Turning to Rashek you say, “Which way to the labs?” He studies the signs for a moment more, “All around here, there could be dozens. Orbital scans showed a large complex. Better not stay long, who knows what’s down here. Alright, three teams. I’ll lead one, you lead one, and the Fifth will lead one.” You protest his decision but he overrides you by claiming it’ll be faster. “At least leave someone to cover the door,” you say. At least he listens to that.

You decide to take the hallway on the left while Vasquez goes right and the sresh continues straight. The hallway branches off here and there, leading to various rooms. You pass rooms full of crates and rooms with various instruments. There’s a lot of heavy machinery here. A massive room with what looks like foundries is up ahead. It’s practically filled to the brim with conveyors and automated fabricators.

>Look through crates and instruments
>Investigate the heavy machinery
>Check out the foundries
>Other?

>>1111675
>Look through crates and instruments

Looking for things we can feasibly loot

>>1111675
>>1111712
This pretty much.

There’s got to be something worth looting in those crates, you think to yourself. Grabbing your sarqs, you have them pry open a couple of boxes. The first few are nothing but junk and common tools. At the fourth one, however, there’s a tougher seal. You pry it open, a whole container of wicked looking rifles. You’ve hit the motherlode and you grab one for yourself. It’s a beam rifle you decide after inspecting it.

The radio crackles to life, “Report.” It’s Rashek. “Looks like mostly medical equipment over here,” Vasquez responds. A moment of greed comes over you, you could keep the rifles to yourself and pick them up later. Though it might be worth a good bonus.

>Report
>Don’t report
>Other?

>>1113147
>>Report

>>1113147
We're a good drone so far. Let's keep it that way, report.

>>1113147
>Report

But pull two immediately for a finders fee, give one to Vasquez

>>1113564
Backing this. Actually, 3. One to give to Rashek as well as the Sarqs will likely take it as part of payment.

“This is Reginald. Looks like I’ve got some crates full of rifles. There might be more around here.”

“Got it, we’ll have to grab that on the way out. Over.” The radio falls silent. Your squad continues to open crates, more weapons, a crate of grenades. The grenades are a bit big for you and almost perfectly round except for two buttons, a safety and a fuse. You find a small pack and start to fill it with equipment. The final count is four grenades, plenty of ammunition, and your new rifle.

Half an hour into looting crates and your radio opens again, “Reg, it’s Vasquez. I’ve got something you might wanna see. Meet me outside the medical wing, where we first came in.”

>”Got it, on my way.”
>”Yeah sure, just let me check out some of this equipment.” (Investigate heavy machinery)
>”Give me a sec, I think I saw a foundry.” (Check out foundries)
>Other

>>1114303
>”Got it, on my way.”

Grab a rifle to take to him

>>1114303
>”Give me a sec, I think I saw a foundry.” (Check out foundries)

>>1114303
>foundries

>>1114303
>”Yeah sure, just let me check out some of this equipment.” (Investigate heavy machinery)

“Give me a sec, I think I saw a foundry.” You click the radio off. It’s not much further from where you are. The ceiling is high, vaulted and full of various kinds of machines. The only path leads up into an array of catwalks. From your vantage you can see that it’s the size of at least several football fields, though you can’t see all of it. There’s consoles sporadically placed. The one closest to you is in terrible shape, almost completely eroded away.

After giving it a look, you think it could be repaired with a bit of love and a good amount of replacements parts. The conveyors below aren’t in as bad of a shape, though it looks like they’d all need tending. For being who know how old and an airtight seal, they appear in decent shape. You open up the panel on the console, the insides look better than the outside. This whole place would be a good source of scrap.

The radio opens, “We’ve got movement near the entrance. Moving to -KRKK” It abruptly stops.

>Make your way to the entrance
>Regroup with Vasquez
>Meet up with Rashek
>Head deeper into the foundry, there might be an escape route
>Other?

>>1114623
>Regroup with Vasquez

And give a call to our group to see where they are moving to

>>1114623
>>Regroup with Vasquez
Go go go!

The hallway you followed from the entrance is eerily quiet. When you reach the entry, there’s two dead guards. Looks like they were bludgeoned to death, one of their brain pans is caved in. Hoots and hollers begin coming from the passage Rashek went down. You’ve gotta keep moving, Vasquez is waiting.

The corridor isn’t unlike the one you just came from, but the rooms and equipment are different. The visor on your helmet pings. It indicates that your not far from the rendezvous, a room off the main corridor. You turn the corner, nearly sending Vasquez into a panic attack. “Jesus, don’t scare me like that. There’s been radio silence from Rashek’s group for a while.” He moves to a console, “I’ve found what look like schematics, if it goes downhill I can get us out.”

You start to here yelling coming from the hallway you just came from. A quick peek shows a large of… of sresh? They’re running towards your room. They don’t look happy and they’re armed with clubs. This room’s a dead end, you’ve got to think of something. Fast.

>Open fire
> Toss a grenade
>Other?

>>1114995
>> Toss a grenade

>>1114995
>Toss a grenade

Quick thinking lands a grenade at the base of the crowd. They ignore it to their detriment. As you duck back into the room, an explosion shakes the whole section and a fireball shoots past the door. You look out after a few seconds of silence and see a pile of rubble and charred flesh. The ceiling has partially collapsed and is blocking the way out.

“Holy god, what was that? A grenade? Where did you get a grenade?” You must have scared Vasquez. The look on his face almost makes you laugh, “I found them with the rifles. There’s like three more.” Your take a more serious turn, “The ceiling collapsed. I figure we could dig our way out if we can’t find our way out.”

He’s still in shock from the grenade, but he takes a look the console he was working at. “In there, schematics. There’s an emergency exit but I don’t know how far, the complex is very extensive and half of is is classified.”

>Dig your way out
>Try to find an exit
>Other?

>>1114995
> Toss a grenade

>>1117006
>Try to find an exit

>>1117006
>toss a grenade

Like, are we actually in much danger?

>>1117024
that was meant to be try and find an exit.


>>1117017
he confused me.

>>1117027
lol kk

>>1117027
Hey, his post didn't show up until after i hit post.....

>>1117006
>Try to find an exit

At least we'll get to see more of the facility

There’s no way you’re digging out all that rubble, you think. “Grab those schematics, put them on my PDA. We’ll have to find our way out.” He takes your PDA and transfers the data over. In the meantime he produces a device. It’s about twice the size of your PDA and looks like it’s got a short range transmitter.

“I’m also putting some files on it. But I found this earlier, I wanted to show you before we got attacked. Files say on it called it a ‘language enhancer.’ You know those chips they put in our heads? Transmits new data straight to the chip and voila, new language. Come ‘ere, just gonna give you a love tap. It’ll knock you on your ass but it’s perfectly safe.” Vasquez motions you to come over. But you’re not sure. Surely your PDA could do the same thing, though you wouldn’t be able to speak the language. Do you wanna trust who knows how old tech?

>Enhance language chip
>Just have your PDA decrypt the data
>Other?

>>1117781
>Enhance language chip

I'm willing to take the risk

>>1117781
>Just have your PDA decrypt the data


4 hours between posts.

>>1118228
Got caught up in something, had to move some doors. Big heavy things, basically solid glass. Also, only 3 hours

>>1117781
>>1117786
second

Vasquez removes your helmet and taps a couple of keys on the enhancer. There’s a terrible screeching in your ears that makes you instinctively try to cover your ears. Your vision blurs and you start to retch before you empty your stomach. The sound starts to fade. For the next few minutes you’re immobilized by agony. Is this what those guards felt like when their heads were bashed in?

It starts to fade, you begin to move again. “Hey, hey,” Vasquez snaps his fingers in front of your face. “What does this say?” He holds out your PDA. The screen is blurry, but your vision clears, “Uh, experimental language enhancer?” At least the letter made sense, it must have worked. Certainly doesn’t feel like it.

Vasquez pulls you up, “Come on. Up you go, you’ll feel better once we start moving.” The funny thing is that you don’t feel much of anything. “Just think,” you begin, “this is what I get for bringing you a new gun.” You hand him a rifle. “Thanks, I appreciate it. Now let’s get going.”

The way to the emergency exit mentioned in the schematics seems infinitely long. You’ve looked at them and you still don’t know how far it might be. Around you, the walls are becoming less sculpted and more natural. Stalactites and stalagmites seem to grow out of thin air. Sitting down, you realize you should probably be doing something more than walking. You could pass the time by getting to know Vasquez a little better or a sarq, you know 13 is still with you. There are the files on your PDA too.

>Ask Vasquez something (What?)
>Talk to a sarq (Anything you might be wondering?)
>Read files on PDA
>Other?

>>1118500
>Ask Vasquez something (What?)

How are you holding up with all this? Being kidnapped?

>>1118500
>Talk to mostly Vasquez, get to know the other sarqs by name and how they came aboard the ship.

There are sarqs with us? I barely notice them.

Also my post is gone? thought i put one down before sleep.

It’s too quiet, you check your watch. No one’s said anything in 2 hours and that was to say there was a turn ahead. You need to talk to someone. Turning to Vasquez you ask, “Are sarqs always this quiet?” He anders, “Yeah, usually. They’re not social creatures, they respond to questions though. Seems like they’ll talk to each other, but only if it’s for something they want. I haven’t seen them talk about anything too personal, but I haven’t asked. Captains and the officers are usually more talkative.”

“So, how are you taking this whole kidnapping business? Being snatched away from humanity?” You know how you feel, you wanna get home. But what about him?

He takes a moment and sighs, “I don’t know. It’s something that happened and we’re here now. Best make what we can out of it. There’s so much out here but I think I’d rather be home. Come on, I think we’re ready again.” He stands up and starts off.

The general incline of the cave starts to turn upwards, eventually turning into a steep shaft. You feel a breeze, cool and refreshing. Stars, you can see stars in the night sky. In a last burst of energy you push yourself through a crack in the Earth and to the surface. In the distance you can see a patch of jungle silhouetted against the sky, roughly north of you. Though you remember the shuttle is off to the east.

>Head to jungle
>Start back to ship, maybe 20 km away
>Rest in the cave for the night
>Other?

Aight, end of thread chat time. Anyone got anything to say?

>>1121232
>>Other?
Anyone at the shuttle? Can we call for it to pick us up?

>>1121232
>Rest in the cave for the night

>>1121254

I am diggin the quest man and the universe, sucks that participation dropped off but I'll be around to vote if you're around to run

>>1121254
>>1121274
Well participation drops when people think qms abandoned the quest without communication.

The long time in between posts hurts, but scheduling a run time greatly helps, even if it turns out you can't run on the agreed time, but you leave a post informing your players can help retain them, fyi.

This quest has alot of potential for creative storytelling or adventure that hasn't been written yet.
If your unsure of where or how to head off "into the stars" then openly talk with your players about what you both want or would like to see.

>>1121271
>>1121274
We can rest at the cave and see if we can radio the shuttle can come to us.

>>1121305
>>1121274
I'll keep that in mind, I usually post when I get home around 4pm est to bed. For the time between posts, I wait until I've got two posts that agree. I don't like forcing things

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>1121335
>I wait until I've got two posts that agree
That info will changing how we vote, Its great you avoid doing that. But sometimes its necessary to forcing things so you can advance the story, and not necessarily have to be railroading.

Most QM's do a dice roll if split like 1d2, or 5d1 if split 5 separate ways. A qm can make a post that he is waiting longer to see if any tiebreaker votes show up.

>>1121271
>>1121274
Sometimes, votes like these are not mutually exclusive and can work in tandem with one another. So both can be incorporated into the next post, or you can phrase it in your own way if you'd like.

Its like Options to go left or to go right, but a chooses to go left, and the other says to whistle while walking. The former conflicts, but the latter one does not.

>>1121353
thx for the advice

I'll have a new thread in the morning, I gotta catch some Zs. Haven't slept long this week

>>1121377
nighty night

New thread
>>1123672