Diellan_

Chapter XLV
In Which Help Comes From an Unexpected Quarter

I had a series of weird feelings and sensations, like I was warm and cold and fuzzy and hung over, and my ears were hearing sounds that I couldn’t understand. Somebody said something, and suddenly everything came into focus.

“He’ll be awake in moments, sir.”

“Good.”

They were speaking English, and they weren’t voices I knew – that I could tell too much, since it sounded like they were speaking on the other side of a thick glass window. And there was this ringing in my ears…

“There!”

Odd. Didn’t Nazis speak German? Did I get rescued from the 5th? I opened my eyes, but everything was fuzzy and orange. There was a black blob in front of me, and a smaller black blob behind him.

“Very good. Now leave us. Stay outside the door in case I need you.”

“Yes, sir.”

The black blob moved out of vision. I tried to turn my head to follow it, but my head wouldn’t move at all.

“Good morning, young man,” the small blob said. “I am sad to inform you that we have felt it necessary to completely restrain you. Don’t be alarmed by your vision, either; the drugs my men used to keep you unconscious have a few side effects. They will pass.”

“Wheh wamai?” I asked. I felt like I’d just been to the dentist or something, and my tongue was swollen and unwilling to move. My mouth didn’t move much either.

“Side effect.” The blob moved closer. “You took a nasty fall, Mister Kushan. You will be happy to know that I had the foresight to bring a medic with me, so you should heal properly with no lasting damage. There was some internal bleeding and a minor surgery, hence the drugs.”

Mister Kushan? Only two people every called me that – Lorenzo and Sofia – and it didn’t sound like any of them. This guy had some kind of European accent. But who would know my name? “Ooh aw ewe?”

“You should refrain from speaking until you are able to do so with clarity.”

“Uh ai-“

“Nuh uh uh.” The blob came closer, filled most of my vision, and put a finger to my lips. “Doctor’s orders. Instead, I will take this time to fill in some gaps in your memory, to give you some ground to stand on – in the metaphorical sense, of course.”

I nodded. Kind of. Stupid restraints.

“We are at some point during the 23rd Century before Christ. Roughly.” There was a sigh. “It is hard to track down the exact year, especially since the calendars have changed so much that retroactive dating is an inexact science, at best. You are currently situated within a house in the small city surrounding the Temple of Anshar.”

I knew it! We’d gone back in time and the temple was here, still standing. But where were the others?

“Ah, yes, you recognize the name – good. I was afraid that the blow to your head might have caused some memory loss. Do you recall what has happened since you were thrust back in time?”

I nodded again. I could remember the dig, the vortex, the field, the city, the chase, the Nazis surrounding me, the Warwolf… Either I’d been rescued by this guy, or he was a Nazi and I was in their hands. The glassy effect was fading, though I still had the ringing in my ears, and he was starting to sound a little familiar.

“Aueh?” I asked.

“Of course, Mister Kushan,” he replied, “but do not worry. You are in good hands. Consider me a friend.”

I tried to escape, to run, to break free, to throw a fireball, to do anything, but I was held pretty damn good. All I could do was scream and shake the chair.

“I understand your anxiety, my young companion,” Auer went on, once I got too tired to scream, “but you have no real choice at this juncture but to do as I tell you. It is the only way that you will come out of this alive. I have told the 5th Column that you are a valuable hostage; they wish to kill you, Mister Kushan, but I mean you no harm.”

“Why ohm I bewieve you?” Hey! My lips were moving properly. Awesome!

“Why don’t you indeed…” Auer mused. “I understand your reluctance to deal with the 5th Column or with a European academic who has chosen to ally himself with their cause, but what cause do you have to distrust me? I have personally done you no harm – have actually helped you and saved your life – and yet… You face me simply because Mondavi tells you to. Because he pays you?”

I shrugged because saying “Not just” was impossible.

“The largest wallet is a very poor method of measuring a man, boy.” He laughed, but it was kind of hacky and phlegmy. He must’ve been a smoker. “It tells you nothing of character or morality. I could pay you far more than he ever could. But you wouldn’t change sides even if I offered you such, no. You’re young and idealistic and you still believe in bad guys and good guys and the 5th must always be the bad guys.” The blob swiveled a bit, and I could tell he was shaking his head. “Did you ever stop to ask yourself why Mondavi wanted to find the temple? He didn’t chase down the clues in order to stop us; he wanted it for himself.”

Made sense. I shrugged again.

“The Time Gate. The Gem of Etnekhsa. Those are what he was after: artifacts of incredible power, such that humanity has rarely known – and always to its detriment. And I wouldn’t trust them into his hands anymore than I would trust them into the hands of Nemesis or Recluse. Do you even know the kinds of evil your patron has inflicted upon the world?”

I blinked. Evil? The crusty old magician was scary looking, yeah, but he didn’t really seem to do much. He liked his books and his collection of old junk, but I’d always figured he just had them to look at. Kinda cool for an old dude, but… evil? I couldn’t see it.

“I see by the look on your face that you do not. It is not surprising, really; Mondavi has been manipulating people for a hundred years. What chance do regular people like you and I have?” Auer sighed. “If he gets the Gem… None at all. He tried to destroy and remake the world at least once – to wipe the surface clean of all that offended his sensibilities – but was stopped on the eve of his success. If Jonathan Hale hadn’t trapped him in the spirit world, millions – billions, perhaps – of people would have perished.”

Wait a minute. Hale? Reverand Hale? Bro’s friend that he calls “Smokey”? Why would bro be working for somebody who used to be Hale’s enemy? Hale hasn’t been around in a long time, so maybe he never told bro about Mondavi.

No. This can’t be. Auer must be lying.

There was a long pause. I could feel him staring at me, and it was uncomfortable – like I was naked or something. He finally continued: “You don’t have to believe me, Mister Kushan, though I give my word as a gentleman and a German that everything I’ve said to you is the truth. If we were back in our time, I could give you a book written by an eyewitness that describes it all. Your employer did try to wipe out millions upon millions of people, and he was stopped and banished to another plane, and I truly believe that he is simply biding his time to try again. With the power of the Gem, he could bring his own Flood; like God before him, he could wipe the Earth clean of all that he contends with.”

“As for me?” His tone lightened. “I will use it to end world hunger and poverty, turn back the clock against global warming. Everyone will be in debt to me and to the 5th Column, and we will usher in an age of peace and prosperity and honor, with us in control.”

Auer reached forward and rested his hand on my shoulder. “I want you to think about this. I’ll have some food sent to you and you can rest, and we will talk later. Good bye, my young friend.”

There's a huge overlap between the Brute and the Scrapper community, and when BillZBubba put together the big list of attack chains, he did it for both Brutes and Scrappers. See The Results Are In... and The Results Are In... Take 2 on the Scrapper forum.

Just a repost from the Zombie Skin thread, I bottom align the sig with just css. Instead of expanding the sig div, I just upped the minimum size of the post div:

#posts .alt1 > div[id] { min-height: 103px; }

Also, awesome stuff, Sharrow.

Welcome to Dark Melee.

I'm very excited about this change, but I don't think it will be as powerful as people here seem to believe. I added the power to ELA in Arcanaville's spreadsheet and wound up with a set that is about as survivable as Invuln with one target (not factoring in the Endurance Drain). That only means it beats out SD, SR, and EA (the latter two should probably see some kind of minor buff); it's just below Fire; and WP, Stone, and DA are still way ahead.

It will be balanced, but not broken.