“Look!” shouts Gerontius, pointing.
In the distance, through the churning chaos of Limbo, our heroes can make out several metal missiles burning towards them. Master Control! thinks Wankerman over their secure telepathic link.
Baron Lillamere replies, Let’s get out of here!
What about Marius? demands Alcar. We can’t let him get away.
The angel guy is right! Sybele’s mental voice is half-panicked. He’ll kill my daughter!
Something’s happened, Lillamere says telepathically. Marius’ destination has changed.
“How?” Mabrack cries aloud.
“Let’s go!” Lillamere exclaims. The group gathers and teleports a thousand miles.
***
The answer, of course, is a simple miracle cast by Prayzose. However, the emperor is not expecting the teleport trace that Orbius cast via limited wish, so the sudden arrival of Lester and Orbius catches him off-guard.
Lester swoops in, grabs Cluma’s corpse and plane shifts away, grabbing onto Orbius and talking his cohort with him.
“Sh*t!” exclaims Marius.
***
Orbus and Lester reappear a few moments later, next to the party (thanks to a superior teleport). Alcar soul binds Cluma, and everyone gets a last round of mocking in on the poor Arrow of Law.
“I still can’t believe he sued us,” Lester chortles.*
“So much for that,” Thrush answers wryly.
Stay focused! Baron Lillamere warns. We can’t give them any time to recover- with Marius, they can use it incredibly effectively.
He’s right, Sybele nods. We should press the advantage while we have it.
“Missiles,” Gerontius says suddenly, pointing. Indeed, off in the distance, the burning flames of the missiles’ exhaust stand out in the twisting chaos-scape like candles in the sky.
The party gathers together quickly.
Let’s go kick some ass! Jibber Junior enthuses. Where are we going?
To the Bastion of Order, Lester replies.
Again, the party plane shifts (to Cydra), then greater teleports to the Bastion.
“Now this is how you do it!” Lester cries, and he casts find the path to find the pool room in the Bastion. “We need to get to the devil room!” he declares.
“Missiles,” warns Gerontius. Simultaneously, the group notices several huge, strange-looking weapon emplacements built into the towers. They are swiveling to fire at our heroes.
This time the missiles are too close, too fast. Almost everyone is caught in the blast, flames roaring over their bodies and shrapnel shredding arms, legs, backs. Screams of pain ring out, and then the party clumps up into groups. Alcar casts a mass heal to heal the various wounds the party members have suffered, or at least as many of the wounds as possible. Then Lillamere and Orbius teleport into the emplacements and disintegrate the problem, while the others begin moving into the Bastion from a trap door in the ceiling.
A long line of orcish pistoleers move to oppose them.
“Surrender!” Thrush calls to them. “If you do not, I will have to kill you all! I am the foremost swordsman of our age!”
They do not listen.
Our heroes show no mercy. The pistoleers are the cream of the crop, the best of the best; they are, quite simply, the most elite pistoleers alive.
But our heroes are some of the most elite individuals of any kind alive. They have slain five Arrows of Law, now; and though the sunpowder weapons are frightful and deal telling wounds, they do not equal the odds. Our heroes cut them down, blast them to bits, overcome them easily. Lester’s fireballs, JJ’s energy waves- they are enough to finish the pistoleers. But another, powerful orc has moved into play, dancing the dance with a falchion. He, too, is no match for our heroes.
“This way! Alcar!” shouts Lester. “EARTHQUAKE!!”
Grinning, the Angel of Food, the Angel of Kickass, the Angel of Lost Causes, casts a spell. Suddenly the earth begins to shake and roar. Crevices open in the ground. From within the Bastion come cries of distress. The building itself shudders and creaks, but does not fall.
A troop of sword archons flies into view. Auras of pure righteousness flicker around them as they dive towards our heroes. With swords for forearms, they are formidable, and a good charge from one can completely obliterate a foe. But the party quickly moves through the door that Lester indicates. They find themselves in the chamber where they had fought the strange cubical Wrath of Law.
The sword archons pursue, and as the groups begin to melee, Alcar casts a second earthquake. Dust rises; the creak of straining metal is ominously loud. Things fall; the earth rumbles and roars. But the Bastion of Order stands.
“This is it!” Lester shouts. Dotting the walls of the place are a series of portals. Telepathically, he cries, The keys we need are through those portals!
As the sword archons press their attack, several of our heroes dash through the portals.
And then Alcar casts another earthquake.
Next Time: Through the portals!
*Way back when, he sued the party to recover his sword after he was raised after they killed him in their very first adventure as a party.