"Ah, are you guardsman #27136 or, uhhh, Lexie Booker?" The scientist asked cautiously, Lexie and Melaine being a bit surprised to see the low-ranking scientist in the barracks of all places. "That's me." Lexie responded, after which the scientist grabbed a letter from their pocket. "I was told to bring this over to you." The scientist seemed a bit anxious to hand it over, Lexie and Melaine looking at the strange envelope with no name on it. In fact, the letter had no details whatsoever, appearing blank. "Uhhh, what is this about?" Lexie asked, before Melaine softly gasped. "Maybe it's permission to be reassigned?" The scientist would calmly respond: "I do not know and was not told anything. Apparently, it's a little secretive, so you may wanna open this somewhere private." The two looked at the letter, before the scientist would bid them farewell, leaving the two unable to ask further questions about who this letter came from.

Mel and Lexie looked at the envelope, before looking around to see if there was anyone nearby. "Maybe it's a prank from those two dicks who you beat at the shooting range?" Melaine suggested, Lexie letting out a loud scoff. "You think those two idiots are smart enough to know how to write a letter?" "Well, one way to figure out how. Open it!" Melaine responded, Lexie shrugging and deciding to open it. The two found a rather formal, simple and direct letter with a warning not to share the contents of the letter, Lexie not caring her friend was reading along. Though as they kept reading, Lexie and Melaine were left most intrigued and concerned, as it was a request for her to come to a specific office within the hour... Specifically, it was Andrei's office. "I thought you sent your request to Roraima? Not Andrei!" Melaine mumbled in bewilderment, Lexie shaking her head. "I didn't send them to Andrei! Why the hell does he want me to come to his office out of nowhere? This must be a mistake..."

Melaine shook her head and pointed to the text. "It says your name here, and looks pretty official." Lexie looked around again, before mumbling: "Okay, this has to be a prank. The 'secrecy', the fact it's from 'Andrei', the time given here. I bet it's just some kind of shitty ploy to put me in some sort of trap." Lexie clearly refused to believe that the letter was real, Melaine responding in a more calm tone. "I don't think it's a prank, Lex. It looks pretty real..." The two went quiet again, looking at the letter, before Melaine suggested: "Why... don't you just go downstairs? If it is fake, you can maybe share this with the staff and use it as proof of someone trying to pull malicious pranks. And if it is real... well, who knows what Andrei's plans may be?" Lexie hesitated, before sighing. "Alright, but if I haven't contacted you within the hour, then warn staff that I have gone missing. I'd rather not want to end up locked in Vinella's chamber or some crap like that."

Melaine nodded, after which Lexie begrudgingly left the barracks and started making her way downstairs. She really hoped this wasn't a prank. Though, whatever else she may have been called over for was just as disturbing. Andrei was a secretive, paranoid man with a lot of dark subjects under his belt. Mindless warriors, cruel judges and horrors who could break people's minds with great ease were all ordinary subjects in his depraved mind. Though, as she wandered the quiet and empty halls and took an elevator to the third floor, she'd soon bump into another guardsman. "Oh, hey." The guardsman cautiously responded. "Hey, you uhhh..." Lexie looked around and showed the envelope, the guardsman letting out a sigh of relieve. "Ah, that's reassuring. I was already a bit worried when I suddenly got this letter. Seeing someone else here is... well, it's a relieve." Lexie gave a quick nod, before the soldier said: "Oh, I'm Kobi Hartley. I, uhhhh, looked after Juno Haldane, 7-SM."Lexie nodded and responded: "Lexie Booker. I looked after Keiko Hatta, CC-11."

The two right away started chatting as they headed further downstairs, sharing more about their subjects and their suspicions as to why they were here. And, it wouldn't take long before the two of them would encounter two more guardsmen, the four of them quickly getting acquainted. "Cindy Lozano. I looked after Poppy Uragan, 33-AS." "I'm Dwain Barajas. Guardman for Edith Astor, PW-87." "So, what do you guys know about this job?" Lexie asked, after which Dwain casually responded: "Not a clue. Knowing Andrei, it'll either end up with us dead or making tons of cash to keep our mouths shut." After which Kobi worriedly said: "I didn't really sign up to take that risk, not gonna lie. I mean, yeah, I did hope to get reassigned, but that was mainly because I got somewhat tired of Juno's creepiness for a good while now. I don't wanna end up looking after a psychotic Andrei subject now." This got Cindy talking again, doing so in surprise.

"Huh, I also asked to be reassigned elsewhere. Poppy is not nice at all and I got tired of her aggression towards me after dealing with it for over a year.” It quickly became clear to them that they all were guardsmen who wanted to be reassigned, which made them even more worried as this could only mean one thing: They were going to be needed for a new subject. As they discussed this further, they’d soon reach Andrei’s office, opening the sliding doors and walking down the long and foreboding hallway. As they walked down it, they heard a soft thud and noticed a rabbit subject sitting in a small chamber, giving an eerie smile as she watched them. “A-Anyone who knows who that subject is?” Cindy asked in an unnerved tone, the other guardsmen shaking their head. Lexie tried to head for the door, knocking rapidly and quickly getting a response. “Give me a few minutes!” Out of curiosity, Lexie decided to put her ear against the door, trying to hear what was being said.

“Lexie, are you sure it’s a good idea to spy on Andrei of all folk?” Dwain asked cautiously, Lexie shushing them. “Yes, yes, I will ensure she socializes well... No, no other scientist is involved this time... You have my word, sir.” Though as Lexie listened to the door, she started hearing a loud metallic creaking noise, after which Kobi pulled Lexie away. “Uhh, Lexie...” And for a good reason too, as Lexie finally took notice of the rabbit subject. The rabbit still remained in her chamber, but she was smiling at Lexie whilst bending a substantial dumbbell with both hands. Lexie quickly took the hint and said: “Sorry, I-I just...” The rabbit remained quiet, pausing with bending the dumbbell and dropping it to the floor, leaving the guardsmen quiet in fear. Fortunately, they’d soon hear the door being unlocked, before being met with the slightly pale, black-haired scientist they had heard of but rarely ever saw.

“Kobi Hartley, Dwain Barajas, Cindy Lozano, Lexie Booker.” Andrei said in an almost demanding tone, the four guardsmen nodding. “The letters you received?” Andrei asked again, the guardsmen showing the letters. “Hm, okay. Come in, quick. Disable all your electronics as well.” Andrei insisted, the guardsmen following him. Though, Lexie would quickly get her communication device and message Melaine that she was fine and was about to meet with Andrei. “Hurry, Lexie.” Kobi insisted, her quickly finishing her message before coming inside as well. They found themselves in a rather large and well-organized office. There were numerous cupboards, all of them with locks and simple security measures. There was Andrei’s desk, which had tons of neatly piled-up paperwork on it and a dozen or so computer screens. Andrei would stand in front of his desk, analysing the four guardsmen inquisitively as they stood in front of him. “Okay, did you guys turn off all your electronics?” Andrei questioned right away, the guardsmen all nodding.

“Very well then. Just want to make sure everything is secure.” Andrei mumbled, after which Lexie cautiously asked: “So, why did you ask us to come here at this time of the day and in such a... suspicious way?” After which Cindy added: “We suspect it’s cuz you need some guardsmen for a new subject, hm?” Andrei nodded calmly, before putting his hands together. “Indeed, though it is not just an ordinary subject. It's perhaps... my greatest creation." Andrei sounded rather prideful and confident, the four guardsmen appearing concerned as to what sort of qualifiers would make him call this subject his greatest. "Why the four of us though? Why not some people who guarded your other subjects?" Dwain calmly asked, making Andrei sit on the edge of his desk, before grabbing some nearby documents. "33-AS, PW-87, 7-SM, CC-11. Your ability to work with these subjects highlights your abilities as guardsmen and make you promising candidates for assisting me in this project."

Afterwards, Andrei put the papers down and more bemusedly added: "I have also seen that the four of you were eager to be reassigned to a new subject." Hearing this made Lexie cross her arms and speak in a more annoyed tone. "Okay, I wanted to be reassigned to work with my friend. I didn't just wanna be randomly invited over to... god knows what the hell you've designed now." Despite Lexie's objections, Andrei remained confident. "Miss Booker, I suggest you wait until I finish this presentation of mine. This project is more important than having a nice partner on the job. This subject will change everything for the better." Lexie remained sceptical, whilst the other guardsmen were confused as to why Andrei kept trying to convince them of his subject's greatness. "Okay, what is this project that will change everything? Be straightforward, don't just give vague notions or talk to us about some sorta grandiose world saving subject." Cindy would say in a more assertive tone.

"Oh, and without the secrecy please. We want less vague promises and more details." Dwain added onto Cindy's remark, Andrei nodding. "Very well then... Throughout my career, I have worked on a variety of subjects. Some of which are meant to bring... order to the galaxy. Either by acting as a judge, jury and executioner, or as highly capable guards who follow every command perfectly. Now, this subject in question will be a nigh indestructible and capable of neutralizing any enemy force it faces... with the ultimate goal being to make her capable of converting enemy forces to the side she is fighting on without the use of violence. Issue is, she is still lacking in key abilities for the time being. And, I first want her to be capable of interacting with people, before she is given said abilities. Just so her people skills are up to the part. I have already had subjects ruined because they became incapable of empathy or even simply reading people, so I want these skills to be ingrained into her mind." Andrei still was a little vague, but it was at least clear to Lexie and the other guards that Andrei wanted the subject to understand people before it started 'converting' enemy forces to her side.

"Question, how dangerous is this subject?" Cindy asked, after which Kobi instantly added: "And why so much secrecy when this subject is going to do 'good things' for the universe like you said before?" Andrei let out a sigh. "She is not dangerous at all. She's relatively large and highly regenerative, but she is currently lacking somewhat in combat powers. In a way, she's a blank slate. As for the secrecy, I do not wish to have another subject ruined by the likes of Elbrus, Roraima or Jabal. Therefore, I do not want any information to come out about her." Whilst the guardsmen felt a whole lot less threatened by this mystery subject now, that didn't change the fact that Andrei's secrecy was still a bit of an issue, even with the reasons he gave for it.

"More importantly, I do not want Tengri to know about this. The incompetent nonce would probably tell me to get more people involved, further ruining the project and leaving her braindead, horny or... serving 'ceremonial' purposes." Andrei added in a more vehement tone, speaking from clear experience here. To this, Kobi had a more important question, softly responding: "So Tengri doesn't know about this? Despite the fact that he's head of staff? Don't you think this will cause trouble with the government?" This made Andrei scoff and take a more mocking tone. "The government are the main forces funding this project. And they are willing to pay a lot to anyone involved and... willing to keep this a secret." Andrei glanced at some of his paperwork, before putting his hands together and stretching his body a bit. "And given that... Elbrus and Roraima have survived far worse things because of the government supporting their work, I highly doubt Tengri will be able to do much in stopping my project. That's why the government has funded me. Because they do not want Tengri to get involved."

The guardsmen were shocked, as this essentially showed that Tengri had no control over this project. "Either way, you now know pretty much everything I can tell you without getting in trouble with the government. You guys can now... leave and leak the news, resulting in this subject changing direction entirely into something insipid and pointless or being handed over to some other scientists who will destroy her... Or, you can join me now, keep quiet about this and meet the subject and help her become the greatest subject to have ever existed. Nay, the greatest invention to have ever been created." The guardsmen looked at each other, not seeming too sure what to think or what to agree on. Though after a bit of hesitation, Kobi sighed and responded: "Alright, show her to me. I'm curious about what's going on now."

And after Kobi gave his okay, Dwain also nodded. "Sure, I'll take a gander at this and see if you're being serious or not." Lexie then sighed and said: "Alright, fine, I'll check this out. I won't leak anything, even if I end up not being interested, kay?" And finally, Cindy also accepted: "Okay, okay, I'll join as well." Andrei stood up and put his hands together. "Excellent. I assure you that you've made a wise decision here and that you'll be grateful for this job opportunity." Andrei would grab some of the documents on his desk and started filing them away, keeping only a few documents with him as he signalled the guards to follow. "I'll introduce you to her." He'd lock the various cabinets, before opening the door and signalling the guards to leave. Once they were all out, Andrei locked the door with multiple different locks, before again leading the way. As the guards followed, they'd try to stick together closely, keeping somewhat quiet for most of the walk over. That was until they approached an elevator and Andrei spoke up again.

"You know, one thing I hope with this new subject... is to revert some of the mistakes made by other scientists. If all goes well, she shall be able to help all subjects." Andrei's vague remarks made the guardsmen look at each other, the four of them entering the elevator and soon heading way further down than normal. Soon, they stepped out of the elevator, entering a massive yet dimly lit hallway. Looking around, the guardsmen found the hallway guarded with far more advanced sentries than the ones they were used to seeing around the facility. Worse, the guns were automatically aiming at Andrei and the guardsmen, which made the guards feel incredibly uneasy. Fortunately, Andrei would scan his card against a nearby scanner, at which point the sentries would be deactivated. "Alright, stay behind me. The sentries should remain deactivated for a while." Andrei softly commented, as he led the way down the hallway.

"Well, at least we won't need to worry about protecting this subject." Dwaine mumbled as they walked past the various turrets, after which Andrei spoke in an insistent tone. "Your guard duties are of course not the main reason you are down here. But, you will still need to ensure my subject does not try to escape. If she was compelled to escape, she could easily do such." Again, Andrei's remarks left the guardsmen unsure what to say. Though, Cindy did soon ask a question they had somehow refrained from asking before: "What is the name of this subject anyway? You keep referring to her as 'my subject' or 'my creation'. Sort of ironic to not even call her by her name, given that you want her to become more social and empathetic." In turn, Andrei paused and turned around: "Why should I give you her name when you haven't even fully been assigned to job at hand, hm?"

He then turned around again and mumbled: "Besides, she'll get to introduce herself to you soon enough." The guardsmen didn't have much of a retort, just accepting that they'd figure out who this subject was when they finally encountered her. Thankfuly, the wait would not take too long. As after passing numerous defences, they reached a set of massive metal doors. The doors had numerous cameras, alarms and other safety precautions. Yet, there were no staff at all, everything appearing automated. Andrei again got his staff card out, before saying: "Alright, get in line, all four of you. I wanna ensure as little of a negative first impression as possible so I want you all to remain genuine but to not react negatively to her appearance in any way." Hearing this, Lexie would respond: "You want us to be genuine, but to not show negative emotions?!" Clearly bewildered by Andrei's orders. And despite how silly his demand was, he still nodded and said: "Be courteous towards her. Know that, despite her purpose being a great one, she is still lacking in power and needs further modifications."

The four guardsmen looked at each other in confusion, before Kobi sighed and spoke up in a reluctant tone. "Alright, lets just get this over with." Dwaine took a more optimistic tone in turn. "How bad can it be? It can't be worse than whatever Elbrus or Roraima have cooked up..." The other guardsmen hesitantly nodded along, as Andrei fully scanned his card and entered a code of some kind, before the doors started to slowly open up. This revealed a massive room, easily being larger than the smaller office spaces dotted around the facility. The room was completely dark and extremely cold, a massive glass wall splitting the room. The guardsmen looked around to see who or what was waiting for them, yet could not see anything in the darkness. "Why is it so dark?" Cindy asked, before Kobi suggested: "Could you turn on some lights before we enter?"

Though, as Andrei nodded and got ready to turn on the lights, Lexie squinted her eyes as she saw mild movements within the darkness. She'd keep looking around at the ever shifting mass within the darkness. Until finally, from within the abyss ahead of her, two glowing purple eyes stared at her, not blinking at all...

...

...

...

...

"Attention all guardsmen. Morning shift starts within the hour." The familiar morning announcement repeated through the barracks, Melaine groaning as she slowly opened her eyes. She'd stretch her arms, before gasping. "Lexie, you back?" Melaine looked down from her bunkbed, finding Lexie indeed on the bed below hers. Though Lexie was still in a deep slumber, somehow getting through the announcement with relative ease. Melaine jumped out of bed, before gently shaking her friend. Lexie remained fast asleep, Melaine sighing and shaking her friend a little more forcefully. "Wakey, wakeyyyy!" Melaine loudly proclaimed, Lexie slowly opening her eyes and groaning. "What... what happened..." Lexie mumbled tiredly, Melaine scoffing. "I was about to ask you the exact same thing, sleepyhead."

Lexie groaned again, before slowly pushing herself up. "Ugghhh, so little sleep... too busy chatting with Andrei's girl..." Melaine rolled her eyes, looking around before deciding to just dress up. "How about a bit of coffee? Maybe that'll help you wake up so you can actually tell me what the hell happened yesterday and where you have been." Lexie nodded tiredly, before falling back onto her mattress. Melaine sighed and shook her head, before dressing up and heading out to get Lexie some coffee to help her wake up. And after bringing Lexie her cup of joe, the guardswoman slowly started to wake up and recount the previous night and who she had met.

"What do you mean you can't tell me?!" Melaine asked in bewilderment, a now awake Lexie sipping her coffee. "Like I said, it's a very secretive project. Andrei asked me to not share details too much." Lexie responded softly, Melaine looking perplexed. "Secretive my ass, tell me the details! What's her name, is she another being of pure horror?"

Lexie scoffed and shook her head. "Can't tell and no. She's actually rather sweet. A little scary-looking when I first saw her, but... she was pretty friendly and normal, all things considered." Mel scoffed and would grab a nearby pocket torch and shining it in Lexie's face. "Wha- can you not?" Lexie grumbled, Melaine teasingly responding: "Look, just making sure you don't have some subject mind virus or weird parasite in your eyes or anything this subject may have caused." Lexie soon grabbed the torch and yanked it away from her friend after a mild struggle. "Can't you tell me anything, Lexie? What's her main purpose? And why can't you share these details?" Lexie paused to think, before responding: "Andrei said it had to do with him not wanting other higher-ups to get involved with the project. So, he's making this something of a private venture..." Melaine didn't seem too impressed with this info, Lexie noticing and letting out a sigh.

"Okay Mel, if you promise not to share anything around, I'll... give you a few hints about this subject. Deal?" Lexie conceded, Melaine seeming pleasantly surprised. "Lexie, you got a deal. I promise I'll not spill a thing about this subject!" though after calmly promising to uphold her deal, Melaine took a more excited tone and inched closer to her friend. "Now, tell me more about her! What's her codename and name? What does she look like?" Lexie thought about what she could say, before deciding to share a bit about her initial thoughts on Andrei's newest subject.

"She's very pretty, can change shape quite a bit... though admittedly, when I first saw her, well... I thought she was a demon subject..."

...

...

...

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

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

The monster girls sheets as provided by the government tablet (HAS SOME MINOR UPDATES):
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

Sheets by based documentation anon (Rentry link for those who do not wanna use docs):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PaR_fOFnzAJnY57V71OM-g9mbPhPtGNOeV2ZrI73T-8/edit?tab=t.0
https://rentry.co/i8bbb2h8

Also, a reminder that, if the site goes down again, that you can check the shared docs for updates from me still. I am also on the /qtg/ discord, where I am more than happy to chat with you guys.

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

Based artwork from anons:
https://catbox/. moe/c/1ajcpw

The text Annie does NOT want you to read!!!!!!!!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/192lqCy6s6Q6o4GU_GQDga6nf_spmoqccajlaUxFyOHk/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ymvqbg3otDTyb0pxPLNx7W5OHgPqYve6-CI5Bj-RIm4/edit?usp=sharing

Artist I commissioned for this thread's thumbnail: None, this one is artanon's.

>Recap from the previous thread.
After encountering some guardsmen in the medical bay, you'd explore the medbay and would encounter Sibilia and her caretaker Eric. Sibilia pretended to be a bit of a fool, her quickly dropping the act once she realised you weren't a threat. Sibilia and Eric thus joined your group, heading south into a low level threat containment area. You would end up activating an alarm, luring a group of highly aggressive and manipulative guardsmen your way. Even after Chrys valiantly spoke up about how you were not a threat, the guardsmen still wanted to abuse their position. Fortunately, these guardsmen were led by Adenni Alchemilla, a reasonable and far more trusting plant subject who helped defuse the situation. Adenni further informed you about the situation in the facility, as well as the leisure centre. She'd soon give you some directions, you heading down and getting a map from Annie which you could safely follow. However, once you reached the leisure centre, you found it far more treacherous and dangerous to pass through than was previously expected.

You and the girls did manage to sneak incredibly far through the leisure centre, avoiding encounters with dangerous Diamond Dogs, talking your way past Heathen soldiers and even letting the girls use their abilities to disable cameras and safely sneak past security forces. However, after entering a large swimming pool area, Oreas would get stung by Sesia, temporarily taking her out of the fight. Still, you soldiered on, soon reaching a checkpoint manned by fellow Lodgerites. And after a bit of a chat, you convinced them to head to the main base whilst you watched for the night, giving you an easy path to let the girls safely leave the leisure centre. And after a night's rest (And a side-story focused on Koharu and her 'sister' Haruna), the Lodgerites returned and you were able to head forward and reunite safely with your girls. On the way, you encountered a strange yet harmless trap, had the girls work together to clear the way, and ran into a group of guardsmen.

These guardsmen would thankfully quickly come to trust you, asking you for help in hunting down the blue dragon Ophidia. The battle was rather long, but your girls easily managed to pin her down and cause some severe damage. Reika, Morgan and Idalia did end up getting minor injuries, but Morgan eventually managed to pierce the dragon's heart. Wanting to capitalize on the kill, you sent your girls to join the guardsmen whilst you brought Ophidia's body back to base. Before you could do, so you did encounter Haje, Ophidia's sister. Fortunately, she was more reasonable than her younger sibling, at least understanding the reason you had for killing Ophidia. Out of respect for Haje, you gave Ophidia a simple funeral, before taking her body to the surface. After handing the body over to government staff, you met up with Moritz, discussing your supposed Reika kill and payment. Moritz did try and get some soldiers to join you to be taught your ways, but you thankfully convinced him against it.

Moritz thankfully let you go soon after, giving you a chance to spend some time and resources switching out weapons and equipment. You'd even get a rocket launcher for Vinisha, which you quickly brought back to the training sector where the girls were holed up. You'd also finally get to meet the subject who was staying with the guardsmen there, an angel/bird subject called Iliara, who was caring for Oreas and her envenomation. Afterwards, you had a well-deserved lunch with the girls, during which you taught Vinisha about her rocket launcher. You'd even head to a nearby shooting range to give her a taste of firing a missile, her seeming capable of wielding it with little issue. After this though, you'd help the guardsmen with fortifying their location, contacted your other men on their mission to find Jabal and Catherine, before getting into a mild discussion with Morgan about honour and guns, ending with you challenging her to a test of accuracy using firearms.

File: Thank you for the updated(...).png (34 KB, 957x701)

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During this challenge, Morgan finally came to her senses and apologised for her past transgressions, having apparently realised how rude she had been. To show her how much you cared for her, you decided to have a swordfight with her in front of your men, managing to land one hit on her much to the amusement of your men. After then thanking her for the battle, you handed the blade to Kenai, her being most accepting of trying the weapon out for herself. You then went back to helping the guardsmen, wanting to wait for Oreas to wake up from her slumber before finally heading deeper down into the facility...

And with that lengthy recap out of the way...

>Continuing from the previous thread...
Several hours had passed in the guardsmen camp, you spending your time helping out wherever possible. Some of the girls were still helping out by setting up defences, a few of your men also assisting by cleaning up the place and informing guardsmen of the various death squad threats as you had intended. Of course, some of your men and girls were also just taking things easy, Vinisha practicing her reloading with Antonin, Kenai and Morgan having some basic sword fighting training and Kaenum spending time with Haje and a few of the other guardsmen. Lars was even sharing some of his suggestions with the local chefs within the base, even considering the option of giving away a few teaspoons of his spice mixes to help make things more bearable for the guardsmen. All in all though, things seemed to be going pretty well for everyone, you and your men spending your time well. Though, as you were busy chatting with a few of your men about future threats to consider, Chrys would suddenly come rushing over. "Guys, Oreas woke up!" Chrys said excitedly, your men and the girls all quickly paying attention. "Oh shit, she is?" Mike asked, Chrys nodding and signalling you and the others to follow. "She's still a little confused, but she's able to talk normally at the very least."

Hearing this, you called out to the rest of your men, telling them to pause what they were doing so you could talk with Oreas and check up on her. Most of your men and the girls came along, only Ignacy and Anon staying back as they wanted to help out the guards a bit more. You rushed over to the makeshift medical bay, quickly reaching Sukirno and Iliara, the latter standing beside Oreas who seemed to lie happily in bed. Oreas would notice you and smiled calmly, before quietly saying: "Hey everyone." You and your men all moved around Oreas, Ili soon stepping in and saying: "Easy guys, easy. Give her some room to breathe. She woke up like 10 minutes ago." Your men quietly took some steps back, giving each other a bit more room as Oreas chuckled. "I appreciate your care, Iliara, but you don't need to worry too much. I'm doing a whole lot better now."

Despite Oreas' reassurance, Iliara would shake her head and speak sternly. "You said you were still light-headed and weak, right? Better to be safe than sorry." Iliara would then grab some small pills and water, before looking over at Chrys. "Did ya get those batteries I asked you for?" Chrys nodded, calmly handing some batteries over she must've grabbed whilst alerting you and your men. Iliara gave the batteries, water and pills to Oreas. "Here, carefully gulp these down and feed in whatever way you feed on electricity. Maybe be a bit careful, just in case that nanite virus reacts badly to the sudden electronic charge." Oreas nodded, taking her pills before holding the batters and taking a deep breath. "Thank you, Iliara. And thanks Chrys." Oreas mumbled, Chrys nodding. "No problem!" With Oreas having had her medication and some food, you carefully asked her how she was doing. "Well, I am indeed doing better. I do indeed feel a little light-headed and... my limbs feel a tiny bit numb. But, I'll be fine. I do hope this whole ordeal didn't scare you guys too much."

Your men all mumbled that it was fine, with Vinisha responding: "We're just glad you're okay now." After which Alan added: "We sadly didn't kick that wasp girls ass after she stung you. But next time we encounter her, we're going to completely curbstomp her for what she did to you." Reika even added: "Yeah, we're going to crush that stupid wasp for you, Oreas! That wasp will regret ever hurting you!" Oreas giggled softly, before you also reassured her it wasn't her fault she got jumped so suddenly by Sesia. Oreas nodded, after which she asked: "So, uhhh, what happened exactly after I got stung. Sukirno and Iliara here told me you guys helped out a ton here, but I wanted to hear what happened from you guys." You quickly went over your travels through the leisure centre, the training sector and your battle with Ophidia. You mentioned how you met Haje, the golden dragon giving a small wave. "Umm, hey, nice to meet you, Oreas." Haje even responded, Oreas smiling back and responding: "It's nice to meet you too, Haje."

Afterwards, you explained how you went back to the surface to gather some supplies, before stating how you had spent your time down here helping the guardsmen a bit more. "We decided to wait with going downstairs until you woke up. Both because you were under good care from Iliara here and because we wanted everyone to be ready and up to start heading downstairs." Anon explained, Oreas seeming rather thankful. "You guys are too kind, looking after me and wanting me to recover before travelling ahead. You really didn't have to wait for me to recover." In turn, Morgan answered: "It would have been a major risk to take you along whilst unconscious. Besides, we spent our time down here most wisely, helping the guardsmen and preparing for our upcoming mission."

Hearing this, Oreas would stretch her limbs a bit before more confidently responding: "Well, in that case, I don't wanna keep you guys waiting any longer. I'm ready to get going!" Oreas would carefully get out of bed, still stumbling a little bit but thankfully remaining on her two feet. "One step at a time, Oreas. Don't push yourself too much." Iliara mumbled in turn, clearly wanting to make sure Oreas was fine. Chrys thankfully was there to help Oreas out, grabbing her hand and helping her walk a bit more easily. With Oreas back on her two feet, all eyes went to you before Derek asked: "So, Mik, what's the plan now? When and how are we gonna go downstairs?" Before you could share your thoughts, Sukirno would happily respond: "I'm happy to show you guys the way downstairs now. Hell, I'd even be happy to accompany you for a short while for further security, given all the help you guys provided us today." Your men were pleased to hear this, nodding along and seeming most accepting of Sukirno's offer to show you the way down.

>What do you do next?

>Share your plan on what you wanted to do next: Where you would be heading, who would be at the front of your group, who would accompany who, what you would be looking for, there were plenty of things to consider for your plan. (Write in what plan you share.)
>Tell your men to wrap up whatever activities they were doing right now before you would start heading to your next location. That way, Oreas could take a bit more time to get back on her feet, and you wouldn't leave tasks unfinished. (Write in whether you help out with some tasks or maybe just stay with Oreas.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

(Alright, I originally intended to get an update out on my birthday a week ago now... but alas, procrasination, university projects and other things kinda made me postpone it. But, it's out now, along with an intro story which, whilst it may not be too important to you just yet, will hopefully at least further your intrigue into the facility and what is truly going on down here.)

(Anyway, apologies for the delay and hope the update is enjoyable!)

>>6417700
>Tell your men to wrap up whatever activities they were doing right now before you would start heading to your next location. That way, Oreas could take a bit more time to get back on her feet, and you wouldn't leave tasks unfinished. (Write in whether you help out with some tasks or maybe just stay with Oreas.)
Hang with Oreas, ask if she remembers anything from her venom fever.

Didn't read the intro story yet so I could be FIRST VOTER.

>>6417700
Lexie? That's a name we haven't heard since her offhand mention in the third thread over two years ago. Funny that we'd get informed of a viable lead by some randos so long ago and they described Melanie too.
>Tell your men to wrap up whatever activities they were doing right now before you would start heading to your next location. That way, Oreas could take a bit more time to get back on her feet, and you wouldn't leave tasks unfinished.
I mean, obviously? Make sure the important objectives of the projects are met at least. I'd like to stay close to Oreas since the daughteru has just been through a shitty experience I feel partly responsible for.
>Share your plan on what you wanted to do next: Where you would be heading, who would be at the front of your group, who would accompany who, what you would be looking for, there were plenty of things to consider for your plan.
We'll be headed downstairs through the armoury areas and making our way through the lower levels to the combat sector. We will be searching areas as we go, but not too thoroughly and only for people since our main objective is still to get from A to B here.
Some questions for the group:
Do people want to have a further look around this sector? We know Belle and Koharu are in here, and they seem like nice girls. Is it worth the time to find them when we've already been held up a lot?
Haje needs to make a decision and make it now. Does she want to continue with us or stay here? If she stays here, does she want us to take her to the subject safehouse at a later date?
Is Iliara really sure? We've removed the main subject threat in this sector and made this place about as secure as it's going to get - no marauding death squad or rogue subject short of a top-tier threat should pose a serious threat to her friends now. If they're all cool with it we'd still really want her with us for the disaster that is the combat sector where a lot of staff and subjects alike could do with her help. If we still can't change her mind, we wish her good luck and we'll see her at Queenbase.

>>6417683
>As they walked down it, they heard a soft thud and noticed a rabbit subject sitting in a small chamber, giving an eerie smile as she watched them
Good old Caera.

>>6417684
>“Okay, did you guys turn off all your electronics?” Andrei questioned right away, the guardsmen all nodding.
Surprised he relied on the honor system here, or that he let them bring electronics in at all rather than leaving them outside.

>>6417688
>That's why the government has funded me. Because they do not want Tengri to get involved."
I wonder why GalGov kept Tengri as head of staff if they felt this way about him.

>>6417692
>"She's very pretty, can change shape quite a bit... though admittedly, when I first saw her, well... I thought she was a demon subject..."
Oh shit I thought it was Feng.

>>6417700
> Tell your men to wrap up whatever activities they were doing right now before you would start heading to your next location. That way, Oreas could take a bit more time to get back on her feet, and you wouldn't leave tasks unfinished. (Write in whether you help out with some tasks or maybe just stay with Oreas.)

"Slow is smooth and smooth is fast", afterall. Ask our group (and Sukirno) on the progress of the tasks and help out on the ones that are either lagging behind or could use more hands.

> Share your plan on what you wanted to do next: Where you would be heading, who would be at the front of your group, who would accompany who, what you would be looking for, there were plenty of things to consider for your plan. (Write in what plan you share.)

Do ask our group whether we want to search for Belle / Koharu or head down immediately. Also ask Haje whethe she wants to stay here, go with us, or go to the safehouse, etc.
(Or basically supporting >>6417762, not sure about asking Iliara though given she probably considers Sukirno's group to be her responsibility not unlike Adenni and her group.)

> Something else...

Maybe ask where Iliara where those batteries came from - let's just hope those aren't the last working batteries Sukirno's group have for their radios.
... and something tells me Oreas isn't recharging anyone's electronics anytime soon.

>>6417818
> I wonder why GalGov kept Tengri as head of staff if they felt this way about him.

Pretty sure Tengri's job as the head of staff is a literal rubber stamp who greenlights without question whatever the GalGov (plus Roraima and Elbrus) wants to do... and the scapegoat when the VRC goes inevitably tits-up. This is also probably why he's such a wimp - he's here to take the fall for the "important" guys and I doubt anyone with more backbone would agree to be in his position to begin with.

>>6417690
> She'd keep looking around at the ever shifting mass within the darkness. Until finally, from within the abyss ahead of her, two glowing purple eyes stared at her, not blinking at all...
> "She's very pretty, can change shape quite a bit... though admittedly, when I first saw her, well... I thought she was a demon subject..."

Why does that sounds like Oneira? Purpose and personality also checks out.
Also, does that mean Lexie is...

>>6417997
But she is all the carrot cake he needs

>>6417943
>Pretty sure Tengri's job as the head of staff is a literal rubber stamp who greenlights without question whatever the GalGov (plus Roraima and Elbrus) wants to do
If so, why would him knowing about the subject be a problem? If GalGov wants Andrei producing the demon subject solo, why not just tell Tengri to do his job and greenlight it without question?

>>6418064
Probably because Andrei didn't want Tengri to ask questions or offer "assistance" to his design? Apparently the top three people on his shitlist are Roraima (for turning Grise rabid), Elbrus (for making Nicola into a rapist), and Tengri (for making Olorea more sociable and less of a killing machine, and for making Feng saner and less of a terror weapon). Andrei knows how to make socially well-adjusted subjects (Alexandra, pre-rabid Grise, and even arguably Vinisha) but his "black project" designs (Olorea, Oana, Feng, Caera) all seem to be designed with minimal peer interaction in mind.

Bonus point for I'm not even sure whether his new subject is the Kaboom Demon or Oneira, or if those are the same subject in the first place - especially because Oneira was marked as a Tengri subject.

>>6418064
My guess is that Tengri would spread the word even if he pinky promises not to. And Elbrus + Roraima have enough sway to do what they want once they are made aware. Imagine trying to ask Elbrus nicely to pretty please dont fuck my subject (he now wants to more).
People give Andrei shit for being paranoid but based on who he deala with I get it

>>6417925
If we still can't convince her to come then we still can't convince her but after all the effort we put in to make this place safer for her lot and how it relates to her concerns, I'd like to give it one more go to convince her. It's up to her at the end of the day.

>>6418098
>Probably because Andrei didn't want Tengri to ask questions
Despite him only being chief of staff for his ability to greenlight without questions? Hmmm.

>Tengri (for making Olorea more sociable and less of a killing machine, and for making Feng saner and less of a terror weapon). Andrei knows how to make socially well-adjusted subjects (Alexandra, pre-rabid Grise, and even arguably Vinisha) but his "black project" designs (Olorea, Oana, Feng, Caera) all seem to be designed with minimal peer interaction in mind.
If he was worried about socialization wouldn't he want Tengri on for this one? It's specifically why he's recruited the guardsmen, after all.

>>6418105
Maybe. I figured the most likely explanation would be GalGov actually wasn't backing him up here.

>>6418110
>GalGov actually wasn't backing him up here.
In vacuum they probably do but it seems Elbrus has more sway with them so he could overpower Andrei's decisions with that.

>>6418115
Yeah I could see that. Elbrus argues his way on board by saying he can improve the subject whatever the design goal is because he's just that good. Maybe he even is just that good, but his improvements inevitably come with lewdness attached.

>>6417692
>"She's very pretty, can change shape quite a bit... though admittedly, when I first saw her, well... I thought she was a demon subject..."
So she's a shapeshifter? Some sort of changeling subject? As far as I can recall, there was only one other time throughout the quest that a shapeshifting subject has come up, a prologue side story in a previous thread where a group of DDs are joking about Mona's death and it's revealed that one of them was a subject wearing the face of a recruit who had gotten separated from the others and was planning on killing them.

I don't think there's ever been a single other mention of a subject like that since, so Andrei's newest favorite must be on the loose and almost NO ONE knows she even exists.

>>6417700
>Share your plan on what you wanted to do next: Where you would be heading, who would be at the front of your group, who would accompany who, what you would be looking for, there were plenty of things to consider for your plan. (Write in what plan you share.)
I think our team should just rest, take a nap or something. It might be better to continue onwards late at night when other squads have set up camp.

>Tell your men to wrap up whatever activities they were doing right now before you would start heading to your next location. That way, Oreas could take a bit more time to get back on her feet, and you wouldn't leave tasks unfinished.
After Sukirno stated his willingness to help you and your men out, you told him that you weren't in a hurry. Not only did you still want to chat a bit with Oreas, him and your men, but you also wanted to make sure everything was going A-Okay for the guardsmen. "Well, we're mostly done setting up defences, I think. We're just looking at important choke points now and setting up some plans in case of a worst case scenario." Artyom mentioned, you telling him to get back to that task after you discussed the main plan you had. "I'll go back to sharing some recipes and a few small rations which can make their remaining food supplies a bit more satiable." Lars mumbled in turn, the rest of your men also mumbling about things they could do.

You asked Sukirno how progress was looking on the various tasks, with him adding: "Like, uhhhh, Artyom, I think, just said: it looks like most defences have been set up. We're still going over some of the material on how to deal with the various death squads, but we can do that without you guys having to stay back here." Obviously, it was still nice to be able to teach the guardsmen yourself, so you didn't mind having your men stay back a little longer to teach as many guardsmen as possible. "I've been working on some of the radio communication down here and have gotten in contact with Annie to help me out. I still got a few simple things I need to do for that, but it won't take too long I imagine. Just gotta ensure Annie can connect with a couple of key devices, maybe use cameras and look for some extra energy sources with her help." To this, Sukirno would speak in a more grateful tone. "You guys are really pulling out all the stops here. For real, thank you guys a ton."

>Share your plan on what you wanted to do next: Where you would be heading, who would be at the front of your group, who would accompany who, what you would be looking for, there were plenty of things to consider for your plan.
You reassured Sukirno you'd help him out, before telling your men to maybe help out Derek if things got a bit too complex for him, which Derek seemed to appreciate. But first, you wanted to go over the main plan, stating how you'd head downstairs through the armoury and weapon storage area, aiming to hit the combat sector. You didn't want to make too many stops, only looking around areas if there were people who could be made into allies. "Maybe we should ask Anon to make a list of allies we can encounter in the areas below us?" Antonin suggested, after which Vinisha suggested: "Or we can ask Annie for a list." Which also seemed to be a decent suggestion. Afterwards, your men looked at you, expecting you to say more. Though ironically, you didn't have any further details to your plan.

"Well, that seems simple enough then. Let's get to work, everyone!" Alan confidently commented, you telling him to wait as you did have a few important questions for the group. The first was that you maybe wanted to have people go explore the sector, since Belle could still be resting somewhere nearby. "Don't forget Bothri." Sukirno mumbled, after which Sigit responded: "I am a little hesitant to send people out to explore this sector. Not only is it massive, but I feel like splitting up before such a critical mission is pretty risky. Especially if other death squads start heading this way to try and find Haje or other dangerous subjects." The rest of your men couldn't really argue against Sigit's remarks, with a few of them also being ready to start heading downstairs to continue your main mission. "With the extra security measures we're setting up here, I'm sure Bothri and Belle might just come here on their own to stay safe." Mike suggested, which was a slight possibility.

Speaking of Haje, you turned to her and then asked her if she wanted to stay with your group, stay here or maybe be given directions to the safehouse. Haje was a bit unsure what to answer, stuttering: "I mean, I... don't know? I don't think I'd mind, but... I also wanna make sure you guys don't mind." To this, Lars scoffed and responded: "Look at the number of subjects by our side, and ask yourself if we mind having any subjects stick by our side." Which was the best way to shut down her concern. Still, you wanted her to make a decision quickly, telling her you wanted her to make the decision right now. Haje looked around, stuttering before nodding: "Okay, I-I'll stick with you guys." Which thankfully resolved that question at last, even if you could tell Haje was very unsure about this for some reason. Regardless, you'd tell your men that they could finally get to work finalizing everything around the base, to which they all quickly agreed.

"What will you be doing, Mik?" Mike also asked as everyone started heading off, you telling him and the others you'd stay with Oreas for a bit, chatting with her and helping her out. "I'll stay here with Oreas as well. I'll help her get back to walking on her own in no time!" Chrys then mumbled, clearly wanting to stick to the side of her best friend. The rest of your men and girls did leave to work around the base, leaving you with just Chrys, Iliara and Sukirno to help Oreas. You then asked Iliara where she got the batteries from, since electricity was a bit of a problem in this place. "The battery came from a pocket torch of mine. And as much as I like that torch, having a working torch is just... a tiny bit less important than helping someone recover from a fucking venomous sting." Iliara responded confidently, you thanking her for it, before looking to Oreas and deciding to ask her a bit about the experience of being envenomated and how the venom made her feel.

"I... am starting to remember a bit more from my time under the venom. I remember being stung by that horrid wasp girl, feeling weaker and weaker as I heard you and the others calling to me. Then... it felt like I was asleep, occasionally catching glimpses of the world around me. Though, it also felt... dreamy, like everything going on was part of a dream. I do also remember you guys walking me around the place and being carried... Though, I don't feel too bad now, so I think the effects weren't that serious." Ironically, the envenomation didn't sound too bad at all. It was unfortunate she didn't really remember much from what was going on at the time, but it seemed that was partially the purpose of the venom. Either way, you stated how relieved you were she was fine, and that you also felt partially responsible for what had happened. Admitting this did surprise Oreas as well as the others around you.

"Don't feel guilty about it, Mikhail! You nor anybody else could've known that Sesia would... suddenly appear and jump me. Heck, I already snuck past far greater threats in the leisure centre, so I can imagine you thinking I'd be safe on my own." Oreas responded in a more optimistic tone, after which Chrys responded: "I guess this is a learning moment for, uhhh, all of us. We gotta be a bit more careful when we send people out on their own!" Oreas nodded a little bit, whilst Iliara said: "And, another lesson is: always have a weapon for self-defence on you. Just in case you need to deal with one of Elbrus' sick fucks." Oreas scoffed, before mumbling: "I mean, I did practice with a pistol before..." After which Iliara eagerly remarked: "Excellent! Keep up training. Next time, when an Elbrus shows up, you can then deal with them without issue. My advice? Aim for the groin. 50% of the time, it takes them out in one shot!" To this, Sukirno let out a soft wheeze, Chrys and Oreas also understanding what Ili was talking about.

Afterwards though, you'd ask Ili if she would like to go out there and maybe take down some Elbrus subjects on her own. "Fuck yeah. I'd certainly love to see those shitheads get taken down. Maybe not... by shooting them myself. Y'know, Hippocratic oath and what not. But providing support to folk who could teach those sick fucks a lesson would certainly be fun..." Iliara wasn't stupid, her confident smirk turning a bit more insulted. "Oh wait a second, are you trying to convince me to join you guys again?!" You admitted that you would really enjoy it if she joined your group, further pointing out that you had helped clear away the most major threat this sector had had to face and that you and your men had also provided a ton of security. Most importantly, she'd make for an incredible asset in your mission to the combat sector, given the numerous threats you might face below. Iliara sighed and was clearly considering the offer.

"I mean, I would enjoy it... and it would also be beneficial given your mission of defeating Feng... but I also made a promise to stay here and help these folk out. I can't just abandon them now." Fortunately, just as it seemed that Iliara had made up her mind again, Sukirno would speak up reassuringly. "Ili, Mikhail and his men will go through hell and back to save more lives and find a way to take out Feng. Meanwhile, we're basically safe now, thanks to the help Mikhail and his men provided. They'll need you more than we need you down here right now." Ili seemed taken back by Sukirno's remarks. "But, I made a promise to you guys, didn't I? I don't wanna betray that promise and risk coming back here after a while and seeing you guys suffering from injuries... or worse.." Sukirno put his hand on Ili's shoulder. "We'll be fine, Ili. You've taught some of the guardsmen your techniques and Mikhail's men have installed excellent defensive systems. And, we now have plenty more supplies to survive a couple more days at the very least. Trust me, we will be safe. I promise."

Iliara paused and looked at Oreas and Chrys. She then looked back at the guardsmen in the distance. She'd look down for a moment, before giving a bittersweet smile to Sukirno and reaching out for a fist bump. "Tell everyone not to do stupid shit whilst I'm gone, alright? If anyone dares get injured whilst I'm away, I'll make sure to stick it to them so they'll never fuck up again." Sukirno reciprocated the fist-bump, nodding and saying: "I'll let them know not to mess things up. Oh, and you better listen well to Mikhail and his men. They know what they're doing, so give them the respect they deserve and look after them." Iliara nodded, before looking over at you. "So, when are we heading out? I'll go get some of my stuff before then."

>What do you do next?

>Wait for or help your men finish their tasks. Iliara would probably not take too much time gathering her supplies, so helping out wherever was necessary with defences and communications was probably the best thing you could do now to speed things up a bit. (Write in if you help your men out or if you just wait.)
>Chat with Sukirno, Iliara or Oreas a bit more. Maybe you could discuss self-protection with Oreas, or thank Sukirno for convincing Iliara to join your cause. (Write in who you chat with and about what.)
>Help Iliara gather her supplies. You could do it to just be nice, or you could use the opportunity to have a little one-on-one conversation with her. (Write in if you chat with her whilst helping her out.)
>Something else...

>>6418219
>>Help Iliara gather her supplies. You could do it to just be nice, or you could use the opportunity to have a little one-on-one conversation with her. (Write in if you chat with her whilst helping her out.)
We'll go as soon as everyone is ready in the meantime, offer to help her pack her stuff. otherwise let's help the others.

>Wait for or help your men finish their tasks. Iliara would probably not take too much time gathering her supplies, so helping out wherever was necessary with defences and communications was probably the best thing you could do now to speed things up a bit. (Write in if you help your men out or if you just wait.)
If she doesn't need our help or if we help her fast enough, go around and help our team get their stuff ready and let's hit the road.

>>6418219
>Wait for or help your men finish their tasks. Iliara would probably not take too much time gathering her supplies, so helping out wherever was necessary with defences and communications was probably the best thing you could do now to speed things up a bit. (Write in if you help your men out or if you just wait.)
Help out the squad, if Ili's gonna be rolling with us for a while she probably wants a bit of alone time to say goodbyes and stuff.

>>6418219
>Chat with Sukirno, Iliara or Oreas a bit more. Maybe you could discuss self-protection with Oreas, or thank Sukirno for convincing Iliara to join your cause.
Hug the blue daughter. Something like that will never happen to her again.
Reassure Haje that she won't have to fight. Help of any kind would be appreciated and the places ahead *are* going to be dangerous, but we'll keep her safe and out of combat if she'd prefer.
I'm sure we've got a spare battery we can give them to keep at least one working radio, if used sparingly - perhaps only switch it on at set intervals? If they're really desperate to charge things, the hospital on the upper level still has power if they can make it there.
>Wait for or help your men finish their tasks. Iliara would probably not take too much time gathering her supplies, so helping out wherever was necessary with defences and communications was probably the best thing you could do now to speed things up a bit.
Ili's been here for most of the last three very hectic and stressful weeks, it might be a bit of a moment for her to have herself. She needs anything, just say so.
Anyway, go help the task that'll take the longest I guess. Put some rubber to the road so we can get moving again.

>>6418321
Grise is like the main enemy from a horror game, except you don't distract her with thrown bottles or bricks. No, you throw sticks and bits of jerky to kite her around.

>Chat with Sukirno, Iliara or Oreas a bit more. Maybe you could discuss self-protection with Oreas, or thank Sukirno for convincing Iliara to join your cause.
You told Ili that it wouldn't take much longer, especially since you'd try and help out wherever was possible soon. "Alright. I'll grab my stuff then. Oreas, don't let me see you phasing through walls or I'll get really mad." Iliara mentioned that last part somewhat teasingly, albeit still with a hint of sincerity. Oreas nodded in turn, after which Iliara would leave to gather her supplies, you telling her to ask for help if she needed it. In the meantime, you'd spend a bit more time with Oreas, soon offering a hug. Oreas was surprised, before quietly stepping towards you and leaning against you. Her four arms wrapped around you, her closing her eyes and hugging you. You reassured her that you'd protect her and ensure nothing like Sesia's envenomation would happen to her again. "Thank you, Mik..." Oreas whispered in response, you continuing to hug her for a good while.

Once you let go of Oreas, you'd turn to Haje, telling her you also would make sure she was safe. Haje looked surprised, before nodding a little reluctantly. You then promised that you'd not force her to fight for you and that she could help you in whatever way she wanted. Even if you were going to enter some rather dangerous areas. Haje looked even more anxious, before Chrys confidently said: "You can help look after us during the night, or maybe use your abilities in other ways to help us? Whatever it is, Mik and his men will protect you regardless! They've protected me ever since they found me, and I'm sure they'll protect you as well!" Haje nodded again, still seeming uneasy about everything. Given that she had only lost her sister a few hours ago and now was going to stay by your side after you forced her to choose probably made things a bit awkward for her. At least the other girls could help her feel more at ease about her decision.

>Wait for or help your men finish their tasks. Iliara would probably not take too much time gathering her supplies, so helping out wherever was necessary with defences and communications was probably the best thing you could do now to speed things up a bit.
With you having reassured Haje, hugged Oreas and spoken to Iliara, you'd tell the others who were still there that you'd go out and help your men wrap up everything. "We'll join you wherever we can help, right Oreas?" Chrys would respond, Oreas nodding eagerly. And with that you'd help wherever was best. You decided to help with setting up communications, given that the other tasks of enhancing the guardsmen base's cooking, or setting up defences or even teaching the guardsmen about death squads were already being done quite quickly. Thus, you looked for Derek, who was busy chatting with Annie over the radio to help figure out the various frequencies of important devices so Annie could control them from far away.

It mostly just came down to giving Annie access to whatever turrets were available. There weren't too many, but each one could be one more weapon to throw at dangerous subjects or enemy death squads. It was also enjoyable chatting a bit more with Annie, though you kept it short and mainly work-focused. Once the issue of power supplies came up, you did suggest handing over some spare batteries or an extra radio in case of emergencies. "That might not be the worst of ideas. If it has a unique frequency, it can serve as something of an alarm to me." Annie responded to your suggestion, after which you also brought up that the upper hospital did have some extra power available. "It might be a decent supply of energy, so long as the guardsmen up top are willing to share it." Derek mumbled, the nearby guardsmen you were working with taking notes on the suggestion. The only issue was that they'd need to find a safe route upstairs and contend with Adenni's guardsmen who might not trust them...

Regardless, the guardsmen thankfully soon expediated your departure towards the deeper sector, as they told you they would continue connecting Annie to the remaining devices with what batteries you gave them. Thus, you and Derek were able to wrap up the task and look for the rest of your men. And within ten minutes, everyone had wrapped up their tasks. You and your men would gather at the centre of the base, the guardsmen seeming content with your help and all thanking you and your men. Though, Iliara would appear shortly ater, her having packed up her things in a large medic bag. "Alright, Mikhail, I've got all my medical supplies, my favourite scalpel and tons of other medical stuff with me." Hearing this, your men would seem somewhat surprised. "Are those... for us?" Lars said curiously, making Iliara scoff. "In a way, yeah. But, I'll be carrying them, thanks." Your men seemed confused, after which Sukirno cleared his throat and got the attention from his men.

"Attention everyone! Mikhail and his men will be heading to the combat sector, but they will not be going at it alone. Iliara has decided to join them on the way to ensure they reach it safely." The guardsmen seemed a bit more shocked and concerned, their excitement immediately dying down after the revelation. "Now, it hurts me to have Iliara leave us as well. She has helped us through so much, tended to our wounds with diligence and immense care... but, I fully support her in this mission. Mikhail and his men have helped us out, provided us with supplies and greater security, so it is only fair we help them out on their mission as well. And what better way, than to have our excellent healer joining them to help them out?" The guardsmen didn't appear to disagree with this sentiment, understanding that you had helped them out. "So, lets all give Iliara a big hurrah before she joins Mikhail and his men in saving more people!" Thankfully, Sukirno's final remark was met with a bit more fanfare.

The guardsmen cheered Iliara on, some wishing her good luck and others telling her to stay safe. Iliara smiled and would confidently respond: "Thanks, you guys! I'll make sure to give my regards to any familiar faces I'll meet down below. Oh, and none of you guys better put yourself in trouble! I don't wanna return here and find the medbay filled with bruised and battered idiots!" With that, Sukirno would signal you to follow as he led the way out of the guardsmen base. "Alright, Mik, let me show you the safe passage down." As Sukirno led the way, the guardsmen would wave you goodbye and wish you good luck, the girls and your men thanking them all for the help.

>What do you do next?

>Say some final things to the guardsmen before you left their base and headed out. Maybe give them some final suggestions or thank them for how they had helped you out. (Write in what you say to the guardsmen before leaving.)
>Talk whilst on the way over with Sukirno, Iliara, your girls or some of your men. Maybe you could see how Oreas was feeling wandering around the place, or ask Sukirno about what he and his men would do next. You could even ask your men how they were feeling about the guardsmen group as a whole. (Write in who you chat with before heading downstairs.)
>Get your men to already walk in a certain pattern which you could take whilst wandering the weapons storage area below. Maybe you could have Reika and Morgan at the front, or have some of your heavy gunners at the front. Or maybe have some particularly perceptive folk staying at the front. (Write in with what formation you march forward.)
>Quietly walk beside Sukirno as he led the way towards the stairwell heading down. You could chat or plan formations once you reached the storage areas below you.
>Something else...

>>6418608
>Say some final things to the guardsmen before you left their base and headed out. Maybe give them some final suggestions or thank them for how they had helped you out. (Write in what you say to the guardsmen before leaving.)
Thank them and suggest they get in touch with Adenni's group. Strength in numbers and all that.

We did put Haje on the spot, but she had hours to think about this.
>>6418608
>Say some final things to the guardsmen before you left their base and headed out. Maybe give them some final suggestions or thank them for how they had helped you out.
We'll take good care of her and keep them posted on what we get up to through Annie or anything important.
We'll see them again for go time in probably a couple of days. We should have Alexandra's help and even more subjects then so they'll be in good hands.
>Talk whilst on the way over with Sukirno, Iliara, your girls or some of your men.
Does he have any personal requests? Things or people he'd like us to look out for, for example?
Also, what does he remember of the armoury area? Any points of interest?

The MGE has finally been updated, and we seem to have two new TL6 subjects. Kal and Erie have also had profiles added as a quite frightening TL9 and a TL7.

Also, to help me keep track as usual:

>Team A
Mikhail
Mike
Anon
Artyom
Lars
Antonin
Sigit
Ignacy
Alan
Derek
Reika
Morgan
Chrys
Idalia
Kenai
Vinisha
Oreas
Kaenum
Sibilia
Eric
Iliara
Haje

>Team B
France
Lautaro
Archie
Guillherme
Orhan
Majia
Zaria
Thaddeus
Evander
Lydia
Katya
Anofelis
Thalia
Kamara
Merse

>At the hideout
Gwen
Cortina
Lydia
Ingmar
Massimo

Our team is now outnumbered by subjects and there's only going to be more from here.

>>6418608
> Get your men to already walk in a certain pattern which you could take whilst wandering the weapons storage area below. Maybe you could have Reika and Morgan at the front, or have some of your heavy gunners at the front. Or maybe have some particularly perceptive folk staying at the front. (Write in with what formation you march forward.)

Kaenum, Haje: long-distance scout / diplomat
Both are highly agile, highly intelligent, and combat-averse subjects made by well-received creators. Kaenum is unlikely to be attacked by sane subjects (assuming they're not under mind control), while Haje's high durability and high strength meant she's likely to be able to fend off would-be attackers.

Sibilia: taking point for the main group
Her very high perception meant she's the most likely to spot an ambush, while her extremely high durability meant she's also the most likely to survive one. Ideally Kaenum (and maybe Haje) should be able to spot threats before they ever come into range but in case anyone or anything slipped through we'd have another margin of safety.

Morgan, Reika: melee screen
Both are CQC monsters, and ideally they should be kept in front of the gunline, ready to countercharge and/or tackle anyone trying to charge into the main formation.

Kenai: melee screen / early warning
Her high strength meant she can help M&R subdue hostile subjects, her tracking abilities would also help us locate and identify subjects, and her snowstorm can potentially break the LOS of firearm-wielding hostiles.

Human troops (plus Vinisha): gun line
Anon, Artyom, and Vinisha should ideally be on "First Strike" duty, aka ready the AMR / GL / RPG at the first sign of trouble and try to cause debilitating damage before hostile subjects can reach our melee frontline.

Idalia: flanker
Her panoramic low-light vision meant she'd be the most likely to spot anyone trying to shadow our group, while her stealth and flight capabilities (plus melee prowess) meant she can attack targets from unsuspected angles and either exploit openings created by the melee frontline or conversely create openings for them to exploit. Her ability to scale walls and walk on ceilings helps both of her duties here.

Chrys: aerial harasser
She can't fight in melee, but anytime a hostile is focused on someone else would be a good time for her to spray acid and/or shed scales into the target's eyes and open wounds. Do make sure she stays out of melee range at all times.

Iliara, Oreas: protected behind the gunline
Oreas is no combatant and Iliara wouldn't fight a fellow subject.

>>6418963
>Iliara wouldn't fight a fellow subject
I don't think that's true. While she's unlikely to seek out a fight as she's said, she still seems to tick all the classic combat medic tropes and if there's one thing all good combat medics have in common it's that they will not start fights but sure as hell will finish them and, if you threaten the people in their care, you will regret it big time. Iliara for one certainly keeps her combat skills sharp and her gun shiny, not to mention being able to use her wings as armour to shield others. In short, I think she'll be reluctant to act offensively in general but will fight like a honey badger on the defensive, no matter the attacker. She'd be best in the gun line.

>Say some final things to the guardsmen before you left their base and headed out. Maybe give them some final suggestions or thank them for how they had helped you out.
As you left the guardsmen based, you'd wave them all goodbye and thanked them for their help. The rest of your men did the same, after which you reassured the guardsmen that you'd look after Iliara and made sure she'd be fine. You also told them to go to the upper floors and meet up with Adenni's group, since you knew they'd benefit from any and all help. The guardsmen seemed to mumble to each other about the suggestion, though none seemed to be immediately sold on the idea. You then told the guardsmen and told them you'd be back within a few days, perhaps even being joined by Alexandra and more subjects. Until finally, you told them you'd also maybe keep them updated through Annie. Soon enough, the guardsmen stopped waving you goodbye, heading back into the main base. Shortly after, you passed the new fortifications your girls and men had set up and started wandering the dark halls towards the path you could take to head down.

>Talk whilst on the way over with Sukirno, Iliara, your girls or some of your men. Maybe you could see how Oreas was feeling wandering around the place, or ask Sukirno about what he and his men would do next. You could even ask your men how they were feeling about the guardsmen group as a whole.
As Sukirno led the way, you soon walked up beside him and decided to ask him a few questions about the armoury, specifically wanting to know what he remembered of it. "Well, it had a TON of security features for one. Stuff like sentries, alarms systems and lots of checkpoints. But most valuable things had been damaged beyond repair, had parts stolen, or were entirely destroyed. There's still a bit of guardsmen armour left, and maybe a few smaller self-defence tools. But, most if not everything else has already disappeared from storage there." Sukirno calmly responded.

You asked for further points of interest, Sukirno thinking about it. "I am not sure. It's a lot less of a maze than this area. It has some carrier vehicles stored there as well. But aside from that, I don't think there's anything particularly special there. Maybe some new faces have moved in since then, but I wouldn't know sadly." Sukirno mumbled, you asking if there were things which he wanted you to be on the lookout for. Sukirno seemed surprised by the suggestion, pausing to think before somewhat eagerly remarking: "Well, any guardsmen can be sent this way. But in terms of subjects... maybe Ling Cao, LM-20. Oh, or Lucy Lampyre, LMP-160! Both are rather sweet subjects, even if Ling can be a little obsessive about little things." You had already heard a bit about Lucy, but this Ling was not one you had heard about. So, you asked for further details. "She's a blue qilin with water and electricity powers, made by Tengri. Not sure where she is, but... it'd be nice if you could find her."

>Get your men to already walk in a certain pattern which you could take whilst wandering the weapons storage area below. Maybe you could have Reika and Morgan at the front, or have some of your heavy gunners at the front. Or maybe have some particularly perceptive folk staying at the front.
You thanked Sukirno for the intel, after which you went quiet for a moment. You were still on your way towards the stairwell, so you decided to discuss what sort of formation you'd be walking in whilst travelling through the weapon storage area. You'd ask Morgan and Reika to stay at the front to help defend the folk with ranged weaponry, in case you got jumped by an enemy subject. Reika and Morgan seemed surprised, but thankfully didn't question it. Afterwards, you asked Sibilia, Kaenum, Kenai and Haje to follow them. The four of them had agility, intelligence, perception and tankiness which could help them in spotting threats from afar. Or in Kaenum's case, she could maybe even act as a diplomat.

Sibilia, Kaenum and Kenai seemed happy to do this, whilst Haje looked a little bit hesitant at the suggestion. Still, the four would get together, forming a strong core of diplomats and threat perception. You asked Idalia if she wanted to flank enemies using her stealth and perceptive abilities, making her nod quickly. "I would be very happy to do such a thing, Mikhail." She responded in determination, you telling her that'd be her job when it seemed a threat was abound, and that you wanted her to also make sure nobody was shadowing your group. Idalia gave a salute, before already looking behind your group, taking her job very seriously. Next, you asked Chrys to use her flight skills to harass people from above with her acid spray and scales, to which she eagerly nodded. "I'll do my best, Mik!" You then told your men and Vinisha that they'd stay behind the core group of defensive and supportive subjects, telling Anon, Arty and Vinisha that they'd be on first strike duty, ensuring a powerful hit before trouble could even get close.

"You got it, Mik." Arty responded, Antonin soon after saying: "I'll join them, if that's okay. We already discussed how I could help Vinisha, after all." Vinisha nodded to the suggestion, you telling Antonin that his help would be perfect. Lastly, this left you with Eric, Ili and Oreas, you telling the three of them to stay behind the gunline since they wouldn't get into combat. "Unless if some dickhead starts really injuring you guys." Iliara remarked, patting the guns she had holstered on her. "I can also fight..." Oreas mumbled a bit more disappointedly, to which Iliara sternly said: "Maybe in a day. But for now, I suggest you stay out of any and all fights, Oreas." Eric would even add: "We'll have to stick together if trouble arrives, Oreas." Still, having Oreas join in combat was something you'd have to discuss with her, given that this was a decision made to help her stay safe and continue to recover.

For the time being though, everyone got into position as you continued leading the group with Sukirno. Until at last, he'd lead you to a somewhat remote hallway in the training sector. The hallway had a couple of elevators, along with a set of doors he'd open up, revealing a stairwell heading straight down. "Here we are then. So, you should be able to take this stairwell straight down into the storage sector. No need to worry about encountering people in here either, since most people have already evacuated from these parts... sooo yeah, it should be pretty safe."

>What do you do next?

>Thank Sukirno for his assistance and maybe tell him some last-minute things before heading downstairs. (Write in how you thank Sukirno and if you discuss anything else with him before heading off.)
>Talk or listen to your group whilst heading downstairs. Maybe they'd have some fun discussions, or you had some topics in mind you'd wanna hear about from them. (Write in who you listen or talk to in particular.)
>Listen to Annie over the radio. Maybe she had some more interesting news updates now that evening was getting closer and closer. You could even try and have a bit of a chat with her, if she didn't seem too busy. (Write in if you simply listen to or chat with Annie.)
>Just quietly head downstairs until you reached the storage area. You could decide on where you'd want to head once you exited the stairwell.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6419076
>Thank Sukirno for his assistance and maybe tell him some last-minute things before heading downstairs
Again make sure he knows where to find Adenni. His group might be all good for now, but if anything ever happens being in contact could save their lives.

>>6419076
>>6419109
+1 this

>>6419076
>Listen to Annie over the radio. Maybe she had some more interesting news updates now that evening was getting closer and closer. You could even try and have a bit of a chat with her, if she didn't seem too busy.
I've got an unusual request. Can Annie patch us through to the guards from all the way back at the end of the second thread, who we left a radio with? I've suddenly had an irresistible hankering to check on them, which we haven't done in something like a week and a half (aka over two years of real time). Are they even still alive? Where are they now? Might they have any useful information for us?

>>6419123
Those are the ones with the sharkfu right?

>>6419149
No, way before that, some time before fighting Caera even. We'll be meeting up with Joaquin's group and Cirra later too though.

>>6419234
I'm assuming you're talking about the Green Section guards that were tracking down Caera in Thread 2? IIRC that group was either wiped out by Caera or was subsumed into the *other* Green Section group that helped us kill Caera. Also, something something Nora, and something something Lexi?

>>6419250
Things are fuzzy but I they were a distinct group and don't recall them getting merged since I recall the rabbit group did not recognise us. It was Nora and Wilhelm's group that got killed by Caera which was another different group. Regardless, they were alive last we knew of them and I'd like to check in.

>>6419076
> Thank Sukirno for his assistance and maybe tell him some last-minute things before heading downstairs. (Write in how you thank Sukirno and if you discuss anything else with him before heading off.)

Supporting >>6419109 on pointing them towards Adenni's group, do make sure to warn them of possible death squad patrols (plus Claudia and Rosalia) in the leisure centre plus Sesia's presence right above it.

> Listen to Annie over the radio. Maybe she had some more interesting news updates now that evening was getting closer and closer. You could even try and have a bit of a chat with her, if she didn't seem too busy. (Write in if you simply listen to or chat with Annie.)

News update is always welcome, especially those on "who did what where", and any updates on where other death squads are posted is always welcome.
Also supporting >>6419123 for communicating with the Green / Ash Section guardsmen. Ideally we should ask Annie to check the location of the particular radio set first and make sure it's not in GalGov / death squad hands before we do anything rash.

------

> It has some carrier vehicles stored there as well. But aside from that, I don't think there's anything particularly special there.

The presence of a motor pool on the same level as the Queenbase sounds pretty helpful, even if it isn't practical or feasible to commandeer heavier vehicles for team transportation, having intact vehicle chassis meant we can potentially create mobile shields when facing the Queensguard or even create VBIEDs when we finally storm the Queenbase.

Sadly we have both communications experts in Mik's group but zero electricians. Makes sense that the electricians are staying with the heavy DEW, but it also meant we're currently unlikely to be able to hotwire those vehicles. Do mark the location of the vehicles for future use anyway.

>>6418667
Correction: the current safehouse residents are
Gwen
Cortina
Laura
Ingmar
Massimo

>>6419416
Fuckin' Laura and Lydia. Gets me errytiem.

>>6419411
We may not need to hotwire them. They're just glorified golf carts for internal use like what you see driving around airport terminals, they may not need a key or they may be left in the slot or stored nearby if this is where they are kept off duty. A larger challenge may be keeping them charged, which may need the generator and the walking blue battery.

>Thank Sukirno for his assistance and maybe tell him some last-minute things before heading downstairs.
Having reached the stairwell, it was time to say goodbye to Sukirno for the time being. You wished him good luck in protecting their base, before recommending that they meet up with Adenni and her group. "I am aware you want me to contact her, yes. I'll definitely ask Annie for help in setting up a meeting over the radio, before travelling over to her and her group." Sukirno calmly responded, after which you also told him to be careful of enemy death squads, as well as Claudia and Rosalia in the leisure centre. "There's no way in hell we'd head to the leisure centre, so I doubt we'll ever encounter those two. We'll probably go to the upper floors through a different stairwell here. I believe there's a couple of paths we could take to get to the upper floors from here." Given your own experience in the leisure centre, you could completely agree with his idea of taking a different route.

Afterwards, you and your men shook hands with him, Sukirno wishing you and your men good luck. He'd also give handshakes to the girls, even to Reika who seemed a bit confused. Though, he'd give a bit more of a personal goodbye to Iliara. "Good luck out there, Ili. Show these guys what makes you the best goddamn medic the facility has ever seen." Sukirno said confidently the two giving each other a firm handshake. "I'll make sure these guys aren't too hurt. If we're lucky, none of these guys will have to see what I'm capable of." This made Sukirno scoff as he let go of the handshake and responded: "Like you don't wanna put your skills to use in a real battlefield for once." Iliara chuckled in turn, before she responded: "I wanna test my skills, for sure. But I would prefer it if nobody got injured and I can just sit back and maybe help shoot shit. It'd make life easier for everyone." Sukirno gave a quiet nod in turn, before giving his final goodbye as he headed back to the base.

>Listen to Annie over the radio. Maybe she had some more interesting news updates now that evening was getting closer and closer. You could even try and have a bit of a chat with her, if she didn't seem too busy.
With Sukirno having left, you looked at the large set of doors before opening them. You were met with a crammed, dark stairwell just like the one you took to get down into the leisure centre. You'd lead the way, heading down with pocket torches in hand and everyone sticking close. Though as everyone passed the door and followed you down, you'd ask Anon to turn on the radio so you could chat with Annie. "Huh, right now? I mean, sure. I'm just surprised, since she might just still be chatting with the folk back at Sukirno's place." Anon remarked, after which Arty casually responded: "Well, I doubt they'd be chatting for THAT long. Besides, Annie can multitask somewhat, right?" You had your doubts though, as talking to two folk at once was maybe beyond Annie's reach.

Still, Anon would give it a try, you being met with some smooth jazzy tunes. "Guess somebody made some requests to Annie, huh?" Mike mumbled, you and your men mostly waiting for Annie to return. Fortunately, it wouldn't take long before you heard her. "Heyo Mik, I'm a bit busy with the guardsmen, helping to prepare their defences, so I may be a bit distracted. Still, what's up?" You thanked her for picking up, before asking for news updates from around the facility. "Well, Vinella got into another fight with a couple of Heroes soldiers and is now on the '3rd' floor. She passed by Titania's chamber and seems to be heading south, so I really suggest you guys watch out there. Other than that, there's a couple of other subjects which may be heading to the 3rd floor from the combat sector. So, there's a lot of potential for friendly... and troublesome encounters." Given that you were essentially heading to the 3rd floor now, this news was... not exactly pleasant to hear.

You asked about death squads on the 3rd floor, which made her pause. "Hmmmm, not too many to be found, it seems. Maybe a few in the cooler, flooded and combat sectors... but they're not going much deeper or are staying relatively localized. As for other death squads further above, they're now settling down or heading back to main base, given what time it is. Ah, uhhh, give me a moment." Before you could ask for further questions, the previous song started to play again, as it seemed Annie had to again help the guardsmen out by connecting to their defensive systems. "How... likely do you guys think it'll be that we encounter Vinella?" Chrys asked nervously, to which Morgan responded: "Let us be safe and maybe ask Annie to keep us updated if possible. That way, we run little risk of an encounter." Afterwards, Idalia eagerly said: "I will be on the lookout for her and try to spot her early." Your men would also share their thoughts on the matter, mostly agreeing that it was better to just avoid her.

Shortly after, Annie spoke up again, interrupting the conversation. "Sorry about that. Just connecting with a few security systems right now. Anyway, anything else you guys wanted to ask me about?" You asked about the guardsmen from the green sector you left a radio with, wanting to know if she could contact them. "Uhhhh, that is... maybe a bit difficult. Unless if you know their exact frequency and location right now, I will struggle to pinpoint them down, given that there are a lot of guardsmen out there with radios." You obviously didn't know their location, but told her you encountered them in the green sector before they headed east. "Okay, so in the flooded sector area... what about their frequencies? You know anything about that?" Fortunately, Derek would quickly respond: "I believe they're on a similar frequency to ours, since it'd mean they could contact us if we got relatively close to them."

Annie nodded, before saying: "Okay, that... does give me something to work with. But, I don't know, this may be a bit difficult for me to find. When did you last meet them, actually?" You said it was about a week and a half, which made Annie speak up in a far less optimistic tone. "A week and a half ago in the green sector, heading east... I'll try and see if I can find anything. But, I'm afraid it may be impossible, given what might have happened to them in the time since you last spoke to them." It was a rather depressing thing to hear, but it was also not too surprising that they might have gotten hurt. Still, you thanked Annie and told her you hoped she'd reach out to them. "I'll do my best, Mik." Annie calmly reassured you, after which Annie said: "I'll get back to helping the guardsmen now. I'll let you guys know if I find anything with those guardsmen, okay?" You told her you'd appreciate that, before the radio went back to playing music again. Thus, you and your men continued your travels downwards into the armoury.

It thankfully was an uneventful and simple path down, the only issue being Reika getting caught on a lot of things whilst going down the stairs given the stairs not being designed for large subjects. Ironically, Haje didn't have any troubles taking the stairwell, even though she was easily 2 feet taller than Reika. Eventually, you'd get to a set of doors, opening them up and finding a far less messy yet still heavily damaged warehouse-like area. It was incredibly open, with tons of containers, large crates and storage units spread around. "Honestly, this place might make a good meeting spot once we start our mission to take down Feng, Mik. Lots of containers we can use to set up defences, lots of storage units and space for camps." Sigit suggested, it perhaps being worth considering for when you did finally hunt down Feng. Though, the topic of Feng would soon come back as Anon checked the tablet.

"Okay, we can had northwards, which takes us through a large office area to... the south of Feng's territory. Or, we can head eastwards to some kind of small unknown space. What do you think, Mik?"

>What do you do next?

>Decide on a path to take. The northern path might be easier to traverse without encountering enemy subjects, but it was also closer to Feng's territory. But, the eastern path led through some small, unknown territory... (Write in which path you take.)
>Chat whilst making your way north or eastwards. Maybe you could discuss the topic of Vinella being nearby with your men, or you could just chat about something more casual. (Write in what you chat about and with whom.)
>Look for anything of interest. It was already mentioned there were transport vehicles here. But maybe there were other interesting things being stored here? (Write in what you look for.)
>Listen to Annie's normal radio announcements. Some music and news about the surface was always appreciated, after all.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6419612
>Decide on a path to take. The northern path might be easier to traverse without encountering enemy subjects, but it was also closer to Feng's territory. But, the eastern path led through some small, unknown territory...
East. Give the Chloe Zone and Vinella as wide a berth as we can and can hit up the smaller areas which don't require so much time to explore as we pass and intercept some of these people.
If there's some noted combat subjects around and potentially Vinella too, let's put some more subjects on forward scout duty to picket any potential threats. Idalia by herself of course and two pairs of Kaenum/Kenai and Iliara/Chrys if they're all feeling up for it. They should all be able to evade and escape any threats and I don't want to do this to Haje given her fragile emotional state and lacking speed. Their orders are to call in anything they see and not engage unless they're a known friendly and to shake any tail and return if attacked.
>Listen to Annie's normal radio announcements. Some music and news about the surface was always appreciated, after all.
I don't see why not. More Facility News is always appreciated.

I don't think we'll find much of anything or anyone here and should move on in good time.

>>6419612
>Decide on a path to take. The northern path might be easier to traverse without encountering enemy subjects, but it was also closer to Feng's territory. But, the eastern path led through some small, unknown territory...
Whichever one keeps us as far away from Vinella as possible. Maybe even take a detour.

>>6419612
>Decide on a path to take. The northern path might be easier to traverse without encountering enemy subjects, but it was also closer to Feng's territory. But, the eastern path led through some small, unknown territory... (Write in which path you take.)
EEEEEEEEEASSSSSSTTT

>>6419612
> Look for anything of interest. It was already mentioned there were transport vehicles here. But maybe there were other interesting things being stored here? (Write in what you look for.)

We might want to check the general state of those vehicles - battery-electric vehicles don't tend to lose too much charge in a week or two, but burnt-out husks might be only good for raw material.

Also maybe check some guardsman armour / outfit and see whether it would be feasible / practical to carry a few sets to disguise a few members of our squad as facility guardsmen should the need arise.

> Decide on a path to take. The northern path might be easier to traverse without encountering enemy subjects, but it was also closer to Feng's territory. But, the eastern path led through some small, unknown territory... (Write in which path you take.)

TBPH assuming we're anywhere near the southwest corner of Level 3, either path would potentially bring us closer to that overgrown vinegaroon - and the smaller space in the easten path would at least offer some cover and concealment from her. Either way Sibilia goes in front if we are walking in formation (and not actively searching for a subject), but we might want to send out a few radio-equipped scout parties for reconnaissance and early warning. Do tell potential scouts in no uncertain terms that Vinella is last spotted on this level and to prioritize disengaging from combat in case any hostile subject is spotted or if a yet-unknown subject is displaying hostile behavior.
(Basically supporting >>6419632, although not sure why IubCDH4r considered Haje to be lacking in speed given her high agility and ability to traverse tight / unconventional spaces.) It might be better to just ask the rest of the high+ agility subjects whether they want to assist Idalia sweep our surroundings for nearby hostiles that might be moving towards us, and who they'd like to group / pair with. Given their likelihood to run into rabid/hostile subjects the forward scout group should be strictly opt-in instead of opt-out either way - aside from Idalia (who relies on stealth instead of durability for defence), the only subjects with both the durability and agility to disengage from a hostile high-strength subject unharmed are Haje and Iliara, and... well, Haje is still traumatized by recent events, and when Iliara hardened her feathers into additional armour she had walking difficulties (either due to weight distribution or her wingspan not fitting in tighter spaces) - hope Iliara can still fly with any sort of agility with hardened feathers though (good time as any to ask), and also hope Haje is willing to help out.

>>6419930
Haje isn't low agility per se, but she's ranked as Medium. This means she's not particularly fast, which means if she needs to retreat she may be unable to stay ahead of a pursuer and depend entirely on her evasion tricks to escape which I don't like. Kenai meanwhile is very fast, agile and independent and a better pick for a forward scout. Iliara has the advantage of being airborne, if she's in attack range something's gone very wrong.

>Decide on a path to take. The northern path might be easier to traverse without encountering enemy subjects, but it was also closer to Feng's territory. But, the eastern path led through some small, unknown territory...
With a warning from Annie that Vinella was on the same floor, you knew that avoiding her was going to be your main goal down here. Thus, you suggested heading east, since it would help you go directly towards the combat sector whilst keeping maximum distance from Titania's chamber where Vinella was spotted. Not to mention, it had smaller areas which would be easier to explore and pass through. "Excellent idea, Mik." Anon mumbled, the rest of the group agreeing. "Should we plan on what to do if we do encounter Vinella?" Antonin suggested, making Haje speak up anxiously. "H-How likely is it we encounter her?" Afterwards, Arty would remark: "I think it's for the best we just hide from her the moment we think we spot her. Unless if Mik has other ideas." You in turn looked to the girls, before deciding some would go ahead and be forward scouts for your group.

The first would obviously be Idalia, her stealth, speed and crawling ability made her perfect for the job. Idalia gave a quick nod. "I will do this, Mikhail. Just tell me which path we take and I shall follow it!" You also asked Kaenum, Kenai, Chrys and Iliara if they were up for it. They were the most mobile girls in your party, and you knew they could call in anything they spotted. Kenai seemed happy to do so, showing her sword: "I'd love to go out there and, uhhh, fight!" You praised her for her enthusiasm, but reassured her that she'd just have to spot threats, not engage. "I suggest you wait before using the blade in combat, Kenai. You still need to practice a bit more." Morgan also advised, Kenai nodding a bit disappointedly. "I can also go! I could maybe even join Idalia a bit. You know, join her from up high." Idalia didn't seem to mind it, though you wanted Chrys to go with Kaenum.

Kaenum seemed a bit reluctant about this proposal. "I suppose I can give it a try as well. Though, what if the folk we encounter are friendly? Can we then engage them?" You told Kaenum she was free to engage so long as she was sure they were friendly. Kaenum seemed a bit more relaxed, after which you turned to Iliara. And despite her just joining your party, she'd grab a pistol she was carrying and immediately said: "Fuck yeah, let's do this! Just call me if one of you guys fucks up and is in desperate need for serious medical attention." Iliara remarked eagerly, already spreading her wings and seeming eager to get going. Though, you asked if she could use her defensive measures whilst flying, making her scoff. "Nope, but I'll be careful and keep my distance from whatever I spot." Afterwards, you asked Sibilia to join you at the front of the main group, since you knew her perception abilities were great but her mobility was less than fitting for a forward scout role.

"Sure thing." Sibilia nodded calmly, after which you decided to ask Haje if she also wanted to help out. She was tanky and nimble, but maybe not insanely quick. But, given her abilities you did feel like she'd do decently well. Haje was visibly surprised by the offer, before looking around. "I'll... stick with you guys for now, if that's okay." Haje was obviously terrified of encountering Vinella, which you couldn't blame her for. Vinella was likely one of the few subjects who could easily harm her and her insanely tough armour. Regardless, with roles divided, you'd give each girl a small radio to chat with you if close enough. "Be careful with heading too far forward. You don't wanna end up getting lost." Anon remarked as he handed the smaller radios, the girls nodding. And afterwards, Kenai, Idalia, Chrys and Kaenum all would start heading east, Chrys and Kaenum flying together whilst Kenai and Idalia rushed forward without any fear.

>Look for anything of interest. It was already mentioned there were transport vehicles here. But maybe there were other interesting things being stored here?
With you having some forward scouts, you started heading east whilst also checking out parts of the storage area. You mainly looked for armour and vehicles, wanting to check the former as a potential disguise whilst using the latter for batteries. It didn't take long for you to pass by some abandoned vehicles, you getting Morgan to carefully open them up. Though, it didn't seem like her help was that necessary, as opening the vehicles and checking for parts was surprisingly easy. It quickly became apparent why that was however, as you found the vehicles had some of their electronics stolen. Their large batteries were all taken, along with some of the wiring and other key electronics. "Well, at least we now know people have likely rummaged through this place for electronics. Though, I don't think it was the guys up top who took these batteries..." Derek mumbled as he checked the missing electronics.

"At least they're good for food." Morgan responded in turn, you correcting her and stating they could at least later serve as barriers or even sources of raw materials. This did leave your men a bit confused, but they didn't question it too much. You kept looking for guardsmen outfits, not finding too many. And the ones you did find were heavily damaged, bloodied or dirty, perhaps being abandoned by injured guardsmen who preferred more intact armour. It didn't seem like getting a lot of guardsmen outfits would be feasible, so disguising your teammates was probably not in the cards, unless if you really kept searching throughout the storage area. Given your current task of heading eastwards however, you were obviously not going to spend a bunch of time looking for armour. So, you and your men kept travelling, passing by more pillaged crates and storage containers. All the while, your men discussed who might have come here and taken everything...

>Listen to Annie's normal radio announcements. Some music and news about the surface was always appreciated, after all.
Eventually though, you decided to turn on the radio and listen to more news from Annie, wanting to hear what news she might have. You turned on the radio, being met with some more energetic D&B music. "Huh, a bit of a different music genre than what Annie normally plays." Lars mumbled, you soon hearing Annie's voice again. "You are listening to VRCMG radio with Annie Marconi, delivering words of encouragement and motivation to ensure effective government compliance! That was 'Night-shot' as requested by Lee from Heathens to ensure effective trapping! It is currently twenty to 7 in the evening, and death squads are currently retreating back to the main base. In other news, a group of Heroes soldiers was found dead in the combat sector after being shot by what appears to be high calibre rifles. Government reports highlight the... secrecy surrounding these reports, due to the 'risk' it could pose to death squad performance in the area."

Hearing that a Heroes group had died was always a bit concerning. Either it meant a subject was underestimated, or that they somehow got jumped and were killed from close-range. Annie did have a few more details though, painting a somewhat concerning picture. "These noble heroes were killed in a sector meant to mimic urban warfare, recording their last moments on a tablet for documentation purposes. These recordings showcase that these soldiers were easily outmatched by a single subject. Of course, the government does not want to inform you of this subject, so I have taken the liberty to inform all of you in the combat sector of this enemy!" As Annie explained a bit more about the kills in question, Arty would suddenly say: "Didn't... Iliara mention something about a subject sniper? Maybe this is their work?"

This was both exciting and somewhat concerning news. It was exciting, since perhaps this sniper subject would work with Alexandra, or could be made an ally. Though, it was also concerning considering how effective they were in taking out Heroes soldiers. You just hoped that they weren't completely evil or sadistic, but rather an understanding combatant like Katya. Regardless, Annie soon gave a bit more news about the green sector and incursions into the flooded sector, after which music played again. Though as you wandered the area, you would soon find something truly incredible. Sibilia would glance to a few large crates, before walking over to them. "Hey, can someone help move these crates?" Reika helped without questioning, as Ignacy asked: "What is it, Sibilia?" Reika would remove the crate along with some of the other girls, until there was just one large container left. It was a large, reinforced metal box, Sibilia speaking eagerly. "I think I know what's in here... Reika, can you help open it?"

Your men were all extremely intrigued, asking Sibilia what was in it. "I believe... this to be a vat." This was obviously not the most... exciting of news, as you had encountered a couple of vats ever since you got here. However, after Reika opened the box with a bit of effort, you found that it was not just an ordinary vat. It was a complete, only mildly damaged subject vat. The electronics were untouched, the glass still intact and everything seemingly still attached. The girls all looked stunned at the vat, whilst your men all looked intrigued. "So, an intact vat. How many do you guys estimate are left of these?" Mike asked curiously, to which Antonin mumbled: "Not a whole lot, I imagine..."

>What do you do next?

>Try and take some electronics from the vat. These devices were clearly extremely advanced, so it probably had some fancy metals in them or powerful batteries, stuff which could help Morgan and Oreas. (Write in what you take from the vat.)
>Just close the crate back up so nobody else would notice the vat and toy around with it. The last thing you wanted was for a Feng guard to pass by, see it and to then bring it back to Feng. (Write in if you close the crate in any specific way to hide it better.)
>Contact Annie and Logan about this find. Perhaps they'd be able to do something with it after you shared your location with them? (Write in what you contact Annie and Logan for.)
>Just move on from the vat. It was a cool find, but it wasn't something you'd be able to do much with right now, if anything...
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6420065
>Contact Annie and Logan about this find. Perhaps they'd be able to do something with it after you shared your location with them?
We know he was trying to repair a vat. Obviously it's probably not practical to come and get it and it doesn't sound particularly moveable, unless we can put it on one of the cargo transporters (I mean, they had to get it here in the first place, right?). Anyway, does Logan need this thing intact and we'll need to concoct some logistical plan (put it on a cart and have Reika pull it if the battery is dead?) or does he only need a few components we can salvage and bring with us to finish his project?

>>6420065
>Contact Annie and Logan about this find. Perhaps they'd be able to do something with it after you shared your location with them?
Logan would know best what to do with this. Subject genesis soon?

>>6420065
> Contact Annie and Logan about this find. Perhaps they'd be able to do something with it after you shared your location with them? (Write in what you contact Annie and Logan for.)

We found a largely intact vat, and now we need advice on how to best secure it for later use in case we found a way to move it down to Level 4 / server room, but also which parts to remove and carry ourselves to prevent Feng from using it.

>>6420107
By the way, Annie moved bases. She's no longer in the server room and is now in the comms room somewhere in the south-east so she's under the combat sector or close to it.

>>6420065
>Contact Annie and Logan about this find. Perhaps they'd be able to do something with it after you shared your location with them? (Write in what you contact Annie and Logan for.)
Huge find. Might as well ask them what they think we should do with this thing. Could Reika or Haje carry it? Maybe we can take it back up to Sukirno or bring it along with us and leave it with Alexandra.

Post-human Mikhail when?

>>6420250
She was planning on moving but I don't think she's actually moved yet, has she?

>>6420263
Hmm. It's been a few days since we found out she was planning to move, I don't know if she has yet. But that is where she will end up sooner or later by the sound of it so we could leave it there for her if we can move it. Though if she is going to move, why would Logan be trying to fix a vat if they can't take it with them?

Also idle thought. We previously asked Annie to try and track down the other group of green sector guards we fought Caera with and didn't hear back on that. If she's worked to find them, that could help with getting hold of the others and I wouldn't mind checking in on them too. We couldn't raise the forst group last time we tried, which isn't a great sign but they could have just been out of range. Surely we'd remember the comm channels of the radio we gave to them though?

>>6419938
NVM, turns out I was relying on stale information. Documentation anon's information matches the GalGov MGE (where Haje is marked as High Agility) instead of Anderson's Friend List (where Haje is marked as Medium Agility). Haje's updated stats meant she's basically an extra large Sibilia and would probably serve the team best in the melee frontline and help tank hits or restrain hostiles... assuming she can get over her aversion to combat - which wasn't even that unreasonable given her relatively poor strength.

>>6420088
>>6420263
We just found a Logan subject without a well-defined role and we just got ourselves a vat, hmm....

Also, in case we can modify Haje for a trial run before we shove schizofloof (or ourselves) into the vat, should we prioritize increasing her strength to make her a better combatant, increasing her running speed to High, or modifying her (currently vestigial) wings to give her flying capabilities? Personally I'm partial to the last option as it would basically allow her to travel through any space she can physically fit in and make her pretty much the most versatile scout we can get.

>>6420412
>stale information
cock, I forgot to fill out her real statblock from the fren list, Iliara's too. I'll fix that.

>Contact Annie and Logan about this find. Perhaps they'd be able to do something with it after you shared your location with them?
Given how major of a find this was in the ruins of the facility, you knew you had to contact Annie right away. You told Anon to turn on the radio, Annie already being busy giving some announcements over the radio. Thus, you waited for her to finish, the girls all looking intrigued at the vat. "They're so much... smaller than I remembered them being." Haje mumbled as she looked at the vat, to which Sibilia responded: "Well, you probably were a lot smaller when you first came out of it. It looks to be just the same size as when I first stepped out of it." Afterwards, Mike would ask: "So, wait, you remember stepping out of it? Isn't that like... the moment you were born essentially?" Sibilia nodded, after which Morgan casually elaborated. "T'is something I remember as well. It was a bit confusing, but it did not take long for me to form a blade and realise my destiny as a knight!"

Before you could ask about the existential implications regarding this topic, Annie's announcement came to a stop and she started playing music again. Thus, you asked Annie to hit you up right away, her not taking too long to respond. "What is it Mik? Is there an emergency?" She immediately asked, you telling her about what you had found. Given that Logan was trying to fix a vat, you imagined that he'd be particularly interested in this. Annie did seem extremely intrigued by this. "Where did you find this? Somewhere in the weapon storage sector, I assume?" You told her that it was indeed in the weapon storage sector, after which you asked what you had to do with it. Obviously, carrying it around didn't seem like the most reasonable thing to do, given that it was a rather massive thing. At least it wasn't bolted into the ground unlike most vats you encountered. Regardless, you suggested maybe talking to Logan about it, given his presumed interest in the vat.

"For sure, I'll forward you to him right now!" Annie happily responded, the line going quiet for a moment before you heard Logan, him speaking extremely eagerly. "Okay, so Annie told me you guys found an intact and complete vat, right?" You confirmed what you found again, to which Logan responded: "Okay, is it already placed into the floor, or is it still in a crate or something?" Looking at the vat, it quickly became apparent that it was not attached to anything and still in the crate it was presumably stored in. "Yes! Okay, this is excellent! It will speed up my work substantially. Now, you guys are in the... south-western weapon storage, right? If so, that's not too far from the server room we're in. Issue is that we will be on the move tomorrow to head to the communications sector. Worse, that this is on the same floor as Feng, right? How far is she from your current location? Would it be possible that she finds it and takes it before you can bring it to me?"

You confirmed that Feng was indeed close-by, having already raided this place for weapons, electronics, batteries and more things. Logan clearly wasn't too pleased to hear this. "That's... not great. I suppose we're lucky she or her thralls didn't spot this thing then. Either way, we cannot risk her getting her hands on it. Not just because of my research interests, but because she could do some pretty dangerous things with a working vat. Do you still have Reika or some other strong subjects by your side?" You mentioned having Reika by your side right now, but also having a few other strong subjects. "Okay, maybe Reika can carry it on her own in the box. She just has to be really careful, given how delicate those vats can be... My suggestion is to either carry it to some hidden corner where nobody can easily access it, perhaps even blocking it off in a non-conspicuous way... Or, you find a way downstairs where we can maybe pick it up."

Given that this was ANOTHER diversion you'd be taking right after spending a whole day not travelling the direction you wanted to take, your men weren't entirely too eager about this. But, they kept quiet, you asking if he needed a few components rather than the whole thing. "I mean, I'd prefer getting the whole vat. The vat I am working on is pretty battered and a bitch to work with. This new vat could easily be placed in a research chamber, attached to a powerful energy source and filled with organic material and nutrients and be used to create new subjects. Hell, I could even start experimenting with something I've had on my mind for a while: finding a way to recreate subject remotes." The latter suggestion instantly stunned your men. "Wait, subject remotes as in... the ones which can alter subjects?" Logan spoke up eagerly. "That's the plan, yes. It could help subjects out by maybe fixing some of their weaknesses. Or hell, flesh out their existing abilities. Obviously, even with this vat, it'd be... a pretty substantial task to try, but at least it'd be something worth trying."

Looking around for another way to easily transport the whole vat, you did momentarily glance at the carrier vehicles. Looking at the nearest, it was clearly not going to function, unless if you wanted to stick Oreas in it as a battery. Though, even if the thing did work, having Oreas power it would utterly exhaust her and probably not take you very far. And given that most other vehicles had been damaged or robbed of parts, you knew the only option you had now was having Reika carry it or hiding it somewhere. You could carry it up to Sukirno's base to keep it safe, but that was going to take A LOT of time given its size and weight. Not to mention, Reika not being the most graceful in going through that stairwell. Still, Logan clearly wanted this vat for his highly beneficial research, so you couldn't just do nothing with it...

>What do you do next?

>Carry the vat around, either bringing it to Alexandra or somewhere further away from Feng's base. Reika probably wouldn't mind it, since she was a strong gal.
>Bring the vat back upstairs to Sukirno's group, who could hopefully protect it. Reika could either slowly and carefully carry it up the stairs or find an elevator shaft to bring it up through. Either way, it was gonna take a bit of time. (Write in how you bring the vat upstairs and to where.)
>Just leave the vat here. Feng had clearly already pillaged this place, so it seemed unlikely she'd come back here and find the vat again. You could even hide it in a remote corner and block it off to ensure nobody spotted it. (Write in where you leave the vat and if/how you hide it.)
>Ask Logan which option he preferred. He'd probably understand the conundrum you found yourself in, and would give a suggestion which he would be happy with whilst also helping you out. (Write in what you ask Logan specifically.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6420644
>Carry the vat around, either bringing it to Alexandra or somewhere further away from Feng's base. Reika probably wouldn't mind it, since she was a strong gal.
Too bad we don't have Gwen, but Haje should be able to help as well.

>>6420644
>Carry the vat around, either bringing it to Alexandra or somewhere further away from Feng's base. Reika probably wouldn't mind it, since she was a strong gal.
Who needs horsepower when we have manticorepower? Put it on one of the transporters and have Reika (or other people if she needs a break or to go do something else) push it along with someone to steer. Easier, faster and safer to move it that way. Maybe have Morgan secure the box to the bed and reinforce it a bit to keep it safe.

It's too valuable to leave and who knows when we'll get the opportunity to deal with it next? Bring it with us until we reach a location where we can bring it down to Level 4 somewhere we can leave it for Annie's people can retrieve it. Tell him our route and ask where we can drop it off for him.

>>6420648
>>6420650
Supporting. Seems I missed a fair bit since this thread started. Starting story has a name I've not seen in ages. I wonder if she's still alive or not. But forgetting that and focusing on the now, this right here is a jackpot. Imagine all that we could do with the remotes, let alone a vat. We can even play build a waifu if we really want to, as terrible of an idea that probably is.

>Ask Annie to inform the others of the discovery.
I think our other subject friends deserve to know. Plus, I think the other members of our squad, especially Zaria, will be quite interested in this find.

>>6420644
> Ask Logan which option he preferred. He'd probably understand the conundrum you found yourself in, and would give a suggestion which he would be happy with whilst also helping you out. (Write in what you ask Logan specifically.)

Does he (or Annie) know of any paths downstairs near our current location? Also, does either of them know the location of Akexandra's group or at least one of her messengers?

> Carry the vat around, either bringing it to Alexandra or somewhere further away from Feng's base. Reika probably wouldn't mind it, since she was a strong gal.
> Something else...

Can we push around those carrier vehicles, and if no, can we construct a makeshift trolley / dolley / wheelbarrow from the vehicle chassis? We have Morgan so we can probably do some basic metalworking, and as long as we can get a free-rotating axle or two (plus their accompanying wheels and tyres) we can move the vat along flat ground without requiring a combat / scout subject to carry it around all the time.
(or basically supporting >>6420650)

Also supporting >>6420849 on contacting France's team if we aren't in any hurry.

>>6420648
Haje have low strength... for a 11.5ft / 3.5m subject; not sure how her pushing strength and/or carrying capacity would compare to a medium or high strength subject of a smaller size though.

>>6420896
Low strength for a subject approximates to that of an average human scaled to their size. At 11.5ft, Haje should have the strengty of multiple people - the way it increases with rank has always been vague and I'm unsure of how strength scales with size in subjects either but I'd peg her as being weaker than Reika, a bit weaker than Kenai and on par with Iliara and Katya for comparison.

>>6420896
>Haje have low strength... for a 11.5ft / 3.5m subject; not sure how her pushing strength and/or carrying capacity would compare to a medium or high strength subject of a smaller size though.
Is she not the bigger and stronger sister of Ophidia who was tossing Reika around like a child?

>>6421057
Considering she's not stronger than Ophidia and Reika wasn't bashed about at any point I can recall, I'm going to go with no, potential incidents as little girls notwithstanding.

>>6421070
>Considering she's not stronger than Ophidia
?
>Reika wasn't bashed about at any point I can recall
??
Did you read the last thread? Oph pretty obviously had Reika on the ropes despite literally everyone else whaling on her.

>>6421080
Reika and Ophidia shoved and wrestled inconclusively like two drunks in a bar. Neither managed to get any decisive hits in for most of the fight and, while Ophidia got some licks in and would likely have won eventually, Reika was not "tossed around like a child" at any point. I'm not sure where you heard Haje was stronger either.

>>6421098
>Neither managed to get any decisive hits in for most of the fight and, while Ophidia got some licks in and would likely have won eventually
That's not the impression I got. As I recall Reika's hands/claws were mauled by the time the fight ended.

>I'm not sure where you heard Haje was stronger either.
Just the way she was presented afterwards. "We just went through hell beating Ophidia and now we need to be really careful dealing with her big sister" kind of feeling.

>>6421110
Ophidia managed to lunge at and bite Reika a couple of times while being restrained and briefly slip out of her grip after relieving her of several fingers. In terms of strength, they were quite close to evenly matched - Ophidia may have had the edge but she failed to decisively overpower Reika in the contest of brute force or even fully break free at any point, much less throw Reika around. Albeit like I said, I think she might have won eventually by attrition in a 1v1.

I think the attitude to Haje was just an abundance of caution. We knew she was physically bigger and older and that the MGE (which stated her to be medium strength) can be inaccurate and we didn't know much else about her, so it was possible she was just as much of a potential threat as Ophidia was.

>>6421149
>Ophidia may have had the edge but she failed to decisively overpower Reika in the contest of brute force or even fully break free at any point, much less throw Reika around
While getting shot at by us from every angle, weighed down by Sibilia in her freaking mouth, slashed by Morgan, Idalia, Kenai, etc. It wasn't a close 1v1 like you're implying. I can't imagine that Ophidia, still managing to overwhelm Reika under all those handicaps, would have needed to win through attrition.

Like, especially Sibilia. When we did the can we lift her challenge, Reika barely managed even a little distance using her whole body and even her wings. Ophidia was fighting with that weight on her lower jaw, and all the other shit we were throwing at her, and still winning.

>I think the attitude to Haje was just an abundance of caution. We knew she was physically bigger and older and that the MGE (which stated her to be medium strength) can be inaccurate and we didn't know much else about her, so it was possible she was just as much of a potential threat as Ophidia was.
Well, what makes you say she isn't? We haven't seen her fight yet, all we know about her is that she's Ophidia's big sister. She's literally bigger, the natural conclusion to draw is that she's also stronger, no?

>Carry the vat around, either bringing it to Alexandra or somewhere further away from Feng's base. Reika probably wouldn't mind it, since she was a strong gal.
With the vat clearly being important to Logan, you decided to carry it with you for the time being. Though, instead of having Reika carry it around on her back and having her be extremely careful with it, you instead had a different idea. You asked Reika to carefully place it onto a nearby transport vehicle which still had wheels, Reika nodding before carefully looking on how to pick up the vat. In the meantime, you turned to Morgan and asked her to do some metalworking on the transport craft so that you could easily push it around and have it work as a trolley. "Of course, Mikhail, allow me!" Morgan would approach the vehicle as well, during which Logan asked: "So, what are you guys gonna do with it?" Thus, you explained your plan: given how valuable the vat was, you couldn't leave it behind. So, you planned on bringing it with you until you found a pathway down to the 4th level where he, Annie and their allies could easily pick it up.

"That might work, yes. Though, given we are heading out tomorrow, we should probably coordinate our movements together in a way that makes it so you don't end up missing us. I suppose tomorrow, Annie can keep an eye out on both of our locations so we can make sure things run smoothly." In turn, you mentioned the route you'd be taking, taking the southern-most route towards the combat sector. "That'd be perfect. If I recall correctly, there is in fact a few transport elevators directly down in the office to the... west of the combat sector. If you go down those, you should cross our path." It seemed everything worked out perfectly for you, you having a whole day to bring the vat over. Even then, if you missed out on delivering it on time due to you getting side-tracked, it would presumably be relatively close to the communication centre Annie and Logan would be staying at.

>Something else...
With there being a relatively clear path to bring the vat to Logan, you asked him to tell Annie to inform the other members of your group of their discovery. Especially since several of the girls in that group and Zaria would take great interest in it. Upon saying that though, Viridian cleared her throat and softly asked: "Ummm, Logan, could... I get a remote if you g-get the thing to work?" Logan didn't hesitate to answer, unfortunately bringing up some major realities. "It would be possible, but keep in mind that even with a working vat, creating a second remote for a subject can be... troublesome. Research on secondary remotes has shown them to require extremely fine calibration to create them, with catastrophic consequences if it's messed up. But, if you know a place where I can get documents about your remote, your own creation, the genetic sources which were used, and perhaps some of your current genetic material, I could certainly give it a try!"

Logan did sound optimistic, and you had already gotten some files on Vinisha from Andrei's office. But, for the time being, just bringing the vat would come first. Figuring out what to do with it could come next. "Either way, I'll tell Annie to inform your friends, Mik." Up next, you asked if he knew about Alexandra's group and her whereabouts, which made him think out loud. "Hmmmm, Annie mentioned something about her being constantly on the move, essentially partaking in guerrilla warfare. I suppose I'll ask Annie to track Alexandra a bit more if possible so she can give you updates as well." You thanked him for the intel, before telling him you'd try and bring the vat to him as soon as possible. "No need to rush it too much, Mikhail. I'd rather you be careful and slow than hurry up, get into trouble resulting in you getting injured. Keep your radio on tomorrow so Annie can quickly contact you for any updates on our location!"

You told Logan you'd try to remember it, before thanking him for the help. And thus, you turned off the radio and focused on Reika and Morgan. Reika was thankfully being extremely careful and slow with the crate containing the vat. Though, part of it wasn't just out of diligence, as you saw her actually trembling whilst holding it. "It's not too much to carry for you, is it Reika?" Alan asked reassuringly, Reika shaking her head before letting out a strained: "No!" It was obviously insanely heavy, even for Reika. "How's reforming the carrier vehicle going, Morgan?" Antonin asked in turn, her busy removing any extraneous pieces whilst reinforcing the platform the crate would be placed onto. "Maybe don't mess with it too much. Just make sure the vehicle can be safely moved with the vat on top of it." Anon suggested, Morgan nodding before removing part of the drivers position, her opening the vehicle up and giving easier access to the steering wheel and controls. Though obviously, it didn't seem like the controls would be of much use with a lack of power.

Thankfully, Morgan would carefully push the vehicle, before saying: "Okay, I've removed all the break systems and made it possible to push it now. Though, I am not entirely sure about if the steering system still works." To test if it worked, Mike would step into what remained of the drivers seat, trying to see if he could turn it. Unfortunately, steering did not seem possible, Derek soon checking it out before saying: "It appears to be a drive-by-wire system. So, we're gonna have to work with the wheel position we got now." It wasn't too bad, you needing to mostly go in straight lines with the vehicle anyway. Thus, you told Reika to carefully place the vat down, her immediately doing so somewhat loudly. Though fortunately, checking the crate, the vat appeared undamaged and safe. You told your men to strap it down, to which Arty said: "Finally, I can use those metal wires I've been carrying for a while now!"

Thus, you and the girls carefully secured the crate onto the transport vehicle with wires, after which you'd carefully try and move it. The vehicle was unfortunately a whole lot heavier now with the vat on top of it, but it was not too much for Reika, who could easily pull the thing. The only issue remained a lack of steering, but that was only a minor issue you could easily solve. "You know, thinking about it, having this vehicle could be really good for... a variety of things. We can have people rest on it if they're injured, or use it to carry other heavy equipment." It genuinely seemed like a nice little addition to your party. Until you had to give it to Logan and Annie for them to take along...

>What do you do next?

>Quietly get out of the storage sector and start heading eastwards towards the next location. You'd hopefully catch up with some of your forward scouts once you reached the main pathway heading east, at which point you could tell them about what you were carrying.
>Try and place some other equipment on the carrier vehicle, now that you were able to. You could put your backpacks on it, or have Oreas sit on it and take things a bit easy if she was feeling weak still. Hell, you could even get Lars to sit down in the vehicle and start cooking dinner for you guys whilst on the go! (Write in what you place on the vehicle.)
>Chat on the way over with your men or some of the girls. Maybe you could chat a bit with Oreas to see how she was faring, or with Reika and how she felt carrying the vehicle. Maybe you could discuss the remotes with Vinisha or some of your other girls who'd like one. (Write in who you chat with and about what.)
>Look around for anything else of interest whilst heading forward. Obviously, the chances of finding another untouched vat were close to 0, but there still were other items of interest around you could possibly find here. (Write in if you look for anything specific.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6421163
>If I recall correctly, there is in fact a few transport elevators directly down in the office to the... west of the combat sector.
Uh, is he sure those are still operational given the state of the facility?

>>Chat on the way over with your men or some of the girls. Maybe you could chat a bit with Oreas to see how she was faring, or with Reika and how she felt carrying the vehicle. Maybe you could discuss the remotes with Vinisha or some of your other girls who'd like one. (Write in who you chat with and about what.)
Now that this is actually viable, what do any/all of the subjects remember about their remotes? How were they used, where were they stored, anything they can recall.

>>6421166
>Chat on the way over with your men or some of the girls. Maybe you could chat a bit with Oreas to see how she was faring, or with Reika and how she felt carrying the vehicle. Maybe you could discuss the remotes with Vinisha or some of your other girls who'd like one.
I'd like to take the time to talk to Kaenum since we haven't really had a personal chat with her yet and she seems like she'd have a lot to say. Why does she do what she does, what drives her? What does she enjoy about philosophy? She's been quite quiet compared to our earlier interactions. Does she have any advice for us on managing an increasingly large group of people, some of whom may not get on? Does she have anything she'd like to personally ask us? And what does she really think of everything that's happened and is happening, y'know? I'd also like to gauge her with a couple of no-win dilemmas like the classic trolley or tunnel problems - I'd like to see her wriggle her way out of those ones since I think they'd smack her right in the morals.

>>6421158
I wrote a lengthy riposte but realised that we're interpreting events quite differently and the likely outcome is we bicker for a while and continue to fail to agree so I'll put a pin in this for the sake of avoiding that.
I'll admit that the part about Sibilia's weight doesn't make sense given their stats (which, on paper, should make them about the same), though it's possible QM forgot how much she'd been written as weighing. Regardless of how we think they stack up though, the original point was that Reika being manhandled and thrown around by Ophidia is just factually not what happened. Why it didn't happen and whether it could have happened in theory is another matter entirely.

Size is not everything, it's an effective base for their strength but their strength rating is how strong they are in relation to their size as a kind of multiplier. Haje has a couple of feet on her sister but is two entire strength tiers below her, so I think I'm fairly safe in assuming she does not have the same physical power as Ophidia. Vinisha is canonically weaker than Chrys despite being much bigger than her thanks to her much worse strength rating, for example.

-----

I'm fairly certain Viridian has not snuck her way into the party and that we have indeed removed the systems to break and not brake the wagon.

>>6421273
>I wrote a lengthy riposte but realised that we're interpreting events quite differently and the likely outcome is we bicker for a while and continue to fail to agree so I'll put a pin in this for the sake of avoiding that.
Fair.

>I'll admit that the part about Sibilia's weight doesn't make sense given their stats (which, on paper, should make them about the same)
Aren't the stats often inaccurate? I don't understand why you'd trust them over what we've actually seen happen.

>Regardless of how we think they stack up though, the original point was that Reika being manhandled and thrown around by Ophidia is just factually not what happened
I guess we have different definitions then, because I would say Ophidia being able to tear up Reika's hands and rip off fingers/claws without getting injured in return, while under all those handicaps, is manhandling her. Maybe she wasn't LITERALLY thrown around but she was getting worked.

>Haje has a couple of feet on her sister but is two entire strength tiers below her
Like I said, aren't those inaccurate? I'd like to see her actually use her strength before making any judgements.

If she is weaker, it's like when the boss becomes a playable character and instantly gets nerfed :(

>>6421285
I don't classify her injuries as being manhandled because she just got bitten a couple of times and wasn't thrown about, pushed around (aside from being shoved back briefly a couple of times), launched, knocked down, pinned, battered etc.

I'm taking the fren list profiles as accurate since we have the primary sources right in front of us. They're given to us as completely filled in profiles for people we know directly and have often differed from the MGE in a more accurate direction (or exist at all) and have held up under any verification we've done. In a meta sense, I think it's the QM just out and out telling us what their stats are since it's reasonable to know them in that context.
Given that, it's possible there's fuzz in Ophidia's stats but I think her STR bears out accurately given I interpret her contest of pure strength with Reika as being by and large a draw and she didn't seem to have crossed the line into Very High - YMMV, other interpretations ae available.

>>6421294
>I don't classify her injuries as being manhandled because she just got bitten a couple of times
I think that when the bites are taking off fingers they're no longer *just* a couple of bites, but again different definitions it seems.

> In a meta sense, I think it's the QM just out and out telling us what their stats are since it's reasonable to know them in that context.
Maybe OP can weigh in?

Even if they are word of god accurate, we don't know the exact point high ends and very high begins. It could be that most of the high subjects we've seen are on the weaker end of high while Ophidia was right below the line of very high. I just don't see how they can be viewed as equals given how the fight played out, but I guess I have to accept that you view them that way.

>>6421166
> Quietly get out of the storage sector and start heading eastwards towards the next location. You'd hopefully catch up with some of your forward scouts once you reached the main pathway heading east, at which point you could tell them about what you were carrying.

while
> Chat on the way over with your men or some of the girls. Maybe you could chat a bit with Oreas to see how she was faring, or with Reika and how she felt carrying the vehicle. Maybe you could discuss the remotes with Vinisha or some of your other girls who'd like one. (Write in who you chat with and about what.)

Supporting >>6421205 on asking our subjects about their remotes.

>>6421273
As a utilitarian, the trolley problem is a typical "lose less" problem where inactivity has a tangible cost and the value of each life has to be weighed individually (although TBPH with manually-operated rail switches you can probably time the switch to intentionally derail the trolley and save everyone... or conversely cause the trolley to ride on both rails and kill both groups); and as a motorist, the tunnel problem is a plain old false dichotomy where it assumes evading the pedestrian child would automatically kill the passenger and there are no other likely scenarios - yet there's a pretty high chance for the passenger to walk away from a collision with a wall without serious injuries assuming the passenger is wearing seatbelts and the vehicle is properly designed with crumple zones, reinforced pillars, and airbags... but on the other hand certain types of collisions with the tunnel entrance would probably cause the car to spin out and hit the child anyway - momentum of a speeding automobile is no joke.
... also, this is probably why railroad workers have derailers and drivers are supposed to slow down before entering any narrow sections of a road, and also probably why most highways have fences and walls to deter pedestrians from entering in the first place.

... and preemptive apologies for overthinking.

------

>>6421308
>>6421294
From what I remembered of the fight, the one-on-one fight went largely in Ophidia's favour not quite because she can overpower Reika but rather she can hurt Reika without getting hurt back - Reika is "only" high durability but Ophidia is very high durability (same level as Morgan's plate armour, neglecting size difference), so Ophidia can cause non-critical injuries to Reika but Reika was unable to hurt Ophidia back - Ophidia can bite Reika's hands / claws and cause damage, while Reika's nominally-AP barbs did absolutely nothing when Ophidia blocked it with her bare hands. Only Sibilia's proboscis, Morgan's Nightsword, and Idalia's raptorial claws can pierce Ophidia's armour with any certainty... hence last thread's discussion on armour-piercing weapons (HEAT rockets, HEDP grenades, plasma rifles, laser rifles, AMRs, plus AP rounds for every gun) and Kenai's Morgan-forged sword - we want most of our group (both human and subject) to do more to a very/extremely high durability subject than maybe distracting them if we got lucky.

From the subjects we currently know of:
Very High Durability: Anastasia, Cirra, Haje, Morgan, and Ophidia
Extremely High Durability: Vinella and Sibilia

>>6421532
At the end of the day, aren't all philosophical dilemmas false dichotomies? They're supposed to make you choose in a pure theoretical scenario and think about your values and positions, like all scenarios like that, they break down once you overanalyse them and start introducing outside variables. It's the principle of the thing.

Gonna skip out on an update today. I had some pretty intense fieldwork today for university, working on a field planting crops for three hours straight in the sun. I got a pretty major headache still which is... ugh. Hopefully this doesn't affect my responses to you guys' discussion too badly.

>>6421205
>Size is not everything, it's an effective base for their strength but their strength rating is how strong they are in relation to their size as a kind of multiplier.
This is very true. Though, even I admit finding it difficult to really determine how much it multiplies stats compared to other small sizes, especially since most subjects I've rolled with haven't been too outlandishly different in size. So far, Sibilia and Ophidia really are the first cases where I had to take their disproportionate size into account, so I might have forgotten once or twice, like you mentioned.

>I'm fairly certain Viridian has not snuck her way into the party
Hey, be glad that it wasn't VINELLA who I mistakenly wrote into the update.

>that we have indeed removed the systems to break and not brake the wagon.
No need to rub it in further :(

>>6421308
>>In a meta sense, I think it's the QM just out and out telling us what their stats are since it's reasonable to know them in that context.
>Maybe OP can weigh in?

The friendly and allied subject sheets are indeed completely transparent and accurate to the subjects. The government sheets often contain propaganda and lies to either make subjects seem more threatening than they really are, or to fill in blanks based on speculation.

Hope I didn't skim over anything in my tired state. I've got more fieldwork tomorrow, but it'll probably be a bit less intense given the cooler weather AND the fact it isn't a 1.5 hour drive away. So, I'll try my best to get an update out after all that fieldwork.

>>6421551
Welp, at least the trolley problem have a somewhat optimized solution: assuming the net utility loss caused by the loss of one life is about equal to that of any other in the hypothetical group of six, then of course the loss of one life is preferable to the loss of five - it's damage control by that point, and the long-term moral solution would be to make sure it doesn't happen again and we don't need to sacrifice lives just to keep the others safe.

The tunnel problem, on the other hand, does not have an optimized solution. Assuming no party is at fault (aka led to the situation due to negligence and/or malice) and the net utility loss caused by loss of one life is about equal to that of the other, then mathematically speaking either action would be equally correct, and once again, the mathematically sound long-term moral solution is to make sure it doesn't happen again.

>>6421662
>The friendly and allied subject sheets are indeed completely transparent and accurate to the subjects. The government sheets often contain propaganda and lies to either make subjects seem more threatening than they really are, or to fill in blanks based on speculation.
Ok, I thought the friendly ones were just the government ones, with any discrepancies we observed corrected as they came up. Haje is the weaker sister confirmed. Morbidly funny that Ophidia would call her for help when Haje is less battle capable.

Thank you for the clarification.

>I had some pretty intense fieldwork today for university, working on a field planting crops for three hours straight in the sun
A rather unusual curriculum.

>>6421532
>From what I remembered of the fight, the one-on-one fight went largely in Ophidia's favour not quite because she can overpower Reika but rather she can hurt Reika without getting hurt back
OP has just said that the matching STR stats are 100% accurate and he may have goofed with Sibilia's weight treatment once or twice, so I'm forced to accept this. Ophidia definitely felt stronger though, so I'm privately headcannoning that she's at the top ranks of high tier strength while Reika is more in the middle.

>Only Sibilia's proboscis, Morgan's Nightsword, and Idalia's raptorial claws can pierce Ophidia's armour with any certainty
Are you sure about this? I'd expect Reika's barb harpoon tail to have way more power than any of those three. I thought Morgan was able to land the killing blow because Ophidia was worn down to the point she could no longer cover her vulnerable areas. Until that it didn't seem like Morgan was having much of an effect.

>>6421897
While Morgan got a free strike on Ophidia's vitals by way of her being largely incapacitated, she managed to nearly cut her tail off earlier as well and stabbed through her wings so her blade was evidently had the potential to seriously hurt Ophidia but seemed to need a good strike with force or repeated attacks to do so.

>>6421908
The wings were getting damaged by our bullets, so no surprise there. Didn't remember the tail, that could be big if it was armored like her forearms. Guess Morgan's sword might have some nanite magic for a sharper edge or something.

>Chat on the way over with your men or some of the girls. Maybe you could chat a bit with Oreas to see how she was faring, or with Reika and how she felt carrying the vehicle. Maybe you could discuss the remotes with Vinisha or some of your other girls who'd like one.
With the transport vehicle turned into a nice cart for Reika to move around and the vat secured, you told everyone to keep going. After all, you didn't want to keep your scouts waiting. Thus, you led the way once more, Reika pushing the vehicle behind you. In the meantime though, you decided to ask a bit more about the remotes, asking your girls about what they remembered about their remotes. How often were they used, where were they kept, what did they look like, things like that. "I certainly remember my remote. It was a sleek little piece of technology, somewhat similar to that tablet you guys got. Albeit, with an antennae of some kind. Cerro used it to design my armour so that it looked fitting of a knight, whilst working well with my powers. Illimani didn't use my remote too often, but he might have used it when I wasn't around to increase my durability. As for where it's stored, I would unfortunately not know... I presume it was kept in Illimani's office." Morgan answered first.

"I think my remote was held onto by Cerro, since I never saw Mona using it on me. Cerro was the one who gave me my abilities whilst Mona was the one to really test them out and train me. Come to think of it, I think... Mona didn't keep a hold of my remote out of fear that Roraima or Elbrus would sneakily grab it and... y'know, do their things with me." Oreas seemed both grateful and saddened to come to this conclusion, it definitely being very concerning that Roraima or Elbrus would steal remotes to mess with subjects who weren't their own. "Trust me, Elbrus would absolutely pull a stunt like that." Sibilia would mumble, Eric even scoffing: "Those two ruined more subjects than this entire disaster probably has ruined."

This made you ask Eric and Sibilia about her remote, the two eager to talk. "Thankfully, Anderson took control of it to ensure Elbrus didn't mess with it." Eric said more happily, Sibilia rolling her eyes. "Yeah, he kept it somewhere nice and safe, such as behind a bunch of books and trinkets, forgetting he had it and that... y'know, I could use a few upgrades as well. Maybe if I was a spider subject instead, he would've kept it somewhere more obvious where he wouldn't forget it." Sibilia clearly still believed Anderson had abandoned her, or at the very least neglected her. "He could've done a better job upgrading you, but... let's not go on a tangent about that right now, Sibby." Eric suggested, Sibilia nodding and accepting the suggestion. You decided to ask Haje about her remote, surprising her. "Umm, well... I think you could ask Logan about it. He was the one who used it most often, so he probably knows where it was kept, hehe."

You then asked Reika about her remote, the manticore being a bit focused on pushing the vat still. "My... my remote? I dunno. Roraima probably has it. Not that stupid Jabal." She said bluntly, before focusing on pushing the vehicle, it being clear she was a bit busy focusing on pushing the vehicle. At least she seemed happy to do so, clearly enjoying the exercise a bit. Thus, you looked to the last subject currently with you: Vinisha. You asked her about the location of her remote, her speaking in a more hesitant tone: "I... wouldn't even know where to begin with where Andrei might have kept my remote. He was a very careful and diligent person, so I imagine he put it somewhere extremely hidden and well-protected, along with his other subject remotes. Last time I saw it though, it was when he suggested he'd try to fix the issues I have with my abilities. But, whether or not he tried, I'm not really sure." It would have been a sweet thing for Andrei to fix Vinisha. Though, it did beg the question what might have gone wrong with Vinisha that not even he could fix her...

This left you discussing the remotes with your girls, you also discussing Kenai, Idalia, Chrys, Iliara and Kaenum's remotes, given that they weren't present to discuss them now. Fortunately, it wouldn't take too long before you'd reach the exit to the storage sector, where the five subjects were waiting for you. "I presume that thing Reika's carrying around is the reason you guys took your sweet ass time getting here?" Iliara teasingly remarked, Chrys immediately asking: "Yeah, what is that thing." You explained that it was an untouched and pristine vat, something Logan was heavily interested in because he could use it to possibly make new remotes for subjects. "So, could that also mean us?" Kenai asked eagerly, you confirming such but stating it'd take a lot of effort to manage. It'd obviously not be an easy task, based on what Logan said. The girls still seemed excited though, as this was clearly an opportunity to make some changes to them in the near future.

Regardless, it was time to head forward again, with Idalia asking: "Should I head forward again to scout ahead?" Afterwards, Chrys would also elaborate on what they had spotted on the way over. "We didn't really see much on the way through the storage area. Actually, you guys probably found something more important than we did, hehe." Obviously, the girls mostly were scouting for threats, but it was indeed amusing that you found something valuable through sheer luck whilst they spotted nothing. Regardless, you were okay sending the girls forward a bit. Aside from Kaenum, who you told you had a philosophical question to. "Oh? Please, do tell me what is on your mind, Mikhail." Kaenum curiously asked, you telling the other scouts to head forward. Idalia, Chrys, Kenai and Iliara thus started heading past the checkpoint and down the long hall eastwards, you and your mean following behind at a slower pace.

You walked beside Kaenum and mentioned she had been a bit quiet compared to what she was like earlier. "Admittedly, I did not feel like my thoughts were something you and your men were interested in. Which is totally fine, by the way. As passionate as I am to share my thoughts, I know it sometimes is better to hold back as to not overwhelm or bother people." You could tell some of your men, like Mike and Arty, where pleased with the fact Kaenum willingly held back her discussion. Though, Oreas would softly respond: "You don't have to hold back all the time though, Kaenum. You can still share your thoughts when we're discussing things you feel you can share your opinion on." Kaenum smiled and nodded understandingly. "Of course, Oreas, I try to share my opinion when I think it fits. It's just that I do wish to be careful and not give unwarranted thoughts or suggestions. I also want to give people space, rather than bombarding them with my thoughts." This made you curious as to what drove her to be something of a philosopher and why she enjoyed it so much.

Kaenum pondered about the question for a while, your group quietly waiting for a response. "There are several things which intrigue me about philosophy. So many mysteries and questions to the world and the way we live our life. Why are we here? What is our purpose in life? What goals do we set for ourselves? Obviously, some of these questions are... vague and somewhat flowery, nor do they always give satisfying answers. But, I do think these questions can help people find purpose in life, to burn brighter and help others. This is especially the case for subjects, who will have far different questions about the world and existence than humans. It's this... possibility of helping them realize their purpose is, ultimately, their choice, even here and especially now, which I enjoy about philosophy. It may indeed be vague, or... perhaps even self-indulgent. But it can bring purpose to people, and help them realise more about their world and the way they experience it. Suppose that also goes hand in hand with my skills as something of a subject therapist, hehe."

Hearing this, you decided to ask her for some help with something on your mind, that being how to manage your group. Given how large the group was, there was going to be some conflicts, which made Kaenum think. “I am surprised you ask me about this, Mikhail. And though I appreciate your desire for my advice, I feel it is unneeded. You are a skilled diplomat and leader after all, and the most recent evidence of this is how you managed to get Morgan to become accepting of firearms.” Morgan smirked when Kaenum said this, clearly agreeing you had done a good job in convincing her. “Still, most of the people here are on amicable terms. If you were to find someone who works poorly with another from a rivalry or personality clash, it would be best to try and make them to talk things out, preferably naturally.” Kaenum continued optimistically.

Admittedly, it was somewhat obvious advice, but Kaenum already had pointed out that you were good with people skills. Still, Kaenum had a bit more to suggest. “If things become too unmanageable between individuals, draw a firm line. Possibly even separating them if it's bad enough. Some people will just be incompatible, yet that doesn't make them incapable of cooperation with one another. Ensuring that they can still indirectly help each other should be the goal if mending that bridge between them isn't possible in a reasonable timescale. In these cases, the best you can do is try and foster a respect for their rival or enemy, no matter how begrudging. Sometimes, that's the only spark needed to turn their rivalry more friendly." Hearing this, Mike would casually say: “So, a friendly rivalry? That’s what you mean, right?” Kaenum nodded eagerly. "Yes! Turn them from bitter and hateful rivals to less vehement competitors!" It was easier said than done, but it might be a decent option if mending the relationship truly was too difficult to manage.

Regardless, you then asked if she had any questions for you, wanting to know if she had some thoughts she had to share. Kaenum was deep in thought, before softly responding. "I suppose I have two questions on my mind. Do you believe everyone is capable of redemption? And...Where do you draw that line? Similarly, based on that line, who do you think is redeemable of those who have ill intent? The second question is... Well, I know it's selfish, risky, and you'll likely decline but...If you see Grise again... would it be possible for me to talk to her? At a distance, of course, but...I want to talk to her before anything else happens at least." This question stunned most of your group, with Artyom immediately taking a sarcastic tone. “Sure, why don’t we chat with the rabid animal intent on killing us? That seems like a brilliant idea! Maybe we should have a lovely chat with Vinella and Feng as well. I’m sure that’d also be a great idea!”

The rest of your men all seemed to agree that this was not the best of plans, with Lars even saying: “I know it’s Mik’s decision to make, but I heavily advice against this. If you knew Grise before she went... completely insane, Kaenum, then I am sorry you had to lose her like this. But, I doubt there’s much to save her with.” There was however one subject who disagreed. “What if we recreate her remote?” Oreas casually brought up, all eyes going to her. She looked around for a moment, before glancing at the vat. “We can ask Logan what he needs. We could even consider it a test run for creating new remotes. If it doesn’t work, well it means Grise will stay the way she is now. But if Logan DOES succeed...” The thought of fixing Grise with a new remote did seem intriguing. Andrei’s files did mention how she was designed to work with military forces before Roraima ruined her.

Kaenum also seemed eager about the possibility, even if it was clearly a big risk. It was perhaps something worth discussing at a later time once the vat was fixed and could be given a test run. For the time being though, your men were adamant in not wanting to interact with Grise just yet. With that in mind, you decided to ask Kaenum two more questions, the first being what she thought about the disaster and how it affected the facility. Kaenum was still a bit optimistic from the possibility of fixing Grise which Oreas brought up, though did speak in a more calm tone for your question. "It is in many ways a blessing and a curse. For many, the freedom to make their own path, to choose their own purpose, was denied to them. Many were made to be unquestioning tools or weapons. This gives them a chance to realize they are much more than that. It also means that many subjects who were abused by their caretakers or creator will be free from that torment. Free from Roraima and Elbrus. And that alone has given many subjects hope... Many people view fire as a force of destruction when in truth it is one of change. I only wish that flame didn't have to burn so many in the process."

It really was a very Kaenum-esque response to give, the other girls at least seeming to agree it did bring them a bit more freedom at the cost of lives lost. With that in mind though, you decided to hit her with a bit of a curveball, asking your final question in the form of the classic trolley problem and whether or not she’d pull the lever. Kaenum’s eagerness quickly faded, as she would look a bit more concerned. “Oh goodness, that problem.” Kaenum hesitated, before finally responding: “I think I would... I would... mmmm... not pull the lever.” Hearing this made some of your men curious and a few amused, as it was clear she was not too confident in answering such a moral dilemma. “But, that means killing 5 people, instead of just one. Isn’t that wrong?” Mike teasingly asked, Kaenum looking even more worried. “Well, I-I would like to pull the lever, but... I-I couldn’t. I can’t enact such a violent and painful death against an innocent person.”

Before your men could press her further, Kaenum took a more firm stance and actually spoke back in a surprisingly bothered tone. “I’ve always hated the trolley problem. It forces you to make two terrible decisions which both will cause grief and pain.” To this, Lars would calmly say: “Hey, relax Kaenum, it’s just a hypothetical. We’re just having a bit of fun.” Kaenum still looked a little glum. “I don’t like thinking of such choices. How would you feel if I made you hypothetically choose whom of your friends you’d sacrifice if we encounter Vinella or some other horrible threat?” For the first time since you met her, Kaenum genuinely sounded upset and a bit bothered, this entire hypothetical clearly having made her upset.

Thankfully, Kaenum quickly took a few deep breaths before nodding. “Sorry, I... I shouldn’t lash out the way I did. You and your men just were curious and... were trying to amuse yourself.” Kaenum would grab the instrument from her back, before asking you: “Is it okay if I just... play some music to myself? Just to soothe myself a little bit.” Your men were genuinely surprised by what had happened, none of you expecting her to respond THIS strongly to what was just a silly hypothetical in your mind. Then again, Kaenum probably didn’t like to be faced with such tough decisions...

>What do you do next?

>Tell Kaenum she could play some music. You obviously didn't mean to upset her so much with what you imagined was just a silly question. (Write in how you respond to Kaenum.)
>Ask Kaenum if you could still chat with her instead. You still were happy to discuss topics such as Grise, or the disaster or anthing else that was on your mind with her. (Write in what you try to discuss with Kaenum.)
>Just have some chats with the others whilst you let Kaenum cool off. It wouldn't take long before you hit the next area, so to kill what little time you had left, you could chat with the girls about their remotes or creators. Or you could talk about Kaenum's surprising outburst with the rest of your men... (Write in what you discuss and with whom.)
>Just quietly head forward. Maybe you could listen to what your men were saying on the way over to the next area, or you could just think to yourself about what you'd do once you reached the next area.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

(Alright, got this in early today after fieldwork was surprisingly shorter than yesterday. We had a lot more people in the field to help out which made it easier. Idk if I'll get a 2nd update in again today, but I'll try my best if within the next 9 hours there are enough responses.)

>>6421897
>A rather unusual curriculum.
(It's part of a setup. I'm looking at insect predation rate in wild cabbage field with Sweet Alyssum and Fennel intertwined in the field. It's quite fun, but the planting was definitely exhausting. Fortunately, the next parts of the fieldwork shouldn't be as intense... I hope.)

I did suspect that one would break her brain
>>6422032
>Tell Kaenum she could play some music. You obviously didn't mean to upset her so much with what you imagined was just a silly question.
I mean, sure, we are looking for people anyway.
The situation we find ourselves in is full of cruelties and pain and it's wholly possible we might be confronted with an impossible choice to make at some point, as much as we hope that won't be the case and work to avoid it. Like if we can only rescue some of our friends, who do we leave behind? What if we have to sacrifice someone who doesn't deserve it for the sake of everyone else? Etc. The trolley may be a clichéd hypothetical but it may prepare people for when it stops being a hypothetical.

>>6422032
> Tell Kaenum she could play some music. You obviously didn't mean to upset her so much with what you imagined was just a silly question. (Write in how you respond to Kaenum.)

Jokingly respond that the scenario isn't even that hypothetical given we *are* passing through areas where Vinella might be heading towards - and then calmly explain that although we're doing our best to prevent those worst-case scenarios from becoming reality (case in point: the number of forward scouts we sent out to minimize the likelihood of us getting ambushed by the likes of Vinella) there's never a guarantee that we wouldn't face a no-win scenario in this current situation - a tactical blunder dealing with Feng almost got us TPK'ed and was it not for us getting lucky we'd have already lost squad members when we first faced Reika (or even Caera). Yes, the only "good" solution to a no-win scenario might be preventing it from happening in the first place, but the current situation inside the facility is dire enough that the "nobody dies" scenario is a luxury (that we're constantly working towards) instead of any guarantee.

Plus, from our encounters with Reika and Sirona we can say with some certainty that we might need to intentionally maim hostile subjects to even begin to talk to them without risking the lives of others. And of course we had to put down the likes of Ophidia and Caera just to make sure they don't kill more people - if the facility was fully functional we can probably return them to containment instead having to resort to killing them, and was it not for the likes of Roraima and Elbrus we we'd probably have a lot fewer hostile/insane subjects in the first place (only Ataraxia and Anastasia were insane due to genetic failure instead of intentional design).

It is noble to be averse to hurting others and maybe even admirable to always attempt a peaceful solution no matter the odds (which is also why she's the team diplomat), but the current situation meant sometimes death and suffering might be unavoidable and the only thing we can do would be to minimize the losses instead of preventing it outright.

(Basically supporting >>6422060 but drawing more from our past experience inside the facility.)

>>6422032
>Tell Kaenum she could play some music. You obviously didn't mean to upset her so much with what you imagined was just a silly question. (Write in how you respond to Kaenum.)
Sure, if we run into Grise then Kaenum can try talking to her. It wouldn't cost us anything to try.
I'd say it is possible for most people to at least want to redeem themselves but not everyone has the strength nor the inclination to pursue it.
Moreover, redemption is not the same as absolution. You aren't immune to the consequences of your actions just because you feel remorse for them and some crimes are too great to ever forgive.

>>6422032
>Ask Kaenum if you could still chat with her instead. You still were happy to discuss topics such as Grise, or the disaster or anthing else that was on your mind with her. (Write in what you try to discuss with Kaenum.)
Who would we sacrifice to Vinella? Evander, easy. Teach him to call us lad when we're his boss.
More seriously, what's her plan to save Grise? Maybe we can workshop something together. I too wish to save everyone we can. Hell, even Feng and Vinella if it's possible. Grise may be not as tough to help as we think, I remember Reika talked about conversing with her so it's not like she's completely feral. Might not even need a remote.

>>6422271
>>6422352
Supporting these. I'm surprised Kaenum's pacifism goes to the point she'd not save people because it'd directly cause the death of someone, yet the fact she says she'd like to pull it but can't is something of a red flag to me. Is that some built in feature that she has? We probably should dig a bit deeper into the why.

>Tell Kaenum she could play some music. You obviously didn't mean to upset her so much with what you imagined was just a silly question.
You told Kaenum it was fine for her to play some music, the bird girl nodding before calmly speaking up again. "Thank you, Mikhail." She was about to grab her instrument, before you teased her by mentioning that the hypothetical about Vinella she suggested could become reality soon, which made most of your girls a bit more concerned. Kaenum let out a quiet groan before speaking calmly. "That doesn't change the fact it's not something you wish to consider, correct? Preferably, we would never have to face that scenario, given how painful of a decision it'd be." You agreed it was something you were trying to avoid, even pointing to your usage of forward scouts to prevent such a scenario. Though, you'd also admit that there was always a chance you'd stumble into a scenario where you couldn't win. You even brought up how you almost had such a scenario with Feng's forces not too long ago.

Obviously, you hoped to continue your current streak of not losing anyone, but you knew there was a good chance you'd have to make a tough decision at some point in the near future. The girls obviously weren't happy to hear this, your men not seeming to mind too much as they just accepted it. "I really hope we do not have to make those decisions." Kaenum mumbled as she already held onto her instrument, you agreeing that you hoped it'd never come to that point. Still, it was for the best to prepare for the inevitably situation that some people would have to be left behind, or wouldn't join you off-planet. Kaenum nodded understandingly, before saying: "I completely understand, Mikhail. It's just not something I like to think about. Regardless, I would still like to hear your thoughts on my request regarding Grise. Of course, I can understand if you need some time to consider the possibility, given that I imagine it won't be an easy task."

You honestly didn't mind letting Kaenum talk to Grise if you encountered her. Though, you did admit it might have to involve maiming her like you did with Reika and Sirona. Hearing this, Kaenum looked a bit more uneasy, before Alan spoke up. "Don't worry, Kaenum. Reika actually didn't mind being maimed by us. It helped us chat with her without her attacking us." Reika would also speak up whilst continuing to push the vat on the transport vehicle. "Losing my arms was stupid... so was getting my neck injured... but, it did mean Mikhail... could tell me that training was done and... I didn't have to fight them!" You also mentioned Caera and Ophidia, who couldn't be talked to because of the risk they posed, which might be something you had to do with Grise if it was unmanageable to talk with her. Lastly, you mentioned that it really was just Roraima and Elbrus who had forced the facility into this situation, something Kaenum didn't really react to aside from showing a look of disappointment.

Seeing her disappointment and hearing her starting to play her instrument, you decided to cheer her up a bit more. You remarked how noble it was that she was so averse to hurting others, finding it admirable that she always wanted to find peaceful solutions even when the odds were stacked against you. Kaenum did smile as you mentioned this. "I try to be open to the possibility of redemption and enemy forces redeeming themselves. Everyone has the capability to do the right thing. All it requires is a chance to do so." Kaenum responded, after which you mentioned how you also wanted to answer her question about redemption. You mention that you agreed redemption was something most people would want to get a chance at. Though, you also admitted your doubt that everyone was strong enough to actually seek out that redemption and improve themselves. "Well those who truly want to seek redemption might just need a bit of help. Some don't know it's possible and change is scary to most, even if for the better. But that small bit of help can be all that is required. "

Kaenum spoke reassuringly and happily, clearly believing that redemption could come easier if people were there to help out. And whilst it was true with cases like Reika, you knew that redeeming Elbrus or Roraima with 'just some help' was a very optimistic way of view things. This actually made you mention that redemption was not absolution, and that the consequences of negative actions could not always be mitigated. Not to mention, the fact that some crimes may just be too serious to forgive. "If you're talking about people such as Elbrus... I cannot blame you for feeling that way. Then again, having seen first-hand what he is like, I fear he'll never change his ways. With subjects, I am far less inclined to believe that, given how many are victims of circumstance." Kaenum responded calmly, which seemed like a fair suggestion, given just how many subjects were designed to be mindless killing machines, even though many probably didn't want to be used for such a purpose.

Regardless, things went quiet for a bit as Kaenum played her instrument and the rest of your men started to mumble a bit to each other. Though after a while, you decided to ask Kaenum what sort of plan she had for Grise. Obviously, you needed to workshop things, mentioning how you could maybe even try and communicate her without a remote. "I was hoping to try that, yes. We just need to restrain her for your safety, then I can try and let her know that everything is fine and she is safe with me." Afterwards, Chrys would raise her hand and spoke eagerly. "I can maybe try and put her to sleep! That way, we don't need to injure her and we can safely restrain her!" Kaenum was clearly in favour of this suggestion, nodding along and looking for what the rest of your group would say.

Though, so far, most of your men didn't seem sure what to add to the suggestion, given that saving Grise was probably not something high up on their priority list right now...

>What do you do next?

>Continue workshopping how you'd save Grise, when you could try and do this and what you'd need. Maybe your men could get involved with the discussion, or you could just keep it between you, Kaenum and whoever else was interested. (Write in what you discuss regarding Grise.)
>Chat a little bit more with your men about something else that was on your mind. The discussion with Kaenum had been fun and given you some new ideas for in the future, but there were other points of interest you wanted to discuss still. (Write in what you discuss and with whom.)
>Just quietly head forward, perhaps listening to Annie on the radio or Kaenum's musical skills. It probably wouldn't take long before you reached the next sector and reunite with your scouts.
>Something else...

>>6422896
>Continue workshopping how you'd save Grise, when you could try and do this and what you'd need. Maybe your men could get involved with the discussion, or you could just keep it between you, Kaenum and whoever else was interested.
We're going to have a lot on our plate for the foreseeable future and Grise is going to have to slot into the priority list somewhere - we'll try at some point but it probably won't be soon short of a random encounter. She can try communication at her own risk but we must operate on the likely assumption that Grise is mindless and will have to be violently subdued and is too strong to safely restrain. Unless she somehow manages to talk her down, the only way this extremely dangerous and violent individual who has attacked us before and may hold a grudge on top of it all is coming with us is when she is made physically incapable of harming us (by way of a snapped neck and shattered jaw at minimum), especially if we have to spend many hours dragging her across the facility to throw into a vat. While I'd rather not have to maim her, the safety of both ourselves and everyone else not called Grise unfortunately trumps any emotional sensibilities around her that we do not have the luxury of indulging.

-----

So, uh, what are we going to do about Haje not knowing Mona is dead? She's going to find out eventually if we don't tell her at some point and the crashout is going to be spectacular given her already fragile mental state.

>>6422896
>Continue workshopping how you'd save Grise, when you could try and do this and what you'd need. Maybe your men could get involved with the discussion, or you could just keep it between you, Kaenum and whoever else was interested. (Write in what you discuss regarding Grise.)
She was pretty close with Reika, right? Make sure she gets an opportunity to talk to Grise and win her over too.

File: Long spoder buk.png (96 KB, 400x400)

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Kimmy stumbled upon a long buk about spoder on the table. Note galore, though it's seem to be just a cover-up for a fanfic that Anderson wrote down. How horrifying, indeed.

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>>6422997
Off to the burning bin it's go..
She already copy it into digital format already to skim through it, later.

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>>6422998
While, Kimmy reading that fanfic. She did some digging around onto Anderson's folder's off to the side and finds a random well-dressed spoder png and many other stuffs.

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>>6422999
She respin the fic a bit differently compare to the original that Anderson wrote when live reading.
It's was decent lewd fic to say at least. Kimmy seem to like it.

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>>6423004
Oh look, Nicola's here somehow..

>>6422896
Supporting >>6422930

I think a potential issue with Grise is that Roraima has apparently made her mentally retarded to the point that she's basically just an animal running off of instinct and training. So if we restored her mind with a remote, would she even be able to handle the weight of suddenly comprehending everything she's gone through and done? A problem for later, maybe.

>>6422896
> Continue workshopping how you'd save Grise, when you could try and do this and what you'd need. Maybe your men could get involved with the discussion, or you could just keep it between you, Kaenum and whoever else was interested. (Write in what you discuss regarding Grise.)

Definitely Reika in the front with Kaenum, Reika being her friend and all.

In case Grise is hostile to even Kaenum and Reika: Kaenum retreats, Morgan and Idalia (plus Artyom and maybe Sibilia) would begin targeting Grise's joints to delimb her and prevent her from attacking others later; Kenai can probably help the other combat subjects restraining Grise. Shattering Grise's jaw would prevent her from talking but IIRC most Roraima subjects are a lot less threatening once they're missing a few limbs and chained to a flatbed.

>>6423179
The issue with Grise is that her chomper is her primary weapon. If she manages to lunge at someone whem ostensibly restrained like Ophidia did she could cause nasty injuries and not just that but there's also her venom to consider. Her teeth nicking someone is a major hazard and if she gets the wrong person in the party the consequences could be catastrophic. Breaking her jaw would make it much more difficult for her to engage in opportunistic biting of stray fingers.

Also for that reason, we should never put Reika anywhere near Grise and, preferably, not engage her in melee at all. If she gets a good bite in on Reika, we'll soon have two rabid animals to deal with.

>>6423085
On a technicality if her mind was hijacked by a literal psychopath then she's not really responsible for all what she had done is she? (Granted, I'm pretty sure there's a *reason* why she's still instinctively hates Roraima with whatever little shred of sapience she still clung on to.)

But yeah, the trauma's gonna be real heavy if she's ever restored to the "big K9 doggo" pre-Roraima state and... welp, Kaenum's right here and we'll do our damnedest to make sure Roraima wouldn't be anywhere near her new remote. Wouldn't say no to a second Kenai though.

>>6423196
So Morgan and Sibilia in front of Reika, and maybe shove the Drakescale shield (or some other Morgan-reinforced metal) into Grise's mouth then. The key is to leave a channel of communication open in case she can still communicate in any meaningful manner (guess we REALLY need to ask Reika to clarify whether they were friends before or after Roraima turned Grise rabid, and what that "friendship" entailed) and I'm pretty sure she'd have problems lunging at anyone after she's missing at least an arm and a leg.

Good catch on the venom though - Sesia had shown that subject venom can and will affect fellow subjects (and given Roraima and Elbrus we sorta have to assume the worst), and Ophidia showed Reika can and will be hurt by a fellow high strength subject (if only non-critically, but with venom anything that can break her skin would be a problem) - I'm now just glad Chloe can't infect other subjects with her spores... or at least I hope.

>>6423228
I don't think she's capable of communication so it's a bit pointless but if you're really insistent then just anything that physically prevents her from biting like a muzzle or bit will do. I'm taking no chances with her.

Morgan and Sibby are really the only ones who I'd trust to be exposed to her and her teeth will just break on Sibby. Ideally we deal with her at a distance using ranged weaponry and subject attacks and use only them two to fend her off.


Complete aside, RE Mona, I do want to ask Kaenum about how and when to break this news to her. We need to tell her but we can't do it if she's going to have an emotionak breakdown here when we can't afford it.

>>6423249
Welp, I'm not saying no to putting a HEAT warhead through her center mass if/when Grise is proven to be incapable of communication. Unless we can readily make remotes for non-Logan subjects the whole "Grise salvation plan" would be a moot point either way and if anything we'd rather not run into her AT ALL before we recruit more firearm-proficient subjects (esp. those with high-powered weapons). Especially because both options for ending her threat for good (killing her outright or subduing her and rebuilding her back to original specs assuming it's even possible) would likely require chasing her down with high-agility AMR-proficient subjects and Katya is currently with France's group and isn't exactly likely to be with our group at all times in the future either.

Definitely ask Kaenum about how to handle the Mona situation.

>>6423418
>Definitely ask Kaenum about how to handle the Mona situation.
This is a good idea, maybe even have her with us when we break the news.

>Continue workshopping how you'd save Grise, when you could try and do this and what you'd need. Maybe your men could get involved with the discussion, or you could just keep it between you, Kaenum and whoever else was interested.
Whilst Chrys had given one suggestion to help Grise from causing trouble to you and your men, you still knew there was more to discuss. Obviously, saving Grise would have to come at a later time, which you readily admitted to Kaenum. "I understand. You encountered her in the frozen sector, correct? It is quite a way from here, so it will probably take time to head back there and find her again." Kaenum responded in turn, after which you mentioned that she could try and talk to Grise at her own risk. You did have your doubts that Grise would understand Kaenum, given her animalistic and violent nature. Kaenum nodded softly, looking rather disappointed as she tried to play her instrument yet again, yet still listening along to what you had to say. In the likely situation that Kaenum couldn't talk Grise down, you suggested having Reika do the job, much to the surprise of your men.

"Reika? Talking down Grise? I'm not sure that's... the best idea. No offense, Mik, Reika." Artyom said in mild disbelief, Reika not seeming to really understand yet seeming mildly curious as to why you suggested her for the job. You brought up that Reika and Grise knew each other, looking over to Reika to hear what she had to say. "Yeah, I fought her a couple of times! She was pretty stupid and mean to me, constantly trying to attack me... But, I also now know that is because of Roraima being stupid to her or something. If you think I can talk to her, I wouldn't mind trying to." You did start to hesitate, given how Reika seemed to not have the best relationship with Grise. And considering the effects of Grise's bite, perhaps it was for the best Reika did not try to go for a diplomatic role, lest you end up with two murderous rabid animals chasing after you.

With that in mind, you decided to discuss combat strategies, since incapacitating her perhaps was the best option you had. "It worked with Reika, didn't it? Maybe it'll work with Grise as well." Anon mentioned as well, Reika ironically enough even nodding along in agreement. You believed snapping her neck with Katya's help could do well, or simply destroying her legs and arms, making it impossible for her to really fight back properly. Though if that proved difficult, you'd certainly take your safety over Grise's survival, even if that meant something a bit more lethal. You did also suggest having Idalia and Reika attack, even though the existing fear of Reika being bitten still lingered in your mind. Sibilia also came to mind, given her easy resistance to being bitten. "You know, I could just throw myself at her and pin her down. For all we know, she won't be able to lift me up, hehe." Sibilia responded to that suggestion, which could work given how effective it was against Ophidia.

Kenai also came to mind, given her speed and strength, perhaps allowing her to restrain her. You also suggested shattering Grise's jaw, since this could perhaps disable her ability to bite, which could certainly reduce the risk of getting close to her. "Once she's restrained, I could form a metal mask around her mouth to really ensure she can't bite. Or perhaps some steel wire she can't bite through." Morgan suggested, as it seemed you had a variety of tools you could use. But even then, it was going to be an uneasy battle. For the time being, you decided to settle with what you discussed for now, not wanting to dwell on it too much. Your men did keep discussing Grise and her abilities, even chatting with Reika a bit. Kaenum had gone mostly quiet by now, just playing her instrument as you kept travelling down the dark tunnel. However, you soon got beside Kaenum and quietly asked her about an issue you had: You needed to tell Haje about Mona's death.

"Hmmm, why not tell her now? I believe it might be for the best not to hide the truth from her too much." Kaenum suggested, you agreeing it was important to tell her, but that you also didn't want to have her breakdown right in the middle of your mission. Kaenum hesitated, before asking: "It is almost night, correct?" You knowing it was indeed starting to get time to set up a base somewhere soon enough. "Once we are settled down at our temporary base for the night, you should tell her. It'll give her the opportunity to talk with other Mona subjects as well as let her have people around her to support her." It was probably for the best, especially since there was a good chance Haje would figure out eventually that Mona had passed away already. You thanked Kaenum for the advice, her quickly nodding before just quietly going back to her instrument. By now, it was clear Kaenum needed to soothe herself a bit by playing her instrument. But, you knew she soon had to maybe quiet down, as you saw your scouts in the distance.

Chrys, Kenai and Iliara were waiting at the entrance to the next sector, you already noticing that the next sector wasn't an ordinary office. For starters, dim light came from the space, meaning either the place somehow had a power source which still worked, or that someone had brought one in to replace the damaged ones. As you reached the entrance, you found that the floor was completely dark, covered in a thick layer of what appeared to be dirt. This dirt had come from the nearby chambers, of which most had been broken open. The chambers all contained a variety of plants. None of them were crops used for consumption, instead all being ornamental or wild foliage. Though, the overgrowth thankfully wasn't too extreme, most plants only barely creeping out of the chambers. However, what was surprising was that, aside from the dirt and broken windows to chambers, the place looked somewhat clean. There was no rubble, no signs of looting or anything.

"Looks like we found ourselves a miniature green sector, perhaps used for testing or something like that." Iliara suggested, Kenai seeming a bit more bothered as she quietly panted. "It's... warm in here. I don't like it at all." Though it wouldn't take long before someone noticed one of your girls was missing. "Where's Idalia? Did she already move forward?" Lars asked, to which Chrys calmly responded: "She decided to head a little bit further forward with her camouflage. She said she wouldn't go too far ahead." Looking around, you saw that there were three main paths you could take, one left, one right and one straight ahead. There were also some industrial catwalks above you, but they weren't all too far above you or your men. At least compared to the catwalks you had traversed previously.

>What do you do next?

>Explore the lobby for any hints about what this place is, why it was the way it was and what path would be the quickest to move further ahead. Maybe there was a reception desk you could check out? (Write in what you look for around the lobby.)
>Ask your girls for advice. Surely, some would know more about this green sector, what it was about and why it was in the state it currently was in. (Write in who you talk to and what you ask.)
>Just split up and go exploring. You had plenty of combat forces by your side that splitting up and covering a lot of ground wouldn't be too dangerous. (Write in how you split up.)
>Just head straight ahead to hopefully get to the other side of this sector ASAP. It wasn't worth to stay here that much longer and get sidetracked even further.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6423007
(Oh god, of course Kimmy foun MY spider smut... At least she didn't tell the full thing and spun it into something more wholeso- Oh FUCK, uhhhh, hi Nicola? What are you doing here?)

>>6423920
Huh, I thought Reika and Grise got along better based on this bit from thread 10.

>Still, this did make you wonder if she knew any other dangerous subjects from Roraima who were maybe out and about. You even brought up Grise, which made Reika look more irritated. "Grise is annoying! She's so stupid and constantly goes on about blood and stalking! She also talks stupidly and constantly mentions killing Roraima!"

Guess I was wrong :(
If I'm also wrong about how feral Grise is, and she's not capable of conversation as the above quote implies, I'd rather not confront her until the remote to fix her is complete or attempted and ruled impossible.

>>6423924
>Just split up and go exploring. You had plenty of combat forces by your side that splitting up and covering a lot of ground wouldn't be too dangerous. (Write in how you split up.)
Idalia's scouting ahead and will alert us of danger, so we can just let everyone fan out and search the sector.

>>6423924
>Explore the lobby for any hints about what this place is, why it was the way it was and what path would be the quickest to move further ahead. Maybe there was a reception desk you could check out?
Any kind of computer. Power means it's accessible and we can have a poke around to see what they were doing here and who lived here. Also if there's a way to access the CCTV here since that will have been running too or any paperwork left around.
>Just split up and go exploring. You had plenty of combat forces by your side that splitting up and covering a lot of ground wouldn't be too dangerous.
Usual rules. Split up, but don't wander off. Every group has a combat-capable subject with them.

>>6423924
>>6423924
> Explore the lobby for any hints about what this place is, why it was the way it was and what path would be the quickest to move further ahead. Maybe there was a reception desk you could check out? (Write in what you look for around the lobby.)

We need information, easy as that. Name plaques, files, electronic devices, anything that could help us discern the original purpose of this place (plus who - and what - worked here) sounds mighty fine right now.

> Ask your girls for advice. Surely, some would know more about this green sector, what it was about and why it was in the state it currently was in. (Write in who you talk to and what you ask.)

Personally I'd just ask everyone where we are and if anybody knows who might be here.
Given our current location and the direction of where various subjects are last spotted... the power source might have been repaired/replaced by CF-40 (last spotted west of the combat sector), but the overgrowth of plant life might suggest VV-35 which was known to be violently overprotective of her plants (the two other subjects with control over plant life, FF-68 Hegemone and PF-4), were last spotted in the green sector and thus likely closer to the middle-north parts of the facility instead of southwest where we currently are), and we did recover medical files related to VV-35 on the same level we currently are on. There are also two plant-based subjects with unknown whereabouts (Jasmine the "the//rapist" and VL-60 Tammy) and both are degenerate Elbr*s subjects so it's probably better to stay really cautious and make sure to not step on any plants here. Also get the melee subjects ready to assist in case the plants here turns out to be more ambulatory than they should (aka if PF-4 is somehow here).

> Something else...
Personally I'd rather not split up any more than necessary - Chrys, Kaenum, and Iliara can take off and give us a literal bird's eye view of most of this sector, but I'd rather have the human complement (plus non-flying subjects) close together and ready to engage potential hostiles at a moment's notice.

------

>>6423007
I see why Anderson escaped off-planet when/before the facility exploded, and decided to put himself under the mercy of the TEF instead of remaining inside the facility for one more day...

(Personal headcanon: a few threads back someone mentioned Elbrus might have his depravity enhanced by one of his subjects... and Jasmine just happens to fits the bill perfectly.)

>>6424026
>a few threads back someone mentioned Elbrus might have his depravity enhanced by one of his subjects
As I remember it wasn't just idle speculation but canon - some character mentioned Elbrus was just normal brilliant when he first got here, and only later did he degrade to depraved brilliant.

>Explore the lobby for any hints about what this place is, why it was the way it was and what path would be the quickest to move further ahead. Maybe there was a reception desk you could check out?
>Ask your girls for advice. Surely, some would know more about this green sector, what it was about and why it was in the state it currently was in.
Not wanting to rush in or split up extremely suddenly, you decided to first look around the reception area with your group. You'd tell your men to look for computers, offices or even security posts. Things which would help you figure out what this sector was about, who was here, why the electricity was on and other useful intel. Your men and the girls nodded, starting to look around the place. You headed to the reception immediately, finding that most of the computers looked to be in pristine condition to use. Immediately, you tried to turn it on, but found that it wouldn't. Fortunately, you quickly found that the main reason was because it and none of the other smaller appliances were plugged in, surprisingly enough.

Plugging them all in did allow you to turn them on, you soon being met with a boot up screen. Though as the device started to load, you'd hear Sigit from the other side of the room. "There's a closet here with tons of broken computers, electronics and equipment just... thrown in it." Derek would also speak up, doing so in a more disappointed tone. "Some of these things have really been thrown in here with little caution. So I doubt we'll be able to salvage much from here. Not sure who did this or why, but it has left most of this stuff unusable, I'm afraid." Afterwards, Oreas spoke up as well as she carefully walked up to one of the lights in the wall. "I can... sense a pretty weak electrical current in this place. There's not a whole lot of power going through here. It does seem to come from a consistent source. It's not some small battery powering this place."

In the meantime, you found the computer had finally finished loading. However, instead of being met with a log-in screen, you saw that the computer still had to be set up. The operating system, security, connecting it to the facility servers, all still had to be done. Unfortunately, you didn't really know how to do these things, and even Ignacy who was nearby would seem unsure about setting everything up and actually connecting the thing to the facility domain without a lot of know-how about the facility's computer network. Regardless, you'd look for paperwork, and did thankfully find a few cabinets with notes about what the purpose was of this place. It seemed that this green sector was mostly for creating ornamental plants for test and containment chambers. It also seemed to be designed as a space for staff and scientists, providing semi-fresh oxygen into the facility without having to constantly pump in air from the surface. Though, intel about subjects which stayed here was sadly non-existent.

With that in mind, you decided to ask your girls about this place, wanting to know who or what might be staying here. You already had a few ideas, mentioning CF-40 from the tablet, VV-35 and Jasmine who were both mentioned by Thalia, as well as Tammy who was mentioned by Landon. Jasmine and Tammy both were particularly troublesome in your mind, given them being prolific Elbrus subjects. If they were down here, then it meant having to be cautious and avoid damaging plants. The other plant subjects which were on your mind, such as PF-4, didn't seem likely to be here given they were last spotted in the green sector. The girls unfortunately didn't seem to know much about what was going on, but did have a few thoughts which could inform you about this place. "I doubt Jasmine or Tammy are responsible for what's going on around here. It seems too distant from people they'd want to target." Sibilia would loudly and somewhat confidently say from the other side of the room.

"Kuzu might be around here, but I do somewhat doubt she set up all of this. She doesn't seem like the type to do so, unless if she really wants to help the plants grow better." Iliara also responded, after which you waited to hear what the other girls had to say. Unfortunately, after a bit of mumbling amongst the girls, it became clear that they really didn't know who could possibly be around here to set this all up. Still, you knew a bit thanks to your exploration here. Someone had set up entirely new computers around here and stuffed old and broken equipment into a nearby chamber. There was a continuous power source from some kind of generator, and the place had been tidied up aside from the dirt everywhere. With that in mind, you decided it was probably for the best you stopped exploring this part and move forward.

>Just split up and go exploring. You had plenty of combat forces by your side that splitting up and covering a lot of ground wouldn't be too dangerous.
With Idalia already moving ahead, you felt that the forward path would be pretty safe already, given that she'd be able to alert you of danger ahead. Thus, you'd tell everyone they were free to split up. Albeit, so long as they had a combat capable subject by their side. You also wanted Chrys, Kaenum and Iliara to head forward to give a bird's eye view of the sector. "Sounds good to me." Chrys mumbled, as it seemed you'd divide into three teams. Chrys would head forward to try and catch up with Idalia, with Morgan there to support her as the main combat subject. The second team would be led by Kaenum with Kenai to fight if things went wrong. The third team was Iliara with Reika, even though Reika was still busy pushing the carrier vehicle around. As for your men and the other girls, they'd split evenly over these three teams, acting as the main combat forces to deal with whatever hostiles were down here. "You heard Mikhail, split up, everyone!" Anon would right away remark, as everyone started forming teams.

Eventually, you had your three teams. The forward team was Chrys, Morgan, Vinisha, Antonin, Ignacy, Mike. The team heading left consisted of Kaenum, Kenai, Sibilia, Haje, Eric, Artyom, Sigit. Lastly, there was the team heading right was led by Iliara with Reika, Oreas, Derek, Lars, Anon, Alan, Reika continuing to carry the vehicle. With that in mind, you'd tell everyone to keep their radios on to update each other on what you found, as you joined the group heading forward to even out each group. Thus, you started heading forward, keeping your eyes open for more objects of interest...

>What do you do next?

>Look for something specific as you travelled further forward. Maybe there were some types of storage or utility rooms around which you were interested in. (Write in what you look for.)
>Chat with the members of your subgroup to hear what their theories were about this place and who might be here. Or to chat about something else that was on your mind. (Write in what you discuss.)
>Suggest some things to the other subgroups. Maybe tell your men what to look for, or give the others some tips on how they could maybe search the place. (Write in what you tell the other groups before heading forward.)
>Just quickly and quietly head forward. This sector wasn't too large, so if you were quick, you could get through here without it taking too much time.
>Something else...

File: level 3.png (66 KB, 1300x701)

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>>6424420
>Suggest some things to the other subgroups. Maybe tell your men what to look for, or give the others some tips on how they could maybe search the place.
Can Oreas help in tracking the power to its source for some clues?
Sibby keeps her thermal mode on to see through those plants, as well as anyone else with a thermal scope etc.
Left and right teams, stick their heads into any side rooms for any signs of habitation
Whoever has the drone, send it up to search around from above on thermals as well.

I wonder if Annie would know about CF-40, she seems like the kind of subject she might do stuff with.
Also, who's Kuzu? VV-35?

-----

unrelated, posting the updated level map for the reference of that one anon who won't use the doc

>>6424420
Supporting >>6424445

>>6424420
>>6424445
+2

>>6424420
>>Chat with the members of your subgroup to hear what their theories were about this place and who might be here. Or to chat about something else that was on your mind. (Write in what you discuss.)
>Discuss who and what might be here.

>Suggest some things to the other subgroups. Maybe tell your men what to look for, or give the others some tips on how they could maybe search the place.
You really didn't have too many plans on how you'd look around whilst split up. But, you did ask Oreas if she could try and track down the power source with her abilities before you split up. "I'll try. I can sense a bit of the power source, but I don't know if I will be able to track it down completely." Oreas responded a little hesitantly, after which you asked Sibilia to use her thermal vision to see through the plants. She could check for any survivors or subjects hiding within the green. "You got it." Sibilia said, her tapping her visor. Lastly, you told both the team heading left and right to be on to actually check each room for signs of habitation. You imagined that whoever was staying her would probably have a place to stay at away from the main hallway running through the sector. "This is going to take a while, I imagine..." Arty calmly responded, as you thus led your men forward, Reika pushing the vehicle down the right path whilst you headed forward.

>Chat with the members of your subgroup to hear what their theories were about this place and who might be here. Or to chat about something else that was on your mind.
As you and your group quietly headed forward, you'd quickly stumble onto more chambers, finding each to be relatively similar to the last. Though what was surprising was that some of the chambers had been modified to resemble test chambers you walked past. Most of these modifications were rather makeshift and made with whatever was available, such as tables being used for obstacles, electronic wires being used to create patterns on the floor and even what appeared to be firing ranges made out of wall panels with markers on them. They were extremely simple and cheaply made though, but their purpose as recreated test chambers were obvious to you and your men.

"I'm starting to think whoever is down here really likes testing." Mike mumbled, after which Igancy bemusedly asked: "Bit strange to rebuild a bunch of testing chambers when the training sector isn't too far from here." This made you ask Chrys, Morgan and Vinisha who they thought could be down here. "I'm really not sure... I don't know any test subjects who would be this eager to set this all up. I don't know any subject this eager to continue with tests." Chrys mumbled hesitantly, which made Vinisha speak up curiously. "I... do remember Andrei mentioning how... Tengri had a subject who was convinced she was creating tests. Someone similar to Chloe in some way? Maybe it could be them?" You obviously hoped whoever was down here wasn't like Chloe, but since this subject was a Tengri subject, there was a good chance she was actually reasonable. Soon after though, Morgan also chimed in, naming not one but two subjects who she believed could be responsible for the very odd situation this place was in.

"I believe this to either be the work of Amby Velasci. You mentioned finding her file recently, Mikhail, and seeing this place reminded me of her, given how at home she felt doing tests. The only issue with Amby is that... she is a mostly aquatic subject, so I do doubt that she managed to find her way here. The other subject who I believe could be responsible is Jeanne. She's a rather sweet subject designed by Mona and Cerro somewhat resembling me, who was created not too long before the disaster struck. I can imagine her wanting to create more training grounds to test her abilities." It seemed this Jeanne was a likely candidate along with the Chloe-like subject, though you did also consider CF-40 given where she was located according to the tablet. "Whoever it might be, they probably aren't the brightest subject around, considering just how close-by the testing sector is." Ignacy responded in turn, as you and your men passed by more and more chambers.

After a few more minutes of wandering forward though, you'd hear Anon over the radio. "Guys, can you hear me?" You and the rest of your men told Anon you could hear him, at which point Anon announced: "We found the power source to this sector. Someone got some pretty basic generators and connected them to the light system, it seems. It's very rudimentary however, and whoever set this up clearly isn't the smartest because they forgot to attach the generator to... a bunch of other important things, such as surveillance and test-chamber control systems. Even though those connections are right beside the input for the lights in this entire sector." At least your men had found the power source for the time being, and figured out that whoever was here was really not the best at setting everything up.

>What do you do next?

>Ask Anon to do something with the power source. He could turn it off and disable all lights in this sector, making it more difficult to be spotted. That, or whoever was down here could be lured over if he turned off the generator. (Write in what you tell Anon and his group to do.)
>Start calling out to whoever was here. It didn't seem like whoever was here was much of a threat. Besides, you had Morgan and Vinisha and her rocket launcher by your side in case whoever showed up ended up being a threat. (Write in how you call out whoever is nearby.)
>Just quietly keep going and head to the other side of the miniature green sector. You'd probably find whoever was down here by just looking around long enough. And if you didn't find anyone, you and your men could just keep going further forward.
>Discuss more with Chrys, Morgan, Vinisha, Antonin, Ignacy and Mike. Maybe Morgan could tell more about Jeanne, or Ignacy, Antonin and Mike could share their thoughts about what was going on in this sector. (Write in what you discuss.)
>Something else...

>>6425014
>>Ask Anon to do something with the power source. He could turn it off and disable all lights in this sector, making it more difficult to be spotted. That, or whoever was down here could be lured over if he turned off the generator. (Write in what you tell Anon and his group to do.)
>Turn off the generator! Lure the inhabitant!

>>6425014
>Ask Anon to do something with the power source. He could turn it off and disable all lights in this sector, making it more difficult to be spotted. That, or whoever was down here could be lured over if he turned off the generator.
Unplug it and wait nearby to see if anyone comes to check it out. Probably no use plugging in the CCTV since I imagine the security station PC got chucked on the heap with the rest.
>Discuss more with Chrys, Morgan, Vinisha, Antonin, Ignacy and Mike. Maybe Morgan could tell more about Jeanne, or Ignacy, Antonin and Mike could share their thoughts about what was going on in this sector.
Tell us about Jeanne. Is she another lizard knight of honour and valour?
What about Mica? She might fit the bill, though dunno if anyone here knows much about her.

>>6425014
>Ask Anon to do something with the power source. He could turn it off and disable all lights in this sector, making it more difficult to be spotted. That, or whoever was down here could be lured over if he turned off the generator. (Write in what you tell Anon and his group to do.)
Hook up the surveillance system. Grant Annie eyes in the area and she'll be able to tell us everything of interest.

>>6425014
> Discuss more with Chrys, Morgan, Vinisha, Antonin, Ignacy and Mike. Maybe Morgan could tell more about Jeanne, or Ignacy, Antonin and Mike could share their thoughts about what was going on in this sector. (Write in what you discuss.)

Ask Morgan about Jeanne as this is a subject we know little about. Maybe also ask her about Amby's physical description as well.

We know with some certainty that the Tengri subject Vinisha mentioned is FN-38 Mica Reza (shroom girl, "assistant researcher", not a Catherine/Jabal subject). The test chamber is unlikely to be for AX-50 Amby Velasci given she's probably not tested for working with terrestrial plants and the file we recovered was about her ability to sense chemicals in water with her gills.

> Ask Anon to do something with the power source. He could turn it off and disable all lights in this sector, making it more difficult to be spotted. That, or whoever was down here could be lured over if he turned off the generator. (Write in what you tell Anon and his group to do.)

Supporting >>6425058 on hooking up the CCTV and maybe ask Annie / Logan how to set those things up.

.... right, how much charge does Oreas currently have? If she's feeling peckish she can definitely top up on electricity here.

(Doubt switching off lights and/or generators would help us much given it could easily blind our own scouts and be perceived as a hostile action. Plus none of the test-junkies sounds like the hostile sort.)

>>6425014
Addendum to >>6425184: ask Iliara who "Kuzu" is.

>Ask Anon to do something with the power source. He could turn it off and disable all lights in this sector, making it more difficult to be spotted. That, or whoever was down here could be lured over if he turned off the generator.
With Anon's group having found the generator, you decided to mess around with it a bit. You asked him to disable the generator as to turn off the lights. "Take it you got a plan of some kind?" Anon asked right away, trusting that you had a good reason to suggest this. You mentioned how turning it off could lure the inhabitants of this place over, allowing you to jump them. Furthermore, you also asked him to hook the generator up to the surveillance system, after which your location could be shared with Annie and she could try and get into the system. "I'll try. I'll let her know once the system is active so she can take a look. Any suggestions on what to do if whoever's down here does show themselves?" Anon continued, you simply telling him to hide nearby if possible.

"Alright, here's hoping nothing goes wrong. Derek, pull the plug on the light systems and plug it into the CCTV system once I've given the go-ahead. We'll first contact Annie. Better to do so before we disable everything and risk having someone get over here and hearing us." Anon remarked, after which you told him that Oreas could feed on the generator, since she might just need a bit more energy to help her regenerate. "Hmmm, I'll let her know. Oreas, Mik suggested you get some energy from the generator." Anon again responded, you not hearing anything from Oreas, but at least getting quick confirmation from Anon. "Alright, she said she'd give it a taste. Anything else?" You actually remembered Iliara mentioning Kuzu not too long ago, who wasn't a subject you had heard of before. Telling Anon about this made him respond: "Hmm, Iliara, Mik is asking about this Kuzu you mentioned before. Who is she exactly? I don't think it's noted down in our files."

There was a moment of silence, before you heard Iliara speak to you directly, probably having grabbed the tablet from Anon. "Kuzu Maloo, codename PF-4. Average sized green fairy girl, creates vines to act as tripwires, something of a little shit. Though, I doubt she's hear, since we would've absolutely seen signs of her presence by now if she was in fact here." You thanked Iliara for the clarification, after which you told Anon that you'd quickly contact the other group led by Artyom and Kenai to let them know what the plan was. "Understood. We'll disable the lights within a minute. We'll try to contact you immediately if something goes wrong or we end up in combat." Thus, you'd connect to the frequency Arty was on, letting him know what Anon was up to as a little heads up. "Alright, we'll keep looking for whoever might be around here." And with that, you turned off the radio, it not taking much longer before the lights suddenly died and the sector was plunged into darkness.

>Discuss more with Chrys, Morgan, Vinisha, Antonin, Ignacy and Mike. Maybe Morgan could tell more about Jeanne, or Ignacy, Antonin and Mike could share their thoughts about what was going on in this sector.
As you and your men kept exploring and waiting for a message from Anon, you decided to use the opportunity to chat a bit more with Morgan, since she had just mentioned Jeanne. You asked if she was another lizard knight who valued honour and the knightly code, making Morgan scoff. "She is a drake subject akin to myself, yes. And, whilst not as well-versed in chivalry as I am, I did teach her about the knightly code, which she hopefully has taken to heart just as I have. Admittedly, we only had a small number of interactions, and she is still young as mentioned before, so perhaps she is a little different from me." Upon hearing this, Ignacy teasingly mumbled: "Let's hope she didn't inherit your mild stubbornness either." Making some of the group chuckle whilst Morgan looked mildly annoyed.

You then asked Morgan about Amby, wanting a physical description. "I recall her having pink skin, a plump tail somewhat akin to my own, and these elegant frills on the side of her head." Hearing this made Vinisha speak eagerly. "That... sounds like an axolotl to me. Funny, I'm... also sorta part axolotl. At least, that is what Andrei remarked about my regenerative abilities." With it basically confirmed that Amby was an axolotl subject, your suspicions that she wasn't setting up these tests was pretty much guaranteed in your mind. But, that still left the mushroom girl who Vinisha mentioned. You actually asked Vinisha about her and if it was Mica who Merse had previously mentioned over the radio. "Mica... I... think that was her, yes. Maybe she could be the one responsible for everything here?" Vinisha answered, you asking for further details regarding Mica. Though unfortunately, Vinisha seemed rather blank. "I... just know she's somehow like Chloe the mushroom subject. That's it."

You and your men would speculate a bit as you kept looking around. Though eventually, you'd hear Anon over the radio, who spoke out of breath. "Mik? Mik? We found the subject down here." You and your men all immediately shifted your attention on the radio, with Chrys worriedly asking: "You sound like you're in trouble. Is everything okay?" Anon thankfully responded with: "No, no, just... the encounter was tense for a moment. She demanded to know who we were, until she saw Reika which made her calm down significantly. It seems Reika knows who she is and is friends with her." You did hear some chatter in the background, at which point Alan interrupted. "Everything's okay here, Mik! Her name's Codaline or, uhhh, BK-47 or something?" Afterwards, Anon took the radio again and added: "Codaline asked us to turn the lights back on since it makes her feel like, uhhh, things are 'normal', as she put it. Would that be alright?"

Your group was both relieved and a bit perplexed by the news. It was nice that you had encountered someone who was friends with Reika, the manticore for once being a diplomatic force rather than a physical one. But, the reasoning for turning the lights seemed a little odd. It wasn't like things could ever return to 'normal' after all, unless if Codaline had some strange idea as to what 'normal' was. Regardless, it was probably for the best to have a proper meeting with Codaline to figure out what she was doing down here and if she knew about what the deal was with this place. She likely was the person responsible for things being the way they were down here...

>What do you do next?

>Tell Anon to bring Codaline and the rest of his group to the eastern entrance to this sector. You could reunite with the rest of your group, Idalia and Anon's group and have a proper in person meeting with her further forward.
>Head back to where Anon and the others had met Codaline. It was maybe a bit of a weird diversion to head all the way back, but it was better to just meet Codaline near where she was found.
>Prepare some questions for Codaline on the way over which you could immediately ask once you met her. Obviously, there were the basic questions, but you could also ask her about this location, her relation with Reika and how she was faring. (Write in what questions you'll ask her once you meet her.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6425421
>Head back to where Anon and the others had met Codaline. It was maybe a bit of a weird diversion to head all the way back, but it was better to just meet Codaline near where she was found.
Reika with the save.

>Prepare some questions for Codaline on the way over which you could immediately ask once you met her. Obviously, there were the basic questions, but you could also ask her about this location, her relation with Reika and how she was faring. (Write in what questions you'll ask her once you meet her.)
How can we help you accept reality?

>>6425421
>Tell Anon to bring Codaline and the rest of his group to the eastern entrance to this sector. You could reunite with the rest of your group, Idalia and Anon's group and have a proper in person meeting with her further forward.
Might as well turn the lights back on too.

>>6425421
> Something else...

See if we can power both the cameras and the lights. The lights would not be necessary if/when we recruit Codaline but CCTV monitors could give Annie an edge in the long-term.
(... how fed is Chrys right now? IIRC she feeds from sunlight but most of the facility have only emergency lights.)

> Head back to where Anon and the others had met Codaline. It was maybe a bit of a weird diversion to head all the way back, but it was better to just meet Codaline near where she was found.

> Prepare some questions for Codaline on the way over which you could immediately ask once you met her. Obviously, there were the basic questions, but you could also ask her about this location, her relation with Reika and how she was faring. (Write in what questions you'll ask her once you meet her.)

How - and what - is she doing here? Can't fault her for trying to still find some normalcy in these trying times, but why *here* of all places?

How does her powers work? We heard from Katya that she could create metallic wires with magnetic properties, but could she tell us what she's able to do with those wires?

What's her dietary requirement? Would it be correct she's a metal-eater like Morgan?

Then of course THE LIST, what happened to the facility, which subject she knows of (beyond Katya and Reika), any places of interest (beyond her own mini-green section), etc.

>Head back to where Anon and the others had met Codaline. It was maybe a bit of a weird diversion to head all the way back, but it was better to just meet Codaline near where she was found.
You told Anon to turn the lights back on, as well as to connect the generator to the CCTV system. The lights could be turned off if Codaline decided to join your group, but for now you wanted to make her feel at ease so you'd keep the lights on. "Understood, Mikhail." Anon responded over the radio, after which Anon told Derek to once again plug in the power source. And after a moment, the lights turned back on again. However, the lights did soon dim a bit. "Okay, we just plugged in the cameras, but the generator doesn't have enough energy to supply both the cameras and the lights. Codaline doesn't seem to mind it, so... we'll just keep it like this. If anything goes wrong, we'll pull the plug on the CCTV system." Anon responded, you accepting the suggestion as you told Anon you'd be there soon. "I'll let the other group know they can either come to us or travel to the other side of the sector. Codaline told us there is nobody else here, so I doubt it'd be a problem."

>Prepare some questions for Codaline on the way over which you could immediately ask once you met her. Obviously, there were the basic questions, but you could also ask her about this location, her relation with Reika and how she was faring.
You turned off the radio and started backtracking right away, your group quickly showing how relieved they were. "Fuck, am I glad we found a friend of Reika, instead of... some evil bastard subject." Mike mumbled, after which Ignacy added: "Well, we might wanna first get an idea of what she's like. You know, figure out what her deal is and why the hell she's behaving the way she is." You agreed to prepare some questions, naming a few important ones right away: How and what she was doing here specifically, her powers, her food requirements and the usual list of questions.

"Maybe also ask her where she came from before settling down here." Antonin suggested, after which Chrys said: "And ask her if she wants to help in kicking Feng's butt!" You obviously didn't mind if Antonin asked the first question, though the second question was definitely a bit more difficult to just ask without first figuring out what her deal was. Though afterwards, as your men and the girls speculated a bit about Codaline, you asked Chrys how she was doing in terms of feeding. "Doing okay. These lights do feel pretty nice and help satiate my hunger a bit, even if it is only a little bit." On the way over, Antonin did also mention that you had sort of left Idalia behind, given she was a forward scout. But, the girls seemed to agree that it wasn't a problem, given how eager Idalia was to go on solo missions to scout the area. Besides, the other group led by Arty would likely meet up with her as well soon anyway.

File: BK-47, Codaline Harpactira.png (3.07 MB, 1675x1925)

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After returning to the main entrance and taking the right path, you'd soon spot some of your men in the distance, along with a dark and powerful looking subject. You'd quickly approach them, your eyes immediately looking over at Codaline. She was surprisingly shorter than Reika and even Iliara, being only a bit taller than you were. But what she lacked in height she made up for in bulk, her appearing to have quite some physical prowess with four muscular arms. She had four red eyes which seemed to scan you and your girls. At first, she squinted her eyes as she looked at you, before finally speaking up with a rather powerful voice. "So, you must be this Mikhail who Reika has spoken so fondly of." She responded in a rather intimidating tone, you quickly introducing yourself and the rest of your group. After your introductions, she'd take a more casual and brash tone. "It's nice to meet you. My name's Codaline Harpactira, though I think your friend already mentioned my full name over that radio thing of yours."

Codaline reached out for a handshake, which you immediately reciprocated. Her handgrip was pretty strong, you for a moment worrying she'd crush your hand. Before you could ask a question, she'd glance over at your other girls, turning her attention to Morgan. "And you must be that knight Reika spoke fondly of." Codaline stepped in front of Morgan, who kept her calm. "I am glad to hear she spoke fondly of me." Codaline would glance over her before saying: "Your defensive abilities are exactly what I've been looking for. Reika can help me test my resilience and resolve, you can help me test my strength and punches!" Codaline already showed some fists, making Morgan scoff. "I... appreciate your offer to train, but I believe there are more pressing matters going on right now." Codaline raised an eyebrow, before her attention shifted to Vinisha. "You're the Andrei subject, right?" Vinisha looked a bit uneasy at Codaline, quickly nodding. Thankfully, Codaline would seem to realise this and would actually take a more curious tone.

"Reika and the others here mentioned you being a bit of a sweetie. Still, any subject made by Andrei must be a tough one. I take it you're the, what's it called... tanky type, huh?" Codaline asked, Vinisha giving an awkward smile. "Ehhhh, s-sorta? I've got good regeneration, so..." Codaline smiled and spoke before Vinisha could elaborate further. "I'm sure I'll get a good feeling for it after we spar a bit! I can't wait!" Vinisha gave a concerned and soft laugh, as Codaline's attention shifted over to the small yet confident Chrys. "And you're that spirited bug girl the blue lizard girl mentioned, huh? Chrysidus or something?" Chrys nodded, before taking a bit of a combat pose. "That's right." She confidently mumbled, making Codaline chuckle a bit. "Well, you sure are a cute lil gal!" Before giving Chrys a headpat, much to her confusion.

"Ooh, there's a few other subjects you'd like to meet, Codaline! There's Kenai and Sibilia and Kaenum." Reika eagerly remarked, after which you cleared your throat and said you were also there. "Mhm, yeah, I'm pretty glad you came here. I've been itching for some folk who can help me with running more tests and such." You then asked why she was doing what she was doing here and how she got here. Codaline crossed her arms before casually saying: "Well, I was... stuck underneath a bunch of rubble, realised the facility had somehow been partially destroyed and... decided to just start exploring the place. It was nice to finally not have Roraima breathing down my neck and to explore the facility on my own. But, after wandering through a bunch of places, things got pretty goddamn boring. So I decided to fix up this place since it had some good testing chambers, got a generator from the storage place not too far away from here, aaaand have been cleaning up the place a bit. Now, your friends here mentioned that the facility isn't gonna be functioning anytime soon, so... it was sorta pointless. Unless if you guys wanna do some combat tests with me. I'd be down for that."

You told her that there was no way things would return to normalcy and that testing probably wouldn't resume, nor would you run tests with her right now. "Ugh, really? Come on, I put so goddamn much work into fixing this place up." You reassured Codaline that you didn't blame her for trying, before deciding to at least give her a moment to speak of her strengths and abilities. This did seem to cheer Codaline up. "Ah, you want a demonstration? Fuck it, let me give you a demonstration." Codaline put her hands together, her palms touching before pulling them apart as thin, metallic wires appeared connecting her finger tips. She'd place one hand against a nearby wall, before pulling back, showing that it had stuck to it almost akin to a spiderweb. "I can create these real tough wires which fuse with metal and can burrow into flesh. It's great for if I wanna hold onto something big and tough, or if I wanna fling something made out of metal."

She'd grip onto the wires, before pulling on the combination of wires, the upper layer of the metal wall starting to break free. Though she let go of the wires soon after, which made you curious if she consumed metal. Codaline scoffed, before saying: "Yep! I especially love steel. In fact, that armour Morgan has looks particularly tasty." Codaline was clearly teasing a bit, Morgan giving a bit of a disapproving look. Regardless, you decided to start asking the list of questions, asking her about what she knew about the disaster. "Not a goddamn clue. I just know some subject escaped, there was a lockdown, then a big explosion and... that's about it. Hell, I didn't even know the government sent in folk to kill survivors until your friends here told me about it!"

Codaline thankfully had taken the news of the disaster relatively well, not being too upset by what you and your men were doing. You then asked about if she knew any escape routes from the facility, to which she shook her head. "Not a clue either. Look, I'm not the brightest subject around, alright? I know a few things well: punching, kicking, headbutting, wall-climbing, web-forming. I don't know anything about the facility layout or... who's where."" This made you ask if she at least knew where Roraima was, making her scoff. "If I knew where that son of a bitch was, I would've found him and forced him through the tests and punishments he pushed me through." This obviously pleased your men a bit, with Mike even saying: "We've been looking for him. We wanna ask him some questions and then avenge the girls he has been abusing." After which Chrys softly responded: "I hope he didn't abuse you too much." Thankfully, Chrys' question was met with a more confident response from Codaline. "He did... but, I do know I've had it way better than some of the other subjects he made. Guess that makes me somewhat lucky."

You then asked her about the subjects she knew, mentioning that you knew about her working with Reika and Katya. "Well, I know of a couple, some only by name, some I actually did meet. Natalia and Helen, before Roraima abandoned them. Pteroi and Agiri too... Thelxiope also. I know a few others by name only, but those are the ones that come to mind right away."

>What do you do next?

>Ask her some more questions which were on your mind based on what she told you about her time down here or the subjects she knows of. You could ask her about who passed through here as well, since she might know of nearby threats. (Write in what you ask her.)
>Entertain her offer of doing a bit of 'practice'. Surely Reika or Morgan would love to have a little mock fight with her. Both so you could see her strengths in combat and to give Morgan and Reika an enjoyable but reasonable battle. (Write in who you'll let her 'train' with.)
>Tell Codaline about what you were up to. How you were on a mission to the combat sector and how you were going to fight Feng. She'd probably want to join in with either of the missions and could make for a beneficial asset by your side. (Write in what you tell Codaline.)
>Let your men and girls ask some questions. They probably had some fun questions for her which could help you figure out what she was up to and what her goals were.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

Well, it's nice to see Reika thinks so highly of the others.
>>6425892
>Ask her some more questions which were on your mind based on what she told you about her time down here or the subjects she knows of. You could ask her about who passed through here as well, since she might know of nearby threats.
Why here, in amongst all the plants?
Who's she seen around and has anybody passed through here?
What does she know of her training buddies and others from the Roraima Dimension she's familiar with?
Assuming she's come from the combat sector, what places did she pass through on the way here?
>Tell Codaline about what you were up to. How you were on a mission to the combat sector and how you were going to fight Feng. She'd probably want to join in with either of the missions and could make for a beneficial asset by your side.
We're on a bit of a mission to head to the combat sector and gather up allies to kick the ass of one of the most powerful subjects in the facility. - Feng Zetian and her slave army. There will probably be shenanigans and there will undoubtedly be fights if she feels like tagging along.
>Entertain her offer of doing a bit of 'practice'. Surely Reika or Morgan would love to have a little mock fight with her. Both so you could see her strengths in combat and to give Morgan and Reika an enjoyable but reasonable battle.
While our mission is somewhat time-sensitive and we can't stop for an extended period, I'm sure we could spare the time for a spar to gauge her and someone else's abilities. Reika is the obvious candidate since we haven't seen her use 100% of her fistfighting power yet and they know each other already but anyone else interested can have a go. I don't think Morgan would like to be a training dummy, perhaps Idalia might like a go or Sibby could demonstrate her toughness? Or maybe someone from the bench wants a go to show off some of their moves?

>>6425890
Oh damn if I knew she was that jacked I would have added workout tips to the list of questions to ask her.

>>6425891
Pretty scary ability too.

>>6425892
>Entertain her offer of doing a bit of 'practice'. Surely Reika or Morgan would love to have a little mock fight with her. Both so you could see her strengths in combat and to give Morgan and Reika an enjoyable but reasonable battle. (Write in who you'll let her 'train' with.)
Both? As long as they're willing. Reika often complains about not getting to fight enough, and Morgan's own metal abilities might have some interesting interactions with Codaline's. I'm interested in seeing that.

After she's buttered up
>Tell Codaline about what you were up to. How you were on a mission to the combat sector and how you were going to fight Feng. She'd probably want to join in with either of the missions and could make for a beneficial asset by your side. (Write in what you tell Codaline.)
Tell her about the Feng mission and the overall Great Escape goal.

>Let your men and girls ask some questions. They probably had some fun questions for her which could help you figure out what she was up to and what her goals were.

>>6426120
Truly a terrible fate for a succ.....

>>6426127
You could say it sucks to be her

>Ask her some more questions which were on your mind based on what she told you about her time down here or the subjects she knows of. You could ask her about who passed through here as well, since she might know of nearby threats.
>Let your men and girls ask some questions. They probably had some fun questions for her which could help you figure out what she was up to and what her goals were.
You asked Codaline why she decided to settle down here of all places, asking if it was related to the plants. "Uhhhh, kinda? It made me feel a bit at home, for one. And, most of these chambers were easy enough to convert into makeshift test chambers." Codaline casually mumbled, looking around a bit at all the work she had done. You asked if anyone had passed through here and who else she had seen around, making her think. "I haven't seen too many folk, well except for seeing bits of Chloe. Aside from that, nobody has passed through here. No staff, no other subjects, nothing." This also somewhat begged the important question of she actually made her way here. You asked her about this, by now assuming she came from the combat sector.

"Combat sector? Naaah. I came from the southern high threat level containment sector. I headed into weapons storage from there, then got to this place from... I think it's to the north of here?" By this point, Anon would ask her: "So, where did you see Chloe and what was she up to?" Codaline spoke in a more hesitant and confused tone in response. "Not really sure what she was up to exactly. She was just wandering around the high threat level containment area I woke up in. I did ask her what was going on and what she was up to and said something about wanting people to come to her for... something? I asked her what she was going on about, but she sorta just ignored me and acted like a little brat, insulting me. Had it not been for our mutual hatred of Roraima, I would've probably kicked her ass, not gonna lie."

Given that she had already mentioned several Roraima subjects, you now were curious what she knew of her various training buddies and other Roraima subjects. Codaline let out a deep sigh. "Natalia was pretty cool. Fun combatant, fun to chat with. It was a damn shame when she was ruined by Elbrus and no longer was a sparring buddy. Helen was kind of okay. Fun to spar with, but she could not shut the hell up. Though, even she wasn't deserving of Roraima's constant bullying. Agiri was a bit more alright. Not the most fun sparring partner, but she was at least relaxed and normal. Thelxiope was alright. Bit of a bitter bastard sometimes, but she at least knew how to spar and was pretty chill most of the time. Pteroi... well, I fought her once and she was a nervous goddamn wreck all the time. I feel bad for her, but only because she really had it really bad under Roraima." This actually confused Reika, who said: "I don't remember her being treated bad by Roraima. She did everything he asked her to!"

Knowing what Roraima was like, your men quickly realised what was going on, Codaline instantly elaborating on what you and your men already assumed. "Yeah, because Roraima kept shocking her and telling her she had to be better. It got to the point of her fighting me even after we tried to pause the fight, since she was THAT desperate to win and... prove something? It's not her fault, obviously, but she's not the happy combat subject you imagine her as, Reika." Hearing this, Reika was clearly a bit more saddened. "Poor Pteroi... Roraima is so stupid!" The other girls nodded in agreement, whilst Codaline would raise a fist and say: "That is also why I am training. So I can stay strong for when I finally find Roraima so I can kick his ass for everything he did!" Your girls and men all seemed to approve of this plan, with Iliara even adding: "I may be a field medic, but I'd fucking support a special show where you and the others kick the sadistic fuck in the jaw!"

>Entertain her offer of doing a bit of 'practice'. Surely Reika or Morgan would love to have a little mock fight with her. Both so you could see her strengths in combat and to give Morgan and Reika an enjoyable but reasonable battle.
Seeing just how eager Codaline had been to fight and have a mock sparring match, you brought up how you could spare a bit of time to gauge her and one of your friends' abilities. Codaline looked very eager, saying: "You've got my attention!" At which point you suggested giving Reika a chance to duke it out with her in a friendly battle. Though, if any of the other girls who were present wanted to participate, you told them they were free to do so. You did glance at Morgan, but she seemed a bit unsure about the offer. You also imagined Idalia being eager to participate, as well as Sibilia. Though, neither were present for the time being. Still, the suggestions made Codaline show her fists. "Hell yeah, if Reika is down for it, I'd love to!" You mentioned that Reika had also been eager to fight a bit, Reika nodding eagerly. "Yeah, I'd love to fight! It'd be fun!"

Unfortunately, some of your men were a bit hesitant about the suggestion, with Mike even saying: "Can we maybe wait with this battle until we've settled down for the evening? We're still gonna be walking for a decent bit. Maybe it's better to find a place to camp out at before getting into a fight?" Afterwards, Anon would remark: "Not to mention, we'll be separate from the other scouting group for a good while if we have a whole fight now." Iliara then responded: "You guys can fight like a bunch of jackasses if you want. But, someone is going to have to push this cart with the vat on it afterwards, and I doubt that'd be easy if both of you guys injure yourself." Codaline scoffed and remarked: "We won't injure ourselves that badly. It'll just be a fun little wrestling and punching match. Nothing too serious, right Reika?" Reika nodded eagerly, yet your men remained sceptical.

"I think I agree with Mike's sentiment. We can keep going forward, find a place to set up camp and then you girls can fight. I think that'd be way easier." Oreas mumbled, the rest of your group seeming to agree. Hell, even Reika agreed, the manticore nodding and saying: "Sure, I don't mind! I can wait a bit longer with fighting Codaline!" Afterwards, Vinisha would also chime in, softly trying to reason with Codaline. "You won't mind leaving this place and joining us for a while, would you, Codaline?" Fortunately, the powerful arachnid girl didn't seem to mind at all. "Nah, it won't be a problem at all. I think it'd be a whole lot more fun to join you guys to... wherever you guys are going. We can look for Roraima together, kick guardsman ass, fight against Elbrus subjects. It's gonna be great!" It looked like convincing Codaline was a whole lot easier than you had imagined. Though, Codaline did soon realise she had forgotten to ask you something important: "Uhhhh, what is you guys' plan anyway?"

>Tell Codaline about what you were up to. How you were on a mission to the combat sector and how you were going to fight Feng. She'd probably want to join in with either of the missions and could make for a beneficial asset by your side.
You explained again that you were heading to the combat sector, though elaborated further on your goal to find more allies to kick the ass of Feng Zetian and her numerous slaves. You mentioned that there'd absolutely be fights, including a massive battle against Feng. Fortunately, this only seemed to sell Codaline more on the idea of joining you, looking around before remarking: "Screw staying here. A fight against Feng and a bunch of slaves? Count me in!" However, it was also clear she was missing a bit of context. "By the way, who is Feng?"

>What do you do next?

>Head forward whilst explaining who Feng was as well as what your main goal was this mission: recruiting Alexandra as well as other combat subjects and survivors so you could lead a force into taking down Feng for good.
>Just have the fight here right now. No point in waiting when it could take a good while before you'd find a place to set up camp. Besides, it'd not be a very long fight, right? (Write in how you set up the mock fight between Codaline and Reika.)
>Ask some more questions to Codaline, such as her knowledge about Roraima, the surrounding sectors or something else you were curious about. (Write in what you ask her.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6426120
(What sorta paperwork is Naamah going through? Is she writing a fanfic just like Kimmy?)

>>6426131
>You could say it sucks to be her
(Carlos!)

>>6426356
Good point that the spar might be better done in the eve. Should be fairly late in the day so not long now.
>Head forward whilst explaining who Feng was as well as what your main goal was this mission: recruiting Alexandra as well as other combat subjects and survivors so you could lead a force into taking down Feng for good.
Feng Zetian, one of Andrei's horrors with mass mind control and more. Has enslaved hundreds of people plus subjects to her will and needs to go down, hard. We need allies to help fight her and will be going to the combat sector to recruit more to help fight the bad guys. The big fight will probably be in a few days time with some scuffles along the way.

I don't think she's great at giving directions. I can't tell where the southern HTC is and the armoury is to the west not north so she doubled back on herself?

>>6426356
>>Head forward whilst explaining who Feng was as well as what your main goal was this mission: recruiting Alexandra as well as other combat subjects and survivors so you could lead a force into taking down Feng for good.
Short version, Andrei's subject made to enslave and dominate people, has a lot of personality issues, thinks everyone lives to serve her, we learned about her after a few encounters with her troops and meeting her through her power which let's her speak through her troops, we learned she basically wants to take over this facility and possibly as many who could get her of this planet. We're on her shitlist so we're doing a bit of a recruiting spree and trying to get as many people as possible to fuck her over once for all. We heard Alexandra was on the combat sector, we heard good things about her so she is our main recruitment target.

>Ask some more questions to Codaline, such as her knowledge about Roraima, the surrounding sectors or something else you were curious about. (Write in what you ask her.)
Seen anything or anyone interesting passing here? Any death-squads, guards acting strange or using weird equipment or any subjects? Which subjects does she knows about beyond Reika? Anyone she thinks could join the team? We heard Vinella was lurking around this region, did she see her anywhere?

>>6426356
>Head forward whilst explaining who Feng was as well as what your main goal was this mission: recruiting Alexandra as well as other combat subjects and survivors so you could lead a force into taking down Feng for good.

>Ask some more questions to Codaline, such as her knowledge about Roraima, the surrounding sectors or something else you were curious about. (Write in what you ask her.)
Why does she like undergoing testing so much? Who taught her to set up this environment?

File: Codaline o1.png (88 KB, 418x339)

88 KB PNG

>>6426356
>Head forward whilst explaining who Feng was as well as what your main goal was this mission: recruiting Alexandra as well as other combat subjects and survivors so you could lead a force into taking down Feng for good.

>Head forward whilst explaining who Feng was as well as what your main goal was this mission: recruiting Alexandra as well as other combat subjects and survivors so you could lead a force into taking down Feng for good.
You told Codaline you'd explain Feng as you made your way over to the rest of your men. "Alright, sure thing. Uhhh, where are we heading to?" You led the way forward, telling her to follow. Codaline looked curiously at you, following you closely whilst the rest of your girls also followed closely, Reika of course pushing the carrier vehicle. "What is Reika pushing, by the way?" Codaline asked as you headed forward, to which Lars responded: "It's a vat for subject creation. We're friends with Logan, and will bring it to him to experiment with." Codaline looked impressed, after which you started giving the quick rundown of what your mission was. Feng Zetian was a horrific subject made by Andrei who desired to enslave and dominate anyone using her mind control powers. She had a lot of personality issues and enslaved hundreds of soldiers and several subjects, which was why she had to go down.

"A mind-control subject? That sounds messed up as hell. No wonder you guys wanna find her and kick her ass." Codaline responded, you elaborating that you had encountered her servants several times now, even chatting with Feng herself through her servants. "Wha- how can she talk through her servants? I mean, it's obviously because of her mind-control, but... how does that work? Does she just tell her servants everything about herself so they can then pretend to be her or something?" Anon was able to give a decent enough explanation: "From what we gathered, she injects her servants with a part of her, allowing her to take their bodies over and speak through them." Codaline looked somewhat disturbed, you reiterating that she wanted to put this control ability over everyone and take over the entire planet, perhaps even the entire galaxy knowing her arrogance.

"Okay, I see why you guys wanna put a stop to her. How many people has she got under her control? I can imagine it being a pretty large number." Codaline mumbled in concern, you stating she had recruited hundreds of guardsmen, captured various death squads and even had a few subjects under her wing. "Ah, which subjects?" Morgan quickly answered. "Oneira is the only one we know of so far. She communicated with Mikhail after catching him by surprise, begging for help." Codaline looked a bit more determined in turn. "I don't know who Oneira is either. But, I do agree we have to save her." You explained that you hoped to save her and the other slaves under Feng, but that you needed increased support. Which was why you were going around the facility to recruit as many people to join your cause and take down Feng. "Well, I am happy to join that cause!" Codaline remarked, you thanking her and stating that any and all help would be appreciated.

You then elaborated that your current mission was to find Alexandra, since you had heard good things about her. "Oh yeah, Alexandra. I've heard of her before. She's that... general hellhound or something?" You and your men nodded, after which you stated that the big fight will probably happen within a few days, perhaps with some probing of her main base. "Where is her base? Is it near here?" Codaline asked curiously, to which Derek scoffed. "Oh yeah, she's nearby. She's to the north of here. Hell, her forces looted the same place you got that generator from." Codaline was clearly shocked by this revelation, you reassuring her that you would find Feng's main base and ensure she doesn't get a chance to cause further trouble. "We've got a second group of combatants exploring other parts of the facility too. Trust me, our group is pretty big." Lars also added, Codaline seeming enticed but still a bit concerned about this major conflict which would happen so close to where she had been.

>Ask some more questions to Codaline, such as her knowledge about Roraima, the surrounding sectors or something else you were curious about.
After explaining the Feng situation to Codaline, you asked her a bit about anyone who passed through here, such as death squads or confused looking guardsmen with weird equipment. Codaline shook her head, but immediately caught on as to what you were suggesting. "No, thankfully. I would've probably not known what their deal was and approached them without being critical about what they were up to. And well, who knows what this Feng lady might've tried with me if she or her mind-controlled servants were able to talk with me." Afterwards, you asked if Vinella was lurking around these places, which made Codaline even more horrified. "Vinella?! If she was around here, I would've probably hid for my goddamn life! Wha- she isn't around here, is she?!" Anon unfortunately would respond: "Annie confirmed to us that she is on this floor near Titania's chamber, Codaline looking horrified.

"I take it you guys got a plan to avoid her, right? There's no way I'm getting close to her. She's a monster!" You reassured Codaline that you intended to avoid her at all costs, not wanting to get into a potentially costly fight with her. Regardless, it was clear that Codaline knew little of Vinella's location and had avoided her for the past while, which was completely understandable really. Regardless, you wanted to know if there were any subject friends she had who she felt could help you and your men out in your mission to defeat Feng. Codaline thought about it for a short moment, before mentioning a few subjects she had mentioned before. "I'm sure Helen and Natalia wouldn't mind joining in, especially if they figured out how big this threat Feng poses is. Hmmm, Hermosa might also be nice, based on what I heard of her. Maybe Kaldanea, but... she is a bit of a weird asshole to me, trying to constantly please Roraima."

Afterwards though, Codaline let out a gasp and spoke more eagerly. "Maybe you can find Ecaterina as well? She and her twins probably would want to participate in such a fight, and they work pretty well together and with people!" Your men seemed rather curious, with Anon even asking: "Ecaterina? Who is that?" Codaline would think for a bit, whilst Reika seemed to know of this new subject. "That's that small ant girl, right?" Codaline nodded, after which Anon made his question more specific. "What's her full name and codename?" Though, Codaline didn't seem to know for sure. "Uhhhh, Ecaterina Giro... giggy... something. Uhhh, codename was AA... AA- something? I forgot. I'm not the best with codenames." Afterwards, Morgan spoke up to fill in some clues. "Ecaterina Grigorescu, AA-1856. I sparred with one of her twins once. Though, I think they aren't... entirely twins. I think it's something different. What it may be, I am not entirely sure." Your men were intrigued, but it didn't seem like the girls by your side now knew much of Ecaterina and her twins.

With that question answered, you'd ask about her testing and why she liked undergoing tests so much. "Why? Well, I... didn't really like testing most of the time, especially under Roraima. But after being all alone with nothing to do, I wasn't entirely sure what to do. I thought just doing tests and keeping physically active was the most enjoyable way to spend my time alone. Y'know, keeping my body busy." You were curious who taught her to set up the environment this way, making her a bit unsure. "Uhhh, what do you mean, 'set up the environment'? If you mean cleaning up the place... well, I just did that on my own. I wanted to make it feel a bit more like actual tests were going on. With people watching me and taking notes. If you mean setting up the electronics and what not... uhhhh, well, I'm no electrician so it took a lot of effort. I am honestly even shocked I managed to somehow turn the lights back on around here, hehe."

Considering that it was just a case of plugging in a power source, the fact it was a mystery to Codaline was rather amusing. Anon, Derek and Ignacy all seemed amused by it at the very least, though they didn't comment on it at all. Regardless, you'd then ask her a bit more about the directions she had taken to get here, since it was a bit confusing to you. Anon thankfully was able to help out, grabbing the tablet. "I believe... she came from the high-threat level containment area directly south of Titania's chamber. You know, the one we passed the entrance to which was completely covered by Chloe's spores? She then headed west, passing this large space and ending up to the north of where we are right now." Codaline checked the tablet and nodded along. "Yeah, that's it, really. It wasn't too much travelling." With that, your men would start asking Codaline some personal questions, some asking about her metal webbing ability and just her general abilities.

It helped time pass by rather quickly, you soon noticing Haje and Kaenum in the distance. It wouldn't take much longer for you to finally reach them, where your men were immediately curious about the large spider girl. "Ah, greetings, you must be Codaline, correctly? It is a pleasure to see you have joined us. My name is Kaenum." Kaenum was the first to say as she approached the spider, Codaline looking a bit confused. "Ummm, nice to join you guys?" Though as she saw Idalia, she'd turn more eager. "Idalia! It's a pleasure to see you here working with these guys!" Codaline happily remarked, Idalia giving a modest smile. "Yes, I am working with Mikhail. Or rather, I work with Mikhail and France, an ally of his." Codaline seemed rather intrigued, already putting a hand on Idalia's shoulder and walking ahead. "Hell yeah, with you by our side, we can do some proper infiltration stuff! I take it you've already been told all about this Feng lady?" Idalia nodded, as the two started having a mild conversation, leaving the others who had seen Codaline for the first time curious and confused.

"So, what's the plan now, Mik?" Artyom would ask after approaching you. "We passed by a path heading northwards. I take it we won't go through there?" Sigit mumbled as well, which seemed like the right call, given that there was a path right ahead of you heading eastwards.

>What do you do next?

>Set up a camp for the night in a nearby area. This place had light, plenty of cover in the form of plants and was further away from sectors with heavy traffic, making it a perfect place to hide out until the day started again.
>Head further eastwards until you got to the next sector. Your men still had energy and probably wouldn't mind getting to the next sector before you took a break and set up camp.
>Take a slightly longer diversion and head northwards. It'd get you a bit closer to Feng territory, but there was also a chance that there'd be other forms of traffic there which might be less troublesome.
>Chat with Arty, Sigit, Eric and the girls who were with them about what they had seen, how you met Codaline and how your chat with her had gone. (Write in what you discuss and with whom.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6426426
(Based Codaline art only a few days after she made her first appearance. Eager to see what else you draw of her, artanon.)

>>6426872
>>Head further eastwards until you got to the next sector. Your men still had energy and probably wouldn't mind getting to the next sector before you took a break and set up camp.
Let's get as far as possible to the combat sector and then we set up camp.

>Something else...
Grab the girls made by mona and have a private chat with them about Haje, she doesnt know about Mona's death, ask the girls if they have any ideas about how to bring the news to her, of they think it's best to tell her now or later when we regroup and if possible, if they could help her out since they are also Mona's subjects.

>>6426872
> Something else...

Ask who "Hermosa" is. And while we're at it, do we know anything about Ecaterina's twin?

>>6426886 do/should we grab Codaline as well? She's also a Mona subject who haven't heard of Mona's passing.

> Head further eastwards until you got to the next sector. Your men still had energy and probably wouldn't mind getting to the next sector before you took a break and set up camp.

The next semi-sector to the east is an office space, and I doubt Vinella is going to fit through that.

>>6426871
>Considering that it was just a case of plugging in a power source, the fact it was a mystery to Codaline was rather amusing.
Was it that simple? I figured she'd need to get the generator running, provide fuel, possibly convert the voltage, etc. That doesn't even cover the computers we found which would need individual lines run. There wasn't enough power for the surveillance system so it seemed like she had calculated it out, but I guess it was trial and error.

>>6426872
>Head further eastwards until you got to the next sector. Your men still had energy and probably wouldn't mind getting to the next sector before you took a break and set up camp.
Maximum Vinella avoidance.

>>6426872
>Head further eastwards until you got to the next sector. Your men still had energy and probably wouldn't mind getting to the next sector before you took a break and set up camp.
Let's get to the next major sector and set up shop after we sweep it. No way we're camping for the night in HTC South with Vinella, Chloe and who knows who else kicking about and we may find few opportunities for peaceful rest in the combat sector.

>>6426908
I feel like we should tell Coda along with Haje tonight like Kaenum suggested. While Coda will take it better than Haje by virtue of not already being bereaved once already that day and seeming like a less fragile individual, her reaction could tip Haje off. And misery is better shared.

>>6427189
Oh fuck she knows

>Head further eastwards until you got to the next sector. Your men still had energy and probably wouldn't mind getting to the next sector before you took a break and set up camp.
You didn't hesitate to choose to head forward again. It would be the quickest route to the combat sector, doing a quick check of the semi-sector since it was probably safe to explore. More importantly though, you wanted to head to the next sector further east, since it was the last sector before you'd reach Chloe's territory in the high threat level containment area. You told your men how you wouldn't stay overnight in the southern HTC, Chloe and Vinella both making it highly unattractive to stay at. "Alright, you heard Mikhail. Let us continue onwards!" Morgan proclaimed, after which your men and girls all followed you past the checkpoint and continued on your way eastwards. "You know, Reika, if you're getting tired... I'd not mind pushing that thing of yours for a while!" Codaline eagerly mumbled to Reika, the manticore shaking her head. "I am not tired! I am eager to help Mikhail with my strength!" Which amused some of your men somewhat.

>Something else...
As you made your way forward down the hallway, you started walking beside Codaline again, who by now was walking alongside Reika to chat about combat. Once you got beside her, she looked over her shoulder at you. "Uhhhhh, aren't you supposed to lead the group?" She asked calmly, you explaining that it was a pretty straight path ahead, and that Morgan and some of your men could take the lead if it became necessary. Codaline let out a curious scoff, before you asked her about Hermosa. "Uhhhh, what about her?" You asked who she was, what she was like and where she might be, Codaline at least giving a decent answer to most of those question. "Giant centipede subject from Anderson and Roraima, great at climbing onto things, traversing tough terrain and fighting folk. She loves to scare people, but is genuinely a sweetheart."

You asked for further details, Codaline scoffing: "I mean, what else do you wanna know? Her appearance? Her fighting style?" You agreed to both, Codaline looking bemused but accepting your request either way. "Well, she's pretty goddamn big. Bigger than Reika even. She has a black centipede body instead of legs, uhhhh, white hair, large black antennae... in terms of fighting, she sorta just grabs people and bites them if she wants to really hurt them. But most of the time, she sorta just pounces people and pins them down with relative ease. Like I said, she loves to scare people, maybe to a bit of a troublesome degree form time to time. But hey, it annoyed Roraima, so I think it was perfect." You then asked for Ecaterina's twins, which made Codaline shrug a bit. "She's a bit obsessive for her combat method, if I recall correctly. But, I really dunno much else about her, since I only really fought with her once or twice. Hope you don't mind too much."

You told Codaline you completely understood, before asking if you could take her along in a moment. "Sure, what gives?" You asked her about her creators again, since you remembered there was a certain scientist death you hadn't mentioned to Haje. You weren't sure if Codaline was also a Mona subject, which meant it was probably safe to ask her about it. "Yeah, Mona was my creator, yeah. Not that she was involved much with my growth or anything past my creation." Codaline didn't seem too happy with Mona, but you also knew she'd have to hear this news alongside Haje. So, with that in mind, you'd ask her to join you in a moment, making Codaline raise an eyebrow. "Uhhh, why not now? And what do you need me for? Is it something regarding Mona?" You already confirmed it had to do with Mona, but didn't tell her just yet. You reassured her she could come over in a moment, but that you first wanted to talk with a few of your other girls. "Alright, curious what this is about..."

Thus, you asked Oreas, Kaenum and Kenai individually to join you, the four of you soon walking together. "So, what do you need us for, Mikhail?" Kaenum asked, you explaining that you wanted to explain Mona's death to Haje and Codaline, since they hadn't gotten the news yet. You wanted to know the best way to tell Haje and if it was better to tell her now or later. Oreas and Kenai looked disappointed, with Kenai even saying: "I don't think Haje will take the news very well at all, given she already lost a sister today." Oreas would even add: "Maybe we shouldn't tell Haje just yet. It'll probably leave her depressed once she learns of it." Kaenum pondered the option, before responding: "I believe it is for the best she also knows. Both since we should not hide the truth from her. But, also because it is for the best she learns the truth now when we can still explain what happened, instead of having her learn of it later without us to help her out."

Kaenum's suggestion was met with a bit of scepticism, Oreas remarking: "I know the truth is important, and we are going to have to tell her eventually. But, I think now is not the time. Maybe Codaline could figure it out, since she is far more confident. But Haje, yeah, let's... wait a bit longer." Kenai nodded along, after which Kaenum sighed. "She will have to figure it out eventually. Besides, is it not better to tell her ourselves instead of having her learn of it by chance? What if she's even more hurt if we keep the truth from her?" Oreas and Kenai didn't appear to have a response at the ready, going quiet for a moment to think. "If you truly insist on withholding this information, Mikhail, I will also keep it a secret. However, I feel like there is no reason to withhold it as of right now. Maybe if you fear it will impact their performance in the sectors to come. But even then, I think Codaline and Haje will appreciate to be told the truth early on." Kaenum calmly responded, Kenai and Oreas still having no real retort.

>What do you do next?

>Tell Codaline and Haje about what happened to Mona right now. You agreed with Kaenum that it was for the best to just tell them now instead of waiting until the 'right' time. (Write in what you tell the two of them.)
>Tell either Codaline or Haje of Mona's death. Maybe you would only tell Haje, since she seemed to care most. Or you would tell Codaline since she didn't seem to feel too strongly about Mona either way. (Write in who you tell and what you tell them.)
>Tell Kaenum why it might be better to keep quiet for now. Maybe even suggest a timestamp for when you could discuss the matter, or some other prerequisites you feel are necessary to make it worthwhile to tell Haje and Codaline the truth. (Write in what you tell Kaenum specifically.)
>Ask for another persons opinion on the matter. Maybe one of your men or one of the girls would give some enlightening suggestions on what the best course of action could be. (Write in who you talk to for advice.)
>Something else...

>>6427713
>>Tell Codaline and Haje about what happened to Mona right now. You agreed with Kaenum that it was for the best to just tell them now instead of waiting until the 'right' time. (Write in what you tell the two of them.)
Hey the certified psychologist recommended it. Long term this is beneficial plus it shouldnt affect us that hardly on the short term. Still feel bad for Haje though, really hope things look up for her soon.

>>6427713
>>Something else...
Tell them about it later. On our guard-shift take the girls made by Mona and together let's tell to Coda and Haje what happened to her, just don't forget to warn the others why so many people are joining together in a single shift.

>>6427713
>>6427726
This, better to do it when we've made camp than while we're traveling and at higher risk of ambush.

>>6427713
Supporting >>6427726
Also, doesn't Annie have Mona's eulogy recorded somewhere?

>>6427726
Agree on telling her tonight when it's safe for to have a breakdown, it won't be long before we stop so she won't have to wait much. But why on the guard shift and not after dinner so everyone else is still up to be around her?

>>6427725
Well, this should be rock bottom for Haje. It's only going to be up from there...

>Something else...
After hearing Kaenum, Press and Kenai's inputs on the matter, you told the three of them that you'd tell Haje and Codaline later. More specifically, you believed it would be best to do so during the guard shift. You suggested that you and the girls could then come together to tell Coda and Haje about Mona. Obviously, some of your men could be curious as to why you'd have all the girls there, but you could always warn them and let them know what was going on. Besides, you imagined it'd be much safer to talk whilst you had set up a safe camp area than when you were wandering the facility halls. "For sure, yeah." Oreas mumbled softly, after which Kenai sighed. "I am not looking forward to telling Haje about this. I remember how upset I was when I heard about Mona's death. I can only imagine how much worse it'll feel for Haje." You agreed it would be tough, but also were determined that telling them would in fact be for the best. And if all else failed, you could always ask Annie to rebroadcast Mona's eulogy.

After discussing that matter, you again would head to the front of your group and started moving ahead. By now, Idalia had moved a bit further forward, clearly taking her scout role extremely seriously still. Though, shortly after getting to the front of your group, Codaline would approach and say: "So, uhhh, what was that chat about? I presume it has to do with Mona." It was a rather awkward thing for her to inquire about. But, you kept your calm and simply told her that you'd inform her about it later. Obviously, Codaline realised something was off and would immediately ask: "Something bad happened with her, didn't it?" Codaline let out a sigh, before shaking her head. "Look, I... never had the best relationship with Mona. She was pretty uninvolved in my life. Hell, she was a pushover to Roraima's whims which... y'know, didn't help. But, I do hope she's fine still. And if not..." Codaline took a deep breath, looking away a little awkwardly.

Before you could respond, Kaenum would come over and help out a bit. "We'll let you know about Mona's situation in a bit, Codaline. We are mostly concerned about Haje, given how she might take that news. Especially since we also had to fight and... lethally injure her sibling." Codaline was visibly shocked, looking over at Haje, who seemed relatively calm as she was chatting with Kenai, Eric and Sibilia. Codaline then looked back at you and said: "Geez, that's pretty terrible. I mean, I assume you guys were defending yourself. But still, I can see what you mean." Afterwards, Kaenum asked: "Can you please not bring the topic of Mona up with her or bring up what we discussed here around Haje, Codaline?" Fortunately, Codaline would nod confidently, even raising a fist whilst speaking up. "Mikhail, Kaenum, I promise I won't say a word about what I heard. I already have my suspicions about what actually happened, but... for Haje's sake, I'll keep my mouth shut! You can count on me!"

It was relieving to hear that Codaline would keep her mouth shut, and that she'd probably not take the news too badly. Afterwards though, Codaline would get a bit more curious: "So, are there any other subjects you guys fought and even killed?" Kaenum glanced over at you, as you decided to just tell Codaline your stories of the murder rabbit, the blue dragon and the various other subjects you had to fight, such as Grise and even Reika. Codaline was clearly interested to hear these stories, obviously seeming eager to join in with these battles. You'd also tell her a bit about your main goal in the facility, your future plans and the various escapades you had been up to, such as saving Logan and trying to save other scientists from this hellish place. Eventually though, you'd get to another small cafeteria area for staff members, you and your men not needing too much time to look through everything, given the state the place was in.

"This place is really bad." Kenai would remark with both hands in front of her nostrils, as you wandered the long abandoned, looted and somewhat vile cafeteria. Most of the seating spaces and tables were relatively untouched, but the food courts and storage units were all completely rancid and rotten. Most of the food which hadn't been taken away was starting to get pretty bad, with you actively avoiding what you presumed to be the freezer sections. "It's the cold sector all over again." Lars would say before letting out a disgusted shiver. "Codaline, did you ever come here?" Chrys asked in mild disgust, making Codaline scoff. "Couple of times when I was looking for office supplies. I ended up eating some of the cooling bits and machinery though, given they had some good metal on there." Codaline was not too bothered by the location, but the rest of your men were. And given that the food court didn't have any particularly useful or important notes, you decided to just move on instead of continuing to look around.

By now, your group was starting to get a tiny bit more exhausted from walking, Mike even asking: "Say, what time is it anyway? 8 o'clock or something?" Anon checked the time on the tablet, before responding: "About half past 8, actually." Ignacy would remark: "I am guessing most soldiers have either set up camp by now, or have gone out of the crater." Which made Artyom scoff a bit. "You know, something I haven't considered yet... we've now recruited enough subjects to outnumber the soldier numbers, haven't we?" You and your men would count, finding that Codaline had indeed tipped the scale in favour of subjects, when including Eric on the soldier side. "Guess that means we can have a full subject death squad going, huh?" Alan soon joked, making some of your men chuckle, whilst the girls either looked bemused, concerned or actually genuinely interested. "Imagine, a Lodgerite group made out of subjects. I think it'd work well!" Anon remarked eagerly.

You could tell that Oreas, Chrys, Reika, Morgan, Vinisha and Iliara were rather interested in the topic. "Honestly, we got a ton of roles to work with. We got saboteurs, rocket launcher support, defensive and offensive beasts. And of course, I'll gladly make sure anyone who gets shot gets the help they need, before kicking the asses of whoever dared to shoot us." Iliara remarked about the topic, making Vinisha speak a little anxiously. "I-I mean, I'd still need some support like Antonin. I can only carry a couple of rockets, a-after all." This made Morgan speak up. "Well, Reika and I could carry such weaponry in a hypothetical situation, I believe." Hearing this from Morgan, Sibilia teasingly added: "Morgan willingly carrying ammunition on her? Oh how the mighty swordwoman has fallen from grace..." Some of your men scoffed in amusement, whilst Morgan took the tease in stride. "Who knows? Perhaps one day soon, I shall learn the art of dual wielding my sword and a rifle?"

"You know what you could use, Morgan? A rifle with a bayonet!" Antonin suggested, Morgan seeming intrigued to hear more about this. It seemed that your group was really enjoying the time together in the depths of the facility, continuing to chat about numerous things together. It was a pleasant reprieve after the chaos from the training sector and the anxiety from the main base. It wouldn't take long before you'd catch up with Idalia and reach the next large office space, it being in a bit more of a dilapidated and damaged state than the smaller cafeteria area. The reception area had long been abandoned, with furniture strewn about in what appeared to be attempts at creating some natural barriers. However, it had clearly been a good long while since these 'defences' had been set up. "So, take it we're gonna settle down here?" Mike asked, after which Eric remarked: "Weren't we also gonna look for an elevator heading straight down around here so we could deliver the vat to Logan?"

>What do you do next?

>Explore the place before finding somewhere to settle down. You could simply look for some minor signs of people having stayed here, or really go looking for fancy files or the elevator down, depending on what you felt was the best course of action given the time. (Write in what you try to look for down here.)
>Settle down in a nearby area which looked safe enough to stay in for the night. Just any old spot would do for the time being. Hell, whilst you set up base, some people who didn't have much to do could simply explore the place. (Write in if you assign any people to do specific tasks.)
>Move towards the path up north to set up base there, so you could right away see any approaching threats which came from the high threat level containment up north.
>Split up to see if you could find anything of interest. One team could find a good location, another could find the elevators. (Write in how you split up.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6428088
>Explore the place before finding somewhere to settle down. You could simply look for some minor signs of people having stayed here, or really go looking for fancy files or the elevator down, depending on what you felt was the best course of action given the time.
Split up into our usual two groups (one focused around Reika and one around Morgan and Idalia or Iliara) and sweep the sector to make sure there's nothing lurking around here and check for any recent signs of habitation in the process.
>Split up to see if you could find anything of interest. One team could find a good location, another could find the elevators.
Once we've made sure it's safe, we can split up into smaller groups.
One searches for a place to set up camp and does so
One goes looking for files and pulls drives out of interesting-looking computers
One sets up security, placing down camera traps and leaving a drone near the northern entrance as CCTV
One goes to send the vat downstairs. Annie can tell us where the shaft is and where she'd like it left and Coda's webs with someone else strong to help lift could help get the huge thing down or perhaps Oreas could briefly run the actual lift car machinery (if it works) now she's fully charged up and was working on her control?

>>6428086
>lethally injure
You can just say kill, Kae.

>>6428088
>Explore the place before finding somewhere to settle down. You could simply look for some minor signs of people having stayed here, or really go looking for fancy files or the elevator down, depending on what you felt was the best course of action given the time. (Write in what you try to look for down here.)
A hidden and defendable position to camp.

>>6428088
> Explore the place before finding somewhere to settle down. You could simply look for some minor signs of people having stayed here, or really go looking for fancy files or the elevator down, depending on what you felt was the best course of action given the time. (Write in what you try to look for down here.)

Personally I'd prefer to have the standard tripartite scout force (Idalia by herself, Kaenum with Kenai, Iliara with Chrys) to sweep the sector for subjects and elevator shafts (or staircases), and we can form two human groups (supported by Reika and Morgan) centred around Derek and Ignacy to search for files and clues.

Not sure if we want to send out a small detachment downstairs right now given we have about zero knowledge of Level 4 beyond the Titanbay, the Server room, and MAYBE a testing chamber marked as important by Merse (and IIRC where we recovered a few files from). Maybe we can camp near the nearest elevator shaft and move the vat down tomorrow morning as a team?

Supporting >>6428105 on putting drones and camera traps to secure entrances to this section.

(.... and did we just pass through a small office space without searching for information there? Or we actually did search for information there but found nothing so we moved on? Or we're currently inside the "small office space" right to the east of the Mini-Green Section).

Last thread Merse said something about the Central Nanite Storage Unit which was described as "located somewhere underneath the now destroyed staff sector, and contains the nanites and coding of pretty much every subject", so… how likely would the CNSU be either the smaller section east to the Titanbay between the two HTCs or one of the sections connecting the southern HTC and the Combat Sector?

Also, just what, exactly, is that isolated section on level 4? I'm pretty sure it's accessible from above and/or below (or through air vents) but it's still the first time we've seen a section with zero hallway access whatsoever. Also, somehow four sections (the isolated section included) on level 4 had small sections attached as end-sections which is unprecedented for the three levels above.

>>6428352
The "small office space" was a cafeteria and food area with little of interest, so we passed it by.

>>6428373
It's possible, though it could also be deeper down on L4 and it's the area Vinella is around so we may need to come back later to search it since I imagine we'll be just trying to gtfo as fast as we can. Logan might know where it is since I imagine he'll have been there many times to deposit and withdraw templates.

As for the isolated area, I'm putting my chips on either Roraima's office or where Zephyr is being held. We can try and find an access from within the combat sector.

>Explore the place before finding somewhere to settle down. You could simply look for some minor signs of people having stayed here, or really go looking for fancy files or the elevator down, depending on what you felt was the best course of action given the time.
>Split up to see if you could find anything of interest. One team could find a good location, another could find the elevators.
You told Eric you'd indeed need to look for the elevators, since you'd go down them tomorrow with the vat in hand. But the elevators were only one part of your goal down here, as you told your men to start sweeping the sector for any threats or signs of habitation. Furthermore, you wanted to find a somewhat remote, defendable position to set up your camp at, once you had found the area to be secure. "So, are we splitting up then?" Antonin calmly asked, you hesitating and considering your options. Eventually, you decided to split up into two different groups. One group would be led by Derek, with main support from Reika, Iliara and Chrys. The second group would be led by Ignacy, with support from Morgan, Kaenum and Kenai. Both groups would sweep the entire area for subjects, survivors or other potential hazards.

Once the entire area had been fully explored and guaranteed safe, both groups could either splinter into further subgroups or continue together on your next tasks. Those tasks would be: to search for the remote, defendable position you wanted to set up camp at; to find files and drives out of computers which looked important; to set up security with camera traps and drones near the northern entrance; and to find an elevator shaft heading downstairs. Your men and the girls all agreed it'd be a good idea to at the very least get a good check up on the area before heading onwards. Thus, your men got ready to split up, one group planning to check the northern parts and one the southern parts.

Though before you joined one of these groups, you went over to Idalia to tell her that she could go alone if she wanted to. Her stealth ability and eagerness to explore meant she could easily traverse this place on her own in relative safety. Idalia seemed rather pleased with this suggestion, smiling brightly before nodding eagerly. "Very well, Mikhail. I shall head forward and check the upper parts of this office." She remarked, before looking around for a place to crawl up to the ceiling. Thus, you joined the group with Ignacy, Morgan, Kaenum and Kenai. You were further joined by Artyom, Sibilia, Eric, Sigit, Anon and a somewhat reluctant Haje, as you and your group took the northern path and started sweeping the area. The offices didn't appear to be anything too special, mostly containing cubicles, laboratories and general research areas. Though, you did also see a few offices which focused on the combat sector and data acquired from subject tests there. Given the intel these offices could provide, you took notes to check them out after sweeping the area.

"I got a feeling this place won't have much of interest to us. It's just a big, abandoned office area." Sibilia would eventually mumble, making Eric remark: "I'm not sure about that. I believe this office is where a lot of combat data is gathered. Aside from the small office to the north-west of the combat sector, I think this is the most important place for combat sector test data." This got Artyom to ask: "What kinda data is looked at here?" To which Eric responded: "Well, how well subjects performed in mock combat missions, how much damage they could take, their weaknesses and strengths." Your men looked more and more intrigued as it could shine a light on some of your biggest targets. Eventually though, you reached the main path heading north, knowing you'd go down it sooner rather than later. Looking into the distance, you didn't see much of anything. No barriers, no defences, it appeared to just be a dark tunnel leading to the high-threat level containment sector.

You and your men did look for any further signs of activity, it not taking long before you indeed found something of interest. "Everyone, come check this out!" Kenai eagerly remarked as she pointed at a large lounge area of some kind. The place had clearly been used recently, given the prominence of various makeshift beds, a small kitchen and makeshift dining area, and even some kind of generator which looked heavily out of place. There were also empty containers used to store weaponry and ammunition, clearly being brought over from the nearby weapons storage areas. Though, one question did remain as you checked the area. "So, who stayed here... and are they still here?" Kenai asked, to which Kaenum gave some thoughts of her own. "I imagine they no longer are here. At this time of day, this place would be far busier, instead of being abandoned." This made Haje a bit more on edge, looking around nervously. "S-So why is it abandoned then?" Haje asked quietly, to which Anon confidently replied: "We'll figure that out soon enough, I imagine."

Unfortunately, you wouldn't find many other hints as to who stayed here, why they stayed here and where they had gone next. It seemed that whoever had been here just dropped everything and left a good while ago. "Given the equipment here is the same as the equipment we found in the sector we came from, I believe whoever stayed here reached this place the same way we did... logically, they would've then probably headed north, since it's the only direction they could safely take." Ignacy would suggest as you finished checking over the makeshift hideout. "That, or they headed downstairs via the elevator shafts which were in this place." Sibilia added, even though it didn't seem too likely to be the case. Artyom would even remark: "Well, we'll have to see if we find any signs of them somehow climbing down the elevator shafts, or alternative routes they could've taken."

Regardless, you quickly moved on, continuing to check as much of the office space as possible. You passed by several more office spaces, finding some had been looted by the folk who presumably were here. More curiously though, you'd soon have Derek contact you, providing some updates of his group and what they found. "So, there are indeed a bunch of large elevator shafts. But obviously, none of them are working and... they appear to have been damaged by something. We've also encountered a lot of makeshift barriers in and around the elevators, as well as the paths near the entrance we came from." This was also particularly odd, as you had found no such defences in the area you were in. You also asked if they found a decent location to stay in for the night, to which Derek remarked: "Yes, actually. There's a large meeting room in the far south-eastern corner of this place. It looks to be out of the way and only has two possible entrances to it, so it's definitely easy to defend as well." You obviously explained your findings as well, which intrigued Derek.

"Maybe we can just take over that disused space instead? If it has makeshift beds, a generator and a makeshift kitchen, it might be easier to just use that space than to set up a bunch of things ourselves." Derek calmly suggested over the radio, which didn't seem like too unreasonable a suggestion. The only issue was that it wasn't exactly a remote space. If anything, it was so close to the northern entrance, anyone who came from there were unlikely to miss you.

>What do you do next?

>Ask some further questions to the other group. What were the elevators like, did they spot anything else of interest, could one of the girls go down the elevators and see where it led to? (Write in what you ask the other group.)
>Tell Derek you'd either come to the meeting room he suggested or to make his way over to you once he finished exploring the place. (Write in which location you choose as your base for the night.)
>Just continue scouting the area for any threats, before splitting up into further subgroups which could look for the items of interest and to set up your base. (Write in how you split up your group further once you've finished scouting the area.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

(Apologies for not posting an update yesterday. I procrastinated given that I wasn't entirely sure what to do with the variety of prompts. Maybe I should've just asked you guys to discuss further, but I think I managed to get something decent out for the time being. Bit of an intermission update, in a way.)

(>>6428389
Oh fuck, how did you get this picture of Chrys visiting me during the weekend when I was looking for moths?!)

>>6428884
>Ask some further questions to the other group. What were the elevators like, did they spot anything else of interest, could one of the girls go down the elevators and see where it led to?
I suspect this could be the aftermath of a flying visit by Big V since she was known to be downstairs prior and has very recently turned up on this floor and not far away. She'd also be the sort of thing that would make people want to defend against, smash through elevators on her way up and make them run away in a hurry when she broke in. Send the flying drone down to have a look-see, does it look like something big smashed its way through? What's at the bottom end?
As for the people, Kenai, can you put your nose to the ground and follow their trail? Which way did they go?
>Tell Derek you'd either come to the meeting room he suggested or to make his way over to you once he finished exploring the place.
Meeting room. This place is nice but it's way too exposed considering the calibre of the threats around here.
>Just continue scouting the area for any threats, before splitting up into further subgroups which could look for the items of interest and to set up your base.
I'll stick with my desire to have some of the smarter people go and search for interesting files and data (maybe bring that generator over, if it could get some of the computers on?), some of the knucleheads and strong ones to check the shaft in person and get the vat down, a couple of other people to set up CCTV in the north with the crawler and the remaining people to make camp.

>>6428884
>Tell Derek you'd either come to the meeting room he suggested or to make his way over to you once he finished exploring the place. (Write in which location you choose as your base for the night.)
The room they found, but set a camera up here in case previous residents return for any of the abandoned equipment.

>>6428884
> Ask some further questions to the other group. What were the elevators like, did they spot anything else of interest, could one of the girls go down the elevators and see where it led to? (Write in what you ask the other group.)

What does the damage to the elevators look like? Are those caused by human tools (cutting torch, breaching saw, angle grinder, hydraulic shears, etc), combat (bullet impact, explosions, acid spray, scorch marks), or subject activity (damage clearly caused by superhuman strength)?

Maybe ask Kenai whether she could help track the previous occupants here, and whether there's anything unusual with the scents (e.g. other subjects, weapon discharge, injuries, etc).

Also, assuming we've already finished sweeping the sector for hostiles, can we send down Idalia? She *is* our flight-capable stealth combat subject afterall.

> Tell Derek you'd either come to the meeting room he suggested or to make his way over to you once he finished exploring the place.

Meeting room for sure. We need the concealment - the outermost layers of the "survivability onion" are almost invariably "don't be seen" afterall. An open space might be good for setting up a gunline but definitely not for setting up camp.

Do set up cameras on both entraces of the sector so we don't get unpleasant "surprises".

> Just continue scouting the area for any threats, before splitting up into further subgroups which could look for the items of interest and to set up your base. (Write in how you split up your group further once you've finished scouting the area.)

Derek and Ignacy would of course search for computer hard drives while Anon, Artyom, Mike, and Mikhail could search for physical files. The rest of the humans (plus Codaline, Haje, Oreas, Sibilia, and Vinisha) can set up camp in the meeting room - I'd rather keep all three groups protected by at least one combat subject and one high+ perception subject if just to make sure nothing could ambush us from the elevator shafts.

Idle thoughts: I'm pretty sure the "(Thread 6) prologue side story shapeshifter" as mentioned by >>6418206 is BS-56 (Mona and Roraima subject, reports death squads she wiped out with their own equipment, not to mention the fact that the GalGov likely only got knowledge of her codename and creators from herself), and from the same prologue (aka OOC knowledge) we can infer the she's proficient with human firearms as well as a shapeshifter who can mimic the appearance and voice of those she killed (or finished off), if not mimicking death squad armour as well. Personally I doubt she'd attack us though given we have four Mona subjects (Codaline, Haje, Kenai, Oreas) in our group alone plus one more (Kamala) in France's group... assuming she wasn't working under Edith or Feng, that is.

... Maybe we can ask our subjects (and maybe even Annie) about this mysterious "BS-56" subject later? We know from the GalGov MGE that she's tactical and knowledgeable with GalGov / death squad equipment... and we aren't even sure about her real codename.

---

Speaking of prologue subjects... why am I suspecting "the Demon" in the prologue is basically the "new subject further improved on Feng's framework" in Andrei's notes? And I'm seriously suspecting he's hybridizing (read: kitbashing) upon quite a few other subjects like Oneira, Oana, and maybe even Thalia or Jasmine to create his perfect mind control machine.

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... and I'm pretty sure the Combat Sector sniper subject mentioned earlier by Annie is the same one as the "Fog Machine" in the GalGov MGE

>>6429254
It's an interesting theory, BS-56 is one of the few subjects we don't know anything more about than anyone else. It would be funny if the S stood for Shapeshifter. We can ask about her next time we have a jaw-jaw with the girls.

Andrei is well known to not be very concerned with ethics or potential blowback from his mad science and a cosy relationship with the state, so who knows what kind of horror he cooked up? We still have frustratingly few IC answers about the Demon.

The mystery sniper could also be Hetzen. She's noted to be a brilliant sharpshooter who likely has a sniper rifle and is also in the combat sector.

>>6429254
>>6429263
> pretty sure the Combat Sector sniper subject mentioned earlier by Annie is the same one as the "Fog Machine"
> The mystery sniper could also be Hetzen. She's noted to be a brilliant sharpshooter who likely has a sniper rifle and is also in the combat sector.

Or, the Galgov was actually correct about the "Fog Machine" and the sniper being two different subjects and they defaulted to Dhabus b/c they haven't heard of Hetzen (or Iliara, or Adenni, or the fact that Katya was a crackshot for that matter) yet... and there's a non-zero possibility that Hetzen *is* the "Fog Machine" because somehow we never asked about her physical appearance or powers beyond marksmanship.... and a sniper subject who can block LOS at will and create concealment out of thin air definitely sounds like a worthy endeavor.

Maybe we should ask Iliara and Morgan about Hetzen's physical appearance and abilities (beyond marksmanship) as well?

>>6429337
That's a good point on TFM and Hetzen potentially being one and the same. Add it to the list to bring up with them. Iliara and Kaenum would know what she looks like and probably her powers.

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>>6428884
>Chrys visiting me during the weekend
You gave her attention, right Anderson?

>Tell Derek you'd either come to the meeting room he suggested or to make his way over to you once he finished exploring the place.
You immediately told Derek that you'd prefer the meeting room they had found over the room you were in. "Huh, really? I mean, wouldn't your location give us a better defensive position as well as be easier to just set up a base in?" Derek responded calmly, you explaining that the place was nice but was also way too exposed. And given the various threats down here, being not seen was far preferable over having some extra supplies and a good view of who came from the north. Besides, you weren't looking for a fight, you were just looking to survive and avoid trouble until you found Alexandra. "Understood. We'll drop some of our supplies here then and maybe start setting up base." Derek responded, you thanking him before mentioning you'd try to set up some camera traps near this entrance. That way, you'd at least get some footage from the north entrance to see if anything popped up. "Alright, I imagine Artyom can install those."

>Ask some further questions to the other group. What were the elevators like, did they spot anything else of interest, could one of the girls go down the elevators and see where it led to?
With the elevators being close to Derek's group, you asked him if he could send a flying drone downstairs as well. "Hmmm, I can certainly try that. I'll do so after we finish sweeping the area, okay?" Derek answered in turn, clearly wanting to first ensure the southern half was safe. You specifically wanted Derek to look if anything smashed its way through and what was at the bottom. You heavily suspected that this was where Vinella had been, wanting to look for signs of her having gone through here. Derek responded in a somewhat concerned tone. "I'll, uhhhh, keep my eyes out for it, Mik. I just hope you aren't correct in that assessment." With that, you thanked Derek and told him you'd finish sweeping the area as well.

After turning off the radio, you turned to your own girls to ask for some help. You specifically turned to Kenai, asking her if she could follow the trail of whoever had been here and where they had headed to, and if there were any unique people alongside them. "Hmmmm, I'll try. I just need something to get a scent from." Right away, Eric headed to one of the makeshift beds and responded: "Try these." Kenai immediately walked up to it, before carefully sniffing the air. "The scent is a bit... diluted. So, they've abandoned this place a while ago..." Kenai sniffed the air further, before looking to one of the other makeshift beds and sniffing it a bit as well. "This one's also diluted... But, their scent is going in the same direction." Kenai would keep smelling the area, continuing to look for unique scents. But after it became clear there were no unique subject scents, she'd start following the various scents as they all headed the same path.