~~GM~~
"I will have my contacts try to find more maps of the old Rome ruins to help you navigate the underground. Be warned, however, that the Followers make a habit of 'redecorating.' So you may find yourselves faced with traps or--" Before Machiavelli could finish speaking, a man dressed in a while attire crept up behind him; whispering something in his ear, before handing him a small piece of paper.
Machiavelli's expression was that of confusion, before reading the paper to get clarification. "Hmmm... It seems we have yet another problem facing us," he told the group, "a division of soldiers is attacking the Vatican from the south. And they don't appear to be from this world either."
A scattered army was invading Rome. Wonderful.
"I calculate we are not properly organized or equipped for this new development. I will signal the Pathfinder with the module The Doctor installed during my repairs. We will regroup and return when properly equipped. To you, our return will be instantaneous. There is a limited temporal window in which we can enter or exit a given timeline." Thea explains to the group, holding out her arms.
"Wait a minute," Moon Knight realized, "you mean... you've had that installed in you this whole time?"
"I have. I had significant damage during our last engagement. The Doctor used the opportunity to make several upgrades at my request."
"Why didn't you tell us then?!"
"It was not relevant until now." Thea answers stone-faced at first. Then has the ghost of a smile on her lips.
Moon Knight had the ghost of annoyance on his masked face.
"Gather close, it will make the targeting of the teleporter easier on the technician." She waits for everyone to be fairly (maybe uncomfortably) close before she purses her lips and produces a warbling sound. A green light envelops the group, and they are gone in one instant.
ON PATHFINDER
Cut to a soldier snoring in a chair, woken by a loud buzzing alarm on their console. "Oh shit! Uhhh..." They struggle to remember the limited training they had on the interdimensional teleporter. "Right, right...this button...that switch...targeting....if I did this right they should all be here in their proper configuration." It was a bit hard to remember how exactly this set up worked, because the console they were using for 'emergency teleportation' was about twice the size of a grand piano keyboard, and was all holographic with literal thousands of buttons to press and codding to process.
And considering they just about finally had some control of the station, they weren't exactly sure what everything did in the computer systems. But, Thea seemed to have some understanding of it, and gave specific instructions to the soldier about what to do should her beacon go off... shame he didn't actually write down what she said.
As the alarm kept sounding, panic crept in as he struggled to remember the exact sequence order. And once everything was set, he pressed the 'retrieve' button, as they labeled it. Off went the team in Rome across space, shooting through the cosmos of a dozen galaxies and solar systems, until finally landing in the teleporter bay..... Without their clothes.
"Uh oh," the soldier remarked under his breath, "Uhh... Welcome back!" Seems he missed a step with configuring the outer laying of clothing they had on. Now they were standing in a giant, cold space station with nothing but their underwear on.
And on that bombshell...
TO BE CONTINUED
(If you would like to see who is invading the Vatican City, find out in
'Vandals in the Vatican!')
