Krystal, IN STARWOLF!?

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Panther took a look at the dead ape.  "Damn..." he said, realizing how the ape died.

He went through the ape's pockets, and stole his wallet, watch, gold jewelry chain, and his laser pistol.  He slid the ape's gold academy rig off his rotted half skeletal finger, and pocketed it, along with everything else he had stolen from the ape's corpse.  "Waste not, want not!" he thought smugly, and he gently guided Freya away from the corpse.  "Come, child...don't look, it's not a pretty sight" he said to her, trying to block her view of the ape.

[Asper Sarnoff]

Freya could not help herself but stare at the corpse lying in the middle of the room. Even how rotten it was, she could clearly see how the face was frozen into a grimace of fear and despair.

The Panther came in front of her and blocked the view for her, luckily.

Wolf continued to lead the group foreward. The tought of how it would feel to be trapped so far under the ground without any hope of getting out was indeed a chilling one. Luckily, both he and Leon carried more explosives along in their bags. If a rock fall blocked their way, they could blow their way past it.

After a couple of minutes, the gentle slope of the floor was replaced by stairs leading downwards. As they started their decent, Wolf realised how slippery they were. The moisture and alga made them treacherous indeed.

The walls were also covered in the stuff, which definatively didn't make the decent any easier.

Suddenly, Wolf stopped. A few steps below them, the passage was blocked. Not by rocks or debris, but water.

Wolf stepped closer, holding up a hand to signal the others to wait. The water was pitch black, and could just as well have been taken for a mirror if it wasn't for the small ripples created as water dropped slowly from the ceiling.

He bent down on his knees, reached out his left hand and dipped it into the water, before leading it up to his face and giving it a lick with his toungue.

"Salt water." He growled before he spat it out again. "We're at sea level, and some of the tunnels run so close to the seabed that there could have been created a passage between them, allowing water to flood into some parts of the complex."

Wolf stood up and furrowed his eyebrows in irritation. "That doesn't make things easier for us. This was the quickest way down to the lab. However, there must be some other ways that aren't flooded, and all the watertight doors should keep the water from flooding into the lab itself."

The group started to turn around, going back to a branching pathway they had passed just a couple of minutes ago. Freya stood back for a few seconds, watching the black water closely. It was almost hypnotising to look at. And also... frightening. As if she knew something lurked underneath the surface. Following their every move.

She turned tail and hurried back again to cath up with the group.

[Kursed]

Krystal eyebrowed Freaya once she caught up pushing her ahead "You feel it too?" She said in  a tone that stated she knew Freya's feelings about the water

[Asper Sarnoff]

"Yes I do." Freya whispered low, as not to let anyone else but Krystal hear it. "That black surface... scares me somehow. Like it's a window to another world, with monsters looking in at us."

She walked past Krystal and keept herself between her and Panther. She was glad she didn't have to either lead on, or be the rearguard.

[Kursed]

"I feel that too  if i had the proper equipment I would have requested to go down."Krystal replied following behind Freya casting a ocassional glare at panther when  nobody  was looking.

[Showtime 1-1]

Leon kept quiet. He wasn't surprised by anything they'd seen. All this stuff was typical of a place like this: mutilated bodies, flooded pathways, and a looming feeling of being trapped. Regardless, he had a job to do, and that was to keep his eyes out for anything that moves. Fortunately, nothing had, yet.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Panther whispered to Freya "I saw you looking into the water...you felt it too, huh?  Like there's someone down there?" He kept his guard up.  He looked about the base, the corridors.

He saw monitor screens, now blank, dark, some of them were cracked, or had holes in the center of them.  They may have once displayed warning messages, "Systems Failure" and things like that flashing on the screens, and the speakers near them once sounded alarms, buzzers, but they were quiet now, some of the speaker grills were rusty, or blown out.....the caged light bulbs that had the revolving housings on them to let them flash, were still, and some were burst, shattered glass, nested in the caged housing.

Large cables, both communication and power, were laying and hanging about, like vines in a jungle.  Some of them protruded from large, gaping holes in the ceilings. 

[Asper Sarnoff]

After a while, the group had found another corridor leading in the right direction again, and were now rapidly decending further into the complex again.

This whole place sent shivers down Freyas spine. She was sure that if there was a place in the afterlife one would go to if one hadn't lead a good life, it would be something like this. A claustrophobic labyrinth of dark, moist and warm corridors, filled with the remains of those who had been here before them.

She wanted to run, to turn tail and claw her way out into the open air far above them. Only the wish to make her father proud, to show him she was worthy of his respect and pride, was what keept her from doing it.

Wolf was quite relaxed, if a little bit nervous on the inside. Not for what they could encounter here, this was jsut another hellhole to him. Both he and the team had pulled trough worse things before.

What niggled him was the possibility that what they had come for, the secret of eternal life, would be gone, our out of their reach.

He had almost taken it for granted that he would now be able to resurrect Freyas mother, to make them a family again. What if it didn't work? What if it had all been a dead end, the hopeless toughts of a man who had lost his connection to reality?

He took a quick look at his armbadn again. They were getting close to the target now. While they had passed several dozen smaller rooms allready, it was without any doubt that the secret behind Andross resurrection was to be found in his private lab. Another ten minutes he guessed, and they would be there.

A reflection of a headlight caught his eye. A closer look showed what seemed like a small lump of some sticky substance. Wolf touched it and brought it up to his face, inspecting it closely.

It didn't look like anything they had yet seen down here. Not like any of the countless algas. It couldn't be natural.

The outer skin, what had been in contact with the air, was almost hardened and dried, but the rest was still nearly fluid, and the smell...

This substance, whatever it was, was fresh.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Panther kept an eye on Freya, but still looked around, seemingly hypnotized by the long, dark corridors...the cold, stale air of this place...the eerie quiet of a place, any place, abandoned long ago.  They were definitely the first party to enter this place in...forever...this place was massive, it went on forever..a deep, dark, quiet...hole...

Panther shook his head, trying to snap out of it.  This was not the time to zone out, not the time to lose focus.  No!  He hoped they could get out of this place soon.  It was too strange...too eerie....to Panther, exploring this secret base felt like they were wandering around in Andross' now dead mind...

[Kursed]

"What did you find Wolf?"KRystal asked looking around the two in front of her.

[Showtime 1-1]

"Well, it's not petroleum," Leon interjected, also fingering a sample. "doesn't look like it's organic, either. Definitely synthetic."

He looked down at the source. There seemed to be a crack in the wall it was up against, maybe it's from the adjacent room...

"Wolf, check it's radioactivity." he said suddenly, wiping the substance off his fingers. "I don't like the looks of this stuff."

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Panther's eyes went as large as sewer lids.  "Freya, whatever you do, don't touch anything in here." he said, not taking his eyes off of the stuff on Leon's fingers.

[Asper Sarnoff]

Wolf gave Leon a puzzled look. "This stuff is definatively organic, but nothing like I've ever seen." He mumbled as he threw the sample aside. "We need to keep moving." He said, again lifting his gun up and and pushing on further down the corridor.

He then caught eye of the remains of a droid lying at the floor. Vaguely humanoid of appearance, but with fixed guns instead of hands. A small security droid. It was surprisingly not overgrown or covered in dirt.

A quick check of it confirmed Wolfs fears. The battery still contained a fairly large charge. This droid had been active only a couple of days, or perhaps hours earlier.

What had brought it down seemed to be what had also caused the large hole in the chestplate. The inch-thich armor had been penetrated, the hole to large for a bullet. He could see the reflection of the same slime he had seen earlier, covering the droid. He had taken apart and serviced enough droids to know none used this kind of stuff for lubrication. It belonged to the attacker, whoever it was.

[Kursed]

Krystal examined the droid "Great now we have a slime creature on our hands and not only that one who can puncture metal PAnther  yellow pattern we need to keep Freya safe." she closed her eyes , trying to focus on anything nearbye she picked up something faint ,but it was too faint for her to tell what it was. "Wolf I'm picking up some sort of life but it's too far away for me to tell anything about it." She informed Wolf.

[Showtime 1-1]

Leon groaned and finished wiping the substance off his hand, onto his flight suit.

"I still think it's synthetic..." he mumbled, readying his weapon, should whatever Krystal had sensed arrive.

He began to see the usefulness in her telepathy. It may have been nothing more then annoying in peace, but when not seeing something coming could mean death, it was a nice form of early warning.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

(Sorry guys, I had to help my mom's friend move, all day long, now I know how the Snowhorn Tribe felt when General Scales forced them to work as slaves in the Darkice Mines).

Panther protectively held Freya's hand....he was more scared than Freya, he was holding her hand because he wanted to make himself feel more safe.

[Asper Sarnoff]

(Tell me about it. I spent yesterday digging snow and mud to find a waterline, which had been frozen.

It was one leading to the local village hall, and even tough there's about 50 other co-owners who could just as well do it. It always ends up with me and my father doing the work.)

"Thanks Krystal" Wolf mumbled. "I'm pretty sure it's not only bats or tiny creeps you're sensing now."

Once again he hoisted his gun up to his shoulder and started to move foreward, painstakingly slow and carefull.

"Leon, come up and cover me. Watch out back Krystal. And you Panther, make close on my daughter."

This was looking more and more like a nightmare to him. It was almost like he could hear faint horror music in the background.

They keept pushing foreward, rounding corners gun first. From time to time, they encountered more freshly wrecked droids, and more tracks of slime. Apart from that, nothing that could give any clue on what might have happened.

Then, they reached the bottom of the stairs, and found themself in a round room, about ten meters in diameter, with several other stairways leading out of it. But that was not what caught their eyes. Straight ahead was another door, flanked by what seemed like a couple of automated gun turrets, long ago turned off.

"There you go. On the other side of that door, lies Andross personal labaratory and quarters" Wolf said, obviously satisfied that they finally had reached it.

But, it would still not be easy to enter. The door looked vaguently similar to that of a vault, and probably just as tought.

[Shinigami]

(Hey all. Is this open for anyone to freely enter the topic or is it best to simply ask? Either one's fine, I have to do a read up so I don't make any mistakes on my first post. XD)

[Guest Julius Quasar]

(Hey all. Is this open for anyone to freely enter the topic or is it best to simply ask? Either one's fine, I have to do a read up so I don't make any mistakes on my first post. XD)

(You have to sign up in advance, before the RP is approved in the "RP Requests" forum)

(Tell me about it. I spent yesterday digging snow and mud to find a waterline, which had been frozen.

It was one leading to the local village hall, and even tough there's about 50 other co-owners who could just as well do it. It always ends up with me and my father doing the work.)

(Sorry Asper)

Panther kept watch over Freya, keeping his rifle at the ready.  "So..we've arrived at 'Casa De Andross', eh?  Great..."

[Shinigami]

(well that just blows. ah well. next one, I guess. Thanks.)

[Kursed]

"Let's just make sure this slime creature isn't inside there."KRystal muttered as she brought up the rear.

[Asper Sarnoff]

(No need to be sorry Julius. It's just that I'm slightly pissed that some lazy co-owners exploit my father, who's got a heart of gold, but is a wee bit naive, to do the dirty work for them.)

Wolf walked closer to the door, keeping an eye on the automated turrets, just in case they decided to fire up again without warning. Luckily, they didn't.

"Krystal. You feeling any signs of life on the other side of that door?" Wolf asked. (Just answer no.)

[Kursed]

(No need to be sorry Julius. It's just that I'm slightly pissed that some lazy co-owners exploit my father, who's got a heart of gold, but is a wee bit naive, to do the dirty work for them.)

Wolf walked closer to the door, keeping an eye on the automated turrets, just in case they decided to fire up again without warning. Luckily, they didn't.

"Krystal. You feeling any signs of life on the other side of that door?" Wolf asked. (Just answer no.)

"no nothing."Krystal replied simply.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

(No need to be sorry Julius. It's just that I'm slightly pissed that some lazy co-owners exploit my father, who's got a heart of gold, but is a wee bit naive, to do the dirty work for them.)

(Well, I'm still sorry for your dad that those stupid pricks do that to such a nice guy like him, and to you, you got a heart of gold too, but you're not naive)

"no nothing."Krystal replied simply.

Panther breathed a sigh of relief

[Kursed]

"Wolf you never did tell us why you came here could you share now?"Krystal asked making sure the slim monster of whatever it was didn't com up behind them.