Re: Clinch River: Minutes Count

Fri Mar 11, 2022 7:12 am

Clinch River: Minutes Count - Page 4 KCRQ5ng

THE DARK BELOW

The cages laid down by Liltotto did not exactly slow the creature's movement, per se, so much as they seemed to simply draw its attention. Its snaking motions curled around each of the traps, its motionless expression still seeming almost curious as it inspected each of the constructs in turn. It was not much, but it was certainly enough to give the Vandenreich enough time to move down the ladder.

It was, in fact, a rather impressively long descent, though it certainly could have been worse. The bottom of the shaft was visible, though any normal person who fell from this height would have been left little more than a paste if they hit the bottom.

It was for emergencies, after all. This just happened to be an emergency.

The shaft itself was empty, apart from the ladder. Creaking continued to echo through, but none of the pipes in the area seemed to burst. If that was because the creature had deigned to leave them alone, or simply hadn't found them yet, remained to be seen, but the bottom of the shaft led only one direction; forward, past what seemed to be a long-abandoned check-in desk and a much more recently-destroyed barricade of the paramilitary forces from before. To say they had been mauled would be a bit of an understatement, as they were primarily paste on the walls, though their bodies were half soaked in noxious black fluid that seemed more like tar than anything they themselves would have left behind.

END POST | WE OUGHT NOT HAVE DARED

Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:23 pm

Clinch River: Minutes Count - Page 4 TeC6OwL

Liltotto Lamperd

This situation only got weirder and weirder with the observation of that second creature, Liltotto being rather bothered as she descended the ladder, occasionally looking around as they went down, and to her colleagues as she did so.

"..Something feels off." She'd speak up, breaking the silence, "Like about, everything going on here. Like for starters, why is there this entire, old ass secret military-lookin' base by an otherwise peaceful place out in nature, completely unaccounted for as far as we know? Place has to be at least a few decades old, or older, given it's been left alone long enough to be completely decrepit."

"Then there's those creatures... They don't have an air of hostility to them at all. If that tube thing above us was anything like a Hollow or whatever, i'd think it'd keep pursuing us, but it's not; it stopped to poke at the traps instead. And that big weird girl worm thing had a similar demeanor. They seem more curious and unaware of the weight of their actions than bloodthirsty."

Even with the unknown energy obscuring her sense of smell, the scent of splattered bodies was unmistakable as they approached the grisly sight, her brows knitting with a sense of confusion and irritation,

"Nothing here is making any sense. Why does this place even exist? Who was running this place? Why? Why is this energy only becoming apparent now? Shit, I wouldn't be surprised if that was just an automatic voiceover and whoever recorded that line over the loudspeaker is fucking dead now."

She'd pinch her nosebridge, "How is this making less and less sense the more details we get..?"

END | Mission Time

Thu Mar 17, 2022 10:31 pm

Clinch River: Minutes Count - Page 4 Banner

SHIROHIME | WHITE PRINCESS

"Because we're getting closer to the source, of course. The closer we get to it, the greater density we can expect it to be in."

It was almost a little chiding in her explanation, Shirohime also felt it was a bit off in saying that. It felt like that was the kind of thing that she could've been expected to have been told once upon a time rather than to be the one saying it. How things could change, right?

"Nothing in this world makes sense anymore, just advance."

They had their orders, keep going forward and pressing on. Shirohime took the lead this time, a brisk pace while her various spheres hovered around her protectively in an array, ready to take action and protect her as required.

"We're on a timer and we're not the only ones here, so everyone better be quick about it."

Shirohime sounded a bit more chirpy than she normally did, her body seemingly far more vitalised than it normally was. Her dedication had only become more resolved to push onwards and in that will she dug into the depths of her rotting soul to persist.

THE ENEMY OF BLACK | END POST

Thu Mar 17, 2022 10:42 pm

Clinch River: Minutes Count - Page 4 HEADRR_EFZe3tPU0Agd3PG

Giselle blinked a bit owlishly as they arrived at the bottom of the ladder, looking around for a moment at the scene before them. Her attention shifting to the dark smears that seemed to accompany the corpses, before her attention was snared by Liltotto's own duress at the situation. Which....definitely WAS on the strange side. And then, promptly, Shirohime's prompt dismissal of the concerns. Giselle raised both brows, and then glanced at Natasha, as though to garner her opinion on the matter. Well at least she was used to the 'don't worry about it, get in there' mentality. Though then again, she was sturdy enough to live through that shit.

"Sorry girly, but uh....I don't think any of us have the answers. And like the Boss Lady said, that's pretty much 'superior' for: I dunno." She noted, her tone consoling as she patted Lil on the shoulder and then proceeded toward advancing, moving just a bit ahead of Shirohime as any good bullet sponge would. All the same, she'd turn her attention to Shirohime and tilt her head.

"Kinda dedicated aren't ya? First time a lot of us are getting to see ya. Woudn't be the worst if you let on that you were just as in the dark as us ya know. Humanizing and all that." She noted lightly. Were it any other suprior? Sure she'd have noted the solidarity of 'just do as the leader says'. But this was a small operation, just the four of them. And Shirohime sure was driving them forward with the cryptic cripple shtick. Maybe she was talking to a brick wall. Maybe Shirohime would tell her to shut her fucking trap. But well, this WAS a situation where a bit of morale went a long way.

She decided not to worry about it too much.

Fri Mar 18, 2022 2:25 pm

NATASHA | HUMANITY'S STRONGEST SOLDIER

"All three of ya' lovely ladies have quite a point, I reckon'. On one hand, Shirohime's correct. Strange as this may all seem, nothin' around here shocks me anymore' than the shit' I witnessed in my own town. Considerin' the ' source of energy we're seekin' to attain, it's ta' be expected we're gonna' come across a collection of abnormal creatures' that'll make your average human do a double' take. Sooner we get it' done, sooner' we can' march the hell outta' here. Perhaps, I reckon' we can find the answers as we go along."

Natasha would reach reach the bottom along with the women as she walked beside them, keeping her eyes peeled for any surprise visits from another otherworldly 'thing' that might rear it's head. Walking beside Shirohime, she'd strike a conversation to ease the tension, make some humor to liven up the situation.

"Besides, we're the fab four'. I reckon' we're gonna knock' this mission the hell out of the ballpark' no matter what creepy ole' things we see. And then we'll have a celebratory drink. Ya ever been to a bar, White Princess?" To be certain, Natasha was just as thrown off by everything going on here as her peers were but rather than let her mood be swayed, she felt even a tinge of humor could help liven the morale of even the most uncertain pessimists.

END POST | ALL IS WELL, SAFELY REST

Sun Mar 20, 2022 3:35 am

THE DARK BELOW

The halls of this place were certainly not silent, by any stretch of the imagination, but the noise that filled them was ill-defined, lacking in what could be called recognizable source or pattern. Noises that could have been organic or mechanical, sounds of scraping against metal and footsteps upon the floor, even as the path before them seemed empty.

There were a few paths laid before them: A spiral staircase in a small cylindrical shaft, tucked into the wall not far past the check-in desk; a set of almost spartan, unremarkable metal steps moving down a hallway to their left; or simply continuing to walk straight, a hallway that remained well-lit despite the apparent age of the facility, and which seemed to have large windows at some point down the line.

Regardless, there was still sound of motion throughout the place, both from where they had just come and from all three potential paths. There was no sense that any direction might prove safer than the other.

END POST | WE OUGHT NOT HAVE DARED

Sun Mar 20, 2022 10:04 am

SHIROHIME | WHITE PRINCESS

If she were a more aggressive individual, a violent person with ruthless killing intent then she might've responded with aggression. Obstacles were incredibly problematic but there was still that hesitation to remove those obstacles which were human.. or close enough to it. The monsters that littered this bunker were far more easier to view as obstacles to her desires.

"Fine, I don't know what is causing this situation. Happy?"

Shirohime rhetorically asked while she looked down the three corridors, three pathways. Where did they lead, what was at the end of each of them? She gestured to the five floating spheres which hovered in a strange array, it looked like it had some structure and rhyme to their positions but it looked like organised chaos.

"I don't drink."

There was nothing more to it, no explanation but the snappy way that she went about saying it made it almost like it struck a nerve if that was even possible.

"Check it out."

She said and on that order, three of the spheres shot down different pathways to travel for a couple hundred metres. Returning after a short period in another flash of white light as long as nothing tried to get in their way. Better to test the waters with each pathway before jumping into the pool.

THE ENEMY OF BLACK | END POST

Sun Mar 20, 2022 12:52 pm

Liltotto Lamperd

Liltotto couldn't care less about the lack of answer or reciprocal concerns from her superior and peers, more or less having just stated her thoughts out loud. However, she was completely inclined to agree with Shirohime - Nothing in this world made sense anymore, at least not in the way it did before. Though she was plenty accustomed to such changes, not everyone could just settle into it. Though she was simply fine with completing this mission and having drinks with Natasha, she'd still have thoughts about this place, of course disregarding the fact she couldn't get drunk and most alcohol was pointless for her to drink.

What did catch her attention was Giselle's continued fixation and badgering of the strange pale woman who accompanied them, though this time it was taken a little far. She'd shoot the woman a sharp glare with Shirohime's response, coming next to Giselle and giving her arm a soft punch with the back of her tiny hand, "That was unnecessary. Cut it out and focus."

Even if their relationship was unlike any she ever had, she wasn't going to hesitate on calling the woman out if she was being too much. She'd be a worse person not to.

Soon they were upon the fork in the road. God she hated these, and hated it all the more that she couldn't even tell if anything was down any path. But of course, those weird orb things went off to scout all three paths.

"Good thing you got those things," She'd comment, "Ordinarily, would be more useful here, if literally everything didn't smell the same. Bugging me out; apart from us there's just no difference to me anymore."

She'd look to their options quietly for a moment, before looking back to Shirohime, "...I don't feel like splitting up down here is a good idea but, hey, if you feel it's the best option..."

END | Mission Time

Mon Mar 21, 2022 5:02 pm

Giselle couldn't help but smile just a little in response to Shirohime's chirpy little response. Making note that the woman seemed abundantly focused on the task at hand. "Extremely!" She chimed, smiling from ear to ear and completely ignoring Liltotto who decided to pinch her, which frankly Giselle barely felt.

Oh yes, she knew Liltotto was the type to get into these sorts of snips, but Giselle was quite aware of what she was doing. She gave a little whistle of appreciation as she noticed those balls shoot out. "Huh. So they're like dogs. Cool." She hummed, before promptly collecting her reiryoku at one of her fingernails, creating a sharp edge as she idly ran the little blade along the wall, drawing a rough approximation of the layout they had gone through.

"Let's see.... we came in through the tunnel. Was more or less of a straight shot....ISH....then we went down this ladder that was infront of us. So now we're dowwwwn below, facing the opposite direction." She hummed, a line straight down before drawing out the paths they had. A staircase down a shaft, stairs down a hallway. Or a path straight ahead.

"Now if I was holding something pumping out enough energy as this thing, I'd store it as deep down into the facility as it could be." She tapped the shaft with her nail, lazily tapping that sharp point against the shaft. "The hallways with the lights would be most likely for us to run into people I think, or at the very least where people USUALLY are. So like....maybe some information about this place? No ideas about that side hallway though." She turned and looked toward Shirohime. "So, once your peons come back. Assuming that there's not a fuckton of opposition in any particular way. Is there an order of operations to this? I assume this place has been like...not just dicking around with whatever is down here. Kiiiinda obvious with our little..... unusual specimens upstairs that these guys have been doing SOMETHING with whatever it is. Which is more than we know. And sure, getting our hands on it is valuable. But it might be useful to have information on the dos and don'ts of the damn thing once we do. Not much use getting this thing if we're gonna lose our own people to wind up like those things we ran into. So what's our plan?" She asked Shirohime calmly enough.

This of course, would be an interesting point. This wasn't just a straight shot. There was options, and at the very least, some semblance of reasoning to what would be at the end of which path maybe. So that begged the question: Just what WERE the priorities here? Did the Vandenreich want information on this thing? Or were they only interested in having it and blindly figuring shit out about it? Those monstrosities certainly made it clear that it was a heavy learning curve.

Tue Mar 22, 2022 10:13 pm

NATASHA | HUMANITY'S STRONGEST SOLDIER

"Aw shucks. Guess I can't drag ya' out on bar night with the ladies, then, Princess." Ever the lively spirit, Natasha paid no particular heed to Shirohime's snappy or dismissive tone and simply remained beside the group as she gazed at the floating orbs in the air, soaring off into the alternating pathways. They would need to continue soon as they had a mission to complete. They were only pausing to see if there were any threats in these pathways before they moved forward.

Therefore, most of her attention remained focus on keeping her weapons at the ready. She would momentarily direct her gaze towards Giselle who would express her thoughts on the way this whole entire area had been built and what they should do with the energy once they reached it.

Gigi made a good point on that note in particular. When they reached the energy, they had to come to some conclusion or even force that bastard from earlier to spill the beans and explain what the hell type of energy this was if it was creating abnormal monstrosities like the two they had seen thus far.

Natasha felt somewhat like a novice here considering she had no opinion to offer. Shirohime was doing her due diligence and Giselle was explaining and offering legitimate questions to pass the time and construct a gameplan before they continued towards completing their mission. For now, she supposed she'd play things by ear and wait for the go-ahead.

END POST | ALL IS WELL, SAFELY REST