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RP: SNV Gam'trosha [Chapter 3.3] Away Team - Cave Exploration

Kyle

Kyle

Insane Story Writer Foxy
Inactive Member
Thirty Minutes after departure

Despite the weather it seemed the tank moved rather easily through the forest, even with the away team currently on board, the tank didn't seem to suffer from the added weight - which was good considering its operational manual had warned that such a thing 'could' happen. Along the way communication signal boosters had been planted in the ground, giving the away team a clear signal back to the ship.

It didn't take long though for the team to arrive at the coordiantes they'd been given, the mouth of the cave sat behind a large number of ruins varying in size; some were several stories tall but largely covered in foliage or were so deteriorated that only the bare foundation was present.

Inside the tank, a message appeared from the Gam'trosha, requesting a status update.
 
Def'leor was pleased at the progress the team had made, and with how well the signal boosters were working. They had not come upon the earlier recon team, and that troubled her. Looking at the scene before her it was apparent that this world had once been home to someone.

She typed a response to the Gam'trosha's query.
Away team to Gam'trosha.
Have arrived at designated coordinates. There are remnants of a settlement here. They appear to be long abandoned, and in a state of advance decay. There is also a cave entrance beyond the ruins. Proceeding to the edge of the ruins and then going to investigate the nearest structures on foot to try and ascertain the origin of them. Will investigate the cave after we determine the ruins are safe.
Click to expand...

She turned to Shar'ica, "Sah Lu'man, take us over to the nearest structures. See if you can position the tank to use the structures for cover. After that we will proceed on foot to conduct a survey of the structures."
 
Shar moved through the forest easily as the terrain posed little trouble for the hover tank. Still she was careful about bushes and trees in the way. Her eyes also looked at the scanner every now and then, looking for spots of thermal energy, that could suggest living creatures around. Firstly because she did not want to driver over something or someone and secondly, she expected deadly space bears. Of course, the team was in a tank, so animals should not pose trouble.

"Thar she blows," Shar said as they arrived to the cave entrene and buildings. Or rather whatever was left some buildings. "Aye Lex." The balck-furred daur replied to the first officed and took over. She went to the side of, traing to keep near the cover of the forest for as long and possible, before turing to move the building. Her aim was to park between two of the ruins or prefferably find one with some sort of yard, so the team could get out of the tank in cover.
 
Dropping off and setting up boosters wasn't a glamorous job, but it needed to be done. Ye'gor made sure he had them running properly each time before running back into the tank and waiting for the next drop point. But every now and then he would look a little while going out or heading back in, privately marvelling at the world they had landed on.

With a brief passage of time, however, the engineer heard Shar call out that they had arrived. He didn't have much for windows to look out of to see what she was seeing; but the excitement and nerves began welling up within him, betrayed fully by the movement of his ears and tail.
 
Def'leor looked around at the scenery, it gave every appearance of being long abandoned. But her time on the Gam'trosha had taught her one thing. Never take what you see at face value. "Looks quiet, too quiet for my taste. Triangle formation when we get out. Make sure to secure the tank Sah Lu'man. We do not want someone running off with it." she said to her fellows.
 
Ye'gor carefully hopped out of the tank and got his firearm ready just in case. He then waited there for everyone else, while letting his gaze wander over the crumbling remnants and fallen stones.
 
There was certainly something mysterious about the ruins, while it hadn't been apparent when the away team arrived it was now becoming so after they'd stopped. Parts of the ruins glowed a calm bluish color and some even had a sort of electrified appearance to them, which only lasted for a few seconds before it subsided and wouldn't appear for another few minutes. Because of this, the air would feel rather charged but also ... calming... as well. But there was one thing that was quite apparent - there was a distant lack of animals in the area, there were naturally animal tracks on the ground, some of which were in shapes that were unknown to the team since no animals in their Kingdom made such tracks but right now there were no sounds of any animals... such a breeze that ran through the ruins and the occasional glow that lead straight to the cave...
 
Def'leor opened the hatch and climbed out of the tank. She stood on the top of it and surveyed the area from that vantage point. "Well there is some sort of power being generated somewhere. This place just does not feel right though. Its as quiet as a grave out here. No sounds. Stay sharp." She said as she hopped off the tank to the ground. Nighttime was when a good number of animals preferred to move about. This eerie silence was not sitting well with Def'leor.
 
Even for Ye'gor, who preferred quiet places away from anyone else, once he noticed how deafening the sound was, even his comfort level decreased rapidly. Even the glowing, which should have fascinated him, became an eerie menace due to the lack of environmental sound. The fact that it was transient even further gave the engineer cause for concern.

"Understood," came his reply to Def'leor's orders, "I will begin checking on the closest ruins so to maintain easy visual contact." The kit then pulled out a science scanner and began making his way over to one of the closer places that had appeared illuminated, hoping to find some kind of explanation to the phenomenon.
 
Def'leor fell into a visual scanning pattern, alternating from surveying her arc of the triangle and then looking after Ye'gor. "Buildings don't just glow, could be some sort of phosphorescence, or a very strong static field creating a nimbus. Either way neither of them sound natural to me. Especially with how the glow went out when we got near."
 
"I am of the mind that the latter is closer to the truth, Mah," the young Laibe replied in his usual flat tone, "I believe a more precise analysis of the mechanism is in order; though if you deem it unsafe, I will adjust my priorities accordingly."

Ye'gor's tail continued to wave with tamed enthusiasm, though he turned to look back with a neutral seeming face.
 
Def'leor needed answers, so far all they had were yet more questions and puzzles. "Proceed with your analysis we will cover you as you do. Just be quick about it."
 
Shar parked the tank, but kept the tank helmet on. It worked the same way as one for her armoured suit, but had extra features to control the tank to some extent, even at a distance. Shar climbed out, holding her rifle in front of herself and looking for potential threats. As soon as everyone was out, she locked the tank and jumped off. "Tank secured Lex." Shar said over the radio and moved to cover the back of her comrades, paying attention to the sensor feed from the tank.
 
"Understood," Ye'gor replied before cautiously making his way closer to the nearest building and began scanning.
 
Def'leor continued to visually scan the area. The buildings even in their damaged state felt strangely familiar. She was not able to put her tail on it, but there was something nagging at the edge of her mind.
 
Many of the buildings 'did' have a similar feeling, some of which even had architecture that was similar - although not completely - Neshaten. Scanners showed that the structures were comprised of mainly brick and mortar although cement was also detected in some of the more outlying structures. Many of the structures whose internals were exposed had central columns rising up toward the tops, others had no columns, but one thing that seemed to be consistent amongst all of them was that the areas that were 'broken' appeared to be melted away, not jagged like what one might see from decay.

Some of these structures did have furniture, or rather, what remained 'of' furniture; such as chairs and tables that had been made out of stone but the stonework itself was partially melted away.

However, when the scanners tried to figure out what the glowing light was it couldn't, coming up with an inclusive result. Suddenly the glow returned, giving off a reddish color that was followed only a split second later by a bright flash of lightning that arced across the sky and impacted somewhere in the distance, the following thunder was very loud and rattled the ground a bit.
 
Ye'gor seemed to growl quietly as his ears folded back in frustration. He had tried many different sensor configurations, EM filters, particle detectors - everything seemed normal yet undefinitively weird. It almost made him want to break the scanner and throw it; but he managed to shed the temptation for now.

The engineer did, however, note the futility and dropped his arms; looking up and around at the partially melted stone instead. "Sensors are practically useless," he sighed, "Looks like things got fairly heated around here, though. With this kind of melting, the temperature involved must have been hundreds to thousands of degrees."

Then the glow began pulling his attention back, and the scanner up to try and read something again. The Laibe growled angrily in his frustration at the useless readings only jump at the flash and bang - landing almost two seconds later. Ye'gor's eyes were wide however, and all his fur stood on end.
 
When the stones started glowing Def'leor put her goggles in place to help her get a filtered look. When the electrical discharge occurred, the flash temporarily blinded Def'leor even with her goggles. She also hit the ground out of instinct and an involuntary convulsion as the electrical discharge caused her muscles to spasm. After realizing that she was uninjured she called out to the others.

"Sah Lu'man, Sah Tos'cana Report." She called out as she picked herself up.
 
It was close; too close. Any real weapon and that would have been it for him, was the thought that occupied Ye'gor for that brief moment. Too close and he was still there, hardly even smouldering.

"Here!" the engineer called out as he came back to his senses, "I am guessing it does not require much education or experience to declare this place to be unsafe..."
 
Def'leor adjusted her goggles and blink her eyes to get rid of the after flash. "I concur Sah Tos'cana. Did your scanners pick up anything useful. That kind of discharge means there must be some sort of massive generator powering. If your scanner is still operational try to see if you can find any indication of the emitter, the electricity have to be transmitted out of something. I am going to report to the Gam'trosha and then I am going to check on Sah Lu'man. Then we will move the tank to another location."

She activated her communications unit and checked to see if she was still in contact with the repeater. She got no response. A quick check showed the unit was non-functional. "Drisa, my communicators dead" she said out loud. Her vision was sufficient to start looking around for Shar'ica.
 
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