This logfile is imported from aitelogs2 and may contain errors or wrong timestamps.
#RuinsOfRakhana – September 27, 2016
Three hours pass as Renala sends out their distress signal to all that would hear, and preparations are made on the mesa in case someone with ill intentions were to hear it. There is not a great deal to be done, the location being a natural fortress, surrounded by the walls of the mesa and with the drawbridge the only easy way in. Not too shabby for a crash-site. As night approaches the insects that Jake spoke of make themselves
known, emerging every now and then, the buzzing of their meter-long wings breaking up the silence of the evening as they go off to hunt for food for the hive. It is now that Nathan and Ehanis arrive at the mesa after braving both the rock maze and the winding path across the pillars. Jake mans the drawbridge, lowering it for them. In the camp, the third Eclipse survivor has made her presence known, exiting from the ship to sit and
Nathan has, throughout the journey, gotten progressively weaker and weaker. Stumbling more times than one could count, he arrives at the drawbridge and offering a weak wave. "Hey... guys," he calls out before he simply pitches forwards and slams into the drawbridge with an audible thud. He groans, making no effort to push himself up. A few bullets clatter against the drawbridge.
Ehanis has not fared all that much better, the fighting, heavy carrying, and the lack of suit power severely affecting her. She has complained about light-headedness and some dizziness during the last hour, as well as feeling generally sick and tired. She speculated that it's dehydration. She stops as Nathan's falls over, turns, and takes a few steps towards him. She tries to grab his arm and pull him up, but lets go as a sharp
pain shoots through her arm. "Ten needs help," she tries to shout, though there's not much energy in her voice. The suit has lost power at some point during the last hour, which is why she doesn't use the comms.
Jason has joined Jake by the bridge. He has long since armored up once the broadcast began and handed some of their thermal clips out to the Eclipse mercenaries. Revenant holstered to his back, a relieved grin crosses his face at the sight of the pair of mercenaries, but it fades away just as quickly when he sees the state they're in. And how many of them are present. As Nathan collapses, he hurries forward onto the drawbridge
and lowers to his knees, making to grab Nathan by the arm and sling it over his shoulder to assist him. "Come on, Ten. Just a little further. I'm not gonna let you make it all this way just to kick the bucket on the two yard line." he says, casting a glance over at Ehanis as he stands up, arm wrapped around Nathan's waist as he attempts to shoulder the man's weight and help him up, "We've got plenty of water and food. All
we need to do is hold out until help arrives." he says with a sigh as he casts a glance towards the direction they came. "....Is he...?" he asks softly, already fearing the worst for the missing mercenary.
Renala went to sleep shortly after eating. She did tell the others over comms to wake her if she needs to prepare for combat. She figured she'd have enough advance warning to get into her armor.
Nathan tries his best to lessen his weight for Jason, his creaking legs barely able to support him. He coughs, his throat like razor-blades. "Missing," he croaks, allowing himself to be carried for the best-part. "He... tried to go in and...". He shakes his head, struggling to even speak through his chapped lips and bleary mind. He falls silent for a few moments before saying, "...I'm
Korio is seated around the fire, simply staring into it. Renala definitely needed the rest more, so he has stayed up with Jason, just in case their message was heard by the wrong group of people.
Ehanis follows his glance and shakes her head. There is no way he isn't dead, but she's sticking to the less grim facts. "We lost contact with him," she says, "and there was too many of them. We had no choice...." Her speech is weak and slow. She starts walking over the bridge and towards the camp, eager to get out of the blazing hot armor and sweat-soaked undersuit. Water was her first priority, however.
Jason winces, sucking in a deep breath of air as he leads Nathan towards their campsite. "Fuck..." he mutters quietly to himself. "Fuck!" he repeats, not so quietly, nor to himself. "This is why-... You never should have gone. I told you not to go!" he spits. But now isn't the time for playing the blame game, so he simply bites his tongue rather than continuing to berate them. They both look like hell and have probably been
Jake looks on as Jason helps the near-dead mercs into the camp. He decides against any comments. Probably for the best. Instead he simply starts raising the drawbridge.
Nathan remains quiet, all his energy depleted. No response, just a limp-shuffle alongside him. He favours his right leg for the moment, clinging onto Jason as if his life depends on it.
Ehanis lowers her head, conceeding defeat before she even opens her mouth. She is too exhausted to argue, and just wants it over with. "This was a fucking mistake," she mutters. She ups her pace when she spots the water purification device and makes a beeline for it, the water much more important to her than any follow-up quesitions Jason might have.
Jason helps Nathan onto a crate once they reach the campsite and takes his canteen to refill it once Ehanis has finished using the purification device. Sucking deep breaths in through his nose as he continues to glare at the two beat down tired mercenaries, he extends the filled canteen back towards Nathan. "Is he dead?" he finally asks the loaded question, his gaze moving from Ehanis to Nathan, Nathan to Ehanis. "I need to know
Korio glances over at the two new arrivals, but his gaze lowers as he hears Jason's question. If he wasn't with them, then Steve was almost certainly dead. Or would be soon enough.
Ehanis fills one of her canteens until it's half-full before downing it all in one fell swoop. Too thirsty to even wait a few more seconds. She does step aside to let Jason fill Nathan's, as his stubborness has probably made him more thirsty than if he had accepted her offer. "We don't know," she sighs. "He didn't listen, let them take him inside, and then, fighting. We lost contact with him."
Nathan sets himself on the crate with Jason's assistance. He pulls his helmet off and drops it at his feet with a clatter. He takes the canteen and downs it quickly, despite himself knowing that will likely make himself feel worse. His stomach churns in protest as he lowers the canteen, water tickling down his chin. He continues to remain silent as Ehanis speaks before throwing his
two cents into the pot. "I think he wanted a fight," he croaks, barely above a whisper. "...I should've gone in to negotiate... not him."
Jason gives a shake of his head, looking confused. "What do you mean 'he didn't listen and let them take him inside'? What was the plan if not to go inside and talk to them?" he asks. When Nathan speaks up, he sighs and brings a hand to his forehead. "Details. I need details here. Did Kell turn down the offer...? Did his people attack you right away? What in the hell happened and whose ass am I kicking?"
Ehanis starts filling her canteen once again, sighing frustrated as the questions keep coming. "They bound him," she says. "They didn't do that with you, I told him, and there was... a lot more of them. I knew that was a bad idea." She glances towards the ship entrance, but she decides against walking away just yet. "And I was right. They threw him into a cell instead of taking him to Kell." There's slightly more energy in her
voice, though that means her frustration is even more easy to discern in her tone. "Could the questioning wait?" she asks. "This armor has been cooking me for hours."
Nathan tries to prop himself upright, using whatever is closest to stabilize himself. "Mine... you're kicking my arse..." he says. He looks up at Jason for a pregnant moment before trying to stand, nearly toppling over. But dammit, he is going to face up to what happened and accept responsibility. "We were going to go and try and trade the weapons. Exactly what we
told you over comms. I sent Steve in to act as negotiator, but they subdued him quick. Tied his hands up and tried to stuff him in a small room. Next thing I know... he's telling us we have one minute before he starts tearing down the place." He looks to Ehanis and nods, swaying again as a wave of dizziness washes over him. "...So, he attacked. The drell
Seriah looks down at the new arrivals from her position atop the ship, where she is acting as sentry, antique rifle in hand. She frowns, looking at them a moment longer before resuming her watch.
Jason looks between the two as they take their turns to speak. As Nathan stands up, his still-working hand clenches shut as his frustration boils up, but when Nathan looks as though he may crumble, he reaches out and places a hand on the man's shoulder to help stabilize him. Looking off to the side, he lets out a deep breath. "There's nothing we can do about any of that now..." he decides as looks back to Nathan, a bit of guilt
washing over him for being so angry at the pair given their current condition. "I'm gonna go with movie rules. Didn't see him die on-screen, then he's still alive until proven otherwise, right?" he asks, giving Nathan a slight shake as he attempts to inject a little optimism into the situation despite the gut punch he's feeling. "Drink up. Get some food in you." he adds, looking to Ehanis, "Both of you. Because- dead or
alive- we're not leaving this planet without our people. All of our people. And if that means more fighting, then so be it."
Ehanis walks off towards the entrance the moment she's given the go-ahead. "Getting him out was our plan," she says without stopping, thoughi t's not easy to hear given the weakness of her voice. She hasn't filled the second canteen, as she figures she might not need that much, since her previous sudden take of water has agitated her symptoms. She was hungry, too, but that had to wait.
Nathan looks mildly surprised as Jason helps, rather than slugs him one across the face. He remains pensive as Ehanis walks off. "I... why aren't you slapping me silly?" He asks with a grating tone. "I fucked up... badly... I might have gotten him killed...". He finally loses the last of his strength and his wounded leg buckles, nearly toppling him over. He's only
Jake leans against the boulder, listening to Nathan and Jason's conversation from afar as he looks out across the path to the mesa with crossed arms.
Jason jolts forward to help make sure Nathan lands safely atop the crate rather than falling to the ground. "Don't tempt me, Ten..." he mutters, still quite obviously frustrated over the entire situation. "If we start fighting with each other, it doesn't get us any closer to getting home. We're all tired, frustrated, hurting, and running on fumes right now. The last thing we need is to start going at each others' throats.
Just-..." he shakes his head, taking a step back with a sigh, "...rest up. If Steve is going to have any chance of getting out of that place alive, we need to be on top of our shit." Shoulders slumped, he approaches one of the empty crates and plops down onto it, "We can come up with a plan when everyone is rested and in a better place. We're not doing anyone any good like this..." He falls silent as the inevitability of
the situation begins to set in. Steve is hours away from them. Through the desert. In a fortress with dozens of armed drell.
Ehanis enters through the main entrance and quickly finds herself a corner to change in, silently hoping she won't run into anyone else with questions. The asari wastes no time taking off the armor peices, starting with the ones on her left arm. She was counting on that they had found a working ship when she agreed to Nathan's plan of getting help, but this ship isn't going to get them a swooping rescue. Why did Steve trust them
with a hundred armed drell? Ehanis would never let her life be in the hands of two mostly strangers. She survived Omega by having someone she could count on, that could in turn count on her.
Nathan nods numbly, avoiding Jason's gaze as he stays upon the crate. He looks off to the side, the bags under his eyes prominent and deep. He still clings to the canteen, wringing his hands around it as if trying to crush it. "...We... should prepare for a counter-attack. I doubt they'll just let us walk off." His voice is low, murmured. He slowly looks around,
Jason gives a nod of his own. "They're stranded here. Same as us." he says. "Renala got their comms systems working as you obviously heard. We're kind of just in 'wait and see' mode, now. Linda would've definitely began looking into why we're so late by now so-..." he gives a glance skyward followed by another nod, "...she'll get us out of here. Just might take a little while." He stares at the fire distantly, "To be entirely
honest, an attack from Kell's people would probably be our best bet of getting Steve back. Might give us an opportunity to speak with them without having to make that long journey back. Hell, the walk back to that fortress alone might be enough to kill us at this point..." he sighs. "I don't know if Kell has the capability to intercept our broadcast, but it might be worth checking into when Renala wakes up. See about maybe
Nathan nods sluggishly. "Ah... well, I've worked with worse than Eclipse," he mumbles. "And I hope your faith proves true... I sure as shit want to go home and eat something that isn't paste or a bug." He slides off the crate and props up against it, unable to stifle a yawn. "I... need to rest. And could someone look at my leg? I think I have a bullet in it." He
Seriah is looking out across the sands through the scope of her rifle, but suddenly comes to a stop. She turns her gaze down to the ground below the ship, looking around until she spots Korio. "A [see] renkaris! Sio fa [north]!" she shouts, the urgency in her tone clear.
Jason glances down at Nathan's leg, wincing slightly. "Afraid I'm not much in the way of doctoring, Ten. Your suit has probably done more for it than I could. If it acts up, we can try to remove whatever's inside. For now, just sit ti-..." he trails off as Seriah shouts, giving a glance up towards her. "What's the problem?" he calls out to her.
Korio stands from his seat. "North." he drawls. "She says she sees something to the north." He whips around, pulling the rifle from his back as he scopes in to the north.
Nathan groans and rolls his neck. He weakly draws his pistol and holds it in a lose grip. "No rest for... the wicked."