Episode 5

A collection of documents litter the dining table in the living area of the ranch-style house with a few tablets and a holoplayer in the mix. Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, Sotalia debate each other and shift their attention between different quest information packets. Bach sits back in his seat, occasionally glancing towards his brother curiously. A faint reverberating sigh slips out from Sebastian, and he grants an understanding nod to Bach. The back and forth of discussion surges and wanes for a few more minutes. Sebastian manages an ethereal mimicry of a whistle and grabs everyone's attention. "Okay. So... I think we're all in agreement that we'd all like to slum it a bit with a whole bunch of easy jobs. Correct?"

Throwing her head of dark red hair back, Sotalia lifts an eyebrow and huffs on the edge of disgust. "Ungh. Yes! Just some straight forward gigs for once. As much as I want to find Noxian and put him down for good..."

She tilts her head to the side and contends with the near reflexive snarl of the upper lip. "I honestly NEED a break from chasing that fucking bastard around, after the last YEAR. Gods!"

A wave nodding agreement spreads through the other team members, Bach simply glancing around. Sotalia flexes her black nailed fingers on a hand and narrows her golden eyed stare at her palm. "Preferably anything that a good fireball could fix. I'm really starting to feel out of practice."

Bach momentarily furrows his brow and narrows an incredulous stare. Cideeda stretches her arms out across the table and rests her head on the tabletop with flicks of her furry ears. "That would be nice. A change of pace. Though, I still like mine. It's not everyday a local government gives free rein to crack open an old military installation. Just think of what we could find..."

A toothy grin graces her light brown face, and a greedy spark glints in her emerald green eyes. "That really wouldn't be worth reporting to the government officials.

She glances off to the side, flicks up her fluffy tail, the white tip rising just above the table level, and mumbles quietly to herself. "And would be lucrative to sell to pay off some expenses."

Dretphi nods with both her hands propping her head up above the table and stares inwards contemplatively. "I am interested in that job. Not now. Later. We need a simple, safe job now."

Uncrossing her arms, Aristespha shrugs her shoulders and idly plays with her silvery blue hair. "I will admit that after all we have been through, a few easy jobs would be nice. BUT..."

She furrows her ivory brow and stiffens her frown. "We will need to start concentrating on looking for signs of Noxian after this."

Sotalia, Cideeda, and Dretphi nod in agreement, Sebastian ponders quietly, and Bach remains uncomfortable in his seat. Sotalia swings her attention to Sebastian and focuses her stare in anticipation. "So, what's the plan?"

Sebastian pans his gaze over the team. "I agree on needing to focus on figuring out where Noxian has run off to. Hopefully, we can at least eliminate places he isn't by doing some of these jobs around here. But, I think taking a breather before we get back to chasing him again is in order."

Sebastian points to three packets and motions for Dretphi and Cideeda to group them together in the middle of the table. "These three jobs seem standard and manageable out of the mix. Since this will be Bach's first mission, I think he should choose."

Startling back to the awareness, Bach glances around at the situation surrounding him and uneasily notices the attention upon him. He leans forward slowly and pulls the three stacks of paper closer. Reading over the summary texts, he furrows his brow, memory flipping back to recent history. He deliberates and swaps between the packets, examining their contents. Summoning up a bit of confidence, he places down his choice in front of his brother. "I think I like this one best."

Sebastian's ethereal form leans closer to the document, and he nods with an intrigued smirk. "So... Tell us... Why that one?"

Bach sits up straight in surprise. Sorting through a flurry of thoughts between darting eyes, he draws in a deep breath and ponders out loud. "Um... Well... It's a survey job. The place is an abandoned outpost for a long dead government. It was last reported inactive. All the job says is they want a group to go out and make sure it still is inactive. If all goes well, um, we tour a piece of history, take some pictures, and go home without any trouble. Also... If this one isn't too much trouble, it looks like they've got a few similar places that need surveying, too."

Sebastian assesses the rest of the team's reactions, gauging their expressions and body language. Agreement manifests upon Aristespha, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia's faces, and Sebastian crosses his arms, smiling proudly. "Alright. If there's no objections, let's do it. We'll see how this one goes and pick the next one from there."

Reaching over the table from her seat, Aristespha plucks up the job and keys identification numbers into her tablet. "I will send our bid in. I should get confirmation some time tonight, and we will set off tomorrow morning."

Sebastian drifts down and gazes at Bach with a grin. "How does it feel choosing your first mission, bro?"

Bach blinks with his thoughts, breathes in deeply, and groans uncertainly. "I don't know. Excited and worried? I don't know which is winning out right now."

With an understanding nod, Sebastian throws his hands to the sides with a shrug. "That's par for the course. It means you're keeping all possibilities in mind."

Tipping her head back, Sotalia laughs, guiding stray bangs over her horns, and slyly grins. "Oh, don't worry... If the mission is a bust, we'll just blame you."

Cideeda furrows her brow at Sotalia from across the table and tilts her head into a hand with a smug smile. "Yes. And, we'll always remind you just when you think everyone has forgotten about it. RIGHT, Sotalia?"

Averting her eyes away from the group briefly, Sotalia narrows her golden eyed stare and momentarily sneers into a defiant grimace. "Gods damn it, girl... ONE time. Just ONE time. None of you will let me live that pick down."

A low grumble emanates from Dretphi, and her attention goes into the internal distance with uncomfortable memory. "Dried slime in my hair... WEEKS... Afterwards."

Bach scans around the group and furrows a curious gaze at Sebastian. "Um, do I want to ask? Or, should I leave that one alone?"

Sebastian chuckles with a few snorts and rubs the back of neck, his bravado waning. "Oh... THAT... Uh, that was NOT one of our finer missions. Admittedly, there were moments. Funny moments to remember... Now."

Aristespha cringes, a shudder traveling down her spine, and shakes her head side to side, memories surfacing back up upon her ivory blue and gray hinted face. "Gods... We went to check out an unexplored ruin for a newly formed county, since the ruin was in their land grant from the state."

Sebastian leans close to Bach. "We'd figured it would also be good to make sure it wasn't anything that Noxian might get interested in. Since word was getting around that it existed, we wanted to be first to check it out."

Wrestling a grimace, Aristespha sighs. "In researching it, the only significant history we could find about it was that a very strange mage from the second era lived around there. A VERY strange mage indeed..."

Traces of disgust surfacing, Sotalia groans and raps her long, black fingernails upon a paperwork packet, her discomfort simmering. "It turned out that mage had some crazy idea to find a commercial purpose for this breed of ooze he found on some trip. It was a herbivore slime that was harmless."

Cideeda grimaces, narrowing her emerald eyes with a stubborn muscle twitch forming, and squirms in her chair with irritated wags of her tail. "Harmless, physically. Mentally, on the other hand..."

Bach wanders his expectant gaze between the team, pausing with hopes of new information. Dretphi meets Bach's attention, closes her steely gray eyes, and monotonously speaks. "They spit slime. Excessive amounts. EVERYWHERE."

With a slight frown, Aristespha sinks back into her chair, sighs, and crosses her arms. "That was such a nice top and matching skirt. It was such a shame what happened to it."

Sotalia nods somberly to Aristespha. "Girl, I know. It really looked good on you. But, there was just no saving it."

She glances over to Dretphi. Both shake their heads in unison. Dretphi grits her teeth briefly and sighs. "I am skilled. Not that skilled."

Sebastian draws a breath in and grins sinisterly. "But, destroying that spawning pool and the lab was fun though."

Sotalia giggles evilly and flexes her hand in spell casting motions. "Oh gods. We were on our WORST behavior. I fried SO MANY of those little snot ball shits. We absolutely wrecked that place."

Glancing at the near devious and manic shift around the table, Bach witnesses the displays of satisfaction and vindication around. Aristespha breaks away from her reminiscing. "You will have to understand that, while it was certainly destructive and immensely cathartic, it was within mission parameters. The slimes were an invasive species and would have needed to be destroyed. And despite filing it to the Grand Library, that mage's notes read worse than a fetish fanfiction."

Dretphi gazes forward, wrestling down an unamused grimace. "Initially, our actions may have not been appropriately justified. After an hour with the garden hose... In the fall... Before we were allowed into the hotel to shower... Believe our response was MERCIFUL."

With excited wags of her long, fluffy tail, Cideeda snickers loudly and rocks back into her chair. "Oh gods! You should have seen the front desk clerk. That was a brave man to stand up to us and tell us we had to wash ourselves off before going any further."

Aristespha smirks, rolls her violet eyes, and sighs dismissively. "To be fair, they did just get new carpet in the rooms and hallways when we were there. I certainly would not want to explain the mess to my boss, if I were him."

Crossing her arms, Sotalia narrows her eyes and snorts. "Girl, that was probably the best job that guy had going for him in that town. So, I can't fault him for wanting to keep it."

Shaking his head with the memories, Sebastian floats away from the table and addresses everyone. "Okay... Well, lets get everything filed and get ready. We'll head on out early tomorrow and see if we can find a good place for breakfast."

---

A split-unit air conditioner in the two bed hotel room hums up to speed, the vent blades slowly opening. The worn wood of the bed frames matches the top of the central, wide nightstand dividing the space. The patterned carpet below barely hides common traffic paths. A faint layer of yellowing age coats the wallpaper upon the walls, and the cooling current from the air conditioner stirs tiny flecks of dust off the back of the old flat screen television. The electronic door lock beeps loudly and disengages with a solid thunk. The door swings open, and Samantha rushes in, Gerald following behind her. Gerald hurries over to a desk near the large room window, places his camera down, and flips up a laptop screen. The device springs to life, and he eagerly connects the camera to the computer. Throwing herself onto one of the beds, Samantha pulls herself to the edge and fishes a laptop out of a carrier bag with an excited grin. "I can't fucking believe it! Howie is going to love this! When you get the video downloaded, send it straight to his aethermail."

Gerald swiftly slips into the chair near the desk and concentrates his full attention upon the screen. "Will do! Howard is going to flip when he sees this in his mail tomorrow."

A wicked smile emerges on Samantha's face, and she toggles the speakerphone on her aetherphone. "Tomorrow?! OH. He's seeing this TONIGHT!"

Blinking out a flit of shock, Gerald halts mid key presses and spins his head, facing Samantha. "Uh... Are you sure about THAT? It's pretty late now and later where he's at right now. And..."

He glances off to the side and winces. "Last time we called him late... It wasn't with good news."

Samantha places the phone next to her, taps the screen, and situates herself on the bed with a smug perk of her posture. "Oh... He'll be fine once he sees the video."

The phone rings, rings again, and again. A few more chimes sound out. The device clicks loudly and sounds of ambient quiet from the other side of the call filter out. A loud cough, a phlegm choked growl, and begrudging groan blasts out from the speaker. "Oh gods... Who the fuck is it at this hour?"

With her sweetest and most innocent voice, Samantha cheerfully chimes. "It's me, Howie!"

A long pause hangs in the room. A strained sigh breathes out from the other side of the connection, and the voice dreadfully pleads. "OH... Dear gods... PLEASE, please tell me one of the lemmings hasn't gotten themselves killed already-"

Samantha squirms annoyed and blurts out with tinges of disappointment. "NO! They're all alive."

Glancing up from her phone, she catches a thumbs up confirmation from Gerald. "Check your mail, Howie."

The phone resonates with the sounds of Howard stirring around in fabric and objects sliding upon a wooden surface on his side of the world. Grumbling to himself, he directs his frustration out over the phone. "GERALD. Are you there?"

Gerald cringes and pauses from his work on the laptop, chuckling uneasily. "Yes. I'm here. AND, I warned her!"

Sounds of movement stop, and Howard sniffs up groggy congestion and drags out a long sigh. "Okay. Okay. Yeah, I'm opening it. I swear this had better be GOOD. I'm coming down from an evening I may not remember in the morning, and my head is already pounding. If this isn't good, I'm booking you two rooms at that fucking roach motel at the edge of town the new team are-"

The sudden drop into silence steals the attention of Gerald and Samantha. Loud gasps from the phone interrupt the glances Samantha and Gerald exchange. Gleeful cackles prompt Samantha and Gerald to curl celebratory fists to each other with growing smiles. A pleasureful moan rolls in from the phone. "OH... OH, MY.... This... THIS is why I keep you two around. You two can find the speck of pure gold in a sea of shit."

Samantha lowers her head to her phone with an inquiring curl at the corner of her mouth. "So... How should we proceed?"

A few hums and clicks of the mouth play over the speaker, quiet settling back in. Howard draws in a contemplative breath. "You two keep on task. I'll mail over a copy of the mission our adventurers are going on tomorrow... Yeah, Monday, tomorrow, still. It's just some simple survey of some musty old ruins. There's a few on the list they had, so I got the one closest to town."

Loud grunt sounds out in a mix of shuffling from the other side of the call. "I'm going to pound down two aspirin and a liter of water, and sleep some happy dreams thanks to you two."

Thoughtful humming slips out from the speakerphone, and Howard clicks his tongue. "AND... I'm going to call in a few favors from certain people who didn't realize they OWED ME. Then..."

Howard chuckles, a dark undertone weaving into the cadence. "We'll go from there."

With a sly smile, Samantha sinks into her pile of hotel bed pillows. "Will do. Oh, and they've already had some encounters with each other."

Howard's anticipation exudes from the speaker. "Oh REALLY? Do tell."

A fully evil grin overtakes Samantha's face. "Deedri held up the line Aristespha was also in for medical supplies. I swear to the gods that Aristespha was about to draw that sword. And, Trakenthin flirted with Dretphi."

Gerald casually stifles a snort. "And got shut down."

Samantha barely contains her snickers. "It was SO BAD. He thought she waved at him, and he started to walk over. Only for her to be waving to other team members, and he had to retreat."

Howard releases a satisfied breath. "Oh my, dear. If you talk any dirtier to me, I might need to start paying per minute."

Samantha laughs and reaches over to her phone. "Then, I guess I need to let you off the call. If we get any more goodies, we'll let you know."

Gerald directs his voice towards Samantha's phone. "Hey, Howard. You wouldn't happen to know who the new guy is in the group? I've never seen him before in any news footage, and he's not showing up in any old guild records we have."

Samantha nods in confirmation at Gerald and waits for Howard's response. A very long stretch of silence sits over the two. A whisper of genuine surprise finds its way over from the other side of the call. "Oh my... That white streak... That has to be Sebastian's BROTHER! Bach Warwick. I remember seeing his name mentioned in some material about Sebastian. Oh, I am interested now..."

A curious tone grips Howard's voice. "What is he doing around with them, NOW?"

---

The humvee rolls into a parking space behind a large diner, and the powerplant winds down. Cideeda hops out, adjusts the tactical vest over her body suit, and places her keys in a pocket of her cargo shorts. Stepping down, Sotalia ruffles through her armored, red and black cloak, unfastens her belt pouches, and places them on her seat. Confidently exiting the vehicle, Aristespha brushes off her long sleeved top and twill pants combination, taps her boots free of debris, and cinches up the strap to the scabbard of The Sword on her side. Bach steps out and gazes around the area. A gust of wind fans his duster and blows his longer brown hair around. The fluttering outer wear dramatically reveals the rest of his armored attire, and Bach stands tall with a grin, a swell confidence washing over him. Sotalia rolls her eyes with a smile and walks towards the front door, quietly snickering. Dretphi works her way through the aisle of the humvee and squeezes behind a pulled up seat to get outside. Her tall stature imposes with the dark gray soft armor plating layering her body. The group gathers back up and ventures to the front door of the diner. Bach calls ahead towards Cideeda. "So, I guess it's easier parking in the back?"

Flicking her furry ear back, Cideeda glances over her shoulder. "That, AND it keeps us from tipping people off. I try to park away from the windows."

Sotalia pulls open the front door to the building and pivots to face Bach, holding the door open. "Yeah... Gods, we were having the WORST luck capturing bounties when we got the humvee."

Waving her hand off to the side, she twists a smirk. "THEN, it finally dawned on us that even an old humvee was just suspicious enough to make people on the run nervous. Still looks military enough, I guess."

Rolling her emerald green eyes, Cideeda steps through the doorway with a wry smile. "I don't know. I always thought the old battered work van we had was far scarier than an antique military vehicle. That's just me, I guess."

Aristespha strides in front of the group to the tall, evuukian restaurant host and greets him with a calm smile. The host perks up and surveys the group, hovering a stylus over a podium mounted tablet. "Hello! Welcome to the Amaranth Dining House, we are currently serving breakfast! Seating for five?"

Aristespha nods in agreement. "Yes. A table, please, if possible."

She pats on the handle of the sword at her side. "Also, is there any issue with this?"

The host glances down at the sword and shakes his head nonchalantly. "Oh, none at all. All that we ask is that melee weapons remain sheathed and locked. Any large firearms will need to be unloaded and placed into these lockers over there. Finally, we kindly request no casting of powerful or dangerous spells on the premises."

The rest of the team approve of the rules with nodding confirmations. Bach relaxes his shoulders and tilts his head curiously to the side. "Huh, wow. That's a pretty permissive policy."

The host taps a few on-screen buttons and glances towards a section of the restaurant. "Well, here at the Amaranth Dining House, we like to accommodate adventurers, mercenaries, and specialists that often operate out of our city. In fact, we even have seating geared for such groups to make it easier to enjoy your dining experience!"

Bach chuckles lightly and glances around the busy restaurant. "Ah. Probably to keep from scaring the locals?"

The host quirks an eyebrow and smiles amused. "Well... Actually, it is quite the opposite. There is a yearly adventuring convention at the convention center nearby, and the attendees have a troublesome habit of bothering our adventuring patrons.

He playfully leans closer to the team and smirks slyly, his very long, pointed ears perking. "So, if ever we ask for guild registration cards, just know that is because the convention is happening, and we want to make sure you all can dine in peace."

Returning to his post nearby, he checks the tablet on the podium once more. "Which if you give us few minutes, we will have a table opening up in that very section."

Bach motions for the host's attention and waves a hand out towards the rest of the restaurant. "Where are your bathrooms at?"

The host smiles politely and points towards a back wall. "Over there, sir. Just around the corner of that wall."

Bach grants a thankful nod and glances over at the team. "I'll be right back."

Getting the confirmation from the rest of the team, Bach navigates through the maze of tables bordered by lines of booths and progresses towards his goal. He threads through a narrow divide between two loaded long tables and scoots between opposing chairs. Clearing the gauntlet, Bach resumes his approach to the corridor around the corner. A fvalian man at a nearby booth perks up and glances over at Bach, narrowing his gaze with forming recognition. His furry ear flicks over, and he turns his head the other way. Searching briefly, he catches sight of Aristespha, Cideeda, Sotalia, and Dretphi standing in the entry area. He shudders to full awareness of his surroundings and gets the attention of a fvalian woman and middle-aged man sitting next to him, subtly motioning towards the team waiting. The middle-aged man pulls out his aetherphone and nods at the two fvalians, carefully directing them towards the recording equipment bags under their table.

---

Under the cacophony of a public toilet flush echoing out into the tiled space, Bach opens the door and steps out of the stall door. He arrives at one of the sinks, pumps the stingy soap dispenser, and gauges the flow and temp of water from the faucet. Washing his hands, Bach's gaze wanders around the plain, neutral tone tile work, black stalls, and the typical restroom fixtures. His eyes settle upon a high-up, frosted bathroom window. A smirks cracks from the corner of his mouth, and he stifles a chuckle into a subdued snort. Shaking his head, he rolls his eyes at himself and mumbles. "...can't believe I squeezed out of that window... ...what was I thinking..."

He shakes off the excess water into the basin, cranks a run of paper towels from the dispenser, and dries off his hands. Pushing his way through the restroom door, he exits out into the bustle of the restaurant and slips into the main walkway, navigating back to the entry area.

The evuukian host spots Bach, taps commands on the podium tablet, and sweeps up a stack of menus. He motions for the entire party's attention. "Okay. Follow me. Your table is ready!"

The group weaves through the walkways between seating sections, navigating routes around activity and packed sections. The party enters an area with larger tables, wider gaps separating the tables, and reinforced steel chairs with extra cushioning. The host surveys the space and visually checks over the two other groups dining already. A dozen of specialist military personnel from the Greater Azure Alliance converse between two tables, and a small team of three people with the markings of Borderland Rangers idle with fresh coffee between them. Directing the party to a freshly cleaned off table, the host distributes menus and bows politely. "Your server will be with you shortly. I hope you enjoy your meal here."

Everyone slides the sturdy steel chairs, sits down, and browse the menus. Dretphi quirks an intrigued eyebrow and twists her mouth uncertainly. "Grath style steak, eggs. Interesting. Shall see how Grath that is."

Sotalia points to a spot on the menu and squints her golden eyes down the list. "Yeah, I saw that. I think I'm going to play it safe with the pancakes, bacon, and eggs platter."

Placing the menu down, Bach nods and straightens his posture. "Think I'll have to do the Grand Tour."

Cideeda licks her lips, agrees with herself, and passes the menu down to the forming pile. "Fruit, yogurt, and juice for me."

Perplexed, Bach furrows his brow at Cideeda and cocks his head. "That's all?"

Lifting an eyebrow, Cideeda cracks a smirk and motions to herself. "I have a figure to maintain if I'm to fit in half the ducts I crawl into in most of these ruins. That, and..."

She bounces her emerald green stare between Aristespha, Bach, and Sotalia with a wry curl to her grimace. "I don't have the convenience of being able to nuke calories like you mages."

With a perk of her furry ears, she taps a claw tip upon a colorful picture on the front of the menu. "Also... I think I'm going to get a dozen of those honey buns to go. I'm going to need a little something later if we're digging around ruins."

A server arrives at the table with a tray of mugs and a glass pot of coffee. She delivers the precious cargo to the table and stands by ready for orders, sweeping her gaze over the team. "Hello, I'm Kimberly, and I'll be your server. Are you all ready to order? Or do you need a few more minutes with the coffee, first?"

Aristespha lifts a finger up and catches Kimberly's attention. Pointing to a section of the menu, she smiles politely. "Yes. I will have the sausage and bacon platter. And if at all possible, could they cook the toast on the grill after they fry the bacon?

Kimberly jots down the request on a order pad and nods with a smile. "Oh, I'm certain our cooks can manage that."

She cycles around the table, writing down orders, and leaves towards the kitchen. Pausing to talk to the manager, Kimberly and the manager both watch vans pull into the parking lot with the "Next Adventurers of Nexus" logo prominent on their sides. Samantha exits out of one of the vans and walks to the back. Gerald hops out and steps up next to Samantha opening the back doors to the equipment. He hoists up a large television camera onto his shoulder and eyes Samantha curiously. "Okay, so what's the plan here?"

Samantha flips through her clipboard, furrows her brow, her hazel eyes sorting through the maze of notes, and takes a deep breath in. "Okay... The kids will get here in the next few minutes. We'll run them through some video journal bits and get them in there. If you could, can you record some scenery bits? The editors will need some B rolls to lead from and pad with."

Gerald nods and takes a quick survey of the area. "I think I'll get the sign and go from there. You going to confirm with the manager here?"

Samantha sighs, flips over another mass of paperwork, and pats around her pocketed vest. "Yes. I'll need to get them prepared and make sure all the arrangements are still good. We are a bit earlier than what we said, but we can't pass this opportunity up."

She plucks out a pen from her vest pocket and smirks. "Plus, I need to make sure they've signed all the waivers."

Inside the adventurers' section, Aristespha, Bach, Cideeda, Dretphi, and Sotalia receive their orders and start on them. Dretphi chews on her steak and furrows her brow uncertainly. Taking a break from his meal, Bach gazes over and judges Dretphi's reaction. "So, are the steak and eggs really Grath style?"

Dretphi swallows and balances her opinion into indifference on her tan face. "They are not bad. Do not have a proper stone slab grill. Competent despite limitations."

Aristespha devours her bacon with ravenous satisfaction. Pausing from the consumption, she answers the stare from Sotalia. "What? It has been MONTHS since I have been able to enjoy some greasy breakfast food from a restaurant. Medical magic takes energy, anyway..."

Sotalia snickers, holding her hand up placatingly, and returns her plate. "Girl, however you want to justify it is fine with me."

Cideeda's furry ear flicks around repeatedly. Blinking to awareness, she perks up her ears towards a source. She pops her head up and searches distantly towards the entry lobby. With a wincing cheek, she grimaces and faces the rest of the team. "Shit..."

Bach and Sotalia twist in their chairs. Dretphi focuses her gaze and frowns, an upper lip sneer forming. Aristespha lifts her head up and angrily bites a breakfast sausage in half. Sebastian's voice echoes faintly from the sword. "Um... I'm obviously missing something here. Anyone want to fill me in? I can't see much inside the sword."

Bach settles back in his seat and directs his voice towards the sword. "Uh, yeah, um, the Next Pains of Nexus want breakfast, too."

Within the small group of Borderland Rangers, a man briefly aims a steely glare over towards the entry point. He grumbles and returns to his meal, shaking his head. "If you see our server, flag 'em down, Heccaeh."

The fvalian man nods, takes a moment to scan the area, and resumes eating. The sword at Aristespha's side shifts with her stiffening posture, and Sebastian's ethereal tone rises up. "Dear, just enjoy your meal. We'll leave before they get too stupid."

Aristespha grumbles lowly in nearly silent Evuukian curses between bites. Dretphi glances over at Aristespha with an amused, tight smile and rolls her steely gray eyes. Cideeda continues eating and flashes a disdainful glare at Deedri through a visual corridor between booths, chairs, and customers. Bach returns his attention to his plate and stares in confusion, his fork hovering over an empty spot. Sotalia quickly sneaks in a piece of bacon between her lips and into her mouth. Straightening up, she aims the fork back to her own plate and nonchalantly continues her meal. A flurry of activity erupts a few tables down, and recording crews search for positions near their desired shots. The Next Adventurers of Nexus stride prominently towards their table in the adventurers' section. Chad Bosch leads the pack and stops in front of the Greater Azure Alliance specialists. "It's always good to check the local places to see what other adventurers and heroes are in town. Such as our men and women in uniform."

The specialists cheer roughly together in a halfhearted display. Chad moves down the path with a bright smile. Stopping beside Sotalia and Aristespha at the end of the table, he perks his brow with a pleasant tone. "Why hello fellow-"

Examining the group quickly, his posture stiffens, and he contorts the corner of his smile. "Diverse adventurers. What brings all of you to this fair town?"

Aristespha takes a breath in and molds her posture, projecting an air of propriety and superiority. "Oh. Nothing of significance. Just simple tasks and chores and other bores to fine adventurers like yourselves. Hopefully, we will be moving on to other quests soon enough."

Sotalia sizes Tassilda up and down. Catching the attention, Tassilda smugly judges Sotalia with a glare. Sotalia's scrutinizing stare locks with Tassilda's emerging glower, golden eyes and light blue on black eyes narrowing with the silent animosity. Donning a stoic exterior, Dretphi remains silent and steers her stare clear of Trakenthin. Leaning slightly into view, Trakenthin repels Dretphi's gaze further away and parts a frustrated frown. Deedri happily and excitedly waves to Cideeda, the bell around her neck ringing with the motion. Cideeda weakly waves back, and her halfhearted smile barely hangs on against the awkwardness within and surrounding. Bach eats slowly and sinks slightly down, attempting to avoid the attention landing all around him. Nodding at Aristespha, Chad's brown eyes analyze each member. "My knowledge of adventuring allows me to figure out everyone here... What their likely role is... And how they contribute to the team..."

Hanging in the back of the team, Modoran blinks a few times and grimaces dismissively. He crosses his arms and squints at Chad, tilting his head incredulously. Chad pauses his survey upon Bach. "Except you."

Carefully turning his head, Bach meets the examining gaze from Chad and uneasily glances around. "Uh, um... Intern. You know. Just learning the ropes and all. I'm picking up my schooling where I left off a while ago. Figured I'd try to complete it finally."

Chad swiftly switches back to his iconic, non-threatening smile. "Ah! It's good for a group to take on someone and help them on their journey.

He puffs up his chest and tips his head back. "So, anyway, are there any quests you have undertaken in the area?"

Aristespha dons a polite facade with a smile and dismissively chuckles. "Oh, just a simple ruin assessment detail. Nothing more than a routine check up on the local ancient architecture."

Briefly narrowing his stare with a faint wince, Chad studies Aristespha. "That's a... Coincidence. We are performing similar duties for the local county. Good to know that others are out there."

He glances around at the thick tension between the teams and grants a parting nod. "Well, it was good to meet all of you, but we must be off."

Trailing behind the host, the Next Adventurers move on towards the final table right their own. The Borderland Rangers get their ticket from the server. Spotting the approaching Next Adventurers, the server promptly rushes off, and the rangers stand up into the aisle. The leader manages to get his wide brimmed, pinched-front hat on and pivots towards the exit, encountering Chad. Extending a hand to shake, Chad grins proudly and nods towards the man. "I'm Chad Bosch, Leader of the Flames of the Phoenix adventuring group. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir!"

The Borderland Ranger leader squares his shoulders, muffled sounds of cybernetics actuating. He reaches with his right hand into his jacket pocket and hands a roll of cash and the bill to Heccaeh. "You two go pay up and wait in the truck. I'll be out soon."

Heccaeh and another woman ranger deftly weave through the crowd of adventurers and crew. The leader fixes his cold, steely eyes directly at Chad. Crossing his arms, he taps upon his right arm with a cybernetic left hand. "Captain Hays of the Borderland Rangers. Acquaintance made. Any business with me you need to discuss?"

Chad bolsters his bravado and attempts an equivalent stare back at Captain Hays. "Maybe. Any news?"

A dry corner smile cracking, Captain Hays bows his head slightly, his hat shading his sun weathered face. "Well... Hauled off what was left of some unfortunate group of would-be adventurers after a supposed geist had its way with them. Damn shame really. Probably going to be a few closed casket affairs. Thinking about it..."

He squints his hard stare through each of the Next Adventurers of Nexus, focusing back fully upon Chad. "You all look REAL similar to them."

The harsh silence weighs down upon the area, the epicenter between Hays and Chad. The seconds pass, and Chad struggles against his growing unease, his body fighting to squirm free of the pressure. Captain Hays's smile stretches into a thin grin across his scarred cheeks, nearly touching both gray sideburns. "If you could, do us all a favor, and keep out of the zones for... A while."

Nodding slowly, Chad drags his iconic smile back onto his face and stumbles to finish up the conversation. "I'll... Take that as advice, sir. You have a... Nice day."

The Next Adventurers shuffle over to their table, and the camera crew surrounds them afterwards. Captain Hays shakes his head at the spectacle and pivots away down the aisle. His view changes, and he stares over at Aristespha, Dretphi, Cideeda, and Sotalia, recognition dawning. Halting next to the party's table, he tips his hat and gazes over the group. "Excuse me. Am I safe to assume you all are who I think you all are?"

Aristespha perks up, studies Captain Hays, and gently nods. Dretphi, Cideeda, and Sotalia follow suit, and Bach watches uncertainly. Captain Hays reaches into another pocket on his jacket and pulls out a few business cards. "Good. I was told by my commander that if I were to encounter certain persons in the area, I was to give them my contact information. And, I was also to give them assurance that they would have assistance in their quest to eliminate a general pain in everyone's ass when requested."

He visits each member around the table, extends a hand to shake, and gives them a business card. Hays reaches Bach and pauses a moment. Tilting his head, he engages his piercing gaze. "You look... Similar to someone."

Bach shrugs nervously and chuckles awkwardly. "Um... Yeah, I'm the brother trying to get back into the swing of things. And, uh, eventually..."

He lowers his tone down close to a whisper. "Take on this general pain in the ass."

Captain Hays holds his hand out, and Bach shakes his hand. Flipping the last card out, Hays places it in Bach's hand and nods. "I can appreciate that. Good luck. And, if you all need to head into the zones, let me know. I'd be happy to get you all a guided tour."

With a final tip of the hat, he walks towards the front exit, his heavy boots sounding upon the floor and cybernetics actuating in sync with his left arm swings. Rotating the card in his hand, Bach studies it closely and glances at the rest of the team. "Huh. Neat. At least somebody else is on our side."

Chad narrows his eyes and frigidly stares over his menu, his characteristic smile missing in action.

---

Scattered clouds glide under the blue sky above, and a gentle wind coasts through ancient, decaying metal frameworks, faint whistling creeping out of the natural ambience of the thick surrounding forests. Remnants of the past stretch out over a vast clearing, rusting braided steel cables and strands swaying with the breeze. The remaining crumbling concrete anchors mark the corners of structures long collapsed into vegetation consumed piles of scrap. A dozen deer meander through the high grass, gleaning the edible plants hidden within. A decayed stretch of roadway leads to a large, fractured asphalt lot. Surrounding the space, six smaller concrete structures pair opposite of each other in two rows leading to one large, single level bunker. Within the paved courtyard between the buildings, concrete barriers, rusted steel girders, and forgotten construction fodder litter the area in piles, the last semblances of order losing out to time.

A tall, thin figure in a dark gray and black trimmed, hooded cloak walks down the overgrowth eaten roadway. Rolling his shoulders against a large hiking pack, his stare behind a carved wooden mask wanders between the abandoned structures ahead. He angles his course around a pile of corroded scrap from industrial haulers and squints his gaze into the darkened, broken windows of a smaller structure. Shaking his head, he strolls wide around a stack of heavy concrete barriers and focuses upon the large, tall bunker at the end of the asphalt court. The minutes pass, and the masked, cloaked man slows his approach, longer stares searching the surrounding space. Glances hang upon stirrings of small skinks scurrying away from their sunning spots in the late morning sun. Gazes shift to rustles of grasses and brush leaves. Stares linger between the arrays of collapsed metal frameworks and the distant treeline around.

The tall, thin man stops at the front of the large, weather and age stained bunker. His head tilts back slightly, and his gray eyes study through the wooden mask. Settling his stare head, he steps forward and rests a cautious hand upon the pair of sliding metal doors. A faint white glow illuminates his eyes, and the man examines the frame of the doorway. Drawing in a deep breath, the man backs away, raises up his hand, and narrows his stare. The glow of his eyes flickers, and thin threads of pure white energy swirl around his arm. The flows of power weave within his hand and coast out to the divide between the sliding metal doors. The energies sink into the gap and spread to the top and bottom of the frame. The doors part slowly, shudders of friction and pressure resonate out, and mechanical groans vibrate from within the structure. Muffled pops sound out, wet hisses splatter inside the exterior walls, and a surge of reddish-brown fluid pools out onto the concrete pad in front of the doorway. The sliding metal doors part faster, the last traces of defiance bleeding out of the mechanics.

The man lowers his hand, the fading wisps of white flow dissipating into the breeze. The energies upon the metal frame adhere in place and shimmer faintly, holding the door open. The cloaked and hooded man steps towards the doorway and glances down at the fluid pooling below and filling the heavy duty slide track. Within the dark corridor leading deeper in the large bunker, red lighting briefly flicks on and dims away. A low hum from a nearby, smaller structure reverberates through sealed armored doors, and a rugged control panel on the exterior lights up, sequences of patterns flashing on the buttons and screen. The man freezes, and his posture stiffens. Swiftly pivoting in place, his illuminated stare brightens through the mask. Darting his glowing gray eyes around, his body tenses, and he yanks a gasp in. He sprints off towards the exterior control panel on the smaller, rugged structure, heavy leather boots digging into the intrusion of grass upon the dirt layered asphalt.

He slides to a rough halt upon the wall next to the armored door and buffers the momentum from his heavy pack. Hand upon the side of the control panel, he frantically watches the streams of text output upon the small screen, squinting for the rapidly moving details. Loud mechanical thunks sound out, and hydraulic systems groan. The man slaps his hand upon the panel. A flow of threaded power surges down his arm and sinks into the control system. The white energy rushes into the cracks and joins of the control panel, overflows upon the aged concrete exterior, and spills upon the doorframe. The low hum staggers inside. The lights and screen dim, and flutters of struggle defy the magical energies. He narrows his glare. The control panel flickers out. The hydraulic groans wither away. The low hum surrenders to silence.

The surrounding natural ambience overtakes the quiet moment, and the man removes his hand from the control panel. He shakes the last traces of magical miasma off and releases a long sigh of relief, shaking his head. Stretching his back, he slowly walks back to the open sliding metal doors of the bunker and cinches up the straps of his large hiking pack. Standing at the door, he stares into the dark corridor leading within the structure. He grabs the doorframe, navigates one foot over the spreading pool of reddish-brown fluid, and pulls the rest of himself inside. Holding a hand ahead, traces of prismatic energy condense into a glowing orb and shine out, lighting his way further into the bunker.

---

Outside a tall, imposing perimeter fence, the humvee slows to a halt, and the powerplant under the front hood winds back down. From inside the cab of the olive drab machine, the team stares curiously out at the large warning signs, written in different languages and posted at regular intervals along the dull, aged metal slats. Opening the front passenger's side door, Sotalia hops out and groans, rolling her golden eyes. "Gods... THAT woman is such an Emin Purist. Did you see the way she looked at me?! She was totally trying to figure out if I should be called a half-breed or a mutt."

Bach steps out the rear passenger door and glances around the parking area of dirt and intermixed chunks of pavement. He scratches the back of his head and furrows his brow at Sotalia. "I... I really didn't get that from her. It seemed more like two mages sizing each other up to me."

Crossing her arms, Sotalia tosses back the dark red hair in her eyes and reveals a smug grin on her light tan face. "Ha! That little wannabe has nothing on ME."

Cideeda slips out the driver's seat and grumbles, securing her vest and light backpack. "Oh gods. I just really hope they didn't record me waving to HER and use it in the show."

Rigid and stiff, Aristespha steps around the vehicle and closer to the fenced perimeter and sighs out long and slow. Sebastian's ethereal visage coasts in front of her, and he presents a loving smile. "Hey. It's okay, dear. We're at the job, and we're away from them."

Aristespha stretches the tension out of her shoulders and takes in a deep breath through a grimace. "I will be fine, Sebastian. I just wanted to have a nice start to the day. That was an unexpected... Complication."

Sebastian grins and gazes into Aristespha's violet eyes. "I think we handled it well. And, we got a good contact out of it. So..."

He shrugs his shoulders and smiles reassuringly. "It's still a net gain. Let's get started on the mission and focus on that."

With a calming exhale, a reserved smile forms on Aristespha's ivory, blue and gray hinted face, and she returns a loving gaze to Sebastian. "Yes. You are right. Let me get the access code into the perimeter fence, and let us see what the entrance to this place looks like."

Sounds of shuffling and shifting equipment emanate from the back of the humvee, and Dretphi squeezes out. She stands tall, adjusts the worn-blue wrapped hard plating attached to her under-armor, and flexes her body within the suit. Taking hold of a bullpup submachine gun, she guides the carrying strap over her shoulder and checks over the weapon. The group congregates around the perimeter gate. Aristespha reaches over her shoulder into her small backpack and retrieves a tablet. She reads a few lines of text on the screen and presses buttons on a bulky, armored keypad lock. The status light turns green, a tone rings out, and the gate lock disengages, a shudder flaking off traces of rust from framework. Aristespha pushes cautiously, and the gate drifts open the rest of the way. The party walks down a rough dirt path between overgrown grasses towards the entrance of the old outpost. Behind shrubs and vines, another series of moss stained warning signs decorate the walls near the entrance of the concrete bunker facility. Holding the tablet up to the group, Aristespha angles the screen, avoiding the glare slipping through the sparse canopy of the surrounding trees. "Okay. This was the last picture taken of the entrance."

The team scrutinizes the picture on the tablet, compares it against the worn and aged entrance, and bounce between the finer details. Within the minutes of study and cautious wandering the vicinity, the group settles upon a mix of indifference and unimpressed. Gauging expressions upon the team, Sebastian confidently poses and puts on a daring grin. "Well, that's a good sign, so far. This is looking like it'll be a straight forward-"

Low, barely audible noises of utility systems powering up rise into the air around the entrance. Dim lights switch on down the previously dark hallway past the entrance, a lone exterior lamp flickering to life at the end of the chain. Sebastian's confidence wilts away into an awkward smirk. He blinks in disbelief, holding his arms out puzzling at the situation. Glancing over his shoulder at Aristespha, he furrows his ethereal brow. "This is NOT in the description of how it was, right?"

Aristespha slowly shakes her head, and her violet eyes dart around, seeking an elusive answer. The group checks, primes, and readies their weapons and equipment. Sebastian hovers in front of the group and motions for the team. "Alright. I'll scout five to ten meters ahead to check for anything obvious. Dretphi and Cideeda mind the front. Aristespha and Sotalia be ready with magic and range. Bach, support where you can and keep an eye on the back to make sure whatever might be in there doesn't try to pull a cheap one on us from behind."

He spins his ghostly form around and squares his shoulders, narrowing his stare down the lit entry corridor. "Okay. Let's do this."

The team filters through the entrance and cautiously steps through the long hall, deeper into the structure. They wander down wide, dusty concrete corridors under the glow of grime coated lamps. At the intersections, Sebastian's visage coasts down each path and carefully surveys the passages. During the exploration, Cideeda's furry ears perk towards suspicious devices, and she halts the team, investigating further herself. Dretphi keeps watch over the group, her suspicions bouncing between the dark ends of hallways and the shadows beyond open doors. Glancing her golden gaze around, Sotalia pauses with a grimace during the inspection and frowns uncertainly. Aristespha eyes unique signage, structural details, and sections of deterioration and compares it against near matching pictures on her tablet. Paranoia keeping him tense, Bach uneasily scans around each turn and corridor, his hand on his holstered plasma pistol.

The party delves further into the barely functional facility. Tension gives way to suspicion. Phasing through armored doors, Sebastian peeks beyond typical physical reach and puzzles at the findings with confusion growing. Steps upon the smooth concrete floors echo over the still, stagnant silence. Concern and worry wane against the waves of bewilderment and frustration washing over the team. The team reaches another intersection of pipe and panel lined halls. Cideeda rubs her temples in frustration and growls out. "OKAY. WHAT is going on here?!"

Drifting back down the dimly lit, concrete hallway towards the group, Sebastian surveys the vicinity, flying along. "Nothing. The lights are on, but..."

He spins around in place and waves an arm out to the stagnant scene around. "There's literally no one home. I checked behind the doors, and there's a few defense droids that MIGHT be functional."

Furrowing his brow, he briefly winces and wrestles with a twinge of unease. "I mean, there was that one room with stasis pods for cyborgs or something crazy like that."

Dretphi squints behind the team with a stoic frown. "Concerning, still."

Sebastian nods in agreement and ponders out loud. "Oh yeah. BUT... It doesn't look like anything has moved in decades. Plenty of undisturbed layers of dust everywhere, and NOTHING else is on besides some emergency lamps."

Gritting her sharp teeth, Cideeda lowers her furry ears and cocks her head with a frown. "This is NOT right. I've found detectors and sensors, not even powered up, for some kind of advanced security system. So, SOMETHING should be active. SOMETHING should reacting to us being here. But... NOTHING."

Resting her hands on her hips, she huffs. "Hell, I bet the cameras aren't even active."

Bach glances up and spots an aged coated dome on the ceiling within the next stretch of hallway, pointing it out. Cideeda nods, squints her emerald green eyes, and aims her furry ears at the device. Reaching into a pocket, she draws out a green beamed laser pointer and aims a dot right at the camera. "Yeah. That definitely is a camera and looks like one on a gimbal. But..."

She closes her eyes briefly and perks her furry ears towards the point on the ceiling. "Normally... I would hear servos running or even high pitched electrical whines from some of the components."

With a hint of growl, she shakes her head. "There's nothing."

Bach's eyes glow a faint blue, and he holds his hand out. A small glowing orb immediately forms in the palm of his hand. He glances around at the team and waits. Cideeda quickly nods a confirmation and points a claw tip down the hall. With a flick of the wrist, Bach sends the glowing orb drifting down a dimly lit passage. The team position themselves defensively near the intersection corner. Cideeda carefully watches and listens, her furry ears sifting the air. Shaking her head, she twists her mouth and contorts an unsatisfied grimace on her light brown face. "Nothing. STILL. Didn't even TRY to motion detect and track. Even if it was on some kind of standby mode that should have woken it up."

Aristespha closes her glowing violet eyes and rubs the fatigue forming in her face. She opens her eyes back up, no longer glowing, and sighs. "I am not detecting any kind of magical activity here. No recent or even past disturbances from what I can sense."

Crossing her arms, Sotalia spins in place and scans the immediate area, unamused. "I can confirm that, girl. Absolutely nothing."

She bends over, picks up a small toothpick sized stick on the floor, and holds it up for everyone. Faint traces of magic flow coast up her arm to her hand, the toothpick glows brightly, and she frowns. "The only time I've seen any of these magical detector sticks activate is when I trigger them. There's nothing magically going on here."

Dretphi furrows her brow, kneels down to the smooth, concrete floor, and drags a gauntlet covered finger along it. Countless years of dust collect during the long swipe, and the cleared section reveals the contrast between the caked on dust and the floor. "I have not seen any area disturbed. No signs of activity."

She stands up to her full imposing, armored height and squints suspiciously around. "Facility has the means to defend itself. Not using them. Why?"

Sebastian crosses his arms, stares off in thought, and ponders out loud. "Dear? Does the info you got have a map showing where the command center or control hub is?"

Pulling out her tablet, Aristespha flips through documents and settles upon detailed imagery of floorplans. She searches through the rough map and points down a hallway. "Yes, Sebastian. It should be on this floor. That way, from what this indicates."

Sebastian narrows his determination down the corridor. "Anyone against going straight to the command center and figuring out what the hell is going on here?"

No one voices an objection, and similar curiosity grows within the group. Sebastian nods and floats down the hallway, and the team follows. Leading the squad down, Sebastian ethereal blue eyes dart around the age coated wall panels, the dark recesses of the metal piping, and the faintly fluctuating lighting fixtures. He sweeps down another intersection at Aristespha's instruction. Cideeda and Dretphi swiftly survey the other avenues, proceeding cautiously. Aristespha and Sotalia round the corner. Bach briefly slows his pace and stares down the still corridors into the hazy shadows beyond his sight. Shuddering back to awareness, he rushes, catching up with the group, and keeps a nervous glance around at the dark corners of the concrete and metal passage. Down another turn, Sebastian coasts to a halt in front of a huge, reinforced doorway and studies the imposing steel sealing off the entry. Stepping up, Cideeda scrutinizes the massive security door and cringes, her inspection continuing with a frustrated sigh. "THIS is going to be rough to open. They really only built this thing to be serviceable from the other side."

Tapping her claw tips upon the steel and sniffing the air, she presses her furry ear upon the frame and waits, her emerald green eyes searching around her mind. "And... It doesn't seem like... The door is getting any power."

She steps back from the massive entry and walks along the nearby wall, glancing between different panel outlines. "So, I'm afraid that there probably isn't a proper override I can do on this side. While most of the security seems to be out..."

Sliding a claw tip along a panel, she wrestles an unsatisfied grimace down. "There may be a separate alarm system that I don't want to trigger by digging too deep in the control circuits."

Nodding at the conclusion, Sebastian's ethereal form phases through the door. Seconds pass, and he slips back from the other side with a concerned frown. "The panel looks dead on the other side, too. But, this thing, um, feels like a solid chunk of steel."

He glances up and down the massive door and points at it. "Well, it doesn't feel hollow for me. Also, there's definitely some activity going on with the computers and electronics in this command center."

Cideeda paces around the hallway near the doorway and mutters to herself. "Okay... So, there's probably nothing critical inside the door, which makes sense to keep all the important bits safe... We might be able to cut it. But, this thick of a door..."

A thought springs to the front of Dretphi's face, and she cocks her helmeted head. Perking her eyebrow, she gazes down at Bach for a moment and sorts through her ideas. She steps beside Bach and taps him politely on the shoulder. "You can precisely melt steel in to fill a hole. Can you precisely melt steel out to form a hole?"

Drifting off in thought, Bach furrows his brow and scratches the back of head, focusing further inwards. "I... I think I can. I should be able to melt a pinpoint column through the steel and extract the molten stuff out. That should effectively cut it, right?"

Dretphi shifts her gauntlet from Bach's shoulder to the middle of his back and firmly, gently pushes him towards Cideeda. Bach follows the physical hint, steps over, and kneels next to Cideeda examining the door. Sotalia and Aristespha watch curiously. Bach taps the door with a knuckle. "Okay. Where do you want to cut?"

A toothy grin grows on Cideeda's face, and she reaches into a pocket on her vest for a white paint marker. Deftly sketching out an outline, she raps claw tips upon the massive doors. "This should be big enough for everyone to fit through without taking out too much structure and making it too hard to remove the cut."

Watching his brother, Sebastian smiles with pride and motions beyond the doorway. "Okay, bro. I'll keep a watch in there to see if any alarms go off."

Bach situates himself, braces a hand on the door frame, and hovers the other hand a few centimeters away from the door over the sketch line. His eyes flicker to a constant blue glow, and a pinpoint spot on the door brightens from a dull red to a brilliant white. A thin stream of cooling steel specks rain forth from the glowing spot and spatter upon the concrete floor. The hot point creeps along and leaves a thin ribbon of space behind. Slowly, the slicing dot crawls centimeters from its origin. A swell determination fills Bach's focused stare, and he opens his hand wide, splaying fingers out. Transparent outlines of objects materialize between the door and his palm, and the details fill in. They form into angular machinery and ordered technological manifestations. The magic objects assemble together into a mechanical system. Traces of magical flow etch pathways upon the ethereal creations. The hovering solidified energies focuses power to the heavy door. The cutting point slides faster and more molten spatter erupts. Another series of magical objects appear within the streams of flow wrapping around the machinations and weave into the forming constructs. Bach's eyes glow brighter, and energy surges to brilliant illumination around his arm. Over the intense minutes, Bach drives the cut down Cideeda's white paint outlines faster with each lamination of magical constructs.

Bach's hand reaches the original starting point, and he relaxes his arm, the ethereal constructs breaking down into cloudy masses. His eyes dim, and the magical manifestations dissipate into flows sinking back into Bach. Bowing his head down, he wipes the sweat from his brow and breathes deeply. He raises his head back up, pauses a moment, and glances around at the closely gathered audience, Sotalia and Aristespha watching over a shoulder and Cideeda and Dretphi kneeling close to the door. He tilts his head up and spots Sebastian hovering above. Furrowing his brow, he glances up confused at his brother. "Hey! Weren't you supposed to be watching the inside? For the alarm or something?"

Noticing the shift of attention upon him, Sebastian shrugs nonchalantly and rocks his head towards the door. "Bro, if the first five minutes of this didn't trigger anything, I figured the last five weren't either. I don't think they expected someone to be able to magically slice through this thing without someone inside taking issue with it."

Leaning forward to get his feet underneath, Bach attempts to stand up, stumbles in a daze, and partially doubles over. Taking an arm each, Sotalia and Aristespha support Bach. Sotalia pats Bach's shoulder and grins slyly with an amused tone. "Okay. That's enough showing off today. I'll take care of the rest."

Aristespha ushers Bach away from the door and eases him down on the floor against the opposing wall. Dropping to a knee, she performs a simple check over. Bach catches Aristespha's stern stare and sighs. "I guess I did something you are going to be questioning me about later?"

Aristespha calmly nods and softens her serious tone. "Yes. Admittedly, your control and restraint lessens many of my concerns. Just, do NOT forget those. And, pace yourself, please."

Planting her feet back from the door, Sotalia shifts her stance and holds her arms out. She recites incantations, moves her arms with the forming flows of energy, and gestures methodically with her hands. Symbols beam brightly on arms, a golden light shines from her eyes, and streams of magic surge through the air onto her palms. Placing both hands together, she directs a beam of energy onto the cut section of the door. Translucent power envelops the massive chunk, and faint metallic clunks sound out. Tugging upon the beam of flow, Sotalia slides the steel out of the greater whole of the door. Rough scrapes resonate, and the circular chunk grinds against the fresh slices. The hundred millimeter thick, meter diameter steel plug drifts free, and Sotalia exudes an air of confidence, glee, and accomplishment. With grace and pride, she strides out of the way of the chunk, rotates it with a wave of her hand, and guides it down on the concrete with a heavy thud. Finishing with a dramatic flourish, she directs everyone towards the opening. "Volunteers?"

Cideeda leads the way, and the team slips and squeezes through the opening. Underneath the layers of dust, the command center contains rows of computing equipment, desks, and chairs. Old stationary and supplies litter the tops of tables against the walls, under worn and stained whiteboards. Above the team, a complete drop ceiling remains with minimal stains coloring the tiles. The squad explores further into the space. Attention shifts towards the badly damaged section of floor and one large widening crack leading towards a corner. Dretphi sweeps the area with a spot lamp and keeps a close hand on her sub-machine gun. Sotalia searches some desk drawers near the entry. Cideeda signals Aristespha towards an active terminal glowing underneath a thick coating of grime and wipes the display clear. Aristespha leans close and stares at the constant progression of line after line of text. Sotalia curiously peeks over Aristespha's shoulder and squints her golden eyes. Furrowing her brow, Aristespha cocks her head, recognition filling her face. "I do not remember the exact dialect. But... I get the rough idea. It looks like status messages and warnings about environment controls."

Sotalia follows another stream of output from the terminal and nods in agreement. "You're right, girl. That's the impression I'm getting, too. Serious looking warnings.

Wandering around in awe of the place, Bach notices a dim glow and wipes dust off a screen. "Hey! I got a working one here, too. It's spitting out a bunch of messages."

Sotalia rushes over, guides a stray strand of dark red over a horn, and reads the text. "Communications control. It received a status update from other remote sites a week ago? There's a few other entries. So, it's kept in contact with two other places..."

She leans closer to the screen and wipes a stubborn speck of grime off the screen with a thumb. "Here. A full alert from another site a few hours ago? Error... Security offline?"

Edging closer to the opening in the concrete floor, Dretphi stomps a foot down ahead and waits a moment. She checks the floor in front of her with a few more taps and shines the spotlight down into a small chasm. Cideeda cautiously approaches and examines the area. "All these large power cables in the ceiling with data lines are running down to-"

Blinking her emerald green eyes in surprise, she smirks with a dismissive snort. "Well. That's probably the security system master control. It looks like something shifted below this place?"

Aiming the spot lamp around into the deep pit and tracing the smooth depths from the thin edges, Dretphi cocks her helmeted head and grimaces behind her full face visor. "Sinkhole. Hard to tell the cause. Limestone cave? Collapse in an unknown cave below? Significant damage regardless."

She inspects the rusted out rebar sticking out from crumbling concrete of the hole's perimeter and shakes her head with a smirk. "Lowest bidder strikes again."

Perking her furry ears up, Cideeda squints her eyes and slinks back from the edge. "Yeah... You're telling me. Looks like the security control system fell down and took the main power generator out with it."

Cideeda reflexively pats a vest pocket and cocks her head of short, multicolored hair. Dretphi taps control buttons on the side of her helmet, and Bach pulls out his aetherphone. Inspecting the alert on the screen, Cideeda blinks confused at her phone and puzzles at the message. "That's an emergency radio broadcast?"

She scans the darkened areas of the control room. "That's STRANGE. How are we receiving anything this deep in here?"

Sweeping his phone around, Bach watches the signal strength. "It's weak, but... I think it's somewhere around here? Is that right?"

Dretphi glances around and shrugs. Cideeda taps through a few menus, holds her phone out, and pans it around. She sweeps a few passes and points to a direction. Bach nods, pivots in place, and motions towards slack cables hanging from torn conduits. Aristespha and Sotalia approach closer, and their aetherphones chime. Scratching the back of his head of longer brown hair, Bach gazes curiously at Cideeda. "Uh, could it be coming from those lines?"

Carefully stepping up to the mass of torn cabling, Cideeda holds her phone near the exposed copper wiring and ponders out loud, isolating the signal. "Um... That's possible. If something is transmitting on those lines, or maybe some outside interference is getting relayed?"

She squints incredulously at the mass of wiring, her clawed fingers sorting through the dangling lines. "But... This emergency transmission is using a modern protocol. Why would that be going across some ancient ruin's lines?"

Her thumb taps through the phone's interface, and she shakes her head. "Okay, let me turn on the speaker now-"

"To anyone- ... Mission to Outpost- ... Base security system came online. Part of the camera crew for Next Adventurers of... Trapped in the Command center. SEND HELP!"

A wave of dread looms over the team, and they collectively cringe.