Slipstream: Distraction Dragons

Back to the world of pulpy goodness! Like living in a glass of orange juice! Here's last time!

Our intrepid heroes, their ship armed with the new static burst and they themselves burdened with the knowledge of Stygia, head for the fragment of Dracos. They know only that they are to gaze upon the "queen's beauty," but not get distracted. They aren't quite sure where to go, so they land in the capital city and walk around a bit, looking at the red stone buildings and the river flowing around the palace. 

They wander into a shady area in a blind spot between two buildings, and see a Drascos stumbling towards them, covered in blood. The unfortunate reptile collapses between them, and three more Drascos, all dressed in green and gold robes, emerge, brandishing weapons. "Kill him," snarls one, "and no witnesses!"

Oola, thinking quickly, activates her brand new darkness generator, plunging the area into inky blackness. The Drascos fire lasers wildly, but don't manage to hit anything. Iris moves forward in search of a target, unsuccessfully, but Oola pulls the dying Drascos out of the way and Zeenia moves up to where she believes one of the assailants was. She lashes out with her tentacles and feels a body turn to mush. 

Oola makes telepathic contact with the injured lizard, and he tells her "Central plaza. Ten minutes. They're going to assassinate him!" She tries to help him hold on, but he's too badly injured and expires. Oola drops the darkness, and Zeenia surges forward and smashes the other two Drascos assassins against the wall. 

The heroes don't have much time to rest, though! Oola informs them of the plot to assassinate someone, and they rush to the central plaza. There's a huge crowd of Drascos, all cheering (well, trilling) at an apparent noble or ruler. He's wearing gold robes and glad-handing the crowd, as six guards march in front of him. Those guards are wearing the same green-and-gold as the Drascos the characters just fought, as it happens. A Drascos nearby shouts "There he is! HAIL KING SSORISS!"

Just then, Iris notices the guards all reach menacingly into their robes, and Oola spies that one of them is arming a small bomb! The heroes spring into action! Iris pushes her way through the crowd onto the road, and shouts her battle cry at the guards. Oola makes telepathic contact with the king and shows him the images of the assassins and the bomb, but he freezes up and stays where he is. Zeenia pushes through the crowd on the other side and jumps into the river, swimming toward the palace to get near the king.

One of the guards rushes Iris, but he doesn't quite get to her before he collapses into sleep (thanks to Oola). Iris runs toward the king, but just then the assassin throws the bomb just as Zeenia gets out of the river. She tries, in vain to pick it up and throw it clear of the king and the bystanders (and, like, herself), but her tentacles fail her and it explodes. 

Several of the bystanders are killed, but the king and Zeenia survive (both were wearing armor and the camera shows them being throw backwards, which means they live). Oola runs up and starts working on the king. More guards emerge from the palace, along with medics, but the assassins escape with the fleeing crowd (except for the guy who's asleep, obviously). The medics thank Oola for her help, and the characters are addressed in a rather condescending manner by Lord Ssorak of House Telepathicus. By his robes and bearing, Zeenia guesses him to be a majordomo or prime minister type of person. 

He thanks them for their assistance, and gives Oola a ring that he says is "very valuable" on behalf of his liege. He then takes his leave, which kind of leaves the characters wondering what the hell happened and whether anyone is going to clue them in. One of the head guards tells them that the remaining assassin will be interrogated, and if they need to reach the characters they'll send word to the ship. 

The heroes head back to the ship, and Zeenia gets into her tank to heal up while Oola works on incorporating the mind control ring she obtained into her telepathy rig. Iris does a bit of research on the Drascos people, and learns that their politics are complicated and brutal, stretching back years to before the fragment was part of the Slipstream. Understanding the various factions and machinations is quite difficult at the best of times, which makes everyone feel a little better about how weird this all seems.

Iris and Twoot go out to restock the ship, and while doing so, Iris spots a Primal. She follows it back to an Anathraxan warship, and overhears two Primals talking - the ship is leaving in only a few minutes. Iris spots the ship's name: Queen's Beauty. 

She rushes back to the ship with Twoot, and they make ready to depart. They manage to follow the warship close enough to keep pace, but Iris realizes they won't be able to do that long-term. But then Oola feels a little psychic tickle. She tries to tune it in, and all four of them get blasted by a psionic "scream." 

"HELP ME! PLEASE! THEY ARE DOING TERRIBLE THINGS TO ME! I KNOW ABOUT YOUR MISSION! GET ME OFF THIS SHIP AND I CAN HELP!"

The voice fades, but the characters' course is clear. They accelerate, intending to take on and board an Anathraxan warship.