn irrelevant at this point. I still believe we should leave well enough alone, but noone seems inclined to listen to me.
So, here I am sailing over with them, since someone needs to keep an eye on what's going on. Besides, if I'm not there, I won't be able to tell everyone 'I told you so' before we all die.
Holy shit...the island just came into view...what's left of it.
Parts of the island are just gone. Like something took a bite out of it. The energy signatures are in absolute chaos, too. Whatever did this was massively powerful.
The signature isn't like anything I've ever seen before, but it has some telltale characteristics that I do recognize. I think it may be nephandic in origin. Great.
A giant nephandus takes a bite out of an entire island, probably tearing away what we would have needed the excavation equipment for.
How convenient.
[Oak Island, July 21]
I did several scans as we approached the island, and the readings eventually confirmed that the cause of the missing parts of the island was a dimensional breach. That also resulted in a great deal of weakening of the Barrier for the entire area, making it easier for anything to slip through.
I figured it was time to get some expert advice, and linked into one of the VE outposts. I never expected the chaos they were going through. ItX had staged an all out attack, and the Engineers were repelling their forces across all of our stations.
Not only that, the sensor net had recorded over a thousand breaches of the barrier across the planet, with Outsiders breaking through in nearly all of them. Of course, all of our teams were busy dealing with ItX, when breaches began occurring even on our constructs. At least the Outsiders didn't seem to be working with ItX and are attacking both sides more or less indiscriminately.
Pangs of guilt tore through me, but I needed to stay near Sterling. I have a feeling that he's going to be at the nexus of the real threat - all of the rest of this, as bad as it is, is merely window dressing for what's to come.
[Oak Island, July 21]
We docked the boat, and our group plus Sterling headed towards the area we all felt was the center of the power now swirling about the island. The mundanes went to work, busily unloading equipment and setting up some tents and shelters. All for naught, of course.
When we got to the center of the disturbance, Mark and I saw a swirling disk of primal energy hovering in the air. Mac was able to trace the threads of correspondence and see that this was a locked gateway to the seal beneath which the 'treasure' of Oak Island was covered.
Between us, Mark, Derrick, Mac, Johnny, and I were able to begin manipulating the gateway to unlock it. Pulling at the threads of power, trying to stabilize them into a predefined energy state where they would no longer create the interference with the portal mechanism.
We were making pretty good progress when Arden realized there was a humming sound, and it seemed to be getting closer. I took my attention away from the gate long enough to listen, and realized it was the sound of approaching engines. ItX assault ships, unless I was greatly mistaken.
We redoubled our efforts as Kyle said that he sensed the approach of another group, using a more erratic form of transport. Slowly teleporting towards us, but he couldn't get a good reading on them. Probably the Batini.
Great, just what we needed. We were concentrating on the seal when Arden and Sterling joined hands. A wave of energy erupted out of them, causing great trees and vines to spring up around us, concealing us from view.
I doubted that would stop them for long, but it did buy us a few more minutes. Kyle told us that he had managed to scramble the guidance systems on the ships briefly, as well, steering them off course and delaying the cyborgs further.
It bought us the time we needed. Barely.
[Oak Island, July 21]
Mac managed to slide the final piece of the lock into place and the gateway opened. The Adept was so exhausted from the effort that he fell through as it opened, and Mark quickly followed after to make sure he was all right.
At this point the Iterators were almost upon us. Fortunately, I was no longer distracted by the puzzle of unlocking the gateway, and so I powered up the plasma cannon.
The others, save for Derrick, began running through the gateway into the subterranean chamber beyond. Derrick and I began firing at the approaching Iterator forces, holding them off fairly handily.
I knew they wouldn't want to risk damaging whatever power or artifcat might lay beyond the gate, so they wouldn't risk breaking out the really heavy artillery, but there were a hell of a lot of them.
I linked up with Mac, so I could keep half an eye on what was going on below, and keep him appraised of our progress, and immediately discovered that the Batini had arrived at the seal themselves.
Mark told the Batini that we had received missives directing us to this place, and that the Iterators were attacking the surface. The leader of the seven Batini, a woman, quickly turned to her comrades and spoke in a language I could neither translate nor identify, even with a scan of what was left of the Union's databases.
The results, though, were fairly immediate.
Nearly two dozen Batini blinked into existence...teleported, as Mac would call it, and began engaging the remaining Iterators. Not that we couldn't have handled it, but it did simplify things.
I did switch to the laser pistol, though. The plasma cannon is a damn effective, but not terribly precise weapon, and I deemed it would be very bad if I accidentally took out one of our temporary allies.
Seeing that things were under control, I remained outside the gateway to keep an eye on the other Batini and watch for any potential Iterator forces while Derrick stepped through the gateway to join the others, whereupon he promptly made a colossal ass of himself.
[Oak Island, July 21]
I faced off with the Batini outside the gate while the others negotiated with those Ahl-i-Batin standing guard at the seal.
I have to admit, Oz was right, these guys did kick ass. They seemed confused as to why one Union agent was aiding them against other Union agents, so I gave them the short version of recent events, explaining that there had been some factioning and that, for now at least, I would like to consider them temporary allies.
I'm not much of a diplomat, but they seemed satisfied with that arrangement.
Meanwhile, things were going somewhat more poorly underground.
The Batini leader had apparently tried to probe Kyle's mind to 'see' the dream he'd had, and Derrick had interfered. Not only that, but the jackass had rubbed her face in the fact that they had been banished from the Traditions' council.
Everyone began to draw weapons, including I and the Batini I was facing off with. I knew it would be bad - plasma cannon or not, I was surrounded.
Then, to my and everyone else's shock, Arden stepped forward and addressed the Batini leader in their tongue. Again, I couldn't translate, but I think I recognized some Arabic etymology of 'camel's rump'.
Several of the Batini surrounding me broke into grins at this point, so I assume that whatever she said worked, as everyone seemed to relax a bit.
Much to my dismay, the Batini leader agreed to let Kyle walk the pattern he'd been shown in his dream, potentially opening the seal.
I hoped the Ahl-i-Batin knew what they were doing, for every instinct in me was screaming that this was a bad idea.
I hate it when I'm right.
[Oak Island, July 21]
Kyle began walking the seal, and quickly fell into a trance.
He was not making any sort of repetitive pattern I could follow, but there was definitely a change in the energy levels emanating throughout the area.
Suddenly, we could all see an entity gathering form above the seal in front of Kyle, and Derrick, who had been monitoring the temporal mage's mind, shouted out and tackled the kid, knocking him off the seal.
The shape screamed, but Sterling quickly leapt into the place Kyle had been standing, locking eyes with the entity.
Derrick again took action, hurling a blade at Sterling and piercing him through the chest. Sterling cried out and collapsed, but this time the entity just laughed.
Several portals began opening through the gauntlet, then, and I could see the energy signature behind the entity at last. Nephandic, as were the newly appearing sources.
I warned the Batini around me of what was happening, then told Mac to relay to Mark and Arden that they should work together to try and strengthen the dimensional barriers.
Mark seemed confused as to what I was talking about, but then managed to translate the meaning into his paradigm - something about repairing the tapestry and raising the gauntlet, I think.
Derrick announced that Sterling was dead as he retrieved his blade, but I feared it was far too late to matter.
[Oak Island, July 21]
As Derrick retrieved his weapon, Mark announced that a number of holes were appearing in the tapestry, and my own readings indicated that Nephandic energy levels were soaring.
I warned the Batini what was happening, and asked them to be ready to destroy any Nephandi who managed to escape, then stepped through the gateway to join the others.
Mark began singing, focusing his energy on strengthening the gauntlet, but I realized this would only delay the nephandi, not stop them. And once they came through, they would seize the power of the winds within the seal and use them against the world.
Johnny was also lost in concentration, trying to hold off the winds that had already escaped from the seal's containment.
I quickly began juryrigging the plasma cannon to serve as a modified bomb. I also yelled to the others to start heading back out of the gateway. Derrick had to argue of course, so I just told him that he was welcome to stay, but that I was putting the cannon into a feedback loop that should destroy the chamber and any nephandi in the area.
The Batini leader examined my progress and added a touch of her own power into the matrix I was developing - a waveform that should cause the explosion to remain focused and localized while increasing its effectiveness against the creatures who were getting ever closer.
The Batini then filed out of the gateway, followed by Kyle, Arden, and Mac. Derrick wanted to keep arguing, but finally gave in. He then approached Johnny, and removed the 'Wonder' - the amulet the singer had always worn. Instantly the singer snapped out of his trance, as whatever had been holding him lost its hold.
Derrick handed me the amulet, and I wrapped it around the barrel of the cannon. That should make sure noone else manages to use it again. The Akashic and the singer then leapt through the gateway, leaving me alone with Mark.
I knew as soon as the Chorister released his power, the nephandi would break through. Checking that the feedback loop was set and building, I used a touch of the power Mac had shown me to boost it even further. The talent also gave me enough control to hold the entire apparatus just shy of the critical point.
I made contact with the closest VE station in NEO, and made sure they were ready with the recall signal, then nodded to Mark.
He gave me a smile, then jumped back through the gateway.
Instantly several breaches ripped open, and Nephandi came pouring through. I sent the recall signal, and let go of the control I had over the feedback loop.
I felt the pull of a long distance transport, buffeted by the explosive force destroying the chamber where I'd stood moments before.