RP [S.E.A.R.C.H. Initiative] Ch.1: Hanya Secrets

In'anna's fluffy tail wagged every so slightly. The heady high of not being buried alive still gripped her just a little. Golden-furred ears drooped slightly as she listened to Seidreainne. Kill? She wasn't a killer, heck, she could barely swat a fly without feeling at least a little sorry for it. It was why she carried a non-lethal sidearm. Better to incapacitate, cut and run than stain one's hands with the blood of an enemy or aggressor. Well, for her anyway. The diminutive Daur, still on Horus' shoulders peered into the gloom, her drooping ears coming up as she listened. Her nose caught something as she inhaled.

It stuck out from the dank, musty smell of wet earth, slick stone coated in lichen. In'anna inhaled deeply again. It caused her to sneeze once, her head turned away to spare the towering Tsumi. But something had been there. Oil? Lubricant? Something artificial.

"I sm-smelled something." the xenoarcheologist piped up from her high seat. "I-It smelled l-l-like oil o-or something. I-It doesn't b-b-belong h-he-here." after speaking, the small fox brought her handkerchief up to rub furiously at her nose.

Gunny listened to Seidreainne as she watched the ... robot? ... wander towards a corridor.

"Alright," she began, ducking down to make sure that her voice didn't carry. "Seidreainne, sounds like we're going to go make a friend."

She gave In'anna a nod, patting her bag. "Might even get to give them a gift." To the others, she added, "We're moving out."
The Nepleslian woman slowly made her way down the corridors, rifle at the ready. She'd taken care to check her corners, keep her steps quiet, and generally keep her presence concealed. The mechanical .. person? Was just around the next bend. She waited a beat, then gave Seidreainne a nod before swiftly rounding the corner.

Gunny pointed her rifle aimed squarely at the "robot's" chest, but made no further hostile moves.

"Identify yourself. Are you with the men at the dock?"

It was a risk giving 'it' a chance to speak, she knew. But orders were orders, and avoiding a nonsensical death was one that she was content to follow. She just hoped it didn't make her pull the trigger.

When Geneieve turned the corner, they found the creature rapidly turning back towards them, causing the barrel of their rifle to collide with the lenses of their glasses. It half-stumbled backward on the wall behind them, only just catching themselves with a third arm on their back that seemed to end in an arc welder.

"...D-docking... Men?..." It chirped back as if barely understanding the question. Their voice was a light and feminine whisper, though as if played through a bad radio connection. "A component... I am attached?"

Though a mane of cloud-like grey hair, it regarded them with mismatched grey-green eyes. It seemed that this person was in fact human, only far more cyborgized than even the person holding them to gunpoint was. Their face was pale and doll like, but the lower half was hidden under a metal grill, bearing all the hallmarks of a second hand unwanted android you might find gathering dust at the back of a flea market somewhere. It seemed to be entirely unarmed, but despite the stringy nature of their overall form, was probably capable of doing some damage with their left arm, which was little more than an industrial loading pincer. They certainly wouldn't have fitted the black suit that the others were wearing, even if they wanted to.

"...You..." It wheezed for a moment, regaining it's breath. "You are filled with machine?..."

Another pause, looking dour and overworked. Pushing all thoughts of curiosity away.

"Please leave and no harm. I am ordered to investigate this. I do not want the trouble from this, machine-friend."

"Look, we can't do that. We're here to investigate a few things. Maybe we can help you. But these guys?"

Seidreianne motioned to the drug trading operation and the fact that these guys clearly did not look like official military or government personnel.

"They've got no license to be here and as you can see, they aren't here packing cupcakes and hygiene supplies. Whatever they're guarding, they'll kill you for it and us. Or worse. I'll let your imagination determine what that entails."

The looming digitigrade-legged alien patted Gunny's shoulders and stood before her. He didn't know what this alien was packing but she was hedging a bet that her armour's protection systems could take it; she subtly began activating a shield just in case they couldn't.

"Let us take care of these people; they're not your friends or ours. They're threats. Once we're done, we'll discuss why you and us are here."

The men were shuffling the boxes around towards the docks as if they didn't care for the work they actually were doing, people wanted to get paid and if that means to get their hands dirty then so be it. Yet the guards kept an eye out for whatever was going on around them, they had to protect their merchandise and products that we're shipped out from this location. A guard at the dock rubs the back of his head and shrugs "How much longer do we got to stay in this dust hole...what is the boss obsession with that cave anyway?" The man complained still keeping one hand on his rifle.

"Shush you get us a bullet for talking on the job, you know that" The other guard replied "The boss uses this area to get the drug supply running again after the soldiers raided our labs downtown. This location is a safe bet and no one that looks in this haunted location" He pointed out as he looked at a carrier "Be careful moron, that is a drug that could pop your head open" He shook his head as the man gets a better posture to put the box down on the ship.

The other guard nodded a bit as he looked around "That was bloodshed for sure, though I have not heard yet from the patrol that was going upstairs to investigate the area. Think they are in trouble?" The other lifted his shoulders "Mmm yea I wonder if the boss is going to send us next" He looked in the direction of Geneieve "Yo freak! Get back to work and stop mumbling to yourself" He shrugs as he sees the machine still slacking and started to move "Got to beat some sense in that machine"

In'anna's tail floofed at the sight of this new person. This stranger. The Daur thanked her lucky stars that Horus hadn't sat her down on the ground yet. The further away from new people she was, was usually better for her at the moment. Although with the light dimmed, she brought up her goggles, her jewel-like eyes seeming to scrutinize this newcomer. If anyone knew of her species, the fact her ears were pitched back, her tail coming up just above the Tsumi's head in a vain attempt to hide meant she was wary, perhaps startled or scared. Though she continued to stare, curiosity mingling with this state of surprise. Her people were isolationist... perhaps that was the wrong word. Xenophobic was better, wary of outsiders. In'anna herself still wrestled with these feelings given her chosen profession and desire to leave the home system.

Taking a breath, the tiny fox inhaled the smell of metal, lubricant, and other aromas associated with machinery or bits and bobs that saw frequent use. Pointing from her perch, In'anna piped up, "I thi-thi-think I -smelled t-that!" her finger pointing directly to this odd sort of being.

"...License?..." The semi-mechanical creature regarded Seidreianne's unique alien form with an odd sort of placidity, merely grasping at their blue overcoat in order to wipe the fog away from their glasses. Strangely, it was only when the towering serpentine alien invisibly activated their shield, that the cyborg worker jolted in surprise a little.

"Take care of them? Friends?... This... t-this is... capitalism?" Again, they just repeated words. It was like the brain barely understood Trade, even if the lips were willing to speak it. "Threats?... They are... threats. I am not doing work... Organisation is 'gang'. If I leave, they will follow. Appendages are currently not optimized for land-based travel..."

Talking, in the distance. The cyborg looked around the corner to see one of the gang members approaching, just out of sight of the team of oddball intruders.

The small orange-haired thing on the shoulders of the horned giant pretty much just earned a depressed look, followed by a mechanical claw pointing further down into the overgrown corridor.

"This is... A way of a door that is not open. Please make a plan." Talking just a bit faster. Getting caught talking like this was not going to help any of their cases. "The walls, it is perforate the gangs into non-functional material... I am is working for opening of the walls as is ordered..."

"...I... I will open door. Fight or do not fight. That is your own plan."

"...Right," Gunny said, looking at the ... whatever it was with some degree of skepticism. It seemed friendly enough, even if she wasn't sure how she felt about being a 'machine friend', whatever that was.

"Right," she repeated again, mostly to herself. She needed her mouth to do something, otherwise she knew the tidal wave of expletives she was holding back would pour forth. Gunny was doing so well; she didn't want to ruin all her effort.

But the machine person thing was pushing her limits.

"Alright, ... machine friend, do you think you could deactivate the traps, then reactivate them when the time comes? I'm thinking that..."

The Nepleslian woman started to lay out a simple plan: she would reveal herself to the men on the boat after Seidreainne moved into position. Gunny would draw the men into the corridor, have the cyborg reactivate the traps, and then clean up whoever was left over. Whatever men didn't pursue her would be Seidreainne's to clean up back at the boat.

It seemed like a decent way to keep from getting shot at too much, even if the ... unconventional nature of the plan made the ex-marine worry that her new job was rubbing off on her too much. Trusting the new robot wasn't her favorite part of the plan, but in the worst case she could just kill the hostiles without the trap. ... it just felt like a missed opportunity.

"... and that about sums it up. Does that work for you two?"

Seidreianne nodded along but there was a tension across her body; her suit's detection systems alerted her to an incoming hostile. She tapped Gunny's shoulder and motioned to the side passageway to where the trio were speaking before crouching and pressing her back against the wall. Her other hand had taken out what looked like a baton at first but with a subtle sound of sliding metal a pointed triangular blade had emerged.

Two fingers raised and mimicked a walking motion; hostile coming our way. Her compact weapon spun in her lengthy fingers, twirling rapidly as she placed two fingers to where her lips, her head tilting to look at the machine then her, and made a quick stabbing motion with the weapon. I'll take him out, you two be quiet.

When the thug neared the machine, the looming alien's arm would wrap over his head and he would vanish out of sight in a blink of a second. His limbs jerked one last time before a blade emerged from his chest, cleanly slicing through armour, bone, and organs before retracting. Shee nodded at Gunny, hoisting his corpse over his shoulder as she vanished into the dark, finding a tucked away corner that would be a perfect spot for her hefty rifle to start taking potshots.

"On your mark." She buzzed over the coms, her weapon configured in its standard designated marksman mode.

Horus would nod before slinging his rifle and making his way to the worker's tunnel with the daur and his iroma boss. Once getting there, he was surprisingly quiet as he worked to removed the rocks blocking there way. With four hands, and his muscle, it was done within a few minutes, the rocks gently set aside out of the way. Peering in, it seemed empty, and at a first look over. He couldn't spot any obvious traps, but decided to step in first, lowering the daur to the floor before doing so. "I'll go in first so if there are any traps, I'll be hit instead, please try and stay safely behind me, and do not move too suddenly."

Tunnel Above

The path was cleared by the brute strength of Horus, Igia was thankful that the man was with them, both gifted as a security officer and weightlifter was quite useful in various situations and this was one of them. Igia moved into the tunnel, need to kneel down and most likely that Horus would need to do so as well. Their little daur would not have any problems with the height of this tunnel "In'anna riddle me this, if the height of this worker tunnel is so slow, is the legend of these people living in Hanya, not be overrated in their summary of how big these people actually were?" She kept her voice down as it wouldn't go to the tunnel as she came to a stop and looked at a machine system with gears and wires and looked where it was going "It is the machinery of the traps or some opening stuff...everything that is happening below us, will have an effect on us upstairs..."

She carefully made the way forward seeing the gears going into the walls and lucky not yet moving. Looking around she taps the side of her ear where her communication plug was "Gunny, whatever you do down there, be very careful as the machinery up here is linked to everything you do down there" Looking behind her "In'anna I need your expertise and better judgment on how old this stuff is?" Looking at Horus "Keep a close eye on your steps big guy, help me move the blocks and if one of the gears start to move...stop it" She was quite serious in that.

Tunnel Below

The bodies were lying shattered around, some didn't expect the iron blades, the spike traps or simple holes in the floor. Whatever the old culture was trying to protect, they went in great length to protect it. However with his buddy not reporting back he started to get worried, he looked at his boss "Boss Dave just went that way to check on the metal chick, but has not returned yet..."

The man looked annoyed back his guard and then at the tunnel where he could see the piece of the machine "You, where is Dave?!" He signals three men to move towards her "Go check it out"

In'anna allowed herself to be placed on the ground once more by the towering Tsumi. as he cleared the path ahead, the small fox inched along, her ears flitting this way and that. While this was going on, Igia spoke, and the Daur xenoarcheologist angled an ear in her direction. It was a good question. Height wise, the tunnel should've been larger, but it was small enough for even her to walk comfortably within. A dainty little hand came up to rest on her chin in a classic thinking pose. Silent, In'anna thought, her lower lip also being chewed whilst mulling a theory over.

"P-P-Per-Perhaps t-they used a s-maller caste?" it was a theory, nothing concrete. Some cultures used at least in part a caste-based system in their early years. And if the supposed 'giants' were more real than myth, it could be safe to assume a smaller counterpart could have worked for their larger brethren, or, a darker twist their masters.

In'anna shook her head furiously as more random theories popped in her mind. This sent her golden hair whipping about and caused the tiny Daur to spare a moment to smooth it out once more. "T-To litt-le i-information..."

Tunnel Below

The mechanical thing had moved down the hallway just a little more briskly after becoming an impromptu fugitive, though their clumsy unfeeling metal feet didn't exactly get them much further than a regular human might have run. The whole place was just covered in warped stone tiles and clumps of random moss and foliage, bathed in shadow and decades of dust.

Frankly, they were terrified. Not just of their captors, but at the casual method in which the serpent-person had so easily split apart Dave's insides. It was one thing to be yelled at, and another to see that performed directly after such a mundane and bland series of questions had been directed at her.

Were they going to do that to her, too, after her purpose was served?

By the time their captors were calling after them, they were only just at the cusp of the obviously trapped stretch of corridor. Body parts and explosive streaks of red made it obvious where some of the murder-holes had already been set off, so they made some quick progress. But after getting about half way, they caught their boot on a vine and simply felt flat on their face with a loud, resounding clatter of metal and cloth.

Winded, an ache in the bones, but not dead yet...

"...M-mhallaich an àite s-seo..."

The scrape of metal, myriad arms dragging the fleshy torso back upright... Legs stuck straight out, they just looked at the walls with a dazed expression, lungs wheezing...

Eyes closed. Left eye could see right through the eyelid. The faint heat from all the parts that had just moved activating these traps was plain as day to them, right through the stone, too. They examined the entire room not just for clues that might allow them to find the intended solutions of the trap, but also where the actual mechanisms lay.

"...Ancient machine. H-him is... older th-than all is us... Will still... be here long after us is... d-dead..."

Was there someone above them?... A kind of funny blur moving around...

Those capitalist-gangsters would be here soon, too, no doubt. Hopefully they'd be too wary of anything not set off yet, to just approach so boldly.

Just needed to read this machine's cues. Learn it's secret language.

How did it think? What did it want?

Upper Tunnel

The team moved forward with some help of the knowledge of both In'anna and Igia looking at the remarkable and yet well-preserved workers shaft. The people must have been small to be able to work inside this tunnel "I agree with you on that keen observation Doctor" Igia replied as she moved her hands over the equipment that was present, it was old, it was remarkably well constructed "But these people were geniuses for their time, this is a find by itself that explains a lot about the Nepleslia culture and how they thought and evolved over the years" She nods to herself and looked at the construction that blocked their path "It seems that it collapsed, Horus could you make it move?" The construction was well caved in, markings aside and above made it clear that it was an emergency solution to possible intruders. But it was not impossible to breach, yet wires and other traps were lurking around.

Below Tunnel

Armed thugs were now indeed gathering at the main location outside the tunnel, moving slowly towards the machine that was seen in the tunnel. Yet everyone else was still concealed. They would have to deal with armed thugs soon enough. It was either being killed by open the amount of force, or flee into the tunnel with deathly traps that the machine was trying to figure out.

Gunny watched the whole thing with some degree of macabre interest. She didn't so much enjoy the gruesome scene as appreciate it for a job well done. It saved her a lot of work and, for the time being, was on her side.

Good.

'Well, so long as that robot thing stays on our side, the traps are on our side.' She looked up in thought. That wasn't quite right. 'Well, something like that.'

She let the men walk down the hall just a little further before giving Seidrainne the go ahead. Rifle at the ready, she'd let the first few bullets catch the men off guard and, when they decided to turn to face the source of their demise, she'd be ready to poke out and take them out before they got any wild ideas like 'shooting back'.

"Take the shot," she said softly into her comm.

Blue-white flashes of light, gusts of whistling wind, and a thug's shoulder exploding into a microcosm of bone fragments, muscle, and shredded meat - in a blink of an eye bodily fluids stained ancient stone as the eel-like predator picked her targets. The damnation winds was made for farther ranges than an indoor corridor shootout. Subsequently, the magnetically accelerated spikes ripped through stone, armour, bone, and flesh alike sending bodies screaming and convulsing to the floor.

It didn't have a particularly high magazine capacity but a mere second after the last round flew, another weapon spun into her grasp. The agriondrah, an off-world compact weapon, immediately picked up the slack with a wild barely restrained spray of blue-white plasma. The air was rank with oxidized air and burning metal. Screams followed but so did angry retaliatory fire. The mag ran dry and Seidreianne fell back into cover, taking the time to quickly reload.

"This is where the fun shit starts." She growled over the coms, blind-firing to try and force them behind cover. A hail rounds answered and she swung back.