18/03/2020 - Lands of the Ilimdaki

Aggressive Defence

Drent notices that the comms with the Liberator are down and they can no longer communicate with the ship or Orac.

As they approach the Wall, they see it is over 10 metres high and has watch towers at regular intervals. There are figures on the battlements and as the Travellers approach, they open fire with slug weapons.

The Travellers take cover. They watch as the alarm is raised and more defenders arrived, firing intermittently. They try communications but the defenders do not seem to have comms.

Del steps out into the open and drops his weapon. He is fired at but he puts his hands up and the defenders stop shooting. He takes his helmet off and starts shouting up to the soldiers, eventually persuading a commanding officer to come down and talk.

Take Them to the Queen!

A rope ladder is rolled down and an officer comes down to talk to them. The Officer has a similar appearance to the Priest, human-like but obviously not human. Del tells him they have come from the Cloning Building and the officer asks about the Priest, who they say sent them here. The officer gets the impression they have come from the Maker and says they must be taken to the Queen.

The others come out of cover and they are allowed to climb up the ladder to the top of the Wall. They are then taken to a car-like vehicle that appears to be steam powered and driven along a road away from the wall towards a walled city several miles away. The land inside the Wall is cultivated in very neat and precise fields of varying crops and they can see more Ilimdaki working in the fields. There are not many of these steam cars on the road.

They arrive at the walled-city and stopped at the gate, before being allowed in. The city is well-ordered and busy, but very functional. It does not have adverts or any grand architecture. The only real building of interest is the Palace, which has beautiful gardens and pools of water surrounding it.

Cocktails

They pull out outside the Palace and are shown into a waiting room. The Queen is currently busy but will see them soon. In the meantime, food is arranged for them, some of which is tasty and others bland or awful.

They have two Palace guards and Cyrus decides to tease them, asking for alcohol. When they ask what he wants to clean, they are surprised when he suggests he is going to drink it. They bring him some alcohol, but suggest drink it is dangerous.

Cyrus checks and it is very pure. He decides to mix it with the various drinks and juices, making various cocktails and drinking generously. He persuades one of the guards to drink and he downs a large quantity very quickly, soon becoming very drunk.

A Royal Audience

Eventually the Queen can see them and they are escorted by their guards, though the drunk one is struggling a lot. The Queen is sat in a large throne room with various dignitaries around her. One of them with a chain is the Chancellor.

She questions them and where they came from. When they tell her they used the teleport, she says that’s not possible they are not active. There is a portal not far from the city but it has been dormant for centuries.

When Del tries to tell her about their civilisation and that they don’t have Kings and Queen, she offers her condolences that their civilisation is in decline.

She tells them her people need outside help. They lack vision and imagination and that has held them back. There was one Ilimdaki who had enough imagination to build the wall and make the rifles to defend against the Hunters. He was the first King of the Ilimdaki and her ancestor.

The Chancellor remarks that it is important that they follow the will of the Maker but the Queen says the will of the Maker is not clear and these new visitors must help them understand what the Maker wants and to advance their civilisation. Some of the assembled dignitaries seem to be less than pleased at the Queen’s suggestion. Doing things as they have always been done seems to be a popular policy.

We Are Under Attack!

The Marshall is called out by a message and he soon returns, interrupting the audience to tell the Queen that they are under attack from the Hunters. Apparently they have been coming through the Teleport which is now active and their numbers of growing.

There is consternation and they audience soon breaks up, with various members of the Queen’s Council heading off to deal with the situation. The Travellers are left on their own. They notice that the guard who drank too much is now a little sick.

They decide to go help the defenders and head outside, taking the steam are and getting directions for the teleportal. They leave the City through one of the gates and head north.

Battle with the Hunters

They soon reach the front line where scattered groups of soldiers are shooting at enemies who are hiding in the undergrowth. The Hunters, which appear a mixture of humanoid and preying-mantis insects, wait for the soldiers to run out of shots then charge and kill them with powerful claws.

Del takes command and with the assistance of the other Travellers and their superior fire power, turns the tide of the battle, holding off and then driving back the Hunters. At one point he uses the Ancient pistol for the first time and disintegrates one of the Hunters.

This takes several hours and a confrontation with an Ilimdaki officer who questions why Del is giving orders. He bluffs that the Queen ordered them to help and this is accepted.

As it begins to get dark, Del meets with the Marshall who tells him they while there has been success in his area, the Hunters have driven the soldiers back elsewhere and he is in danger of being cut off. They retreat with the soldiers back to the walled city.

Defend the City!

When they get they, they realise the city is the best place to defend and arrange for soldiers to man the walls and close the gates. Del is also shocked to see able-bodied workers in the City going about their normal business and gives orders for them to be drafted in as soldiers to boost the defences.

Del also finds out where the armourers is and gives him orders to produce more guns and ammunition as soon as possible. He finds a few hours later this has been contradicted by the Chancellor, but he reinstates the order and confronts the Chancellor, who simples states that they must do what they have always done, it is the will of the Maker. Del tells him not to interfere again or he will tell the Queen and the Chancellor agrees.

A long night ensues, during which the Hunters probe various areas of the City Wall, but are eventually driven back thanks to the intervention of the Travellers in some cases. It seems that the Hunters fight alone or in vary small groups and do not seem capable of a concerted group attack, which stops them from overwhelming the City Defenders.

Strange Light in the Sky

During the night, the Travellers notice a couple of strange things. First of all the sky is not dark at night, it has a hazy glow that is light enough to see by but not good enough to read with. Also they notice that a specific point in the sky occasionally flares up quite brightly for a period of time, before darkening down. The Ilimdaki tell them this has never happened before.

Over the next few days, the Travellers are mostly involved in defending the city and are very busy. Time passes fast, but one point of concern is that the light flaring in the sky continues to happen more and more frequently and is even slightly visible during the daytime. Cyrus wonders if it is the trans-dimensional gateway that is being attacked.

After a few days Del realises several things. The Hunter attacks have died down and the city is safe, however their food supplies will not last and the Hunters are in control of all the farm lands around them. He realises it is time to head out and take the fight to them, reclaim some ground and possible capture the Teleportal to stop their reinforcements coming through.

End of Episode Two