CadetNewb
Well-Known Member
Continued From "Chapter Five: Antagonists" - YE 34
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Despite what they said, it felt like nothing was ever said at all. As if no noise escaped from their lips to sully the dead world they walked into. Without a word, Sif fell in with them. Though the dainty armor let them technically take point, she moved ahead and into the building to scout for and screen them, keeping a lookout for hostiles as best she could.
"Clear. For now."
The advanced scout's remarks seemed correct to the letter - the building they entered was perhaps the very worst, utter nightmare to fight in. An office building. From what their own eyes could see, it was a Ship-Insurance firm, with several consultation tables and retractable privacy screens. Upscale and modern, the place was smooth, comfortable, yet efficient. The tables sat there, waiting for their workers and customers, while the main reception desk sat invitingly, markers in the shattered floor marking where the line started. It was all complete with poster-boards of their pretty, pink haired Neko Mascot from what was presumably SAINT, and her client. He was a rough-around-the-edges man from Nepleslia with a handsome smile and laden with a ship in need of saving from silly, jellyfish-like aliens.
It was all surreal, as though one moment, people were here, working, and the next, a nightmare strolled by.
Files lay open on table tops, while jackets hung on coat trees. Cups of tea and occasionally coffee sat, half full, half empty. The question of whether or not they were still warm floated through their minds. And yet, they had to push forward - right on to the back, were several doorways deeper into the building.
Aya was on point. Her earlier frustrations began to ebb as she found herself surrounded by the trappings of modern life - but there was something undeniably creepy about how still everything was. Indeed, the normality of it somehow sharpened the unnatural circumstances. The half-drunk cups seemed to suggest a sudden, rapid exit, but what could have prompted everyone to leave so hurriedly without knocking things over? The mystery was only deepening, and the azure skinned Nekovalkyrja had little patience for mysteries right now.
Stalking forward with a confidence disproportionate to how she actually felt, Aya stopped short of the doorways. Her ASGR had never left her shoulder, and every now and then the Neko's head flicked to one side or the other, as though she was expecting their mysterious adversary to materialize out of nowhere. "Seems like we might be lookin' at a maze. I dunno about you guys, but I think we should search each hallway as a group. That way the...whatever it is can't pick us off."
Dimitri followed behind Aya, his LASR raised as he kept himself on high alert. He did not like the way things looked before, and now stepping into the building, his unease grew. Everything was a hiding spot for an enemy and they could turn into an ambush at any moment. He kept his drone a few paces away form him, the small detachment serving as an extra set of eyes to focus behind him as he personally kept his eyes on the flanks. "I agree, we don't even know what we're dealing with yet so let's not take too many risks." That was not a very Nepleslian reply to the Neko, but Dimitri was no fool and his life was a bit more important than maintaining some thug appearance.
"Right, it's settled then. Let's go," the blue skinned Neko replied. Aya tried to force her trepidation to the back of her mind and moved toward the nearest doorway. She could imagine hundreds of things that might be waiting for their group on the other side. Hopefully the stupid creature (or machine; it might well have been artificial with how quickly it had come and gone) would show itself and she could put it down.
Together, the two entered into the Employees Only section of this building. They could see that the pleasant exterior quickly turned into a handful of hallways - it was all still quite fresh, the floors well kept, walls unmarred, and all too quiet. Dead ahead of them, was one hallway which lead straight to the back - to its right, were several office rooms, executive lounge and a conference area in the rear. The left of this hall however, was different. The glass let the managers and any executives here look into the entire maze of cubicle after cubicle after cubicle.
This place was somewhat 'small', but where there was one cubicle, there was always too many more. Perhaps a six by six? A nine by nine? They didn't bother to count. Unlike the front, this part of it had been disturbed and tossed about, messing up the neat rows into a proper maze. How recently? It was impossible to tell. To their left, the hallway had a large entrance leading into the mess of boxes for humans to be slotted into, with the end of it leading into a second reception area. And the department store, or possibly mall, was beyond that. This insurance company had two entrances, therefore two exits, and with the door into a part of the mall left ajar, their target had fled into the department store it seemed, not this area.
The sound of several small, plastic items being dropped on the floor echoed through the office, telling them otherwise.
"It's here." The outline of Sif appeared on their HUD - she wasn't far away from them. Practically down the hallway with the glass wall, doing her best to get a good look at what was inside. "It tried looping around to lose us perhaps."
Dimitri kept his eyes peeled. Even with his cybernetic enhancements, he still needed to focus if he was going to catch something as fast as what he saw earlier. He was inwardly glad they were chasing some unknown target and not dealing with an office building shoot out - those never ended well.
Hearing that the target was looping around to try to fool them, the Nepleslian had his drone take up a sentry post to fire on the thing if it tried to circle around behind them again. Then he made a steady approach, still checking the flanks. Last thing he needed was to be caught off guard by a second unknown target.
Aya's skin crawled slightly as she realized that this area was also unnervingly normal looking. Perversely, it would have all been much more easy to deal with if there had been obvious signs of a struggle. Though the room was not terribly large, it offered far too many places for the thing to hide for Aya's liking. Suddenly, the Neko heard clattering. Is this the creature? she wondered. The Nekovalkyrja swallowed her hesitation and began moving in the direction of the source of the noise.
The abrupt appearance of Sif's silhouette made Aya flinch, making her feel somewhat foolish when she realized that their opponent had not revealed themselves. Her comment was met with a nod. "Right... should we go in after it? I don't want to fight on its terms, but it doesn't seem to be giving us much of a choice..." She tried to sound brave over their line of sight comms, for both Dimitri's and her own sake.
"Of course we're going after it," Sif tersely replied. The silhouette of the Mini's Sylph on their HUD vanished as she moved forward again - despite helping the other two know where she was, the transmission did risk revealing herself to any others. The Comms Blackout or Suppression was mostly medium-short range and up it seemed. If line of sight for the laser comm was broken, the suit would switch to broadcast automatically if not told to do otherwise. And if that was picked up? Whoever was listening would have to be close by. 'Net Centric Warfare' had it's downsides. But here, it felt sorely missed as they advanced into the crooked rows - unlike the front, things were a little bit more messy. It was clear that some people tripped and stumbled into walls, displacing them and turning the place into a disorganized mess.
A faint crunching, steady and rhythmic, could be heard just a few more cubicles ahead.
"I can't get a good view without entering line of sight, but its eating," Sif remarked, Dimitri and Aya drawing closer. "It may be a Mishhu, so ready your weapons - we need to confront it together, at the same time. We round the corner, on my mark...MARK!"
______________
Despite what they said, it felt like nothing was ever said at all. As if no noise escaped from their lips to sully the dead world they walked into. Without a word, Sif fell in with them. Though the dainty armor let them technically take point, she moved ahead and into the building to scout for and screen them, keeping a lookout for hostiles as best she could.
"Clear. For now."
The advanced scout's remarks seemed correct to the letter - the building they entered was perhaps the very worst, utter nightmare to fight in. An office building. From what their own eyes could see, it was a Ship-Insurance firm, with several consultation tables and retractable privacy screens. Upscale and modern, the place was smooth, comfortable, yet efficient. The tables sat there, waiting for their workers and customers, while the main reception desk sat invitingly, markers in the shattered floor marking where the line started. It was all complete with poster-boards of their pretty, pink haired Neko Mascot from what was presumably SAINT, and her client. He was a rough-around-the-edges man from Nepleslia with a handsome smile and laden with a ship in need of saving from silly, jellyfish-like aliens.
It was all surreal, as though one moment, people were here, working, and the next, a nightmare strolled by.
Files lay open on table tops, while jackets hung on coat trees. Cups of tea and occasionally coffee sat, half full, half empty. The question of whether or not they were still warm floated through their minds. And yet, they had to push forward - right on to the back, were several doorways deeper into the building.
Aya was on point. Her earlier frustrations began to ebb as she found herself surrounded by the trappings of modern life - but there was something undeniably creepy about how still everything was. Indeed, the normality of it somehow sharpened the unnatural circumstances. The half-drunk cups seemed to suggest a sudden, rapid exit, but what could have prompted everyone to leave so hurriedly without knocking things over? The mystery was only deepening, and the azure skinned Nekovalkyrja had little patience for mysteries right now.
Stalking forward with a confidence disproportionate to how she actually felt, Aya stopped short of the doorways. Her ASGR had never left her shoulder, and every now and then the Neko's head flicked to one side or the other, as though she was expecting their mysterious adversary to materialize out of nowhere. "Seems like we might be lookin' at a maze. I dunno about you guys, but I think we should search each hallway as a group. That way the...whatever it is can't pick us off."
Dimitri followed behind Aya, his LASR raised as he kept himself on high alert. He did not like the way things looked before, and now stepping into the building, his unease grew. Everything was a hiding spot for an enemy and they could turn into an ambush at any moment. He kept his drone a few paces away form him, the small detachment serving as an extra set of eyes to focus behind him as he personally kept his eyes on the flanks. "I agree, we don't even know what we're dealing with yet so let's not take too many risks." That was not a very Nepleslian reply to the Neko, but Dimitri was no fool and his life was a bit more important than maintaining some thug appearance.
"Right, it's settled then. Let's go," the blue skinned Neko replied. Aya tried to force her trepidation to the back of her mind and moved toward the nearest doorway. She could imagine hundreds of things that might be waiting for their group on the other side. Hopefully the stupid creature (or machine; it might well have been artificial with how quickly it had come and gone) would show itself and she could put it down.
Together, the two entered into the Employees Only section of this building. They could see that the pleasant exterior quickly turned into a handful of hallways - it was all still quite fresh, the floors well kept, walls unmarred, and all too quiet. Dead ahead of them, was one hallway which lead straight to the back - to its right, were several office rooms, executive lounge and a conference area in the rear. The left of this hall however, was different. The glass let the managers and any executives here look into the entire maze of cubicle after cubicle after cubicle.
This place was somewhat 'small', but where there was one cubicle, there was always too many more. Perhaps a six by six? A nine by nine? They didn't bother to count. Unlike the front, this part of it had been disturbed and tossed about, messing up the neat rows into a proper maze. How recently? It was impossible to tell. To their left, the hallway had a large entrance leading into the mess of boxes for humans to be slotted into, with the end of it leading into a second reception area. And the department store, or possibly mall, was beyond that. This insurance company had two entrances, therefore two exits, and with the door into a part of the mall left ajar, their target had fled into the department store it seemed, not this area.
The sound of several small, plastic items being dropped on the floor echoed through the office, telling them otherwise.
"It's here." The outline of Sif appeared on their HUD - she wasn't far away from them. Practically down the hallway with the glass wall, doing her best to get a good look at what was inside. "It tried looping around to lose us perhaps."
Dimitri kept his eyes peeled. Even with his cybernetic enhancements, he still needed to focus if he was going to catch something as fast as what he saw earlier. He was inwardly glad they were chasing some unknown target and not dealing with an office building shoot out - those never ended well.
Hearing that the target was looping around to try to fool them, the Nepleslian had his drone take up a sentry post to fire on the thing if it tried to circle around behind them again. Then he made a steady approach, still checking the flanks. Last thing he needed was to be caught off guard by a second unknown target.
Aya's skin crawled slightly as she realized that this area was also unnervingly normal looking. Perversely, it would have all been much more easy to deal with if there had been obvious signs of a struggle. Though the room was not terribly large, it offered far too many places for the thing to hide for Aya's liking. Suddenly, the Neko heard clattering. Is this the creature? she wondered. The Nekovalkyrja swallowed her hesitation and began moving in the direction of the source of the noise.
The abrupt appearance of Sif's silhouette made Aya flinch, making her feel somewhat foolish when she realized that their opponent had not revealed themselves. Her comment was met with a nod. "Right... should we go in after it? I don't want to fight on its terms, but it doesn't seem to be giving us much of a choice..." She tried to sound brave over their line of sight comms, for both Dimitri's and her own sake.
"Of course we're going after it," Sif tersely replied. The silhouette of the Mini's Sylph on their HUD vanished as she moved forward again - despite helping the other two know where she was, the transmission did risk revealing herself to any others. The Comms Blackout or Suppression was mostly medium-short range and up it seemed. If line of sight for the laser comm was broken, the suit would switch to broadcast automatically if not told to do otherwise. And if that was picked up? Whoever was listening would have to be close by. 'Net Centric Warfare' had it's downsides. But here, it felt sorely missed as they advanced into the crooked rows - unlike the front, things were a little bit more messy. It was clear that some people tripped and stumbled into walls, displacing them and turning the place into a disorganized mess.
A faint crunching, steady and rhythmic, could be heard just a few more cubicles ahead.
"I can't get a good view without entering line of sight, but its eating," Sif remarked, Dimitri and Aya drawing closer. "It may be a Mishhu, so ready your weapons - we need to confront it together, at the same time. We round the corner, on my mark...MARK!"