[Episode Three] Defile

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Landing Site

OSC-01 stood still as a gravestone, casting a gaze over the decrepit model. The silent machine turned to Reman as he spoke, paused. "As unfortunate as their circumstance is, I've found it beneficial to keep oneself detached from those kinds of thoughts," the Overseer remarked, carrying more than a glint of apathy about her tone. The Overseer resumed their observations, moving around to the other side of the decrepit model. "We exist to provide a service, our meaning a purpose to fulfill. In the same vein, we all have an expiration date."

The Overseer slowed, considering the thought for a moment. Perhaps there was more to it than that, a shallow excuse of old world wisdom. What was going through the robots mind however, no one was privy. What resulted from the pause no longer than the beat of a mechanical heart was a snark shot as she departed. "...And I know mine is projected far longer than yours."

OSC-01 passed Juryrig, wasting not a moment to stop by him as the motorbike ramped up over the lip of the plateau once more. "The age is important because the one that's problematic is still moving."


Caught on a reflection of her conversation with Deimos, Dahlia tread towards the forming circle around Romulus. She shook her head, taking a heavy breath before pumping herself a little taller. "Hold up, captain coming through," she commanded, pushing through the others, "what's this lead I'm hearing about?"

The Captain grasped the device, taking a look at the photos the Artificer had collected. Her puffed up expression quickly reverted to one of curiosity. "A bunker... with some kind of surveillance? Looks old..." The captain hummed, rotating the pad. "You weren't gone very long, this must be within walking distance."

Dahlia clapped her hands together, taking a step back. "Alright everybody, we got a point of interest. Once we've got everything here documented, we can process the scrap later. Get ready, get armed, and let's go take a look." The captain turned back to Romulus, adjusting her hard hat to provide as much sun protection as possible. "...Good scout We'll head on down."

The Overseer rolled their eyes, or rather a gesture to the limited extent they had to work with.


---
A Handful of Minutes Later

Dahlia traipsed carefully down the side of the plateau, following the half-buried black cable as it wound it's way down the uneven path. The heft weight of her pack made her look almost like a turtle as she made her way down. It wasn't long before the Overseer caught up with her, moving with far more balanced grace.

"There's a question I've been meaning to ask, Miss Morgan." the Overseer interjected. Dahlia looked over her shoulder, slowing down to avoid a distracted fall. "And what's that, Osco?"

OSC-01 remained steadfast, inquiring after a pause. "What is it you're looking for, going forwards with this expedition, Dahlia?" The captain was taken aback slightly by the use of her first name. OSC-01 continued quickly, keeping a formal but gripping tone. "You've already been assured, the beast known as Arcadia existed. The world plagued by it has moved on, and what remains of it is a firm tale of ash. What's there to stop you from taking this information to your world and living with it?"

Dahlia puffed her cheek a moment, as if chewing on the question itself through her mind. Her azure eyes landed on the Overseer. "Well, first and foremost... we're a little sunk in financially here. The ship is barely paid for and it's already racked up repairs..."

The Overseer continued, firmly stopping the captain in her tracks. "If monetary status was your prime directive, you would have taken up that strange man's offer back in Alipier."

The Captain bit her lip, the Overseer calling her bluff entirely. After a minute of silence, the captain rebutted. "First off, that man was a shadowy creep. It didn't feel right. Secondly..."

Dahlia paused, looking back to OSC-01 with a little bit of intensity behind her glare. "I can't turn around live with just a story. Those are what got me here in the first place. I want so see it, with my own eyes." The captain paused, huffing as she adjusted her pack. "To catalogue it, for a new world. Not just the old one from your time. Things like this, it could go in a museum. Give inspiration, direction..." The Overseer tilted her head. "So, you've something to prove. Fidelity? Or something else..."

The captain waved her hand about as if to say "maybe", before gripping the strap of her backpack once more. Satisfied but not fully convinced of the answer, the Overseer left the captain with a stern warning on her way to her post. "I'd be cautious, Miss Morgan. Lose yourself in a search and all you'll find is disappointment."

---

Cave

After a few minutes of walking in the heavy desert sun, the crew finally rounded into the shallow outcropping beneath the mountain. The cave was a little tight at first, but gave enough breathing room once they made it through. To one end of the cave was the concrete bunker, the entrance of which remain folded open. The black cable ran through the open gap into the darkness beyond.

The captain set her bag down briefly, looking through the contents of it to ensure she was ready for whatever laid beyond. The Overseer stood simply at the entrance of the cave, looking it over for any patterns.

Above the bunkers entrance, the desecrated remains of some machine hung from the ceiling. The turret. It was a little high up, but nothing some ingenuity or dare say teamwork couldn't handle. Several pieces of metal laid buried under the sand, a quite hefty one more than likely catching the loose foot of at least one explorer. Not far from the edge of the concrete pad laid a dirty ball of metal laying amidst the rubble, quite recently abandoned from the looks of it.
 
Cave

Rhea held her tongue as she followed along initially, untill they finally arrived to this area that was distinclty... down. While she kind of missed most of the conversation leading up to their departure, only arriving in time to tag along, she wondered if she should say anything about these 'stragglers' and whoever had said such a thing. If she remembered correctly, there was probably something about echyllis being able to 'remember' things. Was that one of them? These questions, they were all interupted as she was walking, pondering, and walking right into the back of somone with an 'oomph- sorry' as the brief apology before she looked up finally.

A bunch of scrap metal on the ground- some of it looking a bit... 'new' relatively speaking, and some of it looking so embedded in the ground it could have been hanging around for centuries, and... a turret? It looked old but, maybe it was a trick? or maybe it could still function regardless. But, it hadn't shot anyone... yet. She could probably climb up to grab it, but then what? it wasn't like she could knock it down from the cieling alone, really. Maybe. It did look pretty decrepit, but that wasn't the point.

For the time being, she took a step back, and declared she could help some one climb up if they felt like they REALLY wanted to get up there, and then, stood next to the captain, and spoke more quietly. "... I know this is going to sound... a little weird, but... I heard a voice saying something about 'stragglers' that must have gone down... Like how the echyllis can 'remember' things... I don't know how recent it might have been, though..." She didn't exactly, seem comftorable revealing to the captain that she was hearing spooky crystal voices in her head, but, she did none the less, as it did seem kind of important. Rhea felt that perhaps, there might be some people, or things, farther down in this strange bunker, that are maybe a little more functional than this old turret.

Then, she gave an awkward cough, and took a drink of water "Umm maybe i'm just hearing things becuase of the heat though..." She was some one from Frozen Hell Bivonia, after all, not quite used to the heat. She probably would require the help of a certain mage more than anyone in this little expedition to stay cool, as evidenced by how she was using Dhalia's hat as a fan the moment they actually stepped into a shady area.
 
Cave

It was a rough time making her way down. No, it wasn't the metal that caused her trouble -- Marie was picking up every piece of it by observing her regional magnetic fields. It was the sand, in all of its semi-fluid behavior. Yay, science. Pleasant sometimes, but not today.

Marie noticed the crew taking point behind the corner and decided to follow suit, scanning ahead. Of course. An automated defense system. Judging by how old it was and its state of disrepair, it was likely to be quite inaccurate on the hardware side and may even have faulty mechanisms for firing. However, given that this was Arcadian technology, and her experience with it so far, when it shot, it would likely be pinpoint accurate. Not a great idea to challenge.

More importantly...trigger mechanisms and networking. "We should test how it shoots," she noted, as the faint smell of ozone permeated the air. In Marie's right hand was the faintly glowing light blue key, pulsing gently. If one looked close enough, between Marie's hairs on her head, there were even small flashes, small jumps of static.

Find the turret. Look at its controls. Trace its wiring. Where does it go? How does it act? How does it react? Find what lets it do these things -- and then overload them.
 
Caaaaave

Aradia was, visibly, nearly wilting as she rejoined the group at this collapsed bunker... Thing. She was breathing heavy, but a few swigs from a flask - this was like her third one, god knows where she was getting them from - helped calm her down again.

"Think they were heading to this place or away from it?"
 
Cave Outcrop

Romulus started off his condescension in a hushed tone. "Quiet! Does not one of you know when to be silent when there could be danger afoot?" Romulus inspected the newly found sphere next to the door, careful not to touch the foreign object as not to not trigger some sort of contact trap. "Always focusing on the little details, are we Conroe? I should inform you this-" The biker pointed to the sphere with a few hasty, aggressive movements. "-was not here earlier and furthermore, what you should be looking at is the violently bashed-in door." Romulus did his best to put the whole scene in order of what the culprit was working with. Considering the previous crew events and what they were aiming to find here, it isn't unreasonable to try and get an overseer unit to control this large piece of Arcadian technology, complete with a large bruiser with some strained and severed muscles, and a whole menagerie of robotic soldiers at the ready to attack whenever needed. This man was aiming to get the drive, and he wasn't letting anything stop him. "If I remember correctly, wasn't there some sort of bruiser robot that just happened to go haywire while he was here? This seems like too many red flags to ignore."

"If he's here though, I should still be able to see if he moved anywhere here due to this still air outside the door!" Reman turned on the air visualizer, waiting to see any unnatural disturbance in the air outside the door to suggest any recent movement. If Romulus was worried about something he didn't really have a choice but to wait for a moment and listen. The fear that man struck into him was more than palpable at any moment, and especially now if he for all intents and purposes was telling us to be careful.
 
Cave Outcrop

"HNGH-
Yeah, I'd think so," 'Juryrig' piped up from behind Aradia as he adjusted the oversized bag full of gadgets that he kept on-hand. It took a little while for him to run from the robot body to the salvage site to the cave outcrop, but hey, he did!

"You know, them breaking inside and all that. If they weren't there, they'd have already packed up the machine and left here."

"... Tom," Juryrig mentally chimed in with a deadpan tone.

Upon the real Juryrig's cue, Tom realized he needs to be more quiet. Man the guy looked sheepish. "Oh yeah, inside voices, sorry guys."

'Juryrig' looked down the cave, then looked away. "Alright, alright, big brain time... Biiiiiiiiiiiig brain time. Ah ha, I got it!"

The mad alchemist fished his sack for a wacky invention, and brought out... A toy tank with a laser pistol. "If we just need to see how it shoots, then we can use this to lure a attack out of it!"

'Juryrig' deployed the enhanced toy. It whirred, activated, and rolled into the cave, immediately shooting the turret with weak laser fire as it approached as close as possible.
 
Cave

The wiring of the turret base ran into the ceiling, though a careful analysis showed that it would have to travel through the bulkhead atop the heavy door frame, given nothing was located above the platform and there was no sign of exterior panels or wires in the vicinity. Whatever could have powered the beast, it was locked up. The air in the cave was relatively still, though a mild disturbance had been left by whatever last came through, hardly noticeable in displacement.

The captain tilted her head at Rhea, looking the young one over for a moment. "That doesn't sound good, but not far-fetched. I'm not an expert on it, though." The captain patted Rhea's temporarily hatted head, looking at the ceiling. "But I can tell you to drink plenty of water." Dahlia scratched her chin and glanced over at the pilot, who didn't seem to be faring too well in the heat either. At the very least, they were out of the sun. "If they were running away, it almost looks like they came back for something."

The captain fell hushed as entire group (minus Romulus) caught eye of Juryrig's unorthodox plan. The group watched from a distance as the tiny toy tank scuttled across the uneven ground towards the turret. Guns blazing, the remote-controlled toy circled beneath the ancient turret base, lighting it in red. After a few seconds, it slowed as no response came from the turret, even while actively provoked.

The gutted machine creaked with a gentle lurch as the captain tensed, before the entire turret mount came loose from the ceiling. The turret crashed against the ground with a clatter of metal, crushing the plastic toy beneath its mass. A resounding victory- For who, history would have to decide.

Among the falling pile of metal came silver cartridges, bouncing across the concrete pad. The cartridges resembled high-yield rifle munitions, though not for any traditional caliber the group knew of. The bullets themselves were pointed and well-machined, giving them a nasty, serrated appearance. The dusty silver cartridges themselves were not cylindrical, but rather a tight hexagon shape. The rear of the bullet lacked a traditional primer, but instead had a square copper-like plate at the back. The only manufacturing information about the munitions were found on the sides of the casing. On one side was illegible bundle of syllabic characters, and another rested a grid of interlocked triangles which varied in their line weight and fill.

---

The Overseer glanced dismissively at the ruckus Juryrig was causing, instead tailing Romulus with equal disdain. "That bruiser robot had a name." OSC-01 passed the cautious Artificer, approaching the silver ball in question. A quick probe with the end of a metal feather turned the inert orb over. It was a Pixy unit not unlike the ones always seen in some vicinity of the Overseer, though made of cheaper materials. The traditionally glass visor over their optics was made of a yellowed plastic that had been cracked upon impact, leaving dull shards in the sand below.

OSC-01 gripped the sides of the ball-like device, holding it to head height. "Now, what secrets might you hold, little thing?" The Pixy unit in question remained silent and still, though the colored lighting behind their optics pulsed a dull, dying blue. After a few moments, OSC-01 tilted her head. "It's not saying anything, but that's not a diagnostic code I've seen before." The Overseer eyed Romulus, before tossing the lobotomized bauble towards the mans chest. "Hold on to that and maybe one day you'll get your own. Don't let it bite," the Overseer remarked as she continued towards the mess of metal the tank had created.

Dahlia peeked around the corner of the doorway, looking into the dark stretch beyond. The captain twisted her arm around to grab the flashlight from the side of her pack, holding the torch out to inspect the hallway. The bright white beam reflected on two metal rails that ran down the hall, with walkways offset to either side. The hall went downwards at a relatively sharp slope, curving inward as it went along. No sound or movement came from the hallway but an sensation of unease. The black cable continued to run alongside the rails, hugging the inside wall of the curve.
 
Cave Entrance
Sometimes it is better to sit back and watch.

Deimos would be no help idling back while the rest of the crew bustled into the cave, leaving him with no choice but to scramble into the cool opening alongside them. Of course, he wasn't opposed to the reprieve from the scorching sun above their heads, welcoming the cool air of the cavern into the folds of his cloak. A button press on his HUD later, and it would withdraw to grant him a better view of the darkened room.

He was too late to witness the crashing turret, having been near the tail end of the expedition team clawing through the tight corridors - but he definitely heard it. It didn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together once the carnage came into full view. Of course, where there was wreckage, that meant materials - or, better, data.

"Hey, Marie. I'll get a few scans of this and send it to your PDA. Maybe you can give us a down-low on how these things work in case there are more up ahead?"
 
Cave

Rhea, on being prompted by the headpatting captain, took another gulp of the water she had, and watched the.... chaos unfold before her. That whole analyzing the turret thing- that wasn't, really her area. So, once it had finally crashed atop the toy, sacrificing itself for the good of its brethren- wherever they were, she stepped past it, and peered down the hall alongside the captain.

After a short moment of hesitation, she... Took off her stylish, borrowed hat, and gave it back to the captain, before reaching up and grabbing the hardhat to put it on her own head. She felt like she was going to need this- especially, as she dared to be the first one to start walking down the stairs. As she followed the black cable down,v ery carefully, she observed the area around- looking for anything that she could take advantage of, what vents she could try to squeeze through to get into places that a guard wouldn't expect, or even simply, just using the rough, uneven walls to achieve a high enough elevation as to not be caught.

These, were things she quickly tried to dispell from her mindset- she wasn't a thief... anymore. Probably. "Um- I'll, go first, I think..." she murmured. She wondered if, maybe, all that sneaking around in Bivonia, would come in handy here. Just... think of any turrets up ahead like cameras, yeah. Cameras that take pictures with bullets. She wondered if perhaps, a mirror on a stick would come in handy here to start checking around corners, they would probably need it if there were more turrets with instant reaction times up ahead- ones that weren't totally busted.

She wondered if maybe she'd need to try picking any locks. Or maybe check corners with mirrors, again... It wasn't like she had any of those on her at the moment. Unless...? She started practicing with the Purple Stuff as she walked- in an attempt to make a mirror, and some picks, juust incase. Though, she didn't really trust her fine control enough to beable to manage it.
 
Cave

Romulus took a moment to sit back after a presumably Juryrig-centric explosion cascaded sound across the cavern, absolutely dumbfounded at the prospect of this being the crew he was saddled with attending to. Taking a few steps in to assess the wreckage, and get a close look at the machinery ahead to attempt to clear his head. "Apparently the concept of subtlety is lost on each and every one of you. No matter, if anything in here didn't hear that I doubt they'd be listening in at all." It was then the hexagonal shell casings caught his eye, being extra careful for the crew not to notice he was stuffing his inner pocket with a handful of munitions. Taking the time to be cautious and actually take his surroundings into account, the artificer walked into the room watching and waiting for something to happen, begging ready to use the turret as cover just in case.

Reman followed shortly after and waited to look for anything he could grasp onto in terms of airflow, but eventually turned off after carefully thinking that monitoring air patterns after an explosion would yield nothing. Not wanting to be caught at a disadvantage, Reman prepped his driver, and pulled it's lever, letting the undersuit coat his body once again as generated shards of razor-thin metal glisten against the brief bit of light coming in from the opening, forming a dome before becoming pieces of heavy metal armor that clamped onto his suit, forming a much heavier version of Reman's armor. This steel armor looked like it weighed as much as a car, but the mechanic seemed unfazed by this recent development, being able to move just as fast as before. "At least I can safely do this without being morphed into some beast... Jury! You can do the same if you want, and this time-" Reman confidently pointed towards himself with his thumb. "I'll be the muscle!"

"Right, safely. Yeah."
Romulus smirked briefly as he knew the cosmetic change he had made had went right past their noses. The Process read a string of text on it's display after the transformation.

TITANIC WARRIOR OF METAL, STEEL KNIGHT
 
Bunkaver

Aradia took a moment to stretch, yawn, and shiver all at once. The little display juryrig made certainly would have gotten someone's attention, which means that hopefully any robots would show themselves soon.

"Guys, be sure to not split up. Just in case something is still in here, ready to fight..."
 
It's Astronomia Time

"Do- Oh! That thing, yes! I know exactly what you're thinking." 'Juryrig popped out the Blunderbass, opening its breech and loading in the Blast Key. He put his finger on the breaker switch-

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD!" 'Juryrig's arm just broke into a forty-five degree angle away from the breaker key, prompting a YELP from Tom.

"Aaaaah, just... Weird alchemical backlash! Happens sometimes, hold on-" Tom whacked his arm against the wall, prompting a few more resounding cracks in his arm, but otherwise fixing it.

"There! Good enough! Knew that'd work."

"Juryrig, WHY?! That hurt!"

"Well words alone ain't enough to describe to you just how BAD of a idea it is to use the Blast key... IN A CAVE! Do you want to cause a cave-in with that thing?!"

"Okay okay, geez! I'm sorry! If you're so smart, why don't you tell me which one to choose?"

"Okay, I will! You're not one who comes up with amazing strategies, anyway. Let's see... I'd say Steel, but you gave it away to Reman of all people. Good choice, I bet he can't even save his pinkie fingers from a bruise. Swarm's useful, don't get me wrong, but Phase's the best bet."

"Uh.... You're sure?"

"Oh yeah, definitely! You're no strategist, but you're still a problem solver, bro. I'm sure you got this."

"Aw, thanks! Alright, Phase it is!"


Tom pocketed the Blast key, taking out the Phase key, and locking it into the breech. With a flick of the breaker switch, the Blunderbass became supercharged with the energy of the key, and wildly backfiring into his body in a torrent of aetheric blue plasma.

Juryrig and Tom, briefly, became one... Just to do a magical girl transformation as they donned wispy, light armor. "And I'll back you up, Reman! They aren't gonna see us coming!"
 
Cave

Dahlia let her flashlight follow the cable for a moment longer, before stepping back to look at the busted doors themselves. The captain chewed her lip as a crescendo of noises tried to grab her attention. For the longevity of her sanity, she had learned to just tune some things out. It was hard to gauge how the doors had been opened from the limited perspective, but it seems like they either sagged under the overhead weight, or were forced open from... below. Either option was not very informative on whether or not the road ahead posed a threat.

The captain's train of thought was promptly derailed when she noticed the youngest member of the crew reaching in vain at her hat. Dahlia silently removed the hard hat, placing it back on the child's head. "Hold up, Rhea-" she started as her eyes fell back to the crew. Some members were at work dissecting the turret, yielding a partially complete model of the mechanism- barring the parts misplaced from age and destruction. Handling the bullets wasn't a risky endeavor, so long as you didn't rub the projectile the wrong way. The rest of the crew seemed ready to proceed.

The blue-haired scholar flipped back to see Rhea going on ahead, sliding through the doorway to catch up with her. "If you go off by yourself and get hurt, it's going to be a lot harder to help you..."

The Overseer eyed the captain briefly, before glancing at Juryrig. It was best to get out of here before something blew up. OSC-01 passed Aradia with a remark to boot, a sarcastic tone about her voice. "I'll give it ten minutes before someone's lost."

As the Overseer passed through the doorframe, they observed the ground below. The robot unfurled their hands from beneath the white robe, clenching the loose fabric around her legs and as she walked, began tying back the slack with factory precision. The pale green hakama-esque skirt that once fell to the ankles now sat at a more ready knee-length.


---


Dahlia tread carefully along the taut cable, her flashlight following the contour of the outside wall as she walked down the seemingly endless spiral. The wall transitioned gradually from a smooth concrete paste to a stacked texture of thick grey brick, but the wall continued to curve at an angle far smoother than one would expect. It wasn't long before the Overseer caught up, taking a holding speed just to the side of the captain. OSC-01 opted for a less intrusive approach of navigation, one 'eye turned off in favor of a widened aperture. A small white light blinked idly behind the glassy black sits of the Overseers face-plate- moving at a far greater twitch than the deadpan stare would suggest.

"...Got anything?" The captain asked with a hushed tone, unnerved slightly by the twitchy scan.

The Overseer paused the investigation, rolling her head to one side. "If there was something concerning, I'd have stopped you by now." The captain rolled her eyes, pressing forwards as she adjusted one strap of her backpack. "I'll keep that in mind with how we got jumped at the Observatory."

OSC-01 sighed silently, not responding in a usual quick-tongued manner. "Mistakes were made. But the true result of a mistake is an increased perception of a solution. Someone once told me without that, none of us would be here."
The captain nodded, exhaling into her cheeks as she rounded yet another turn. "...That person. I take it that was that philosophical Baron you mentioned. You still haven't given us the full story on them."

"They were a strong leader, a kind-hearted person. Many years and many visions under their belt. There's better time for that conversation," OSC-01 rebutted.

Dahlia chewed the words, before deciding not to retort. Maybe it was best to gauge the scenario ahead before yelling to whoever may be around the next corner.


Relief from the walk spiraling walls came at last as a warm light broke around the bend. Ahead was a straightaway, a dim but noticeable light breaking out not far ahead. The cable lead the ground into a small opening- a circular room with the same trapezoid-shaped doorways on either end. The air was cooler down here away from the prying sun, but not quite uncomfortable. A passing breeze blew through the open doorway.
The cable itself that lead them here finally came to an end pointed towards the far wall- and what a tragic end it was. The cable's head bore three wide prongs arranged in a triangle with a center grounding rod- which laid taut a mere foot away from a matching receptacle. So close, yet so far.

The captain huffed, looking around the dim room. Unbeknownst to her there laid yet another corpse not far behind. It laid slouched against the wall in the darkness, dead and still among a pile of stones. Dahlia stepped once more into the center of the tracks, gazing out into the light. It was dim, but blinding compared to the surroundings. Slowly she tread out of the airlock, observing the open hydraulic doors that had once gated the room from the entrance.

---

???

The captains jaw gaped in the light as they escaped the airlock, taken aback by the sudden change in scale from the confined hallway.

DefileSepia.png

Out from the entry point sprawled an enormous cavern which ran far longer than it did wide. The caverns red walls were cast a dark brown from the limited light which emanated from large manufactured prisms that had been set into the cavern ceiling. The light was murky from the amount of dust built atop the prisms, but sunlight still managed to break through. The entry point was raised from the caverns uneven and rocky floor by a handful of meters, with the rest of the cavern descending from there.

Ahead of the group laid the cavern itself. It was hard to get an estimate of size, but varying metal and concrete bridged spanned from one wall to another- revealing tunnels on either side. Along the basin of the cavern ran a barely-moving river that wove between the rocks. The water was a dark brown, with a variety of unusual weeds managing to find respite from the scorching star Trayll at it's edge. On stilts above the water laid a broken and rusted maze of catwalks, with various metal shacks resting clean above the caverns floors. It appeared a walkway once lead to the entry point, but its current status was... treacherous at best. Perhaps a more nimble crew member could shimmy their way to the cavern floor, or find a way down to the shacks.

Dead ahead, far down the cavern laid an imposing figure in the dim fog. It appeared to be a statue, it's size and detail incalculable from this distance. Overhead, bundles of conduit ran around the ceiling and walls, only some of which were intact. Motionless mining equipment and lifts were positioned along the walls, creating distant shortcuts between catwalks and bridges.

To the right of the group, the tracks continued into another trapezoid tunnel. A funny scent and a dim light ran through the tunnels, and it was more than likely that they would run about to the bridges running further down the cavern. To the left of the tunnel laid a metal sign, it's contents of which were unrecognizable. There were at least two members of the crew who may be able to help, however. Above the doorway was an imposing visage- a deep-cut V from which a lesser triangle split. The center of the lesser triangle appeared to be shiny, reflecting light shone on it in multiple directions.



OSC-01 carried a dead stare out into the distance, looking at a minuscule figure on one of the distant bridges. The details were hard to make out even with light correction, but the figure was enough. Two beady silver eyes gazed back at the pale Overseer, before sulking off into one of the distant tunnels- dragging a definitive steel wing behind them in a hunched stance.

Dahlia joined OSC-01 by the railing, cautiously looking out over the open expanse ahead. The captain sniffed, wrinkling her nose as an off scent was carried through the cool breeze that emanated from farther back in the cavern. "Overseer, what do you see?"

OSC-01 paused, before looking back at the crew. "Nothing suspiciously warm, electrical detected further down. I don't see any cause for alarm, but a ruckus is never welcome." The Overseer looked over at the wayward child, somewhat content in her gaze. "It seems the whispers were correct. The rogue units are down here."

Dahlia exhaled everything at once, muttering something under her breath as she stood still in a moment of curious awe. All this, hidden away from the surface. "What in the deep dark fuck did we stumble in to."
 
"I... I know." Rhea mumbled, feeling like she just got scolded somehow, even if it IS for her own saftey. "I just... felt like I should go on ahead for... a number of reasons." She said, msking a gun with one hand, and pointing back to the group with her other. "They... aren't always, or even usually, very quiet, and the same goes for how safe they are to be around..." With that, she looked back, peeking around the captain into the room she just left- and narrowed her eyes slightly at the scene even from what little she could spot, and the rest was easy to guess. She decided to ignore it... at least for now.

---

And she would politely ignore a grown man doing a magical girl transformation right in front of her, instead choosing to turn back around, and let the light from the captain's flashlight light the way ahead, though she felt she might have been just as comfortable proceding a bit more slowly without any light, as at least that would be less likely to get them noticed, as she stayed quiet while the overseer and the captain had their chat. She would have perhaps, been paying more attention to their surroundings, maybe even noticing the corpse at the end of the dark spiraly staircase, if she weren't busy messing with her echyllis, trying to create a mirror. Besides that she... somewhat trusted the overseer to have an all but all seeing lookout.

As she experimented, she figured that she would try changing the density of the echyllis, squeeeezzing it together in a very thin, condensed coin, or trying to for the sake of the 'back' of the mirror. The other, she endeavored to expand as much as she could- or to thin it out that opaquepurple coloring within it, rather. She honestly, didn't expect to successfully create a mirror, but at least she might learn wether or not trying to change the density of the echyllis itself, was a good idea or not even possible.

---
???


When she finally did arrive in the cavern she... hardly reacted, apparently very focused on what she was doing- until she heard the overseer's comment about her, and looked up, a bit startled. It was only then she noticed how... expansive the massive cavern here was. "So, its good that i'm not just hearing voices, then?" Rhea asked with a mumble, not sure if she should be relieved, or worried as she observed the cavern before then, mentally mapping out routes she could take to cross the expanse... Which was interrupted as she covered her nose, and spoke again.

"I think... something is rotting." It wasn't a smell she was unfamiliar with. She breifly glanced back, before going to the edge of the raised up entrence. It wasn't something she wanted to go investigate, that smell, and she didn't want to just sit there and experience it, either. "I'm... going to look around... and not be... here." With that, she quickly abandoned her post, and went to the edge of the outcropping of the entrance. She only so recently got scolded by the captain to not go off ahead and get hurt, but... Before she knew it, she was already finding her way down that rocky outcropping. Certainly, it was easier than climbing straight up or down a featureless building anyway, at least it had built in crevices for hand and footholds. Beside her, floated her 'experiment' as she released it and continued her descent.

"I, won't go far, promise! At least not untill somone joins me down here..." She called out. She had a feeling of unease about this place just, in general, and that smell from before was... concerning, but she had to admit that she felt like a real adventurer as she scrambled down the wall at speeds that would probably make some professional climbers jealous. Being pint sized and having cheating echyllis crystals sure would get you far in that field.
 
Following right behind the troupe in focused silence for quite a while now, Keith kept to himself for most of the crew's shenanigans during the entrance sequence to the cave underneath the dunes of Trayll II. Alongside Deimos at the tail end of the group's formation, he had been keeping watch for any danger or unexpected occurrences, only nothing had happened so far except for silence; dead silence, unnervingly so. Eyes scanning every bit of the ground they all walked through, he was only momentarily disoriented when the dim light from beyond the airlock broke through the near-complete darkness of the cave, but quickly adjusted to his new surroundings...

The Defile?

"...Impressive," was the stoic ex-soldier's sole reply to the new outstanding ambience they had found themselves in. Impressive, but not surprising; so far below ground is the only place that could possibly sustain life in such an arid climate, as the informant himself knew so well from his life back in Sillogos, the jewel of the Auric Desert: a meager city from afar, but its true beauty was that the entire metropolis was like a sprawling underground hive. That held truer still to the heat of a planet such as this; the surface temperatures of a desert planet are frequently enough to sterilize the very grains of sand that make up the worldwide dunes. A night is as cold as the day is hot in places such as these, so one must find refuge where the star doesn't shine.

Keith stopped cold in his tracks as he reached the balcony's edge, supporting his hands on the guard rails while peering down at the abandoned expanse and analyzing a safe path through the rocky mess. Watching Rhea climbing on by downhill without a care in the world brought a small grin to the jaded ex-sergeant's face, who turned to the crew's captain. "Dahlia, I'm going on down, gotta keep an eye on the kid. Deimos! Join me for a spell, won't you? Let's get some recon work done," he said, fully announcing his intentions. Without waiting for confirmation or permission, however, Keith jumped across to the other side of the guard rails, trusting in his gum rubber boots to provide him with enough friction to stick to the steep incline, and his military rock climbing lessons to help him not fall to his doom.
 
It's a big spooky zone!

Aradia crossed her arms, looking out into the expansive cavern before her. The first word she thought of was "city", but on further inspection that didn't quite seem to be correct; the structures looked a little too small and spread apart. It was more like a town. She nodded at Osco's mentioning of the group's quarry, and looked down, then left, and to the right. She sniffed, and turned back to see Rhea and Keith, the latter of whom was currently calling out to Deimos, starting to clamber down the rock itself - not exactly her expertise. There was a sign and a tunnel and - well, the tunnel smelled funny. The magician couldn't quite tell what kind of funny, but it was still funny.

"Stay clear for a sec, lemme try something," she commanded, kneeling down and concentrating, her hands touching the floor. A moment later, she shook her head. "Nevermind, can't get it to move. Can anyone get a good look at that sign?" Even as she asked, the tiny woman stood up straight and took a couple steps towards the mouth of the tunnel, and snapped her fingers for dramatic effect. A faint, but noticeable breeze surrounded Sivins, pushing down the tunnel - it petered out quickly after going but a few meters away from her, but it was, at the least, able to keep the smell at bay... And any potentially problematic gases associated with it.

"Anyone who wants to try out this tunnel, I can keep the air clear for a few minutes. It's probably a lot safer than the rocks for most of ya," the pilot said with a grin, looking back to the gathered captain, overseer, and other explorers.
 
Cave

"Hexagonal. Weird. Copper. Electrical primer?" Marie pondered, to the...probably two people who were with her. "Hexagonal would mean they store more propellant, and...the tips appear normal. Mostly. Don't have the tools to take one apart..."

Marie looked up. There was no one there. Great.

The bullets would have to be picked up another day. For now, she ran and caught up with the rest of the group.

Bigger Cave

"The V thing is good, at least. I'd suggest that way." It wasn't an entirely unfounded conclusion, she figured -- after all, the symbol the Arcadians loved so much tended to be stuck all over things they liked. It was perfectly reasonable as an idea. The useful things go where the symbol goes.

At least, to her. What? She wasn't an anthropologist or an archaeologist. The important things go where important markers go.
 
???

The entryway was echoing with footsteps, but Romulus's went almost completely unheard. Used to a life of hiding and crime, his feet were nimble and quiet amongst the rest of the group. His quiet facade hid an altogether ulterior action of caution and readying for anything in these hallowed caves that would spring out to attack him. Arrogantly enough, his calm gaze turned to ire when the loud, crashing sound of a man wearing gigantic steel armor trudged through the halls, echoing off the walls of the cavern. Reman had followed suit well enough in that massive steel armor, but his actions and movement looked like he was just wearing his normal clothes. It's like the steel suit had inadvertently made him stronger by base, like the metal itself. It's too bad that Reman couldn't draw out that massive war hammer lurking inside the steel key, It'd be a great help up ahead if Romulus ran into another Breaker type up ahead. "I don't want to have to keep repeating that none of you even have a notion of the word Subtle or Quiet. The rogue units are below, yes? Do we have a route down, or are we going to have to climb the walls to get to where we need to be?"

Reman's overall improved mood had really changed his demeanor to comments like this from Romulus, no longer really being truly afraid, but just enough to be cautious around him. "You know, If it's about speed... I could jump."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Romulus yell-whispered at Reman. "We don't even know the structure of this place at all, and you're going to use Steel's ability to just JUMP DOWN?"

"If that explosion was already here maybe we could I dunno... Try?"

"This isn't a matter of sound and more a matter of structure! Mine shafts like this are usually held up by supports for a reason, so that when there is force, it doesn't shatter the whole cave!"

"And?"

"What do you mean, 'and'? You'd easily be breaking these beams that straddle across this canyon and maybe cause some cave-ins that would jeopardize the mission at hand! I don't know why you've gotten so buddy-buddy with the alchemist but I am not allowing you to borrow his hair-brained theories!"

"But almost none of these suits lack impact compensation and-"

"And what? So that you can let the weight of Steel crush anything? Why not use Cyclone?"

"Because It's the first time I've had this back in a while! Plus it'd help me take less of a beating on these outings."

Romulus sighed in utter, complete befuddlement. "Maybe you should ask the Android here who actually knows what this whole place is. And whatever that gigantic relic is in the middle of the rock ahead."

"Well?" Reman inquired to the rest of the crew, lifting a leg over the balcony of the walkway. "Should I?"
 
The ever-quiet new medic strolled in behind the others- though out of all them, she was the one that kept her hand on her hip-holstered gun. The view of the great cavern laid out before them gave her pause- but her instinct told her to search for motion before admiring the scene. A good sniper would be both king and executioner in this place. Forced to admit that her weak mortal gaze would never pick a sniper from the darkness of the great cavern, she instead turned her gaze towards the other entrances that were around her.

Pulling a flashlight from the pocket of her tactical vest, she flicked between each of the entrances and paths that presented themselves- and took up the rear of the expedition group, her trusty flashlight picking up the forgotten corpse that had laid hidden in its dark corner- moving instead towards it, gripping her machine-pistol tight. She'd been tricked by dead bodies before.

"Something back here. Looks like a body."
 
???

Dahlia stood there for a moment longer, admiring the expanse ahead of the group before being pulled back to reality by the sounds of chatter and rubber soles sliding against rock. The Captain caught Keith and Reman for a brief moment before they began their descent, issuing a quick order. "Keep an eye on Rhea, don't let her get too far off."

The Captain glanced over at the Pilot as she called, before returning a glance to Keith. "We'll investigate the tunnels up here. Keep us patched as best you can." With that, Dahlia peeled away form the railing to join the others. Still, her gaze managed to find its way back to the crevice ahead.

The Captain twisted her arms about, rummaging through the large backpack she wore with some practiced finesse. "I can give it a crack. I've got a fairly complete registry. Just lacking pronunciation and grammar." Dahlia pulled a blue folder from the bag, presenting it open as she stood in front of the sign. OSC-01 slowly approached the show from behind as Dahlia glanced between the decayed sign and the book.

"Okay, their language is supposed to be syllabic. So those are 'ar' sounds..." Dahlia touted, pointing at the v-shaped symbols with the dot in the center. "And... that's a 'thh',


"I think those are a 'keyr'... That's a 'S"..."
After a while, even the captain began to struggle.

After a solid minute of Dahlia trying to put the symbols together in a logical string, the Overseer gave in. "It says Kerolyne Defile x537: Management Level. East Tunnel."

The Kerolyne Defile
Upper Path, Management Level, East Tunnel


Dahlia spun around to see the Overseer, alerted to but somehow expectant of their presence. After a moment, she tilted her head at the apparent precision of the translation. "Have you been holding out on me?"

The Overseer passed into the entrance of the tunnel, gazing about with a return as short as can be. "Yes." The machine paused beside Aradia, taking a moment to adjust a few internal sensors. By her charity, a beam of diffused light shot out into the tunnel, providing a second flashlight. "I made those headbands with some purpose. I've known many that would punch one for wasting arbor on an incomplete Arcadian script analysis."

Dahlia shook her head in annoyance, stepping into the tunnel. As she went along, she reached back into her bag in search for one of those headbands.

---

After a brief period of walking, the cramped tunnel began to widen once more. The singular tracks split into double-lanes, a dark void stretching ahead of the group. The smell had become noticeably stronger despite Aradia's best efforts to keep it at bay. The tracks eventually ended at a metal platform, with a pair of half-raised bumpers lazily blocking the way ahead. As they neared the edge, Dahlia held her arm out, shining a flashlight out into the room.

The group had found themselves into a short vertical shaft that stretched above and below around a hexagonal room. In the center of the room laid the cables and struts of a rotating track elevator, the platform of which laid tidily crashed into the base floor roughly two stories down. More solid catwalks wrapped around the edges of the room, with ladders and stairs providing a way down- but not up. The far walls of the room contained metal doorways that laid in varying states of disrepair. One door laid perfectly open with a metal cart of some sort hanging out the side: ready to fall at a moments notice.

Along the sides of the catwalk laid segmented lockers, of which a few were missing, One appeared to be cracked open, but the others would take further investigation. Above the group was a metal ceiling that capped the vertical shaft, with a center vent hiding a broken, motionless fan blade. The top end of the ceiling appeared to be covered in something... sticky, with the pungent smell emanating from the vent above.

The captain stepped carefully onto the catwalk, testing her weight before nearly jumping out of her skin with a shriek. The room flashed with light briefly to reveal the captain hugging the wall- to absolutely no threat. Across the room an emergency light flickered a dull, bleeding yellow. It was likely triggered by the crews movement, a dull electrical buzz indicating it to be at the end of its lifespan. Still, those dull bulbs had a certain allure to them- almost resembling rhinestones with how they bounced light about.

It would appear Dahlia was a little to embarrassed and jolted by the incident to move. "That better be battery powered."

Lower Path

The trio or so of brave souls reached the bottom of the chasm at different speeds, eventually finding a vaguely-flat footing on the rocky floor. From down here, the distant bridges suddenly appeared much, much higher. Stretching out ahead of the group were the mysterious shacks on stilts, a little above head height at this point. Some more solid catwalks ran from the buildings to the sides of the defile, providing some climbing potential. There were two shacks, one closer and one farther.

The sound of trickling water filed the groups ears as they shimmied their way down and around the uneven rocks. A small stream originated from the wall, finding it's own path through the shelves of rocks and boulders as it widened to a few meters across. The water ran very slowly and carried an iffy air about it. The question of whether or not the water was safe for consumption became quickly answered as the group made their way farther towards the concrete and metal sheds. To the eastern side laid the trashed remains of a large piece of mining equipment, the oily guts of which laid spilled out in a sickening sheen over the nearly still river. Still, some variety of flora prospered. Blue-green weeds and ferns sprouted from the loose remnants of soil between the rocks, with wide flowers black as tar floating atop the oily mess of a stream.

As the group looked up towards the murky skylights, they could see multiple layers of platforms far far above them. They appeared to be connected by elevators, though one had yet to be seen down here at the basin.

Airlock

In true adventurous spirit, Nivara had been left to her own devices. As the medic assessed the situation, there was little more to do than go ahead and investigate the body.

As she approached and tested the slump of plastic and cloth with her machine pistol, it gave no signs of life. The body appeared to be wrapped in a dark blue body bag, melding in with the walls excellently- however, it would seem someone beat her to the punch. the bag had recently been opened, and zipped halfway shut once more. Carefully peeling back the bag, the Medic found the horrendous sight of a humanoid skeleton.

It was still clothed in a rather fine but slightly dirty jacket, heavily resembling a wool uniform. It was comprised of navy and black fabrics, but didn't appear to be a part of any military the medic could recognize. Golden-tinted metal pins adorned the shoulders and breast of the uniform, with an unknown script adorning some of it. The center of the uniform was defied by a black and silver belt which no matter how twisted or nudged, never showed any slack. The jacket came with a matching pair of trousers and a flat-cap of the same color with a sharp black brim that formed a central V around the rim of the hat.

The skeleton itself appeared fairly humanoid, although degraded. There were certainly differences to the normal human structure that the medic could see almost instantly, additional bones and joints around she rib-cage and shoulders as well as a thicker chin. However, the central visage of the skeleton had been caved in to the point of nonrecognition. It appeared someone wanted to remain anonymous.

The skeleton wore a hip holster at one point, unfortunately emptied. On top of that, the pockets of the uniform had been looted as well. A black folded rod still laid tucked into a separate holster on the uniforms belt however.
 
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