[S1E10] Spelunk-A-Dunk Doo E-corp mission

[Vinn Esper]

Spoiler: Tags, Disclaimers, and other nonsense

@krano drall @Nostromos @TheCalmOne @TheBeta

I have agreed to take over this mission for Beta and will be controlling his character Alastair as well as my own. I have his permission to do so. Even though I am leading this thread the rules laid out in the E Corp Archeology thread where you all agreed to the mission still apply.

Alastair and his crew each found themselves sitting in the drop ship that was taking them to the the mouth of the cave, where the previous team had fallen off the grid. Alastair looked out to the group. "I apologize for the hasty departure and for the lack of details regarding our mission. Now, I think we have a brief intermission with which to discuss it. I will start by saying that forty eight hours ago the Eternity Corporation lost contact with the previous team we selected for entry. I do not know what their goal was, or the reason contact was lost with them."

Alastair paused for a moment, "This is a rescue attempt. Our objective is to locate the previous team and assist them in returning to the surface. Above your heads, in the storage racks is any and all equipment you may require for our expedition. For more on that I will turn the floor over to my associate, Vinn Esper who has been a climber for many years.

*************************************************

The Barabel looked at the assortment of individuals in the dropship. At least one of them was a Forcie, but for once, the presence of a forcie didn't upset him. A forcie may be needed down there. "Right," Vinn said, "the first rule of subterranean survival is never to go off by yourself. Cave systems like the one we are going to can be prone to any number of dangerous and sudden situations. They can flood, they can cave in. They can twist on for miles and miles. When you're down there, it will be unlike anything you may have previously experienced. This system hasn't been mapped, so I can't tell you what to expect."

Vinn continued, "So, above your heads are a helmet with a battery operated lamp around it. When inside the cave it is advised to wear the helmet at all times if you're not wearing your own suit of armor, which I would not suggest doing." Vinn's own Echani armor was in the rack above his own head. He wore a simple skin tight suit the E Corp had provided. "Also above your head is a simple backpack. It contains several days ration of non perishable food, and several days ration of water. It also contains waterproof flare sticks. In addition you will find an extra helmet, ropes, anchors, two ascenders and two descenders, a battery operated flashlight, an extra lamp for your helmet, extra batteries for both the helmet lamp and for the flashlight, you will also find a rebreather to be used in case of toxic fumes. You will be notified of toxic fumes by an alarm on the helmet. It's meant to quickly detect trace amounts and will constantly monitor air quality, and so, you should be notified within plenty of time to use the rebreather."

"Let's talk safety and weapons," Vinn said after catching his breath. He hadn't said this many words at one time since childhood. "Once inside the cave, well be surrounded on all sides by a few thousand pounds of rock. I somewhat doubt any legitimate use for weaponry will be found, but I'm not going to ask you to go unarmed. You wouldn't do it if I did, but I do have a few certain restrictions on certain types of weapons that will not be allowed. Chief among these is grenades. We don't want explosions. They could easily trigger massive shock waves and cave Ima which could kill us all. So, leave your explosives in the ship, which will remain at the Landing Zone. Second, anything that uses soundwaves such as my ACR-4-26 which you notice is in the rack above my head along with my grenades."

Vinn continued speaking, "Third, anything that emits a significantly loud report or can cause significant damage to structures. Again, we don't want to blow holes in anything, and we don't want a lot of sound waves bouncing around. Also, no scatter guns or any other weapon that releases multiple projectiles at once. These rules apply to fire arms and explosives. If any of you are carrying the shiny light swords that Forcies use, you can bring them. I myself will be carrying only my electroswords."

Vinn finished speaking and the dropship began its descent, "There's medical equipment stored up on the racks with the gear E-Corp has provided for you, as well as a standard first aid kit in your packs. If you have any questions for myself or the Doctor, now would be a good time to ask."

**********************************************************

Finally, the dropship landed and the ramp opened. The expedition group emerged into a clearing surrounded by thick forest on all sides. Chirps of local birds, and other natural sounds could be heard. "Alright everyone," Alastair said, "the cave in question is a brief distance to the Northwest. If we are ready..."

Alastair, Vinn, and the rest of the group traveled through the thick forest about fifteen meters. They were greeted by a large hole in the face of a mountain. Many sets of footprints could be seen at the mouth of the cave, traveling inward. Inside the mouth of the cave, nothing was visible and nothing could be heard from outside. Even so, each member of the group would experience feelings of discomfort and loathing that couldn't be attributed to anything in particular. The closer they got to the cave, the stronger these feelings would be, till they finally entered and the feelings would suddenly stop.

Vinn approached the tracks, his stomach seemingly attempting to drag him away from the cave. His voice was a little off as he spoke, "Doctor, this seems to confirm that the other team did, in fact, enter the right cave. Guess this thing is a go." Vinn reached up and pressed the button activating his head lamp, and stepped into the cave assuming the rest of the group would follow.

OOC: I tried to leave several points where a person could interact if they wished. However, I then accelerated the story past where I would be able to respond to an interaction if necessary. Even so, feel free to use those points to interact if you wish. If I need to answer something in your interactions, the first paragraph or so of my next post will be a kind of flashback thing. Also, I just wanna say thanks for signing up with E corp and I hope you like the thread and I hope everyone has fun.

 

[krano drall]

Krano drall was fine with the group size, But he did not trust a single one of them. He was fine with a alien being in the party. As the 'Doctor' and his new friend explained the helmits Krano drall made a mental note not to take one. *Never can be too careful beside my suite has a light built in* he thought. When they had said no need for blaster fire he had almost smiled. *HK is going to love this* he thought. Speaking of the HK Krano drall looked to his right to make shur it had not murdered eny one yet. Luckily it was just sitting there like a good HK. When the friend said no sonic waves he smiled and carefully tucked his smack down grandes into his bag. On the rest of the way down Krano drall made a point to sharpen his knifes and not look at eny one. When they landed Krano drall got the food but not the helmit. "C'mon HK" he said. His HK unit got up and followed him as they trudged through the forest this time Krano drall closely watched the other party members.

 

[Nostromos]

Gris was uncharacteristically quiet during the debriefing, normally; she would be chatting up any and everyone she could. Learning about their lives, eager for their stories and the lessons they could teach her, but this was a little bit more dire than her normal job--she had to pay extra close attention lest she miss some piece of information that could later save her life.

The young Codru-Ji took everything that was recommended and stuffed it into a pack, happy to be equipped via someone else’s wallet for a change. She was also happy to find that her choice of weaponry was sympatico with what was recommended, she fitted the metal staff to her back under the straps of the pack and made sure it wouldn’t slid out sideway before she exited the drop ship.

Gris Gris loved the forest, it felt like home, and for a moment she wanted to rattle away about her time on Munto Codru--But her words were quickly swallowed by the overwhelming urge to follow her baser instincts and run the heck away. The closer it seemed they got to their destination, the more her secondary set of hands would clench then flex out; a tell that betrayed her nervousness. To occupy them, the youth pulled her helmet up and began to tedious process of getting her large, heavy ears into it.

Within the confines of the heavy, dull gray jumpsuit she’d worn for this job, a small thing shifted and hissed; clinging desperately to whatever bit of cloth it could get to. Gris had to place a hand over the jostling bump that had situated itself over her heart, to keep the little thing from scratching her up. “Shush, you.” No one was speaking, and the tense atmosphere had made it feel like they were walking through air as thick as syrup--to Gris---the whispered comment to her stowaway sounded like blaster fire. To avoid questioning, she started playing with the light on her helmet.

Finally, the Barabel spoke and Gris sniffed the air gently, keen eyes followed the descent of the tracks into the cavernous maw before them, but all she could smell was a damp, stale air. "What exactly where these people looking for?" Gris spoke to herself more than to any one particular person, but said so loud enough to garner a response from anyone who wished to answer.

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

As Athena listened to her employers, she double checked her gear. Good, she could bring everything except her nades. She opted to go with her own helmet, which had a built in headlamp, as it offered better protection and she was more familiar with it.

The only reason she was here was because she needed more funds. Doing missions for Mandalore was good and all but it didn't pay as well as some good ol' mercenary work, which she had done before in the past.

Since her two partners didn't seem to want to engage in conversation, Athena kept mostly to herself, habitually scanning her surroundings to identify any threat, nothing so far.

While she knew that the mission was a rescue mission, Athena couldn't help but shake the feeling that she would engage in combat sometime soon, but she couldn't pinpoint the reason why.

All she could do is prepare herself for the worst.

OOC: Sorry for the delayed post, studying for exams is time consuming lol

 

[Vinn Esper]

OOC: All good, friend. Is not like myself or the other two type like lightning. Also I am not feeling well lately.

The ragtag group of beings along on this mission didn't converse on the journey to the cave. Vinn wondered to himself if this group would hold up in the cave system. He knew being underground had a way of messing with people's minds. Alastair spoke up, "to answer the question you posed to me aboard the ship, the previous team was sent in to investigate rumors of a secret burial chamber located within these cave systems. Rumor has it, the chamber contains the remains of a renowned tribal leader. If there is indeed a find, it will be put on display here at the planet's cultural museum. Of course, you will each receive a small portion as a finders fee."

Vinn pulled a flare stick from his pack, and cracked it as the entered the cave. It hissed to life in his hand and lit up the cave better than the headlamps did alone. Still the flare did not illuminate the furthest reaches of the tunnel before them.

"Alright team, remember what I said about not going off alone. We're here to rescue others, not to be in need of rescue ourselves. If you get into trouble because you violated this, I may just decide to leave you that way." Of course, Vinn was lying. The contract each member of the team had signed would prevent him from leaving one of the team members, but they didn't need to know that. Vinn had a feeling that before this was through, at least one team member would cause a problem for the rest of them.

As they advanced down the tunnel, it curved to the left. Just as it did, Vinn's flare went out. He didn't bother to light another one. The team advanced and if any of them were to be vigilant they might notice a number of things.

Beginning at the point where the flare extinguished, on either side of the tunnel, primitive hand paintings would be found. They were dulled and not easily noticeable. They would be painted in a reddish brown substance. They would depict a number of different things.

In addition to the cave paintings there are a few small cracks in the cave walls. These cracks would be large enough for a single humanoid to fit through. You wouldn't be able to see through to where they led from this side. Inside one of the crevices further down the tunnel, a small, almost unnoticeable piece of cloth.

Vinn came to the tunnel which ended in a solid wall. There was a very large cave painting here, painted in the same reddish brown substance as the ones that Vinn and Alastair hadn't noticed. This one was larger than the rest of them, however. It seemed to depict a humanoid with wings. Lines were drawn around it's head seeming to depict a bright light. "What do you make of this, Doctor?"

"Perhaps, it is a religious marking. Truthfully, I do not know. The preserved nature of this painting is quite remarkable," Alastair responded, "the ancient inhabitants of this planet are said to have believed that paintings such as these provided spiritual protection against both evil spirits and unwelcome intruders."

"That's all very interesting," Vinn replied in a tone of voice that suggested that he wasn't very interested at all. "Unfortunately, I don't think these cave paintings are going to tell us where our associates are."

 

[Billbo Swaggins]

When Athena's two employers started to talk to each other, she listened in. When the one known as Vinn spoke the last word, Athena spoke up.
"Only way to find that out is to keep on going."

The cave was dark - very dark - and it was only due to the light from the groups headlights that Athena was able to see at all. Every step each on of them took echoed off of the walls, breaking an otherwise deafening silence.

Said silence was getting to Athena, so she spoke up,
"So. A renowned tribal leader. Anything interesting about him and this... artifact that our missing guys were looking for?"

 

[Nostromos]

Gris placed a hand on Vinn’s shoulder as he warned of the impending abandonment should they stray, smiling wide and guffawing at his statement. She didn’t let her hand linger, not wanting to insult the man with her invasion of his personal space, she fell back into the middle of the group. Her helmet light was on, and the flare added additional light but Gris decided to go with what she thought was best.

Tilting her head back, she sniffed out the damp air, the chill and musty nature of the cave didn’t offer up anything immediately. Gris Gris would try to be conscientious of what her nose told her as they progressed, but didn’t sweat not being able to detect anything just yet.

She was no scholar, but from what Alistair explained it could hopefully be easier to find their missing researchers. “Well, the paintings could be a clue? Could help us deduce what our explorer’s were thinking as they went in further.” Looking over to Athena, she gave the human a friendly nudge with her elbow.

“Maybe the Leader had the artifact buried with him? We find the Stiff we find more clues, or maybe our guys.” Gris Gris took the time to aim her light around at the walls behind them, inspecting the red smudges and trying to discern if anything stood out as particularly tribal or leader-ly. "More of these things back along the walls the way we came.

 

[Vinn Esper]

OOC: @krano drall I've tried to get a hold of you a couple times but you seem to be mia. I'm going to continue the thread, but feel free to jump in if you come back.

"So. A renowned tribal leader. Anything interesting about him and this... artifact that our missing guys were looking for?" Spoke up one of the companions.

It was Alastair that answered her. He was happy to do it. He turned towards her moved his hand up in the air with his index finger extended as if to illustrate his appreciation of the question. At the same time, he spoke in a very enthusiastic voice. "That's an excellent question miss... wit was it again Arleen, no. Attica, no. Athens, Athena, that's right. Miss Athena that's a wonderful question."

"I'm afraid the answer is rather short on content. Legend states that this warlord had power over beasts of all kinds. He used this power to command them and they would act like soldiers in his army. He would deploy them to complete objectives, and he was even able to order them to capture enemies and bring them back to him for various purposes," Alastair claimed.

"Sounds like nonsense to me," as he finished speaking he noticed the hand of one of the other beings hired for the mission. The gesture meant to be friendly was off-putting for Vinn. Vinn met her stare for the brief second she chose to maintain it, and in that second he questioned his approach. Perhaps these people were ones whom he did not need to be so Gruff with.

Of course, Alastair continued his story in spite of Vinn's comment, "Those weren't his only powers. According to legend he also had power to change the beasts and enhance them. Then legends describe it as a long and drawn out process which required many rituals and would begin in the animals infancy. What ancient texts have been found allude to the existence of two such animals. They were described as being bodyguards, supernaturally imbued with everlasting life and bound to him as his protectors."

After Alastair had finished, a few moments passed where the party was silent. It was the being who had touched Vinn's shoulder that broke the silence. She said, "Well, the paintings could be a clue? Could help us deduce what our explorer’s were thinking as they went in further.”

She paused and looked towards the other woman and continued speaking after a brief pause, “Maybe the Leader had the artifact buried with him? We find the Stiff we find more clues, or maybe our guys.”

Vinn thought of saying something. This was primarily a rescue mission, and he thought they shouldn't get their hopes up for a find. He had been about to say something when he had a second thought. Even if they didn't achieve finding anything, what was the harm in the others being excited with the prospect of continuing onwards. With this new perspective Vinn chose not to share his doubts.

The woman called Gris Gris was sniffing the air while looking at a number of large cracks in the wall. Vinn approached some of these cracks and inspected them closer. The first of them didn't yield anything new.

As Vinn was looking along the cracks, the faintest scent of human would reach her nostrils. Trying to follow it at first would be slot like a game of Marco Polo or Hot and Cold. The scent would lead her in a round about why to a specific crack. Towards the top of this crack would be another cave painting that was tiny compared to the others, and much more simple. I consistednof a circle attached on a long line at the bottomnin the center of the circle. Almost immediately under the circle were two half circles attached on either side of the line. Below these were two shorter lines drawn in similar fashion. The longer line continues for a short distance below the two sorter lines then ends.

Below the first inscription are three solid balls surrounded by rings. They are painted in a way that they make the drawing above them appear to centered. The scent of human would be stronger now and if Gris Gris searched the crevice she would eventually find the piece of cloth stuck on a sharp piece of rock close to the floor.

Also gonna tag @Flamjetxx so he can follow this post on his new account.