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>>31019
A fifth loud, metal clank behind you alerts you to another lock on the surprisingly small door you had to duck under to get into the city. To your right, Sya'ra stares curiously at the small door, scratching her head. Up above, three turrets accompanied by too many spotlights were all pointed at you.

“Talk about over-security,” Sya'ra mutters, eyeing all the defences. Ley'ra's looking in the opposite direction, scanning the streets at the intersection you were at.

“It was necessary, believe me,” Faulka says beside her. “This area used to be a bloodbath in the first few months while we were establishing this base.”

“How do you deploy vehicles and stuff?” you ask, clutching your rifle nervously in your hands. The barrels on those turrets overhead have calibres larger than your thumbs. “This is a bit... secure, for an eye of the needle.”

“We have a garage on the other side of the base, actually,” answers Faulka as she turns away from the entrance to Unfound. She steps next to Ley'ra, looking down the street to their left. “It's much more guarded than this.”

“Yeesh,” Sya'ra gawks.

You walk up to the rest of them, putting the big turrets in the back of your mind. The air is crisp and cool, not like the dampness of the inside of the base. Somewhere overhead are your personal defence drones, though you can't see them among the darkness of the evening sky. You tap on your smart-ring and bring up a dim menu, displaying two cameras that show a birds-eye view of your position; a circle of light among the blackness. The bright spotlights do well to highlight you, but not your surroundings.

After tweaking around with the settings a little, you manage to switch the cameras to night-vision mode, and the displays turn green. Finally, you can see everything around you with much more clarity.

“We're about three clicks from our destination,” Faulka announces, pointing down the road she was looking at. Rubble litters the pavement, and the street is flanked by crumbling three-to-five story buildings.

“This looks like it was China Town,” Sya'ra laments, kicking a plastic street sign close to her that's labeled in an oriental language.

“That's Japanese, Sya,” Ley'ra sighs, shaking her head.

>>31030
“Whatever.” Sya'ra points to what looks like what was a restaurant nearby. “Yeah, that looks like it was a sushi place.”

“That was a Korean restaurant,” you say, pointing to the store sign written in large, English words. “It was literally called the Kimchi Palace, Sya'ra.”

“Fuck off,” she huffs, Faulka looking between your group amusingly.

>Let Faulka lead the way, she knows the area better than the rest of you.
>Lead the way yourself, you have the drones and you're the one who accepted the contract.
>Let Ley'ra take point. She's the most armoured and likely the most experienced at the position, anyways.
>Sya'ra did a good job handling herself in the depths. You think she's aggressive enough to take on a mission in the city.

---
LOADOUTS

>You
Armour: Infantry
Weapons: The Ivan (rifle, kinetic), .362 Deputy (revolver, kinetic)
Grenades: 2 Frag, 1 Flash-bang, 2 EMP

>Name: Ley'ra Laur
Armour: Erinyes
Weapons: EVI AR (rifle, kinetic), FD17 Daybreak (pistol, kinetic), Hail-92 (light machine gun, kinetic), Combat Knife
Grenades: 3 Frags, 2 Flash-bang, 1 Hi-ex
Inventory: Infantry Armour

>Name: Sya'ra Degala
Armour: Infantry
Weapons: H23 (rifle, kinetic), Bandit-12 (revolver, kinetic), Explody Thing (rocket launcher, explosive), Combat Knife
Grenades: 1 Frag, 2 Hi-ex, 2 Breacher

Name: Faulka LaCroix
Armour: Wastelander
Weapons: Burial M55 (scoped rifle, kinetic), Sabre 6 (pistol, plasma)
Grenades: 2 Frags, 2 Plasma Stickies, 1 Flash-bang

Archive link: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/31019/

Also, apparently most of my images have embedded files in them. I'll have to post them as jpgs from now on.

>>31047
>Let Ley'ra take point. She's the most armoured and likely the most experienced at the position, anyways.

HI SDA! Long time no see.

>>31142
That, it has.

>>31047
>>Let Faulka lead the way, she knows the area better than the rest of you.
Yeah be warned /qst/ is buggy as fuck.

>>31238
How so?

Also I think I can drop the trip now.

>>31047
>>Let Ley'ra take point. She's the most armoured and likely the most experienced at the position, anyways.
Faulka's Wastelander protects from nothing more dangerous than dust, if I recall correctly.

>>31238
In what way?

>>31256
>>31301
Refresh timer and update key won't work at times, Eats posts, glitches out, sometimes quests go poof for no reason, text features stop working, shitposter raid. Things like that.

>>31047
>>Let Ley'ra take point. She's the most armoured and likely the most experienced at the position, anyways.
Welcome back SDA

According to the feedback thread the autoupdater doesn't always work. and the draw feature is laggy at the best of times.

>>31310
>sometimes quests go poof for no reason

I'm thinking this one is mods

>>31320
>>31310
I'll keep that in mind, thanks.

I don't use the auto-updater or the draw feature anyways, so I'm alright. I can just F5 for refreshes, too.

>>31047
>Let Ley'ra take point. She's the most armoured and likely the most experienced at the position, anyways.

>>31047
>Let Faulka lead the way, she knows the area better than the rest of you.

>>31320
>>31351
4chanx autoupdate works, and I think it was confirmed that the native auto-update breaks with spoilered images, so it's preventable.

Your ID is on a thread-by-thread basis, so dropping the trip means you can't have a filter/highlight for you. I'd prefer if you kept it but whatever works for you.

So, anons, yay or nay for taking Ley'ra on a real date in the future?

>>31047
“So, only three kilometers?” you ask, turning to Faulka.

“Well, kind of.” She points down the street she was looking at, again. “Three kilometers that way, then we have to go underground from there.”

“Eugh. Sewers?” Sya'ra complains.

“No, just some underground tunnels,” Faulka reassures, gesturing downards. “It's sort of an underground mall that ran along most of the city, actually.”

“I still hate going underground,” Sya'ra continues, sticking out her tongue.

“You seemed fine in the depths,” you point out.

“It comes and goes.”

“That doesn't even make sense, Sya'ra.”

“You don't make sense.”

Sighing, you look over to Ley'ra, who's been obediently silent the whole time. She's been keeping vigil over all the streets, ensuring there's no activity nearby.

“Ley'ra, you take point,” you order, earning an affirmative nod from her. “Faulka, just give us the general direction and we can get started on our trek.”

“Mhm,” she answers, nodding her head towards the street she gestured towards. “Just follow this street until I say when to deviate. It should be pretty straight forward until we get underground.”

“Okay,” Ley'ra finally answers, shouldering her EVI AR. She gives your group one more glance before taking off in a firm march.

Faulka does the same and takes after her. Deciding to follow suit, you fall in third.

“Sya'ra, you take the rear,” you say.

“Heh,” she chuckles, giving you a salute. You sigh once more as she falls into step behind you.

You bring up the small menu of the video feed from your drones again as you march, the holo-menu's dim blue light seemingly brighter as you exit the embrace of the spotlights from the base. Your group is quickly swallowed up by the darkness of the city's night. The hollow buildings give you chills, their broken windows looking like the eye sockets of skulls. Your boots crunch against the rubble below as you walk, reminding you you're on a graveyard of sorts. In a way, the atmosphere was so surreal that it was a little calming. Like you were in a book, or a movie.

Not a word was said for awhile. About twenty minutes have passed, and after a quick glance backwards (ignoring the toothy grin from Sya'ra), you confirmed that the lights from Unfound were but a speck down the street. Eerily, the feed from your drones have not given you anything but more of the dead city.

“Okay, into this alley, here,” Faulka whispers, gesturing to a narrow alleyway to the right. Ley'ra nods and turns into it without flinching.

“Getting a little hard to see,” you comment as you enter the alleyway after Faulka.

“Get used to it,” she responds. “Don't take out your flashlights now. That's just asking to get gutted on the surface.”

You hear Sya'ra audibly gulp behind you.

>>31666
“Ley'ra? Can you see fine?” you ask. She comes to a fork in the alleyway, which is alleviated by a gesture to the left from Faulka.

“I'm okay,” Ley'ra answers, tapping her temple. Of course, her mask has night vision goggles in it.

“I forgot my goggles back at the Legion base,” Sya'ra admits. You roll your eyes.

The path twists and turns among the brick-walled alleyways, and for several minutes of wandering around, you're positive that Faulka got your group lost. You can't see anything but brick walls and Faulka's swaying cloak in front of you, and you're pretty sure Sya'ra is practically huddling up behind you at this point. You even think the alleys are getting narrower, as the thin line of stars above you appeared to be thinning.

However, miraculously, you're led onto some sort of side street flanked by abandoned two-story shops. Almost immediately to your left is what seems to be an entrance to the underground mall that Faulka was talking about. The stairs lead down into what looks like pitch blackness.

“Okay, we're here,” Faulka whispers, looking around the street to see if anything's present. You confirm from your drones that nothing but your group is present. “We should be safer underground.”

“Tch,” Sya'ra gawks.

“You can bring out your flashlights now,” Faulka continues, ignoring her.

>Listen to her advice, Faulka knows what she's doing.
>”No, let's continue as we have. I still think we should only bring out flashlights when needed.”

>>31682
>>
>>Listen to her advice, Faulka knows what she's doing.

>>31682
>Listen to her advice, Faulka knows what she's doing.

>Listen to her advice, Faulka knows what she's doing.

>>31682
>Listen to her advice, Faulka knows what she's doing.

>>31682
>>Listen to her advice, Faulka knows what she's doing.
A reminder to get some sort of night vision gear in the future I suppose.

>>31682
>>Listen to her advice, Faulka knows what she's doing.

Glad to have you back SDA.

>>31030
Welcome back OP!

>>31682
>Listen to her advice, Faulka knows what she's doing.

>>31682
“Alright, flashlights it is,” you say, tapping on your smart-ring to bring up the universal flashlight. You decide you should just buy a flashlight sometime later; maybe you're relying on the smart-ring a bit too much.

In front of you, Ley'ra flicks a switch on the right side of her mask, turning on her helmet flashlight. You're surprised by its brightness, grunting as you shield your eyes. You've become too used to the darkness.

“Augh, that's really bright,” Sya'ra complains, fishing for something in one of her side pockets. She pulls out a flashlight attachment for her rifle and attaches it to the barrel. Faulka switches on her own gun's flashlight as well.

“Oh yeah, what about the drones?” you ask, looking above. You still can't seem to confirm their position in the sky, but you know they're up there.

“Will we lose connection to them when we're underground?” Faulka asks.

“I don't think so. We're not going too deep, are we?”

“Just underneath the surface. About subway level.”

“Should be fine,” you say, leaving the drone settings.

“I'll make sure nothing's on the surface to prowl,” a voice pops up in your ear. You're startled for the moment, and the three girls look to you.

“Wait, Nettie?” you ask, bringing up your holo-menu. “You're controlling the drones?”

“Yup,” she says through the comms that you didn't know was on. “Pete's got some neat stuff, here.”

“Don't tell me you're on his computer,” you gawk.

“I am,” she answers. “I thought you might want an eye-in-the-sky.”

“Well, shit.” You blink in astonishment. “Uh, I guess that's good?” You shoot a look to your group, but they all shrug.

“Hey, he gave me the password,” Nettie reassures, taking a large gulp from what you assume is a glass of water. “It's cool.”

“Can you work the computer... stuff?” you ask.

“I can. I had control over the police department's security computers for the entire time I was stranded in this city.” She takes another loud gulp from her glass. “Also, I had nothing to read but university textbooks, the manuals to use the security systems, and a weird blue book called Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs.”

>>32185
“Christ.”

“Nerd,” Sya'ra whispers.

“Heard that, blondie,” Nettie rebuttals.

“Anyways,” you cut in, “keep an eye out for us, yeah? Tell us if any robots and stuff hang around the area.”

“Will do,” she answers. “I'm gonna use one drone to scout and I'll keep one to follow you guys.”

“Thanks, Nettie.”

“Love you, too.”

Ley'ra sniffs.

“Alright, let's go,” you say, gesturing to Ley'ra. She simply nods and turns her helmet light to the descending stairs, immediately beginning her march down.

“Interesting,” Faulka comments. She proceeds to follow Ley'ra, and you wordlessly follow her.

As your group descends into the underground mall, the air around you turns damp, reminding you of the Unfound depths. You hear water droplets echo across the brick walls and the sandy-coloured ceramic tiles.

As you reach the bottom of the stairs with Sya'ra closely behind you, you hear faint noises of rubble being displaced in the distant tunnels. Sure enough, you appear to be in some sort of underground mall. Storefronts line the walls, their insides ordered with empty shelves and broken glass. Down to your right is a large lobby, dirtied and ruined couches arranged in circles. Beyond is the entrance to a large department store.

You consciously glance at Faulka, who seems to be walking in high alert towards the department store. A raw, musky stench permeates the air.

“Are there—”

You're cut short by the sudden halt of Faulka, who has her fist raised to tell you to stop.

Up ahead, hunched over one of the lobby couches, is what appears to be the body of a large creature. Blood is pooled around it on the floor, and its entire right side seems to have been torn off, displaying its ribcage to your group.

>Fire your rifle at it (roll a 1d100)
>Throw a grenade (roll a 1d100)
>Go up to the body and check if it's dead.
>Cautiously step back and scan the area, it could be a trap.

>>32195
>Cautiously step back and scan the area, it could be a trap.

>>32195
>Cautiously step back and scan the area, it could be a trap.

>>32195
>>Cautiously step back and scan the area, it could be a trap.

>>32195
>>Cautiously step back and scan the area, it could be a trap.

Don't shoot before Faulka tells us to. We don't want to draw attention.

>>32195
>>>Cautiously step back and scan the area, it could be a trap.
stop means stop. except during sex.

>>32263
Then it just means wrong whole.

>>32195
>>Cautiously step back and scan the area, it could be a trap.

>>32280
there is no such thing.

>>32195
>Cautiously step back and scan the area, it could be a trap.

>>32292
It's the wrong hole if you didn't lube up.

>>32392
only faggots lube up. are you a faggot, anon?

>>32422
I like having an unchafed penis, if that's what you're asking.

>>32195
Calmly, Faulka gestures for you to begin moving back. You hear Sya'ra immediately begin to back track, and you start to walk backwards. Your point your flashlight in the right direction, and you see Sya'ra point hers towards the left.

“Left wall,” Faulka announces, gesturing to the left. There, you see a broken-in store, its shelves completely empty. It must have been looted a long time ago.

The four of you step into the store, Ley'ra taking the initiative to walk through it, checking every corner. At the back is an open door, but it seems that the ceiling has collapsed beyond it, making it inaccessible.

With the room clear, you rendezvous at the front of the store, each of you with your flashlights pointed out. You all remain silent for several moments, listening and looking for any signs of movement.

“Well, Faulka? What should we do?” you ask.

“Shh.” She holds a finger to her facemask a little while longer as your group listens. For several moments, there doesn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary, until a skittering sound is heard in the distance.

Faulka closes her eyes solemnly for a moment, nodding her head.

“Pretty far, just a spider,” she whispers quietly.

“Spider?!” Sya'ra hisses. “That sounded a bit too big for a fucking spider!”

“Mutated spider,” Faulka corrects. “They're docile unless provoked. They don't hang around when there's groups or big things present, like this guy,” she says, pointing to the giant corpse at the centre of the lobby. “We should be safe, that crown's been dead for awhile now.”

“The stench is unbearable,” Sya'ra comments. You can't help but agree with her. “What's a crown?”

Faulka steps out of the shop, signalling that it's safe for you to proceed. The four of you get back into your positions and begin to trek through the ruined mall.

“It's like a bull with the head of a dinosaur,” Faulka answers, staring at the crown's rotting corpse as you pass it by. Eerily, there doesn't appear to be flies swarming it. Maybe even most of the insects were purged.

When you get a little closer, your eyes widen at its head laying flat on the floor. Sure enough, it looks like the head of a raptor or tyrannosaurus, its elongated snout lined with teeth the length and girth of your fingers. Its body looks like that of a shaved bull, or buffalo.

The large wounds on its sides look cleanly made, as if done with a knife or blade of some sort.

>>32580
“Gross,” Sya'ra hisses. “I'm almost afraid it'll just suddenly wake up and bite me.”

“That's happened before,” Faulka says, casually.

“Eeugh?!” Sya'ra yelps, hopping away from the body.

“Don't worry, I know this one's dead. Its eyes are dilated completely.”

“Don't care, I'm not taking my chances.”

Your group passes by the lobby and enters the large department store. Clothing, bags, and shoes that were once neatly placed on the various tables were now all over the floor, many of them ruined and ripped. Ley'ra takes your group down a long walkway that's adjacent to a long glass counter, its insides lined with silk. The glass was all broken, and the contents were all gone. You presume it was all jewelry, though you can't imagine what use someone out here would have of it.

You wonder where all the people who didn't evacuate have gone.

“Is this city really abandoned? I mean, apart from Unfound, the mutants, and killer robots,” you ask quietly as you step over a pile of glass.

“It was when we got here, mostly,” Faulka explains, her posture still calm. “Nettie's the only case where we found a survivor, so far...”

“Shit,” you comment. Nettie is notably quiet on your comms, though you're certain she can hear you.

>Ask Nettie what she knows. Maybe she knows what happened to everyone.
>Remain silent.

>>32600
>Ask Nettie what she knows. Maybe she knows what happened to everyone. If she's comfortable with sharing.

>>32600
>>Remain silent.

>>32600
>Ask Nettie what she knows. Maybe she knows what happened to everyone.
In the most delicate way posible.

>>32600
>>Remain silent.

>>32624
This.

>>32600
>Ask Nettie what she knows.
Maybe just start with what caused this and leave it at that. Then later when we're back, ask what happened to everyone else.

>>32624
This one

>>32600
“Nettie? What happened here?” you ask. You notice Faulka's posture tighten at your words slightly, but she doesn't say anything.

Your group continues to walk until it reaches a fork, flanked by rows of clothes racks. Faulka silently points towards the left direction, which Ley'ra begins to walk towards.

“Nettie?” you ask again.

You get to the entrance of a long hallway that splits into several different hallways, but Faulka gestures for Ley'ra to go straight to the end of the main one. When you get there, you see a set of stairs to the left that leads down onto a lower level, which you descend. Quietly, you descend, though another bout of skittering is heard from within the walls. You flinch slightly at the sudden noise, and you hear Sya'ra almost trip and fall behind you.

“I left them,” Nettie finally answers, mumbling. She sounds like she had just woken up, which you don't take to be a good sign. You decide to not pry. Notably, Faulka glances back to you with a nod. You assume she's tried asking her the same thing before.

“Sorry, Nettie,” you say, not wanting to drop the subject in silence.

“Heh, it's fine, big bro,” Nettie reassures, giggling. You hear Sya'ra choke behind you.

“I don't know what to say about that,” you say.

“Would you rather I called you big brother in Ja—”

“Absolutely not.”

“Fine.”

>>32930
You're interrupted by the sound of skittering within the walls again, and this time, Faulka halts. Ley'ra stops, having touched down at the base of the stairs. Again, the skittering noise is heard.

“I-I don't think that's an 'escape'-kind of skittering,” Sya'ra points out.

“It isn't,” Faulka states. “Keep going,” she says to Ley'ra, firmly.

Giving another nod, Ley'ra continues, and you begin to walk again.

“Heheh, uh, Gavin?” Sya'ra asks, tapping your shoulder.

“What?” You look back.

“Can we switch places?”

You squint. “Why?”

“I hate spiders.” She frowns.

“Ugh.” You roll your eyes. “Don't tell me you have arachnophobia.”

“It comes and goes,” she admits, sheepishly.

>Humour her and switch places with her.
>Don't switch places. She needs to toughen up if she's going to be one of your security professionals.
>Make her take point instead. That'll probably make it more entertaining for you.

>>32943
>"You wanna hold on to my sleeve while you're at it?"
Joking aside.

>Humour her and switch places with her.

>>32943
>>32964
I'll support this, because Ley'ra might pout.

>>32943
>Humour her and switch places with her.

>>32964
Sounds good to me.

Gonna take a 30-40 minute interlude. Dinner time.

>>32964
Suporting

I can see an adorably annoyed Ley'ra in our future.

>>32943
>>Humour her and switch places with her.

>>32943
>Humour her and switch places with her.

Welcome back SDA.

>>33026
It's been more than 40 minutes! Everyone PANIC!

>>32943
“Fine,” you give in, shaking your head. Sya'ra gives you an ecstatic smile as she practically hops past you, falling in behind Faulka while giggling. “Do you want to hold onto my sleeve while you're at it?”

“Can I?!” she exclaims, giving you an inhuman-like smile. You swear her ponytail began to waggle like the tail of a dog, though that was just because of her swift head-turning.

“No,” an annoyed voice affirms from the front. Looking ahead, you see Ley'ra giving the two of you a glare from behind her mask.

“Don't be so grumpy, Leyley,” Sya'ra teases, smirking. She grabs your sleeve and pulls you a little closer, and you almost trip on the staircase. Thankfully you keep your balance, but you find yourself holding onto her shoulder for support.

That's when Ley'ra bends down to pick up a pebble and throws it at Sya'ra, the pebble bouncing off her forehead.

“Ouch! Hey!” she exclaims.

“Don't call me Leyley,” Ley'ra mutters, shouldering her rifle and continuing onwards. Faulka merely smirks, remaining silent through the ordeal.

“But I always call you Leyley,” Sya'ra says, grunting as she begins to walk down the stairs with you in tow.

“You lost your rights to call me that,” Ley'ra explains, swaying her head side to side annoyingly.

“Wow, she's grumpier than usual,” Sya'ra whispers loudly to you, her head turned. She receives another pebble to the back of her head. “Oof.”

“You guys are weird,” Faulka comments.

“You should see Gavin when he's drunk,” Sya'ra suggests, snickering.

“Him, drunk?” Faulka asks, giving a quick glance towards you. “Is he the crying type?”

“Nah, he's the touchy-feely type.”

Faulka's head reels back in disgust. “Gross.”

“Hey!” you interrupt with a glare. Sya'ra snickers some more. “I might be touchy-feely, but not that kind.”

Faulka looks up in thought. “What, there's different kinds of touchy-feely?”

“I just get really happy, I think,” you answer.

“The hugging kind,” Ley'ra answers, giggling.

“You would know!” Sya'ra guffaws.

“I appreciate being the butt-end of the jokes here, but aren't we in the middle of robot-mutant town?” you say, disgruntled.

“That we are. Turn right,” Faulka says, shaking her head with a smile.

Your group turns into another hallway, which you walk down in relative silence. More skittering is heard within the walls, but as Faulka doesn't appear to be reacting to the noises, you suppose you're still in the clear.

>>33550
“Just so you know,” Faulka whispers, “we're not in the clear.”

“I was just thinking we were,” you mutter.

When you get to the end of the hallway, Faulka gestures for Ley'ra to turn left. There, your group enters into another floor of the same department store. A familiar sight of ruined clothing among broken tables litters the area, but Faulka appears to know what direction to take.

“Don't worry, we're still safe. Just, whatever you do, don't separate. We'll be fine.”

“I don't want to imagine what happens if we do separate,” Sya'ra thinks out loud.

“Saying that doesn't really help,” you say, lightly pulling her ponytail.

Curiously, you look around the store. However, you see movement at the far end of the store to your left. You catch a glimpse of long white chitinous legs.

“Pay it no mind, they're just probing,” Faulka answers cooly.

“Spiders, right?” you ask.

“Yup. Like I said, docile unless provoked.”

“And what does provoked mean?”

“Well, like chasing after one.” She gestures for Ley'ra to take a pathway to the right, leading towards the exit of the department store. “Also, one wrong turn could bring you to their nest, which will cause all of them to swarm you.”

“Not very reassuring,” you drone. Despite having switched places with you, Sya'ra looks like she's running thin on her wits. “Please choose more careful language for our arachnophobics.”

Despite her words, the skittering seems to intensify. You begin to catch glimpses of entire spiders moving about at the perimeters of your lights, dashing away the moment they're seen. They seem to be the sizes of dogs, and they certainly don't look friendly.

“Let's quicken our pace. Quicker we're out of this department store, the better,” Faulka says, and Ley'ra begins to walk at a faster pace.

Finally, your group gets to the exit of the department store into the mall proper... only to be met by a large group of spiders.

>>33561
Hundreds of blackened orbs for eyes stare back at you, this time unmoving. Groups of them come up to your sides and behind, both on the floor and the ceiling. It happened so suddenly, but your group has found itself surrounded completely.

“Oh god, oh god,” Sya'ra breathes, practically panicking. She backs herself against Faulka, who is staring down the spiders at the front with Ley'ra. You join them and point your flashlight at the ones from behind, keeping them back with your light.

They move around erratically, but don't seem to be advancing closer than two metres to your group.

“Stay calm and stare them down. Keep your lights bright,” Faulka says, still calm as ever. “They're challenging us.”

>Fire your rifle.
>Throw a grenade.
>Do as she says.
>Write in.

>>33571
>>Do as she says.

>>33571
>Do as she says.

“No,” an annoyed voice affirms from the front
Don't move in on LeyLey's man.

>>33571
>>>Do as she says.
she's been right so far.

maybe offer some physical contact to Sya'ra to help he stay calm. like gently grabbing her shoulder or something. I dunno, it might help?

>>33571
>Do as she says.
Keep Sya'ra calm

>>33571
>Do as she says.
>Write in.
Keep an eye out at the back. Or above.

>>33571
>Do as she says.

This is where we say "maybe Ivan and Victor should have been here for this part"

>>33692
Nobody could match them in a staredown.

>>33692
honestly, those two should be around for every part of everything. if we didn't need their skills and manpower, I'd be voting to put on a gas mask, ditch everyone else and turn this into Ultimate Bros Quest.

>>33716
Ley'ra has goggles on right now.

>>33731
We'd be keeping the waifu and daughteru (Imouto?) too. or is she a mask person too?

>>33749
nah, fuck those two.

>>33761
Literally, on both counts.

>>33571
“Right. Stay calm,” you say, looking to Sya'ra to your right. Her eyes are wide and her mouth is gaped open. While keeping your flashlight on the restless spiders in front of you, you reach out a hand and pat her shoulder.

“H-holy shit, Gavin?!” she exclaims.

“Keep calm. Keep shining your flashlight, they're not gonna do anything.”

“Fuck.”

“Are you okay?” you ask, calmly. You have to admit, your heart is racing. You have no idea what situation you're in.

“Can we shoot them?!” Sya'ra asks desperately, her arms firmly gripping her rifle.

“No!” Faulka interrupts from the front. “Okay, now, start walking slowly towards the front. They'll make way for us.”

“Hear that, Sya? Let's start walking,” you say to her. She gulps, but she nods her head slightly.

As soon as you feel Faulka begin to move, you move in tandem. She moves slowly, but you see the spiders follow you closely as you move backwards. You assume that the spiders at the front are making way, since she continues to move without faltering.

That's when you hear a low growl from the front, which turns into pulsating bursts of grunts. It sounds like a demonic mix between a cow and a large dog.

“Shit,” you hear Faulka say. At the same time, the spiders begin to disperse, skittering away into the darkness of the department store.

Curiously and nervously, you turn around to see a large pale-skinned blob of muscle staring Faulka and Ley'ra down, large yellow eyes adorned on a snout that looks like the head of a dinosaur. It barrs its finger-like teeth, drool dripping down its jaw onto the floor.

Behind the crown is a second one, which saunters up beside the first one. Upon seeing your group, it begins to growl as well, barring its teeth.

Faulka looks ready to fire her gun.

>Fire your rifle.
>Throw a grenade.
>Run.
>Write in.

>>33813
>Get ready to fire if Faulka does

>>33813
>Throw a grenade.
Light up the night. Flashbang.

>>33854
Won't this blind us?

>>33865
Couldn't we tell our crew to cover their eyes? I just thought a flashbang would be effective on a creature of the dark.

>>33813
>>>Fire your rifle.
>>33854
yes, let's use the really loud and bright weapon in the city so full of horrorterrors you can't even use a flashlight unless you're underground.

>>33813
Agreeing with >>33842

>>33884
Guns are pretty loud too, so that point is kind of moot.

>>33813
>Run.
>Lament the fact that we didn't personally load out with a Hi-Ex.
>Call in the drones once we're in the open.

>>33912
I can't say for certain, but in theory, sci-fi weapons should not be as loud as something designed to fuck up your inner ear canal by being really loud.

there's also the fact that this is close quarters- I can't imagine it being a good idea to detonate a flashbang in the room you and your friends are in. you usually throw it in from the outside.

>>33889
>>33884
>>33842
Roll a 1d100.

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>33988

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>33988

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>33988

File: 1447260649488.gif (921 KB, 585x242)

921 KB GIF

Rolled 92, 11, 87 = 190 (3d100)

>>33988

Rolled 46 (1d100)

>>33988

File: 1457383079101.jpg (156 KB, 768x432)

156 KB JPG

>>34004
...well, shit.

fucking up was so much easier before IDs.

>>34021
you didn't roll the seven.

>>33813
Pass.

“Split!” Faulka screams, letting loose a high-calibre shot from her sniper rifle straight into the body of the first crown. Immediately, Ley'ra lets out a burst of her rifle before sprinting to the left. Sya'ra does the same, screaming as she lets out full-auto fire from her rifle before breaking right.

The crowns, despite taking many bullets, charge forward. Faulka manages to sprint out of their way, and you leap to the right, the crown just missing you with its jaws wide open.

“Keep strafing them! Let them charge past you!” Faulka cries, shooting another loud shot from her rifle at the crown that charged past her.

The room is now full of gunfire, and you can hear the loud gunshots echo deep into the mall and underground network. Spiders are still skittering around the room trying to get away.

Fortunately, its mass makes it hard to turn and stop, and the crown charges way past you and far into the store proper, knocking over many tables and clothes racks in its way. That's when you see it trample several spiders that were lingering about.

You turn to aim your rifle at it, but your foot gets caught in some clothing and you fall to the floor. Quickly looking up, you see that the crown still hasn't turned around, so you lift your rifle up and fire a burst. Some of your shots hit, but unfortunately, your burst is cut short as you see the other crown charging straight at you from your right.

“Gavin!” you hear Sya'ra cry, accompanied by a long burst of fire from her rifle into the side of the charging crown. However, while the bullets penetrate deep into its flesh, the crown continues its charge. Its yellow eyes are bloodshot with rage. It doesn't even seem to be an animal instict; this thing was bred to kill.

>Dodge.
>Fire your rifle.
>Throw a grenade.

>>34171
>Dodge.

>>34171
>Dodge.

File: KazumaKaneko-Matador.jpg (506 KB, 1896x2428)

506 KB JPG

>>34171
>Dodge.

>>34204
>>34205
>>34210
Roll a 1d100.

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>34227

Rolled 18 (1d100)

>>34227

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>34227
once more with feeling

>>34171
>Dodge.

>>34238
>>34240
>>34236
Man, we're holding on tight, aren't we.

>>34266
Like a dead man with rigor mortis.

>>34171
As the crown gets within three metres of you, you dodge hard to the right.

“Eh, toro!” you gloat, rolling across the ground as the crown charges way past you. Another loud bang is heard from Faulka's rifle, and it impacts the back of the head of the crown. Finally, the crown slumps to the floor, seemingly put out of commission. These things take too many bullets to take down.

The other crown is also slumped against the grown, the focused fire from both Ley'ra and Sya'ra having put it down.

“Reloading,” Ley'ra announces, ejecting her magazine and inserting a new one in a swift motion. Sya'ra follows suit.

However, before you even remember to breathe again, you're alerted to the sound of demonic growling, coming from the front of the department store. To your dismay, three more crowns have shown up, each of them barring their teeth at you.

With their mouths practically foaming, they charge. Someone to your left lets loose a burst from their rifle at the trio, but it doesn't do anything to impede them. You're frozen in fear; you don't think you can dodge this.

“Gavin!” you hear Ley'ra scream among the gunfire, the rumbling floor, and the growling.

Adrenaline takes over and empowers your leg muscles, causing you to spring up from the floor and attempt to pounce away to the right. However, it doesn't get you far enough, and you're still well within the projected path of the right-most crown.

That's when the ceiling collapses, dust and debris showering down hard on the crowns and your general area. As nothing seems to be landing on you, you take the opportunity to leap again, well out of the destruction and into the arms of someone. Looking up, you see a blonde ponytail.

“Holy fuck!” Sya'ra screams, firing her rifle into the disarrayed clouds of dust while pulling you away. Within, you hear the struggling growls of the crowns and... beeping? And a high-pitched whistling sound.

The dust clouds quickly dissipate to reveal the crowns brawling with what look to be bipedal robots with four arms. There are two of them, their limbs ending in long, curved, serrated blades. One of the crowns has already been beheaded, blood gushing out from its decapitated corpse onto the clothes and carpet. The whistling noise appears to be coming from the swinging blades.

“Run!” Faulka says, marching up to your group with Ley'ra quickly in tow. “We need to get to the surface!”

>Fire your rifle.
>Throw a grenade.
>Do as she says and get the hell out of there.
>Write in.

>>34447
>Grenade and run

>>34447
>Grenade and run

>>34447
>>Do as she says and get the hell out of there.

>>34447
>Do as she says and get the hell out of there.

>>34447
>Do as she says and get the hell out of there.
Drop a flashbang behind us as we run.

>>34447
>>>Throw a grenade.
>>Do as she says and get the hell out of there.
yeah, let's feel free to collapse this shithouse onto this shitfest while we get the fuck out.

>>34447
>Do as she says and get the hell out of there.
>Write in.
"Nettie, please ready the drones."

So, which is the greater threat here? The robots or the crowns? It's a choice between using EMP or regular grenades otherwise.

>>34471
>>34483
>>34511
>>34572
>>34574
Roll a 1d100.

Specify what grenade you want to throw. Your inventory is here >>31047

Rolled 25 (1d100)

frag.

>>34574
A frag will probably still work moderately well on robots
.>>34589
Frag

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>34589
Frag.

Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>34589

File: tw4.png (145 KB, 373x411)

145 KB PNG

>>34613
>>34615
>>34595

>>34595
>>34613
>>34615
Oh shit. Don't tell me the robots have enough intelligence to bat the grenade back before it detonates?

Well shit,

"...and that was the day Ley'ra lost her husbando."

Rolled 30 (1d100)

>>34589
Just got back from dinner. Here's a late roll.

The dice must hate grenades.

Rolled 6 (1d100)

Behold a late roll that will get a stupidly high roll

>>34917
Well, shit. Oh well, sucks to be Gavin.

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>34917
Seems the dice just don't support this action.

>>34447
From the hole where the robots came from leap down what seem to be three dog-like mutants with crocadile-like heads. They pounce onto the flailing robots, one of them getting sliced cleanly in half. One of the robots gets knocked over by one of the crowns, the crown ripping off two of its arms with one bite.

“I'm gonna toss a frag!” you say, immediately reaching for your bandolier. You unfasten a frag grenade and pull the pin, tossing it into the bloody fray. Immediately, you turn to your group and gesture for them to run. “Go!”

Ley'ra turns around and begins to run into the mall with Faulka close behind. Just as you and Sya'ra begin to follow them, your grenade detonates, and you instinctively begin to sprint. You don't even look back to see what your grenade caused, but you don't imagine much.

Towards your left, another one of the four-armed robots emerges, accompanied by two smaller bipedal robots, their arms pointed into the department store fray. They let loose bursts of machine gun fire from their arms as the four-armed robot charges in with its blades.

As you exit the department store with Sya'ra, you're surprised to see Ley'ra and Faulka far ahead. They're running along what looks to be the second floor of a mall strip, railings passing you by to your right. Below is what looks to be a lower floor, benches lined along the center. The dead corpses of unidentifiable mutants and pieces of robots litter the floor.

However, as you continue to sprint alongside Sya'ra in an attempt to catch up, something large from above comes crashing down hard in front of you two. It smashes into the floor and causes the floor around you to collapse to the first floor, taking you and Sya'ra with it.

“Ah, fuck!” she screams, attempting to grab your arm, but misses.

You land on the tiled ground of the first floor with a hard thud on your back, Sya'ra falling next to you. She seems to be able to get up quickly however, reaching an arm out to you.

“Fuck, are you okay?!” she yells, pointing her flashlight into your face. You wave it off, signaling that you're okay.

>>34992
“Gavin! Sya'ra!” you hear Ley'ra call from the second floor. Up above, she and Faulka look down to you from the railings. “Are you okay?!”

“We're fine!” you yell up at them. To your right, the large, blocky-like object that nearly crashed into you begins to awaken. Red lights blink on at the top of its beak-like body, six spider-like legs gripping the floor beneath it. It looks ready to pounce.

A loud bang is heard from the second floor as a piercing shot from Faulka hits the robot, boring a hole at the center of its beak. The robot's legs stiffen and it slumps over, but that doesn't stop Sya'ra from firing multiple shots into its body from her rifle.

“Die, die, die!” she screams.

“Okay, it's dead!” Faulka screams. “Keep running forwards! We'll provide you cover from above!”

Two of those four-armed robots emerge from the direction of the department store, their blades bloody. They look ready to charge you and Sya'ra.

“Let's go, Sya!” you scream, grabbing her by the shoulder to run away. However, you're stopped short by the sight of another crown approaching you from the direction you want to run towards. You almost trip at the sight of two stalker mutants approaching from your left, their elongated limbs tapping against the ground as they crawl.

You're at the dead center of a kill zone.

>Sprint towards the crown and try to dodge its charge, it's the way you need to go.
>Make a stand and fire your rifle (specify a target).
>Throw a grenade (specify a target).
>Write in.

>>35019
>Sprint towards the crown and try to dodge its charge, it's the way you need to go.
We can't get bogged down. Keep moving. Break the encirclement.

>>35019
>>Sprint towards the crown and try to dodge its charge, it's the way you need to go.

>>35019
>Sprint towards the crown and try to dodge its charge, it's the way you need to go.

>>35019
>Sprint towards the crown and try to dodge its charge, it's the way you need to go.

>>35019
>>>Sprint towards the crown and try to dodge its charge, it's the way you need to go.

not sure if we should use that flashbang now or not. y'know, drop it at our feet and run, maybe delaying the one who is charging us after we dodge it and the stalkers really close to us. dunno if the robots are susceptible or in range.

it's risky, but might work.

>>35042
>>35043
>>35052
>>35074
>>35102
Roll a 1d100.

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>35140

Rolled 54 (1d100)

>>35140

Rolled 25 (1d100)

>>35140
okay now it's go time

>>35140
fuck that, I ain't rolling anymore.

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>35140

>>35019
Pass.

Several shots from the second floor quickly take out one of the stalkers, the other one strafing quickly to the side to hide behind a pillar. Thuds from behind you alert you to the robots beginning their charge, causing you to sprint forward towards the crown, which is now also charging you. Sya'ra follows your side.

As the crown runs towards the two of you, Sya'ra strafes to the right and you leap to the left. You almost sigh in relief as the crown charges right between you two. These things aren't very smart.

Without looking back, you continue sprinting forwards with your rifle firmly in your hands. Sya'ra regroups with you as you both leap over a broken bench. To your right, a stalker attempts to leap towards you, but it's stopped short by a quick burst from Sya'ra. Another one of those large beak-like robots emerges far to the left, but it's taken out by another well-placed shot from Faulka above.

“Stairs ahead, about 20 metres!” Ley'ra cries.

“Gotcha!” Sya'ra calls back and you nod your head.

“Is anything following us?!” you ask out loud.

“Not right now, no! They're busy with each other!” Faulka answers.

Nothing else impedes your sprint as you run towards the stairway to the second floor. The both of you sprint up the steps, huffing all the while. You know you're out of breath, your adrenaline is just carrying you forward with a resolve you've never experienced before. This was chaos, and while it was the most unpleasant experience you've ever had, you feel like you're going to cherish this moment for a long time. That's if you survive the night, of course.

When you emerge at the top of the stairs, you're relieved to be greeted by Faulka and Ley'ra, who surprisingly has her mask down hanging from her neck. Then, you're surprised further by being at the receiving end of a very tight hug from her. You almost want to collapse right there, despite the sounds of heated battle still echoing across the walls.

“We're not in the clear yet,” Faulka comments, staring at you. Off to the side, Sya'ra has a goofy grin before Ley'ra un-hugs you. She then walks over to Sya'ra, flicking her forehead.

“What! He gets a hug and I get that?” Sya'ra complains, rubbing her forehead.

“Let's go,” you huff, still out of breath, chuckling to yourself. You can't believe you survived that.

“Come on, there's stairs over there that lead to the surface,” Faulka says, pointing forwards to what seems to be a stairwell. “We're very close. Or, we can continue along the underground passageway that leads right into the facility we're going to. Your call.”

>Continue going forward in the underground path.
>Go to the surface, you don't want to deal with underground anymore.

>>35461
>Go to the surface, you don't want to deal with underground anymore.

>>35461

>Continue going forward in the underground path.

>>35461
>>Continue going forward in the underground path.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>35461
>1: Continue going forward in the underground path.
>2: Go to the surface, you don't want to deal with underground anymore.

>>35461
>Go to the surface, you don't want to deal with underground anymore.
Worst shopping trip by far.

>>35461
>Go to the surface, you don't want to deal with underground anymore.

>>35461
>>Continue going forward in the underground path.

>>35461
The four of you waste no more time and jog to the stairwell, rushing through and immediately climbing upwards. After four flights of stairs, you emerge into a building similar to the one you entered the underground network in, the stairs leading straight into the streets of the city.

“Geeze, I was afraid that you guys weren't coming back,” Nettie says through the comms.

You feel blessed as the cool night air gently brushes against your face. Sya'ra lets out an exasperated sigh, throwing her head back to breathe in the air. You've come to an intersection that's surrounded by crumbling five-story buildings.

“Nettie! You were watching?” you ask through your panting while being hunched over, hands on your knees.

“Yeah, I was watching through Ley'ra's helmet cam.” You look to Ley'ra, who shrugs.

“Are we in the clear here?” you ask, getting up to check your smart-ring. The camera feed for the drones displays to you, but after a quick scan, you don't see anything.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Streets are dead, boss.”

“Finally, some reassuring news,” you laugh.

In one corner of the intersection sits a large metallic building with its tinted windows surprisingly still in tact. The building seems to take up the entire block.

“There it is,” Faulka says with a sigh, pulling down her facemask to breathe in the air as well. “The Triglav facility.”

You look towards the building, tilting your head. “Triglav? They had a facility here?”

“Mhm,” Faulka answers, throwing her arms up to stretch. To your side, Ley'ra is checking her ammunition reserves while Sya'ra leans against the building, staring at the sky. “Most of it's been looted, but I'm pretty sure it should be clear. Pretty sure.”

“You don't sound pretty sure,” you point out slyly.

“Okay, that whole fiasco in the underground?” she says, pointing to the ground. “Shouldn't ever happen. Especially this close to the base, we're only five clicks away.”

“What are you saying? That was out of the ordinary?” you ask.

“No. There shouldn't be that many, especially with those hekes.” She kicks a pebble at the ground. “Something's aggravating the lot.”

“Hekes?” you ask, confused.

“Oh, those four-armed robots. They're hell if you ever run into one,” she explains, looking to the ground. “We were lucky that there were a lot of those mutants to distract them, otherwise we'd be diced.”

You shake your head, still not believing that you had just lived through that encounter. “Everyone good to go?” you ask. Looking around, you see everyone nodding all around.

>Take point yourself, you feel like you need to work off your anxiousness.
>Let Faulka take point. She knows the area the most.
>There shouldn't be any more spiders, so Sya'ra can take point now.
>Keep the same positions as before with Ley'ra at the front.

>>35725
>>Keep the same positions as before with Ley'ra at the front.

>>35725
>Let Faulka take point. She knows the area the most.

>>35725
>Let Faulka take point. She knows the area the most.

>>35725
>Let Faulka take point. She knows the area the most.

>>35725
>Let Faulka take point. She knows the area the most.

>>35725
>Let Faulka take point. She knows the area the mos

>>35725
>Let Faulka take point. She knows the area the most.

>>35725
>There shouldn't be any more spiders, so Sya'ra can take point now.

Sorry I'm taking so long, I got a little distracted. Should update soon.

>>35725
“Alright, Faulka. You can take point, you seem to know what you're doing,” you say, nodding to her. She nods back.

“Alright, let's go,” she says, gesturing for you to follow. “The entrance is just over there.”

Ley'ra follows behind her, and you follow behind Ley'ra. Sya'ra remains behind you, but doesn't say anything. She seems to be a bit out of it after that close encounter, and you don't really blame her.

After climbing up some short steps, Faulka takes you into the Triglav building. The front lobby is as sophisticated as the outside, the marble floor still pristine and shiny. A line of smashed metal detectors separates you from the front to the elevators and stairs at the back, but Faulka simply walks through without flinching. The rest of you do the same.

“It's on the second floor inside of the lab. The artifact should still be inside of its vault,” she explains as she leads you towards the stairs. You glance over to the elevators curiously, but their stainless steel doors are shut. You wonder what kind of people worked here, and what kind of devices they operated. It's Triglav, so it's bound to be a mystery. Maybe this is where the Dustkeepers got much of their high-tech gear.

“If the building's been stripped clean, why is this artifact still there?” you ask as you begin to climb the stairs.

“Simply because we didn't know it was here until recently. Energy readings just spiked up last week in this area, no doubt from a Herald artifact.”

“So it just popped up out of nowhere?”

“Possible.” She scratches her chin. “There's been stranger phenomenons. Though, it's likely that it's always been here, it was just inactive.”

“And we're just going to go in and take it? Not questioning why it was activated now?”

“Yup.” She gets up the second flight of stairs and walks into the floor proper, Ley'ra, you, and Sya'ra closely behind. “When you're a Dustkeeper, you just do. Ask questions after doing it.”

“That's terrible advice,” you say.

“I know it is, but with how fucked up these things can be, I don't think there's any rational advice.”

“Rational is not my middle name,” Sya'ra claims.

“That's good for you, Sya'ra,” you congratulate.

Faulka leads you across a floor lined with cubicles. It saddens you to say that this place is infinitely more sophisticated than your last job, which didn't even have orderly cubicles like these. Every desk even has a similar coffee mug, which you assume was provided by Triglav for free. You never got a free coffee mug.

“Ehm, Gavin?” Nettie pipes up on your comms.

“Hi, Nettie,” you greet.

“There's movement,” she says. “About half-a-click from your position. They literally just... came out of nowhere.”

>>36366
“What?” you ask out loud. While following Faulka, you bring up your smart-ring to display your drone feeds. On the second drone, you see something bright moving along the streets. It looks like... people? About half a dozen or so, moving in strange unison. What was strange about them was how they looked like they were on fire, or rather, like their bodies were glowing red. Streams of red, ethereal light surrounded them, and they were heading towards your building.

“Shit, what the hell is that?” you almost whisper to yourself, noticing that you had stopped. Sya'ra is curiously peeking over your shoulder at your camera feed while Ley'ra stands beside you, watching it. Faulka walks over to see it, and when she looks at the video feed, her eyes widen.

“Oh, that explains the mutants and robots. They were running,” she says, simply.

“Running? From these things?” you ask, looking up to her.

“Yup. Fire Legion.”

“Fire Legion?” you hiss, looking at her in disbelief. “What the hell, what do we do?”

“We hurry.”

>Get your drones to engage them. You think your drones can take them out quick enough.
>Keep them in recon mode, tracking them is more important than engaging them right now.

>>36379
>>Get your drones to engage them. You think your drones can take them out quick enough.

>>36379
>Keep them in recon mode, tracking them is more important than engaging them right now.

>>36379
>Keep them in recon mode, tracking them is more important than engaging them right now.

>>36379
>>Keep them in recon mode, tracking them is more important than engaging them right now.

>>36379
>Keep them in recon mode, tracking them is more important than engaging them right now.

>>36379
>>Keep them in recon mode, tracking them is more important than engaging them right now.

Welp. Can't wait for shit to hit the fan.

>>36379
>Keep them in recon mode, tracking them is more important than engaging them right now.

>>36379
>Keep them in recon mode, tracking them is more important than engaging them right now.

Rolled 4, 9, 1 = 14 (3d10)

>>36379
>Keep them in recon mode, tracking them is more important than engaging them right now.
Faulka did mention in the last thread that there were threats that could snipe the drones out of the sky.

>>36379
>>Get your drones to engage them. You think your drones can take them out quick enough

File: grasps.png (186 KB, 190x265)

186 KB PNG

>>36379
“Keep tracking their movements, Nettie,” you say, nodding to the others in your vicinity. “Tell us when they're less than fifty meters to our position.”

“Aye, Captain,” she replies in a pirate accent.

“Faulka, have you ever encountered the Fire Legion before?” you ask.

“Unfortunately, no,” she answers, shrugging. “Though, I know they can be killed.”

“Yeah, we had a run in on them in space,” you say, your spine chilling from the memories of that fight. “We got out through with the skin of our teeth.”

“Damn, you guys got ganked?” Sya'ra asks, brows raised.

“Yes. Our Talon bodyguard kind of got us out of that one, though.” You nod to Faulka; you need to get that artifact and get out of there. Maybe you can get it and get out before the Fire Legion gets to you. Nodding back, Faulka takes point again.

Eventually she takes your group into a more sterile-looking area, the hallways beginning to look like that of a hospital. Weird machines lined the walls here and there, most of them broken. You're still not sure how Faulka knows the way so well, as you're sure you've passed by the same room more than several times.

“Just around that corner,” she says, pointing to a connecting hallway several metres down.

When you turn the corner, you see the hallway lead into a medium-sized research room. The thick metal door was long smashed off, seemingly having been a door that would have been hard to get through.

Upon entering the room, you see steel cabinets line the ceilings, their doors wide open displaying their empty contents. Against each wall is a long counter, a deep sink on the far right of each. In the middle of the room is a long stainless steel table with what looks like broken machine components on top.

At the head of the table is what looks like a vault mixed with a fridge. The handle is beside a keypad.

“Shit, we need a password or something?” you ask, looking back to your smart-ring's video feed to see the Fire Legion getting closer.

“No problemo, I've got a cracker with me,” Faulka says, pulling out what looks like a thick calculator from her pocket. “I've seen these vaults before. They crack easy.”

She holds the calculator-like object against the keypad, and after pressing one button, a small green light flickers on at the top of the keypad. A lock is heard clicking open from within, and the door pries itself open.

Faulka grabs the door and pulls it open the rest of the way, revealing a very bright and glowing circular disk. It emits a familliar, low-frequency vibrating noise and looks small enough to fit into the palm of your hands.

“Well, I'll be,” she says, whistling.

“Wow,” Sya'ra breathes in awe. Ley'ra tilts her head in curiosity, as do you.

It kind of reminds you of that thing that Elyon had.

---

And that's it for today, friends. Tune in next week to:

A: Shit hits the fan.
B: Shit does not hit the fan and Gavin and friends get away safely.

Archive link is here: >>31078

And there we have it, our (my) first thread on /qst/. I kind of like it here.

Next thread (#20) will likely be next Sunday, same time-ish as usual.

>>36667
Thanks for running!

>>36715
Thank you, and everyone else, for playing.

Rolled 42 (1d100)

>>36667
>>36698
Nice to have you back SDA.

>A: Shit hits the fan.
>B: Shit does not hit the fan and Gavin and friends get away safely.
I propose booby trapping the building so that shit doesn't hit the fan as hard as it should by the time the Fire Legion rolls in.

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>>36667

>>36667
>A: Shit hits the fan.

If we get to put it in Ley'ra's but in the nearish future I won't mind.

>>36667
This can only end in tears and fistbumps. and maybe some sweet sweet Ley'ra lewds

>>36819
Like handholding, and sex in the missionary position.
We will be a true deviant.

>>36798
Knowing us, it will likely happen like this.

>>36856
shit hits the fan, but we get away only slightly scathed?

>>36667
sounds like something that would turn Comet into an invincible death machine. Valkyria style.