1008/Into The Mountains

Into The Mountains
Date of Scene:	21 November 2014
Location:	Allagan Ruins 518, Ala Mihgo, Hydaelyn
Synopsis:	The Confederacy is brought along for an expedition into an old Allagan Ruin located high into the Ala Mhigo mountainside. None know what to expect and what they find on the first level, is just the beginning...
Cast of Characters:	37, 114, 399, 494, 522, Wo, 583

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Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Members of the Confederate team who have showed interest in checking out a new Allagan Ruin find were ask to report to the main Confederate base. There in the hangers were at least three Garlean transports. Sleek in metal armor design, black in color, with a slight red glow from a slow rotating device near the back of the tail and in the very wings.

They would be helped on board if need be and once everyone was settled in, the doors would automatically close shut and then the transports would life up in the air almost seemingly effortlessly and then head off for their destination-- that of Ala Mhigo.

For there what seems to be a once landing pad has been located and including some rather stubborn large doors, that crews have been working on to get open since their finding. Gaius Van Baelsar for the moment is no where to be seen on these transports, though as the Centurions on board, covered head to toe in armor would explain-- Gaius Van Baelsar is already on site.

At first the group would get the glimpse of the sea far below the clouds, then that of the Eorzean Region far below. The shifts sands and forests almost brought to its very knees lays for all to see with simple ease.

Yet over the raging lakes, soon comes over into a valley, which leads over the mountains into that where Ala Mhigo resides. Mountains that reach high into the air, ice-capped peeks, and clouds that play around the very rocky ledges. Valleys that run deep, water that flows with little effort, cascading down at some points among the mountains.

Soon even the city of this area controlled by Garlemald will be in view off in the distance. A city that has almost all but rebuilt by the Garlean Empire, yet keeping to its old rustic style it would seem.

The Transports then bank down, following one another in as they move around the mountain cliffs, passing by a rolling waterfall that has to be half a mile wide. The fine mist spraying across the windshields as it moves by. Soon though the location can be seen dead ahead. Two other transports are sitting there, with still enough room to spare for these three in bound. Standing there are several of the Garlean troops. All with weapons, but a few with some type of device in their hands that almost look like black data-pads.

One such research seems to have his helm hooked to his belt and is talking directly with a dark armored figure with crimson red-leather cloth; Gaius Van Baelsar.

As the transports then land down with ease, the doors go to open and the troops on board, few they may be, step off and give those a hand that need to step down. The three Centurions wait to leave after everyone else does. Gaius however walks up to the group, before giving them all a proper nod of his head. "Greetings everyone. Given the interest in the Allagan Ruins, I thought best we shall all get a feel for what may be in store for all of you, as these ruins are old and the civilization that created these wonders are the masters of our own technology that we have backward engineered from."

Gaius then motions to the massive door. It looks to be black steel of some kind, though a great deal of dirt has found its way into the carvings and mechanisms it would seem as teams work to try and clean it out. Including a few that are messing with what seems to be a junction box of some kind-- that has perhaps seen better days.

Gaius then looks back over to the door. "The curse we face right now, is that the door for the moment is jammed. Though we have been able to pry it slightly open, a grown man can not squeeze through.. though the team here believes that if someone could get on the other side of the door mechanism, they may be able to force the doors to-- unlatch themselves."

Gaius mildly shrugs, "Seems the problem lies in the signal, not so much in grime.. though I imagine the latter does not help either."

Music For The Scene: http://youtu.be/4Gkz0YYrIrc

Wo has posed:
    It is somewhat of an unusual experience. The now humanoid aircraft carrier, going by 'Wo' to the confederacy, is more used to transporting herself to locations, rather than riding in other vessels. As such, the sensation is both familiar and not, and leads to her giving some unsettled shifting in her seat during the journey through the air. It's not so much that she isn't used to the sensation of flight, seeing as to how she can experience it through her own aircraft, but being essentially in someone else's hands is a different matter. She doesn't spare much of a glance at the scenery, accordingly, instead focusing alternatingly on the metal clad flooring as well as stealing glances at the other passengers with turquoise eyes. Passive gazes that are easily visible, given that they glow in the darkened compartment.

    When they finally land, it is a refreshing change, and she tries not to make a show of how eagerly she files out of the transport. Her legs function well enough for land travel, even if she is more at home on the sea, and look -- she's even brought some of it with her, given the moisture still dripping from her cape and now pooling around this once pristine ruin. Leaning on her rough-hewn staff, she gets her stability back, and takes in the scene around her, before Gaius addresses them personally. She can't quite manage a smile, but she does at least raise a hand in greeting, repeating her given alias as a form of hello. "...Gaius.." Reaching up to adjust her hat slightly, she listens to the situation report, glancing towards those heavy doors, before beginning to pace lightly up to them to give a closer look. That is, provided she's allowed to.

    After a few moments of looking at the crack, she raises a gloved hand up, the 'eyes' of her hat beginning to glow with some manner of energy. A single fighter drone emerges from one of the sockets, the iris-like aperture opening to allow its egress, and shortly after sprouts to its normal size of about a meter in width. It makes a buzzing sound, over the normal rush of air from its apparent jet propulsion, and as she seems to be giving it some silent instruction, it hovers closer to the gap in the doors. After shifting to the side via its vectored thrust, it makes a good effort to try to squeeze through the gap, only to be met with the clunk of metal on metal. It does its best, but after another attempt, Wo summons it back to her side, giving it a pat on the top of its 'head', and then turns to Gaius with a slow, somewhat apologetic shake of her head.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Samar isn't going out on this excursion herself. She's instead sent some of her followers out, one of whom is the flagship Ta-Class that steps up onto the transport. She's a rather tall and slender woman, her skin naturally as pallid as the rest of the Abyssal fleet, with long, light grey hair to match and glowing yellow eyes. She wears a sort of sailor top, but with long, billowing sleeves that serve as hiding places for the trio of mechanical maws with a pair of cannons over each head, their mouths glowing a sickly green from between their teeth. Below, she wears a dark blue bikini bottom, and beneath that, her legs are shielded by sleek, dark armored leggings. Certainly a strange individual, but probably no more unusual than Wo. (http://goo.gl/DHKQbw)

    The scenery goes mostly unappreciated by Ta, who lingers in the transport seemingly all to eager to get off it and get to work. When the transport finally lands, she readily hops out on her own and immediately looks around for where Gaius is. It's not a long search; he walks up soon enough, and Ta grins her greeting at him, idly bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waits for an explanation of the situation.

    That grin fades when the issue with the door is explained. Ta is certainly more crafty than some of her allies, but things like "trying to open fussy doors" have never really been issues for her. "...well, that sounds like a pain," the battleship mutters. She smirks a little then, however, casting a brief glance toward Gaius. "I guess we can't just blow it open?"

    Ta follows after Wo when the aircraft carrier decides to investigate things directly. The failure of the aircraft is noted; Ta has those herself, and if they're too big to fit, there's not much point in her making the same attempt. Hand perched on her hip, she frowns up at the door, trying to figure out how to approach this situation more craftily.

    "...hm." A glance is given over her shoulder back to Gaius. "My guns are a little flexible. I could try and reach in and aim for it, but I'm not sure exactly where it is. I don't want to ruin our chances of getting in, though, if that's more forceful than you need."

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori is among the number to accept transportation aboard the sleek, black-hulled craft provided by Gaius Van Baelsar. For most of the journey, she stands in silent appreciation for the countryside rolling past, wide eyes and parted lips reflecting a deep fascination for the previously-unseen world. On occasion, she ducks a bit to change her viewing angle, or cocks her head to the side, or even gives a gasp at something she finds remarkable. In short, she's rapt. Like a cat watching the bird feeder, or something.

Once the craft touches down, she's eager to step out and smell the air, feel the earth, and see what's there to be seen. She spends a moment just looking around, and takes a better look at Gaius's men, too.

Finally, she approaches the door to assess the challenge it represents. "I bet I could widen that crack," she boasts at last. The first words she speaks tonight, and they're pretty arrogant. No more than a few inches above five feet in height, she cuts a slight figure -- not at all intimidating except for that look in her eye. Her battlesuit doesn't look like much else than a leotard, and her gloves and boots don't even look armored. "If I can, perhaps someone else could slip inside to fix the...signal?"

As if on cue, her tail snaps into an all-business loop around her waist.

Taro (399) has posed:
    An opportunity to potentially discover and examine technology from a highly advanced but presumably extinct civilization? Small wonder that Taro has turned up for this.
    The android priest appears in the hangar several minutes before the appointed time, dressed in his now certified radiation-and-toxin-free armor (no thanks to that unnamed radioactive city explored earlier this week), and a glimmering blue-purple orb of light perched on his shoulder. The transports are regarded with an appraising eye while waiting, and given the same sort of absent scruitiny once they embark.
     On their journey here, he will have introduced himself to the fellow Confederates that he's met over the radio but not in person before - which appears to be a fair number in this case - though after all the pleasantries are exchanged, he doesn't appear to be one for small talk unless someone draws him into such.
    He needs no assistance to disembark after they land, though it was a kind thought on their part. He briefly holds up a gloved hand to shield his eyes from the sun as his eyes adjust from inside to out, which drops when Gaius comes to greet them. "Good day, Gaius," he greets, offering a bow. Gaze turns from the man to the massive metal doors as they're brought to attention, brow furrowing a bit as it's explain that already this little expedition has run into its first problem. "Mm...While I am small, I am not quite that small, I think." A hint of self-depreciating humor in his voice. "However, if it's the simple matter of a latch, or a frozen mechanism..." He raises his hand to his shoulder, the orb hopping tightly into the pal of his hand. "...perhaps Myrrh here could handle that."
    The 'orb' springs from his hand into the air, fluttering lightly. 'Sure, I'll give it a try!' it warbles in an obviously electronic voice. Then, it pauses. '...but I'll wait until those other assistants try first.' Meaning Wo's fighter drones, apparently.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Mantigora was here for a number of reasons, not just because it was a Confederate mission. She'd taken a bit of personal interest in the operations of Gaius and his forces, as they reminded her much of the Legions she served in for many years and the initial foothold upon Nexus before striking out on more personal operations as a bounty hunter. The Draken strides out with the others, keeping mostly to herself but giving Gaius a return nod as he greets them and starts explaining the matter.

Skuzzler follows after her, but in complete contrast just sits down and starts fiddling with making modifications to his Scanbot for the operation, muttering to himself in some squeaking and chittering that one can only assume is the Chua's natural vocalizations.

Mantigora tilts her head a little to the side as she listens, reptillan tail giving an idle swish or two behind her. Though at the mention of the crack and 'no grown man being able to fit' she steps a little to the side to look at the doors for herself, slitted eyes narrowing as she tries to gauge the width of the berth available.
Then turns to look down at her partner, who is paying no attention whatsoever as he messes with his machine instead. Then back up to the doors. Then down to the Chua. Then finally she turns back to Gaius. "What about a three foot furball?"

Metallic ears snap to attention and Skuzzler actually looks up from his tinkering at hearing Mantigora's typical way of referring to him. "What trouble is she-draken trying to get Skuzzler into now? Don't need help!" He shakes a tiny gloved paw at her. "Skuzzler get in trouble just fine by self!"

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Genghis Rex arrives in his own personal craft. He's typically extremely punctual, but something held him up tonight. That's all right, the king of the Tyrannos will just be fashionably late, insead.

The twin engines of his ship whine to a halt as the canopy pops open and slides upwards and back, revealing the tyrannical pilot.

Rex steps out of his ship and looks over those in attendance. He takes an interest in Mantigora, and quietly steps up behind her. The crimson T-rex turns his head at the predicament laying before the group, "Can't open the door? Well this is a short exploration, no?"

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Some of the Garlean Researchers stand by as Wo moves in try and give it a shot. They watch the small plane with great interest, but only frown when it seems even the small craft could not.

One of the techs go back to fiddling with the junction box, trying to see if he could over-ride the issue, but so far only thing that happens is the junction box 'pops' a blue spark in his face and nearly cracks him with an electrical spark. At least that was showing the place still, somehow, had power running through it.

Or maybe the techs were able to supply power to just the door.

Gaius looks over to Ta as she asks her question. "Damaging the device will sadly probably lead us unable to open the doors at all." One of the techs looks over, the one who almost got electrocuted, "The problem isn't so much the motor itself, but the bloody signal from the switches to the door. That and this thing probably has been opened in over a thousand years or more."

The tech stares at the Junction box he has been working on. "..and though I was able to jury rig it to get it to open as much as it has, something is blocking it from now opening further. Which we are guessing is a security system." The tech places up his index finger, "Thus, why if we can get someone simply inside-- we can override the security from the one within."

One of techs looks at Serori as she speaks big, but its the look in her eyes that keeps them from laughing really. The soldiers who are standing by are about no better, but are less obvious to what they are thinking-- because being a trooper.. is serious business.

Gaius then looks to Serori about then, "You may attempt to do so," he looks over to Taro and Mantigora as they have also suggested ways as well. "If they fail." Gaius then looks over at the main tech who has been dealing with the door. He motions for him to come over.

The man puts down his tools and makes his way over, taking the datapad from the guy who had his helm off that Gaius was speaking to early. This guy is also missing his helm, but he has on more 'leather' like armor then metal, but some shin guards and arm guards seem to be present. He also has a pair of goggles resting on the top of his head and that 'third eye', what may seem like a white stone to others, resting in the center of his forehead.

Gaius nods to Taro and Matigora. "What do you think is best coarse of action?"

The man blinks and looks at the two with his steel-blue eyes, "Um. Hm." He taps the datapad to his lips in thought. "The Allagans built most of their devices on magitek and electronic equipment. It is hard to say if his," He points at Taro's, "Would trigger a problem-- but at the same time," He looks at the furball, "Though he could get in.. he may not reach the controls, given they are at least higher then he is."

The man then looks at Taro. "Can your.. friend.. there push a green button? Its rectangle in shape. It may be above a red circle. Which-- don't hit the red circle.. whatever you do. That will cause the door to shut and lock itself."

"..and who knows what else." That is comforting, huh?

Though when Rex shows up in his own craft, several of the Troopers suddenly turn around and take aim with their own gunblades. One of the Centurions barks at them to stand down as Gaius raises up his hand. The Legatus looks upon the Rex for a moment as he lowers down his arm. "Greetings and please excuse the jumpiness of my men. We have had some issues out here in Ala Mhigo as of late. As for the door.." Gaius turns to look at it. "If there is a will, there is always a way."

Taro (399) has posed:
    "Good afternoon, Genghis Rex," Taro greets politely if absently. Then, attention returns to the problem of the door. "Provided that the button doesn't require too much force. She can interact with the physical world on a moest level, but they were never intended for brute strength."
    He then gestures toward the door. "Go ahead and give it a try, Myrrh." And with that, the 'elf zips away, over the techs' heads to slip through the gap and inside. Since she is herself a light source, finding the button shouldn't be terribly difficult. 'Activating ORBIT system! Okay, mister button, let's give you a push!' The green one, of course. Not the red.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Cyber Elf would be indeed greeted to the darkness beyond the door. It is easy to see that there is some type of shallow running ramp that leads down further. The dark walls are black steel in color an inset lines run vertically along the wall and some also match up on the cieling. The lens of those lines have a blue color, but they do not glow any. It is only what little bit the sun and maybe her own light source gives away.

When she pushes the green button it does glows brightly as it is pushed, a soft 'beep' sound echoes through the silent entrance.

Yet the beep brings a much louder rumbling and loud 'screech' as the gears give way to the motor putting full power behind them. The heavy doors start to slowly slide open, more light from outside creeping in. Dust from neglect starts to fall down from above before the doors at last expand open fully, giving light to the very ramp for all to see.

Two of the troopers quickly move in, including one of the Centurions. They go down a bit before they radio up to Gaius Van Baelsar. Gaius then turns to his own team. The two techs who lack helms really, "You two, come with him. The rest of you continue to see what you can find out about this area out here."

The Legatus then turns to the members of the Confederacy before motioning with his hand to the open path now before them. "Shall we?" He says with a calm, but somewhat happy tone to his voice. He then starts to head that way himself.

One of the techs takes out what seems to be like a flashlight, which he attaches to his shoulder. It clamps on and then brightens the dark path ahead. "If you have any source of light like this, you may want to use it until we can find away to turn the power on.. if the generator will even run."

The tech then looks away, though the other speaks up as he goes to stick his helm on from his belt, which seems to be a full face helm. Unlike the other, he has far more metal work. "Or if your able to adjust to the darkness. No harm then!"

It looks like a pretty long trek down...

Serori (37) has posed:
Not having the chance to flex a little saiyan muscle should probably disappoint Serori, right? Ah, but how often in the Multiverse does one get to punch a problem into submission, anyway? It's a far less frequent thing for someone like Taro to get to exercise /his/ talents, so perhaps it's only fitting he has the honor of opening the door. Tossing an approving little smile Taro's way, Serori proceeds into the darkness without any light source but a small yellow-white sphere she conjures into her palm.

"You seem eager to investigate, Legatus," she murmurs. Maybe it's darkness, maybe it's the alien setting, but she feels like keeping quiet is probably the best thing to do for now. As she prowls down the ramp, confidence in her step, she keeps her eyes peeled for anything of interest...or potential danger.

The next words are a bit abrupt, and carrying the weight of authority. Serori addresses the two 'techs' Gaius has brought along. "You two -- explain your skills. I know my Confederates, but the Legatus has not described his resources for this mission."

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Mantigora just cants her head a little to an angle to get a glimps of the taller Tyranno looming nearby. Ah, finally, more reptillian allies. This one clearly evolved from a predator, much like her own species. Excellent.

The electronic voice distracts Skuzzler from berating Mantigora farther. The Chua is promptly on his feet and waddling over to turn his hovering drone loose. "Gears and stars! A free roaming electronic entity without physical containment?! Wanna see!"

Then his feet are just scuffling in one place on the floor as Mantigora grabs the top of his head, then picks him up to keep him from climbing onto Taro himself. Not that it stops him from making little grabby hand motions at the cyber-fairy. "Can you try to not embarass us in front of associates for once? I'm sorry. Chua are very... obsessive about exceptional technology."

The Scanbot just orbits around a bit trying to get a good angle on the cyber-fairy with its scanner, and even follows it towards the doors. Resulting in a *thunk* as the ball proves to be wider than the gap, and several more as it continues to try following it inside anwyays, like it can't register the space is smaller than its width. Skuzzler finally sighs, and taps a controller on one of his arms to call it back to his side. "Stupid AI pathing issues."

Mantigora just rolls her eyes as she sets him back down to follow the others past the now open doors. Darkness doesn't even phase her, as her eyes just glow more noticable, hilight their unusual alien coloration. It could be mistaken for the reflective eyes a lot of animals have, but it's really her nanotech shifting into night-vision mode. Skuzzler on the other hand pulls his work visor from his brow down over his eyes, which provides its own light source as well as a HUD feed to the Scanbot that continues to hover along with him. Of course he has illuminated gear, you know how much time Chua apprenticeship is spent crawling through dark cramped access compartments and heating ventwork? "Finding power source would still be good idea. More stuff make work with steady source of energy. For SCIENCE."

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Rex regards the troops scornfully, but says nothing. Gaius's words snap him out of chewing them out and he glances the Legatus up and down, taking in his form for the first time, "Indeed."

As the door creaks open, the Tyranno king cocks his head to the side, "Well,that's one obstacle overcome. Very likely not the last."

He pulls a softball sized metal sphere from his pocket and shows it to Gaius. It's a Tyranno hover probe, "Shall I send this ahead?"

Wo has posed:
    Her plane's failure to squeeze in doesn't seem to affect Wo too badly. There are several resourceful allies around that can cover them, so she remains relaxed. It even gives her a chance to look to her better spoken Ta-class companion, as they both take their turn giving the door mechanisms a once over, as well as giving glances to the new arrival, but not speaking up yet.

    Instead, it seems that this cyber elf was able to succeed in opening the way for them, and with the wide area covered by her hat shielding her eyes, she peers into the widening opening and into the darkness, almost as though she can see into it with those mutedly glowing eyes of hers, through that sudden curtain of dust. After a few moments, she turns again to her bikini-bottomed comrade, and mumbles simply, "..let's go." Not much for conversation, is she?

    The heels of her boots click lightly, scattering the dust of what could be countless hundreds of years, for all she knows, as she moves to enter. She doesn't return her plane to its resting spot, either, for the time being, leaving it to hover in the air beside her, its jets kicking up its own share of the lighter debris. While she mostly stares straight forward for this, she does pause briefly at the door itself, giving a look to the mechanisms. Like most things in this world, it is..unfamiliar. "--is this, magic," she wonders? She'd heard it mentioned over the radio a few times, and read up on it a bit. How else can this kind of thing remain functioning after all this time?

    Answered or not, she moves when the group as a whole does, much like she might on the open sea.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro is not so theatrical as to say something like 'open sesame' as the doors rumble open. No, he only makes a small pleased sound at his small follower's success. Then...he finds himself sidestepping an overeager Chua just as Mantigora nabs him. A flicker of disdain crosses his features, but his dour mask quickly reasserts itself. "You may look - later - but she'll like zap you for your trouble if you paw at her like that."
    As the lot of them walk toward the now opened gate into who knows where, he draws a chemlight stick from one of the pouches at his belt and cracks it between his fingers. "The drones were not a bad idea," he remarks to Wo.
     Unopened for a thousand years, hm? How good of repair was it left in, he wonders. As they descend, he looks for signs or clues as whether the place was abandoned by choice with plans of return, or if the ancient inhabitents had to leave in a hurry: shut down carefully? Signs of disrepair that cannot be explained by age and time?
    Myrrh will meet up with them all once they join her inside, and she makes a happy proud-of-herself warble. Taro draws something else from his pouch, a fragment of crystal - and which she readily nabs from his pinched fingers and munches on.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Ta is still getting used to this whole Multiverse thing, so the presence of the others nearby gets a bit of surprise from her. The pale Abyssal glances between each person in turn as offers are made for solving the issue at hand, regarding all of them with a little curiosity. Sure, she's the spirit of a sunken ship, but everyone else is so much more unusual than that to her.

    Finally, though, it seems the situation is taken care of. A smirk and a nod are given to Wo, and as the doorway opens up, she lifts one of her arms. The mechanical mouths under her sleeves snarl metalically as they open up, greenish steam seeping from between their teeth, but they don't attack or anything. Rather, searchlights pour forth from their throats, a faintly green tint to the lights that help mark the path ahead of them for quite a ways, not unlike the sorts of lights a ship would use to navigate through foggy weather.

    Ta follows the group inside, then, her gaze shifting around the space and one of the metal heads beneath her sleeves swiveling to follow and illuminate various parts of the passage. To supplement it, Ta also activates her own personal radar, pinging out further into the darkness than her floodlights would allow.

    "Seems a little less like magic and more like fancy technology," Ta replies to Wo, shrugging slightly. "But I dunno. I don't see why they couldn't just give it some juice to work again, even if it is this old, but I'm not a techie. Darwin would probably know that kind of thing better."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
One of the techs glances over to Serori, the one with the goggles. "Engineering and Technical." He says with a mild smile. "I graduated from the institute recently. If it has wires, tech runes, or ceruleum currents. I know how to repair, dismantle, or jury rig it."

The young tech grins even more. "I was requested to come along on this as a chance to prove my skills to the Empire. If I do well, I may even get a promotion really easily!" He is very enthusiastic about this. "What about you?"

The other one with the full helm grunts gently. "You should simmer down your eagerness. If your not careful and don't think it through-- you could easily set off a trap in your curious desire to see what it does." He then gives Serori a mild Garlean salute which is his hand closed into a fist and crossing over his chest slightly up near his jaw line. "I am the Fourteenth Legion's data analyzer and technical overseer. It is my job to scan over all material, handle terminal access ports, and anything that may require a bit of code work. I also have some training in mechanical repair.. but it is not my primary focus."

The younger one speaks up again. "He also has a mean sword swing and got a mark for precision aiming. He is one of Lord Van Baelsar's top men, right?"

"..you could say that."

Gaius remains mostly silent over this, though he does turn to look at Rex giving the Anthromorphic Dinosaur a nod of his head. "Go ahead. Perhaps it can inform us of any traps ahead."

Taro would not find any signs of any struggle here. It look like the place has either shutdown by the original owners choice, or shut down due to just no longer anyone being home. Though his gaze to the ground may show him what seems like a 'rail' of some type. A wide piece of metal that could maybe raise up.

A lift system perhaps?

Ta's own sonar and flood lights would show the way. The area seeming to repeats its way down. The 'lights' -- if that is what they are -- are perfectly spaced out on the way down. Never any less apart then the next. The sonar itself shows that they may be coming up on something soon, where the hall starts to narrow in a bit, before seeming to wide back out-- and widen back out perhaps /far/ wider then the hall is right now.

Gaius does look over to Wo as they ask their question. "Magitek." Gaius explains easily, "A mixture of technology and magic. The very steel we walk possibly as rune circuits running through it. The walls an ceiling as well." The Legatus tilts his head ever so slightly. "The science of how it works is not so different from how some other worlds use electricity to power things.. but in replace of electrical currents, we.. and they.. used Ceruleum.. or a kin too."

Mantigora (583) has posed:
"Wouldn't be the first time," Mantigora snorts at Taro's reply... but Skuzzler has already scurried off, easily distracted by the surroundings and pointing his Scanbot at otherwise innoculous seeming things to scan. Like the lights. Even though they're not working. Sigh. Chua... it's best to just let him be, at least it keeps him occupied and not running off ahead of the group. Because he wasn't joking when he said he could get into trouble on his own just fine.

She listens idly to the technicians chatter, and Gaius' explaination of the local magic/technology. "Similar to how the Eldan built great machines, but used Primal elements and other ethereal sources to power them." Most of her attention is on watching ahead though, least these ruins not be as unoccupied as they first seem.

At least Artemis Zin isn't here. She's probably trip every trap in the process just to see what they do and use the footage for her show.

Wo has posed:
    A look is given to Taro, and then Wo pulls down the front of her hat, just slightly. It's an interesting gesture, given the volume it consumes, that it looked fairly effortless. "..too big," comes her expert and brief analysis of the issue with trying to use the drone to squeeze in. She does give a curious look toward the little friend he has with him, newly returned.

    Speaking of her ally. Using the radar is a good idea, here - though hopefully the electromagnetic waves bouncing around the interior won't awaken any ancient technobeasts or anything. Sadly, her own hat doesn't have any equipment of the sort currently, so she'll have to rely on her plane's eyes as well as her comrades' - though her own have little trouble penetrating the darkness, they can only see as far as a human's might in normal lighting.

    Gaius' explanation earns him a glance, and then a nod of her head.. She repeats the term he used though, as she continues to pace forward, "Ceruleum..?" It is perhaps familiar from radio conversations, though she hadn't really gotten a chance to learn much about it, considering how difficult it can be for her to actually ask. Her interest level has raised, now that she knows this isn't simply some rusty, dusty old structure. It still lives beyond its years..like her and her sister, here. She can't help but wonder what other properties this substance might have, but that might yet be answered as they explore down here.

Taro (399) has posed:
    "I wonder...was this place mothballed, or decommissioned?" Taro asks rhetorically. "The age of this place may have worn such signs away, but I'm not seeing signs that this place was attacked...mm, what's this?" He crouches to the floor, hunching his head to look at it more closely. He's careful to not touch just yet - in fact he's being rather careful about looking without touching. While he hasn't had much experience with the magitech of this world, he has had numerous experience with him and more traditional magic Not Getting On Well. Thus, caution is exercised.
    "I think I may have found a lift platform of some kind." A glance upward, in search of any controls that might operate it.
    Just because he's talking doesn't mean he isn't listening...and he might chat up those techs later on.
    Meanwhile, Myrrh twinkles in a light-dark-light sort of way at Wo. Is she waving? Seems like it. Hi~

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Rex releases the metal ball, which speeds forward down the tunnel then abruptly stops. A red light casts along the walls in a v-shape, spinning and wirling around the tunnel in a steady 360 degree arc.

The Tyranno pulls back the right sleeve of his coat, revealing an arm mounted computer. He taps a few buttons with his free claw and the feedback from the probe projects a small 3 dimensional map of the tunnel directly in front of the group. As the probe moves slowly down the tunnel, the map scales and grows in size.

Rex follows slowly after the probe, watching the 3d map as the probe uncovers more of the ruins. As the probe disappears down the tunnel, the map fills in more of the road ahead. The rendering stops for a moment, then a large door, halfway opened bleeds into view.

"There is another door ahead." Rex remarks.

More of the map bleeds into view, "There is some sort of anti-chamber beyond."

Serori (37) has posed:
"I see. It's good to know the Legatus has sent his very best on such an important mission. I am Serori, Colonel of the Multiveral Reclamation Division, what you know as the military arm of the Confederacy. I am primarily a combatant; however, in my youth I was trained as a scout, and retain a few skills of observation and exploration. Technical matters are far from being my area of expertise, so I am glad you're here to support me. Both of you."

To the more experienced tech, she casts a smirk. "I hope your wisdom balances his eagerness...though there is something to be said for the energy and innovation of a younger mind. I look forward to seeing you both in action."

Serori falls quiet, and turns her attention to Rex and his scanner once he steps forward to offer its services. "Good. We'll save a little time."

After the scan completes, she looks to Gaius as if confirming it's safe to move ahead; then, she flips a salute off her forehead in Rex's direction, and prowls down toward the revealed chamber.

Carefully.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Ta continues forward, though she seems more interested in what her radar pulls up than what she actually sees. "Looks like it's opening up further down," she remarks to her allies. "A pretty big space, too. I guess it couldn't stay this size the whole time, though."

    A glance is given toward Taro when he remarks about finding something. Hm. For now, she'll let him take care of that; her primary focus is scouting right now, and it'll be better to get that taken care of while the more technically skilled people are working on other matters that they come across.

    So, the battleship girl keeps walking, sweeping her floodlights now and then to give her allies something to see for themselves while she focuses on the results of her radar. She'll keep toward the front of the group, moving on to where the passage opens up and seeing if she can get some kind of mental map of this place formed from the results of her radar.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The tech with the full armor then reaches into a pouch he has at his side, he pulls out a few comm devices and then steps back a bit to hand everyone a comm radio. "This is tuned to a signal pack I have in my other pouch. Cause we are going down deep, normal comms may find it difficult to communicate beyond or just not work at all."

You can tell this is not his first rodeo here.

He does look over to Taro about the lift. "Would not surprise me. At this size and given the landing platforms dimensions-- this place may have been a warehouse once... or.. who knows. Maybe even a prison."

The younger one peers over his shoulders. "A prison? Really? Nice way to try and scare everyone."

The full armored tech huffs softly. "Trust me.. not all these ruins are.. pleasant walks."

Gaius gives a nod to Rex, "Understood. Anything further about the chamber your device could entail?" Gaius does study the 3D mapping, easily reading it given they have a similar technology on the Dreadnought.

As they continue to move on, the half opened door shows up to all to see. It seems the wreckage did in fact belong to a tram, or was a tram-- now its a rather mangled mess. The damage to it is pretty extensive and the parts lay around in scattered bits.

Its hard to say what happened to it really. Though ahead the room before them is rather large, the gold liquid below shinning through the four corners of the room illuminate the area and the heat coming off that liquid far below can be felt. Thankfully the rails keep people from falling off. Pillars also stand in the center, seeming to hold this very platform and walk ways up. An Orb of some kind lies in the center-- at least eight feet in diameter. Three doors also lie ahead. One to the right, one to the left, and one dead ahead. All closed.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Rex's map continues to fill in as the probe scans the much larger anti-chamber. He swipes a claw across the 3d map and it turns in response to his movements as if it were a real object.

As the full anti-chamber renders, 3 closed doors appear at the outer edges of the chamber. However, Rex does not focus on the closed doors, rather he is focusing on the very large sphere in the center of the chamber.

"Tell me about the religions of this world, Legatus? Could this be a place of worship"

Rex blinks at the map and turns the entire room upside down, "The floor is suspended by ... something"

Rex turns to Serori, "We may need somebody who is not so reliant on gravity to proceed, I can't tell what's holding that floor up ... or why the cornersof the room are warmer than the rest ..."

Mantigora (583) has posed:
"Ethusiasm is good, but don't let it blind your caution. Your comrade there knows what he is talking bout," Mantigora replies to the two techs as she takes the offered comm. As she snaps it into place her nanotech interfaces with it, syncing the radio device to her datacron so she doesn't have to give up all her quick to access mental controls.

Then she crouchs down low, just shy of prowling on all fours as she stalks over the wreckage of the tram and peers through the half-open doors. The radiant heat is actually rather comfortable to her. "Skuzzler, get over here... URF" She grunts as the Chua crawls underneath her to get by, his head practically in her chest when he stands up again. Not that he bothers to notice, as his eyes are too busy staring at the actual room.
"Looks like inside of giant smelter... Skuzzler starting to like the way these ancients decorate, yessss." He starts to scamper out from under her but Mantigora quickly grabs his tail before he can get inside to the platform.
"Send your Scanbot first. Make sure that platform is safely supported, and whatever that... stuff is."
"Bah!" But Skuzzler taps his arm controller and the Scanbot zips out, veering over the railing and hovering down below it's level to do as its instructed, scanning first the platform and then the 'golden liquid' below. "Let robot have all the fun. Hmph."

Wo has posed:
    Normally her 'built-in' radio is all Wo would need. There's one thing that she is learning from her experiences in the multiverse so far, though, and that's simply: Another world, another set of rules. Hopefully the technician won't be too disturbed when, rather than one of her humanoid arms, the end of one of her hat's tendrils actually snakes out and, with surprising deftness, takes one of the communicators, before drawing back in. Her own hands are currently preoccupied alternatingly between her staff and remaining free to examine things, by touch if necessary. "..thanks," she mumbles.

    The plane-like drone that had been at her side moves a bit forward and ahead, the tongue behind the teeth of its 'jaw' actually seeming to move, perhaps scenting the air chemically. Or just to add a nice element of creepiness to the atmosphere. It emits a sound of more buzzing static, as it passes by Taro's cyber elf, before hovering in a slow, circling holding pattern. It almost seems eager to make up for its earlier failing by volunteering to inspect what's ahead, though it won't go on without its controller's okay. "..could..send plane. If - it's necessary." It isn't reliant on walking, though it does produce some thrust for its levitation, as its low but throaty roar would confirm.

    With that, she remains standing back, continuing to look over this place. She's..not exactly used to surface dweller-made structures yet, so her guesses as to what its function might be would be purely that. Simply conjecture. She'll leave that sort of thinking to those that don't live on the ocean floor.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Mantigora shifts a bit to look back to the others.. "Different perspectives wouldn't hurt. Different eyes see things different ways."

Samar (494) has posed:
    Before Ta gets too far ahead, she does take a moment to pause and turn to the armored tech. Her free hand (the one not currently occupied with blaring floodlights) reaches out to accept the comm, and after offering a little smile, she continues forward into the next room.

    There, Ta's attentions shift first to the liquid far below. For a moment she considers whether it would be worth trying to go down there and swim over it. But, on second thought, the head seems pretty dangerous, and whether she'd be able to get up again is questionable too.

    The battleship sighs quietly. This land-based stuff just isn't her style, but she'll endure.

    "Might be a good idea to send some recon out," Ta remarks to Wo, nodding briefly. In the meantime, though, she continues forward, testing the floor with the tried and true method of feet. Fortunately she's the lighter of the battleships, so she would have the best chance of not setting anything off. Whether that proves true here is questionable, but maybe she'll be lucky as she pushes forward, past the orb and toward the door straight ahead.

Taro (399) has posed:
    "Mm. One stores items, the other people. In some ways they are not so different." Taro rises to his feet again in one smooth motion, then steps over to view the map that Rex's drone is so handily creating for them. He'll regard it for a long moment at first, to orient himself to it and it to the place it's representing, and then continue taking intermittent glances at it as they continue forward. Myrrh flits a little bit behind them, a fairy-light in whatever gloom Samar's lights haven't dispelled.
    The offered comms unit and fits onto his collar or whever it is reasonably expected to be fitted. Certainly he could sync his internal radio to the band, when in Rome...
    He offers his opinion when it comes to who, or more properly what, should go ahead to take readings and when to take samples.
    Or it could be a temple. He doesn't discard that idea, and he casts a glance back at Gaius in expectation of an answer to Serori's question.
    Myrrh seems unphased by Wo's companion drone, and thinking that the buzz was a hello, warbles back. She's staying gnenerally closer to Taro, however, not following it forward.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori skims across the floor at a low altitude, and approaches one of the warm corners -- one which Scanbot didn't dive into. After giving the liquid below a dubious look, she drops down into whatever crevice or hole is capable of admitting her curious search, and takes a peek at the mysterious platform's mysterious underbelly.

If it's magical, she's not going to understand anything about what she finds.

If it's technological, it's about a fifty-fifty that she'll be able to discern anything helpful.

If it's Magitek, she's probably gonna be useless on all fronts.

Wo has posed:
    The response seeming generally positive, Wo glances to her plane and gives a consenting nod of her head. It does its best not to eagerly push forward, instead moving ahead purposefully, two spots on it glowing as its eyes seem to come to life. It emits more of that buzzing, perhaps its way of communicating, though it wouldn't make sense to anyone else, except maybe Ta. It doesn't have any spotlights to help in that respect, but it can 'see' well enough to help with the scouting and inspections of what lurks ahead, and whether it's safe to continue.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The two techs pretty much do not cross as others do not as well. Gaius makes sure of that as he raises up his hand in a fist. Curious as his Magitek armor passes over the area there is a momentary spark of blue. Which catches the Legatus' attention for a moment. Enough for him to stick his hand out past the door to see if it does it again...

...which it does not.

Serori will find as she goes to fly under the Platform that it seems to be floating in the air really, also its /far/ hotter down below it then above it, as if the platform itself is somehow keeping the heat from getting to high up, or perhaps just reflective heat off the bottom bouncing back.

The paths do connect to where those doors are, but that would mean where the sphere is would be the weak point. Give there is pillars topside heading upward, one may start to determine that its connected to the ceiling. Something the drones may determine from Wo and the like.

When Rex asks Gaius the question, the dark armored man looks over to him and speaks easily. "The Allagan Empire held no gods, for they were their own. Masters of technological wonders and able to imprison the very false gods, the Eikons, into cells-- if not out right cease their very existence."

One of the techs speaks up, the younger one at that, "However many records we have on this are not completed or we can't translate them in full. That is why we keep searching. To find anything to help fill in the blanks and you know.. maybe finding other stuff to increase what we already know on the technology."

The Scanbot will pick up the liquid is some type of-- magma, maybe. Its properties are very odd and slightly unstable. Extremely hot and probably pretty dangerous to fall into. The path for those who do try to walk on it feels pretty sturdy, it doesn't given at all.

Though curiously when someone steps on it a part of it glows with gold-red light for a moment with some type of circuit line, almost making the black steel seem clear in that moment.

As Ta goes by the Orb, nothing seems to happen, at least not that she is aware of...

Serori (37) has posed:
Sweat beads up on Serori's forehead right away. It starts to collect along her back, too, and the next breath she takes feels blistering in her throat. As soon as she gets an eyeful of what's going on beneath the platform -- nothing -- she zips back up to the rest, where it's cooler. Serori's relieved sigh isn't all for how.

To Rex: "A-aah, it's /hot/ down here, but there isn't much more to report...the platform is floating. The substance below doesn't look like magma I've seen before, but it's at least as hot."

Then, she turns her gaze back to the orb. The object of everyone's interest, for the moment.

Samar (494) has posed:
    The strange glow of the path is noted, but when it doesn't seem to do anything, Ta continues ahead without any further concern. She ignores the orb, too...until she's passed it, at which point she overhears the radio discussion that it's some sort of security measure. /Then/ she pauses, turning back to look at it with a stare of confusion now that she's made her way closer to the door. Good thing it didn't seem to register her as a threat, for whatever reason.

    A suggestion is made to train weapons on the orb as they begin examining it, and Ta has plenty of those. Rather than make herself obvious, though, she lifts the trio of bizarre mouths emerging from one sleeve that still have their floodlights spewing forth. Hopefully that should be enough to mask the fact that those mouths have cannons just above them, each one prepared just in case the orb ends up doing something troublesome.

    At the same time, the battleship starts shuffling closer to the door she'd been making her way towards. Once there, she uses her free hand to try and push it open, or, failing that, to find the mechanism to open it up. Best to try making some progress with scouting while everyone's busy with the orb.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Mantigora's eyes narrow farther at the radio conversation, focusing on the orb now. It doesn't seem to react as Ta goes by, but looks can be deceiving. It could simply be monitoring, or it could be not triggered at all. Tactical thoughts processing over the various possibilities.

"Huh. Golden lava. Yet... not quite lava. Normal lava at least." Skuzzler strokes his beard for a moment. "Could have uses... but would need very thermal insulated container for samples."

"Worry about that later." Mantigora gives him a nudge. "Can you give the techs a closer look at that orb with your Scanbot? It's... less concerning if it activates and blows one of your contraptions up."

"Yes, yes, robots much more expendable. Especially for science!" Scuzzler taps his controls, and the Scanbot flickers in a way that almost looks like a re-rezing pattern as he adjusts its settles, and links it's feed through the radios so the soldier techs can get the data directly. Then sends it out towards the orb to do a sensor sweep of the 'security' orb.

Mantigora remains crouched where she is. Unseen in its downward posture the inside of her palm starts to glow faintly, ready to generate one of her nanotech razor discs should the orb react... unfavorably.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Rex eyes the orb suspiciously, "Well, if it's a security system, it's not a very good one. Leave a big orb in the middle of a room for invaders to avoid?"

He reaches into his coat and draws his sidearm, training it on the orb, "I can't fossilize it, I can't devolve it, but I can blow the damn thing up, if I need to."

Taro (399) has posed:
    If Gaius wishes to answer first, Taro does not naysay it. His world, his right, and his risk. Was that a spark? Hm. Interesting. A scan, perhaps? As he himself passes through the doorway, he makes an apprasing glance at either side and the top of the doorjam to look for anything that to him would appear to be a sensor.
    After that, though, attention turns turns toward the Orb on the platform. He does not move towards it, instead hanging back closer to the doorway through which they all just passes. Yes, let's not poke at that thing until he has more information, both in the form of shared data from Skuzzer's probe and what the natives are giving him.

Wo has posed:
    If Serori needs any help steadying after the heat, Wo will actually step up to provide it, given how she approaches the intrepid explorer upon her returning to them and reaching a gloved hand out. Her facial expression remains hard to read, but she seems appreciative that she'd put her body on the line like that, with a light 'wo wo' spoken. Her plane seems to have finished, as well, and while this place probably shouldn't be as sturdy as it is by any normal construction sense, it plays by its own rules, obviously. That orb, though, makes her nervous, as it does apparently others, judging by chatter she overhears. Her plane can help keep an eye on it, and its cannon trained warily, as it sticks closer.

    "..these, Allagans," comes her mumble, to noone in particular - though presumably to one of the knowledgeable locals, "..are - all their buildings..this strange?" Yes, the lady with a mouth on her hat is calling someone else's architectural choices strange. Since things seem stable enough, though, she'll continue following Ta for the time being, casting more looks in the orb's direction. It probably wouldn't do to provoke it...though she has no doubt that between the two of them, and their allies, they could outgun many military's small squads. It's more how unfamiliar and alien it is to her experiences that makes it intimidating.

    Looking around Ta, from the side and behind, she puzzles at the door. "Wo? ..maybe there's..a key, we're supposed - to have?" That's how these surface dwellers secure things, isn't it? Even if the key can take many shapes, some things have so far remained universal. "--'magitech' key. What - would that be."

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Young tech starts to move onto the platform, though the older one places his hand on his shoulder as if to say 'don't'. It is obvious the young tech wants to get in there and play with it. Not often they find one in this good of shape!

The young tech then grins, "The ADS... to see one that is so clean and crisp.."

"More reason to stay away from it." The Armored tech says, his free hand reaching for his gunblade that is actually folded over at his hip.

Gaius looks over to Wo as they seem to ponder over things. He seems to be keeping himself back for the moment. Though a gentle 'click' was heard from his gauntlet. "Strange, I suppose so." He answers, his attention drawn to the matter at hand. "And the 'keys' are normally magnetic gravity locks. They have to be opened by a power source."

The young tech taps his chin. "..and I bet that orb has the 'keys'." He looks at Gaius then. "Please, my lord. Let me look at it! I know I can get it online and we can get these doors then open!"

Gaius stares at the young man, "..after the scans and then we shall see."

When Ta looks at it again, this time she may notice a flick of red within some of the crevices, but nothing happens. The doors however don't seem to have any way to open them. They are sealed pretty tightly shut. Though the one that Taro is looking at seems to have-- marks on it. Scorch marks left behind long ago.

Lasers?

The Scanbot gets in close and starts to do its thing. The scans show its a strange alloy, very durable-- very dense. There seems to be some type of current within it. Which means...

The Orb suddenly lights. The red lines come online and it starts to hover off the ground effortlessly as it then blasts out a wave of electrical arcs around itself trying to overload the scan-bot. Its voice is rather mechanical and some of the words are garbled.

Sadly it seems the language it speaks is-- not something that is being translated by the Multiverse' natural effects. Though beyond its garbled message and giving the scanbot a good zap-- it seems content to float there and slowly circle around.

The young tech drops his jaw slightly before he just simply says, "..bloody all.."

The armored tech looks at the others, "Don't open fire! Not yet-- I think.. its.."

The young tech nods. "..aye.. is malfunctioned.."

Wo has posed:
    The notion of the locks being much like the rest of this place's rather..esoteric technology, makes sense. As Gaius had told Wo, even the solid plating in this place likely has 'circuits' flowing through it, almost as if the entire facility - whatever it once was - was linked into a cohesive unit. That would make orbs like this one the central nervous system, then? Wo's eyes are fixed on the Legatus as he speaks on the matter, then her own eyes move over to the mysterious object.

    It slept - until the scanbot apparently got a little too nosey, and woke it up. The carrier isn't necessarily startled, though she is prepared, her hat's eye sockets once again opening and flaring, three more planes starting to emerge... However, at the tech's sudden urging, she holds them from doing so, with a raising of her hand. The hat returns to relative dormancy, for now, leaving her one plane to still be alone as a sentry.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
*BZZZZZZT*

Followed by a cascade of sound that's not unlike the horrendous noises the original modems made when running as the jolt crackles through its systems and the data feed from it goes all bonkers. Then a clank as it lands back on the platform, smoking out of several of its seams. Skuzzler shakes his head with a tsking sound. "And that was longest lasting Scanbot to date. Oh well. Science without a little violence is dull~" He picks the fried drone up, and waddles over to the railing. "But least can serve one more useful purpose."

Mantigora turns her head just enough to keep an eye on him. "... What are you doing?"

"Experimenting, duuuh! Expendable robot, remember? Now trashed. What do with trash?" He chuckes the scanbot over the edge of the platform, and then hoists himself up onto the railing to watch it tumble towards the golden magma below. "Incinerate! Nyeahahaha!"

It -is- an effective way to see just how hot that gold magma is, after all...

Serori (37) has posed:
The steadying hand is appreciated, but not needed. Once Serori is in cooler air, she catches her breath and gets comfortable again soon enough. One swipe from the back of her gloved hand serves to clear her forehead of any sweat. Still, she nods at Wo. The ship girl's gesture was kind.

Serori keeps her eyes on two points: the orb, and the young tech. His enthusiasm is laudable, but he's likely to become a problem if he keeps letting his excitement get ahead of his restraint.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Scorch marks, more likely laser than plasma, judging by the pattern, though it could have been another weapon type with which he's unfamiliar. It's become difficult to keep track of them all...
    ...Or maybe it's that Orb that's responsible. He may ask Skuzzler if he can have a look at the drone that was just attacked by it, for comparison analysis. Assuming that it survives.
    A twist of the wrist brings a rather ordinary throwing knife into his right hand, which he flips over, but catches himself before throwing it when one of the techs tells them to not open fire. His brow furrows in question at them, before looking back to the Orb. "Then this is not standard behavior." A statement seeking confirmation. Which he seems to receive from the radio conversation in which he's gotten embroiled...

Samar (494) has posed:
    Ta, unlike her sister vessel, certainly lets her tension show when the orb activates. Steam seeps from the mouths under her hand, but when she's told to hold off, she does. No cannon fire goes off; not now, at least, as her arm lowers once more. She allows the floodlights to switch off, too, as the mechanical mouths close up. Not much point in using energy for that right now.

    The battleship frowns once it becomes clear that they'll need something from the orb to get through these doors. This whole key situation is troublesome, but...it could be worse. Right now it's just a hinderance, nothing more. So Ta waits, arms folding over her chest, rocking back and forth from the balls of her feet to her heels. Patience, patience.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Genghis Rex watches Skuzzler's antics and steps over to Mantigora and says quietly, "Interesting assortment of personalities you surround yoursef with. Reminds me of somebody ..." he frowns, glancing back to the orb, an impatient look on his saurian face.

He motions to Skuzzler, "What is that thing again?"

Serori (37) has posed:
True to her word, Serori steps up into position near Taro, a look of wary concentration etching a frown into her face. Should anything suspicious or dangerous transpire, she's ready to protect him, either by creating an energy barrier, or by bodily moving him aside. Whatever her instinct suggests.

"Keep clear of that door, too -- and spread out, all of you. Be ready to protect yourselves."

Mantigora (583) has posed:
"Chua." Mantigora replies to Rex. "Basicly an entire -race- of mad scientists, handle most of the Dominions technological and industrial needs... Despite the eccentricities. Very, -very- good at making things that hurt things and can rape entire planets dry of their resources." She nods her horned head in the direction of Skuzzler. "And he's one of the -saner- ones."

There's a reason the Chua are regarded as the grotesquely cute underbelly of the Dominion empire.

Her tail lashes slowly as the Draken slinks across the platform, keeping a wary eye on that orb still. About the only reason she doesn't cloak is she's concerned it might consider that a hostile or invasive action... because that's what cloaking is basically intended to be. She just usually uses it to invade personal space in a lethal manner.

Wo has posed:
    The carrier gives a glance at her battleship sister, whom isn't nearly as reserved as she is about being able to contain how she's feeling - in this case, anxious to get this over with. Admittedly, Wo doesn't like feeling bottled up in here, either, especially with that golden power source - or whatever it is - down below. Thankfully the heat doesn't seem to reach up this far. She also reaches over to give Ta a supportive pat on the back of a shoulder, a rare moment of meaningful physical contact(!), and a nod of her head. She feels ya, buddy!

    With that, and on Serori's orders, she steps away with better spacing, to prepare for the worst. They shouldn't present what could be called a target rich environment should this thing start shooting lasers like a disco ball, and going all Death Blossom on them. Standing stoically at the ready, she clutches her staff in both hands now, her plane hovering in the air above her as it emits more buzzing sounds in concurrence with an odd gurgling from its jaw. Her eyes narrow slightly as she gets more serious, and her eyes shift to the same glowing amber as Ta's.

    Hopefully Taro will be able to manage this without them having to destroy this thing. Unlike the techs, she's not worried about it as an artifact. She's more worried about what collateral damage might do to the seemingly stable room, if indeed it is all linked. It could have unintended effects.

Samar (494) has posed:
    Ta, appropriately, steps away from the door, making sure to also stay out of the path between the orb and any of the other doors. She also makes sure to let her arms fall to her sides as she looks between the orb and Taro, ready to lift them and open fire at a moment's notice.

    She kind of hopes something /does/ go wrong for the sake of excitement, but she's not going to say anything like that. For now, she remains ready to attack, if it comes to that.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The little scanbot thrown over impacts the golden liquid, not only does it just melt away, it causes that pocket of the liquid to explode upward, almost reaching the roof of the place and casting the area for a moment in a gold light.

When that happens though the ADS suddenly rapid spins before the center slightly opens and blasts a heavy beam at the gold liquid. The heat from the laser may be felt by those who were a bit to close as it fired over at the location.

The mark left behind is allot like the one on the door that Taro noticed.

Thankfully it simmered back down after that, but returned to its garbled nonsense.

That does catch the Armored Tech's attention, before he continues to work. His steps are cautious, even more so when he notices a beam spin around the center and almost 'lock' on him. That causes him to pause in his steps. He looks over to Taro and then back at the orb.

The Armored Tech steps in closer and then notices that beam getting slightly brighter. "..easy.." He says to the machine, as if it do any good; But it makes him feel a little better. Very carefully he kneels down to place the data pad on the ground, then uses his foot to slide the pad over to Taro.

What is curious is how the ADS is /locked/ onto the Garlean tech, but seems to be ignoring everyone else here. A fact not lost by the Legatus, as he slowly goes to move to the side where no one has yet to go. As soon has he walks into the room, the ADS spins its attention onto him nad the garbled words almost sound-- threatening.

The Young tech watches all this and tilts his head slightly. "...My lord... forgive me when I say this, but-- it seems to like you.. or dislike something about you." He taps his chin gently with his fingers. "...but.. what..?"

The Armored Tech tsks softly, but allows him to actually get over to where Taro actually is. Which is a gesture motioned by Gaius to actually do while the ADS is focusing on him. The Armored Tech looks at Taro. "Hopefully this bloody works... I think its getting agitated."

"If it does work.. we will have control of the ADS."

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro watches the interplay of drone with the magma-like substance and the highly energetic reaction it causes, and he reflexively raises a hand to guard his face from the blast of heat. Perhaps it's plas--And then the orb sentry fires again, this time at the column of plasma Now that the decision is made for the attempt, Taro settles himself into a kneeling position, resting hands on thighs until the armored tech sends the data tablet skidding across the floor to him. His eyes dart back and forth as he reads, possibly giving the impression that he's merely skimming the material instead of giving it the full attention that it demands. Flipping to the next page and the next, if so needed. The language is unfamiliar to him, but that doesn't seem to be deterring him. The tablet is returned. "Thank you. And to you as well, Serori." Then, almost lightly to Myrrh, "If this does go badly, do tell Master what happened, and it's her right to criticize my judgement."
    'don't say things like that! You'll jinx yourself!' the 'elf warbles, part admonishment and worry.
    Taro give a half-smirk at that. Then his face slackens, his head bowing forward as he drops attention from the physical world to concentrate elsewhere. His wireless communications system comes fully online, and using the information he's just been given, he extends a signal out to the orb, attempting to sync and then interface with it...

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Taro goes to sync with the ADS and sadly it seems it doesn't work out as planned. As he tries the room's lights fire on from the ceiling above with a red glow as suddenly a loud pulsing alarm goes off. The roof has panels that drop down and fold over as small orbs suddenly enter the room. They float around high above, before suddenly dropping below the platform and starting to spin around under it.

The gold liquid can be seen reacting to this as it starts to rise up about then.

However as this all takes place. The door behind Taro actually slides open, but only partly. The lights beyond it flashing red in a slow pulse in time with the alarms. It is hard to say if the door opened because some of the code worked or maybe the whole change in power release the magnetic hold on it.

Taro (399) has posed:
    ...and the attempt is soundly rejected. Whatever encoded security the orb has detected his efforts and declared the code script to be the phony that it is. The results are for him the AI equivelent of a nasty headache.
    The android's head snaps back, and then he almost immediately falls forward, though he manages to catch himself with his hands before his head meet the floor. "That...was not the best example...of my talent," he rasps. He start's to push himself back up, with the minimal help of Myrrh tugging on his hair, but it's fairly clear he's still disoriented.

Samar (494) has posed:
    This doesn't look good. Ta visibly bristles as the alarms start to go off, the fidgety Abyssal looking around the room anxiously. Her frown turns to a grimace; what exactly she's supposed to do at this point is unclear...but, fortunately, Serori gives some orders.

    The battleship nods quickly to Serori before lifting her arms toward the flying orbs. Her eyes suddenly flare with yellow flames, and for as long as they remain above the platform, she opens fire on the whirling orbs, trying to shoot them down with her many cannons. She may not be the best shot in this instance, lacking the anti-air focus of some of her sisters, but Ta still does her best to get those orbs down. Whatever they may be doing, it's probably not good, considering the blaring alarms.

Wo has posed:
    As things suddenly go poorly, Wo doesn't exactly get rattled. Sure, there is a moment where she's rapidly looking around, but it's more seeming to be trying to take stock of the tactical situation quickly. She nonetheless mumbles her 'name' a few times. Well, with this, there's no reason to hold back any longer. While she doesn't attack the orb directly, as who knows what effect that could have on Taro if he's still somewhat linked - or whatever he was doing over there, those smaller spheres make for conspicuous targets. One that was further pointed out over the radio chatter.

    With that in mind, her hands clutch her staff even more tightly, the sockets on her hat once again opening, and this time the full contingent of fighters is scrambled - expanding to their full size shortly after, and joining the one already deployed. Four in all, they flank Wo two to a side, before she gestures with a hand, sending them out to try and deal with the smaller spheres, that seem to be interacting with the golden lava. If she were more human and sarcastic, she would really hate being right about its ultimate function. The planes stay in pursuit of the orb's satellites, not intending to let them have their way. Of course..this might trigger her as a 'threat' to the main orb's logic, but it's not like they have much of a choice here.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
There's a loud gulp as Skuzzler backs away from the railing. "... Suddenly not liking the gold burny liquid so much."

"Knew this was going with too little... complication," Mantigora hisses... though she actually sounds -interested- now. She leans over the railing but rather than strike herself, uses the tactical analytical processes of her nano-hardware to tag the mini-orbs and keep track of their spinning paths. Long ranged combat was not one of her stronger fortays.

It was, however, one of the reasons she puts up with the semi-psychotic fuzzball.

Especially when said fuzzball pulls out a weapon that expands into a launcher cannon just as big as he is. "Oo, oo, direct testing of ancient security system. NOW Skuzzler like again." He props himself up on the railing, syncing the targeting feed from Mantigora, and levels his launcher at the orbs. Pulls a lever on the side and the muzzle expands out into a set of emitter bars. "Stupid spinny orb things... TASTE FURY OF CHUA SCIENCE OF DESTRUCTION!"

The launcher *FWOOMS* loudly as it fires, the emitters unleashing a pulse of energy that does only limited direct damage, but produces a wave of distortion that has a disruptive slowing effect on any target it successfully hits.

It boils down to Mantigora using her tactical tracking and Skuzzler using SCIENCE to make the orbs hopefully easier targets for Wo and Ta's gunfire and drones.

Serori (37) has posed:
The moment Taro comes alive is the same moment Serori hits the door like a missile. The force generated by her swift departure is felt around Taro and the immediate area as a minor, audible shockwave, like a peal of thunder gone off in way-too-close proximity, if not nearly as deafening.

First finesse, then brute strength. Despite all her incredible speed, Serori won't obliterate her target. A little deftness is called for, here -- after all, they've come to research preserved ruins, not destroy any hope they have at collecting information!

As soon as she's in place and got her grip, she exerts /pressure/, doing what she can to pull, push, and otherwise force the door apart against its design.

Her patience only goes so far, of course. If this door resists, she /will/ break it.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Genghis Rex growls, "We should just crack the damn thing open like an egg!" as he take careful aim.

Rex is actually a decorated marksman on his home planet and this little trap is about to let him show the rest of the Confederates exactly why. He takes careful aim at the whirling probes above and squeezes off several blasts of plasma from his multi-blaster.

"I"

*BLAM*

"HATE"

*ZAP*

"TRAPS!"

*POW*

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Genghis Rex grimaces and takes careful aim at the ADS system and waits for Gaius' signal.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Armored Tech goes to help Taro up if he needs it, "You did an alright job, chap. Probably my fault in the end. Never had to deal with a live one like this..." Though his eyes are hidden by the void lens, he seems to focus on where Gaius is.

If he fails his Legatus..

Wo and Ta go chasing down orbs from above and below. Also thanks to a mad scientist rodent-- these orbs become far more easier to chase! The orbs explode easily enough seeming to lack any actual defense. The explode in a brilliant blue flash, before crashing down into the golden liquid, causing it to blast up into the air.

As these explosions of gold liquid soar up. Those flying drones have to act quick to not get caught by the liquid as level. Though it seems this explosion and action, catches the ADS' attention which spins itself around to focus on firing at the gold liquid again.

When Rex unleashes his fury upon the orbs, like with Wo and Ta, he easily starts to claim a few of them.

During all this distraction, Gaius gets an idea. He watches how the ADS opens fire. That it opens up the center of its body to surge out the power, exposing the center core. Tapping his com his crosses his mental fingers that Rex is listening in. Though the threat goes slightly ignored by the Legatus.

Serori mean while is able to wrangle the door into being stuck. The young tech then goes to move past Serori, as he slides suddenly on the ground and jams some type of knife into the ground, forcing suddenly a floor panel to open up.

Taking the knife he bites down onto it, to get his hands free. He then starts to mess with some things under the flooring. Though what he is doing is hard to say.

Gaius then waits for it to take another shot and rushes right in at the ADS. His armor's gold lines almost glow and there is a surge of red along some other parts of his armor structure. He then goes to slam his fist directly into the lower structure and try to give it a /yank/ as he grips onto it.

The core sparks brightly from the sudden friction that shouldn't be there, "REX!" The Legatus' voice carries over all the explosions. "NOW!" There was another 'click' on his gauntlet as his left hand started to glow blue gently as he was powering up one of the Magitek materias.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Myrrh's hair-tugging to get Taro upright becomes a desperate bid to hold on as Serori's abrupt departure snaps the air around the pair. the 'elf continues to cling fast as the armored tech helps him off the ground and more or less to his feet. A grunt from him, and a 'thank you' from the both of them, though hers sounds more grateful.
    Alarms are blaring and there is heavy weapons fire all around him, and the heat is noticably rising. No, this decidedly did -not- go well at all. In a less than graceful lunge then stumbling run towards the door that Serori is Saiyan-handling open. He doesn't trust himself to aim straight, let alone fire, and so he is wisely trying to get out of the others' way.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Mantigora grabs Skuzzler and pulls him back from the edge of the platform as gold lava gysers into the air once more. Nano-energy crackles through the air around the two of them as she activates a defensive protocal to shield the two of them from any erratic sprays. As much as she enjoys the heat she does not want to see what direct contact would feel like. Not after seeing what it did to the scanbot and the orbs that got shot down....

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Rex cocks his blaster, probably for dramatic effect since you don't really need to cock a laser blaster, but whateves. He narrows his jade predator's eyes and makes a toothy grin, "Gotcha!"

A careful squeeze of the trigger sends a searing bright yellow light across the room and directly at the exposed center of the ADS system.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori's focus constantly shifts to take in all that's happening. Wo's drones. Samar's gunfire. Mantigora's and Rex's shooting. Those orbs. The Legatus. The Tech. Taro. Mostly, she keeps an eye on the door, too, in case it decides to try and slam shut or something before they're ready. This heightened state of alert caution keeps her on her toes, and hyper-reactive to any perceived threat. If /anything/ goes wrong...she's ready for it.

Wo has posed:
    One major advantage that the planes have is that they're fast, but that doesn't come at the expense of their agility. Not only do they track down their targets ably, they dispatch them quickly with the growling report of their main cannons. Wo remains mostly passive during this, seeming to be preoccupied with directing the plane drones - but does keep a glowing yellow eye on Gaius, during his daring attempt to take down the apparent primary antagonizer of the moment.

    Destroying the smaller orbs was only the beginning, though, as it prompts more upwellings of that vaporizingly superheated fluid, which adds even more things the planes have to fly around and dodge as they conduct their business in already hot conditions. One actually gets clipped, in a rare moment of distraction, and at such speed and aerodynamic conditions, it sends it crashing into the walls below, and then into the 'lava' itself. This...visibly upsets Wo, considering her (fanged) teeth become bared, her grip tightening enough on the shard of metal she uses as a staff enough to send some chips of it to the floor. Her planes might be replaceable, but it's still almost like an insult each time one doesn't come home..quite a contrast to Mantigora's furry friend's attitude toward the scanbot.

    She redoubles her efforts after this, assuming more direct control so that no other planes get careless. Three remain, still dutifully performing despite the hostile conditions. Everyone is fighting in their own ways - she will continue holding up her end.

Samar (494) has posed:
    It's a little encouraging to see the orbs fall, but Ta doesn't let that get the best of her. Mechanical heads snarling and growling, she continues firing on the orbs that remain, staying mobile to make sure that she doesn't lose track of the targets that haven't fallen into the burning liquid yet.

    Wo's distress doesn't go unnoticed, but Ta doesn't have much space to spare more than a concerned glance toward the aircraft carrier. Once she's sure Wo is holding up, she shakes her head and goes back to her own focus, darting around and continuing to fire explosive shells at the orbs that remain.

    Most of all, though, she's staying alert to things around her. The moment someone tells them to get going, she'll be ready to do exactly that.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
The Young tech continues to do his work and the Armored Tech is not far behind Taro. Watching the guys back. There is a few pops from where the young tech is working and soon some may see the doors on the other sides starting to open!

Now he just has to deactivate the defenses in this area, given he is fully aware that this is not so much the ADS' doing, but a higher system. Somewhere. This place makes him kinda giddy really. What a find!

Rex's shot impacts the center core and with a loud BOOM the ADS explodes in a massive blue fire ball, part of its explode everywhere and the Legatus seems to be caught right in the center of the explosion itself!

Yet as the fires clear a polygon hex lined shield of some kind can be seen taking the brunt of the explosion being held out by Gaius' left hand and once the flames die down he rises up from his knelt stance and the shield fades away.

Then for a good measure he spins around and with his left arm's plasma wrist launcher, blasts a few of the defense orbs out of the sky.

Its not shortly after that, the alarms stop blaring and the drones all fall from the sky as if they been cut off from the 'brain'. The Young Tech flops over onto his backside looking upside down at the others as he takes the knife back in hand. A grin on his face. "And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen! We now have control of /this/ area."

The Armored Tech looks down at the other. "To bad you can't find away to get control of the lower floors. If there be any."

Gaius meanwhile looks over at Rex about then. "Nicely done." He states calmly, before looking at the others and past Serori as well. He stands there for a moment, with blue flames near his feet. The platform they were all standing on pulse from black steel to that near clear, gold line color.

Probably caused by whatever the young tech did.

The Legatus then speaks up in the now calmed state of the area. "More dangers could await in these ruins. We were not aware of the heightened ferocity we would have to endure during this hour. That said, all of your lives were put at risk, to what I was hoping would be a far easier run then what it has been."

Gaius inhales deeply before he continues. "If you desire to continue with us, then you may do so. If you desire to rest or not wish to continue forward with us, you may return to the surface. None shall judge whatever choice you make, as I not wished for anyone's life to be in danger."

"Though yes, danger awaits in whatever unknown, there is a level of danger that is not acceptable in my books for those whom have yet the knowledge to deal with its level. However," He takes another pause as he tries to formulate his words. "You all have done exceedingly well and I thank you for your willingness to come.. and for acting as a team under a critical moment."

"..and if you have been injured, the medical outside will also see to your injuries." Gaius says as he goes to walk over toward the door everyone is at. He will let them decide what they wish to do. There was still work to be done and if his team could secure at least this level. They may be ever closer to some answers, if not some greater possibilities. There had to be /something/ here.

Mantigora (583) has posed:
Mantigora gives a faint snort, grinning enough for her sharp predatory teeth. "Danger is part of the -fun-." That's all she has to say on the part of things. "... But a breather to recoup after that initial experience probably is not a bad idea."

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Genghis Rex hrmphs at Gaius, "Of course it was well done. It's not like I'm some incompetant mammal!" He snorts, "I would like to explore more of this place ... at a future date. Keep me informed!"

Wo has posed:
    After the danger has ceased, such as it is, Wo somewhat relaxes, taking the chance to catch her breath. She calls the remaining planes back, and giving one a light stroke on the top where its head would be - if it had such a thing - then leaves her hand extended. They all 'merge' back into her hat, which can be inferred to be their storage hangar. After this, she wordlessly steps over to the edge, casting a long glance to the charred spot on the wall where the brave plane crashed, and lowers her head. Besides her clear anger when it happened, this is probably the most emotive she's been on this excursion.

    Nonetheless, the job seems finished for now with this one area secured, and having encountered more resistance than expected, resupply and maintenance is probably ideal. She gives looks to everyone gathered, including her battleship sister Ta, and in an odd gesture lifts her index fingers to the corners of her mouth, lifting them up into an awkward smile. "..we'll..see this, mission complete. Gaius.. ..thank you, everyone. ..for your hard - work." After taking a moment to consider, she continues, "..let's..go, then. Before - more surprises."

Samar (494) has posed:
    The moment it's clear Ta doesn't /have/ to keep shooting, she stops, letting her arms fall to her sides as she breathes a sigh of relief. Well, if that wasn't a case of 'be careful what you wish for', then she has no idea what could be. So much for things not being exciting.

    The battleship stands there for a moment, her multitude of cannons still smoking from the repeated artillery fire. She takes a moment to lift them up and blow the smoke away, then makes her way over to Wo, where she puts a hand on the carrier's shoulder. She doesn't say anything, but that quiet, light touch speaks enough of her sympathy for the carrier.

    "I'll make sure to let Samar know what's going on. She'll probably end up sending me back over, but...I don't really mind. It turned out to be a pretty good trip, in the end." Her hand lifts in a brief salute, and with that, she starts making her way back out, checking to make sure her sister ship doesn't lag behind too far.

Serori (37) has posed:
Serori will linger around long enough to make certain the Confederates can get safely back to their transportation. In particular, she hovers around Taro probably more than is necessary, having greatest concern for him after his experience had so obviously left him...rattled, weary, and perhaps injured in some way. Without having any understanding for what's actually affecting him, all she can really do is keep close and keep helpful until he's on his way home.

As for herself, she's not suffering much of anything. The heat had been a lot to handle, but not truly /harmful/, and she'd clearly won her fight against the door. Chances are pretty good that she's thinking about a nice meal or something to cap off the day.

Though, maybe not. That's a contemplative frown, not a hungry frown.

Taro (399) has posed:
    Taro is being worried over. Were it someone else, he might find pride interfering, but since it's Serori he's not exactly going to complain about it. It certainly beats being berated, regardless.
    "I will be fine," he tries to assure, even though he has a slightly pained expression. "My memory cache is overcluttered with junk data...normally I would simply clear it, but in case there is something useful in there...I will simply wait till I can dump it for later analysis." He'll make it to the transport under his own power, but then close his eyes and think as little as possible on the way back to the Citadel.

Gaius Van Baelsar (522) has posed:
Once everyone takes their leave, Gaius stands there with his hands behind his back, staring at the very ruins around him. He then looks at the two techs who seem to be checking over some things. "You two best get use to being around Confederates."

The two look at him, the young one raising a brow, "What do you mean, My Lord?"

"Simple. The both of you will be working with the Confederacy in this ruin. For the next one, I will not be here to take part. Understood?"

The Armored Tech tsks softly, while the younger one speaks up lowering his head. "Yes, My Lord." He then tries to smile, "I am sure we will do fine and make sure to continue to bring honor to your name, My Lord. Besides-- they seem like nice sorts. So.. I am sure it will not a be a problem."

"..It best not be."