Cath

The Cradle

“Hey, you don’t automatically get to take point like that!” 595 called out loud as Rareth ran past her, before giving chase. “Everything alright in there?” Thebes crackled feebly over comms. “Yeah, all good. We’re checking out some noises.” 595 quickly replied before Rareth got a chance to. “Want some assistance?” He asked. “No, we’re fine for now. Maintain your perimeter.” She snapped.

They moved quickly uphill through a gradually tightening passageway. Before long, 595’s sensory net described a series of large circular hollows off of the main path. The chittering grew louder and louder, and the smell emulsified into a pungent, wet, rotting tsunami that forced the agent to close her visor again. The moving objects were close now, all around really, and moving in random patterns.

Until they weren’t. Almost simultaneously, most of the motion blips stopped. So did the incessant chittering.

595 instinctively slowed her pace just behind and to one side of Rareth, and moved her pistol into centre axis relock. They took a few steps forward. The agent wet her dry throat.

Her suit pinged movement on the ceiling of the cavern, 595 marked it. It looked like a flat insect head with some pincers. It peeked from an opening that may have connected this area to one of the spherical hollows.

The creature carefully lowered it’s armoured body and many legs down onto the ground, before shuffling toward them, staying low to the rock. A couple more of them appeared from opening in the sides of the space behind it. The chittering and movement started again, deafening and on all sides. Each of the creature’s tails lit up, casting long shadows in the confined space.

The Cradle

595 smiled, ducking under a stalactite and swerving round a stalagmite in quick succession. So there was a common ground between the two of them after all. “Neat. Is there a Datius for every field, then?”

Suddenly, the agent’s sensory net detected a fork in the path ahead, going up and off to the right. Imagining it from the outside, 595 guessed it headed toward the next mountain along in the chain. Their current path continued going straight forward.

As they approached the convergence, 595 slowed her sprint down to a jog, before stopping altogether in the centre of the fork. She could see now that the stream came from the sharper incline on the right, cascading down both of the other paths. “If straight-on is going downwards now, I think we have less chance of being deposited on the top of a mountain heading that way.” 595 surmised.

After a few moments, an alien chittering echoed through the cavern, marginally louder than the tinkling of water. Finally! 595 drew her pistol and checked her sensory net again. Another ping revealed moving objects on the right path. "Did you hear that? I think it came from this way. We’ll need to check that out; can’t have any critters cutting us off.” she sent, eagerly moving toward the opening.

Hello!

Welcome to the Guild! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Song Reference time

I just want to get out of this place
I'd hit the road with the change in my pocket
I don't care if it rains everyday
I'd rather have an umbrella than be staring out the window

So tellll me
Why I can't live my life this way
And tellll me
Why I should stay

Ban the Person above you

Banned because I read it as 'a period of absence'. Oops

Ban the Person above you

<Snipped quote by Catharyn>
Banned for the absence of a period.

@Raptra

Banned for reading my bio

The Cradle

“Not as readily as you. But i can follow your IFF just fine.” 595 lied, unholstering her pistol and holding it in her right hand, finger off the trigger. She set off at a sprint after Rareth, taking a dose of stimulant immediately via her suit. It infused her with so much energy that it’d be harder to stop running than carrying on.

Her vision adjusted to the complete blackness almost immediately, before partially refocusing when Rareth activated her suit lights. 595 peeled back her visor and sniffed the air; the cavern smelled damp, with hints of vegetation and other organic matter.

The river flowed through the middle of the cavern, while rocks protruded into the narrow path on either side. 595 vaulted over a few formations in quick succession, using her free hand as the lynchpin to acrobatically clear obstacles without losing speed. She kept a close eye on Rareth's back and tail, wiggling in front of her, while also surveying the area with her equipment and senses.

“So... that was a pretty impressive maneuver you pulled in the lake with that creature. Are all Datius units equipped like that?” 595 sent in a private comms channel with Rareth.

The Cradle

595 grimaced behind her visor; she’d need to be very careful about giving away too much on this expedition. The Rothians were doubtless building a profile on her, as she was with them - the less detail they had the better. 595 had already used up a lot of political capital at the Institute after that stunt in Boycott Park. If they learned she’d given up state secrets to the Rothians as well, she was as good as finished. A large part of her wanted to take this opportunity to concede and let one of the Sacred Band go instead. But her pride and urge to feed just about stopped her.

“We may have different toys, but i can hold my own.” 595 replied to Rareth. She then looked at the Human scientists and Nirann. “See if you can get the mast working at the very least. We could really use intel from our teams in the real world. Keep an eye out and stay on comms, we’ll be back within an hour.” She turned back to Rareth. “Lead the way, I'll bring up the rear.”

Ban the Person above you

Banned for having a weirdly attractive avatar

The Cradle

“Good plan! I’ll go with you.” 595 asserted firmly, looking between Nirann and Rareth. “You might need some backup, if you’re right and some hideous creature lives in there.” She quickly turned to point at Thebes, who was still attending her. “Have one of the Sacred Band scout the mountain path down into the valley; no longer than an hour though. We may need to move fast if we find something inside this cave.” Thebes nodded, before turning himself to elect someone to go.