"The Black Gate won't save you. We - I - underestimated you, Homeworlders. Know this and despair."

Luis ignores the threats and considers the Black Gate's sigils. Whether expected or not, the glyphs don't match up with either the Imperial standard or the second variety common to the Mesas Negras and the Whiirr Gateways.

Angel picks it up first and sees Swims fur flash a warning a moment later. The snik of the Court doors opening, down past the auditorium, leading back to the Halls of Tranquility. Is the Emperor just stalling for time?

Davis unkeys the mic. "So much for that..." he says to himself, and turns to the people over by the gate. "Just start pushing buttons, we don't have much time!"

Davis turns back to the mic and keys down again. "Well, instead of throwing even more of your men and drones at us, why not let the Black Gate finish us off? After all, no one ever comes back. Why waste any more resources on killing us when we so desperately want to march to our deaths?" Davis motions for everyone to get over to the Black Gate, and grabs the sphere to pull it out of the Avatar.

Luis nods. He runs to the Gate and starts prodding glyphs left and right, stopping only long enough after each Gatecode attempt to wait for an activation. He doesn't care where the damned thing goes, just "anywhere but here".

Davis grabs the silver globe and feels a static shock that goes on longer but in turn is softer than most zaps he's gotten from cold car frames or doorknobs. He suddenly knows things about the globe. The best term for it would be "ansible". It is one of seven others. It allows instantaneous communication over any distance. It is clever enough to interface with any communication equipment Davis' mind can think of. It communicates either via installed equipment or, in this case, brain activity. There is one other sentient on the network and five relays of an unknown (to Davis at least) variety.

*Because if my Quads kill you here, I know your fate,* the Emperor's voice sounds in Davis' head. In English. *And your 'escape' through the Gate still profits me, even if I can no longer watch you die from the Court surveillance.*

Meanwhile, Luis feverishly busies himself with the smattering of glyphs he can reach on the 15 foot ring while Ngawai monitors the sequence with her handheld. Each one lights with the familiar blue as Luis activates them. After the so-far-standard (compared to Whiirr and the other Imperial Gateways) number of random glyphs have been pressed, the Black Gate lives up to its name. It flashes an unsettling violet light, a Gateflash much less painful than the golden flare of the Imperial rings, leaving behind a flat black featureless portal.

Davis snaps out of his fugue. He notes a little run of saliva on his chin and wipes it off before heading for the Gate.

Davis shakes his head as he comes out of the temporary fugue that the sphere's mental download caused. After his Cyllan experience back on Jang-Xur, Davis isn't quite as weirded out by voices in his head as he was before, but it's still somewhat disconcerting, especially that the Emperor is speaking in English, but he figures that it's just how the ansible works.

"Alright, we all step through at once, including Jonno," Davis says. "No telling how this thing works, and hopefully we all wind up at the same place and in one piec - well, unharmed."
*Well, at least this way we both win,* Davis thinks into the ansible. *You get your win, and we get ours.* He looks at the rest of the team, and nods. *We will return here, Emperor. And then we'll see just how immortal you and your regime are.*

Luis blinks as the Gate actually works, first time even. Damned lucky--almost too much so. Still, he can't argue with Davis: it's time to move. "Okay, you heard him. Let's get the hell out of this hellhole." He helps heft what used to be Jonno (in the back of his head, a part of him winces at the fresh name on The List) and moves to the Gate again, ready to move out with the team. Keep moving. Can't let the team down, think about the losses later.

Angel raises his rifle and, per his usual, moves to cover the team as they withdraw through the gate.

The first sept of Turai breach the Court just as Luis, with Jonno's body in tow, crosses over the portal. Angel's first shot is a headshot; the Turai keels over backwards, his blood spattering the soldier next to him and marking the second Turai for Swims. The Whiirr opens up with a beamer in one hand, Jonno's SCAR in the other. Swims backpedals up the throne steps firing while Angel takes another Turai down. The beams start lancing their way towards the duo as the rest of the entry team's Quad arrives. Golden molten pieces of the throne stick and smoke to Angel's armor when a near-miss shatters the royal seat. Swims is through now; Angel fires a suppressive burst and backs through the Black Gate.