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#UnderTheSea – April 16, 2016
Nalota returns the smile from behind the window, and nods. "Fine, alright, I'll go on alone," she says over comms, not sounding all too happy about it, before turning towards the east. She starts walking.
Jasper waves to her through his viewing port before turning slightly. "Alright, s'pose that leaves me with south." he says as he begins to stomp off in the remaining direction.
All of them would have similar views to start with, pathways through the rocks, lined with slimy coral-beings. Their surroundings are otherwise uneventful for the moment.
Jasper scans and takes photos of the coral creatures as he goes about on his way, unsure of what exactly he should be recording. Quantity over quality is his aim.
Harmonia activates her comms again. "I expect all of you to stay in touch. We'll remain within comms range of each other. Make sure to speak up if you find something you're unsure about."
Jasper continues scanning and taking pictures. "I'm jus' gon' record everything I see. Ya'll can sort it out once we get topside. I jus' fix stuff, I don't do the science!"
Harmonia replies to Jasper after a brief moment. "Good call. If unsure, document it. No harm in it."
Nalota stops the mech and moves its hand to grab some of the slimy coral-like beings. She has taken a picture of the same specimen that she's grabbing beforehand.
Nathan stomps along, snapping pictures here and there and scooping up a specimen, sliding it into one of the tubes.
Jasper doesn't bother grabbing any of the specimens, but continues taking a buttload of photos as he continues south-bound.
As they start to get further away from each other the sights slowly start to change as well. Nathan would find himself walking down into a valley, with the rock walls on either side widening the further he goes. There is movement along the ground ahead, but it is hard to see what in the dark. Jasper finds himself on rocky ground, the impact as he walks on the hard surface reverberating throughout the mech. Nalota's path leads to a
rockface that would block her path, were it not for a tunnel, lined with coral much like the one she just picked up.
Nathan pauses slightly, peering forwards. He passes it off for a trick of the light. He keeps walking forwards, eyes peeled and watching. "Going into a valley," he reports.
Jasper reaches down, taking a bit of rock and shoving it into a tube. He shrugs to himself, feeling a bit silly for collecting rocks, but what the hell, it might be useful. "Ground is gettin' solid out my way. S'all rocky." He lifts a leg and stomps down once to test the integrity before proceeding forward.
Nalota moves the hand to grab a test tube of the back, being extra careful about it now that she's underwater and the movements are more sluggish. She moves it over to her side. Once that's under control, she starts gently pushing the sample into the tube. "I collected a sample of the specimen all over the ground," she says. "I see a tunnel up ahead, and I'm going to take a quick look inside."
Jasper's stomp actually causes the rock to crack, showing surprising brittleness. Of course, there's nothing underneath but more rock, so the overall effect is minimal. As Nathan proceeds forward he would find, upon descending further into the valley, that the ground is covered with a matt of small, about a foot long white tentacles, writhing and wriggling around each other. Nalota's sample fits nicely inside the tube. The spot where
Nathan looks down, blinking at the mass of tentacles. "Well that's grim," he announces over comms. "Got a whole mess of little tentacles writhing on the ground. I'm grabbing a sample." He reaches down to try and tear out a few of the tentacles and store them in the tubes.
Jasper frowns as the rock cracks. He steps to the side and proceeds carefully onward, worried that he may reach a point where more rock isn't beneath the top layer. "That don't sound good... You sure it ain't attached to somethin'?"
Nalota attaches the tube back on the mech. "Take a picture of how the sample is attached to the rest before you tear it," she says over comms. She takes a few pictures of the area beneath the specimen before proceeding towards the cave opening.
Under normal steps the rock seems to hold up fine, and he is able to proceed ahead into a rather clear area, with line of sight in every direction - of course, nothing except dark water and more rock is visible. Nathan would find the Triton's gripper unsuitable for such delicate work - all the tentacles either slip away or are squished. Although as they scurry away from the site where he tried to pick them up, he would be able to see
that they are not lone units sticking out of the ground, but rather balls of tentacles moving across the ocean floor, wriggling their way across the loose mud and over each other. The tunnel Nalota is approaching is wide enough to fit the mech, but it has little room to manuever.
Jasper continues forward tentatively, looking about in each direction as he does. "Got a whole lotta nothin' out here." he reports, "Water, rocks, an' more water."
Nalota snaps pictures of the tunnel entrance during her approach, the last of which is when she stands before it looking inside. "I'm at the cave entrance," she announces over comms.
Their work has proceeded slowly but surely, with each Triton moving further and further in their chosen direction, observing and documenting what they come across. Lifeforms have been relatively sparse, as most of them have found themselves walking out into open areas, that are largely barren aside from the occasional crawlers along the ocean floor. Nalota's region has been markedly different, and she still finds herself wandering in
a maze of rock pathways. Many types of coral have been encountered along with a few lone blind fishes that have darted away as soon as they've felt her approach.
Jasper continues forward. "Jasper here. Ain't nothin' much to report. Jus' checkin in. How're ya'll doin'?"
Nalota has taken path choices that leaves her moving east without moving too much in the other cardinal directions. She has taken pictures of the rock pathways, and collected loose rock, sediment as well as more coral samples. "I've had more different kinds of coral, labirynthine rock paths and skittish species of fish that lacks eyes."
Jasper gives a slight chuckle. "Hey now, Ten. She's the one with all the knowledge anyhow. S'pose it's best it worked out this way. Only thing I know 'bout fish is that they're good eatin' with a bit a' pepper an' butter!"
Jasper keeps stomping along. "Oh boy, you an' I are gon' hafta have a lil' chat when we get home. Trade some recipes! Maybe have a lil' Redrock cookout!"
Harmonia speaks up after having been silent for some time. "Alright, we're far enough out for the soil samples. You each have a special metal canister with a built-in mass effect generator for burrowing into the ground. The HUD will show you where it is. Grab the canister and hold the red-marked end against the seabed. It will activate automatically."
Nalota stops upon hearing Harmonia's request. "I see it," she says, and starts trying to take it off of her back. "You don't want to cook anything you find at these depths, by the way." She moves it in front of her and turns it towards the seabed, decending it slowly until it makes any sort of indication that it's doing its thing.
Jasper lets out a chuckle. "I ain't likely ta' ferget that. Jus' gotta come up with a way of gettin' Jay an' the Chief onboard, too." As Harmonia speaks, he begins to study his HUD. "Uh huh, I got it." he says as he spots the indicated readout, "Gettin it done." He begins to maneuver the mechs hand to remove the canister, his movements slow and steady as he angles the red end downward and sets it down slowly.
Nathan checks his HUD and starts to remove the canister, slow and precise. He sets it down. "Jay is already on board."
Jasper focuses on his task as he replies to Nalota. "Wasn't plannin' on it. My pa taught me to never pass up a chance fer knowledge, though, so I'm gon' go ahead and ask why." Upon hearing Nathan chime in, he perks up slightly, "Well that's one hurdle outta the way."
Each of their canisters gain a blue glow as they touch the ground, and they start to burrow themselves down into it, kicking up dust and making a loud whirring noise. Jasper's digs into rock while Nalota and Nathan's find mostly mud. The process is slow, loud and messy, with the water around them murkying more and more.
Nathan looks around, frowning. "I don't like being unable to see my surroundings... how long will this take?"
Nalota holds the thing steady. "Just look at the pressure readout," she says, the sounds of the machine heard in the background of her comms. "Exposing them to the surface pressure is going to damage it. I'm not sure how that affects taste, though."
Jasper glances around, looking a bit uneasy as the dust and rocks kick up, blocking his visibility. "That so? Well, don't s'pose it'd matter much considerin' we'd be eatin' em' anyhow. Far as I'm aware, eatin' somethin' does plenty of damage to it, too." he jokes.
The canisters are soon filled up, and each gives of a blip and a confirmation in the Tritons' HUDs. Only the top of each canister is still visible, a metal handle just large enough to fit one of the prongs of the mechs' claws. Just about the time that Nathan's sampling device finishes there is a sudden swirl of water and the dust can be seen streaming quickly along with the water ahead of his viewport.
Nathan starts maneuvering the claw to take the canister, before he freezes and peers out of his viewpoint. "What the fuck?" He says over comms, not explaining further. He raises his mech back and aims the flare gun at it in an instinctive motion at having some form of weapon pointing forwards.
Jasper reaches out, clasping his mech's grip around the handle slowly. "All done on my end." he reports as he begins to tug the canister free. "Hmm? You alright over there, Ten?" he asks as he hears Nathan's exclamation.
The dust continues to swirl around, visibility poor. There's a rush of water and a blur of movement to the left of Nathan's Triton, but it's quickly gone. The next is to his right, and it disappears as quickly.
Nathan turns the mech to try and match the movements, but it's sluggish movements aren't up to the task. "Something's circling me," he says, keeping his voice level. Panicking won't help right now. He fires a flare off into the murk, hoping that the sudden appearance of the flare will deter whatever is lurking about. And praying that it won't antagonise it, like a
Jasper finishes collecting his canister and places it back in its spot on the mech. "Just stay calm, Ten. Get'cher canister and get on outta there." he advises, "Slow an' steady, buddy."
Nalota resumes her walk eastward just to get out of the fog. "Soil sample is secure, moving on," she says. "Be ready to take pictures if you get to see it, Tennhausen."
Harmonia speaks up again. "Sorry, fun's over. This is as far as we're going. It's time to head back. No need for a search pattern anymore. Just go for a straight line on the return."
Jasper turns back, aiming straight back in the direction they came from. "Hear that, Ten?" he asks as he begins his return trip, "Jus' get what we came fer and head on back." he repeats.
The flare lights up the entirety of the dust-field, creating a big red cloud that the mech is in the center off. It does little to help visibility, but it does help locate the thing moving around him, as it passes the flare in front of the Triton a dark shadow is cast on the pilot's cabin, and just as soon it is gone. A moment later there is a rush in the water above, and something strikes the back of the mech, metal clanking at the
Nathan staggers forwards, a grunt echoing over comms. He struggles to keep it upright, though he is successful. He turns sharply, the motions disorientating him. He starts to move in the direction he believed he came from, pushing the mech to it's maximum... which isn't really that fast.
There is another sudden impact that hits Nathan's mech from the side, and a flash of movement in the dark before its gone again. Jasper and Nalota's paths back are uneventful so far, although the straight path Jasper is now taking is bringing him close to a small ravine in the rocky seabed, deep, but nothing the Triton's water jets can't navigate over.
Nathan staggers... and fails to keep the mech upright. He topples over, smashing into the ground with a cry of surprise. "Fuck!" He says as his helmet collides with the metal of the cockpit.
Jasper continues onward, activating the water jets in an attempt at hurdling over the ravine. "What's goin' on, Ten!?" he shouts over comms, becoming more worried by the moment, "Talk to us!"
Another cloud of dust flies into the water as Nathan's mech impacts the ground with a shudder, rolling onto its back - and putting undue stress on the sample containers in the process, with one of them cracking, shards of glass sent flying. The flare seems to be gone, and so his view is now only of the murky water above, illuminated by his headlights. A fast-moving shape barely different in color from the sea itself darts past, the
shape is fairly long and thin, and of roughly similar size to the mech, not much else can be gleaned. Another fast strike hits from the side, and one of the Triton's lights go out. A pinpoint attack. There are sounds of movement at the mechs feet and its head, and yet another can be seen moving in the now dimmer light above.
Jasper successfully jumps the chasm with the help of the water jets, the impact sending a worrying shake through the rocks, but the ground remains steady. Something stirs however, a swarm of spindly, flowing bioluminescent little creatures floating out of the ravine behind the old man's mech, triggering the sensors of it with their slow, grouped movement.
Nathan is now, by this point, abandoning calm for sheer irrational panic and hair tingling adrenaline. Fight or flight? "Hostile! I'm under attack and my mech is taking damage! I've been knocked over and this thing is seriously fucking me up!" He uses the water jets to try and push the mech to it's upright position. If successful, he would start to try and brace
the mech for combat as trying to outrun a sea creature in a mech is... nigh on impossible. "C'mon then, hündin! I'm going to make sushi out of you!"
Nalota would find her return uneventful so far, heading through winding rock corridors, in this area almost completely devoid of life.
Jasper remains perfectly still for a few moments as he ensures the rocks will hold. Once satisfied, he slowly turns to see what triggered the sensors. Upon spotting the creatures, he makes to scan them and snap a bunch of photos. As soon as Nathan's voice comes over comms, however, he quickly abandons that plan after only a photo or two. "How're we handlin' this, Ms. Kozma!?" he says over comms, "I'm a fair bit out. I can try
Nalota listens to the comms while keeping her eyes on the return path. "How about the ascent thrusters?" she asks. "Can you use those to attempt evasion?"
Harmonia speaks up soon, her voice sharp and clear. "Yes. Activate your ascent thrusters to get away. I'll instruct you on the way up."