Previous threads:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=Monster+Girl+Facility

Artist I commissioned for this thread's thumbnail: Nurru (on ArtistsnClients) / @_Sujia (twitter)

>Recap from the previous thread.
After questioning Laura and Oreas, you and your men headed back up to get supplies and some rest. Afterwards, you intended to head even deeper into the facility, wanting to blow open a blocked off path which lead to the green section. And after an encounter with a particularly dickish group of Diamond Dog soldiers, you were able to head forward without issue. You encountered a the corpse of a terrifying surgically altered human, plenty of food for anyone to survive on, and a subject called Kamara, who gravely wounded one of your men. You managed to incapacitate Kamara, questioning her before sending her back to the other subjects you had decided to take under your wing. And after sending her away, you encountered and trapped several injured guardsmen...

Continuing from the previous thread...

>Try and ease tensions. The men outside were still looking in the room for traps, which means you could still be spotted...
Seeing that the guardsmen were scanning the room still, you decided to try and calm them down. If they felt safe, then they wouldn't look around the room further to try and see if you were there. Thus, you told them that the faster they cause the situation to escalate, the faster bullets fly and explosives detonate. It was clearly a more threatening comment, though it served its purpose as the men outside the room stopped scanning around. "Are you guys in this room?!" One of the guardsmen in front of you would ask a bit confusedly, you not answering them. Instead, you just told them the faster they answer your questions, the faster they could leave you be and split off. The air was still tense, but at least the men outside the room had lowered their weapons and kept quiet. All the while, the men in front of you responded softly. "Alright, well... what else do you wanna ask us about?"

>What do you do next?
>Bring out the standard questionnaire...
Given that the guardsmen brought up the subject they encountered and how said encounter went, you would tell them that you weren't aware of this subjects existence. In fact, you remembered that the tablet never mentioned any subject like that, meaning no other death squads had encountered them. It didn't seem to surprise them though, which struck you as odd. Given their confusion, you asked them if they had any idea as to why they were doing these things. The guardsmen looked at each other, clearly not knowing what to say. And finally, the main guardsman sighed and shrugged. "Not a clue. She took some food along, so I can only imagine she's hiding somewhere while grabbing food whenever necessary. None of us even know she existed, so we can't really help you out here, mate."

Perhaps they were lying, perhaps they were genuine. Either way, you decided to ask them some other questions about this area. For starters, you asked them about any nearby staff, subjects or guardsmen. There was an uneasy pause, before the main guardsman spoke up. "It's just us here. We've stayed near the upper floors. We know you found Kamara here, but... we didn't know she was here, to be quite honest." Given that they came from the upper floors, it begged the question if they were maybe the ones who threw those debris down to try and crush you. It also seemed a little suspect that they knew of Kamara, and that they quickly denied knowing about her whereabouts down here.

Next, you asked them about this entire mess, if they had any idea what caused it and where they were during the disaster. To this, they seemed to give a more honest answer. "Well, we were stationed near the desalination plant, which got flooded and forced us to get here. As for what caused this entire mess, we were told it was a subject escaping. Superiors were sparse on the details, probably because she's kinda like this rabbit subject: a well kept secret made by some scientist for... god knows what reason." With them bringing up scientists, you decided to ask them about the big four or five: Tengri, Anderson, Mona, Elbrus, Roraima and the mysterious Andrei. Based on their reactions, they seemed to know some things about them, so you started asking away.

You wanted to know where they were during the incident, the men seeming a bit surprised by the question. Still, they didn't hesitate to answer, the first thing coming from one of the guardsmen standing outside the chamber. "Andrei was usually deeper down in the facility. We didn't see him often and he was quite the recluse, so we can't say much more about him than that." It was another clue about Andrei, telling you a bit about where you'd have to go to find information about him. The information about Tengri, Anderson, Mona and Elbrus was more bog-standard though. They didn't seem to know where they were, or what their situation was. And from the sound of things, they probably hid during the entire disaster.

These men had so far been hit-or-miss with the information they provided. It really did seem like they were just surviving down here. Yet, you felt that there was more going on. You first asked them a more confrontative question, pointing out how they actually thought a trap like that was going to work on a subject. You wanted to know why they even tried going after her. Even if the traps did work, the subject seemed hostile. "Well, we wanted to observe her. That's why we set up the traps. We didn't wanna kill her, just slow her down so we could see what the hell she was even doing and if she'd behave differently." Even now, you didn't feel like it was the full answer. Hell, you could tell your men felt the same way. So, you asked them if they had any superiors, and to actually tell the truth.

The ones outside the room already got their guns up and started looking around outside. All the while, the guardsman in front of you was quick to speak up. "Listen, I know you guys are watching us. And that you probably have guns on us and kill us with ease. But... even with all of that, you won't get a satisfying answer cause we already told you the truth. We wanna know more about this mysterious subject. We got no superiors around here. No subjects or scientists who are co-operating with us. It's literally just us. Nobody else out here, aside from Kamara who you already dealt with."

With them having answered all your questions, some completely honestly and others debatably unanswered. However, you knew there wasn't much else you could do to get them to answer. Unless if you wanted to start a gunfight which could put your men at risk, this was all the information you could really get. Perhaps there were still more questions you could ask them, though given that you wanted to move on, you decided to take a bit of a risk. You told the guardsmen that they could take the helmet you were using as a radio, if they wanted to. That way, you could both keep in contact every once in a while for information trading. The guardsmen paused, looking at each other before asking if they wanted to. And after a quick vote, it seemed most of them were ambivalent about it and didn't seem to mind it.

Thus, the one who had really spoken for most of them stepped forward, carefully picking up the helmet. You told them they could leave, as well as revealing where the explosives were. The guardsmen seemed surprised by the revelation, before giving a nod and saying thank you. Thus, they'd carefully try and move around the explosive device and leave the sugar cane area. It was a potentially risky gamble, as they could decide to backstab you once you left the room or appeared later. But at least you knew where they were now and where you're supposed to find them.

Regardless, they finally left, you waiting for some time before getting out of cover. "Mikhail, what the hell, why didn't we take them down?!" Mike was quick to ask rather angrily, followed by Evander speaking more curiously. "I’m surprised ya told em about the explosives. I s’pose ya told em to reassure them or somethin’?” Regardless of what your men’s thoughts were, it was clear you had to move forward yet again. Though now, you knew there was a group of guardsmen around. You could still converse with them using your helmet, though the reception was clearly not that good at long distances. Still, throughout the green section, you could maybe use it to communicate. So long as they didn’t turn the bloody thing off.

>Continue heading forward. You still wanted to stick to the plan of scanning the entire area, before heading further upwards.
>Head upwards right away. That’s where the guardsmen were, so that was where you could see what they were hiding.
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

(A fresh thread, and with that a few new additions. I got a large doc in now which provides all the subject sheets as provided by the government tablet. Other than that, I got a funny commission to act as this thread's thumbnail. The artist asked me to spread their name around, so hope that shilling them isn't too big of an issue.)

(Anyway, I hope this intro update is good enough to continue working from. If it ain't, or there are some errors, please let me know and I'll rectify it ASAP.)

>Continue heading forward. You still wanted to stick to the plan of scanning the entire area, before heading further upwards.

They have the helmet now. If we want we can just talk to them with that. Following them back is just asking for a fight when we already let them go.

Also I really like the new sheets for subjects. There's a lot of interesting ones in there, though I do feel some surprise is lost in what we can meet. Even if I notice a few that are clearly missing. It does mean that we can potentially figure out who we are dealing with when we spot some stuff as well which is good. My main takeaway from it however is we do need to find HW-37 aka Toyotama at some point. She sounds very very useful.

Also art was funny. How much did it cost?

>>5904944
I mean, you've already seen that some subjects are not in the system just yet. The rabbit subject isn't in the system, so I'm sure there's still some surprises lurking around.

Anyway, the art cost about 25 dollars. They were quite fast on it, given that it was pretty simple aside from the number of detailed characters.

>>5904584
>Head up right away
Before those guards have a chance to hide or escape

>>5904584

>Continue heading forward. You still wanted to stick to the plan of scanning the entire area, before heading further upwards.

>Continue heading forward. You still wanted to stick to the plan of scanning the entire area, before heading further upwards.
Once the guardsmen had left you be, it was time to move on again. Of course, Mike was clearly not happy with the fact that you had let them escape, rather than killing them. Of course, you had your reasons for keeping them alive. They seemed like they could be quite informative later down the line. Besides, they had the helmet, with which they could talk to you if it was necessary. You would just scan the lower section a bit further, before heading upstairs. Once you had finished exploring the upper floors, you'd eventually encounter the guardsmen again. Maybe then, you could ask them further about this location and the things which were going on here...

Regardless, after Evander and Artyom got the explosive trap back, you'd carefully leave the sugar cane subsection. You made sure to look around to see if there were any signs of the guardsmen still being around, not wanting to be jumped by them. Though thankfully, it did seem like they had left you be. There were no other traps or signs of them trying anything malicious. Thus, you told your men it was time to get back to exploring the place. And quickly, you'd get back on track again. Mike seemed a bit on edge still, given the previous encounter. Lars was checking through the tablet to see if there were any mentions of the rabbit subject. Artyom and Evander were fiddling with the explosives. Thaddeus and Anon were just keeping their eyes open for any threat, and Alan was mostly just admiring the scenery. Though given how he held his flamethrower up, he was maybe also looking at which sections would burn the most.

While walking around, you softly turned the radios on again. You wanted to listen in on Annie and see if she had anything else to say. Right now, she was playing some rock with tinges of jazz. It seemed a bit too cheerful for this place. But hey, at least it was catchy. Her next announcement didn't bring much of interest to you either, but was still fun to listen to. "You're listening to VRCMG Radio with Annie Marconi, preventing more deaths than your incompetent government has in its entire existence! You just listened to "Rearrange Again" by 'The Droogs', a bit of a hidden gem if I say so myself. Now, in other news, a small group of Heroes soldiers tried going after Vinella not too long ago! Of course, their efforts went poorly. Fortunately, one of them survived and managed to make their way back to the main base. Now, you may be asking why am I telling you all of this. To that I respond: it is just a little reminder for all of you. A reminder that the government has sent you all down here with the full knowledge that there are monsters like Vinella down here. Monsters who are more than capable of... dealing with you. And your deaths... well, I highly doubt it keeps them awake at night."

It was a bit of a more morbid and aggressive report. But it also seemed like Annie's way of telling you that the government was not to be trusted. Then again, it was those Heroes soldiers' own choice to go after Vinella, so maybe it wasn't the most sound accusation for Annie to make. Either way, she'd soon switch back to some Western music. It was a bit amusing to listen to down here, as this place hardly was anything like the deserts you'd see in a Western. Regardless, you'd keep on walking for what must've been quite some time. You spotted more storage chambers, more chambers housing crops and all kinds of plant life. It seemed like this floor didn't have much else of interest. Though that would change once you reached the end of the 2nd floor.

The final, rather massive chamber, seemed to contain some kind of jungle or mangrove forest. The glass windows were covered in a thin layer of moisture, and the dim lights revealed a lush jungle with tall trees which spanned up towards the higher up floors. The place had some small paths throughout it, which had probably been set up there before the disaster. The chamber seemed uninteresting for the most part, up until you reached the very end of it. There, you found a large hole in the glass wall. It was even more massive than the previous few break-ins you had seen, and you were quick to find some tracks which were not at all human in the mud nearby. The tracks were coming both in and out of the chamber, meaning something must've traversed this place. Hell, it might still be in there...

You decided to quickly follow the path, just to see if it led anywhere of interest. Artyom and Evander checking for any traps, Alan standing ready to light the entire room ablaze while the rest of your men quickly followed suit. As you traversed this strange jungle-like chamber, Thaddeus would start walking beside you with his shillelagh. "Here, let me just do this..." And afterwards, he started using the tool and his brute strength to whack through some of the vines and branches which were in the way. The jungle thankfully didn't offer too much resistance, allowing you to get through all of it. And after a few minutes of carefully wading through a layer of mud and slashing through thick foliage, you'd encounter what looked to be some sort of makeshift hut built against the walls of the chamber.

The little lodge was surprisingly large, and was made out of large tree logs, rocks, rubble from the facility itself, and all sorts of other materials. It was quite a strange little building, and clearly hadn't been made with any sorts of forethought or architectural insight. As you carefully approached the structure with your men, Artyom was quick to say: "Careful of any traps. If somebody made this, they probably put some protective measures in it as well..." You already were careful and looked at where you put your foot down. But even with all that care in the world, you weren't prepared for what came next.

Approaching the structure, you could see two interesting things. For one, there was a tunnel through the back wall which seemed to move upwards. It was quite a massive tunnel at that, you easily able to walk through it with your arms spread. It wasn't a clean tunnel though, and looked to have been made with brute force over anything. More interesting was the fact that you saw a large pile of varying kinds of fruit and vegetables on a makeshift table. Some of it was badly rotten already, while other ones seemed surprisingly fresh.

Though before you could get any closer, you heard some distant splashing from the direction you came from, as well as some more twigs snapping. It quickly made your men grab your weaponry. Though as quick as the sound started, did it die down. "What was that?" Mike asked a bit paranoid, Alan speaking far more softly. "A predator... who's den we just entered..." Of course, the fact the sound completely stopped kind of went against that, and Anon was quick to point that out. "I highly doubt it's anything. We should still check it out of course and be careful."

>Inspect the little shack. Perhaps you'd find some more items in there of interest? (Write in if you wanna look for/at something specifically.)
>Try and head for the tunnel adjacent to the shack. Perhaps it'd lead somewhere noteworthy.
>Assign your men to do certain things. There was so much to look at and explore, perhaps splitting up in this section could work out well. (Write in how you'll split up and who will do what.)
>Head back to the source of the sound. Maybe somebody did follow you and now kept quiet? Or perhaps there was something else going on around in this place?
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>5905691
>Head back to the source of the sound. Maybe somebody did follow you and now kept quiet? Or perhaps there was something else going on around in this place?

Better to find the subject or staff responsible for that noise, if it was anything. Walking into that shack when it's creator or creators are nearby is probably not a good idea.

>>5905691
>Head back to the source of the sound. Maybe somebody did follow you and now kept quiet? Or perhaps there was something else going on around in this place?

Engage stealth mode

>>5904577
Oh nice the thread is up. The art is sick op.
" We know you found Kamara here, but... we didn't know she was here, to be quite honest."
How do they know tho, they'd have to have eyes on us from before.
Damn we ended up letting them go. Tragic.
>Head back to the source of the sound. Maybe somebody did follow you and now kept quiet? Or perhaps there was something else going on around in this place?
Welp time for subject encounter.
need to remember to explain why we spared the guards to gang later.

>Head back to the source of the sound. Maybe somebody did follow you and now kept quiet? Or perhaps there was something else going on around in this place?
While Anon doubted that there was anything dangerous nearby, you still sided with Mike and Alan that the sound was probably something to worry about. It was better to find the subject or staff responsible for that noise, if it even was anything. And just walking into that shack when it's creator or creators were nearby didn't seem like a good idea. Thus, you told your men to get their guns at the ready and to stealthily make your way back to the source of the sound. Your men didn't say anything, instead going completely silent whilst they kept their guns up. You led the group, Thaddeus and Alan staying next to you while the rest followed suit.

The path back wasn't too hard to traverse, but it was also clear that the sound came from somewhere off the main path. Thus, you'd soon take the risk and try and wade the more marshy terrain. Your boots sank a decent bit into the mud, each footstep creating these wet squelching sounds. It certainly made stealth less easy, but it was kind of a necessity if you wanted to get to the source of the sound. Your men also struggled to keep stealthy, given the marshy terrain. And some of them also had to slash and break whatever branches and foliage was in the way. At least the environment wasn't too hostile, all things considered. You could still walk around the place quite nicely. Honestly, if the flooded section was kind of like this, it probably wouldn't be too bad. Then again, you knew for sure that the subjects there were far more difficult to deal with.

Regardless, you quickly tried to wade the swampy environment, using your thermal vision to try and spot anything out of the ordinary. Though as you approached the area of the sound, you'd find nothing. You did notice some ripples in the muddy water, though they could very likely have been the result of you and your men wading through the waters as well. You also found the source of the snapped twigs, finding a couple of clearly broken twigs floating in the water. They still appeared dry on one side, meaning they had presumably fallen into the water only a short while ago. You looked around, not seeing anything with your thermal vision. Your men also looked around, though didn't seem to spot anything. Though that changed when you decided to look up, where you were met with something out of this world...

Staring down at you from high above in the trees, was a huge humanoid shape. It was crouching on a large tree branch, its large, and rather thick tail wrapped around the branch. It seemed to have four arms, just like Chrysidus and Oreas, albeit incredibly lanky and spindly. Its two right arms latched onto the main tree, while the left ones where on its knees. The subject had two folded up wings on her back, and a large horn on her head. It looked down at you with a tilted head and wide eyes...

File: Spoiler Image (478 KB, 850x964)

478 KB PNG

Given that, she was easily 5 feet tall even whilst crouching, you knew that this subject was... bloody massive. She stared down at you, not saying or doing anything. And shortly after you spotted her, Lars gasped. "Guys, up there!" He said, pointing at her as you saw her carefully moving one of her spindly hands off of the main tree and towards a nearby vine. Her tail carefully let go of the branch she was seated on, as she quietly and slowly moved out of her position. The way she moved was particularly creepy and monstrous, reminding you of some kind of ape-like creature. Though her form was not at all like any humanoid. It was more like a fusion of a dinosaur and a mosquito. And it wasn't helped by the way she blankly stared at you. You couldn't tell if she was carefully getting in position to attack you, or if she was just moving because she knew she was spotted.

"What are ya guys looking at?!" Evander would say softly, as it was clear not all of your men had spotted the giant subject just yet. She was moving slowly, and it wasn't helped by the fact she was at least 30 feet or so up and hidden between foliage. And given her mostly muted grey-ish colours, she blended in just enough to the point not everyone could see them. From the sound of things, only you, Mike, Lars and Anon had truly spotted her already...

>What do you do next?

Suggestions:
>Just fire at the thing. She was big, creepy and dangerous looking. She had to be a threat!
>Point out to where the subject is to the rest of your men. Before you could do anything, you wanted all of your men to be able to follow the subject.
>Try and talk to her to see how she reacts. Maybe she really wasn't a threat and was just curiously staring at you?

(Time for another random QM question. Don't worry, it's not about where I can improve this time. Instead, I wanna know: which subject in the newly provided subject list is the most interesting to you? Kinda wanna ask, so I can see if their plot points can be brought closer to you.)

>>5906483
>Point out to where the subject is to the rest of your men. Before you could do anything, you wanted all of your men to be able to follow the subject.

Followed by

>Try and talk to her to see how she reacts. Maybe she really wasn't a threat and was just curiously staring at you?

Better safe than sorry, in case she does something. She has clearly spotted us, but hopefully she doesn't try and attack us or run in fear that we are going to shoot at her...

>Which subject is most interesting to you

The spooky subject that we know exists but know nothing else about, BS-56. Annie is also an obvious one, but she has the benefit of talking to us quite a bit. Another one I am interested in is HW-37, as stated earlier. OB-6 too, provided they are an Oni like I think/hope they are and that mace is actually a kanabo because I'm a sucker for them. 19- All the subjects listed as friendly also have my interest. But if I had to chose the most interesting of them it would be 19-40-GS.

>>5906483
>Try to talk
Will answer other question when not phone voting

>>5906483
BS-56
FE-09 (who we just ran into).
19-52-WD I am NOT interested in and would rather just stay away from and her goon cave.
GC-66
and holy shit this is 50 pages long OP This will take a while/

>Point out to where the subject is to the rest of your men. Before you could do anything, you wanted all of your men to be able to follow the subject.
>What do you do next?
have the tablet checked to confirm suspicion and let everyone be on the same page.
have sonic weaponry ready, but as far away as possible. Have acid gun standing by sonic just in case she gets too close.
>Try and talk to her to see how she reacts. Maybe she really wasn't a threat and was just curiously staring at you?

>Point out to where the subject is to the rest of your men. Before you could do anything, you wanted all of your men to be able to follow the subject.
Seeing that not all of your men were on the same page, you'd once again point up at the subject. The subject continued staring you down, her wide-eyed expression not telling you much about what she was thinking or feeling. Her head moved quite oddly, twitching a bit as she looked at you from all kinds of angles. Though she didn't seem too harmful, for the most part. In fact, soon started backing off and slowly moving a bit backwards. By now, all of your men had seen them and most had their guns aimed at her. "What do we do, Mikhail?" Thaddeus asked quietly, as you could tell your men felt a bit tense about having a gigantic subject right above you.

You told Artyom to have his sonic weaponry at the ready, but as far away as possible. Artyom thus stepped back, albeit reluctantly. You told Mike to stay besides Artyom, keeping the acid gun at the ready just in case she gets too close. The subject soon focused on Mike and Artyom, the former looking confused. "W-Why is she staring at me?! M-Mikhail, why aren't we shooting the fucking thing?!" The subject kept analysing all of you, as you told Mike and Artyom to remain calm. After all, you wanted to see if she was actually dangerous or not. So, you told Lars to the tablet checked to see who it was, all whilst you tried to talk to her.

>Try and talk to her to see how she reacts. Maybe she really wasn't a threat and was just curiously staring at you?
Despite her rather eerie nature, you decided to play it safe rather than sorry. So far, she hadn't attacked you, despite her clearly having spotted you. You just hoped that she wouldn't try to attack you, or run in fear that you'd shoot her. Thus, you cleared your throat and greeted her calmly. The subject seemed confused, yet cautious, continuing to hold back. Soon, you asked Lars if he had found her on the tablet...

Lars seemed hesitant, before softly responding. "Uhhh, I... Are you by any chance subject FE-09?" The subject continued staring, before shaking her head. Lars seemed relieved, before turning to you. "Well, that's the first subject I remember who might've matched her. So anyway, now what? Do you just want me checking out the subject list still, or-" Before he could finish, Mike spoke up a bit more paranoid. "Mikhail, I-I don't want to speak out of turn here, but... she's creeping me the fuck out and we need to kill her!" Clearly, Mike didn't want another subject tagging along and becoming part of your little 'harem'. Though Thaddeus was quick to hiss back at him. "Be quiet, Mike! She hasn't harmed us yet, so I ain't gonna harm her!"

Though shortly after Thaddeus spoke, the subject finally spoke up. She did so in a rather emotionless tone. "You were the ones who killed Kamara, correct?" Her intimidating tone made it feel like she was questioning you, rather than the other way around.

Given that she knew about Kamara though, it implied she had also watched along with the gigantic mess from before. And Anon was quick to question her about that. "Well, we didn't kill her. Were you watching us?" At long last, the subject started moving down the tree she was in. She'd move very oddly, using two of her hands to crawl down while her legs and other hands moved branches and things out of the way. It almost was like her legs and arms were just interchangeable.

As she moved down though, she spoke softly. "I watched from up high after I heard loud gun noises and yelling. I saw some of you drag Kamara into a room then, after which she was gone..." Well, that explained it at least. And more importantly, you could tell her that you hadn't killed her. Though, you did notice that her tone became a bit more hostile as she spoke of Kamara. Not to mention, her not fully going to the ground yet.
In fact, she would stop short from getting down to the ground, instead positioning herself partially behind the thick tree from which she had climbed down. You couldn't tell from her body language and tone if she was about to try and flee, attack or stay in place...

>How do you respond to what she said and how she's behaving?

Suggestions:
>Tell her what you did with Kamara. Transparency was good in building trust with this odd looking subject. Hopefully, she wouldn't want to ask for proof that you had let Kamara live though.
>Tell her to identify herself. Lars couldn't find her on the tablet, so perhaps if you found her on it you could see if she was designated as a threat or not.
>Mike was right. She was creepy, off-putting and not worth keeping around. Time to shoot her down and get your first kill.

(Glad to hear people enjoy the extended tablet sheets. It actually didn't take too long to set up, even with my awful procrastination and laziness. Regardless, I'll gladly continue hearing what everyone thinks of the various subjects, if they wanna give their opinions.)

>>5907022
Hello again QM, also lol at the top pic. I liked it, just hope this doesn't end with our boy Mikhail ending up in a Amazon position. Anyway:
>>Tell her to identify herself. Lars couldn't find her on the tablet, so perhaps if you found her on it you could see if she was designated as a threat or not.
Not feeling with this one, she seems downright suspicious, sure she didn't attacked us yet but she seems to know Kamara and not in a good relationship so I say for now keep her at a safe distance until proper identification.

>>5907020
>harem
OP we will NOT have sexual relations with the bio weapons.


tell your men to stay calm but ready, and mike that he's the furthest from it so he has the least reason to complain.
While this is happening, as she is coming down from the tree, the rest of us slowly back away from said tree but between mike and artynom and it (though not directly so as to give line of sight.).

>Tell her what you did with Kamara. Transparency was good in building trust with this odd looking subject. Hopefully, she wouldn't want to ask for proof that you had let Kamara live though.
She saw us drag Kamara because she was unconcious. Why would we move her if she was dead, especially into a secluded room that could hide her? On that note, if she did watch us then she saw that we had to meet with others to get our injured to safety. Or did she conveniently stop watching when the situation got resolved?
Only other option is 26-BS. If that ain't it we don't have her on there.

What proof would she want? If she is alive we can't exactly make her appear out of nowhere, she'd need to set out and seek it.

>>5907093
>OP we will NOT have sexual relations with the bio weapons.
I'm sorry to have to break this to you, Anon, but unfortunately for you, some of said bio weapons won't really give you a choice in the matter...

>>5907098
We will NOT find any of the rapey Elbrus subjects. I will not let you do this...! I will not! I will not! I WILL NOT! We will have wholesome subjects ONLY.

>>5907022
>Tell her what you did with Kamara. Transparency was good in building trust with this odd looking subject. Hopefully, she wouldn't want to ask for proof that you had let Kamara live though.

Then

>Tell her to identify herself. Lars couldn't find her on the tablet, so perhaps if you found her on it you could see if she was designated as a threat or not.

>>5907098
Erebus and his creations are on our kill list, the only release they will get from us is death

>>5907022
>Tell her what you did with Kamara. Transparency was good in building trust with this odd looking subject. Hopefully, she wouldn't want to ask for proof that you had let Kamara live though.

Tell her Kamara injured one of ours, and we had to hide her from the medical team.

>>5907098
based

>>5907106
what if they're not fucked up though
what if despite their origins and upbringing they remained wholesome?

>which subject in the newly provided subject list is the most interesting to you
uuuh it's a chonky list
ironically want to run into: 19-52-WD, 8103-BT, 8-EM
unironically want to run into: GC-66, OB-6, HH-34, 19-40-GS, CS-61, BO-5, CS-58, 01-MS, ND-12, HW-37, PF-4, TO-22
ones that sound badass: TS-55-76, BS-56
ones that confuse me: 39-FD (she feeds on cold but also drains heat from her surroundings thereby making stuff cold, is she self sustaining?)

ok these categories are getting out of control, I give up

Another anon already mentioned HW-37, so I'll go with ND-12

>>5907181
Anon
They were MADE to be unwholesome.
You can take pity on the unfortunate circumstances of their existence, but do not be blinded by it.
Suffer not the Erebites to live.

>>5907181
I dunno
you're assuming a lot of things
that they can never change
that Elbrus managed to corrupt them in the first place
that the ones he did corrupt are now bad enough to deserve death
etc

>How do you respond to what she said and how she's behaving?
As the subject started moving down from the trees, you'd tell your men to stay calm but ready. Mike still appeared anxious, softly stating: "Calm?! W-We have to do something! She's gonna come down here and-" Before he could finish talking, you told mike that he's the furthest from the subject so he had the least reason to complain. Mike still seemed anxious, but didn't say anything in retort. Soon after, you told the rest of your men to slowly back away from the tree to give the subject space. You wanted to have plenty of space between the subject as well as Mike and Artyom.

As your men backed off, you also asked Lars if he could check the tablet to see if this was 26-BS. You remembered reading about her before, so you felt comfortable that they were the other option on the tablet. If she wasn't that subject, then you were comfortable saying she wasn't available anywhere on the tablet. Though after bringing up her codename, the subject seemed to already answer before Lars could. "I am not 26-BS. I do not know her." She'd soon stop crawling down the tree, moving behind cover in a rather concerning way. And after she stated how you had 'killed' Kamara and dragged her into a room, you wanted to ask some questions of your own. Both to try and show her that you hadn't killed her, and to see how long she had been watching you. Of course, to really get to ask those questions, you first had to make her trust you.

>Tell her what you did with Kamara. Transparency was good in building trust with this odd looking subject. Hopefully, she wouldn't want to ask for proof that you had let Kamara live though.
Given that she saw you drag Kamara because she was unconscious, you had to first tell her what had happened. So, you told her straight up what happened. Kamara injured one of your men first, and that she had to be hidden given that medical folk would come over. She tilted her head, as it seemed she wasn't aware of the medical folk who came here to pick up Zaria. "I did not see them..." She said in a genuinely unsure tone. Afterwards, you were quick to reason that you wouldn't really have a reason to move her if she were dead. After all, had you killed Kamara, you wouldn't have moved her into some secluded room. The subject seemed to think about what you were saying, her slowly moving out of cover as it seemed you were getting through to her. That, or she was really going to attack you still.

Regardless, you asked her if she conveniently stopped watching when the situation got resolved. Or if she did watch you and saw that you had to meet with the medical staff to get Zaria to safety. "I left after a while, since I thought you guys were a threat..." She said, straight to the point and sounding quite genuine. In turn, Thaddeus spoke up calmly. "Look, we can bring ya over to Kamara and some other subjects to show ya she's fine, alright?"

The subject still seemed reluctant, remaining quiet for a bit before once again responding. "No, I'm okay." Either she still didn't trust you, or she was really quick to believe your reasoning. Regardless, your men were still on edge. She didn't seem to be one of the subjects on the tablet. She behaved weird, and was either extremely foolish, unaware and socially awkward, or playing the long game by acting the fool.

>Tell her to identify herself. Lars couldn't find her on the tablet, so perhaps if you found her on it you could see if she was designated as a threat or not.
You didn't feel right about her, finding her downright suspicious. And while she hadn't attacked you yet, she knew Kamara and knew that you had attacked her. For the time being, you decided it was still safe to keep at a safe distance until proper identification. So, you finally asked her who she was. The subject hesitated again, before giving a calm yet unsure response.
"Anofelis Toxori, EM-33." Immediately, a lot of your men's concern disappeared. After all, Chrys, Laura and Oreas had mentioned Anofelis before! And they had mentioned she wasn't exactly harmful.

"Anofelis! Didn't Chrys and the others mention her before?" Thaddeus soon remarked, Lars and some of your men nodding along. Anofelis tilted her head again when Chrys was mentioned. "Chrys? Who's that?" Artyom was quick to clarify, explaining who Chrysidus was and that she had mentioned Anofelis before. Once all was explained, Anofelis kept quiet again before responding slowly. "Chrysidus is... I do know her, yes. She was made by Anderson as well. She was friendly, yet small." A bit of an odd way to describe Chrys, but Anofelis had proven to be quite the bizarre subject so far.

More importantly though, this had explained why you didn't know about this subject from the tablet. Chrys had mentioned her before, and you had deduced before that she was one of the subjects missing from the tablet. The question now was, what were you going to do with her? Anofelis didn't seem threatening, just weird. Chrys had already mentioned she was actually not too intelligent, so that might explain her odd behaviour. Regardless, the fact she was friends with Chrys meant she might be worth keeping around. On the other hand though, catching a subject who was not known by the government could prove to be quite profitable...

>What do you do next?

>Keep Anofelis around. Maybe after properly befriending her, you could get her to go back to Laura, Chrys, Oreas and Kamara.
>Just leave Anofelis be. Going around the place with a giant, unknown subject was far too risky. Especially if Idris and his men returned from the flooded section right as you brought Anofelis back.
>Just kill her. You already had enough subjects to look after, and killing her probably was worth more than enough to make it worth it.

>>5907731
>Just leave Anofelis be. Going around the place with a giant, unknown subject was far too risky. Especially if Idris and his men returned from the flooded section right as you brought Anofelis back.
We did promise Laura we wouldn't start none.
I don't know about taking her with us either.
We can mark this location down as Anofelis's and continue scouting after we are done with our questions.

We will ask her the standard questionaire and then probably withdraw
Where was she when shit went down and waht'd she do
about her creator
about who she has seen in the area
(and since she saw us with Kamara, she might've been the one to notify the guards)
did she work with the guards in the area to notify them of what she saw?

>>5904571
That artwork is really cute holy shit.
>>5907731
>Just leave Anofelis be. Going around the place with a giant, unknown subject was far too risky. Especially if Idris and his men returned from the flooded section right as you brought Anofelis back.

>>5907731
>Just leave Anofelis be. Going around the place with a giant, unknown subject was far too risky. Especially if Idris and his men returned from the flooded section right as you brought Anofelis back.
Tell her the offer to let her join the others remains open, just don't make contact when there might be other squads around.

>Just leave Anofelis be. Going around the place with a giant, unknown subject was far too risky. Especially if Idris and his men returned from the flooded section right as you brought Anofelis back.
Before you made the choice on what to do with Anofelis, you decided it was maybe a good idea to ask her some questions. You wanted to get as much information out of her as possible, especially since it may reveal a bit more about what had caused the disaster, Anderson, who was here, as well as the guardsmen you encountered before. Thus, you asked her firstly about the disaster, and what she was doing whilst everything was going to shit. Anofelis seemed a bit confused. "Disaster? What disaster?" That single comment was not what you or your men expected. There was a short silence, as your men weren't even sure how to process it. Though soon after, Artyom elaborated. "The gigantic crater inside this place? The reason it is here?" Anofelis didn't seem to know how to respond, either because she genuinely wasn't aware of the disaster, or because she had no clue what had happened.

Fortunately, Thaddeus was quick to dumb things down a bit, so that Anofelis could at least answer with something. "What have ya been doing for the past few days? Is this yer containment chamber?" Once again, Anofelis thought long and hard, before shaking her head. "This is not my chamber. My chamber is further away and a lot more cramped and lacking in food. I've just been living here for the past few days, cause it has more room and is nice." Well, it was at least AN answer, rather than just more confusion on her part. Lars afterwards would ask: "Haven't you noticed some of the chaos that's going on around here? Or, uhhh, any of the damage to this place?" Anofelis once again thought about the question, before nodding a little. "I've noticed some damage and less people around. My caretaker is also gone. But, I don't care that much about that, since it means I can get more food and do less tests."

Given that she mentioned her caretaker, Anon asked who they were and where they were. Though, Anofelis didn't seem to know their name, or even what the hell had happened to them. In turn, you asked her about her creators. Here, she seemed far more eager and confident in her answer. "My creators are Anderson and Jabal!" The first was kind of obvious, given his affection for bugs. But the latter definitely came as a surprise. "Jabal? Tell us a bit about him." Lars was quick to say, to which Anofelis happily responded. "He's a nice man, very friendly and has a girlfriend. I forgot her name, but they work together a lot. Um, I wanna find Jabal, actually. I haven't seen him in a while, and if there is a disaster and he is in danger, I kinda wanna protect him. I wanna protect Anderson too!" Well, the latter was not going to be possible anytime soon. Though none of your men decided to bring up the fact he had been caught just yet.

You decided to switch gears, asking her about if she has seen anyone else in the area. "I noticed some guardsmen. I watched them from a distance. I saw Kamara too." You saw Mike groan and shake his head, as it was clear that Anofelis wasn't exactly the pinnacle of monster girl intelligence. Though, her bringing up the guardsmen got you curious if she actually was working with them. So, you asked them if she had notified them, which made her shake her head and speak in a rather straightforward tone. "I did not." Given how sure and quick she was with her response, it was clear she hadn't co-operated with them.

It seemed you were at an impasse here. Anofelis clearly didn't pay attention to what had gone down, and was just doing things based on rather... simplistic interests. She wanted food, so she went to this place. She wanted to know where her creators were, so she could protect them. Chances were, she wouldn't be harmful to keep alive. If anything, attacking her would probably just risk another Kamara situation... or worse.
And given that you had promised Laura you wouldn't kill innocent lives, you decided to tell her about the possibility of joining the others.

Anofelis simply shook her head, before speaking calmly. "I want to stay here. Unless if I can find Anderson and Jabal so I can protect them." You thus turned to Lars, telling him to mark down this location as Anofelis' home. Though right after telling Lars such, you saw the cogs turning in Anofelis head for once. And after they finished turning, she leaned a bit towards you before throwing you quite a curve-ball, calmly asking you: "Do you know where they may be? Are you also looking for them? If so, can I come along?" It seemed that Anofelis wanted to really find her creators to protect them, even joining you if it meant taking her along. Though given your intentions, that probably wouldn't be too safe an option.

The issue thus became... how were you going to tell her that?! Were you just going to tell her that she couldn't join you? What if she wouldn't take no for an answer? What if she realised that you were basically down here to kill them? Or that there were plenty of other folks out there who really were going to kill the people she cared for?

>How do you respond to Anofelis' questions? (Write in what you want to tell her.)

Suggestions:
>Just tell her the full on truth, that you don't know where Jabal is and that he might just die, but that Anderson was safe in custody.
>Tell her about your mission, and how you technically are supposed to kill folk like them, but plan to spare them since they didn't seem despicable.
>Ignore the question altogether. Or maybe tell a quick little lie to ensure she doesn't try to follow you.

>>5908261
Ah, we found the special needs monster girl. And she just asked the smartest question in her life. This is going to be a bit awkward...

>Explain to her that Anderson is safe but we have no clue where Jabal is. Also mention there's other guys like us who aren't that friendly and for her to continue to be cautious around others.

Lets try and make sure she doesn't get herself killed but not flat out say we were hired to put a bullet in her brain and are ignoring those orders on principle.

>>5908277
She's unironically not even the least intelligent subject out there. In fact, a few straight up are just animalistic in terms of their mental fortitude.

Also, don't mock the spider-monkey mosquito-saurus subject like that. She's very sensitive to people calling her dumb.

>>5908261
>>5908277
supporting
In order
Jabal no, Anderson is safe.
we are looking for him among others.
No because it'd be more dangerous for both of us if we were together,
for the reason other anon mentioned of other death squads very likely to hurt her so she's better off grabbing food and staying hidden, she's more likely to get herself hurt and make her creator sad then to actually find them.

>>5908261
Backing >>5908277
exactly what I was thinking

>Explain to her that Anderson is safe but we have no clue where Jabal is. Also mention there's other guys like us who aren't that friendly and for her to continue to be cautious around others.
Anofelis was clearly not the brightest subject around, so you wanted to deliver things as carefully as possible. If you were to tell her the truth, she'd probably do some really dangerous and stupid things. So, you started slowly, first mentioning that Anderson is safe now. This made Anofelis nod as her tone grew more excited. "Where is he? Can you bring me to him?" Of course, you responded to her that you wouldn't be able to. "Why not?" You quickly explained that there were people just like you, who weren't friendly to subjects or scientists. "I don't understand. What do you mean?" She responded in quiet confusion, still not seeming to get what you meant.

Thankfully, Thaddeus was there to help out. "Basically, Anofelis, there's other folk like us who do actually kill and hurt subjects like you. And if they were to see ya, they'd... absolutely try and kill ya. Those same folks got Anderson and got him as a captive, but they're keepin' him alive." Anofelis seemed to understand, though did get a bit distraught because of it. "Are they going to kill him? What about Jabal? Is he also with them? What about my friends and other scientists?!"

You decided to be honest, telling her that you had no clue where Jabal was, and that you were looking for him along with other scientists and subjects. Unfortunately, it was that comment that made her turn more assertive. "I wanna join you and find him as well!" This, of course, was not what you had wanted. In fact, you quickly told her how it'd be dangerous for both of you to be together. "Why can't we be together? I wanna join you and help you!" She said quite confidently, as your men looked at each other quite worriedly. It would be extremely risky to have her follow you along, for a variety of reasons.

You once again told her that she'd likely get both you and herself hurt if she joined you. Yet even then, she didn't seem to understand. "But why? If you guys are looking for Jabal, then I wanna join you too! What do these other people like you have against me?" It was getting tougher and tougher to get through to her, so you again told her that she'd risk dying, which would likely make her creators sad. You finally told her that it was better if she just remained hidden in her little area where she was safe. She had food, had a nice place to stay in, and was secluded away from the chaos going on throughout the general facility.

Unfortunately, your suggestion still fell on deaf ears. "But, I wanna find Jabal or meet up with Anderson. Not all people are dangerous, right?" Given Anofelis' insistence, goodwill was starting to dry up a little among your men. Anon even spoke up in a more direct tone. "Maybe some people wouldn't want to hurt you. But trust Mikhail and us: you're safer here."

You once again reminded her that her creator would be saddened if she got herself killed, and that you wanted to keep her safe from the dangers out there. Anofelis looked down a bit, before speaking softly. "I wanna find Jabal too. If we both wanna find him, then why don't we work together? I don't understand... What makes these people out there bad? If they don't wanna hurt you, why would they wanna hurt me?" She pouted again, clearly still not understanding the severity of what was going on.

The circular reasoning and questioning was getting a bit tiresome to your men by now. But thankfully, Artyom stepped forward and tried reassuring her in the hopes of getting through to her. "Look, we can safely look around for your creator and bring him to you, if you want him to get back to you so badly. However, if you go out there, you'll quickly be discovered. And once you have been discovered, these people will want to take you down in any way they can. Including horrible, painful ways you are not prepared for. They don't see you as an innocent life. They see you as... well, a monster that needs to be killed."

Anofelis looked quite confused, wanting to respond once again. Though, Artyom would take the moment to approach with his weapons lowered, hoping to finally get through to her. "Listen, you clearly care for your creators. But, he would probably want you to stay safe as well. And staying safe, means not dealing with the horrible folk out there who wanna kill you. We can safely deal with those awful people and find your creator for you, alright? You don't need to worry about this. So please, just... just stay away from everything, okay?" Anofelis looked a mixture of disappointed, irritated and worried. Though she didn't say anything anymore. At least the constant circular reasoning had died down.

>Try and reassure her further in some way that this was the right choice (Write in how you'll reassure her...)
>Just demand her to stay here and leave. She clearly doesn't understand the severity of things, so being stern would work best.
>Ask her if there was any way you could convince her to stay. Maybe there was something she wanted which could convince her to stay here?
>Fuck it, let's take her along. She really insisted on joining you, so you could take her along. Though maybe tell her to stay further back and out of sight.
>Tell her she can join your other subject friends. That way, she could have some friends to accompany her in a safe space.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>5908910
>>Try and reassure her further in some way that this was the right choice (Write in how you'll reassure her...)
It's complicated, but we can assure her that her creator would probably also agree with our decision, and that this is better for us finding Jabal.
>Something else...
Change subject after to get her off this topic by asking what is it she can exactly do since the tablet is lacking. (ask more about her)
>Discuss with your men...
Where do they stand on leaving subject here for obvious reasons, and no, Mike being deathly afraid of the subject does not count.

Oh my god the dumb ones are gonna be hassle aren't they?
I'd rather the Erebus ones over this, at least we know we can just point and shoot.

>>5908910
>Insist she talk to the other subjects
Not only will she see that Kamara is still alive, Laura probably has some experience dealing with subjects that aren’t all there mentally and can get through to her better than we can

>>5908910
>>Tell her she can join your other subject friends. That way, she could have some friends to accompany her in a safe space.
It's easy than let her alone where she can be killed or worse follow us and make sure everyone knows we're not doing what we're being paid to do. At least the others will be able to keep her in check.

>>Something else...
The usual, subjects and scientists she knows, info on the degenerate crew, dangerous subjects, subjects not on the list and Titania.

>Try and reassure her further in some way that this was the right choice (Write in how you'll reassure her...)
Even after Artyom explained the issue of her joining you quite thoroughly, you could tell that Anofelis was still quietly thinking about joining you and your men. In turn, you stepped forward and stated that the entire issue was indeed complicated. She tilted her head a little bit, not seeming to know what to do with that information. Though, you quickly assured her that her creator would probably also agree with your decision, and that doing things like this would make it easier to find Jabal. She crossed two of her arms, still not seeming all too sure. Given just how set her mind was on saving her creators, you had to do something.

>Something else...
After a moment of silence, you told Anofelis that you wanted to ask her some other things. After all, she could provide you with further info about this place. Though, you didn't just want to ask her further questions to get more info. You wanted to distract her from Jabal and hopefully get her to stop thinking about joining you. She nodded calmly in turn, giving you the chance to ask some questions. And the first you wanted to know was, what abilities she had. "Umm, I am very strong and fast, and I am 'highly manoeuvrable'. At least, I was told that." Some of your men actually seemed intrigued by her powers, Anon soon asking her: "Would you care to demonstrate?" Anofelis hesitated for a moment, before she got up and would spread her wings. Despite her immense size, her wings managed to get her off the ground, as she would fly upwards.

She'd fly surprisingly well given her size, managing to avoid trees and other objects above you. She even would use her arms to grab onto branches, using them to weave around some of the larger bits of foliage. She'd continue flying for a minute or so, soon letting go and hopping onto the trees. Once again, her huge size did not seem to hamper her, as she managed to claw onto the tree before starting to rapidly leap through the upper plant layer. She seemed built for hopping through the jungle-like space, using all her hands and even her feet to grab onto places and swing around. She'd eventually jump down, landing right in front of you which did intimidate some of your men. Though not enough to make them draw their weapons, obviously.

"So, you can fly and climb trees really well?" Alan asked rather directly, Anofelis nodding before speaking softly. "I can also dig well and swim. I had to swim a lot to get here, which, uhhh, I did." So she was some sort of all terrain subject. And given how she flew with ease and didn't cause the thin branches she held onto break, it was also safe that she was just really light in terms of her build. If her aquatic abilities were also just as good, then you could maybe use her to look through the flooded section for anything interesting. Though could probably better be brought up later.

With you now having a decent idea about her abilities, you decided to ask some different questions: You wanted to know which subjects and scientists she knew, her sitting down again and speaking a bit unsurely. "I know Jabal and Anderson. And also Catherine, since she's Jabal's partner. I met Tengri a few times and he was nice. I had some caretakers who were all very mean, cause I am not that smart." That last comment actually seemed to make her a bit sadder than before. Though she quickly moved past that. "I knew some of Anderson's subjects as well. Chrysidus was nice to be with, so was Haina. I liked digging with Arika, even though she was a bit mean towards Jabal sometimes. I also saw Sirin sometimes, but she was weird and not very nice, especially cause she insulted Anderson a lot."

Given how she was described, Sirin certainly seemed like an interesting person to go after. Right away, Lars would start looking through the tablet, while Thaddeus kept asking questions. "What was this Sirin like, if I may ask?" Anofelis paused again, seeming unsure what to say before responding softly. "Uhhh, she has a mostly human body, but her legs are a... think it's called a scorpion. She was really weird and always talked about wanting toys to play with, which I find odd cause she could just ask her caretakers for those." Lars would quickly show the tablet to you, revealing that there was info about Sirin on the tablet.

Now that she had brought him up, you decided to ask her a bit about Elbrus and his subjects, as well as other dangerous subjects. You wanted any info about his whereabouts, which she sadly didn't have. “I don’t know where he is. I tried avoiding him, cause he was weird and made Sirin act weird whenever they spent time together. From what my caretakers and other people told me, Elbrus is a really mean and terrible scientist though.” It wasn’t news to you, but it was reassuring to hear that Elbrus’ was disliked by many of the scientists and subjects here. And after you asked her about Elbrus, you decided to ask her if there were any other terrible and mean subjects just like Elbrus who she knew of.

“Um, I don’t think I know any others. The only one I can remember I interacted with from time to time was Viridian, who often was mean to me for some reason, just like my caretakers” She spoke a bit sombrely again, not elaborating further on what this Viridian had done. Lars once again pointed the tablet at you, showing that Viridian was indeed in the system and could be questioned about further. Then again, it seemed that Anofelis didn’t really like bringing her up, or the ‘mean’ things she did. With that in mind, you asked Anofelis about Titania and what she knew about her. Anofelis once again responded unsurely, by now showing that she wasn’t the most aware person about the happenings in this place. “I don’t know much about her, other than that people really talked about her a lot and were impressed by her size.”

>Tell her she can join your other subject friends. That way, she could have some friends to accompany her in a safe space.
Given everything she had told you, you knew that Anofelis could be useful later down the line. Though, keeping her close-by or around this place was just asking for trouble. So, you told her that there was the option she could join the other subjects you had collected so far. And while you had hoped that she’d drop it by now, she once again would ask: “Why can’t I join you guys though?” To the chagrin of your men.

You once again told her that it was easier for her to join the other subjects, than it was for her to be alone down here where she could be harmed. You omitted the fact that you feared she would follow you, and make sure everyone knows you weren’t doing what you were paid to do. “But, I wanna join you and help you find Jabal. You saw my abilities, right? I can help you with them.” She’d soon even look around, before grabbing a large, dead tree trunk with her two legs. She stood on the floor with two of her feet, while carrying the trunk with her legs as if it was nothing. It was clearly a showcase of her strength and dexterity, but you could tell that she also was a bit desperate at this point. And after dropping the tree back to the ground, she spoke a bit more saddened. “I just wanna find Jabal and Anderson. I miss them…”

>Insist she talk to the other subjects.
With her clearly being quite emotional and frustrated, you tried to speak sternly yet calmly. You told her that she could talk to the subjects, who would help her feel more at ease with her situation. You told her that, not only would she see that Kamara still is alive, but that there was a caretaker there in the form of Laura, who probably could explain everything way better than you. You also knew that Laura would be able to teach the stubborn Anofelis better than you could, but you weren’t going to mention that. Unfortunately, the mention of a caretaker being there only made Anofelis more reluctant. “I don’t know. I don’t wanna be stuck with a mean scientist again. I’d rather stay here then.”

You really were stuck here, dealing with Anofelis’ stubbornness (and also very likely her lack of intelligence). But at the same time, you couldn’t just leave her here. She was foolish and stubborn, but harmless and innocent. You didn’t want her ending up in a dangerous situation, or being left alone with death squads on the prowl. Of course, you also didn’t want her following you guys, acting as a gigantic ‘we’re not doing our job’ sign. Convincing her was possible, but seemed difficult. And given how much time it would probably take to convince her, you decided to turn to your men again to hear what they had to say about this entire situation…

>Discuss with your men...
You asked your men where they stood on leaving Anofelis here. Mike was about to speak, but you immediately told him that being deathly afraid of her wasn’t a solid reason to keep her here. Mike thus kept quiet, as the rest of your men started speaking. “Keeping her here doesn’t sound safe to me. What if the guardsmen see her as a threat? Or that weird rabbit subject attacks her?” Lars responded calmly, Thaddeus and Evander agreeing. Anofelis was also closely listening in, though you could tell that the mention of the rabbit subject confused her. She probably didn’t really know anything about this mysterious subject.

Regardless, Artyom soon stated: “I mean, this place is rather secure. Not many death squads here, plenty of spots to hide, and plenty of food. Besides, I doubt the guardsmen will try and hurt her. Not to mention, taking her back to the others may be more of a hassle then it’s worth.” Anon and Mike seemed to be more in favour with that suggestion, leaving you at a bit of an impasse. Shortly after, Thaddeus added his own thoughts to Lars’ remarks: “Anofelis, ya know Chrys, don’t ya? You’d feel at ease with her around, right?” Anofelis nodded a bit hesitantly, as Lars and Evander treated Anofelis’ agreement as proof as to why Anofelis would fare better after joining Laura and the other subjects. Even then, Anon, Artyom and Mike remained unsure and kept arguing for their own suggestion.

Eventually though, Alan made the boldest claim of them all: “Why not do a mix of both plans? Keep Anofelis here, but get the others to come here instead!” The plan had already been suggested before. And clearly, it was a controversial one. Anon was quick to point out that moving all those people at once was a major risk to undertake, especially if you’d get spotted. Lars also remarked that this would also create a major risk in the future. All of them could be spotted by the guardsmen or rabbit subject later down the line, causing them quite some danger. Then again, it wasn’t like the small room Laura and the subjects were in was also in a safe location.

It was a tough choice you had to make here. And worse, you could tell that Anofelis seemed to feel bad about being the catalyst for this entire argument that had happened. She looked uneasy, having a rather guilt-ridden expression on her face. It wasn’t helped by the fact she like still wanted to stay with you guys to help find Jabal. But that wasn’t realistic. At least it seemed Anofelis might have started realising that as well by now…

Still, you had to do something here…

>Go with Lars’ suggestion. Take Anofelis over to Laura and the other subjects. It would be another lengthy (and potentially risky) trek, but it was better than keeping her here.
>Go with Artyom’s suggestion. She was doing just fine here, even before you came. What could possibly happen to change that now?
>Go with Alan’s suggestion. Keep Anofelis here, but get Laura and the others to come here.
>Something else…

(oh boy, this was one girthy fucking update. I hope I didn't make any errors in it, or that I was clear with a lot of the things I wrote. Given the time, and the amount of time spent writing this update, I expect there to be plenty of errors in my writing. Not to mention, plenty of questions on you guys' part. So, do please let me know if there's anything which you guys want to point out.)

(Also, may only get one update out tomorrow. I'll try and go for two, but I suppose we'll see what happens.)

>>5909503
>Go with Artyom’s suggestion. She was doing just fine here, even before you came. What could possibly happen to change that now?

We got cameras at the entrance, so we'll know if people come in or out. Plus we can kind of put her to work - have her search areas separately from us, cover twice as much ground. She'll be looking for Jabal, but tell her to keep an eye out for locked or secure areas where we can hide Jabal once we find him.

>>5909508
So the grinding gears finally got her to remember Jabal's girlfriend. Interesting stuff.

>Go with Alan’s suggestion. Keep Anofelis here, but get Laura and the others to come here.

Look at it from a practical angle. We won't constantly need to run trips to get food for them and we can ensure they have a space where, if they are spotted by death squads while we're out and about they don't immediately get murderfucked by the diamond dogs or whatever else finds them and can actually hide, run away or otherwise have a chance. Besides, the guards here are only hostile to the rabbit subject because it attacked them. In fact on that note we could even give them a radio to communicate with the guards and get a proper community of survivors up and running.

>>5909599
Yeah i suppose we could have her scout
But she should alwayd prioritize coming back alive and safe over actually engaging with anything that way we can get the info off her.

>>5910267
Yeah absolutely, just scouting. No expectations of her fighting and in fact we should tell her to avoid any.

>>5910474
then I can support that
against moving anyone in here, for the simple reason of we found this place just by looking around, the room in the other place requiers a keycard, and everyone is gonna wanna move deeper into teh facility or areas with high chance of survivors (a food heavy spot will become a hotbed of activity, its not like we can actually prevent other death squads from coming in.

>Go with Artyom’s suggestion. She was doing just fine here, even before you came. What could possibly happen to change that now?
After the heated discussion, you decided that the best option was to just keep her here. Not only was she relatively safe here, you felt that she actually had a better chance of surviving here than anywhere else. She was clearly built for these overgrown areas, and already had a home. Artyom, Mike and Anon seemed quite pleased, the others nodding along in quiet agreement. Alan was the only one who still seemed confused, soon asking: "But... why split up? We've got the other gals, uhhh, somewhere behind us. Why don't we just bring them here? Everyone will be happy then, right?" You told him that there was one simple reason as to why it was a bad idea: This place wasn't secure enough from other death squads. Even though one entrance was flooded, and the other had only recently been opened up by you, there still was another entrance through which other squads could come.

More importantly and related to the connections to this place, was the fact that this place was definitely going to be explored by other death squads. This place was deeper into the facility itself, and it was also a place where survivors would probably flock towards. It had food, plenty of space and lots of space to hide. In other words, it was prime space for subjects to move towards, and death squads to come over. And while you could maybe prevent the former by warning other subjects or just straight up killing them if they were a threat, you couldn't really do that for any of the death squads who would want to come over here. Hell, you felt that the room the others were in was actually safer in that regard. It was closer to the crater, meaning it was more likely to be ignored by passing death squads. Not to mention needing a key card to actually enter.

Unfortunately, your choice still left you with one issue which Lars quickly brought up: "So, we're just leaving Anofelis here? What if something happens to her later down the line, and we aren't there to help her out?" Of course, Anofelis had a nice home here to keep her safe, but having her stay here would also put her at risk of the very things you had mentioned. Besides, she still clearly wanted to stay with you and help you find other innocent folk like Jabal. So after some careful thinking, you turned to your men, before flat-out suggesting that she could act as a scout.

Your men weren't exactly prepared for this suggestion, most of them staying quiet as you could tell they were utterly shocked. Anofelis actually seemed shocked as well, but also intrigued and somewhat excited. Of course, you knew that having her scout at random was just asking for trouble, so you immediately explained what you had in mind. She could search areas close to you, covering twice as much ground. She could also look for Jabal and secure areas where he along with other people could be kept once they were found.

Even then, it still was quite a risky choice to take. And Thaddeus was quick to state: "What if she encounters some death squads though? If we go searchin' around the place, there's a good chance she'll encounter 'em as well, ya know." While your men weren't eager to lose a subject, Anofelis actually didn't seem too worried about the threat of other death squads. Either she really was that brave, or she had no clue just how bad some of the other death squads could get. Regardless, you told Thaddeus and the rest of your men that she should always prioritize coming back alive and safe over actually engaging with anything. Given her speed and movement, she could escape and actually get the info she found back to you.

More importantly, she could do a little test run in this area. You had cameras at the entrance to this place so you'd know if people came in or out. "Okay, uhhh, I guess we can... do that? Uhhh, what about a meeting point though? And how do we know it'll be a good idea in other areas?" Anon soon remarked, clearly still finding the suggestion a bit bold and risky. Anofelis did look more and more excited to help out, actually starting to nod along and even tremble a little bit in excitement. Still, you did need to figure out how you'd make this work. But that would probably be easy enough, right?

>Set up a specific location to meet up at and give her some things she could look for. That way, you could see how effective she was at her job and see if she'd actually perform well at the job. (write in a meeting location, as well as what she should look out for to report back to you.)
>Just wing it. This was already kind of a bold idea, so giving Anofelis further rules would probably just overwhelm the poor girl. Besides, it wasn't like she was just going to look for specific things to report back.
>Maybe just backtrack on the scouting idea and tell Anofelis to stay here instead. She was fine, and she'd remain fine. Besides, you can always come back to her again, right?
>Something else...

>>5911095
>Set up a specific location to meet up at and give her some things she could look for. That way, you could see how effective she was at her job and see if she'd actually perform well at the job. (write in a meeting location, as well as what she should look out for to report back to you.)
1. She is to try and stay hidden as much as possible
2. If it gets too risky, she dips. Better safe then sorry.
3. The idea is that we meet back here to hear what she encounters.
4. The reason for this is we can focus on our exploration while she can focu on general observation for us
5. Subjects, Scientists, Gaurds, Death Squads, and interesting looking locations/rooms of note.
(6. We can make her search areas we know have low probability of encountering people so that way she can feel like she's helping without having to worry about her actually encountering dangerous shit)
we could also leave a helmet as a form of communication but idk.

>>5911095
All good ideas, just want to be careful of overloading her feeble mind.

Also if we’re meeting her back here might want to make it the second camera location so we can make sure it’s secure

>Set up a specific location to meet up at and give her some things she could look for. That way, you could see how effective she was at her job and see if she'd actually perform well at the job.
After Anon asked how Anofelis would even do things as a scout, you quickly would think of a few things which would be imperative to her job. You turned to Anofelis, telling her to listen closely. She nodded quickly, being all ears at this point. You told her how you had a few requirements in mind. For starters, she had to hide herself as much as possible. You didn't want her flying around or making herself easily spotted by anyone who just so happened to be nearby. "Okay, so stay up in the trees and make myself hard to see. Understood." Anofelis responded, even though there weren't exactly too many trees in the areas outside of her containment zone.

You then continued that she shouldn't take any hard risks. If she found something worrisome, she should leave and report it back to you. Better safe than sorry. Anofelis nodded again, paraphrasing it back to you right after. "Leave if it looks dangerous and inform you about the dangers. Got it." She seemed quite serious, though you could tell there was a hint of excitement and joy in her. Like she was pleased with the fact you were giving her a task to do.

Your third point was to meet back in this very location. It was decently away from the main path, and was not likely to be trapped by outsiders who came to this place. Anofelis again nodded. "Meet up here after I am done exploring and then tell you what I found." She nodded quicker, after which you told her that you wanted her to mostly focus on observations. You could do the exploring and investigating part, while she acts as a look-out and another source of intel. And afterwards, you told her what she should really focus on: Other subjects, scientists, guards, other death squads, and any interesting location or room.

"Subjects, scientists, guards, uhhh death squads, uhhhh, interesting rooms! Okay!" She said softly, her hesitation at the end kinda making your men concerned. It'd not be good sending her out without her really knowing what death squads were. Then again, she was cautious when she first met you, so she'd probably know to be cautious with other squads she'd encounter as well. Besides, you told her to play it safe, so she'd probably not just walk up to armed death squad members without first looking at them for a while.

Finally, you told Artyom to maybe set up a camera here. That way, if Anofelis returned here, you would be alerted to it. Not to mention, it'd also warn you if there were any intruders. You then suggested to maybe leave an extra helmet nearby. She could take it along and use it to communicate when nearby. Of course, you had already given away your own helmet, meaning Anon or Evander had to give away their regular helmet. Fortunately, Evander was quick to offer up his helmet to Anofelis.

Thus, Artyom would get Lars to help with setting up a camera nearby, while Evander got his helmet from his backpack. With all of this done, Thaddeus spoke up softly. "Well, I didn't expect we'd be usin' subjects ourselves, but... Y'know, this ain't half bad. Just be careful out there, Anofelis. Don't go places which are teeming with bad people. Hopefully, we can reunite ya with Jabal!" Anofelis nodded quickly, smiling in a way that clearly was extremely emotional. And soon, she started actually sniffling a bit, tearing up just a bit. "Uh, Anofelis, are you... are you okay?" Anon would ask calmly, Anofelis nodding again before speaking. "Y-Yeah, I-I just... Y-You're the first humans a-aside from my creators who don't treat me l-like I'm worthless. I-I know I am not the brightest, b-but I do wanna be helpful and make people happy a-and protect them."

She wiped away her tears quickly, before shaking her head. "Sorry, I-I don't wanna bore you with all that. I-I'm just very... thankful that you guys wanna give me the chance to help you and trust me to do a good job." Given how she had spoken quite badly of her caretakers, and mentioned how even other subjects had been mean to her, this was probably her first chance to actually prove herself towards actual humans. Hopefully though, she wouldn't let her emotions and eagerness run ahead for her. The last thing you wanted, was that she'd get too eager to help out, and in turn put herself in a risky location.

Speaking of which, what would be a good location to send her off to?

>Make her search areas which have a low probability of encountering any people. Such as overgrown parts of the green section nobody would be able to traverse.
>Send her into the flood facility. She mentioned being good at swimming, and could perhaps provide some intel about that place!
>Send her westwards. It was the only path into the green section before you blew open the other entrance. Chances were it hadn't been explored that much either...
>The rabbit subject the guardsmen mentioned must've come from somewhere. Maybe Anofelis could look for the place they came from?
>Write in your own suggestion for an area to explore...
>Something else...

(Hope you guys don't mind the fact that you're still discussing Anofelis' job now, rather than exploring on your own. After the next post, it'll go back to just you and your men. Then again, some of the options provided are very interesting for intel and what not, so I am curious hear which area you guys will send her off to... not to mention, what she'll find.)

>>5911919
>>Make her search areas which have a low probability of encountering any people. Such as overgrown parts of the green section nobody would be able to traverse.
And with that we got this one handled.

>>5911919
>Make her search areas which have a low probability of encountering any people. Such as overgrown parts of the green section nobody would be able to traverse.
An area we can't explore and she can is perfect. Other mercs won't be able to explore there either so should be quite safe too.

>Make her search areas which have a low probability of encountering any people. Such as overgrown parts of the green section nobody would be able to traverse.
Even though Anofelis really wanted to help you out and even got emotional at the chance of doing something good, you still were reluctant to send her out into dangerous areas. Sure, the flooded facility could be useful to explore, but there were potentially horrific creatures down there. Trying to find the route to the rabbit subject was just sending her to her death. The westward option was also not the best option, given how little you knew of it.

So, you decided the best option was to stay close for now. She could explore parts of the green section which you couldn't wade through. Places like this very mangrove which you were in. And if she proved to be good at the job, maybe then you could consider doing something a bit more risky.

Thus, you told her her mission, her nodding and not giving any complaints. "Okay, I will, uhhh, observe for you guys to the best of my abilities!" She said softly, trying to keep her emotions down a little bit to appear more serious. She'd approach you for a moment, before hesitating and giving a nod. "Thank you." She said calmly, before grabbing the helmet Evander gave her and swiftly flying away. Once she had left, Mike would speak up in utter bewilderment. "We've gone from saving subjects, to saving subjects and scientists, to then saving subjects who have attacked us, to now making subjects work for us. D-Do you really think this is a good idea, Mikhail?"

Though to this, Thaddeus casually responded: "Well, what if the government ain't to be trusted, like ya have been mentioning from time to time? In that case, we're doing the right thing here AND are spiting the government ya hate so much!" There were some quiet chuckles from the rest of your men. Mike simple sighed, before looking at you. "I'll still trust your judgement on this one, Mikhail."

And with that sorted, you'd head to the exit to this space. You first waited for Artyom to set up a camera again, which didn't take all that long. And finally, it was time to move on again. Having explored most of the 2nd floor, you would take another set of stairs upwards, exploring the third floor. This one seemed to be a bit different, being less focused on having entire spaces built for growing specific habitats or crops, and instead focusing on smaller plants with testing equipment nearby. This was probably the R&D sector you had seen mentioned before.

Some sections were quite overgrown though, as some of the plants were starting to take over the space they were growing in. Other sections had died out altogether, leaving them quite empty aside from all the machinery. You'd quickly explore some of these areas, finding less subject related material like nanites or organic compounds. There were still plenty of hard-drives to take along.

Though given the sheer number of hard-drives you'd find and the fact they were likely not for subject-related equipment, you opted to only take the ones along which seemed like they could actually have important information. After some time though, you did find one paper. A quick glance through it revealed quite some intriguing details though. It was apparently an old report which was written quite a long time ago. It contained details of how one higher-up scientist requested research on various types of spore and fungi samples for usage in a potential subject. The report also detailed how the research had succeeded in finding various samples which could be incorporated samples. Most importantly of all, it stated that some of the samples which had been made were going to be used in a subject. You would take the paper along, as it was definitely too lengthy to read through right now whilst you were exploring the place. Or you could even deliver it to the government later down the line. That way, they could maybe look through it to see which subject potentially had these fungal parts.

The rest of your trip was not nearly as eventful as the previous two floors though, the only really interesting find being a tunnel to the floor below you in the research area near the mangrove forest. It lead straight to the little hut Anofelis had created, implying that she had also dug this tunnel. If she had managed to do that though, she either really was good at digging, or was really goddamn strong. Perhaps sending her on a 'safe' mission wasn't really that needed after all? The tunnel even went up another floor, reaching another green area right above you. Though, that would probably be explored at a late time, once you had actually reached the next floor.

After a few hours of rummaging through the R&D sector though, it was clear that your men were growing a bit worn down. Hunger was starting to overcome your men, and you had also walked for... quite a long time already. Not to mention, some of your lengthy pauses where you talked with subjects, guardsmen or handled other business. Given all of this, it seemed that it was the perfect time to start setting up a base-camp. All of your men were on board with this suggestion, though the location of the base was still something you weren't all too sure about. Though after heading up one more floor to see if you could set up a nice camp there, your men seemed to be sold. The next floor showed some large spaces which had peaceful taiga biomes in them.

Your men immediately asked if you could set up base here. And honestly, you couldn't really say no to them. The place looked safe enough, with some large sections not having much light. These sections could be good for hiding in, as well actually getting some good rest. And after you gave the go, your men would find the nearest entrance and quickly got settled. The tents, cooking tools and sleeping bags were quickly brought out, as everyone would start doing their own things. Lars would start setting up a little cooking site. Thaddeus, Evander and Mike would get to work on the tents. As for Alan, Artyom and Anon, they would decide to take on some of the guard duties while also helping out here and there whenever asked.

>Read through the paper you found in the R&D sector. Maybe reading it more thoroughly could reveal some interesting details about the scientist in question and the subject which was made?
>Ask Lars for the tablet, and look through some of the subjects. Maybe you wanted to discuss specific subjects with your men? (Write in what you want to do/discuss with the subject list.)
>Help your men out around the campsite. (Write in who you'll help out and how)
>Try and contact Anofelis through the helmet. If she was close-by, you could probably talk to her and ask her if she found anything worthwhile. As well as give her an update. (Write in what you wanna tell/ask her.)
>Turn on the radio and listen to some more of Annie's broadcasts. See if she has anything fun to bring to the dinner table.
>Just have a bit of a casual chat with your men to see what they have on their minds.
>Ask your men to do something else... (Write in who you want to do what...)
>Something else altogether...

(A nice timeskip to something mildly different. Plenty of options to choose from as well, so I definitely got plenty to write tomorrow. Anyway, if there's anything wrong with this update/the timeskip, do let me know.)

>>5912274
>Something else altogether...
Explain to mike we spared the guards because we could potentially use the helmet to gain info off them (if not potentially gather track/find where they are hiding) allowing us to potentially find other more highly valued survivors like a supervising scientist.
>Just have a bit of a casual chat with your men to see what they have on their minds.
>Read through the paper you found in the R&D sector. Maybe reading it more thoroughly could reveal some interesting details about the scientist in question and the subject which was made?
>Turn on the radio and listen to some more of Annie's broadcasts. See if she has anything fun to bring to the dinner table.
In order of priority from top to bottom

>>5912274
>Read through the paper you found in the R&D sector. Maybe reading it more thoroughly could reveal some interesting details about the scientist in question and the subject which was made?
>Turn on the radio and listen to some more of Annie's broadcasts. See if she has anything fun to bring to the dinner table.
At the same time

>Try and contact Anofelis through the helmet. If she was close-by, you could probably talk to her and ask her if she found anything worthwhile. As well as give her an update. (Write in what you wanna tell/ask her.)
Check in, tell her where we set up camp
in case she gets wounded and needs what treatment we can provide, or if she finds something we'd want that isn't feasible to carry around

>Something else altogether...
The first thing you'd do as the others settled, was head over to Mike. Given his reluctance about everything, you wanted to have a little one-on-one conversation with him. As he was busy with the tent, you told him that you wanted to talk. "Is this about me being kinda against the fact we're not doing our job at all?" He'd say in a mixture of annoyance and concern. You thus explained your personal reasoning as to why you spared the guards. You explained that you could potentially use the helmet you had given them to gain info from them, if not potentially gather information about where they are hiding. That way, you could listen in and potentially learn of other more highly valued survivors like supervising scientists.

"Okay, I get that, but what about all the subject? Or the fact we're sending those out? Like, I get that they're 'not bad', but the people paying us won't see it that way, y'know." Mike remarked, as it was clear he still was really hesitant about everything. Regardless, you told him that he didn't have to worry too much. You had things under control, and were going to use the materials you had to find some actual targets worth killing. Mike at least didn't pester you too much about it, going back to working on the tent right away.

>Just have a bit of a casual chat with your men to see what they have on their minds.
Having told Mike what was on your mind, you decided to chat with the rest of your men. Just to see how they were feeling about their current situation and everything that had happened. You already knew how Mike was doing and how he felt, so you right away went over to Thaddeus and Evander to see how they were feeling. "Well, I'm feelin' quite nice, I'd say. I must say, I'm pleased with what we've encountered so far. Lotsa nice gals down here. I was expectin' worse, honestly." Evander said quite casually.

Thaddeus nodded along, though also was quick to add to that: "I also like the place we're going through right now. It's secluded from other squads, got lots of things to discover and also lotsa nice spaces like these. Hell, were it not for the other lights outside and the lack of wind or anythin', I coud've sworn we were back on my home planet!" Some of the others, like Lars, Evander and Artyom were quick to agree with this, given that they came from similar places like this one. "Not only can I sleep here like it's my old home, I can prepare some fine cuisine from my home planet here as well, given the foods I got, haha!" Lars even said proudly, clearly being happy he was able to cook in a place like this.

Afterwards, Anon also brought his own thoughts into the mix, once again discussing some of the subjects you had found. "I do wonder if our luck will persist. I mean, think about it: We've found 4 friendly subjects in the past 2 days, as well as mostly harmless staff and guardsmen. None of them have caused us any harm."

Lars paused his cooking to take a moment to stare Anon down. In turn, Anon quickly corrected himself. "Okay, the only real harm came from misunderstandings and wasn't lethal. Hell, the worst harm we've suffered came from... well, it came from Kamara. But the Diamond Dogs shooting at us was probably a close second! Hell, they didn't even have a 'misunderstanding' with us, they just straight up tried to injure us!"

"Soooo, what are you trying to say, Anon?" Alan eventually asked, to which Anon finished his statement: "I think that, statistically speaking, chances are that our next encounter will probably be a bad one. Unless if all of the subjects end up being misunderstood or non-threatening. But then again, we've seen what subjects can do and be like..." It was definitely something worth considering. Though most of your men still felt that your current plan was working fine. Hell, they even seemed pleased with the co-operation you had chosen with subjects! Probably because the subjects were far more informative and willing to co-operate with you than the government had been. Honestly, your men were overall very content with how things were going.

>Read through the paper you found in the R&D sector. Maybe reading it more thoroughly could reveal some interesting details about the scientist in question and the subject which was made?
Given the fact that they were all quite pleased, you decided to do some other tasks of your own now. Firstly, you wanted to check the paper which you had found to see what it entailed. The first sections seemed to focus on mycelium, and their ability to create huge networks for communication. It even drew some odd parallels to animal nervous systems, and how the two could be integrated. There was mention of the usage of spores to spread these networks rapidly, and the fact most samples would have a variety of circumstances under which they could grow best.

It really seemed whoever had worked on this project had gone all out, creating various types of fungi which could be integrated with animal DNA. And after reading through the processes of how every sample was acquired and their ideal growth conditions, you found the first mention of who had requested this paper: Roraima. Hearing that he might work on a mushroom subject was definitely concerning. Though you did see Tengri's name mentioned as well, implying that they were either both working on separate subjects needing the fungi, or that they were working on the same subject. Perhaps some of the subjects you worked with could tell you about who this was all for.

>Turn on the radio and listen to some more of Annie's broadcasts. See if she has anything fun to bring to the dinner table.
>Try and contact Anofelis through the helmet. If she was close-by, you could probably talk to her and ask her if she found anything worthwhile. As well as give her an update.
After reading through everything, you found that your men had finished setting everything up and that Lars was almost done with food. With everyone seated around a small campfire, you decided some music was nice. Besides, you could maybe listen to one of the subjects you 'worked with', and see what she had to bring. She was right now playing some relaxing pop rock music, your men seeming somewhat indifferent to the choice Annie had made. Though once the song was over, you'd be able to listen in to her little chats. She was mostly still busy mocking some of the other death squads, right now mocking some Blackstar soldiers who seemed to have lost track on a subject and were complaining that she had somehow informed said subject.

Given the lack of exciting updates, you decided to get a helmet from one of your men to see if you could pick up Anofelis. You wanted to check up on her. She didn't respond though, as she seemingly was out of range of your helmet. You kept the helmet turned on, hoping she'd soon pick up so you could talk with her. In the meantime, your men kept chatting about random things while Annie played her song. After two more songs though, things did get somewhat more interesting, as Annie started giving some minor casualty numbers.

Apparently, quite a few facility staff members had been killed by death squads today. No subjects had been killed though, Annie eagerly mocking the squads who had tried to get some kills in today. Other than that, she also would mention how at least 10 different soldiers had lost their lives today, and that 50 had been gravely injured in total. Though Annie was quick to point out that they were government statistics, and that the death toll was in actuality far greater than just 10. How those other deaths occurred and how many there were actually, she wouldn't tell though...

Shortly after Annie started her next few songs, Lars' dinner was ready. It was a nice stew made with the tomatoes he had picked, as well as other vegetables. It was actually a pleasant meal to end the day with. Though in the middle of eating, you'd hear some rustling noise from the helmets, meaning Anofelis was close-by enough to connect with it. You quickly tried talking to her, as she responded calmly. "Oh, uhhh, it's you! Uhh, how are you speaking through these tiny things?" She said confusedly, apparently not knowing how the helmets worked. So, you just told her that you'd explain how the communications worked later and that you wanted to hear how she was doing. "I'm doing fine. I observed some of the higher floors and their jungles. I didn't find anything yet though..."

You told her it was fine, and that you had set up a camp on the fourth floor, and that she could come over if there was anything. You also told her that you could provide treatment if she was injured. “I’m not injured though…” She said bluntly, you telling her that it was a hypothetical. You also told her that you could help her physically if she found something large which she couldn’t carry. Though once again, she didn’t seem to understand what you really meant, as she calmly stated: “Don’t worry. I haven’t found anything I can’t carry on my own yet.” Once again, she didn’t understand your offer for help. Then again, maybe she also was strong enough that she didn’t really need your help in any of the heavy work.

Either way, it seemed like things were continuing to go well for you and your men. Sure, Zaria had been injured quite badly, but your subject discovery rate was still high. Then again, it was still only the second day down here, and things could still take a turn for the worst in the near future. For now though, everything was going swimmingly for you and your men…

>Just eat some of Lars’ food and then head to rest. Things were getting late, and you could quickly get back to work if you woke up early.
>Discuss some things with your men whilst you all ate dinner… (Write in what you wanna chat about or ask them about.)
>Something else…

>>5912981
>>Just eat some of Lars’ food and then head to rest. Things were getting late, and you could quickly get back to work if you woke up early.
We gottta do some exploring tommorow.

>>5912981
>Just eat some of Lars’ food and then head to rest. Things were getting late, and you could quickly get back to work if you woke up early.
agh, we really need to find Roriama

>Just eat some of Lars’ food and then head to rest. Things were getting late, and you could quickly get back to work if you woke up early.
After you had contacted Anofelis to see how she was doing, you wished her good luck and told her you would soon get some rest. She said she might come over to you once she had found somethin, after which you turned off the helmet and focused on just eating the food Lars had made. It was a nice way to end the day, you afterwards heading for the nearest tent to get ready to sleep. You told your men that they had to wake up early again tomorrow, as you hoped to keep exploring the green section and hopefully find some more information which was of use to you. They seemed a bit disappointed you wouldn't join them for some further conversation, but they also didn't tell you to stay awake. Thus, you entered the sleeping bag in the tent, and quickly went to sleep. The last thing you heard before you fell asleep was the noise of your men laughing with each other, enjoying the time they had to just relax.

Another busy day was ahead of them as well...

...

...

...

You would wake up at an unknown time, having slept for... well, it was hard to say really. It could've been 2 hours, or 20 hours. It was mostly quiet outside, and the lights from before were still turned on, further adding to the disorientation and uncertainty about what was going on. Looking around in your tent, you saw Thaddeus and Alan both still being asleep nearby. Before you rushed to wake them up, you'd first grab your gear and left the tent to see if anyone else was awake. After leaving your tent, you saw that the place had gone mostly unchanged, there not being any signs of life around. The fire from the night before had burnt out, and all the plates from last night's food had been put in a stack nearby.

Checking the time, it seemed to be just past 5 o clock in the morning. Your men were all still fast asleep, meaning it was about time to wake them up and get going...

>Explore your surroundings on your own for a moment. Maybe being on your own and going out quietly could mean finding something wandering around this place?
>Try and contact Anofelis with your helmet. See if she was okay or if anything had happened on her side.
>Wake up your men right away and tell them to get going. You had a mission to do, and time couldn't be wasted.
>Just let them sleep for the time being. You could wait and maybe do something else in the meantime, like... (write in what you intend to do, if anything.)
>Something else...

(An update that isn't 10000 characters long? I'm losing my touch. Anyway, I kinda feel like a short update here is fitting. The choices may not be too interesting, but ah well.)

(Oh and I guess now is a perfect chance to once again ask for any writing tips, requests or suggestions you guys got. Just out of curiosity and maybe to see if there's something I should really focus on for the next day in the story.)

>>5913524
>Wake up your men right away and tell them to get going. You had a mission to do, and time couldn't be wasted.
Uh, they're all asleep? We're not setting anyone on watch for night ambush? Worrying, we should probably start doing that.

I'd be down to turn on the radio real quick and be like hey Annie where are Roraima and Elbrus but that didn't have majority backing last time I suggested it.

>>5913561
Supporting. We should be up and going ASAP. Zaria would likely have been great on watch but annoyingly she was the one WIA. Still, we should properly set one up in the future.

>>5913524
>>Wake up your men right away and tell them to get going. You had a mission to do, and time couldn't be wasted.

>Wake up your men right away and tell them to get going. You had a mission to do, and time couldn't be wasted.
Having checked the time, you immediately decided to wake up your men. Not only did you want them to get up and going to start a day of hunting, you also wanted to tell them how they hadn't really set up as a guard for the night. You thus woke everyone up as quickly as possible, telling them you wanted to have a word. Some of your men took longer to awake than others, but about ten minutes later most of your men had gotten in their uniform and were out of their tents. You immediately would ask them why everyone was asleep when you woke up. There was a moment of confusion, before you mentioned that you needed at least someone to keep guard during the night, in case something showed up or tried to ambush you.

The confusion among your men was still visible, as they started talking to each other about how they had discussed the topic yesterday. And shortly after, Thaddeus turned to Alan. "Weren't you the one who'd have to take up guard duties first?" Alan shook his head, before looking to Anon. "No, it was Anon, right?" As it turned out, they hadn't been all too clear, as Mike and Artyom also swore that Anon had to have been the first guard. Either way, it seemed like things had been resolved rather fast, and Alan was quick to accept that he'd be the first on guard next time around. At least nothing bad had happened here whilst you slept, so things weren't all that bad.

Regardless, you told your men you intended to get a simple breakfast now and maybe do some small preparations before heading out. Your men would quickly accept, Lars already getting ready to prepare a quick morning meal. No fancy cooking this time; he simply got the rations and started sharing them around along with some fresh water. All the while, you turned on the radio and tuned into Annie's channel.

You told your men how you were tempted to ask her for intel on Roraima and Elbrus. Though most of your men seemed unsure if that was a good idea. For one, they still were a bit crept out by the idea of being watched by a highly powerful subject. More importantly though, they felt that going after Roraima or Elbrus would be far more difficult than continuing your current efforts. Even then, they didn't go against your wish of getting the info. Rather, they were just hesitant about changing course now when a plan had already been decided.

Either way, you'd listen to Annie, who was playing some more peaceful ambient music. And after the song ended, you heard her smug voice once more. "You're listening to VRCMG Radio with Annie Marconi, your early morning reminder to keep obeying your oligarch overlords, or face a painful end! It is currently 5:21 in the morning, and soldiers are starting their descents into the facility yet again!" As she read the news, Lars would share the morning rations around, as you all got seated and listened to Annie's report.

Most of thew news wasn't of great interest to you. There had been a collapse in the North-western section of the facility, though that wouldn't affect you too much given it was past the flooded section. There were reports of a group of Blackstar soldiers being gravely wounded and injured whilst traversing the south-eastern quadrant. There were also reports of soldiers heading into deeper sections, tucked away underneath the rubble. And so far, Annie stated that most of these expeditions had just lead to them being injured or killed.

Though, after she gave some further updates whilst she was mocking a group of Heathens soldiers who were trying to track her location, something odd happened. You started hearing a distant song being played through the green section. It sounded very odd, being kind of grainy and having a tone you would describe as 'sombre'. It sounded like it was played by a guitar of some kind and some other strange instrument you couldn't name. There was something ominous about it, like it was being played by some old, crackly audio device. Though, some of the instruments sounded eerily high in quality. Hell, it was hard to even say if it came from the speakers in the building itself, or if it came from actual instruments being played in the distance.

Your men froze as they heard the music, going quiet and listening to it with quite some concern. "You guys hear that too?" Mike said, quickly being hushed by the others. And after toning down the radio, it was clear that the music was coming from within the green section. Was it maybe some kind of morning jingle for this place? Or was it caused by the guardsmen doing something odd? Or maybe it was something else altogether?

>What do you do?

Suggestions:
>Head outside and scan the area quickly, before trying to find the source of the music.
>Hold back and see if the music was getting closer or further. If it came closer, go on the defensive. If it went further, try and follow it.
>Tell your men to not listen to the music at all and to block off their ears. There was a very good chance this was done by a subject, and that listening to the song for too long could do something to you and your men.

>>5913907
>Head outside and scan the area quickly before trying to find the source of the music
>Have Thaddeus block off his ears in case it’s some weird subject voodoo

>>5914089
Isn't there a music subject? This might be them. Supporting this regardless.

>>5914089
and Anon,
we need the person with the sonic canon to clear the noise with it potentially, so as long as they both are fine we are chilling.

>Head outside and scan the area quickly before trying to find the source of the music
>Have Thaddeus + Anon block off their ears in case it’s some weird subject voodoo
After listening to the strange music for a short minute, you instantly told Thaddeus and Artyom to block off their ears. You didn't want them ending up enthralled by these strange songs, especially given that Artyom had the sonic cannon. "Wha- why only them!?" Mike asked in concern, as you told him it was just a precaution. If the song would truly cause harm, it'd by now have already done so. Ironically, Lars actually seemed to enjoy the music, even stating: "I don't see what's so bad about it. It's kinda nice." Though to this, you responded that you clearly needed to find the source of the sound. Lars and the others agreed, quickly getting their weapons and quietly heading out of the chamber.

As you left the chamber and looked around, you tried to look at the hallways above and below you. You didn't see anything above you. Though it was quite difficult to really spot anything above you from your current position. You did have the benefit of being able to look down, not seeing anything of note. What's more, you could tell the general direction of where all the noise was coming from: It was coming from the west, and seemed to remain the same volume throughout. Either the source of the noise was staying still, or moving slow. The former could mean a trap, and the latter could mean some kind of lure. Then again, you really couldn't be sure, cause this thing could be... well, anything, really.

So far, the music continued being rather peaceful. It did sound a bit melancholic now at times, as well as sounding quite erratic. The guitar remained constant and sounded normal, but the other weird digital sound was warbled and kept shifting pitch constantly. At least, you recognized some kind of pattern to it and it wasn't just random noise. You also noticed that it was repeating quite a bit, for some reason.

Though soon, you also heard a female song which sounded quite pleasant to the ears. Immediately, your men got tense as the voice echoed through the green section. It started softly, growing louder and louder as it seemed to be reaching some kind of zenith. So far though, the song didn't make your mind go anywhere, nor did it make you feel off. It was just a strange, but harmless song. Your men also weren't affected in any way, though you still wanted to play it safe.

Thaddeus and Artyom kept their ears blocked off with their hands, as you told everyone to continue going after the noise. You'd start rushing westwards, the song remaining quite consistent in volume. Though after running for a few minutes to get to the south-western corner of the place, you did notice the sound getting ever so slightly closer to you. "We're getting closer!" Alan yelled eagerly, clearly not minding what was going on. Perhaps this was one of the subjects you had read about on the tablet?

After turning the corner, the music was very close. It was still not directly aimed at you, but the source was definitely very close now. It must've been somewhere below you, based on where you heard it coming from. Looking over the side of your path though, you couldn't see the source still. Thus, you opted to keep moving closer. The noise did become a bit softer soon, and you could hear it starting to echo a bit.

And shortly after, the song seemed to come to an abrupt end...

Your men all seemed a bit unsure, some freezing up, whilst others kept looking around. "This has to be a trap..." Anon would say softly, Artyom shaking his head after he had stopped blocking off his ears. "I doubt it. Why lure us out here with music? Why not send us somewhere dangerous?" Alan already got his flamethrower up, speaking confidently. "Well, I'll burn whoever made this trap! That ought to show em!" You kept quiet, covering each other until the music restarted or something else happened. Though, nothing happened. Instead, things went eerily quiet for some time, up until you heard some distant yelling some distance away. The yells came from below you, and sounded more aggressive than anything.

And after carefully opting to approach the source of the yells, you'd find out where all of this was likely going on: A short distance away was the Western entrance to the green section. You could look at it from above, realising it was the definite source of all of this noise. Or rather, that the source of all of this noise was coming from down there.

>What will you do next?

Suggestions;
>Directly head downwards and enter the western entrance. You didn't want to give whoever was responsible for the sound the chance to escape.
>Wait outside above the entrance. You had a good vantage point, and could see if anything would leave the hallway.
>Yell from above at whatever was inside of the western entrance. Maybe it was another group of death squads who came to this place?

>>5914628
>Thaddeus and Artyom kept their ears blocked off with their hands,
Are they not wearing helmets?
>Wait outside above the entrance. You had a good vantage point, and could see if anything would leave the hallway.
Thermal helmets go!


We didn't grab RC cars/drone did we?
I skimmed through the old thread to reread what gear we picked up but ig we forgot about it.

>>5914631
>Directly head downwards and enter the western entrance. You didn't want to give whoever was responsible for the sound the chance to escape.
We're hearing yelling, so there's probably a confrontation going on already. If we wait we'll at best only get the aftermath.

>>5914631
>Wait outside above the entrance. You had a good vantage point, and could see if anything would leave the hallway.

>Keep quiet and ask Artyom to take off whatever is blocking his ears and listen in.

It is better to wait so we can ambush if it's a threat. Artyom has acute hearing so he can maybe fill us in on what's going on. This can, even in the short term tell us a lot. Besides, running head first into danger when we are in an advantageous position is a bad idea and may even escalate whatever is going on to outright combat when it could be resolved peacefully.

>Wait outside above the entrance. You had a good vantage point, and could see if anything would leave the hallway.
>Keep quiet and ask Artyom to listen in.
While it was tempting to go down there and intervene with whatever was happening, you had a different idea in mind. You told your men to head towards the entrance, but to stay above it so that you had a good view of whatever may come out of it. More importantly, you could watch from above with the thermal helmets, hopefully staying out of sight while getting a good look at the situation yourself. You told Evander and Anon to do the same, since the three of you could then get a good look at what was going on.

Thus, you headed forwards, trying to be quiet as you approached the section right above the tunnel. And once there, you'd quietly wait. "So, why aren't we going in?" Alan asked soon after, you answering that it was better to wait so you could go for an ambush if there was a threat. Besides, you also knew Artyom had acute hearing, meaning he could maybe fill you in on what was going on down there. Besides, running head first into danger when you had access to a more advantageous position was a bad idea. Hell, it could very well escalate whatever was going on to outright combat. "Hmmm, I would like some combat though..." Alan said, followed by Artyom hushing him. "I'm trying to listen what's going on." Thus, Artyom would try and lean over the edge a little, with you, Evander and Anon also watching using the thermal vision helmets.

It was a shame you didn't have access to drones, as they could have been quite useful at a time like this. Maybe they would've been a bit loud, but they still would've given you some valuable information. At least you had Artyom, who listened calmly and tried to hear what was going on. "I'm hearing a voice, female. It doesn't seem too far away." He'd say calmly, continuing to listen in while carefully looking down.

For some time, he'd keep listening in, catching a few more noises. It mostly were just voices according to him. He said there were at least 3 people down there talking, with one sounding particularly aggressive. Though after a minute or so, his eyes widened a bit. "They're coming this way." He'd say, as he and Thaddeus tried looking for another helmet to use. They had left theirs behind after blocking both their ears with their hands and following you. Though fortunately, Lars and Evander had taken the helmets along as well, quickly handing them over so everyone was fully prepared.

And soon, you saw some lights shining out of the tunnel, hearing footsteps approaching. The lights grew brighter, as they moved all over the place. Seemed they came from some pocket torches or something along those lines. And not long after the lights had appeared, you'd finally get a glimpse at who was causing all the noise: It was a group of guardsmen and two scientists, most of them looking worn-down, scared and injured.

The group itself consisted of 8 men total, 1 male and 1 female scientist, and 6 guardsmen. They looked slightly better than the ones you had met here before, though they also seemed far more scared and paranoid based on the way they looked around. They shone around with the lights, followed by the female scientist stopping them and seemingly giving them a warning. In regards to their equipment, they were actually a bit more armoured than the previous groups of guardsmen you had encountered. They had far more serious looking weaponry as well, with three having shotguns and the other three having regular rifles. They also had what looked to be some kinds of stun batons to their sides.

The guardsmen looked behind each other with the pocket torches, before looking to the scientists and giving a nod. "Okay, let's move out. We can gather food here and maybe set up an outpost." The female scientist said, before one of the guardsmen spoke cautiously. "Alright, spread out and look for a good loca-" Before the guardsmen could finish, the male scientist rushed up to him and grabbed him just below the neck. The scientist seemed to hiss something at him, before letting go. And shortly after, the guardsman spoke up again, albeit a bit more worried as well. "R-Right, together... Let's get moving." Anon, Artyom and Evander all didn't seem too sure what to think of what was going on. And shortly after, Thaddeus quietly spoke for Alan, Mike and Lars, given that they couldn't listen in or look down at what was going on. "What's going on down there? Who's there?"

>How will you deal with this group?

Suggestions:
>Keep on watching from above and see what the group does. Maybe they were not really a threat and could share some info with you?
>Fire some shots at them and let them know you were there and had your guns aimed at them.
>Try and greet them in a more respectful manner. They didn't seem like 'evil' folk, and they probably were just here for food and survival.

>>5915381
THERMAL TIME LETS GOOO

>How will you deal with this group?
TOSS SMOKE GRENADES ALL OVER THEM MFs

Once thermal has been deployed and they are covered up
"Anyone who doesn't put down their weapons or tries to run is getting shot.
Anyone who complies will live.

>>5915381
>Keep on watching from above and see what the group does. Maybe they were not really a threat and could share some info with you?
Wanna see what they do when unaware they're being watched.

>>5915381
>>Keep on watching from above and see what the group does. Maybe they were not really a threat and could share some info with you?
Let's keep watching for now.

>>5915426
I think they know they are being watched given the scientist guard exchange. Just maybe not by us

>Keep on watching from above and see what the group does. Maybe they were not really a threat and could share some info with you?
You turned to Thaddeus, telling him to keep quiet as you kept watching. You told your men that you hoped to watch them for some time, hoping to see what they do when unaware of the fact that they were being watched. You could've dropped some of your explosives on them, or create a smokescreen and then hopefully tell them to drop their weaponry. But violence might not be the right option... yet. Thus, you watched as they kept looking around with their flashlights, first scanning their general surroundings. Though unfortunately, one also looked up and shone the light at you and your men. You and the others quickly ducked back, as more lights would shine up at you. Hopefully, none were able to catch you or your men now, as you all had gotten down on the floor.

After a minute of searching, the lights seemed to focus elsewhere, as it seemed nobody had spotted you. And even if the guardsmen and scientists had noticed you, they didn't seem too interested to go after you. "Stop shining the lights all over the place. Just stick close and keep covering each other's backs. Might be some mad subject around who could ambush us, or worse. There's plenty of subjects who'd love to scare us right here." The male scientist said, being surprisingly calm about what was going on. Then again, maybe he was just doing it to keep the rest of the men calm. "W-What if we r-run into another death squad here?" One of the male guardsmen would say, to which the female scientist more casually said: "I doubt they've reached this part yet. Remember, this is the only way in here, unless if they somehow avoided Pelly in the flooded parts of the facility..."

Regardless, they soon started walking northwards, continuing to shine their lights at the varying chambers they passed by. They were clearly all quite scared, with three of the guardsmen lighting the path, while three more kept their guns at the ready. You and your men followed them from above, the guardsmen occasionally shining their lights upwards. "Stop pointing it up, please! We don't want those bloody monsters spotting us down here!" The female scientist would eventually say loud enough for you to hear, causing a small argument between the guardsmen. Though it did seem they soon stopped shining all over the place, just lighting up the general area around them. It wasn't like they needed much light down here anyway, given that there were still plenty of lit-up rooms around. In fact, you noticed many chambers starting to slowly light up, maybe because it was becoming morning and the facility had some kind of 'night mode' to replicate how the sunlight would change throughout the day.

Regardless, you'd stalk the group for quite some time, soon hearing one of them groan. "There's no edible food here anywhere. I thought you guys said this place had abundant food?!" To this, the male scientist spoke up quite calmly. "It has abundant plant-life, not just abundant food. We have to maybe look at some of the upper floors for the latter, if that is what you want. Then again, considering what your compatriot just saw on one of the upper floors..." Whilst you continued looking down at the guardsmen and scientists along with Anon and Evander, you could tell that the guardsmen were very tempted to head upwards. In fact, they soon noticed a nearby set of stairs with which they could move upwards.

However, they instead shook their heads, as the male scientist spoke up. "Listen, we're the smart folk here who know where everything is. So why don't you guardsmen try and do what little of your job is left down here, and listen to the ones in charge, alright?" The scientist sure seemed like nice fellows, seeing how they were treating the other guardsmen. It was even more ironic, given that they remained in a section with little to no food. Really, going up to where you were would give them far more of what they were looking for. Then again, they'd probably figure that out eventually anyway.

Thus, they kept moving forward, you continuing to stalk them for quite some time. They checked over every chamber, shining into it if it was dark and trying their best. Though things soon took a turn for the worst, as one of them soon shone the lights up at you again. And this time, they did shine on you before you were able to hide. There was a gasp, followed by the one who had shined his light on you speaking up in quite a panic. "Shit! Up there! Up there! I-I just saw someone! L-Looked like one of those fucking death squad guys!" More lights shone up at you, as you and your men remained as low as possible.

"A death squad member, in here? I highly doubt it." One voice would say, followed by another speaking in a bit more of a panicked tone. "W-Well, that fucking bird girl also came from this place somehow! If she somehow got here, then I can imagine those fuckers also being here!" Another one seemed to curse at this 'bird girl', followed by one of the scientists speaking a bit more dismissively. "You're clearly just seeing shit. Your mind's making up reasons to go up there." Once again, the scientists really were just lovely people, weren't they? And after the guardsman who had spotted you reasserted that he had seen you, the female scientist spoke up quite dismissively. "If they're death squads, they're either doing a terrible job, or they wanna ambush us. If it's the former, just ignore them. If it's the latter, well if you wanna get shot so eagerly, go right ahead and fall for their ambush. I certainly won't follow."

The male scientist also added that it could just be a subject trying to pull tricks, in which case there was even less reason to interact with them. As he put it: "If it's a subject pulling tricks on us, then that's the only way she can get to us. After all, any dangerous subject wouldn't need to rely on trickery to get a kill in." Despite what the scientists said, you soon heard one guardsman stating something quite worrisome. "I'd rather know what's stalking us, then continue walking blindly around this place!" And in turn, the female scientist spoke mockingly. "Sure, go ahead, have fun getting shot! Or god forbid, raped by some disgusting monster girl! Remember, I did tell you what kind of things Elbrus has made before!"

Despite the snide remarks, you heard footsteps coming from a short distance away. The guardsmen really was walking up the nearby set of stairs, likely reaching you within less than a minute. You had to do something fast. Running backwards now was of no use, as you'd just be spotted running away. However, there were some side-chambers to your side where you could hide behind shrubs and other small plants.

>What do you do next?

Suggestions:
>Just hide. Better to not alert these bastards so you could keep stalking them and figure out more about them.
>Confront the guardsmen, and reassure them you meant no harm to them.
>Tell your men to raise their guns, and get ready for a firefight. These guys were already extremely on edge, so this guardsman probably wasn't eager to have a little chat with you.

>>5916198
>Just hide. Better to not alert these bastards so you could keep stalking them and figure out more about them.
The scientists at least seem to know a bit about this place, hopefully they'll lead us to a lockable room.

>>5916249
support

>Just hide. Better to not alert these bastards so you could keep stalking them and figure out more about them.
With the single guardsmen quickly approaching, you told everyone to run into the nearby chamber. They quickly did so, trying to remain quiet and low. Fortunately, there was a decently large entrance in the side-chamber beside you which you passed through and used to hide. The chamber itself was very dimly lit still, and there were enough bushes, trees and landscaping features to get behind. And right as you entered, you heard the footsteps starting to approach the floor you were on. You and the others managed to find some places to hide behind: Lars, Anon and Mike hid low to the ground with bushes blocking them out of sight. Evander, Thaddeus and Alan hid behind the larger trees and structures, whilst you and Alan hid rather close to the main entrance behind some medium-sized artificial rock formations.

The foot steps came closer, along with the light of a pocket torch. Soon, the footsteps stopped right near you, shining all over the place. The guardsmen was looking around the chamber, trying to spot anything. Though after a minute of looking, you could hear him leaving again, heading a bit further back to where you came. Alan was about to come out of cover, before Thaddeus signalled him to stay down. After all, the guy could still come back and spot you. Alan complied, backing down as you waited for as long as was necessary. And not much later, you heard the guard speaking up to your left. "Ah, wait up for me!" They said, as you heard some swift footsteps as the poor guard ran past you. And shortly after, you heard more footsteps and knew the guy had headed back downstairs. It was safe to come out of cover again.

Carefully leaving your chamber and looking over the ledge again, you saw the group of guardsman already a decent distance ahead. As they walked off though, Mike spoke up a bit curiously. "So, are we just going to keep stalking them from a distance like this?" He at least wasn't frustrated, more just curious. You explained that you hoped they'd reveal something interesting in this place. After all, they seemed to know about this place quite well, so they probably would find something. "I also wanna get a better read on them. The guardsmen seem pretty normal, but the scientists... don't seem like the nicest folk around, in my opinion." Mikhail then said, to which your other men also nodded.

Thus, you quietly kept following them for some time, following them past the north-western corner. The scientists and guardsmen just kept on looking through the various chambers for food and materials. You kind of hoped to see if one of the scientists would use a key card somewhere, since you could use the chambers they opened for keeping people safe. They hadn't used them yet, though you did could tell the scientists were looking around for such spaces. In fact, you soon saw them head for a sliding door which was left wide-open.

After they entered it, they stayed for a short while before seemingly leave in a rush. You could see that the scientists were quite worried and signalled the guardsmen to move onwards, for some odd reason. "Was that the room we kept Kamara in?" Artyom asked, followed by Evander shaking his head and replying: "Nah, that's further eastwards from here. Even if they find that room though, all they'll probably find is some blood and nothin' else." He seemed quite confident, which was fair all things considered. Still, the fact the scientists seemed to leave the room in a hurry still was quite intriguing. Did they see anything in there which you missed? Or was it just not of interest to them?

You'd keep following them, watching them occasionally rummage through rooms which looked to have food-items in them. Though you'd soon be greeted with the very thing you wanted to see, as one of the scientists found a closed off sliding door which he managed to open with a key card. He looked through it, before signalling the others to enter. "What's in that room?" Alan asked curiously, followed by Anon shaking his head. "Not a clue. We walked past it and didn't really try to open it." To you, it had just looked like any ordinary side room. But perhaps there was more to it? Though before you could state what you wanted to do next, you heard a thud a short distance behind you. Looking behind you, you saw Anofelis standing there, looking curiously at you and the rest of your men.

"Bloody hell, that scared me for a second." Thaddeus said calmly, your men clearly being spooked by her sudden appearance. Anofelis looked mostly curious and intrigued, right away asking you: "What is going on? What are you guys doing here? Are you exploring the place again?" Anofelis seemed mildly excited, Artyom soon hushing her and telling her to be a bit more quiet. Though shorty after Anofelis toned her excitement down, Lars asked her a rather important question. "Actually, Anofelis, did you also hear that weird song not too long ago? We were just busy at our makeshift camp when we heard this odd song echo through this place." Anofelis nodded a bit hesitantly, which was at least a good sign. It meant it wasn't just humans who were affected by it.

Still, that strange song could be tackled later. Right now, you had a group of scientists and guardsmen to deal with. Speaking of which, given their hostility towards subjects, Anofelis probably had to be quiet and stay out of sight, lest she get shot at. You'd probably have to tell her a bit about what was going on and then maybe consider what next steps you'd have to take...

>What do you do next?

Suggestions:
>Let's go for a little risk. Have one of your men or Anofelis try and sneak a glimpse into the chamber the guardsmen and scientist entered.
>Wait for the guardsmen and scientists to leave. They surely wouldn't stay in a tiny room for a long time.
>Toss a smoke grenade into that room and tell them to drop their weapons!

>>5917029
Are we sure it's a tiny room? If so:
>Toss a smoke grenade into that room and tell them to drop their weapons!
Hard to imagine a better chance for a full nonlethal capture.

Otherwise:
>Let's go for a little risk. Have one of your men or Anofelis try and sneak a glimpse into the chamber the guardsmen and scientist entered.
Have Anofelis do it, she's fast and stealthy.

>>5917029
>>5917107
Can't we do a mix of both?. Give a smoke grenade to Anopheles and ask her to sneak around those people, tell her to use the grenade in case she's discovered and they get hostile or she meets a hostile subject then we go in either tell then to surrender or start shooting.

>>5917029
Smoke EM
the strategy is simple, anyone who doesn't drop their weapon will get pew pew'ed (preferably aim to maim than to kill)

>>5917321
I'm not sure she can use a smoke grenade.

>If it was a tiny room, toss a smoke grenade/flashbang into that room and tell them to drop their weapons. If it wasn't a tiny room, go for a little risk. Have one of your men or Anofelis try and sneak a glimpse into the chamber the guardsmen and scientist entered.
Having watched the group for long enough, you decided that combat was the best option. The guardsmen were seemingly familiar with death squads already, and knew that they posed a threat. So, you wanted to go for a bloodless kill, smoking them first and then telling them to drop their weaponry. It'd be trivially easy if they were in a small room. Emphasis on if though, given that you didn't know how large the room would be. Thus, you decided that you needed some recon from up close.

You told your men the plan, telling everyone that you'd first all quietly move down a few floors to get a far better angle into the room. If the room was small enough, you'd then throw some smoke bombs or a flashbang inside. And with their vision limited, you'd use your thermal vision to get a good view of the majority of them and tell them to drop the weaponry. "Finally, some action." Alan said eagerly, Mike also eagerly nodding along. Though obviously, using a flamethrower now was probably not recommended. Especially since you once again tpld your men to aim for maiming, rather than killing. "Makes sense. I'd rather also learn what these guys are up to rather than just killing them." Artyom would say, while Alan and Mike were a bit disappointed. Though that was to be expected of them at this point. Anofelis seemed more confused, given that you hadn't really told her about who you were going after. Though after quickly telling her it were some baddies who you wanted to neutralize, she seemed to just accept it and keep listening.

The only issue now was that you had no idea how large the space was the guardsmen and scientists were in. It could be really tiny like you hoped it was, or it could be way too large to really use smoke bombs or flash bangs. Fortunately, you had the perfect solution to this problem: Anofelis. Given how quietly she could fly and crawl on any surface, she could probably sneak a glimpse into the chamber and then get back and tell you what she saw.

Anofelis seemed more than willing to do such, nodding eagerly as she responded quickly. "I wanna help! If I can do that, I will do it!" However, there was a bit of reluctance from your men about the idea. Thaddeus looked at Anofelis, before turning to you. "Ummm, are you sure she's the best candidate for this? Anon would also be pretty good at the job, I'd say." He'd respond, Anofelis visibly looking disappointed. "Why can't I help out?" She asked softly, Thaddeus pausing as he quietly thought about how he'd tell Anofelis. "Well, ya kinda are really large. So ya probably would be spotted quite easily. Besides, if ya were to peak into the room, ya got that... uhhh, that hor on yer head. It's kinda a dead giveaway that yer watching them."

Thaddeus' concerns were rather fair, though Anofelis clearly was very disappointed. Fortunately for her, there was one person who was more than supportive. "I'd not mind letting her do it." Anon would remark calmly, Anofelis immediately lightening up a bit. Of course, the rest of your men seemed unsure what to really think. "Are you sure, Anon?" Lars asked in turn, at which point Anon explained that he trusted Anofelis to do a good job. You weren't sure if he said it out of kindness, or if he actually believed she was capable of it. Though given what he said next, it seemed it was more of the latter than the former.

"Remember how easily she moved through the jungle? Besides, we only spotted her thanks to our thermal vision helmets. If she can hide from us, I feel like she can remain hidden from these folks as well." Anofelis nodded along quite eagerly, though there was still some reluctance. After all, this wasn't some large area with a bunch of thick foliage to block your sights. However, Alan soon spoke his mind, bringing up a fairly good point: "Anon is good at stealth here, and he wants to give her a chance. I say, let's give her a chance. I trust her as well." With two men now willing to give her a try, the others quickly decided to just let it happen. It was also helped by the fact that you and your men didn't want to waste too much time discussing things. You had to do this as fast as possible after all.

Thus, you told Anofelis to just look into the room and see how large it was and if all the guardsmen and scientists in there were clumped up. "Okay, will do!" She said eagerly, before you told her to be as quick and quiet as possible. She nodded, before spreading her wings and quickly flying to the other side. There, she'd use her tail to hold onto the railing as she gently moved downwards. It was quite mesmerizing, seeing her dangling from the side of the walkway, using every limb to hold onto something as she made her way down to the door. Once she got to the walkway above the door, she'd first move to the side a bit, before crawling down via the wall, finally peaking into the chamber.

You and your men prayed that it'd be fine and that she wouldn't be spotted. She did pull her head back several times, before finally crawling back upwards. And once it was clear that she had succeeded and hadn't been spotted, Alan spoke up proudly. "For such a dummy, she's real good." Anon also nodded and remarked: "Impressive." Though there was still some scepticism amongst your men, as Artyom calmly responded: "Let's first hear what she has to say and see if the information was actually properly collected. Then we can say if she did a good job or not."

Anofelis shortly after spread her wings and quietly flew over, landing right beside you again before smiling quite giddily. "Aight, what did ya catch?" Evander right away asked, Anofelis snapping out of her giddiness. "Oh, right. Ummm, it was a decently large room. Uhhh, it had weird glass containers and lots of fruits and foods." Anon nodded, before suggesting it might be some sort of small collection room for specific produce and crops to test what they were like. He'd even ask some questions about equipment and other items, which seemed to confirm the theory further. "Alright, and how large would you say the room is?" Anon then asked, Anofelis thinking for a bit, before looking around. She'd soon point at a chamber on the other side. "Uhhh, see that part? I think the room had a similar size from that point to..." She'd move her hand a decent bit to the side. "To there." It was a bit abstract, though after some more quick questions from Anon, it seemed like he had it figured out.

"Okay, so I estimate it to be somewhere between 28 and 34 feet. Was the entire room square or did it go further back as well?" Anon said, Anofelis nodding quickly and with a mild smile. "Well, guess we know what to expect now... What's the plan now, Mikhail?" Lars asked, as the attention once again shifted to you. You knew that you, Anon and Evander would be able to see where the guardsmen and scientists were in the thick smoke, but that left Artyom, Lars, Alan, Thaddeus and Anofelis out of the picture. Perhaps there was something you could do with them still…

>Assign your men for the varying tasks (Write in who you want to assign to what… Throwing the smoke bomb inside, support, threats, whatever you can think of can be suggested.)
>Maybe the smoke bombs wouldn’t do a good enough job in that large room. So, let’s go with a different plan, specifically... (Write in what other plan you have in mind.)

(I know the last few responses all suggested smoking them out. However, given that you also wanted to know if the room was small enough for that, I decided to let you guys first see a bit into the room and see if it was worth it (also, Anofelis got a clutch roll on the dice for that). I still imagine smoking them out will be chosen given what was described about the room, but I also think it’s fair to give you guys a chance to make some changes or additions to the plan.)

>>5917522
I don't frequent /k/ that much, but 28x34 sounds like it would be easily covered by a smoke grenade. So lets gooooooo

Give Alan and Mike the thermal vision gear. Alan can throw in the grenade and yell the ultimatum about dropping their weapons and surrendering, then the both of them can quickly storm into the smoke for cover and from there ensure everyone is compliant. I think we had one more thermal helmet, and if so Anon should take that and provide support from outside the room with our longest range weapon. Far from the doorway, since that's probably where they'll shoot in reaction if they can collect themselves quickly enough.

Also I forgot we always get second guessed by the squad so I didn't write this out before, but I picked Anofelis for the scouting because if she did get caught, she wouldn't give away that there was a mercenary squad in the area. This group was already wary of subjects being around, so seeing her would only confirm what they already thought, and they wouldn't be driven to take anti merc squad measures.

>I know the last few responses all suggested smoking them out.
The majority was still for scouting I think, so it was good you didn't swap
Also at some point we should check if Ano can use grenades.

>>5917522
STILL SMOKING EM
THE GRENADES SHOULD COVER THE ROOM
SMOKE EM
SMOKE EM ALL
pew everything that moves

>Assign your men for the varying tasks...
After Anofelis found you the dimensions of the room, as well as what it contained, you'd at long last get the chance to act. Of course, you still wanted your plan of smoking em out to go well. Pewing them all would be easy, but you needed good men for the job. And what better men to pick than two of your most eager men to kill? You thus turned to Alan and Mike, telling Evander and Anon to hand their thermal vision helmets to them. "Huh? Why us?" Mike asked curiously, Alan casually and proudly responding: "I don't need to have thermal vision. My flamethrower will already give me a good view of the room!" You explain that they could be the ones going in and subjugating the scientists and guardsmen. Alan could throw the smoke grenade and yell the ultimatum about dropping their weapons and surrendering. Both of them could then quickly storm into the smoke for cover and from there ensure everyone is compliant.

"I'd be quite happy to do that." Mike would respond, Alan also accepting. Your other men also accepted the suggestion. Still, you did have another helmet, and felt that somebody else could get better use of it than you. And after thinking about it, you'd give it to Anon. You told him that he should take it and provide support from outside the room. He could tell you and the others where to aim with your longer range weapons. This allowed your other men to also get some support in, whilst staying far from the doorway. You imagined that the door would be where they'd shoot at in, if they even got the chance to react on time and collect themselves quickly enough. "Got it." Anon said, after which he instantly turned to Mike and Alan. He told them what would probably be the best plan of action: Create a smoke-screen, enter the room and move to the sides and stay away from the door whilst incapacitating any of the guardsmen who seemed like they'd shoot back.

Before you were done though, Anofelis would speak up curiously. "What can I do?" To which you told her to maybe hold back for a bit. You didn't want them spotting her and creating even further panic, especially since the men seemed to be quite distrusting towards subjects. Anofelis was a bit disappointed, though was cheered up when Alan told her: "You already did a fantastic job, Anofelis. Just stand back and watch us do our thing now." Anofelis accepted, and thus would fly away a little, heading to a floor a bit higher up to get a good view of everything.

Thus, it was time to move in.

You and your men all quickly would move downstairs, trying to remain quiet. Alan and Mike went in first, heading towards the door and soon moving against the wall right beside it. Alan already had the smoke grenade at the ready, getting his flamethrower before Mike told him to use his machine pistol instead. Probably for the best, considering the mission here was to incapacitate, not bloody murder or give these guys painful, permanent burns.

You and the rest of your men would try and keep your distance for the time being, not wanting to end up in the crossfire. Not to mention, you didn't want to walk past the door and risk someone looking back and spotting you. Anon would lie low, turning on his helmet and speaking softly through the comms. "Okay, after the smoke screen is up, stay low and move surround the door from a distance. I'll let you know if anyone tries to escape or lands a shot." It seemed like everything was in order, as Alan counted down from three. And the moment he said one, he unpinned the smoke grenade and threw it into the room. The sound of the grenade tumbling over the ground was soon after met with the guardsmen and scientists panicking. "What was that?!" Was the only thing which was said before there was a loud hissing sound followed by the doorway filling up with smoke. Immediately afterwards, Alan and Mike rushed into the room, Alan going for the threat.


"EVERYONE, WEAPONS TO THE GROUND NOW OR WE'LL SHOOT!" Mike also yelled as he ran in. "DROP EVERYTHING NOW!" Meanwhile, Anon would move closer to the door whilst staying low, getting himself a good vantage point. You and the others also got low, positioning yourself in a wide half-circle formation around the door. "YOU! DROP THAT GUN! DROP IT NO-" Before Alan could finish his remark, there was the noise of gunfire, you hearing bullets and screams from one of the guardsmen. You heard things being dropped followed by the firing of a rifle. It all flew past you fortunately, and quickly ended after you heard Mike's pistol go off. "DROP IT ALL NOW! WE GOT YOU SURROUNDED!"

You heard more items falling to the ground, as Anon spoke up quite pleased. "2 men visibly incapacitated, 2 more are dropping their weapons. 1 unarmed is cowering. 3 men unaccounted for." So far, things were going swimmingly. And the fact that Alan and Mike kept on yelling whilst not being fired at or firing their own guns showed this was working. And after some yells from guardsmen who were clearly surrendering, Alan spoke up confidently. "All targets neutralized and no longer posing a threat. 2 are injured." Anon would give the okay, before getting up as you and the rest were ready to enter. However, right after, you heard Alan speak up loudly again. "GET DOWN!" Though before any shots rang out, you heard Mike let out a grunt which synced up with a loud thwack. "STAY DOWN!" Mike said, as you heard the male scientist scream. "NO! NORA!" You and your men would enter the room, as it seemed that the female scientist had tried to rush Mike while he wasn't looking, only to be hit in the face by his pistol.

Thus, your men moved into the room, trying to see through the smoke which was yet to dissipate. Mike was pinning down one of the scientists, whilst Alan kept sure that most of the soldiers didn't try anything funny. Anon seemed focused on the guns which were on the ground, soon pointing them out to you and the rest of your men.

>What do you do next?

Suggestions:
>Tell the guardsmen and scientists to leave the room so you could interrogate them. Probably could think of some things to ask them right away.
>Get some of your men to take away the injured guardsmen. Maybe also administer some aide right away so they wouldn't die.
>Wait for the smoke to mostly disappear, then look around the room to make sure everything was secure.

(The dice once again sided with you guys. Then again, your plan was pretty solid, so you definitely did avoid a painful confrontation here. Now, to see if things will get less painful when it comes to questioning them.)

>>5918473
phew
>Get some of your men to take away the injured guardsmen. Maybe also administer some aide right away so they wouldn't die.
Secure the dropped weapons first, while Mike, Anon, and Alan make sure the rest of the room is secure with the thermal vision.

Then we can start on the standard question set with the uninjured

>>5918500
Supporting.

>>5918500
while questioning them, make sure to keep them apart for being abel to confirm accounts.
Have the scientists apart, as well as the keeping the guards quiet as we take em one by one for questioning.

>Get some of your men to take away the injured guardsmen. Maybe also administer some aide right away so they wouldn't die.
Given the smoke in the room, you still weren't in the clear just yet. The guardsmen or scientist could try using the chaos and lack of vision to try and rush in to grab their guns. Or perhaps try another attack like the female scientist had tried. Even if you had three men with good sight here, you didn't want to risk it. So, you told Lars and Evander to grab the guns which were lying around. Anon would even point out where they were, as he looked around the room to ensure everything went smoothly. Meanwhile, you told Mike and Alan to also keep everything secure, looking over your prisoners. Lastly, Thaddeus and Artyom would pick up the injured guardsmen and take them out of the room. They were in quite some pain, and you soon also figured out how they had been injured. One had been shot in the legs, the other in the thighs.

The operation went mostly smoothly, the four other guardsmen co-operating and walking out with their hands up. Mike would soon let the female scientist get up, telling her to move as well which she fortunately did. The male scientist seemed more than pissed off though, trying to resist immediately as he tried to grab Alan's gun. "Hey, stop that!" Anon immediately said. Though honestly, Alan didn't need any help. He would hold on tight to his gun, before slowly pointing it at the scientist. "Let go." Alan demanded, as the scientist soon let go and gasped. "Fine, shoot me you dickhead! You're gonna kill us anyway, might as well do it now!" Alan didn't seem too impressed, as Evander soon helped out by grabbing the guy. "Time for ya to shut up now." The scientist kept on squirming, trying to fight back as hard as he could. Though honestly, given your men's strength, it obviously wasn't working. Hell, one of the guardsmen even told the scientist: "Stop fighting back! If they wanted us dead, they would've killed us already!"

Despite that, the male scientist kept on struggling for some time. He was dragged out as the smoke started fading more and more. You could now properly see what was in the room: It was a large research room with lots of fruit-bearing plants. There were also plenty of opened containers which had fruits and vegetables in them. Hell, you saw that some of the food had been taken out and eaten from by these guys. Regardless, you'd watch the final men being brought outside and forced onto their knees in front of the room. Already, the injured men were being tended to, which did confuse them somewhat.

Once all the weapons had been collected and taken away, you'd leave the room and get a good look at your catch: 6 guardsmen, 2 of whom were injured, and 2 scientists. So far, the guardsmen had appeared relatively calm and reasonable (aside from two shooting back at you), whilst the scientists ironically were the more anxious and aggressive ones.

Hell, the male and scientist had both tried to attack you or your men at this point in time. Both had failed, and you could now see that the female scientist had a bloodied nose because of his attempt to fight back against Mike. Aside from her and the 2 shot guardsmen though, it had been bloodless. Now you had to get information out of them. Though before you could ask some questions, Anon asked the most important question: "Where did you guys come from? What were your roles down here?" The guardsmen looked at each other with a hesitant look on their faces, whilst the male scientist spoke up right away. "We aren't telling you bastards anything..."

Some of the guardsmen seemed quite tired with the scientists, as one softly responded. "Western section, near the upper floors. We were guards for various subjects." The male scientist looked absolutely pissed off, as another guardsman spoke a bit curiously. "Ummm, a-are you going to... k-kill us after we answer your, uhhh, questions?" You saw some of the other guardsmen being just as worried as the one who had asked. Though given that two of your men were assisting the ones who you had injured, it seemed they hadn't lost all hopes just yet.

>How do you respond?

Suggestions:
>Tell them you can't tell them why you're here, but that you're willing to let them go if they prove harmless and good at providing information.
>Tell them the full on truth: You wanted to know what the hell happened here and knew most subjects were harmless.
>Think of some questions, before telling them you just wanted to ask those questions. You weren't going to talk about anything else. You had plenty to ask after all...
>Separate the scientists and guardsmen before questioning them. Maybe go for questioning them one by one for info.

(To this anon >>5918734, I am sorry I didn't incorporate your suggestion into the update. I was so busy typing all of it out, I didn't bother to check for any late responses which came in. To compensate, I'll add your suggestion to this prompt so people can maybe also accept it as an option for the next update.)

>>5918743
>Tell them the full on truth: You wanted to know what the hell happened here and knew most subjects were harmless.

Then

>Separate the scientists and guardsmen before questioning them. Maybe go for questioning them one by one for info.

Ask a fair bit. What subjects they were assigned to, what subjects they knew about and any noteworthy staff that might have important information they knew of, scientist, fellow guard or anyone else really. We'll also ask about what they knew of the incident that caused this disaster and the events leading up to it. Also inquire about who they were arguing with earlier. For the scientists, ask who they are and why they seemed so adverse to subjects and what they did while this place was still running.

>>5918743
>Tell them the full on truth: You wanted to know what the hell happened here and knew most subjects were harmless.

>Separate the scientists and guardsmen before questioning them. Maybe go for questioning them one by one for info.

I don't think they have anything to gain from weaving a group falsehood, but there's always unknown factors and it's not like it adds a ton of time.

Actually it would add a ton of time if we personally question each one separately. Maybe we can delegate out the interrogations. Give the squad questions to ask and then do them all simultaneously.

>>5918743
np OP, early birds get their worm.
>Tell them you can't tell them why you're here, but that you're willing to let them go if they prove harmless and good at providing information.

tho on the topic of the second option, we don't actually know if MOST subjects are harmless, only the majority of the ones we enoucntered were and even then they could still be dangerous (we are 2 for 4 in our subject encounter-injury rate)

>>5918811
I think harmless in this case is being used to say not capable of doing enough harm to justify the galactic government hiring death squads to exterminate them all, rather than literally incapable of doing no harm.

>Tell them the full on truth: You wanted to know what the hell happened here and knew most subjects were harmless.
After one of the guardsmen asked you if you were going to kill them, you looked over your men for a moment. It didn't seem like they were apprehensive to you answering the question in an honest matter. Besides, you felt that telling the truth would only help you in this situation. Thus, you explained that you wouldn't kill them, so long as they co-operated and wouldn't try and hurt you. The guardsmen still were anxious, but they at least were relieved to hear you wouldn't kill them. Soon after though, you decided to calm them down further in the one way you knew: Telling them everything that was going on. You explained how you came here because of the government and that your mission was to kill folk. Though, you were deliberately ignoring killing everyone, because you felt that not everyone here was truly a threat and worth killing.

Hearing this, the guardsmen actually became far more relaxed. Though the two scientists remained visibly paranoid and aggressive, the male scientist even responding: "Yeah, right. I know what you guys are like. I've heard enough stories and seen enough of what you guys are like to know that you're full of shit." He said in quiet rage, as the guardsmen told him to shut up. Though, the scientist remained quite agitated. "These bastards are worse than the subjects! They've committed more criminal acts than the government has, and that is saying A LOT! Trust me, once we're no longer of use to these fuckers, they're going to kill us."The male scientist tried moving closer to you, trying to look intimidating despite being kept on his knees with a gun close to his head. "So whatever questions you might have for us, we're not answering them."

However, the guards heavily disagreed with this sentiment, one soon stating: "I'd rather take the off-chance to believe you guys. If you wanted us dead, we'd... probably be dead by now." The guards all agreed, as the male scientist spoke up even more angrily. "This is exactly why you retards weren't the ones in charge! You incompetent fucking..." He'd once again try struggling, only for Alan and Evander to quickly grab him and prevent him from doing anything really. The guards sighed, before looking to you and sighing. "Might want to get some handcuffs or something to deal with Wilhelm there." Well, at least you now knew the scientist's names: Wilhelm and Nora. They sadly weren't one the main list, but maybe they'd still prove useful in some ways.

Regardless, you told the guardsmen that you knew most subjects were harmless, and that you wanted to know what REALLY had gone down here. To this, Wilhelm spoke in rage. "HARMLESS?! Motherfucker, have you ever worked with subjects?! They're not harmless! Most are psychotic murder machines! Hell I worked on some of them, and the fact they're alive and in this building with us frankly mortifies me!"

A bit dramatic, but it ironically revealed a lot about the scientists who moments ago had mentioned not wanting to tell you anything. Still, questioning them directly now was going to be difficult, to say the least. The scientists kept interrupting and being highly aggressive, so you had to do something. Fortunately, you had just the idea for it.

>Separate the scientists and guardsmen before questioning them. Maybe go for questioning them one by one for info.
You decided that separating the guardsmen and scientists was a good idea. That way, you could first question the guardsmen and get some easy answers, before trying to pry info out of the aggressive scientists. Thus, you told Evander, Alan and Mike to bring the scientists back into the room to keep them separate. Nora immediately panicked, speaking with a pained voice. "Hngh, y-you're just going to kill us in there!" Wilhelm also was not pleased with what you had suggested, turning to the guardsman and snidely telling them: "Hngh, do something, you... worthless retards! Don't just let them take us away and execute us!" The guardsmen didn't say anything though, just looking away as the two scientists were dragged away.

Once they were gone, one of the guardsmen meekly asked: "You're not going to kill them, are you?" To which Artyom scoffed, before speaking rather derisively. "Given the way they're acting, they might get themselves shot. But unless if they're a major danger to all of us, I doubt Mikhail would give us the go to kill them." Afterwards, Thaddeus smugly spoke up as well whilst busy patching up the two guardsmen who were shot. "I'd not be surprised if ya wanted us to take that order, given how they're treatin' ya." Ironically, you could tell the guardsmen weren't opposed to the suggestion. The scientist really must've treated them like garbage.

Regardless, you'd soon ask your questions to the guardsmen, first asking them the subjects they were assigned to and which they knew: "Well, we know... a ton of subjects. Do you just want us to... name all the names we can think of at the top of our head?" One guardsman said, before you told them to just go with the subjects they worked for first. "Alright, I worked with Hannah and Arnold around Anesa Yamaru. Uhhh, codename IO-15." One would say whilst pointing at one of the injured guardsman and a different guardsman. Afterwards, another guardsman spoke up for himself and his partner. “Thomas and I guarded 19-40-GS, uhhh Haje was her first name. Don’t remember her second name.” The other guardsmen they had worked with would add “Haje Uraeus” to that. The last guardsman would worriedly say: “I looked after 8103-BT, uhhh Hapi Minos, along with some other people. Don’t know where they are though.”

Three subjects: IO-15, 19-40-GS and 8103-BT. And when you asked the guardsmen what subjects they knew, you were given a dozen names and codenames. Some were ones they actually knew a lot about, like GC-66 and 39-FD, whilst others seemed more like they heard it in passing whilst doing their job. Given the bevvy of subjects they knew only codenames off, maybe it was better to just ask them something specific in that regard. You thus moved onto some other questions, the next one focusing on noteworthy staff. Though, it seemed they mostly just knew of a few scientists who acted as caretakers for the subjects they had to look after. They also knew plenty of other guardsmen, but knew very little which was of great interest to you.

Thus, you asked about the main incident causing this disaster, and the events leading up to it. This was something which gave a lot of information. “The disaster? Well, we aren’t too sure. We’ve debated it together for some time, and the only thing we know is that a mysterious subject from deep below the facility appeared one day, and ran all around the place.” One of the guardsmen said, followed by another adding onto that: “She managed to kill a ton of guardsmen and people at once, from what I heard.” It seemed like these guys had a bit more experience with the chaos that caused all of this, one of the guardsmen even adding: “I remember hearing some scientists like Tengri and Logan getting their subjects to try and fight against this mysterious subject. But, I don’t know if that actually really happened or if it was just made up.”

They definitely knew a lot more about this incident than you had expected. Perhaps it was something worth really asking about further. Though first, you also wanted to know what the hell had happened before in the tunnel. Once you mentioned that, one of the guardsmen spoke up in annoyance. “So you were following us for that long? Well, at least my mind wasn’t playing tricks on me and I really did see you stalking us… I take it you hid in one of the nearby chambers when I went upstairs to look for you?” You could tell some of your men were amused, Artyom even smugly saying: “We might have. Anyway, we still wanna know what you guys were arguing about and what the hell was going on back near the western entrance. Not to mention, that music.”

When the music was mentioned, it seemed the guardsmen knew what was going on. One of them quickly responded. “That… that was a subject.” Your men instantly wanted to hear more, the guardsmen thankfully continuing to explaining what had happened.

“We headed here for food and safety, only to be met with this bird girl subject. Her name was… Kaenum, I think she said. Anyway, she was apparently singing to try and get people to her so she could travel with them and help them out. She didn’t seem harmful, but Wilhelm and Nora didn’t trust her and told her to stay back. Nora even grabbed my gun and told Kaenum to stay still whilst we walked past her. And after we moved past her, Wilhelm told her to leave, which she promptly did.” It wasn't the story you or your men were expecting, but at least it explained a lot of things. It seemed they had met another friendly, albeit odd subject, and had threatened her. Or rather, Nora and Wilhelm had threatened her. You could tell that the guardsmen weren’t all too pleased with the way the scientists had behaved. Still, it was somewhat understandable, given the situation they were all in.

At least the guardsmen had so far proven most co-operative. They were still a bit nervous, but they were clearly honest and willing to provide you with answers.

>Take some of the men on their own and question them alone. Some had far more important information you really wanted to know more about. (Write in which specific guardsman you wanna question and what you wanna ask.)
>Question Nora and Wilhelm, now that they were separate from the guardsmen. (Write in what you wanted to ask them)
>Continue asking the guardsmen as a group like this, maybe with some questions for specific individuals in there. They so far were all providing great questions. (Write in what you wanna ask all of them or one specific guardsmen.)
>Ask them to maybe introduce themselves. A few had already named their partners, and they were still a bit nervous. Being more personal and cordial would potentially help them relax.
>Ask them about the other room they entered and then swiftly left.
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>5919301
>>Continue asking the guardsmen as a group like this, maybe with some questions for specific individuals in there. They so far were all providing great questions. (Write in what you wanna ask all of them or one specific guardsmen.)
How many people in the facility or subejcts? we got an estimate before but I'd like another source.

As about the main scientists, about some areas in the facility that may be of note, etc.

>>5919301
>Continue asking the guardsmen as a group like this, maybe with some questions for specific individuals in there. They so far were all providing great questions. (Write in what you wanna ask all of them or one specific guardsmen.)
Any idea on the location of Roraima and Elbrus or the other fucked up and dangerous scientists/subjects
How they paired up with Nora and Wilhelm, and any knowledge they have on those two
>Ask them about the other room they entered and then swiftly left.

>>5919312
>>5919352
Supporting both. Also ask if they know or have information on 'secret' subjects like the rabbit we learned about earlier, or know anyone who might.

>Continue asking the guardsmen as a group like this, maybe with some questions for specific individuals in there. They so far were all providing great questions.
Given their co-operation and the vast amounts of info they had, you were more than happy to keep asking further questions. And the first thing that came to mind was: How many people and subjects are in the facility? It was something you had gotten an estimate of before from Laura, but you wanted a different source this time around. It was clearly not the type of question the guardsmen had expected, but they were more than willing to give their own estimates. "Somewhere around 15000 people, right?" "I thought it was closer to 14000." "It's in that range, for sure." After a bit of discussion, they seemed to mostly believe it was around 14000. When it came to subjects, they ironically seemed less certain. "Around 50, right?" "Nah, that's too much. I was thinking 40." "I highly doubt there's just 40. It has to be way higher." After some discussion, you asked for their best estimate, to which one would respond for all of them: "I think there were 40 at least. But the one who caused this was an unknown subject, so god knows how many more of those there are."

With them bringing up the 'secret subjects', you'd ask if they had any knowledge on those as well. You specifically mentioned the rabbit subject who was mentioned, which confused them a bit. "Well, we know there's a fast rabbit subject. Anyone remember her name?" "Uhhh, not a clue." "I though it was Deedee?" "Nah, shorter." "It was something with a D." "She wasn't exactly a secret though..." One of the guardsmen eventually remarked, as you then asked if they knew anything about actual secret subjects. There was a bit of silence, before one of the female guards said: "I had a friend of mine who worked as a guard deeper down in the facility. She was a guard for a subject who she wasn't allowed to talk about much with us."

Immediately, your men would focus on the guardsman who spoke of this secret subject. Thaddeus instantly asked: "Who was this friend of yers? What did she say about this subject?" The guardsmen didn't hesitate to answer to the latter question, calmly answering: "She said the subject was quite friendly and sweet. She didn't elaborate too much, as she already got reprimanded for 'saying too much', and didn't want to leave said subject."

The guardsman hesitated, as you waited for her to spill the name of her friend. And after an awkward silence, they sighed. "I'm... not going to say who they are. I'll maybe do it later, but not now, okay? I don't wanna betray my friend like that." Your men looked at you, waiting to hear if you wanted to force the answer out of the guardsman or not. Then again, being friendly and just focusing on your willingness to help people out would hopefully be able to convince them. If not now, then perhaps at a later time.

Knowing they wouldn't reveal secrets about their friends just yet, you opted for some other questions. For one, you wanted to know about areas of note: To this, you had plenty of good answers. "Well, we've heard rumours that the southern sector is still connected to the grid. And given that that sector has a lot of security and turrets, we can only guess what's lurking in there." One guardsman answered, to which another eagerly said: "I think Annie's in there. You probably know about her, right?" Your men nodded in turn, as it was nice to know that survivors were also well aware of Annie's existence. Hell, maybe these guys used Annie's radio broadcasts for information as well.

Afterwards, another guardsman calmly stated: "There are some highly secretive sectors deeper down. That's probably where the mystery subject was kept at as well. Umm, there are also the staff chambers to the east. Don't know how they are doing after the explosion, but maybe they would be worth exploring as well?" It were two solid suggestions for places to visit later down the line. Though it probably wouldn't be nearly as easy to get to those locations. Especially since other death squads probably also were heading in that direction.

Next, you asked them about the main scientists, asking about any noteworthy ones, their locations and activities. They had already mentioned two scientists in the form of Logan and Tengri, and they thankfully had more to reveal. "Well, we have no clue what locations they were in. But, we do know what they generally tended to do. Obviously, there's Tengri who was the head of staff, with Anderson probably the closest to his second in command. Oh yeah, Anderson loved bug subjects. Like, he really loved them. I don't wanna sound judgemental, but it kinda felt like a fetish at times." To this, one of the guardsmen spoke a bit more jokingly: "He was a puritan compared to Elbrus though." To which the guardsmen all agreed and laughed a bit.

The topic of Elbrus was one you also wanted to ask about, though you first waited to hear what the guardsmen had to say about the other scientists. "Uhhh, there was also Logan. He was somewhat stern, but usually quite respectful and friendly to people and subjects alike. Uhhh, who else is there, guys?" "Don't forget Roraima." "Oh yeah, he also existed! He did like... fucked up things to his subjects, right? Like, torturing them and what not?" "Yeah, I think so. I also recall him constantly trying to steal subjects from people and 'fixing' them." "God, don't remind me." Other than that, they didn't seem to mention many other scientists. Either they didn't know any other scientists, or they were willingly holding back information from you.

When asking them about the location of these scientists, you didn't get any other information. They at least knew where they generally were stationed: Tengri was in the centre, Logan was usually near the aquatic sector, Elbrus was somewhere in the east and Roraima was more in the southern section. Though the guardsmen also elaborated those were the places their offices were, and that they might not have been there during the incident. At least it were some more leads which could help you track some of those sick fucks.

Speaking of which, you also wanted to know if there were any other scientists or subjects which were a major threat. To this, they first gave the obvious answers: Vinella, FE-09, the ones in the flooded facility. Though they also mentioned some new ones to worry about: "Logan made some creepy spider subject. I don't know much about her, but I caught a glimpse of her once and she was genuinely off-putting." One guardsmen explained. "19-52-WD. Subject made by Elbrus. A pretty large dragon girl who was extremely aggressive. It's kind of to be expected with Elbrus' subjects, but she was especially bad." When you asked where they were located, the first would state the spider subject was somewhere in the south-eastern quadrant The dragon subject was more to the north-east, according to the guardsman who brought her up.

You had two more questions lined up for the guardsmen, who by now were quite relaxed. The injured ones had been tended to, no longer bleeding from their injuries and even asking for some food and water. First though, you asked them about Nora and Wilhelm. You wanted to know why they paired up with them, and what they knew of them. "Well, we mostly just worked together because we thoughts that a bigger group was better. They also are still technically our superiors, so we weren't going to say no... on the off-chance that everything would go back to normal eventually..." Your men seemed quite appalled that during a time of crisis and danger, they still opted to follow their 'superiors' rather than fending for themselves. Lars even asked them: "But they seemed to treat you pretty awfully. Didn't you ever decide to just... split off from them?"

To this, another guardsman sighed and explained it a bit further: "Well, we also worked with them cause they know a lot more about this place. Most of us stay in specific sections, doing our jobs for specific amounts of time before getting a break to sleep. We don't patrol huge areas or visit sections outside of our own. For the most part anyway. So, we trusted them to help us out." It made some sense. But it certainly didn't mean that Nora and Wilhelm's aggression and tone was acceptable. You'd ask them why they even were like that, and what they used to do here. It didn't take long for you to get quite a thorough explanation...

"They were both friends who worked with some pretty aggressive subjects. Specifically some of Roraima's subjects. Because of that, they... tend to have a bit of a limited worldview of the subjects. Not helped by them heavily distrusting and despising Annie."


You would soon remember, the room they entered a distance back from here. You wanted to know what had happened there that made them leave. The guardsmen seemed a bit unsure themselves, looking at each other before one of them spoke up a bit unsurely. "It looked to be just an ordinary garbage disposal section. But, they seemed really terrified to be there. Apparently, they feared a subject residing there or... coming up from the garbage disposal section to this place? It seemed kinda silly to us, but we didn't want to question them. Besides, the room didn't have what we came here for in the first place."

These men had so far provided a ton of information, but they still weren't letting go some of the juicier secrets. Either because they wanted to protect the people they did care for, or because they genuinely didn't know. Still, you had plenty of time, and plenty of reasons to keep asking more.

>What do you want to ask about next?

Suggestions:
>Ask them further about the subjects they worked with and guarded. (Write in what you wanna ask specifically.)
>Ask the one guardsman about his friend who worked with a 'secret' subject.
>Ask them more about some of the locations they had mentioned. What were their purposes and did they maybe know folk who worked there?
>Ask them about the government and its relation with the facility.
>Forego asking them questions, and instead ask Nora and Wilhelm some questions.

(A huge update, that probably will result in even more questions which they'll probably also answer. Hopefully, all these lore-dumps are at least somewhat interesting and tell you some things without giving too much away.)

>>5919841
Ask everything on the list except about the friend overseeing the secret subject. Sounds like all they have is a name and they might tell us eventually anyway.


For the first option, ask if they knew any subjects who were both dangerous and of a murderous disposition

>>5920002
>>Ask them about the government and its relation with the facility.
>Ask them about the government and its relation with the facility.
This one too.
Outside of that, I think we may be better off letting them go and telling em that we can't exactly let go of the scientists just yet.
(we can tell the guy we'll feed Nora to anofelis(lie) and show anofelis and he'll be scared shitless and tell us everything.)

Apologies for a lack of any updates today. I had a busy day, and I thought it would be for the best to keep waiting until there were more responses. I should've probably just ran with the two current responses and wrote something based on that.

Anyway, I'll try and at least get an update or two in tomorrow, even if I will be busy. If not, Saturday I'll definitely get an update in.

>>5920945
don't worry about it too much OP, we chillin.

>>5920467
+1

>Ask them if they knew any subjects who were both dangerous and of a murderous disposition.
Once the men had provided information about the room they had visited, you still had quite a couple of questions. The first thing you wanted to know was if they knew any subjects who were dangerous, deranged and murderous. The men once again mentioned Vinella, FE-09, the spider subject Logan made, and the dragon subject made by Elbrus. Though you knew they had more on them, and insisted they try and think of any really dangerous subjects. The one who had mentioned the spider subject would soon after state: "There was some kind of aquatic subject made by Tengri with the help of Logan. I only mention her because she could maybe be dangerous. According to Logan, she had some sort of toxic ability which was pretty potent."

There was also mention of PR-1001 again, reassuring you that she was indeed very much a threat. Then again, the previous reports of her having killed people kind of made that obvious. Fortunately, they soon gave some more details about two specific subjects who were of far greater interest to you. "I also remember Logan working on 7-SM, who was pretty dangerous due to her having an acidic body. However, Logan never mentioned she was particularly aggressive or mean to him, so I think it's just her body that's dangerous." Laura had already pointed out quite some things about 7-SM, so hearing that she was actually quite fond of her creator was a bit strange. Did they have a relationship by any chance? Artyom soon asked a simple but solid question that may help out as well: "What was 7-SM's name, if I may ask?" To which the guardsman responded: "Juno Haldane." Unfortunately, your men would not get any answers on further questions which were posed about 7-SM. At least you now had a name to go with...

The second subject was mentioned by the soldier who had guarded 8103-BT. "Elbrus made many rather... questionable and nasty subjects. Though I was told NH-19 was particularly bad. Though, I think that's mostly just the result of her being defective. Regardless, she apparently had a thing for blood and meat, and was known for 'playing' with her food." Lars softly asked to that: "So, she played with living things before killing them?" However, the scientist mentioned something far more worrisome. "No, she literally played with the food she was given. Like, she at one point was given a bit of the lab grown meat they give subjects here, and she wound up carving it back into a vaguely animal shape."

You saw the other guardsmen looking quite disturbed and bewildered by the suggestion. The guardsman didn't sound like they were joking. "Did you hear... why she did that?" One of the guardsmen even asked, to which the one shook his head and spoke up mildly concerned. "Well, she was made by Elbrus and ended up defective, so I imagine it was just something that was normal in her mind."

>Ask them more about some of the locations they had mentioned. What were their purposes and did they maybe know folk who worked there?
After that interesting description of Elbrus' defective flesh subject, you decided to just ask about some of the locations the had mentioned: The south-eastern quadrant, the north-east and the main offices. You wanted to know what the purposes were of those locations, and if there were any folk who worked there who they knew. It was quickly explained that the north-eastern quadrant had a large amounts of processing plants to create organic material for food. Apparently, both subjects and scientists had their foods produced there, so perhaps it was the next location which you could go after. Especially if it also contained lab-grown meats for subjects. Unfortunately, none of the men knew anyone who worked in that section.

The south-eastern section was also a location the men were more than comfortable explaining. "That was where most combat subjects were tested. Because of the dangers and sensitivity of the things tested there, those sections were some of the more well-defended ones." One guardsman explained, another chiming in and saying "That section even has automated defence systems in place. Turrets, alarms, perhaps even emergency electricity in case of an emergency like the current one." And when you asked if they knew anyone in that location, one more guard casually responded: "Had a friend there who watched tests. They were quite brutal, from what he told, but that's all he ever told me."

The last location which was explained thoroughly were the main offices. It was where the head staff had their secondary offices, and where most scientists convened and even slept at. It was apparently in the very centre of the facility, and was quite well defended. However, there was some pretty bad news about that location. "According to Nora and Wilhelm, that entire location has basically burnt to the ground. It was very close to the source of the explosion, so chances are it's completely deserted by now." Well, at least you now knew there were two more locations you could really check out. Though there was one final question you wanted to ask.

>Ask them about the government and its relation with the facility.
This was a question which seemed to stump the men. Even though you quite casually asked them the relation between the facility and the government, the men were unsure to respond. "We got some funding from the government, right?" One of the guardsmen said, another unsurely saying: "I recall there were occasional check-ups from government officials. Mostly high-ranking government staff and oligarchs who would look at the progress the scientists were making with the subjects." One guardsman mentioned that he recalled seeing a general of some kind, another mentioning how he had seen shady government workers who watched tests. Though, there were also some more positive remarks from the guardsmen regarding this topic.

"It's easy to forget some of the good things when it comes to government staff, y'know. I remember seeing a high ranking minister from the agricultural sector who was respectful towards subjects and quite positive." Another guardsman soon also remembered watching a representative of some government construction group arrive to get some ideas. "They were quite nice as well and far less shady. It actually felt like they cared about the subjects and how far they had been developed, rather than just the results they were showing already.

In general though, it was clear that even the facility guardsmen didn't know how the government worked with the facility. It seemed there was something official, given the constant government visits and funding. But at the same time, it didn't seem like there was some kind of formal declaration, or that the government really cared about how things were being done down here...

After the guardsmen had finished telling their stories, one of them spoke up a bit reluctantly. "I'm sorry to ask, a-and I can understand if you'd rather not answer, but... What are you guys planning to do here anyway? You... don't seem like the psychotic murderous types who just wanna kill for cash. If anything, you guys seem just as puzzled as we are about this entire mess and why the hell it happened. Are you guys also working for the government?" The guardsmen were clearly a bit bothered by the fact this guy asked you this. It was probably something the guardsmen was curious about and felt comfortable asking now. They were getting more and more comfortable, though were also still a little tense. And this question was not really helping with that tenseness...

>Lie to the guy. Tell him a fake story about why you were doing the things you were doing. (Write in what you'll tell.)
>Just decline to answer for now. It was simple, and giving a solid answer would probably take too much time to go into.
>Honestly tell the guy what your intentions are down here. (Write in what you wanna tell exactly.)
>Keep asking more questions. They had brought up more interesting information which was worth sifting through.
>Let them go and tell them that you wanted to still question the scientists first (Optionally, with the help of Anofelis to make those two comply). The guardsmen would probably understand and wouldn't find it an issue.
>Something else...

(I'm back baby. After two days where I was both lazy and busy, here's another update. I'll try and do some catch-up in the weekend. Unfortunately, I cannot promise that sunday will have plenty of updates.)

(More importantly though, I feel now is the best time to mention that I'll get back to college after a half a year break. It'll probably reduce my update output significantly, so I'll probably go down to just 1 update a day, rather than the usual 2. I'll still try and get 2 updates out per day, if things work well for me, but no promises. I hope you guys can understand.)

>>5921932
>Honestly tell the guy what your intentions are down here.

Specifically tell them we were hired to clear the place out but we don't trust the government and, unlike some deathsquads, aren't psycho's who'll kill without remorse. So, to put it simply, we are here to kill monsters, and we've yet to find any. Closest thing to them are maybe the two scientists that they were with, they seem to be on lighter end of the jackass mad scientist spectrum the government portrayed the researchers here as.

After
>Keep asking more questions. They had brought up more interesting information which was worth sifting through.

Ask for more detail on the dangerous subjects if they know. Also try and get information on that one guard that might have intel on unknown subjects.

>>5921932
>>Honestly tell the guy what your intentions are down here. (Write in what you wanna tell exactly.)
We're a professional killsquad but we ain't psychos. This time around the job we got seems to be extremely shady even by the usual standards of those mercenary jobs entails. So we're trying to get as much info as possible so we don't get fucked in the end. They cooperate with us we just might let them be on their way.
Be professional about it.

>>5921932
>Honestly tell the guy what your intentions are down here. (Write in what you wanna tell exactly.)
Backing >>5921964
but throw in that we'd like to save as many innocents as possible, so if they know any hidden spaceports or other ways to escape the planetary lockdown the govt has set up we're all ears.

Also that our merciful approach has left us with few results to keep the govt off our backs, hence the curiosity on evil subjects, ideally ones nearby and easy to kill.

After that:
>Let them go and tell them that you wanted to still question the scientists first (Optionally, with the help of Anofelis to make those two comply). The guardsmen would probably understand and wouldn't find it an issue.
I think they've told us everything they know already

>>5922064
I disgaree on saving as many innocents as possible. Only reason im for showing mercy thus far is bc we might have direct comabt with gov. If they are playing straight im for doing our job and terminating those we found.

>>5921932
>Honestly tell the guy what your intentions are down here. (Write in what you wanna tell exactly.)
Only that we are trying to figure out the reality of the situation before we make we commit. We are currently under the employ of the government, but how our contractor wishes to treat that relationship remains to be observed.

I'd say we should play our cards closer to our chest instead of gathering a repuation. Loose lips sink ships and we are better off being more on the low then anything else.
>>5922063
basically this anon's attitude for it is the way to go.

I personally think that one guard they know who knows a unknown subject is important. We can at least ask a bit about them like what they look like so we can try and spare them if they view us as a threat for the intel.

>Honestly tell the guy what your intentions are down here.
With one of the guardsman actually having the balls to ask you what you were down here for, you quickly decided that it was reasonable to be honest now. These guys had been harmless and willing to co-operate, and being transparent was quite fine. So, you told them the general gist of why you were here: You were hired to clear out this place, but you and your men felt that the job you got was extremely shady, even by the usual standards of the mercenary jobs you got. That shady feeling came from the government, who you did not trust at all and feared would betray this contract-based relationship you had. The guardsmen didn't seem too surprised that you didn't trust the government, though that still didn't change the fact that you were far more reasonable than the other death squads.

To that, you elaborated that, for one you were not psychos who kill without remorse. More importantly, you wanted to figure out the reality of the situation before doing anything hectic. The best way to do such was to talk with people, who you could then let be afterwards. "So you're going to leave all of us alone after this? You're truly not going to kill us?" One guardsman asked in mild disbelief, after which you ensured that you were just here to kill monsters, and that you were yet to find any.

You even joked that the closest thing to actual monsters were maybe the two scientists who they were with. This made the guardsman scoff in mild amusement, you further stating that they seemed to be on the lighter end of the jackass mad scientist spectrum the government portrayed the researchers here as. "I wouldn't call them mad, just very unpleasant." One guardsman responded a bit reluctantly, another then cautiously asking. "Are you going to keep them with you and not let them go? You're... kind of implying you'll kill them." You stated that it was left to be seen, and that it was completely dependent on how they acted to you.

Furthermore, you explained that your current approach had something of an issue: It left you with few results to keep the government off your backs. You needed to kill some actual genuine bad guys, hence the curiosity on evil subjects. Any nearby and easy to kill were fair. The guardsman nodded understandingly, before once again mentioning the subjects they knew. Though one guardsman pointed out the obvious. "Nora and Wilhelm will definitely know a lot more about dangerous subjects and their locations. They knew about this place and how to get there, so they'd probably know how to get around."

>Keep asking more questions. They had brought up more interesting information which was worth sifting through.
With that out of the way, you still had a final couple of questions you wanted to ask them. Firstly, you wanted to know if they had more detail on the dangerous subjects. Unfortunately, for this they didn't really have much to say which you didn't already know. Vinella was highly aggressive, FE-09 was also extremely dangerous. Really, there wasn't much else to get out of them in that regard. Your questions about that guard who might have intel on unknown subjects did get a bit more responses. "Her name's Lexie. Uhhh, she used to guard somewhere deeper in the facility, but I don't exactly know where. She has silvery blonde hair, a ponytail and some tattoos. Uh, she wields a shotgun, if I recall correctly... Might be confusing her for her friend, who I've also seen a couple of times but I don't know the name of." Thaddeus also asked what the friend looked like, as knowing how two guardsmen together could look could help with identifying them. "Uhhh, her friend has long, loose black hair. She also wears far more armour, last thing I recall."

>Let them go and tell them that you wanted to still question the scientists first (Optionally, with the help of Anofelis to make those two comply). The guardsmen would probably understand and wouldn't find it an issue.
With everything answered, you felt that they had told you everything they knew about this place which was of use to you. Thus, you'd tell your men that you'd let these people go now. The guardsmen all seemed relieved, one even stating: "Thank you. Thank you so much. I-I'm sorry if we caused you trouble." To which Artyom softly responded. "Eh, it's fine. You didn't injure anyone, and you didn't try anything funny. I'd say we even hurt you guys more than you hurt us." Artyom looked over the two injured soldiers, who were helped up by Thaddeus. "Though, I don't think we can the same about your scientist buddies." Artyom finally added, as the guardsmen nodded understandingly.

"Well, hope they will co-operate with you as well. Um, can we get our weapons back now?" One of the guardsman asked, as two others went over to the injured ones to help them walk around. It was a potential risk, giving them their weapons back. Not because they would betray you, which was very unlikely at this point in time. Rather, they could kill other sources of intel or your allies with the weapons. Then again, they could use some tools to protect themselves with, especially against folks from Diamond Dogs...

Regardless, once that conundrum was settled, it would be time to question Nora and Wilhelm, and to see what they could tell you.

Choose one of these three:
>Give the guardsmen their guns back. They needed to be able to protect themselves.
>Don't give the guardsmen their guns back. It was too much of a risk.
>Give a couple of them their guns back. Enough to retaliate against some threats, but not enough to cause issues in the future.

>Wait for the guardsmen to leave, before calling Anofelis down. Then, you could question the scientists. (write in what you wanna ask.)
>Just question the scientists now without the threat of Anofelis. You can use her later in case the scientists really were stubborn. (Write in what you wanna ask.)
>Something else...

>>5922492
>Give a couple of them their guns back. Enough to retaliate against some threats, but not enough to cause issues in the future.
can't completely arm then just in case they decide maybe going for us is the best play.

>>Wait for the guardsmen to leave, before calling Anofelis down. Then, you could question the scientists. (write in what you wanna ask.)
First, explain to anofelis we are trying to scare the scientists so they give us info.
we gotta split the guy and the girl from each other.
then we go in and ask the guy
Did you know that the subjects here are surprisingly diplomatic?
Did you know that if you give them some of what they want, they'll even listen to you?
Did you know that some of em only want just a lil human meat to go on their day, preferably women?
and they know very well how sadistic the process is.
then we show Anofelis and tell him to answer questions or Nora gets nommed.
then after that we go to nora but the exact same thing but the other way around.

>>5922492
I mean I can back
>Give a couple of them their guns back. Enough to retaliate against some threats, but not enough to cause issues in the future.
but I'd like to ask what they're planning on doing from here on out. Just hiding from the other squads and trying to survive? If that's it, maybe they could work with us - not directly, but we're having a lot of trouble finding a secure area to set up a camp out from under the govt's nose, and even if we do find one it'll need guards for when we're away and they are guardsmen. For our part of the deal we can report this area as cleared so other squads won't investigate. If they agree they could work their way back up to full gun privileges.

>Just question the scientists now without the threat of Anofelis. You can use her later in case the scientists really were stubborn. (Write in what you wanna ask.)
If they aren't cooperative then we can do >>5922571
but I don't want to give away that we're working with subjects immediately.

As for questions:
-All the subjects they know about, particularly any they worked with and any whose current locations are known.
-The layout of the facility, particularly anywhere in this area that we could easily secure against intruders that has enough room for our whole squad.
-Current locations of fellow scientists, especially Roraima and Elbrus
-Anything they know about the disaster that kicked off this whole mess

Hopefully they're better informed than Laura was

>Give a couple of them their guns back. Enough to retaliate against some threats, but not enough to cause issues in the future.
Your men weren't all too sure about giving these men their weapons again. They knew there were risks to it as well, just like you knew. Though you eventually decided to hand them over their rifles. They'd need something to defend themselves with. You couldn't completely arm them, just in case they decide maybe going for you really was the best play. However, before you told them to get their weapons, you'd ask them one more question, unrelated to the subjects you were going after or the history of this place: what were they planning on doing from here on out? Were they just going to hide from the other squads and try to survive? The guardsmen looked at each other, before some of them nodded along. And one even responded: "That's the only thing we can really do now, right? I mean, you guys were hired by the government to kill us, so our best chance is to hide and wait for the massacre to pass. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll survive and be allowed back up or something. Maybe after all the subjects are dealt with."

Whether the government would let them back and actually be reasonable was a massive maybe. It wasn't something you could respond to with 100% certainty. What you did know, was that these folk could work with you. Not directly, since taking guardsmen along would just be terribly in every way. But, you were willing to have them help in finding a secure area to set up a camp out from under the government's nose. And if they failed and you still succeeded in finding such a location, then these guards could still help in a different way. Such a location would need guards for when you were away, after all. So after thinking this through, you offered this suggestion, telling them they could look for a location which would be safe and use it as a kind of gathering point for any stragglers you found who deserved to live.

To further help, you told them you could report this area as cleared, meaning other squads wouldn't investigate. The guardsmen did seem quite intrigued, though still reluctant. "So, we try and find a location here to use as some kind of safe-zone? I mean, I personally don't know if it's the best of ideas." The other guardsmen also didn't seem too sure, though they did all agree on one thing: "I think we'd be happy creating some sort of base here. It's got food, plenty of space and... well, I don't think any death squads have come here already, right? Doesn't seem like it anyway." Perhaps you had to set up a communication line, or ask for them to meet up with you at some point in the future to get a more solid suggestion going. Regardless, the whole 'noting this area as cleared' part could probably still be done, even without the guardsmen once again continuing to work as guardsmen. For now though, you told them to get their rifles and that they were free to go.

>Just question the scientists now without the threat of Anofelis. You can use her later in case the scientists really were stubborn.
The guardsmen thanked you for your understanding, as they grabbed their rifles and soon headed forward. They said they'd try and find a spot to feed, and that they would try not to shoot anything they encounter, in case you wanted to talk with them. Thaddeus afterwards asked: "Well, guess we're gonna question those scientists now?" To which you responded that you wanted to wait a bit. Your men were a bit curious as to why, but you told them to remain patient. And once the guardsmen were far enough away, you would tell Anofelis she could come down. It'd take a short moment, but she'd soon come flying down from some of the upper floors. "I'm here." She said calmly, soon looking in the distance where the guardsmen had left to. "What was going on with them? Did anything bad happen? Is everyone okay?"
She sounded mildly concerned, you reassuring her that everything was fine, and that you needed her for something.

Once again, she lit up in excitement, nodding and asking: "How can I help you?" Thus, you explained how there were two rather harsh scientists who you needed to question. You wanted Anofelis to scare the scientists so they give us info if they ended up being uncooperative. Your men and Anofelis all seemed surprised, though you'd quickly explain that you first wanted to see if they'd actually cooperate right away. After all, if they did work with you, then it'd be kinda silly to reveal that you were working with a subject, as well as damaging what trust they may have in you. "Okay, so scare them. How do I do that?" She asked rather bluntly, clearly not being too used to scaring people. Thus, you explained that you hoped to use the threat of her eating them to scare them. Anofelis simply stared, before bluntly responding: "I don't eat meat though."

You told her that you obviously were already aware of this fact, but that just her presence and the idea could be enough to scare them. You could tell that Thaddeus and Anon weren't entirely sure about this plan, though Artyom and Lars seemed quite amused by the idea and were willing to give it a try. Thus, you told your men you'd split Wilhelm and Nora before questioning them, and that you'd first try to question Wilhelm. Your men quickly nodded, as they headed for the room where Mike, Evander and Alan kept them captive. You waited outside with Anofelis a decent distance away, her fidgeting a little and seeming a bit uneasy. Regardless, you'd soon hear Thaddeus speak from inside the little room. "Mikhail, we've got Wilhelm. He's strugglin' though."

Thus, you'd tell Anofelis to hide again, which she promptly did, before telling Thaddeus to bring him over. He was dragged out by Alan and Thaddeus, trying to break free from two of the strongmen in your group. "Let me go! I'm not telling you anything!" He'd yell angrily, as he soon was placed in front of you. You told him that you had some questions, to which he simply squinted his eyes and went quiet. You gave your questions, specifically asking about subjects they knew and worked with and their locations, the layout of the facility and items in this area you could use as a safe zone, the current locations of other scientists with a focus on Roraima and Elbrus, and anything about this disaster. Wilhelm kept quiet, before leaning forward a little and saying: “Fuck. You. I’m not telling you anything. I’d rather die than tell you sick bastards anything!” The guy truly was feisty, so it was time to call in help from the friend you had gained down here…

>Call Anofelis down. Use her to question the scientists.
“Did you know that the subjects here are surprisingly diplomatic?” You’d say with a smirk, Wilhelm seeming confused and unsure how to respond. Before he could though, you continued talking, asking him: “Did you know that if you give them some of what they want, they'll even listen to you?” At which point, It started sinking into Wilhelm what was going on. “No, you… you’re bluffing. There’s no way...” He’d mumble, as you continued talking. “Did you know that some of em only want just a lil human meat to go on their day, preferably meat from delightful looking ladies?” You’d continue, which made Wilhelm look particularly disturbed and horrified. You finally reminded him that they knew very well how sadistic the feeding process could be, at which point you looked up and whistled up to Anofelis. And shortly after, she descended right beside you.

She made quite the show out of it, landing with a loud thud as you felt a gust of wind coming from her wings as she landed. She licked her lips and looked at Wilhelm with a rather eager smile, before slowly stepping forward. To say that her acting was on point would be an understatement. Had she appeared like this in front of you when you met her, you’d probably think she was a genuine psychopath who deserved to be shot. Regardless, you told Anofelis to hold back, before telling Wilhelm that he had to answer the questions or Nora would get eaten alive. Wilhelm was clearly terrified, before softly asking. “H-How in the world… d-did you tame this… this t-thing…” He stammered in fear, as you told him that was besides the point, and that he better get answering.

He’d look around, before shaking his head. “N-No, I-I won’t!” He tried to sound defiant and courageous, but it was clear he was terrified. More importantly though, he was willing to throw Nora under the bus if it meant he didn’t provide answers. Either this guy was just that arrogant, or he knew something extraordinary about this place he truly was too scared to share.

Given that you wanted those answers from him, and the fact he was willing to let Nora get killed, you had to think of something else. Fortunately, the solution was simple. So simple, that Artyom would do the second best thing in this situation. “You really are proving quite courageous here, we will admit. But, I think we should probably remind you that this… thing can be very voracious. In fact, she’s fine with about any snack we present her with. She’d be just as happy eating a quick snack like you, as she’d be happy eating your ‘friend’.” Wilhelm let out an audible gulp, not responding as he was clearly terrified. And things only got better for you, as Anofelis ramped up the act. “Can I have him now? I wanna have him…” She said in a more desperate and eager tone. How Anofelis was able to act this well was a bit of a mystery to you, but holy hell was it useful. “Well, a little bite could work. We probably should tell you how she loves to eat her targets though. See that horn on her? It’s used to puncture holes into the flesh, from which she then suckles with her acid-lined… what’s that part called again, the mouth-part flies have?”

Artyom was potentially pushing it a bit far, as the bluff could fail if Wilhelm kept his resilience up. Fortunately, the combined act from Anofelis and Artyom’s disturbing suggestions was enough to finally convince him. “OKAY! OKAY! I-I’ll talk! G-Get that sick fuck away from me! Please!” He pleaded, at which point you told Anofelis to back down. She nodded calmly, before moving backwards and flying away again. She’d hang with her tail from one of the railings from one of the upper floors, continuing to stare down at Wilhelm to freak him out further. Thus, you told him the questions again, to which he quickly responded one by one. “I-I mean, there’s a-a lot and I don’t know a-all of them! I do know s-some of Roraima’s a-and Elbrus’ subjects though! Ummm, there’s this weird harpy subject, uhhh, A-Aello Velox, HH-34! She uses telekinesis a-and telepathy! T-Tries to invade the mind a-and s-scare folk! I-I don’t know where she is now, b-but she used to be in the eastern parts… Um, o-oh, I worked with WW-10 for a while t-too! Uhhh, Grise… s-something, um… s-she’s really fucking sick in the head! I-I don’t even know what she’s thinking or saying all the time! Uh, she was somewhere d-deeper down, b-but I can’t remember for sure…"

Uhh, there’s GC-66, V-Viridian Ma- Maley- Ma- Something starting with ‘ma’. S-She was m-made by Elbrus and Tengri and c-constantly threatened m-me and others! She e-even brought up the t-taste of my flesh at times!”

Well, at least they gave you some new information. It wasn't much, but you could hopefully get more out of Nora. Of course, you also wanted to ask about the layout of this place, wanting to specifically know if there were any secured areas around here. Perhaps also for your whole death squad. This question seemed to confuse Wilhelm, who shook his head and meekly said. “I-I don’t know! W-We just came here cause we knew th-there’d be fresh food and few death squads!” The guy seemed rather genuine in his response, which meant they probably had limited knowledge about this place and what was going on in and around it. At least you could still ask for some other things, specifically the current locations of Roraima and Elbrus. “I-I don’t know! Last time I saw Roraima was the day before this whole mess! A-And Elbrus I hadn’t seen for days! They’re probably in their offices maybe, or going around the place with their favourite subjects. I-I can’t tell!” In turn, Lars asked: “So, who are their favourite subjects?” It was a solid question, especially if it was true that both scientists were with their creations. And fortunately, Wilhelm provided another decent answer: “E-Elbrus probably is with that minotaur subject of his o-or the giant d-dragon. Roraima p-probably would go with TS-55-76 o-or FE-09!”

The former codename, you hadn’t heard before, the latter being one you had heard plenty of. And given that this was news, Thaddeus immediately asked: “Who were they? What are they like?” To which the scientist anxiously said: “TS-55-76, uhhh, D-Dhabus! Th-that’s her name, uhhh, she’s a c-cat girl who’s good with w-weapons. Like, programmed to be able to use any weapon she finds. Um, FE-09 is s-some sorta chimera s-subject who’s really aggressive! I-I don’t know much else about her though, I swear!” Asking further didn’t prove too exciting, as the guy’s knowledge was clearly somewhat limited. Thus, you’d move onto this disaster, asking him what he knew about this whole mess. “W-Well, it was a subject who started it. B-But, t-that’s all I know. Ummm, a-at least Roraima didn’t make h-her, I-I think? I doubt a-any of his subjects would c-cause that much of a mess. A-Alright, can you let me go now?!” It was obvious he wanted to be let go. But, you still needed him. After all, you needed him to get Nora to talk as well. Maybe she wouldn't throw her ally under the bus so quickly.

>Move onto questioning Nora in the same way with the same questions or more. (Write in extra questions you wanna ask.)
>Ask Wilhelm some more questions, perhaps to get him to further elaborate on some points he made (Write in what you still want to ask.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>5923060
>>Ask Wilhelm some more questions, perhaps to get him to further elaborate on some points he made (Write in what you still want to ask.)
Ask him about subjects not on the list and like Titania.
What does he know about operating those machines we found back then, I forgot their names
>Move onto questioning Nora in the same way with the same questions or more. (Write in extra questions you wanna ask.)

>>5923060
>>Ask Wilhelm some more questions, perhaps to get him to further elaborate on some points he made (Write in what you still want to ask.)
What was the subject he was in charge of/what was he working on? since he's a scientist.
Where are other the safety bunkers/shelter located? (he was willing to let peeps die and once he was threatened he was letting to let loose so we could finally find this out.)
Subjects are dangerous. The Collars were used to restrain them, but failing that, was there a backup method of restraing/dealing with subjects?

If these backups aren't weapons, what are the most dangerous stuff the guards, or at least the strongest security team within the facility, have at their disposal.

Certain items in the facility are highly important, such as the machines that manufacture the collars you all use. Naturally they are delicate pieces of work and require no small amount of maintaince, where and who kept the machines functioning?

Who else besides that subject have you all encountered throughout your journey after the incident so far?/

is all I can come up with for now.

>>5923060
Backing >>5923065 & >>5923069
I think >>5923065 is talking about the vat room, which is a good reminder to ask if he knows where any subject blueprints are stored

>Ask Wilhelm some more questions, perhaps to get him to further elaborate on some points he made.
Despite his pleas to be let go now, you still had a few more questions for Wilhelm. And given that he was more than inclined to answer a bunch of things now, you decided to ask him a dozen more questions. You told him he wouldn't be let go just yet, and that you had more questions. He grumbled a little, before Artyom pointed up at Anofelis, who kept on staring at him with her creepy expression. "F-Fine, make it quick though." He said, you scoffing before asking more questions. The first would be about Titania, and if there were any subjects not on he list who were like her. The question was a bit confusing to Wilhelm, who hesitated and quietly mumbled. "I-I don't know?"

Artyom cleared his throat and pointed at Anofelis, which made Wilhelm speak up more. "I really don't know! I-I mean, like her in what way?! In terms of size, no I really don't think so! Um, in appearance, there may be some like her? Kinda draconic but still mostly human? Um, I-I don't know much else about her! I-I never was stationed near her chamber!" With a mention of her chamber, Lars quickly asked: "And where was her chamber, if I may ask?" To which Wilhelm responded that it was near the centre and spanned a bunch of floors. Given that the crater was close to the centre, it seemed likely that the chamber had already been discovered, or completely destroyed.

Since Wilhelm did know about this chamber, you also wanted to ask him about other locations which were useful. Specifically, you wanted to know where shelter and bunkers were. Given that he was willing to sell out his own friend to not get killed, you felt he'd be most happy to explain. And surely, he'd nod and explain right away. "There were several bunkers and safe zones! Uh, they were located in the centre of each quadrant of the facility, and they were on several floors. I believe like one ever 10 floors, with the ones closer to the surface being larger. Um, we came from one bunker further westwards from here." He had no hesitation in selling out the locations people could be hiding in, it even disgusting some of your men. Thaddeus and Artyom were particularly insulted, but they didn't bring it up. Though from the way they looked and their body language, it was clear how they felt.

Having already sold out some of his men, you next asked Wilhelm about who he had encountered. To this, he sadly had less to say. "Um, well, we encountered a creepy singing harpy girl b-before we met you-" you quickly cut in and told him you already were aware of that, wanting to know anyone from before they came here. "O-Oh, um, alright. Well, we encountered plenty of guardsmen and a few scientists. Nobody of importance, I-I'd say. Um, we did s-spot some of y-your me though, b-but we avoided them so, th-there's that."

Immediately, Artyom would ask: "What did these soldiers look like?" Perhaps it was good to know what other competitors you may have to deal with when it came to who had spotted these guys. Epecially if you wanted to hide the guardsmen further after this and wanted to avoid others coming after these people. Wilhelm thankfully did give a decent description which gave an idea of who it most likely was: "Well, they were w-well armoured a-and had rifles l-like the guardsmen..."

Now that he had told a bit about the scientists he had met, you wanted to know what he had worked on, if anything. Unfortunately, he had little to say about this, as it was clear her was more-or-less just like Laura. "I-I didn't get to w-work on a subject yet. I j-just acted as a c-caretaker! Though I, uhhh, I wanted to e-eventually work on a, um, an elegant harpy or Q-Quetzalcoatl. You know, l-like a snake with feathers a-and..." He realised the details weren't really too exciting to you and your men, clearing his throat before explaining that he had cared for WW-10 for a short period of time. Though, he also had looked after that Aello Velox he mentioned before. "Tell us about those two, especially WW-10." Lars soon said, to which Wilhelm gave quite some solid details...

"So, WW-10 or G-Grise is this b-big white wolf girl who's really bloodthirsty a-and l-loves stalking folk. Um, sh-she is pretty primitive a-and animalistic... Um, Aello Velox is a b-blue and black h-harpy girl who is very a-arrogant and k-kind of a sh-show-off with her p-powers." Lars was taking notes as Wilhelm spoke, really focusing on WW-10 as well. She seemed like a perfect target to go after to get the government off of your back. Though, you'd probably need more details to really be able to safely go after her. Though, given how he was discussing dangerous subjects, you felt that there were two useful questions to ask to help out in your hunt.

You first asked about subject blueprints, given that many subjects were quite complex and probably had some form of easily overseeable diagram. Unfortunately, Wilhelm did not have much of an answer to it. "Umm, b-blueprints for s-subjects? I-I don't think they exist. Um, th-their coding exists on the facility's servers, b-but that's all I can say for sure..." It was already something Laura had mentioned, but it was still somewhat disappointing to hear. But if subject diagrams weren't an option still, perhaps the facility had something else to deal with subjects in case they went rogue? Something different from the collars to control them?

Thus, you asked what backup methods there were to restrain and deal with rogue subjects in case the collars failed. Wilhelm hesitated, before blunly stating: "Um, guns and shock batons. M-Maybe some variants of those, or heavier guns for larger subjects. Most subjects were also p-punished if they did d-dangerous things or harmed people. A-And if they were defective or too dangerous, th-they were sometimes terminated c-completely. N-Not often though, I-I'm afraid..." Another disappointing bit of information. The guards really had nothing to properly kill subjects with ease. The strongest they had would maybe kill some subjects, but probably was more designed to injure or main subjects. Then again, maybe killing subjects was more of a last resort. They probably were too costly in terms of material and researchto risk getting them killed. Probably why so many subjects here were troubled, defective or psychopaths.

Regardless, you still had a couple of questions to ask Wilhelm. You asked him about the machinery inside of the facility which was deemed important, such as the ones which make collars. You wanted to know who worked on those machines and from where."Um, well, a l-lot of scientists did. Entire t-teams worked on them actually. Uhhh, I don't know uhhh wh-where they worked from, b-but parts and what not usually came in from the m-main port a-and then were redistributed a-around the entire facility..." With it being clear that Wilhelm knew little about the collar machines and who worked on them, you decided to move onto asking about something he probably did know: the vats for making subjects.

He seemed taken back by the question, before asking: "W-Why do you wanna know?" To which Artyom cleared his throat again and reminded him of Anofelis. Wilhelm quickly nodded before speaking softly again. "I-I know the b-basics. I-It's quite an i-intense thing, s-since you need to st-stay by the vat for a l-long time and ensure the system is in e-equilibrium. Uh, i-it takes lots of power a-and... w-well, y-yeah. I sadly don't have much experience w-with them, b-but I do know it's hard..." His knowledge was limited, but at least more than nothing. Thaddeus even asked him how long such a process would take and how often it was a success. He explained it would probably at least take a day, and that the success rate was relatively high, so long as the scientist who operated the vat kept paying attention...

>Move onto questioning Nora in the same way with the same questions or more.
Given that Wilhelm had co-operated well enough, you finally decided to give him a break. Perhaps he could answer some more things later. Chances were that Nora would even be able to fill in the blanks where Wilhelm had come short. Thus, you told Wilhelm you'd move on to question Nora, him seeming quite relieved. "Thank god... Alright, let me go and I'll move on." Obviously, you wouldn't just let him go. Instead, you told Thaddeus and Alan to bring him back into the chamber and to retrieve Nora. "What?! You said you'd just question me! Don't keep me here, don't you bloody dare!" He said angrily, as Alan and Thaddeus grabbed him and brought him away. After he was gone, Artyom softly said: "I have to say, Anofelis' acting was really good." Your men all seemed to agree, being impressed by how well she was able to convince Wilhelm. Hopefully, Anofelis would be able to do the same with Nora, if she also decided to be stubborn...

Soon after, Nora was dragged out of the room, no longer fighting back at all. She did seem quite tearful though, her cheeks swollen and it being clear she was not in the best state of mind. Either way, you had some questions for her, and you wanted to start with the ones you had asked Wilhelm before. And if she opted to resist like Wilhelm had, she'd be presented with Anofelis who would hopefully convince her otherwise. You told her that you had some questions for her, Nora remaining quiet yet still seeming rather agitated. You thus gave the same set of starter questions which you had given Wilhelm, starting with the subjects they knew and worked with and their locations, followed by more about the layout of the facility and places in this area you could use as a safe zone. You wrapped up by asking about the current locations of other scientists with a focus on Roraima and Elbrus, and anything she knew about the disaster which caused this.

Nora sighed before finally responding, doing so somewhat calmly. "If you let me and Wilhelm go, I'll tell you what I can, okay?" It seemed she was far more co-operative than Wilhelm was, though her disdainful expression did show that she was more than a little reluctant to work with you. Regardless, you'd accept the offer for now, Nora in turn answering each question. Unfortunately, she mostly gave the same answers as Wilhelm. She mentioned some of Roraima' and Elbrus' subjects, though also mentioned one of Tengri's subjects. "I also worked a little bit with MP-32, Cyra Nike... She was wild and pretty stubborn at times, and was not above insulting me or being a general danger to people like me who had to care for her." It was ironically a lot less severe than what she had mentioned about the other subjects. Then again, maybe she was understating the dangers of this subject...

Next, you asked about the layout of the facility, where she also gave a rather similar answer to what Wilhelm had given. The question regarding Roraima and Elbrus also resulted in a similar response, which was rather disappointing. Though at least your next question about what had caused the disaster did net a different response. It started with the obvious remarks about a subject from deep below who started it, though soon became more interesting. "I've heard that the subject was pretty large. Not nearly as large as Titania, but... well, I was messaged by another friend of mine who described her as huge. Easily taller than the average subject." This was definitely something good to know, as it meant the huge subject probably had very little places to hide. Then again, it'd probably not help you out too much with your mission.

"Okay, i-is that everything? W-Will you let us go now?" Nora soon after asked, assuming she'd be freed now just like Wilhelm. Of course, you still had plenty of questions for her, as well as conversation points which were interesting. Though, perhaps asking different questions than the ones you had asked Wilhelm would help out somewhat.

>Ask Nora about something you wanted to know more about. (Write in what you wanna ask her...)
>Get her to tell more about her friend who had seen the mystery subject who likely caused this mess. (Write in if you wanna ask something specifically...)
>Ask her about Tengri and his subjects. (Write in if you wanna ask something specifically...)
>Let her go. She had been reasonable so far and clearly had suffered enough. Besides, what other interesting things could she tell you at this point in time?
>Tell her how Wilhelm completely threw her under the bus. She deserved to learn an unfortunate truth about her partner and the way he behaved. (Write in what you wanna tell her specifically.)
>Something else...

(Big update, most of which was written on my fucking phone whilst travelling around the country. Regardless, I've switched to my old PC now that I am back at my university. It's a pretty mediocre piece of shit, but at least I can still write some good updates on it. Also, on that same note, starting today, I'll make just one update a day. Maybe two if I have a lot of time on my hand. Idk how busy the first course will be, but I imagine it might be somewhat cluttered at times. So, hopefully it won't impact things too much.)

>>5923534
>Get her to tell more about her friend who had seen the mystery subject who likely caused this mess. (Write in if you wanna ask something specifically...)
Where she worked, where she might be now, any identifying features.

>Tell her how Wilhelm completely threw her under the bus. She deserved to learn an unfortunate truth about her partner and the way he behaved. (Write in what you wanna tell her specifically.)
That Wilhelm was willing to let her die rather than answer our questions, and that once he himself was threatened he gave up the locations of all the safe rooms he knew of easily.

Good luck at college OP. What's your major?

>>5923647
Supporting. However, we should also...

>Ask her about Tengri and his subjects. Especially for how MP-32 is like, what they are capable of, ect.

As her caretaker she should know a thing or two.

>>5923534
>Ask Nora about something you wanted to know more about. (Write in what you wanna ask her...)
Giant cube on surface and where its located. Where would that be in regards to the facility.
>Get her to tell more about her friend who had seen the mystery subject who likely caused this mess. (Write in if you wanna ask something specifically...)
who dis and where she?

>Ask her about Tengri and his subjects. (Write in if you wanna ask something specifically...)
I mean she did the same thing about Wilhelm if it was given the other way around so they are both equally willing to throw each other under the bus.
We should mention that afterwards when they are together tho bc its funny, and would screw with em.

>>5923749
If we threw Anofelis at her she'd not throw Wilhelm under the bus and instead just answer our questions given she's doing so now even without the threat of a subject taking the role of hungry lion and her or her friend the role of wounded gazelle. In fact, she specifically stated she'd answer our questions not if we just let her go, but her AND Wilhelm. The only people she threw under the bus are any who for some reason are still in the shelters if they haven't already been destroyed or raided by death squads. IIRC this has been going on for a week before we landed and it's been a two days since then.

However, despite all of this, I do agree telling her about being thrown under the bus while the two are together would be funny, and I am more than happy to have that one wait until the two scientists are reunited.

>Ask Nora about something you wanted to know more about.
You weren't done with Nora just yet. There still were a couple of things you wanted to ask her and discuss. And the first thing you wanted to ask about was the giant cube in the centre of the crater. The question seemed to confuse Nora a bit, you elaborating on the object andd that you wanted to know its position in the facility. "So, a giant cube. Well, if it's in the very centre of the facility, maybe it was some kind of central control room? I-If the crater is deep enough, it might be some of the central power generators, or something else. Maybe it's some sort of reinforced containment area? I-I really can't say for sure, I'm afraid." It didn't seem like this question would net you with many answers. She maybe hadn't even seen the cube in the centre, given that she was hiding in a space further away from the centre and probably hadn't even gone there.

>Get her to tell more about her friend who had seen the mystery subject who likely caused this mess.
Even though she knew nothing of the mysterious metal cube in the centre, she did seem to know a bit about the disaster. Or rather, she knew a friend who knew some things about the disaster. So, you asked her to tell more about her friend, specifically asking where she worked, her current location and how you'd identify her. Nora hesitated, before softly stating. "J-Just don't hurt her..."

She obviously was in no real position to make demands, but she still gave you some commands. Of course, you were free to ignore her, especially since she'd soon after tell you everything about her friend. "S-She worked near the western section. S-She worked on many subject chambers a-and climate c-control. I imagine s-she also went into hiding, e-especially after seeing the subject. Uh, s-she has short, b-black hair, uhhh, darker skin and glasses..." Another potential target for in the future, and one who could really give you some good information.

>Ask her about Tengri and his subjects.
You weren't done asking about her friends though, wanting to know a bit about this MP-32 who she had mentioned. "Fine. Cyra Nike is a harpy subject who is really stubborn. S-She holds grudges easily a-and is quick to insult those she dislikes. She can spew and cover herself with fire a-and fly. S-She's also really quick to t-try and fight people." This sounded a lot worse than what you had expected. Which kind of raised the question of why she didn't bring this subject up before? In fact, Thaddeus soon asked: "So, why didn't ya name her along with the other dangerous subjects? She sounds like trouble to me."

Nora sighed a little before shaking her head. "Well, for one, the worst I saw her doing was getting angry. She also could still be... amicable with other people who treated her really kindly." In other words, it was probably someone like Anofelis or Chrysidus: aggressive if attacked, but friendly if you were to explain yourselves. At least this was another subject who you could maybe find and hopefully befriend. Unless if she decided to attack first and ask questions later...

>Tell her how Wilhelm completely threw her under the bus. She deserved to learn an unfortunate truth about her partner and the way he behaved.
Given that the two scientists had co-operated and answered your questions quite thoroughly, you decided it was time to reunite them. However, you did have something in mind for the two scientists, kind of getting back at them for their behaviour towards the guardsmen. Thus, Wilhelm was brought back outside of the room, him appearing quite anxious to be here whilst Nora was relieved. "You aren't going to kill us now, right?!" Nora would soon ask you in a rather distrusting tone, whilst Wilhelm looked around to see if Anofelis was still in her place. She wasn't, which seemingly unnerved him even more. Thus, you spoke up and thanked them for their answers, before dropping an utter bombshell on them. You told Nora that Wilhelm had been okay with her dying, over actually answering your questions. Wilhelm looked a bit more enraged, speaking in soft contempt. "How dare you-" But before he could swear at you, Nora looked over to him with disgust and contempt. "You... you were okay with me dying?! Y-You were this insistent on keeping quiet?!"

"Nora, listen, I knew they wouldn't kill you. Besides, I-I... I didn't want them knowing more about this place! T-Think of all the people your death could've saved! It would've be-" Wilhelm tried reasoning with her, as Nora spoke up even more angrily. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" You then added onto it that he had even given up safe room locations after further threats, which made Wilhelm grind his teeth as he snarled back at you. "You threatened me with a fucking subject, you vile useless crooks!" Nora seemed confused and bewildered by Wilhelm's remarks, looking at you and back at Wilhelm before shaking her head. "A subject?! These guys don't have a subject! What are you on about, y-you literally just offered me up to save yourself! You worthless spineless..." To say that this argument amused your men would be an understatement. The two bickering scientists were most amusing to listen to, even if it was just you listening to an argument between one awful person and an even more awful person.

The two would bicker and fight for quite some time, Wilhelm trying to find excuses for his behaviour whilst Nora reminded him how he had betrayed both herself and other staff. Wilhelm even went so far as to say: "Look, once everything is under control by the government and we're allowed to work here again, they will want people who didn't divulge facility secrets. I just made sure to... safeguard our future jobs." It was quite a ridiculous stretch on Wilhelm's part, with Nora even groaning and shaking her head. "You're such a moron, Wilhelm. You've got no reason for any of this, you genuine dumb fuck."

It was tempting to listen to their arguing for some time, your men being particularly amused to listen in on this entire conversation. Though, it was also obvious that you had to move on. Though given what Nora soon said, you did have to make some choices. "Since you're so happy to let me get executed, I'd gladly return the favour and let you get executed by these guys! I'll give them the go right now!" To which Wilhelm scoffed and spoke derisively. "Sure, like you'd have the guts to let them hurt me. Not only do you lack the stomach and the balls to allow something like that, but you know damn well that you'd be lost without me in this shithole!" Nora gritted her teeth, before loudly exclaiming: "Not only would I let these idiots shoot you in the head, I'd even help them pin you down so they can shoot you in the groin! And afterwards, I'd leave and most definitely get more shit done down here than you ever had! Hell, I'll do a better job here now, than you have done here even before this gigantic shitshow!" Wilhelm mock-laughed, before saying: "I'd like to see you try either of those things! You don't have the guts!" After which Nora made her final statement: "Watch me! I'll survive on my own, you waste of perfectly good oxygen!"

Well, you had succeeded in ruining their relationship, or whatever relation they had. Now the question was what you'd do with them next. If you let them both go, they'd both probably go separate ways, unless if they came back like an abusive couple. Executing them could also be good, given how arrogant they had been and the fact you needed some actual kills. They were both quite terrible, so they probably wouldn't be missed. Though, it was safe to say that Nora was the less terrible person out of the two of them at least...

So, what was it gonna be?

>Write in what you'll do with the scientists now...

Suggestions:
>Try and question them both together. Surely, that would go perfectly fine. (Write in the questions.)
>Let one of them go and keep another one of them around. Maybe to question that one further on their own, or to have them help you out.
>Execute both of them. They wouldn't be missed by anyone and you needed the kills.
>Let both of them go. They weren't too harmful in the grand scheme of things. Besides, they had at least complied to your questioning.

>>5923647
(Currently in my final year of a bachelor Environmental Sciences. I'm currently following a minor in Insect Ecology for my electives. Clearly, I'm following in the footsteps of Anderson himself.)

(Anyway, today's update is a fun one with some 'fighting', new information and a fun choice...)

>>5924314

>Let both of them go. They weren't too harmful in the grand scheme of things. Besides, they had at least complied to your questioning.
Get a room first you two baka.

>>5924314
>Let one of them go and keep another one of them around. Maybe to question that one further on their own, or to have them help you out.
Keep Wilhelm with us, since he's seen us working with a subject and he's willing to tell us anything to save himself.

If the blueprints are on the facility server instead of existing as physical copies, perhaps he can access them or other useful info with a terminal and his credentials?

Also
>T-Think of all the people your death could've saved
>You then added onto it that he had even given up safe room locations after further threats
big lmao

>>5924318
Nice! I eagerly await the day you make Chrys IRL.

>>5924314
Worth.

Honestly, the trollish side of me is tempted to just give Nora a gun and see what happens or call down Anofelis and basically show how she was harmless but I'd rather not fuck ourselves over.

>>5924366
Supporting. Wilhelm is an easy tally mark we, nor anyone else most likely, will feel bad about.

>>5924366
oh I actually like the idea of keeping one of em with us.

>>5924425
I think its best to keep them afraid and lacking of knowledge about us.

>Let one of them go and keep another one of them around. Maybe to question that one further on their own, or to have them help you out.
You were so close to telling the two bickering scientists to get a room, given the remarks they were making. But, you instead held back and decided to make the choice for them. They clearly were not willing to work with each other anymore, but one did have an edge over the other: Nora had worked with you and shown herself to at best be kind of rude and haughty. Wilhelm had proven utterly reprehensible and you weren't going to let him go scot-free just yet. Thus, you turned to your men and told them what you had in mind: Wilhelm would stay with you.

Wilhelm looked insulted and aggravated. "W-What?! But I-I answered all your questions! I did as you told me to! Don't you... don't you dare feed me to that disgusting monster!" Nora acted smug and haughty in turn, loudly saying: "Hah, sucks to be you, dickhead. Have fun being 'eaten' by this monster girl which totally exists." It was ironic that Nora didn't believe Wilhelm on this. It was tempting to just bring Anofelis down here and show how she was in fact harmless to Wilhelm and... well, everyone, really. Though, you decided not to do such a thing, because you wanted to keep it a secret that you had a subject in your possession. Obviously, revealing that fact would be too risky of a move, especially with Nora free on her own.

"NORA, DON'T LEAVE ME WITH THESE SICK FUCKS! PLEASE!" Wilhelm would yell in rage and desperation, Nora scoffing and speaking smugly. "Oh, is that a plea I hear? How ironic, given that you decided I was worth being killed to save your ass. Honestly, I'm really just returning the favour here!" Soon after, you told Nora that she was free to go. Nora didn't say anything, just glaring at you a bit before softly saying. "Just don't try anything funny after I leave." She'd look around, before mumbling. "Now, where did those guardsmen go..."

You weren't going to tell her where they had gone, given that they clearly didn't want to be around her anymore. Even if it was just her and not Wilhelm, they likely preferred things this way now. Regardless, Nora looked around a bit, before turning to you again. "Do you have any spare weaponry?" She'd ask softly yet with a hint of arrogance. Unfortunately, before you could say anything, Alan casually spoke up. "We've kept some of the guardsmen weaponry, yeah."

It was not a good move on Alan's part to bring that up, as Nora right away demanded: "Good, give me one. I need to be able to survive until I find those morons who abandoned us." Given that she was still quite the security liability, giving her a powerful gun was probably the worst of ideas. Especially if she also intended to go after the guardsmen again. Though you had to admit, that the prankster inside of you was tempted to give Nora a gun. Just to see how she would fare with it, and how she'd use it.

Regardless of how you'd decline the offer to Nora, one thing was certain: Wilhelm was going to be quite the fun 'addition' to your team. He was still fuming somewhat, gritting his teeth and glaring at Nora as she soon headed forward in the direction the guardsmen had gone. Whilst she was likely going to try and rejoin the guardsmen, Wilhelm would be busy acting as your little helper. He was right now just looking around, presumably to see if Anofelis was anywhere nearby. He didn't try to stop Nora at least, probably because he knew he had fucked up royally at this point. At least now, he'd probably be somewhat useful to you and your men, given that he was willing to do provide tons of information just to save himself. And if he did decide to play the arrogant hero role, well he'd make an easy tally mark who nobody would feel bad about. Hell, shooting Wilhelm in the back of his head might just be a good solution to your current problem of the government wanting you to do your job.

Something you already had in mind was using Wilhelm to access the facility's servers to get blueprints of each subject. Hell, given that he had a card of some kind, he could take you around the place and maybe even get you some useful information in other sections. Though that'd obviously have to wait until you finished looking through this section. Then again, there was that singing harpy subject who could be worth going after, if what was said about her was true.

Decisions, decisions, what was the plan going to be now?

>Write in what you wanna do next...

Suggestions:
>Tell Nora the guardsmen went the 'other way'. Just to make sure she didn't actually catch up with them and continue tormenting them.
>Blam Wilhelm. He had been useful as a source of information, but even more useful as a statistic to please the government.
>Continue just exploring the place with Wilhelm and Anofelis. You still had a large portion of this place to discover, after all.

(A slightly shorter update for today. Regardless, I am curious what you guys will do next. I already know... a few things that will happen soon enough. Things are going to be quite fun if you're going to keep Wilhelm around, and not just execute him.)

>>5925195
>Continue just exploring the place with Wilhelm and Anofelis. You still had a large portion of this place to discover, after all.

I don't see why the guardsmen can't just tell Nora to fuck off, not like there's anyone enforcing the old chain of command here.

>>5925195
>Continue just exploring the place with Wilhelm and Anofelis. You still had a large portion of this place to discover, after all.
no idea where the gaurds went, have fun and don't die.

>>5925195
>>Continue just exploring the place with Wilhelm and Anofelis. You still had a large portion of this place to discover, after all.
Tell Wilhelm to behave himself, he complies we might just let him go once we get bored of him, else he will become our next paycheck.

Apologies for a lack of updates today. I had quite the busy day today, so I wasn't able to get one in, sadly. I'll try and get one in tomorrow though, I can promise you guys that.

>Continue just exploring the place with Wilhelm and Anofelis. You still had a large portion of this place to discover, after all.
After telling Nora you wouldn't give her a gun, you'd watch her leave after the guardsmen from before. Whilst it was clear that she'd not treat the guardsmen well at all, you felt like it wasn't necessary to really tell her to leave them alone. After all, they had made their choice and they probably had the power now to just tell her off. She'd be outgunned if she tried anything fun. Besides, the guards probably were already gone somewhere else which she wouldn't be able to find anyway. Regardless, this left you with Wilhelm as your new 'ally'. Obviously, he was going to serve more as an assistant through your travels in the facility. In fact, you'd even tell him that he'd have to behave himself and that he might even be let go if he helped out. "And why the hell should I help you crooks out?!" He'd hiss at you, after which Artyom pointed up to where Anofelis was. You also added that he could be a good paycheck for you and your men, which made your men seem quite eager. Mike even lifted up his acid gun, Wilhelm quickly shutting up and nodding. "F-Fine, just keep that... monster away from me."

Thus, you'd start moving upwards again. You had already explored the lower floors, and the upper floors probably had more enticing things to find. And hey, with Wilhelm now beside you, you probably could access some sections which would've required some more forceful entry. Though, as you headed up, Artyom did get beside you to ask a rather important question. "Hey Mikhail, are we going to tell this idiot that Anofelis is harmless? Or are we going to keep this a secret from him?" It would definitely be useful to keep her 'modest' intellect a secret from him. It'd allow you to threaten him further. Though, that also meant she had to act monstrous at all times, nor that you could ever treat her like she was smart.

It was something you could think about. Anofelis was keeping her distance for now anyway, seemingly continuing to stay around the upper floors. You'd also explore the place further, deciding to put Wilhelm's usefulness to the test. You'd try to finish exploring the floor you had set up base at, finding a few more of the smaller food chambers, and also plenty of larger rooms containing entire biomes. The next floor seemed to be more research focused, Wilhelm actually proving himself a decent asset as he helped unlock some of the locked sliding doors. These were then pushed open with the help of your men, revealing more research spaces. There were many greenhouses with smaller, potted plants. As well as smaller chambers focused on keeping individual larger species. Unfortunately, none of these chambers proved useful to you, or your men. Even asking Wilhelm for further details didn't really reveal much new to you. Most of these chambers were just for getting plant samples to use on subjects, or to modify crops.

For quite some time, you'd explore the place. Wilhelm was obviously not pleased with this, being forced around with Alan pointing his flamethrower at his back. Still, his complaints were limited, your men even teasing the guy from time to time. Though after a few hours of further exploration, you were now starting to explore the 5th floor of this place. You were about to explore, before hearing distant gunshots. Your men paused with walking, listening to it and realising that something was going on some distance away from you. Immediately, you opted to check out what it was. A gunfire down here could not be good, after all...

The sound had come from the North-eastern section and from below you. There was plenty of gunfire for what must've been half a minute, along with distant yells. Though after that half a minute passed, all of the noise died down. Still, you kept running towards where the sound had seemingly come from, scanning the area to try and see what the hell had gone. You didn't have to look for long though, as Anon soon gasped and spoke up. "Mikhail, over here." He was looking over the railing, down to the lower floors. And as you looked over, you'd discover where all the noise came from.

On the flooded lower floor, you saw the guardsmen you had freed from Wilhelm and Nora not too long ago lying on the floor. You saw they had been severely wounded, some having huge slashes through their necks, some almost being entirely decapitated. Others had huge gashes and claw marks all around their bodies, as well as having limbs seemingly slashed off. "Bloody hell..." Thaddeus would remark, as most of your men looked down to see what had happened. It was an utter massacre, all six soldiers lying there, motionless... Your men seemed somewhat on edge by the sight, some even looking around in case whatever caused this was still flying around the place...

>What do you do next?

Suggestions:
>Stay the fuck away. Whatever attacked them must've been nearby, and you did not want to get attacked and mauled like that.
>Send in Anofelis to explore. If something tried to attack her, she could hopefully fight back and maybe also fly away if things got bad.
>Send in Wilhelm. If anything was down there, he could both act as bait and an informant!

(To compensate for the lack of an update yesterday, here's a lovely update which has a bit more action. Let's see how you deal with an actual MONSTER girl...)

>>5927058
Every day I regret not bringing up the drone/RC car a second time when we had the chance
>>>Flooded lower floor
Brother we are not getting in the water.
>What do you do next?
Use thermal see if we pick up anything, not just in the water but all around us.
Afterwards see about taking a few scattered shots in the water to draw them out.
Maybe we should consider pouring some of the acid gun's base into the water as well.

>>5927058
Whoops, guess they hadn't heard about how dangerous the flooded section was. Nora's lucky we didn't help her find them.

>>5927111
Emptying a canister of base into the water is a good idea - it'll get diluted, but I can't imagine even small amounts of corrosive substances being handled well by gills.

>What do you do next?
Seeing the carnage far below you, there were quite a few things you already knew you had to do. As well as some things you really could not do. First of all, you were not going down there. You hadn't waded the lowest floor first, and you definitely weren't going to do it now. Still, you wanted to get a good view of this place and see what the hell had happened. Thus, you had a three-step plan for what you'd do. First, you'd use thermal vision to pick up anything of interest. You did not just focus on the water, but looked all around you, as whatever attacked the guardsmen could very well be capable of other ways of moving around the place. You, Evander and Anon would thus scan the area, noticing that some of the bodies were still warm on the camera. Other than that, you didn't see any other heat signatures though. Obviously, there were plenty of blind spots still, but it seemed highly unlikely that whoever caused this would know to hide there from you. If only you had some drones or things like that... Definitely something you'd have to ask Lodger about, once you returned to the main base.

Fortunately, there was one idea you had in mind: If something was hiding in the blind spots, you could lure or scare them out with some gunfire. Thus, you told Anon to take a few scattered shots in the water to possibly draw out whoever caused this. Anon nodded before grabbing his gun and pointing down at the ledge. "This is an awful idea! You're just... luring whatever caused this mess to come over to us!" Wilhelm would say in a terrified tone, Alan putting his hand on Wilhelm's shoulder and quickly shutting him up. Meanwhile, Anon got his shotgun and would shoot a single shot downwards. The blast echoed through the nearby vicinity, water splashing all around the place the shots landed. You even saw some bits of dust and scrap flying around, ripples moving throughout the water. Nothing seemed to respond though, things quickly falling silent again.

After the silence, you turned to Mike and told him to use his acid gun on the water. "Alright, guess we're gonna try some chemistry, huh?" He'd say as he stepped forward with his weapon. He signalled you and the others to step back, carefully aiming the gun over the edge. Though before he could fire, you'd hear a soft thud nearby you. Looking behind you, you saw Anofelis landing there and immediately approaching you. "What's going on? I heard a loud noise from you guys." Meanwhile, Wilhelm panicked and tried backing away, Alan trying to hold him nearby as to not let him escape. You explained what you had found, clearly scaring Anofelis a bit as she looked over the edge as well. You then elaborated on why you shot down, and how she now had to keep her distance because of what Mike was about to do. Once all of you had taken a step away from Mike (and Wilhelm tried taking a few dozen steps away from Anofelis), he'd start spraying the base onto the lowest floor.

There was a mild amount of vapour and smoke coming from the gun, followed by a splashing and bubbling noise coming from further below you. "Alright, want me to spray it a bit around, Mikhail?" Mike soon asked as he kept aiming downwards, you telling him to empty a canister of base into the water. Any major damage to the place would probably be limited, both due to the base being relatively weak and the fact it would get diluted. Hopefully, would still be strong enough for the small amounts of corrosive substances to harm any subject hiding in the water. Gills, softer membranes, slime, all of them would likely be negatively impacted by the substance. Mike kept spraying it all over the place, emptying a whole cannister of the stuff before pulling back the gun. "Alright, that's a whole can. Quite a bit, but managed to get a lot done."

"You didn't hit the bodies, did you?" Lars asked softly, clearly not wanting Mike to fuck up the key source of information about this attack. Fortunately, Mike had been smart, nodding along as he responded he had aimed around the corpses. Thus, you looked down, noticing some foam and condense coming from the layer of water which covered the floor. The corpses were still in their same position, as you didn't notice any movement whatsoever. "Well, now what?" Alan asked, Wilhelm quickly responding. "Let's get the hell out of here! And keep that monster away from me!" He'd point at Anofelis, who didn't seem to pay much attention.

Regardless, you still were left with a lot of questions here about this attack and if things were safe. Given that the floor was flooded, you absolutely wanted to avoid it. You and your men were not getting in the water at all. Still, you had to do something here. The subject was at least not dissolved in the water or swimming in the small layer of liquid. At least, it didn't seem like that. What were the other options you could take now?

>What do you do next?

Suggestions:
>Send in Anofelis/Wilhelm to go down and do a quick scan. Wilhelm was expandable and would not be missed if he got killed, and Anofelis could escape if something went wrong.
>Go down as close as you could get. Maybe you were walking into trouble, but at least you'd get the best possible view of the kill-site and what had happened there.
>Just move on. Not just because this area was unsafe and hard to really explore, but also because you could come back later and see if anything had changed.

(Bit late with today's update, but better late than never. Anyway, I'll try to get 2-3 updates in tomorrow. No promises though, because I don't know how busy/tired/distracted I'll be.)

>>5928160
I'd say give it a few minutes to make sure the base can permeate the water fully - in that time, take pics of the bodies so we can try to take credit for the kills. Once that's done, if nothing has surfaced yet

>Go down as close as you could get. Maybe you were walking into trouble, but at least you'd get the best possible view of the kill-site and what had happened there.

>Wait a few a few minutes to make sure that the base can permeate the water fully.
Seeing the gas which was coming from the puddle you shot the base in, you told your men to wait a few minutes. Wilhelm obviously opposed this, clearly wanting to leave as soon as possible. You were in no hurry though, feeling comfortable enough to just hold back and watch if anything changed. Though, you weren't just going to look from a distance and do nothing. You decided to use the time to take pictures of the bodies. That way, you could at the very least take credit for the kills and be paid. You told Lars to take some pictures with the tablet, him nodding as he'd look over the edge and took some pictures. "Take it we'll use those pics for identification of injuries from a distance or something along those lines?" Anon would ask, to which Lars stated that: "I doubt we'd be able to identify injuries from this far up." Afterwards, you'd explain that you'd use these pictures to claim kill credit from the government. At least, it'd give you some good payments. Your men seemed quite accepting of that plan, though you saw Anofelis being a bit unsure what to think. Wilhelm was still too focused on leaving to really voice his opinions on the matter.

Regardless, you'd wait for a few minutes, you, Anon and Evander soon smelling the chemicals which had wafted upwards from the waters. It was a rather potent and aggressive smell, but at least it wasn't foul or putrid in any way. Though after a few minutes, not much was really changing. The base had seemingly not done much or shown you anything of interest yet. No subjects. No strange sightings in the water. It seemed relatively safe...

>Go down as close as you could get. Maybe you were walking into trouble, but at least you'd get the best possible view of the kill-site and what had happened there.
You thus decided it was time to move down. You told your men it seemed quite safe and that you'd get as close as possible without entering the waters. Your men all agreed, though Wilhelm panicked. "G-Go down there?! Are you nuts?! What if some batshit crazy subject is hiding down there?!" He'd say, eliciting some annoyed groans from your men. Wilhelm really didn't want to go down there, fearing some sadistic subject being down there. Fortunately, Thaddeus was able to 'convince' him. "Well, ya got two options here: Either ya join us down there and risk gettin' attacked by some unknown subject... Or stay up here and risk Anofelis makin' ya into her next meal." Thaddeus pointed over his shoulder at Anofelis, who quickly showed her attention span as she forgot about her little act.

"I don't eat meat though..." She said cluelessly, as you saw Thaddeus' go form smug to quite disappointed. Your other men also were rather stumped Anofelis fucked this up already, some groaning and others shaking their head. Wilhelm seemed to go from scared to confused, whilst Anofelis looked around and could tell she had made quite the mistake.

"Um, I mean..." Anofelis would try and pick up the act again, licking her lips and staring creepily at Wilhelm. "Hmmm, I need a meal, yes..." Even if her act was creepy, the façade had fallen and Wilhelm no longer seemed scared. "So, you were... acting this whole time, huh?" Wilhelm said smugly, Anofelis continuing to try and act like some creepy carnivore by licking her lips and letting out some deep breaths. Despite Anofelis trying to act creepy again, Wilhelm just seemed amused more than anything now. And shortly after looking over Anofelis a bit, he scoffed and looked at you and your men. "I'll pick the option of having her turn me into her next meal over going down there."

Thaddeus facepalmed, whilst Anon shook his head in utter disappointment. Artyom just stared at Anofelis and Wilhelm, with what you presumed to a chagrined look. Lars didn't seem too surprised, looking quite accepting of the fuck-up. Mike seemed more irritated than anything. Evander just let out a sigh of disappointment, whilst Alan seemed a bit more saddened than anything. Realising that her act at faltered, and that your men were all majorly disappointed, Anofelis dropped the act. She looked at you and the others, before looking a bit down. "I'm sorry, I forgot I had to act..." She said softly, before Mike beratingly said: "We figured that out, yeah." it was unfortunate that Anofelis had screwed up this act. At least she had gotten you some decent information out of Wilhelm from this, but it was still a shame.

Still, Wilhelm looked most smug to have figured out this little act, soon even speaking rather cruelly. "Using a vegetarian idiot to scare me. How comical. I will admit though, you had me fooled quite well! Regardless, I'll just stay here then whilst you guys get yourself killed down there." His arrogant tone would quickly get your men to shift their disappointment in Anofelis to anger towards Wilhelm. And as Wilhelm stepped back a bit and stretched his arms. "Good luck with that!" Of course, he was forgetting one tiny little key detail whilst letting his arrogance run rampant: Anofelis may not be fit for hurting him, but you, your men and your guns were more than capable of doing that job. And given how blatantly arrogant Wilhelm was being, some of your men were more than a little eager to 'convince' Wilhelm in the way they knew best.

Evander would fire his rifle right past Wilhelm, making the scientist quickly get back in line. Wilhelm stumbled to the ground and crouched, not being hit but clearly realising he shouldn't have taunted you and your men. He raised his arms and trembled in fear, before loudly stating: "DON'T SHOOT, DON'T SHOOT!" Your men were most smug, with Evander soon proudly stating: "So, yer gonna come along with us now then, right?" To this, Wilhelm nodded quickly. "YES, YES! JUST DON'T... DO THAT AGAIN!" He had quickly been humbled, some of your men chuckling and being most amused by how fast his arrogance turned to cowardice.

Thus, you'd finally head downwards, Wilhelm following with Evander right behind him. Just to make sure Wilhelm didn't try anything. Anofelis meanwhile followed in the back, still seeming disappointed in herself for her screw-up. It was not a catastrophic error on her part, just being quite unfortunate. It wasn't like her job was extremely essential at least, and she could still trick whatever other folks you might encounter down here. Things could be far worse, really.

Regardless, you'd soon get to the floor just above the waters, getting a good look at the bloody sight now. The corpses were even more mangled and bloody from up close. Most of the corpses had limbs torn off or broken in violent ways. Many also had huge chunks of flesh cut out of them somehow, exposing parts of their innards to you and your men. Two of the men had their heads cleanly sliced off, almost like a guillotine had sliced them off. Most of the corpses were still leaking blood as well, which wasn't surprising given how shortly ago this had happened. One thing you quickly noticed was that there was a bit of a smell around which... didn't fit the place. It smelled earthy, vegetable-like and raw. It was very much the scent you'd expect in a vegetable garden.

Of course, you were in the green section and surrounded by crops, but there was something different this time around. The plants in this section did not have the same smell as the plants you could smell here. Perhaps the scent had come from another chamber some distance away, but that seemed unlikely given how local most of the plant smells had been to you. Fortunately, you weren't the only one to notice something quite specific about the site. "You guys notice anythin' odd?" Thaddeus asked, after which Lars pointed to one of the corpses. "Those... wounds. They don't seem like they were caused by claws or sharp weaponry like that. Look at the way it has been almost 'cut' into the flesh. It almost seems to me more like the type of wound you'd see from a predator bite." It was definitely an astute observation, and Anon was quick to ask Lars: "So, whoever attacked them bit them?" Lars nodded, before speaking reluctantly. "Maybe from up-close, I can get an even better idea on what kind of animal bite it most likely resembles."

At least you knew a bit about the subject who killed these poor guys. But there was still more you could learn about them. The question was, were you willing to get any closer, or just stay at a safe distance?

>Move even closer by entering the flooded floor. You'd be damned to let this info go to waste. Besides, things were safe, right?
>Just keep a safe distance and keep trying to figure out more details from here. It still wasn't worth it to try anything.
>Move on. The corpses didn't seem like they could tell you much more anyway. Besides, staying here for even longer could be dangerous.
>Get Anofelis to fly over and maybe grab some of the corpses. That way, you could analyse them from up close.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>5928558
Ok, a quick revisit of the subject doc hints that this could have been done by AH-600, SD-84, and maybe but extremely unlikely DS-14. The first two have some concerning threat levels.
How's the water visibility? Did we ruin it with the base? If we can see anything under the surface, try
>Get Anofelis to fly over and maybe grab some of the corpses. That way, you could analyze them from up close.
just one body at a time, and tell her to be extra wary of any shadows under the surface.
If visibility under the surface is zero then move on, not worth the risk when it could be a threat level 9 on the other side.

>>5928662
Supporting. Maybe one or two of them survived even?

>>5928662
after that
put a bullet in the head of each corpse and use THOSE pictures as evidence.

>>5928893
Good idea but uh
Let's send Anofelis out on another scouting mission before we do that

>Get Anofelis to fly over and maybe grab some of the corpses. That way, you could analyze them from up close.
Lars' comments had been quite useful in identifying the way the guardsmen had been murdered. Though, there was still a lot you wanted to focus your attention on. For one, you looked at how visible things were in the water, it being somewhat dirty and cloudy. You couldn't truly tell how deep it was, but the fact the guardsmen had waded through it meant that at least it was something you could walk through relatively safely. The only issue was that the base had ended up creating a bit of foam and a glossy film over the fluid, which did make some patches particularly hard to spot. Given the amount of uncertainties, you knew you weren't going to go down there yourself. However, there was someone else who you trusted could go down there and look at the corpses.

You'd turn to Anofelis, who still was quite disappointed she had screwed up her acting in front of Wilhelm. You told her that she could fly over and grab some of the corpses and bring them over. It seemed to surprise her, as she looked over at some of the bodies, before giving a nod. "Okay. I'll try my best!" She sounded determined, as she wanted to likely prove herself after her mistake. Before she left though, you'd tell her to just take one body at a time, and to be careful if she notices shadows under the surface. You didn't know how deep it was and what could be lurking underneath it, so you wanted Anofelis to stay safe. Letting her land there and potentially get dragged under by a threat level 9 would not be worth it at all. Anofelis nodded, before flying over and carefully landing near the corpses. You saw Alan getting his flamethrower at the ready, seemingly aiming it at the water in case anything jumped out at Anofelis. Meanwhile, the others were anxiously waiting to see if anything would happen. Anofelis walked around quite safely, standing far above the water level and seeming quite okay.

She'd get to the nearest body, hesitating with picking it up as she looked at you and the others with a somewhat worried and disturbed look on her face. She probably was not used to handling corpses, but she'd get to learn about that the longer she'd spend with you and the rest of your men. Regardless, she'd eventually manage to grab one body, easily lifting it up before flying back towards you. She'd drop the body right in front of you, facing away after doing so. "Um, l-let me know if I can... g-grab more." She said in a more dreary tone. Thus, you were able to get a closer look at what had happened. It looked to be one of the soldiers you had shot in the legs, their eyes still wide-open and them bleeding quite a bit from the neck. Lars would inspect the corpse for a moment, before pointing to the injury at the neck. "I'm noticing something particular. It's indeed a bite wound like I imagined, but... it didn't come from an ordinary predator species."

Lars pointed to the bite spot, specifically focused on how the flesh was cut. "It's not like... the bite from a canine or feline. There are no additional bite marks, or any signs of things being crushed." Lars would respond, to which Anon asked: "So, what kind of bite could it have been then? Something more commonly found with aquatic animals like fish or something like that?" To this, Lars shook his head. "Not sure. I think it might have come from... a beak or particularly large incisors. I can't put my finger on it." Both did not seem fitting to something you'd find in a flooded section. Then again, maybe one of those aquatic subjects was some kind of squid? Though, you'd probably notice some other signs then. After looking at the corpse a bit further, you found that there was also quite some blunt force trauma the corpse had gone through, as well as bones being broken in a rather brutal manner.

One final key detail was that... the body was relatively dry. There were plenty of dry patches on the uniform, and only the side which had been facing down in the water was actually wet. In other words, the guardsmen had not been dragged underwater. Maybe it was an insignificant detail in the grand scheme of things, but your fear of being pulled down was at least somewhat alleviated from this. Regardless, with the corpse now thoroughly invested, your men turned to you again. They waited to hear what you had to say next. Clearly, there was a unique threat around here, and your men were curious how you wanted to deal with it.

>Write in what to do next.

Suggestions:
>Get Anofelis to grab all the corpses. In the meantime, you could take pictures after you shot them, so you could use it to fool the government into thinking you killed them.
>Get Anofelis to scout around the place so she could maybe find the subject responsible for this. In the meantime, you could safely drag the corpses out of the water and back onto land.

(Hope you guys don't mind the lack of suggestions/prompts on this one. You guys already seemed somewhat set, but I just wanted to know if there was anything else you had in mind or planned specifically for what was next.)

>>5929092
>a beak or particularly large incisors.
>Wounds specifically on the neck.
>Corpse is mostly dry and not wet
>There is apparently some dangerous rabbit subject nearby according to the other guards we met at the start of the thread.

I think we know whodunit

>Get Anofelis to grab all the corpses. In the meantime, you could check if any were alive and take pictures after you shot the dead ones so you could use it to fool the government into thinking you killed them.

Let's not send Anofelis to go after what I assume is a walking talking Monty Python reference and instead get her to bring out the dead.

>>5929092
>Get Anofelis to scout around the place so she could maybe find the subject responsible for this. In the meantime, you could safely drag the corpses out of the water and back onto land.

>>5929104
That, or maybe the singing harpy from earlier was more transformed than we assumed, particularly in the facial region.

Either way looks like the water's safe, and we poured a whole canister of base in for nothing.

>>5929092
mosquito perhaps?
>Get Anofelis to grab all the corpses. In the meantime, you could take pictures after you shot them, so you could use it to fool the government into thinking you killed them.
and once again
put a bullet in the head of each corpse and use THOSE pictures as evidence.
I don't believe the creature is still present atm. What's most dangerous rn is the shot, which is not a good sign.

>Get Anofelis to grab all the corpses. In the meantime, you could check if any were alive and take pictures after you shot the dead ones so you could use it to fool the government into thinking you killed them.
Having looked at one of the corpses, you decided just getting them all and checking them all individually would work best. If any had somehow survived, you could maybe help them out. And if they were dead, you could just shoot them and claim it was a kill on your part to the government. Thus, you told Anofelis to get all the corpses for you, her nodding a bit reluctantly before flying over. She didn't seem all too pleased, but that was probably because of her clear fear of having to carry corpses around. Whilst having her scout the place could've been a solid alternative, you felt that having her go after some murderous subject with a fondness of the neck was not a good idea.

Whilst Anofelis was busy grabbing the bodies, you were considering the options again regarding who had killed them. In your mind, the rabbit gal mentioned by the other guardsmen seemed the most likely candidate. The bites lined up at least somewhat, and there weren't many other options. A part of you also suspected the harpy. Though, it seemed unlikely. Why would the harpy gal they had encountered before suddenly go back to them and attack them? Hell, Wilhelm and Nora had threatened the harpy girl, so it seemed more likely she just left and that it was the rabbit subject. Still, it was worth considering, given that not everything seemed like it was how it seemed.

Still, theorizing who had killed these poor guys wasn't really too important now. You just wanted to see some had survived or if they had all died. And as Anofelis brought each person one by one, it was clear they had all already passed. Some showed signs of having died not too long ago, whilst others had been killed quite a bit ago; Mostly the ones who had been decapitated entirely.

With all the guardsmen dead, you now had another mystery on your hand. Not to mention, wasting a can of basic substance for nothing. Still, there was one positive to all of this: You'd tell your men to get their guns and to shoot the bodies a bit, aiming mostly for the heads to make it look like some kind of execution. Once they had been shot, you could take pictures and use them as evidence. "Are you guys mad?! I know you're sadistic bastards who care only for money, but... what if the even more sadistic monster girl hears the noise you guys will make and comes over?" Wilhelm would say in a panic, after which you stated the subject was probably long gone by now. The noise would indeed be an issue, but there were very few folks around this place who would likely hear it. Thus, you'd get every body in a line, before you and your men shot them all. Anofelis was clearly put off, looking away in fear and shivering a bit. Obviously, she was not used to seeing these kinds of things at all.

Finally, you'd get Lars to take some pictures with the tablet, him quickly getting pictures and trying to see if he could send them in right away. Whilst he did such, another key question came into play from Thaddeus: "So, what do we do with these bodies? Just leave em? Dump in the waters? Burn em again?" The first and second option didn't exactly seem too safe. Any psychotic flesh-eating subject could come over and feed on it. Worse, given that the place was mildly flooded, any aquatic flesh-eater could come over and just turn it into a snack. Burning it probably was the safest option, even if it was maybe a bit more risky than what you did before. The smoke couldn't really be contained anywhere like before, and could probably spread around and attract other subjects. Hell, the smell of burnt corpses might attract more attention than just letting the body become rotten and decayed underwater.

More importantly, you had to consider what your plan would now be in this section. Clearly, something dangerous was actually lurking around this place, and close-by enough that it could genuinely attack you. The good news was that you now knew what to expect down here, and that you could prepare for it...

>What will you do next?

Suggestions:
>Just continue as before: Go around exploring the place until the day was over and then head back.
>Have Anofelis be a scout. She could warn you in case she spoted the subject which had caused this carnage.
>Avoid certain risky areas. You had a decent idea about this place and what the subject was like, so maybe you could plan something.

(Another short update. But I wanna get an idea if you guys have any specific desires now that you think you know who is responsible for this. Maybe you guys have some fun ideas on how to deal with whatever is causing all of this carnage.)

>>5929535
>Just leave the bodies
Might be good to see what they draw in, and we'd rather not draw anything aquatic so don't throw them back in the pool

>Just continue as before: Go around exploring the place until the day was over and then head back.
Tempted to try using Wilhelm as bait to draw out the rabbit, but if she just tore through a whole squad of guards she's probably sated for the day, if not hiding to recover from any injuries they might have inflicted.

>>5929535
leave bodies in a spot where we can place a hidden camera, idea being we can spot anything that might be coming for em later on, or is simply attracted to the smell etc.

>Just continue as before: Go around exploring the place until the day was over and then head back.

>Just leave the bodies
Given that you had already gotten proof of the fact that you had 'killed' these guardsmen, you felt that burning them would just be a waste. Besides, leaving the bodies here might be a good option, as you could see what it'd draw in. Dropping them into the water would just lure in aquatic subjects, which you both didn't want to deal with and would be quite irritating to follow. Thus, you decided to leave them there, much to the concern of Anofelis and Wilhelm. Though, before doing so, you told Artyom and Lars to once again set up a camera here. You still had two left over, and you felt this actually warranted a hidden camera. Lars and Artyom quickly agreed, as they would get to work setting it up. They were quite unsure where to hide it, given the lack of good hiding spots. Fortunately, they soon found a decent spot which gave a decent sight over the bodies, whilst also being relatively well hidden. Hopefully, this would attract some more monster girls, or you could spot some other folks who passed by.

>Just continue as before: Go around exploring the place until the day was over and then head back.
With the camera trap set up, you quickly told your men it was time to get back to the mission. You wanted to explore this entire place, and you wanted it done fast. No Rabbit of Caerbannog was going to hold you back in your crusade. Wilhelm was still terrified, even stating: "I'd rather we leave this place altogether. I'd rather take my chances being brought back to your main base or something than staying in this place!" Though to this, Thaddeus jokingly remarked: "Oh, I wouldn't go back to our base if I were you. Ya wouldn't be eaten, but ya'd definitely not have a pleasant time there." You jokingly then suggested using Wilhelm as bait to draw out the rabbit, inciting terror in Wilhelm. Of course, since she had torn through a whole squad of guards she was probably satiated for the day. That, or she was hiding to recover.

Honestly, if she was injured and you could find her, it'd actually be quite a good thing to encounter her now. That way, you could take her down. And even though she had hurt a bunch of guardsmen with seemingly relative ease, you had something which could maybe help out: Anofelis. Oh, and plenty of military-grade firepower designed to kill, rather than the simple tools provided to the guardsmen forces. And hey, Wilhelm being used as bait or being sacrificed for your survival was also always on the table. Though for now, heading upstairs and exploring the rest of this place was still the best option.

Thus, you and your men headed up again, continuing your search through the upper floors. You'd find several more chambers containing makeshift biomes, food sources and overgrown biotopes. Wilhelm would occasionally help out to open doors, but he was far more snide than before. His fear had noticeably gone down, now that he knew Anofelis was not a threat and the worst that could happen was being shot.

At least Mike and Evander made sure to remind him not to try anything funny, walking behind him with their weaponry at the ready. Meanwhile, Lars and Artyom were focused on the tablet, looking at the camera traps whilst also searching through the subject list. Alan was walking beside Anofelis and proudly telling her about his flamethrower, and how maybe she could use it as well at some point. And Anon and Thaddeus just looked around the place with you, trying to spot anything noteworthy. For about an hour and a half, this would continue, eventually reaching what must've been the 6th floor. Though as you were exploring the place, you soon heard some footsteps approaching above you. It sounded like a bunch of footsteps passing either a floor or two above you. Thaddeus immediately signalled you and your men to step to the side of the current walkway you were on, as such a large group could be a potential risk to encounter.

Wilhelm seemed a bit on edge, given that you didn't know for sure who or what was walking around. Anofelis also seemed a bit confused and hesitant, curiously tilting her head as you could tell she wanted to fly up and see who it was. Obviously though, going up there now was a pretty bad idea, given what you had seen not that long ago. Still, whoever was moving around above you was going fast. Perhaps it was the group you had questioned before and left to their own devices with the helmet you had given them? Maybe you could try and contact them to ask about it. If that seemed a bit too risky now, you could always let Anofelis try and sneak around to see who or what was causing the commotion. Maybe just keeping quiet and hiding was also a solid idea in this case...

>Just hide and keep quiet. Whoever was running around above you was probably not worth getting in contact with. Besides, you've gotten distracted enough already.
>Tell Anofelis to sneak a glimpse at whoever was running around. Maybe she could even try and communicate with them if they didn't seem like a threat to her?
>Have Anofelis sneak a glimpse at them, but don't let her talk to them. For all you knew, it was actually a dangerous group of people of some kind... or something else. Besides, Anofelis could tell you the direction they were heading in.
>Try and communicate with the other group of guardsmen who had stayed here through the helmet. Maybe they could tell you who it was or inform you of other groups in the area.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>5930210
>Try and communicate with the other group of guardsmen who had stayed here through the helmet. Maybe they could tell you who it was or inform you of other groups in the area.
Good time to tell them there's also a murderous rabbit on the roam

>>5930210
>Try and communicate with the other group of guardsmen who had stayed here through the helmet. Maybe they could tell you who it was or inform you of other groups in the area.

If its not them and we have no info on who it might be.

Move in to the sound and investigate while staying hidden. Keep a heads up.

>Try and communicate with the other group of guardsmen who had stayed here through the helmet. Maybe they could tell you who it was or inform you of other groups in the area.
Given the uncertain situation you found yourself, you tried to see if you could reach the guardsmen you had met before with the helmet. You would try and use your helmets to try and communicate with them, first asking if anyone was copying on the other side. You kept repeating yourself, soon even stating that there was a murderous rabbit on the roam. Still, there was radio silence, as nobody responded back to you. The footsteps soon were right above you, though did not stop as they moved past you. Though given how close they were, Wilhelm would speak in soft panic. "W-What on earth are you doing?! W-Who are you talking to?!" He'd hiss at you, Thaddeus hushing him back rather sternly. Wilhelm didn't listen though, looking around and panicking. "We have to leave! I am NOT ending up in another firefight! I'm no-" Before he could finish talking, you watched Anofelis grabbing him and putting her hands in front of his mouth. Wilhelm did panic in turn, but Anofelis was easily able to restrain him and gag him at the same time.

Your men were a bit surprised, though Alan spoke quite proudly. "That's my girl." Wilhelm soon stopped fighting, realising that he couldn't free himself from Anofelis' grasp and that he would have to be quiet. Still, Anofelis kept a hold on him as you tried contacting the guardsmen. Unfortunately, there just wasn't a response, as the footsteps moved past you and started getting further away. Thus, you were unfortunately in the dark about what was going on, forcing you to try something else. Given that they were already leaving, you told your men you intended to follow them. You were going to investigate and stay hidden, only doing anything once you knew it was the right time to do anything. Your men nodded in agreement, as you started rushing after the footsteps.

Once you could hear the footsteps again, you lessened your pace and tried slowing down. If you could hear the footsteps this easily, then chances were that whoever was walking above you could hear your footsteps. By now, Anofelis had also let go of Wilhelm, as he was no longer struggling to break free. Once he was freed, he did make sure to let his anger be known rather quietly: "Never touch me again, you disgusting stupid animal." Anofelis did seem a bit hurt a little, but quickly brushed away the remark. Especially as he was quickly hushed by Alan and Evander.

Thus, you kept following the footsteps, sometimes stopping whenever the footsteps above you stopped. You didn't want to get noticed at all, yet you still wanted to know anything about whoever was moving above you. Soon, you heard some voices mumbling, though you couldn't make out what they were saying. At least Anon seemed to have an idea as to what the voices above you were saying, giving you some important intel.

"It's a group of people. I can hear at least 3 distinct voices." Anon would say calmly, to which Artyom asked: "Any idea what they're talking about?" To this, Anon shook his head. "I can hear only a few distinct phrases. One is asking about traps of some kind, but... that's all I can say for sure, sadly." Given the fact that you had previously ran into traps in this place, perhaps this was a sign that the people above you were related to the folk who had set them up? Maybe they were even related. The guardsmen you had met before and questioned before letting go had mentioned being with other people down here. And in fact, they had also gotten acquainted with some sort of monstrous subject which had injured them. Maybe this was the same subject?

Perhaps this was the rabbit subject who had killed the other guardsmen not too long ago?

Regardless of what was going on, things were definitely getting rather exciting. Especially as the people above you were starting to move forward again. They were really speeding up now, soon reaching the North-western corner of the place. They stopped with running again, mumbling to each other. Your men also tried listening in whilst keeping quiet, the only exception being Wilhelm who got more and more tired the further you went. He was at least not complaining anymore. Regardless, Anon was once again the the best at listening in to what they were saying. "Okay, they're talking about... something which is nearby... They're talking about traps again..."

He soon froze up for a second, before turning around quite fast to look at you. "They're gonna move down!" Anon would say with a hushed voice. Given that there were two sets of stairs nearby, that meant that they would soon likely pass by you. Unless if they were gonna move forward and head down somewhere else, you would have to act now or be spotted. Anofelis looked a little concerned, yet waited to hear what you'd do. Wilhelm seemed far more panicked though, looking all over the place and mumbling. "Shit, we gotta get out of here now! We have to run!" Thaddeus would quickly try and silence him, as the rest of your men looked at you rather calmly, waiting for your command.

>Stay there and try to greet whoever came down. They probably were related to the guardsmen from before, which meant they wouldn't really be a threat. Hell, they might even work with you given what you did before!
>Try and hide somewhere nearby. There were more chambers to try and hide in. Perhaps you could even open up one of the closed chambers with Wilhelm's key card?
>Set up an ambush and stop whoever was coming down. You could question them to see what the hell they were even doing.
>Just wait. Maybe they would keep on running forward and would only go downstairs somewhere else. You could also consider your options whilst following them then, even planning ahead a little.
>Something else...

>>5931033
>>Something else...
Let's hide ourselves in strategic points for a ambush, ask Anophelis to be our scout, if she see anyone suspicious or dangerous like a subject or one of the kill squads tell her to give a signal so us and her can stay hidden, do not start fire unless we're aware we have the advantage, they attack us first or are another death squad.

>>5931033
>Set up an ambush and stop whoever was coming down. You could question them to see what the hell they were even doing.

>>5931071
With the given space idk if she can scout without being seen.

>>5931033
>Set up an ambush and stop whoever was coming down. You could question them to see what the hell they were even doing.
If it's other mercs we don't want to them to see Anofelis or Wilhelm, so have her grab him again and drag him somewhere hidden

>Set up an ambush and stop whoever was coming down. You could question them to see what the hell they were even doing.
With the unknown group of people likely approaching you soon, you quickly decided an ambush was the most fitting option. It was tempting to get Anofelis to scout ahead a bit, using her flight to get in an advantageous position to see what the hell was going on. However, you didn't want her to get spotted by whoever was approaching you. So, you told her to just find a hiding spot along with Wilhelm. Anofelis nodded quickly, as she would look to Wilhelm who was quite irritated. "I am NOT hiding with this fucking animal! I'm no-" Before he could finish his rant, Anofelis already would grab him with her four arms and started running away. You heard Wilhelm's muffled panicking and screaming as he was dragged away, much to the bemusement of the rest of your men. They hid in a nearby chamber not too far away from you, whilst you got ready for the ambush.

You went for a standard ambush plan: Since you had two stairways you had to cover, you decided to find a nice bit of cover which had a good view of both points. Unfortunately, there weren't really many points like this given the current spot you were in. You could place yourself right between where the two stairways were, but that could put you at the risk of being surrounded. So instead, you moved forward and planned to get a solid position which overlooked both stairways. You made sure to get in a spot which you wouldn't easily be spotted at. Fortunately, there was decent amounts of space for cover around here as there was plenty of shade for you and your men to hide in. There was no real cover to hide behind in case you got shot back at, but you had the benefit of being able to surprise them. Besides, if they headed downwards and didn't spot you, you could easily follow them again. And if they ended up spotting you, you'd already have the advantage of having your guns pointed at them.

Once in position, you stayed in the centre of your group. Anon, Alan and Artyom would stay at the front. You, Thaddeus and Lars would spread out slightly, whilst Thaddeus and Mike held back a little. Mike wasn't going to use his acid gun for this, and didn't want to be too much in the potential line of fire due to him having less armour than you and the rest. You quietly told your men not to fire unless you could tell who it was or if they attacked you. If they were another death squad, you'd also try and hold your fire, lest they attacked back for some god-forsaken reason. Hopefully, it wouldn't come down to combat though.

You heard the footsteps getting closer and closer, until finally seeing some people coming down the closer of the two large staircases. It was a group of guardsmen, you immediately recognizing a few of them as the ones you had encountered and questioned before. There were a couple more of them this time, with approximately 8 of them, some more well equipped than others.

The group had far more guardsmen than the last time around. Perhaps they had a far larger base somewhere upstairs with more men than the previous scouting group. Regardless, the group would quickly rush down with weapons in hand, some only glancing around in your direction, but none taking notice of you and the rest of your men. It seemed they were dead-set on heading downwards to do something else, rather than trying to spot you or any other threat. Still, the fact you had talked with these ones before, meant they probably weren't a threat. You had already let them go and showed them that you didn't want to cause them trouble. Still, revealing yourself now was probably taking quite the risk. Not only did you now no longer outnumber them (unless if you counted Anofelis and maybe Wilhelm), but you weren't exactly in the best place for cover right now. You literally were just lying low on the ground, using the shadows to try and stay hidden.

Still, it had worked, and you could try something now. But the question was, what on earth would you do with these guys now? What options were there, really?

>Fire a warning shot of some kind. Maybe to alert them to your presence whilst ensuring that they knew they couldn't fight back?
>Wait for them to walk by, before following them again. Maybe just following them still was the best choice, and would show you what the hell they were doing and what their intentions were.
>Make your presence known in some way whilst showing you were no threat. They didn't seem to have the helmet you gave them with them, so you couldn't just directly talk to them unfortunately. (Write in how you'd make your presence known)
>Something else...

>>5932188
>wait for them to pass then follow
Wonder what they did with the helmet

>>5932188
>Something else...
Chalk them, head above and find out where they are coming from.

>>5932458
+1

>Something else...
Whilst the guardsmen all rushed down the stairs, you kept quiet. Your men fortunately knew to follow your lead, remaining as silently as possible for you to give your next command. You didn't say anything though, watching the guardsmen pass you by. You did wonder what they had done with the helmet you had given them, but maybe you'd figure out soon enough. Regardless, you'd keep low until they had all passed. Once they were gone, you'd get up and would quickly tell your men you wanted to see where they had come from, before trying to see what they were after. "Are you sure? What if we lose them and find nothin'?" Thaddeus said a bit reluctantly, you explaining that you first wanted to head upwards and find out where they had come from. You also could maybe see what they had done with the helmet (if anything) once you found their main hideout. Thus, your men looked at each other before nodding. "Alright, lead the way." Artyom said for your men, followed by you telling Alan to quickly get Wilhelm and Anofelis out of their hiding spot. No point in leaving them behind when you would go on a relatively safe mission.

Thus, you already would head upwards to try and see where they had come from. You stopped at the floor which you believed they had come from, before tracing back the path they had come from. You just had to walk back the way you came. And soon after you continued tracing down the path the guardsmen had taken, you'd hear wings flapping and saw Anofelis land behind you with her holding Wilhelm and Alan. Anofelis let go of both of them, Wilhelm clearly looking shook whilst Alan thanked Anofelis, before turning to you and asking: "Found anything yet?" To which you answered that... Yeah, no, you hadn't found anything still. You had to keep going for a little while longer to really get to the location where they had presumably come from.

For quite some time, you'd keep on moving forward, trying to keep to the path which you knew for certain which they had taken. It was a lengthy walk, having to go to the very spot where you first heard them. Though once you got there, you weren't entirely sure what to do. The main issue now was that you had no real idea where they had come from before this point. They had probably come from up higher, so you started taking the stairs upwards. You knew this was essentially leaving everything up to chance, but you had already taken this path and weren't going to leave it. And fortunately, you'd soon spot something in the far distance once you had reached the top floor to this place.

The top floor to the place seemed to be the most open of all spaces. It had some larger spaces containing all sorts of large trees and plants, some spaces being particularly overgrown with plant life. There were a few chambers which clearly were designed for subject containment. There were also some larger storage spaces built into the walls, some containing transport vehicles.

Most importantly, you could see that there actually was an elevator nearby. Or well, it looked like an elevator to you. It had collapsed, a pile of rubble flowing from the entrance. Perhaps this was some sort of way for subjects to climb in and out of this place? Anofelis probably could worm her way through it, or at the very least could maybe move some of the rubble out of the way to use it to escape. Though, people escaping through it seemed unlikely. Regardless, you weren't here to find ways subjects could go in and out of this place. You were here to find the guardsmen and what they were doing. And thankfully, it wouldn't take long as you'd soon find something after heading further forward.

In the distance, you'd notice a large open space which was used to park some of the large transport carrying vehicles. And in said open space, you'd see what clearly were makeshift defence lines. Large chunks of rubble, crates moved against them to create cover. You even saw some gunner positions which thankfully weren't manned. And as you carefully approached it, it seemed that nobody was there to defend this little makeshift base. Emphasis on SEEMED, as you knew that somebody could just be hiding there in some way, or that the place could be trapped. After all, you already encountered one of the traps by these guardsmen, so it was very possible that some traps had been set up in case of invaders.

Regardless, you at least now knew where some of the guardsmen were staying, and also where they had left the helmet if they hadn't taken it along. The question now became: were you going to explore this place further, or head back downstairs to try and find the other guardsmen again? If they were up against the subject who had killed all of Wilhelm and Nora's guardsmen... Well, they probably could use some help from you and your men to neutralize the threat.

>Just enter the area and look around for something. It seemed mostly abandoned, so most guards probably had already left this place to join the group which passed you. (Write in if there's anything specifically you wanna look out for.)
>Given that the area is trapped, maybe send in someone first to check out for traps or stragglers. Of course, whoever gets sent in there is at the risk of being on his own in the lion's den. (Write in who you want to send in and what you want them to do.)
>Call out for anyone who is inside the place. Maybe if someone was there, they'd recognise your voice and know you aren't a threat?
>Leave this place behind, and just head back to the guardsmen below. Hopefully, you could still find them again.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

(Apologies for the lack of an update yesterday. To say that Uni tired me out yesterday would be an understatement. I hope to get plenty of updates in tomorrow and the day after, but given how exhausted I am, it may be less than I'd hope for.)

>>5934039
your fine OP.

on the topic of what to do,
There is a chance entering around here will reveal a gaurd or two but we know where they are based now. We could call out but if it could be trapped (possibly taking a page off of our book).
Therefore its time for our scientist to serve his purpose and
>Given that the area is trapped, maybe send in someone first to check out for traps or stragglers. Of course, whoever gets sent in there is at the risk of being on his own in the lion's den. (Write in who you want to send in and what you want them to do.)
Walk around and follow through with us on radio, we could hid a camera in the area and dip so when they return (and we can see that) speak to them that way. (it would be very funny)

>>5934039
I can back searching this place for anyone holding down the fort - if any scientists are part of the crew they probably don't go out on expeditions.

I can also back sending Wilhelm in first - tell him uh that uh since he's a scientist instead of a merc they won't shoot him first and ask questions later like they would us, so he's ideal for beginning peace talks.

>Given that the area is trapped, maybe send in someone first to check out for traps or stragglers. Of course, whoever gets sent in there is at the risk of being on his own in the lion's den.
When it came to you had to do, there were a few things which already came to mind. For one, there was a good chance that entering the base would reveal a guard or two. You could call them out but that wouldn't really force them to leave, meaning you had to go through the trapped area. Hell, they may have even taken a page off of your book after your previous encounter. Still, you wanted to explore the place, without sending in any of your men or Anofelis, which left you with one obvious option. You looked to Wilhelm, telling him it was time for him to serve his purpose and scan the area. Your men seemed a little surprised, whilst Wilhelm himself seemed taken back and offended. "What?! Are you sending me in there?! That will kill me!" After which, Thaddeus remarked: "Only if there's folk there who want to kill you..." Even then, Wilhelm did not seem pleased, squinting his eyes and taking a step towards you.

"And what if I decide not to follow your idiotic command?!" He hissed back at you, at which point you told him that he'd have nothing to worry about. For one, the place might have been completely abandoned, given that the guardsmen had gone out to deal with whatever thing they had discovered. More importantly, if they were there, then they'd probably not shoot him since he was a scientist rather than a death squad soldier. He'd be able to communicate with them and go for some potential peace talks. Wilhelm still looked heavily against the idea, crossing his arms and speaking quite agitatedly. "And what if I get injured by some sort of insane trap?!" To this, Mike would say something which would hopefully put him in line. "Well, would you rather take a chance with traps which may or may not exist... or our own weapons which do actually exist?"

The rest of your men also raised their weaponry, Wilhelm looking most agitated before groaning. "Ugh, fine..." Your men smugly nodded in turn, clearly appreciating the 'volunteer work' Wilhelm was willing to perform. Still, you didn't want him to go in all alone. So, you gave him one of your helmets to talk to you through. He'd be able to contact you through it and keep you updated. "Can I maybe get literally anything else to communicate with you guys that isn't your helmet? What if the guardsmen think I'm one of you crooks and shoot you?!" Unfortunately, you didn't exactly have a radio system which would work like that. You just had your helmets with which you could talk, Wilhelm begrudgingly accepting the helmet. After he put it on, he'd talk through it. "Testing, one, two, three? Does this thing work?" And after it was confirmed it worked, Artyom calmly said: "Don't turn it off, or take it off. If you do that and try to flee, we will know and we will send Anofelis after you..."

It was just a warning to Wilhelm, so that he wouldn't try anything funny. Wilhelm sighed before mumbling. "Don't threaten me. I'll do it. Not because I want to but because I don't want to fucking die down here." And thus, he'd look at the hideout. He'd take a deep breath, before calmly approaching. You and the rest of your men would get behind some nearby cover, listening in to Wilhelm as he entered the place. It was annoying you had to take away one of your helmets, especially since it meant one of your men, specifically Alan, was now without helmet. At least he could give it back if nothing went wrong.

Regardless, Wilhelm approached the base, not encountering any clear resistance. Already, you thought that setting up a camera would be useful here. It'd mean that you could watch these guys from a distance and know when they were gone or not. Hell, with the helmet, you could then even communicate with them and maybe mess with them a little. Still, that was only something you could do when you knew it was safe. Fortunately, Wilhelm soon would move past the main fortifications without issue. "Okay, no traps so far... Good." Wilhelm said over comms, before telling you everything he saw. "I'm seeing lots of boxes, a-and tools... Umm, also some food items and treelogs and such. A small campfire as well." It seemed to just be a minor camp, him continuing to walk for a minute or so before finally finding something of note again. "I'm seeing... oh shit, there's people there. What do I-... oh, SHIT!" You heard some yells from a distance, as it was clear that Wilhelm had ran into some guardsmen. At least you didn't hear gunfire, soon hearing Wilhelm speak in a panicked voice. "I'M NOT A THREAT! DON'T SHOOT! DON'T SHOOT!"

You heard some more yells, before things went quiet over the comms. You still heard some voices in the distance though, followed by some gunshots. Given that Wilhelm had no weapons to speak of, that couldn't mean anything good. However, the fact that the helmet seemed to die was a bit odd, especially given that the shots came only after. Your men all seemed a bit unsure what to think, looking at you as they wondered what the hell had happened and what you wanted to do next.

>Write in what the next course of action is.

Suggestions:
>They killed Wilhelm, even after he told them not to shoot. Clearly these guys are extremely paranoid, or really hated anyone with death squad gear. In other words, it was better to just leave them alone.
>Sneak towards the base and enter it. It was time to investigate what happened and to deal with the potential threats which were out there.
>Send Anofelis in to get some aerial reconnaissance. She could probably see from a distance what was going on.
>Throw in an explosive as a distraction and ambush them afterwards. That would ought to give you an easy victory.

>>5934924
>>Send Anofelis in to get some aerial reconnaissance. She could probably see from a distance what was going on.

They may have a means of disabling comms, the helmet shouldn't have cut off like that. If they encountered mercs before they probably cut off their comms before killing them.
Its entirely possible they are able to cut off comms AFTER they got our helmet, in either case they are dangerous by that metric alone and should be put down.

Having anofelis scope out the area before sending her away while we put them down will probably eb the move.

>>5934924
>Throw in an explosive as a distraction and ambush them afterwards. That would ought to give you an easy victory.
On the chance that those gunshots were to mislead and Wilhelm is still alive, he's 100% blabbed about us and Anofelis, so sneaking or recon will just give them prep time.

>>5934924
>Throw in an explosive as a distraction and ambush them afterwards. That would ought to give you an easy victory.

>>5935006
We don't have anywhere near enough info to know what went down.
The situation can vary greatly depending on what we know. Our prep time matters more then theirs.

>Throw in an explosive as a distraction and ambush them afterwards. That would ought to give you an easy victory.
Given the number of uncertainties and the way Wilhelm had treated you, you were immediately suspicious. The way the helmet just went down, the fact there were gunshots after the line had died, you knew that something else was going on! In fact, you already had a bit of a theory about what had happened: You believed that the gunshots were done to mislead you, and that Wilhelm had survived and told the guardsmen there all about you. Given that he hated your guts and seemed eager to leave you be, he was probably confident in his ability to deceive you. That, or something different had happened such as a fault with your equipment which meant he had no way to contact you as he was shot.

Honestly, you didn't have nearly enough information to know what exactly went down. For all you knew, the situation was quite a lot different than what you expected. You were tempted to send in Anofelis to get some information, but that seemed like it'd just take time away where the guardsmen could come over and take you down. Or worse, if Wilhelm did survive, it gave him time to reveal a lot of details about you and your operations. Thus, you decided that the best choice was to simply go for a rapid offensive. Thus, you told your men the plan: You'd throw in an explosive, perhaps a flashbang or a proper grenade, and rush in to put them down. Anon seemed ready to use his grenade launcher, whilst Anofelis spoke up cautiously. "Um, take it you want me to stay back again?" She asked calmly yet with a hint of disappointment. You told her that her staying back was probably the safest option for the time being, whilst you would go in and cause a massacre. "Okay. I'll maybe just fly around and, uhhh, help from the air." She said hesitantly, wanting to help out still, as to be expected.

Not wanting her to cause too much trouble with a vague mission, Alan would then quickly tell her: "You can maybe grab and hold down anyone who escapes. Hell, if Wilhelm or one of the guardsmen flee, you can go after them, alright?" It seemed like a solid suggestion, Anofelis nodding along and mumbling: "Okay." before you told everyone you had to hurry. Taking any longer now would just be a huge risk for you and everyone involved. Thus, Anofelis would run away before climbing up high to a decent enough vantage point. Meanwhile, you told Alan and Anon to get ready for the ambush. Anon would launch a grenade, and Alan would throw in a flashbang. Hopefully, the mixture of the explosion and the bright blast would do enough to stun and disorient whoever were there. Afterwards, you and the others could run in and do your job. Once again though, you would aim to maim, not to kill.

Alan and Anon got in position, Anon first launching a grenade over the cover before Alan threw the flashbang. There was a loud blast, as well as some yells from behind the wall of rubble, followed by an immensely loud bang and an intense flash which would result in you hearing quite a few yells. You rushed in, your men all following closely. You were expecting an easy capitulation, running past the cover and finding yourself in the base which had been set up by the guardsmen. It was far larger than the base you had set up, using freshly cut plant material for most of the cover. You couldn't see anyone nearby, as you quickly realised something was wrong. Either the few guardsmen had ran away after the blast, were downed whilst behind some of the makeshift cover making it hard to see their bodies... Or they were alive and had gotten behind that low makeshift cover and waiting to attack you. Your men quickly got behind you, as they also knew something hadn't gone right. Were they using the same strategies you had used against them? Unfortunately, you'd quickly get an answer...

You heard some crackling in the plant material cover which was nearby, followed by hearing gunfire aimed right at you. Immediately, you realised that things had gone wrong and that the grenade and flashbang hadn't succeeded. And worse, you would pay quite the price for this. You soon felt a sharp sting in your right thigh, just below your stomach. This was followed by an intense burning sensation which numbed your right leg a little. You felt warmth spreading through your lower half, as you realised you had been shot. Fortunately, the shots didn't last long as Thaddeus shot at where the enemy fire came from. He would seemingly hit whoever had hit you whilst in hiding, as you heard a yell of pain. At least one of the guardsmen had been hit, but there were still an unknown amount in hiding here. The number probably was low, if there only was one person who shot at you and your men. That, or they were about to fire again and were waiting for the perfect opportunity. Your men still had their guns up, clearly expecting a lot of counter-fire. Perhaps, the guardsmen knew they were outgunned and were just trying to stay hidden at this point...

>What do you do next?

Suggestions:
>Retreat. You had taken a shot and needed to get out of combat. You didn't know how many threats there potentially were, so better safe than sorry.
>Keep the offensive going. Tell your men to shoot at any and all cover in the place until the guardsmen were dealt with.
>Tell the guardsmen you had been there before and that you weren't there to actually kill them. You just wanted to get Wilhelm back after he tried fleeing from you and your men...

>>5935970
>Keep the offensive going. Tell your men to shoot at any and all cover in the place until the guardsmen were dealt with.
Oh damn, I guess the dice finally let us down. Would be nice to take this place over though

>>5935970
>Tell the guardsmen you had been there before and that you weren't there to actually kill them. You just wanted to get Wilhelm back after he tried fleeing from you and your men...
Would be easier to sell this is we didn't start a firefight in a situation where they got us pinned but we make do.

>What do you do next?
Assuming lack of response
Throw down smoke to give us cover and use thermal on the helmets to be able to not just see through it (obscuring their angle of fire), but also see them in the forest via heat signiture (allowing us to fire on them).

>>5935999
would have no point, it'd just be to kill them all/force them to route, we benefit more from knowing where they are rather then just scouring them and not knowing where they are present.
This is not a situation where we become king of the hill since our deployment is temporary and we need to return back to the surface soon enough.

>>5936095
>This is not a situation where we become king of the hill since our deployment is temporary and we need to return back to the surface soon enough.
I thought a good deal of our planning was actually to stay in this region long term and reduce our dependence on the gov base camp

Hmmm, so there's kinda two different options here, so I'll wait to see if there is a tie-breaker vote or if someone switches their choice in the coming few hours. If not, I may need to skip out on an update today. Hope you guys won't mind.

>>5936794
I can change for the sake of progress

>Tell the guardsmen you had been there before and that you weren't there to actually kill them. You just wanted to get Wilhelm back after he tried fleeing from you and your men...
Despite being shot, you didn't want to leave this place now. You already were in a strong position. However, you also did not want to get shot at further. Yes, you had forced the guardsmen into retreating, but none were easy targets to you now. Besides, you didn't want to aggravate these guys further, especially since you had gained their trust before. Thus, instead of choosing to keep the offensive going, you opted to try and use diplomacy instead (albeit, heavily considering the former option still.) You told the guardsmen that you didn't want to hurt them and that you didn't intend to kill them. Your men seemed shocked and confused, with Thaddeus even saying. "Mikhail, are we seriously doing this now?!" Anon also spoke in mild disbelief. "You've been shot, we can't afford to take this risk now!" Obviously, you had a plan still in case things did go wrong. But, being reasonable now was maybe your best option to get out of this mess.

Thus, you continued on, telling them to keep quiet as you gave the guardsmen your case. You told them this would've been easier to explain this if you hadn't started a firefight, but that you'd try and do better now. Lars would already be a bit ballsy and get some medical equipment, whilst you loudly proclaimed that you weren't going to kill them, and that you were just here for Wilhelm given that he had fled from you.

Furthermore, you told them that you had actually encountered them before in one of the crop sections, and that you had shown reasonability before. Finally, you pointed out the helmet you had gifted them, which you had wanted to use to communicate with them. You even stated that you wanted to contact them to ask about what was going down near the lower floors, and that you came here to check up on where all the guards where hiding at.

It was quite a bit of information, but it was necessary to gain (or rather regain) the trust of the people you had attacked. There was a moment of silence, during which Lars told you you needed to leave quickly or risk further blood loss from the wound. But before you could make the choice, you heard a voice from behind some nearby cover. "Why the hell did you try blowing us up then?! Doesn't seem so goddamn reasonable to me!"

You insisted that it was a misunderstanding, and that you just did that because you thought they had killed Wilhelm. Anon soon even yelled. "I even aimed my grenade in a position where I didn't think anyone would get hurt! Hell, we used flashbangs over more lethal options! If we wanted to kill you guys, we literally would've used the flamethrower we have!" There was another moment of silence, before you watched a guardsmen slowly and carefully coming out of cover. He was holding a machine gun, pointing it at you and your men as something of a precaution.

He'd quietly approach, appearing quite tense but also trying to clearly keep his calm. "A-Alright, put the guns down... a-and I'll trust you." To this, Mike hissed: "So you can shoot us all with ease?!" The guardsmen appeared most anxious by that point, breathing heavily and visibly trembling. And finally, he'd lower his own gun. "N-Now, p-p-put it d-down..." He whispered softly, clearly thinking that you'd still betray them.

Of course, there wasn't just one soldier in hiding from you guys, so Artyom quickly said: "What about your friends? How many of you are here?" The guardsmen shook his head and spoke up slightly more demandingly. "P-Put your guns down too!" Of course, your men did no such thing, as Alan soon yelled: "ANSWER US!" His booming voice was enough to quickly make the guardsmen answer. "THREE OF US! I-It's just th-th-three of u-us! A-And some i-injured folk! W-We're holding down the base!" He'd look over his shoulder, before yelling back at whoever was there. "G-Guys, please!"

By now, the wound to your right thigh was starting to have some... minor negative effects. You started feeling a bit confused and weak. Your legs especially were trembling and feeling particularly frail, you quickly realising you were starting to experience the full after effects of being shot and losing blood. It was still mild for the time being, but you had to be fast now or risk far more serious effects quite soon. At least you knew further details about these guardsmen, and your men were doing quite a good job ensuring compliance from the guardsmen. But, things were still extremely dangerous and you had to be fast...

>Tell your men to lower their guns to ease the guardsmen's worries. Maybe, you could then get some medical assistance whilst talking to them.
>Tell your men you HAD to retreat now. It was not worth following these guys even further or confronting them any longer. You could do that later after you were patched up.
>Tell your men to go all out and just execute these bastards. They weren't to be trusted any longer and you had to get the job done quickly.
>Something else...

>>5936857
>Something else...
Tell them to hand over the scientist and they'd be let go.

Begin applying medical treatment to ourselves, perhaps with the aid of another teammate if need be. At the very least patching up the wound is possible. We don't need the whole 9 yards, just enough to stop the bleeding.

>>5936794
I'm fine with a coin flip if we ever tie, we both got equal votes so its fair if its split the chance between us. If you ever do wish to wait tho that's fine op.

>>5936857
>Tell your men to lower their guns to ease the guardsmen's worries. Maybe, you could then get some medical assistance whilst talking to them.

>>5936961
It' suspected that they faked the gunshots but not certain, Wilhelm could be dead for real

>Tell your men to lower their guns to ease the guardsmen's worries. Maybe, you could then get some medical assistance whilst talking to them.
Given the position you were in now, and the fact you had already met the guardsmen before, you decided to take the risk and lower your guns. You told your men to do so, which made most of them look quite shocked. "Mikhail, are you sure?" Artyom would ask calmly, whilst Mike shook his head. "This is ridiculous! We've been attacked! You've been injured! We can't just lower our weapons now!" Of course, you weren't just going to drop your weapons. You told the guardsmen to hand over Wilhelm, and that you wouldn't bother them anymore afterwards. The one guardsmen would look around anxiously, seemingly thinking things over before responding with gritted teeth. "F-Fine! Uhhh, w-what's his name? H-He didn't give it to us..." Well, it seemed that Wilhelm really had betrayed you, and that he was probably not dead after all. Just like you had theorized. Regardless, you told the guardsmen Wilhelm's name, after which the guardsmen would continue yelling for him. "W-Wilhelm, show yourself! S-Show them we didn't kill you!"

Despite the guardsmen's comments, Wilhelm did not reveal himself. And why would he? He knew he had betrayed you and caused you harm. You didn't want to get into a firefight with these guardsmen, but he had essentially forced you into it through this betrayal. He wasn't going to let himself get captured a second time around. Still, the guardsmen looked anxious, before looking specifically at where Wilhelm must've been hiding: near the main encampment. "Wilhelm!" He yelled again, nobody responding still. Though given the genuine attempt to extradite the traitor, you told your men again to lower their weapons. And this time, they'd actually agree to the suggestion. Well, everyone aside from Mike. He kept his gun close to him whilst scanning the area. Your other men also kept looking around, in case things went wrong...

Fortunately, the guardsman also lowered his weapon soon after, as you also watched another guardsman coming out of cover. However, the main guardsman had mentioned that there were three of them in total. And immediately, they'd take notice of this and say: "Keaton?" One would calmly approach the guardsman who had been shot, as you realised that Thaddeus may have accidentally delivered a bit of a fatal shot. Then again, he had also shot you in a way that was close to lethal. Speaking of which, with the guardsmen no longer a threat, you'd tell your men to apply some medical treatment to you. Patching up the wound would at the least be somewhat possible. That way, you'd stop the bleeding and at least be able to continue. Lars was already at work, grabbing some gauze and pressure bandages to try and patch you up. Though, whilst you were able to receive help, the guardsmen grew more and more worried. "Keaton, wake up! Keaton! Shit, he's out!"

The two guardsmen surrounded their ally, as they would try and pull him from cover and in a more favourable position. You were able to see that he had been shot in the shoulder, and had already bled out quite a bit. "Nononono, Keaton! Fuck, what do we do?!" One of the guardsmen asked to the other, as the other soon ran backwards to try and find materials. "We got medical equipment, right?! Where is it?!" He yelled from a distance. Given the panic in his voice, it did not seem like things would end well for the injured guardsman. In fact, it sounded like the guardsmen here did not really have the equipment necessary to deal with these kinds of injuries. Or they were lacking the equipment. Regardless, you were not the only one at risk of serious medical consequences here...

Of course, unlike the guardsmen, you had Lars successfully patching you up with the equipment you did have. You had taken plenty of medical equipment along on your journeys. You still were light-headed and quite weak throughout, but you felt that the bleeding was stopping. The pain was pretty bad as well, but you could manage. The issue now was that you had potentially killed one of the guardsmen, which would probably not be taken all that well by the guardsmen who you had promised you wouldn't harm.

There was also the concern of the fact that Wilhelm had slipped away. He probably managed to escape during the chaos of the explosion and the flashbang. That, or the guardsmen had let him go before his 'execution'. Either way, he also needed to be caught as well, and perhaps put to justice for the betrayal he had committed.

Though given the fact that one of the guardsmen was dying (or worse, already dead) and your own injuries, there were maybe more important matters to attend to as of right now...

>What will you do next?

Suggestions:
>Given that you were already decently patched up, get Lars to maybe help out the guardsmen who was injured. That, or have somebody else in your group help. If the injured guardsman was aided properly, it could even help convince the rest of the guards that you really weren't a threat!
>Just tell your men to retreat still and come back at a later time. You needed to get a safe place to rest, and didn't want to risk staying here in case the poor guardsman did end up dying.
>Send out some men to try and look for Wilhelm. He could not have gone too far, and capturing him again was of great importance given what he knew.

>>5937935
>Given that you were already decently patched up, get Lars to maybe help out the guardsmen who was injured. That, or have somebody else in your group help. If the injured guardsman was aided properly, it could even help convince the rest of the guards that you really weren't a threat!
>Send out some men to try and look for Wilhelm. He could not have gone too far, and capturing him again was of great importance given what he knew.
Patch him up to smooth things over with them as we go and grab Wilhelm. To be honest I am leaning on just shooting him and collecting the bounty since he's less use alive then dead.

>>5937935
>Given that you were already decently patched up, get Lars to maybe help out the guardsmen who was injured. That, or have somebody else in your group help. If the injured guardsman was aided properly, it could even help convince the rest of the guards that you really weren't a threat!

Have the uninjured guards join us on the hunt - it's Wilhelm's fault we fought in the first place.

Also ask what they were shooting at before we moved in. I thought they would have at least secured Wilhelm - maybe it wasn't a betrayal and he just ran when he saw guns pointed at him, and they shot because he was running and looked sketchy.

>Given that you were already decently patched up, get Lars to maybe help out the guardsmen who was injured. That, or have somebody else in your group help. If the injured guardsman was aided properly, it could even help convince the rest of the guards that you really weren't a threat!
With the guardsmen clearly needing help and you feeling quite fine, you told Lars to help out with saving the life of the one who had been shot. Your men didn't seem too surprised by your suggestion, though it was met with some reluctance from Lars. Not because he didn't want to do as told, but rather because of a different issue. "I don't know how bad the injuries on him are, or how much material we'll need to save him." You told him to find out, as Thaddeus helped you up again as you clearly needed assistance to walk around for the time being. Regardless, Lars nodded and would grab the medical supplies, before rushing over to the panicking guardsmen. Lars' offer to help was quickly accepted, as he went to work trying to patch up the innocent life which had been put at risk because of Wilhelm's arrogance. The bastard had put both the life of your own men and the guardsmen at risk, and had now abandoned them like a coward. Though, you did want to know a bit more context about what led to all of this even happening in the first place.

Thus, you'd ask Thaddeus to bring you over to the two guardsmen. You'd quickly ask them what they were shooting at before you moved in. You imagined that they would have at least secured Wilhelm, and that they wouldn't just shoot him right away. In fact, you started wondering if maybe it wasn't a betrayal and he just ran when he saw guns which were pointed at him. Hell, maybe they fired at him because he was running and looked sketchy. However, things were quickly explained by one of the calmer guardsmen. "So, what happened was that, we approached him and he threw his helmet to the side. It's probably still somewhere around here."

Well, at least you got your helmet back, giving Alan his helmet again. Thank god they hadn't shot him in the head, or you'd probably not be co-operating with these guys at all. Still, the guardsmen continued explaining their rationale about what they did with Wilhelm. "Regardless, since he was a scientist, we... did think he was probably trustworthy. He stated that he needed help, which we weren't all too sure about. He said a bunch of things about us firing a warning shot to ward off something that was after him, which we foolishly complied with. We fired a warning shot, cause we didn't exactly think it was meant to scare away... y-you guys, and... then he just ran... If we knew it was you guys who were after him, trust me, we wouldn't have let him escape from us!" Well, it seemed a mixture of the guards being gullible and Wilhelm being manipulative had helped the bastard escape. And in turn, he got two non-enemies to shoot at each other. Killing Wilhelm seemed like more and more of a viable option now.

>Send out some men to try and look for Wilhelm. He could not have gone too far, and capturing him again was of great importance given what he knew.
With you patched up and Lars working on the guardsmen, you got the feeling that the uninjured guards were also not all that happy with them. And after apologised and told them you wanted to catch him again, you saw the guardsman look quite agitated. "Yeah, I-I can understand. Bastard lied to us and... maybe got one of us k-killed." The guardsman looked at Lars, clearly hoping that it would do the job. Lars had wrapped gauze and bandages around the poor guys shoulder, but he seemed to be trembling and fading in and out of consciousness. "Come on, Keaton. Stay awake! Y-You're gonna be fine! Help is here, just stay with us!" Of course, the injury was... pretty bad. From the amount of blood loss that had occurred, it was safe to say that the guy was in pretty deep shit. His breathing was fast, and he was clearly struggling to stay awake.

"I-I don't think he's going to make it." Lars eventually muttered, trying to see if there was anything else to do. One of the guardsman looked more and more worried. "No, no don't say that. W-We can't have a person dying here! A-A bunch of men have already gone out there to deal with that... fucked up rabbit subject! We've already lost too many people!" Sensing the panic, Lars would try and speak up quietly. "You said you were here with more injured folk, right? Just... bring him over there. Maybe if he has some peace and quiet, as well as some antibiotics and painkillers, he will be fine." Lars grabbed some of the things he mentioned, as the guardsmen quietly agreed. Regardless, the situation did seem particularly tense, and the guardsmen were clearly not happy with the fact they were potentially losing one of their men at their home base.

Still, with him patched up to the best of your ability, you did feel like things were at least... better than substandard. You absolutely still wanted to find Wilhelm. Hell, you were even leaning on just shooting him and collecting your pay check for it, since he hadn't been really as useful to you alive as he would've been dead. With that in mind, you looked to the guardsmen, before asking if they wanted to join you on the hunt. It had been Wilhelm's fault you had gotten into this terrible fight in the first place. One of the guardsman quickly nodded, before speaking more emotionally. "That bastard tricked us into a firefight. I want him to pay." The other seemed a bit more reluctant, speaking softly. "I... don't know. We need someone to hold the fort here. Besides, I-I'm not entirely sure if I can trust you guys still. Don't get me wrong, I had heard about you guys and that you were somewhat reasonable. B-But I am still not sure about this." The guy had balls for admitting that he still didn't trust you, that was for sure. At least his reasoning was also quite understandable, to a certain degree anyway.