Crimson Canines (Complete!)

[Musical Dragon]

Evie was a bit surprised at the ship waiting for them in Hangar 51 - or more specifically, the decal on the ship, which looked like one of those awkward tattoos Earth men used to get. She made no comment of it, especially after Komodo introduced her to the pilot of ship, Pequod. He was a big man, and definitely not someone she wanted to pick a fight with.


"Nice to meet you, Pequod," Evie replied with a smile. "Your ship's design is most ... unique," she finished, struggling to find the words to describe it.


She was saved from forcing any more conversation by the entrance of a man she'd met the day before. Tom? Bob? Chris? Some common Earth name back in the day.


"Nice to see you again," she said to the man, avoiding using his name. Better safe than sorry. "I don't think Sergeant Artemis is joining us," Evie added in response to his question. From what she'd heard the day before, Artemis' wounds would take time to heal.


@Zer0 @CkSmalling

 

[Zer0]

"Yeah," affirmed Komodo Rhino, "she hasn't even woken up yet. They applied the anti-venom already though."


There was a bark and The Boss came striding towards the hovercraft with a dog that looked like a wolf at his heels. Komodo Rhino and Pequod immediately snapped to a salute.


"Boss!" they greeted in unison.

"At ease." said The Boss in a gravelly smoky voice. He looked like he had recently come from a mission himself. "This is Crimson," he nodded at the wolf-dog who wore an eye-patch just like him, "he'll help you look for survivors."


Crimson wore a military vest equipped with a helmet. Strapped to his side was a combat knife with a handle made to fit a canine mouth and what looked like a fulton-extraction device just like what Artemis had. "Go to Evie." said The Boss.


Crimson wagged his tail and sat in front of Evie, his tongue lolling, looking up as though expecting orders.


"He's fully trained." The Boss told Evie. "You can call him by whistling. He can bark to distract enemies, kill them or injure them. This extraction device has been modified for underwater, when you find a survivor, attach this to them and they will be encased in a cocoon. Take them outside into the ocean and then pull the red string, they'll immediately float up and Amber Fox will take care of the rest."


With that, The Boss turned to leave, but Pequod suddenly said, "Boss, train with me, how 'bout it?"


The Boss looked at him. A second later Pequod was slammed into the floor after a rapid five-hit combo. Pequod stood up gingerly and saluted. "Thank you, Boss!"


After The Boss left and all the members had assembled, the twin blades of the hovercraft whirred as Pequod prepared to depart.


"Let's hussle everyone!" said Komodo Rhino boarding the transport. When the last man had strapped in, the hover door was shut.


"Departing!" said Pequod. And the hovercraft launched out of the Crimson Canines mother base and flew east to the direction of the Taura Ocean.


@Musical Dragon

 

[Zer0]

The sun had not yet risen when the hovercraft landed fours hour later on a strip of beach where there were mounds and mounds of scavenged scrap metal.


Mechas as tall as sky scrapers thundered to shore dragging wrecked machines and bits of the Amber Fox base.

A Japanese officer in a sleek blue combat suit was waiting for them when they stepped out of the hovercraft.


"Good morning!" he said in a Japanese accent, bowing slightly. "I am Colonel Maki Akira."


"Private Komodo Rhino, mission leader" he bowed stiffly in return. "These are my squad mates." he gestured at the others.


They followed Colonel Maki to a gargantuan grey gunship at the outskirts of the scrap mounds where inside the cargo bay, six other Japanese soldiers wearing the same suit were gathered around a table and looking at what seemed to be a holographic image of the Amber Fox base.


The Japanese soldiers looked up when they saw the newcomers. One of them, a teenager with white hair in a ponytail scoffed when they saw Crimson tagging behind them and then muttered something in nihongo to one of his team members who gave him a look that told him to keep quiet.


"These are the soldiers from Crimson Canines." said the colonel in a slightly raised voice, giving a steely look at the pony-tailed soldier. "They will be assisting us in looking for survivors."


The soldiers introduced themselves as Sandai, Kitetsu, Sora, Sai, Hikaru, and the white-haired soldier, Izaya.


"You will each enter a pod with one of the Amber Fox soldiers that will be shot down into the ocean depths from our gun ship. Once you hit sand, you will make your way to the Amber Fox Base, spread out, and then look for survivors. I'm sure you were told that one of the sea serpents is still wrapped around the base, so you must be quick.


Sora here is our mission leader, he will guide you to HQ safely. Any questions?"

 

[Soviet Panda]

'Thank god I'm not jumping out of you this time' Connor thought to himself as he strapped in. If they were going to fall out of the sky, he wasn't going to be able to leave his seat whether he wanted to or not. And at least there was a dog here, a somewhat intimidating dog, it looked part wolf and was wearing an eye patch for god's sake, but a dog none the less. And when the arrived at their destination, he followed his squad silently.


When the question of if there were any questions arose, he did have one. "Yeah, what if that sleeping leviathan moves around? We got any plans to get out or kill it if it decides to do anything aside from laying there?"

 

[Musical Dragon]

"Hey there, Crimson," Evie said softly, holding out her hand for the dog to smell before she scratched him between the ears. Crimson wagged his tail in happiness, sealing their friendship. Evie barely paid attention to the Boss, only managing a small "Thank you, sir," as she pet Crimson. The trip was spent with Crimson's solid weight against her leg, calming her nerves. She could already tell Crimson was very well trained and seemed attentive to the others around him.


When they finally landed, Evie whistled Crimson to her side, hanging back as the others talked. Both she and the dog were alert, taking in their surrounding and the mission ahead. While Evie didn't look forward to entering the dark water, she knew it was important for them to save whoever they could. Plus, she'd love to catch a glimpse of the sea serpent - preferably unobserved from a safe distance.

 

[Zer0]

"You'll all be wearing wireless propulsion gear as an add-on to your suit," the colonel replied to Connor tapping the darker blue parts of his sleek suit, "this comes with a manual floating device-" he placed a hand on a loose protrusion on his left shoulder plate, "-that you pull underwater. This will encase you in a cocoon that will float you up to the surface.


"As for the serpent, if there's time, we plan to destroy the gravity induction reactor in the Power Room. Izaya here has that job." the white haired teenager looked at them all haughtily. "But if the situation becomes too dangerous, or if the power room cannot be accessed then you are to return to the surface."


@Beowulf

 

[Zer0]

The Amber Fox soldiers helped the squad into the propulsion gear.


"Usually the propulsion gear interface is also installed in the suit," said Sai, "but you Crimson Canines don't have AIs in your suits."


"Is it true that you use the human brains of dead people for your AIs?" asked Komodo Rhino, putting on a sleek blue robotic glove which stretched and fitted itself snugly in his hand.


"Yes." said Sai. "It's a superconducting nano-assemblage process called Cognitive Impression Modeling." she began to explain as though they were in school. "Instead of simply "programming" a smart AI, the AI matrix is created by sending electric bursts through the neural pathways of a human brain."


"Er-in english please." said Komodo Rhino.


"It allows them to exhibit intelligence similar to a sentient being." said Sai simply. "Say, hi, Siri." she said to no one in particular.


"Hello, Komodo." said a new female voice from Sai's helmet. A holographic image of a woman appeared from the helmet. "I'm, Siri, nice to meet you." said the AI in fluent English and bowed.

"Whoa . . ." said Komodo, impressed. How he wished the U.S. had this kind of technology for their soldiers too, but these AIs were expensive and were only installed in high class military space crafts. They say that an AI runs the Crimson Canines base too, but he's never seen it nor heard it speak.


They were led to a large room where there were translucent white pods shaped like old-earth bullets lying down on what looked like a giant firing mechanism.


"Pick your partners." said the colonel. The pods opened to reveal a very minimalistic simple control panel and a cramped space with a soft surface where two people could lie on their bellies. The Japanese stepped inside a pod each, started it up, and waited for the Crimson Canines to join them.


Crimson wagged his tail and went inside the pod Evie chose. He was small enough to fit in a pod for two, though a bit tightly.

 

[Musical Dragon]

"Amazing!" Evie whispered as the AI appeared. It was similar to Fitz back at her apartment, but made for independent thought. Evie knew it was an extremely efficient tool for the suits. If only our base could afford it!


Now fitted with the propulsion suit, Evie followed the team into the next room, choosing a pod at random. She smiled through her suit at her new partner, whistling Crimson to her side.


"I'm Evie Griffin," she said as they squeezed into the transport. "And this is Crimson. I hope you don't mind dogs." As she lay on the cushion, Crimson wiggled his way up until he lay between them, looking pleased with himself. "You behave yourself, Crimson," Evie scolded, prefering to focus on the dog she knew couldn't really understand her than her nerves, which had reached an all new high.


@Zer0

 

[Zer0]

"Hey." smiled the only other girl in the Amber Fox squad at Evie. "My name is Hikaru, and I love dogs!" she said, affectionately petting Crimson who laid his head on Evie's back. "Here, strap yourself in."


They felt the floor reverberate as the gargantuan space craft began to move.


"Synchronize mission clocks and communication frequencies." said Colonel Maki. "Initiate deployment." The translucent pods closed and internal lights automatically turned on. The pods descended slowly down into a dark chamber each. Hikaru spoke in rapid Japanese at her AI, who was apparently male and then laughed about something. "My AI, Aki, feels shy around you." she told Evie.


"Baka! Damare, Hikaru . . ." said Aki in a low voice from the helmet.


The pods came to a halt. And then there was a loud sound as something metal and heavy clunked in place. The colonel's voice spoke from all around the pod. "Firing pods in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . ."


FWOOP


It was like being flung down by a giant. It was over in three seconds. They glimpsed sky-then dark water-then a soft thud as the pods were embedded in the deep ocean sand.


At first it was dark, but as their eyes adjusted in the dim light, they saw through the pods' translucent walls that they were near a coral reef. The sound of escaping air spiked as some metal casings detached from the pods and fins, a tail, and a pair of streamlined robotic arms stretched out from the sides. Sora's voice spoke something Japanese into the pod and Hikaru replied in turn. A blank hologram echo grid appeared where five green dots blinked to life and an orange one blinked at the edge of the hologram.


"We are three kilometers from the orange dot, that is the base." said Sora's voice. "Crimson Canines, download the HQ map from the pod. Amber Fox, rendezvous to my position. Let's go."

 

[thespacekid]

Izaya caught Vikram's eye first, out of all the Japanese. The haughty young man stood out among the rest of the polite and businesslike Japanese. He has an agenda, Vikram thought. I'll have to keep an eye on him. He had the most important job of all, and if anyone, Izaya would take him to what he needed.


He got into the same pod as Izaya, and the teenager's discomfort was visible. Neither said a word as the pod descended, and a tense silence filled the already cramped pod. Both almost heaved a sigh of relief as the pod opened up, and they entered the ocean.

 

[CkSmalling]

Robert approached a Japanese man and extended his arm towards him. "My name is Robert King. The Crimson Canine's elite Sniper. I will be boarding a pod with you if you don't mind." They shake hands and he continued to adjust his suit to fit in comfortably.


"My name is Sandai and i will be your pilot for this journey to the abyss. Lets keep each other covered alright?"


"You have my back and i will have yours." They enter the pod and after a few seconds they enter the big blue sea. He took out his trusted notebook and began jotting down information on what he is seeing around him.

 

[Musical Dragon]

"Nice to meet you, Hikaru," Evie replied, doing as she was told and strapping herself in. She couldn't exchange any other pleasantries, nor respond to Hikaru's explanation of Aki, as her stomach felt like it was about to come out her mouth. Just keep breathing... It wasn't that she was afraid of anything in particular ahead of them, but put together it was enough to make Evie sick. Whatever you do, don't throw up, she ordered herself, but the challenge only increased as the pod suddenly shot down, making Evie's stomach drop. There's no backing out now...


As her eyes adjusted and her stomach returned to its normal position, Evie angled her head to look outside the pod. It was breath-takingly beautiful and thankfully distracted Evie from her nerves. It's stunning down here!


When the order came to download the map, Evie removed a chip from the side of her helmet and inserted it into the controls. A light flashed on the end and she removed it, placing it back in helmet. The map flashed for a moment on her display, confirming that the download was complete.


That finished, she checked on Crimson before giving Hikaru the thumbs-up. "We're ready when you are!"


@Zer0

 

[Zer0]

For the next hour, the six pods swam across the ocean bottom smoothly like real fishes. The Crimson Canines used propelled hydrodynamic submersibles for their deep sea missions, so the the small pods with their robotic fins and tails were new to Komodo Rhino. His partner, Sai, explained to him that the pods mimic the thunniform locomotion of sharks and dolphins. The undulating flexing motions conserves energy hence, the Japanese can build cheap, light, fast underwater exploration pods that last longer than the armored underwater crafts of the U.S.

They swam past giant bioluminescent corals ("No, those aren't corals, they're jellyfishes in the budding polyp stage." said Sai correcting Komodo Rhino, amused, as though it was supposed to be obvious), a trench full of giant clams and black gargantuan things in the murky shadows with slimy tentacles, until finally the trench opened up to a vast flat bed of sand where the team had their first glance of the serpent.

"This way . . ." said Sora through their comms. "Keep out of sight . . ."


They sneaked their way around its head, turned a corner, then beheld the Amber Fox base wrapped in the coils of the titanic monster. The structure was in pieces. One large half was tilting sideways, while everything else was a jagged wreck. The serpent was coiled around a segment that looked like the main tower decks with a control bridge and the main reactor at the bottom.

"Spread out." said Sora. The pods split into two groups. The pods with Komod Rhino, Vikram, Robert, and Evie headed for the segment in the serpent's coils, while the rest went to the large half that was tilted sideways. They dived down and entered through a hole in the bottom and then resurfaced into open air. Apparently, air was trapped inside this part of the structure. The pods opened, and the Amber Fox stepped out into the wet dripping floor. They pulled out gun blades that were imbeded in the spine of their suits.

​

 

[Zer0]

"We're in the power core level." said Sora checking his mini-map. "Let's sweep this whole floor and once everyone has given the all clear, make your way to the next level. We'll slowly make our way up until we reach the control room. We'll save the destruction of the power core last."


"No explosives, everyone," said Komodo Rhino, "and be careful when opening doors, it could be flooded on the other side."


An Amber Fox soldier accompanied each Crimson Canine since they were the ones who knew the way best. Though they had a map, the wrecked structure made it a bit hard to get their bearings straight.


Sora and Komodo Rhino went west through a descending partially flooded hallway, their helmet lights lighting the way forward in the humid darkness, while Izaya went ahead through a door that opened to a pitch-black hallway in the east without waiting for anyone.

(OOC: Pretend these hallways are dark. These are the following areas in ascending order: Power Core Level, Tower Decks 1-6, and the Control Bridge. Feel free to write up your own descriptions of the base and even a monster fight if you wish, except for the giant serpent.


For the newcomers, this RP has a cause and effect system where the GM gives descriptions or instructions through NPCs that when ignored or acted out has an effect. For example, "No explosives", if you do use an explosive, it will cause flooding, collapse, or even cause the serpent to move.


In monster fights that the GM initiates, the GM controls the monsters. Monsters have descriptions too that hint at their power and abilities)

 

[thespacekid]

"I'll stay with Izaya, okay?" Vikram directed his comms system to Komodo Rhino. He looked at the dark hallway tensely, pulled out his swords, and entered.


As he stepped inside the darkness engulfed him, lit up only by strips of emergency lighting on the roof. Vikram tried to walk as quietly as possible, on his tiptoes so as not to make any loud noises. There, ahead in the darkness he thought he spotted Izaya sneaking around. Suddenly the silence was broken loudly by the sound of metal clanking against metal as Vikram slipped and fell onto his elbows, his nose almost touching the ocean grime responsible for making him slip. He heaved a sigh of relief and looked up, right into the barrel of Izaya's gun. "What do you think you're doing here?"

 

[Musical Dragon]

The trip was uneventful, but kept Evie throughly entertained. Everything felt new so far in the ocean, reminiscent of the old Earth tale 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - complete with giant sea creatures. Evie took the time to sketch a few drawings of all the life in the darkened waters. Crimson kept quiet, panting slightly and slobbering onto her suit, which was luckily water-proof.


"Amazing, isn't it?" Evie said happily, starting on another sketch of the jellyfish. But at the sight of the sea serpent, she fell silent. It was larger than she could have ever dreamed, barely visible in the distance.


As they drew closer, Evie felt a shiver run down her spine. One wrong move from that creature could crush the base. And we're supposed to go in there? Evie thought, her stomach clenching.


Her nerves only got worse as they entered the base. It was dark and the air was cold, but breathable - for now.


"Shall we?" Evie asked Hikaru hesitantly, her teeth chattering. She attached a leash to Crimson, worried that they'd lose the dog in the dark, despite the dog's training. Crimson sniffed the air carefully before choosing a corridor and tugging Evie gently in that direction.


"I guess we let Crimson take the lead." Flicking her flashlight on, Evie followed the dog down the hallway, which was partly caved in and dripping, much to her discomfort. Please don't collapse, Evie silently begged the ceiling.

 

[thespacekid]

Vikram gazed back at Izaya, holding his stare as he stood up, brushing off his suit. "You were also quiet so I thought there might be something up ahead. I was just trying to catch up with you." Izaya glared at him for a bit more before shrugging and turning away. "Don't become a deadweight." He said and started walking quietly ahead, Vikram following behind closely, looking around at the desolate halls.

 

[Zer0]

Izaya entered the Power Core room, gun blade at the ready. It was lit up, with pipes leaking gas and fluid. The room was partially submerged and tilted down. There was a corpse near some controls and in the center underneath was the fusion reactor, red hot and steaming.

"Clear." said Izaya briskly, after swiftly searching the area. He nudged the corpse aside and manned the controls. It was in Japanese, but status bars in red showed that the reactor was unstable. He spoke to Sora through the comms and they had a quick conversation in Japanese.


"Squad," came Sora's voice. "Skip the floors and check the bunkers and living areas, we now only have an estimated two hours to search the base. The fusion reactor is overheating, this means we might have to leave at a moment's notice. Don't go in too deep where there aren't any quick escape routes. Izaya will be giving us updates on the reactor."


"We need to cool it down." Izaya told Vikram. "The emergency cooling system is jammed so we have to do this manually." he spoke to someone in Japanese, and a new male voice answered back from his helmet. Izaya took out an industrial grade laser cutter and pulled out a link cable from his palm, then offered both to Vikram. "I can't leave the controls, so you'll have to do this with my AI, Tama. He'll show you the way and tell you where to go."


@thespacekid

***

​

"I think you should take the leash off, Evie." suggested Hikaru looking at Crimson who was energetically sniffing at a door. "You won't be able to use your rifle that way and it might snag on things when you release him."


Hikaru tapped the door and listened for a while. "No water." she said. She bent down, took out a kit with small tools and hacked the door open after a minute.


Crimson gave a bark and their helmet flashlights revealed a dark common room.

Water was leaking in slowly, and there were hardly any lights. The walls were moving in a steady rhythm and there was a loud dull drum-beat sound that accompanied it as though the serpent's heart was right on the other side of the wall.


There was someone alive in a corner, but there was an odd stone-monster-troglobite-thing that had its tube-like tentacles stuck inside the person's body.

@Musical Dragon

 

[CkSmalling]

Robert downloads the map data from the pod and exited it. He followed the rest,slowly unsure of what are his orders."I feel like dead weight if you ask me." He said forgetting the comms were still on. "Sorry about that i accidentally thought out loud." He felt embarrassed but still moved on.


They reached the comms room and after being told who will do what, he stayed at the entrance of the reactor core pretending to keep an eye out for potential dangers. "Ummmm Komodo, i am patiently waiting on orders on what do to. My trigger finger is getting really numb from missing some action."


@Zer0

 

[Zer0]

"Search for survivors." answered Komodo Rhino. "Weren't you with Sandai-san? He's up searching on tower deck one with Sai-san. You can also join me and Sora-san in tower deck six. Evie and Hikaru are up in a barracks at tower deck three. Izaya-san and Vikram are there in the power core room too. Maybe you can help them with something?"


@CkSmalling

 

[Soviet Panda]

"I don't like any of this." Connor said quietly to himself as he walked through the dark corridors with his guide, the only light being from their helmet lights. None of this felt right, them being in a base with a giant serpent wrapped around it. And if they didn't kill it with the explosion, then they'll have a very pissed off, and still large, sea beast to deal with as they try to get the hell out of the base. The survivors were another story. They were deep, very deep. It would take time for them to float to the surface, and the currents would push them around as they ascended. So who knew where they would pop up, or if they would even pop up. A lot of things had teeth and weren't afraid of trying something that wasn't on the menu.

 

[Musical Dragon]

"I suppose you're right," Evie said, releasing Crimson and tightening her grip on her gun. "Stay close, Crimson."


Hikaru tested the first closed door they came to before hacking it open. Evie entered cautiously, searching the room for survivors. "Hello?" she called softly. The room was collapsing at a frightening pace, and a loud pounding came from outside, as if from an engine. Or a giant sea serpent.


Suddenly Evie was hit with a terrible smell, and her light fell on a scene not unlike a few horror movies she'd seen. What is that? "Are they still alive?" she asked Hikaru, swallowing back bile. Evie wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.


@Zer0

 

[CkSmalling]

"Oh yea. Guess i will head towards the tower to offer support. Sorry my head is not in the game this time, i will battle with my emotions until this is over. " Robert said as he hung his head in disappointment.


"Sandai send me a direct route towards your location. I may have wondered away abit. " He said heading towards the towers. A blue line lit up the mini-map and he examined it closely, taking note of any entrances and exits he can use.


"Meet us up in the next 10 minutes. We will wait for you." Sandai replied.


"Thanks for the patience. I will join you in a few." Robert said finally as he took out his Widow Maker and it emitted a whitish glow. The lamps in his head went into full beam as he walked towards the towers, the blue line in the minimap as his guide.

 

[thespacekid]

"Um, I have no idea how to go about this." Vikram said as he took the laser cutter and link cable.


"Don't worry, that's why I'm here!" A new voice flashed up on his comms screen, a transmission from the Japanese AI Tama. For someone like Izaya, Tama almost seemed a bit too cheerful. Oh man, now I have one more eye watching me. How am I ever going to sneak out?





Vikram fidgeted with the cutter for a while, then decided. "Okay, tell me what to do. I'll follow your instructions. Where's the cooling mechanism?"


He hesitated for a second before racing off. "Oh, also, can you see what I see, Tama?"

 

[Zer0]

"Nope, I cannot." said Tama cheerfully.


Izaya removed something small that was mounted on his shoulder. It was a camera. Without waiting for permission he squirted some sort of foam on Vikram's helmet and slapped the camera there. The foam hardened and the camera was stuck in place. It had a link cable on one end, this he inserted into the port Vikram used earlier to download Tama.


"Don't get the port wet." said Izaya, putting his helmet back on. "Or the camera will stop working. You only have a basic fragment clone of Tama, but it's still a part of him. When we get back to the surface, he needs to upload his clone back to my suit."


The camera on Vikram's helmet extended forward, pivoted so that it was facing back, then moved up and down without Vikram's control. "Camera functional." said Tama in their comms. "This way!"


An orange dot appeared in Vikram's minimap, it seemed the AI had hacked into his suit. It led to a hatch where there was a long ladder going down. The hatch opened up to a dim tunnel lit by red emergency lights. A fifteen minutes into the tunnel, your character, @thespacekid, sees a survivor walking aimlessly ahead and a body beside it.