Jack would scoff, before looking at the rest of his men. “That’s what I thought. Now, make yourself useful and start cleaning up your crap. We gotta head out soon.” Monroe gave a meek nod, turning around as Jack continued talking with his men. Though as Monroe grabbed his things, Jack would decide to let out one final insult. “If you do a good job, we’ll ask those Blackstar soldiers to get a picture of that burnt chicks corpse. You’re into shit like that, right?.” The rest of the men would let out various laughs, Monroe pausing with grabbing his things. For a moment, he trembled in rage, a tear rolling down one cheek before he started laughing along. The other soldiers hardly seemed to care, continuing to just eat their rations and share mocking remarks about Monroe and Mona. Though as Monroe laughed along, he’d soon grab his flamethrower. “Hahaha, you’re… you’re so right, Jack!” He’d hold the flamethrower with both hands, before pointing it at the men who were none the wiser. Though one soon looked back, his smile disappearing as he seemed kind of bemused, rather than intimidated. “Monroe, what are you-“

Monroe would smile far more sadistically, speaking quite loudly. “I do love the sight of burnt corpses!” And without hesitation, he pulled the trigger. A spray of fire would light up the darkness, as the burning liquid would coat the men from behind. Their laughter and murmuring turned to screaming and confusion, as Monroe stepped closer and made sure all of them were lit ablaze. Monroe would try and aim for the heads as much as possible, watching as some of the men dropped to the floor and tried their best to get rid of the fire. Though as he kept firing, some of the men would go quiet, their charred bodies convulsing before their arms folded inwards. Monroe would keep firing though, soon only hearing the roaring blaze which now filled the corner of the laboratory they had occupied. Once Monroe was done, he’d drop the flamethrower, breathing heavily before laughing further. Though the laughter would also be mixed with tears and some sobs, only for him to hear some pained grunting and angry yelling. “T-TRAITOR! Y-YOU FUCKING… TRAITOR!”

Hearing Jack’s familiar voice, Monroe would smirk and step closer, only to find his ‘leader’ on the ground with his back and most of his head burnt. He was in visible agony, having somehow put out the fire or having managed to avoid some of the blazing fire. Monroe didn’t care though, stepping forward and soon putting his foot on the burnt soldier’s chest. Instantly, Jack let out a pained wail, as he soon threw up to the side a little. “I’ll ask you again, Jack. Where is Mona’s body being taken?” Monroe asked in a cold tone of voice, Jack grunting in pain before speaking in rage. “LUNATIC! YOU… FUCKING LUNATIC! WE SHOULD’VE… FUCKING ABANDONED YOU DOWN THAT ELEVATOR SHAFT!”

Monroe would look around, finding one of their tablets on the floor which he’d grab. And right after, Monroe put his hand on Jack’s head. Due to the severe burns and pain, Jack let out another agonizing wail. He felt something strange going on in his head, though he couldn’t describe what it was exactly. Though the discomfort from whatever was going on in his head was nothing compared to the severe burns to his body. Despite all of that, he’d try and look around for any weapon. Though as he got weaker and his mind grew cloudier, his movement soon stopped as he just barely clung onto life. Monroe meanwhile would take a deep breathe, before finally pulling back his hand. He’d then move a hand to Jack’s mechanical eye, before ripping it out. Jack let out another scream, though he quickly grew silent. “Hm, at least you finally made yourself useful, Jack.” Monroe put the mechanical eye in his pocket, grabbing the tablet and looking at a map. Though as he did so, Jack spoke up once more. “Hngh, y-you’ll die… for this… T-The government w-will know what you did…” Monroe scoffed, putting the tablet away before going back to his flamethrower.

“Oh Jack…” Monroe pointed the flamethrower at the downed Diamond Dogs soldier, before smiling sadistically. “That’s the point.” Before Jack could respond, the room lit up once again and his world went completely dark…

-----------------------------------------------

This quest is mostly story focused, with no really deep mechanics aside from basic dice-rolling. The story is rather freeform in terms of what choices you can make and what direction you want to follow. What your goal is in this place and who you choose to trust is mostly up to you. Do you want to explore the place and figure out its mysteries? Or do you just want to shoot shit and cleanse this place of monster girls? No matter what you opt to do down here, I will always try to give options for what you can do. You can also always send in your own choices and suggestions on what to do. Either way, I hope to provide a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone. My writing ain't perfect, so I always do appreciate it when feedback is provided so I can improve further.

Shared docs:
You, your men and your allies:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_NoldE7zglICEuon-YZNhxjXcqvjszveOsz4u8jz-is/edit?usp=sharing
List of scientists and subjects, along with some minor details:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Z64W31Eszz9CNi-ZWe-t38yqg6riZ9oUvinfd2-F9A/edit?usp=sharing
The monster girls sheets as provided by the government tablet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sIrSAkYFN57njvPYKcWzpjnme2nMD6Bzgkl-j4wU3LE/edit?usp=sharing
Sheets of monster girls you've befriended:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CPSZp0MxftcNaUFSfBxzkRh7MfEiPnA7G6Wzfm9dkSQ/edit?usp=sharing
Previous threads:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=Monster+Girl+Facility

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

Artist I commissioned for this thread's thumbnail: avsmomedina (artistsnclients)

>Recap from the previous thread.
After some mishaps in the large broken elevator shaft, you and your men had headed further eastwards. For some time, Annie’s radio was hijacked by some unknown Elbrus subject, it fortunately doing little aside from disgusting you. Afterwards, you’d finally reach the mysterious office, discovering some files in it from the one and only Andrei. Unfortunately, some kind of trap blew up the office, you barely managing to escape safely. Once you retreated back to the factory section you came from, you’d get some rest in once more. During this time, Kiyohime the oni subject found herself fighting some Lodgerites, taking their booze before trying to make her way north on her own. Regardless, once you woke up, there was some terrible news as it was revealed that Mona, who had created Oreas and Kamara, was found dead. As a result, the girls and Laura were all quite upset, you leaving them be as you explored with a few of your men. You found some abandoned turrets which you took along, hoping that Derek and Lydia could tinker on them. Finally, you’d start heading southwards, avoiding an encounter with the Queen’s forces and finding yourself in an abandoned food court. And ahead of you, there lied the remnants of a bloody battle.

Continuing from the previous thread...

>Continue watching with the drone for some time. Maybe there still were combatants there or other threats which you didn't want to walk into. If something took down Blackstar power armour, then it meant there was a good chance it could take YOU down.
Seeing the gruesome sight in front of you and who had been killed, you decided to be careful. There could still be a threat out there, you telling Lydia to be on the look out for any enemies. “Already on it.” She said, continuing to carefully move the drone around. You also asked her to check for any ways out, as you wanted to know any escape routes the perpetrators could’ve taken. Lydia gave a quiet nod, all while Thaddeus approached. “You think it could’ve been done by those queen forces? Maybe they got their weapons from whoever was killed here.” He asked cautiously, Lydia shaking her head. “I doubt that this fight happened recently. We would’ve heard it if it happened recently. Besides, it doesn’t look like a fresh battle site at all.” You still wanted to be careful, even if the battle may have happened some time ago. In turn, you’d ask her to watch for any traps which could’ve been placed there, her letting out a sigh. “Arty, can you help out with that?” She asked, Artyom quickly coming to her aide as he watched along on the screen.

Whilst they continued scanning the area, you were thinking about the guns the queen’s forces wielded. You would soon look to Thaddeus, before arguing that the weapons looked more like something you’d find with Heroes. “I was thinkin’ that as well, but do ya really think those forces could take down a group of Heroes soldiers?”

Thaddeus’ question was met with a bit of uncertainty and scepticism from the rest of your men, with Derek quickly remarking: “Given how fearless those forces presumably are, and the fact Heroes only really go after known targets, I can actually see the queen’s forces getting the drop in and taking the weapons. Perhaps at the cost of a few guardsmen lives.” Of course, Mike was a bit more doubtful. “Given how secretive the queen wants to be, I doubt they’d steal gear from Heroes. That’d put a target on her head if any of them escaped.” Most of your men didn’t seem to exactly agree with that sentiment, albeit they also weren’t sure about the opposite either. Finally, Laura would give her opinion on the matter, bringing up something quite important. “Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of those weapons came from the combat section, or from other guardsmen who used more powerful weaponry.”

Given how far the combat section was, it definitely raised the question of just how far the queen was located, or how far away her forces scouted. Regardless, Lydia soon would seem to have finished analysing the area where the battle had taken place. “Okay, there’s no threats visible from here. But, there are a couple of side-rooms, which definitely look sketchy. There are also… sections of the walls which were clearly struck by explosives, based on the dents in them.” Artyom would also give his opinions on what he saw soon after. “Given the way the blast sites line up, they probably were not just from randomly thrown explosives or grenades. They were most definitely placed there beforehand and used together.” Given that explosives had been used, you asked if the place was actually safe from unexploded traps. “I imagine such. Unless if the people who set up this trap were also stupid enough to leave explosives about which could still be used elsewhere.” With that in mind, you felt it was clear what you had to do next.

>Head forwards towards the area which had seen combat. You had only seen a glimpse of the place, so going there in person and figuring out what had happened was key.
You told everyone it was time to head forward. Your men didn’t seem bothered by the suggestion, though you could tell the girls were a little less excited to head forward. You saw that the suggestion terrified Kamara, whilst Oreas and Chrys both seemed a little tense. They probably were not looking forward to seeing a bunch of signs of a bloody battle. Anofelis didn’t seem too bothered, but probably because she was yet to see what had happened. And of course, Morgan seemed calm as usual. If anything, she would try and lead your men forward, stepping in front of Thaddeus and Zaria who led the way. “I shall lead the way and ensure we shall not get ambushed by cowards!” Well, at least she was showing some good initiative. Laura also obviously was a bit worried, though she mostly kept her calm for the time being.

For a few minutes, you’d walk forward, remaining quiet as you wanted to be absolutely sure nobody heard your approach. Until at long last, you’d start seeing the dried up blood, bullet holes and bits of armour yourself. Your men got close together, looking around and slowly walking forward. “Lydia, you said there were some doors, right?” Anon asked, Lydia nodding and pointing forward. “They’re a bit further forward.” Meanwhile, you saw Oreas looking extremely anxious as she looked around. She’d even stick close to Laura, blocking her eyes partially to avoid seeing the gruesome sight. Kamara would just stare forward, trying her best to not look at anything. Chrys seemed to fare a little better, sticking closer to you and your men as she glanced at the mild carnage. Anofelis was also visibly put off, looking around sombrely and wrapping her arms around herself for comfort. At least Morgan didn’t seem intimidated still.

You’d soon spot the doors in the distance. There were three. One was completely closed, whilst the other two actually were open. The two open ones revealed what seemed to be another janitor’s closet, the other being some kind of checkpoint or armoury. You told your men to collect any dog tags you found of Blackstar men, as they likely did a great service exploring this far. Your men quickly agreed, being on the lookout for any which had been left behind. Though so far, there didn’t seem to be any to be found nearby.

>What do you do next?

>Explore the side-rooms first. They were left open, so they probably were safe to enter, right?
>Try and open the closed door. And if that doesn’t work, break it open by force to look inside. Or hell, ask Oreas if she could phase through the wall and see on the other side what was in there. (Write in what sort of force you’ll use.)
>First clear the hallway and see where the carnage ended. Once you had set up a safe perimeter, you could check out the rest of this place.
>Assign your men to do various tasks. Some could be on overwatch, whilst others could check out the rooms or scan the area. (Write in who you’ll assign to what.)
>Check some of the signs of the battle. Look for any indicators as to how the Blackstar forces were defeated. Perhaps a subject was also present here, or some kind of special weapon had been used. (Write in what to look for.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else.

(Geez, apologies for the delays with the new thread. I think I had a minor writing burnout, which wasn't helped by having to write a pretty annoying report for Uni. Fortunately, I finally got my ass up and wrote this today. Hopefully, I can keep things up now. I just worry that the next four weeks of writing a single report will drain me from writing updates here.)

(Anyway, ignoring my rambling, I hope this update is good. Just let me know if there are any stupid errors or things which are unclear.)

Anddd we are back.

>>6027678
>First clear the hallway and see where the carnage ended. Once you had set up a safe perimeter, you could check out the rest of this place.

>Assign your men to do various tasks. Some could be on overwatch, whilst others could check out the rooms or scan the area.
Send some men to explore the side-rooms, watch out for traps. Then some other to look for any indicators as to how the Blackstar forces were defeated.

>Try and open the closed door. And if that doesn’t work, break it open by force to look inside.
Do we have a keycard? if not then tell Morgan or Anofelis to break the door.

>>6027678
Oh boy, friendly fire. Techno Fox is absolutely killing it with those psyops. I wonder if we'll ever bump into any of the characters from these sidestories around and where they're all hanging about these days.

Priority is to secure the area. I think it's unlikely there are hostiles around, but you can never be too sure.
>Assign your men to do various tasks. Some could be on overwatch, whilst others could check out the rooms or scan the area. (Write in who you’ll assign to what.)
Anon, Derek and Artyom can sweep the corridor and open rooms. Mike, Lars and most of the girls watch the outside (the girls clearly don't want to be here). Everyone else to the closed door. I'm not comfortable lobbing the ghost eel loli through the wall or charging into an unknown area, so we have Morgan cut a small hole in the corner and send in the drone for a quick sweep for traps and occupants before breaching.

Once we've checked our corners, then we can inspect the bodies and search the rooms in more detail.

>>6027678
>that intro
Maybe the queen isn't so bad after all

>Check some of the signs of the battle. Look for any indicators as to how the Blackstar forces were defeated. Perhaps a subject was also present here, or some kind of special weapon had been used. (Write in what to look for.)
They've got impressive power armor from what we've heard, so look at what state the armor is in and extrapolate what type of weapon got through.

>>6027678
Welcome back, QM. Also, the intro is very telling. "Monroe" seems very invested in Mona, and fucking his team and himself over. And after falling down an elevator shaft and potentially being split off from his squad. I think it's time to post this again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVoNlm_WC6w [Embed]

Even if it's a red herring I am going to be extremely paranoid.

>>6027704
>>6027738
>>6027824
Supporting everything.

>First clear the hallway and see where the carnage ended. Once you had set up a safe perimeter, you could check out the rest of this place.
The first course of action was to check just how far all of the bloodshed went. You would tell everyone to stick as close to you as possible, as you would head forward. Morgan would also stick close, forming a shield after Thaddeus signalled her to do such. As you headed forward, you thankfully found that the bloodshed didn't stretch too far forward. Though, you did see quite some bullet holes in the walls, even past all the dried blood. There were plenty of explosion marks, but nothing along the lines of claw marks. You also found plenty more fragments of Blackstar power armour, though they were mostly small fragmentary parts. Nothing too massive or any large chunks of metal. Finally, after walking for a minute straight, you'd find the bullet holes getting less and less. You were once again in a section of hallway which wasn't completely riddled with bullet holes. "From the looks of things, I imagine the Blackstar forces were first attacked here. There are only armour fragments around, yet no blood like further back. I imagine they were ambushed, then pushed back until... yeah." Anon would remark, something which your men also seemed to agree with. Though clearly, it was still too early to come to conclusions. Especially since there was plenty to research.

>Assign your men to do various tasks. Some could be on overwatch, whilst others could check out the rooms or scan the area.
You told your men it was for the best to secure the area first. Even though there were no hostile forces present, you still told Mike, Lars and the girls stay on main guard. They'd watch out for any incoming threats, Lars and Mike giving a quick "Roger.". The girls weren't entirely excited. "W-What if s-somebody s-shows up?" Kamara quietly asked, to which Zaria gave a rather direct response. "You run back and tell us someone's coming. Simple enough." Chrys, trying to be more optimistic, would put her hand on Kamara's shoulder. "Why don't you stay on the ceiling? You can blend into it and stay out of sight, if you're that worried." Kamara seemed to at least be somewhat okay with the suggestion, yet she still was visibly terrified. At least Oreas, Laura and Anofelis were quite calm as they would get in position to look over the place. Morgan was also about to get in position, before you told her to come with you. "Oh, what do you wish me to do, Mikhail?" She asked eagerly, you seeing the girls being a bit more nervous now that they didn't have her to assist them as well. In turn, you told her you needed her for the closed door, in case your keycard didn't work for it. She nodded understandingly. "Very well then. I shall lead the way once more!" She'd already head back, you quickly telling Anon, Derek and Artyom to sweep the rest of the hallway, as well as the opened rooms.

"Alright, we'll let you know if we find anything." Anon responded in turn. You turned to the rest of your team, telling them to come along to the closed door. Thus, Zaria, Lydia and Thaddeus followed you back to the closed door. In the meantime, you'd also look around along with Anon, Derek and Artyom at the signs of the battle, specifically looking at the bits of armour which were strewn about.

>Check some of the signs of the battle. Look for any indicators as to how the Blackstar forces were defeated. Perhaps a subject was also present here, or some kind of special weapon had been used.
Given how powerful their power armour was, you would look at any of the bits and pieces you could find. Most were presumably caused by simply being chipped off by gunfire. It didn't look like there were any bits of armour which were damaged by anything else. Then again, you could hardly extrapolate based on what tiny bits and pieces you found. Thankfully, there were larger bits and pieces strewn about, you finding that most of them were also lacking any distinct signs of battle. None were damaged in any other way it seemed. Though surely, you'd find more the longer you searched. The side-rooms could very well contain more titbits of information. Though once you reached the section with the doors, you shifted your attention there. Arty, Derek and Anon would hopefully find more.

>Try and open the closed door. And if that doesn’t work, break it open by force to look inside.
You would try and use the keycard you had swiped quite some time ago, pushing it against the scanner for the door. Unfortunately, there was no response at all, the door remaining closed shut. Thus, you went with plan B, telling Morgan to cut a hole into the corner of the door. She'd make her shield disappear, before stabbing the corner. You heard the metal creaking and letting out quite some harsh metallic noises. Morgan was putting in quite some effort, it clearly being quite a tough job. She'd grit her teeth, slowly managing to create a decently sized hole where the drone could go through. Once done, she'd let out a deep breathe. "There we go... That was... surprisingly tough..." She'd take a step back, wiping some sweat off her face as Lydia would use the crawling drone to look inside.

Once the drone looked inside, you'd quickly find why it was tough. The room was extremely dark, everything being laced with a layer of something black. Lydia seemed somewhat concerned, Thaddeus squinting his eyes. "It looks... burnt." After the drone wandered around for a bit though, it would stumble upon something pretty gruesome. A completely burnt corpse. "Good grief." Morgan mumbled, the others also seeming quite shocked. Though worse, you'd find even more corpses. In fact, they were all next to each other in a neat line. Though as she kept looking, she'd soon see a dog tag on one of them. It was Blackstar tag...

"Fuck me. That room was used as a makeshift crematorium." Zaria mumbled in bewilderment, Lydia seeming more disturbed. "Who... who could've done this, and why?" She kept looking around, seeing no signs of any of the armour lying about. It was just some simple furniture which was moved to the side, and the charred corpses. Though before you could make another decision, Anon, Derek and Artyom popped out of one of the rooms. "Mik! Mik! We found something!" Derek said worriedly, Anon speaking more calmly yet still rather seriously. "The first room is a janitor's closet, but the second is an armoury of some kind. And... we found a body there." Arty would also speak up in a rather concerned tone. "It's a pretty old corpse, and I found it quite suspicious. We didn't figure out who he belonged to yet."

It seemed that whoever had fought here had managed to defeat some Blackstar forces. How they did it or why was still a mystery, but you at least now knew what they had been up to and that these guys were a serious threat.

>What do you do next?

>Check out the body right away. Perhaps one of your men could identify who it was or to which party they belonged. (Write in who will check the body.)
>Open up the makeshift crematorium and look inside of it. Maybe you could find something in there which could tell you more about the people responsible. (Write in if you'll look for anything specific.)
>Head forward. Whatever the Blackstar forces had on them in the crematorium was probably burnt alongside them. And the random corpse which was positioned right next to a crematorium was suspicious as hell.
>Go over to Laura or any of the other girls and ask them about these findings. Perhaps they knew of a group who would be responsible for something like this.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6028529
>Check out the body right away. Perhaps one of your men could identify who it was or to which party they belonged. (Write in who will check the body.)
Just go as a group, I guess we'll check the body

Ok so a bunch of them were killed by gunfire, others by trapping them in a room and burning them alive. Most likely was a group of guardsmen I guess? They'd be able to set up the fire room trap the easiest.

>>6028526
> Chrys, trying to be more optimistic, would put her hand on Kamara's shoulder.
She wishes she was tall enough to put her hand on someone’s shoulder lmao.

>>6028528
>Check out the body right away. Perhaps one of your men could identify who it was or to which party they belonged. (Write in who will check the body.)

Damn they also got flamethrowers. what's next? their very own plasma railgun?

>>6027666
excellent artwork of oreas my beloved.

>>6028529
>Check out the body right away. Perhaps one of your men could identify who it was or to which party they belonged. (Write in who will check the body.)
>Open up the makeshift crematorium and look inside of it. Maybe you could find something in there which could tell you more about the people responsible. (Write in if you'll look for anything specific.)
Fiund Dog tags in makeshift crematorium, see if we can ID the body with known blackstar personell.

also
>explore the siderooms, they might have more clues.

>>6028529
>Check out the body right away. Perhaps one of your men could identify who it was or to which party they belonged. (Write in who will check the body)
The same trio that swept the rooms can go check it out
We should also pinch a few spare guns from the armoury. Perhaps take a little bit of time to instruct Laura, Chrys and Oreas in pistol usage for emergencies and start Oreas down the path of warcrimes.
>Open up the makeshift crematorium and look inside of it. Maybe you could find something in there which could tell you more about the people responsible. (Write in if you'll look for anything specific.)
Examine the bodies for evidence of how long they were subject to heat. Extensively head-deformed and oxidised materials and, er, deep and thorough cooking of meat are signs they were hot for a long time. That and examine under them for ashes and cinders left behind by a fire. Together, this would tell us if they were burned on a pyre of some kind, or if they were set afire from an external source like a flamethrower or subject's natural weapon.

I have had another random thought. Can Oreas make anything on her person intangible with her, or is it just herself and some specially adapted clothing or something? If it's the former, she could act as a courier to carry things back and forth through walls, floors and doors for us if we need to at any point.

>>6028613
Seems like they were attempting to burn bodies, given they are stripped of armour, lined up and in a room that's not completely burned rather than them being burned alive in some fashion

>Check out the body right away. Perhaps one of your men could identify who it was or to which party they belonged.
Upon hearing of the body, you decided it was probably worth checking out first. You told the rest of your men to join you, as you wanted to watch whilst the trio checked out the body. Besides, you already had a hunch as to what had happened to the soldiers in the crematorium. Anything of value was taken from their bodies after which they were burnt by the bastards who looted them. Thus, you'd follow them into the armoury, looking around to see if you saw any extra weapons lying about. Though as you walked through it, you sadly would find most of the place empty. All the various lockers and crates were empty, not a single gun available to you, your men or the girls. Fortunately, this wasn't why you were here anyway. You were here to check out the corpse.

After taking a small turn, you'd end up in some kind of changing room, presumably for guards. And against the wall in the corner, there was the slumped corpse. It was a somewhat old corpse, based on how bloated it was and the colouration it had. The features weren't really distinct enough for you to say for sure what the guy belonged to. Though given the shrapnel, it was safe to say that this guy was another Blackstar soldier. "Alright, you wanna check it out?" Anon said, as you gave a nod. Zaria, Lydia, Thaddeus and Morgan watched from a distance, Artyom, Anon and Derek joining you. "I already took some pictures which we can maybe send back to base. They can potentially identify them." Derek suggested, after which you mentioned the sight you found in the other room. This seemed to make Artyom especially uneasy. "Why the hell would they burn everyone, but then leave this guy behind?" He'd ask, glancing over the corpse and squinting his eyes. "Let's be careful. I feel like this could be bait." Despite his concerns, you'd quietly approach the corpse to inspect it.

Looking at his injuries, you saw quite a number of wounds and bruises. It seemed the guy had been physically beaten somewhat, cuts from shrapnel or other lacerations being somewhat minimal. You did see that the guy had quite a few broken limbs, most of which indicated he had been roughed up quite badly. "I wonder if this guy is related to the corpse we found near the green section. You know, the really awfully mangled one? I mean, that was just a lone corpse in some secluded room as well." Anon would eventually say as you all looked over the body. Artyom shook his head in turn though, quick to give his retort to that suggestion. "That one was clearly mangled by someone with medical experience. This guy was probably tortured by someone and then left to die." You'd keep looking for cues, the body being surprisingly lacking in terms of cues. There were no notes, no leftover weaponry. Hell, the guy didn't even have a tablet or anything else on him with which he could've written you a note about his death.

Though Derek did soon notice something. "Hey, I think I see his tag. He's sitting on it." Derek would calmly approach, not seeming too bothered. He'd try and carefully get the tag from beneath the body, moving it just an inch. Though after moving it, there was a soft beeping noise coming from underneath the body. "What... what is that noise?" Anon would say concernedly, Artyom quickly realising what it was. "EVERYBODY, DOWN!" He yelled, as all of you would scatter. Though it was already too late, as you soon heard a loud blast along with the sound of flesh ripping apart. Blood splattered everywhere, you being knocked to the floor and hearing a loud beep in your ear which drowned out the sound around you. Everything was white for a second, before you started hearing distant yells. "Mikhail! Mikhail!" It came from Thaddeus, you looking around and slowly seeing your surroundings once more. The place truly reeked now, as you felt quite a bit of pain in your back. It wasn't anything bad, but you were definitely shaken.

Looking around, you saw Morgan, Lydia and Zaria having approached you and the rest of your men. Anon would also slowly be getting up, speaking in quite some pain. "Ugh, what... what the hell happened there?!" He grunted right after speaking, moving a hand to his head as it was clear he was also hit with the loud noise and the blinding light. At least both of you were fine. Though the same couldn't be said for Artyom. You'd turn around and see that his back was coated with a ton of blood and some bits of shrapnel, him squirming slightly and yelling in extreme pain. Immediately, all eyes went to him, Zaria approaching and speaking quickly. "Arty got hit! Arty got hit!" She said, as you'd slowly get up with Thaddeus' help. Getting closer to Arty, you could see that his injury was... pretty bad. He had unintentionally taken the blast for you and Anon, being struck in the back as you saw some of his skin exposed. You could tell that he was bleeding, given that there was some fresh, not putrid blood running down his back.

At least it was clear he hadn't lost any limbs or anything, him able to get up as he grunted. "Hngggghhhh, fuck! My back... ow, goddamnit... hngh, i-it was trapped... some bastard put an explosive device there... god... FUCK!" Not only was the corpse trapped, but the trap had also completely destroyed it. Some limbs remained, but most of the thing had been turned into chunks of mush all around you. Disgusting, sickening mush which made it hard for you to breathe, given the lack of a filter in your helmet. Of course, you could at least power through it to support Artyom, as you nd the rest of your men would surround him. Lydia was already checking him out, using what little knowledge she had to see how bad it was. "This is bad. He's bleeding, and given what was blown up, he needs medical help right now!"

It was clear that your plan to check out the crematorium would have to wait for the time being. You and the rest of your men had missed the trap, and it unfortunately came at a pretty severe cost.

>What do you do next?

>Take Artyom out of the room to somewhere a bit less filthy. Hopefully, he wouldn't be in too much pain whilst you dragged him out of the room.
>Get Lars to come over to help out right away. He could maybe disinfect things and give an assessment of just how bad the wound was.
>Call over to base to let them know you had someone who was badly injured and needed help ASAP. You couldn't afford this injury ending up way worse than it already was, so it was for the best he got brought back to the main base.
>Ask Artyom how he felt. He was obviously in pain, but maybe he would be able to let you know just how bad this injury was. Hell, maybe he was confident that he could keep going.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

(A new thread, and already one of your men got injured? Must be a record.)

>>6028892
Damn that is nasty
One real meanie is stalking these parts

>Get Lars to come over to help out right away. He could maybe disinfect things and give an assessment of just how bad the wound was.
He's our best medic right? He ought to know the best immediate course of action.

>>6028892
gonna guess that dice roll didn't go well and I half suspected this would be a trap. That we don't have a properly trained medic in the team seems like a real oversight in hindsight.

>Take Artyom out of the room to somewhere a bit less filthy. Hopefully, he wouldn't be in too much pain whilst you dragged him out of the room.
>Get Lars to come over to help out right away. He could maybe disinfect things and give an assessment of just how bad the wound was.
We need to wash the wounds, remove what shrapnel we can, disinfect everything, bandage him up and then send him back topside. While the wounds are unlikely to be immediately life-threatening, he sounds more or less incapacitated and is at very high risk of infection regardless.

>>6028892
I was going to state how it felt odd and arguably suspicious that all but one body was burned. But it appears I am late.

>>6028897
>>6028905
Supporting. Get him back on his feat, or at least as close to it as possible before we try and explore the makeshift oven. He can tell us how bad it really is and we can act accordingly. Ideally, he'll be in good enough condition for the regicide. But from what was written I'd not be surprised if he was out of action for a day.

>>6028892
>Take Artyom out of the room to somewhere a bit less filthy. Hopefully, he wouldn't be in too much pain whilst you dragged him out of the room.
>Get Lars to come over to help out right away. He could maybe disinfect things and give an assessment of just how bad the wound was.
>Something else...
Begin getting out of dodge as soon as possible. While treating him is important, the longer stay here the quicker the enemy will have us trapped. They likely know their trap triggered.

We should go aways out for contacting main base for pickup. We need to be out of queen's range, and be able to send the monster girls away. From there we just need to meet up with gov to take artyom safely away. Given we got a kill, I imagine we are given more consideration since we are actually working.

>>6028909
I concur with the sentiment that we need to make tracks as soon as Artyom is patched up to move safely in case we just attracted unwanted attention (maybe we can leave a hidden trail cam to see who comes knocking?), but I'd like to grab the dogtag first before we leave. Ano and Morg, get to work breaking down that door while we deal with Art.

File: Oreas rabu.png (268 KB, 750x716)

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>>6028892
Damn, just what we needed, our expert in traps getting injured and possibly out of combat for a while.
>>6028905
>>6028909
Supporting

>Take Artyom out of the room to somewhere a bit less filthy. Hopefully, he wouldn't be in too much pain whilst you dragged him out of the room.
>Get Lars to come over to help out right away. He could maybe disinfect things and give an assessment of just how bad the wound was.
Despite the grave injuries which Artyom was suffering from, you didn't want to leave him in this place. It was simply too dangerous and dirty to keep him here. Besides, you wanted to get Lars over to help out right away. You already told your men to go over to get Lars, since he was essentially your medic. "I'm on it!" Zaria said, before she started sprinting over. In the meantime, you'd ask Thaddeus and Morgan to carefully grab Arty and carry him out of the room. They'd try and pick him up, as he groaned and spoke in pain. "Ow, it... hngh, it hurts really badly. Just... be careful, a-alright?" Morgan and Thaddeus did their best to carefully lift him up, Thaddeus grabbing him from under the shoulders whilst Morgan grabbed his legs and helped raise him up. Blood continued dripping from his back, as he was taken away. You and the rest of your men would quickly follow, you telling everyone it was for the best to retreat from this place. This had clearly been some kind of trap, meaning that whoever had placed it there probably had some sort of alarm to let them know it had gone off.

After leaving the armoury and returning to the hallway, you found a relatively clean spot to put Artyom back down again. You'd place him on his stomach, checking all the wounds and grabbing some water. You'd try and wash away some of the filth on the wounds already, hearing Artyom yell in pain as you did so. He tried to remain tough though, gritting his teeth and turning his hands to fists. Whilst doing such, you told the rest of your men to plan out a location where the girls could stay again. You were probably going to take Artyom back to the main base after all, and the girls couldn't exactly come along for that.

Derek immediately started looking for places on the tablet. "I'll look for some areas. I think the offices we slept over at could work well enough." Shortly after they started, you saw the rest of your men and the girls rushing over. The girls looked quite shocked and concerned, your men seeming more determined and quiet. Already, Lars had his medical kit at the ready, crouching beside you as you both looked at Arty. "Okay, what happened? Zaria said it was some sort of trap?" You quickly explained what happened, Lars looking over the wounds and putting on some gloves. And right away, he'd start look around. "Someone, give Artyom some painkillers." He said as he would start looking for any shrapnel, carefully picking them out of any and all wounds he found. Artyom was clearly quite in pain, being given some painkillers by Zaria to make it slightly more bearable. Though even then, you could tell that this was going to be unpleasant for Arty.

Whilst Artyom was being treated, you remembered that there still were the corpses in the crematorium. Since you wanted to be fast, you looked over to Morgan and Anofelis. Given they were the strongest, you asked them to quickly open the metal door and check the corpses. "Hngh, b-be careful of... traps though. It's..." Artyom spoke before letting out another groan of pain. Even now, he wanted to make sure people were aware of any traps. Morgan and Anofelis nodded, Morgan already getting her shield ready. "Whatever foul tricks these people have in store for us, they shan't hurt me!" Anofelis seemed kind of confused by the remark, just simply following Morgan as the two would get to work forcing the door open. The two managed to open the door together relatively quickly, it taking a bit of effort still as Anofelis looked kind of curiously at what was inside. Morgan simply rushed in, presumably to find the tags as quickly as possible.

In the meantime, Lars was finished finding all the shrapnel which had struck Artyom. Most of it appeared to be bone fragments from the corpse, along with a couple of metallic bits. He was already disinfecting the wounds, much to Artyom's pain. Thankfully, Lars did seem optimistic. "Okay, I think that he is clean. He probably won't develop any infections, but we should definitely keep paying attention regardless." Lars would get some bandages, getting Mike to help him out in wrapping up the wounds. Anon would meanwhile get in front of Artyom. "You feeling okay, Arty?" And fortunately, Artyom gave a quick nod. "Y-Yeah, it... it stings and hurts badly... b-but I'll be fine. Mostly just pissed I missed that obvious goddamn trap." Derek spoke reassuringly in turn, not wanting Artyom to be so harsh on himself. "Hey, none of us expected it. It really wasn't your fault."

Whilst Artyom grumbled and was patched up, you'd yell over to Morgan and Anofelis to see how they were faring. "I am yet to find anything! I could use some help, given that Anofelis is not searching along!" Morgan would yell from inside the room, Anofelis probably being quite shocked by the charred corpses. In turn, Lydia let out a sigh and would get up. "I'll go help them out." Whilst she headed over to the crematorium, you told your men about your concerns of this place and that you wanted to potentially contact the main base for help. Though you also didn't want to risk the signal being picked up by the Queen's forces, so you hoped to first retreat from this place. It'd also help you avoid the people who set up this trap and were probably heading this way. "Hngh, I-I don't need to retreat to main base." Artyom would mumble, to which Lars spoke quite softly. "It might be for the best, Arty. I did my job quite fast and I worry it may not be effective, especially in the long term. Not to mention, the nasty stuff that coated your wounds and could lead to some seriously bad infections." Despite his remarks, Artyom remained somewhat stubborn.

He'd slowly get up, continuing to let out some pained groans as he did so. "Let's... first just retreat from here, like Mik said. We still need to find a place for the girls, as well as get out of range of any place the queen could hear us." After he spoke, Morgan, Laura and a rather horrified Anofelis would leave the crematorium, not seeming too happy. "We found some tags, but they are pretty badly burnt and smoke damaged. Still, we've taken them along just in case." Artyom would slowly get on his feet, managing to at least stand but appearing pretty shaken and in pain still. Thaddeus quickly got beside him to try and support him, Artyom quietly accepting the help. And with that, you'd tell everyone it was time to quickly get out of there. You'd lead the way backwards, Artyom letting out a soft groan. "All that distance, just to be blown up by a corpse." He was still frustrated, but at least he accepted that getting him help was probably for the best now.

And with that, you'd start your detour back to the main base. Though first, that meant going back to the chemical sector and the green section.

>What do you do next?

>Quickly get Zaria to set up a camera near the blast site. That way, you could hopefully detect if anyone went over there whilst you were gone.
>Choose a specific location for the girls to stay at whilst you retreated back to base. The green section was definitely off-limits, but the offices were likely still a safe location for them. (Write in where you'll send them.)
>Split up into smaller parties. One could focus on bringing Artyom back to the main base. The others could stay with the girls and maybe watch over them in the meantime. (Write in what parties you'll create and who will be assigned to them.)
>Call the main base once you got to a specific location. The chemical site was potentially safe, but the green zone was definitely a safe zone for you to contact HQ. (Write in at what point you'll contact the main base.)
>Wait to see how Artyom was faring before calling the main base. Maybe he would be able to walk fine and he would start feeling better again.
>Something else...

(>>6029428 That is the face of a cold-blooded future war criminal... Truly adorable!)

>>6029482
Artyom. You. Are. Going. Back. To. Base. Stop trying to be a tough guy, you've just been significantly wounded and are at high risk of deteriorating further, at which point you would become a liability to the squad, more difficult to send back for medical attention and risk worse consequences to your health and life. We can and will put the mission on hold to ensure your safety.

>Quickly get Zaria to set up a camera near the blast site. That way, you could hopefully detect if anyone went over there whilst you were gone.
>Choose a specific location for the girls to stay at whilst you retreated back to base. The green section was definitely off-limits, but the offices were likely still a safe location for them. (Write in where you'll send them.)
>Split up into smaller parties. One could focus on bringing Artyom back to the main base. The others could stay with the girls and maybe watch over them in the meantime. (Write in what parties you'll create and who will be assigned to them.)
Here's what we're going to do. Set up a camera in here to capture anyone who comes to check it out. The girls go and stay in an out-of-the-way room hidden deep in the cubicle maze where nobody would have any reason to go, where we should set up a basic base camp. Squad A - us, Zaria, and Derek take Artyom back topside while Squad B - Thaddeus, Mike, Lydia and Anon stay with the girls and use the time to do some basic recon - camera work, drone surveys and light exploration while we're gone.

While we're here, we also need to decide what we're bringing back with us. What of Andrei's stuff should we bring, if any (I say we bring back copies of the subject files and spread the knowledge of them around as much as we can to make sure GalGov can't just bury them)? Also take that one singular depleted railgun power cell back with us to put on charge because we may as well, and ask if the squad or girls have any particular requests.
Furthermore, I'm not clear on the amount of time that's passed but I think Alan and Evander might be ready to come back with us now.

>>6029482
>Quickly get Zaria to set up a camera near the blast site. That way, you could hopefully detect if anyone went over there whilst you were gone.
Vengeance

Supporting >>6029542
for the rest - we might get Alan back but Evander I don't think is even halfway through the minimum recovery period.

>>6029580
They were given as "at minimum three days" and "a few days" respectively as of when they went into Medical The sheet gives them as two 2d+ each but I don't know when that info was last updated and how many days it's been since, or how long it'll take us to travel back.

>>6029482
>>Quickly get Zaria to set up a camera near the blast site. That way, you could hopefully detect if anyone went over there whilst you were gone.
>>Choose a specific location for the girls to stay at whilst you retreated back to base. The green section was definitely off-limits, but the offices were likely still a safe location for them. (Write in where you'll send them.)
>Quickly get Zaria to set up a camera near the blast site. That way, you could hopefully detect if anyone went over there whilst you were gone.
>Choose a specific location for the girls to stay at whilst you retreated back to base. The green section was definitely off-limits, but the offices were likely still a safe location for them. (Write in where you'll send them.)
Have them head to cubicle maze

>Call the main base once you got to a specific location. The chemical site was potentially safe, but the green zone was definitely a safe zone for you to contact HQ. (Write in at what point you'll contact the main base.)
compromise between chemical and green zone. The area between is enough to be safe and not let them really see the area we are in (see too much/ask questions etc)

>>6029599
Really? I could have sworn Evander was minimum a week, maximum much longer.

>>6029634
Alan:
>At minimum, you'll be out of here in about 3 days
Evander:
>If you're lucky, it may only be 4-5 days total with the best medical equipment we have. If that doesn't work, it may take a few weeks
So lots of uncertainty there. Scrolling through the last couple of threads, I think we're on our third day since the visit to the hospital and by the time we get back it should be our fourth so Alan should be back in action and Evander might be if all went well. If it didn't he may as well be out for the rest of the quest unless Toyotama can help him or something.

>>6029603
Supporting.

>>6029644
It's been a day or two since we went back out, yeah. Hopefully we can find Toyotama in the future because that will make our lives so much easier. It'll also make it far easier for all our men to keep them too.

>>6029804
>because that will make our lives so much easier
And definitely not because she's a total sweetheart to add to our collection of cinnamon buns, no sir. Though if Ev is more scrambled in the head than we though and we do find Toyo, smuggling him out of the hospital to bring him down to her will be a fun caper.
We spent one night topside after delivering him to the hospital and have made camp and gone to sleep down here twice since then I think. Though it does beg the question of how we really keep track of days down here, since the time is just a number on our watches without any kind of daycycle to anchor ourselves to and it's easy to desync and end up with a >24h waking cycle like that.

>Quickly get Zaria to set up a camera near the blast site. That way, you could hopefully detect if anyone went over there whilst you were gone.
Whilst retreating back to base, you would tell Zaria to set up a camera. She'd give a nod, going over to Artyom and getting some of the cameras he had on him. "Hngh, c-careful, Zaria." He said as Zaria would quickly grab them of his person. "I'm trying." She said, before managing to get one camera. She'd immediately run back to where you came from, Artyom yelling back at her. "Be careful out there! And put the camera somewhere... where it isn't spotted immediately!" Zaria didn't seem to catch his comments, Thaddeus responding instead. "Ya should take it easy, Artyom. You gotta take things easy right now." You would tell Artyom that he needed to calm down as well. He needed to rest and take things easy. Hell, you even mentioned how he was putting both himself and the rest of you at risk if he pushed himself much further. Artyom at least agreed, still seeming disappointed and annoyed but remaining quiet. And a short moment later, Zaria came sprinting back, having quickly placed the camera in position. "Alright, let's keep going. What's the plan anyway?"

>Choose a specific location for the girls to stay at whilst you retreated back to base. The green section was definitely off-limits, but the offices were likely still a safe location for them.
>Split up into smaller parties. One could focus on bringing Artyom back to the main base. The others could stay with the girls and maybe watch over them in the meantime.
Given that you wanted to do two things at once, you decided that splitting up now was the safest idea. Thus, you laid out your plan. You told the girls that they'd go back to the office and find a safe section which was out of the way. They'd stay hidden there until you returned from the main base. The girls gave a quick nod, not questioning the plan. "I shall protect them from any threat, Mikhail. No need to worry!" Morgan would even say, which seemed to reassure the others quite nicely. Though, you would tell them that some of your men would stay with them. In turn, you would tell Thaddeus, Mike, Lydia and Anon that they'd stay with the girls. "Alright, so we just protect them?" Mike would ask, you stating that you hoped they could do some mild recon whilst you were away. Drones, cameras and exploring the place were all safe options. "Sounds good, yeah. I just hope the drones are capable of travelling longer distances." Lydia remarked, Anon speaking more hesitantly. "I'm not sure we should go out and explore. But, I guess we'll see what we can do." You saw that Oreas, Chrys and Anofelis were more than happy to explore the place further. Though obviously, having them go out was quite the risk to take. Though it'd probably be up to Thaddeus to decide on whether or not they should come along or not...

Regardless, you'd turn to Zaria and Derek, telling them they'd join you in taking Artyom back to the main base. Derek and Zaria quickly nodded in agreement, being ready to help out in whatever way was necessary. Though, you didn't just want to take Artyom back to the main base. You'd ask Anon if you could take the one depleted railgun power cell back, him quickly handing it over to you. "Here you go." There was still more you wanted, thinking about Andrei's files and what to do with them. You'd bring up the concern to your men, with Zaria quickly responding. "I'd say just hand it all over. We've taken pictures of them, right? So we don't need to worry about losing them. Besides, I imagine we'll get paid quite a bit for them!" However, Thaddeus was quick to shoot that down, for a very simple reason. "I think we ought to keep it to ourselves for the time being. We dunno how the government will react to this news, and for all we know they wanna keep it a secret." Your men all didn't seem too sure about handing it over as well. Though Mike was especially sceptical. "Let's keep it until we know for sure we can get paid for providing the intel. I got a feeling the government kept Andrei's existence a secret and that the government will go after us if we share the information around."

Whilst contemplating the options of what to do with the files, you'd also ask the men if there was anything else you needed to take along from headquarters. You even asked the girls, Laura being quick to ask for something specific. "I would like it if you try and see if there's anything about Mona's death. Anything about the group who found her, what they'll do with her body and what not. I'm sure it may not be easy, but... I'd appreciate it." Clearly, Laura still wanted some closure regarding Mona's death. The girls didn't have anything else to ask, Oreas and Kamara seeming particularly down now that Mona was mentioned again. The rest of your men would quickly give a few things they wanted. Mostly, it was just extra rations and medical equipment. Nothing out of the ordinary.

With that in mind, you kept heading back, eventually reaching the chemical site again. And after seeing the hallway which would lead to the offices, you'd part ways with the girls and some of your men. Thaddeus, Mike, Lydia and Anon would wish you good luck, before retreating with the girls. Zaria would help Artyom walk, even though he protested somewhat. "No need to carry me, Zaria. I can walk on my own." Despite his insistence, Zaria still obviously helped him out. And thus, you'd start making your way past the chemical section. You'd pass through the open factory area, taking the hallway eastwards and heading back to the green section. "I wonder if the government has already started setting up base in the green section. That was their intention, right?" Derek asked, Zaria seeming unsure how to answer. It'd certainly help you out if there were medical aide in the green section ahead of you.

>Call the main base once you got to a specific location. The chemical site was potentially safe, but the green zone was definitely a safe zone for you to contact HQ.
Regardless, you'd tell Derek to start calling the government for assistance. You felt that this place was far enough away to avoid being listened in to by the queen's forces, whilst also giving the government forces plenty of time to come over and try and help you. It also meant the government wouldn't really ask any questions about your current location and where you were. Derek thus would send out a message, quickly explaining how one man was injured quite badly by a trap and needed medical aide. And fortunately, they’d say they’d be on their way. It was also both fortunate and unfortunate that the green section wasn’t occupied by the government yet, as it gave you time to plan ahead.

After all, you had Andrei’s files on you right now and could still hand them over once you reached the government forces again.

>What do you do next?

>Hand over the files on Andrei once you finally met up with the government forces. They’d probably pay you quite well for the files
>Take out some parts of the files before handing it over. Perhaps the notes on the queen or any of the other subjects you just wanted to hunt yourself could be good. (Write in which files you’ll take out.)
>Just ignore handing over the files and head back to main base to get the few things your men had requested.
>Send Derek and Zaria out to do some specific things once you reached the main base. Perhaps they could help find some of the things you wanted to get from the main base. (Write in what you’ll send them out to get.)
>Follow the government forces to the medical bay to see what they had to say about Artyom. That, and maybe check up on Alan and Evander to see how they were doing.
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6029860
>Just ignore handing over the files and head back to main base to get the few things your men had requested.
No rush, we can hand them over whenever and after the rabbit kill it's not like we're short on cash. Maybe have Laura go over them one last time to see if there's anything we don't want GalGov to have in there.

>Follow the government forces to the medical bay to see what they had to say about Artyom. That, and maybe check up on Alan and Evander to see how they were doing.

>>6029860
>Take out some parts of the files before handing it over. Perhaps the notes on the queen or any of the other subjects you just wanted to hunt yourself could be good. (Write in which files you’ll take out.)
Remove the files for Vinisha, Oana, Olorea and Alexandra (we totally lost them when the office blew up), hand the rest over once we're back at HQ. Vinisha and Olorea sound like upstanding individuals who I don't wish death upon, Oana is best not brought up and I want to look into both Oana and Alexandra more before deciding anything. As for the others, the more heat they get the better, knowledge of them may save lives (#MercLivesMatter) and make them more likely to wind up dead and importantly the notes include no location info, so it's not like it'll bring down the swarm on them any time soon. I think Moritz would be quite interested in Caera's file since it's likely many of Andrei's subjects were genuinely not known to GalGov.
>Send Derek and Zaria out to do some specific things once you reached the main base. Perhaps they could help find some of the things you wanted to get from the main base. (Write in what you’ll send them out to get.)
Zaria can go visit the quartermaster to put the power cell on charge and pick up a couple of things. I'd like to get a couple more trail cameras, some extra radios, three extra pistols (if anyone asks, we had a run-in with Morgan and she cut several of our guns in half) and a larger than normal amount of extra food.
Derek can go find some Blackstar chaps to hand the tags over to and, while he's there, gently inquire about Mona
>Follow the government forces to the medical bay to see what they had to say about Artyom. That, and maybe check up on Alan and Evander to see how they were doing.
Meanwhile we can go with Artyom, and then bring D and Z to check up with A and E

I also made a pastebin with some notes from earlier on Andrei's subject roster - https://pastebin.com/isu1eczQ. When reviewing the notes, I finally joined the dots that Tengri's subject Andrei refers to when talking about Vinisha is DS-14. I'd want to give poor Vini a hug if I wouldn't come away holding a rotten arm.

>>6029860
>Something else…
Do not hand over the files or go to the main base, get back to our other team currently down below and resume exploration.
There is no point back to base, they simply are not healed yet. We waste an entire day with our friends isoalted and alone if we go back to the base to fuck about and start making our way back.

>>6029858
>Something else…
Lets just do a quick resupply and go back to business.

>>6029926
>I also made a pastebin with some notes from earlier on Andrei's subject roster
Nice, thanks anon.

>>6029926
Notes seem solid. only gripe I'd say is Alexandra probably has some combat ability given the original plan Andrei had for her, so I'd say she's a solid Medium threat level if she doesn't know we aren't hostile, especially if she has followers. Given she's a tactician, if she did have some people under her, I'd not be surprised if they could take out a death squad and arm themselves with better equipment. Thankfully, unlike the queen, she probably can be reasoned with. Also, for Vinisha it was Mona's subject he was referring to, not Tengri. She still made DS-14 though, so it's obvious that's who he was talking about.

Anyway, supporting this except the part about handing/spreading the files around. The government knows about the key that the Rabbit had and probably already knows her creator. Let's not give them any idea's we might have lied to them.

>>6030601
Valid point on Alexa. The issue with her is that we just have so little information that it could go any way. Is she just trying to use her abilities to survive and fight off the invaders? Did she go psychotically off the rails like Caera? Or is she plotting to conquer her own fiefdom down here like the Queen? While there's definitely a good possibility that she's willing to sit down and talk, we have no idea how she's been using her abilities over the last few weeks or how she'd react to us searching for her.

While GalGov certainly knew about Andrei and at least some of his work, I still think they genuinely didn't know about all of his subjects because he was such a secretive paranoiac and the key, while it was obvious that Caera had it, was ultimately just the key to his office cupboard. You'd be curious too if you found the seared silhouette of a big old key on a dangerous unknown target.


I wonder if there's any MGs down here that already met their fates without any outside intervention over time. Killed instantly in the Big Bang on Day 1. Couldn't find enough water or food. Fell down a deep hole. Got lost in the dark and eaten by a grue. Shot by facility guards. Had a fatal encounter with a bigger and meaner subject. Walked into the line of sight of a turret. Or were trapped in their containment chamber and died slowly and painfully of dehydration, alone in the dark without ever knowing what had happened outside. Any one of the containment chambers might have bones in them from innocent (or not so innocent, but it's more likely to be the nicer and weaker subjects to be in that predicament) subjects that just couldn't get out. Kinda sad to think about really.

>>6030630
There are, check the doc sheet there are like 3 or so confirmed dead iirc.

>>6030653
There are three known MG fatalities thus far including Caera, but they all seem to have been at the hands of death squads rather than anything or anyone from the facility itself.

>Just ignore handing over the files and head back to main base to get the few things your men had requested.
Whilst taking Artyom back to the green section, you'd grab the files which contained all of Andrei's subjects. You were thinking of handing them over, before deciding that it was for the best to just keep them to yourself for the time being. You could hand them over at a better time. Either to create trust with the government, or when you felt that you needed more cash. Though the rabbit kill had already given you plenty of cash to feel satisfied. Besides, Laura could probably go over them still to scan them. Though with nothing else to do, you decided to might as well just scan the files yourself right now. Checking the various subjects, you decided to put a little fold in the corner of the pages for Vinisha, Oana, Olorea and Alexandra. Given that two of them sounded at least somewhat reasonable, you would rather keep their presence a secret. Meanwhile, Oana and Alexandra had enough mystery to them that you wanted to keep it to yourself for the time being.

The rest of the files were ready to be handed over. Though you decided to hold onto them a bit longer. You didn't want the government getting any ideas about how you found the intel, or make them paranoid about how long you knew of these details. Even handing them over to the other squads was something you decided not to do just yet. It was a tough choice to make, given that the intel could very much save lives of other groups. Besides, the files didn't have locations, so it wasn't like other death squads would come searching areas where you and your men were also searching. With that in mind, you'd hide the files in your bag once again, telling your men to not tell anyone about the files you had found. "Of course, Mikhail." Derek said, Zaria seeming a bit more disappointed. "Guess we aren't sharing the intel for cash, huh?" At least she didn't protest it.

Regardless, you'd soon enough reach the green section, finding the place completely abandoned still. Or at least, the part where you came from. As you turned the south-western corner, you'd notice some government forces and fortifications near the very entrance. You even saw some fellow Lodgerites helping out with carrying material! It seemed that the government was starting to set up a small forward base here, which was both reassuring and worrisome. Not long after you saw the fortifications, you saw some government forces walking over to you. "You! You're the Lodgerites who needed medical assistance, right?" At least these guys knew why you were here and didn't question you. Given the fact that some of them still had their guns at ready, they clearly were still somewhat sceptical. Regardless, you'd tell them Artyom was injured from a trap, the government forces nodding and signalling you to follow. "We've already got a stretcher here he can use. We have also been told medical staff is heading this way."

Things were at least running somewhat smoothly, you following the government forces. Zaria would softly speak to you and your men, doing so somewhat jokingly. "I was half expecting them to question us right now, rather than letting us go through. You know, usual government bureaucracy." This comment was met with a soft scoff from Artyom, whilst Derek spoke a bit more carefully. "Let's... not joke about this right now, Zaria." Given the fact that there were several government forces sticking close to you, it was probably not the best idea indeed. At least they didn't respond or confront Zaria for her remark, as the government soldiers simply led the way back to the green section entrance. Shortly after, they even got a stretcher which you and Derek would help Artyom in. "Thanks guys." Artyom said quietly, as some government soldiers would help carry him.

"We will take care of the rest now, sir." One of the government soldiers would say as they started carrying Artyom away. Though, you quickly explained that you were also quickly going to rendezvous back to the main base. "Oh, what for?" The soldier asked in a genuinely curious tone, as you'd explain what you had in mind. You'd even use the opportunity to tell your men what you wanted them to do.

>Send Derek and Zaria out to do some specific things once you reached the main base. Perhaps they could help find some of the things you wanted to get from the main base.
You told Zaria to go visit the main base on the surface to see if they could recharge the power cell, as well as getting some of the material your men had asked for. "Gotcha." Zaria said as she was ready to sprint over there. You also reminded her to get a few more cameras, radios, food and extra pistols. "Huh, what do you need extra pistols for, if I may ask?" The government soldier asked, you mentioning that you had dealt with a subject who had cut some of your guns in half. "And she did nothing else?" The government soldier said, you explaining that she was strangely focused on your gun. The government soldier would look over to one of his men, who checked a tablet. "What was the subject like?" You'd mention it was a subject called Morgan, him looking over before nodding calmly. "Yep, it checks out." It seemed the lie had worked quite well, meaning you could get yourself some more weaponry.

Next, you told Derek that you wanted him to head over to some Blackstar forces, handing him the burnt tags. "Of course, Mik." Derek responded quickly, the government forces thankfully not questioning it. In turn, you also asked him to maybe question them about Mona, which Derek also nodded to. Once again, the government men didn't question it. You told them you'd follow Artyom over to the main hospital wing, also planning to check up on Alan and Evander. "Sounds good." Derek said, Zaria speaking more casually. "Maybe ask them if they need any entertainment over there. I'll gladly get them some material so they won't get bored out of their mind."

With that, you and the rest of your men would follow the government forces and Artyom. Though as you headed back to the main base, you'd also pass by the hallway where you found the horrific corpse. The door had been blocked off and was well-guarded by guardsmen now, some of them looking at you curiously as you passed by. Regardless, the walk back wouldn't really be too eventful, you mostly keeping quiet as you didn't want to risk discussing anything related to the girls or Laura. So far, you had managed to explain yourself quite a bit. But discussing your situation further would risk that very much. Eventually, you'd reach the crater once more, some medical staff being there to await the government forces. They’d soon take over as the government forces retreated back to the green section, you following the medical staff back to the main base. And once you reached it, you’d tell your men to be quick and meet up over here. Zaria and Derek nodded, as the two went their own ways. Zaria would sprint over to the carrier vehicle, Derek quietly following.

>Follow the government forces to the medical bay to see what they had to say about Artyom. That, and maybe check up on Alan and Evander to see how they were doing.
Meanwhile, you’d follow the medical staff and Artyom. They would already check up on him as they walked over, asking you some questions about what had happened. You explained it was a trap near a corpse, Artyom being blasted by it in the back. They didn’t question it, one of them simply noting it down. And a short while later, you’d reach the medical bay once more. Artyom was quickly taken away to an unknown room, likely to be checked up on. You’d ask for details, wanting to know if Arty was fine. “I’m sorry, but we can’t tell you yet. We’ll try and check up on him as quickly as possible and keep you updated, okay?” The doctor said, you asking to be let into the room. “We can’t allow that either, I’m afraid.” It seemed you wouldn’t figure out how Artyom was doing for some time. But, you could at least check up on Alan and Evander in the meantime. You’d quickly head over to where they stayed, already noticing that the place was far busier than before. There were way more death squads in the hospital than before. Some were mildly injured, whilst a couple of them were badly mauled and clearly were going to need some implants.

You’d soon approach Evander and Alan. Evander was seemingly asleep, appearing quite tired still. Alan meanwhile was wide awake, sitting on his bed with his legs crossed as he looked up at the ceiling. Fortunately, he seemed to have gotten a nose implant, it looking a little odd but it seeming a lot better than before. Once he saw you, his eyes widened and he started smiling. “I was wondering when one of you bastards would show up already!” He seemed quite chipper, getting up right away. “So, what have you and the rest been doing? I hope I haven't missed out on the fun."

>What do you do next?

>Whisper to Alan what had been going on. Best not to let anyone hear what you had been up to, even if the only ones who were listening in were also hospitalized. (Write in what you’ll say.)
>Just tell him you’ll tell him once he’s out of the hospital. It was impossible to tell him about all the things you have been up to without people listening in.
>Ask him how he and Evander have been faring. Maybe you could get an estimate on how long it’ll take for them to get back into action?
>Ask him something about the people who were here. Maybe he could tell you why there were far more injured folk here? (Write in what you’ll ask him.)
>Tell him you were just here to check on them and that you had to go already. It’d probably disappoint him, but surely he’d understand, right?
>Something else…

>>6030705
>"We will take care of the rest now, sir."
Oh wow they called us sir
Subject killing gets you mad respect

>"Maybe ask them if they need any entertainment over there. I'll gladly get them some material so they won't get bored out of their mind."
Hey they approved our board game request
I'm sure they're having the time of their lives playing Mouse Trap right now.

>Though as you headed back to the main base, you'd also pass by the hallway where you found the horrific corpse. The door had been blocked off and was well-guarded by guardsmen now
Uh, by guardsmen you mean more government forces and not the facility security, right?

>Just tell him you’ll tell him once he’s out of the hospital. It was impossible to tell him about all the things you have been up to without people listening in.
>Ask him how he and Evander have been faring. Maybe you could get an estimate on how long it’ll take for them to get back into action?
>Ask him something about the people who were here. Maybe he could tell you why there were far more injured folk here? (Write in what you’ll ask him.)
What's with the crowd in here?

>>6030737
>Uh, by guardsmen you mean more government forces and not the facility security, right?

Whoops, missed that mistake. Yeah, that was supposed to be government forces, not guardsmen. It'd probably be kind of awkward otherwise.

>>6030741
When you wrote they were looking at us curiously I was like, is that a "why are they not killing us" kind of curious? Lol.

>>6030708
>Whisper to Alan what had been going on. Best not to let anyone hear what you had been up to, even if the only ones who were listening in were also hospitalized. (Write in what you’ll say.)
>Just tell him you’ll tell him once he’s out of the hospital. It was impossible to tell him about all the things you have been up to without people listening in.
We can tell him in vague terms without going into the bits that would get us Blammed. We had an encounter with ND-12 (wink wink) which we already mentioned, explored the north-western sector and are currently on the trail of a dangerous subject. Finer details can wait.
>Ask him how he and Evander have been faring. Maybe you could get an estimate on how long it’ll take for them to get back into action?
>Ask him something about the people who were here. Maybe he could tell you why there were far more injured folk here? (Write in what you’ll ask him.)
So, how are you and Evander coming along? Rabbit got your nose? Might need every man we can get for the takedown. What's with the crowd in here, anyway? This all one subject's doing and they're all injured the same way, or are people just taking more risks and eating shit? Maybe we did pile on the peer pressure by taking down Caera because, frankly, three kills in several weeks with such heavy casualties is a fucking DISMAL performance by the merc guild. We've met six subjects in person within a week or so, killed one and had two more dead to rights and they've just been swanning around taking potshots at facility staff and getting their faces kicked in whenever they meet an actual threat. If this is the result of them trying to step up their game a bit, more power to them.

By the way, on our allies sheet, Morgan is supposedly unknown to the government, but she also has an MGE entry with a threat rating and seems to be recognised.
Also, we've seen a lot of horrific corpses so that doesn't really narrow things down much. Those are regular Galactic Army troops and not mercs I assume?
>>6030737
>Mouse Trap
It's actually Monopoly

>>6030737
I told you
>>6030708
>Just tell him you’ll tell him once he’s out of the hospital. It was impossible to tell him about all the things you have been up to without people listening in.
We'll update you after your in best condition
>Ask him how he and Evander have been faring. Maybe you could get an estimate on how long it’ll take for them to get back into action?

>>6030801
NO HINTS ON TOP
no risk, we lose nothing telling him later.

>>6030819
Perhaps not so much the overt hint dropping but the rest of that is all 100% run-of-the-mill death squad things nobody will give a flying fart about. Refusing to say anything may even be more sus than that.

>>6030815
Supporting. I'd rather not slip up and accidently make this go from 'death squad simulator' to 'Guardsman but with better gear simulator' even if I originally wanted to play a subject or scientist in thread 1.

>Just tell him you’ll tell him once he’s out of the hospital. It was impossible to tell him about all the things you have been up to without people listening in.
>Ask him how he and Evander have been faring. Maybe you could get an estimate on how long it’ll take for them to get back into action?
After Alan asked what you had been up to, you decided to just keep the details as low as possible. The last thing you wanted was to let people listen in and figure out things they weren't supposed to. Thus, you told him you'd update him after his conditions improved and he was back in action. "Heh, alright." He said casually, not caring too much about the secrecy. It was nice that he didn't bother you about it, even though you wanted to tell him quite a bit about your findings. Especially now that you had a new subject by your side in the form of Morgan! Instead, you'd ask him how they were doing, jokingly asking him if a rabbit got his nose. It made Alan smirk a bit, as he'd give a nod. "I did ask the doctors to make this nose rabbit-resistant." He was clearly optimistic, you afterwards asking when they could get back into battle. "Oh, I can probably join you again tomorrow or the day after. The docs told me that my new nose just needs to be monitored for a day to check if it gets infected. If it doesn't, they say I can go back out there. Though, they also say I should keep taking meds to ensure it doesn't get infected later." It was pretty good news, you asking him if he was feeling fine and ready for action. "Of course! These pussies keep telling me I need to be careful, but I'm ready to get my flamethrower and help you guys out again."

Of course, you also wanted to know how Evander was doing, especially since he was still asleep. "Oh, he's quite grumpy still. Mostly because he keeps getting bothered by docs and is still suffering from plenty of headaches. Uhhhh, I dunno if he'll be able to join us soon. Doctors said it'd take a few more days at least. I did hear them say that the medications were working well though, so maybe it's not that bad?" It wasn't exactly reassuring to hear that Evander would be out. At least explosives hadn't been necessary for some time now. Though given the threats you were facing and what Arty had to deal with, perhaps some demolitions know-how could be useful in the near future.

>Ask him something about the people who were here. Maybe he could tell you why there were far more injured folk here?
After being informed of how they were doing, you'd ask about all the people who were here. You imagined they were all here because of subjects, which would get Alan to nod. "Uhhhh yeah, think these are all subjects. I've heard a few are also here because of guardsman. Though those are mostly the, uhhhhh, Diamond Dogs guys. Plenty of these guys are also from deeper parts of the facility. Apparently, there's some real rough subjects down there which these guys can't really handle."

You'd ask what sorts of subjects were responsible, making Alan think to himself. "Uhhhh, I heard something about an ice oni, that Vinella chick... Oh, some guys were badly hurt because of a cow girl of all things. Who the hell loses to a cow girl anyway? Uhhhh, aside from that, there's plenty of people getting injured in the flooded section. They mention something about a weird alien looking girl who's elastic and kinda weird... Yeah, that's everything, I think." From the sound of things, people were indeed taking more risks. The flooded section was not a place many were exploring before, but perhaps this was changing now that you had killed Caera. You imagined they probably were trying to up their game, now that you had killed a major threat compared to their abyssmal kill count. Though you had admittedly been quite lucky so far with the subjects you had found. Not that you were going to discuss that with Alan now.

"Anyway, uhhhhh, there's a lot of infected soldiers coming in as well. I dunno what it's all about, but they've got a huge quarantine going on close-by with dozens of Diamond Dogs and Blackstar forces being infected." It seemed that whatever caused that weird virus was really starting to kick up, you asking for further details really quickly. "From what I've heard in passing, it makes people unable to move properly and affects speech. There also was one person who died from it I think, since I saw a corpse being taken out from this place on a stretcher." It seemed this virus was really starting to spread, which definitely was somewhat worrisome. Especially since Alan said it also affected Blackstar forces. Sure, their armour didn't make them invincible, you had seen proof of that not too long ago. But, surely their armour would protect them from a virus, right? If this pathogen could somehow infect through armour, it was definitely quite concerning. That, or whatever subject spread the virus was strong enough to also break open the armour and infect them like that.

There were plenty of questions left to be asked still, but whether now was the time for it was debatable. You still wanted to return back to your men as quickly as possible, after all.

>What do you do next?

>Ask Alan a couple more quick questions. Maybe ask for clarification about some of the things he said about the people here, or his and Evander's condition. (Write in other questions.)
>Wish him a speedy recovery and head back outside. Once Zaria and Derek returned, you could retreat back to the rest of your men ASAP.
>Try and question the doctors about this condition. Given how more and more people were getting infected, surely they wouldn't keep quiet about it still, right?
>Head somewhere else really quickly. Zaria and Derek would probably take some time to return from their little treks. So maybe you could visit some other place really quick. (Write in where you'll head of to.)
>Something else...

>>6031737
>that Vinella chick
I am shocked she leaves survivors at all
Maybe she's only into crushing live prey, and the sufficiently injured can play dead and escape?

>Oh, some guys were badly hurt because of a cow girl of all things. Who the hell loses to a cow girl anyway?
Haha what kind of injuries did they have

>Especially since Alan said it also affected Blackstar forces. Sure, their armour didn't make them invincible, you had seen proof of that not too long ago. But, surely their armour would protect them from a virus, right?
Huh, I was picturing it more as fallout style power armor, but instead it's iron man with circulated air and everything? Like if they have their own air supplies then it's very concerning, not sure what precautions we could even take to protect ourselves.

>Try and question the doctors about this condition. Given how more and more people were getting infected, surely they wouldn't keep quiet about it still, right?
Ask if there's been any official statements put out about it since we've been exploring for a few days now and would have missed them. Also if they're aware of any ways to keep ourselves from getting infected while out in the field.

>>6031737
>Try and question the doctors about this condition. Given how more and more people were getting infected, surely they wouldn't keep quiet about it still, right?
>Wish him a speedy recovery and head back outside. Once Zaria and Derek returned, you could retreat back to the rest of your men ASAP.
>Something else...
Head back down and reinforce the others to finish up stuff with the queen.
I told yall they wouldn't be healed yet.
We have a queen to kill and time is wasting.

>>6031779
I don't know about you but I always imagined fallout power armor as being fully sealed as well. wasn't there an amphibious suit marines used? Anyway, supporting this.

>>6031783
And supporting this too.

>>6031812
I mean, they might filter incoming air but I don't think they have the sci fi tier iron man does where he can recycle air forever with no outside supply. Much easier for a virus to make it through a filter than to have Oreas phasing powers.

>>6031737
>Try and question the doctors about this condition. Given how more and more people were getting infected, surely they wouldn't keep quiet about it still, right?
If they still won't tell us anything, there's gotta be scuttlebutt going round amongst the crews. We can ask around amongst the Blackstars hanging around the hospital.
If it doesn't seem to be magic, we should definitely consider getting a crate of a dozen or so gas masks before heading back down, since we're in her sector. If they do provide some defence, I'd like to have them for everyone (plus one for Laura, and I assume the female-manifesting nanite-fuelled bio-constructs don't get sick like that), and there's also the possibility we might be working in places with bad air later too.
Once we're done with that
>Wish him a speedy recovery and head back outside. Once Zaria and Derek returned, you could retreat back to the rest of your men ASAP.
let's make a move, since this is just a pitstop. Sucks he's not quite finished yet and we could really use him in the upcoming fight, which he'll definitely be pretty narked at missing out on.

>Wish him a speedy recovery and head back outside. Once Zaria and Derek returned, you could retreat back to the rest of your men ASAP.
>Try and question the doctors about this condition. Given how more and more people were getting infected, surely they wouldn't keep quiet about it still, right?
Upon hearing more details about this virus, you knew you had to figure out more about this virus. Though given that Alan clearly knew nothing about it, you opted to ask the doctors instead. Thus, with no questions for him, you decided to make your move. You told Alan you'd leave now, wishing him good luck and a speedy recovery. "Sure thing, man. Say hi to everyone from me!" He casually said, clearly not minding your sudden departure. He probably knew that you were in a hurry and had other things to do. And with that, you'd leave the medical ward and would head over to the nearest doctor. It didn't take long for you to find one, who quickly recognised you. "Oh hey, you were here before right?" You immediately would tell him that you were here to ask some questions.

"Uhhhh, yeah, I don't exactly have the time for this right now. I am kind of busy." The guy said, you sighing as it was clear the doctors here were not going to budge still. Instead, you decided to check around for some Blackstar members inside of the hospital. Given how there were a few of them lying in the hospital wing, surely there would also be some just wandering about? You'd walk around for a bit, looking around until finally seeing a small group of three Blackstar soldiers wandering through the halls and talking to each other. You'd quietly approach, before greeting them. "Oh, hi." You explained that you wanted to ask some questions about whatever virus was affecting the people here. "Why are you asking?" One of the soldiers asked in turn, you stating you just wanted to know what kind of threats to expect deeper inside the facility.

After the three looked at each other, one of them spoke up a little quietly. "Don't tell people we told you this. But... we think it might be the cause of some sort of secret fungal subject." He'd look around, before leaning closer towards you. "We were deep below the central section of the facility, where we found... this creepy looking chamber which was covered in a white blanket. At first, we thought it was maybe some spider web, so we didn't enter it. We did take a sample of the stuff, which we had to throw away soon after because the guy who carried it ended up getting extremely sick soon after. He's in the ICU now taking tons of medications, whilst we're not allowed to tell anyone about this." You could tell that the other two were reluctant to talk about it, though they kept quiet as the main soldier would scoff. "Given that you guys are clearly Lodgerites, I can... trust you to keep it some what of a secret, right?" You were obviously going to tell your men about this. Because this news was... huge.

As you were about to ask for further details, you saw a couple of doctors entering the hallway with you. The Blackstar soldiers would go quiet, as the main guy gave you a nod. And afterwards, he quickly left, clearly being uneasy discussing these things with the doctors nearby. It seemed that the medical personnel here did not want this information out there. Probably because it'd cause a lot of panic or because the disease was poorly understood. Though given that the guy claimed it was some sort of fungal affliction, there were already plenty of nightmare scenarios one could think of. You were already considering getting some proper gas masks for the deeper parts you'd likely visit sooner rather than later. You, your men and Laura could all use them quite well in environments with such hazards. It was a shame that the guys left so suddenly, as there were still some questions left to ask. At least now you knew that this wasn't really public knowledge just yet. Or well, it was public knowledge to those who got infected.

>Something else...
Regardless, with that in mind, you decided to just head back outside for the time being. You had to wait for Derek and Zaria. It was unfortunate that you couldn't exactly go for a quick run out to get gas-masks, since Zaria and Derek expected for you to be here. Then again, you weren't really exploring the deep centre of the facility, where the Blackstar forces said they found this pathogen source. So perhaps for now, the gas masks weren't a necessity just yet. Not to mention, you knew what to avoid now if you didn't want to end up getting sick as all hell. Regardless, you'd wait outside the hospital, looking around and watching the various death squads and government workers pass by. Though, you'd soon notice something in the distance which caught your attention.

At the main base on the ledge of the crater, you saw some large mech suits parked near the place the carrier ships were landing. You instantly recognised them as the mech suits from Scary Monsters, meaning they were also now dragged into the conflict by the government. Why they were here was a bit of a mystery, but perhaps their combat mechs could be the ones to help take down Vinella. That, or they were here to help get close to hard-to-reach places. Regardless, you'd soon see Derek approach you, doing so quite hurriedly. "Mikhail! Good thing you're here. I... handed over the tags and asked the Blackstar forces about Mona. Apparently, the guys who found her aren't allowed to really share details about the find, but they do say that the government paid them quite well for it." Once again, the government was being secretive for apparently no reason. Why would they want to keep details about Mona's death or the circumstances surrounding her death away from you guys? Regardless, you told Derek how Alan and Evander were doing okay, and that Alan might be able to rejoin your group in a day or two, which Derek seemed pleased with.

Not much later, Zaria came rushing towards you, slipping past the other soldiers before approaching. "Hope I didn't keep you guys waiting. I, uhhhh, think I got everything you wanted. Extra rations, some pistols, camera traps, and a couple of radios for communications." She'd show her backpack, all of the compartments containing a bunch of those things. "I also gave the battery for the railgun back to the Lodger forces up there. They were pretty chill about it, and gave me a new one whilst they recharged the old one." At least things had gone smoothly for Zaria, meaning you could quickly had back. Though as you once more led the way back, Zaria would point out something which you already sorta figured out. "By the way, Scary Monsters are also here now." Derek seemed surprised by the suggestion, whilst you had already taken notice of this fact. Hell, you could even point to some of the mech suits which were presumably ready to be brought down here.

Regardless, it was gonna take quite some time before you'd reach the rest of your men. It would take half an hour to reach the green section, and then another twenty to thirty to return back to the office where the rest of your men were. Perhaps now was the time to discuss some things really quickly with Zaria and Derek.

>What do you do next?

>Bring up one of the things you had learnt, such as the injuries which you had seen in the hospital or the fact there’s some sort of fungal subject making people sick. Perhaps Zaria and Derek had something to say about it (Write in what you’ll bring up to discuss.)
>Ask Derek and Zaria about anything else out of the ordinary they had noticed. Zaria had already seen that Scary Monsters was here as well now, so perhaps they had both seen something else.
>Just keep quiet and focus on returning back to the rest of your men. Maybe even try and speed up so you could get there earlier.
>Try and find a government worker to question. There were plenty of mysteries now, so perhaps finding one to quickly ask some questions to could give you some further intel. (Write in what you’ll ask to the nearest government worker.)
>Something else…

>>6032816
>Ask Derek and Zaria about anything else out of the ordinary they had noticed. Zaria had already seen that Scary Monsters was here as well now, so perhaps they had both seen something else.
>Just keep quiet and focus on returning back to the rest of your men. Maybe even try and speed up so you could get there earlier.
We got teammates in enemy territory down below. We need to get back to them.
quesitoning government workers can wait till we come back up, brining up what we learned can be done on the way back within the facility.

>>6032816
>>Ask Derek and Zaria about anything else out of the ordinary they had noticed. Zaria had already seen that Scary Monsters was here as well now, so perhaps they had both seen something else.
>>Just keep quiet and focus on returning back to the rest of your men. Maybe even try and speed up so you could get there earlier.
>>Something else…
Tell them we bring what we learned once we regroup.

Also QM if possible could you tell us what the scary monster all about? They are like the /m/echa dudes of the kill squads?

>>6032816
>Just keep quiet and focus on returning back to the rest of your men. Maybe even try and speed up so you could get there earlier.
Lets hurry up now, we can talk once we regrouped.

>Scary monsters
Do they have also have big guns to go along with their big mechs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=492LRvkJQlg

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291 KB PNG

>>6032816
How long have we been away from the group by this point? Only a few hours? I'm anxious to get back to them so we can get this show back on the road.
>Just keep quiet and focus on returning back to the rest of your men. Maybe even try and speed up so you could get there earlier.
New theory: Mona's really still alive and is actually chilling in jail with Anderson (wonder how he's getting on?). The finding her corpse bit is a cover story and the big payout was for bringing her in alive. Or maybe they killed her and lied about it?

They better be some bigass fucking hallways down here to fit huge mechas, and even then their mobility is going to be limited in the confined spaces and put them at a disadvantage. I look forward to seeing how they get their shiny metal asses whupped by Vinella or even someone (or something) else.

By the way, the drawfag above doesn't seem to have crossposted it but here's a cute lil murder bunny they posted in the /qtg/ last weekend for those who haven't seen it.

>>6032814
>Apparently, the guys who found her aren't allowed to really share details about the find, but they do say that the government paid them quite well for it."
Really, paid well just for finding a body? Curious...

>Ask Derek and Zaria about anything else out of the ordinary they had noticed. Zaria had already seen that Scary Monsters was here as well now, so perhaps they had both seen something else.
Wait until we reunite with the subjects and Laura to talk about the fungus

>>6032897
>Mona's really still alive and is actually chilling in jail with Anderson (wonder how he's getting on?). The finding her corpse bit is a cover story and the big payout was for bringing her in alive
I was thinking the exact same thing

I'm sure the Scary Monsters crew won't be able to fit into a significant portion of the facility, but Vinella seems capable enough of moving around and she's huge, probably bigger than any of the mechs. If they're here to hunt her, they should be able to fit anywhere she can.

OP how big are those mechs btw? Bigger or smaller than Vinella?

>>6032839
Sure, might as well explain it now since the other death squads are also well known since thread 1. It'd be kinda silly to keep you in the dark about them when you canonically should know all about them.

So, Scary Monsters is not just a mecha death squad. They also wield other vehicles and large tools for said vehicles. Some of their equipment are designed purely for combat, but plenty of their equipment is also designed for more practical things. Stuff like mining lasers, large drills or giant chainsaws.

Of course, mechs are their prefered vehicles, using them to get through any harsh environments with ease. In terms of combat, Scary Monsters are most often employed to deal with rebels who have larger equipment which ordinary death squads can't easily take down. They also are great for creating pathways through rough terrain or inhospitable area. Hell, they have several mechs which are designed specifically to work underwater.

In terms of the people in the squad itself, most of them are actually quite friendly. They don't mind doing heavy lifting for the other squads and helping them out. Of course, there are also plenty of pilots who are far more prideful, arrogant and attention hogging. Some of them can be on par with Diamond Dogs and Heroes in terms of ego.

The mechs themselves aren't massive, obviously. The largest could definitely be on par with Vinella in terms of size (>>6032943.). Though they'd probably not willingly risk using some of their largest mechs to hunt down Vinella, unless if they also got plenty of support. Speaking of which, the squad is also rather small, with it having about 200 people in it. Though not all of them act as pilots. Plenty of them are also there for logistics and maintenance of the mechs.

TL;DR, Tougher than Blackstar with weapons equal to those of Heroes, but lacking the same range as either of them. Their functionality is quite broad and not all of them will be used for combat. They can work quite fine with other groups, but can also be quite arrogant.

Anyway, gotta get back to writing a uni paper now. I'll make an update later tonight.

>Ask Derek and Zaria about anything else out of the ordinary they had noticed. Zaria had already seen that Scary Monsters was here as well now, so perhaps they had both seen something else.
As you made your way back to the rest of your men, you decided to ask Derek and Zaria if they had seen anything worth noting down. Zaria would quickly respond, doing so quite curiously. "Well, I noticed there were less Lodgerites back at main base. I guess that they are all in the ruins as well now, rather than just mucking about outside the crater. Other than that though, I didn't see much else." Derek would afterwards also share some intel he had found. "Mostly just learnt about some major threats and where they are. There is some sort of Oni girl in the south-east who caused a lot of trouble by destroying a bunch of fortifications set up by other Lodgerites. There's also some sort of succubus subject in the southern section who has done... ummm, questionable things to Diamond Dogs and Heroes people. I don't remember them being in the tablets, so they're probably an unknown subject."

The latter caused Zaria to look at you and Derek with a blank stare. "I can already make a guess and say it's an: Elbrus subject?" Derek scoffed, seeming a bit unsure. "I mean, chances are high. Suppose we should try and look for Elbrus' office. Perhaps it will contain some files we can use." Given the number of files you found in Andrei's office, Elbrus probably had a lot of files on hand there. And since Elbrus didn't seem nearly as paranoid and secretive as Andrei, chances were that he'd not try and hide the files containing all his subjects. Or at the very least, he'd not hide them nearly as well and dangerously as Andrei did. "Anyway, did you find out anything else which is worth sharing with us? Aside from how Alan and Evander are doing." You'd tell your men that you'd tell them once you regrouped back in the ruins, something they seemed to accept.

>Just keep quiet and focus on returning back to the rest of your men. Maybe even try and speed up so you could get there earlier.
With that, you'd keep heading forward once more. You'd soon escape the main base, no longer being surrounded by other soldiers and government workers. Now that you were not within earshot range of other people, you decided to quickly tell Derek and Zaria about what you learnt about the disease which is spreading. Hearing that it was some kind of mushroom made Zaria somewhat confused, whilst Derek looked visibly concerned. "Yeah, that... that is a new subject as well. Man, I am really starting to wonder just how many subjects are actually out there which are yet to be documented." Zaria would speak up softly as well. "So, guess we should be on the lookout for any mould or other forms of growth in this place?" The good news was that, given that it was only in the deep central part of the facility, perhaps worrying about it in your location was not necessary just yet.

Regardless, you'd once more reach the large lake and the entrance to the facility, heading north. You'd quietly pass all the chambers you had visited before, even spotting a few Blackstar forces heading west right before the place where you found Chrys. Though given that they were quite some distance away and focused on other things, you clearly weren't really in a position to follow them. You soon once more passed the government workers who guarded the room with the butchered corpse, once again noticing the guys staring at you as you passed by. A little while later, you'd pass the green sector, being greeted by some more government workers who quietly let you pass through. It'd take quite a bit longer, but you'd soon reach the chemical storage sector after what must've been about 2 and a half hours of walking. You'd quietly enter, carefully looking around as you didn't want to scare your men into thinking you were a threat. You would try and head back to the space in the office where you had set up camp. Though before you'd get there, something in a room to the side would light up. Zaria and Derek tried grabbing their guns, before noticing that it was Oreas. "Ah, you guys are back." She said calmly.

Zaria let out a soft scoff. "Yep. Also, may wanna be careful when you reveal yourself in the future. I was about to aim my guns at you." Oreas would rub the back of her head with one of her hands, looking a little bit regretful. "Eh, my bad. I wasn't entirely sure how I should've made myself known, so I thought just glowing was the best option." It wasn't the safest option, but it hardly mattered since everything had gone smoothly anyway. Thus, you just asked Oreas to bring you to the rest of your men, her quietly leading the way. "Of course." She'd lead the way, seeming a little bit more positive despite the fact Mona had just died. She was still rather soft and reserved, but it was at least nice to see that she was no longer a crying mess. "So, was everything okay with Artyom? He got injured quite badly, so... I hope everything's fine with him." Oreas mumbled calmly, you explaining that he'd be at the hospital for some time. "Hmmm, I see." She responded, before trying to sound a bit more optimistic.

"How did everything else go? I presume everything else went quite smoothly?" To this, Zaria would give her own quick response. "Well, getting more materials certainly went well. I even got you a gun to try out!" She'd point to her backpack, Oreas seeming both anxious and a little curious. "Oh, ummm, yeah. That's... that's good to hear." Perhaps teaching her how to use a gun could wait till a later time. For now, you'd just quietly follow and tell her that there was a bit of news to tell, which you'd tell once you were with your men. And finally, you'd reach a small base camp your men had set up in one of the corners of the office. All of your men were there, none being out scouting right now.

Lydia was fiddling with her tablet and the drones, whilst the rest of your men were mostly just chatting with the girls and Laura. You could see Anofelis was drawing something on a dusty notebook she must’ve found somewhere inside of the offices. Though seeing that you had returned, your men would quickly approach you. "Ah, there you guys are." Lydia said calmly. "Took you long enough, hehe." Mike responded more jokingly. "So, how did everything go? Is Arty okay?" Lars quickly asked

>What do you do next?

>Tell them what you learnt whilst on the surface. Perhaps tell them about Evander and Alan, the fungus and Scary monsters. (Write in what you’ll tell them.)
>Ask them how they spent their time waiting for you and if anything had happened whilst you were away. (Write in if you have any specific questions.)
>Share some of the materials you had gotten with your men. Perhaps give Laura a gun or some other tools.
>Tell them to grab their things and to join you as you headed southwards once more. This time, you weren’t going to fall for any traps.
>Something else…

>>6033853
>Tell them what you learnt whilst on the surface. Perhaps tell them about Evander and Alan, the fungus and Scary monsters. (Write in what you’ll tell them.)
>Ask them how they spent their time waiting for you and if anything had happened whilst you were away. (Write in if you have any specific questions.)
>Share some of the materials you had gotten with your men. Perhaps give Laura a gun or some other tools.
>Tell them to grab their things and to join you as you headed southwards once more. This time, you weren’t going to fall for any traps.
All of the above but
To emphasize certain points
Given the fungus, its important that we keep our normal helmets readu to switch to incase we ever see the fungus. Better to drop thermal sights then to lose our lives. We might encounter scary monsters in these parts now.

Ask em if anything happened/are they alright and Gibe laura a pistol. Then off we go killing a queen

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>>6033853
Literally all of the above, in that order. Brief the team on what we found out (Monsters, disease, subject news, status of the injured, collective changes in death squad antics), get a sitrep from them, take inventory and let's roll. The girls can get a radio each to stay in touch but I'll hold off on the guns for now though since the girls will need some basic firearms training to know how to use them properly while not being a dangerous liability. We can borrow a corridor and some furniture for an impromptu range lesson this evening to give them some instruction.

Rats, I remember we forgot to actually get back to Artyom. We don't know how badly he's hurt or how long he'll be inside for.

>Anofelis was drawing something on a dusty notebook
Is it this?

>>6033853
>Tell them what you learnt whilst on the surface. Perhaps tell them about Evander and Alan, the fungus and Scary monsters. (Write in what you’ll tell them.)
Everything, don't see any reason to leave stuff out

>Share some of the materials you had gotten with your men. Perhaps give Laura a gun or some other tools.
Offer guns to whoever wants them, let Laura look through and take whatever she wants that we can spare.

>Tell them to grab their things and to join you as you headed southwards once more. This time, you weren’t going to fall for any traps.

>>6033924
>Rats, I remember we forgot to actually get back to Artyom. We don't know how badly he's hurt or how long he'll be inside for.
Seriously doubt he'll recover faster than Alan, we can get that info when we collect him.

>>6033865
>>6034026
Supporting. No reason not to.

>>6034026
Alan had to have part of his body reconstructed and fitted, a lot depends with Artyom. He could have just largely superficial shrapnel wounds that can be nanited away in a couple of days, or he could have some deep injuries full of infection requiring more extensive treatment and observation. We don't know.

>>6034214
I meant that Alan has been healing for a few days already, so he's gotten a head start and should be back in action as early as tomorrow. Don't think anyone expects Artyom to be good by tomorrow.

>Tell them what you learnt whilst on the surface. Perhaps tell them about Evander and Alan, the fungus and Scary monsters.
With there not being any reason to hold back now, you quickly would explain everything that you had discovered. You started by saying that Alan was doing fine, that he had gotten prosthetics for his nose. You stated he was recovering quite well and seemed positive about his situation. Your men were visibly quite pleased to hear the news, Anon speaking calmly. "Glad to hear that he's doing fine." Though Mike quickly added onto that: "To be fair, he could lose both arms and remain positive about it." Whilst it was true, it still was a good thing that he was as chipper as always. You would explain that he'd potentially get back in a day or two, though you weren't entirely sure. Afterwards, you shared the less positive news about Artyom and Evander. You didn't know how long it'd take for Arty to be brought back, but Evander was still out for a while for sure. "Well, so long as we keep recruiting monster girls to our group, I'm sure we'll survive, right?" Zaria said a bit jokingly, the girls and your men seeming mildly amused by the remark.

Afterwards though, you'd share that Scary Monsters were also now here. "Scary Monsters? What's that?" Anofelis curiously asked right away, the other girls also intrigued. "Is that some sort of anti-monster girl weapon thingie?" Chrys asked, which was not entirely wrong. You explained to them that it was a death squad focused on mechs and vehicles for combat and heavy work. "So, something to deal with larger subjects like Vinella?" Oreas asked, to which you gave a reluctant nod. They probably had the tools to deal with her, but it'd still be quite the dangerous thing. "Well, whatever they're doin' here, I think I can take em down for sure! I've already dealt with plenty of those power suit folks!" Morgan responded pridefully, which you knew was not going to be a fight she'd win at all.

Regardless, you'd lastly mention the news of the fungus, bringing up how there was some sort of fungal infection spreading somewhere in the depths of the facility. "Didn't we find a paper some time ago about research on mushrooms?" Thaddeus asked in turn, you indeed having read something quite some time ago in one of the offices. There was some research being done on integrating mycelium with a subject, something which was done by Roraima. Of course, you'd try and see if the girls had any idea about whoever the cause of this could be. Anofelis clearly seemed just as unaware about such subjects as usual. And unfortunately, Oreas, Chrys, Kamara and even Morgan seemed quite unsure what to make of the subject. Laura thankfully seemed to know a bit more though. "I do know Tengri was working on something using mushrooms... Not sure if it was a subject however." Laura remarked, it becoming clear that this was potentially another major threat, albeit not at the same level as the queen.

>Ask them how they spent their time waiting for you and if anything had happened whilst you were away.
After you explained everything that had happened, you asked them what they had been up to whilst you were gone. "I've been drawing!" Anofelis said happily, showing her little notebook with sketches fitting of a young child. You saw that Zaria and Derek found it quite cute, though didn't say much else on it. Lydia spoke up next, showing the tablet. "I've mostly been checking the cameras we've got set up. I checked all of them for motion, and it seems none have activated. Though, there is some active government forces in the green section now, which you probably saw. I wonder how long until they find the cameras." It was simultaneously reassuring and disappointing that you didn't catch anything with the cameras yet. It meant you were safe from whoever had set up the corpse trap for now, though also meant you couldn't see who it was and try and follow them.

Once Lydia explained what she had been up to, Thaddeus would explain what he and some of your other men had been doing. "We did a little sweep of the space to the north of here. That really open space with a few vehicles and some equipment lyin' about. We didn't find anythin', but we didn't wanna go too far away given that we didn't know what we could find there." Given that the paranoid guardsmen were still to the north of you, it was probably for the best they were careful. It could've ended quite poorly if they ended up encountering them without the girls. Speaking of whom, after you had heard Thaddeus' story, Oreas spoke up once you looked at them to see if they had anything to see. "We mostly just waited for you to come back. I did some scouting and, uhhhh, listened to Annie over the radio. She shared our story which was quite nice."

>Share some of the materials you had gotten with your men. Perhaps give Laura a gun or some other tools.
Having heard what your men had been up to, you'd quickly decide that the girls should maybe look at some of the material you had gotten. Specifically, the weaponry you had asked Zaria to get. You'd tell Zaria to show everything, her grabbing her backpack and opening it up to reveal a box containing six simple handguns. "I also got a bunch more cameras, rations and other things in here for you guys." Immediately, Laura would look over it and grab one, albeit quite hesitantly. She'd look over it, before anxiously asking: "Is it loaded already?" To this, Zaria would shake her head, before approaching and speaking a bit sternly. "Nope, but you still wanna be careful where you aim it, even if it's unloaded. Just in case." Laura nodded, taking the advice as she'd put the gun in her pocket along with some ammo. The girls also looked at the weaponry. Well, all aside from Morgan, who just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms at the sight. "Do you want us to use these as well?" Oreas asked, to which you told them it could be useful to have them on their person.

Chrys would grab one of them and speak quite curiously. “If you guys could teach us a bit about using them, I’d not mind using them alongside my acid. Just imagine, combining my acid and a gun together! I could maybe shoot through some armour and then use my acid to really take them down!” At least Oreas and Chrys both seemed to grab the weapons and give them a try. Anofelis didn’t grab one though, just looking cautiously from a short distance. Kamara was even more visibly terrified, Zaria soon asking her: “Do you want to try and hold it as well, Kamara?” To this, Kamara furiously shook her head, visibly terrified by the sight. Zaira just shrugged, as she’d look at the other girls to see what they’d do with the weapons. “I’ll keep one on me just to be safe. I’m not sure if it can also phase through walls with me though.” To this, Laura spoke up quite positively. “I think it can, but maybe only if you conceal it under your clothing. But, I may be wrong.” It was definitely something worth testing out later. If Oreas could go through walls with weaponry on her, it would most certainly give you an advantage against a plethora of threats.

>Tell them to grab their things and to join you as you headed southwards once more. This time, you weren’t going to fall for any traps.
You told Oreas that she could test it whilst you were on your way further forward. After all, you wanted to go right away, telling your men to grab everything they had lying here so you could head forward as soon as possible. Your men nodded, immediately grabbing whatever things they had left behind. It would take only a minute, you immediately leading the way and telling Lars to keep the non-thermal helmets at the ready. After all, you preferred having an air filter with which you could actually prevent being infected by the fungus which were nearby. “I’ll keep them at the ready, Mik. But… You did say they were only found in the central facility section, so maybe we should wait for the time being. Just in case.” With that, you’d once more lead the way out of the office, hopefully for the last time in a while. You’d pass through the chemical section, watching Oreas test out her ability to phase through walls with her gun. And surely enough, she could go through it quite safely with the weapon! This did beg the question of what other things she could maybe go through walls with. People would probably be a no-go still, but anything small she could hide on her person seemed quite feasible now.

Regardless, you’d just keep heading forward, passing by the chemical sector and soon reaching the cafeteria again. “Say, Mik, we didn’t explore the left hallway, right?” Thaddeus soon asked, Lydia and Derek nodding soon after. “I checked it with the drone, but… we never really looked into it.” Your men paused, looking to the left and down the hallway. It led to a dead-end, but it did seem like it could potentially have something of interest. It was some kind of place for facility guardsmen, after all.

>What do you do next?

>Explore the guardsmen station to the east of here. Maybe there would be something of value in there which was worth checking out?
>Ignore the guardsmen post and instead head over to the place where the Blackstar corpses were burnt. Explore that section a bit further. (Write in if you’ll look for anything specifically.)
>Just keep heading forward, damnit. You couldn’t keep getting distracted with worthless side-chambers which probably had nothing of value to them.
>Try and teach Laura, Oreas and Chrys some things about their new weapons. They could use some advice and a quick lesson on how to actually use the damn things.
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6034609
>Explore the guardsmen station to the east of here. Maybe there would be something of value in there which was worth checking out?
I wonder if there's anybody in there
>Try and teach Laura, Oreas and Chrys some things about their new weapons. They could use some advice and a quick lesson on how to actually use the damn things.
While the team is checking out the barracks(?), we can give the girls a crash course in pistolry because having totally untrained people running around with guns is an awful idea. An abbreviated firearms safety talk, how to take the safety on and off, how to fire them, how to aim, how to reload, how to clear a jam and just give them a bit of range time to get them used to the recoil and noise now rather than being surprised by it later. Fully doing this will take hours but we can show them the absolute basics now in that order of priority.

I wonder if we can abuse Chrys' acid for weaponry and how it stacks up to what we have in the chemical thrower. Could she pour her juice into the core of a hollowpoint to make an acid-containing bullet, I wonder? Or we could modify a grenade into a bootleg acid bomb?

>>6034609
>>Try and teach Laura, Oreas and Chrys some things about their new weapons. They could use some advice and a quick lesson on how to actually use the damn things.
This first, just some rudimentary training just so they know what they are shooting and how the bullets feel to shoot.

>Explore the guardsmen station to the east of here. Maybe there would be something of value in there which was worth checking out?

Get ourselves warmed up

and then head onwards to queen.

>>6034609
>Explore the guardsmen station to the east of here. Maybe there would be something of value in there which was worth checking out?
As long as it isn't populated

>Try and teach Laura, Oreas and Chrys some things about their new weapons. They could use some advice and a quick lesson on how to actually use the damn things.
On the way

>>6034655
>>6034894
>>6034648
Think we all are in agreement here then.

>Explore the guardsmen station to the east of here. Maybe there would be something of value in there which was worth checking out?
>Try and teach Laura, Oreas and Chrys some things about their new weapons. They could use some advice and a quick lesson on how to actually use the damn things.
Given how close it was, you decided to just spend some time exploring the guardsmen station instead of heading further southwards just yet. It was not that far of a walk away anyway, and you might even find some survivors there. Thus, you'd lead the way once more, Morgan sticking close to the front and keeping her shield prepared just in case. In the meantime though, you decided to teach Oreas, Laura and Chrys about gun safety. You'd first start with the safety, the girls thankfully managing with little issue to figure it out. "Good to hear that these things have the ability to be kept safe. I was kind of worried that I'd accidentally end up firing it whilst running." Oreas would remark, Chrys nodding along in agreement.

You'd continue teaching them how to properly hold the guns, fire them, aim them and how to quickly and safely reload. You even told them about jams, them continuing to listen along. Even Anofelis seemed intrigued by the story, even though she hadn't grabbed a single gun and presumably wasn't intending to do such. You'd tell the girls that you'd give them the opportunity to get some actual practice in soon enough, which definitely seemed to intrigue them. "Just make sure they're in an actual shooting range to test things out, Mik. I don't know how good of an idea it'd be to just have them test out their aim in open places where people could be walking about." Anon would suggest, which was definitely something to keep in mind. Though given how this place wasn't exactly teeming with activity, you felt they could at least try it out whilst the rest of your men explored the incoming section.

And speaking of which, you'd finally reach the end of the hallway, finding the three spaces which were described to you before. To your left, there was what appeared to be a living quarters for guardsmen. It had a bunch of bunk beds, a somewhat messy kitchen space, some tables and a small section with a couch and some TV's. It wasn't the largest space, you easily able to look into it and see most if not all of the space. There was a little backroom which could potentially have some things of interest. The room to your right was also something relatively crammed and small. It was a small military depot, containing crates, lockers and racks for all kinds of guns. The most interesting of all the rooms had to be the one right ahead of you though. It had a sliding metal door which was open just enough that a person could carefully pass through it. From the slight opening into the room, you could see a waste dispenser akin to the one you saw in the green section.

More importantly though, peeking from a different angle revealed some sort of grate in the floor. It looked like it could be detached, almost like a manhole cover. "Well, suppose we should carefully explore these." Derek mumbled, you giving a nod as you told your men you'd get the girls to practice actually firing their pistols. "Well, be careful, and try and have them aim at the wall. Just in case someone is actually walking past." Lydia mumbled, as your men would get to work exploring the various rooms. "Avoid any corpses you see, by the way. We don't wanna have two men get injured in the same way on one day!" Zaria said a bit jokingly, as she, Lars and Mike would explore the sleeping quarters. Lydia, Derek and Anon would check out the storage room, carefully checking it out. And lastly, Anofelis, Morgan and Thaddeus would try and open the door to look into the locked off room. Thaddeus was able to enter without issue, Morgan needing to push the door open whilst Anofelis carefully crawled through the gap as well.

Whilst they were all busy exploring, you'd teach the girls how to properly handle their weaponry. You'd watch them finally fire their guns. Chrys was the first to fire, and she was visibly shook by the weapon. "Oh geez!" She'd move two hands to her ears, seemingly finding the sound to be quite painful. "That was way louder than I expected!" Given that this was fired a foot away from her, clearly it came as a bit of a shock how loud it was. Regardless, Laura would soon get a chance to fire as well, actually holding onto the pistol as she took the recoil quite well. "That felt... oddly satisfying." She'd mumble, looking at you as she seemingly was expecting your approval. At least Laura was quick to not just get used to it, but also enjoy it. And lastly, Oreas would get a chance to fire, using all four hands and holding the gun somewhat steady. Though you could tell she was also taken back by the force of the recoil.

The girls had all gotten a chance to shoot in, you hoping to maybe see Chrys try again. Though before she could make another attempt, Thaddeus reappeared. “Mik! Come check this out real quick!” Thaddeus sounded quite serious, you pausing and telling the girls to put the safety on their guns. You’d follow Thaddeus inside, immediately seeing that the grate had been pulled free from the floor with ease. And beneath it, was a ladder leading down into a small dark tunnel. “It looks like it leads to some sorta sewage system. It’s completely dry though.” It looked to have dried up some time ago, a few puddles remaining. It was clear that this was a potential path people could take to sneak around the facility undetected. It probably connected to other systems which required water. Though if they had been used already was a question which was yet to be answered. “Should we maybe go in there to check it out?” Thaddeus eventually asked, which was definitely a risky proposition.

You didn’t know how easy it would be to traverse those tunnels. From the looks of things, they were quite cramped, and it’d be quite hard to get down there and safely move around. Not to mention, the place being trapped, or you getting stuck down there somehow.

Still, you had made a potentially huge discovery here, so it was likely worth exploring further.

>What do you do next?

>Go down the ladder and see what was below it. Maybe it was actually somewhat easy to go through and you could start exploring it?
>Check up with the rest of your men first. See what they had to report on in the other rooms. Maybe they had found something of use?
>Get Lydia and ask her to use the drone to explore the tunnels. If there was a trap, it’d come at the cost of the drone, but that was at least better than losing another life down here.
>Just head back to the main path and note this place down in the tablet. Maybe other forces could use it. Maybe you could visit it again later. For now, you had to go back to finding wherever the queen was.
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

(Hope the update and prompts are good rn. It's really late and my mind is sorta hazy. I should've worked on the post a lot earlier, but... eh, things happen and it took a lot of time to get it finished.)

(Anyway, here's hoping I can do better tomorrow and get two updates in.)

>>6035612
>Get Lydia and ask her to use the drone to explore the tunnels. If there was a trap, it’d come at the cost of the drone, but that was at least better than losing another life down here.

CRAWLSPACES

>>6035612
>Get Lydia and ask her to use the drone to explore the tunnels. If there was a trap, it’d come at the cost of the drone, but that was at least better than losing another life down here.
Sus
>Check up with the rest of your men. See what they had to report on in the other rooms. Maybe they had found something of use?

>>6035612
Does the grate look like it's been opened previously recently? Scuff or scrape marks, shiny lines on the hinges, disturbed dust, tracked dirt?
>Check up with the rest of your men first. See what they had to report on in the other rooms. Maybe they had found something of use?
>Get Lydia and ask her to use the drone to explore the tunnels. If there was a trap, it’d come at the cost of the drone, but that was at least better than losing another life down here.
Gather our party before venturing forth. Then the usual drill, any shifty-looking place gets scouted by drone first. If we venture down there, we know who we're putting up front to set off any traps for us. There's also a few nasties downstairs in this quadrant (we're north-west, right?) to be on the lookout for. We might have gotten lucky not to encounter them on our trip down to Andrei's office, unless Caera kept them away.

If Oreas can get good at shooting with one hand, I wonder if she has the brain parallel processing capability to quadruple-wield. I think she could certainly manage two with much better accuracy than people who would only have one hand per gun.

>>6035632
>>6035642
>>6035643
seems we are all in agreement.
Though after we find anything down there
we really aught to get back to queen slaying. I wanna bring that title in, it'd net us so much cash money and respect.

>>6035632
>>6035642
>>6035643
>>6035936
Seems once more we all have the same idea. Though I agree with the last anon. We need to make the regicide edition contain regicide.

>>6036175
>>6035936
I mean, who knows? Maybe this tunnel was used by the queen's forces that passed us by and will lead us somewhere near her.

>>6036175
We don't really have many current leads on Feng at the moment. All this exploration is, ultimately, towards the goal of finding her rather than aimless wandering. With luck, this tunnel system may have clues, take us somewhere relevant or allow us to explore without running face-first into her groupies.

>Check up with the rest of your men first. See what they had to report on in the other rooms. Maybe they had found something of use?
Seeing where the stairs led to, you had a few thoughts in mind. First, you'd ask Thaddeus, Ano and Morgan if the grate had been opened before. Any sort of signs showing that it had been used could help you now. Thaddeus would give a quick nod, before stepping towards it. "Here, ya can see some scrapes against the metal floor. It suggests to me that someone opened it up. Though how recently they did such is hard to say for sure. Hell, those scrapes could've been there for years already because of how they were used." At least you knew that this tunnel were used before. Though going down it now was definitely not the best idea in your mind. Instead, you thought that Lydia could help out here with her drone. Thus, you'd tell Thaddeus, Morgan and Ano that you'd quickly get Lydia, as well as the rest of your men. Not only could you get Lydia to explore the place, but you could also hear what the rest of your men had been up to.

Thus, you left the room and would approach the other doors, asking your men if they had found anything. From the storage room, you heard Lydia speak quite optimistically. "I found some sort of stun baton! It doesn't really work anymore, but I can probably fix it." Aside from that, it seemed that the storage room had already been pillaged some time ago. There was some ammo lying about, some of which could maybe be used by your own weapons. Other than that, there wasn't much of value to you. No armour, no rations, no guns, nothing. It was to be expected, but was also still quite a shame. Maybe the stun baton could still be useful though?

With it being clear that the storage room didn't have much of value, you'd head over to Lars, Mike and Zaria in the sleeping halls. There, you'd ask if they found anything. "I found something a magazine which I presume is published on this planet, talking about some subjects." A magazine covering was absolutely worth looking into. They could maybe show some pictures or interviews about the people who worked here. Hell, maybe it'd even tell you something about the few targets you had down here. Though it could also just be a scientific literature paper, which whilst interesting, could maybe not help you out too much. Still, it was worth checking out.

>Get Lydia and ask her to use the drone to explore the tunnels. If there was a trap, it’d come at the cost of the drone, but that was at least better than losing another life down here.
Aside from those things though, Mike, Lars and Zaria didn't seem to find much else of value in the sleeping quarters. They did find some personal belongings, but very few of them really told you anything which was worth looking into. And with that, your men would group up again. You told them about the ladder you found, immediately asking Lydia if she was willing to use the drone to explore it further.

"You got it!" She'd say happily, already setting the thing up as you told your men you'd head forward as soon as you figured out what was down there. Your men all nodded, some seeming quite curious about what it would be like down there. "Any clue what's down there?" Mike would ask right away, to which Thaddeus shook his head. "I could see the reflection of some small puddles, but nothing else of note." In the meantime, Lydia would make the crawler drone rush over to the thing, before carefully clambering down the walls. She'd have the tablet show the footage to you and your men, as you'd finally get a glimpse of what was inside the tunnel. And to say that you were disappointed was an understatement. It was an incredibly cramp tunnel, it being maybe 5 feet wide and 5 feet tall. The walls were glistening, and you could see that the air had plenty of water vapour in it. There were more puddles of water in there, as it was clear this was designed to transport water.

"How cramped is that tunnel?" Anon would mumble, Zaria speaking in soft disapproval. "Yeah, I don't know if going through there is a smart idea." Even the subjects seemed reluctant about the place. "Maybe I can fit through there. But I don't know how you guys could comfortably go through it." Chrys said softly, all hopes of going through it fading. Still, you could crawl through it if it really was necessary. Hell, you could walk through it whilst hunched over. Though any and all ambush in this tunnel was bound to end up really, really badly. There was no space to manoeuvre around inside of it. At least it led quite far forward and backwards, with there being tons of side routes to take which headed further into the facility. And more importantly, as you wondered if it was really worth exploring the tunnel, Lydia noticed something. "I think... I see a trail over there." Indeed, a clear wet trail moved through the tunnel, indicating someone or something had crawled through this place. It was quite a large trail, meaning it wasn't some tiny subject.

With this in mind, your men would look at you and waited to hear what you'd suggest. Clearly, they weren't all too eager to go into the tunnel. Hell, the only one who did seem quite curious and fine with it was Anofelis, and she clearly didn't know how cramped it be for her especially.

>What do you do next?

>Go down into the tunnel! Your men could just keep their heads low as you went through it. The girls were all small enough to fit in there. And Anofelis could easily crawl through it, given her spindly nature.
>Go back to the old plan and head south through the main hall. It may mean encountering more threats, but at least you could move around in case you encountered a threat.
>Have Lydia follow the trail as far as possible with the drone. It was a 50/50 she'd pick the right direction, and maybe whoever created the trail was still nearby enough?
>Look through the magazine your men had found. You could do so regardless of the path you intended to take, and perhaps it'd have something of interest in there?
>Set up a camera somewhere in the tunnel, or near this entrance. You had plenty of camera traps to go around with now, after all. Hopefully Derek or Lydia could set it up though.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6036266
>Have Lydia follow the trail as far as possible with the drone. It was a 50/50 she'd pick the right direction, and maybe whoever created the trail was still nearby enough?
Or has a nearby lair

>>6036267
>>Look through the magazine your men had found. You could do so regardless of the path you intended to take, and perhaps it'd have something of interest in there?
>Look through the magazine your men had found. You could do so regardless of the path you intended to take, and perhaps it'd have something of interest in there?
>Something else...
QUEEN LIVE
KILL QUEEN

>>6036267
>>Go back to the old plan and head south through the main hall. It may mean encountering more threats, but at least you could move around in case you encountered a threat.
>>Look through the magazine your men had found. You could do so regardless of the path you intended to take, and perhaps it'd have something of interest in there?
Don't really wanna risk on a cramped tunnel, win some lose some, let's get on the road.

>>6036332
>>6036294
>>6036432
Supporting in sequence.

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>>6036267
>Have Lydia follow the trail as far as possible with the drone. It was a 50/50 she'd pick the right direction, and maybe whoever created the trail was still nearby enough?
>Look through the magazine your men had found. You could do so regardless of the path you intended to take, and perhaps it'd have something of interest in there?
I expected more a cramped single-file tunnel, not quite a crawlspace only Chrys could even stand up in. I only really fancy going down there if we find something of note; that being our mystery soggy individual, signs of Feng and Co. or an exit to somewhere interesting. Read the magazine while we wait.

Say, wasn't there another one of these hatches back at the food court? I presume these access tunnels run across the entire level.

Also, imagine seeing Anofelis crawling towards you in those tunnels like a fluffy Xenomorph in a vent. I'd well and truly shit my pants.

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>>6036516
I gave Morgan the Quietus from Hexen because I needed a sword for her in that drawing. But It seems you guys really liked it. kek

>Have Lydia follow the trail as far as possible with the drone. It was a 50/50 she'd pick the right direction, and maybe whoever created the trail was still nearby enough?
>Look through the magazine your men had found. You could do so regardless of the path you intended to take, and perhaps it'd have something of interest in there?
Whilst the tunnel was too cramped to go through and probably not entirely safe, you still wanted to explore them. After all, it could lead to hints about the queen and her whereabouts. Thus, you told Lydia to move the drone forwards. "Alright. Should I just follow the trail which I spotted?" You nodded, her letting out a soft sigh. "Hope this goes well and I go the right direction." Thus, she started moving the drone forward, you meanwhile asking Zaria, Mike and Lars for the magazine they had found. Lars would hand it over, you looking at the title and being able to tell that it probably wasn't printed here on Valulori. It bore the name 'Melivia Times Monthly', it seemingly being a compilation of news stories from one of the other islands. Most of the news was about local events, it giving some insight on the closed cities which were on the island.

The cover showed a facility guardsman giving a salute in front of a carrier vehicle, the sub-heading reading "Meet the soldiers of our future!" There were several more headlines, most of which weren't of too much interest as they seemed to mostly focus on menial, local events. However, there were also a few headings which certainly interested you. "Interview with Logan, a high-ranking scientist at VMGC!", "The future of warfare? Valulori scientists go on the offensive!" and "Government pledges further monetary support for our people!". Looking further over the cover, you saw that the entire magazine was not released too long ago, the date indicating that it was published a few weeks ago. You'd open it up and started skimming through some of the more useful stories.

The first few pages mostly covered local happenings, some coming from family members of facility staff. It showed some people being optimistic about their family members and their jobs at the facility, whilst others were clearly anxiously asking questions about the wellbeing of the people here. Though you could tell that even the more sceptical questions from readers were quite rosy, most still pledging support for the government, the facility and the scientists here. There were also plenty of ads for positions at the facility. Most of these were for janitorial and guardsman jobs, a few asking for actual scientists to help out with experiments. Though it didn't seem like there were any job offers for subject designers or anything like that. Soon came the largest article, it showing pictures of guardsman in what you presumed to be the combat sector. Though the focus didn't seem to be on just them. Rather, the focus was on the combat subjects they had worked with and knew of.

The page went into slight detail about combat subjects, mentioning just how effective they had been. They kept specific details quite vague though, focusing mostly on broad traits. Things like subjects who could throw with extreme accuracy, form weaponry using nanites, or even regenerate from combat damage extremely rapidly. The only real details came in the form of a description of TS-55-76, who was described as 'the closest thing to an all natural super soldier'. Her highly accurate aim and ability to use any and all weapons was brought up as well, pointing out how she always won mock fights with other guardsman.

Up next was the interview with Logan, it actually giving you a glimpse into the guy for the very first time. It showed a picture of the guy, showing him as a rather thin and frail looking man, with mildly pale skin, short curly hair which looked a little messy, and these slightly closed eyes which had an air of sincerity to them. The heading of the page read 'I just do what I feel is right', after which there was a short description of who he was, followed by a dozen questions. It started with questions about where he came from, him stating he came from off-planet, specifically a relatively cold city planet with vast oceans. He mentioned his fascination with how life thrives even on barren and deadly planets, before going over how much he enjoyed working at the facility. He also spoke of the co-workers, speaking positively of most but mentioning there were also scientists he didn't enjoy working with. It was quite easy to guess which ones he was referring to.

The questions were mostly personal, telling a bit more about him and what inspired him. He also covered how he always tried being there for his subjects, how tough it was to actually get the position there and how he was willing to admit having failed in places. Though when asked about his failures, he opted not to reveal details. Eventually, he did reveal one key detail, stating that he worried that ethics weren't taken into account too often with subjects. Though when questioned if he could give some examples, he once again came up blank.

The final piece of interest was mostly about government funding, revealing that the government was especially interested in certain combat subjects. It stated that they were willing to increase pay for scientists focused on such subjects, as well as aiding in hiring new personnel. This ended up leading into another ad for guardsmen positions, you skipping over it. Having skimmed over most of the pages, the men who weren't glued to Lydia's tablet would focus on you. "So, anything of interest in there?" Zaria asked, you deciding to just skim over the newspaper a few more times. Just in case there were some details you missed. Afterwards, you told them they could also look into it, especially since it did have some interesting titbits of intel about this place, even if it was clear people avoided admitting the existence of subjects somewhat.

As you skimmed over the pages for a second time though, you'd be interrupted when Lydia gasped. "There's someone in the tunnels!" Immediately, everyone would gather around her to look at the tablet. In the distance, you saw someone crawling through the tunnels, wearing an outfit similar to facility staff. “Laura, any clue who they might be or what sorta staff they are?” Thaddeus asked right away, Laura squinting her eyes at the screen. “It looks like… an engineer of some kind. Yeah, look. They got protective gear on their legs, but not the type you’d find on something like a guardsman!” She’d point at the screen, Lydia meanwhile forcing the droner closer forwards. You could soon see that it was a guy, him wearing a hard helmet and goggles. His clothes were rather dirty, you noticing him carrying a shotgun on his back. He soon looked over his shoulder, shining a light from his helmet onto you as he quickly panicked. “Crap, he sees us.” You saw him squirming, before grabbing his shotgun and awkwardly moving onto his back. “Shit, pull the drone back!” Derek said, as Lydia would make the drone retreat.

Unfortunately, the engineer wouldn’t let it be, aiming the shotgun and soon firing a shot at it. You heard the distant gunshots reverberating from the tunnel leading towards this place, the drone falling to the side as its legs had clearly been damaged. There still was a camera feed though, Lydia continuing to get the drone to retreat. “Crap, crap, crap! Two of the legs have been lost!” As she tried to get the drone to retreat, the engineer would grab another round to reload his shotgun with. Clearly, he didn’t want the drone to retreat for some reason. At least Lydia probably knew where the drone was downed, meaning it could be recovered. Then again, recovering it was probably not worth it, especially not now when there was a scared engineer there who was ready to shoot at whatever moved.

>What do you do next?

>Get Lydia to retreat the drone ASAP. You didn’t want it to go down, since it’d be quite the waste. Hopefully the guy wouldn’t try and shoot at it further or would miss the easy shot.
>Have Lydia pretend the drone was downed and deactivated. Maybe then, he’d leave it alone and you could retrieve it with minimal damages.
>Send in the flying drone along with a radio to communicate with the guy. Maybe, just maybe, he’d be willing to communicate with you in some way?
>Try and communicate in some other way with the drone. The guy was an engineer, so he surely was smart enough to realise this thing wasn’t a threat, right? (Write in how you’ll try and communicate.)
>Just abandon the drone and move on. Even if it wasn’t destroyed within a few seconds, going down into the tunnel to retrieve it was going to be too much of a hassle anyway.
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6036516
Man, it was difficult not to add some of the things shown in this picture to the magazine. I did use it for some mild inspiration, but I couldn't go into too much, given the limitations of the magazine itself and what not.

Also, I imagine Anofelis going into those tunnels kinda looking like this particular scene from ATLA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOQHlRsjBSA&t=35s. Bonus points if it is Morgan pushing her into them.

>>6036589
Honestly, you made a good choice in picking that one, because it fits her perfectly. It's big, pretty, badass and tough, just like Morgan herself.

>>6036589
and I in turn clipped it out of your drawing and crudely traced over it entirely because you'd previously depicted her with it (I've accepted it as headcanon), having never played Hexen and having no idea what it was. That and I can't draw for shit unless it's a 2D schematic

>>6036615
Only two of Logan's nine subjects are on my KOS list, so I'd say he did something right. And the squad ft. Dhabus should have won that paintball match
>Have Lydia pretend the drone was downed and deactivated. Maybe then, he’d leave it alone and you could retrieve it with minimal damages.
>Send in the flying drone along with a radio to communicate with the guy. Maybe, just maybe, he’d be willing to communicate with you in some way?
It's already crippled and unlikely to get away. May as well keep it rolling and see if he says or does anything interesting, because I have a sneaking suspicion that this chap is not part of the Queendom. While a "if it moves, blast it" approach is very reasonable, we've always seen Feng's forces in groups and a lone guy sneaking around the maintenance tunnels on his own just seems....off to be one of hers on a mission. The flying drone can stay at a distance and retreat much faster than the crawler, and if there's a chance we can get hold of someone who knows the area and may know where Feng's base is, all the better.

>>6036615
>Have Lydia pretend the drone was downed and deactivated. Maybe then, he’d leave it alone and you could retrieve it with minimal damages.

>>6036710
It is not a good idea to send in the flying drone. We still need drones for queen scouting, a conversation with the engineer is not worth risking what could help us prevent or end a fight with the queen later.

>>6037025
Fair point, but I think it's worth the risk to find a local willing to talk. I've had enough of running around nibbling at the edges trying to find her.

>>6037250
We would've gone deeper during our singular first attempt if we didn't run into a trap. We would've probably found her main operating location.
We also get all the people currently under her control as people to talk to for info as well.

>>6036615
I want to try and talk to this engineer, however I also don't want to risk our men.

>>6036710
This is the best that we can do for communication. Hopefully he doesn't blast this drone too. Even if he does, so long as the radio still works we can hopefully get intel on the Queen.

>>6037371
Man if we didn't hand her corpse over to the government I would actually be worried if she was somehow still alive.
Turly the government will make sure subject's will never return. Better then any burning.

>>6037401
Unless GalGov is picking apart her corpse as we speak, studying it to divine the secrets of its creation.....

>>6036615
>Get Lydia to retreat the drone ASAP. You didn’t want it to go down, since it’d be quite the waste. Hopefully the guy wouldn’t try and shoot at it further or would miss the easy shot.

Guys if this is an engineer I'm betting the goal is to scavenge for parts, that drone is not going to be left alone if it plays dead.

>>6037401
>>6037408
Next thread - what's with all these Caera clones running around?

>>6037414
you aren't wrong, but he has a shotgun, and we are in a tunnel. So long as he shoots in one direciton, we get shot. Playing dead may make him withold shooting, potentially giving us a chance to make it retreat if he goes back or something. (or he might bring the drone to wherever he came from, giving us more info)

>>6037441
I see it like this - we play dead, he crawls forward to collect the drone, very likely deactivates it by removing the battery or some other engineer trick, and it's 100% lost. We try to crawl away and he tries to shoot, maybe he somehow misses or his gun jams, we have a 1% chance of recovery which is still > 0%. Very tiny difference to be sure and play dead is winning anyway, just wanted to share this viewpoint.

I guess it's always possible they're just wearing engineer clothes or aren't familiar enough with this model to disable it too.

>>6037455
he is in the middle of a tunnel,
not a lot of leeway to tear apart a drone and deactivate it.
We do't even know what his specialty of engineering is. He might be some mechnical technician, or he might be of a different specialty, in either case. I am willing to concede trying to run away with the drown if you are also willing to support not sending the flying drone with the radio down as well.

>>6037494
Might even be a bonus if he runs off with it. If he doesn't disable it, we'd be able to follow him around that way.

>>6037494
>I am willing to concede trying to run away with the drown if you are also willing to support not sending the flying drone with the radio down as well.
I didn't vote for this in the first place, so you don't need to bargain for it, you already have it.

In fact I'll switch to
>>Have Lydia pretend the drone was downed and deactivated. Maybe then, he’d leave it alone and you could retrieve it with minimal damages.
Even if he does disable it and take it back to his base, we just need to find it.

>Have Lydia pretend the drone was downed and deactivated. Maybe then, he’d leave it alone and you could retrieve it with minimal damages.
>Send in the flying drone along with a radio to communicate with the guy. Maybe, just maybe, he’d be willing to communicate with you in some way?
With the drone downed and struggling to retreat back to your location, you'd tell Lydia to hold off from having it retreat. She didn't seem sure what to think, remaining quiet as you explained your thought process. You told her that it was unlikely to be able to retreat, so the best option would be to fake it being deactivated. "Alright." She said, as she would let go of the controls, making the drone stop moving. As it did, you told her to get the flying drone, her seeming even more shocked. "Are you... is this to try and grab the downed drone and retreat it once he's gone?" She asked in mild bewilderment, you explaining your thoughts further. You wanted to try and fly a small radio over to the guy to communicate through with him. Perhaps, he'd even be willing to talk? You could tell some of your men were sceptical. Even the girls didn't seem too hopeful, though they didn't say anything about it. Soon, Lydia let out a sigh as she got the flying drone at the ready. "I'll set it up. You watch the camera and see what the guy does."

As Lydia and Derek went to work setting up the flying drone, you'd start focusing on the live-feed from the crawling drone. You saw the engineer looking at the drone for a moment, before quickly trying to get up, having to keep his head down as he rushed over and grabbed it. He was clearly quite shaken, breathing heavily as he looked around and quickly tried to escape with it. You told Lydia that he was taking the drone with him, Lydia seeming slightly displeased. "Well, let's hope we can convince him otherwise." She'd test the radios, before grabbing the tablet from you again. The flying drone started levitating, before quickly moving down towards the ladder.

Lydia looked through the drone's camera, quickly approaching the engineer. "Let's hope he doesn't immediately shoot us again..." She said as the drone passed through more passages. Until finally, the engineer got into view again. "Alright, let's go drop the radio beside him. Derek, can you see if he's reacting in any way through the crawler drone camera?" Lydia asked, Derek having gotten his own tablet out. "Unfortunately, it seems he has disabled the crawler. I can't hear or see anything, so you're on your own here." Lydia wasn't deterred, flying the drone closer until... there was another bang. The flying drone tumbled as the camera feed died. "Shit!" Lydia said out loud, as the audio still kept playing. There was a thud and a splash, followed by the audio becoming soft. "I didn't expect he'd shoot this early on." It seemed you had lost another drone in combat. Though, the question was if he would actually pick up the radio to try and communicate.

And fortunately, whilst the sound from the drone was still muffled, you could tell that the guy was stepping closer. Soon, the audio from the downed drone went back to normal, you hearing some more fiddling with the device. There was a gasp, followed by some noise coming from the radio. You heard a trembly breathe, followed by a voice. "P-Please, w-whoever you are, j-just leave me alone. I-I'm not looking for trouble. I-I beg of you." The guy was clearly panicked, yet at least had the guts to pick up the radio to try and communicate with you. All eyes went to you, expecting you to pick up the radio and start a little chat with the guy. Of course, you weren't entirely pleased with the fact your two expensive drones had been shot down and potentially destroyed. But, you couldn't do much about it now.

Your men eagerly waited to see what you'd tell the guy over the radio. You probably had to be careful about how you handled it. Telling him you were a death squad was probably not the best course of action, nor would it be smart to question him too much. He probably wasn't eager to divulge any personal information.

>What do you do next?

>Tell him the truth. If you were honest and showed you meant no harm, he'd probably be more open to being truthful to you as well. (Write in what you'll specifically tell him.)
>Lie through your teeth to give him a false sense of security. You could tell him you're a group of guardsman and that you were looking for other survivors in there. Or, you could tell him you were a rescue group. (Write in what you'll specifically tell him.)
>Go for a bluff and threaten the guy. Tell him to drop his weapons and admit defeat by stating you could kill him with ease. You had already brought in two drones. Maybe you could convince him you had several more, some of which could harm him? (Write in your bluff and how you'll convince the guy to talk.)
>Maybe ask Laura and the subjects for some help. Maybe they could help in some way? (Write in what you'll ask them.)
>Just tell him you'll leave him be and go back go hunting the queen. The guy was terrified, and trying to pry info out of him just wasn't worth it.
>Something else...

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>>6037371
I wanna redo the rabbit fight, but it's all just a looney tunes bit with whacky sound effects and hilarious slapstick.

Anyway, delightful art as usual!

Also, fuck it, I'm condemning myself here and letting the intrusive thougth win. When will you draw big chungus Caera? Or rather, Big Caerus?

>>6037401
I mean, she was definitely tough, but not tough enough to survive everything you threw at her. And if she did somehow survive everything, the government would indeed make sure she wouldn't live much longer afterwards.

Also, I would love to see the universe where you guys didn't kill Caera and somehow managed to break through her psychotic training. She'd probably still be not entirely right in the head, but it'd also be really funny to see her working with you and causing utter mayhem.

Also, picrel was post in QTG in response to the final post I made in the Queens of Quest Thread. Huge praise to Indonesian Gentleman for drawing this up.

>>6037616
Huh, I didn't think send in the flier had a majority.
>Tell him the truth. If you were honest and showed you meant no harm, he'd probably be more open to being truthful to you as well. (Write in what you'll specifically tell him.)
We'll leave him alone if he leaves our expensive drones there near the entrance for us to collect. Also if he could give us any info he has on the queen that'd be great.

>>6037625
I hate your intrusive thought. Art is good, we need more comics of the girls. They are great.

>>6037675
Supporting.

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>>6037625
Here Caera, back form the dead.

>>6037675
Supporting

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>>6037414
>what's with all these Caera clones running around?
No idea

>>6037839
YOU BEAT ME TO IT YOU RASCAL AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

>>6037614
Damn, we los the tiebreaker for the drone.
I expect we are going to eat shit when it comes to being outmanuevered against the queen's swarm later.
>Maybe ask Laura and the subjects for some help. Maybe they could help in some way? (Write in what you'll ask them.)

have Laura speak to him, she's a scientist, the safest bet.

>>6037839
Deranged

>>6037850
Absolutely deranged
The bunny ears and tail on the satellite dish especially

Fantastic work guys

>>6037839
>>6037850
I still hate that intrusive thought, but I hate the fact the first time best girl is drawn it's for this horrible meme more. What I hate the most, however, is that you two made it look good, and even quite funny in the case of the second. You monsters.

>>6038109
>first time best girl is drawn
Fake fan detected
>>6033924

>>6038113
I mean, that was made by the QM, wasn't it? So does it really count?

>>6038151
Wow, are you saying art hard drawn by our hard working illustrious QM doesn't count? After he dedicated all that time and effort to be able to produce that art for us? Rude!

>>6038153
I mean, he has art of every monster girl in the facility so technically speaking, yes.

>Tell him the truth. If you were honest and showed you meant no harm, he'd probably be more open to being truthful to you as well.
Hearing him speak through the radio, you decided to respond right away. After carefully grabbing your radio, you'd tell him you weren't going to hurt him. There was a moment of silence, the guy clearly thinking of what to say. "W-Who are you?! W-Why are you ch-chasing me with these th-things? H-How did you even get these? A-Are you a death squad, o-or are you p-part of f-facility?!" You'd keep being honest, telling him you were a death squad but that you didn't mean any harm. All you wanted was for him to place the drones back near the entrance, which would allow you to pick them up again. "W-What?! N-No way! I-I'm not getting c-closer to you guys! Y-You guys can r-retrieve these things y-yourself!" The guy sounded extremely paranoid and anxious. You asked if there was any way you could prove to him you weren't there to harm him, to which he pondered for a while. "N-No, I... L-Look, I'll l-leave these d-drones here, okay? I-I was thinking of t-taking them along a-and reverse engineering them myself, b-but... yeah no, just keep them. Just leave me alone!"

Well, the good news was that you could retrieve them still. It'd be quite a pain though, given that someone would have to crawl down there to get them. Though seeing that the guy was probably moments away from trying to escape from you, you decided to quickly ask him about the queen. You asked if he had any info on them, to which he spoke quickly once more. "I-I have... n-no clue who you're on about! A-A queen?! I-I... I just worked on c-containment chambers, man!" You'd try and tell him to calm down a little, telling him that you just wanted to know more about this place. "S-So you can kill more people!?" Given his continuing paranoia, you looked to Laura and asked her if she could help out a little to try and reassure the guy.

Laura accepted and would immediately come over and take the radio from you. "Hey man, relax. Everything's okay. I'm a facility staff member, a caretaker to be specific. These guys aren't here to hurt us." Obviously, the guy didn't exactly believe Laura right away. He immediately hissed back at her. "A-And who are you exactly?!" Laura kept her calm, answering honestly. "Laura Porcher, scientist who used to work in the North-Western section. I was friends with Mona and looked after a subject of hers." There was another silence, followed by the guy speaking sceptically. "P-Prove it. W-What subject did you w-work with a-and what was her containment chamber like!?" Laura looked over at Oreas, smirking a little before responding confidently. "PL-6626, Oreas Macraei. Her containment chamber consisted of an extremely dense and thick wall to ensure she could not simply phase through it." There was another moment of silence, Laura speaking smugly. "I can name some other subject chambers, if you still refuse to believe me."

Fortunately, the engineer would speak softly. "O-Okay, I-I... I'll believe you for the t-time being. A-Are you alone with these g-guy? W-What are they doing?" Laura looked at the subjects, then back at you. Given that it was supposed to be a secret that you were working with subjects, Laura did the logical thing and would give a tiny little lie. "I'm all alone with them, correct. They kept me around because they needed me to be a guide to them. I help them get through the place and explain some subjects to them, I remain alive." It seemed that Laura wanted to ensure this guy couldn't spread intel about your actions around. After all, this guy could definitely abuse the fact that you were sparing people, especially considering the fact he admitted to wanting to take your drones.

Regardless, the guy would respond a bit more calmly, having believed Laura's story. "Okay, okay. L-Look, i-if you guys just... l-leave me alone, I-I'll bring the drones b-back, alright? Y-You can come a-and pick it up, b-because I trust you, okay? N-No tricks or anything! I-I'll have my sh-shotgun ready if you try a-anything funny!" He might have calmed down, but he was still clearly a nervous wreck. At least you had resolved the issues surrounding the destroyed drones, and figured out that this guy knew nothing of the Queen. Issue now was that you had to send Laura down into that place and potentially into a dangerous situation. Laura didn't seem to mind it, looking at you and waiting to see how you'd react to the guy's demands.

>What do you do next?

>Just send Laura down there. What would the guy gain out of hurting Laura or trying anything funny with her?
>Try and gain the guy's trust further. He was willing to co-operate to a certain extent now. Perhaps you could make him completely trust you and get some intel out of him?
>Ask him some simple questions right away. Given that he was fine explaining he worked on containment chambers, maybe you could ask him about the specific things he worked on? (Write in what you'll ask him.)
>Tell him you aren't sending Laura down there into a potentially dangerous area. You had already proven that you wouldn't harm innocent lives. Therefore, he could just drop the drones off and go on his merry way.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6037839
>>6037850
Ladies and gentlemen, we have peaked. We have reached the pinnacle of this quest. We can only go down from here.

In any case, the art you two made is brilliant. And to everyone who hates it... just blame my intrusive thoughts.

>>6038354
>>Just send Laura down there. What would the guy gain out of hurting Laura or trying anything funny with her?
Just for safety measure though tell her to get her gun ready just in case, and also ask Chrys to give her some of her sleep powder for she to use in an emergency, leave it into a pouch or something.

>>6038358
Supporting. We should get as much intel as we can from him and Laura is the best bet for that. Sure, he's clearly paranoid but I doubt he's going to kill Laura unless something like the Queen's forces interrupt our questioning.

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>>6037625
Wait, we could have actually talked her down? How was that possible - could we have done that after we'd injured her sufficiently instead of finishing the job? I assume this isn't spoilers now since she's very dead now. Probably.

>>6037839
>>6037850
I'm fucking dying here. We're blessed to have you guys.

>>6038354
>Just send Laura down there. What would the guy gain out of hurting Laura or trying anything funny with her?
Send one or two of our people down there as well to hang back a couple of corners back. If anything goes south, I want to have backup nearby.

>>6038354
>>Just send Laura down there. What would the guy gain out of hurting Laura or trying anything funny with her?
>>Try and gain the guy's trust further. He was willing to co-operate to a certain extent now. Perhaps you could make him completely trust you and get some intel out of him?
Let him keep the radio to talk to us in the future.

>>6038381
I wouldn't say 'talked her down'. You could've disarmed her and kept her around long enough and maybe treat her in such a way that she would become harmless. But it'd be like keeping a drugged up, declawed and defanged tiger in your house and saying it's a 'safe pet'. Yes, technically it's harmless, but it's not exactly in the perfect state to be itself and is probably completely fucked in the head. It's also just a really, really bad idea in general.

>>6038385
Probably for the best that we turned her into a rabbit roast then. I wonder how she'd have tasted (probably of petroleum soot).

>>6038354
>Tell him you aren't sending Laura down there into a potentially dangerous area. You had already proven that you wouldn't harm innocent lives. Therefore, he could just drop the drones off and go on his merry way.

>>6038385
We need to find the subject who causes selective memory loss so we can save all the Roraima and Elbrus subjects.

>>6038394
no.
purge them.
all of them.
we cannot fix what is instinctual.

>>6038417
Iunno about Total Elbrus/Roraima Death, a few of their projects turned out okay in the end. Viridian seemed sensible enough and a couple more of their creations don't sound that bad. But most of them should be liquidated.

Terribly sorry to say this, but there won't be an update today and maybe also not tomorrow. I've got some tight deadlines related to a university essay I got to write. It's fortunately going well, so I hope to get this done somewhat early by keeping up this pace.

Furthermore, maybe tomorrow whilst travelling between my hometown and university, I can try and write an update on my phone to then post when I get back home. No guarantees though.

>>6039378
Dang
Good luck with the school stuff

>Just send Laura down there. What would the guy gain out of hurting Laura or trying anything funny with her?
Given how casual Laura seemed about going down into a tunnel with a guy wielding a shotgun, you gave her a nod of approval and told her to go down there. You also warned her to keep her pistol at the ready, just in case of the worst case scenario. "I have to be honest with you, Mik. I highly doubt this thing will save me down there, from what I've seen. If I shoot him, I imagine he's gonna fill me with quite some holes." Laura was not optimistic about her survival chances. Though Anon was quick to respond to reassure her. "It's good for deterrence. In case he tries anything funny like keeping you a hostage or something." Laura didn't seem too convinced, but didn't argue against it. Though seeing the situation you'd put her in, you also asked Chrys if she could give some of her wing powder to help. "Uhhh yeah, sure." She said in mild concern, spreading her wings and scraping off some of her scales. Laura shook her head though, carefully stopping Chrys. "It's fine, Chrys. You don't have to. I'd rather not risk having airborne sleep chemicals accidentally strike me if the guy gets aggressive and decides to shoot me."

It seemed Laura really wanted to go in with good faith or no faith at all. Though Laura's choice did make you think of something. Perhaps you could look for a more reliable way to turn Chrys' chemicals into a proper weapon later. For now, you and the rest of your men watched Laura head for the ladder leading into the tunnels. Though as she headed down, you turned to Thaddeus and Mike. You asked them if they could maybe wait on the ladder so they could quickly head down if anything happened. "Sure thing, though I do doubt how well we could work down there. You know, considering how cramped it is." Mike remarked, Thaddeus nodding along before speaking casually. "Maybe we can borrow Morgan's shield to help protect us down there?"

Morgan didn't seem to mind the suggestion at all, though did ask something simple. "Why don't I go down there? I doubt that guys pathetic gun could even scratch me!" Ignoring her ego, Thaddeus brought up the most reasonable of arguments. "Because I don't think we want this guy finding out we're workin' with subjects. If he gets captured by another death squad and then interrogated, he could very easily sell us out." It was a strong argument, one Morgan couldn't refute. She'd nod understandingly, before handing the shield over. "Very well then. Protect Laura well, Thaddeus!" After Thaddeus gave a quick nod, he went down the ladder with Mike following him closely. Laura had already reached the bottom, and was currently out of sight. She had presumably headed a little bit forward to await the engineer. You hoped to get quite some intel from this, without Laura ending up getting harmed. But how likely was that to happen?

You'd wait for a little while, the engineer panting over the mic as he was presumably crawling over. Until finally, he spoke up in shock. "Okay, I... I see you! Put your hands up and don't try anything!" You couldn't exactly follow Laura, but you assumed she was doing a fine job in 'comforting' the engineer. The guy kept talking through the radio, doing so anxiously. "I-I got your two drones here! Just... keep your hands up. I-I'll place them down now. D-Don't try anything funny!" You heard a soft crackle, followed by the guy gasping. "They're down now. I'll retreat now! Don't... don't follow me! Pick them up once I'm gone, okay? No earlier! I-I'm warning you!" As he presumably went away, you told him that he could keep the radio if he wanted to. That way, you could communicate some more and maybe even share intel. "I-I'd rather not, okay? I don't wanna... d-deal with this, y-you also probably don't wanna deal with me." Bit of a weird comment, but he probably wanted to appear intimidating right now. Not that it was working...

Soon after, you heard Laura speak in the tunnel, doing so loudly so the guy could hear it. "We both wanna survive here! Let us help you survive, then you can help us survive, alright?" It was then that Zaria prodded you, before signalling at the radio. "If we wanna share intel, I think we gotta make the first move here, Mik. Maybe tell him something small yet helpful? Like... I dunno, the green section is now infested with staff?" It was something small. And you still were able to talk to him now. Given his paranoia, he could very well drop the radio soon and flee elsewhere, meaning you no longer had the chance to talk to him. Though perhaps enticing him with something more intense or terrifying could 'convince' him to actually share some intel? That, or you could just let him go so you could finally continue your hunt for the queen.

>What do you do next?

>Tell the guy over the radio that he's free to go and that you won't bother him any longer. That way, you could return to your hunt for the queen.
>Give him some intel which could maybe be useful. Something to let him know that you were fine helping him somewhat. Maybe he'll share some info of his own that way? (Write in what you'll tell him.)
>Just ask him questions which he can answer if he feels like it. Maybe now that you had proven you weren't out to hurt him, he'd actually be willing to answer something. (Write in your question.)
>Something else...

(Little bit of a shorter and simpler update. But, I've still been somewhat busy with the essay. It's coming along nicely, so I managed to slip this in inbetween whilst travelling between uni and hometown. Hope it's still good enough.)

>6040191
>Give him some intel which could maybe be useful. Something to let him know that you were fine helping him somewhat. Maybe he'll share some info of his own that way? (Write in what you'll tell him.)
Tell him about the queen so he doesn't get lopped in with them
Tell him how green zone and flooded area are fucked and filled with hostiles.
That's basically plenty of info for an olive branch.

>>6040191
Backing >>6040235
Both things we want others to know and useful for him as well

>>6040235
Supporting, From there we can get some intel in return from this guy. How he responds to the information can also be telling. Other than that, maybe tell him about Annie, if the radio we gave him can be used to tune into her show anyway.

>Give him some intel which could maybe be useful. Something to let him know that you were fine helping him somewhat. Maybe he'll share some info of his own that way?
After being told to maybe give him some intel, you'd not wait long before talking to the guy over the radio. You'd tell him about the queen subject you were hunting, and how he had to be careful with other staff, given the intense paranoia some folk showed towards her. Fortunately, he did respond to you, albeit quite panicky. "I know nothing of this 'queen' subject, okay?! I-I already told you I don't know who the fuck that is!" Your men raised an eyebrow at the comment, as it seemed like the guy really didn't want to talk about this subject. That, or he just really was desperate to get away from you. You'd tell him to just be careful when seeing other survivors. After all, they could either be pawns or victims of her little schemes. "Okay! I-I gotcha! I'll... I'll be careful. J-Just leave me alone now! I don't wanna be here any longer!" With it clear that the guy remained paranoid, your men seemed a little bit annoyed and done with him. Perhaps they saw the writing on the wall and decided it wasn't worth getting info out of him.

Still, you decided to share one final bit of intel with the guy. You told him to stay away from the flooded section and green section, given the severe presence of hostile forces there. This in turn got the guy to speak up again, albeit a bit less anxiously and more-so in an annoyed tone. "That's why I got out of that place! I didn't wanna drown, or get slaughtered by the subjects swimming around there!" At long last, he shared some information with you which you could ask about. The guy worked in the flooded section, and knew of the threats lurking around there!

Immediately, Derek jumped onto the comment to try and get more out of the guy. "What subjects are ya talking about? We weren't really referring to any subjects. We were mostly talking about other death squads who wouldn't really wanna co-operate with you guys." The engineer would hesitate with talking, before speaking a lot more calmly. "There are three subjects down there which I was deadly afraid of: Pelly, Glaucus and Filia." Your men seemed quite intrigued by the names, with Mike even mumbling: "Pelly doesn't really sound intimidating..." Of course, Derek had a more important question for the guy. "What were their codenames, if we may ask?" The guy once again responded rather quickly, not hesitating at all. "Pelly is AH-600. Glaucus is SD-84. Filia is... I-I'm not sure. Think it was 98-2-KO?" Derek was already checking the tablet, before quickly mumbling to you. "98-2-KO is not on the tablet." He did such in a somewhat suspicious tone, perhaps suspecting the engineer of something.

"And why did those three terrify you, exactly?" Derek asked over the radio, the engineer pausing before giving a quick response. "Pelly would snag people and pull them underwater, never to be seen again. Glaucus loved to crush people with her grip. And Filia was just... a cruel, unkillable murder machine." It seemed like some rather vague yet threatening descriptions of the subjects. Yet it also was clearly lacking in a lot of ways. What else did these girls do which prompted this guy to fear them so much? What specifically did he see down there? And what were the reasons those girls did their things? Given how Morgan was perceived as a rather dangerous subject by the government, whilst she was clearly just a little eccentric, there was still a lot of details left to be answered. Surely, the guy would know more than just this, right? And why was he so eager to tell you about these subjects anyway? Did he want you off his back that badly?

"Alright. Can you tell us a bit more about them? Like, some specifics? Who created them, what do they look like, where did you last see them, things like that?" Derek asked right after, hoping to get a chance to take some notes from the engineer. There was a bit of hesitation, before the engineer would speak rather quickly. "Okay, so Pelly is sorta pale and spindly, with lots of spikes and sharp bits. She, uhhhh, was made by... I think either Logan or Roraima. Not entirely sure. I-I last saw her whilst I was wading through some tunnels with a couple of other staff members. She used her t-tail to grab people and p-pull them underwater. I-I even saw her doing it m-multiple times." This got Lars to ask something a bit different, clearly wanting to know more of the engineer. "So, how did you end up all on your own down here?"

Perhaps it was a risky question to ask, given how paranoid the guy seemed. Though fortunately, he didn't react too strongly. "I-I'd rather not t-talk about it, o-okay? L-Lemme just... I-I'll tell you about th-those subjects s-so you can hunt them a-and leave me alone." The guy seemed to want you to go after the aquatic subjects for some reason. Regardless, Derek asked for more details about Glaucus. "S-She's weird, ummm... S-She's mostly pale, b-but has some v-vibrant red colours. Uhhhh, oh, she has these h-huge hands a-and is kinda l-lanky and weird. N-Not helped by the fact sh-she doesn't really seem to have a skeleton. Um, ah, she was made by Logan! A-At least, I-I think so anyway. Uhhhh, s-she swam by us and th-threatened to dissolve us, w-which was... n-not fun. B-But, she did l-leave us alone... s-so there's that." Derek would nod as he took notes, before mumbling to you. "None of this intel is on the tablet. Hell, the tablet says very little about this 'Glaucus' and what she looks like." It seemed like the guy had provided you with plenty of useful intel. Though he wasn't done just yet.

"Ah, ummm, s-so uhhhh, F-Filia was... w-well, I-I didn't interact w-with them directly, b-but some of my p-previous allies did know her! She was this... o-orca subject who w-was extremely aggressive a-and p-protective of her sh-shark subject friend. Ummm, s-she was m-made by... I-I think Elbrus? I-I'm not entirely sure. A-All I know is that... s-she's mean, a-aggressive and d-doesn't show m-mercy to folk she considers her e-enemies." Derek would note all of this down, before looking at you and speaking softly. "I cannot verify any of this information. All I can say is that this sounds like quite a major threat." Anon would soon after ask for more details, specifically asking: "What about her powers and weaknesses? What made her so threatening?" The engineer thankfully gave a solid response, doing so with little doubt. "S-She's just really tough. S-She can take a lot of hits a-and is... really strong. T-That's all I can say."

Whilst it wasn't much, it seemed like this subject was sort of like the rabbit. Tough as nails, cruel and likely quite protective of a certain someone. Of course, this one was limited to the flooded section and potentially made by Elbrus. The latter was by far the biggest reason as to why it was very tempting to find her and execute her like you had done with the rabbit.

Regardless, you'd thank the guy for the intel he provided, before mentioning that Annie could maybe be listened into with teh radio. He could use an extra source of intel. "I-I'll... o-okay." He said reluctantly, before you heard the communications being cut off. "Not even a 'thank you' for that? What a dickhead." Zaria mumbled softly, Lydia rubbing the back of her head. "I got a feeling he won't talk back to us, even after all we told him." In turn, Mike spoke up more dismissively. "Eh, he already told us everything we wanna know. Let's just move on now and forget about this guy. He doesn't want our help and we don't really need his."

"Sounds like a good plan! Thaddeus, can you maybe go down and get Laura and the drone bits?" Zaria would ask through comms, Thaddeus giving an "Aye." before he went further down. "Do you girls know anything of these subjects?" Derek would ask the girls whilst you waited for the others to return. Anofelis was blank once again, shaking her head. And unfortunately, it seemed the others also knew very little. Kamara shook her head and mumbled: "I-I know nothing.". Oreas shook her head whilst visibly pondering about the three. "I'm not sure. Glaucus' name does ring... a little familiar. I don't know anything about Filia or Pelly though." Chrys would shrug, before casually mumbling. "Unless if those three ended up being made by Anderson, I probably won't know a thing about them, I'll admit." It was not too surprising that the girls knew very little. Fortunately, you still had Morgan and Laura who could maybe tell you more about these three aquatic menaces.

Soon, you saw the three coming from the hole and the ladder, Laura appearing a little dirtied but with the drones under her shoulders. She appeared just a tiny bit tense, her soon going over to you and saying: "I need a drink.". Having a shotgun pointed at her probably had made her a little bit scared, so it was only fair she needed a little pause now. At least Morgan and Thaddeus seemed ready to get going.

>What do you do next?

>Continue your search for the queen via the main route. Going any other route was too risky or just not worth it.
>Screw it. These tunnels clearly led to a lot of interesting places, given the engineer came from the flooded section through it. Surely you could find more if you took those now instead?
>Ask Morgan and Laura about the three subjects. Maybe also ask them some more specific details, so they wouldn't tell you the same things the engineer told you. (Write in your questions.)
>Have Lydia and maybe Derek check out the damage to the drones and fix them immediately. The quicker you got those two things repaired, the better. (Write in who you'll ask to help Lydia out.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

(Apologies for the lack of an update yesterday. I at least managed to finish a huge chunk of that uni essay, so at least I can relax the weekend. I'll have family stuff throughout the weekend though, so maybe I'll just go with 1 post a day still. I'll try and get two out maybe on sunday though!)

>>6041753
>Ask Morgan and Laura about the three subjects. Maybe also ask them some more specific details, so they wouldn't tell you the same things the engineer told you. (Write in your questions.)
do you know em? or what they can do?
>Have Lydia and maybe Derek check out the damage to the drones and fix them immediately. The quicker you got those two things repaired, the better. (Write in who you'll ask to help Lydia out.)
all hands on deck to get drones working PLEASE.
>Continue your search for the queen via the main route. Going any other route was too risky or just not worth it.
I do not want to do tunnel warfare to get to queen, that sounds horrifying.

>>6041753
>Continue your search for the queen via the main route. Going any other route was too risky or just not worth it.
File em away for future investigation, but I don't really feel like exploring them further right now. While they have a lot of potential, doing it in person sucks and doing it by drone will take forever and risk us losing them more permanently. I'd return if we had someone with knowledge of the tunnels (like that guy) or were searching for something specific.

In the meantime, vorwärts!

>>6041761
Supporting. A shark and an orca, and friends. If the latter isn't a yandere for the former I'll be surprised.

>>6041766
Better to get it out of the way now than leave it and forget about it.

>>6041753
>Screw it. These tunnels clearly led to a lot of interesting places, given the engineer came from the flooded section through it. Surely you could find more if you took those now instead?
How dangerous could they possibly be, if an engineer is wandering around alone down there?

Also thank Laura for engaging in negotiations with him.

>>6041750
>s-she swam by us and th-threatened to dissolve us

Sounds wholesome. Either we or the gubment should just drop poison or something in the water and screw those water-breathing freaks.

>>6041761
Supporting, we need to fix the drones asap.

>Continue your search for the queen via the main route. Going any other route was too risky or just not worth it.
Once the three returned triumphantly from the tunnels, the first thing you'd do was thank Laura for going down there and risking her life. "Y-Yeah, no... no worries." She said softly as she was soon handed a bottle of water by Lars. She didn't seem too appreciative of the thanks, but it was also clear she was not all too pleased to have risked her life like that. At least Lydia was able to get the drones from her right away, as she looked at the damage. "Okay, good news is that the damage doesn't look... too bad? The crawler has damage to its legs, which can be fixed easily. The flying drone has some rather bad damage to the camera, but I think it's still able to be fixed."

It wasn't an extremely terrible loss, and you could most likely fix it right away. Though first, you told your men that you wanted to get going again. You wanted to return to finding the queen. "What about the tunnels? Should I just note this entrance down on the tablet for later?" Derek asked calmly, you nodding and stating that you didn't want to get into close quarters fight in such an awkward location. Perhaps once you found more people with knowledge of the tunnels, you could actually start exploring them.

>Have Lydia and maybe Derek check out the damage to the drones and fix them immediately. The quicker you got those two things repaired, the better.
With that, you'd lead the way back from the side-hall and back towards the place where Artyom was injured. Though whilst walking there, you still had some things on your mind. First, you looked to Lydia and Derek, asking them if they could focus their energy and time on fixing the drones. "Oh, whilst we're walking?" Lydia asked, you stating it was preferred since you wanted the drones back in action quite soon. "Well, suppose we can try." Derek said, after which he looked at the rest of your men. "We are gonna need some help though. Mostly to keep things stable and hold them whilst we tinker with them."

Fortunately for him, Anofelis seemed more than eager to help out. "I can do that!" She sounded quite optimistic, as Derek signalled her over. "Good. Can you hold the drones for us and keep them somewhat still?" With that, Anofelis would gently hold the drones in her claws, using all four of her hands to provide the right angle and ensure they could be fixed safely. You just hoped that the giant, lumbering and airheaded bug girl wouldn't accidentally drop them by mistake. Then again, she hadn't been too clumsy before, so it seemed likely that she would do just fine. Besides, she may not be the brightest, but she most certainly could focus and keep the drones still.

With them at work on the drones, you'd keep heading back to where you came from. You'd soon see the food court again, heading left once more as you were quickly approaching the bloody battlesite Artyom was injured at.

>Ask Morgan and Laura about the three subjects. Maybe also ask them some more specific details, so they wouldn't tell you the same things the engineer told you.
As you passed the food courts, you'd turn to Laura and Morgan to ask them for further details about the three subjects. Laura was still a little shaken, but she had calmed down considerably after getting a drink and some peace. "What subjects?" Laura asked calmly, as you explained the three subjects who the engineer had mentioned: AH-600, SD-84 and 98-2-KO. Laura didn't seem too familiar with them, though you could tell Morgan did seem to recognize some of them. And once you had told them everything which the engineer had also told you, they'd pause to think about it. "I have heard of Filia before." Morgan said in a somewhat cautious tone. "She was some kind of weapons platform subject. One who integrates modern weaponry into her body. I remember seeing her a few times in the combat sector to train. I also recall she indeed had a sister or relative of some kind."

A subject who could integrate weapons. It made Thaddeus quite curious, as he calmly asked: "How does that integration work? Do the weapons just fuse with her, or does she have some sorta parts where weapons can easily attach to? Or is it somethin' else entirely?" Morgan shook her head. "From what I saw, she can form these mechanical objects on her back, to which the weapons attach. She could then control them, akin to some sort of monstrous machine." Morgan spoke in mild disgust, her clearly not too into the way Filia worked. Still, you wanted to know if there was more to her, asking Morgan what else she could tell. Unfortunately, Morgan would not come up with more after pausing to think. "There is not much else I can say, I'm afraid. I just know she is likely a troublemaker, and quite the killing machine. Chances are she is just like the rabbit subject you met before."

All throughout this conversation, Laura had kept rather quiet. You'd soon turn to her and ask her if she had anything to say regarding this topic. "Sorry, I'm a little blank about these subjects. AH-600 is one I've only heard about in passing. She's some sort of... combat electric eel subject, from what I remember. I just remember that the few people who interacted with her found her quite creepy... I know even less about SD-84 or 98-2-KO. I know that SD-84 was stored near the flooded section, but... I am not entirely sure about 98-2-KO." It was unfortunate that Laura knew so little about these two, since they did seem like some minor threats which you had to face. It did make you wonder if you could just throw poison in the waters to deal with those threats. Then again, you'd probably need a lot of the stuff if you wanted to clear out all the various threats likely looming the depths there. Not to mention, such an action likely harming other survivors down in those areas. Still, you had an acid gun which could maybe do something of a decent job.

For the time being though, you’d keep walking forwards. Your men kept on casually talking to each other, even as you passed the gruesome sight from before. You could tell the girls were still quite shocked by the bloody battle, but they didn’t say anything about it and just tried moving on. And soon enough, you’d pass the site of battle and find more clean and untouched hallways. You’d pass a few more janitor closets, none of which contained much of interest aside from cleaning supplies and some raw materials. Though you’d just keep moving as Derek spoke up soon after. “We’re about to reach another large office section. We can either keep heading south through it, or maybe use the stairwell to reach floors which are higher up.” Though as you kept walking, Mike would soon raise his hand. “Guys, guys, shhh.” He said in a panic, before you saw why he was suddenly so panicky. In the distance, through your thermal helmet, you could see distinct movement. It looked like four or so individuals, all of whom were heading southwards like you were. The others squinted their eyes and soon also saw them. “Crap, that’s two… I think guardsmen.” Laura mumbled, to which Ano spoke more cautiously. “They look scary.”

Though as you discussed how many there were, even though it was clear there were four of them, you’d see them pausing and clearly turning around. They had weapons on them, one appearing to be a sniper or anti-material rifle. “I… I think it’s those guardsmen from before.” Mike would say softly, at which point Morgan already formed a shield. “Let us fight them then! They shall lead us to their queen!” Of course, given that you wanted the element of surprise to be your main advantage, starting a fight with them now would prove fatal to your plan of using the element of surprise.

>What do you do next?

>Retreat into some of the side-rooms if possible. Maybe you could close them from the inside and make it so they don’t bother trying to enter? (Write in any specific ideas to help you hide)
>Retreat back as fast as possible. It was for the best you didn’t get spotted at all by these bastards. If that meant running back to where you came from, so be it. (Write in how far back you’ll go.)
>Send some of the subjects back or to a hiding location. You and your men could likely deal with these guardsmen on your own, given the gear you had. (Write in where you’ll send the subjects back to.)
>Go all in with everyone who was willing to fight by your side. Morgan could give cover, Chrys could maybe fly over them and use her sleeping chemicals to take them down, Oreas could maybe disorient them or just use her gun. All whilst your men did what they did best. (Write in any specific plans.)
>Try and signal the guys in a way that showed you weren’t there to harm them. Maybe they weren’t bad and you could avoid a deadly confrontation? (Write in how you’ll signal them.)
>Set up a quick plan right now. Maybe assign your men and the girls to certain roles for what was to come. (Write in your plan.)
>Something else…

(Managed to quickly slip this in to compensate for the lack of updates. Let's have some fun again, shall we?)

>>6042151
>Retreat into some of the side-rooms if possible. Maybe you could close them from the inside and make it so they don’t bother trying to enter? (Write in any specific ideas to help you hide)
They didnt catch us when they walked past before
We can just hide the rooms and attract no attention as the guards walk past.

>>6042151
>Retreat into some of the side-rooms if possible. Maybe you could close them from the inside and make it so they don’t bother trying to enter?
I have a feeling that we aren't going to find side rooms big enough for all of us.

>>6042151
>Go all in with everyone who was willing to fight by your side. Morgan could give cover, Chrys could maybe fly over them and use her sleeping chemicals to take them down, Oreas could maybe disorient them or just use her gun. All whilst your men did what they did best. (Write in any specific plans.)
Still don't think the queen has remote viewing capabilities. Morgan can go in and chop up their weapons while the crew lays down supporting fire.

>>6042522
I’m willing to support a fight with the guardsman once we get some cover. Morgan’s shield is probably not that big, and I don’t want to do a conga line behind her with like 8+ people. Also, if it’s the same group from before, one of the guardsmen has a grenade launcher. I don’t want to be in the open once he starts blasting.

>>6042542
So send her in while we shoot from the entrances of the side rooms?

>>6042223
Supporting. We still don't want to alert the queen we are nearby. If we strike now we negate the entire reason we tried hiding the first time.

>>6042566
Maybe, or we can wait until they get close enough for an ambush.
What you said about the queen not having remote viewing might be true, but I’m sure she can sense when one of her pawns dies or gets knocked out. There's also the risk of one of them radioing for backup. So I think its probably for the better that we do not engage with them.

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>>6042151
>Set up a quick plan right now. Maybe assign your men and the girls to certain roles for what was to come. (Write in your plan.)
Time for THE PLAN. Let's ambush them! A knife fight massively favours us since we get the surprise round and the AMR and 'nade launcher are going to be difficult to suicidal to use in CQC.
Step 1: Team splits into two to hide in the side rooms as best they can
Step 2: Send away all the girls. They go and stay out of the way, except for Morgan.
Step 3: Morgan deliberately makes some noise and movement to attract their attention.
Step 4: Guardsmen go to investigate, possibly opening fire, which Morgan can tank.
Step 5: Guardsmen are so focused on her they don't notice us when we spring the ambush.

Unlike last time, they clearly suspect we're here already and are going to be on the alert and actively searching and I don't think hiding in a substandard location is going to cut it this time. While successfully hiding would be great, I don't think it's the most likely outcome and any other result could spell disaster for our team. So, I say it's best we open fire on them before they attack us with heavy ordnance. The hallway is also dark and gloomy, so they shouldn't be able to tell who a vague partial silhouette further down the corridor is beyond grabbing their attention and baiting them into the trap. If it goes well, they should be riddled with bullets before they even realise what's going on, much less identify us.

I'd rather not have a fight, but I think we will have a fight and thus we have to bite the bullet and make sure it starts and finishes on our terms. Failing to do so could turn a highly inconvenient but recoverable loss of surprise into a loss of team members.

>>6042627
Based
I can always support high effort with drawings

>>6042627
You know what, fuck it. Changing my vote to support this. There's the risk of crossfire so we should wait a bit until they move further before shooting.

>>6042627
Currently 2-3 on avoiding vs engaging her forces, if we do she will be alerted, and in exchange for a few dead mindcontrolled gaurds, the rest of the operation becomes significantly more difficult. It also makes all previous efforts null.
Not much to say on that matter beyond that. Yall still have majority unless others vote.

>>6042702
>if we do she will be alerted
Yeah but what if this isn't true

>in exchange for a few dead mindcontrolled gaurds
Yeah but what if instead of killing them we captured them, tied them up so they couldn't kill themselves, then harvested samples of her nanites and used them to devise a cure for what she does.

>>6042723
>tied them up so they couldn't kill themselves
You'd be surprised how many ways you can kill yourself with no hands. If they don't have a kill switch of some kind I'll be surprised.

>>6042702
Here's the thing - you're not wrong. I know full well she'll be alerted that something happened and that this risks kicking the hornet's nest. I'd rather not engage, but I don't think we'll be able to avoid this one so the intention is to just take them out as quickly and efficiently as possible with them and her figuring out as little as possible. If it goes to plan, they won't even realise who's who or what's happening. If we tried to avoid them and failed, which I think is likely given the circumstances here, the results could be a disaster for us and that's not something I'm willing to risk either. Our crew comes before our mission.

>>6042723
>but what if it isn't true
if she can command them to die at any moment, and make it so they will always follow her orders, chances are it is.
also
There is no benefit we get out of testing if its true or not that is worth teh cost of being wrong.
None at all.
>to devise a cure for what she does
there is a cure
its called a bullet to the head, and would go alot quicker if we just focused on finding the queen.
Keeping them alive while they have a kill switch is nigh impossible.
>>6043012
We avoided the last one just fine, they walked right past us the same way, and we didn't expect them there either.
We stick in the rooms and if they find us we move in to ambush them due to close proximity, but otherwise if they walk by without doing shit like last time we are fine.

>>6043023
We only really disagree on a couple of points - that I think they're already alerted and will likely find us, and that I think not shooting first in that eventuality could be a fatal mistake. I understand your point of view and don't want to do this but, on those, we'll just have to disagree I'm afraid.

>>6042910
I do wonder what Vinny looks like, though you could probably replace her presence with just about anything and the meme would still be true.

>>6043023
>if she can command them to die at any moment, and make it so they will always follow her orders, chances are it is.
What if it's only the second, and she gave orders in advance to commit suicide if captured and escape was impossible? I mean, how many functions can her nanobots possibly have? Taking control of organics and even the nanobots of other subjects is already far more advanced than the physical boosts Caera had, and we know from her file the Queen also has her own set of physical boosts. You want me to believe that on top of that she can also maintain a constant remote connection to all "subjects" and share their senses? If she had this level of advanced tech, how come other subjects are so basic in comparison? Hell, if they can fit that much communication capability into nanobots why are we lugging around a radio and short range comms units?


>there is a cure
>its called a bullet to the head
At this point I'd say this is out of character.

>>6043107
Experimental Subjects are experimental. There wouldn't be an entire research base for shit we all had on us. That argument makes no sense. None of our subjects are the equivalent of vinella, or the slime subject, they arent equals and assuming they are is also foolish. Annie is capable of reading and accesing electornics acorss and entire fucking base and fuck with government comms, but a subject who has been proven to be able to kill switch/mind control those under can't be beleived to do so at moderate range?
If you want to engage at least make sense like this anon
>>6043057
Because your points don't hold so far.

>out of character.
The entire time i've been saying to just go and snipe the queen to avoid a shitshow.
if you think I meant the gaurds you misunderstood, I meant the entire point of us trying to sneak to the queen which was to put a bullter through HER head and end her entire faction.

If we end up going gun's blazing, so be it. But we will likely be overwhelmed and forced to retreat, or find the queen has long since escaped and is now a threat we will have to deal with later when she is better prepared for us. It is more trouble for less benefit.

Even if I end up being wrong about her being able to detect their deaths (this is possible), there is still the matter of it not being worth risk of being wrong, and also only a matter of time before they realize their patrol that should have come back is taking logner then it should, leading them to be on alert anyway.

As the other anon said, we are just gonna disagree on this matter.

>>6043107
>Hell, if they can fit that much communication capability into nanobots why are we lugging around a radio and short range comms units?

Because all subjects are experimental prototypes. Plus, Annie kind of can do that from what we've seen. She reports on a bunch of incidents across the facility despite the potential lack of power in vast swaths of the facility. So either she has a lot of connections or a lot more access to camera's than we think. For all we know she can make and set up miniature ones with her nanites that have their own internal power source. When we consider that the Queen is highly experimental in design and what a threat level 10 subject is capable of, if we presume she is at the same level as the other threat level 10 subjects it's not that hard to believe.

>>6042910
Very nice art. Hey, QM, how close is this to the actual Vinella?

>>6043179
>>6043218
>Annie is capable of reading and accesing electornics acorss and entire fucking base and fuck with government comms
>Plus, Annie kind of can do that from what we've seen. She reports on a bunch of incidents across the facility despite the potential lack of power in vast swaths of the facility.
That's Annie's whole thing though, and she deals with electronics that can broadcast EM waves long distances, while the Queen deals with organics.
Seriously, you guys don't think it's at all unlikely that the Queen not only has the Caera's nanite buffs in addition to her own complex organic and nanite control abilities, but also Annie's long distance communications despite not even working in the medium that lets Annie pull that off? What next? Is she going to be able to phase like Oreas too? Eat and manipulate metals like Morgan? When does it end? If there's no limit on the capabilities they can fit in her nanites why not just give her the abilities of every subject in the facility? Just saying "it's an experimental facility" doesn't explain why somehow her nanites are so far beyond all other subjects. Is she the only one? Are the other subjects not experimental? You accuse me of not making sense, but I'm feeling like I'm the only one here who is.

>>6042910
That is adorable art. Kamara should really use her camouflage ability. That could most certainly save her from being turned into a fine pulp by Vinella.

>>6043220
The head and body shape are perfect, but there are a lot of details missing. Tbf, that's expected given that Vinella's appearance hasn't really been disclosed yet. Honestly, I can give it plenty of credit for getting a lot right.

I was honestly a little tempted to post the picture for Vinella as a reference for the artanons to work with. But, I think it'll be better to keep that one in the back for a biiiit longer.

Anyway, I'm gonna wait to see if there are any more votes coming in or being switched to some of the other suggestions. As the other anon mentioned, there are 2 votes for retreating and 3 for the elaborate plan by this (>>6042627) anon.

>>6043249
I highly doubt she's anywhere near as bulky as Caera.
Experimental means none of them are standardized and vary widly.
Let me put it this way.
Take Chrys, put her in a cell with Vinella, and when the aftermath is a small little flesh puddle, you will see the difference between two "experimental" subject.
Threat level 10, does not mean they are dangerous in the exact same way. There are many ways to be a threat, being nigh industructable like vinella is not the only way, otherwise this entire facility would have just made 5 different types of subjects. Their abilities differ.
As you said, the queen deals with organics, I'm not saying she can control electronics, but the complexity of her ability to control organics shouldn't be under-estimated when that's the most emphasized part of her entire existance. She isn't beyond all other subjects, you put her against Vinella, she dies.

For the record, we said its an experimental facility becase you are somehow wondering why we don't have what the subjects do

"if they can fit that much communication capability into nanobots why are we lugging around a radio and short range comms units?"

We don't have it bc A. Its expensive as shit and B. It's new af. hence "experimental facility" is a fine response to that.
Either way at this point we just wait to see if anyone else votes or if its wraps anyway.

>>6043255
One more vote to draw, another for us to actually win.
Truly, dire times stealth gang.

>>6043249
Remind yourself that the only threat level 10 subjects we've ever encountered are Vinella who is gigantic and probably the only subject who could get smacked by our BFG and be shrug it off and Annie who can hijack and hack just about anything while having eyes and ears everywhere. It is possible the queen has full intel on everything her 'subjects' are doing, however I believe it's more reasonable to believe she can only least tell if they are alive or not. And if that is the case, they can tell where roughly they would be in their patrol or route to their objective and gain the information that someone or something strong enough to kill them is in that area.

It's also entirely possible that there is a few subjects worse than threat level 10 out there which are unknown at this time, so keep this in mind as well.

>>6043295
This anon also sums things up quite well.

>>6043295
>Take Chrys, put her in a cell with Vinella, and when the aftermath is a small little flesh puddle, you will see the difference between two "experimental" subject.
I attribute that more to Vinella's much higher focus on combat capability and size/resource allocation compared to Chrys rather than them both being experimental though.

>Threat level 10, does not mean they are dangerous in the exact same way. There are many ways to be a threat, being nigh industructable like vinella is not the only way, otherwise this entire facility would have just made 5 different types of subjects. Their abilities differ.
I agree with that. What I'm getting lost on is this - the Queen's control seems like a very complex ability. The ability to take control of organics and even the nanites of other subjects should easily threat level 8+ all on its own. Add in the physical enhancement from her file and you would think that her nanites were packed to the brim with functionality already. Then you guys come in and say no, she can also pull off communications similar to Annie, another level 10 subject, and when I say woah hang on isn't it a little implausible that she's got so many abilities I get told I'm not making sense.

>As you said, the queen deals with organics, I'm not saying she can control electronics, but the complexity of her ability to control organics shouldn't be under-estimated when that's the most emphasized part of her entire existance.
This isn't even control anymore though, it's long distance information gathering, transmission, and reception.

>She isn't beyond all other subjects, you put her against Vinella, she dies.
Combat capability isn't the beyond I'm talking about. As a level 10, Annie should have ability complexity pretty close to the peak of what this facility can accomplish. So when I'm told that the Queen can pull off what Annie can on top of physical buffs and her own very complex ability, something just seems off to me. Even if Vinella would still squash her in a second.

>For the record, we said its an experimental facility becase you are somehow wondering why we don't have what the subjects do
It's more that if the Queen's nanites are capable of all you say they are, I'm wondering why the gap between the subject's capabilities and our gear's capabilities is so unrealistically big.

>>6043319
>I believe it's more reasonable to believe she can only least tell if they are alive or not. And if that is the case, they can tell where roughly they would be in their patrol or route to their objective and gain the information that someone or something strong enough to kill them is in that area.
That is much more reasonable. Also means it's far from the end of the world if we do engage, since it could have been done by a random Roraima subject passing through. Given the state of the facility she shouldn't lock down for too long if she even does at all. Hell, she might send more troops out to investigate instead.

>Set up a quick plan right now. Maybe assign your men and the girls to certain roles for what was to come.
Whilst you still wanted to keep your presence a secret to the queen, you felt that fighting them was probably for the best. Obviously, you'd not go in blindly, since you didn't want to end up getting sniped. So, you told your men to retreat a little, as you wanted to head to the nearby janitor's closets. You quickly told your men the plan at hand, you suggesting it was time to get into close quarters combat. "Ooh, how splendid!" Morgan already said, your men simply nodding. "Okay, why are we retreating then?" Mike would ask a bit cautiously, Anon looking back and responding a bit more worriedly. "They're moving after us now!" Thaddeus remained confident though, speaking reassuringly. "Well they ain't shootin' us yet. Let's just listen to what Mik has in mind!" And with that, you'd explain your thought process. You told your men that you hoped to use the nearby side-rooms to hide in. You also told the girls to remain hidden, since they'd probably not enjoy getting in a firefight. The girls didn't seem to question it, as Laura gave a nod. "We'll try and retreat even further. Maybe Ano can help carry us away." Ano smiled brightly at the suggestion, ready to do as told.

You then turned to Morgan, asking her to act as a distraction a bit further ahead, creating some noise to distract the guardsmen. "Ah, I see what it is. Thou shall bring them to me so that I can masterfully disarm them and leave them unable to fight back!" You told her there was more to it, as you explained how she would likely take some fire which she could presumably tank. And as they approached and focused on her, you could get the jump in from the side and properly ambush them. "Well, we gotta hurry up then. These guys are gonna catch up soon!" Anon said, Zaria also speaking up a bit more worriedly. "Yeah, and they'll probably soon see us diving into a side room or something!"

In turn, Anofelis would grab Laura, Kamara, Chrys and Oreas, before speaking up. "I will run forwards with them. I will hide in the cafeteria. I think that will be safe." Zaria was quick to grab a radio from her bag, before throwing it at Laura. "Here, you guys could use this to communicate with us." She'd also give one to Morgan, as it seemed the plan was ready to be executed. Anofelis would put Laura, Kamara and Oreas on her back, Chrys simply flying beside her as they started running ahead. Morgan would also try heading forward as fast as possible, albeit ironically being somewhat slower than you and your men were. Still, this could be a good thing, since she was going to have to be the distraction in this plan. And fortunately, as you and the rest of your men rushed forward, you'd soon get near a section with two janitor's closets opposite of each other. You'd quickly enter one with Mike, Lars and Zaria. Thaddeus, Lydia, Derek and Anon would take the other room.

You were ready for the ambush, hearing Morgan soon run past you with relatively loud foot steps. You and your men would try and hide behind some of the cleaning equipment, trying your best not to be spotted. "We're ready." Derek would say over the comms to you, as you told everyone to keep as quiet as possible. And less than a minute later, you'd start hearing footsteps quickly approaching you. Though as they got closer to you, you worried that Morgan wouldn't alert them in time. Then again, if she was too slow to get a safe distance away, that could also mean that the guardsmen would take notice of her. She couldn't have gotten too far away from you guys, after all. Regardless, you'd hear the footsteps approaching, Zaria mumbling over the comms. "Why isn't Morgan yelling yet?!" You heard a soft hush from Mike, as the footsteps were a rather short distance away from you. More worryingly than that, they slowed down as they got closer and closer to the closets you were in. Did they know about your whereabouts? Was Morgan going to be too late with giving the signal?

You and your men got quite anxious, as the foot steps were now seconds away from slowly approaching the two closets. Everyone was dead silent, keeping their weapons at the ready but knowing full well this could end horrifically. But then, mercifully, you'd hear a familiar voice in the distance. "Fiendish soldiers! Drop thy weaponry!" You heard a pause in the footsteps, as the men presumably froze up in response to what was going on. "Yes, I can see thou in the distance! My eyes do not deceive me! Now, be smart and drop thy pathetic war gear, lest thou gets hurt!" You heard the footsteps starting to move past you, as they once more started speeding up to get to Morgan. If you were quick now, you could ambush them from the side or behind and get a quick victory in! All it would take was a quick word through your comms devices.

>What do you do next?

>Tell your men to leap out of hiding and shoot them. It was for the best to go for the kill here, as you didn't want the Queen to find out anything about who had murdered her men.
>Tell your men to get in a firing line behind the guardsmen. Aim your guns at them and tell them to drop their weapons. There was no way they could quickly turn around and shoot you and your men. Not without them getting filled with lead anyway.
>Get out of cover and shoot them in the legs and arms. Incapacitate them so that they could hopefully still be taken in for a quick questioning. Hopefully, the Queen couldn't easily figure out who you were through this quick battle.
>Something else...

(Mildly short update, but the plan worked well. So, guess you got options now in how you'll deal with this group. I presume you guys will try and kill them, but maybe you wanna try something else instead.)

>>6044135
>Get out of cover and shoot them in the legs and arms. Incapacitate them so that they could hopefully still be taken in for a quick questioning. Hopefully, the Queen couldn't easily figure out who you were through this quick battle.
nanobot samplesssss

>>6044135
Alright
Assuming cover fully blown.
And given they can be forced to kill themselves.

>Tell your men to leap out of hiding and shoot them. It was for the best to go for the kill here, as you didn't want the Queen to find out anything about who had murdered her men.
Shooting limbs only mostly works when they have a pain response. I expect them to completely power through it.
They said no words or made any sounds when they mindlessly charged towards Morgan, so we need to put them down. if we go for limbs, they will still atempt to harm us. Maybe have Morgan hold down the front most one, but keep him blindfolded/unable to hear jack shit.
That said. Gun the rest down.

>>6044141
>>6044155
This is tough because if she can see through them in the worst case scenario, not killing them is going to cause major problems for us and tell her we are coming. But if she isn't and can only tell if they are alive or not, killing them will tip her off somewhat and prevent us from getting information. Still, as the second anon said, shooting for the limbs mainly works when they have a pain response. Even if the shot causes major damage to the nerves and limits fine motor control those wounds would be far less devastating that if they could feel pain.

Going to see how discussion goes before deciding one way or another.

>>6044135
>More worryingly than that, they slowed down as they got closer and closer to the closets you were in.
I feel that if we had tried hiding, they would have checked the side rooms anyway.

>>6044196
We can still decide to remain hidden and let Morgan deal with them. The thing is, she’s not going to kill them, so the guardsmen will simply run away. The queen will only be alerted that there is a random subject going around breaking guns. We can even tell Morgan to go a separate way and let her cause havoc, so we can move forward while the queen and her minions are dealing with her.

>>6044207
out of all the options, have morgan deal with them slowly is not good. The enemy is 1. Alerted, regardless of what info they have on us, and 2. Is able to completely preserve their manpower. We just take a net lose in the engagement as a whole. At the very least I think we should put them down.
I don't think she can see through their eyes, I just think she can control them, and I rather have her have less pawns at her disposal. like we kill them now and she senses their death, but if we let them go she still gets alerted and we got no benefit from it.

>>6044135
>Tell your men to leap out of hiding and shoot them. It was for the best to go for the kill here, as you didn't want the Queen to find out anything about who had murdered her men.
Nowt for it. Honestly, it's more of a mercy kill for these guys deep under Feng's control, and they won't be cooperative and will just try and kill us and/or themselves. If she has the ability to read their minds or someshit (which she might not, what we know in-character is still very limited and even the OOC knowledge is unclear), she'll likely recognise Morgan (she is very distinctive and quite well-known) and realise that she's working alongside people with guns (since they get shot), but nothing more. So long as we don't pull out any heavier weaponry, I think she'll chalk us up as a group of guardsmen tagging along with ND-12, since she has little else to go on with no previous encounters with us and death squads fielding subjects is unheard of and limited to just us or is it?

Afterwards, we can steal their weaponry (both mundane for spares and the heavy stuff) mmmmm..... imagine Oreas with a grenade launcher, take some photos for bounties and some nanobot samples and beat a hasty retreat. Or maybe we can set up a better hiding spot nearby and wait to see who comes knocking in response?

>>6044135
>>Tell your men to leap out of hiding and shoot them. It was for the best to go for the kill here, as you didn't want the Queen to find out anything about who had murdered her men.

>Tell your men to leap out of hiding and shoot them. It was for the best to go for the kill here, as you didn't want the Queen to find out anything about who had murdered her men.
With the enemy turned around, you told your men to go for the kill. There was going to be no mercy this time around. You'd rush out of the room with your guns in hand, aiming at them and right away firing. You saw that it were the five guardsmen from before, one holding up their grenade launcher. The one with the anti material rifle was already scoped in and carefully moving forward. The five of them would try to turn around, but by then it was already too late. You heard gunshots go off beside you, seeing some of the men stumbling and falling to the floor. None of them had the time to aim their guns at you, as they were quickly executed. You didn't care to aim for the legs or arms, just shooting them in the chest or head as you saw fit. Given the sheer proximity and strength of your weaponry, their armour did little to save them.

For a short while, the bangs of shotguns, rifles, pistols and carbines went off. And only a short while after you began the execution, it was over. The five guardsmen were lying on the floor, blood quickly pooling below them. Still, your men kept their guns at the ready, just in case they were super soldiers or something. "Targets are down." Thaddeus would mumble over the comms device, you hearing Morgan speak quite eagerly. "Such a swift and brutal execution. Could I return to you now?" You told her to wait for a moment, as you'd check up on the bodies to make sure they were dead. "I'll check." Anon would say calmly, as he carefully approached the five guardsmen. "Be careful. They could be acting. Or perhaps have some sorta explosives on them to take down whoever killed them.." Mike said cautiously, which made Lars scoff. "Oh come now, how would that even work?" Mike still seem quite serious, responding. "May I remind you of what happened to Arty?"

Whilst it was true that a trapped corpse did hurt Artyom, it seemed somewhat unlikely that these guys would have traps on them like that. Why the hell would the queen put potentially dangerous explosives on her own guardsmen, when she could clearly just kill them from range without impeding their normal missions? Still, it was always good to be vigilant. Though as Anon check the bodies, he'd soon come to an obvious yet comforting conclusion. "They're all dead." Your men lowered their guns, as it seemed that you had come out with an easy victory. "Nice work everyone." Thaddeus would say in turn, your men seeming most pleased with another win under your belt. "Let's go take some pictures right away. Can't wait to get paid for this catch!" Zaria said, Derek speaking more curiously. "Lars, can you help me get a sample of their blood? We can maybe look into the nanites which are in there. If that is where they are."

Your men were already hard at work with thinking of ways to profit from this victory. And there was still plenty for you to gain out of this victory. Their gear, whilst maybe damaged during the fight, could be quite useful to you and your men. The only real negative to all of this was that you didn't know if the queen would know about this. She did know when one of her men was captured by those paranoid guardsmen from before. Would she know that you had killed these guys? Would she know about Morgan, given that they clearly saw her and went after her? What if she could see you in the moments where they turned around and you shot them? There were dozens of questions left unanswered. (Un)Fortunately, you didn't really have many options to figure out these things, so it was just for the best to focus on the good you had gotten out of this fight.

And as your men were getting busy looking over the bodies and what you could do with them, you'd tell them what you wanted to do. You wanted to take their weaponry right away, looking over everything they had. The grenade launcher looked like it belonged to a Lodger division, or maybe even something used by Diamond Dogs. The anti material rifle was definitely one used by a Heroes' soldier. The other three had far simpler weapons, albeit none being guardsmen weaponry. They were all clearly quite modern death squad weaponry designed to kill people rather than to subdue subjects. Already, Lydia and Zaria were getting pictures of the corpses, whilst Lars and Derek were busy looking for the best place to get nanite samples from their body. Thaddeus would talk over the comms device to try and reach Laura, telling her to return to you guys.

It seemed everything had gone quite well. Though perhaps your men were rushing things just a tiny little bit?

>What do you do next?

>Just let your men continue doing as they were doing. You wanted blood samples, weapons, pictures and as much valuable intel out of these things ASAP.
>Tell your men to wait with gathering all the materials from the corpses and first do something else. Maybe think of a plan on what to do with these guys before trying anything.
>Try and take the bodies back to the main base right away. The government could pay you for the kills right away, as well as take some blood samples themselves to see what was up with these guys.
>Retreat right away. The queen's forces could maybe track them down, meaning she could send reinforcements over which could spell trouble to you and your men...
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6045093
>Just let your men continue doing as they were doing. You wanted blood samples, weapons, pictures and as much valuable intel out of these things ASAP.

:(
Can Laura do anything with their blood to collect and analyze the nanites or do we need to take the bodies back to GalGov?

>>6045093
>Just let your men continue doing as they were doing. You wanted blood samples, weapons, pictures and as much valuable intel out of these things ASAP.
A tragic end. But we must continue.

>>6045093
>>Just let your men continue doing as they were doing. You wanted blood samples, weapons, pictures and as much valuable intel out of these things ASAP.
Just one killshot on the queen, its all we need.

File: AnofelisLodger.png (241 KB, 688x600)

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In 2332, Lodger mercenary Anofelis Toxori
was asked what it felt to take a human life, she responded by scratching her head, "I don't know, I've never killed anyone"

Reuploaded because I forgor her wings, like I always do.

>>6045093
>Just let your men continue doing as they were doing. You wanted blood samples, weapons, pictures and as much valuable intel out of these things ASAP.
We are all in agreement here. Just be quick so we can get the hell out of here before the Queen sends scouts or figures out we are planning to give her the Antoinette treatment.

>>6045955
Fantastic work. The flashlight attachment on her horn is a great touch. Quote is fitting to, I wouldn't be surprised if Ano actually never kills anyone. Ever. Also I think you are getting better at your craft.

>>6045955
I'd say that's adorable, but that's sorta a given with Ano. Everything's better alongside her fellow squadmate Oreas Macraei.

>>6046056
Since I said that, all fucking day I've been thinking of Oreas as the Soldier from TF2. Can't stop chuckling at work.

>>6045093
yknow I was contemplating this earlier today
>Retreat right away. The queen's forces could maybe track them down, meaning she could send reinforcements over which could spell trouble to you and your men...
I do think she can track them down. So maybe have someone stand guard, maybe have lydia send a drone to see if anyone is coming and have morgan in the front as cover for us while we are scoping the bodies. JUST IN CASE. If shit does get bad we'd need cover for us to withdraw.

>>6046476
just to clarify I'm not changing my vote, im just taking account the possibility so we don't get completely screwed just in case.

>>6045955
This is truly adorable. She has no clue what she is doing, but she's still trying her best to be a good soldier.

Also, did you draw that Hapi in the Quest Art General? It looks like your style, but I could be wrong and it was drawn by someone else. Whoever drew it, feel free to post it here to share with the other players.

>>6046451
Oreas as soldier is definitely an amusing way of looking at her. I can imagine years of being with your men would eventually make her kinda like Soldier, albeit far more sane.

Also, fun fact: Dhabus can rocket jump like Soldier. Because physics is her bitch.

Also also, Evander in my mind does sometimes just look and sound like demoman, for obvious reasons.

Anyway, time to work on the update. I'm so close to being done with the fucking essay, so I can hopefully wrap up the final bit of writing tomorrow for that.

File: OREASSOLDIER.png (153 KB, 800x600)

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>>6046451

>>6046511
Yeah that was me, I forgot to post it here. >>6042043

>Just let your men continue doing as they were doing. You wanted blood samples, weapons, pictures and as much valuable intel out of these things ASAP.
Seeing them all doing their jobs, you felt that they were all doing well enough. You didn't need to step in and tell them what to do. You did tell them that they had to be quick, since you didn't want more of the Queen's scouts to come over. "How quickly would they even come here?" Mike asked cautiously, to which Derek responded calmly. "I imagine it won't take too long. So yeah, let's hurry up." After Thaddeus had contacted Laura, he'd check over the guns and looked over any and all material they had on them. Meanwhile, Lydia and Zaria would take some pictures, opting to take pictures of the guys with and without weaponry. "Maybe a good idea to show pictures of the guys without any Death Squad weapons. Last thing we want is for them to harass us and ask those weapons back." Zaria would say, which definitely begged the question if maybe it was better to just bring the weapons back to the other squads. Whilst it was cool to have an extra grenade launcher and an actual anti-material rife, you already had plenty of weapons on you. Besides, who would even wield them?

Meanwhile, Lars and Derek had managed to get some blood samples, with Derek looking over the rest of the bodies. He soon took off one of the guardsmen's helmets. The guy looked rather normal, all things considered. He had a few scrapes and injuries, though they didn't appear like anything out of the ordinary. The guardsmen had the strange silver circle etched into their head, which was a bit concerning. Derek would even ask Lars to cut into it and maybe take a sample from that section, as it was presumably some kind of mark of the queen. You'd soon ask if Lydia or Laura could maybe try anything with the blood, Lydia seeming rather hesitant. "Suppose we should ask Laura once she and the others get back over here."

Soon after, you'd look to Anon and Mike, asking them to maybe stand guard at the front. You realised you needed someone to watch out for incoming threats, Anon and Mike being the best options since they were already just watching. "Of course." Anon said as he and Mike would already step back a little to watch down the hallway. You'd also ask Lydia if she could maybe prepare another drone to go down the hallway, to which she nodded. "Sure, but we do only have... one flying and one crawler drone left. Might have to be careful with them, since we don't wanna lose them." With her having wrapped up taking pictures of the corpses, Lydia would get ready to send in another drone. And as she went to work, Morgan would return quite casually. "Looks like the plan worked splendidly, huh? T'is a shame they had to be murdered so barbarically. I would've destroyed their cruel weaponry and kept them alive with my blade." Zaria groaned in response. "Yeah, because keeping the Queen's trackers alive surely would've helped us out."

Obviously, it wasn't 100% proven that the queen could track her subjects down yet. Though you did think it was a very likely option, one which needed some precautions. You'd tell Morgan that she could help out right now by providing further cover. You needed a shield for cover. "Of course. May I ask though, why does the modern soldiery not have shields of their own? I am yet to find anyone wielding a shield, despite the protection it gives!" This was met with a rather straight answer from Thaddeus, who was once again a little irked with the comments Morgan provided. "It isn't exactly practical. Besides, we can't really form shields easily like you can." This made Morgan scoff, as she stepped between Mike and Anon and formed her shield. "Perhaps my success with shields shall bring them back into this barbaric world, along with other forms of chivalry?" There was a soft groan from Zaria, as the rest of your men just tried their best to ignore what was being said.

"Alright, we got multiple blood samples now." Lars would say as he held up some small vials. A few contained blood, whilst others contained bits of flesh from the forehead region. Specifically, chunks containing the metal of the strange symbol. Thaddeus quickly responded in turn. "I got all the weapons and ammo as well. They had some grenades on 'em, some food items but nothin' else of value. No tablet, no maps or anythin'. Either they knew where they were goin', or their queen has a lot of faith in 'em to go the right direction." It was unfortunate that this wouldn't help you much in finding the queen. However, you at least got some weapons from them which was good enough. Not to mention, getting paid for these kills. And as it seemed like you were done with getting all the materials from the corpses which you wanted, you would see Laura return with the girls in tow. You saw Anofelis, Chrys and Oreas looking a little disturbed at the corpses. Oreas and Chrys just tried looking away as best as they could, whilst Anofelis really kept staring at the bodies.

Kamara was hiding behind Laura, covering her eyes a little as she was definitely not fond of the sight. Laura looked quite calm though, seeming more disappointed than disgusted. "So, guess your plan worked out quite well. Did anyone get injured?" Laura asked right away, you shaking your head as you explained how well everything had gone. "Did... did they die fast?" Laura soon asked, to which you nodded. Laura let out a sigh, looking over the bodies before speaking more sombrely. "That's reassuring, at least." She was clearly pained by the death of her fellow co-workers. You told her it was indeed quite tragic, but that it was also probably in their interest. They were free from the queen's influence now. Besides, you had to keep going as well and didn't have many options to save these poor guys. "Yeah, I understand. It still is painful though. I would've rather not confronted them and potentially save them later."

It was definitely admirable that she still wanted to save these guys. But given how they had spotted you before you could try and hide, this really was your only option. Especially considering all the unknowns with the queen. "Did they at least have anything of use on them?" You pointed to the guns which Thaddeus had, as well as referring to the blood samples Lars and Derek had gotten. You’d ask if she could run some tests on that blood, which made Laura look quite hesitant. “If we find a decently functional laboratory, maybe? Not entirely sure what I can find out with it though.” Oreas spoke up a bit more optimistically in turn. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find something, Laura. Especially with help from Lydia and Derek!” You could tell Lydia and Derek enjoyed the compliment quite a bit, with Derek even responding: “I’d gladly help out with figuring the stuff out.”

Laura still seemed sceptical, but she’d not decline the offer. “Alright. If we find anything which can work, I’ll try it. I cannot promise anything though.” Shortly after, she’d look over the bodies again, before bringing up an important question. “So, what do we do now?” Your men had finished all their tasks. You had gotten some useful equipment from the corpses, gotten samples which you could test and had taken plenty of pictures. Lydia had also prepared the crawler drone, ready to send it forward to see if anyone was approaching.

>What do you do next?

>Send the pictures of the bodies to the main base so you could get paid for the kills. Then leave them here or in a nearby janitor’s closet so you could maybe retrieve them later. (Choose whether you wanna send in the pic with or without the stolen weapons.)
>Burn the bodies right away. You didn’t know if the queen could still track her dead servants. Leaving them here could potentially mean she could retrieve them for whatever sick reason she might have.
>Take some of the equipment, like the grenade launcher, anti-material rifle and grenades along. You could maybe use them in whatever confrontations you found yourself in next. (Write in what you’ll take and who you’ll hand what to.)
>Bring the bodies back to the base. You could also hand the blood sample over to the government there, as well as the equipment which the other death squads probably wanted back.
>Head forward once more. You couldn’t retreat now. Besides, you were just about to reach a nice office to explore further.
>Something else…

(>>6046548 Goddamn you work fast. And it looks so good too. Oreas will learn well under Soldier.)

(Anyway, you guys better make (>>6045955) picrel a reality by now giving Anofelis the anti material rifle. It's not even a good idea, since she'll totally not know how to use it. But that doens't matter because it'll be hilarious.)

>>6046620
>Send the pictures of the bodies to the main base so you could get paid for the kills. Then leave them here or in a nearby janitor’s closet so you could maybe retrieve them later. (Choose whether you wanna send in the pic with or without the stolen weapons.)
Without

>Take some of the equipment, like the grenade launcher, anti-material rifle and grenades along. You could maybe use them in whatever confrontations you found yourself in next. (Write in what you’ll take and who you’ll hand what to.)
Give Chrys the anti material rifle and grenade launcher because it'll be hilarious
Give Anofelis the grenades because it'll be even more hilarious

>Head forward once more. You couldn’t retreat now. Besides, you were just about to reach a nice office to explore further.

>>6046620
>Send the pictures of the bodies to the main base so you could get paid for the kills. Then leave them here or in a nearby janitor’s closet so you could maybe retrieve them later.
Without. We can bring that up later.
>Take some of the equipment, like the grenade launcher, anti-material rifle and grenades along. You could maybe use them in whatever confrontations you found yourself in next.
Distribute the grenades among our more lightly armed squad members, use one to boobytrap one of the bodies. Two can play at that game, bitch.
We take the nade launcher and Thaddeus can keep hold of the AMR for now, but I'd like to give it to Lars when he's back with us.
>Head forward once more. You couldn’t retreat now. Besides, you were just about to reach a nice office to explore further.
Vorwärts!

Oh, and leave a hidden trail cam at the ambush site. Might catch someone coming to investigate.

(It looks like Ano is holding a HMG more than an AMR)

>>6046548
Soon, that maggot will become a real man. We don't discriminate based on gender.
I look forward to the war crimes we will commit together after he's through with her.

>>6046620
We can send the pictures later
Not like we can't turn then in later.
Other then that
>>6046732
Support

File: PAINIS WEAKNESS LEAVING T(...).png (242 KB, 800x591)

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>>6046732
Supporting. Isn't Thaddeus already carrying the Plasma railgun? He got the strongman trait but carrying two heavy guns might be a bit too much.

>>6046732
Nothing like dropping the fresh meat in a 24/7 2FORT server

Mental note: Oreas has 5 fingers like the rest of us.

>>6046943
Oh shit, he is. QM, can you add that to his equipment list on the squad sheet?

Damn, I'm not sure who else to give it to carry since 2 out of 3 of our heavies is in the hospital and I can't think of any of our squad members with us who could make much use of it. Mike maybe?

Soon, eepy eel talloli. Soon.

>>6047092
Give it to Ano, give to her a quick trigger safety course about that gun and let her carry, she's strong enough to carry it and she'll like to help us.

>>6047097
fuck yeah, get her started on >>6045955

Uhh, why are you requesting body armour in women's fit 80XL with extra fluff space and special three-clawed gloves?
No reason, sir!

>>6046732
Supporting

>>6046943
You really keep knocking it out of the park, huh.

>Send the pictures of the bodies to the main base so you could get paid for the kills. Then leave them here or in a nearby janitor’s closet so you could maybe retrieve them later.
>Take some of the equipment, like the grenade launcher, anti-material rifle and grenades along. You could maybe use them in whatever confrontations you found yourself in next.
After Laura asked what would happen next, you'd tell them that you intended to head forward again. Though you also had a few other things you quickly wanted to do right away. You'd first ask Derek if he could quickly set up a camera in the room you had hidden in for the ambush. Derek gave a nod, heading over to Zaria to get a camera. Speaking of which, you told Lydia and Zaria to send pictures of the corpses over to the main base WITHOUT the weapons present. You could bring them back at a later time and use them for yourself right now. You already had quite a few ideas for who should wield some of the weapons. And they were not limited to your own men.

You'd tell your men to grab some of the grenades which Thaddeus had collected of the corpses. There were only 6 of them in total, but that still gave your men plenty of extra bang to work with. However, your two next suggestions raised a few eyebrows. You told Anofelis to pick up the anti material rifle. Given how large and somewhat cumbersome it was, you felt that she could honestly wield it quite well. To her, it was actually quite a simple thing to carry around. Or at the very least, it was manageable. "Okay." Anofelis remarked calmly, grabbing the large weapon with her four arms. Thaddeus would signal to you, before softly asking the question which was on everyone's mind. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" You explained that, given the weight of the weapon, Anofelis was the only one who could logically hold onto it. Unless if you wanted Morgan to begrudgingly carry it. Anofelis didn't have to use it anyway. She just had to carry it around somewhat safely.

"Well, let's hope she can keep a safe hold on it." Laura said after listening in. Your men were already looking a bit worriedly at Anofelis and the way she held the gun. She at least was smart enough to keep her hands away from the trigger, though wasn't entirely careful with where she pointed the thing. "Ano, please do be careful with it. Don't just point it at people, okay?" Lydia would say calmly, Ano gasping before pointing the gun away from you guys. "Sorry! I'll try and be careful with it!" She responded quickly, much to your relieve. She wasn't just going to point it in random directions and would actually be careful. Though, this did leave you with the grenade launcher. You would put away your pulse rifle, before grabbing the grenade launcher. Whilst a guillotine would be quite difficult to find in this place, this could be a solid replacement for it. A weapon which could hopefully take down the queen with ease.

>Head forward once more. You couldn’t retreat now. Besides, you were just about to reach a nice office to explore further.
With the camera set up and the weapons accounted for, you told your men it was time to finally head forward again. It was tempting to set up a trap akin to the one Artyom was injured by. However, since Arty wasn't exactly here to help set it up, you just moved on. You didn't have much trap equipment on you now anyway. Thus, you'd lead the way once again. "Drone shows no signs of activity ahead of us. I've already reached the offices, and it seems we're safe. I'll keep you updated though!" Lydia said as she checked her tablet. Meanwhile, you'd look over the rest of your men. Or more specifically, the girls. They were clearly quite shocked by the corpses, though less-so than before. Perhaps they were starting to get used to the sight of death? That, or they knew that killing the queen's guardsmen was the only viable option. Whatever the reason was, it was good to see them getting used to the brutalities of this conflict.

Regardless, you'd mostly just focus on what was ahead of you, your men half expecting a sign that some of the queen's forces would approach. Though as you kept walking, the focus instead went towards the queen's abilities. "I really do hope the element of surprise hasn't been ruined by this encounter. It'd be a shame if the queen knew we were hunting for her." Mike would bring up, Lars speaking up a bit more worriedly. "My concern is that she could maybe connect the dots and realise that Morgan was working with us. Even if she can't abuse the knowledge that easily, it's still scary to think that someone down here knows that we're working with subjects." Your men tried to remain optimistic. Surely, the queen wouldn't realise there was a death squad who worked with subjects. Besides, what could she do with said intel anyway? It's not like she could easily tell the government or other death squads about this. Still, it was something worth thinking about. Hopefully, Laura, Lydia and Derek could find out the limitations to the queen's powers soon enough. That, or maybe you could find actual subjects who knew about the queen.

After some time of walking southwards, you'd once more reach the office space ahead of you. As you got closer, you saw the drone Lydia was using. It was watching over the entrance to the office in case anything came out. "Suppose I could make it head further forward now, in case there's anyone waiting in there for us." Lydia remarked, which was a potentially solid idea. Though Derek would also mention something quite important. "I actually looked at the tablet to see where we can head from this office. It seems that we can head deeper if we go east in the office. We can also head more towards the surface, or keep heading southwards towards a large assembly space. It doesn’t say what it’s about though, but I imagine it’ll probably be something akin to the sector to the north of here.”

You had plenty of options ahead of you as you approached the office space. You could already look inside to see plenty of small testing chambers, cubicles and all sorts of other research related spaces. Perhaps it was worthwhile to explore some of those spaces for further intel. Or maybe it was better to take the route downwards to get deeper into the facility? If there was one place where the queen likely resided, it would be somewhere deep within the bowels of the facility.

>What do you do next?

>Explore the offices first and foremost. You could explore it for some time and see depending on how much valuable intel you found there. That, or you could try and look for something specific down there. (Write in what you’ll look for first or if you’ll search in a specific way.)
>Just find the quickest direction to head eastwards and into the depths of the facility. Whatever was in this office was trivial compared to the findings you could make in the deeper parts.
>Find the way towards the upper floors. Given how the crater didn’t give easy access to those higher floors, they could actually be somewhat worth exploring as well. People could easily be hiding there.
>Just pass through the offices and head further southwards. There were even larger and more unique spaces further to the south from here, which could be worth exploring further.
>Tell Lydia to send in the drone first. Perhaps it was a good idea to first explore the space ahead of you before actually trying to go through it.
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

(>>6046943 Goddamn, these are just getting better and better! Now I just imagine Oreas saying some of the finest soldier quotes. Just imagine her killing waves of guardsmen whilst yelling "Each and every one of you will be sent home to your momma' in a box!")

>>6047159
>Explore the offices
For that gun Ano is holding, we switched the safety on, right?

>>6047159
>Just find the quickest direction to head eastwards and into the depths of the facility. Whatever was in this office was trivial compared to the findings you could make in the deeper parts.
Down and down into the deep,
Who knows what we'll find beneath?

Subjects specifically noted to be deeper in this quadrant include Hapi and Plague Girl, and there's doubtless all kinds of undocumented horrors around every corner too. Possibly 8-EM as well, no sign of her yet.

>>6047159
>Explore the offices first and foremost. You could explore it for some time and see depending on how much valuable intel you found there. That, or you could try and look for something specific down there. (Write in what you’ll look for first or if you’ll search in a specific way.)
We can do a very short search while we have Lydia
>Tell Lydia to send in the drone first. Perhaps it was a good idea to first explore the space ahead of you before actually trying to go through it.

>>6047552
Supporting this We may as well be thorough before marching on into the depths.

>Explore the offices first and foremost. You could explore it for some time and see depending on how much valuable intel you found there. That, or you could try and look for something specific down there.
>Tell Lydia to send in the drone first. Perhaps it was a good idea to first explore the space ahead of you before actually trying to go through it.
Given the sheer size of the space, and the fact that there wasn't much reason to rush things right now, you opted to explore the offices first. It would be a short search where you could look just check if the place actually had anything of value. Though, you did tell Lydia to also send in the drone. Just in case there was anything hiding in the crevices which was waiting for an ambush. "On it." She would make the drone lead the way, you following it into the offices. Right away, you were met with a large open space akin to the previous few offices you had found. There was a reception area like the one you found at the green section, albeit far smaller and a lot less dirty. It all looked surprisingly untouched, your men looking around and finding there were plenty of directions to head into. "Suppose we should just head forward. I can see plenty of containment chambers ahead of us." Thaddeus would remark, after which Derek turned to Laura and spoke up. "Say, Laura, can you tell us a bit about this place? Where would we find the most useful things?"

Laura would step forward and looked around. There were a number of directions she'd look at, checking the left and right path, as well as the path ahead. She'd soon point at the reception, before speaking up. "There's a stairwell over there which leads to the upper floors. I imagine those will have some worthwhile information for you to comb through." You could see that there was an elevator near the stairs, though it probably didn't work anymore. It probably wasn't exactly worth trying to open the door and see if it did still work somehow.

You'd tell your men to start looking around the place, which resulted in some of them going wherever they felt was the best place to go. Zaria, Mike and Lars would head up the stairs right away, clearly wanting to explore that place together. Laura and Oreas would head over to Lydia and Derek, before suggesting they head towards some of the containment chambers. Anofelis would join Thaddeus and Anon, you quickly telling her about the safety on the AMR. "Safety?" She said, at which point Thaddeus would step forward. "Aye, let me help ya out here." As those three would head down the main path as well, you were left with Kamara, Morgan Chrys, the latter stepping over to you. "Suppose we can stay here and wait for the others to return. Or maybe just check out the nearby rooms and such." Of course, you did warn your men to stay nearby, as you didn't want anyone splitting off and going too far away from you. The last thing you wanted was another ambush, after all.

Your men would immediately tell you over the comms that they'd stay in contact. It was the best option, given that you just wanted to quickly scan this place over. And with that, you would also start looking around. You'd check the nearby desks, checking through the papers with the help of Chrys. It wasn't too much, just showing a few documents about tests which were ran throughout this place over the last few weeks. There were some files stating what future experiments would be, most not being related to subjects sadly. You'd keep rummaging through everything you could find, skimming over the details. In the meantime, Kamara anxiously looked around, fidgeting a little bit. "Ummm, s-so w-what is the plan, a-anyway? A-Are we really gonna s-search for the q-queen?" Kamara asked nervously, you confirming that was the main goal. Though that first meant finding a path to them. "I'm sure we'll find something soon enough. I just wonder what the queen's gonna be like. I hope she won't be extremely evil." Chrys responded in turn, making Morgan scoff.

"I would like to see the same. Though, hoping and presuming she is peaceful for some reason would be foolish. We hae already seen and heard what she is capable of." Kamara and Morgan seemed certain that the queen was a monster, something you were also inclined to believe. Despite that, Chrys did try and keep a bit of optimism. "Well, we thought Viridian was quite scary as well, but she ended up being harmless too, right? I'm just... maybe I'm being too optimistic, but it always helps to be hopeful, right?" It was perhaps not the best idea to assume the queen was kind. All the signs pointed to her being evil? Though, the Viridian example did make some sense at the very least. "We shall see. For the time being, I shall assume she is a vile tyrant. Someone who shall suffer at the tip of my blade!" Morgan responded in turn, eagerly holding her sword up.

Soon, you decided to go a direction which the rest of your group didn't take, heading rightwards past some of the containment chambers. You'd pass by dozens of cubicles, monitoring stations which looked over test chambers, as well as some larger spaces which were presumably for designing things. "I must admit. I am a little bit nervous that someone or something will pop out from one of the rooms at some point." Chrys soon remarked, Kamara seeming to sympathize whilst Morgan was more intrigued. "Well, what reason do you have to be nervous? You have myself and Mik to protect you if something dares to try and attack you!" You quickly reminded Chrys of the gun you had given her, as well as pointing to your grenade launcher. "Yes, Mik also has those two things." Morgan would say with a hint of dismissiveness, before Chrys would sway her head a little. "I know, I know. You two can easily save us from trouble. I just... well, I'm just kinda worried given..." Chrys raised her pistol, giving a rather awkward look at it before putting it down and letting out a quiet sigh.

"I suppose I'm just scared that something will go wrong. That I'll accidentally pull the trigger and hurt someone, or that... I-I shoot someone who isn't actually a threat." It was a rather genuine concern, one which Kamara would actually help out with a little. "T-The fact... y-you're concerned about th-that i-is quite... r-reassuring, y-you know? I-I mean... i-it m-means you'll b-be careful a-and thoughtful. T-That you'll... b-be responsible w-with it!" Kamara made a solid point, even if she didn't sound too certain about it. It made Chrys nod understandably, before looking a bit more curiously at you. "Maybe it's something I'll get more comfortable with over time." After a short pause where you walked past some empty and abandoned offices, Chrys looked up at you again. "Mik, did... did you ever have a similar feeling?" You'd ask for some elaboration on the question, Chrys starting to fidget with her hands a little. "What I mean is, ummm... were you ever scared of hurting innocent people? Or that things would go wrong?" It was a rather peculiar question. Though perhaps it could be worthwhile discussing this further with Chrys. Both to comfort her a little bit, and to maybe also open up a bit more to the girls.

>What do you do next?

>Tell Chrys what you feared, or that you never really feared anything during your job. It was a complex topic which everyone viewed differently, but maybe you could tell her something which could help her out. (Write in however you wanna answer her question.)
>Tell Chrys you can't really answer that question. Now was not the time to discuss it, or you wanted to focus on something else instead. (Write in what you'll tell her.)
>Contact the rest of your men over the comms to ask them what they had found, if anything. Maybe they had already discovered something more enticing than simple office cubicles?
>Just keep exploring the place ahead of you. There were still numerous chambers and offices to explore. Perhaps one of them would have some files of interest.
>Head elsewhere. This route clearly didn't go anywhere of interest. Besides, you could catch up with the rest of your men sooner if you headed back now. (Write in where you'll head instead.)
>Something else...

(Apologies for the delay. I got a little stuck with this update, but I think I got something good out of it.)

(Also, >>6048571 she kinda reminds me of jeremy clarkson bringing out his 'hoe' to do some 'gardening'. Truly adorable. T'is a shame she's closer to the combat section than to where you currently are. Definitely ought to move her closer for fun.

>>6049155
>Tell Chrys what you feared, or that you never really feared anything during your job. It was a complex topic which everyone viewed differently, but maybe you could tell her something which could help her out.
It's something you fear every day. Not just that you'll make a mistake and innocents will suffer for it, but that like so many others in your line of work you'll just stop caring. All you can do is trust in your training, pass on the jobs that are obviously just terrorizing an unarmed populace, and spare those who don't deserve death.