Mauve Squirrel Logs

The Search for a Medic:
Log from Marcus G. Angelus; Barron of the Bizzare

The Search Begins
For some time we have been in search of a chief medical officer for the warehouse. I have considered many different candidates, but I have never felt that any of them were an acceptable fit for our unique group. Although most possessed the basic skills required, we were in need of someone extraordinary. Our group contains a variety of individuals from several worlds and different realities, and we encounter artifacts from countless others. We needed someone with experience in dealing with much more than the average ailments and injuries. Even when I did find someone that had adequate skills, there was the issue of clearance. They would need to be able to obtain the proper credentials to have access to even the most basic areas of the facility. It's not like we can just let anyone have access to the dangerous artifacts that are housed within the warehouse! Also, there was the issue of field work. Our medical officer needed to have combat training, or at least experience in dealing with battle situations. We cannot afford to be burdened by having to guard one team member more than the others, and a dead or injured medical officer is of no use to anyone. With the frequent danger we face while in the field, this was not an optional consideration. After several weeks of debating the problem, I finally decided that only one person could fit the bill. However, she was lost to the Empire.

Dr. Matilda Von Hedwig. The former Doctor of the MHS Hysteria. Being the former physician of the Mad Hatter, she would be quite familiar with handling quite an array of medical emergencies. Also, she was a citizen of the Empire, so she would already have basic clearance within the warehouse. This would cover two of the major requirements we needed in a physician.

Alas though, she was gone. Her body held captive, possessed by the evil Vivianne De La Croix... courtesy of Dr. Jekyll's potion. No one had seen or heard from either of them for some time, both lost to the vastness of the multiverse. It was as if the Aether had simply opened and swallowed them.

While pondering the disappearance, it came to me. We have equipment that was designed to locate artifacts across the multiverse. What if we altered it to locate the unique signature of the Hysteria? There should only be two pings. One from the ship herself, the other from the lifeboat Vivianne used to escape. Could it really be that easy to find the misguided mage? We were about to find out.

I had several of our techs begin the alterations on the equipment, while I prepared myself for the more difficult mission ahead: convincing the crew that this was a good idea. Our team has grown in rather unorthodox ways. There have been people arriving in boxes, getting rescued, and I had to buy our pilot from the Admiral with a fiddle. So why shouldn't we go on a mission to find someone for a change? We needed a very specific position filled, and without a chief medical officer our crew was exposed to unnecessary dangers while in the field.

The War Room
I contacted Goose in the field and instructed him to return to the base. He was a restless spirit, never staying in warehouse for long. It was more practical, in his opinion, to be out gathering intel and shooting the dull. Then I contacted Ivy, the Oddities Specialist, Lance , our pilot , and Jack, our explosives expert. I asked Ivy to gather Phi, the Hippie, and Max, our Quartermaster, to bring them along as well. Ivy was puzzled by my request, but I told her I would explain in the war room. I marched off to meet them, hoping I'd be the first to get there. It is simply quite wrong to be late to a meeting that you called.

I arrived at the war room before the others, and took the opportunity to give everything a quick inspection. The room was entirely metallic, except for a large wooden table in the center. The walls were covered in writing, and a multitude of screens displayed a wealth of information, constantly tracking artifacts across the multiverse. A few of the screens seemed to be going haywire, a sign that the techs were already hard at work calibrating the equipment to search for the Hysteria’s signal.

I proceeded to seat myself at the table, and was soon joined by Lance and Jack. Not long after, Ivy arrived with Phi and Max in tow. We waited for Gustav to arrive from the field. Phi just stared around the room, fidgeting with her purple hair, clearly unsure of what to think about her strange new surroundings. Gustav finally joined us, casting his usual hate filled glance at Max as he took his seat. I began by discussing our situation, and the facts were quite apparent. “We needed a Doctor.” I stated bluntly, “Also, a few additional field agents would be nice.” Jack and Ivy nodded in agreement, while Goose just stared at me, as if he knew what was coming next. "I think Max and Phi should join us as field agents,” I stated, “and Lance should start training with us as well". Their reactions were not unexpected. Gustav got up and began to leave the room. Jack started speaking in his native tongue, none of which I can even repeat, since it was so foul even I was offended. Ivy continued to sit silently, blinking at me. "Goose, get back here!” I shouted, “Jack, calm down. I have my reasons, and you will at least hear them out." Ivy jumped slightly at the noise, but remained seated and silent, her hands now clasped nervously on the table in front of her. Gustav paused, then reseated himself at the table, with a rather angry look on his face. Jack mumbled something under his breath, then became silent.

“First off, Phi has shown that she has some substantial powers dealing with magic, and the addition of a mage would be helpful on certain missions”. Phi took a second to stop staring around the room. "What?" she said, finally realizing we were talking about her. I looked over to her, "We are going to let you come out with us on missions." I replied. She seemed a bit excited, "Will there be cookies?" she asked with anticipation. "I am sure we can get you some cookies." The grin grew on her face as she got up from her chair and began what I was later told was a hippie dance.

“Secondly,” I resumed, “Maximillian is a soldier, which means he has combat training, field time, and several other skills which are more valuable to us in the field, than here in the warehouse. He also has experience fighting undead meaning he is the perfect choice if this De la Croix has supernatural powers.”

“And finally, the last time I checked this is my squad, and if you have a problem with my orders, you are welcome to ask the Emperor for a transfer. Are there any other questions?” Silence. “No? Good then. You are all dismissed. I will see you all on the range in two hours.”

The Hippie’s Dilemma
Several Days have passed since beginning the scan for the Vivianne De La Croix, and still nothing. Scanning the multiverse takes time, and there was no changing that. Our time has not been wasted though. Gustav spent much of his time in the field, doing what ever he does, while the others started to fall into their grooves. Well, most of them. The Hippie was still having some issues. Alright, she was having lot of issues.

"I don't like to fight" would be her only response to me, followed by a cookie. I tried to tell her, we don't go looking to kill anyone, but war has a way of changing the rules. The Order, and pirates have no issues about killing us. We only shoot when threatened.” She seemed confused, "Never?" she asked skeptically. She had no reason to really trust me, after all, she had originally never asked to come here, just ended up in our care, like a brightly colored endangered tropical bird.

“Since my time in the Empire, I have only drawn my weapons in defense of myself, or another. Even during our last mission, when you came to help us, I gave my life to protect you, and Ivy. There is never a promise of returning.” She looked baffled at this statement, like the thought of someone protecting her was foreign. "The Emperor may rule with a Iron Fist, but our duty is clear, to protect everything here from those outside the Empire. That's why we gather the artifacts and house them here. If we have them locked up tight, we know they'll never be used against the Empire."

She still looked confused. As if killing for protection was something she had never considered, like it was never even an option. "I would rather not hurt anyone though." She said, producing a chocolate chip cookie from a pouch, and taking a big bite. “We will do our best, but I cannot promise anything.” I explained, “Often, it’s not up to us”. She formed a tiny smile and said "Ok then".

Finding The Signal & Prep for Mission
Two weeks have passed since we began the search for Vivianne De La Crox and her hostage, Dr. Matilda Von Hedwig, and we haven’t seen the slightest hint of the tiny escape ship. Just as I began to wonder if our equipment was even capable of detecting such a signal, it happened. A loud siren accompanied by a flashing light above the door to the war room signaled that we had finally received a ping. And even more astonishingly, it was not from the depths of the Aether, but from within the Empire! At first I was skeptical of our success, thinking that it must be Von Arkham with his usual voyages around the Empire. However, a quick call to the Hysteria confirmed that we had finally found her. Well, we had found the escape ship at least. I sounded the alert, and ordered the team to the Armory, my mind organizing the most effective combinations of weapons and tools for the task ahead.

Gustav passed me in the hall on his way to the Astral Portal. I informed him that he was to be our forward on the mission. He was to go scout out the conditions so that we could be fully prepared before alerting the possibly hostile mage of our arrival. We would follow, only a few minutes behind.

In the supply room, we each grabbed our tools, trying to prepare for any possible situation. Phi opted for only the basic in supply gear, a rather excessive abundance of pouches, and and a set of goggles. I offered her a sidearm, to which she made a funny face, and shook her head ‘no’ profusely. After all, she had no plans to fight or harm anyone. Ivy and I knew we were dealing with someone from the Empire. She would be ready for us. So artifacts would be out of the picture, and we would have to go with straight weapons. Ivy, Max, Lance and myself equipped ourselves with a variety of guns and blades, and explained to Phi that it was necessary to go in fully prepared for combat. She dashed off to her garden and returned, smiling. “Ok, I’m ready”. We made our way to the gate room, slightly baffled by the hippie’s behavior.

Once in the portal room, we quickly checked the calibration of our equipment, and Goose stepped calmly through the portal.

The Fight!
Soon word came from the field. Gustav had found the ship, and better yet he had found her, or what he was fairly sure was her. It was hard to tell as we only had a description of De la Croix to go by. I had him transfer his coordinates. We were to meet him just south of that location, and then go in together.

We found Gustav laying atop a hill, peering over the crest looking down into a valley. We quietly approached, and as we neared the top of the hill, we crouched as well as to not be seen. We crawled up beside him, and he motioned for me to look off to our right. I peered into the valley and saw a dark figure, bent over, next to a pile of freshly dug earth. I was uncertain if it was really her, or perhaps just a wanderer, looking for a drink. Then she turned, her face coming into the sun, and I could see the strip of leather covering her eye. It was her, Vivianne Charlotte De la Croix. Now we had to confront her.

I motioned for Goose to hold his vantage point, and provide backup if needed. Then signaled others to follow me. Ivy had to explain it to the Hippie, since she was unfamiliar with military gestures, and was trying to mimic my ‘dancing’. We carefully began our descent into the valley. We spread out, simultaneously ensuring that she had no easy escape, or easy targets. From what I knew of her actions departing the Hysteria, I knew we had to be prepared for a confrontation. She was not the type to back away when challenged directly.

"Vivianne De la Croix!" I called out once we were close enough.She turned and faced us, a loud hiss echoing from the back of her throat. "Who wants to know?!" her voice making even Grymm's seem like a kitten."I think you know why we are here" I replied, cautiously watching her hands for any sign of attack."You have come for the dear Dr. Hedwig. Well she is mine, and you can't have her." She said back in a coy, mocking tone."Miss De La Croix..." I said firmly "I wish there was a civil way to end this, but you know as well as I do, that this is her time and place, not yours. We would like her back." Trying to reason with a mad person is rather illogical, but I hoped my words would move her. I was very wrong.

"Civil?!" She screamed, causing some rocks to tumble down the sides of the gorge. "You want me gone, so she can return, and where would that leave me?" There was the faintest hint of pain and fear in her voice. Tears began to flow from her eye, as she trembled in the gentle breeze. Her gaze was unfocused, as if reliving some distant memory.

I slowly took another step towards her, but the sound of the sandy earth moving beneath my feet seemed to bring her out of her daze. Her voice grew dark again, menacingly she roared, "So, you want to play? Let me show you some of my toys." A red light radiated from beneath the leather covering the port for where Matilda's monocle once resided. I had seen power like this before, from the Inquisitors of the Empire, but Matilda had no such affiliation. I motioned for the team to step back and assume defensive positions, as the earth began to tremble from deep within. Stone began to crumble from the sides of the gorge sending gigantic boulders and rocks crashing down the sides of the valley. There was an oppressive, evil, almost electrified feeling in the air. The telltale sign of powerful magic in progress. But what was she conjuring?

My answer came in the form of a hand emerging from the ground, followed by another, and then another, like daisies. Not hands of flesh and form though, but of bone and sinew. The ground crumbled, and from the unmarked graves of some ancient battlefield of men, emerged an army of bones.

"EEP!" the Hippie cried as they formed ranks in front of their new master. The creatures were armed with the weapons that had once spelled their defeat, now rusted and decrepit, but nonetheless deadly. They stood motionless but not silent. From the ranks of the undead, there seemed to emanate an otherworldly low pitched moan. The pain of death, rediscovered and frozen in time. Vivianne gazed fondly at her new allies, “Now, my sweet things,” she commanded, “KILL THEM!”.

Fighting the undead, is like shooting into water. It doesn't matter where you aim, you're going to hit something. But just like water, your bullets have little effect. Bones shatter, limbs fall, but they keep coming. Even their fallen limbs seem to retain a low level of consciousness, and continue to advance. We quickly realized that our guns were of very little use, and drew our blades. But the endless sea of ivory never parted, it just continued to flow, like a tidal wave of destruction.

As I continued to fight my way through the endless horde, my concern grew for Phi. She had a great disdain for violence, and had left the warehouse without a single weapon. I paused momentarily, and scanned the battleground, cursing myself for not being more insistent in arming her. I looked for the area where she was when the conflict began, fully expecting to see her buried underneath a mountain of bone. I almost didn’t believe what I saw. There was a circular void in the endless ocean of undead, and in the center stood the hippie. Her body was emitting a white glow, and each time a skeleton got too close, the bone seemed to dissolve into nothingness. Instead of looking terrified as I was expecting, her face showed a surprising calmness and determination. She was marching straight toward the necromancer.

"Do you really think you are a match for me?" The dark figured called out, as Phi got past the waves of skeleton protectors. Phi simply shook her head, kicking back her bangs from her left eye, silently accepting the challenge.

"Very well." Vivianne dug into her cloak and produced a bone rattle, and a small figure with a strange looking hat. I was pretty sure the doll was supposed to be a representation of her former captain. The Hippie remained silent, and reached into her own pockets to produce a mushroom and a moon-dried lizard. (I asked her later about the lizard, and she informed me it is a rather difficult and long process to dry a lizard in moonlight, in case you were wondering.) To my surprise, a wave of concern seemed to pass over the face of the dark priestess. Perhaps she had never seen someone use a mushroom as an offensive weapon. I know I never had, and was quite interested to see how it was done, but I was a bit preoccupied dispatching the hoard of bones surrounding us. A strange quiet fell in the valley as De la Croix raised her totum to the sky, and began to speak in a language I had never heard. The ground again began to shake, with an intensity that made the previous rumbling seem like a mere tremor.

A sudden streak near my face brought my full attention back to closer enemies. A skeleton’s head seemed to evaporate just inches behind my own. A quick glance confirmed that Gustuv had obtained some strange new ammunition that seemed to be quite effective against bone, and was providing cover from his location on the hilltop. "What now?!" Lance cried as he removed the head from one the dark caster’s followers. "I have no idea, just keep fighting!" I called back, cleanly dispatching one myself. Another quick survey of the battlefield, revealed that Max and Ivy had carved a path through the horde, and were now fighting back-to-back to fend off the undead.

The ground began to rumble once more, and split open creating a large chasm. Out of the gaping abyss arose the enforcer of her army, the remains of a Cyclopian giant. His bones creaked as he raised himself from the grave, towering high above the battlefield. Vivianne began to giggle and taunted, "You should have fled when you had the chance."Phi shouted back, "It’s mean to force others to fight for you! They’re not puppets!" She tossed the mushroom into her mouth, and drew a quick circle on the ground in the soft earth. "I call upon the legends of old, grant me your guardian!" Phi cried out as she waved her lizard in the air. “You really need to learn to be nicer to people,” she stated calmly with a smile.

The wind began to blow softly. A shadow came across the horizon, and growing larger as it came towards us. The wind increased as the shadow grew nearer, and I stared towards the sky. What manner of beast had the hippie called? Well it was no beast, but a machine. A titan not of flesh and bone, but of metal and steam. The creature was massive, larger than even the admiral’s flagship, and its wings large enough that it seemed to affect the weather. As it descended, each beat of it’s wings produced such wind that it forced us, as well as our attackers to brace our bodies on the ground. This was her guardian, an iron butterfly!

The flying beast went straight for the undead giant, taking no time to concern itself with our fight. Headlong it swooped at the beast, forcing the mass of its metal body into the cracking structure of our newest adversary. The Giant reached out, wrapping its arms around the body of the huge insect, trying to hold it from making another aerial run, but its withered limbs were no match for the strength of the metal beast.

Carefully navigating in the strong winds, our fight against the undead continued. But now we had an advantage. The lighter skeletons seemed to be knocked off-balance by the wind, and with the dark mage distracted, the skeleton army seemed to be fighting with less determination. However, each time we killed one, two more seemed to emerge from the ground. We kept doggedly fighting back, but then something strange happened. I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned, and found myself face to face with one of the undead, too close to react fully. But this one was not attacking, he was staring at me. I took a step back to put distance between us, and that's when I realized he had only one arm. I stared for a moment, lost as to why he was not attacking, and then he gazed at my arm, as if inspecting my armband. The creature looked back to my face, and despite the lack of flesh, I could read his expression, he meant us no harm. Who was this man?

Of course during my encounter, the battle still raged between the mages. Each controlled their over-sized counterpart with commands and gestures, pausing only to stare at the other, looking for a weakness. Blow for blow the two leviathans fought, but with every punch the decayed giant was losing strength. It was obvious that the creature was no match for the armored skin of his opponent.

I think Vivianne figured that out as well, and took a moment of opportunity to break from combat, leaving the giant to fight on its own. Phi of course had grown focused on the battle, and never noticed. All she knew was that she was winning. Sensing the giant’s seemingly random lack of direction, she took the opportunity to end the battle. The butterfly ascended to a seemingly impossible height, folded in its wings, and began to drop from the sky. At first I thought something may have been wrong, but its incredible mass was gaining speed as it fell straight toward the giant’s skull. As it neared the ground, the giant threw up his arms to block, but it was of no use. They both seemed to explode into a cloud of dust and debris as the mechanical butterfly made impact. Phi jumped up in excitement, and as she turned to celebrate, her face was met with a fist.

The Hippie fell to her knees, as she clenched her lower jaw. "Silly Girl, you shouldn’t be so easily distracted!" Vivianne mocked, now joined by another giant beast made of feathers and flesh. Vivianne perched herself upon it, and looked over to us, and said with a growl, "This is not over. You will never stop me, I will have what I want, regardless of the price!" We were still quite busy handling her minions, and were in no shape to try to stop her.

Her mount took to the sky, but she would not get away that easily. The Hippie was shaking with fury. Anger I had never seen. It was if the the darkness surrounding the priestess had reached out and infected a part of her soul. “You will not be allowed to get away with what you’ve done,” Phi said, almost too quietly to hear. She reached down and pulled open an old, weathered pouch I had never seen before. From the pocket poured a prism of light, and the rainbow shot straight toward the escaping avian and its passenger. Phi crouched down and placed her hand to the ground and was enveloped in a bright white light. As she raised her hand from the ground, a beam of light followed, and began to take a form. As the light faded, there materialized a weapon. A spear made of glass and diamond, formed from the very elements in the sandy earth we stood upon.

With the spear in her hand, and the look of a hunter in her eyes she somehow ran up the rainbow. The startled look in the dark figure’s eyes was barely visible by the now setting sun. Phi grew closer and closer to the disfigured body of the bird and its dark passenger, expertly calculating the shot. She drew her arm back, and let the spear take flight. It seemed to absorb the fading rays of sunlight as it streaked through the air, until it had the brilliance of a shooting star tearing through the sky.

The spear founds it mark, burying itself and the strange light into the side of the bird. The creature was long past death, and the additional injury was far too much for it to keep flight. It began to sink in the burning sky, with the hippie close behind.

Vivianne was a far better pilot than expected, and even with a wounded bird, she was still able to slow her descent somewhat. As she neared the ground, the bird continued to lose consciousness, and the flight became more erratic and unstable. Despite her efforts and skill, the dark mage and her mount finally crashed painfully to the ground. The rainbow curved to follow the unfortunate pair, and the hippie slid down, landing firmly beside De La Croix.

"Now, are you going to come quietly?" Phi asked in a stern and unwavering tone. Vivianne sat up as best she could, and looked up to face Phi. In a determined, but pained voice, she promised, "You shall pay for that."

Vivianne's shadow grew black, and began to swirl up from the ground encapsulating her body. Then we heard a "whoosh", and the shadow seemed to implode upon itself and crash to the ground. The dark mage was gone. A moment later the bone-barbarians fell to the ground breaking into the lifeless pieces they had been just hours before. The Iron Butterfly had disappeared, leaving only the shattered remains of the giant behind. Phi pulled her spear from the side of the fallen bird, and returned it to the earth with a shimmer of light. She looked around the battlefield, satisfied, as the bones of the corpses sank back into the earth. The rest of the team and I looked at her rather slack-jawed, our minds trying to wrap themselves around what we had just seen. Phi giggled at our gaping faces and asked, "Is anyone else craving waffles right now?"