MILITARY MATTERS

It is now the evening after Kipling and Z1 met, and evening of the day
Kipling and Z1 worked on the outstation.

Gathering at The Brown Feather Inn, the group of you are met by a young
female Pladone in confederation navy uniform. "Grreetings gentlemen,"
she signs. "I am herre to guide you to the admiral. He is anxious to
meet you."

Z1: "Greetings, organic being."

She leads the way through a hatch and into the interior of the base. A
short distance later she signs, "The grravity changes here. Grrab the
black and white striped barr, and haul yourrselves thrrough."
Demonstrating, her rear legs get in the way and she stumbles with a
muttered curse.

After being led up again, you exit onto the opposite surface of the base
from where you started. In the "sky" above you see a large number of
vessels. The vessels include small explorers, small but heavily armed
gunships, escorts, freighters, and even four large frigates. There is a
large area cleared in the center, and across the clearing you can see a
podium seating a number of high-ranking confederation officers."

Shortly after entering the area you are met by another naval officer.
"Gentlemen, I am very sorry, but an important matter has occurred that
requires the admiral's presence. If you wouldn't mind waiting, he should
be able to see you in no more than half an hour."

Z1: "Half an hour is insignificant. I can understand that organic beings
have trouble following schedules."

Suddenly, four of the freighters land and humans start marching out
singing in a language none of you recognize. They seem far larger and
darker than the average N'Ferra human, but their military equipment is
easily recognizable as coming from N'Ferra. They are dressed in
high-laced sandals, beige kilts, feather headdresses and cloaks, and bead
and bone necklaces. The pageantry as they exit the freighters is
impressive and inspiring.

As they emerge from the freighters they form a formation fifty me wide
and twelve men deep. As the last man enters formation, they give a great
shout and lift their weapons into the air. Then they lower their weapons
and stand stock still.

Z1: "Remarkably good order for organic beings. Order without effective
weapons will not help against Mastermind, however."

A Bine on the podium stirs and moves forwards. His voice manages to
carry throughout the area (probably magically amplified). His speech is
short and to the point, thanking the newcomers, and mentioning other
topics which you have heard of for the first time. At the end of the
speech there is another shout and salute, and then the ceremony seems to
be over.

------

Your escorts proceed to guide you in a way that avoids contact the other
troops in the area. Eventually you are led into a large building, and up
to a door. "The admirral will join you in there shorrtly." she signs,
gesturing at the door. The room is equipped with a variety of
refreshments and furniture for different races.

After about ten minutes, the Bine from the podium arrives, followed by a
larger than usual heavily armed Pladone. (Who you also remember being on
the podium.) The Bine moves to the center of the room and greets you.
"Gentlemen. We have very little time for conversation, so forgive me if
I skip the amenities."

Z1: "In matters of war, amenities are of no real use."

"First of all, let respond to some of the options that Zulu One
presented this morning. The only way we currently have of sealing
Mastermind's wormhole is to destroy its generator, which demand us
putting a large force into Mastermind's home realm. We are proceeding as
quickly as we can with gathering forces to meet that threat, but they
are not our only enemy, and we must meet the more current threats first.
We are proceeding as rapidly as we can to develop better weapons, but
our manufacturing changes and training can only proceed so fast."

Z1: "I have sufficient knowledge of all details. If you allow me, I can
help you produce more effective weapons and armor."

"Your help is appreciated, and gladly accepted. However, your knowledge
probably demands techniques and materials that are currently unavailable
to us. Even if they are available, we will still have to reorganize our
manufacturing, and train our soldiers. All this takes time."

Z1: "Of course, it would take a long time even though I can work full
days with no breaks. This fact is also in favor of a small strike force
emphasizing on quality rather than numbers."

"Right now our primary need is for information. We need for you to
capture at least one vessel that we can experiment on. Failing that, we
need information on how some of our more exotic weapons work against
these "robots." There are two possible options. A gate-master can return
your ship and its contents to your home universe. Alternatively, you can
return to the base Mastermind has established here in the Dark Sphere."

"The first option has the advantage that Mastermind will not be
expecting an attack from that direction. However, you will be closed off
from support, and we don't know how difficult it will be for us to bring
you back to the Dark Sphere. The main advantage of the second option is
that we may be able to support your efforts, however, Mastermind is
prepared to face attack from this universe. Comments gentlemen?"

"Yes Admiral," Adan responds. "I have recently asked to join on with Z1
on this mission but I have also discovered that many of my abilities do
not work in Masterminds home world is there anyway to create a field
around us that basically allows me to keep my own reality in a manor
similar to how Z1 maintains it's own unique reality in our sphere? I
would be incredibly effective in Masterminds home sphere then."

Z1: "My friend is correct. He has physical constitution far surpassing
that of Masterminds human elimination units, but only if he is
surrounded by magic. He can also fly without any apparent means of
propulsion and he is also very strong."

"Not exactly. What we can do for you Adan, is give you a holy object
that will enable your meta-powers to function in any universe where an
Espiri's power would function. This will keep your powers functioning at
least as long as you are in the Dark Sphere. Unfortunately, we have no
way of knowing if it will work in Mastermind's home realm."

Z1: "That would mean that Adan could be endangered. If Adan's powers did
not function, I could give him my armor. That way his odds would be
improved."

"Thank you admiral, I am truly honored by your trust I hope that I my
abilities prove worthy of your time." Adan responds. He then turns to
the individual called Kipling and studies him trying to get a bit of an
understanding at who and what he is.

"While we are on the subject. Zulu-One we can give you a device from an
alien reality that should render your ship almost invisible to
Mastermind's means of perception. Kipling, to you we can offer a wand
which will summon a messenger spirit you can use to inform us of your
progress and special needs."

Z1: "Invisible from which ranges or speeds, against what kinds of
backgrounds?"

"I can't answer that. The device came from a technologically advanced
world (even more than your own Z1) where it was used to sneak a ship
larger than yours past a military blockade. It doesn't seem to do
anything here in N'Ferra, but it might aboard your ship. You can run
whatever sort of tests on it you feel necessary, though I hope you'll
try to keep it's function intact."

Z1: "Of course. I do function logically, after all."

"By the way Kipling, I realize that this mission will require you
calling upon the power of Unlife more that you will like. I promise you
that your sacrifice will not be unrewarded."

"Rewards? My, my, I'm afraid I'm not one to seek any rewards. Ferris
seems to have found me a...~soulmate~.. in Z1, here. And any journey
which can hopefully spare the suffering and deaths of innocents is one
which I must endure. I thank you for the gift, it will be quite useful."

Kipling toys a moment with the wand, introspectively, then looks back
up at the gathered soldiers,"I am not a soldier, you do know this. I am
more of a monk, and the one time I broke my vow of non-violence has bore
scars unfathomable in my soul. I will provide all the help I can, of
course, and I do realize that what is a curse to me could prove to be
quite helpful to the mission. Be warned ahead of time, though, if I am
slain, and I'm sure I will be, the resurfacing of a new soul is not
instantaneous, and I may be quite delirious for a time afterward. It is
very traumatic."

Z1: "Attack by a large force of largely untrained forces would not be
wise. My mission is to protect human life, not waste it. Of course I
would have no priority conflict if the support troops were not human.
Also, most of the air has been hostile for human life with deadly
artificial diseases."

"Which is why we are not considering a planetary strike at the current
time."

Z1: "Mastermind can only be won by a swift and unexpected strike, from
unexpected direction, by elite troops with elite advanced weapons. It
has more thinking power than I, so I would have poor odds in open field
battle even if I had twice the troops."

Z1: "By the way, I have sufficient capabilities to simulate any physical
attacks on any of Masterminds standard units. I can do it right here."

Z1 takes the screen from his backpack, and connects a conduit to his
ear. A picture of Masterminds basic aerospace fighter appears, slowly
turning around its middle axis on the screen.

"Please put the screen away Zulu One. Your projections from this morning
were most impressive, and I've read the summary. Unfortunately, I doubt
your projections can model a Starbolt, the effects of Blue Ooze, or some
of the other nasty tricks we of N'Ferra have developed."

Z1: "If you can give me the effects on a chunk of iron large enough to
absorb the attack in numbers, I could model them easily against advanced
steel and oil-composites."

Z1: "What kinds of nasty tricks were you talking about, admiral?"

"Frankly gentlemen, I'd rather not discuss that. What you do not know
you cannot reveal in the event you are captured. I will say that many
worlds were opened up to us 4 years ago, and we have numerous techniques
that are only now getting into production. Even more haven't gotten off
the drawing boards yet. You will get all the information you need to use
the weapons we give you, never fear."

Z1: "I will never get captured. I have a self destruct mechanism which
will vaporize my brains. I will not hesitate to use it. If I get
captured, the mission has already been failed."

"From your comments Zulu One, am I correct in assuming that you feel a
scouting mission against Mastermind's base in the Dark Sphere would be
more effective in the long run?"

Z1: "No. That would reveal the fact that there is resistance in here.
For now, Mastermind does not know about this base. I would go other
ways, and do some scouting on my homeworld. I also have a first priority
retrieval mission there, if my mother Selena Keller can be resurrected,
you will get more answers than I can ever give. She was a very capable
computer programmer and had many ways to infiltrate into Masterminds
systems and steal information. She made my mind."

------

"Very well then gentlemen. You will leave for Mastermind's home realm in
no more than a week. If you are willing, I would like to give you a
squad of elite marines to aid you. Remember that your mission is one of
reconnaissance, not assault, and that what we primarily want are samples
of Mastermind's military equipment."

Z1: "Units of what size range? Warcruiser would not be easy to acquire."

"Whatever you can acquire. You would also be giving our people
experience in your reality." The Bine pauses. "Optimally, we would like
to gain pieces of a ship of your current ship's size or larger, together
with samples of Mastermind's weaponry, vehicle-mounted and portable."

Z1: "Cargo transport, loaded with deactivated robots, would then be a
good choice. How do we return to your 'sphere'?"

"Kipling will be able to summon a messenger spirit to deliver a message
to us in the Dark Sphere. We will eventually be able to recover you, but
can make no guarantees as to how long it will take."

Z1: "No timeframe at all? Cargo ship would have life support of only two
years or so.."

It could be anything from instantly (though I wouldn't rely on that), to
a week, and there's a very small chance it could be even longer.

Z1: "That would be satisfactory. Odds sound reasonable."

"Z1, with your permission I would like to adapt your cargo hold for
intermediate-term occupancy. I've intercepted a living life support
system which should work aboard your ship, and will have one of our
specialists install it."

Z1: "That would be nice. What are the life support systems
requirements?"

Just some space. The life support system is supposed to run itself off
the wastes of the people it supports, but will eventually build up
toxins and die.

"Is there anything else you would like to request for this mission, or
further questions you would like to ask?"

Z1: "What kind of capabilities would your elite marine units have?"

Each marine is capable of consistent lifting at least 400 lbs., with
short bursts of over 1000 lbs. They can run a mile in under 4 minutes,
and have greatly enhanced reflexes. They have full night vision, and can
survive more damage than you might expect. They are trained in a variety
of weapons, including demolitions and hand to hand, in animal handling,
and in rigging. They can operate effectively most environments,
including freefall and underwater, and are trained in a variety of
military equipment. Additionally, each will have his own operational
specialty with specialized training in that area.

Z1: "Do they have to be humans? I would rather not unnecessarily
endanger any humans, because I may be unable to protect them in
dangerous situations. Protecting humans is my second mission priority."

"Unfortunately, there are only two teams that meet your mission
parameters and both are composed completely of humans. While we could
create an ad hoc team, the loss of efficiency is likely greater than
that caused by your overprotective instincts."

Z1: "I have no instincts. I have mission priorities. But if my primary
mission, the extraction of my mothers remains, will be successful, their
loss will be acceptable, and they can be considered expendable assets.
All right, have them ready before the takeoff, I will debrief them
further about the enemy we may face."

---

After the meeting adjourns Adan approaches Z1.

"Z1 I just wanted to let you know that as far as I'm concerned your
running the show," Adan tells Z1 with obvious respect. "Since I've met
you, you have shown great respectability and honor both of which I hold
in high regard. You can trust me in any facility you require."

Z1: "Thank you, friend. I only think logically and follow my mission
parameters. I will welcome any suggestions or any pieces of information
you may have in the future. Also, anything emotions you express or tell
me about, will help in fulfilling my current third priority, learning
human emotions."

Adan then turns to Kipling and begins to speak in his native tongue
extending his right hand, "I don't believe we've been properly
introduced. I am Adan a wanderer and warrior. I am pleased to meet you.
I hope that with time we can get to know each other better and from the
sounds of it our voyage will provide plenty of it."

Then Adan again turns to Z1 and offers offhandedly, "don't forget Z1 I
don't require life support in your calculations when you install this
new systems on your ship. Which reminds me. Your reality on the ship is
basically the same as Masterminds correct? If that's the case then if my
powers operate on your ship with the artifact that the admiral has given
me then they should work in Masterminds."

Z1: "I do not know the exact odds, but I would guess a likelihood of at
least 50% that your analysis in this case would be correct."

Z1: "It may be easier for you to understand my actions in the future if
I tell you my current updated priorities. My current mission priorities
are;

1. To protect and serve my mother Selena Keller. This will include
retrieving her remains and restoring her life functions in order to be
successful.

2. To eliminate Mastermind and protect all humans.

3. Learn human emotions, possibly grow a soul."

"Do you find any of these priorities disturbing or otherwise
inappropriate for our mission?"