Speeder Dreams and Cosmic Streams

[bertinator]

<<< Previously

A few hours after the battle, MadMario arrives at the farm.

"Greetings, Bert!"
"Hey, Mario!"
"Congrats on the win. How was it?"



"It was quite the carnage. We had a blast, to be honest. The technobandits put up a real fight, but the bus is ours. We're just packing up the last loot items from the field."
"I see. Nice."



"Elyana must be thrilled."
"Well, she kinda got abducted."
"No way. The technobandits kidnapped a Hero?"
"Unfortunately, yeah. She got shot pretty bad and then they ran off with her. I'm sure she's alright, Elyana is pretty tough. But we just gotta find her."
"Naturally."



"What about these guys?"
"Yeah... I don't really know what's up with them. They call themselves Menders and just started cleaning up our mess. They seem friendly, so, we'll just ignore them."



"Interesting. Imma go talk to them."
"You do you, Mario."



Mario mutters to himself, "Tssk tssk, silly Bert. You have so much to learn about the Menders of Construction. Such potential, right under your nose - guess I'll beat you to it."

[bertinator]

After seizing all remaining loot and resources left on the battlefield, the crew heads out.




As they've almost reached the edge of the farm, they are stopped by the PartyBattleBus.
"Hey look, Skulls is back!"



"Bad news guys, there's no sign of Elyana. The Rapid Rogue has escaped, and he's taken our Hero with him."



"That's a bummer. He's probably already off the planet by now. There's no way we're going to find them today."
"So what do we do now?"
"Let's head back to The Boulder and make a plan."



"Works for me, lad. Hop in. All of ya."

[ninja_bait]

Where is AstroMike

Is he safe

[bertinator]

One roadtrip later...

"Feels good to be back."



"Get settled everyone, drinks are on me."



"I love this place, Bert. Good spot for an afterparty, eh?"
"And for making rescue plans."
"That too. Thanks for helping me out."
"Sure thing. Who knows, this might be a good adventure."

[bertinator]

Suddenly...

"Greetings, everyone! My name is Zupponn - Chief Executive Officer of the Zupponn Mining Corporation, Lord of the..."



"Oh hey, Skulls! Long time no see. How are you doing?"



"Wait, you know Skulls?"
"Hell yeah. We used to party all the time. That shit was fuckin' metal."



"You still got that RaveGlaive or yours?"
"Unfortunately not. I was hoping it would still be in the battlebus, but it's gone. Guess I'll have to find it again."



"Perhaps this'll cheer you up. A short while ago, the fourteenth Annual Conclave of the illustrous Hellhunt Council took place. We spoke of many things too spektakular for your newbie brains to komprehend. More importantly, it was decided, by the casting of ballots and the whispers of fate, that your battle with the technobandits was the most ossum thing in the brikverse last month. Congratulations!"



"To celebrate, I brought you a little something. These are Skelebennies, one for each of you. Use them in battle for a little extra doot."



"Here you go."
"Thanks Zup!"
"Awesome, thank you!"
"Danke."
"Hey Zupponn, would you like to stick around f..."



"Goodbye everyone! See you at the next Hellhunt!"



"Love it when Zup shows up."
"Hey guys, where's Nerv?"

[bertinator]

"Good afternoon!"
"Herr Mario, what ah yoo wehring on your hed?"



"Oh this? My friends from the Menders of Construction gave it to me. Because guess what: I've secured a budget from them, for our campaign! Just like the rest of you."



"Wow, those construktion guys can fight? How did you convince them to fight for you?"
"Oh no, it's just a budget. I'll use the funds to hire some mercs. As for the reason - let's say the MoC is very interested in hearing the latest information on our campaign."



"Why?"
"Well Bert, maybe you could tell me - I learned from them that the Menders of Construction and the Republic of Studland form an alliance nowadays."
"Wait really? Well, I don't really do politics these days."



"Glad to have you on board, Mario. Perhaps you could help us figure out where the technob..."
"Hey Nerv!"



"Sup."
"You look a lizzle, divverent?"



"I think that's caused by the meditation session just now. During the battle I felt my magikal powers drain. It's because this place is far removed from my homeworld, where my supernatural abilities originate. So I meditate to be more in sync with my Rehinnic identity. A change in appearance is one of the side-effects of that."
"Fazinating."



"Anyway, where were we?"
"Right. As I was saying, our next step is to figure out where the technobandits took Elyana."
"I have an idea."

[bertinator]

Some time later, the entire crew is hunched over a table filled with elektronikal hardware.

A combination of Brag's masterful tinkering with power sources and data cables, and Dasher's access to SpaceCop espionage software, allow the team access to AstroMike's operating system.

"I kan't beliew I didn't zink of zis myzelv!"
"I can't believe these starmech droids run on windows vista."



"Therez lotz of folders hear. Here's wan wif 600 images titled 'private - do not open'. Zhall I open it?"
"NO!!!"



"Okay. Wear to ztart den? There's folders wor Documents, Pictures, Downloads, Logs, Musik, Plans, ..."
"Let's focus on getting Elyana back. Try the Calendar and view all saved locations."



"Search for 'Home'"
"Got it! Oh. Zis iz Cleetuz' farm."
"Here, this one: 'Home.old'."
"Yep, this should be it. And abondoned galactic base."
"Someone write down these coordinates."



"Wait a minute, I've heard of this place. Kit Blister told me about it..."

Dasher takes a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Check for missions logs to the Nocture Void."



"Bingo! Herez wan!"
"Read it."
"No u."
"Log 671. Mission Failed. Slice relayed the discovery of the ultimate speeder, adrift in the vast expanse of the Nocturnal Void. Without delay, we initiated departure. Upon locating the vehicle, it was evident that it had suffered fragmentation, yet we successfully salvaged the majority of its components. Regrettably, the control module proved elusive. Our retrieval efforts faced interruption from an unidentified space ranger, entering our vicinity via an uncharted vector. Upon returning to our base, Nova undertook the task of restoring the remarkable speederbike; however, its functionality remains impaired in the absence of the control module. The..."



Suddenly, AstroMikes severed head speaks in drone:
"Intelligence. Transfer. Complete. Initiate. Termination. Of. Node."

"What the..."
"TAKE COVER!"



BOOOOMMM



"Heilige Scheiße"
"Everybody allright?"



"Guys, no time to lose. Pack your stuff, we're heading out."
"I'll go and get Kit Blister. He may prove very usefull during this mission."

[ninja_bait]

AstroMike, nooooo!

[Quantumsurfer]

Ah, he's fine.

[bertinator]

After an unpleasant trip in a stolen starboat, the Bailing Bandit arrives at his destination: the former technobandit base. His captive, Elyana, is still unconscious.




At the same time as him, a few of his mates arrive. It's Trazj, Bombzdogan, Günnar and Albèr.

"Hey guys, I'm glad you got my message."
"Is it true? Did we lose the battlebus?"



"Alas, it is true. But worry not, friends - this girl will help us reclaim it in no time. Let's get her inside and toss her in the ransom cell."

[bertinator]

Amongst a dizzying array of electrical circuitry and transponder wire, a perfect replica of AstroMikes neural nexus whirs to life. Its optical sensor blinks rapidly to indicate the vast amounts of information being transfered.



"Intelligence. Transfer. Complete. Initiate. Secondary. Reconstruction."

The hum of machinery echoes through the vast, empty halls. Tools are set in motion to construct a new chassis for the droid that engineered its own survival.

[bertinator]

"Ugghhhh, my head hurts."
"I knew you'd wake up. You're a Hero after all."
"Where am I?"



"This was our home before we moved to the farm. Welcome! It's an abandoned space base, how cool is that? We partied here for a long time, staging heists, doing missions, you know, technobandit stuff."



"Ofcourse it's not as ossum as our camp around the partybattlebus, but at the time, this base was the shit."
"The coffeemachine in the cantina still works. Best brew I've ever had."
"They served delicious food, too. Some of it is still there."
"I was told once that there's a dead spaceman somewhere in these halls."
"Remember that one time we rigged one of the command consoles to play Lego Universe?"
"Ah, the memories."



"And this base has a jail. How convenient. But why does it have an outside door?"



"This cell is the only thing we built ourselves. Since we started taking hostages, we automated the ransom collection process. There's a payment machine on the outside, so if your friends transfer the required credits, you're automatically set free."



"How convenient."
"100% care-free for both parties. Hah!"



"Speaking of parties - Bombzdogan, crank up the musik man! Let's party at full volume, because we're here..."



"...allllllll..."



"...alone."

[bertinator]

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