In which our heroes stir-up rebellion
Coming to a halt on the flight deck our heroes jump out and quickly assess the situation, noticing many large lumbering shapes in flash-proof suits that Phantom discerns are not Nautiloids. The heroes make for a large pipe outlet, and on their way Clay notices two pinpricks of light, shining out from darkness. The Phantom can sense no danger, so they continue towards the pipe's dark safety.
Waiting for our heroes in the pipe is a furtive Atlantean named Artemian who reveals that he had prior knowledge of their arrival via a message from Atlantis. He leads our heroes to safety before talking with them about the current situation. Answering their questions about the humanoids on the flight deck, Artemian explains that the Nautiloids make use of a slave race who do much of their manual work. This reminds Doc Automatic of a fragment of ancient prophecy about a group of heroes who came to liberate just such a race from sea-born oppressors, and the heroes ask if the slave race might be ripe for rebellion. Artemian says he knows just the man, and he takes them to see a covert slave leader in the cramped and squalid slave quarters.
He receives our heroes with interest, but seems reluctant to lead an active rebellion without assurances that this is the right time, Clay cold reads him, and convinces him by playing on his eagerness for rebellion and thus the rebellion is set in motion. Oriole senses a fortune for the slave, and pointing at him reveals that he will be a heroic martyr to his race.
Our heroes then start to ask Artemian detailed questions on the layout of the base, and providing them with frog masks, excepting Oriole who uses his Atlantean Diving Techniques, he leads them through water conditioning pipes to a vantage point above a weird-science Map room, which displays an interactive map of the base via mysterious glowing coral.
Whilst Clay looks down on the map, the Nautiloid in charge of the map room, the original Nzarlk, spots him and sends guards to arrest him. Clay tells the others to escape and awaits his captors.
Clay is brought to Nzarlk, who appears to have been demoted in favour of his future counterpart. Clay recognises his opportunity, and convinces Nzarlk that he is a time agent come to take his counterpart back to his own time. Nzarlk is convinced enough to help, granting him a security badge and access to the map room, and agreeing to provide a Nautiloid Guard. Clay quickly relocates his friends and our heroes march down a secure corridor towards the labs.
Meeting a security checkpoint Clay fast talks the guard into being relieved by his own guard, name dropping his superior officers name (provided by his own guard), and the group access the labs, packed with Weird Machines, the whole room giving off a Sinister Aura.
Clay is mesmerised by a strange mirror which once picked up opens a dimensional portal, which sympathetically sets off portals randomly throughout the base, and at one point opens near the slave leader and his amassing slave rebellion. Recognising the possible doom of his freedom movement he throws himself through the narrow portal, causing it to explode and then dissipate. Dying the slave leader becomes prophet, as he finds himself in the distant past in a village of his people, and with his last breaths recounts how they will be enslaved by the Nautiloids and then liberated by our heroes and their own rebellion.
Meanwhile back at the weird science labs, a Nautiloid commander bursts in through the door.
The Phantom shoots him, but not seriously hurt the commander fires his large multi-barrelled gun into the room, unleashing swarms of tiny drones swimming with menace towards each of our heroes. Phantom unsuccessfully tries to dodge them Oriole jumps onto a weird science bike and outpaces them, Sylvie stirs up the waters with her lash disrupting the swarm, Clay takes refuge in a cupboard but on reopening the door the waiting swarm sting him, and Doc smashes them away with a well timed punch from his mechanical arm.
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