Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Jan 20, 2016 20:34:10 GMT -6
What Shikoto said was common sense, everyone knows it, James included. But of course there are reason to do otherwise, plenty of it, but the slave doesn't seem to have give it enough thoughts and decided to just choose everything based on what he see on the surface.
"Apparently you weren't listening to what I just said a few moments ago, and forgot exactly what happened earlier when we were fighting the army of bugs. The doctor here obviously have control over the base, and can easily do something to the reactor to stop this little plan of yours. Your plan has too many what if and too many flaws. You said it yourself, 'what if' we could get the reactor going without him blowing us, what if we can't? On one hand we have you who have to take around 10 minutes just to create a smoke screen, on the other we have someone that have full control over the base, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to win if you both go for the same controls. 'What if' the ship couldn't be used? It's been there for a long, long periods of time. 'What if' the ship is a trap? After all the data was obtained from a very conveniently activated computer that is already login in for years, and you managed to conveniently found the information for it. Haven't you given any thoughts about that? Could very well be what this doctor wants us to believe, could be another trap."
Only a fool would take everything according to what they were told, and not give it any thoughts of their own. Normally James would have just ignored him and let him figure out what's wrong with the idea himself, but the constant nagging was beginning to annoy him. Of course in words what Shikoto said would sound great, but obviously it's not going to go as easily as he hoped it would be. Not with a still active army of bugs, whoever those pillars belonged to, and a mysterious mad scientist still around that could continue attacking them.
"Even IF you have the ability to overload the reactor, then what? What if the bugs come back and block off our exit? How are we going to escape? The only thing that'll do is create a time limit for us, a countdown for when would we die along with the mad doctor. Do you honestly believe all of those 'what if' scenarios would go perfectly as you expected?"
On the other hand, if they focus on combat they can make use of the terrain. They are the attackers here, the ones with the initiative here. It would take time for the doctor to react to their plans, another advantage they would throw away if they go straight for the power reactors. However that does not mean they should go downstairs into that haze of spores and try to blindly find their target, while running the risk of combat in reduced vision. The doctor is the one that wants to protect his home, not the Cosmic Terrors.
"If you want to waste you life so much then you're free to go for the reactor yourself, I'm not going to send anyone else in so that they could all fall in the same trap, just like you did upstairs. The rest of you, finish planning the explosives around, use up the rest of it, we won't need to plant any downstairs if we have enough here. After you guys are down, throw a frag downstairs, see what might be in the spore. The explosion might help clear up the spores for a second too, could help us see better."
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Post by Pitman on Jan 21, 2016 0:03:22 GMT -6
As He heard before he looked like Shikoto's plan was not going to be used. True it had its set backs but even James' own plan had its own set backs. Whatever occurred next would determine their fate, now and Shikoto was alone in this. Now they were at a cross roads, go with James' plan and just fight it out or find another way to help. Shikoto simply shut up for a moment to think then finally comes to his own decision.
"Fine, I will go alone then.", Shikoto finally stated as he got permission to head off into danger.
This would be a bad idea normally to his own but to him fighting the enemy head on was just simply plain stupid. Here it was more manageable if it was much harsher below he didn't know, regardless Shikoto got his own gear and began to move away from to the group and into this so called jungle. If the others thought he was crazy or brave he didn't care, if it got him in trouble he would simply have to deal with it. He would move and began to notice these mutated spider like things ignored him which itself was strange. He wondered now if they were like real animals, maybe they could be predicted? He was not sure but found it strange none of them attacked him out right. He would continue to careful look were he steps and move avoiding danger as he moves toward where the Reactor would be. If he fails, well he might be in deep trouble.
'The Reactor powers everything, you cut the power or rig it to blow would defiantly kill him. The issue here, is how to time this and get people on the ship. There is one little thing James forgets completely about, that if he manages to kill the doctor, wouldn't he also do same thing as he stated if we used the reactor?', Shikoto mentally thought as he moved.
Whatever the case here was two different ideas on how to go about this, one only one due to being the leader the other was ingenious but simply a slave. He could give suggestions, but in terms of who calls the shots James was the one. He was a brute, a charismatic brute who could make up plans on the fly, but still a brute. Well whatever it was Shikoto sighs as he continues onward.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 21, 2016 1:07:02 GMT -6
The men plant charges basically everywhere they can find that looked like a good spot. Pillars, load bearing walls, that kind of thing. Ideally in places that wouldn't block their retreat if it came to it, or advance. They still weren't really sure what this thing is or what it can do, so being conservative for the moment was wise. While the majority of the crew were doing that or covering them, the remainder packed up what loot they had found to haul out of here. Mostly smaller stuff on this level, which was good for them.
Once done one of them tentatively drops a grenade through a hole in the floor. Everyone waits with bated breath as the seconds tick down, and then the *BOOM* follows it up right on time, sending a veritable cloud of spores upwards onto the level they were on. Anyone who decided to peek down in those moments would have a momentarily cleared view of what laid below. Huge, and I do mean huge, masses of fleshy growths. Everywhere. There were also computers and electronics everywhere, and what was weirdest was that it was impossible to tell where one began and another ended. Wires dipped in and out of blankets of flesh like a knitting needle, and pipes did similar. Mutant limbs had torn keyboards off of computers and merged directly with the interfaces beneath, nerves linking wires and more. It was some kind of hellish, yet brilliant, symbiosis of man and machine that likely had not been seen since The Fall.
But it was still too hard to see anything concrete. The spores were still thick enough to cloud vision, so he couldn't ID any weak looking spots from so far up. Still, it gave them an idea of what to expect before the organic 'mist' flowed back to once again blot out the light.
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While this is all going on, Shikoto crosses over to the reactor. He's able to scrape the flesh from the door so that he can access the thing, and then pop the panel off and rewire it into opening. Hacking it right now would be too long and hard, and they were kind of pressed for time. These doors open up with another hiss of escaping pressure, the air steamy and clean compared to the spore-laden air of the central chamber. He scurries inside before the nauseating dust can get back in. The door seals behind him again, and he finds himself in a security checkpoint. Two bulletproof glass windows are to either flank, and through them he could see tiny areas where guards would monitor the credentials of anyone coming in. They were both in disrepair now.
From there he went through a sterilization chamber, the walls here are laden with warnings about radioactivity ahead and the procedures to carry out if one is somehow irradiated. None of it applies to him. He passes through this airlock and into the actual reactor room itself, the fluids in the shower nozzles embedded into the wall had long since ran dry.
Which must have been over one story high to begin with. Exiting the airlock left him on a circular catwalk that spanned a cylinder shaped room, the center of the area taken up by a large device. Wires snaked from it like hair, and other pieces on it moved and clicked as it operated tirelessly; likely having done so for years on end. The reactor wasn't nearly as large as he thought it would be, a testament to the industrial prowess of the Dominion - most of the space beneath it was for cooling and bleeding off heat. The actual powerplant looked to be two O shaped rings linked to one another by a large rod shaped central mass, which heavy looking pipes ran from and into the wheels around it. Down below all of that was a huge pond of opaque coolant. The entire mass was held in place by more rods on the walls and from the ceiling, and grooves on the walls made it apparent that the reactor could be moved with these moorings; likely to lower it into that pond in case it began to meltdown.
Shikoto would notice a definite lack of invasive growth in here. It was still present, but it had obviously been more cautious in its excavation. More viney limbs snaked through the walls and hooked into the machine at various places, wires vaguely able to be seen beneath the epidermises. Obviously this place was important to the mad doctor. The lights in here looked intact but were off despite the generator being functional, likely because the biocomputer didn't need them, while invaders did.
Now how to deal with the thing, that was the issue. There were many side rooms in here, mostly observational posts and control rooms. If he wanted to shut down the power, he had 3 immediate options. Find the right control station and do it electronically; they were definitely still powered and operational. Go down the ladder to the next series of catwalks and access the mechanics of the reactor, that was option two. Option three, would be to just try and cut all the cords out of here. That would be dangerous for a number of reasons, but then he wouldn't have to actually deal with the complexities of the core itself.
It was his choice. Maybe he had another idea? Potentially, just putting a bomb on it and walking away could work too, but if its failsafes didn't kick off in time that would be very bad for all involved parties. His choice to make, he was all alone. In a very big, very dark, very important room.
What could go wrong?
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Outside, things began to go very wrong, coincidentally.
A hellish scream sounded over the speakers, but they could hear it normally too. Feel it, as it shook the floor. It definitely came from below.
There was a deep bass rumble like an earthquake, something big and primal like a force of nature, stirring below them. The floor buckled and rocked, tossing anyone not steady on their feet to the ground. A cacophony of metal twisted beyond its tensile limits rang out like a scream of its own, as if the very base itself was tortured. Several large pseudopods smashed straight through the floor around the crew, their entry heralded by veritable eruptions of debris and spores. They stretched as if only now rousing from some great slumber, maybe they had. Those bugs that they had seen before, once idle, now moved to action. Though they still did not attack, they began to flee up the vines into concealed passages in the ceiling. The purpose of this was unknown, but surely it was not good.
The tentacles in question were about as wide around as James's waist, so fairly beefy. They also look like they'd hurt if you go hit by them. Which is coincidental, because one of them slams into the floor beside them, and then sweeps towards the humans in an attempt to bowl the entire formation over.
It seems the doctor was finally playing for keeps.
By burrowing up like this about half of the floor had caved in, thankfully on the side of the central chamber opposite of them. The clouds of dust have cleared enough that they could probably move over there and see down into the 4th floor where this beast had to be actually living, if they wanted to do so. But it'd put them closer to the tentacles. The stairs for now also seemed to be clear and able to be used, if they wanted to risk that at a time like this.
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Rabite
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Hey, look over here.
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Post by Rabite on Jan 21, 2016 2:15:40 GMT -6
James and his crew stood and watch Shikoto head towards the reactor room on his own, without saying a word. Generally for most of them, it looks like he's trying to get himself killed, being alone in a possibly guarded location with very little equipment of his own. From his journey in they could see it would take time to leave the place, even if there's nothing blocking his way or locking the door, pretty sure that's not going to be a place that he'll be able to get out from. If there is someone to blame for the treatment he gets in the group, it would be Shikoto himself. Generally James is seen as a successful commander, at least his past records are pretty good, able to deal with situations that are otherwise impossible for many others in his place. However Shikoto seems to trust his own judgement as a slave mechanic rather than those of his boss, a faith that is untested by happenings in the past.
"Hmph, the kind that believes they're the only one with a brain in the world, that everyone else are fools and are trying to slow them down. I've seen that kind often, from teenagers. Let him go, see what he's going to end up with."
Some of the other crews looks at their boss, wondering if he's finally going to ignore the slave and let one of their own die as punishment for his constant rebellious behaviors. After all, his decision to go off on his own and his constant nagging is pretty much a challenge to James' authority, something that most commanders would not accept. But James seems to had other things in mind, and goes back to their original plan.
After knocking away the spore for a moment with the grenade, he gave the lack of reactions a bit of thought. Either the grenade did not do enough damage for it to care, or that whatever controls the create don't get any pain feedback. The spores also fills up the empty space pretty fast, which means most method of getting rid of them won't be effective. However judging from that they don't seem to move upwards all that well, these spores are decently heavy, and if they stay high enough they would be able to avoid it somewhat.
When the tentacles burst through, the first reaction was to jump back a bit in case they fall into the pit, and seeing what was it that appeared. Looks like their kind doctor has came out to deal with them himself, so James decided to greet the owner of this mansion with a burst of fire from his flamethrower.
"Anti-Tank, throw a volley down the whole and fall back upstairs! Shoot the bugs as they go, don't let them swarm us with their numbers! McKie, to the front, lead the group to the second floor with the safest way possible, then to the first floor! Skylia to the rear in case McKie needs you to unlock any doors! Launchers! Wait for my signal and don't use it yet! Tenjo! If you can still hear me then don't take a step out if you want to live!"
If Shikoto stayed with the group, he could easily retreat along with the rest of the team. But instead he decided to go in on his own, and now he's being blocked off by the giant monster and the swarm of bugs. There's a reason why James told him so many times to not go with his plan, but no the mechanic decides he knows more than the military commander, now he's causing even more problem for the team.
When the tentacle slams beside them, James instantly pulls out his sword that's been on his back, unused since they have entered the vault. With a quick motion he stabs it onto the floor with the blade side towards the coming tentacle, pushing his fully weight onto it to keep it from being knock away, hoping for the tentacle to slice itself on the large cleaver. It'll probably not be enough to cut it apart, but enough to force it back, and enough to buy time for them to move away as far as possible. As his team retreats, before he himself follows, he took a look down at the hole where the tentacle came from in order to identify their enemy.
They still have a little bit of trick in their sleeves, but now is not the best time to use it, yet. Hopefully Shikoto would finally get it through his thick skull and understand the problem with his action, enough to not just rush out to his death. At this point he might even have a small bit of chance of survival if he would just stay with the reactor where the stronger doors can help protect him, somewhat. Without it, the only thing he'll have is his magnum and the knife. The magnum might hit harder than regular handguns, but it's not going to shoot fast enough to take on all those acid spitting abominables out there; and without armor, the acid would do more than just rough up his skin if it gets on him.
Either way James have to take care of everyone, if the mechanic's action caused problems for himself, he's not going to risk the entire team trying to grab that one guy who refused to listen.
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Post by Pitman on Jan 21, 2016 2:59:36 GMT -6
Finally getting to the panel Shikoto began to rewire and soon activating the door with a whoosh sound. So far everything was going well he wasn't attacked, a he entered, closing the door behind him. When arriving into the reactor room he soon began to notice less spores and the area looked more clean. This soon began to give Shikoto theories on why, possibly to keep the reactor going need the spores not to be fully here. He notice the various routes to go through as his light shined around but he decided not to touch anything. He noticed how some things connected and instead of simply touching anything he began to observe and look around in the room. He at to first figure out what reactor was this first off and see if any thing else was in this room.
"Huh, so he never completely over take the reactor. I wonder why now, maybe something to do with how things are here?", Shikoto told himself.
Soon he felt a shake and soon took notice, but what really confirmed his suspicions was soon getting radioed about not leaving the room.
"What the hell are they doing out there?", Shikoto comments as he moved around looking to observe everything faster.
Now time was the essence, he had to figure out this reactor and if the good Doctor did anything special.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 21, 2016 4:02:53 GMT -6
Nothing would jump out to attack Shikoto as he played it safe and just kept to observing, there was certainly plenty to see. With what knowledge he had, he could draw a few conclusions after some thought and study:
It was definitely a fusion reactor, the ring designs were iconic in that kind of technology. It likely used a two stage process, judging from the two fusion coils. It put off a lot of power. It was being purposefully maintained.
What he wasn't so clear on:
If the doctor had a direct tap on it, or if it was just feeding from other wires that used it. If the biocomputer needed it to function. If it had direct control of the reactor and this room at all. If that coolant was toxic or not. They usually were, but not always. Either way falling into it wouldn't be fun. What kind of fuel it actually used. Most were radioactive, but again, not all.
Anything more would require a more detailed search, and probably to either find some manuals or run a diagnostic from the appropriate control room. Both were possible. On that note there were no other ways out of here, and the only side rooms were maintenance closets that brimmed with tools likely needed to upkeep the reactor. That may help him pending on what he chooses to do.
The air in here was relatively fresh and the vents weren't clogged, so it was likely this place ran off of its own closed cycle separate from the rest of the base's. That would just be good security in case a containment breach occurred and let radioactive particles into the air. Which is something he should keep in mind when messing with this thing, it could well kill him even if it doesn't explode. In addition to being free from spores, he also saw no mutant organisms. Or any organisms for that matter, outside of himself.
Seemed he was free to work for the moment.
As for if the doctor had tampered or not, he couldn't tell. It looked clear, but again, he'd either have to run a diagnostic or go and check it over by hand to tell for sure.
Before he could get to work more rumbling and noise would reach his position in the reactor, dimmed and muffled by the thick doors of the entryway leading into here. Despite some shaking his room was safe despite whatever was happening outside. For now.
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James's quick thinking is probably the only thing that keeps the group from getting bashed into the wall, but it comes at a cost. When the tentacle impacts his sword it certainly stops, but it opens a massive gash on its side. While that sounds like a good thing at first, it showers the captain with a torrent of acidic blood. The smell of it was horrible, like a chemical plant on fire, but part of that might have been from his clothes dissolving where they were hit by it. The flexible limb recoiled, and there was another screech as it did; the flailing throwing even more acidic blood onto everyone.
The act of setting one of them on fire and then hurling AT grenades down into the lower level didn't seem to make it much happier. The damage from the latter wasn't immediately apparent, though the former most certainly caused it great pain. Around that point the men fell back as ordered. James would hear a shout of "contact!" from McKie as he lead the team upwards, and that was followed immediately by that gurgling sound living things tended to make when hit by the iron cobra. Evidently it was trying to cut them off, but putting the operative in the lead seems to have been a good plan. The clanging of melee weapons, the hammering of feet, and inhuman screeches make one wonder what's going on up there since James had elected to stay back and go last.
Hopefully they had it in good order. It sure didn't sound like it was bugs that they were fighting, though.
On the plus side, staying back allowed him to see what he was dealing with. Looking down with the spores thinned, Gransela would see the base of that huge trunk that had been growing in the freight elevator. It was biomechanical again, it looked like 5 cryopods interwoven into a huge knot-like mass down on the 4th floor. The 4th floor itself was practically in ruins, every last wall was knocked down to make room for the creature to expand. And its bulk was practically everywhere.
There were many more limbs than just the three he saw, but it must not be able to bring them all to bear at the moment. As for the pods, they glowed with a faint blue light that indicated they were still active. It was impossible to tell what they did by sight alone, but Shikoto's mention of the various projects that took place here would probably come back to James's mind upon seeing them. Maybe those were the biocomputers he had heard about? Either way it was still pretty far down for the moment. In addition to these he was able to see that one of the many tendrils down there had been blown clean off by the anti tank grenades thrown earlier, perhaps sacrificed to protect the nerve center?
If nothing else it'd make a good target, but it'd clearly defend that cluster to the death. So a good plan would be needed if he planned to use those recoilless rifles on it, or else they'd go to waste.
The beast didn't let Gransela get away with setting it on fire and then retreating scot-free, the trio slammed downwards at him like a mad animal, smashing at the floor he was standing on like an enraged pianist at the keys. They'd learned their lesson and were moving vertically rather than horizontally, to see how he'd try and parry that without the aid of the floor. Getting hit by one might not be immediately fatal, but it'd almost certainly break or dislocate something.
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Supposing he manages to stay alive and follow on the heels of his men, he'd find the corpses of mutated humans on the stairs. They had grossly distended tumors all over their bodies, leaking acidic pus from those as well as more of the sizzling blood from their wounds. They had crude melee weapons and armor, but the most dangerous thing about them is that these ones appeared to be spitters. James could draw that conclusion from the acid splatters on the wall, way too high to have come from being hit in melee.
Back on the first floor he'd find his team waiting for his orders. The tentacles hadn't yet pushed up into the floor here but from the racket below, it was evident they were moving this way fast.
What would his plan be? He had a chance to set the stage. It had better be good, too; the only floor above this one he had never explored. Retreating up there would be risky at best.
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Rabite
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Hey, look over here.
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Post by Rabite on Jan 21, 2016 13:56:40 GMT -6
"Crap I forgot!"
Barely enough time to cover his face with his cloak, James tries to keep way from the acid as much as possible, which is an extreme difficult task at this range. Much of the acid ends up on his cloak, burning through the cloth layers and weakening the metal plating underneath it, reducing his defensive ability. Good thing the bladed edges managed to avoid being hit, and could still remain as a weapon. With a quick swing of his cloak he managed to get much of the acid off before they do further damage, and quickly grabs his sword before running towards the stairs to regroup with the rest of the team.
"God damn multiple brain tentacle monster! That's what that doctor had in mind when he thought about god?! Who does he worship? The Flying Spaghetti Monster?!
Next the tentacles are coming towards him like a heated knife through butter, and he can't really avoid all of them. Seeing there's is still a bit of distance towards the stairs, it gave him an idea. He run as fast as he could with his equipment on, then holds out his sword in front of him sideways, with the blade parts pointing up and lets one of the tentacles make impact with it. He still feels much of the hit as it sends him flying, but the blade and his own dash helped reduce the force that gets transferred to him. The strike managed to slam him against the wall after sending him flying, saving him much distance in exchange for a decent damage to him. The strike and the impact with the wall doesn't seem to have broken any bones, but it was enough to knock the wind out of him for a moment, sending him into a coughing fit for a second as he pulls himself back on his feet and runs up the stairs before a second strike could come.
Catching his breath as he goes upstairs, he make note of these new kinds of enemies. It's a good thing McKie was send in the front, someone less skilled could have suffered a less fortunate fate.
"Phew... *cough*... we got everyone... here... right? Phew. McKie? How did fighting those things went? Didn't get hit did you? What about you Skylia? Don't want to lose any of my valuable crew to those things."
At least on the way up he didn't see any corpses of his own team, so he guessed they did alright against those mutated zombies thing. But he still asked the team about how the skirmish went, as it could have caused some unwanted injuries and used up some of their ammunition. After making sure everyone's fine they plant one more explosive on the ground near the center of this floor.
Mean while they listened to the sounds of the tentacles coming towards them, mostly for another wave of crushing sound to signify that the monster might have broken through the third floor and now reaching the second. After guessing that it's getting close enough, they press the switch for all of the explosives that they have planted on the 2nd and 3rd floor, creating a giant explosion that might hit the tentacles or even the cyropods as they try to move up to attack the team. The explosion would also create large chunks of rubbles, which along with the shelves and other furniture in the two floors would fall towards the cyropods. After that they took a bit of safe distance and blow up a hole on the 1st floor, one that would allow them to see through and perhaps be used to attack the monster before it reaches the same floor as them. It would be highly unlikely that they end up creating a hole perfect for attacking, but as the enemy is huge and coming from downstairs, it should still at least hit parts of it if they attack.
The first thing James did was kick the spare fuel tank down the hole, followed by all the molotovs they found in the base, and finally the remaining anti-tank grenades. They did preserve the frag grenades in case they have any more usage for thrown explosives, such as armies of those bugs. After they finish throwing, the members that are armed with the rifles are to stay by the hole with James, launchers ready. If the attack fails to kill the creature and bursts out of the rubbles, they are to fire at the same moment to try and catch the good doctor by surprise with a volley of rockets. Hopefully being a doctor rather than a military personnel means he would have less expectations from the tactics that the Cosmic Terror uses. Mean while, if the tentacle goes straight towards them after it bursts out, James would be there to burn them with his flamethrower to delay it while the rest of the team carries out the volley.
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Post by Pitman on Jan 21, 2016 19:05:22 GMT -6
As Shikoto observed a few conclusions went into his own mind and those conclusions at least were all valid. Still he wondered, here was an iconic reactor not to mention how it ran meant it turned the energy into tritium after it went through another process before hand. So a two step process to create more energy. It made no wonder why the good Doctor didn't wish to completely take over with his spores as it may interfere with the process. Though knowing this didn't help it confirm or not if the Doctor still controls the reactor exactly.
"Lets see where is the control room?", Shikoto comments as he soon saw the path where it would be likely.
Shikoto would then turn his light towards the path toward the control room as he continued to hear booms like into the distances and shakes, whatever the boss was doing it felt like he was going badly. He wondered, if the reactor's tubes has toxins inside or not. As well it doesn't help him if it he truly needed it or even if its some sort of issues. He would soon come up to the control room once he comes up to a door that states, control room in giant red letters. He soon opened it manually then soon enters. He would begin to look around to see if there was any spores, or monitors working. As well if there was a manual laying around, if so that not only would be good to have to even keep as well for future use.
"Let's see what we got into exhibit A.", Shikoto soon comments.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Jan 21, 2016 21:08:29 GMT -6
There were actually several 'control rooms' in here. In addition to the main one that actually controlled the reactor, others divvied out power to various parts of the base. In harsher times, or when construction was still undergoing, that could be used to conserve power by only giving it to areas that needed it. By some manner of luck he managed to find the master control room and worm his way inside.
The room was a lot like the vent control back on Terminus. Heavy concrete walls, big picture windows overlooking the reactor, and plenty of fancy looking electronics taking up most of the space. All of them glowed faintly, operational and online. Likely they had to be if the reactor was to work. It was also clean of spores, and looked to be similarly bereft of invasive species.
Skikoto didn't find a manual out of hand, but digging through one of the drawers some of these computers were placed on did reward him with one. He flipped through the pages, but it was mostly technical jargon. This was a D-D/D-T style fusion reactor of the M-DD-135 series, produced by the Ares Atomics company based on the planet of Sudwelt. Maybe that was the original name for New Prospect? The mechanic does know that the name it holds now was given to it later by the urbanites.
Either way it was all academic.
It also contained several diagrams of the reactor and its functionality, as well as product placement for other goods produced by Ares Atomics. Things ranging from machinery like this up to weaponry.
The largest control console in this room proves to go to the reactor directly. It had a huge overlay of the entire thing on its display, lit up with greens and yellows to detail what condition the various parts on it were in. Most were in the green, so it was working at roughly 90% functionality. A gauge at the bottom showed power output and another showed fuel remaining. It looked like it could go for a few more decades, easy. As for power, it was producing a lot. More interesting was that the power consumption was fluctuating as he watched it. That was extremely unusual and should not be happening...
Unless something was draining it while he watched. Whoever could that be?
What would he do? Time is only growing shorter.
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James manages to parry the tentacle again, but even so the strength of the mutant beast is impressive. Better to take it on the sword, though, while prepared for it than to be struck flat footed. It was a good save, and it spared him any of the acid. It also bought him the time he needed to retreat back upwards to link back up with the men sent forward.
The spy answers his boss wordlessly by holding up his arm that sported the cobra. It was pockmarked with fresh burns, where the skin looked to have blistered from contact with caustic fluids. Likely he ended up having to take one of those things out at danger-close ranges and paid the price for it. Oddly, the weapon seemed completely undamaged. Those must be made of some very good materials.
"They ambushed us from hidden alcoves on the staircases. We didn't lose anyone because we kept them on the back foot before they could press an advantage. I hope your doctor is as good as she is nuts." The operative said with a dour voice, glancing suspiciously back the way James came. "Two men are incap. I have Sparks and Jonas patching them up as we speak, but they're dead weight for now."
With the report giving he defers command back to the captain. He was eying James pretty intently too, but he didn't push about his own status since he didn't outright state there was a problem.
And thereabouts is when the explosives go off. For a second the roar is loud enough to deafen everyone present, everyone who wasn't smart enough to cover their ears while the man on the detonator was holding it up and getting ready to hit it. Fire, orange and lively, shown through the cracks in the floor as the demo charges went off back-to-back. The glow got brighter as parts of the floor below them got ripped up by the ceiling of the 2nd floor exploding and collapsing, as well as the new bombs planted on level 1 here. It made the entire base quake even more than the mutant abomination rioting around down below. Which it was doing a lot more of at that point, howling in what was almost certainly pain as the shock wave of the blasts and downpour of debris most certainly pounded on it.
Through the hole in the ground they could definitely see the leviathan crawling upwards towards them, using those serpentine limbs to wrap around exposed rebar and support beams to hasten its ascent. It moved much faster than something of that size should. Their sight is then momentarily obscured once again as grenades, firebombs, and a jet from the flamer itself rain down on it, hitting the colossal bulk and igniting it. The stink of burning meat is overwhelming, and its coupled with the sizzling of acid and the crackling of fire-brittled skin. It stalls it, but doesn't stop it from crawling ever onward.
James can see that two of the cryopods had been hit. Where they were shattered, viscous blue goop dribbled out of the broken containers like molasses. Oddly, the fluid seemed to be glowing on its own and not from some backlighting of the vessels they filled. Strange, but trivial.
They're about to shoot the rifles at it when one of the men calls out. Gransela isn't sure why at first, until he barely notices the orange screen surrounding the thing's central bulb.
"Boss, it's got a shield!" He cried. Those rockets went too fast, they'd hit the screen and explode, and the blast alone might not be enough to damage it. He could still try it, but it might be a waste of their ammo.
Three tentacles burst up onto the first floor again. Two organic ones, and the third looked oddly mechanical. The living ones tried to swat at the humans like whips. The end of the 3rd peeled open to reveal that it bristled with gun barrels. There was a chatter of fire semi-auto fire racked the formation.
While this happened, the wires shot through the monster pulsed and crackled as they drew electricity. Evidently Shikoto hadn't managed to do anything about the power yet. If he did, it'd probably deal with those shields and the one that was shooting at them...along with any other power-reliant tricks it might be holding back. But could they afford to wait on him? Hell, he might be dead.
They'd either need a low velocity solution, wait for Shikoto before delivering a coup de grace, or for someone to try and get on this thing and crack the pods in melee. It didn't need to be stated how dangerous that could be. James couldn't identify the shield generator itself on this monsters, but there were other electronics melded to its hideous bulk in the same general cluster the cryopods were in. It was likely the generator would be in that mass as well. Getting closer might also allow them to take out that in particular, but the difference in danger was minimal.
If James wants to take a huge risk, he could try and overwhelm the shield with a concentrated blast of recoilless rifle fire. But there's a random chance that that could work. There's no way to be sure how powerful its generator is, it clearly isn't a man-sized model.
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Rabite
Veteran Member
Emperor of H
Hey, look over here.
Posts: 1,887
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Post by Rabite on Jan 21, 2016 23:55:28 GMT -6
"Doctor Rafflesia's great at her job, haven't let us down once yet. Even when we're running out of supplies she could had us fixed up, so I won't worry about that. Alright, have the injured pull back out of the room, don't want to risk anyone dying all the way here."
The explosion was more than enough to do what they were planned for. With much of the lower floors turning to projectiles that could be used as weapons, that ploy of theirs managed to work wonders, delivering serious damage to the monster. It seems to be coming towards them with less of its tentacles too, either the attack caused to be unable to control as much things at once, or that it actually need that much tentacles to pull itself. Either way it's a good sign, better than seeing it unscratched from that level of assault. But it looks like it's still coming at them, and seems to have a hidden weapon as it reveals that gun inside the third tentacle.
"Defenders to the front! I let you guys hold those portable shields, so make use of them!"
They seem to be attacking the other team, so he gives out the orders for them to be defensive, while the other team deal with the tentacles using the Recoilless Rifles. Or so he had in mind until one of his men tells him about the shield, and that it could block their rocket fire.
"Tsk... then... then..."
He looks around the room quickly, the more time he takes to think and decide, the higher chance of his crew receiving injuries and casualties. He got to think fast, and move even faster. A quick look shows that it's the main body that is covered by the shield, and seems to be powered directly by something, likely the reactor to this place. He's not sure how long Shikoto will take to do his job, and that is a very unreliable event they'll have to wait for, so James decides to take action on their own. Seeing that the tentacles are unprotected, and are the ones that helps pull up the large creature, he orders a few of his men to blast down those tentacles using the Rifles.
After a few explosion it should be able to damage or even kill off those tentacles, resulting in the monster falling after the lack of grip to pull itself up. With a warcry James jumps down the hole, and on top of the creature. Good thing the flesh helps act as a cushion, or else a three story fall could have broken his legs, but nevertheless he's now on top of the monster.
The fall seems to have done some damage to it, and perhaps stunned it a bit. He still remember the location of the other pods as he jumped down, so he took the opportunity to run over, and slash at one of the pods with a heavy diagonal slash from his large cleaver. After determining it was enough to finish whatever was inside the pod, he quickly runs over to the other pod and prepares to do the same.
"Looks like whatever genius you claim yourself to be, did not help you at all with your destiny. You claimed yourself to be a god, so lets see if that claim could be supported when you finally arrived at where ever it is one might go after they die, holy father!"
And another slash that he hopes would be enough to finally stop this large monster that had lived along in this place for god knows how many years. Slowly he places his sword back in its sheath, and turns away to head back up where the rest of the crew is. Looking a bit relieved that they have finish dealing with whoever is behind all this, and they can finally return with this large amount of rewards.
"And there's still the joke boy... who wants to volunteer to dig him out? I sure don't."
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Post by Pitman on Jan 22, 2016 0:45:57 GMT -6
(Pitman)
Shikoto soon activated the nearest console after over viewing the manual he began to type furiously as he tried to determine everything well typing he notice the power drain and it had to be the doctor. Unless there was something else down here it was the only thing he could think of. Soon he typed it and began to reroute power away he soon put the power into the lighting first and level 0 seeing it was the best idea. Regardless whatever happens next he will have to deal with it.
"Come on. Come on.", Shikoto soon stated as he typed.
(Richter)
The control panel lit at his touch, and in fact, his touch activated it. It was a touch pad console conveniently enough, they were popular in the old days as it would turn out. While he pokes around at the screen the display of the core minimizes into the corner, and the bulk of the display is instead taken up by a map of the base. From there he's able to quite literally draw power from one part of the base to another. Statistics at the bottom change as he does this, and after a few seconds the lights in the reactor here flick on as well. It blinds him at first as they come on, but after he adjusts he can see the room tinted in a ruby hue by the fixtures.
But it wasn't all easy. Now that he had begun to tamper, he wasn't just a nuissance. He was a pest to be exterminated. These words flowed across his screen:
"DON'T TOUCH THAT YOU WRETCHED INSECT. NOWYOUDIE."
After that a computerized voice, likely part of the base's actual software, spoke over the speakers in this room. "Intruder detected in the reactor core. All personnel, please take cover immediately until the emergency is over." It then repeated twice. While it did, he could hear the sounds of metal bolts unscrewing, but he couldn't see there where. And after that he'd hear the clang of heavy metal feet.
Sounds like he had company inbound from.
(Pitman)
Shikoto continued to type with his job well done then suddenly the voice came out of the speakers.
"Well, some people just are very big fetish on insects!", Shikoto soon stated as the voice rang out from the good Doctor.
Yes, that was Shikoto, calling out the doctor as an insect loving Doctor. Though all seemed well until he heard about the intruder alert and soon hear something.
"What the.. that noise.", Shikoto soon stated until he heard the intruder, and all personnel take cover.
"Oh, where is that coming from? Wait, why does this remind me of something.", Shikoto soon stated as he wondered until it hit him as he took out his magnum.
"Fuck.", Shikoto then said.
(Richter)
The source of the steps would soon come into sight, apparently a drone had been hidden somewhere in the reactor bay here, and it was now trudging along the upper catwalk directly towards him. But this was clearly 'modified'.
Its head only came up to the slave's chest, or thereabout. If you could call it a head. It was a stubby looking halfcircle poking up directly from the shoulders with a single monoeye on a 360 degree track that it panned along from one way to the other. It eventually stopped on him. It had three thick metal legs and equally wide arms. One was tipped with a welding torch and the other was host to a heavy looking rivet gun. Several smaller arms looked to be folded up into compartments against its chest.
But it also had biological additions. Crusty flesh wrapped around it like a suit of armor, reinforcing its frame. The flesh continued down the arm with the rivet gun and created a sort of cartilaginous tube underneath it that kind of looked like an underslung weapon.
It turned towards him, having caught sight of him, and raised the gun arm. It began to spit bolts towards him, shattering the glass as it hit it. While putting down fire it continued to advance towards his position.
(Pitman)
"Shit!!", Shikoto shouts as he went down to avoid the incoming attack which went through the window but failed to hit into the metal part of the room.
"Ok, Ok, its as I suspected. So the stories are true they did make unmanned drones from the past. Great, and it has fucking shit all over it. What should I call it a living orgasm now?", Shikoto soon stated out loud as he got his magnum ready.
He figured whatever it was its no longer the case but now he had to deal with a bolt gun and a whatever the other thing was, it didn't look friendly.
"Think, Shikoto, think what was it had features which was outstanding?!", Shikoto then stated as he remembered its body was that of flesh same as the other things but then remember it had a monoeye to see.
Wait, if it requires that and its remotely moving it means... if we can simply get one good shot could it would blind the device. If so he could feasibly get behind it and use his knife to try to disable its brain, wait do drones have a brain to begin with? Actually he wasn't even sure if it would even work. Regardless Shikoto soon crawled quickly back to the system and began to type to turn the power to begin overloading the lighting. Yes it was crazy, actually more then crazy which he hoped would work. When it did that he quickly got his magnum ready waiting for the lighting to explode when it occured he would then move out and aim all his shots towards the mono eye to take that out.
(Richter)
The lights overhead whined in protest as far too much power was pumped into them, the red light in the room turned into a burning glare just seconds before they reached their limit. They exploded and showered the room in shards of crystal, as the room was once again plunged into inky blackness save for the scant bits illuminated by his flashlight.
Shikoto took the opportunity to move when he saw the eye flicker up to the ceiling to see what had happened. His shots made terrific *PING! noises as it impacted metal. The light of the eye died as it was shot out, and it made the drone stumble backwards momentarily. But just as he worked up the courage to move forward, it spat another trio of rivets his way. Whether firing blindly or using auxiliary cameras he wasn't sure, but it would not be that easy.
But it did do damage.
(Pitman)
"Ok let's, fuck!!", Shikoto stated as he was hit on his shoulder as he fell to the ground.
The pain hit him luckily only some damage but not life threatening.
"Well this is great, either he has secondary cameras on him or its good at predicting movement.", Shikoto blurted as he knew he was bleeding but not enough to stop him aim from moving, except the pain.
If its by noise or secondary camera's his plan was somewhat working but still he needed to make sure. Looking into his own gear he noticed a small screw driver as he took it out. Their easily replaced as to make sure what it is he soon threw the screwdriver with his good arm to see if the drone turns to fire over there or towards him.
(Richter)
His prediction works for the moment, the robot twists at the torso and fires towards the area where the tool clattering upon the grating of the floor. Thick bolts tear chunks out of it, on that note. But it doesn't distract it for long before it resumes advancing on Shikoto, half way to him now.
It stops firing bolts for a second, and instead the tube below it twists open and sprays a jet of nasty green liquid straight at it him. Acid. It'd pelt the room he was in and immediately start to sizzle upon contact with any surface. Interestingly, it didn't burn metal. Must not be powerful enough. It would definitely burn flesh though.
(Pitman)
"Ah!!", Shikoto soon stated as he figured out it was still able to see by sound, but notice acid being sprayed at him as he moved quickly back away from the contact of it.
'Great, its vibration based, great this just got harder. Ok how can I do this...', Shikoto mentally thought as he began to take out the bullets from the magnum careful to make not a noise then reloaded with his speed loader. As he stood still now he began to think hard in his head. 'Think, think, how to get out of this situation. How to get out of this alive!', Shikoto mentally told himself as he went through his head all processes he could get then remembers. 'Wait... the maintenance closet!! There might be hope!!', Shikoto soon thought as he rushed over there to open it, knowing making noise but it had no choice in the matter.
(Richter)
The nearest closet was halfway around the 'circle' that was the catwalk from the control room. So he had to brave the robot. As soon as his feet hit the metal, it twisted to align its ranged arm with him and fired another four rivets his way. The metal panels of the wall would screech as they hit and bored into it, but not nearly as loudly as he'd screech if another one of them managed to hit him.
But the good news was, he know had the reactor between the machine and himself. It was smart enough to not shoot, but it did thunder after him at full speed. Time was off the essence. Inside of the closet he found a selection of tools, some powered, some otherwise. Plenty of them looked heavy enough to dent metal, but he didn't have the captain's strength to back them up. Maybe something else would suffice? There was another plasma torch in there he could use, but he'd have to get close.
Alternatively there was a nail gun, but it'd take some tinkering to use as a weapon. Worse, nails didn't look like they'd do much to all of that metal. But it'd let him hang back. What would he pick?
(Pitman)
Shikoto looked what he got and soon smiled as he saw the plasma torch and quickly grabbed it, his speed at running and looking where he was had it stopped firing but now he has to be quick. He looked around and hoped there was a Fire Extinguisher close by which he saw in its box. Moving quickly he used his magnum hilt to break the glass and grabbed it. He then went to his bag which it took out duck tape and a long metallic wire out. As he grabbed both he soon took the plasma torch next to the fire extinguisher and taped them together with the plasma torch aiming inward. Once done he he soon took out the long metallic wire and began to rig the plasma torch onto the trigger. Now it was ready the only issue how to not get hit and use this as an explosive. He looked around to see where was the Droid going to come from and looked if there was any cover he could use in the process of this plan.
(Richter)
The droid seemed to be coming towards him from his right, and there was absolutely no cover out here he could use. He'd have to keep going left and duck into another room, this one appears to be dedicated to monitoring the throughout of the cabling running to the core. Or that was the nearest one, it was that or use the bomb in the open. Not very safe.
The drone was moving fast, what was his plan?
(Pitman)
'Ok he is coming from the right if so...', Shikoto soon mentally stated as he looked around and saw to the left where was cover.
Quickly he soon got one of his flash lights that is not on his head and then ducked taped it on to his now makeshift bomb. He also got more metallic String out and tied it into the other wire. As soon as he was done he put the extinguisher down and ducked taped it to the floor on its side with the light facing right. Once done Shikoto ran the hardest he could as he continue to release the metal string from its case as he went towards the room. He knew this was now life or death, if this didn't work he would likely be killed. He ran with all his strength moving towards the room with this wire then as he was right in front turned to see if the droid was following exactly as he thought. The Moment it got close to the makeshift bomb he will pull the wire extremely hard and then jump into the room.
(Richter)
The robot was of course following him, he didn't need to see it, he could hear it. But for the benefit of making sure that this went off right, he looked back to see it practically straddling the makeshift explosive. Taking that as the best sign he was going to get, he trips it then.
It explodes surprisingly loudly and with a lot of force, the pressurized gases bursts at the application of the torch. A few shards of metal stick into the glass above his head. He risks a look when it was over...
The droid wasn't dead, that was the bad news. But it did blow off a leg and the arm it was holding forward, the one with all the guns. This was clearly not a war machine, but a maintenance one turned towards hostile purposes. Thus, it wasn't exactly made to be extremely tough against attacks. But its metal chassis did keep it from being completely totalled.
It could still move with two legs, albeit clumsily, and it half-ran, half-stumbled towards Shikoto while waving its torch at him like a blade. It burned a huge furrow into the stone as it swooshed past, and it was likely it'd do worse to his skin.
Circuits and wires were exposed where metal and flesh was blown off of its torso, giving him good places to try and shoot. Acid dripped from its 'wounds' making it even more of a hazard as it ran into the room and tried to corner him for the kill.
(Pitman)
Shikoto got up once the explosion was over and had his magnum ready just in case it didn't totally worked. He soon took a look and notice thing was being fired at him which was good but what he saw it continue stumbling towards him he soon screams, "FUCK, COME ON NOW!! WHY DO NOT JUST DON'T WORK LIKE THINGS USUALLY DO!!"
Of course he meant how a lot of old technology required to be fixed and maintained, but as he looked it charging towards him he noticed how exposed it was now. Taking his magnum he took aim and waited, waited as it rushed towards him until it was at optimal range for his magnum to do its work. He began to count as he notice the sisters getting closer and closer, he was calm strange enough which it felt different. Never before he felt this calm in such a situation, almost, almost that he suddenly had a surge of concentration. This only occurred once before when he worked on the shield before when he managed to fix it. Almost like a skill he never knew he had or was it all in his head. Regardless he continued to aim and predict its movements as he ran towards him, once done and it started to get close he soon lets out his breath. Wait when was he hold his breath? He soon began to pull the trigger and fired all six shots into the the exposed area.
(Richter)
The drone stuttered with each shot taken, the lead slamming into the open spots in its plated armor and sending out showers of sparks as they did. The first one didn't bother it much, the second made it stumble, the third caused it to jerk to the side, and the last three caused its torso to swivel out of control before it fell to the side with a clatter.
The robot's arm was waved at him as if it still sought to close with and kill him, but unaware that its legs were not moving. Even swing of the arm brought about a metal-on-metal grinding noise as gears chewed through bits of armor that had gotten bent inwards. This continued for several long moments before it finally slowed and turned off, a large puddle of bubbling green and black fluid seeping out from underneath it.
The torch had practically gotten so close that it had singed off the hairs on his lip and eyebrow. If he hadn't managed to calm himself before taking those shots, he'd very likely be in pieces by now. But he did, and so he lived on still.
(Pitman)
Shikoto was so deeply in concentration he soon moved quickly to reload his magnum afterwards and continued to aim at the drone as he it dragged itself before him. He continued to aim as he slowly moved toward him until finally it stopped moving. He soon sighed at the moment it happened he noticed he got a little burned but no cause for worry, as well he felt the pain he was hold back from his bleeding arm but then looked at the machine before him. Without much thought he soon fired where the arm of the plasma torch would be just in case it moved again unlikely but still he had to make sure.
"Seriously, this thing was quite useful if only you were used for the good of mankind and not twisted by some crazy doctor. I understand now those in the past probably relied on you to do things, a damn shame.", Shikoto stated before he left the ruined drone to itself.
He soon remembered what he was doing and quickly ran back to the control room to see if the good doctor was still using the energy.
(Richter)
By the time he got back to the console, the odd fluctuations in power draw had stopped. In fact, a lot of the base's power was now going untapped. Come to think of it, Shikoto would have recalled hearing a hell of a racket from outside during his own encounter. Maybe his allies had managed to deal with it?
Whatever the case, even if not, they must have found a way to cut it off from its power source. If he listened at the door all was quiet on the other side...but it also wouldn't budge. It seemed he was stuck for the time being.
(Pitman)
"Well all be, the brute actually managed to do it. But at what cost?", Shikoto soon muttered as he saw the fluctuations were stopped.
Well he soon relaxed a bit hearing if he didn't hear the maniacal laughter which never came soon began to now have total control of the power output. First thing he did of course was turn off all cameras and any defense guns in the entire facility and moved everything to lighting of the entire facility. As well he made sure energy went towards level 0 and soon stated himself, "Well after all this shit we just have to blow the place up and leave. Still, Omega.... did they go there before? Whatever it is its too dangerous to allow this lost knowledge to spread. Its not good for humanity, the drone I can see the benefits... but this... this is nothing but a nightmare in the making. Well whatever not like I can do much as a slave, but why do I get the feeling I am going to get my ass kicked today?"
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Richter
Veteran Member
Posts: 1,870
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Post by Richter on Jan 22, 2016 3:17:12 GMT -6
The rockets fly true and slam into the tentacles supporting the monster, exploding and sending chunks of flesh and worse everywhere. More importantly, they either blow the limbs clean off or at least damage them enough to where it can't support the thing's weight. Maybe it could withstand the loss of one or two, but having all of them attacked sequentially spells its doom. When forced to let go it drops down three stories like a lead block down a sinkhole, falling almost faster than the eye could follow it before it hit the ground with a pounding *THUMP*, but not a splatter as might have been expected.
It was pretty resilient.
James chose to take the fight directly to it, dropping down after it and landing hard on its bulk. The flesh below his hands and boots is rubbery like a squid's, not at all what he expected to feel. It was hard to get good traction, but he managed, if only from pure willpower and adrenaline pumping through his veins. The four pods still intact glowed with a furious light not far underfoot, he could see them bulging out of the sides of the central mass. They were clearly the root cause of this entire nightmare, and with their end he could bring this to a close.
The first slash doesn't so much cut through the pod as it does smash it, ripping aside flesh, shattering glass, and then tearing through whatever was inside of it. A pulpy mass that the captain would recognize after a few minutes to be an oversized human brain, just as the project files foretold. The entire creature spasmed as the second was shattered, and smaller tentacles swatted at him in a frantic attempt to bat him away before it was too late. But it didn't work. He quickly rent asunder the remaining three, and when the last one was broken apart, the entire thing died almost immediately. James would have to catch himself for support, because the mutant slumped to the side like a stack of cards roughly shoved off of the table. Its tentacles followed after, falling to the ground with a series of wet smacks.
Once it looked clear, everyone met back up. The shields had pretty much kept everyone safe, luckily, but only because James had killed it before it had time to strafe them. While down there examining the corpse, they'd notice several other biomechanical limbs. One of which was shot through with power cables that looked like it could fire arcs of electricity, that would have been really deadly had he not killed it before it could bring it to bear.
As for Skikoto, McKie rolled his shoulders and volunteered first. "If we're going to kill him, let's at least be decent enough to shoot him. We're not savages here."
The crew more-or-less muttered agreements to that sentiment, even if they did think he deserved his current predicament. That having been sai,d no one strained themselves in their haste to dig out the reactor door, if you know what I mean.
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Once that was done with they would be able to finally go and check out level 0, whenever James was ready to do so.
It was mostly free of growth, only sporting a few tentacles burrowing up through the floor and into the ceiling. The air was practically clean and there was no webbing anywhere to be seen. It was huge and wide, but most of the space was taken up by one thing in particular. A spaceship, though it didn't really look like one. It narrowed at the front and was wider at the back, and sported several sets of symmetrical fins along its exterior. Their purpose wasn't immediately clear. The entire thing was painted a sterile white color, with black and yellow stripes around the engines, hatches, and other areas of potential danger. It was larger than their current ship by a decent margin. The color scheme didn't do it any favors, but that didn't detract from its grandeur down here underground.
It also looked mostly untouched as it stood there on its landing gear. A hangar door sat in front of it at the end of a launch catapult that it was still waiting at the end of, even though some vines had grown over the exit itself. Likely to prevent entry or escape through this back entrance. They'd have to be cleared, but that looked trivial with the monster dead.
The two side rooms in here held stuff that was clearly meant for the ship. Armor plates and other computer equipment that hadn't had time to be installed yet. They could probably get this stuff installed and get it working for the time being. Fuel as well, that wasn't kept in the reactor for safety purposes. It'd be easier to get Briggs down here and make it a multiman job between him, Shikoto, and the engineering staff, but if James was being conservative their men on the ground could probably handle it in a pinch. There probably wasn't anything on this tier they'd be able to sell if they wanted to keep the ship. Which would seem likely, because it was like nothing they had ever seen before.
Of course, they should probably check out the interior before staking any claims...
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Rabite
Veteran Member
Emperor of H
Hey, look over here.
Posts: 1,887
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Post by Rabite on Jan 22, 2016 22:30:49 GMT -6
"Hm I suppose you're right, very well, dig him out."
James didn't really want to kill the guy, but leaving him starving and thirsty for a few days sounds like a decent punishment. Then he decided that he may as well do it back on the ship while everyone else party at their success, it'll be even better than leaving him here. While his crew goes doing that, he himself took a look at the damages caused by the battle, and at his newly defeated opponent.
"Well, looks like jumping to action wasn't a bad choice. If it started shocking it would have been a lot worse than we did."
The main protection that the crew wears are metal, so were their weapons. If the limb managed to start shooting those bolts of electricity, they would have no protection against it, and would probably get fried. Either way the problem is solved now, with the brains now turned into mush. No matter how smart you claim yourself to be, one small foolish action could have cost you your life. Something that Shikoto might want to learn from the remains of the monster.
Seeing that the main threat has been defeated, James sends a radio call to the crew resting outside. By now they should be a lot better than earlier, and could at least come on their own without help from the main team. After that they pretty much just relaxed, taking turns on digging Shikoto out(slowly), and discussing about the monster they just killed. When Shikoto is finally dug out, he would find the assault team with a smug look on their faces, being able to defeat the monster with their physical strength while Shikoto failed to provide help with his 'brilliant intellectual'. James took a look inside, wonder why did it took Shikoto so long to get his job done. Seeing the robot he guessed that thing stalled him, way too long in his opinion, but nevertheless there was a reason.
"And that, is the reason why I chose to not do it. A truly smart person would not try to do everything themselves, but rather allow others with better expertise carry out the task. Just like I had McKie for scouting, Skylia for picking locks, and you for electronics. Maybe next time you try something, try to remember who here is the one with the experience, or else next time you might not be so lucky."
James felt pretty good after his success in defeating the creature, so he decided to just let the slave off with a scold. He himself have strong confidence in his own military ability, compared to Shikoto who had very little experience in that category, it seems unlikely that he would listen to Shikoto's suggestions especially when he believes they are not beneficial. It's one thing when the mechanic delivers a plan with a decent chance of success, but unfortunately he did not see something like that yet.
"Look at this thing, while you were busy fighting that tin can, we took this out. You can claim you are better than any of us, when you successfully do something of the similar level. Now lets go, we wasted enough time here getting you out."
Their next stop was the hanger, where the ship lies. James looks at the ship that is larger and more advance than his own, and is very happy about the find.
"Just like the data said, something new, something great. Just what we need to expand our group, with this we can bring more people, and have more firepower on our side... hopefully. Joke boy, check out the surface of the ship, see what you could figure out from it."
He also sent a call to Diamond II to send down the mechanic crew, so after Shikoto checks out the ship's system he can pass the info to Briggs, who will command the mechanics to get the job done. Mean while, James and some of the crew searches the interior to see what else they could find. Even if the doctor is dead there's still chances of those mutant animals still around, so the assault team is ready to take down anything like that. The remaining members stay outside as guards in case anything else comes, or if any sudden incident happens.
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Post by Pitman on Jan 22, 2016 23:11:15 GMT -6
Once the Robot was done Shikoto began typing into the computer system as he soon stopped he went to check if the door was working and soon discovered it was blocked by rocks. Must of been a quite a fight as he was now trapped as he soon stated with a sigh. He went back to system now doing diagnostics and noticed some areas power didn't go which meant something damaged it. He soon checked his own arm which notice it bleeding which he began to work on it to keep it from bleeding much until he got back to the Doctor which he didn't want. Once done he began to wait and read up on the reactor more but more leisurely reading up more trying to understand it. As the time soon he heard a rumble after a few hours which he soon saw the door open.
"Well, took you all long enough.", Shikoto soon comments as he got up from where he was sitting noticing they all had a smug look on their face which actually made him more annoyed then anything.
Sometimes he truly wondered if these guys even need him around, as how they deal with things without him. Of course he was still needed for technical support but for how long? Shikoto soon ran into the boss and expected some form of punishment, now which would it be this time? Previous boss would beat him for days and hardly any food and water beforehand. What about the current one would do? When he heard his reasoning, "True, True but you also do know I did take away power away from him early on before that robot came out?"
He meant that whatever the good doctor was going to do with electricity it wouldn't even be used. With taking away the power even if it never came to it, if James' plan failed well he wouldn't have to worry about the energy. Alas once again this just proves Shikoto was actually not needed that much to begin with, which now put inside his own mind how long before he would be replaced. Hearing the next part Shikoto soon replies, "Like that ever happen."
He soon began to walk out, once again proven useless and his own idea to buy himself out looking even bleaker then before. As they moved toward the hangar he looked as the lights were on and the power from the reactor which soon Shikoto soon began to take a look. As he suspected it was not even been infected by spores and this place looked extremely clean.
"Looks clean, as I thought the doctor didn't even managed to get in here well. Probably due to the security they put and likely a different department not working together on anything.", Shikoto soon stated as he soon stated.
As he looked he soon as he recognize as a switch to open the ship up and soon presses it with his good arm well the second arm was wrapped with ripped cloth like a spleen to keep it from moving. He wondered what would happen next whatever it was, it probably won't be as dangerous.
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Richter
Veteran Member
Posts: 1,870
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Post by Richter on Jan 22, 2016 23:43:57 GMT -6
Shikoto managed to find a panel to access the door, and upon hitting it the airlock's outer door flipped open and a ramp deployed to the ground for easy boarding. From there they could split up as ordered, with James taking the inside and Shikoto the outside.
The exterior was smooth and free from damage, though it wasn't yet entirely covered in armor. Some of the metal panels were bare hull under which sat the internal components that were routed through the body of the ship, pipes and cables and such. He popped open a couple of them, and it all looked to be in order for the most part. It'd probably need some testing to be sure, this stuff looked 'new', as in, never used before. It was clearly rather old in terms of age. Nothing looked rusted but Shikoto knew from hard earned experience that its the areas that look the safest that can give you the biggest surprise when to complex systems like a ship's. This ship was more complex than most to boot, so that probably went double.
Speaking of which, the mechanic looked closer at those wings there. The way this ship was designed, it kind of reminded him of a plane. They were a relatively common sight back home. This vessel was certainly designed a lot differently than any other space ships he had seen before. What could the significance be?
Apparently it lacked a lot of exterior systems. Sensors and communications weren't currently included, and he didn't see any in storage. There were some weapons, but he couldn't identify them out of hand. They didn't look very advanced though, and if it was just a test vessel it would make sense they'd only give it surplus. The weapon housings didn't look fit for space either, those would require some touching up. It did, however, seem to have all the thrusters it needed for landing and maneuvering, and the engine looked to be in good shape. So they'd have to make some purchases in a few regards to bring it up to usability.
Another issue would be crew. Shikoto's estimates would be that this ship would hold a complement of double what the Diamond II did, possibly more. They'd have to do some recruiting.
On the topic of complements, it looked like this one actual had bays for smaller craft towards the back. In addition to the usual drop ship one on the bottom, it appeared it could carry parasitic fighters. At the moment it didn't look to have any, but it would surely make the boss happy since he had talked about wanting them before.
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The inside of the ship was similarly sterile and untouched, though there wasn't much in it to find. Its cargo bays were empty and most of the contents for its barracks, medical bay, and similar were probably out there in those warehouses. According to the records this thing was never quite completed, so James couldn't be sure how usable it'd be at the moment. But he had some good staff, so there was no doubt that something could be done to get it working.
What really impressed the captain was the bridge, when he got to it. It had numerous seats of comfy, plush leather, that was the first thing he noticed. Even the most junior bridge officer would practically be living in luxury. Advanced looking computer consoles sat before each one. The captain and first mate's seats were on a raised podium overlooking the other officers, who sat in a semi-circular arrangement around the aforementioned platform. Between the CO and XO, and a few feet forward of them, was a large, inverted metal dome set into the floor. Its purpose wasn't immediately apparent, but it must do something important if it was on the bridge here. Behind the two head officers was a large display panel, and there was another ahead of them that, by the looks of things, could fold up to reveal a heavy duty shutter blocking a series of windows to the outside. In other words, allowing them a real optical view if they wanted it, or protection if not.
It definitely looked like the rightfully place a leader should be commanding from.
None of the computers would work though, of course, and until someone fueled up and booted the reactor. As well, a fair number of the actual hardware was missing. There was a big room for that directly underneath the bridge, and a lot of equipment was missing from it. Another skill mechanic would be needed to get all of that plugged in and configured.
No monsters attack them inside the ship or out. The men put on guard outside return and meet back up with James after his inspection. They had suffered near constant skirmishing attacks once they had gotten inside and down to the 2nd level, and at one point the mutants threw everything they had at them in an attempt to break their lines. Some also poured out of the vault and into their rear, which was extremely troubling. More interesting is that they all sputtered and died at one particular moment when they were in the most trouble.
Some analytical thinking would probably conclude that this was when James killed the big boss, likely all the smaller creatures were reliant on it.
Not long after that Briggs and his team arrive, and the first thing he has to say upon seeing the ship in storage is this:
"Damn."
Followed by:
"Suddenly, putting up with the old boss was worth it. Tell me I'm going to get to work on this bad boy?"
Amongst them, Raffle had also volunteered to come to down. Tiny was mysteriously nowhere to be found while she went about patching up the wounded and seeing to the dead. Of which there were 4. In addition to that she was very interested in the mutants and made a request that James meet with her later because they 'gave her an idea'.
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