And for this post, we come to the second of the gaming write-ups that I owe you, the second session of my DWAITAS 'War Orphans' game.
So our adventure starts with a bit of a flashback, as a young woman carrying a device that doesn't look too terribly different from a particularly-weird late 20th-century instant camera makes her way into a time capsule maintenance and repair bay. She quickly finds the vehicle that she and her friends picked out, the one they've gotten the key to unlock.
She's early, and beaten the rest there. She opens up the doors and ducks into what, on the inside of a booth the size of a medium-sized closet, appears to be a massive (and familiar to us, the audience) Gothic cathedral. Ready to pass the time until the others show up, she starts wandering into one of the time capsule's hallways, completely unaware of the 'ghost' sneaking up on her or the doorway that vanishes behind her to trap her in the passage...
Then we cut back to today. Well, today-ish. Look, people, it's time travel. Deal with it.
Galaxion approaches a door on the oil rig, and just as he reaches for the handle, there's an explosion. A combination of catlike reflexes and, perhaps, a sense of likely futures sends him dodging out of the way just before the explosion sends the door flying. Back in their TARDIS, the Magpie and Eska hear a warning system that sounds very much like a church bell (though distinct from the Cloister Bell, I hasten to add). They check the scanner and learn of the explosion.
Galaxion carefully pokes around the scorched quarters as U.N.I.T. troops turn up, and is able to find the source of the explosion: a device in the closet that, from the remaining parts, looks like it used to be a relay signal-booster that self-destructed. In the meantime, one of the soldiers goes to try and find out whose quarters those are and bring them forth. He stops the other troops from hauling everything back to their base camp until the other Time Lords can have a look at it. And they do show up and have the look, but determine nothing new about the device.
Then Jeff Cooper, the foreman who lives in those quarters, shows up demanding answers. The soldiers quickly grab him while the Magpie gives him the blood test he concocted and Galaxion gives him the whammy. They determine that he's human, and according to him he's been in the infirmary for a week under observation because of some weirdness that turned up in his blood work during a physical. But he heard the explosion, the nurse wasn't around, and so he just left to find out what in the world is going on.
The Magpie goes to check on the infirmary, and at Galaxion's suggestion Jeff accompanies him with a couple of soldiers. The nurse, Gloria Rodriguez, has returned from wherever she went, and the Magpie jabs her with his blood test gadget to confirm that she is an Auton duplicate. Her hand folds open to reveal the Auton gun hidden within. The Magpie manages to convince her not to shoot, overwhelming him with his force of personality, while Jeff makes a run for it. And then the U.N.I.T. troops panic and open fire.
The Auton Nurse, an alien being made of plastic, barely notices the normal 20th century Earth bullets. (Like most alien threats) So it's unfazed and explains that the Nestene just want the special oil below the rig. And if they get it, they're willing to go on their way. The Magpie points out that humans in this time period are particularly attached to their oil, and the Nurse says that the Nestene can extract the compounds they need and leave the rest. He finds that reasonable and tries to extract from it a promise that they won't use the special oil to make war. It promises that it won't make war 'on this place, on this day.' Not quite good enough for Magpie, and he says he wants to speak to the Nestene brain. The Nurse replies that for all intents and purposes, they can consider it to speak for the Nestene.
The others show up and the Magpie quickly makes sure they know that he's in the middle of a parley with the Nestene Consciousness. He offers the Nestene a deal to let them leave with the stuff, with the understanding that if they ever use it for violence he will track them down and make them pay. He gives the Nestene some time to think it over.
While this is going on, the Magpie is using his hand-held liquid-transmutation gadget to prepare a dose of anti-plastic just in case. Eska is keeping an eye outside, expecting an ambush. And Galaxion reaches out telepathically to try and contact the Nestene brain via the Auton. He tries to impress upon it directly that the Magpie's offer is a good one and that it should take it. It asks how long it has to consider, and he tells it it has an hour. It accepts that and breaks the connection. So the Time Lords leave the soldiers there to guard the infirmary and return to their TARDIS to give it a chance to consider.
In the meantime, the group decides they need to find the Nestene brain, its control node, just in case. The Magpie is willing to let the Nestene leave as long as they hold to a promise to only use the special oil peacefully, and the group figures that if the Nestenes are driven off, they'll just come back later and not be as careful. Eska looks through the TARDIS' databanks and informs the group that as near as they can tell, there is no precedent for peace with the Nestene.
The Magpie is pretty sure that he can take his anti-plastic compound, add it to the special compound in the oil, with an additive that means that if it comes to it they can remotely activate it to wipe out any Nestene creatures using it. As they're concocting this plan, a door opens and the young woman from earlier... the Dreamcatcher! A Time Lady who was part of their group, but as far as they know she never showed so they assumed she changed her mind. Apparently she's been trapped in the insane, haunted TARDIS this whole time![0] She's a little freaked out, not entirely sure they're real (after who knows how long being chased around rearranging corridors by ghosts that shouldn't exist), and they have to reassure her that they are real, and then get her caught up on what's been happening. Also, they ask her if she found an armory while she was trapped in the TARDIS. She did not, and they start to consider the possibility that the TARDIS doesn't even have one.[1]
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The Dreamcatcher, played by Becky -- A somewhat dour young Time Lady, the Dreamcatcher has developed a habit of using her camera-looking device to copy memories from other people. Specifically, she collects happy memories to cheer herself up. The device also gives her the ability to delete memories, like the neuralizer from Men in Black.
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But anyhow, while they're explaining things to the Dreamcatcher, Magpie finishes his 'remote-activated anti-plastic.' Eska then rigs up a device to try and enhance Galaxion's psychic abilities to find the Nestene Consciousness brain. As a result, Galaxion is able to find the Nestene control node underneath the oil rig, underwater. He goes out looking for it and finds it, in a cargo container hanging from the underside of one of the platforms via a cable. He makes sure to secure some cargo-hauling equipment to bring that thing up later shuld he have to, and he goes to reconnect with the others.
The Magpie and Eska go to the room with the drill to apply their special compound to the drill so when the Nestene try to claim the oil it's added to the special stuff they're after. But when they get to the drill room, there's a standoff going on. Two other Autons are there, in a standoff with some U.N.I.T. troops, holding the Brigadier and Jeff Cooper hostage. One of the Autons explains that they have decided not to accept the Magpie's offer. Eska pulls his own blaster rifle.
Meanwhile, Galaxion and the Dreamcatcher head to the infirmary to talk to the Nurse, where she tells them they're not taking the deal... and then pulls an unconscious Jeff Cooper out from behind a curtain, holding an Auton gun to his head. Galaxion takes off running, to go straight to the Nestene brain to deal with it.
Back in the drill room, a firefight has broken out. Eska opened fire on the Auton threatening the Brigadier and all hell broke loose. During the chaos, the Magpie got to the drill and applied his special compound to the drill to make sure it winds up in that special oil. The fight dies down, the Autons are dealt with, but Jeff seems to have been killed! Eska does his best to try and resuscitate him, but to no avail.
Then the Nurse shows up with the Dreamcatcher and the unconscious Jeff. The 'Jeff' that Eska was trying to help suddenly sits up, unfolds his hand to reveal the Auton blaster inside, and basically has him dead to rights.[2]
Elsewhere, Galaxion has managed to drag the cargo container with the Nestene node up to the platform and it tries to psychically assault him. It shows him the drill room and the standoff that has formed there. It demands that he load the container up on a cart and bring it up to the room.
While he's wheeling it up, he takes advantage of an opportunity to psychically duel it. After some telepathic back and forth complete with a psychic nosebleed on his part from the strain, he manages to shut it down and break its connection to the Autons, which all collapse.
At which point we get to the clean-up. The real Jeff Cooper is okay. The real Gloria Rodriguez is fine, unconscious and hidden in the infirmary along with the other people being impersonated. Galaxion is disappointed that things went the way they did, with such a powerful mind. But that's one adventure down, and they're getting ready to spin the wheel on the randomizer for another, when something happens to lock down the controls.
Red flashing lights go off and all of the monitors in the TARDIS reveal that the 'Emergency Retrieval Program' has been activated.
They're bring dragged back to Gallifrey. And... credits.
[0]-- Becky, the Dreamcatcher's player, isn't going to be able to make it to every session because of her work schedule, which is why she wasn't here for the previous one. And because of said work schedule, she showed up late on this night, which is why the Dreamcatcher only shows up now.
[1]-- Ron Howard voice: There isn't one.
[2]-- For those of you having trouble keeping up: While Jeff Cooper was waylaid in the infirmary for a week, the Autons had a duplicate impersonating him.
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