 ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ | An enormous freight platform elevator had taken them deep below the surface of Steelwater. After hours of searching for signs among the rubble, destruction, and dangerous hazards, the Special Warfare and Reconnaissance Group had found what they were looking for. It was a semi-abandoned installation from the early days of the war. A massive emblem was carved into the steel and concrete above the main entrance to the slithering hallways by the elevator stop. The emblem was a bizarre mix between the Intelligence and Navigation divisions of the UDF. It was clearly never meant to see the light of day in any official, meaningful sense. The only conclusion that the perceptive members of the Group could draw was that this place was a 'black site', one of many secret projects that the divisions had out of sight from UDF High Command. "Huh, is that the Int and Nav symbols put together? I didn't know they ever collaborated. Weird." Emilia thought out loud.
Strange clusters of spores hung in the air in seemingly random locations and the colorful, easily recognizable fungi of the Stigma clad some of the walls. Emilia silently indicated to the team that it was time for respirators. They were standard-issue UDF half-face respirators that the Group had secured at the ResDiv Portable Research Station, earlier, before departing. Even if Aeon were quite resistant to diseases in general, the complexity that this apparently new strain of Stigma showed was enough to warrant caution. The remains of two guards lay on the cold steel floor by the main entrance, just off the elevator. They had been violently ripped apart by the waist with little sign of struggle. A gruesome trail of blood led further into the facility. Distant moaning, scratching, and dragging of things could be heard echoing between the narrow pathways. The 'undead' things were here, yet some corpses seemed to be unaffected by the transformation, such as the two guards. Perhaps they were too mauled to reanimate.
The facility still drew power as the lights and various systems appeared to be on. The place had most likely been in maintenance mode, barely in use, yet enough to warrant guards and other personnel to be stationed there. There were strange claw marks and other dents in the walls leading into the first hallway from the main entrance. Emilia's first thought was that Benjamin had forced his way in through his Archon form, but surely this space was too narrow. "Whatever this was, it clearly wasn't invited." Emilia said while hesitantly touching the bestial marks on the walls, as the group slowly advanced further into the facility. They shortly arrived at a junction with several hallways splitting off in different directions. A legend on the floor attached names of locations and colored lines to follow for easy orientation. The green line was marked 'Reactor', the red line was marked 'Research', the yellow line was marked 'Systems', and the purple line was marked 'Communication'. The trail of blood and occasional corpse seemed to split off in each direction as if the carnage had taken several turns all at the same time.
"It looks like he's been everywhere, so maybe he was looking for something." Emilia said, inspecting the colored lines and gazing off in each direction. "Errikos, you want to check out Systems? See if you can set yourself up in there, get an overview of the place and perhaps dig in some data." She delegated. Emilia had ignored and avoided the responsibility that McMahon had given her as 'punishment' for... whatever it was. However, at some point, she would have to apply some kind of leadership, as long as it did not create further complications. It was a truly bizarre situation that she had never been in before, trying to give 'orders' to people who gave orders to others every day. Not to mention, most if not all of those present were far more capable than Emilia, who was just a 'face' for the average masses to recognize. "Scylla, check the Reactor? Hopefully, we don't blow up. Cool it down if you have to." Emilia glanced at the pale royalty — a modest request. "Our friends from ResDiv can check out Research, yeah? Robert, you get to check Communications, since you're the only NavDiv here. And the rest of us get to pick our poison, which is just me and you, Christina" Emilia said and finally landed her eyes on the BlackRock operator. "Do you know anything about this place?" |
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