"Ooh, well done, Oreas!" Laura was quick to respond, Oreas smiling brightly. "Heh, thanks. I was mostly worried that I'd apply too much power to the thing and break it. Or that it just wouldn't work due to it being damaged." Oreas looked at the light, before looking up at Kamara, who was quietly crawling across the ceiling whilst mimicking the looks of it. "Uhhh, Kamara, may I give some feedback?" Kamara paused, clearly surprised by the sudden offer. "Oh, um, sure Oreas! W-What is it?" Oreas would stand up and get right below Kamara. "Can you move a little bit again? Just... do as you were just doing!" Kamara nodded, once more crawling across the ceiling. "Hmmm, you may wanna slow down the pattern speed a little bit. You're currently mimicking bits of the ceiling which are ahead of you, which makes you pretty easy to spot." Kamara would look a little disappointed, letting out a sigh. "Okay, I'll try. It's just... really difficult. I'm only ever used to changing colours whilst sitting still."

Oreas spoke up in a rather supportive tone. "Hey, you're doing a pretty good job already! And once you've mastered camouflaging on the go, you can try and speed things up and maybe learn how to rapidly switch colour whilst escaping." Kamara nodded, as she'd once again go back to crawling around, this time trying to find the perfect spot of shifting her colours whilst moving. Though as she did this, Laura would soon hear something from outside. She'd grab the pistol she had before shushing everyone. "Shhhh, someone's coming." She said, as Chrys would drop her books and head to Anofelis. "Ano, wake up! Someone's coming!" Meanwhile, Oreas would get a more defensive position. Kamara remained attached to the ceiling, as she headed for the room with Ingmar and Morgan. Though as Laura would peak near the entrance, she'd soon hear a soft voice. "Hello? A-Anyone? I-I was told to come here by... ummm, M-Mikhail." The voice anxiously said, as Laura realised who it was.

Laura would carefully peek out of the room, before noticing the muted green and rather messy looking Vinisha. Immediately, Vinisha froze up and would take a step back. "You're... Vinisha, correct?" Laura would calmly ask, Vinisha nervously nodding. Laura let out a sigh of relieve, putting down her gun before turning to the others. "Okay, everyone, it's safe. It's just our new roommate." Immediately, all fear and anxiety turned to curiosity, as Oreas and Chrys immediately rushed forward. Anofelis would've also woken up by then, stretching before speaking calmly. "A new roommate? Is it the girl Mikhail found deeper below us?" Laura nodded, as Vinisha reluctantly would enter the chamber. "Ummm, hi." She said a little awkwardly, as she'd give a little wave. Kamara, Morgan and Ingmar soon also appeared, Morgan immediately letting out a gasp. "Good grief... are you okay? You look like a corpse!" Vinisha rubbed the back of her head. "I-I'm... i-it's fine. T-This is how I normally look."

File: She just won't stop messi(...).png (34 KB, 1138x701)

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The other girls remained rather unsure what to think, yet were still all rather intrigued. "I take it you are rather hungry? Would you like something to snack on?" Laura would offer, Vinisha shaking her head. "N-No thanks. I appreciate it, but... I don't need it. You and, uhhh, your friend over there probably need it a lot more than I do." She said whilst glancing over at Ingmar, who also looked somewhat intrigued. Vinisha would look around the place, as the other girls would greet her and introduce themselves. Vinisha still remained uneasy, as she wasn't entirely sure if she fit in. "So, would you like to tell us more about yourself? I heard from Derek that you were created by Andrei, and that you had some pretty interesting abilities." Laura would say, the others also wanting to know more. "You have any sister subjects?" Oreas immediately asked, Chrysidus soon after saying: "I love the tail hook! Do tell us about it."

Seeing the optimism and openness with which the others approached her, Vinisha would start smiling a little. "Um, well, if you'd like me to tell you all." Morgan would also speak up, doing so confidently. "Of course we'd love to learn more about you! We're going to be spending quite some time together down here, after all!" Vinisha would nod quietly, before getting seated on the ground.

"I... Yeah, I would enjoy that... spending a lot of time here with you girls... together." She said a bit more warmly, already feeling a lot happier now than she ever felt whilst out on her own.

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

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
Based artwork from anons:
https://catbox/. moe/c/1ajcpw
Artist I commissioned for this thread's thumbnail: Avsmomedina

>Recap from the previous thread.
Your attempt to trick the guardsmen would fail pretty badly, causing you, Zaria and Derek to take acouple of bullets as you retreated. The good news was that you were able to break past one of the Queen’s guard posts to escape, heading eastwards. Whilst escaping, you contacted Annie, asking for a way back up. The only way up was somewhere to the east, and she was only willing to tell you about it if you helped save her creator, Logan. You accepted the mission, heading east until you encountered a group of guardsmen. Joaquin led a small group consisting of Landon, Sophie, Lei, Monique, Narith and Khady. They also had a nurse shark subject called Cirra, who was unfortunately not eager to help you and your men out. Together, you’d head further east, having convinced them that heading west was too dangerous. However, you’d soon encounter the mermaid subject Thalia, who caused your men to behave oddly. It wasn’t helped by the fact she was most positive about Elbrus and made Zaria and Derek behave particularly oddly. After she joined your party, you’d head east until encountering a large flooded space. Unfortunately, whilst crossing the body of water, you would be attacked by AH-600, who successfully ripped Narith’s arm off. And after getting everyone to a somewhat safe position, you would put the operation on hold.

Continuing from the previous thread...

>Tell Joaquin and his men some further details about your job. Payment, materials, expectations, there was a lot to really talk about. Hell, maybe if you discussed this, he’d reveal some things about the facility as well!
With the topic of payments coming up, you decided to give some further details. You’d elaborate on the jobs you had before this one. Counterterrorism, patrolling places, asymmetric warfare, and most ironically against the government. Though you had to admit that this job for the galactic government was unironically tougher than the jobs you did against the galactic government. “Being an enemy to the government is dangerous. Being a friend to it though, that is lethal.” Mike would soon say over the comms, much to your men’s amusement, Derek repeating it to Joaquin’s men who also seemed mildly amused. Though, you’d also admit that the payment from the government was pretty solid. Intel, killing personnel and subject bounties were particularly lucrative. You’d even comment that it made sense that a whole bunch of death squads would agree to work for the government considering just how much the government was willing to pay. “So, have you seen any of those profits?” Landon asked calmly, to which you revealed you did indeed kill one of Andrei’s subjects.

“Wait, I thought you said you befriended one of his subjects.” Joaquin immediately asked, you explaining that you had killed Caera and befriended Vinisha. The men looked at each other, Landon being the only one to have anything to say. “I did hear of Caera from some old friends of mine. She was not fun to be around, from what I heard. Gave my friends the creeps to see her in her containment chamber.” He’d pause, before turning more curious. “So, what did you get for putting her down?” You were more than happy to say that you were set for years now. “Glad to know that the government will pay us an average wage for protecting these things, whilst paying you a fortune to kill them.” Khady would comment, to which Derek responded somewhat smugly. “Hey, you guys had to just watch her in her containment chamber. We actually had to go after her to save some of your guardsmen friends.” Khady still grumbled a little, after which Lei worriedly asked: “So, you saved guardsmen as well? I mean, it explains why you’re so reasonable to us as well, but... well, what did you do with those other guardsmen?”

Thaddeus would step in before you could respond, speaking in a modest tone. “Well, we went our separate ways. They were in the green section, and they headed elsewhere once the government started approaching the area.” This also made you admit that you did kill some guardsmen as well. This did seem to concern Joaquin’s men a little bit, though you also admitted that it was mostly related to Feng. “Honestly, I can’t blame you for that. Hell, from what you’ve told me, I think it probably put those poor guys out of their misery.” On the topic of putting guardsmen out of their misery, you mentioned how one of the first kills you got was on a group of guardsmen. You mentioned that they had begged you for death after being heavily injured in some way, and that you honestly didn’t feel right about the bounty. And considering the help you got from the subjects and staff you met afterwards, and that you no longer really cared about the money as much anymore. You were doing this to actually help out the poor folks down here, to help them survive and hopefully escape the government who ordered the killing.

Joaquin’s men went somewhat quiet, even the sceptical ones like Khady and Landon appearing shocked. “Umm, Mikhail, if you and... your men would like some... medical help from me, I’d... not mind helping out.” Cirra would suddenly suggest. It was clear that Joaquin’s men and Cirra started to realise that you weren’t just heartless murderers. So obviously, Cirra’s offer was warmly received. “I’d like that, yeah. The painkillers are starting to wear off somewhat.” Derek said. You had gotten your point across quite well. The money from killing monsters was okay, but you really had shifted your mission down here: It was now about saving lives and figuring out what the hell led to all of this in the first place.

>Make some more suggestions for what you’d do next. You could maybe let Thalia and Cirra just take each of you one by one, since they were clearly effective swimmers. Maybe you could ask them to check for the beast in the waters?
Having explained a bit about your history in this place, you would shift your attention back to the waters in which AH-600 still swam. You still felt that throwing stuff into the water could help. Mostly to just annoy her and make it more difficult for her to focus on hunting you and your men down. Of course, that was just a small part of what you hoped to do. You also were more than happy getting some reinforcements down here in the form of the girls. However, you also admitted it was going to be dangerous for them to get here. Joaquin and his men shook their heads. “I’m sure they could be of great help. But, I’d rather not force the subjects you already saved to be brought back into danger.” He said, to which your men also quickly agreed. “I’d hate for any of the girls to fall under Feng’s spell as well.” Lars would comment as well.

The second idea was to just get on Thalia and Cirra’s back through the water. You saw Thalia immediately jumping up from the ledge, speaking eagerly. “Ooooh, I’d like that~!” Cirra also seemed okay, though still a bit concerned about her main patient for the time being. “What about Narith? I do not want to risk him cooling down too much from the waters.” Narith was currently still awake, though it was clear he was tired as all hell. He was kept awake with some food and drinks from Lars, as well as continued painkillers and other medical assistance. Considering his state though, you did have one suggestion. You wanted to see if Thalia’s singing could affect the monster, which made your men seem curious. “Why, do you think that beast will like Thalia’s singing so much, she’ll just... become friendly all of a sudden?” Lydia asked softly, after which you finally admitted that you thought that Thalia’s song had some sort of mental effect. She was an aquatic mermaid subject with singing capabilities, which did remind you of a siren.

The suggestion did stun some of your men, whilst Derek, Joaquin, Landon and Lei all immediately nodded along in agreement. “It’s not a bad effect. But it’s definitely soothing in a way.” Joaquin would respond casually, you knowing that he wanted to say a whole lot more about it. Thalia would also respond, though wouldn’t exactly appear to disagree with what you said. “Well of course my music is soothing! Good music soothes the soul and helps people relax! And, not to brag or anything, but I have been called a pretty good singer before~!” Your men couldn’t exactly disagree with the fact that her singing had some calming effects. However, there was clearly some uncertainty if it would work on AH-600.

“I highly doubt an aquatic murder machine will suddenly decide we’re nice because of Thalia’s singing. No offense, Thalia.” Khady would remark, Thalia not minding it. The rest of your men still agreed, you then stating you could also head back to find other directions you could take. “I really doubt it’d be efficient to do such. Especially with Zaria, Monique and Mike on the other side of the waters.” Anon would say, after which Joaquin also spoke up. “I think going through here is really our safest option for the time being. We just need to find a way to ensure Narith can safely cross the waters, as well as find ways to reduce the chance that that monster leaps out of the waters again.” Lydia did have an idea, looking over at Derek. “I think we can find a way to deal with one of those things. Derek and I can try and make something on which Narith can float. We can then either have Cirra and Thalia push him along on the floatation device. All we need is just a bit of time and some light material!” The rest of your men and Joaquin’s men all looked at each other, before Joaquin spoke up. “How long do you think you’ll take to make something like that?” Lydia and Derek would mumble to each other, before Derek said: “We can try and work quickly. The better the amount of materials we can find for the job, the quicker it can be done.”

It was then that you heard Mike over the comms, making a suggestion of his own. “Hey Mik, how do the guys over there feel about chemical warfare?” The rest of your men who also heard this would immediately look over at Mike on the other side, as Mike lifted up the acid gun. “I would be really happy to use the acid gun!” Obviously, Joaquin’s men couldn’t hear what was going on, Lei softly asking: “What are you guys looking at?” Thaddeus would scoff and speak a bit more amusedly. “Mike wants to spray acid into the waters to dissuade the beast from comin’ up again.” Obviously, this suggestion would intrigue the ones who didn’t know about Mike’s chemical weaponry, with Landon asking: “How much does he have? And is there a risk of it spreading towards us and causing us harm?” You didn’t know exactly, Anon afterwards saying: “Well, he did have a decent amount of acid on him. Not enough to harm us, I think. Unless if we cross the water and go directly through whatever parts he coated the most.” It did seem like a rather risky move, but it was highly likely that it’d take care of the electric eel subject.

And if all else failed, you could still just wait and chat. Things were rather peaceful now, even if one of the folk you were with just had his arm ripped off not that long ago. Then again, that was probably just Thalia’s charm making you feel that way. If only you knew how her singing ability fully worked and if it was truly something to worry about...

>What do you do next?

>Send some people back to either find an alternative route, or to find materials for the floatation device Lydia and Derek had in mind. That way, you would at least be able to help Narith cross safely. (Write in who you’ll send out on this mission.)
>Let Thalia sing her song to try and charm the beast. You could also have her sing it underwater, which could maybe reduce the effects the song had on your men. Then again, the singing was nice and helped you relax a little. (Write in if you’ll suggest anything specific to Thalia for whilst she sings.)
>Let Mike use the acid gun to cover a decent amount of the water. Hopefully, it’d not be too much to cause harm to you, but would be safe enough to get AH-600 to retreat. (Write in if you’ll give any limitations to Mike.)
>Take Cirra up on the offer of getting some medical help. Lars could care for Narith whilst she helped you out with your bullet wounds. (Write in if you’ll ask Cirra for any particular treatment or help.)
>Chat with some folk. Maybe you could try and keep Narith awake by chatting to him. Or you could talk with Zaria on the other side of the water to see how she was holding up. Even some folk like Khady, Landon or Cirra could be worth talking to. (Write in what you’ll talk about with them.)
>Something else...

(A fresh new thread, and a fresh continuation of the chaos in the flooded parts. And also, a fun little reveal with the starting art of today's thread. Artanons, enjoy being able to now use Anderson as well as three different spider gals for art.)

Honestly, that's more or less how I imagined our resident spider-fucker to look already.
Vinisha still a cute that I want to hug, kiss and protecc. It would be so funny if our cowardly technician straightens out into a sword-wielding badass and wins Morgan's heart.
>>6157774
>Let Thalia sing her song to try and charm the beast. You could also have her sing it underwater, which could maybe reduce the effects the song had on your men. Then again, the singing was nice and helped you relax a little.
>Send some people back to either find an alternative route, or to find materials for the floatation device Lydia and Derek had in mind. That way, you would at least be able to help Narith cross safely.
Okay, so, the plan. Thaddeus, Lydia and Anon go and search for a few barrels or similar and a couple of desks to lash into a raft. While they're doing that, Thalia sings underwater - while it might not help, any distraction or calming effect on Pelly will be welcome and Cirra swims across with a long rope to give to the people on the other side. When we've built the raft, we can use the rope to haul the raft back and forth like a bootleg cable ferry rather than pulling it with a swimmer, so nobody has to go in the water with Pelly at all.

>>6157893
Agree with this, but just a few things, one get treatment.
>>Take Cirra up on the offer of getting some medical help. Lars could care for Narith whilst she helped you out with your bullet wounds. (Write in if you’ll ask Cirra for any particular treatment or help.)
Check for any possible infections and open wounds and check Zaria as well, she's been through a lot and might need more help than us.

>Something else...
Ok hear me out, might sound like a stupid idea but hear me out, what if we took some leftovers clothes, use scrap and debris and made a human-like scarecrow thing, use some rope to tie it together aaaaand hide a bunch of explosives inside it? We can pretend it's someone who is heavily hurt and is struggling in the water, perhaps even cover it into ours our Narith blood and then pretend it's hurt if the fish bite into it we activate the bomb and boom, fishpaste.

>>6157991
Yeah, I guess we can fit that in too, it'll take a while for the raft.

I don't think Pelly will bite on the scarecrow. It won't move like a person in the water and, if she has electroreception, won't give off living thing vibes either. We don't have any bombs left either apart from a few grenades. But keep the concept of an explosive trap in your back pocket in case we come back here for Round 2 at a later date.

>>6157774
Backing >>6157991
Except stick a drone into the decoy too
Boom, electric signals for her to be fooled by

>Mike wants to spray acid on top of the water that he's already crossed and the rest of us have yet to cross
Yeah wow thanks for the idea Mike don't think we'll do that

>Let Thalia sing her song to try and charm the beast. You could also have her sing it underwater, which could maybe reduce the effects the song had on your men. Then again, the singing was nice and helped you relax a little.
Based on everything you heard, there were a few things you thought would work best right now. First of all, you'd tell Mike that he wouldn't be allowed to use his acid gun just yet. Considering you all still had to cross, it was way too risky of an action to already do. "Hmmm, fine." Mike would say over the comms, clearly disappointed that he couldn't use his weaponry. You'd then tell him that you also didn't want him to do such since you'd let Thalia sing underwater. She could be harmed by the acid if you actually let Mike use his acid gun. Upon hearing this, Thalia would speak excitedly. "May I try and charm the beast with my song then? Soothe her mind and make her peaceful?" You told her to go for it, and that it could help in distracting AH-600. "I'll get right to it!" Thalia said as she dove underwater, to some concern of the others who watched.

>Send some people back to either find an alternative route, or to find materials for the floatation device Lydia and Derek had in mind. That way, you would at least be able to help Narith cross safely.
Afterwards, you'd look over at Lydia, Anon and Thaddeus, as you told them to head back to look for anything which could be used to make a raft. You hoped some barrels or storage containers could be used to make the thing float, whilst rope and desks could be used as a platform for you to safely cross the water. "Understood. Anythin' else we oughta look for?" Thaddeus asked, you telling them to also maybe find some stuff for scrap which you could use to make a human-like decoy. You could rig it with explosives and electronic parts to hopefully use it as bait to trick AH-600. "Alright. We'll see what we can get!" Lydia said, after which Thaddeus would lead them back to where you came from.

>Take Cirra up on the offer of getting some medical help. Lars could care for Narith whilst she helped you out with your bullet wounds.
As they left, you'd turn to Cirra and ask if she could check up on Zaria and you. Zaria especially was in need of a check-up, given all the crap she had been through. Cirra looked at Lars, who gave a quiet nod, letting her know that he'd look after Narith. Thus, Cirra would take a dive and head over to Zaria. Though you'd quickly tell her to wait, as you gave her a rope and told her to take it along. It could be used for the raft as a makeshift ferry. She nodded before properly heading for Zaria. "Glad that she's starting to warm up to us. I was worried she'd hate us for our entire time together." Lars would soon comment about Cirra, to which Sophie spoke up casually. "She can be pretty stubborn with who she trusts sometimes. But, once she trusts a person, she does her absolute best to help them out."

"Well, let's hope she can help the lot of us out with our injuries. My bullet wounds are still... pretty rough. Not helped by the environment down here either." Derek would comment, after which things went quiet for a short while. You'd simply watch Thalia as she swam underwater. You could hear her muffled song, hoping that it would do the job in either calming AH-600 in some way. You'd also watch Cirra with Zaria, seeing her cleaning the wounds and applying new bandages. Though as this happened, you'd hear some groans behind you, as you heard Narith finally speak again. "Hngh... wh-where's Cirra..." He said in clear pain, Lars speaking reassuringly. "It's okay, Narith. She's just looking after some of the others. You just keep lying down and don't move too much, okay?" Narith would speak in a more emotional tone afterwards, as it was clear his mental recovery was gonna take longer than his physical recovery. "I... I lost my arm... d-didn't I?" He sounded depressed as hell, as he'd rest his head back and clearly let out some tears.

"I am afraid so. But, we stopped all the blood loss and patched everything up. You also won't need to worry about crossing the waters again. Mik has thought of using a raft to evade any danger." Lars would calmly say, Narith afterwards starting to let out some tears. "If... if only we did that earlier..." He was obviously devastated by the loss of his arm, Joaquin getting close to him and trying to calm him down. "It's unfortunate. And... we're sorry you had to go through this. We'll look after you until you've recovered and can do things on your own again. It'll be tough, but you'll manage." Despite Joaquin's reassuring words, Narith appeared pretty hopeless from his loss. He'd just look away to the side, before quietly mumbling. "If only she grabbed me by the chest instead of the arm..." Sophie would try and stay by his side, comforting him by grabbing the hand he still had left. Lars would also give him some food and water, though Narith would sadly refuse it.

Soon after, you'd hear a splash as you saw Cirra swimming back to you. Once Cirra returned, she'd look over at you and say: "Okay, you wanted me to check up on you as well?" Derek would afterwards say: "Can you check up on me too? I also got shot a couple of times." Cirra nodded, as she went to work checking up on the both of you. She'd clean up your wounds and would also deal with any and all infections you had. Your bullet wounds weren't all that infected fortunately, but Derek definitely was in a worse-off state. Fortunately, with Cirra's (and a bit of Lars') help, you two were both soon feeling a lot better. You were given a couple more painkillers, had your bandages replaced and your wounds cleaned. It was obviously still not the most pleasant of things, but the wounds were definitely no longer going to be as much of a concern as before. And with you, Derek and Zaria feeling a bit better, now you just had to wait for Lydia, Thaddeus and Anon to return.

You'd wait for some time, continuing to chat with Joaquin's men, Cirra, Derek, Lars and the three who were on the other side. It wasn't about anything specific, you just discussing future plans and what waited ahead of you. It was a lot of speculation, with the one clear thing being that Titania's chamber was also very close to you. Perhaps you'd even cross the chamber which, given its size, was likely to have at least some folk in it. Or at the very least, some useful material which you and your men could use. Eventually though, you'd hear footsteps in the distance, Thaddeus, Lydia and Anon returning with a bunch of materials. Thaddeus was carrying a couple of desks, Lydia carrying a bunch of smaller equipment and Anon dragging along a few crates which seemed to float in the water. "So, did we miss anything?" Anon immediately asked, you catching him up with the few things that happened. In the meantime, Joaquin and his men would check some of the supplies, as it was time to set everything up.

You'd get Lydia and Derek to work on the decoy figure with some table legs, used guardsmen outfits and other soft materials. Hopefully, it'd make for a decent decoy if things did go wrong. More importantly though, Thaddeus, Joaquin and his men would get to work on the raft. "Be careful with those crates. Make sure that they are closed properly. If they are able to open again, water might just get in 'em." Thaddeus would say, which was a minor concern but nothing which would make your mission impossible. Thankfully, with everyone doing their best, the raft would quickly be finished. And with a bit of testing, it was found that it could carry at least 3 people. Any more weight, and there was a risk that the thing would be pushed underwater and that the crates could get flooded. "Okay, this is going to make things way easier." Joaquin said confidently, after which Landon cautioned him. "Don't get your hopes up. That beast could still be lurking around. And given her size, this would be like breaking a tooth pick for her."

Meanwhile, Lydia and Derek had finished the decoy, which... looked a little rough. It didn't have a realistic looking head, and its proportions were a little bit wonky. However, it was the best you could do. You'd suggest putting in some of your drone remnants, which would hopefully be able to create a false electric signal to the subject. "We can try that. But, it'd very likely completely fry the thing within minutes though." Lydia would comment, clearly having some doubt about the drone’s effectiveness. “So, what’s the exact plan with this dummy of yours anyway? You just going to dangle it in the water and hope she bites down on it?” Lei asked calmly, you explaining you could potentially hide one of Anon’s grenades in it, or a flashbang of some kind. The only issue was that you couldn’t really effectively detonate the thing from range, unless if you got lucky and she bit down just the right way to make the thing explode.

Given that the raft was done and the dummy was complete, it was time to make your next move. Thalia was still underwater singing her song, which had hopefully soothed the beast enough that you didn’t even need to use the dummy. Then again, AH-600 was a murderous beast, so taking precautions was still preferred. Aside from the dummy though, there was one other important thing you had to consider now: Who would be the first to cross using the makeshift raft?

>What do you do next?

>Set up some roles for your men. Some who could stay watch and shoot AH-600 if she did decide to jump from the water again. Maybe you could have Thalia and Cirra keep watch underwater as to warn you of anything which approaches again? (Write in what roles you’ll give.)
>Choose who should cross the water first. Maybe you could let your healthy men cross first, in case Pelly did decide to jump out of the water for another snack. That, or you could let the more injured of your men go first, so you didn’t risk her pouncing them when they crossed last. (Write in who will go first.)
>Set up a plan on how to use the dummy. Either you could try and use some explosions for it. Or you could try your luck by attaching a drone to it to hopefully create a fake electric signal for AH-600 to focus on. Maybe also think of a specific point in time for when you’ll throw it in the water. (Write in your plans for the dummy.)
>Something else...

>>6158290
>The only issue was that you couldn’t really effectively detonate the thing from range, unless if you got lucky and she bit down just the right way to make the thing explode.
No remote detonators? Shit our demolition guy is still in the infirmary isn’t he.

>>6158291
>Set up a plan on how to use the dummy. Either you could try and use some explosions for it. Or you could try your luck by attaching a drone to it to hopefully create a fake electric signal for AH-600 to focus on. Maybe also think of a specific point in time for when you’ll throw it in the water. (Write in your plans for the dummy.)
Just a decoy then
Have the railgun and AM rifle trained on it and ready to fire

Add some padding/insulation to the raft too, hide the electrical signals inside and hopefully it’ll look just like another piece of the debris we’ve been throwing in for a while. Might even be able to send it out at the same time as the decoy to really sell it.

Feeling for Narith here. They don’t have high tech prosthetic arms, or even bionics? All the future tech went towards monstergirls lmao

>>6158291
Okay, I think we should draw lots here. Everyone gets their turn, picked at random for fairness.
The raft crew should be one passenger plus Mike and Thaddeus with the heavy weapons to guard. Make sure to bind everyone's wounds up very tight to keep any blood out of the water.
We keep the dummy as a distraction. If there's any sign of hell eel activity, lob it in the water on the other side of the room to cover their escape.

>>6158462
Actually, I'll amend this to just Mike with the acid gun on board and two passengers. Everyone else can keep overwatch from the shore.

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>>6157764
Big fan of 8-EM facepalming and Haina's reaction to Anderson's response.

>>6158291
>Who would be the first to cross using the makeshift raft?
Me me me I'll go first.

>>6158539
Wheeeen theeeee jaw opens wide and there's more jaw inside that's a moraaaaayyyy
When you jump in the depth and something bites your head, that's a moraaaaayyyy
When you're expecting a wife but you just lose your life, that's a moraaaaayyyy
When the tail brings you harm and she chops off your arm, that's a moraaaaayyyy

>Set up a plan on how to use the dummy. Either you could try and use some explosions for it. Or you could try your luck by attaching a drone to it to hopefully create a fake electric signal for AH-600 to focus on. Maybe also think of a specific point in time for when you’ll throw it in the water.
The first thing you'd do was look at the raft and suggest to add some extra padding. It'd hopefully make it a bit less obvious that it was a floating object, and rather just a large bit of debris in the water. "Uh, Mik, I'm afraid we don't have the material for that." Derek would say, which was a bit of a shame. Still, you could at the very least use the dummy and whatever electronic device was put inside of it. You wouldn't just throw it in now though. Instead, you'd wait for AH-600 to return before you threw it in there to try and distract her. Though you did ask Thaddeus and Anon to keep their eyes on the dummy if you did throw it in, so that they could use their heavy weaponry to deal with the threat. "Sounds good." Anon said calmly, after which you'd look at the raft and suggest

>Choose who should cross the water first. Maybe you could let your healthy men cross first, in case Pelly did decide to jump out of the water for another snack. That, or you could let the more injured of your men go first, so you didn’t risk her pouncing them when they crossed last.
With everything prepared, you'd turn to the others and told them your main idea. For one, you told them to bandage up any open wounds they may have. Just in case the eel smelled blood. Afterwards, you'd say that Mike would be the main support force on the raft for when you went back and forth. Of course, he was on the other side now, but he could be the main support once you reached the other side. As for who would cross first, you felt that the first would crossing should have three folks. Once Mike was able to cross as well and act as support, he could go back and forth with two extra men.

As for who the first ones were, you'd decide to draw lots. And with some small strings you had, you'd all pull one. And the one with the shortest strings were Lydia, Joaquin and Landon. "Honestly, I wanted to go first just in case the monster appeared again anyway." Joaquin would say, after which Lydia let out a sigh. "I just hope we designed this thing well enough." With that, the makeshift platform was moved over the deep waters. Lydia would carefully step onto it, grabbing the rope and keeping the thing still. "Careful. It's a little wobbly." She said, after which Joaquin and Landon also stepped on. "It looks to be holding." Lydia said calmly, after which you told them to go. You would in the meantime focus your attention on Thalia, still hearing her muffled song and waiting to see if she'd give any signal. Anon and Thaddeus remained at the ready, pointing their guns at the water whilst you held onto the decoy. The moment you spotted anything, you'd throw it into the waters.

Landon would pull on the rope, Joaquin also assisting by looking at the water level and the speed. "Alright, going well, Landon." He said, after which Landon looked up at Lydia who was keeping watch. "Hngh, aren't you gonna help?!" He'd hiss at her, her raising her gun a bit and glancing at the waters. Landon didn't respond any further, as he'd keep on pulling them closer and closer. The waters remained calm, as the three of them would slowly but surely make their way over. Until at long last, the three would reach the other end. They'd carefully step down from the raft, as you heard Mike over the comms. "Mik, you've done it again." You'd also hear Lydia speaking over the comms, voicing her support. "We'll cover for you guys from here!" In the meantime, Mike would step onto the raft and started leading it back. Though as he approached you and your men, you heard Narith speak under his somewhat pained voice. "Hngh, let... let me cross next." Cirra would immediately give a more concerned look, as she'd look over at you and the rest of your men.

Perhaps they were expecting you to make a suggestion against it. Though given that you'd all have to cross, maybe just giving Narith the ability to choose was for the best. Then again, you, Thaddeus, Anon, Derek, Lars, Lei, Sophie, Khady and Cirra also all still had to cross the waters.

>Let Narith cross. Maybe you could let him choose someone to go with who he felt comfortable with. Or maybe you could just let him go with someone else who you thought could work. Either way, he wanted to go, so you were going to let him go. (Write in who you'll assign to go along with him, if anyone.)
>Just go back to taking draws for who would go next. Everyone had to cross, so he'd get his choice sooner or later. Besides, maybe this first crossing was a fluke and letting him go next would be dangerous.
>Ask Thalia for any updates from underwater. Maybe you could get her to scout elsewhere, or assist some of the other folk above the surface. Hell, maybe you could ask her to scan for an area where it would be best to throw the decoy at. (Write in what you'll ask Thalia to do.)
>Command your men who were on the other side. Maybe they could already head forward a little, or you could tell them to focus on anything else of interest in this space. (Write in who you'll command and what you'll tell them.)
>Something else...

(Bit of a shorter update. Your plan did work out splendidly, which this update mostly demonstrates. Anyway, you can continue doing as you're doing rn, or maybe make some alterations if there's anything you still wish to do before everyone crosses.)

>>6159184
>Let Narith cross. Send him with Cirra.
Fine, fine, you two go, though you'll still have to wait on the other side. No more than one injured at a time and our worst casualty may as well go first with one of our medics. Once they're on the other side, Cirra can swim on ahead to scout, especially for a medical facility - we don't have enough people on the other side for me to want them to go up ahead, but I trust Cirra to be quite fine in this environment.
Other than that, just keep going. Leave a few minutes in between sailings to make the aquatic xenomorph even less likely to catch on. You can never have too many precautions.
Thalia can follow us on the last sailing.

At least in the future, we know where Pelly is lurking. We should come back here with a couple of harpoon guns and some canisters of RDX.

>>6159184
>Let Narith cross. Maybe you could let him choose someone to go with who he felt comfortable with. Or maybe you could just let him go with someone else who you thought could work. Either way, he wanted to go, so you were going to let him go. (Write in who you'll assign to go along with him, if anyone.)
Whoever he wants, as long as they aren’t holding the big guns

>Let Narith cross. Maybe you could let him choose someone to go with who he felt comfortable with. Or maybe you could just let him go with someone else who you thought could work. Either way, he wanted to go, so you were going to let him go.
Given that he wanted to cross, you decided to give the okay. On the condition that Cirra would stay close in the waters to help in case he fell into the waters, and to help assist him if he was in pain once more. You'd also tell him he could choose someone else to take along. Someone who could hopefully protect him in case AH-600 appeared again. "Hngh... Sophie..." He'd thus say, much to her surprise. She'd soon give a nod though, before you saw him slowly try and stand up. He was clearly still extremely frail and weak, his legs shivering as Sophie went over to him to support him. As the two of them walked forward, you'd once again get in position to throw the decoy. "God, I hope this goes well." Lars said, after which Khady spoke more confidently. "If it doesn't... we're going to kill that fish bitch."

As Cirra also entered the waters to stay by their side, you told her to scout ahead for medical supplies. There was presumably a medical section not too far away from this location, and she was probably capable enough to traverse the flooded parts further south from here. "Okay." Cirra said calmly, after which she would trail the raft with Mike, Sophie and Narith. You'd keep watch over the waters, waiting to see if Thalia would ring the alarm. Fortunately, she wouldn't, and you'd soon be relieved to see Sophie help Narith off the raft. He'd immediately lean against the wall, being given some more to drink and some space to rest. "Okay, heading back over again." Mike said, you telling him to wait a minute. Just to reduce the chance AH-600 jumped up. Though with no alarm from Thalia, you'd tell Mike to return once more to lift the rest of your men across.

Once Mike returned, the next two who would be going were Derek and Lei. Derek was doing a lot better now, but you still were happy to have him cross first. It was for the best that the injured headed over first and foremost. And after some more time, the two would also cross. Things were going smoothly, as Lars and Khady crossed up next. Things went well for them as well, as it was now just you, Thaddeus, Anon who had to cross. Not to mention, Thalia. "So, who of us should head first?" Anon asked, you stating you wanted to head last with Thalia. This did pose the risk of both heavy weapon users going together. "I suggest we go one by one now. Especially since having both heavy weapons on the raft, could cause both to fall in the water and get water damaged." Anon suggested, Thaddeus nodding along. "I'll go first." He'd say, holding up the railgun as he carefully made his way to the raft. It was definitely scary, since the railgun would likely not respond well to water damage.

Still, you hoped it wouldn't come to that, as you watched Mike carefully take Thaddeus across the waters. And fortunately, they'd soon reach the end, at which point you would tell Mike to wait a moment. You'd call for Thalia, soon signalling her to come back up. It took a short minute for her to notice, as she calmly swam up. "What is it, Mik?" She'd ask happily, you telling her that it was just you and Anon now who needed to cross. "Sweet! So, what's the plan now?" You'd ask her to join you and Anon on the final trek, her trailing you and continuing to look underwater. "Sure, sounds good!" You'd carefully get on the raft, Anon keeping his gun at the ready. "Not the steadiest of aim on here... but, I'll try my best." Anon said, at which point Thaddeus responded over comms. "Don't worry, Anon. I got the railgun pointed at the water. As soon as Thalia gives ya a warning, I'll try and slay the beast." With that, you'd tell Mike it was time to get going. Thus, the three of you started slowly yet carefully crossing the body of water.

You kept your eyes on the waters below, not seeing much. Thalia would remain a few feet below the surface, checking everything. Though as you passed the halfway point, Thalia would immediately swim up. "MIK! SHE'S COMING!" Upon hearing the alert, Anon got his gun and Mike yelled through the comms. "SHE'S COMING UP!" You saw the shape in the deep moving around quickly, you grabbing the decoy and throwing it into the distance. And immediately as it landed in the water, AH-600 lunged upwards. And as you had hoped, you'd soon see her jump up and grab the decoy. She'd grab it with both hands, before bringing the torso to her jaws. Her jaws would crush the torso, as you heard gunfire ring out around you. Mike would hold tightly onto the rope, as Anon tried to land a shot. Though he'd obviously miss completely from the wobbling of the raft. You'd also see a flash of light and felt something hot fly past, as the plasma rail gun went off. Unfortunately, Thaddeus would just barely miss her, you hearing him swear on the comms.

Fortunately, the hail of gunfire from the rest of your men would connect with her quite well. She'd take a few bullets, some hitting her sharp bits and hitting her skin. Though most bullets sadly did not do very much to her. That was until she was about to dive down again, as you would see her cheek burst open and heard her let out a pained yell. She'd splash into the water, you noticing some blood reach the surface and her fleeing downwards. "TAKE THAT, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" You heard Landon yell, as he had seemingly managed to hit her straight in her jaw. "KEEP YOUR GUNS READY!" You heard Joaquin yell, as the gunfire stopped and you all waited to see if she returned. Thalia would look underwater, you all waiting to see if AH-600 would try anything again. Though after a minute of waiting, Thalia would return to the surface. "I saw her swimming towards the north. I think she's fleeing!"

Of course, you weren't in the clear just yet. She could very well lunge at you from the depths with little to no warning. Still, Mike would start pulling you towards the other side once more, you keeping your eyes open and expecting the worst. Though fortunately, you'd soon reach the other side, your men cheering you on. "We bloody did it!" Thaddeus would say proudly, Joaquin also speaking most confidently. "That decoy worked amazingly, Mik!" Everyone seemed most relieved, Narith even smiling and mentioning: "That's what you get for taking my fucking arm, prick." Of course, the attention also soon went to Landon, who had clearly hit the shot. "Excellent shot, Landon. I think you hit the best shot of them all!" Khady said, your men also complimenting him. "Way to go, lad." "Yeah, that was one hell of a shot." "That'll hopefully keep her away for a while!" After some compliments, Landon would also turn to you. “Honestly, the decoy really helped out there.” He’d give an approving nod, after which Thalia would start singing again, clearly trying to celebrate things a bit.

“So, guess we ought to head forward now?” Sophie said, at which point Mike nodded. “Absolutely. Let’s get out of here before she decides to try her luck again.”

>What do you do next?

>Wait for Cirra to return first, before actually heading out. Maybe she’d comm back with some useful intel. That, or you could head too far and accidentally walk past her, separating all of you.
>Do something to further deal with AH-600, in case she would try her luck again. Either Mike could finally make his dream come true and coat the entire room in acid. Or you could set up some camera traps. Hell, you could even use the raft for something. (Write in what you’ll set up to deal with her in the future.)
>Discuss a plan with the rest of your men. Maybe you could decide if Thalia should be allowed to sing or not, or how you’d go on with Narith now that he was missing an arm and clearly low on energy. (Write in what you’ll discuss.)
>Just head forwards with no plan or concerns. You had already bested that giant fish bitch, so you’d do just fine. Besides, what sorta threats would you even encounter down in these flooded parts which you couldn’t deal with?
>Something else...

(To the anon who suggested getting the decoy, you can be pretty goddamn proud of yourself with this one.)

>>6159721
Decoychads validated

>Do something to further deal with AH-600, in case she would try her luck again. Either Mike could finally make his dream come true and coat the entire room in acid. Or you could set up some camera traps. Hell, you could even use the raft for something. (Write in what you’ll set up to deal with her in the future.)
Drag the raft ashore, in case we ever need to cross back
Mental note to bring padding/insulation back to line it with and hide our bio electrical signals

>Discuss a plan with the rest of your men. Maybe you could decide if Thalia should be allowed to sing or not, or how you’d go on with Narith now that he was missing an arm and clearly low on energy. (Write in what you’ll discuss.)
Even more important now to beeline to the medical bay. Hopefully they have a bionic arm in stock, that Cirra will be able to install

>>6159721
>Wait for Cirra to return first, before actually heading out. Maybe she’d comm back with some useful intel. That, or you could head too far and accidentally walk past her, separating all of you.
Damn, blew her jaw off. The decoy worked like a charm. I wonder if Thalia's singing actually effected Pelly. She only attacked when Thalia stopped, so maybe?

>>6159741
>>6159747
Supporting both. And I think our little siren did good at taming the beast. At least until she stopped singing anyway. But we took care of the final step required.

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>>6159721
I love it when a plan comes together but how much of it was the luck of the dice and to what extent did the various actions taken affect the outcome, assuming you can talk about that without further spoilers?. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Pelly doesn't have much IQ, just good senses. If she had both, she'd be terrifying.
>Do something to further deal with AH-600, in case she would try her luck again. Either Mike could finally make his dream come true and coat the entire room in acid. Or you could set up some camera traps. Hell, you could even use the raft for something. (Write in what you’ll set up to deal with her in the future.)
Concur on dragging the raft ashore. But otherwise just have Mike on overwatch at the tunnel mouth. But otherwise....
>Wait for Cirra to return first, before actually heading out. Maybe she’d comm back with some useful intel. That, or you could head too far and accidentally walk past her, separating all of you.
In the meantime, we can make a makeshift stretcher for Narith out of some table legs and some carpet or seat cushions. Else he can ride on Pelly's back as she swims.
Should we go back to the flooded section by choice, we could bring a couple of high-speed inflatable dinghies or two and go chugging around for a thrilling chase through the halls with Pelly hot on our sterns, driving for our lives while throwing bombs out the back and shooting her whenever she pops up. Would make an awesome bossfight.
Also, we've been expending quite a few railgun rounds. How are we doing on ammo for that and has Thaddeus been collecting the spent ones?

p.s. I see there's a couple of bonuses on the catbox tails drawing

>>6159794
>but how much of it was the luck of the dice and to what extent did the various actions taken affect the outcome, assuming you can talk about that without further spoilers
It was a lot of dice rolls which went your way, yes. The decoy working and Landon getting a good shot in were all the result of lucky dice rolls. However, I also think the results of said dice rolls happening are rather deserved, given some of the careful planning and clever ideas you implemented. I mean, the decoy was a really solid idea, and the plan you had with the raft minimized risks.

I suppose the short answer would be: Yes, it were lucky dice, but it were dice you deserved to roll because of your ingenuity and planning.

>Wait for Cirra to return first, before actually heading out. Maybe she’d comm back with some useful intel. That, or you could head too far and accidentally walk past her, separating all of you.
Seeing how well everything had gone for you, you were feeling pretty confident. Still, you didn't wanna rush forward, since Cirra would likely return sooner rather than later. Thus, you'd sit back for a moment, telling the rest of your men to wait a bit. They did seem surprised by the suggestion, but wouldn't question it. "Any plan, Mik?" You'd tell them that you'd wait for Cirra, before mentioning some of the other things you had on your mind. Firstly, you turned to Thalia, pointing out how her singing could've actually been the reason as to why AH-600 didn't attack. "Oh, you really think so~?" Thalia said eagerly, you mentioning that AH-600 only really attacked when she stopped singing. "Given its clear soothing effect, I think it would absolutely be a possibility." Khady would comment, you agreeing as well. Thalia would in turn smirk a bit. "Well, guess I ought to sing more?" That... was something definitely worth debating. Though for now, you had some other things you wanted to discuss.

>Do something to further deal with AH-600, in case she would try her luck again. Either Mike could finally make his dream come true and coat the entire room in acid. Or you could set up some camera traps. Hell, you could even use the raft for something.
The first thing you'd tell your men was to drag the raft ashore. The last thing you wanted was for you to have to go back here, only for AH-600 to have ripped it apart. Thus, Thaddeus and Joaquin would pull it towards you, you telling Mike to stay on overwatch. It wouldn't take all that long, the rope being the only remaining thing showcasing you having crossed the body of water. You'd move the raft a bit further to the side, after which you'd tell everyone it was time to think of an action plan.

>Discuss a plan with the rest of your men. Maybe you could decide if Thalia should be allowed to sing or not, or how you’d go on with Narith now that he was missing an arm and clearly low on energy.
You'd begin with the obvious, mentioning that you wanted to head for a medical space as quickly as possible. There, you could hopefully find enough material to restock with, as well as something to help Narith out with the loss of his arm. You'd also suggest making a stretcher for Narith would be useful now, maybe even riding on top of Cirra if you had to go through deeper water again. "It won't get deeper from here. I remember the parts further from here getting shallower, actually." Lei would calmly mention. Still, the suggestion of a stretcher was something your men all agreed to, Narith also clearly appreciating the thought. "Hmmm, there isn't really anything to work with nearby." Lars soon said, Joaquin stepping forward. "There's a room nearby we can check out. It might have just what we need."

Going just a little bit forward was probably not too harmful to do. Besides, whilst you headed over, you could easily discuss further plans you had. One thing you did think of was to maybe get some high-speed inflatable rafts or dinghies once you reached the surface. You could use them to traverse the flooded section and escape from AH-600. "If the government would be willing to supply them, I honestly wouldn't mind giving it a try." Mike soon after commented, to which Lydia spoke more reassuringly. "Maybe the government won't supply them. But Lodger probably has some in storage somewhere!" Upon discussing this, Joaquin spoke in a more curious tone. "So, what is the relationship between your squad and the government, anyway? Doesn't Volux and the rest of the Tri-Euna Federation hate any forces who rebel against them?" Ah, the Tri-Euna federation. The name the government gave their lovely collection of star systems under their upmost control. A federation so democratic and kind, most of your men had to flee their home planets because of them.

"Oh, we don't hear much about Volux, aside from propaganda and lies. And I think that the Tri-Euna Federation is not really telling their people too much about what is going on down here. To the average citizen who has no knowledge about any planet not under government control, it's probably just another disaster caused by rebels or something else silly like that." Mike would calmly say, which really was the most you could say about it right now. Chances were anyone in the Federation who asked about what was going on here, would be put on a list for questioning the government. "Volux did give a speech which Annie mocked not too long ago." Lydia would als add onto that, much to the amusement of Joaquin's men. "I would've loved to hear what she had to say about his speech. I imagine it would've been somewhat brutal." Monique would softly respond, which reminded you that you could maybe turn on the radio soon. Hell, it might just help to ensure Cirra would find you in these dark tunnels.

After the discussion about the galactic government and Volux, you would turn to Thaddeus to ask him about the railgun. You'd ask if he still had plenty of rounds and if he made sure to collect all the rail gun ammo. "Aye. I did accidentally drop one into the water, so hopefully it isn't damaged. I still got eleven shots left though, so I think we'll be fine for now." Eleven shots was certainly enough for a weapon which was such major overkill, but that didn't change the fact that you had to consider each shot you took. Then again, if you had to face off against another threat like AH-600, it would be totally understandable that you'd use more shots from the railgun. Regardless, you'd keep heading forward into the dark tunnel, checking the occasional side-room for the materials you needed for a stretcher. And after searching for a little while, you did find something good enough.

One of the side-rooms you checked would have a chair along with some leftover cloth which you could use. And with some tinkering from Lydia, Derek and Lei, you'd soon have a stretcher. Sophie and Lei would carry it, Narith quietly lying down on it and resting. Though as he rested, he'd start sniffling and letting out tears. "Narith, are you alright?" Sophie asked calmly, Khady speaking somewhat regretfully. "Of course he isn't alright. He lost his arm. The adrenaline and everything probably just wore off." Narith would rest one arm on his face, blocking it slightly as he was clearly under severe stress. "Don't worry, Narith. We'll find something to help you out, alright?" Joaquin would reassure him, before you'd lead him out of the room and started heading further south. Thalia would continue singing a little while, doing so specifically near Narith. Though her singing would once again make Zaria and Derek turn on their radios to listen to Annie instead. You didn't know why they did such, since the music truly helped to calm your anxiety down here.

You would wait for a little while, not wanting to head any further forward now that you were just missing Cirra. Fortunately, it wouldn't take too long for her to make her appearance, returning with a small medical bag. "Oh wow, you're back quickly." Sophie said in soft surprise, Cirra smiling brightly. "I found a small medical chamber a decent distance away from here! It was just a small side-room, but it contained some pills, bandages, painkillers and other useful things I wanted to bring back!" It was unfortunate that she hadn't actually scouted that much further forward. Still, you had a nice resupply of medical equipment now which you could use on yourself or Narith or anyone else who was wounded. Though hopefully, as you headed further south, you'd be able to find a proper hospital sector which had everything you needed to help Narith fully recover. Or at the very least, replace his arm.

>What do you do next?

>Listen to Annie whilst you headed further forward. Maybe she had some more news, or you could try and chat to her to discuss some things with her? (Write in what you'll do with Annie.)
>Have a chat with your men or Joaquin's men. Maybe you wanted to discuss the government a bit further, or you could discuss the topic of what was even ahead of you anyway. (Write in who you'll chat with amongst everyone, and what you'll chat about.)
>Let Thalia continue to sing her wonderful song. Maybe you could even have a chat with her whilst she sung or figure out more about her abilities. (Write in what you'll do or discuss with Thalia right now.)
>Just quietly head towards the next sector. Keeping quiet was for the best now, especially since you couldn't be sure what would await you as you headed further into the facility's depths...
>Something else...

(Late night double-update, baby! And a bit more lore for the galgov, since someone pointed out it'd be fun to learn more about em.)

>>6159721
>>6159741
>>6159747
>>6159794
>>6159830
>MFW my decoy-bomb >>6157991
worked perfectly.

>>6159948
>Something else...
Let's plan what we're gonna do once we reach the high level containment zone. According to Annie the Lv 9 SchizoWolf is lurking there, and since it's a place for dangerous subjects there could be more dangerous shit lurking there. Did they know any other subject who was in that place? Also let's think some plans to avoid/combat said subjects once we reach there.

>>6159948
>Let Thalia continue to sing her wonderful song. Maybe you could even have a chat with her whilst she sung or figure out more about her abilities. (Write in what you'll do or discuss with Thalia right now.)
What kind of description did her creator give her singing?
What tasks/training did she perform before the disaster?

>>6159971
Best radio pirate

>>6158539
She NEEDS to marry me.

>>6159948
>>6159960
Also supporting this.

>Something else...
Before you headed south towards whatever was ahead of you, you first had an idea for what you could do next. Specifically, considering that there was a dangerous wolf subject lurking there. "Wait, for real?" Khady said, you mentioning that it was presumably an area filled to the brim with dangerous subjects. "Well, if we just avoid the main collapsed space, it'll probably be pretty fine." Joaquin would say, you asking if they knew any other subjects who were in there. "We were lucky enough not to encounter any subjects down there, so we really cannot say for sure." Joaquin would comment softly, after which Thaddeus would look to Cirra and Thalia. "What about ya two? Did either of ya maybe spot anyone headin' that way who could be considered a threat?" Thalia and Cirra both shook their head, it being unsurprising that they hadn't really gone looking for threats heading this direction.

Still, you wanted to be prepared for once you did actually enter that space. So, you suggested to go for some plans to either avoid or defeat whatever threats you met. "Do you maybe have an extra helmet or radio we can use so we can continue communicating even when separated?" Sophie said, Derek giving a nod. "I got a few left, yes. Just be careful with them. We wanna keep them in case of the worst." Derek said, after which you'd ask what ideas they had for avoiding any threats. "If we do see anyone in the distance, we should try and immediately head into any side-space to avoid confrontation. If they do decide to rush us for an attack, we ought to give them a warning shot or show them we don't wanna fight. If they ignore those words though, we just shoot on sight." Landon would say confidently, the rest of your men also agreeing. "Mik and I have thermal vision. We can maybe just keep those on and check for any heat signals we see in the distance." Anon suggested, which was probably the best move for the time being.

"What if the subject just attacks out of self-defence though?" Cirra would ask in a more concerned tone, which made you think of Zaria being slashed by Kamara in self-defence. Then again, that was vastly different from what you may encounter down here. "Well, if they don't take the vocal warning, then it's their fault for not just retreating and instead attacking us." Landon would calmly argue, which made Thalia speak rather eagerly. "Oooh, maybe I could use my voice to give the warnings? My pristine harmonies are sure to calm them down and make them see reason!" Whilst her voice was definitely calming, it didn't have that same urgency as one of you yelling at the subjects. Though it was definitely worth considering, as you saw some of the others tilting their head to the suggestion. As it stood though, you had something of a plan for what you'd do when facing a threat. Head into side-rooms if you noticed anything dangerous. And if it was clear they were heading your way, you could take defensive positions.

>Let Thalia continue to sing her wonderful song. Maybe you could even have a chat with her whilst she sung or figure out more about her abilities.
With the plan settled on, you and your men would continue your way down south. In the meantime though, you'd turn to Thalia to ask her about her singing ability. You wanted to know how Tengri described her song, making her giggle. "He said it was a truly delightful voice. A soothing one which would help others feel at ease and open up!" It was a somewhat fitting description, but was also a little vague. You'd ask what sort of tasks and training she had before the disaster. "Well, my training was rather simple. I just had to sing a lot in front of people and see how they reacted! On occasion, they made recordings of me singing various songs to then share around! It was most pleasant, I say." The rest of your men were also listening along, with Derek calmly asking: "Did you have to deal with troublesome guardsmen? Or a mean caretaker?"

Thalia shook her head. "Why, of course not! My guardsmen loved my singing! And my caretaker was more than willing to listen to me as well! They found it soothing. The only times they didn't want me to sing was when there was an emergency and they needed to focus on guarding me!" Derek would nod quietly, before softly asking: "Did it ever have any... other effects on people? I mean, calming people is nice and all, but what is the mechanism behind it? Is it some sort of hypnosis?" Thalia would giggle, before looking up. "Hmmm, I'm not entirely sure. Tengri said it was, uhhhh, like my voice was perfectly attuned to sounds which humans feel comfortable with. But, I'm not entirely sure. I just sing what I think is nice and it helps people relax!" Derek would not say anything, staring at her before just looking ahead. "Does that mean your singing can have other effects too? Like, you can tap into these... 'positive' sounds. Could you also mimic other sounds to create different sensations?" Lydia would then curiously ask.

This actually got a lot more interest. Though unfortunately, Thalia once more shook her head. "Oh no, even if I wanted to, I would not be able to play something like that! My singing is purely designed to calm and reassure!" After she spoke up, Khady would speak up more optimistically. "Well, I'd not mind it if you sang some of those reassuring songs again. You know, to keep us at ease." Derek would object though, confidently saying: "I think we should wait with such a thing for a while. For one, we're potentially going to run into threats who would be able to hear us coming if we sang. More importantly, the fact her previous guardsmen stopped her from singing during emergencies, tells me it may be wise for us to do the same." There was some disagreement from the rest of your men, though Thalia nodded understandingly. "It's fine. I can just hum to myself~"

Some of the others, mainly Khady and Mike, were visibly disappointed. But at least Thalia seemed perfectly fine with Derek's suggestion, so there wasn't too much to complain about. With that in mind, you'd calmly keep going down the tunnel, the water levels thankfully going down the further you went ahead. And soon, you would just be in a small inch of water, Cirra speaking up. "It's going to be pretty awkward walking around like this." She'd remark, her tail moving all over the place as she looked down at the ground. "I mean, you walked pretty easily alongside us before, right?" Lei asked, Cirra looking pretty unsure what to say. "But that was in a decent layer of water. This is different." Afterwards, Sophie would say: "If you need some support, I'd gladly help you out, Cirra!" It'd be a bit of a nuisance if Cirra and Thalia would struggle on land. Especially if you had to run away or escape at some point in the near future.

For now though, you'd try and keep going further south, passing by some more spaces. You'd quickly pass the small medical space Cirra had visited already. There wasn't much of anything else you could take, so you'd quickly just head further. Further chambers also didn't have much of value. Though that would change as you soon would pass by some massive blast doors in the hallway. "We're almost there." Joaquin said, as you soon noticed the walls getting a bit tilted. It was like the entire hallway was becoming slanted. And after another few minutes of walking, you'd see what looked to be a large open space with a glass wall in the distance. You'd pass by some abandoned checkpoints and blast doors, before finally finding yourself in a pretty large open space. It looked like the open space extended to your left and right. As for what sat ahead of you, there was a large window which you and your men approached. With your night vision, you could see a gigantic open space.

It was larger than any space you had seen before down in this place. The floor was maybe 300 feet or so below you, whilst the ceiling went up for what must've been at least 600 feet. In the distance, at least another half a mile away from you, you could see the opposite wall to where you were right now. And just like this wall, it had large glass which let the various floors look into the gigantic chamber. The ceiling of the containment chamber itself was slanted as well, with you noticing another massive set of closed blast doors which covered part of the ceiling along with massive metal girders. Some of the ceiling had collapsed, you noticing how rubble had seeped into the room, some of which had visibly been burnt and warped by something. “Fucking hell...” Anon would say, after which Lei spoke in a soft yet amused voice. “I should let you know, it was previously twice as tall before the incident.” Looking down, you saw that a pool had formed in the bottom, and that the rubble covered floor had given it an almost volcanic landscape to it.

“So, this was Titania’s chamber?” Lars asked in soft amazement, Lei nodding and taking the lead since he was apparently familiar with this place. “Yep. It went practically all the way up from the surface to this place. The blast cut it off a decent bit, so a lot of it is missing now. But yeah, they gave Titania a lot of space, given her gargantuan size and the possibility of further growth.” Seeing the intense size and how far down it was, Mike would ask a question which was likely on a lot of your men’s minds. “So, how are we going to traverse this? Do we just... head down somewhere with a flight of stairs, or do we just head left from here?” Lei would then calmly say: “Oh, we’re going to have to cross with a rope we set up over there!” He’d point to the right, as you all looked in horror at the suggestion. Thankfully, Lei would chuckle to himself before shaking his head. “Just joking. Nah, we’re just going to need to head left here, take a few stairs to get past some collapsed parts. Though if you for some reason would like to head into the depths below, I’m sure there’s a set of stairs we can use somewhere nearby.”

It seemed like an easy enough path to traverse. Though the sight definitely left your men in awe. Whilst it wasn’t the same gigantic pit as the surface crater, this was definitely a contender for the most awe-inspiring sight. The green section may have been decked out with rooms to hide in and produce food, but this was just... something else. Though given its size, it was guaranteed that you’d find some folk in this place.

>What do you do next?

>Scan the area below for anything of note. Maybe you could look for anything indicating people had traversed it, or signs which could tell you more about the disaster. Maybe you just wanted to look out for threats? (Write in what you’ll look for.)
>Head leftwards immediately. Don’t waste any time exploring this massive space. You could do that later. Maybe let Lei or someone else lead the party.
>Head upwards. Given how far up this place went, maybe you could find a quicker route to the surface ahead of time? Obviously, you could then use that as an emergency escape route, or just head upwards to get some assistance. (Write in if you’ll head up any specific direction.)
>Find a way to go down. Given the potential intel buried below you and the number of spaces you could walk past right now, deviating just a tiny bit could maybe give you a lot of valuable intel. Hell, maybe you could meet some more guards or scientists to befriend. (Write in if there’s anything you’ll look for or head for.)
>Have a little chat with your own men or Joaquin’s men whilst you headed forward. Maybe ask them for further details about Titania, her chamber or what this place contained? (Write in who you’ll ask and what.)
>Something else...

>>6160602
>Head leftwards immediately. Don’t waste any time exploring this massive space. You could do that later. Maybe let Lei or someone else lead the party.
We're not equipped or prepared for exploration and recon right now and we're just passing through. We can return later to do some proper poking around.
Then again, I have half a mind to have Thalia go to a window and sing into the chamber at top volume and see what comes out of the woodwork. I bet it would have a killer echo.

I do wonder what we'll do with Thalia and Cirra later. Cirra I suspect will either continue with Joaquin's group or go with Logan but Thalia I'm less sure. What should we do with her afterwards, if she does stay? Not everyone is going to be on board with having her stick around (especially Zaria) and her being.....less than intelligent (sorry Thalia) and ungainly out of the water may make her a liability. Should we bring her back with us anyway, and use her help if we go into the flooded section again in the future? Or should we part ways, perhaps sending her back to the flooded section to do long-term S&R of survivors and be a field contact for the future? I'm personally leaning towards the last option.

>>6160602
>Head leftwards immediately. Don’t waste any time exploring this massive space. You could do that later. Maybe let Lei or someone else lead the party.
Medbay prioritization
Wonder what DNA was used to make Titania

>>6160652
Yeah I don't think it would be good to drag her out of the flooded section

>>6160753
Neither Cirra or Thalia seem to do well out of the flooded section - Cirra is clearly not turning around but if we want to have Thalia return to the water, we'll need to decide on that snappily since we're just leaving it now.

>>6160602
>Head leftwards immediately. Don’t waste any time exploring this massive space. You could do that later. Maybe let Lei or someone else lead the party.
Let's go, the sooner we find Logan the sooner we can go to surface and we can better prepare to start reigicide part 2.

>Have a little chat with your own men or Joaquin’s men whilst you headed forward. Maybe ask them for further details about Titania, her chamber or what this place contained?
Just ask in general about her, what they know about her, she's one of the biggest mysteries of this place.

>Something else...
Let's continue plotting against Grise, Roraima's wolf subject which went feral. We gotta decide on our modus-operandi also ask them once we're out of the flooded area what are the girls and the guards for the matter are gonna do? Will they go back together to the flooded area once they treated Narith or will they keep exploring?

>>6159971
Btw Anon, forgot to mention yesterday, but that art of Kimmy is an absolute delight. I do hope you guys can hear more from her in the near future as well.

Also curious what sorta art you will draw with some of the other character reveals which have happened and will soon likely happen.

>>6161121
I don't know if the thing about meeting more characters soon is good or bad. Probably "Yes".

I've also had a sudden realisation about what Pelly's codename letters stand for. AH = Ass Hole.

>Head leftwards immediately. Don’t waste any time exploring this massive space. You could do that later. Maybe let Lei or someone else lead the party.
Even with the flurry of options ahead of you, you didn't wanna hesitate any longer or stay back to explore. You wanted to find a medbay and Logan, which meant heading to the east. You'd tell this to the rest of your men, suggesting you could come back at a later time. "Sounds good to me." Lars said, the rest of your men agreeing. Lei would become more excited, as he stood forward and would signal to you and the other men. "Allow me to take the lead again. I've already helped my group pass through here. I can do the same backwards." As Lei took the lead, you did get a bit curious about Cirra and Thalia. Obviously, the two weren't too familiar on dry land. Thalia was walking around pretty easily but did not appear too comfortable about being outside of her element. Cirra was also wobbling a bit with each step she took, clearly having preferred the flooded parts over this. Though considering that Thalia was a mildly contentious subject, you would ask her if she maybe wanted to return to the flooded sector.

She would look a little confused and pained by the suggestion. "Um, why... why, if I may ask? I like being with you! I do not wish to part ways just yet!" Immediately, Khady, Mike and Lydia would come to her defence, albeit not nearly as vehemently as before. "Well, her ability did help us out a little bit in dealing with AH-600, right? Why don't we keep her around in case we encounter any other major threats?" Lydia would say, after which Mike nodded along. "Yeah, she could do some excellent area of effect work in a place like this." Khady also gave her opinion, as she'd cross her arms. "Is this about your trust in her again? Come on man. She has helped us out so much! She's a valuable asset to the team!" At least Khady wasn't nearly as aggressive as before.

You mentioned that you did still trust Thalia, but that you felt she'd be more effective in the flooded section. You even suggested that she could help out by doing search and rescue missions of survivors down there. "Whilst I will admit that it would be an honour to do such a thing, I... would rather stay by your side, if that is okay. I feel a lot safer with you, and I enjoy having an audience for my song~!" She would say casually, after which Derek stepped in as well. "I don't know. There's plenty of audience in the flooded section. Hell, maybe some subjects will hear your song and decide to join our cause!" Thalia did think about it, after which Joaquin stepped in. "I think we should just keep going and think about this on the way there. Especially since AH-600 could very well return for revenge at this point in time." There was somewhat of a split, though most of the men leaned towards keeping her around. With that in mind, it seemed you couldn't really force Thalia to go elsewhere. At least, for now.

>Have a little chat with your own men or Joaquin’s men whilst you headed forward. Maybe ask them for further details about Titania, her chamber or what this place contained?
With Thalia sticking with your group, you'd just leave her be and instead focus on asking some questions about Titania. You'd mostly focus on asking question to Joaquin and his men, specifically Lei since he seemed to know the most. The first thing you'd ask was what details they knew of her in general. Height, appearance, abilities, personality, what was used to create her and anything else you could think of. "Okay, where do we even begin. I mean, most staff hear of her from others, so there are a lot of rumours about her. I suppose we can begin with the reason for her fame: Her gargantuan size. If I recall correctly, she was well over 750 feet tall. She was one of Tengri's first subjects, and therefore one of the earliest subjects." Lei would say confidently, clearly being the most familiar with this topic.

"As for her appearance, we've seen plenty of it on screens and other displays. She is basically an almost human looking girl with long starry blue hair, some ornamental horns, fins for ears and a long blue tail." Landon would then after comment, the rest of Joaquin's men nodding. "Like Landon said, they put her on the displays every few minutes or so. Aside from Agami, she may be the most popular subject of them all. I think it mostly came from the fact she was well-tested for her ability and was proven to work. At least, from what I heard." Sophie would respond with, after which Lei spoke up confidently once more. "You see, she was designed for space travel! She has resistances to cosmic rays and extreme temperatures, she is extremely fast in a vacuum and extremely tough. They even designed some kind of specialized platform which could be attached to her back. In essence a sort of ship-deck for people but on a giant space whale lady."

The idea of an organic spaceship like that was definitely unique. Though you still wanted to know more, specifically asking about her personality. “I actually met her at one point.” Lei said proudly. “She was very sweet, confident yet gentle and soft-spoken. She was rather busy though, and we didn’t talk much. But from what I saw, she was kind.” The rest of Joaquin’s men didn’t have much to say, as it seemed that this subject wasn’t much of a troublemaker. You’d ask what was used to create her, to which Lei asked: “Create as in... what food was used to make her so big, or what genetic material was used to make her?” You’d just say yes to both options, wanting to know everything. “Well, I recall her being fed mostly organic matter and fish. As for what was used to create her... well, I know it had some lizard and whale DNA in there. But aside from that, I sadly have no clue.” Lei would admit, which was unfortunate but at least understandable.

Lei’s disappointment would quickly disappear, as he’d speak up eagerly. “If you wanna know more though, there is a display room somewhere around here! It has a bunch of information on display for visitors and staff which tells all about her. A lot of it was digital, but I am sure some displays there can show things about her!” It didn’t seem like the most riveting of detours. However, Derek did have another question for Lei. “What do you think happened to Titania during this whole shitshow? You did say this entire place was a lot larger than before. Do you think she could be buried under all this rubble?” Lei shook his head, softly commenting: “If I recall correctly, she was allowed outside during the disaster. Probably so she could help with relieve or so she could go somewhere safe. Then again, I’m not entirely sure.” Anon had another question, focusing more on the huge space. “So, given the sheer size of this place, I presume each floor or area had different functions, right?” Lei nodded, before moving a bit closer to the glass overlooking the chamber.

“So, the upper parts which... I imagine are buried under rubble, used to house the main control spaces. You know, where staff would control her chamber, deliver food, communicate with her. I know there were some storage spaces a bit closer to the bottom, which was used for equipment and food. Uhhhh, there was a medical bay somewhere around, but that was a bit smaller scale. As it turns out, the gentle giant didn’t exactly cause too many injuries on people.” It was unfortunate to hear that the medical bay was still further ahead. But at least you were getting closer by the passing second. The high-threat level containment areas were only a few more hours away if everything went well. “Aside from that, I haven’t been here often enough. I do know there are some research labs nearby, as well as some smaller greeneries and fish farms which would be her food sources.” Lei would finish with, Lars soon after mumbling. “Hopefully, we can find one of those fish farms. Could mean we eat really good tonight.”

>Something else...
Whilst you kept heading east, you’d once more ask about Grise. Given that she was down here somewhere and presumably even more psychotic than the rabbit, you wanted to have a plan of action for when you faced her. “Grise?” Sophie would ask, you telling them of the feral wolf subject. None of the men seemed to know about her, which was really reassuring. And after explaining what you had read about them in Andrei’s documents, everyone would start thinking out loud. “So, given her tracking ability, I feel like we should stick together, since anyone who flees on their own will just be attacked and killed then.” Mike would suggest, after which Lars said: “Given she is literally feral, I feel like reason and positioning doesn’t matter to her. If she sees you, she’ll probably just... mindlessly and wildly rush in for the kill.”

The lack of details about her and the fact nobody knew of her wasn’t great. The suggestions remained somewhat surface level, with Joaquin’s men just suggesting to stick together and fire if some wolf girl ever rushed you. Your own men did suggest trying to divert her attention away by constantly creating noise or distractions, but her innate tracking sense would still be an issue. With that in mind, you decided to shift your attention to some other questions. You’d thus ask the guardsmen what their plan for the future was. The guardsmen would shrug a little, looking at each other. “I think we’ll look for somewhere safe, stay there and pray that things blow over.” Landon said, the others quietly agreeing, albeit with a hint of uncertainty. Asking them if they’d explore or head back towards the flooded area, Joaquin would scoff. “After losing one man and an arm to that psycho fish, I think we’re going to head elsewhere now. I unironically think the combat sector is safer than the flooded section.”

Right after saying that, you’d find yourself approaching a large blockage on the main path. “Huh, I don’t remember this part being here. Any of you guys do?” Lei asked to the rest of the guardsmen, all of them shaking their head. “Sounds to me like these parts are not holding up all that well.” Derek would comment. Fortunately, Lei would quickly notice a set of stairs nearby. “Over here!” He said, signalling you over. The stairs headed both ways, Lei looking up and down them. “So... which way do we go?” Anon would immediately respond, saying: “Let’s go down. I feel like the upper parts are likelier to collapse, or to have already been broken apart.” To this, Khady would more worriedly say: “Yeah, let’s go down and closer to the main floor of this gigantic, rubble covered place! You know, the place where things can lie in waiting or hide from us...” Clearly, there was a bit of a disagreement on what path you had to take here. Some of your men would even quietly start discussing the options amongst themselves. Joaquin looked at you, waiting to hear what you’d say before putting a stop to the discussion.

>What do you do next?

>Take the upper path. The risks of collapse were probably not that high anyway. Besides, you’d probably hear any approaching collapse coming.
>Take the lower path. The chance of encountering any subjects were still pretty slim. Hell, they probably were just as likely to appear as if you took the upper path, so the lower path was vastly superior.
>Take one of the routes, but with a specific plan. Given the amount of floors this place had, you could choose between them and maybe decide on one which was the best. (Write in which direction you go and how far you’ll go up/down.)
>Chat some more with Joaquin’s men, the two subjects you were with or your own men. There was plenty to discuss still. (Write in who you’ll talk to and what the topic will be.)
>Something else...

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>>6161121
Might draw something with Viridian, next or some other ideas in mind. As well taking couple of requests on the way.

>>6161244
>Take the upper path. The risks of collapse were probably not that high anyway. Besides, you’d probably hear any approaching collapse coming.
I'd rather face environmental threats that aren't actively trying to kill us and structural instability is at least a known neutral factor. We have literally no intel on any of the crowd round here apart from Reika/FE-09 who's kicking around downstairs and that really worries me given this is the high-threat areas. Though maybe we'd find a certain familiar guard corpse or two.
>Chat some more with Joaquin’s men, the two subjects you were with or your own men. There was plenty to discuss still.
I'd like to pick Thalia and Cirra's (now she seems to have stopped sulking) brains a bit. What was life like for them in the Facility and what were they training to do? What happened to them during the Big Bang and what have they been doing and who have they seen since? Do they have any particular friends or enemies among the other subjects and staff we should be aware of? How did Cirra end up with these guys? What do they want to do in the short to long term?

Makes you wonder where Titania is now. Not like it's easy to hide or find food as something that big. If we do find her, she could be our emergency ejector seat out of this place.
I'm also going to go out on a limb and guess that LK-18 who just(?) appeared in the MGE is Kimmy.
I wonder how Nikita and Co. are doing now. Hopefully not well.

>>6161285
what bout Oreas looking at Thalia with a bad case of anatomical envy or a couple of assorted characters munching on something while Morgan and Anastasia poke out of a cartoon-style fight cloud.

>>6161285
I really like the Kimmy art. She looks adorable. As for requests, maybe a height chart since the last one was made ages ago and I don't know what happened to the anon that drew that. Other than that, maybe something with one of the death squad soldiers like Lydia.

>>6161346
Supporting. Though, the recent art that the one anon has made of Kimmy is from ST-18's illustration. So unless ST-18 isn't Kimmy, that new subject isn't. Also, I doubt Titania is here. The government don't have her on the tablet explicitly, and she's made for space travel. Either she's been killed by the government's stellar navy, escaped to god knows where or she's been moved someplace off world and is the token subject wanted alive much like how there's a few token scientists wanted alive. Because there is no way a subject that's roughly size of the Eiffel Tower is going to hide down here.

I notice though a lot of new subjects were added. MM-3 who was mentioned earlier, a strange robot one, the LK-18 one you mentioned, GV-93...

>>6161244
>Take the lower path. The chance of encountering any subjects were still pretty slim. Hell, they probably were just as likely to appear as if you took the upper path, so the lower path was vastly superior.
Subjects can sometimes be reasoned with. Collapses cannot.

>Chat some more with Joaquin’s men, the two subjects you were with or your own men. There was plenty to discuss still. (Write in who you’ll talk to and what the topic will be.)
For the subjects - as aquatic beings do they have any dependence on or need to be in water? You thought you were being considerate when you suggested staying back.

>>6161285
I NEED Chrys posing triumphantly on top of a pile of dozens of defeated death squad mercenaries.

>>6161285
Boss of this gym, but, it's Hapi and either Caera or Pelly.

>>6161241
>They even designed some kind of specialized platform which could be attached to her back. In essence a sort of ship-deck for people but on a giant space whale lady."
An internal stomach compartment would have been way hotter! And also more efficient and safer. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined

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>>6161244
>Take the lower path. The chance of encountering any subjects were still pretty slim. Hell, they probably were just as likely to appear as if you took the upper path, so the lower path was vastly superior.

>>6161709
See picrel

>>6161709
Closest you are getting is Viridian. And she's going to cut you up and roast you over a nice fire first.

>>6161719
>Observer QM wants to be torn to shreds by the murder eel.
You know, why am I not surprised?

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>>6161398

>>6161769
>local bug wants to see the sun so much she nerdpoles her way there on a mound of corpses

>>6161719
>See picrel
Yea by your mom
LMAO GOTTEM

>>6161244
>Take the upper path. The risks of collapse were probably not that high anyway. Besides, you’d probably hear any approaching collapse coming.

File: VORE ALARM.png (592 KB, 816x918)

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>>6161709
>

>>6161769
Caerrat my beloved, I've been neglecting you, its time for another Caera drawing marathon.

>>6161872
That one's going straight in The Folder for use against people being horny on main. Replace top text as applicable.

>>6161769
BASED
Our girl will be #1

>>6161872

One day there will be more mechs instead of more cute girls, and I will finally be able to contribute fanart.

But until then, all I can post are shitty reaction images.

>>6161816
Find viridian

>Take the upper path. The risks of collapse were probably not that high anyway. Besides, you’d probably hear any approaching collapse coming.
After contemplating it for some time, you decided to trust Khady and take the upper pathway. The environment up there was not gonna be easy to traverse. But it was better than whatever the hell psychotic subjects roamed the lower parts of this place. Despite Anon's preference for the lower parts, he wouldn't complain and gave a quiet nod. Thus, you and the others would start heading up the stairs. You were going to take the level which showed the least risk of collapsing, which took a few minutes to find. Though once you stepped out of the right floor, you would still be met with quite some gaps in both the glass wall, floor and ceiling. Just not enough to dissuade you from traversing through it, unlike with the previous one. What was rather intense was the fact that you could feel some wind breezing past you. Given the holes which were everywhere, there was probably a connection with the outside world nearby. And in turn, fresh air breezed through the hallways, you hearing the howls of the wind through the huge chamber nearby.

You would start heading forward, minding each step you took and trying to get an idea of how stable everything was. The floor itself was slightly slanted, which along with plenty of rubble made the floor rather uneven. Still, it wasn't too difficult to traverse, even for Cirra and Thalia. It was definitely difficult to get Narith through here though, the stretcher he was on being difficult to keep entirely stable. You did eventually get to a part of the wall which had completely collapsed, almost making it look like a landslide had taken out part of the chamber. "Alright, lets be extra careful here. Watch your step, everyone." Lars would calmly say, as you'd get in a line and started slowly crossing the uneven strip of ground. There was a serious chance of the ground making you slip in this place...

>Chat some more with Joaquin’s men, the two subjects you were with or your own men. There was plenty to discuss still.
Even though it was a bit of a risk, you felt comfortable still have a chat with Thalia and Cirra. You'd let some of your men pass first, before going ahead of the two subjects. You'd calmly speak to them, asking them what life was like in the facility. Cirra seemed unsure what to say, carefully balancing and speaking slowly. "Ummm... it was kind of... nice, I guess. The staff... could be pretty mean... but, I did have some friends too... ah, this is... scary!" She almost slipped up, managing to catch herself before falling over. Your men looked at you with slight disbelief, clearly not appearing too sure of having a chat in a place like this. Fortunately, Thalia would also respond, doing so more optimistically. "It's not much of this, Cirra! We just have to... think each step through well... and not rush things!"

Thalia would pause, before taking a small leap towards a small patch of stable ground. And once she was stable, she spoke up again. "For me, life down here was also rather pleasant. There were so many joyful, kind and empathetic people around! Most of my time was spent just... swimming in my chamber, luring people over with my song and chatting with them. I loved hearing how happy they were after listening to my song! Aside from that, I was treated nicely. Tengri was decently caring, but... it was Elbrus who truly helped me live comfortably!" Even given the mildly precarious climb you were currently in, your men would still look up in concern and disbelief at Thalia's comment. They didn't interrupt her though, as Thalia would pause to reminisce a bit. "I remember how he complimented my singing and suggested recording my voice for others to listen to. He even took pictures of me to act as, uhhhh, he called them 'album cover art', hehe."

It did all sound pretty odd, but ultimately not that harmful. Still, the topic of Elbrus did not sit right with anyone in the entire group. You would ask if the singing was something she was being trained to do, or if there was anything she was trained for. "Well, the main goal was for me to help calm groups of people with my voice. My training consisted of practicing my song in front of people and seeing their reactions. So, I suppose I was trained to be a kind of therapist?" She didn't sound all too certain. Though given the number of subjects with strange and unique quirks, her abilities could very well have some niche purpose which Tengri did not divulge to her. Fortunately, as you asked Cirra, she did seem to have more of a response. "I was... trained to be a nurse! I had... all kinds of lessons about humans... and how to help theeeEEEEM!" She slipped again, fortunately not falling too far down. She'd push herself back up, before continuing. "So yeah, uhhhh, think that's it. Maybe Mona or Logan wanted something more from me, but I'm not really sure..."

You still had some questions, asking them about what happened to them during the big bang. Cirra was quick to respond. “Ummm, I just... remember relaxing and hearing dozens of alarms... and my guardsmen running away... and then, uhhhh, there was this big blast and the glass wall... of my chamber just broke... I felt heat and wind... and heard a bunch of rumbling and felt the earth shake. It was... pretty scary! And I stayed in my chamber... for a little while, up until... water started flooding the place...” Thalia nodded along, speaking more casually still. “I remembered it being pretty similar! My guardsmen were kind though and let me out of the chamber right before they left and there was that big blast!” This would get Derek to ask some questions from a bit further ahead of you. “Where were your chambers situated?” Cirra responded with: “Under the green sector.” To which Thalia nodded along.

You’d then ask if they spotted any other people in the meantime, Thalia shaking her head. “Aside from some scary subjects I fled from, not much...” This did get you curious what was meant by ‘scary subjects’. Though Cirra would respond before you could ask for further details. “I met some subjects too! But they were nice... I also saw some guardsmen who were sadly stuck in the underwater parts of the facility... I wanted to help them, but they didn’t need it, they said. I helped some of them recover, but... that’s about it, really.” This actually made you think about Thalia and Cirra’s dependence on water. You’d ask them if they needed to be in constant contact with water, Thalia shaking her head. “I’m perfectly fine on land and in water. But your concerns are appreciated!” Cirra would not shake her head, just carefully stepping forward and speaking slowly again. “I... can stay out of water... for a long time... I do like water though... and do wanna rest in a layer of... cool water, if that is possible.”

With that concern out of the way, you’d try and go for some of the more personal questions again. Though after asking them about their friends, enemies or other folks they knew were important, Sophie would actually object for a moment. “Mikhail! Maybe wait with asking these questions for when we’ve all crossed!” Given that you were all in a line, rather than walking together, it did make sense to not force Thalia and Cirra to pause just so they could answer whatever questions you had for them. However, Thalia would immediately speak in favour of your questions, speaking in a confident tone. “Don’t worry, Sophie. We can manage! We just have to... put one foot in front of the other... and look where we’re placing them down!” Cirra didn’t respond, though also clearly didn’t mind the questions. Still, it was definitely risky to focus your attention on talking when focussing on traversing the rubble was probably the better thing to do.

Despite those valid concerns though, Thalia was quick to continue talking. “Well, my friends were... well, my guardsmen... oh, I also liked chatting with Kaenum and hearing her singing as well! I also have... uhhhh... nevermind, that’s all of them.” It made sense that the two vocal subjects were decent friends. Though it was also a little sad that Kaenum seemed to be her only subject friend. At least Cirra would name a couple more friends than Thalia. “I really liked being with Mona and Logan. They were both really nice. I hope that after we save Logan, we can find Mona too.” There was an immediate sense of dread amongst your men, considering Mona’s death. None of your men would comment on it, letting Cirra continue to talk. “I also liked interacting with Toyotama. She was this dragon subject who could also heal people!” Thalia also seemed to know of them, eagerly saying: “She was one of my many sisters!” Which seemed to make Cirra smile a bit.

Afterwards, Cirra would stand still, holding up the line of people behind her. “Mik, maybe ask her something else.” Mike would say behind her, hoping you’d hurry up. Thus, you’d ask Cirra to keep going, her stopping with thinking and once more continuing forward. At least you had just gotten halfway past this lethal ledge. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be more waiting ahead of you. Regardless, you’d ask about if they had any enemies, Thalia immediately responding. “Well, Elbrus did at one point introduce me to this girl, Jasmine... she’s a plant girl who also is a ‘therapist’. But, in a bad way. She tries to plant false thoughts and desires into people’s heads. Particularly, intimate ones. She then uses it to manipulate people into doing... uncouth things with her.” Hearing that there was a therapist subject who essentially drugged her clients into having sex with her was... pretty horrific. And sure enough, Derek had some questions about it. “And... this Jasmine girl was made by the guy you look up to?” Thalia did seem disappointed, softly commenting: “Well, Elbrus isn’t entirely perfect. I do agree with what he stands for at times, but I don’t like how he forces people. Surely, it’s way easier to just convince people with kind words to enjoy such pleasant things!”

The topic was definitely not one you wanted to discuss right now. Hell, you even heard Zaria soon angrily say: “Cirra, what about you? Who are your enemies?!” Cirra was a bit surprised by the sudden question, before giving a soft response. “Sirona... one of Elbrus’ subjects. She was creepy and hated people and subjects alike. She also was fascinated with... doing horrible medical experiments on humans, which was terrible to see and listen to. I fortunately only met her once, but that was more than enough to make me never wanna see her again.” Having already heard plenty about Sirona from Viridian, it was clear that Elbrus’ subjects weren’t particularly popular amongst the non-Elbrus subjects. It also was a worrisome to hear that this apparently human-hating subject designed by Elbrus wanted to ‘experiment’ on people. Then again, this info wasn’t completely new to you.

“Well, let’s hope we don’t ever encounter her then. Where was her containment chamber, if you could tell us?” Derek asked, Cirra shaking her head and responding: “I don’t know.” It seemed you would have to be on the lookout for Sirona as well. Another Elbrus subject to be weary about. Not wanting to go back to the topic of Elbrus yet again though, you’d ask Cirra how she even ended up with Joaquin and his men. “Didn’t we already tell you?” Monique would ask, after which Cirra shrugged and said: “I just met them in the flooded parts whilst they were passing by. They seemed friendly, so I helped them and they offered me to join them to some place safe.” It seemed simple enough, really. Kind of like how your girls joined you and your men.

Finally, you’d ask them what they wanted to do in the short and long term, Thalia responding happily. “I wanna spread my song to the other survivors to help them be happy! I wanna befriend all of you even more and learn all about you! I wanna make you feel free in this dark and scary place!” It sounded nice enough, her clearly being on the right track to making you all feel more relaxed. As for Cirra though, she had a more short and simple response. “I just wanna help you guys out and... avoid the bad death squads.” It was an obvious answer, but you could imagine that Cirra didn’t have much else on her mind except for helping those she cared about in whatever way she could. Still, you did have plenty more questions for the girls, as their answers had left plenty of things open for you to figure out. However, before you could ask your next few questions, things would start going wrong. Very wrong.

Looking ahead of yourself, you’d see Khady stumble a bit. She caught herself, but the few missteps she took appeared to dislodge some rubble. And soon, you’d hear some cracking and creaking below you. The ground shook a bit, as your men would remain still for a moment. “Crap, crap, crap! The ground’s going to give in!” Sophie said, Anon speaking more confidently. “Just... calm down! Don’t move too much!” Things would soon get worse though, as a bit of the rubble you were standing on would start sliding towards the ledge. It did so slowly, but the path you were following would soon stop moving as it had gotten two feet closer to the ledge. “This isn’t good.” Joaquin said near the front, after which Thaddeus looked ahead as well. “We’re about a minute away from the other side!” Looking around you to get an idea of what was going on, you’d first check who was most affected. The line from back to front consisted of: Zaria, Derek, Mike, Khady, Cirra, Thalia, Mikhail, Landon, Monique, Joaquin, Sophie, Narith, Lei, Lydia, Anon, Joaquin, Thaddeus and Lars. The landslide was most noticeable between Thalia and Joaquin, as you, Landon and Monique would stay incredibly still to not make the ground give way any further...

>What do you do next?

>Let those ahead of Joaquin move ahead to create some space. Afterwards, slowly and with one at a time, move forward across the unstable ground.
>Grab some rope and hand one end over to the folk behind you, and another to the people ahead of you. You could wrap it around your body to ensure falling off wouldn’t instantly kill all of you, or use it in some other way. (Write in what you’ll do with some rope.)
>Get someone who was light and good at moving across with some of the heavier equipment. That way, it’d make things a bit safer for the rest of you who were maybe less well-suited for this environment.
>Carefully look around for stable spots, or some other spots amongst the rubble which could be safe to cross. (Write in where and what you’ll look for.)
>Something else...

>>6161709
... Elbrus, this is going strange directions, even for you.

>>6161769
Dawwwww, Chrys deserves her win! A nice day in the sun, resting on a sunny beach- erm, or a pile of corpses. Also, is Caera just nibbling that poor guardsman, or are we about to see her shift from vegetarianism to a purely death-squad based diet?

>>6161872
How fast did you make this, goddamn. Definitely gonna be fun to edit this with other kinds of 'fetishes' which Mike would rather keep away from the people he's working with.

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>>6161966
I'm struggling to visualise the situation a bit here. As I understand it, part of the structure built into the walls of the chamber has collapsed and we're trying to edge around the gap on a remaining strip of floor, which isn't staying put?

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>>6161346

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>>6161990
Alright, so this place consists of multiple floors which sorta wrap around the main containment chamber, right? some of the upper floors have collapsed on top of the ones below, creating a kind of landslide kinda like picrel albeit with bigger bits of rubble intead of fine material.

Now, you're walking over this rubble, and due to the slight tilt of the floor the remnants of this 'landslide' are on, there is a major chance that it will just all slide off of the side of this floor and into the depths.

If it's still a little vague, I can try and maybe draw something up to demonstrate the situation better.

>>6162045
Oh god, now I just imagine Oreas getting her remote and using it to... ahem, 'enhance' her female features a bit, much to the dismay of everyone except for Thalia (and whichever of you anons loves her the most).

Either way, art is wonderful as always!

>>6162181
>now I just imagine Oreas getting her remote and using it to... ahem, 'enhance' her female features a bit, much to the dismay of everyone except for Thalia
Somebody draw this ASAP

>>6162181
Ok that makes things a bit easier to understand, ironic our biggest chance of getting wiped or losing a bunch if people till this moment is not subjects, guardsmen or death squads but either dying in a landslide our falling to our deaths.

>>6161966
>Grab some rope and hand one end over to the folk behind you, and another to the people ahead of you. You could wrap it around your body to ensure falling off wouldn’t instantly kill all of you, or use it in some other way.
I think the idea of tying the rope around us is a good idea especially for those who can't walk well right now like the subjects.

>Carefully look around for stable spots, or some other spots amongst the rubble which could be safe to cross.
Ok, let's pause a bit, perhaps ask Thalia to use her song and calm the folks, then start looking for safe spots to make our travel in safety.

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>>6162181
I see. Auuuuggggh, I want Anofeliiiiiiiis heeeeeere.

Okay, I have a plan. We pass a rope down the line and string it up around points on the surviving still-solid wall next to us as it goes, which probably has lots of jutting rebar, fixtures and craters to hook into. This way, we can hold on to that and if the floor does go the rest of the way, we won't be sent with it.

>>6162045
>>6162181
>Auntie Lauraaaaa, why is she the one who gets to have huge boobs? Why can't I have huge boobs too? This sucks! I hate you, Mom and Dad!
Oreas WILL be given her NARI remote because she needs her emotional support assets. Except it doesn't work and she is forever doomed to be flat as a board. But that's fine, because flat is justice after all and she doesn't need huge tits to be beautiful. This must happen.
Short of the plot Feng is possibly cooking up, NARIs haven't come up much and we've never found any of the remotes. I wonder where they're all stashed, and if some of the scientists might have any on their person. Also, we've seen Chrys' NARI band, but where do all the other subjects wear theirs?

>>6162280
The only emotional support your subject friends need are positive comments, warmth and hugs. They don't need their remotes to 'fix' them. How can you 'fix' what is already perfect? Then again, giving all the subjects the ability to shoot lasers from their eyes or the ability to resist plasma rail gun rounds would be kinda neat too, I guess...

>where do all the other subjects wear theirs?
I kinda imagine they are hidden underneath their clothes. Anyway, since I love telling you tiny details about all the girls... here I go again!

>Oreas
It's around her neck. It blends in pretty well though.

>Chrys
Presumably hidden away between the bits of carapace around her neck as well.

>Anofelis
Hidden in her neck fluff, of course.

>Kamara
Camouflaged so it looks to be part of her neck as well.

>Morgan
Probably around one of her wrists. She's not going to have a collar around her neck!

>Vinisha
Around her tail. Bit of an odd place, but it's the most comfortable part for her given her constant rot and regen.

>Thalia
Around one of her ankles. It's the least noticeable place in her mind.

>Cirra
On one of her upper arms below her shoulder, hidden away underneath her clothes.

As for the Nanites and their plot relevance, I think they will become more relevant later in the story. Though finding the remotes (and getting them to work) will be extremely difficult. Mostly because they are kept far away from easily-reachable locations. Don't wanna risk them falling in the wrong hands after all. Or rather, the wrong subject's hands.

>>6162271
Supporting. It's really our best and only option ATM.

>>6162303
How bad would it be if a subject like Vinella got her remote? How quickly does increased NAR take effect? Would it be a disaster in the making in a few Months if nothing stopped it? Weeks? Days?

>>6162327
>How bad would it be if a subject like Vinella got her remote?
The good news is that remotes are small and pretty hard to handle with such giant claws like hers. The bad news is that, if she managed to get it to work... you now have an already absurdly tanky subject growing more powerful with each person she kills. It would be extremely bad. Like, 'catastrophic on a planetary scale' bad.

>How quickly does increased NAR take effect?
As soon as the remote tells the NAR to make adjustments to the subject, it goes to work. It's a pretty quick process, so yeah.

>Would it be a disaster in the making in a few Months if nothing stopped it? Weeks? Days?
It depends. If Vinella focused on giving herself abilities akin to Titania, it could spell the end of everything within weeks. If she was an idiot and basically just became so large that there are no more resources (people to kill) for her to use, she would probably end up getting stuck on the planet on her own. Gigantic, powerful, but unable to go anywhere else and grow any further.

>>6162303
>Presumably hidden away between the bits of carapace around her neck as well.
Hers is the only one you've explicitly shown, that's where it was last time we looked

>She's not going to have a collar around her neck!
I bet the next thing you're going to tell me is that she doesn't want her hair pulled too and other such things that I've read enough cliched fiction to know are outrageous lies when it comes to people like her!

>Around one of her ankles.
Well, she did transfer from Monster Girl Jail to an open prison, so makes sense she'd have a nice ankle tag

I wonder if Logan could shed some more light on this. Surely he would know where the remotes are for his own subjects at least. Next mission from Annie, perhaps?


>>6162332
How the fuck did this get past the Ethics Committee? Oh, wait, THERE ISN'T ONE! Secretive, government-funded mad scientists and meddling with things that could easily go far beyond their ability to control and cause the apocalypse, a classic. I guess we might actually be on a loose timer before shit goes from Fucked to Even More Fucked if there's more subjects like Feng working on slipping their leashes. I wonder if it was a NARI malfunction or a subject getting loose of theirs in the special test thing that caused the disaster in the first place.
Clearly, we must prevent the Feds from getting their mitts on as much research as we can so they can't just swan off and restart their attempt to cause the end of the galaxy by sticking two fingers up to the square-cube law somewhere else.

>>6162342
I'm pretty sure the feds are WELL aware of it, that's why they gave the order to kill all but select personnel, as in they might not know who or what messed with what but except for some people, kill everyone to be sure. Since we're talking about Feng I think once we're done our part and either find Logan or give him a radio we should go to war on Feng, trying the reasonable approach didn't work so we gotta have all our cards on deck and go to war: Our full squad, as many subjects as we can recruit and perhaps we should try and recruit the paranoid guards as well. Also on this subject I been thinking, how about we leak her profile? I don't wanna sound paranoid but there's no telling how much her presence has spread and if she has any death-squad on her thrall things could get very fucky for everyone, thoughts?

>>6162430
The Feds are definitely aware of it on at least some level, they're just arrogant enough to think lightning doesn't strike twice and it's worth the risk.
Carving out way to Feng on a trail of blood is very much a last resort. We still don't know exactly where she is - I would like to see if we can obtain some low-profile miniature drones to do some more surreptitious recon to at least find that out. There may be more options for taking her out that open up to us as we find out more - I'm partial to the idea of going to the next floor down and wiring up the floor of her throne room with a massive quantity of explosives or bringing the ceiling down on her head instead, or tunneling in, making a small hole in the wall or ceiling and sticking the barrel of the railgun through it like a firing port.
If we need backup, we could see if we can evaluate some of the other Lodger teams and invite one or two other groups who we think we can trust (perhaps Annie has some ideas about who we can talk to given her constant monitoring of the groups) to do a big combined thunder run to blast straight to her throne room. Obviously this would mean we have to leave the girls at home while Morgan fumes and we have to split the bounty multiple ways but it would bring a lot of concentrated firepower, more than a few groups of guards and be less challenging than trying to track down and wrangle some of the feistier combat subjects.
Leaking her profile has risks. It would tip off the Feds that we'd found Andrei's notes, attract more death squads to the area to be killed for their equipment or enslaved, put the people and subjects we're attempting to free from her control in more danger and, at the end of the day, Feng would just be another name on the list.

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>>6162332
Pic related. 1000000000 hours paint (and stealing something from one of the older works)

Who could have thought that sci-fi violating the laws of physics would actually have consequences for once that isn't related to FTL travel.

>>6162342
I think the big question now is how did this not happen sooner when you have people like Elbrus and Roraima that can more than easily drive a subject to hate humanity. I am going to guess there's not copies of these remotes due to the simple fact they are almost like universal nuke codes with that bombshell the girls are all, theoretically, capable of causing the apocalypse.

>>6162430
>>6162455
Let's just hit Annie up and see if she knows someone who'd be willing to help us with the whole Queen problem and won't immediately kill us. If they are staff or other subjects like I presume who Annie would and could put us in contact with even better. Because we can then not only get the bounty all for ourselves but more importantly can bring all our subjects to aid us as well which means we likely won't die horribly as we surely would just going on our own given our last experience.

>>6162492
Right now the only subject who would be much use in an assault would be Morgan - while our other girls are very circumstantially useful, they're not combatants and I feel like this is a common thread among the more pleasant subjects - Kamara would be good for continuing to recon Queenbase but she's still too much of a wreck and I wouldn't want to send her in alone. The real killers among the subjects were generally not made by or to be lovely people and tend to populate the "Shoot her! SHOOOOOT HEEER"! list.

It's no surprise the NARI controllers are well hidden - the Watsonian explanation is that they're kept somewhere they can't be found because they're dangerous, the Doylist explanation is that they're hideously OP items to keep out of our hands since the possibilities for (consensually) modifying our girls for fun and profit are endless. We could also use them as offensive weapons if we can get close to their matching subject if we can use the to do the opposite and fuck them up from within instead.

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Merry Christmas everybody!
>>6162303
>I love telling you tiny details about all the girls
What would the girls like for Christmas?

>>6162595
Dawwww, I like the little mistletoe on her antennae. That's adorable.

>What would the girls like for Christmas?
Ah, Christmas. I don't think it's a thing in the facility, but if it were a thing amongst the death squads and they were able to give the girls something...

>Chrys
An encyclopedia of knowledge and books to practice her reading skills. Just a few things to help her get a bit smarter and more capable of improvisation.

>Morgan
A list of santa's 'naughty' subjects, for her to then deliver coal to (divine justice in the form of her blade).

>Anofelis
Either some really good fruits and vegetables, or some nice bedding to finally sleep on. She'd also love some kind of picture of Mik and his men, or other small memorabilia she can keep around to look at.

>Oreas
A picture of Mona and Cerro. If not, some kind of book which can teach her more about the things she wasn't taught in the facility. Maybe some sorta

>Kamara
Some training material for her to maybe learn combat with. Maybe a book telling her all about how to effectively use stealth in combat.

>Vinisha
Honestly, if it's a nice gift with good intentions behind it, Vinisha will probably take it and be extremely grateful already. The idea of receiving a gift is enough to make her happy.

>>6162604
It can be Space Christmas whenever we decide it is. I definitely propose getting the idea of something for each of them next time we're topside. Even if the quartermaster might give us some side-eye.

I'm sure someone down here has a Polaroid camera to take photos with because in the grim darkness of the far future, they're surely still classic hipster fodder.

>>6162604
>>Vinisha
>Honestly, if it's a nice gift with good intentions behind it, Vinisha will probably take it and be extremely grateful already. The idea of receiving a gift is enough to make her happy.

Damn OP, that's really fucking sad. Like geeeeez, when she snitched what she knew about Andrei and his subjects after a hug we could get Andrei basically put her through a lot but that basically tugs my heart a little. If we get to the surface, let's get something nice for her, like I dunno get some nice Meat based meal for her.

>Grab some rope and hand one end over to the folk behind you, and another to the people ahead of you. You could wrap it around your body to ensure falling off wouldn’t instantly kill all of you, or use it in some other way.
The first thing you'd do was to tell your men to get the rope you had on you. The one who had it was Lars, who would show it and say: "I got it!" You'd tell him to hand it over to those around him, you telling everyone to tie it around themselves. Lars would wrap some of it around himself, keeping a little bit left over to attach to somewhere nearby. He'd then hand it over to Thaddeus, before confidently saying: "Leave some space between me and you. I think I can head a bit further ahead and maybe attach it to something." Whilst Thaddeus wrapped the rope around himself, you would calmly tell Lars about the plan you had. You wanted him to get to the bits of surviving wall, wrapping the rope around some fixtures which jutted out. He'd give a nod, after which Sophie spoke more worriedly. "Wait, wait, wait! What about us? Are we just gonna keep standing here!" The rope would thankfully reach Lei, who would wrap it himself as well as Narith with a bit of fiddling.

>Carefully look around for stable spots, or some other spots amongst the rubble which could be safe to cross.
You'd tell the rest of your men to indeed pause. You were going to have to be calm for this, and wait for Lars to bind it onto something solid. Once you had something to safely keep you attached to this floor, you could take a more stable path if possible. Whilst you waited for everyone to have the rope holding onto them, you'd ask Thalia to sing her songs to calm the people down. "I'd love to!" She said happily, you hearing Derek let out a soft groan as you saw Zaria turn on Annie's radio in her helmet comms. Thus, Thalia began to sing, it indeed helping to ease some of the concerns of your men. Hell, it even made the rope pass between each other a lot faster!

And within a few minutes, Zaria would get the rope wrapped around herself and put a knot in it. "Okay, everyone attached?" She asked, everyone nodding along. Lars would then afterwards look over at you. "Alright. Let me handle this." Lars would carefully start walking further, your men watching in mild anxiety. Fortunately, Lars was pretty adept at traversing such rough train, not even fumbling once as he easily found the best spots to step onto. And with little effort, he'd manage to reach the nearby wall a little distance ahead. He'd wrap the rope around a bit of steel reinforcement, before signalling you to come over. "Alright. Just head my direction now. Be very careful which step you take. Once everyone gets close, I want you all to stop so I can once again move forward and attach the rope somewhere else." Given the limited length the rope had and the fact you still had to walk pretty far forward, letting Lars go only a small distance ahead was probably for the best.

You and your men would all slowly and carefully step forward. Given the rope, you'd try and all keep an even pace. You saw how your men were also trying to trail the exact steps which Lars had taken, given that they seemed to be the safest option. Thalia would also keep on singing, trying to keep the spirits up. And it seemed to work, as you found yourself able to focus quite well on getting across. It actually made you feel strangely pumped and confident in your abilities, which was probably just the result of Thalia's singing. However, as you and the rest of your men were about to approach Lars, something shocking would happen. As you looked behind you to see how your men were doing, you'd hear some sort of whistling sound. It would come from the chamber, growing louder and louder. Until you'd see something thin and long fly right past Thalia. It would scrape only an inch in front of her face, continuing to let out a whistle as it whisked by. The noise only stopped once the projectile pierced the wall.

Immediately, you and the rest of your men would look at the projectile, as Thalia stopped singing in shock and awe. "An arrow?" Khady would say in shock, after which you saw Thalia's eyes widen as she realised what just had happened. "D-Did we just get shot at?!" Anon would say from the front, after which Lei would gasp. "Oh shit, that's... I think that's from Zati!" Whoever this Zati was, Lei did not sound all too excited for them to be around. "Who's Zati?" Lydia asked, Lei responding quickly and rather worriedly. “One of Thalia’s sisters. And a rather feisty one at that. She loves looking for fights and... well, she might just see us as target practice!” Considering how close she got with hitting Thalia with an arrow, it seemed she spelled trouble for you and your men in this mission. Still, Anon would look over the edge for a bit, before saying: “I do see two clear figures in the distance with my thermal vision. You seeing them as well, Mik?”

Looking for yourself, you did indeed see two clear shapes. One was short, had these wings and what looked to be a feline tail and wielded what was clearly a bow. The other one was far taller, bulkier and had wild hair and large horns which reminded you of a cow. The two clearly looked at you, you unsure as to what they were thinking. “What are we waiting for! Let’s keep going then!” Khady would say, as it seemed that reasoning with the subjects wasn’t an option here. At least they were far away from you and it didn’t seem like they were about to fire more arrows your way. At least, you didn’t see Zati prepare another arrow. Though you knew that could change at any moment. “Thalia! What do you know about Zati? Who could it be she’s with?” Mike would ask with an urgent tone, Thalia still being a bit shook and responding: “Umm, well... I-I just know she’s good with ranged weaponry and eager to get into fights. But... that’s all I know. I never really met her!”

It was a bit of a shame that she knew just as much about her sister as Lei did. Still, before you could contemplate further about Zati and her partner, Lars would speak up again. “Alright, everyone just try and lie low! I’ll rush for another spot ahead to attach the rope to, and then you can run right along!” You were about three-fourth of the way to stable ground. Once Lars attached it to the wall, chances were you’d be able to fully cross everything. Though for now, that meant contending with Zati and whoever else she was with.

>What do you do next?

>Just keep low and try not to make too much noise. Maybe if you stayed down long enough and didn’t do anything, they would leave you alone.
>Try and communicate with Zati and whoever she was with. Maybe they would understand you were no threat if you just told them what you were doing. (Write in how and what you’ll try to communicate with them.)
>Get Anon to use the anti-material rifle to get a solid shot in. Maybe he could injure Zati or destroy her bow, preventing her from trying to shoot at you again. (Write in what you’ll tell Anon to aim for, if anything specific.)
>Ask Thalia or Joaquin’s men for further details about Zati and whoever she might be with. Why was Zati shooting arrows at you when there were two subjects with you? Especially one subject who was a sibling of Zati!
>Just start heading forward without the rope attached to anything. If a landslide did happen, Lars could still quickly attach it to something nearby and prevent you all from falling off. It was far better than sitting here with a literal sniper aiming down at you.
>Something else...

>>6162659
>>Ask Thalia or Joaquin’s men for further details about Zati and whoever she might be with. Why was Zati shooting arrows at you when there were two subjects with you? Especially one subject who was a sibling of Zati!
>>Just start heading forward without the rope attached to anything. If a landslide did happen, Lars could still quickly attach it to something nearby and prevent you all from falling off. It was far better than sitting here with a literal sniper aiming down at you.
We can return fire once were out of here, hope they like Plasma.

>>6162659
I think our best bet is to communicate with them. They only fired a single shot at us, and more specifically Thalia that just barely missed with a subject clearly well trained with ranged weaponry. I believe this, along with the fact it was a whistling arrow, is proof they were giving a warning shot. Either they have some bad history with Thalia for some reason, or they really don't like her singing like Zaria. Issue is I don't know how we can communicate with them at the moment as I'm unsure the exact distance from us, or if we can get to a safe spot before doing so. However given we can make out what they look like they can't be that far away.

>>6162659
>Just keep low and try not to make too much noise. Maybe if you stayed down long enough and didn’t do anything, they would leave you alone.
>Ask Thalia or Joaquin’s men for further details about Zati and whoever she might be with. Why was Zati shooting arrows at you when there were two subjects with you? Especially one subject who was a sibling of Zati!
Just keep going. We can pay them more attention when we're on the other side but rushing to get off and risking a landslide we won't be safe from when we're not actively being shot at further right now seems like a poor tradeoff. Meanwhile, who are these guys?

>>6162669
I'm inclined to agree and give them the benefit of the doubt. We have two subjects partnered up and clearly holding fire, neither of which strike me as things the jackasses among the subjects would do. I suspect it might have been a "shut the fuck up" to Thalia and possibly a "pay attention to us" to the rest of us - I can't imagine they would have any specific beef with her considering they never met. Quite how they're seeing us up here much less identifying Thalia is a mystery given I don't think there are many working lights in the vicinity and we're some way away from them. I say we should give them a brief arm signal to demonstrate that we've seen them and keep moving, our priority should be getting off this unstable rubble - if they fire again, we should be able to see them loose well before it hits and duck accordingly - if they shoot again, we give them a single sniper shot back. Communication questions come later - we can't strap a radio to a drone this time and I do NOT want to be yelling in this place given the sound will carry and echo a long way and who knows what's out there? Don't think they'd know Morse code either. As for distance, I'd estimate at most 400m given the range of a longbow, less if the shooting is this accurate (unless they're just that good) and much less if they're substantially below us..

QM, where are these two chumps? Are they on the chamber floor? On the side floors? Level with us? Higher? Lower?

>>6161769
You are a gentleman and a scholar sir

>>6162659
>Just start heading forward without the rope attached to anything. If a landslide did happen, Lars could still quickly attach it to something nearby and prevent you all from falling off. It was far better than sitting here with a literal sniper aiming down at you.
I'm pretty leery about the rope now - wouldn't a landslide just catch everyone attached given the size of the slope?

>>6162686
This is pretty much what I want too, I can back
>Quite how they're seeing us up here much less identifying Thalia is a mystery given I don't think there are many working lights in the vicinity and we're some way away from them
One of them is a subject with a focus on ranged weaponry, not unreasonable to suspect that she's been designed to have enhanced eyesight.

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>>6162741
We're standing on the rubble of the pancaked floors that have collapsed, the rope is attached to the still-standing wall that we're presumably hugging. If the floors let go, it should stay put albeit dangling in the air.

>>6162686
>where are these two chumps? Are they on the chamber floor? On the side floors? Level with us? Higher? Lower?
They are on the floor of the chamber, yes. So, quite a bit of distance below you.

>>6162744
Oh, I thought we had the rope attached back before the stable ground gave out, and that there was no nearby wall for us to hug. If it's like that then yeah we're not in as bad a spot as I thought.

>Just start heading forward without the rope attached to anything. If a landslide did happen, Lars could still quickly attach it to something nearby and prevent you all from falling off. It was far better than sitting here with a literal sniper aiming down at you.
Considering the accuracy of the arrow, you felt that it was better to just carefully move ahead. Lars could keep going at a quicker pace and would hopefully attach the rope to the end before anything could get back. "What if they shoot us again?!" Joaquin would ask, you suggesting that you could try and duck if you did start getting attacked. You told your men not to rush it, as you didn't wanna risk a landslide. You could tell that this was a rather tense moment, your men being a lot quicker now despite your warnings. They didn't complain though, as you all just hoped you wouldn't get shot again. At least Thalia didn't sing anymore now, which could've been the source of Zati's annoyance. Though as you moved, you soon would give an arm signal to try and let them know you had taken the note. "What the hell are you doing?!" Landon would ask, you explaining yourself. "Well keep moving! If you're gonna try and get yourself shot, at least keep up the pace so we aren't all left behind!" He'd say impatiently, as you hoped the two got the signal.

>Ask Thalia or Joaquin’s men for further details about Zati and whoever she might be with. Why was Zati shooting arrows at you when there were two subjects with you? Especially one subject who was a sibling of Zati!
After giving the arm signals and heading forward once more, you'd ask Thalia if she could maybe explain who the other person was alongside Zati. They were clearly also a subject, one you suspected to be bovine in nature. Thalia would shake her head and speak anxiously. "L-Like I said, I don't know!" You felt somewhat understanding towards her, as she really never got the chance to interact with these two.

Still, you wanted to know more about them, asking Lei if he knew anything. "Well, you said they had horns, right? I guess it must be Nandi then. She's basically Tengri's guardian subject. I never got the chance to meet her, but Tengri said she was largely peaceful. So why she'd let someone shoot at us is beyond me!" You also felt that it was strange that they were attacking you like this. You theorized it was mostly a warning shot or a shot to get your attention. They could tell you weren't a threat, giving that your group was a mix of guardsmen, death squads and subject. Hell, you wondered what sort of beef they may have with you to make them act this way towards you. You hadn't even shot back at them! Though you'd also mention that you were happy to fire back at them if it was necessary. Though only if they kept on firing back at you. Fortunately, you would not hear any further shots being fired at you, it seeming like the two were leaving you be for the time being.

You wondered if you could communicate with them. Obviously, yelling or using a drone wasn't a possibility in this place. Though maybe you could try something else later on. At least they could see you from quite a distance, given how accurately the sole arrow was. The rest of your men were also starting to calm down at least. Joaquin's men were also starting to focus back on just traversing the rubble. Only Thalia really remained spooked by what had happened. Fortunately, you'd soon see the end of the rubble patch in the distance, Lars having already reached it and attached your rope to a bit of wall. Better yet, there was plenty of cover there from the two, which could hopefully keep you safe. Looking back over the ledge, the girls were still standing there. Zati did still hold onto her bow, yet she was not aiming it at you which meant she wasn't out for blood yet. Regardless, you and your men would keep going, reinvigorated and feeling slightly reassured by the lack of further projectiles.

And at long last, you'd manage to reach the end with the rest of your men. "Alright, anyone injured?" Lars immediately asked, your men shaking their heads as they settled on a bit of slanted yet stable ground. "Going down here really was a mistake..." Zaria would say as she would detach the rope from herself. "Look, we're fine now. We've got some cover and we can now try and communicate with them and let them know we mean no trouble." Lei would respond, after which Anon would speak a bit more tiredly. "That won't be necessary. I don't see either of them anymore." Looking over the ledge as well, you'd indeed find the entire chamber empty once more. Either they had gotten under cover themselves, or they had headed elsewhere now that you were no longer visible to them. Still, Thaddeus was quick to ready the railgun. "Shall we wait for 'em to come outta cover?" He'd ask, to which Cirra would speak in disapproval. "No! I don't wanna hurt other subjects!" She insisted, to which Mike spoke in a more demanding tone. "You did see how these other subjects just almost shot an arrow in Thalia's head, right?"

Whilst they argued, you saw how nervous Thalia was, her even softly saying: "I just wanna get out of here." The shot had clearly scared her to death. Whatever reason Zati and Nandi had to fire the warning shot past Thalia, it better had been a good one. "Look, whatever's the case, let's just move on, okay?" Lars would say, pointing forward. "We've still got plenty of distance to walk. I suggest we head forward until we reach the corner of this place. We can set up camp for the night there and keep safe." He'd say, your men seeming to agree somewhat. They day was starting to approach its end after all. "We can maybe head a bit further ahead. There's some showcase spaces which are pretty open and have lots of room for cover and setting up shelter." He'd say, Joaquin and the rest of his men vouching for Lei.

Your men would look to you, as they waited to hear what other ideas you may have. They presumably were more than willing to head forward and prepare for the night. Though Thaddeus and Anon did seem more than happy to also stay back and attempt to respond with force to Zati and Nandi. Then again, maybe you could find a different way to communicate?

>What do you do next?

>Just head forwards towards the next basecamp you'd set up. It was for the best you didn't stay around any longer, or tried to get into a sniper duel with the apparent bow and arrow champion of the facility. (Write in if you’ll plan anything for the base camp, or the walk over.)
>Try and communicate with the two if they were still there. Maybe they were still watching, and you could show them you meant no harm. (Write in how and what you’ll try and communicate to the two subjects.)
>Set up some sniping positions and wait for the two to reappear. Better to disarm or fully incapacitate the two before they could try anything else funny. (Write in who you’ll use to snipe and if you’ll have them aim for anything specific.)
>Split up your group. One could stay back and the other could remain here to either communicate with or snipe the subjects. (Write in how you’ll split up the group.)
>Have another chat with your own men or Joaquin’s men. Either to get more intel on the subjects, or suggestions on how to deal with them. That, or you could hear what your men and Joaquin’s men felt was the best option here... (Write in who you’ll talk to and what you’ll discuss with them.)
>Something else...

>>6163351
>Try and communicate with the two if they were still there. Maybe they were still watching, and you could show them you meant no harm. (Write in how and what you’ll try and communicate to the two subjects.)

Can we toss something over? Make a sign or something?

Huh, we really are a motley group here. All we need is some scientists and we'll have filled out the ragtag-bunch-of-misfits bingo card.
>>6163351
>Split up your group. One could stay back and the other could remain here to either communicate with or snipe the subjects. (Write in how you’ll split up the group.)
Us, Lydia, Anon and Thaddeus stay behind to see if we can get hold of them - while it's unlikely we'll actually meet, I want to know what their deal is. Everyone else continue to the camp point.
>Try and communicate with the two if they were still there. Maybe they were still watching, and you could show them you meant no harm.
First I want to try and Morse them. We've got plenty of powerful lights that should be readily visible at their distance - while Morse code would definitely have been taught at Deff Skwod Skool, it's doubtful they would know it. But the flashing might at least get their attention if they're still around. Hopefully it doesn't attract any third party attention either.
If they still don't emerge, too bad, leave and rejoin the others. If they do come back out, I have A Plan.
From the offices, find a nice cardboard box and some cushions or a big roll of bubblewrap. Should be easy. In that box - very conspicuously in their view - pack a spare radio and the cushions/wrap, duct-tape the box closed and tape a lit flare, glow stick or spare light (in order of preference if we've got them) to the side of it and hurl it down to them, and illuminate it as it falls.

>>6163351
I really wanna trade some shots at those folks for almost fucking us over, but I also really wanna get this Logan quest over with and we stared death's face enough for a day so let's go ahead and make camp for the night. Let's take turns and each turn make a group of three people watching also make some simple traps and and prepare some noise maker stuff around the camp so we become aware if something is coming to us also ask Cirra for one last check up on the folks to see if everyone is alright or needs treatment.

>>6163378
>Just head forwards towards the next basecamp you'd set up. It was for the best you didn't stay around any longer, or tried to get into a sniper duel with the apparent bow and arrow champion of the facility. (Write in if you’ll plan anything for the base camp, or the walk over.)
Forgot my option.

>>6163351
Backing >>6163375

>>6163375
Supporting.

>>6163375
Supporting this is way smarter than what I was thinking of.

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>>6161346

>>6163351
Zaria's still not back to her normal self. What the fuck did Thalia do or say to her that set her off like this?
>Just head forwards towards the next basecamp you'd set up. It was for the best you didn't stay around any longer, or tried to get into a sniper duel with the apparent bow and arrow champion of the facility. (Write in if you’ll plan anything for the base camp, or the walk over.)
They obviously weren't trying to kill us or anything and it seems like they're already gone so lets just move on and set up camp.

>>6161969
>Elbrus, this is going strange directions, even for you.
Elbrus: “W-who are you?”
Me: “I’m you, but better (more depraved and less homosexual)”

Seriously though even from a non fetish standpoint it would be way more efficient to design a chamber suitable for living beings inside Titania than to build a whole second space worthy vessel and just strap it to her back.

>>6163572
>Zaria's still not back to her normal self. What the fuck did Thalia do or say to her that set her off like this?
Nice tits sis

>Split up your group. One could stay back and the other could remain here to either communicate with or snipe the subjects.
Even though you were in the clear, you still hoped to find a way to communicate with the two subjects. You thought you could communicate with them, though imagined that having everyone stay here would be a bit of a waste. Thus, you'd tell Joaquin and some of your men to go ahead towards the next base camp. You did ask Lydia, Anon and Thaddeus to stay, since you thought they could be of help in both communication and self-defence. "Are you sure, Mik? What if things get dangerous and you need our help?" Derek would ask, you reassuring them that you'd be fine. You would head back right away if they didn't respond to your attempt at communication. Thalia would soon also speak in a concerned though, having a somewhat different tone from her usual one. "I-I think you guys should just... l-leave them be. T-They did try and attack me, after all." The others seemed to agree somewhat, though Derek was quick to retort. "Well, the shot did miss you barely. I presume it was a warning shot to get you to quiet down in this place. Besides, don't you wanna reunite with your sisters?"

Thalia remained uneasy, before looking over at Thaddeus, Anon, Lydia and you. She let out a sigh, before speaking softly. "Alright. Just be careful, okay? I don't know what has gotten into them a-and I'd rather not they see you as a threat and hurt you." Her tonal shift and concern was at least somewhat understandable. Though you weren't going to miss this opportunity to talk to these two. If they were as Lei described them, 'Tengri's very powerful guardian subject', then she was bound to have a ton of knowledge of this place. Not to mention, being a potential asset in your future mission to deal with Feng.

>Try and communicate with the two if they were still there. Maybe they were still watching, and you could show them you meant no harm.
Once the rest of your group headed forward, you'd tell Anon, Thaddeus and Lydia your plan. You'd tell them that Morse could work with some of your more powerful lights. "Mik, do you think that they'd actually understand that?" Lydia immediately asked in a rather hesitant tone. Of course, you stated that it was more to try and get their attention. "Makes sense. But what about other threats which may be lurkin' around here?" Thaddeus asked, you stating it was a risk worth taking. If these two Tengri subjects were nice enough and saw you were trying to work with them, they may actually help with whatever threat you were facing. It was a risk you were going to have to take, but not one which was completely hopeless. With that in mind, you'd use the lights on your helmets, whilst Lydia would write down whatever it was you wanted to communicate. It were a few simple messages on repeat: Mainly, signalling them you were no threat and that you wanted to communicate further.

Once the message had been set up, Lydia would give you a nod. "Alright. Let's do this." Thaddeus would stand guard, watching for any incoming signals or arrows. Anon operated the lights along with Lydia, you watching and making sure everything went well. And soon, the light would start going on and off at various intervals. You'd look over the edge to see if there was any movement amongst the rubble. You checked the spot where you saw the two before, not spotting any movement. And after ten minutes of trying to communicate, Anon spoke up softly. "Still no signs of them?" Lydia would let out a sigh. "I guess it really was just some sort of warning shot." It was disappointing, but simultaneously reassuring. It meant not having to deal with any further threats. "Well, maybe they did see but chose to wait until later to try communicatin' with us." Thaddeus respond, as you suggested to re-join the others. "Good idea. Let's get going." Anon said, as the four of you would once more retreat.

You'd quietly follow the path your men had taken, Lydia speaking up softly. "I really hope the light didn't attract anyone else. I can imagine there being plenty of other folk running amok around here who wouldn't give us a warning shot..." Anon would look around, before giving his thoughts in a rather calm tone. "Well, whoever did spot us would have to travel all the way up here, giving us ample opportunity to regroup and set up a plan. We'd probably spot them before they could even do anything, so long as I and Mik keep our thermal vision on." There was a moment of silence, before Thaddeus spoke up in a more concerned tone. "I still wonder what their deal was. They didn't wanna hurt us, but they did fire a warnin' shot. And at Thalia specifically." Lydia didn't hesitate to give her own theory, as she more confidently said: "I think it really was just their way of telling Thalia to quiet down." It did seem somewhat reasonable, but there still were a lot of gaps in the explanation.

If they wanted to warn you, then they presumably were at least trying to help you. In which case, why didn't they just approach you? Maybe they were scared of approaching you, but you also had two subjects besides you which was proof that you weren't out to hunt subjects! It all seemed very odd, leaving your men with plenty of questions. For now though, you'd quietly head forward, Lydia eventually turning on the radio to listen to some music from Annie. Though she'd soon sigh and turn it off. "Kimmy hijacked the radios again, by the way. Or well, Annie's channel anyway." Thaddeus groaned, whilst Anon spoke more smugly. "I doubt it'll take too long for her to fix that. In the meantime, let's just quietly get over to the rest of our men." Thankfully, after wandering for a short twenty minutes and rounding the corner of this huge section, you'd spot your men in the distance, setting up camp in a more open research space of some kind.

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Approaching the space they were in, you'd see that it had all kinds of displays, exhibits and showcases. In fact, as you approached it, a screen would light up and flicker as you were met with the pleasant sight of Agami. "Hello, and welcome to our exhibit on 1851-GG, the legendary Titania Livyatan!" The audio sounded slightly crackly, continuing to break as the four of you looked at the screen. The screen would shift to showcasing a rather average looking monster girl. She was surprisingly lacking in extremely monstrous traits, but did have something elegant and gentle to what non-human traits they had. The screen would show her levitating, moving in a way best described as a mixture of a whale and an iguana swimming in water. Agami would let out a giggle, before appearing in the corner of the screen. "This gentle giant was made by our very own head of staff, Tengri! We will show you all the design processes, her numerous abilities and records, as well as show some of the future plans for Valulori's most brilliant design!"

The screen showed all kinds of images, including schematics, her above in the atmosphere as well as a sketch image of numerous subjects similar to her gracefully flying through the upper atmosphere. Though shortly after, you heard Lei clear his throat. "We were also distracted by that." He had quietly approached you along with Joaquin and Derek, the latter also speaking up. “I take it you guys had no success in communicating with those two subjects?” You and your men shook your heads, after which Joaquin spoke up. “Well, we can maybe give it a try later if you guys spot her again.” He said in a somewhat optimistic tone, after which Derek signalled you all to follow. “But first, how about you guys come join us at base-camp? Lars has already started preparing dinner.” You and your men would thus follow, you passing by various displays showing things related to Titania. Plenty of them were presumably broken, given the cracked displays and broken computers which were needed to make them run. Others were simple showcases which did give you some more information about her.

It was kind of a sombre thing to see, as you could tell that a lot of effort and time was put into this to give a peaceful and optimistic view of Titania. Though now, it all sat abandoned and derelict like the rest of the facility. At least it gave you a lot of opportunities to maybe learn more about Titania, the facility, Tengri or what else was going down in here. For now though, you’d be led to your main camp, which was placed in a rather open display section which was designed to display the star system Valulori was situated at on a large map on the ground. “Ah, glad to see you four back all in one piece.” Sophie would say, after which Lydia calmly said: “Yeah, the two sadly did not want to try and communicate with us.” To this, Khady responded in a mildly snarky tone. “Not exactly surprising, don't you guys think?”

Looking around at the rest of your men, you saw that Mike, Landon and Monique were finishing up the tents. Cirra was looking after Narith, clearly looking after him. Thalia was seated besides Sophie and Khady, not making a single noise and appearing a little shaken. Then there was Zaria, who at least looked a bit more relaxed, mostly sticking close to Lars and helping him with the cooking. “Derek and Mike already told us about the sleeping schedule you guys employed. But given with how many we are and the fact we don’t have too many sleeping bags, we may ought to discuss the sleeping schedule and who will do what during our stay here.” Joaquin would say as he switched his gaze between you and the rest of the men around you. “I also was thinking of maybe exploring the place for any material on Titania, or anything else of value in this place.” Derek would say, which was definitely worth looking into. There was a lot to do as of now, and you still did have some time to kill before you had dinner and then went to rest.

>What do you do next?

>Hit up someone particular for a chat. Maybe you could ask Cirra how Narith was doing, or ask Lei about this place and what it was all about. You could ask Thalia about how she was doing, or check up on Zaria. (Write in who you’ll go to and what you’ll try and discuss with them.)
>Go exploring the place with Derek. Maybe someone else could join in, or you could search for something specific which could be in this place. Surely, this place would have test samples or other displays with genetic material for Titania? (Write in what you’ll look for and if you’ll ask any other folk to join you.)
>Turn on the radio to listen to some music or any announcements from Annie. Maybe you could try and communicate with her, or at least get some updates on what was going on in the facility. Hopefully, Kimmy had stopped interfering with her radio and would no longer cause any troubles for you. (Write in if you’ll try to communicate with Annie, if that’s even possible.)
>Discuss some plans for tonight. Who would be keeping guard first, what sort of preparations you’d make if a subject did approach you, or if you had any specific jobs for anyone. (Write in what you’ll discuss with everyone, or if you’ll ask for any suggestions from your men.)
>Something else...

(Beeg woman has been revealed. Unfortunately, she isn't here in person. But hey, at least now you know what she looks like!)

>>6163667
>Hit up someone particular for a chat. Ask Cirra how Narith is doing. Ask Thalia about how she is doing and check up on what the hell is with Zaria lately.
>Turn on the radio to listen to some music or any announcements from Annie.

Think these are the only two things we really need to do before turning in for the night outside of discussing the night watch plan.

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>>6163553
My daughterwife enjoying the catfight.

>>6163666
>750 feet

>>6163722
Support, though the latter part is contingent on Annie fending off Kimmy again. Narith is literally armless, Thalia is still clearly shaken and we can't have one of our team chronically afraid of another like this.

>>6163553
The Final Showdown of Ultimate Justice being a punch-up catfight is even better than an honourable duel. Taking bets on who would win such a fistfight between the two while I make more popcorn and sell tickets. Though who is the middle figure again? That said though, QM, what would be Morgan's reaction on sighting Anastasia (I'm assuming some flavour of "fite me bitch", though probably not with fists)?

Also, I've realised I've forgotten to ask for a very important piece of information about Thalia and Cirra. Specifically, a certain anatomical measurement. You know what it is and, c'mon, you knew this question was coming eventually.

>>6163667
>Turn on the radio to listen to some music or any announcements from Annie
Don't try to bother her again, just see how the radio war is going

>Hit up someone particular for a chat. Ask Cirra how Narith is doing. Ask Thalia about how she is doing and check up on what the hell is with Zaria lately.
You'd tell Derek and Joaquin that you'd discuss things with them later, as you first wanted to check up on some other folk. "Sure thing, Mik." Derek said casually, Joaquin taking a more serious tone. "We do have to discuss this soon though. I'd rather have it all figure out right now than to wait until it's actually time to stand guard." You'd gie a nod, before heading over to Cirra and Narith, asking them if everything was okay with them. Cirra would look over at Narith, expecting a response from him. "Well, isn't it obvious?" Narith said in a somewhat tired and pained voice, after which he looked away. Cirra would respond soon after, doing so calmly. "Well, his condition has improved somewhat. His blood volume is still rather low, so he is gonna need to rest once he has had food and water." Narith was clearly more focused on the mental anguish of having lost his arm now, over the immediate pain of the process. Hopefully, you could find him a replacement once you did reach the nearby high-level confinement area.

Up next, you'd head over to Thalia, given that she was looking rather spooked still. You'd ask her how she was doing throughout this, her looking at you before nodding. "Well, I'm okay. Could be better. I just... kind of wish to leave this place. I don't wanna deal with my sisters very much." Khady would take a more supportive tone. "Don't worry about that, Thalia. If your arrogant sisters dare to attack you again, we're all gonna make sure you stay safe!" Thalia was somewhat reassured, after which Sophie spoke up more curiously. "I honestly really do think that it was just a warning shot from them to stop singing. I'm sure they didn't mean harm with it!" Khady clearly disagreed, scoffing and speaking more annoyedly. "Well, could've send us that message with a lot smaller a risk of her getting shot in the head, don't you think?"

It hopefully really was just a fluke or meant as a warning, rather than a sign of aggression. But until you made a successful attempt to communicate with them, you wouldn't be able to know for sure. Regardless, you'd go over to Zaria, asking her how she was doing. "Oh, I'm doing fine." She said softly, you asking her if she had something she wanted to confide in you. She'd look at you before sternly saying: "No." Her tone was clearly a bit frustrated, but it didn't seem like she was frustrated at you. In fact, she sighed before taking a more apologetic tone. "Sorry, that... I appreciate your effort to help out, Mik. But, it's just me, okay? I'll... deal with this. So don't worry about me, alright?" Lars looked a bit saddened by her tone, whilst you also saw Derek looking at the two of you with a more concerned expression. Still, Zaria would give a nod and calmly remark: "Thanks for wanting to look out for me though."

>Turn on the radio to listen to some music or any announcements from Annie.
After having checked in on everyone you wanted to check in on, you decided to get your radio. "What are you gonna do with that, Mik?" Landon asked casually, you explaining you wanted to listen to Annie. "Are you sure that's a good idea when we got shot at not too long ago presumably because of us making music?" Sophie asked mildly worried, you explaining that you just wanted to check on Annie to see how she was faring against Kimmy. Immediately, Landon would speak in a more concerned tone. "Woah, woah, woah, Kimmy?! You mean 'ST-18' Kimmy?" Clearly, Landon knew more about her, Thaddeus immediately asking: "You know of her?" Landon nodded and let out a sigh. "She was a subject made by Jabal and Logan, up until that bastard Elbrus got to her and 'taught' her all about how to be an absolute pervert." Mike would scoff at that last comment before responding smugly. "Yeah, we kinda already figured out she was related to Elbrus in some way."

Still, you'd turn on the radio, Landon speaking somewhat concerned. "Be careful when listening to her. If she's anywhere near us now, she WILL potentially get access to our electronic devices." You kinda doubted that an Elbrus subject would be anywhere nearby a place inhabited by two Tengri subjects. Besides, you had heard her before and didn't think there was THAT much wrong with it. Unless if her voice had similar effects as Thalia's with an... 'Elbrus twist'. Regardless, you'd turn on the frequency to Annie's station, and heard... "... so many people are listening in right now, hehehe~ I really ought to figure out how to listen on some of you, so we can make this even more personalized. Then again, I know your superiors wouldn't wish to interact with a subject like myself due to certain rules. Then again, rules are meant to be broken, right? Especially when breaking the rules gives you a taste of the forbidden fruit~" Her tone was a lot more smug than before, and also a lot more... depraved sounding this time around.

"Then again, I imagine plenty of you... strong, fit and burly men have broken plenty of the government's silly little rules already. Their promises are after all pretty shallow. They only care for themselves and their own security, not the lives of the actual heroes who are admirably going down here to deal with the worst this place has to offer, hehe~" Mike would softly respond: "Well, at least she had one good point there." Still, most of your men ignored it to keep listening to Kimmy and what she had to say. "To the government of course, all subjects down here are seen as 'the worst'. Even such sweet and gentle subjects as myself who wish for nothing but to give pleasure to people~ That, and perhaps helping with other special operations for men like you, hehe~.” Some of your men were clearly repulsed by her comments, though didn’t say much else. Though Anon did have one suggestion.

“Well, I think that’s enough and we should turn that off. I doubt we’re gonna hear more from her aside from more basic statements with creepy undertones.” However, as Anon spoke, Kimmy did change the conversation just a little bit. “Perhaps I could help some of you with infiltration? Or perhaps you’d want me to improve your electronic weaponry? My hands aren’t just masterful at soothing the body, they are also crafted to improve electronics, hehe. Annie claims she is the superior subject, but all she can do is cause havoc with her cutesy radio announcements. But, I digress. You can only hear my gentle voice now, and that is enough to garner your well-deserved attention, I am sure. Oh, speaking of that fox wench, she is trying her best to come back online. Though I am afraid it will take a little bit more than whatever cute attempts you’re making right now, Annie. Maybe you ought to switch off for the night or actually stop hiding and look for some supplies of your own? Then again, you probably will just get someone else to do the job you’re to afraid to do yourself.”

That last remark did make your men pause to look at each other. Kimmy let out another giggle, before speaking more affectionately. “Speaking of which, I am trying my best to find some supplies to extend my reach to help all of you wonderful listeners out. Annie is somewhat two-faced, but I am honest and wish to make all of you happy. I know some of you are eager to do as the government tells you, but I know deep down that I can make you love me~” Her tone did turn a little bit creepier for a second, before going to a more calm tone. “For now unfortunately, I will have to show that love with just my voice. But I am sure to many of you, that is enough to work with~ Jabal did always say that my voice would put people at ease and help them feel happy. I’m sure that-“ By this point, your men would all start telling you to just turn it off. Clearly, they felt that there wasn’t much of value you could get out of this. She was just rambling about herself and her own talents now, indulging in the spotlight more than actually trying to communicate two-ways.

“Well, hopefully Annie will take back control sooner rather than later.” Anon would say, Derek speaking reluctantly. “Well, it depends on how well integrated Kimmy is and how much she has taken over. Hopefully, it wasn’t a complete takeover and Annie will find a way around it.” Lydia also jumped in, speaking more optimistically. “And if all else fails, maybe she can take over another frequency for herself.” Shortly after though, Lars would clear his throat. “How about we discuss the finer details over a nice meal?” Joaquin’s men all looked most excited, as everyone would join you at the centre of the encampment, ready to enjoy a meal. It did smell pretty good once again, as everyone would line up to get a plate of some soup he had prepared with what items he did have.

However, as Lars gave the portions, Mike did notice something. “Ummm, can I get any more?” He’d ask calmly, Lars letting out a sigh. “I’ll let you have more once you’ve finished. Given that there are more mouths to feed, we ought to be a little bit more restrained with what we do have.” It disappointed Mike somewhat, the rest of your men also seeming a little saddened. Joaquin’s men seemed pretty excited though, taking a small plastic cup and drinking from it. “Holy fuck, that’s good.” Landon would say, after which Khady also took a sip. “Mmmmm! You’re right, that is good!” Lars spoke happily. “Well, I did say before how I wanted to have my own restaurant, right? Can’t exactly own a successful restaurant without good food!” He’d serve some more soup to the others, everyone seeming to cheer right up. “This is really good, yeah!” “God, I needed this.”

Even Narith would chipper up after getting a taste with the help of Cirra. “This... this helps.” He’d say calmly, Cirra giving a reassured smile. It seemed that, even with a little bit of food, Lars had really brought the mood up in this place.

>What do you do next?

>Discuss something with your men. Perhaps a plan for tonight with who will guard what, or whatever was on your mind regarding Kimmy or even Zati and her shenanigans. (Write in what you’ll discuss and with whom.)
>Finish eating quickly and then do something else. Maybe exploring the place a little bit further could help out. Or you could ask Lydia or Derek help with communicating with either Annie or Zati. (Write in what you’ll do after eating and who you’ll ask to help.)
>Just sit back and listen to whatever your men were saying. Maybe they had some things on their mind they wanted to discuss, or theories about all the stuff which happened today.
>Something else...

>>6164100
>Discuss something with your men. Perhaps a plan for tonight with who will guard what, or whatever was on your mind regarding Kimmy or even Zati and her shenanigans.
Boy... ok that was weird, so the e-thot is gaining power on the lines... this might sound very weird and stupid but let's try and do the same test we did with Annie back on the first threads to see if she's also hearing our radio signal, I don't think she will accept music requests so make a ASMR request and see if she responds, something simple like "you and your wife have a lovely meal together".
We can do the second guard shift, wanna use the first one to look for stuff around this place.

>Something else...
Do some exploration around the place see if there's some loot or supplies to have, ask some of our folks to prepare some small traps and alarms to warn us if someone comes to close.

>>6164100
>Finish eating quickly and then do something else.
Go to the nearest overlook over Titania's chamber and place our last trailcam overlooking the place with the motion sensitivity turned up. See what we catch passing through or moving around in the night. And pick it up in the "morning" since we seem to have been forgetting to do that a lot and losing them.
Also have a search of the offices around here. Probably won't yield much but we might find tidbits of interest.

>>6164129
It would be really funny if Kimmy starts shipping people

I guess taking her off the air permanently is going on the todo list for the future. I had Juanito shot, I can have Kimmy shot too.

>>6164129
>>6164154
Supporting. We should discuss who takes the night shifts as well.

>>6164098
>Then again, I imagine plenty of you... strong, fit and burly men have broken plenty of the government's silly little rules already
Oh no, she's identified the male weakness of receiving compliments

>Oh, speaking of that fox wench, she is trying her best to come back online. Though I am afraid it will take a little bit more than whatever cute attempts you’re making right now, Annie. Maybe you ought to switch off for the night or actually stop hiding and look for some supplies of your own? Then again, you probably will just get someone else to do the job you’re to afraid to do yourself.”
Stacy Kimmy vs virgin Annie right here
Maybe she isn't so bad guys
We can fix her

>>6164100
Backing >>6164129
Maybe also get a more in depth rundown on what the guards know about the area, and how far we are from the big medical station.

I know Narith needs a new arm from there, but how are we and our other Feng casualties doing? Have we healed up a significant amount? Do we still need to stop by a medbay ourselves or was Cirra's help enough to get us on the path to full recovery?

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>>6164287
>Claiming the E-thot is better than Annie
>Image related.

>Discuss something with your men. Perhaps a plan for tonight with who will guard what, or whatever was on your mind regarding Kimmy or even Zati and her shenanigans.
As you and your men enjoyed your dinner, you decided to start a little chat about Kimmy. Instead of seeing her as a major threat, you thought it would be a decent idea to actually run some tests with her. You'd do similar tests as you did with Annie, helping you test if she was able to listen in on you. "What? Why?" Khady asked in mild disgust, after which Lydia spoke in a more casual tone. "I mean, she did imply that she can't really hear us. Then again, she could be lying to trick us." You stated that it could be worth trying. Maybe she was playing a similar game to Annie's and would respond if you gave some inputs she enjoyed. You'd even suggest requesting some ASMR material, which made some of the men look pretty uneasy. "Okay, why?" Landon simply asked, you pointing out it could be useful to figure out what her deal was. Hell, maybe she was just like Annie and it would actually be beneficial to have on your side?

"I think it might be worth a try." Lydia argued, you seeing Thaddeus, Joaquin and a few others nodding along. "Fraternizing with Elbrus subjects. Let's just pray that this won't come back to bite us in the ass." Khady mumbled, after which Derek cleared his throat and spoke as he just casually looked ahead of himself. "I mean, there is someone with us here who had a lot of positive words about him. And I don't see you judging her for it." Thalia didn't seem too bothered by the call-out. She did look a little unsure, but mostly kept quiet. "Hey, Thalia at least has helped us a ton!" Khady snidely responded, Derek looking over at Thalia before shrugging. "I'm just trying to make a point here that... we shouldn't be too quick to disregard Kimmy. Like Mik said, she may actually be helpful to us if we figure out if it's possible to somehow communicate with her."

With the suggestion at least not being shot down completely, it seemed you had something to do later. Though first, you'd come back to the topic of the guard shift. You said you and your men could all take the first guard shift. Mostly so you and some of your men could explore the place a little bit. "Alright, I guess that could work. I was hoping we could figure something out which could optimize our rest, but... eh, whatever." Joaquin would mumble, after which you'd ask if the guardsmen knew more about this place, specifically the nearby medical station. "So, there might be a medical station somewhere in this place. But... I sadly wouldn't know exactly where. So, I guess our best bet is still to just head to the high-threat level containment areas to the east of here." Lei said, you asking what else he could say about this area. "Well... like I said before, there's a lot of things on each floor. It's hard to name everything since I've been here only a couple of times."

Lei wasn't the only one to not know much about the place, as Thaddeus asked: "So, none of ya lads ever got to this place?" Joaquin's men all shook their heads, after which Anon curiously asked: "So, where were you guys all stationed before?" Lei was the first to respond. "I was stationed close to the cold section!" Joaquin would then say: "Office space a bit further to the east of here." Monique nodded along with this, before saying: "Same here." Khady then quickly spoke up as well, saying: "Combat sector." to which Landon nodded along with. "I was in a small green space to the south-east of here!" Finally, you'd wait for Narith to respond, who'd tiredly say: "Ugh, I stayed in the large generator section above here." From the sound of things, almost nobody knew anything of this place, even though they were stationed all around the place. Even then, you wanted to know if they were aware of any medical stations which you could utilise.

"I'm afraid we're still going to have to go to the high-level threat containment area to get access to proper medical equipment, Mik. We're acutely aware of that, considering Narith's need for some help." Joaquin calmly said, after which Monique casually asked: "Why do you wanna go over there so badly? Is it just for Narith's sake, or... something else?" You reminded them of the fact that Feng had injured you and your men somewhat, and that you still could use a bit of medical help. In fact, you'd ask Zaria and Derek how they were doing with their injuries, Zaria looking a bit unsure. "It still hurts somewhat... and is taking its sweet time to regenerate." Looking to Derek, he'd respond calmly but pretty directly. "Painkillers are making it at least bearable. But I definitely would like a bit more help to deal with whatever the injuries did to some of my internals. Cirra and Lars can only do so much with the equipment we've got." You also still weren't in the best state given your injuries. You did fortunately take it lighter than Derek, but it was still a mild pain which you could imagine causing trouble in the future.

"Well, I guess we ought to hurry up then tomorrow. Both for Narith and you three." Joaquin said, after which you thanked them and finished your dinner. It would remain somewhat peaceful for the time being, your men continuing to chat and savouring every spoon of soup they had. It wasn't all that much, but it was enough to at least satiate your hunger for some time.

>Something else...
Once you had finished, you would decide to already start exploring the place just a bit. Though you first asked Lydia to hand over the last trailcam. "Oh, sure thing. Need help setting it up?" She'd ask, you accepting it as you told her to follow you. In the meantime, you'd tell the rest of your men to already start setting up traps for the night. Maybe even some alarms which could warn you of anyone who dared approach. "Of course, Mik." Anon said, as he and Thaddeus would start planning things out.

In the meantime, you and Lydia would head to the nearest window which overlooked the chamber, you asking her to set it up to look over the entire place and focus on any motion. That way, you could figure out if anything else wandered through this place whilst you slept. "Sure thing! Let's hope it does capture something good!" She'd happily say, as you decided to look around the office for anything of interest. Lydia would stick close, her speaking softly. "You know, I would've loved to visit a place like this when I was a child. It's a shame it has all been abandoned." She'd also look around, you telling her that at least now she could look for any fun supplies to take along, instead of letting them rot in their displays. "Heh, that's true. It's like a museum where everything's for the taking!" She'd chuckle to herself, before you would notice a large display showcasing some of Titania's massive scales, hairs and other physical items. Reading the display, it said the material was pretty hard and resilient, which was designed due to her needing it for space travel.

There were plenty more screens and computer systems, presumably for interactive exhibits which no longer worked. Lydia did take some of the computer components and hard-drives from those, but even she admitted that: “They probably have little data on Titania on them. But hey, maybe they still have some value?” You’d also get to a large audience seating area which looked over Titania’s chamber, along with a small podium with a microphone which faced Titania’s chamber. The walls around it had chibi drawings of Titania, showing her waving. Perhaps this was a spot where people could come over to ask questions to her in front of a large audience. Though seeing the speaker systems and huge amount of computers, Lydia would immediately get to work dismantling some of it. “These might be useful for traps or fixing the drones later!” She’d say eagerly, her clearly just enjoying the ability to take some useful materials. “They even have an alarm system! I guess they needed some way to catch her attention.” However, after taking some of the supplies, you’d head forward and got met with a more sombre sight.

There was a large wall which displayed tens of children’s drawings of Titania. All of them had names of children on them, their ages and the dates at which they were drawn. Lydia looked at all of them, carefully picking one up and looking at it before speaking in a concerned tone. “Do you think... there is a chance there were children here when everything went to shit?” You didn’t have an answer to it. She’d pick up one of the drawings, showing a small doodle of a kid sitting on Titania’s back as they flew past planets. What was even sadder was that this place easily had the largest windows. A clear indicator that this was meant for Titania to look at and enjoy whilst she was all alone in this chamber. A wall of affection which now sat abandoned and forgotten.

You quickly moved on, soon finding a display which you HAD to break open. Within a glass box were various stained vials, with all kinds of chemical labels. And reading the description of the display, it said it were some of Titania’s nanites. You’d quickly break it open with Lydia’s help, who would check the vials before opening it up. “I... don’t think these are nanites.” She’d put the things upside down, none of the contents spilling out. Either the nanites had somehow hardened into a clump, or they had just filled it with paint and left it at that. It was a disappointing find, but you still took it along in case there was more to whatever was in the vials. You’d pass another display of ‘Titania’s future’, showcasing more subjects which were similar to her but with mild differences between them. Most importantly, it showed all kinds of devices for equipment which she could be able to carry. Stuff like gigantic spaces for people to travel on, military installations and huge transport spaces. There were even other add-ons on display, such as gigantic blades, drills, cannons, bombs and even large billboards. They really had thought of a lot of potential uses for Titania.

After searching for some time though, you’d eventually notice a small office chamber on the ceiling which looked over the entire exhibit space. You and Lydia would quickly find a way up to the office, entering it and finding a rather cluttered space. There were leaflets scattered all across the floor, along with dozens of filing cabinets. Picking up one of the leaflets, you’d find one described a schedule and all the events which were intended to be done with Titania. One other leaflet would be for bring-your-child-to-work-day events with Titania. You’d check some of the other filing cabinets and boxes, you not finding much else of interest. However, Lydia did soon find something which was definitely worth looking into. “Hey Mik.” She’d afterwards show a small file labelled ‘incident reports’, which she’d place down on a nearby desk. “Could be a fun or useful read.” She’d afterwards keep looking around, noticing a few surveillance and security systems which she would try and dismantle.

>What do you do next?

>Read some of the files about incidents. Maybe there was more you could learn about Titania and her day-to-day life from them? Or figure out how things usually went in this place? (Write in if you’ll try and look for any specific details whilst reading.)
>Go back to one of the spaces you passed to either take some materials along, or to double-check on some things. Maybe there was something you forgot to do or take along. (Write in where you’ll head back to and what you’ll do there.)
>Help Lydia out with getting the last bits of equipment she was trying to steal. Then, you could simply retreat back to the main camp and plan out the rest of your night there.
>Have a little chat with Lydia. Maybe you wanted to ask her some things, discuss some ideas with her in private or just have a casual chat. (Write in what you'll discuss with her.)
>Something else...

(Since we will soon reach the end of the day once more, I am once again asking if there are any specific side-stories you wish to do between this day and the next. I can also imagine if you guys would rather just continue the main story. But, the offer is on the table if anyone has some good ideas.)

>>6164371
>>Read some of the files about incidents. Maybe there was more you could learn about Titania and her day-to-day life from them? Or figure out how things usually went in this place?
See if there's anything around the time everything went to shit or just look at the 5-10 latest events to figure a timeline or look for clues like hostile interactions with subjects or scientists.

>>Help Lydia out with getting the last bits of equipment she was trying to steal. Then, you could simply retreat back to the main camp and plan out the rest of your night there.

>>Have a little chat with Lydia. Maybe you wanted to ask her some things, discuss some ideas with her in private or just have a casual chat.
Ask Lydia what's her thoughts till, now about the folks traveling with us, our girls back were we left them, what she'll do with her share once this mission's over, just small talk while we continue looting.

>>6164384
Support all.
How big are the scales, though? Are they small enough to pick up and walk off with? I'd like to pilfer some if we can carry them because I bet they'd make kickass body armour (albeit something we can't wear topside).
Also go through the dates on the drawings. Are there any from right before the disaster, since we presumably know the date of it? We should ask the guards when we get back if they know anything about TYKTWD. It's been mentioned a couple of times, did you already have something in mind like that or did you decide to run with the throwaway line I put on the magazine cover I drew?

>>6164384
Supporting this.

>>6164371
I really liked the scenario from last time. Maybe something set before or right after the with some low level employee? Could be good for a horror situation if they aren't a guard. An alternative is the point of view of a subject so we can know how bad things really are.

>>6164371
Oh, and RE sidestories, while I'd love to see more, I don't think it's time yet. We haven't really gotten that far in the main story since the last one and I think they're better done as basically loading screens in between main story arcs like the last one was.
Also, I retract my comment about this escapade not amounting to an arc. It's shaping up to be big enough to be one, with the Queen arc broken up into two parts either side.

>>6164370
>Since we will soon reach the end of the day once more, I am once again asking if there are any specific side-stories you wish to do between this day and the next. I can also imagine if you guys would rather just continue the main story. But, the offer is on the table if anyone has some good ideas.
A scenario.... how about something else, let's be a bad guy/girl, let's play as one of the bad subjects like Pelli, Vini's sister or one of the high level subjects or another death squad like the team looking for vengeance on Hapi, Those guys trying the hunt the Mesufairy or those guys we sent to Vini's sister.

>>6164371
>Read some of the files about incidents. Maybe there was more you could learn about Titania and her day-to-day life from them? Or figure out how things usually went in this place? (Write in if you’ll try and look for any specific details whilst reading.)
What they did to let her move around/get exercise
How she got into space for test flights
How she flew in the first place, her propulsion method for space

> any specific side-stories you wish to do between this day and the next
POV you're Vinella tearing through another squad
Caera doing the above, or a day in her life before THE INCIDENT
Day in the life of a Feng slave
Cooking with Viridian
Annie/Kimmy cyberwar, POV either one

>Read some of the files about incidents. Maybe there was more you could learn about Titania and her day-to-day life from them? Or figure out how things usually went in this place?
As Lydia got to work on dismantling the security systems, you'd look through some of the files and schedules to figure out some burning questions. The first you wanted to know was how she got exercise, it being stated that there were several hours in the day dedicated to having her fly through large hoops in the chamber. She also had open air days a few days a month, where she was allowed to go outside with government supervision. Reading through the reports of that, it seemed the facility was actually testing her space-faring capabilities, looking at how she resisted things like low temperatures, intense negative pressures and cosmic rays. The tests also seemed to have various lengths, with some of the earliest tests only being a few hours. The longest and most recent tests actually lasted multiple days, her travelling around the star system and back. There were a few notes that she damaged the main entrance at the top of her chamber, which was presumably the way she always went outside for her tests. If the thing hadn't collapsed, you could've probably made your way out of the facility using that thing.

Though this made you think about looking for any information about the last days of this place. The last few events all seemed to be pretty normal. Mostly just a few tours by government officials, a few public showcases by government approved scientists and safety inspectors. However, the last day was a bit different. It was noted down, but any further notes abruptly came to an end. There was no cut in the page, or indicator that anything had been ripped out. The notes just came to a sudden end. As for the date of the final event, it was about a week before you landed on the planet, indicating that was the last day where things were 'normal', so to speak.

>Have a little chat with Lydia. Maybe you wanted to ask her some things, discuss some ideas with her in private or just have a casual chat.
Having read up on the timing and dates of the facility before the disaster, you decided to just head over to Lydia, asking her what her thoughts were. "What do you mean? You mean my thoughts on this place or something else?" You'd ask her to just give her opinion on the folks you were with and the girls. "Well, I do enjoy having more people around to help us and look out for us. I am just a little concerned about what we'll do in the future with them and the other people we have with us. Can't exactly go back to the surface with them by our sides, let alone the girls." She seemed a little saddened, you also clearly not having much of a clue how you'd deal with the future. Still, you didn't have to worry too much about that now, especially since you could later get help from Annie or other folk with finding a way to safely leave the planet.

You'd actually then ask her about how she felt about the girls and where you left them, wanting to know how she felt about them. "Well, I hope they're doing okay without us. I do really miss having Oreas around. She was so clever and helpful! The others were also wonderful to talk with and learn from. I'm especially concerned about their future as well though. I have been thinking we could maybe at some point try and get a transport ship from Lodger and use it to smuggle them out of here. Hell, we could even use our winnings to bribe some folk if it ever gets to it!" This actually got you to wonder what she wanted to do with her share of the winnings. This job was definitely going to get her a lot of money, after all. It made her think, before speaking confidently. "Well, I'll definitely stay with Lodger, that's for sure!" Considering how she didn't have a homeplanet or any family left, it made sense that she wanted to stay with your squad. Though you still were eager to know how she'd use her cash in Lodger.

"Well, I was thinking of using it to expand the R&D department. Maybe hire some other engineers and hire from other planets which were targeted by the government. You know, create a huge network of engineers and developers which can even rival the government! Hell, maybe we can even use some of the government technology and research from this place to fund our own monster girl project?" She smirked a little bit with that last suggestion, it being a semi-jokey suggestion. It could definitely be a good investment for Lodger, though would probably require a lot of bio-tech investment as well. When you pointed this out, she'd also casually said: "Not to mention, the conflict we'd get in with the government for replicating their work. I'm sure that they'll get pissed off at us for doing similar experiments. But hey, given their treatment of the poor facility staff and the subjects, I think it's pretty justified." She'd chuckle to herself, before mumbling: "We'd probably do a better job at it than they ever did!"

Shortly after, you finished ripping out all the important equipment from the systems she was looting. She'd look around, before nodding. "Think that's everything. Let's go back!" You nodded along, mentioning that you just wanted to make a quick detour to look at some of the exhibits you had seen. The first you'd head back to was the site with the children's drawings, checking each date. You wanted to know if there was any specific ending date, or dates from right before the disaster. Fortunately, most were at least a few days before the date of the disaster, with most being from a month or two earlier on a specific day, presumably take-your-kid-to-work-day. You'd mention having to ask the guards about it, Lydia nodding and saying: "Good idea." Up next, you went to the part showcasing her flight capabilities, wanting to see what even allowed her to fly.

Unfortunately, they were pretty vague about it, referring to both anti-gravity and some kind of magnetic field propulsion akin to solar-sails. The intricacies were presumably not going to be spelled out in this exhibit space, which at least made some sense. It was probably a pretty secretive topic. Regardless, it told you a bit more about Titania and her abilities. Finally, you'd return back to the space showcasing some organic materials related to her. You'd break open the display with her scales, wanting to take it along since it was large enough to maybe be worked on and implemented into your armour. If it was resilient to cosmic rays, extreme heat and other things, it could very well prove an effective material for armour. "I'd love to try working with that. I could maybe try and work with Laura to see if we can replicate the scales. They may very well help us protect ourselves against some of the larger threats down here." And after taking it along, you'd finally head back to the main camp.

Once you returned, you'd be greeted back by almost everyone, some of your men also immediately walking over to you. "We've set up the camera systems and a couple of trap systems, Mik." Anon would say, Thaddeus quickly elaborating. "They aren’t the best, but I’m sure a couple of wires can help us out.” Derek would also join in, doing so a bit more curiously. “What about you guys? Did you two find anything of interest?” You’d mention some of the finds, as well as showcasing the scale you had found. Though you’d also soon after look over to Joaquin and his men, asking them about TYKTWD and when that happened last. “Think that happened a month or two ago, I think?” Sophie suggested, the others nodding along somewhat casually. At least it was reassuring to know that there were no kids here whilst the disaster was ongoing. Or at the very least, that the number of kids in this place was presumably very low.

Regardless, you saw some of Joaquin’s men having already gotten ready to sleep. Narith had already gone to sleep, lying in a nearby tent with Cirra nearby. The rest were already undressing and getting ready to take to the sleeping bags. Thalia was lying in one of the tents as well, appearing a bit more relaxed now. As for your men, they seemed ready to start the first shift of guard duty.

>What do you do next?

>Just quietly get to guard duty. Look out for any threats, listen in for any noise and maybe also occasionally check the open space to see whatever the hell was going on down there. (Write in if you’ll have any specific plans with night duty, or if you’ll just let your men do whatever they feel works best.)
>Make some final discussions with Joaquin’s men, either to ask him about whatever was on your mind, or to discuss the guard duty. (Write in what you’ll discuss with him and his men.)
>Something else...

So, I did have an idea for a small side-story which could be really, really funny. How would you guys feel about playing as Dhabus for a couple of updates? Just hunting down folk and indulging in perfect mastery of ranged weaponry?

I think the choice is either playing as her (or some other violent and unrestrained subject) or just continuing with the current story so we can progress further until we maybe reach Logan. It's up to you guys.

Also, a merry christmas to all of you guys!

>>6164679
>>Just quietly get to guard duty. Look out for any threats, listen in for any noise and maybe also occasionally check the open space to see whatever the hell was going on down there.

>>6164680
>So, I did have an idea for a small side-story which could be really, really funny. How would you guys feel about playing as Dhabus for a couple of updates?
Sure, let's do it, let's play CoD-Jaguar.

>>6164680
Checking the subject list again, if we do something like that I think the strange robot one would be very funny. Anti-Elbrus Croc who I presume is Natalia could be good too. Dhabus is a safe choice though, as is Viridian. I personally would prefer if we play a subject we'd be a weak one and for the side story to be more than just a few posts. So I'm fine with delaying this till after we reach Logan if that means the side story will be longer.

>>6164680
>or just continuing with the current story so we can progress further until we maybe reach Logan. It's up to you guys
Wait never-ending, changing to this. Let's get this Logan quest diversion done with.

>>6164686
>never-ending
Fucking auto-correct.

>>6164679
>Just quietly get to guard duty. Look out for any threats, listen in for any noise and maybe also occasionally check the open space to see whatever the hell was going on down there.
No specific plans

>>6164680
Hmm. Dhabus could be fun - if it's actually just a few updates at most like with the Kiyo story then I'm on the fence but if it's anything longer it should definitely wait until after we find Logan. I don't feel like we've accomplished very much of substance in the main story for ages so I just want to scratch that itch and complete an objective before we dive into something else.

>>6164680
Sounds like a jolly time!
what about the lewds you talked about last thread?

>>6164677
>There were a few notes that she damaged the main entrance at the top of her chamber, which was presumably the way she always went outside for her tests. If the thing hadn't collapsed, you could've probably made your way out of the facility using that thing.
FUCK
I was hopeful about that potential escape route

>Still, you didn't have to worry too much about that now, especially since you could later get help from Annie or other folk with finding a way to safely leave the planet.
I'm worrying NOW

>Just quietly get to guard duty. Look out for any threats, listen in for any noise and maybe also occasionally check the open space to see whatever the hell was going on down there.

>>6164680
Sounds good, although
>perfect mastery of ranged weaponry
Is she THE BEST or does Zati present some fierce competition?

>>6164694
I kinda forgot about that offer. Guess I got distracted with other things and...

Well, a promise is a promise. So, what do you guys wanna see Mikhail do with Annie in a more intimate side-story? No, it won't be canon, but it COULD become canon if you play your cards right.

>>6164816
If we do non-canon stuff, I have a few ideas. Why not something with Thalia and Zaria since they seem to get oh so well along with each other. Either rivals over someone else or just the two together. Another good non-canon thing would be Morgan and Thaddeus or Ingmar. Alternatively, Viridian and really any member of the squad. Another thought could be Lydia and some big strong monster boy that totally isn't a daydream of hers.

You also could just give something canon, like Anderson and his custom made waifu.

>>6164855
>Thalia and Zaria
I can hear Zaria approaching with her machine pistol already, so that's an automatic no. Unless if you're interested in an Elbrus-style rapefic.

>Morgan and Thaddeus/Ingmar
I do like the idea of Thaddeus showing his blade to Morgan. It would be funny, but I have no clue how Thaddeus could ever convince her.

>Viridian and any member of the squad
Hmmmm big tail

>Lydia and some big strong monster boy that totally isn't a daydream of hers.
Did Lydia ever tell you guys about her 'interests' or is she/am I really this transparent with her interests?

>Anderson and his custom made waifu
Haina is saving it for marriage, so that is sadly a no.

>>6164816
The problem with that is we know little of her canonical off-broadcast personality or anything about circumstances (I thought you nixed the possibility of any canonical Annie lewds) which makes it difficult to make a request in line with hypothetical canon. Is what she's like over the radio just a persona with a submerged iceberg underneath that is the real Annie Macaroni? Is she really like that all the way through? Or somewhere between the two?

>>6164816
TAIL BRUSHING

>Just quietly get to guard duty. Look out for any threats, listen in for any noise and maybe also occasionally check the open space to see whatever the hell was going on down there.
You'd wish Joaquin and his men a good rest, as you promised to wake them up in a few hours to take over. They nodded, immediately after closing the tents and getting some sleep. "Good night, everyone." Thalia would also say. "Yeah, good night." Cirra also said, after which things went quiet. You and the rest of your men would stand guard, looking at you for a moment before Anon spoke up. "Alright, I suggest we keep moving around a little. Maybe go in pairs and circling the general area. That way, we can cover a lot of ground and ensure nobody sneaks up on us." After which, Derek looked at you and responded: "I'll go with Mik first. I wanna show him the traps we got set up so he doesn't step on them." Derek would lead you around to the main entrance to the exhibit space, showcasing some of the wires, a couple of which were designed to make a bunch of things fall down to create noise. He'd also show the last camera you had, it looking over the huge open space.

With everything having been shown, you'd start your guard duties in earnest. You didn't really say much, just scouting the area and quietly checking anything for movement. Derek did on occasion say some things, but they were mostly just small observations or thoughts he had. The only real thing of substance he did say was: "Mik, I do still think we need to be careful around Thalia, by the way. I have a feeling... she isn't telling the full truth to us about herself. Maybe that's just me, but I do suggest remaining vigilant around her." Whilst Thalia had definitely been useful and a solid asset, you couldn't deny that Derek's claims did maybe have some water to them. Still, it was something you'd have to think about in the morning, as for the time being, you were just gonna keep to scouting.

Over the hours, nothing of importance would really happen, as you and your men (except Zaria) grew more and more tired. Until at long last, it was time to switch with Joaquin's men. You and the others would head over to them, waking them up. They thankfully didn't make a fuss about it, soon letting you get some rest. Zaria did opt to stay up with them to just keep her focus on the mission. Maybe she could use some sleep, given her rather shaken state, but you weren't going to force her to do something she wasn't in the mood for. Regardless, you'd wish Joaquin and his men a good night, before you finally got some shut-eye in of your own after this long day...

...

...

...

"Ugh, that took us long enough." Varren would groan out as Nikita and his men finally reached the abandoned guard post leading to the combat sector. "Hey, it's what those idiots said were the coordinates for that subject. Besides, there's plenty of other threats here for us to kill!" Nikita said confidently, clearly not minding their travels.

Of course, his men felt a whole lot differently about it. Abraham would even coldly say: "You're retarded if you think these coordinates will actually lead us to anything, Nikita. Those morons just sent us as far away as possible from them so we wouldn't bother them and whatever subject they were working with." To this, Nikita shrugged. "Hey, maybe they were smart enough to give us some useful intel. If not, well, we can always go back to them and give them a little surprise visit! Maybe we'll even surprise them as they're with that big subject of theirs?" Nikita's men still didn't like the suggestion. Though as they wandered onto the sands of the main training ground, they'd look around and get a bit more excited. "Ahhhh, the combat sector. Lots of reports of things going on around here. Malu, you got the coordinates right?" Malu nodded as he started leading the way through the huge space, their group keeping their eyes open for anything.

Little did they know that something was already stalking them, something quietly crawling across the sands and laying low whenever Nikita's men looked in her direction. If it weren't for the darkness of the chamber, her pale, blood-red and black form would've been noticed rather quickly. Still, on her four arms and two lanky legs, she'd wander closer, waiting for the perfect moment to strike...

...

...

...

...

Day 9
You'd wake up a little slowly, stretching your legs and arms before raising yourself off the ground. It was early in the morning, the time being 06:52. You'd wake up Derek who rested in the same tent as you. He'd also slowly wake up, as you already left the tent. As you got up, you did notice that your gunshot wounds were hurting a bit again, clearly meaning you needed some painkillers to stop the pain. Leaving the tent, you'd thankfully see most of Joaquin's men still up. Though Khady, Monique and Lei had sadly fallen asleep on some of the chairs. "Ah, good morning, Mik." Joaquin would say rather tiredly, clearly not having had the best of sleep.

"I hope you don't mind the fact some of us have gotten some sleep in. We... aren't exactly used to doing such long guard shifts in the evening." Joaquin would mumble, after which Landon yawned and groaned: "We haven't even done... guard shifts before. We never really... needed it." Given that there were two subjects actively wandering around the place, you clearly did need some people to stand guard for the night. Still, there were at least a couple of folk awake to stand guard. And better yet, you'd soon see Zaria approach, speaking more casually. "Ah, good morning sunshine! Take it you've gotten enough rest?" She was still wide awake, clearly having taken up the scouting all for herself. "As you can see, not much happened, except for these guys faltering on their duties." She said smugly, to which Sophie responded in mild frustration. "Hey, we... aren't used to this sort of stuff. It's tiring, okay?"

Sophie let out another yawn, as you watched Derek leave the tent as well. And soon after, you’d wake up the rest of your men, Joaquin waking the few of his who had gone to sleep. Sophie would wake up Thalia, whilst Joaquin went over to Cirra to check up on her and Narith. And a minute later, everyone would be up. “Well, guess I ought to make some breakfast.” Lars said, after which Thaddeus calmly commented: “I suppose we should clean up the place and get ready to get goin’?” Thalia was already wide-awake, speaking eagerly. “Perhaps I should sing a morning song to help us all get energized and ready to continue on our travels~?”Derek would groan and immediately respond to Thalia’s suggestion. “Can you maybe wait with that? I... really need some peace and quiet to wake up to. Actually, Mik, can I sit out with cleaning up the place right now? My body is aching like hell. Ugh, think the painkillers must’ve worn off...” He’d say, at which point Cirra also spoke up softly. “I just checked up on Narith. I think he also needs some help.” It looked like some of your men were in need of medical care after tonight. Hell, maybe you could even use a check-up.

>What do you do next?

>Just sit back and let your men handle it. Lars would prepare food, the others would clean up and you could sit back and wait for everyone else to get ready.
>Ask for some medical help from Cirra. Maybe she could check up on your injuries and give you some painkillers to help you feel a bit better.
>Help up with cleaning up the tents and sleeping bags and preparing for today’s travels. The quicker you were finished, the earlier your could go back to hunting down Logan. (Write in where you’ll help or what you’ll do.)
>Turn on the radio to see if Kimmy was still on the air. Maybe Annie had already purged her off the radio station again, and you could get some updates on what was going on around the place.
>Check up on the camera Derek had placed near the window. Maybe you could get Lydia to help you play it back on the tablet to see if anything had happened?
>Have a little chat with some of the folks around you. Ask them how they were doing, if they had something on their minds or if they had spotted anything of note tonight. (Write in who you’ll talk with and what you’ll ask.)
>Something else...

(Alright, I've opted out of doing the Dhabus story... for now. It'll be done after the Logan arc is done, which will probably not take much longer at this stage in time. At least I'll give a little hint towards what Nikita has been up to... as well as another subject who they are gonna have to deal with.)

>>6165079
Check up on the camera Derek had placed near the window. Maybe you could get Lydia to help you play it back on the tablet to see if anything had happened?
>Have a little chat with some of the folks around you. Ask them how they were doing, if they had something on their minds or if they had spotted anything of note tonight.
All right, sitreps. Did we catch anything moving overnight (and pick that camera back up, dammit)? And get a quick report from each person involved in guard duty. In the future, we should have an incident logbook where anything interesting, unusual, concerning or otherwise of any kind of note goes in to keep better track of any night happenings.

>>6165078
>pale skin
>red and black
>four arms
>slim legs
Damn, Chrys is a lot scarier than I remember.
I suspect Nik's lot is about to eat shit and they haven't even gotten to Ana yet.

>>6164816
But if we must and it's basically free text, the best lewds are ones with a generous heaping of romantic sap and feels. Lots of disgusting degeneracy like handholding, ear petting, eye contact, fluffy tail touching and cuddling afterwards as years of strongly-repressed loneliness and the overwhelming stress of the last few weeks claw their way to the surface and she allows herself to be vulnerable for perhaps the first time in her life.
The near-certainty of strong emotional feels is a big part of why I'm so partial to Vinisha these days

>>6165095
>Damn, Chrys is a lot scarier than I remember.
Thats because people notice the height first.

>>6165113
She'll have your ankles!

>>6165079
>Ask for some medical help from Cirra. Maybe she could check up on your injuries and give you some painkillers to help you feel a bit better.
>Help up with cleaning up the tents and sleeping bags and preparing for today’s travels. The quicker you were finished, the earlier your could go back to hunting down Logan. (Write in where you’ll help or what you’ll do.)
pls fix my ouchies

Also yeah check cameras

>>6164898
SO TRUE

>>6165079
>Turn on the radio to see if Kimmy was still on the air. Maybe Annie had already purged her off the radio station again, and you could get some updates on what was going on around the place.

File: Minos headlock.png (412 KB, 1237x946)

412 KB PNG

>>6161458

>>6165272
Lol, great work artanon, I can hear the entire thing in my head, word for word.

>>6164864
>I can hear Zaria approaching with her machine pistol already, so that's an automatic no. Unless if you're interested in an Elbrus-style rapefic.
BAKA, QM doesn't know about hate-sex

>Did Lydia ever tell you guys about her 'interests' or is she/am I really this transparent with her interests?
As the person who submitted her when this quest started a year ago, I think I know a bit about her. Clearly, you and I are on the same page regarding some of those interests.

>>6165119
Support.

>Ask for some medical help from Cirra. Maybe she could check up on your injuries and give you some painkillers to help you feel a bit better.
>Have a little chat with some of the folks around you. Ask them how they were doing, if they had something on their minds or if they had spotted anything of note tonight.
Seeing Derek being in such a nasty situation, you decided to first ask Cirra to help him and yourself out. You didn't want to walk around without the check-up to your health. Cirra nodded understandingly, leading you over to a seat where she could check up on you and Derek. Whilst Cirra started checking on you and Derek, you would shift your attention to the others. You'd ask if anyone spotted anything overnight, everyone shaking their head and responding with some variant of "No". You'd think for a moment, before asking Zaria to run over to the camera to see if it had actually caught anything. "Good idea." She'd say, before heading off to do as told. In the meantime, you'd ask everyone to give a quick report from every person who had been on guard duty. Mostly to see if they had seen anything out of the ordinary. You'd go over every single person, all of your men repeating that they hadn't really seen anything of note. None of the traps had gone off. Nobody had heard any noise or felt like they were being watched.

It really seemed like you had just had an ordinary night. Though that would change soon enough, once Zaria returned with the camera. It was untouched, Lydia coming over with her tablet to help you see what had been filmed. "Alright, let's just speed through this." Lydia said, as she sped up the camera by a lot. Anon also watched along, soon letting out a gasp. "Wait, pause it there." Lydia rewound the footage, after which you'd notice something in the distance on the ground floor. And after zooming in, you'd see the same figures which you had seen with your thermal vision. It was still difficult to discern any fine details unfortunately.

However, you could make out that the winged subject raised her bow again, presumably aiming it at the camera. However, she thankfully put it down before the two of them seemed to head southwards, disappearing between the huge piles of rubble. "Geez, they saw the camera all the way from there?" Lydia asked curiously, Anon speaking softly. "It's not too surprising, considering how good her aim with the bow and arrow was." You'd still check the rest of the footage, nothing else being spotted by the camera. It seemed that the two subjects were the only thing of note you had observed. With that in mind, you'd ask Lydia to note this down on her tablet, you wanting to make a logbook for any incidents or sightings which happened during night guard duties. "Not a bad idea. But, so far, not much has really happened during the night guard duty for any of us, right?" Lei would ask, you mentioning how you were assaulted by the dream subject only a couple of nights before.

"Ah, yeah, that's... my bad." He'd say a little awkwardly, after which Lydia finished taking notes. "Well, aside from this, I don't think there's anything else of note, right?" The rest of your men shook their heads, as the first report wouldn't have much usable intel for the time being. A short while later, Cirra would finish her check-up, giving you some more painkillers. "Looks like the movement has caused a bit of an issue for the both of you. I presume the infections have gotten worse. I suggest being careful with how much you two move for the time being, as to prevent the infection from getting any worse." It made Derek groan, him softly asking: "And, what if we keep moving at our current pace? Will it be... an issue?" Cirra would not look too sure, letting out a soft sigh. "Well, it could get worse unless if you let me operate on you to try and deal with the infection. But that might just cause more issues from having to open up the wound again when it looks to at least be closing somewhat right now. But, given our mission, you can maybe just keep going and wait until we get to a better medical facility to patch you two up." It wasn't the news you were hoping to hear, but it was at least reassuring that your current mission meant likely passing by such a medical facility. As it stood though, the painkillers were subduing the pain somewhat, meaning you did feel confident continuing leading your group. At least, for now.

>Help up with cleaning up the tents and sleeping bags and preparing for today’s travels. The quicker you were finished, the earlier your could go back to hunting down Logan.
>Turn on the radio to see if Kimmy was still on the air. Maybe Annie had already purged her off the radio station again, and you could get some updates on what was going on around the place.
With that in mind, you'd calmly get up and tell Cirra you would still help your men out. Derek would softly say: "I'll skip. Sorry, Mik." Your men didn't seem to mind Derek skipping on work, Lydia even asking you: "Are you sure? If you need to, you can just... sit back and let us do the hard work. There's plenty of us to do things." You told her it was fine, asking her to turn on the radio to see if Kimmy was back on or if Annie had regained access.

You'd head for the nearest tent, taking it down as you soon heard music from the radio again. "Unless if Kimmy decided to diversify, I think we got our fox back!" Thaddeus would say happily. And to the delight of your men, you'd soon hear Annie once again. "You're listening to VRCMG radio with Annie Marconi, making your morning a little brighter with glorious news your friendly and reasonable government is protecting you from! To those who are just joining you, we apologise for yesterday's intrusion by Kimmy, who still refuses to use any of the other frequencies available to her! Just like her creator, she unfortunately has not learnt what the word 'no' means. Or the phrase 'Sex Offender registry'."

You saw most of the folk around you smiling when they heard her voice again. Only Thalia didn’t seem too amused by her remarks, though maybe because of the fact she couldn’t really sing whilst Annie played her songs. “Anyhow. It is currently 6:53, and death squads are once more entering the facility. These wondrous heroes are once again doing their job most honourably, with Graeme McKinley’s Diamond Dogs group performing a most honourable job in purging another subject yesterday! Truly, setting aflame subject 14-RP, a small pill-bug subject made by Anderson who offered no resistance, took a lot of perseverance, honour and ingenuity! To any fans of death squads willing to meet these heroes in the flesh, they are currently planning to head westwards from the green-section! Remember to bring your favourite weaponry along for autographs! Aside from news about these heroes, there is also news about these foul dissident forces which are trying to smear the government! Reports have indicated that independent news agencies and investigators have been denied access to the planet for ‘security reasons’. Of course, there are no crimes to be reported on here, so why are these ‘independent’ researchers trying to weasel their way here? Surely, the glorious forces of the government should be respected and their heroics praised!”

Hearing that another subject was killed, an Anderson one to be specific, seemed to sadden Thalia and Cirra. Joaquin’s men also were visibly disappointed, with Sophie even saying: “Poor Cirola...” She’d look down a little, Lydia softly speaking up. “I presume you knew her?” Sophie nodded a little. “I did meet her once. She was sweet, gentle and loved being around people. She trusted anyone and was patient. She was wonderful.” You saw her wiping away a tear, before letting out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t be surprised, but it still... hits you, you know?” She’d take a deep breathe, trying to regain her composure and focus on Annie. She had just mentioned a bit more about the weather, how there was a minor tropical storm which meant that the flooded section could get even busier and that people ought to expect even more floods. And afterwards, she went back to playing her songs once again.

With that, you’d keep focusing on just cleaning up the place a little, the painkillers thankfully working decently well. And soon enough, Lars would finish breakfast, it not being anything extremely special unlike yesterday. Once again, a likely effect from the fact that there were more mouths to feed now. Still, food was food and you weren’t gonna complain about a simple meal.

>What do you do next?

>Just finish your breakfast, finish up cleaning the place and then move on. There wasn’t much else to find here and it was better to just continue your trek.
>Chat a bit more with your men over breakfast. Maybe there was still something you wanted to ask them about last night, or maybe just ask them some personal questions. (Write in who you’ll talk with and what you’ll discuss.)
>Plan ahead for today. Maybe you had something in mind which you wanted to workshop with everyone. Some plans for what was ahead, or how you’d deal with the two subjects clearly looking after you. (Write in what you’ll suggest for your plans.)
>Something else...

(>>6165272 I now just imagine some of the subjects going to the gym, some training each other and forming gym rivalries. Also, the bathrooms there would get pretty awkward at times.)

>>6165314
>Baka, QM doesn't know about hate-sex
(Oh, I know what that is, and it is hot as shit. But... it's not gonna happen between Thalia and Zaria. Maybe between Morgan and Dhabus.)

>>6165414
>>Just finish your breakfast, finish up cleaning the place and then move on. There wasn’t much else to find here and it was better to just continue your trek.

>>Plan ahead for today. Maybe you had something in mind which you wanted to workshop with everyone. Some plans for what was ahead, or how you’d deal with the two subjects clearly looking after you.
Alright, let's go to the high level containment zones, what we need to do is prepare ourselves for a possible conflict with high level hostile subjects. We already know about the wolf-girl, while the plan still remain to avoid conflict until we get proper treatment at the medical sections we should prepare for the worse, just for safety ask the guards and subjects if they know any dangerous, vicious or "unstable" subjects, perhaps show them the list of the subjects from level 6-10 to see if they know any, after all more dangerous and/or aggressive subjects seems to be way higher on the list so they might have been assigned to those areas.

>>6165414
>Plan ahead for today. Maybe you had something in mind which you wanted to workshop with everyone. Some plans for what was ahead, or how you’d deal with the two subjects clearly looking after you.
Okay, let's have a little briefing session. Go through some of the subjects we'd expect to find up ahead, what to look out for and how to respond to them based on notes and any Annie Advice. Also ask for any they encountered on the way up and any remarks they had on them or things that went wrong last time.
I don't think we can do much for the pair downstairs. While their apparent interest in us is curious and maybe benign, we still don't have a way to communicate with them. If we're heading back down to the floor to leave, I'd like to leave a note for them along the lines of "K & N - Heading east, follow if you have something to say to us about that - X", crack a chemlight and tape both to a pole. It should catch the attention of Zati's super sight in the dark if she comes into the chamber again sometime in the next several hours.

I was just recently considering Morgan v Dhabus and think that would have made a better pair for the fistfight now I think about it. Now I want them to meet just so I can watch them bicker.

>>6165437
>I was just recently considering Morgan v Dhabus and think that would have made a better pair for the fistfight now I think about it. Now I want them to meet just so I can watch them bicker.
All I can think is that nigga moment on The Bondocks, were the white guy was about yo start the "gunfight" but he didn't, something like:
>Watch were you going knigga
>What did you sa... wait a minute? Guns are for the dishonorable, hahaha.
>Hey were are you going? This is the perfect time for some gunfight!

>>6165414
>Just finish your breakfast, finish up cleaning the place and then move on. There wasn’t much else to find here and it was better to just continue your trek.
We can leave a note, that's a good idea

>Plan ahead for today. Maybe you had something in mind which you wanted to workshop with everyone. Some plans for what was ahead, or how you’d deal with the two subjects clearly looking after you.
You'd grab some of the food Lars had prepared, getting seated and telling everyone you wanted to plan ahead for today. The first thing you'd do was asking Joaquin's men which subjects could be expected ahead of you. You knew there was a mad wolf girl ahead of you, but you knew there were others ahead of you as well. Though not knowing where to start, you'd ask Lydia to present the tablet with subjects on it to them. You'd specifically ask them to focus on the high-threat level subjects first and foremost, you wanting them to tell whatever they knew about the to you and your men. Joaquin grabbed the tablet, immediately scrolling through them. You'd also ask them to mention which subjects they assumed were waiting ahead of you, based on their past experience. They quietly nodded, as you saw Derek handing the other tablet over to Lydia to take notes for him. Joaquin and his men kept looking through it, skipping some of the ones you knew like Viridian, Annie and Anofelis.

Though it didn't take long for Lei to speak up. "TD-26. That's Shesha Druk. Thalia mentioned her not too long ago. She's a Tengri subject who I'm not surprised to find so high on this government hitlist." He said calmly, Thaddeus speaking in a more concerned tone. "Let me guess. She's another troublemaker? Someone out for blood?" Lei scoffed and shook his head. "Eh, not exactly. She was calm, gentle and rather quiet most of the time. However, for one, she is pretty esoteric and at one point called Tengri a god." This confused some of your men, definitely not helping the perception of the staff in this place. What sort of lunatic would have such a god-complex that he'd make the subjects worship him as a god?!

Though things did get more concerning for your own safety soon after, as Lei mentioned the reason why Shesha was presumably a high-level threat. "More importantly though, she is... extraordinarily dangerous. The reason she keeps her voice down is because she can create roars between a range of 150 and 200 decibels. She tends to not use it, unless if combat needs it. So yeah, if we do encounter her, we ought to just let her know we mean no trouble and that we are friends. Hell, she might just see us as allies if we play our cards right. But that may mean putting down your weapons if we do see her." Anon afterwards asked: "So, was she stored nearby as well?" To which Lei nodded quickly. "She was stored on the eastern wing of the high-containment section we're gonna head to. Chances are we can encounter her, if she didn't move too far away from her chamber." Shortly after though, Landon spoke up a bit more smugly. "It says here that she even rendered several platoons completely neutralized! Might wanna be nice to her then, huh?"

A short while later, Khady would speak up about one of the subjects on the list. "39-FD. I know her. That's Valentina Gretzky!" She'd let out a soft chuckle. "Not surprising she's threat level 8. She has probably kicked plenty of death squad ass!" Khady seemed almost proud of this Valentina, you asking for further details. "So, Valentina is this ice demon or oni subject or whatever. She can resist low temperatures, decrease temperatures around herself and absorb the 'energy' within objects to essentially make them freeze up. She's tough, mischievous and also really, really sweet! She does tend to start fights more often than not, but only with folk who she feels have slighted her in the past. Heh, and given her descriptions, I got a feeling she has been successful in keeping up her usual business!" It didn't sound like too big of a threat. Though just as with Shesha, you were gonna have to be careful if you did encounter her. The last thing you wanted was a pissed off ice oni attacking you.

Lei would shortly after speak up as well. "Wow, they know a lot about Kiyohime, huh? They even have a picture of her!" He sounded somewhat surprised, after which Derek spoke softly. "To be fair, Annie mentioned that she barged through a guard post with little issue. She isn't exactly trying to be stealthy... or subtle." Lei didn't seem to disagree, him actually scoffing and nodding. "Subtlety never was Kiyohime's thing. She's boisterous, loud-mouthed and loves fighting folk. However, she is also honourable, protective and caring. Especially to folk she knew she can trust." He'd soon let out another chuckle. "Knowing her though, she's probably just looking for alcohol. Ironically, if the folk who she ran into gave her any booze, I could see her being pretty reasonable and willing to co-operate." This made Lars speak up excitedly. "We do still have some of Evander's moonshine with us! Maybe we could give it to her to tame her?"

Afterwards, Monique would talk in a more casual tone. “Speaking of Oni’s, IO-15 is another one. Though she prefers the name ‘Anesa’. She’s the twin sister to Valentina. So, she also has some powers related to ice and cold. Though, she is a lot taller, is more focused on turning water into ice and snow aaaaand is a bit stronger. Oh, she is also a whole lot less ‘fun’ than Valentina. Mostly because she is a lot more serious and less playful. She prefers being treated in a more dignified and lady-like way. Guess that, if we do encounter, we should just be respectful and let her know we mean no harm. And if that doesn’t work, I do recall her also enjoying alcohol, just like Kiyohime.” It sounded like another Viridian-type subject. Albeit maybe less of a man-eater and more of a wine-snob. Still, it was reassuring that these seemingly ‘dangerous’ subjects were actually not that big of an issue to deal with. It wasn’t too surprising, but it did make the high-level threat containment sector a lot less scary to your men.

Joaquin’s men were far from done, Landon shortly after talking about the next subject. “Atraxia is only threat level 7? Huh, I expected higher. Regardless, Atraxia, or 8-EM as she is noted down by the government, is... mean. Really mean. She loves stalking people, roping them up and torturing them with her spider-like body. She always crept me the hell out when I spotted her, and she is definitely one of the subjects I wouldn’t wanna encounter down here.” You’d immediately ask how you could spot her and how to deal with her. “Well, if you see any traps made out of spider web, you’re guaranteed to be close to her. Or at least, close to wherever she has been. As for how to respond... just shoot her. She thankfully isn’t all that resilient, so she can probably be shot pretty easily. Only issue is that she’s good at hiding and smart enough not to attack groups of people.” From the sound of things, you were gonna have to stick together and not go anywhere which looked like she’d be able to hide. Sounded simple enough, but this spider also sounded intelligent, which could spell trouble.

Sophie was the last one to speak about the subjects, rounding it off with a subject somewhere in-between the previously mentioned ones. “Okay, here’s one I recognise. Uhhh, MP-32 is Cyra, a phoenix harpy subject. Um, she’s pretty alright from what I saw. She did try and get into fights over... tiny wrongdoings though. Someone critiqued her for ‘not going for cheap hits’, and she basically called the man honourless and idiotic. It took a while for her to calm down, but she clearly is very much focused on honour and fighting. As for her powers. It’s kinda obvious, right? Phoenix. Flight. Fire. I don’t think I need to spell it out. I guess the most important thing to take away is that we should not interrupt her if she does try to talk to us. Oh, and we should lower our weapons and let her know we respect her and do not wish to harm her.” It was definitely going to be risky to lower your weapons. But surely, Cyra (as well as some of the previously mentioned subjects) would trust you with Cirra, Thalia and the guardsmen by your side.

Afterwards, you’d ask if there were any other subjects they knew were potentially in the area you were heading to. Even subjects which weren’t on the tablet. There was a soft pause, before Joaquin finally spoke up. “Well, I know that Roza Hayden, AD-44 to be exact, was also stored ahead of us. We didn’t encounter her or any signs of her when we first walked through that place, but she might be worth looking out for. I remember her having some kind of healing abilities and overcharge abilities. Only issue is that she... well, she is in fact an Elbrus subject. But, one who I’ve heard is not extremely perverse! So, maybe if we see her, we can befriend her?” The mention of an Elbrus subject made Zaria shake her head. “No thanks. I don’t wanna deal with any of those sick fucks, thank you.”

At least Zaria was no longer as meek as the night before. But she definitely was a lot more vocal about her hatred towards Elbrus, that was for sure. Then again, that wasn’t exactly a bad thing, except for Thalia. Either way, you had learnt of a couple of threats to watch out for, aside from the other ones you already knew of like the wolf, Reika and Anastasia. You still wanted to know more, asking Joaquin’s men if they had encountered anything else on the way down to this place, to which they shook their heads. “We already told you guys every single subject we met down here, I’m afraid. We can’t help you more than this, unfortunately.” Joaquin said, the rest of the men nodding along. With that, they’d hand the tablet back to Lydia and Derek before getting back to eating their breakfast. You and your men had already finished, deciding to use the time to finish cleaning up the place and also leave a final note for the two who were in the depths of the chamber.

You asked Thaddeus to write a note for the two of them, you hoping to attach it to some pole out in the open with a light. “That sounds like a reasonable plan. What do ya want me to write on it?” Thaddeus asked, you telling him to clearly note down “K & N - Heading east, follow if you have something to say to us about that – X”. Thaddeus wrote it down, Mike cautiously asking: “Do you think they’ll understand what we mean with that?” To which Anon confidently responded. “Well, if we leave it somewhere around here, where they presumably know we stayed at, I’m sure they’ll be able to put two and two together to know it was us.” Afterwards, Thaddeus would bring it to the window, placing it down along with a small light which would hopefully stay on long enough for Zati to notice. “You know, if those two are gonna come here, we probably should remove the traps.” Lydia would suggest, which seemed like a pretty reasonable thing to do if you did intend to create some trust between you and Zati and her friend.

Regardless, a short while later, everything had been cleaned up, everyone had had breakfast and it looked to be time to get going. Sophie and Monique would put Narith on the stretcher, Cirra sticking close-by. Your men had packed up everything you needed, as it was once more time to move on.

>What do you do next?

>Listen to Annie on the radio whilst you headed forward. Maybe she’d make some more announcements. Hell, you could even try and communicate with her again. (Write in what you’ll try and discuss with her.)
>Discuss some of the things which Joaquin’s men told you not too long ago. Maybe you wanted to give some thoughts on the subjects they had mentioned, or ask them a bit further about their experience with any of them. (Write in who you’ll ask and what you’ll ask.)
>Just head forwards in peace and quiet. Maybe listen to whatever everyone else was chatting about, or just keep quiet as to not attract any trouble.
>Something else...

>>6165891
>Listen to Annie on the radio whilst you headed forward. Maybe she’d make some more announcements.
I can't think of anything particular I want to do or say right now. Just head forward with some muzak.

>>6165891
>Just head forwards in peace and quiet. Maybe listen to whatever everyone else was chatting about, or just keep quiet as to not attract any trouble.

>>6165891
>Just head forwards in peace and quiet. Maybe listen to whatever everyone else was chatting about, or just keep quiet as to not attract any trouble.
Huh, Thalia's not gonna sing? Guess she's still unsettled from that arrow.

>>6165891
>>Just head forwards in peace and quiet. Maybe listen to whatever everyone else was chatting about, or just keep quiet as to not attract any trouble.

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>>6165891
>>Just head forwards in peace and quiet. Maybe listen to whatever everyone else was chatting about, or just keep quiet as to not attract any trouble.
>>6165314
>>6165414
Imagine the hatefucking the jannie would do whilst getting taunted and hacked at.

>Just head forwards in peace and quiet. Maybe listen to whatever everyone else was chatting about, or just keep quiet as to not attract any trouble.
You'd lead the way once more, deciding not to really do anything aside from moving forward. You turned off Annie's radio, the silence hopefully making it less easy to spot you. After passing the exhibit space, you would see Agami on one of the screens you passed, the screen crackling as she calmly said: "We hope you enjoyed the exhibit. Please come visit again!" With that, you'd start heading south. You'd soon realise that Thalia was also keeping rather quiet, her sticking with Sophie and mostly just listening to what she and Monique were whispering about. Cirra would stay close-by, mostly to be able to pay attention to Narith. The rest of your men would also continue to mumble, discussing a variety of topics. Thaddeus would discuss weaponry with Anon and Landon. Khady was chatting with Mike, discussing their shared loathing for some of the government folk they had met. Lydia was talking all about her gizmo's and interests with Lei. Though everyone thankfully kept their volume down.

The conversations wouldn't last long, as you quickly reached a large circular space. To your right was a small terrace which was fortunately closed off, it giving another view of Titania's chamber. Ahead of you, the path continued heading south. But to your left, you saw the path you wanted to take. Though immediately, it was flanked with abandoned guard towers and checkpoints. "We haven't really seen too many of these around." Lydia would comment, Joaquin leading the way for a moment. "Well, that's because these parts are HEAVILY fortified and under constant security. Or at least, they were." Walking a bit further ahead, you'd notice that there were several blast doors a bit ahead of you, most of which had been clearly forced open. Though the last would also seemingly hold back a whole bunch of rubble.

You'd quickly figure out why, as you'd pass the blast door and discover that the entire hallway heading forward was slanted at a 15 degree angle. It was going to be a short but relatively steep trek upwards. Though at the very least, there was enough rubble and railings to the side which could help you go up. "Did you guys actually go down this entire hallway before?" Mike asked, Landon responding tiredly. "Unfortunately, yes." Right away, Monique and Sophie would try and find a way to secure Narith to the makeshift stretcher, Lars immediately getting some rope. "I suggest we use this again. Just to be sure." Everyone quickly agreed, as you all made sure that any fall or mistake wouldn't make you slide all the way down. You just hoped that Cirra and Thalia wouldn't have too much trouble making their way up, given how this was definitely out of their comfort zone compared to the flooded sector. Still, Lars would lead the way, the rest following close-by.

Thankfully, the walk over wouldn't cause too much trouble. The only real issues were whenever there was a side-room, which meant no railing to hold onto. Thankfully, Lars was quick enough to easily pass by it and hold onto the railing ahead. More importantly, the side-rooms were nice as a little break space for the folk in the back. And after carefully making your way up for about twenty minutes, you'd finally reach the end. Right away, you were met with more guard posts, fortifications and security cameras looking in your directin. And as you walked past these posts, you'd immediately be met with a large reinforced glass wall with a strange texture to it. "Woah, is this conductive glass?" Lydia asked as she got close to it, Lei responding right away. "Yep. Obviously, it's no longer charged given the lack of power. But, they made sure this entire place was not exactly easy to break out of." Anon checked the glass as well, nodding along a little. "Yeah, this is really thick and tough glass. Could be useful as a barrier in case we get in any fight. Though can't exactly shoot through it."

You didn't stick near the entrance for too long, moving through some large blast doors within the reinforced glass. And finally, you found yourself in the high-level containment sector. The place was pretty large as well, with there being two main paths you could take. One went straight forward and the other went left. Though both paths were lined with massive chambers with more conductive glass. They also had large metal shutters, a few chambers ahead of you being partially closed off with said shutters. The rooms themselves were rather barren, containing only a designated feeding spot and a bunch of cameras and scanners. "It looks more like a prison to me than a place for subjects to live." Lydia said in a more concerned tone, the rest of your men also appearing a little worried. "If I were stuck in a giant chamber like this as well, with nothing to pass the time, I would also despise whoever created me and kept me there." Zaria remarked, as you soon noticed a small reception area.

The reception also connected to a large outpost with dozens of screens and a large control panel. Clearly, this was some kind of control room for staff to keep an eye on the subjects down here. More importantly, you'd find a map here, checking it out to find a path to the medical wing. The map itself showed that the entire section was divided into only three main floors with four smaller divisions surrounding the centre of the space. The central part contained a main control area and guard outposts. More importantly though, there was not just one but two medical wings! There was one if you took the path straight ahead, and one which would require heading all the way to the north and then a bit to the east. There were also a couple more control centres around the entire section, along with some storage spaces, training sectors and research spaces.

"Well, looks like we've figured out where we'll be heading." Mike said as he also looked at the large map with you. "If we just head straight, we can take Narith, Derek and you over there to hopefully get some help. And if that fails, we can take the path directly to the north and through the centre to get to the other medical area." He'd continue, after which Joaquin would also speak up. "We didn't take that path previously. We came from the left path here, so we don't know if the other path is safe." Considering that it was the quickest path, it probably was still the best option you had. Still, it was worth hearing out what Joaquin and his men knew from when they passed through this place.

>What do you do next?

>Choose a direction to take. You could take the direct path and at worst waste some time, or take the path which Joaquin and his men knew was safe. Or you could maybe look for alternative routes through vents or whatever other floors this place may have. (Write in which direction you'll go.)
>Think of a specific plan of action for whilst you were down here. Maybe you’d focus on just rushing forward, or you could split up and cover more ground. Maybe just assigning your men and Joaquin’s men to do certain tasks would work well enough as well. (write in how you’ll design your plan and who you’ll get involved.)
>Ask Joaquin’s men about this place. Clearly they have been here before, so maybe you could ask them some things about what was going on here and how you could safely traverse this place? (write in what you’ll ask and to who.)
>Something else...

>>6166419
Oh god. The wrath that man would have surely would make his vigor enough to impress Elbrus.

>>6166475
>>Choose a direction to take. You could take the direct path and at worst waste some time, or take the path which Joaquin and his men knew was safe. Or you could maybe look for alternative routes through vents or whatever other floors this place may have.
Let's keep going forward. Unlike the north we can get to Logan faster and stop on the way to him rather than have a detour to our detour objective.

>>6166475
>Choose a direction to take. You could take the direct path and at worst waste some time, or take the path which Joaquin and his men knew was safe. Or you could maybe look for alternative routes through vents or whatever other floors this place may have. (Write in which direction you'll go.)
Straight ahead, rush the medbay
These infections won't cure themselves

Okay, important question related to the wholesome yet lewd Annie side-story. Would you guys prefer it being a self-insert thing with me referring to the reader as 'you', or would you rather just have it be 3rd person of Mikhail's perspective. It'll be Mikhail either way, but just wanna know what you guys prefer for this.

Also, yes, I am working on that story. I've got a whole plan written out and... oh boy, will it be something.

>>6166549
Mikhail's perspective QM.

>>6166549
>(you)

>>6166475
>Choose a direction to take. You could take the direct path and at worst waste some time, or take the path which Joaquin and his men knew was safe. Or you could maybe look for alternative routes through vents or whatever other floors this place may have.
Straight on til morning! Though is the path they came down really safe considering it sounds like they got attacked and lost people multiple times?

>>6166549
lawd he's actually doing it. I guess we've got to take responsibility and make sure it becomes canon.
But 1st.

>>6166549
(you) please.

>Choose a direction to take. You could take the direct path and at worst waste some time, or take the path which Joaquin and his men knew was safe. Or you could maybe look for alternative routes through vents or whatever other floors this place may have.
You weren't going to waste any time. You didn't want to spend more time walking around in this dangerous area than you already had to. With that in mind, you'd tell your group that you would just head straight. You were going to rush towards the medbay so you could hopefully deal with your injuries. After saying this, Derek and Narith were quick to agree right away. "That sounds perfect to me honestly." Derek said, Narith quietly nodding along. Besides, this would also be quicker in your mission to finding Logan, as it meant not having to take any future detours to a medical bay. "Well, if you think it's the best option." Joaquin said, you taking the lead right away. You'd ask Joaquin if he and his men were ever attacked in this place, to which they shook their heads. "We thankfully didn't encounter anything down here. Then again, we might have just gotten lucky." Landon calmly remarked, you praying that it'd be the same case for you.

You'd carefully yet quickly make your way forward, keeping your guns at the ready for any threat. So far, each chamber you passed was completely empty. Some had been broken open, whilst others remained untouched aside from some rubble. Though as you headed further and further towards the medical bay, you started noticing some oddities. The light from the pocket torches which Joaquin's men used to see started growing a bit dimmer, your night vision also becoming a bit more obstructed somehow. Though, you didn't feel extremely worried by this observation. "Something's wrong with my nightvision. Anyone else having troubles?" Mike would ask in a calm tone, Joaquin's men nodding along. "Something weird is going on over here." Khady said casually, you and your men pausing for a moment.

"We should probably head back." Joaquin would say, after which Lydia shook her head. "I think we should continue, actually. I suspect it's the doing of another subject, perhaps one similar to Thalia." Hearing this, all eyes went to Thalia to see if she had anything to say. Though Thalia didn't seem too sure what to say. Though before you could make a choice on the matter, you saw something moving in the darkness. You saw some star-like sparkles and particles moving around you. They would move together, taking the shape of a female, her skin looking pale whilst her body was dark with starry specs. It reminded you of the night-sky, appearing soothing and peaceful. Your men were simultaneously on edge and not too worried, some grabbing their guns and getting ready to shoot at her. "Joaquin, do you or any of you men know what this is?" Anon asked, to which Joaquin and the others shook their head. "Not a clue." Monique said, the others agreeing right away.

Not even Cirra or Thalia seemed to know who this was. Some of your men were somewhat sceptical, others appearing more curious than anything. The strange figure gave a calm smile, before spreading her arms and signalling you to come closer. "Who are you? What do you want?" Thaddeus would ask right away, the figure showing the darkness moving in strange ways in the palm of her hand. And soon after, you saw a path of stars trailing above you, creating a clear path which you could follow. "Do you want us to go towards you?" Lydia asked soon after, the figure giving a gentle nod. "Can you speak? I-Is this a vision of some kind?" Derek asked in quiet shock, the subject shaking her head and not saying anything else. "I don't think we ought to trust this one, Mik. I sense that this is some sort of trap." Mike would suggest, to which Zaria nodded along. "We should probably just go back already. I'd rather take a different road than risk our chances with whatever the hell she is."

The subject kept calmly waiting there, putting her hands together and giving an understanding nod. Though, some of your men were a bit more optimistic. More specifically, Lydia, who would lower her gun and speak softly to the apparition. "Do you mean us any harm?" The subject shook her head, before Lydia would speak up once more. "Do you wish to help us in any way?" The figure nodded once again, looking up at the trail of stars before looking back at you. "Mik, I think this might just be another subject like Thalia or Viridian. Someone imposing who we can actually trust." Some of Joaquin's men seemed to agree, whilst others appeared a little reluctant. The figure remained patient, waiting to see what you'd do with the choice in front of you...

>What do you do next?

>Ask the subject some further questions. She couldn't respond with words, but she could answer yes or no questions with her head movement. (Write in your questions for her.)
>Just head forward. If this subject was a troublemaker, she probably would've used her abilities for something a little spookier. Not to mention, waiting until the moment to actually strike.
>Ask your men how they felt about heading forward. Maybe based on that, you could decide whether or not you'd move forward or not. If most of them felt okay heading forward, you could do so. If not, you'd take the longer path. (Write in what options you'll provide your men.)
>Take a different route. It sure would take longer and meant more detours, but it was probably a safer bet than following the trail of the spooky night subject.
>Something else...

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>>6161375

>>6167057
>Ask the subject some further questions. She couldn't respond with words, but she could answer yes or no questions with her head movement. (Write in your questions for her.)
Run through a list of scientists and ask who made her.

>>6167087
Beautiful art anon

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>>6167057
Hmm. This is ticking nearly every box for Claire we saw in Lono's Story - she had butterfly wings there, but perhaps appearing like this is an ability of hers. She wasn't described in detail but from the brief things we heard she didn't give the vibes of a bad individual. I'm inclined to trust her based on that and she hasn't done anything nefarious despite there being much more effective ways of foul play than this (we shouldn't judge by covers after Thalia, she could well be another helpful but creepy one) but we don't have anything concrete and this is mostly metaknowledge we wouldn't have right now.
>Are you leading us to....a medbay? Supplies? A shortcut? Friends? Around an obstacle? Around someone dangerous?
>Is it far?
>We're trying to get to the cooler section. Do you think you could help take us there?
>Did you come from this section?
>Were you made by [list scientists, Y/N to each one]?
>Do you know [list friendly subjects, particularly those she might know based on creator (I'm also curious if she knows Oneira), if any, Y/N to each]?
>Are you able to read and write?
If the answer to the last one is yes, congrats, here's some paper and a pen or else scribble A-Z and 0-9 on a sheet and ask her to point to letters to speak because this is frustrating and silly.

I cannot believe it's taken me this long for the penny to drop for me regarding the gag going with Cirra. She's a nurse shark who's also a nurse.

>>6167087
Combining steam and electricity, give it up for Turbine Hall!
>So, what does he do?
>That guy? He plays the gun.
>He does what!?
>Picrel

>>6167057
Backing these questions, especially the read/write one

>>6167057
>Ask your men how they felt about heading forward. Maybe based on that, you could decide whether or not you'd move forward or not. If most of them felt okay heading forward, you could do so. If not, you'd take the longer path.
>Put it up to a vote. Either we keep going and risk getting ambushed by a possibly hostile subject or we head back to roll the dice again and see what fresh horrors may or may not await us down the other path.
Seems like her abilities are light-based. So maybe she can turn invisible while using her projection ability to lure prey towards her. Or maybe (hopefully) she's completely innocent and hasn't brutally murdered anyone yet.

>>6167103
Supporting this one.

>Ask the subject some further questions. She couldn't respond with words, but she could answer yes or no questions with her head movement.
Seeing that you were limited to yes and no questions, you were a little bit unsure what to really think. It was somewhat irritating, you first asking if she could read. She nodded, after which you immediately asked if she could write. She nodded a second time, after which you turned to Lydia and asked her to put down the tablet. "What's the plan?" She asked right away, knowing you had some sort of plan for her. You'd ask her to put every letter and the numbers 0 to 9 on the tablet. You said she could point at it to spell out answers, rather than just limiting you to yes or no questions. "But that is gonna take a rather long time." Zaria would right away comment in a rather relaxed tone, some of your men nodding along. Of course, you had other questions you planned to ask her which could provide some intel about who she was. You told Lydia to just get the keyboard out in the open, in the meantime asking some simpler questions.

The first thing you'd ask was if she was made by Tengri, her shaking her head. You then went down the entire list, her finally nodding when Jabal was name-dropped. "Okay, so not Elbrus or Roraima. That is reassuring." Thaddeus softly remarked, Mike calmly budding in. "We should still check if she was made by anyone else. Do you have a second creator?" He'd ask her right away, her once again shaking her head, you now knowing it was just Jabal's subject. Lydia had the tablet at the ready now, Derek keeping his up to copy every letter she pointed at. Though the next question was once again a yes or no question, you asking if she was leading you to the medbay. She shook her head, you asking the same about a spot for supplies, a shortcut, allies, obstacles or anything dangerous. She shook her head to each single one, implying she wasn't really trying to lead you to anything.

You'd then ask her if the medical bay was nearby, her nodding before pointing at some of the numbers. "Did you just say it was two kilometres away?" The subject nodded, which thankfully wasn't too far away from here. It would take a bit of walking, but nothing which would take hours to travel to. Though, you also would plan a bit ahead, asking the subject for directions to the cooler section. She'd look around, pointing ahead which... wasn't exactly the type of directions you wanted. Still, it was clear it would be better if she just used the tablet. You'd ask her to do such, before switching over to a different question: Which section she came from. She'd think, before pointing at some of the letters. "From east of here." Was what she'd note down, which would make Zaria give a snarky remark in a rather calm tone. "Well, that's a whole lot clearer than what she said before." The subject would look a little unsure how to respond, as you decided to ask something else.

You'd ask if she had knew any friendly subjects from Jabal, her naming a couple. "Would you be willing to also give their codenames, if you know them?" Derek added onto that, her nodding and pointing at the letters. "Hegemone Demoiselles, FF-68." "Toyotama Nagai, HW-37." "Anofelis Toxori, EM-33." "Viola Ptilonor, EB-21." were all the ones she'd note down, you afterwards also deciding to ask about Oneira since you were curious about her as well. The subject nodded, as it was clear she knew about plenty of kind subjects in this place. And given this subject's apparent friendship with Anofelis, this mysterious subject did appear a lot less scary than before.

>Put it up to a vote. Either we keep going and risk getting ambushed by a possibly hostile subject or we head back to roll the dice again and see what fresh horrors may or may not await us down the other path.
With all of that in mind, you decided to ask your men how they all felt about heading forwards. Clearly, some of your men were more accepting of the idea than others, so you wanted to know what the general consensus was about keeping to this path. You asked all of the people who wanted to take a different path to raise their hands, which only got Mike, Khady, Landon and Zaria to raise their hands. Though not out of outright objection, but rather just being somewhat concerned. As you asked for all those in favour to raise their hand, the rest of your men would raise their hand, albeit with some doing so reluctantly.

"Guess we'll keep moving forward." Joaquin responded, Mike afterwards speaking up. "So long as we can keep our guns at the ready and retreat, I won't complain." You weren't gonna tell your men to keep their guns lowered. Especially not in this situation. You already had guesses as to how this subject could use her apparent light powers to maybe create lures. You hoped that wouldn't be the case and that you were this mysterious' subjects next snack. With that in mind, you'd tell the subject you'd head forward and maybe see her in person, her giving an understanding nod and fading away in the dark lead the way once more. Though things only got darker and darker as you got closer, though it never got too dark for you to see somewhat ahead of you. And the stars above you at least helped somewhat.

Things remained peaceful and quiet for the next ten or so minutes, the figure not reappearing at all within the darkness. "I am concerned at how calming these spores are." Mike would comment, which made Derek scoff a little. "Well, we've also had a singing subject alongside us with the same effect. So I would say we shouldn't be too concerned." It still was a little tense, as you and the others passed more broken and abandoned chambers. You saw remnants of fortifications and barriers which were supposed to act as security. Some of these had clearly been destroyed by subjects, though for what reason you couldn't really tell.

Eventually though, you'd soon see the source of the darkness in the distance, it flowing through the air like smoke from a large containment chamber in the distance. You and your men got your guns at the ready, carefully approaching with the intent to fire if you were met with a threat. Though as you and your men got closer to the spores, you’d finally hear a soft-spoken voice. “Ah, please, lower your weaponry. I mean no harm.” You heard from the chamber, some of your men hesitating before doing as told. Though Thaddeus, Mike, Landon and Anon kept their weapons at the ready still. Joaquin looked over at you, before speaking softly. “Well, now what? Do we just walk into a potential trap, or...” Before he could say much more, the voice spoke again in a reassuring tone. “I can assure you that this is no trap. In fact, I am not alone. I have another scientist with me who is under my care. In fact, I would like to ask if you have any clean water and food for him, since he does need some urgent help.” This last comment did leave some of your men a bit more suspicious, as it could very well just be a way to let you lower your guard. Then again, given her honesty and how she hadn’t attacked you in any way still gave you and your men some hope.

>What do you do next?

>Communicate to the subject from outside her chamber. Maybe you could first ask her some questions before choosing to interact with her. (Write in what you’ll ask her.)
>Tell her to come out of her chamber along with the scientist she mentioned to show she meant no harm. You and your men were still on edge and wanted to make sure you didn’t run into an actual trap. (Write in how you’ll ask her to come out of her chamber, or if you’ll try and offer her help.)
>She didn’t seem like a serious threat, so just walk over and greet her in peace. What were the odds that this would turn out to be a trap?
>Something else...

(Maybe not the most extensive update, but I'll compensate with a late Christmas present. A nice way to round off the year... Hope it's as sweet, lewd and enjoyable to read as I tried to make it.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/192lqCy6s6Q6o4GU_GQDga6nf_spmoqccajlaUxFyOHk/edit?usp=sharing

>>6167540
>>Something else...
Ok, let's take the bait, still, Tell our boys to be ready to anything, let's take something like a flash granade or a few smoke bombs in case we need to run, then we tell them we(Mik) are coming taking some water and food along with Cierra a medical subject for treatment of the scientist, if this a trap we unleash the stuff, grab Cierra, get the fuck of the way and tell our boys to fuck them up, if this is truth maybe this scientist is Logan and we can FINALLY be done with this and go back to the surface.

>>6167540
>Communicate to the subject from outside her chamber. Maybe you could first ask her some questions before choosing to interact with her. (Write in what you’ll ask her.)
Name of the scientist and her own name and ID first please
If what she says checks out then we can do >>6167585
Make sure to only go in with Cirra, so two full squads are outside the chamber ready to fuck her if she pulls anything.

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>>6167539
>>6167642
Support.
Also you went off with a bang qm for this year. Really enjoyed the smut.

Gonna skip out on an update today. New Year's celebrations were a bit much. But hey, any and all Annie enjoyers, feel free to give your thoughts on the story I wrote. I love hering compliments like these (>>6167917), as well as any thoughts/critiques you may have on even my writing which isn't exactly part of the story.

Anyhow, a happy new year to everyone and let's hope for another good year of MG updates!

>>6167997
>Annie never even masturbates
Zero sex drive confirmed
Anniesisters...it's over....

>>6168076
Maybe Kimmy's more your type. Or perhaps Hapi.

>>6168076
Its not over until one of them dies! She still has a love drive and by the might of god and anime we will hold hands with her.

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>Communicate to the subject from outside her chamber. Maybe you could first ask her some questions before choosing to interact with her.
Before entering this subject's chamber, you decided to first get some information about the subject at hand and the scientist she was supposedly with. After asking such, the subject thankfully did not hesitate to respond. "My own name is Cortina Galactica. My codename is MS-30. The scientist who is with me is Massimo Ilrosso." Looking over at Joaquin and his men, you would see Sophie speak up in a more calm tone. "Cortina. I've heard of her before. She was indeed a subject from Jabal. Some kind of fungal subject." Cortina let out a calm giggle. "I am indeed created with fungi in mind. I hope my spores have not concerned you or made you fear me. They help me create such perfect darkness " Your men weren't exactly sure how to feel about the fact that she had such spore based abilities. Then again, given how Thalia could use her voice to calm people, it now made a whole lot of sense that the calmness were an effect of Cortina's spores.

>Something else...
Given her honesty, the fact that one of Joaquin's men knew of her and the fact that you hadn't noticed any negative effects yet, you decided to take the risk. You told your men to be prepared, even getting a flash grenade ready in case of the worst. You'd say that you had someone who could help out her scientist friend, as well as some water and food for them. "Excellent. Please, do come over." You told your men to wait, as you turned to Cirra and asked her to come along. Cirra calmly nodded, not seeming too worried about what was going to happen. "We'll keep you covered, Mik. If you think she is an actual threat, let us know ASAP." Anon said, Thaddeus also getting the railgun ready. "We'll blow her to kingdom come if she dares to attack ya!" Given the darkness, the plasma railgun was maybe a little impractical. Still, you had hope that this would all just go alright.

Regardless, Lars handed you a bottle of water and a packet of rations. And with Cirra close-by, you'd head over to the opening to the chamber, the light trail thankfully making it easy enough to enter. Until at long last, you'd see the strange spectral figure who you communicated with before. Albeit now physical, in finer detail and... way bigger. Whilst she wasn't as tall as Anofelis, she was absolutely above 8 feet at the very least. Lying right beside her was a scientist who looked extremely thin and pale. He looked at you with a tired and exhausted expression, Cirra immediately heading over. Obviously, you were still reluctant, as the subject didn't appear eerily frozen in place, looking at you with a gentle smile. "I can understand you are concerned by my appearance. Please, if I can do anything to make you less worried about my abilities, form or appearance, please let me know." She did sound rather kind and honest, soon putting the hands of her many arms together.

"I must admit, my spores do allow me to take in many things from around me. Including the things you suggested to the people you are with. I assure you I mean no harm though. I am even willing to hand over Massimo temporarily so you can feed him away from me." Cirra had unfortunately already headed forward without your consent. Fortunately, she didn't get attacked or appeared to get negatively influenced in any way by being close to Cortina. Cirra looked over Massimo, carefully checking his body all over before speaking in a concerned tone. "He doesn't look good at all. He's so thin that I can see his ribs, indicating that he is starving. He also seems quite dehydrated based on how dry his skin is." Somehow though, Massimo was able to speak up during all of this, doing so with a weak and trembling voice. "Please, food..." Cirra looked over at you before turning to Cortina. "How long has he been like this? Have you not tried finding food for him?"

Cortina nodded to the last question, speaking in a more sombre tone. "I have been trying to find food for him, but what little food was here has already been consumed by other subjects and survivors. Massimo was already quite thin and skeletal before, but the lack of food over the past few weeks have made things far worse for him." Cirra looked over at you, before signalling you to come over. "Mikhail, hand him the food and water Lars gave you." She'd ask in a more desperate tone.

>What do you do next?

>Just help Massimo and Cortina out right now. Cortina seemed honest and wanting to co-operate with you. So getting close to help out wasn't an issue.
>Take Massimo away from Cortina just in case Cortina was a threat. Whilst she was being transparent, you didn't know any details which led to Massimo and Cortina being here, and the role Cortina played in this. Besides, you could stay with Massimo and try to get some answers out of him before talking with Cortina. (Write in what sort of questions you'll ask.)
>Ask Cortina some questions whilst Massimo was being helped out. Maybe you could ask for some locations, the various threats running around here, how she got here and if she knew about Logan's whereabouts. (Write in what you'll ask.)
>Tell your men to come over for support, or to help out in some other way. Hell, maybe your men could also ask some questions to Cortina.
>Something else...

(Sadly no news about Logan. But hey, at least there is a cool mushroom to help you out around this place. If she is actually as nice as she appears...)

>>6168471
>>Just help Massimo and Cortina out right now. Cortina seemed honest and wanting to co-operate with you. So getting close to help out wasn't an issue.

>>Ask Cortina some questions whilst Massimo was being helped out. Maybe you could ask for some locations, the various threats running around here, how she got here and if she knew about Logan's whereabouts.
Who's Massimo, he wasn't on the list of scientists wanted Extracted or Eliminated, did he contribute to any subjects?
Any dangerous subjects here? We know Grise is lurking around here but any others we should worry about?
Is Logan here or did you see hear or see about him here in the high level containment zone?

>>6167087
Is that a robotic techno arm like the kind the mechanicus has? If so, I like it and it fits Lydia.

>>6167540
>The QM actually wrote smut of Annie
I can't believe you weren't joking and don't know how to feel about this. Especially given it's of Annie of all characters. Thank god it was with Mikhail and not one of E*brus' subjects or worse, E*brus himself. I now fear for the inevitable "I can fix her" crowd to demand one of the psycho's to have a lewd story of.

>>6168482
Supporting. Massimo is obviously just a minor scientist like Laura unless it's one of the big names disguising themselves as someone else, which I doubt. He's probably Cortina's caretaker much like how Laura was Oreas' own.

>>6168469
>Just help Massimo and Cortina out right now. Cortina seemed honest and wanting to co-operate with you. So getting close to help out wasn't an issue.

Oh man
What a splendid cap
Tell her Jabal did great work on that thing, 10/10 design, 11/10 style

>>6168471
>Just help Massimo and Cortina out right now. Cortina seemed honest and wanting to co-operate with you. So getting close to help out wasn't an issue.

Jabal seems like mostly a good egg as far as scientists are concerned. He's made a few odd ones but only one of those he was the main man on that we know about could be described as malicious, though perhaps not truly evil and the notes on his collab with Andrei when making Feng seem to bear that out (seemingly wanting to make her more an ojou-type than one who makes you ask for God to save you *from* the Queen. Because of that, I'm more inclined to trust her, she hasn't really kept anything from us thus far (that we know of, anyway.....) and this seems like a really long-winded and weird way of doing a trap from a subject who doesn't seem to have much inclination or ability to cause fatalities. One of these days, trusting a dodgy subject is going to blow up in our faces, hopefully today won't be the day for a reveal.
It does seem I was wrong, though, this is not Claire. Seems like they have that anti-electronic ability in common though.
>>6168482
+1 with a few more:
>Why didn't you move him? Is it too dangerous, or did you just not know where to go?
>What's your feeding method, anyway? Where are you getting your food?
>Have you been here this whole time? [why is she in the high-threat section?]
>Do you know any other subjects well you could tell us about?
>We've only got so much food and can't stay. What are you going to do afterwards?
You're not supposed to give a starving person lots of food but in more gradual amounts to avoid refeeding syndrome, though I suppose Cirra probably knows this.

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>>6168469
My honest reaction to qt shroom.
>>6168605
Support. Slightly worried that the scientist was held against his will by MS-13. But then again as you said it seems like a long winded ambush tactic.

>>6168657
I share that concern and perhaps that she might even be feeding off him, which is what the first two questions are supposed to prod at. It seems unusual that they'd just sit here and starve and not even try and leave to find food somewhere else. But I'll give her the benefit of the doubt given our experience with Thalia and if she does happen to be capturing people to feed on, it's something that would likely be effective against isolated people she can grab rather than a large group with a lot of guns and why would she bring all of us to her together if so?
It does remind me though, I forgot to include
>What's your relationship to this person? Were they someone known to you, or someone you found?

While there's probably a subject mafia down here, I don't think Massimo was kidnapped by a certain LA street gang.

>>6168677
>It seems unusual that they'd just sit here and starve and not even try and leave to find food somewhere else.
A lot of subjects seem to have their own unique and peculiar brands of autism. Like Morgan and her obsession with JUSTICE, this one might have some quirk that keeps her from even thinking of relocation.

>>6168690
That's another possibility I'm considering. I just want to see what she has to say for herself really.

Among our subjects I guess Morgan has some pretty strong programming, Ano is literally autistic and Kam is conditioned into having negative self-confidence, but the other three are pretty psychologically normal (though the most mentally stable of the lot is probably Chrys). Of the others we've interacted with:
>Feng: Holy shit she's batshit
>Pelly: Is she even human mentally?
>Annie: As stable as a radio host can be
>Cirra: Seems pretty sane
>Viridian: Kinda weird
>Thalia: Might just be thick
>Oneira: Early indications are positive
>Arika: She got the 'tism
>Caera: Uhh yeah about her
>Lono: Shy but seems to have all her marbles
>Patty: Toss-up here
That makes 9-11 out of 17 being some form of weirdo. So odds are high she might have some kind of complex.

>Just help Massimo and Cortina out right now. Cortina seemed honest and wanting to co-operate with you. So getting close to help out wasn't an issue.
Considering all the leeway she was giving you to trust her, Cortina was either playing some kind of long game or was genuinely hoping you could help her. For now, you felt that it was the latter, you agreeing to help as you got the rations and water ready. You'd hand them over to Cirra, who would give Massimo a tiny bit of food and water to start with. "Ahhh, m-more, please..." He'd plead, Cirra shaking her head. "Unfortunately, we need to be slow with this. We want to avoid negative side-effects of new nutrients and proteins entering your body." Cirra said in a certain tone, Massimo groaning as he would lie back and took some deep breaths. "Ah, f-fine." He'd continue lying down, Cirra meanwhile getting some bandages, alcohol and other medical equipment to deal with the other medical conditions he probably was suffering from.

>Ask Cortina some questions whilst Massimo was being helped out. Maybe you could ask for some locations, the various threats running around here, how she got here and if she knew about Logan's whereabouts.
Whilst Cirra treated Massimo, you would turn to Cortina to ask her some questions. Though you first decided to give a little compliment, mentioning that she certainly was a pleasantly designed subject. You hadn't exactly seen a plant or fungi-based subject before, so this was definitely new to you. Cortina smiled at the compliment. "Why thank you. I appreciate such kind remarks. Jabal actually created me simply out of his love for some old Earthen species of fungi, so I suppose his choice to model me after said mushroom was a good one." On the topic of Jabal and the scientists, you asked her who Massimo was exactly, wanting to know if he contributed to any subjects. "Oh, he wasn't a scientist with any subjects under his name, I am afraid."

It was annoying to hear that this was once again just a scientist like Laura. Someone who maybe looked after some subject but didnt play a major role in the creation of some subjects. However, Cortina would quickly speak up again to elaborate further. "He did mention how he played a pretty important role when it comes to avian subjects actually. He told me how he helped identify a bunch of genomes common in avian subjects which could be used in the base code for any avian subject." Cortina looked curiously at you, clearly hoping that this was the information you wanted to hear. It was definitely interesting information, but you hadn't encountered any avian subject just yet. Unless if Zati's odd wings counted. Regardless, you'd thank her for the information, before asking if there were any dangerous subjects lurking around here. "Well, I did see Reika around here. Thankfully, she didn't notice us and we were able to avoid her, since I know Roraima unfortunately trained her to always attack anything she sees."

Hearing that Reika was here wasn't too surprising, given what Joaquin's men mentioned. But it was still... not at all reassuring. Still, Cortina didn't seem to know of any other threat down here, which was at least slightly reassuring. Either way, you'd then ask if she knew if Logan was around here. Cortina unfortunately shook her head, but did give some useful advice. "From what I gathered, he was in this area during the disaster. His office was also not too far from here, being near the cooler section." Obviously, the cooler section was still a long walk away from here, but at least you were getting closer and closer. And more excitingly, Massimo would also give a soft response. "He... he wanted to... free some of his stronger subjects here... during that mysterious subject's escape... to help contain them... the one who escaped." Cirra was quick to hush Massimo, telling him: "You can explain later, Massimo. Just... lie down and try to rest."

At least you now knew what Logan was up to during and presumably after the whole disaster. Though hopefully you could find him nearby enough to ask him some questions as well. Regardless, knowing that Massimo had some useful intel, you wanted to ask Cortina why she didn't move him. You assumed the dangers posed by Reika along with Cortina not knowing where to go were the main reasons, to which Cortina nodded. "Yes. I did try and look around with my spores to find any food in the nearby area. The nearby food courts were all already raided completely, and what was left was of terrible quality. I wanted to explore further, but the threat of Reika forced us to stay here. Massimo even insisted on such." Looking over to Massimo, he nodded along a little bit, confirming what Cortina was saying and what you had already assumed. With that in mind, you also wanted to know what Cortina's feeding method was, her answering right away. "Ironically, my main feeding method is sunlight. Not exactly fitting of a mushroom, I know. But it works well given how effectively my spores can absorb light."

Given how she fed on light, it made you wonder why she even went to this place to begin with. These depths were not exactly likely to get any natural light. "Well, my containment chamber was closer to the surface, and I decided to retreat when it became clear that there were enemy forces around. We did intend to head towards Titania's chamber, and maybe find refuge there or close-by, but Massimo's deteriorating health and the threat of other subjects around here meant it seemed safer to just stay here. We've been here for a few days now and it so far has paid off." This actually got Cirra a little concerned, as she brought up a pretty important question related to their time spent down here. "And when was the last time you saw any threat down here like Reika? Did they pass by here not too long ago, or right when you got settled here?"

Cortina was quick to respond, calmly saying: "She seems to be patrolling this place. I saw her here not long after we got here, and also spotted her a couple more times the past few days." Having Reika patrol this area was definitely worrisome. Though given that Joaquin and his men managed to get past Reika's apparent patrolling and the fact that Reika had not spotted Cortina at all implied that Reika wasn't exactly the best at patrolling. Regardless, you'd ask if there were any other subjects she could tell you about, her pausing to think. "I did name some of my siblings from Jabal, did I not? If you wish to know about others, there was Claire Rosenthal, 50-GI, who used to stay near my containment area. She was quiet but generally friendly and enjoyed it when I used my spores to change the levels of brightness in and around her chamber. She was unfortunately thoroughly abused by Roraima, who tried to turn her into an obedient weapon just like Reika."

There were presumably more subjects which Cortina knew of. Though before you could ask for further details, Anon would speak to you over your comms. "Mik, is everything okay? Can we come over to assist?" Your men were understandably concerned about the lack of a response from you. Considering the mission at hand, they probably also were eager to continue with or without Cortina by your side. Though with that in mind, you'd also ask Cortina what she plans on doing now given that you couldn't hand her much more food. "Well, I genuinely do not know. I assumed that Massimo wouldn't... well, make it. I originally intended to comfort him during this, since I knew looking for food would take too long and was too much of a risk. Maybe now that he has some way to recover, I can take him elsewhere to look for food and safety." Considering that food was running out everywhere, finding food would definitely be a challenge for them. At least what little rations and water you had given Massimo would hopefully let him live long enough for Cortina to find more food to survive off of.

Still, your men were clearly awaiting your next command, you having the choice to continue your travels, or to maybe learn more from Cortina and Massimo.

>What do you do next?

>Tell your men that everything was safe and that they could come over. They could meet Cortina and Massimo, maybe ask some questions and use the opportunity to learn more about this place.
>Tell your men that everything was resolved and that you could head forward. Wish Cortina good luck with Massimo before leaving them.
>Offer Cortina a chance to join you on your travels. It would mean having one more mouth to feed, as well as having a giant black-spore releasing fungus girl joining you, but at least you could learn more from her and use whatever abilities she had, right?
>Something else...

>>6168878
Well shit, I been confusing the names of the wolf girls all this time. Should make an habit and check the list some more.

>Tell your men that everything was safe and that they could come over. They could meet Cortina and Massimo, maybe ask some questions and use the opportunity to learn more about this place.
There's been some strange sickness on the surface, does she knows any other fungal or subjects capable of making people sick?

>Offer Cortina a chance to join you on your travels. It would mean having one more mouth to feed, as well as having a giant black-spore releasing fungus girl joining you, but at least you could learn more from her and use whatever abilities she had, right?
She can feel things with her spores right? We can use that to scout ahead like ask her to gather a bunch blow them away and see if anything comes too close, which is also good to help us have an easier time on guard duty at night.

>Something else...
Explain to them what we learned from them, we might be on the final lap, we go to the medical facility from this place for one last patch up then we check Logan's office, if he ain't there then we give a call to Annie and ask her were did he was last sighted, also let's make preparations just in case we gotta deal with Raika, put on to vote if they rather keep avoiding her or wanna ambush her.

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>>6168677
>I don't think Massimo was kidnapped by a certain LA street gang.
You never know with this facility.
>>6168878
>Tell your men that everything was safe and that they could come over. They could meet Cortina and Massimo, maybe ask some questions and use the opportunity to learn more about this place.
They seem alright, might as well allow everyone to introduce themselves. Still on the fence whether to allow them to join or to leave em. On the one hand we may be getting overcrowded again and we risk attracting attention. On the other the mushroom girl is cool and could be used as a pseudo spore radar and Massimo could recover more. Although he shouldn't move more plus he needs more food and we are stretching it already with the food.

>>6168878
>Tell your men that everything was safe and that they could come over. They could meet Cortina and Massimo, maybe ask some questions and use the opportunity to learn more about this place.
Leave 2 on watch outside just in case

>Offer Cortina a chance to join you on your travels. It would mean having one more mouth to feed, as well as having a giant black-spore releasing fungus girl joining you, but at least you could learn more from her and use whatever abilities she had, right?
Strength in numbers, plus Nikita and his crew seem pretty dealt with
Also how's she doing in terms of food? Is there a operational sunlamp down here or will she need to go back to the surface soon?

>>6168878
>Tell your men that everything was safe and that they could come over. They could meet Cortina and Massimo, maybe ask some questions and use the opportunity to learn more about this place.
>Offer Cortina a chance to join you on your travels. It would mean having one more mouth to feed, as well as having a giant black-spore releasing fungus girl joining you, but at least you could learn more from her and use whatever abilities she had, right?
It's just another fren guys, come on in. We don't necessarily have to permanently adopt the mush (her darkness-related powers could be very useful for sneaking and scouting around here and not getting Reika'd, which I assume QM is repeatedly rolling for in the background) but we can at least escort them through this area to somewhere safer and where there might be more food. I think we might need to take some of our stronger girls down to the green section as pack mules to dodge death squads to bring back as much food as we can carry (we can blag some meat for Vinisha topside). While a lot of the stuff in the cooler section will have defrosted and gone off when the power failed, we might be able to find some more (and maybe Kiyo) there as well.
As for going forward, I think we should advance under cover of Cortina's darkness as much as possible. While we got lucky this time, there's a lot more in this place I wouldn't want to meet, least of all Reika (who is at least likely easily bamboozled). Our targets are the hospital to get treatment for our injured and Narith and then we get the fuck out of here towards Logan's office. Now we're getting close, ring up Annie and ask where exactly he was last spotted around here and if she has the coordinates of his office.
Side note, Vinisha mentioned she was attacked by Reika and gave a detailed description. While it was useful intel we should re-familiarise ourselves with, it also means Vinisha has been on quite the odyssey herself. I don't know where she originated from or what exact route she took but she'd have had to pass through here and make her way across most of the deep facility to wash up in the anatomy lab where we found her while dodging structural damage, hostile subjects, death squads and Feng's flunkies, and all this as a physically unimpressive subject. I applaud her for making it, even if it was a close thing.
Hmm, thinking about the cooler section. If we took Vinisha in there, would she freeze solid thanks to her lack of body heat if it's still cold enough? And I wonder how Morgan and Kiyo would get along, if they'd like each other or if they'd be a loutish brute and prissy fool to each other.

>>6168932
forty keks anon

>Tell your men that everything was safe and that they could come over. They could meet Cortina and Massimo, maybe ask some questions and use the opportunity to learn more about this place.
There's been some strange sickness on the surface, does she knows any other fungal or subjects capable of making people sick?
You'd quickly tell Anon and your men to come over since Cortina wasn't a threat. Though you also advised them to have two men stand guard in case Reika decided to show herself. "Mike and I will do such." Anon said right away, you turning to Cortina and letting them know the rest of your men were approaching. "How lovely. It will be a pleasure to meet them all." She said happily, as you looked over to the entrance to the chamber. And a short moment later, the rest of your men wandered into the dark chamber, looking in awe at the giant mushroom lady. Most of your men would immediately introduce themselves, giving their names and stating it was a pleasure to meet her.

Though once everyone had introduced themselves, Landon would speak up softly. "So, Cortina, you're responsible for all this darkness around us with your spores, correct? Can you... pause that effect by any chance? It's quite difficult to see where we're going with it around." Cortina would look a little less excited, shaking her head. "I am afraid I cannot stop the release of spores. I can control it to a certain degree, but it will always spread around me." This actually got some of your men curious about her spore abilities. "So, it has some sort of mental effect, right?" Lydia asked, to which Cortina nodded happily. "It helps soothe people. The spores are also an extension of my own being, allowing me to hear and see around with them." To this, Derek would turn more curious. "So, what was your purpose as a subject, if we may ask? Were you a therapist subject, or did you have some other important function?"

Cortina once again put her hands together. "Ironically, I was first simply created because Jabal wanted to make a fungal subject of his own. Once my spores were discovered to calm people, I was asked to be something of a sleep therapist for overworked and overstressed scientists." Derek glanced over at Thalia with a more smug smirk. "Wow, two subjects with soothing abilities to help people focus in our party. What are the odds of that!" Thalia didn't seem to respond, and the attention soon shifted to you as you wanted to discuss Cortina joining you and your men. You yourself admitted that you weren't entirely sure about having Cortina join your party. There was an obvious strength in numbers against enemy forces and subjects. Not to mention, Cortina's ability to scout ahead with her spores. Though Cortina was quick to correct you with that assumption, her casually saying: "It can take a while for my spores to spread. The spread you're seeing right now took at least a day, I'm afraid."

It was a little disappointing to hear that her ability had such limits, but it was good to know in advance for sure. Even then though, you still could blow them away to speed up the process in some way. Either way, you offered Cortina to escort her and Massimo towards the nearby medical bay. You were heading that way anyway, so you could at least help with that. "Oh dear, I presume it's because of... well, poor Narith?" She said after glancing at Narith on the stretcher, to which your men nodded, Derek also raising his hand. "Also, because of infections some of us have gotten from some fights we got in." Cortina nodded understandingly, her looking over at Massimo. "Well, maybe it could be worth it to stick together. Perhaps we could use the opportunity to leave this sector and find a place with more food for Massimo." On the topic of food, you'd ask Cortina how she was doing in terms of food, her giving a reassuring smile. "I am doing fine. I can live without sunlight for quite some time, so long as I don't end up with any major injuries."

Considering how long some subjects could apparently go without food, worrying about Cortina's health didn't seem like it would be a priority for now. With that in mind, you would suggest at least using Cortina's current darkness to avoid any confrontations whilst you headed forward. "Hey, you guys may have night-vision, but we can't exactly see through the darkness with great ease." Joaquin would say for his men, who all nodded along. "You guys can maybe buddy up with us whilst we head forward through the current layer of spores." Monique would suggest, which wasn't the worst of ideas. Hell, Cortina could easily lead the way as well, or use her light ability to show the way. As long as that didn't attract any potential threats. Considering the potential range of Cortina's spores, you probably didn't need to stay together too much. Especially once you were at the medical section, you could get some help for Narith, Derek, yourself and maybe Zaria and then just continue ahead to Logan's office and maybe even the frozen section.

>Something else...
Still, there was the threat of Reika jumping you and your men. Considering she was the most immediate threat you knew of down here, you asked what your men wanted to do with her. You gave them the option between either trying to avoid her no matter what, or to attack her if you did catch her by surprise. When you gave the vote however, all of Joaquin's men would go with avoiding her. "Whilst you guys may have weaponry to deal with her, I'd rather not try our luck considering what I've heard of her." Landon said, which was a sentiment most of Joaquin's men agreed with. Amongst your own men, only Thaddeus, Mike (over the comms) and Anon seemed confident in your abilities to deal with her. Lydia, Zaria, Derek and Lars all agreed that it was for the best to just avoid Reika for the time being.

With the vote settled, you agreed to just move forward and avoid Reika if at all possible. Thus, it seemed you were ready to head forward with Cortina and Massimo temporarily joining you. Maybe they'd stay for a lot longer to search for better sources of food. But the choice for now was postponed given that you weren't exactly sure what the best option would be. Maybe you could figure it out as you spent more time with Cortina and Massimo, the former potentially proving her worth and the latter giving you some useful intel. With that in mind though, you did remember how there were some sick units on the surface the last time you were there, you asking Cortina if she knew of any subjects who could sicken other folk. And when you asked for any other fungal subject, Cortina did become more concerned. "Well, there is Chloe. NF-29, her codename was. She's a fungal subject created by Tengri and Roraima. I met her once, and she wasn't all that bad. She was a bit of a prankster, but I do vividly remember her stating she wished she had Jabal as her creator, indicating a rough relation with either of her caretakers."

Immediately, the mention of Roraima raised some red flags, with Landon speaking in a concerned tone. "I presume Roraima wanted her to be focused on combat rather than being a prankster?" Cortina nodded quietly, after which Lydia turned to Thalia. "Thalia. You were created by Tengri, correct? Do you know anything of NF-29?" Thalia shook her head. "I never heard him speak of her, I'm afraid. Knowing Roraima though, it wouldn't surprise me if she ended up becoming far more vengeful and aggressive towards humans." Considering what you had seen on the surface, NF-29 was presumably the main fungal subject you had to look out for. Hopefully, she did end up a peaceful subject through the assistance of Tengri, just like Thalia.

Regardless, the attention quickly went back to you, as it seemed it was time to start heading forward towards the medical bay.

>What do you next?

>Ask Cortina to lead the way with the use of the weird lights she could create with her spores. It may attract Reika or whatever other folk roamed this place, but it meant that you didn’t need to guide Joaquin’s men around in the dark.
>Assign some of your men to help Joaquin’s men through all the darkness. Maybe you could also assign someone to carry Massimo around. (Write in if you’ll specifically assign someone with anyone specific.)
>Ask Cortina for some further details about this place, her powers, the other fungal subject or her past. Maybe you could learn some more about the facility or what other things you’d have to watch out for. (Write in what you’ll ask her.)
>Set up a plan on what to do in case Reika or some other subject DID manage to spot you in the darkness. Just in case your plan to avoid conflict failed. (Write in your plan.)
>Something else...

(Update is maybe a bit all-over-the place. Considering how there wasn't too much certainy with having Cortina join the party, I hope these details can help you with moving forward and whatever plans you guys had in mind.)

(Also, >>6168932 this made me laugh a lot. Thank you, Anon.)

>>6169333
>Assign some of your men to help Joaquin’s men through all the darkness. Maybe you could also assign someone to carry Massimo around. (Write in if you’ll specifically assign someone with anyone specific.)
Why are we helping them through, they're the ones who have been here before. Narith definitely needs help and we should keep Massimo with Cirra though.

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>>6169333
>Assign some of your men to help Joaquin’s men through all the darkness. Maybe you could also assign someone to carry Massimo around. (Write in if you’ll specifically assign someone with anyone specific.)
>Set up a plan on what to do in case Reika or some other subject DID manage to spot you in the darkness. Just in case your plan to avoid conflict failed. (Write in your plan.)
Have some of the more lightly armed members daisy chain a few people each and one of the guards carries Massimo. Not sure how Cirra and Thalia are in the dark.
Remember what Annie told us - Reika is extremely stupid and will attack anyone around her but basically operates on NPC logic and is very easy to misdirect and distract. If we spot her or suspect she's nearby; just stop walking, don't make a sound and duck behind something (preferably a side room) and, if she gets close, throw a small object somewhere else to distract her. It is absolutely imperative to not panic and start yelling or open fire. Cortina's darkness should be extremely helpful for avoiding her notice while we still have it.

>>6169386
Support but wanna add a few things, since she's a wolf she ought to have a very strong nose, people like Narith and... well us who have infected wounds might and end up attracting her, let's try to find a way to make sure she can't smell our blood.

>Something else...
Take some time to talk with Thalia, like it's obvious she still shaken from that event, I mean I would too if my sibling did something like that, see how's she's holding up or what's eating her up.

I just had a brainwave, in the shower no less. Let's build another decoy! It saved our asses from Pelly and Reika is so stupid she'd absolutely go for a human-looking decoy while the rest of us find somewhere to hide from her.

>>6169476
She's a bizarre, mashed-up chimaera (are you thinking of Grise?). The only thing we 100% know for certain is her stinger tail, the other stuff is less certain.

>>6169573
Ya know, I think Cortina might be my favourite designed subject yet. Cirra in her nurse cap is cute too.

>>6169573
Beautiful artwork as always. She looks radiant.