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#RuinsOfRakhana – August 22, 2016
Renala's concerns are quickly proven irrelevant as they pass through the gate and drive away from Pilgrim's Haven. Surrounding the settlement are vast, empty plains, barren of any features aside from the occasional rock. In the distance mountains cover the horizon. The wind kicks up dust from the ground, kicking it up into swirls and sweeping it along the earth.
Nathan turns to observe the barren wasteland as it whips past, his HUD zooming in and enhancing bits and pieces... all for naught. There is nothing of interest. Even the mountains, standing tall and proud, look ready to wither and die. "Nice place to bring the family," he comments dryly.
Korio gives a glance back towards Pilgrim's Haven before setting his sights on the horizon. "I imagine this will be the view for most of our trip." he muses, "Beautiful in its own way."
Jason continues to stay guarded, keeping watch on all sides as they go, his Alliance training keeping him alert as he engages with the others. "Quiet outside of the wind." he adds, "Good sightlines. Don't think much is going to be sneaking up on us."
Renala nods. "Unless they've got cloaks on their suits," she says. "Though, the likelyhood of that kind of hardware being out here has got to be low."
Jessica begins snapping photos anew. Of the plains. Of the mountains. Of the others in the truck. Of a particularly strange grouping of rocks they pass that she would swear looks like a three-legged varren. "Mmm. Parts of Aite are no less lonely." she says as she rotates back around to sit in her seat properly, "I took a trip with my brother a few years ago and we passed through places much like this-..." she shrugs, "...Without
Ehanis watches the settlement disappear in the distance before leaning her head back. Being furthest from the opening means she's not going to contribute much by watching it.
Jason grips the barrel of his Revenant, keeping it steady. "Just covering our bases." he offers the asari with a smirk. "We're here to ensure your safety. As I understand it, supplies are pretty scarce down here. If any nearby settlements caught wind of that ship landing-..." he gives a shrug, "...Like I said. Just covering our bases."
Nathan turns his visor about, his IFF occasionally pinging and seemingly trying to highlight anything out there.
The heat caused by the glaring sun above does not take long to become apparent. The air is far warmer than even the somewhat uncomfortable conditions on the ship. The shadow of the truck provides some respite, but it would likely start to get quite noticeable for anyone not running their armor's environmental control systems. Pilgrim's Haven slowly shrinks in size, it's walls all that is visible, a lonely circle of metal surrounded
Namira nods to Jason, before glancing out the back of the vehicle, still seeming a bit uncomfortable.
Jason activates his armor's environmental control systems, still steadying his Revenant between his knees. No reason to sweat if you don't have to. "So what do we know about the location we're heading to?" he asks, his gaze drifting from the guard to Namira.
Korio doesn't seem bothered by the heat. His gaze is permanently fixed to the horizon of his abandoned homeworld, searching for any signs of civilization.
Nathan has already been running his ECS. He won't admit it, but being too hot or cold extremely aggravates him. He taps the side of his leg idly as he simply watches.
Renala also gets her armor's systems running, as she's right next to the opening. She's running it just low enough to get it from unbearable to uncomfortable in order to conserve power.
Namira looks back to Jason. "Not much. The information is... very spotty. Zelyner seems convinced that the artifact is there though, and, well... its funding the expedition."
Jessica opts to go the opposite route. Wanting to experience the foreign planet in all of its glory, she retrieves the breather from her gear and unclasps her helmet, sucking in a deep breath before she removes it and replaces it with the breather. "Mmmm. Is a dry heat." she says once the device is in place. "Is nice." She leans over and rummages through her gear for a moment to find her lucky hat. She pulls the brown cap on and
Jason sits back and listens, a single hand still on his Revenant to keep it stable. "Do we know anything about the surrounding area?" he asks, "Is it a city...? A single building out in the middle of nowhere...? Anything?"
Nathan glances back at Jessica for a moment before shrugging lightly and turning back to scan the landscape. He makes to rap a knuckle gently against Briggs' hood. "Still in the land of the living?" He asks.
Thinking of a holiday home out here? I hear that the prices are low, so grab up the land why you can!
The drell guard turns his helmeted head towards Nathan, expression hidden behind an opaque visor. He just stares at him for a moment before looking back out of the truck.
Steve gives a shrug, tilting his head slightly. "Eh. Considerin' it. But I gotta be honest. I prefer a place where I can breathe without wantin' to vomit my guts out. Think I'm gonna stick with Freedom Falls for now."
Namira nods. "Near Alasha. It was the capital of one of the largest nations on Rakhana. All ruins now."
For an hour the truck continues through barren plains, until it reaches the cracked, dust-covered remains of a highway, and they now find themselves driving along it. The monotony is quickly broken up - from the road can be seen various long-abandoned structures, half-collapsed in most cases, and the rusting remains of cars can be seen here and there, some of them on the highway itself, which slows their progress as they have to
navigate around them. The landscape is getting sandier as they continue, and the lonely buildings they see are increasingly covered in piles of sand, likely having gathered over time as the winds move it. To the left massive, towering mining rigs sit, left to decay after the collapse of the planet. Large cranes, diggers and drills, rusted and in many cases toppled. Those that still stand creak endlessly in the wind, as if they
Ehanis gives off a quiet groan as the truck weaves around another. She has attempted to sleep, but the unpredictable movements of the car is making her feel queasy.
Renala is watching the old structures and machinery with interest, trying to imagine the inner workings of the latter. "They sure built their stuff to last," she says.
Korio who has remained silent during the past hour, finally speaks up. "It shames me to see our home like this." he says, his gaze fixed on the sand-covered buildings. "I suppose it is more than mere irony that, given everything we drell did to this planet, that the planet has seen fit to reclaim the structures we erected. Poetic justice, perhaps."
Jessica listens silently as Korio speaks, though her silence is soon after broken by the clicking of her taking more photos.
Jason glances to Korio and then to the landscape around them. "You drell aren't alone in that regard..." he sighs, "See the same shit back on Earth in places. Maybe not to this degree-..." he gestures towards the dilapidated buildings with a gauntleted hand, "...but it's not hard to take something as abundant as an entire planet for granted..." he says, hoping to offer Korio some amount of comfort.
Nathan has been observing the environment in silence, though he does glance to Korio as he speaks. "Yeah, Jason's right. We squandered out planet for many years before we finally realised what we were doing... even then...". He trails off and shrugs.
Steve gives a dismissive shrug of his shoulders. "It ain't good, but shit happens. This happened-... what? A hundred years ago? Two hundred years ago? Plenty of planets out there. Just gotta learn from those mistakes, suck it up, and keep on keepin' on." he offers, his attention moving from building to building.
Namira listens in silence to the conversation while poking at her omni-tool - she can't see much from where she's sitting, and has long since realized that she will see things far later than the others.
There is a loud crack as a large piece of metal falls from one of the drilling rigs, landing in the sand with a thud, a cloud of dust flying up.
Nathan immediately snaps around to the metal. "Holy- shit that made me jump," he says as he half laughs, half breathes out his words.
Renala frowns. Though she'd much rather work on her projects, her position does implictly assign her as lookout. "Keep your eyes peeled," she says. "This is a pretty good place to spring an--." She startles. "Fuck." She tries to calm her breathing.
Korio nods to Jason and Nathan before settling his attention back on his surroundings. "Your words are true, but offer little comfort. A tragedy of this magnitude should never have been allowed to occur." As the drilling rig begins to collapse, his attention snaps to it before he settles back into his seat, a small sigh escaping him. "Even now the planet crumbles. An echo of our mistakes, hundreds of years later..."
Namira jumps slightly in her seat at the sudden noise, her gaze darting between the mercenaries, but as she notices their reactions she starts to calm down.
Jessica nearly jumps out of her seat at the loud sound. Once she realizes what's happening, she does jump out of her seat. As she stands up in the truck bed, she nearly falls over, only keeping herself upright by getting a gauntleted hand against the truck's cabin. "Shiiiiiiiiit!" she exclaims, quickly bringing her arm up in an attempt at getting a photo, though the continued jostling of the truck makes it nearly impossible.
"Did you see that!?" she asks, looking between the others, sucking in a deep breath to calm herself. She remains standing, balancing herself against the cabin as she continues to stare in the direction of the drilling rig while they put it in their rearview mirror.
Jason's synthetic fingers tighten around the barrel of his Revenant and he nearly snaps it up before he realizes what just happened. A smirk crosses his lips as he calms down, "That makes two of us, Ten..." he snickers before suddenly feeling guilty for laughing as Korio's homeworld crumbles. He clears his throat and leans back in his seat.
Steve startles, but doesn't have nearly as much of a reaction. He merely glances over his shoulder at the structure and then back to Renala. "Don't you go pissin' yourself, darlin'. We still got a bit of a trip ahead of us." he teases.
Ehanis snaps her attention towards the opening, but she relaxes quickly when she realizes what the source of the nosie is.
Renala chuckles. "Very funny," she says. "That thing could have landed on our-... Why are we stopping?"
Jason turns his attention towards the sound of the second guard. "What's the hold up?" he calls out.
Jessica stumbles as the truck stops, nearly falling over. She gains her composure and does a quick glance around to make sure nobody noticed as she fixes her cap.
Nathan noticed. Oooooh, how he noticed. But he turns his attention to the surroundings, his HUD still scanning.
Nathan looks at Jason and jabs a thumb to the opening. "I'll take a look," he says as he starts to exit the back of the truck.
Jason gives a loud sigh as he climbs to his feet. "How bad?" he calls out, gripping his weapon in one hand and the edge of the truck in the other so he can lean out over the side and get a view. He offers Nathan a quick nod.
Nathan hops out the back and nods to Ehanis, waving her along. "More the merrier," he remarks before walking around the truck to gauge the severity of the block.
Korio rises to his feet and removes his rifle from his back, unfolding it and lowering the barrel towards the ground. "I'll join them. Ensure the area is safe." he says as he follows Nathan and Ehanis out of the truck. As soon as he steps out, he brings his rifle's scope up to his visor and begins to scan the area. Rooftops. Prioritizing anywhere that may serve as a lookout in case this is some sort of man-made barricade serving as
Ahead of the truck can be seen the rusted remains of a tank-like vehicle that appears to have collided sometime long ago with a large truck. The jumbled mess of crumbling metal and armor plating blocks the highway entirely.
Ehanis hops out and walks around the edge so she can see the road block. "How are we going to move that thing?" she asks, her question directed at nobody in particular.
Steve gives a quick glance at the others exiting the vehicle. "You want me out there, too, boss?" he asks.
Jason gives Steve a shake of his head. "Hold on. Let's see what they want to do about this." he says as he steps away from the side of the truck. "Doesn't look like we're going to be able to move it!" he calls back to Aron. "How do you want to handle this? I could have my people set a few charges. Might be able to clear enough space to slip by. Or are we finding another way around?"
Aron 's voice can be heard faintly as he speaks to the guard up front before calling back to Jason: "We are going around! Get back in the vehicle."
Jason nods to himself, moving to the other side of the truck. "You heard the-... drell!" he calls out to Nathan, Ehanis and Korio. "Back in the truck!" He casts an uneasy glance towards the nearby rooftops before retaking his seat, both hands propped up on the barrel of his Revenant.
Nathan nods and waves his companions back. "Alright, no fireworks for now kids. You'll have to be patient."
Jessica looks somewhat saddened at not being able to blow the tank up. She sighs and looks towards the wreck, snapping a quick photo of it before settling back into her seat.
Ehanis sighs and goes back into the truck. "And here I was hoping for a chance to stretch my legs," she shrugs and moves back to her seat.
Korio folds his rifle up and holsters it onto his back once more. "Looks clear as far as I can tell." he says as he moves back to the truck, "Though there are many places to hide around here. One would assume if this was supposed to serve as a trap, however, they would have already sprung it." He retakes his previous seat.
As soon as everyone is back onboard the truck it starts moving again, turning off the road. The vehicle shakes considerably as it goes down a small incline and starts to head around the abandoned tank at a slow pace.
Nathan nods as Korio speaks, agreeing with his assessment. He hops back into the truck just before it started off again. He simply resumes scanning their surroundings.
Jason brings one hand over to grip the edge of the truck as it begins to move down the slope. "Let's hope we don't run into too many more blockages. Might extend this trip quite a bit if we have to keep stopping." he says.