Chalice of Taroonah - Part Two

Posted on Tue Feb 11th, 2020 @ 4:31pm by Brigadier General Kaden Ross

3,504 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 104 - A Glimmer of Hope...
Location: Taroonah
Timeline: MD1 1000 hrs

They'd been back a month but sitting in their quarters Freya couldn't help but think back to the events of the last day of the hunt for the Chalice. There were still a lot of unanswered questions.

~ One month earlier ~

The three friends arrived outside the temple and what sight. The structure was an amalgamation of both Roman and Egyptian architecture. Two rows of six huge columns stretched out in front of them leading to a pyramid-like structure that was at least 80 meters tall and was surrounded by two further rows of columns but unlike those of ancient Egypt, this did not show its outer stone casing but was covered in thick grass.

Vox turned to Kaden and Varena. "Now that's a temple," he uttered.

"Quite" Varena nodded. "Who wants to bet we'll find two treasures inside?" She looked towards Kaden. "One of which belongs to you! That precious wife of yours!"

"Hey Verena, come on. It's not you or Kaden that has to go in there alone is it. " Vox replied.

"You're NOT going in there alone!" Varena looked at Vox. "I didn't come this far to get left out of the action. We go in together, the traps in there might require all our skills."

"The village elder seemed to suggest that it was my forseen role. I could be mistaken but we will soon find out." Vox replied

Kaden placed his hands on their shoulders as he looked at each of them his biceps bulging. "Hey, the one that is getting the hand of Venus is ME so don't get any funny ideas you two." He told them.

"It's not up to us Kaden. The scriptures clearly state that I must brave the temple and rescue Freya. It does not mean I win her heart or hand. It merely means I get her out of there. Suppose you go in there and the challenges, that thus far have defeated others, have done so because they are somehow tailored to my knowledge or experiences. How do you suppose you will make it through? " Vox asked.

"W-Well..." Kaden began Vox had a point they said nothing about winning Freya as a bride. After all when it came right down to it both Kaden and Vox was starting to bond. The last thing he even wanted to do was get a bit overzealous on issue and well stomp him into bloody slushi. "Okay, okay, you got a point, Rae, it's just I am bit overprotective right now and I am sorry."

Defeated with guilt he placed his hands on his hips and looked up at the temple. "Look, I have no clue how I do this normally I probably just blow this thing sky high and call it a day." Now that wasn't true Kaden knew better and to tell the truth he was far more intelligent than he was letting on. But he was afraid to show it so he would put on this gungho persona to hide it from others.

"Ok. I'm going in. " Vox walked down the avenue created by the columns untill he reached the pyramid. The door opened. Stepping inside into the darkness, be switched on his wrist mounted torch. The door closed behind him.

After walking down a long corridor for what seemed like a good 10 minutes, he reached a large, torch lit, circular chamber.

Around him seemed be the charred remains of bodies. Stepping forward, too flaming jets activated but didn't fire out towards him, just yet. A beam of light scanned him and the jets went cold. A voice echoed in the chamber "At last you have arrived old friend, let's see you get out of this." The voice wasn't familiar.

On the wall was an inscription in an ancient language that seemed familiar. The door to where he had to go next was blocked by a large slab connected to a geared mechanism with an empty box at the end with a transparent front. On the floor were large blocks each with a different character on them in the same language.

Staring at the inscription, it became familiar. "Wait a second, Lerani my first host had a flare for ancient languages and if I am right, this is Tamyjahn." Pointing at the inscription. "Make time, Save time whilst time lasts. All time is no time..... Of course." He looks at the blocks. Finding the ones for 'when' 'time' 'is' and 'past'. He placed them in the right order in the box. The mechanism started to move and slowly the door opened. "Yes" he exclaimed.

Once more he walked a fair distance down a long narrow dimly lit corridor and once again reaching a chamber. In this chamber was a mess made up of metal gears, chains, bars and other mechanical parts. He could see the door lit by two torches but he couldn't simply walk to it as, in his way, was a wide casam.

Picking up a stone off the floor he dropped it down into the darkness and waited. It seemed like enternity till he heard it hit the bottom. "It's deep " he muttered. Looking back at the assorted parts he realised the skill of another of his former hosts was being tested. This time it was the engineering skills of Torbin. He had to build a structure to get himself safely across.

Two hours and a lot of sweat, cuts and torn clothes later, he finished his structure. Now it had to work, otherwise, he would end up following the stone at the bottom. He positioned the structure in place and cautiously moved across it and the casam below. The further he progressed, more unstable the structure became and it was looking unlikely it would last to see him to safety. As he neared the other side the structure was loosing it's cohesion and large pieces were coming loose. Seconds before it collapsed into the deep darkness below he lept from it onto the other side, landing in a heap.

Getting up, he was in pain. "Well, my arm is probably broken but I must go on" Tearing off a strip of his shirt he fashioned a sling for his arm and headed on.

Unbeknownst to Vox, this was the final chamber. As he approached, a sensor triggered a sleeping gas to be released into the chamber where Freya was held. She collapsed into unconscious state.

Vox then came into the chamber, seeing Freya on the floor in the transparent box he ran over.

"Freya." He yelled banging the sides of the box. She didn't respond. He walked around to the side of the box to find three tubes going into Freya's cage. Each was connected to a pressurised cylinder containing a compound. On each cylinder was an image of a plant leaf and it's flower. A red button was on the top of each one. A message in front of it all read ' Think carefully. One will revive her, one will put her into a deep sleep of which she won't awaken and the other will kill her. Choose. '

Once again the experiences of his former hosts was needed. This time it was Azrel who was not only an artist but also a botanist. He had to press the right one to wake her.

"Ok the first one is sorrnet so I won't be touching that one, she won't wake up from the coma that will induce. The other two look so alike. I think one is Tizneer, which kills and the other is Zahm which revives. But which is which, think. "

He studied the images. He was sweating from the stress.

"Shit, I was never good at getting this right when I was Azrel but then it was only an exam and no one's life was on the line." He uttered.

Just as he started to loose hope that he could save her, it struck him. "Red, red tips." He exclaimed. Looking carefully at the images, particularly the flowers he studied the petals. The third one had tiny red tips on the end of each petal. " Bingo. That's it. Normally red is danger but not when it's Zahm." He said hitting the button.

A gas enters the chamber surrounding Freya. A few agonising seconds pass and then she begins to stir and awaken.

Freya stirred, she had a hell of a headache but at least she was awake. “Vox?” She looked at Rae as she slowly got to her feet. “Where’s Kaden?! Is he okay?”

"Yeah he's just fine. The Elder would only allow me to enter the temple, it being my destiny and all that. Question now is, how to we get you out of that chamber. Can you see a release mechanism at all? A button or a lever?" Vox asked.

Freya looked around, the inside of the chamber was empty and the walls were smooth. “No, I don’t see anything! How are we supposed to open...” She looked at Rae as the door suddenly opened of its own accord. At the same time she heard a voice. Stepping out she looked at Vox. “Did you hear that?”

"Hear what?" Vox replied.

“There was a voice...” She looked around. “It just said...remember the symbol.” She moved to take a look at his arm. “Let me see your arm.”

"Remember the symbol? What does that.... wait a second. The symbol, the one on the map. Forget my arm for a moment. Look around this large stone chamber with me. Look for that symbol on the map, you know this one." he drew in the dirt on the ground [~]. "It might be small but it's here somewhere. My guess is, the chalice is where you find it. " Vox replied.

Freya nodded and started looking around, she was still a bit woozy thanks to the gas that knocked her out but she was stable enough on her feet to look around. She scoured the one side of the room before suddenly seeing the symbol. “Rae! Over here!!”

Vox headed over to Freya. "Yep that's it. " He said. He rubbed his fingers over it. It felt like a button. Pushing in the centre it moved into the stone. There was a loud clunk and the wall slid up revealing a chamber with a stone pedestal in the centre and on the top, lit up by a forward beam of light.....the Chalice.

"Now, if we remove it, it could go one of two ways. One, removing it opens a door and we get out of here or two, removing it sets off something bad. How lucky do we feel? " He asked as he reached for the chalice and lifted it off the pedestal. As expected the pedestal withdrew into the floor. They braced themselves. Slowly a door opened in front of them, the intense daylight dazzled them.

Vox turned to Freya. "Go go go. That's our door out of here. "

The two, with Vox carrying the Chalice, left the pyramid and walked out into daylight where both Kaden and Varena could see them.

Freya covered her eyes for a moment before they adjusted to the light. “Kaden!!” She practically ran across to him, throwing her arms around him and holding on tight.

Varena stood arms folded tapping her foot. She looked peeved that she hadn’t gotten to go into the temple herself. Her demeanour changed as she looked at the Chalice. “It’s true!” She approached Vox. “Now all we have to do is get it away from the natives.”

"Yeah. How do we do that?" Vox asked.

“Maybe that’s my job” Freya looked at Kaden as she kept hold of him. “Venus and the Chalice go hand in hand. Do you have an emergency escape plan just in case?”

"Two words for you, transporter lock. Of course." Vox replied, " And before you ask, it wasn't working in the temple." He added

“Might I suggest that maybe Venus and her champions simply vanish from the planet as quickly as they came?” Freya looked at Kaden then back at Vox. “I just want to get the hell out of here!”

"Sure, why not."

Vox pulled out a small black device from his pocket. He taps the button.

=^= Vox to Tenaran=^= he looked around at his three friends =^= Four to beam up. =^=

=^=Message received Rae, standby for transport=^=

The four friends were enveloped in transporter beams and disappeared from the planet's surface in a twinkle of blue sparkles. Moments later they appeared on the pad aboard the Tenaran.

Freya was feeling a bit weak at the knees but she looked at Vox. “Pass me a medkit, I’ll take a look at that arm for you.”

He handed here a medkit from the storage point by the transporter padd.

Taking the medkit she motioned for him to sit before gently removing the layers covering his arm. “Okay, that’s definitely broken.” She grabbed some pain relief and what she needed gently taking her time to heal the bone for him. “Okay I’ve done what I can for now, it’s only just knitted together so you’ll need to drop by Sickbay and have it checked when we get back.” She offered a smile before the remnants of the sedative in her system finally won over and she collapsed into a sleeping heap.

"Woah. Kaden she needs you. I'd help but my arm is only patched together." He advised. He then taps the coms panel next to him. "Tenaran. Leave orbit and set a course for Starbase 400, maximum warp. " #Welcome back Rae, leaving orbit now and en-route as requested. # Tenaran replied.

"WAIT!!" Kaden shouted running over to the helm bringing the ship to a stop. "We can't leave them they will have my ass if we don't get those guns!"

"Holly crap the weapons. Tenaran,cancel that request and put us back in orbit. Can you scan for the weapons on the surface?"

#i am having difficulty in locating the weapons due to sensor issue. I suggest you beam back down to retrieve them# Tenaran replied.

"Looking for these?" Replied a metallic voice. A figured and one of the natives holding Kaden's weapons still wrapped in silk appeared from nowhere. The figure looked feminine but the face was covered behind a mask and hood. She wore a Armored suit with a tabard donning the {~} on it.

"You" vox uttered. You were the voice in the pyramid. Who are you? " Vox asked.

The armored figure placed her hand on Vox's shoulder. "It's okay, we are not here to harm any of you but I am the one that made the map and clues that brought you here." She replied.

"Wait, that was you?" Kaden asked.

"What he said" Vox replied. "Why though?"

The native next to her deactivated their holographic disguise revealing them to be a large futuristic robot. #Ma'am, I am afraid now is not a good time to explain TEMPEST Command needs us back soon.#

The figure sighed looking at Vox. "I am sorry but M3 is correct now is not a good time." She lifted up a finger. "I do however have one tiny thing that needs to be addressed while I am here though...the rest of you're reward."

"Reward? Getting home in one piece is a good reward." Vox replied.

The figure looked down noticing Freya. "Oh great, I overdid it on the gas, M3, would you quickly help her?" The robot knelt down setting the weapons on the floor before it began to scan Freya and administer her some medicine.

While her robot was working on Freya the figure pressed a button on the command panel mounted on her wrist. Kaden could suddenly feel the ship lurch forward slightly as if something heavy was brought on board. He looked at Vox then the robot then their mysterious hostess. "What was that?" He asked.

"the rest of you're reward."

M3 now finished stood up and walked back next to the figure. #Task completed, subject vitals normal gas effects will wear off soon.#

The figure patted her mechanical friend on the shoulder. "Good, now I must apologize but we must be going till we meet again." She was about to press a button on her arm panel before she lifted up a finger. "Oh on last thing, please don't mind the minor cosmetic changes on your bodies." She and her robot then vanished.

Kaden looked at Vox. "Cosmetic changes?" Suddenly he felt a burning sensation on his shoulder as quickly grabbed it and saw a {~} freshly tattooed on it. He looked up at Vox and saw the same tattoo except his was on his forearm.

"What the? Ok, I don't know about you Kaden but I am properly confused now. But let's get going back to Starbase 400. It's about 4 days at warp 5 from here. I will set the autopilot because I want to know what has just been put on my ship."

Vox headed to the helm, set the controls and the ship jumped to warp. He approached Kaden. "Care to come with me? Bring a gun, just to be on the safe side." He said as he headed to the stairs to head to the forward cargo bay.

Kaden ran his finger over the tattoo that was still a bit sore. "Ouch, you know, Vox, I am completely confused too." He turned to Varena. "Can you least be nice and look after, Freya, while we check the cargo bays?"

"Do I have much choice?" She folded her arms across her chest and stood watching Freya.

Kaden picked up his sidearm then gave Vox a nod to lead the way.

The two men headed down the staircase. The ship did have a turbolift but Vox often used the stairs just as a form an exercise. The two reached the forward cargo bay, the doors opened and Vox turned on the lights.

Kaden felt his jaw drop when he saw what was inside gold and lots of it. Now he wasn't certain of the value of the chalice but this certainly was enough for all four to buy their own planet each. Grabbing Vox Kaden gave the man a big wet kiss on the cheek. Before running to the gold and hugging it a big smile on his face.

Vox taps the come panel =∆= Varena, you might want to come see this, if Freya is ok, bring her too. =∆=

It wasn't long before Varena and a more awake looking Freya walked into the cargo bay. Both women looked at each other in astonishment. Freya looked at both men. "Where did this all come from?"

Kaden popped up from behind the gold holding a bar in one hand tricorder in the other. "Vox, it's real it is all real gold!!!" But the moment he saw Freya he set the bar and tricorder down. Kaden walked over to her and gave her a long big hug. "Freya, I...I missed you makes me happy to see you are okay." A tear of joy rolled down his face as he held her close.

Freya smiled as she cuddled him. “I’m fine with the exception of this” she pulled up her top just a little to reveal the same mark as his tattooed on her lower back. “I guess this is a souvenir of our trip.”

Varena frowned funnily enough she didn’t have a tattoo. “So Vox, where does this leave the Chalice? Do we share or shall I look after it for you?”


"Very funny. We shall all discuss it as we journey home." Vox replied

Kaden smiled smelling his wife's lovely hair before turning to Vox. "Speaking of souvenirs and the Chalice...we need to figure out what to do with all this stuff."

"Absolutely" Vox replied

"Can't exactly show up on 400 with all this gold...too many questions will be asked although we really didn't do anything wrong but may be some that could get the wrong idea." Kaden told the others gathered around.

“You can find something worthy to donate my share to” Freya looked at Kaden then at Vox. “I don’t need gold or riches, I have everything I need.” She smiled at Kaden as she cuddled up beside him.

Kaden held Freya closer she had a point she had plenty of money they both did really. But in the end all the money or riches in the world could never replace his woman and his love for her. "Let's just take it one step at a time, Freya, we need to find a safe place to stash this first." He told her.

"Vox, I noticed you tend to pass by the New Vegas Colony on Charris II quite a bit during your travels. Care to take us there? I have a nice spot we can stash our loot." Kaden told him.

"Sure, no problem," Vox replied. He headed back up to the bridge to make the course changes.

{OFF}

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