This logfile is imported from aitelogs2 and may contain errors or wrong timestamps.
#CollectorShip – January 1, 2018
Jattic wastes no time in unholstering the strange weapon from his back the moment his boots are on the ground. He doesn't spare a look back to his team, simply training the Collector rifle on the passage in front of him. Won't be much of a rescue if they can't even hold their landing site.
Makk leaps after Ehanis, his weight causing him to move considerably faster than the asari, and he lands hard, letting out a loud grunt as the air is knocked out of his primary lungs during landing. He steadies himself and raises the Graal once he's back on his feet, looking around at the strange tunnel.
Halisi leaps after Zaylus, clearly not entirely comfortable with the manuever, but she arrives safely none the less, wincing as her unprotected knees hit the platform. She's still wearing the clothes she wore when visiting Ilyna. Pants, winter boots and a gray sweater, although she's strapped one of the Jack's armor vests over her clothing.
Ehanis realizes she's about to miss the platform, and uses a hasty biotic field to correct her course. While it did just that, it also sped up her descent. She slams into the platform, hands and knees first, with a pained grunt. This wasn't good on her healing shoulder, which is complaining the loudest right now. Hopefully the doctor isn't paying too much attention.
Zaylus hits the platform ungracefully, moving the drill back into the firing position after he's certain he has kept hold of it. He finds his footing and glances back at those not yet landed.
Oxaris follows just behind everyone, watching to make sure they all land at the platform. There is a moment where she prepares to go after Ehanis, but the asari manages to get herself back on track. Once they all touch (or fall) down, she lands with more grace and ease than the others. She primes her omni-tool with a Overload and glances around, searching for a route. "Alright, move as a group. If we need it, I can
cloak and scout ahead, make sure the way is safe." She moves quickly to the front with Jattic, looking over her shoulder at the others. "ready?"
Zaylus wiggles the laser drill and acknowledgement of Oxaris as well as eagerness to try out his new toy.
Jattic gives the briefest of glances back as he hears the others touch down, but soon enough his gaze is right back on the path before him. He responds to the turian at his side with a silent nod, the stock of the unnatural weapon pressed against his shoulder as he begins to stalk forward.
The Collector rifle seems to obey Jattic well enough, but it still pulsates faintly in his grip, an ever-present reminder of its strange nature. There is no sign of a thermal clip ejection port, nor any kind of interface or scope.
Halisi 's gaze wanders around as she studies the strange construction of the Collector ship, undeniably fascinated by the alien structure despite her worry and fear. She makes no attempt to move just yet, judging it best to stay at the rear of the team.
Ehanis stands up and starts moving after the other two, trailing about 4m behind them. She aims her pistol around, especially at the ceiling.
Oxaris walks alongside Jattic, her knees bent slightly as her HUD starts to jot down the outline of the strange alien vessel. This is no time to admire it. Focus. Focus. She stalks as far forward, stopping just before the slight bend to look at the others and motion them to stick to the far right of the corridor. Her omni-tool glows gently, but she suppresses the light enough that it just blends in with the natural
Jattic readjusts his grip on the strange weapon numerous times, still feeling it out. All that matters is, when he squeezes the trigger, projectiles fly. Though a part of him worries that won't be the case but that's a worry for another time. He acknowledges Oxaris' motions with a subtle nod and falls in line behind her, weapon lowering towards the ground as he listens for any sign of dangers around the bend.
The curve of the corridor is fairly subtle, and the wall offers little cover, although their are occasional outgrowths that one could hide behind should the need arise. Thanks to the subtle curve they're able to see ahead - more corridor, and a lone pod, seemingly abandoned along the wall. Further ahead the tunnel opens up into a larger chamber. There are glimpses of more pods there, as well as a ramp leading upward, and a support
Zaylus walks just behind and to the side of the krogan, keeping a look out to their sides. He makes especially sure not to accidentally point the drill at anyone else, still not very familiar with the device.
Oxaris peers around the corner, watching it for a moment before putting one finger up and waving it forward, motioning for Jattic to move up with his rifle. "Pods. Move up carefully. Halisi, check the pods when we move past them." She waits for Jattic to take point before she would follow behind him, waving for the others now.
The Collector vessel has a warm and oppressively thick atmosphere. There's a dampness to the whole place, and the air smells musty. As they move closer to the larger chamber a foul stench starts to overtake the musty smell.
Ehanis looks back down at the turian's update, and walks close to the pod as she passes it in hopes of getting a view of its contents.
Jattic grunts an affirmative as he sweeps to the side of Oxaris and then stalks forward, alien weapon once more raised. He's unable to keep his gaze from flittering around, the unnatural vessel making it difficult for him to know just where he should be training his rifle. "The entire ship seems-.... alive...?" he notes in a mutter as he examines the mixture of organic and synthetic structures, still pushing forward.
Makk grunts. "I've seen a lot of crazy shit... but this is something else." he mutters, aiming at one of the glowing growths in the ceiling as he walks under it.
Ehanis shakes her head as she stops to confirm it being empty. "I'm not sure what I expected," she sighs. "It's empty." She glances around the hallway once more before moving on. "They haven't sent anything our way yet, so maybe their surveillance is terrible..."
Oxaris lingers a pace or two behind Jattic. "Perhaps they never expected someone to board their ship," she replies. "Keep moving. We secure the next room." She won't admit to the air of dread that lingers over her, but she will remain focused, locked down. "And try to not touch anything unless you're sure it's safe. We've gotten lucky with their weapons, let's not try and push it."
Jattic gives only the briefest of glances back towards Ehanis as he hears her words. "We will find them." he says in little more than a grunt as he enters the room, giving it a sweep with his weapon, once again unsure of where his focus should be. What might be dangerous. He goes with the easy bet: The doorway to his left as he sidesteps further into the room, leaving the pods in the corner to Halisi. Oxaris' words cause a
nagging thought to enter his mind which lingers for a moment before he verbalizes it. "...For a group that seems to worship advanced technology, everything about them appears to be decidedly organic..."
The room appears empty, although it is not easy to tell. Three pods sit in one corner, and in the corner opposite it, something far more unpleasant. Undoubtedly the source of the putrid smell, in the corner is a pile of decayed corpses. Most of them are beyond recognition, having been reduced to a misshapen blob of melted flesh. Only the freshest on the pile give any indication that these were once people, humans, seemingly. A few
intact bits of hardsuits stick out as well. They bear unfamiliar markings. None of them match Redrock's people. Across the ceiling strange spines seem to have grown, and the floor is covered in pecuilar webbing. The corridor to the left seems to lead off into another, short corridor that seems to open up into another large chamber. Little can be seen of hte chamber aside from a sealed door across from the opening. Up the ramp is
Ehanis follows after them, aiming around the room from the hallway opening. "I believe that," she says. "If they've got ships this size, who knows how long they've been-... fuck!" She forgoes checking the walls and ceiling and jogs over to the pile of corpses. She reches and brings up her omni-tool to temporarily switch to the suit's internal oxygen supply to keep breakfast down. Unclean air she can deal with,
Makk enters the chamber, concern immediately crossing his face as he spots the gruesome pile. He joins Ehanis in looking them over, seeming unfazed by the smell. Relief washes over him when he fails to spot any of his people. He shakes his head, turning his attention towards ramp.
Zaylus turns hard from the corpses as others rush to investigate, swallowing hard and occupying himself by going to examine the pods in the corner.
Oxaris glances to the pile of corpses and she hisses softly, a bubble of anger raising in her chest. She quashes it down and looks to the door on the left, then up to the one of the right. "It splits," she says simply over comms, then looks to Zaylus. She waits for him to investigate before making any decision.
Jattic fights back his own worry, focused on holding the door. It doesn't take long, however, before his worry gets the best of him and he glances back towards the others examining the corpses. "What have you found?" he asks, hesitating before adding: "...Ours...?"
Halisi looks at the pile of corpses, a worried look crossing her face as she looks to Ehanis for answers.
Zaylus turns back to the group, looking on Oxaris as he shakes his head. "Nothing in these pods." He reports.
Ehanis turns around after examining each bit of hardsuit she could see. "I don't see any familiar suits," she says. "It's not our people." She couldn't say for certain, but she must have recognized at least one suit if they were. "Maybe this pile are... nevermind." She makes her way across to join up with the batarian.
Oxaris nods then points to the door on the West side of the room. "Then we move on," she says, glancing at Jattic. "There's a second door back there. I'll cloak and go recon the other passage. Take the others and keep moving. I won't stray too far, we can't afford to be separated for too long."
Halisi looks relieved, giving the pile a look-over of her own before joining Jattic and Ehanis upon hearing Oxaris' instructions.
Jattic breathes a sigh of relief as he hears Ehanis, giving a small nod as his gaze comes to rest on the hallway to the left once more. "What's the plan, Oxaris?" he asks, having already fallen in line with her running the show. When his question is met with an immediate answer, he gives another nod. "Be cautious." he instructs the turian before giving one last look to the pile of corpses and stomping onward down the hallway to
the left. It's been two hours. Any number of things could have happened in that time. Maybe the next pile of corpses they come across won't be quite so unfamiliar. Time is of the essence, and every second they waste could mean the difference between losing an ally, or saving an ally. He reminds himself that they took Jason and the others for a reason. While he and the rest of his little rescue squad were expendable, the
Collectors took the time to pack the others up and take them with. Surely they wouldn't put all of that effort into them just to leave them in a pile on the floor. It's not much of a comfort, but it's enough to keep him pushing forward. He sweeps his weapon back and forth as he stalks down the hallway.
Oxaris nods and backs up a few steps, looking to the others for a moment longer before she turns and jogs up to the second door. She stares hard at it as her system confirms everything is functioning to her standard. She takes a deep breath and her body seems to shimmer... then disappear, rendering her near invisible to the naked eye. The Ghost moves toward the door, starting to head down the corridor as quietly as she
can. Which, for her, comes almost as naturally as breathing. This is her element. This is what she was trained to do. She was on of the Elite of turian forces and she is going to use every scrap of knowledge and training to aid her fellows.
Ehanis is on the batarian's eight, aiming around them as if expecting something to pop out of the walls. They have technology that's almost alive, they command swarms that paralyze, but no cameras and alarms? "This feels wrong," she said, sounding anxious. "There's no way they haven't noticed us."
Zaylus is keeping just as vigilant. "Don't get paranoid." He mutters, throwing a glance at the asari.
Oxaris finds that the corridor up the ramp takes a hard left quite soon. Around the corner it opens up into a chamber unlike the previous one. This one is basked in cold, artificial light from the strange machinery that lines the eastern wall. Several metal beds extend from the machinery, each of them holding a stasis pod. Two Collector drones occupy the room. One of them looking down at one of the pods, and the other interacting
with a strange-looking terminal that is part of the machinery. Both have their back turned to the corridor. They are communicating with each other in their strange language of clicks and chitters. To the north the corridor continues some distance, opening up to both left and right at the end by the look of things, but its hard to tell from here.
Jattic's lip curls into a snarl, Ehanis' concerns not having gone unentertained by the batarian. And, given the size of this ship, there's no telling just how many hostiles it may contain. "Good. Let them come. We will turn this ship into a graveyard." he growls, his pride perhaps getting in the way of self preservation as he continues into the large chamber.
Makk follows alongside the others through the tunnel, keeping his weapon at the ready. He moves as quietly as he is able.
There are sounds of movement coming from the large chamber, and the clicking speech of the Collectors.