Futuristic Transsolar

[BookWyrm]

Despite Adira's apology Vince felt that he was in some way to blame, even if it wasn't either of their faults to begin with. PTSD had a way of making one feel like they weren't in control. Right now though he focused on Adira, her arms around him and the feeling of her heartbeat. It was enough to calm him, and soon enough his tears ceased. "Don't apologize hon.", Vince said as he kissed Adira's neck. "You have done nothing wrong." He let his head rest against Adira's chest for a few moments as he continued to regain his composure. "Sometimes ghosts come back when you least expect them to." Vince slowly reached up with his right hand and laid it across Adira's cheek. A couple of tears fell as he smiled. "You don't understand how amazing it is to feel again, with my own hand."

 

[Dragongal]

Adira smiled and laid her hand over his. "I can imagine." With everything that had happened in the last day and his PTSD triggered too, Vince had to have been having a rough time, but he seemed grateful enough for the arm.After a moment, she moved her hand down to run her fingers lightly over the stitches in his side, ensuring that they weren't bleeding. It had been an eventful day for him. Adira moved her hand back over his again. She was sill a bit on-edge from the incident earlier, but for the most part she had calmed down. "Do you want to tell me what the nightmare was...?"

 

[BookWyrm]

"No." Vince shook his head before laying beside Adira. He pulled her close, wrapped his arm around her as he absentmindedly played with her hair. "I'd rather not think about it." He hated days like this. PTSD flare ups were always a pain in the ass and they made him feel broken. "I just want to forget everything right now." Being vulnerable wasn't an easy thing, yet, here he was opening up to Adira like they had always known each other. Maybe she had come along at the right time? Whatever the reason it felt natural to talk to her, to let her be there for him, and to be there for her. Things just seemed good when he was with her.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira nodded and let him hold her close. He was clearly having a rough time at the moment, and understandably so. In truth she didn't know how to help him except to just be there for him. Her mind wandered a bit to the future, what could happen next, where they could go, if the current relationship was viable out of service. After a short time, she head a blipping noise from her tablet. Not the normal blip, it was a few tones louder, and she knew what it meant. A message from Command. Regretfully she pulled away from Vince and kissed his cheek. "I'll just be a minute." She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and pulled out her tablet from her coat, which she had left near the bed. As she opened the message, she paused. It was from Admiral Ford, the man who had once been her Captain, the man who had told her of her assignment here, and the man who was trying to keep her legal troubles to a minimum. It was a report on her legal case before the Science Division courts....

 

[Anaxial]

Nadanya

​

For a little bit she held her pace, thinking Marshall's request over, and moreso the materials side of it. "The suit could probably hold it yeah, but where would you get a gun like that? It's not like we have gatlings to spare." Unless of course... but no... that couldn't be allowed, could it? Besides it'd be so power expensive, two shots at most but, damn would it be cool. A devilish grin crept up her face just excited from the thought. "We have a spare single plasma cannon for the fighter plabe." Her voice could barely contain her enthusiasm, and as she spoke a few sparks lit in her hair all worked up about the idea. The problem was that it was a spare for a reason, and she couldn't possibly get away with stealing that. So her face grew slightly more serious as she thought her steps over. "If we lay out a decent technical plan we might be able to get it past Cappy. But with you history of the grumps, I doubt that's possible Mister Scruffy. I rooted for you gutting Roboboy, but you went a bit far with the girl." And things didn't usually go far with her, but even to a person used to the wild ways or Arid Harbour Marshall threatening Saundary went a step into the beyond. Even if she was a damn android lover.

Marshall watched the eccentric mechanic babble on, a genuine look of interest glazed over the girl at the mention of a portable plasma cannon that could be attached to the Tin-Can. He opened the pocket on the breast of his shirt and retrieved a packet of cigarettes, emergency smokes he brought along as to not use up all the Earth Cigars before he could pick up more on his return trip home. Popping one of the cigarettes into his mouth he sparked the portable cancer stick before tucking away the utensils like a wasteland surgeon.


"Just get me the pieces." he said winking at the girl and handing a single cigarette to the girl, tucking it in her collar before he left to begin preparations on the Tin-Can. Examining the suit, he powered it on and the joints tensed as the hydraulic and electronic systems sprang to life. Reaching inside the torso Marshall flicked a switch and one of the loader's shoulders opened up, revealing a position for a mobile crane to be installed, Marshall had much bigger plans for the suit.


"Sorry buddy, no pain no gain, right?" Marshall whispered under his breath to the suit before he took the wrench to the securing nuts on the loader's shoulders and pried them loose with little ease. Twelve bolts in total needed to be removed and prying just one of the damn things was difficult enough, it made his scalp itch. Still, he was a man of prodigious determination and wouldn't be beaten by rusted bolts! Taking in a breath he continued his task and before long, the entire assembly on the shoulder had been removed, temporarily exposing the inner mechanics of the Tin-Can to the outside world.


"Let's see what we can do... We're gonna need to make room for the cannon... hook up the power supply... probably gonna need a whole new power node for the thing..." pondering the mysteries of how he would install such a weapon on an old construction mech, Marshall got to the work removing the crane casing and fittings to repurpose them to mount the cannon that could still be similarly hidden by retracting it into the shoulder. It was no easy task.


With the help of Nadanya and some cleverly misplaced parts, it didn't take long for the two to install their homemade shoulder cannon. Rather than sacrifice an entire power-node to power but a few shots, Marshall tinkered with the inner makings of the cannon to reduce it's power significantly and produce a constant stream of energy, rather than a singular bolt. The offset being, an external power node was still installed on the right shoulder of the Tin-Can and gave purchase to what shenanigans had been done. The power node was a backpack sized series of batteries with wires that reached within the Tin-Can's armor and hummed with an electrical whir. Marshall jumped inside the suit, excited to test out the new weapon and flipped the switch, the shoulder raised slowly but surely and eventually had extended almost 4ft into the air. The cannon lowered and centered itself on it's axis, the weapon able to reach 160 degrees in any direction in front of the Tin-Can.


"Well Nadanya, gotta hand it to you... This is some fine work. It's our secret though, I can bluff my way through that power node but not a peep from you to the Captain or her little boyfriend alright?" He seemed playful at first, but the longer he spoke the more menacing and serious his tone grew.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince looked over at Adira curiously. "Hon, what is it?" He slowly dragged himself over to her, an arm snaking around her waist, before he leaned in and kissed her neck. "You know you can talk to me, if you want." Vince wasn't going to pry or even look at the tablet. He knew more than anyone else what it was like to have secrets that other people didn't have to know. If Adira wanted to share with him what was going on she would, otherwise he wasn't going to push. In truth right now he just wanted someone there, to wrap his arms around and to have wrap their arms around him.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira looked over her shoulder to Vince and smiled a bit. "It's nothing. Just...." Adira looked at him for a few seconds while she thought it over. She could trust him. Right? "I got into some legal issues before I was assigned. This was just a report from Admiral Ford about how the.. issues... were in the way of being... sorted out." In a way,the fact that Vince was so close yet she was still reading a message from Command reminded her of the risks they were taking by being together. The thought of his getting killed because of her was slowly weighing her down and filling her with dread. Maybe she really did need to start pushing him away...? She didn't want to, but... she was confused by her own emotions and the thought of getting him killed, it just seemed like it was... too much.

 

[BookWyrm]

"Is it bad news?" Vince looked up, concern written across his raised brow and titled head. "Do we need to forget about the Lullaby and the crew and steal off together? We could find some planet far away from everything and everyone else and build a home. Just you and me, no one else around to bother us. No SIAD, no Space Division, just peace and quiet, unless we are in a rowdy mood." Vince smiled and chuckled before kissing Adira's neck a little slower this time.

 

[Dragongal]

Adira shivered a bit from his kissing, and chuckled at his words. "We couldn't do that. I couldn't do that to my crew. Maybe some day, but not soon. Besides, it's not bad news. Everything's going fine and should be all cleared up by the time we're back in the Harbor." Adira closed up her tablet and set it down, then looked over her shoulder at Vince. She put up a bit of a facade of nonchalance and confidence that she didn't feel. Really all she felt was... hollow, and scared. "Now, you need some rest, soldier boy."

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince laid back in the bed before taking Adira's hand and pulling on it until she laid next to him. Without her around it seemed to take forever to finally fall asleep. Her presence was comforting. Once they had settled down together Vince held his arm out and slowly eased the spike from it's sheath. "It doesn't hurt, it just feels weird." He retracted it before laying his hand against Adira's side. "I don't know what all is going to happen with me from now on, but I can guarantee that it will always be me. I might be some half-breed science experiment, but I'll love you just the same."

 

[InsanEleven]

3487/12/13 13:47:23 SST


Saami's attention was suddenly pulled elsewhere as a red blinking light in the corner of his eye and a beep inside his head indicated an urgent message. Without hesitation he continued to put his helmet on, despite the bruises and being in the middle of a conversation with Saundary.


"The answer will have to wait Miss Etrasmus. I am required elsewhere." Opening the message he realised that it wasn't a false alarm either; the portable server inside the camp had decided to crash, and he could only hope it had happened after his data had synchronised with the main ship. If not he'd have to make up all his previous reports, distance calculations and logistic plans again, and even with his ability to mentally note them down, that wasn't a task he wanted to waste hours on. He hadn't forgotten about Saundary's question in the slightest, but he had no mental resources left to waste on trying to answer it. If he didn't fix this it could very well be that the team was doomed to fail their descent into the vents.

3487/12/17 09:28:51 SST


"Saami to command. The descent was successful, I will proceed to scout ahead for a safe path." Unhooking the quickdraw of the climbing harness he had used to rappel down, he pulled the line twice signalling he was going to remove the weight on it, and that the next one could come down. As he had the advantage of being the lightest, it had been the safest for him to test the lines, as he would put the least strain on them. Leaving a path of nails hammered in the slightly soft, reddish rocks, so the one coming down next had a clear foothold.


Now, with both feet on the ground he continued on the old, weathered path carved into the rocks. Clearly made by an ancient civilisation used to bigger steps than he was; and he was tall as it was. Switching off the safety of his plasma gun just in case he needed to draw it quickly. The stairwell spiralled downwards, weathered away by the waterfall carving into the stone. To overcome this however, he was equipped with fortified climbing rope and titanium pins that had hooks on the top that expanded, so it was incredibly hard to pull them out without detracting those first. Using this he made lines in the wall, allowing for the ones following to climb past the waterfalls.


"The path gets increasingly more eroded. Take extra caution when bringing the inexperienced climbers down." As the air got hotter, the waterfall started to evaporate into a thick, heavy mist that allowed for very little vision. Where first only a small part of the path was eroded, the condense on the walls had caused the staircase to erode equally further down. Making it a very dangerous slip 'n slide of sorts, one which probably ended into a fall to one's death. If his calculations, and those of navigation, were correct, the path would end in large cavern, with a drop of at least half a kilometre [1/3rd mile] down, if not more.

 

[Dragongal]

"Copy. Sending next man down; security team still." They had split the security team so half was ahead of the scientists, and half were behind. Adira was the last of the defense team before the scientists; she was paired with Nadanya as a partner. It was good to have a mechanic in case things broke while they were down in these vents. To the whole crew, she said, "Let's get this done as quickly as possible while being safe." To Nadanya, she said over a private comm, "You are ready for this, correct?"

 

[Anaxial]

Disgruntled at the loss of his beloved Tin-Can, Marshall was further annoyed with being paired with the Alien. Not a man known for his tolerance he was needless to say; not a fan of his non-human companion and yet, while on the job his mind refocused and he once again was in his professional state of mind. Contrary to this mindset however, was Marshall's rather intentionally imposing mask and armor that resembled something more from a deep-space bandit than a man who's payroll was as expensive as his was.


Waiting at the top of the chasm, crouched on one knee as he watched Saami with a bit of revulsion as the INANE descended first. He wouldn't be outdone by some affront to nature. He quickly took up position to descend the chasm, hooking up his harness to the securing hook on the top as he looked up at his compatriot, Rae. The Alien's name tasted sour on his tongue, still a bit in remorse for the loss of likely the only person on the Lullaby who he didn't think would stab him in the back.


"C'mon, rig yourself up. We're going down." Marshall said with a stoic, almost quiet voice compared to his normal boisterous, loud, vocals. Marshall raised a hand to his ear and activated general communications to everyone linked on the team. "This is Marshall, I'm headed down with..." A short pause as he adjusted his harness. "With the Mutt." He said, a hint of his arrogant voice returned for just a moment followed by a quiet snicker. Marshall patiently awaited the alien cohort to harness up and descend together.<p><a href="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2016_05/16375eccac477d97e725206f1ffc3667.jpg.0f017158620c15e30d8eaa8e0df16ae9.jpg" class="ipsAttachLink ipsAttachLink_image"><img data-fileid="127730" src="<fileStore.core_Attachment>/monthly_2016_05/16375eccac477d97e725206f1ffc3667.jpg.0f017158620c15e30d8eaa8e0df16ae9.jpg" class="ipsImage ipsImage_thumbnailed" alt=""></a></p>

 

[Tarmagon]

Rae had finally emerged from her self-imposed exile from the camp proper when a message ping had interrupted the flow of information across her tablet, letting her know that the area was now considered pacified enough for scientific exploration to begin. The assignment of Marshall as her bodyguard was slightly less exciting, though Rae was actually starting to feel a bit sorry for the human. Hours of watching the camera feeds from the ship, more hours spent researching what she could through the public portions of the ship's roster and record, had had given her a better picture of those she was expected to work with. Standing on the edge of the chasm though, seeing the obvious distaste that telegraphed itself even through his armor, Rae hoped that her assessment of Marshall's professionalism was correct.


"He is most likely a misogynist," Rae thought to herself as she carefully checked her harness. "Though secondary assessment indicates a strong leaning towards athazagoraphobia as well, most likely resulting from the humans synthetic and enhanced warriors projects. I do wonder what in his past embittered him so towards himself."


Rae's thoughts were cut off as Marshall addressed her directly.


"C'mon, rig yourself up. We're going down.This is Marshall, I'm headed down with...With the Mutt."


A quick search through her storage cells gave Rae the meaning of the word Marshall had assigned to her in his mind. Interesting.


"Mutt..." Rae said quietly over the private channel she and Marshall had been assigned. "A canine of mixed pedigree, also a person considered incompetent or exceptionally stupid. Very well, based upon the first possible usage, I accept your designation. If you wish to apply the second definition, I suggest that you wait until we have undergone further interactions before rendering your judgement."


Without waiting for Marshall's reply, Rae strode over and clipped her harness onto the line just behind Marshall's. Making a 'go ahead' gesture at the figure with the stylized skull helmet, she keyed her general broadcast circuit.


"The Mutt and her Meatshield are standing by for descent."

 

[InsanEleven]

Nadanya



​

"Uncomfortable harness, check. Old boring ruins, check. Filthy slimy walls, double check. I'd envisioned the girl's night out differently, but this'll do." Nadanya said slightly miffed while watching team Mutt and Meatshield go down first. She'd already seen enough of this planet the moment she spotted bugs. Creepy... crawly bugs... it made her shiver even now they were gone. And not quite sure what to find below, she just kept her automatic lasergun on kill. Mostly she was dealing with her fear by swinging into the opposite direction of having the desire to run away; which was to utterly annihilate everything scary. "Lets hope that whatever people lived down there didn't leave some tripwires and traps on the ready. Anyhow, I won't get much readier from waiting anyway, and I don't feel like making this a freaking camping trip."

Saami

​

With a well aimed shot, the hook dug into the pillar hanging down on the other side of the path. Erosion had finally gotten the best of this place, and there weren't any ways to get lower safely as far as he could see, which wasn't very far considering the mist hanging around. Even switching to high contrast and long distance didn't allow for his sight to pierce through it. So he just went with plan A; carefully he walked down the line, balancing himself on it until he reached the exact middle. Shooting two more lines up and slightly sideways into the pillars a level higher, then securing them all tightly to the line with fortified clips. "Saami to command. The path stops about 300 metres down, 80 of which are past the approximate ceiling of the cavern. I will attempt to determine the exact distance and rappel down, stand by for further information."


Hanging from the line with his quickdraw, he took out a special rope meant for rappelling down high cliffs and mountains, which was infused with special materials so it could be long yet thin and lightweight. Every 10 metres there was a metal cylinder attached to the rope so one could never accidentally release and fall down further than that. In total the length of the rope was 500 metres, and at the end there was a special noise device attached that would make a loud sound when it hit the ground. Throwing down the line, he timed how long it took for the sound to reach him, allowing him to calculate the exact distance to the ground. "At the end of the path there is a drop of exactly 441.6 metres, until a moderately hard to hard surface is reached. I will report my sightings when at the bottom." With that he started the long way down, a little distance at a time.

 

[Spazzycat101]

3487/12/17 08:46:24 SST


Lydia was absolutely gleeful that she had been brought down on a mission, finally, even if she hadn't been given access to much other than whatever was necessary for research. She was a bit bitter about not being allowed her two go-to weapons, and was very, very aware of the pistols' absence. She had to count on other people to spare at least one creature from complete vaporization.


Those things didn't weight down her excitement about being back down on actual ground, though. Before she had been summoned by the ping! of her tablet, Lydia was resigned to her tent, watching the tablet out of the corner of her eye like it was a creature that would suddenly hug her or hurt her. Between anxiously glances at the machine, the biologist idled or bothered herself with small, menial, boring things. She tidied this, then organized that. Then she did it again, in a different way. No single task lasted more than one-hundred twenty seconds.


A while later, when the alert flashed and the screen came to life, she was already prepared, and out of the tent like lightning.


3487/12/17 09:30:47 SST


In her armour (which was a mix-and-match of the armour she brought and that which was provided, with the cloak belonging to the latter hiding her decent but not masterful work. She liked the cloak.), Lydia was out to join the others by the chasm into which they would travel. But right now, they were waiting. Again. After a moment of anxious indescicion over a really pointless thing, she sat on the ground, removed from everyone by a few meters, with her helmet in her lap and the supplies she was allowed beside her. Lydia was watching the edge of the rift, her eyes tracing its edge back and forth, and subconsciously biting her lip. The possibility that there was something down there to dissect outweighed her vague interest in dissecting any of the others that made up the Lullabye's crew, fortunately. After all, the former was her job. The latter was only an afterthought that she'd entertain at times.

 

[BookWyrm]

Vince stood beside Lydia, his arms crossed as he stared down into the chasm. He'd much rather be rappelling down by this point, but regulations and all that shit seemed to be keeping the fun away today. Between waking and now Vince had a chance to modify his armor just enough to cover his arm, making it look like nothing had happened the previous day. The only people that knew about the new appendage were Doc, Adira, and the medical staff that were sworn or scared into silence. "Keep your head down there." Vince said as he looked over to Lydia. "I'd much rather not drag you from some alien's maw today. But, good news is I'm paid to do that, so if you get into trouble, take comfort in knowing you should live to see another day."

 

[Tarmagon]

Rae followed Marshall over the edge smoothly, taking care to set her feet firmly as they descended to the wide staircase below.


"Off belay, " she transmitted as they unhooked and began to follow the wide stairs down. Rae was careful to watch behind them as they descended, trusting Marshall to cover the area ahead of them for threats. As her eyes roved over their back trail, Rae began to notice little details about the stairs they were traveling down and keyed her recorder.


"The treads are significantly wider than a biped finds comfortable. The race that carved them was most likely quadrupedal, possibly even hexapedal. Given the shallowness of the tread , hexapedal is more likely. Regular patterns indicate a knowledge of higher mathematical concepts, possibly geometry..."


Rae's commentary was interrupted by the need to begin holding on to the safety lines, what was his name? Saami. Yes, Saami had rigged as the stairs deteriorated under the effects of a waterfall. Rae spared a single glance down into the deep chamber Saami appeared to be dropping into with the aid of an impressive anchor and line rig, then returned her attention to their back trail.


"We have eyes on Saami," she transmitted. "He appears to be descending without difficulty. Awaiting next team. "

 

[Dragongal]

Adira was next to hook up. She cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders, then looked at Nadanya. "Well, the time has come then, lucky you. Hook up and we'll descend." There was significant temptation to ask if the mechanic had done this before, but Adira was aware of the woman's temper and decided that it wasn't worth her time to ask. She checked everyone else's positions, then looked up at Nadanya again expectantly.

 

[InsanEleven]

Nadanya

​

Trying to shake some looseness into her, Nadanya first jumped up and down, then took three deep breaths preparing for the descent. Then followed Adira's example and hooked the harness up to the lines. As soon as she hung in them the complaining started. "Goddamit this thing sucks, of all the stupid gear they gave us, none of those 'professionals' thought of giving us a harness that doesn't pinch your crotch. Imma file a request for that first thing we're back." Soon however, she was too focussed on scaling down the wall to really have much time to complain more. And on slippery stairs, none could afford impatience, meaning her temper was at least slightly controlled by trying not to fall.

 

[InsanEleven]

Saami

​

Scaling down went relatively quick and easy, as much as being suspended in mid-air ever was 'easy'. Eventually the mist cleared up, but not before seemingly half of it had condensed on his armour and the lines, and he could see the water run down the ropes and drip from plates of his armour with every move. When he finally could see, he took a moment to take everything in, mostly to look for potential dangers and for documentation, yet even he couldn't deny that a little of it was also in marvel.


Under a ceiling of red lace embers in dark coal, lighted by stationary suns of burning gas, stretched a golden desert. Huge pillars holding up the sky, resembling a forest of giants made from stone and fire. In this desert rose large geometrical spires, of a now dead hive civilisation. Swirling stairs and pathways hugging the structures made from numerous hexagons. It was oddly symmetrical, yet never rigid, more like it had been build like a giant living organism. Just as fascinating as it was eerie.


In the centre of it all was a building meant specifically to store water, large pincer like towers raising up to make sure the water flowed down into the six sides basin below. When he passed them, he noticed they were hollow inside, and a cool wind was flowing from them, meant to condense the water.


"Saami to command; sharing images of the site now. I will secure the initial perimeter and wait for your arrival." With that his little sightseeing detour was over, and he went back to rappelling down, still having two thirds of the way to go. He could only hope the inside was as dead as the outside appeared, not knowing what monstrosities might still be fed and stored deep in those tunnels.

 

[Dragongal]

"After a few tries you figure out how to put on your harness so it doesn't hurt," Adira commented to Nadanya. They were behind Marshall and "Mutt", still working on the slick stairs. When she could, Adira made certain to look around the cavern; it was an interesting place, to be certain. When Saami sent the images, Adira paused and switched her comms so she could speak to Saami. "Images received. Anything living spotted?" If they were going to fight, she wanted to be ready. Only one hand was really needed for descent, and Adira was ambidextrous with her gun, though she could only work her photon blade in her right hand.

 

[SSgt Goodrich]

Atop the cavern, gazing down into the abyss, a duo of doctors stood aside the rappel rope that carried their comrades toward the bottom. One doctor, his profession hardly recognizable in the sleek, matte armor, gave a glance to the other and motioned toward the rope. The voice that followed the motion contrasted the sleek movement, a voice hard and coarse from tobacco and age. "Quite the drop, Doc! I hardly think our services will do anything if anyone stumbles and slips, don't ya think?" Jericho, the man suited in an assortment of gadgets and gizmos, smiled at the senior doctor before he polarized his visor. He bore his vision onto the rift they would soon brave, and his body shivered with excitement. With a kick, servos whirring to power the action, he witnessed a rock tumble into the pit. Like Peter falling to Hell, he imagined the rock yelling and screaming in its descent, doomed to a death much worse than by bedside. His smile disappeared. Subconsciously, he was glad she couldn't see his face anymore, his frown hidden behind the ocean blue visor�—empty, endless, and deeper than the sunken eyes of his body. "I hope they are careful down there." Despite his best efforts to conceal it, his compassion leaked from her headset's speakers as he dragged on the last "r" of his sentence. He had caught himself, but too late, for now in the private communications with Chrice, she knew of his worry. Sighing at his incompetence, he toughened his voice and spoke again, knowing exactly how to hide his compassion. "If not, it would mean I'd have to scrap their mess off the cavern floor. And hell to whoever thinks I will do that without pay."extra pay."


Safe again.

 

[Anaxial]

Soon hitting the ground below, Marshall whipped around and raised his Keltor Pistol to a readied stance. The bulky pistol had made short work of the Insects earlier, he figured it'd tackle anything else that this planet had to throw at them. Naturally, as the Security team member Marshall went first, moving slowly and ignoring most of what would otherwise be quite a sight to see. He kept his eyes on dark crevices and kept his ears open for the sound of skittering feet. Though as he listened to Rae he couldn't help but take notice of her observations, before his fall Marshall had earned somewhat of a accolade for his prehistoric study and archaeological thesis. He averted his eyes from the ceiling for only moment to take in the sights and quietly nodded at the alien's predictions of who crafted the stairs.


"The stone work is too good to be a neolithic culture. It's underground, the supports are complex and simple at the same time, just like at the other site." Marshall butted in, looking over his shoulder at the alien. He gave a bit a shrug and relaxed his firearm. "Probably an early Iron Age civilization of subterranean Arthropods." Marshall stood proudly over the smart words that came out of his mouth, sometimes it was nice to say things other than vulgarities and threats.

 

[Dragongal]

Having heard Marshall's words, Adira smiled and switched her comm over to speak to Vince. "See? Take away the alcohol and give him a job, and he's actually not incredibly stupid." She chuckled a bit and focused again on getting to the ground. Once she and Nadanya were down and unhooked, she sent up a message to send the next pair. Now her focus was on the terrain around them. It would be easy enough to hide any creature about this cavern, but at least there was light, which provided an advantage. Marshall had seemingy already checked the perimeter, so Adira wasn't very worried. She kept a hand on her phaser while she looked around at the terrain at the bottom of the stairs. It would be a bit of time before they could get to the actual ground, but this wasn't bad. Feeling rather bored, Adira sat down with her legs hanging over the edge. If she fell and couldn't catch herself, she was dead, no doubt, but she thought her perch was a rather nice place to look out on this newly found area while they waited.