The smaller girl would give a nod, before grabbing the lamp on her staff with her tail. She'd spin her her staff around, as the nanites within it started shifting. The staff quickly started changing into an ornate brown and golden longbow. "Reactive offensive. Got it. Unless if we see Tengri, of course." The taller figure scoffed in turn, looking down the hallway. "Or any of the other scientists we know we can trust." The two looked into the distance, as the tall figure signalled her friend along. "Let's go, Zati." The smaller figure gave a confident smirk. "Time to save some lives, Nandi."

Of course, neither knew what was awaiting them as they entered the ruins of their former home...

-----------------------------------------------
[16:36]
After a spending around three and a half weeks in India, I have returned to writing! I’ll try and get a few posts out each day for the next two weeks, after which the quest may slow down due to an internship I’m starting. Aside from that, the usual stands.

This quest is mostly story focused, with no really deep mechanics aside from basic dice-rolling. The story is rather freeform in terms of what choices you can make and what direction you want to follow. What your goal is in this place and who you choose to trust is mostly up to you. Do you want to explore the place and figure out its mysteries? Or do you just want to shoot shit and cleanse this place of monster girls? No matter what you opt to do down here, I will always try to give options for what you can do. You can also always send in your own choices and suggestions on what to do. Either way, I hope to provide a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone. My writing ain't perfect, so I always do appreciate it when feedback is provided so I can improve further.

[16:36]
Shared docs:
You, your men and your allies:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_NoldE7zglICEuon-YZNhxjXcqvjszveOsz4u8jz-is/edit?usp=sharing
List of scientists and subjects, along with some minor details:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Z64W31Eszz9CNi-ZWe-t38yqg6riZ9oUvinfd2-F9A/edit?usp=sharing
The monster girls sheets as provided by the government tablet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sIrSAkYFN57njvPYKcWzpjnme2nMD6Bzgkl-j4wU3LE/edit?usp=sharing
Sheets of monster girls you've befriended:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CPSZp0MxftcNaUFSfBxzkRh7MfEiPnA7G6Wzfm9dkSQ/edit?usp=sharing
Previous threads:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=Monster+Girl+Facility

Artist I commissioned for this thread's thumbnail: None, art by based local drawanon.

>Recap from the previous thread.
After finding some grim sights in the hallway, mainly a crematorium and signs of a bloody battle, Artyom would be injured by a trap hidden near a corpse. Thus, he would be taken back to the main base to recover. After which, you returned back and explored a nearby guard station. There, you discovered a pathway into the facility drainage and sewage system. Using a drone, you found an engineer hiding in there, who caused a bit of damage but ended up mostly helping. They gave intel about some subjects in the flooded section. Afterwards, you ambushed the guardsmen under the control of the Queen, taking them all down with ease and taking some of their weaponry along. Not to mention, some nanites which presumably kept them under the Queen’s control. Up next, you entered another office space, finding a little journal from a caretaker scientist. Afterwards, you settled near a collapsed path heading deeper into the facility. You taught the girls how to use weapons, which didn’t go all that well. Once everyone aside from you then headed to sleep, you would find yourself getting ambushed by a mysterious subject which forced you into a deep slumber.

Continuing from the previous thread...

Your body ached as you slowly awoke from what must’ve been a pretty bad night of sleep. Your back and neck hurt quite a bit, your arms and legs feeling quite stiff. You were slow to open your eyes, as you didn’t remember what on earth had happened to get you here. As you woke up and groaned, you heard a muffled voice which was presumably near you. “Guys, he’s awake!” It was Lars’ voice, you looking to the side and seeing Thaddeus and Morgan carrying you by the arms. Immediately, they’d look at you and helped you sit on the ground, as you started seeing and hearing more from the world around you. “Oh thank god, I was already worried. You alright, Mik? What on earth happened?” Mike asked right away, Zaria hushing him. “Shhhh, don’t just assault him with questions. Give him some time to recollect himself.”

As you sat down and looked around, you saw that you were quite a distance away from the forward operating base you were ambushed at. You were in the hallway approaching the green section from the west. Your men all quietly waited to hear what you’d say. The girls were also there, looking far more concerned and scared. Before you could talk though, Lars approached with some medicine and a bottle of water. “Here, take some of these. It may help you feel a bit better.” You definitely could use some water right now, and the painkillers would also help. It felt like you had slept on wood or something else really bad for your back. Though as you drank, Thaddeus would immediately explain some things to you to help you catch up. “Glad to see you’re awake again, Mik. We found ya unconscious or asleep early in the morning. Ya hadn’t woken any of us up, so we feared somethin’ real bad had happened to ya.”

Afterwards, Derek also spoke up, doing so a bit more seriously. “We take it you went unconscious quite early on. Zaria and the girls sadly didn’t hear anything, since they were also all asleep by then.” In turn, Zaria let out a soft sigh. “The one night I managed to get some shut-eye in, and it screws us over. Apologies, Mik…” Afterwards, Lydia would also speak up. “Thankfully, aside from the subject blood which went missing, nothing else has happened to any of us. Though, we were quite shocked and feared the worse once we woke up. We were gonna bring you back to base, until you… well, yeah.” It was quite a lot of information you were being given. Though, it was at least good to know that your group was unharmed. Still, the missing subject blood was definitely very particular. Regardless, your men still wanted to hear you tell what was going on. They just gave you some room to wake up and figure out your bearings. You were still a bit scatterbrained right now, though you got a feeling that feeling would leave you sooner rather than later at this rate.

>What do you do next?

>Thank your men for looking after you. Reassure them that all was well and that you were not gravely injured. Just taking things easy was probably good (Write in what you’ll say specifically.)
>Tell your men you were fine and that you immediately wanted to head back the way you came. You had no time to sit around and do nothing when there was a secret path you had to take.
>Ask them for further details about your state. Maybe they noticed something else about you which you maybe had to pay attention to now. That, or ask them about what else had happened whilst you were down. (Write in what you’ll ask.)
>Describe what happened to you before all of this went down. Maybe the girls would know something about the creature which forced you into your slumber? That, or they noticed other signs related to your sudden unconsciousness? (Write in what you saw, as well as potential speculation in your mind.)
>Ask the girls about some of the details related to what had happened. Maybe they knew about the subject, or the places you saw in your strange dreams? (Write in what you’ll ask the girls.)
>Something else…

While I was hoping we'd maybe get to play as one of the girls or other members of the squad for a bit while Mik was OOA, this works too.

>Describe what happened to you before all of this went down. The ambush from that subject and the dream that followed and repeated over and over again, along with how it seemed to almost be directions.

>>6077164
>Describe what happened to you before all of this went down. Maybe the girls would know something about the creature which forced you into your slumber? That, or they noticed other signs related to your sudden unconsciousness? (Write in what you saw, as well as potential speculation in your mind.)
Describe anything we recall about the subject along with the vision she showed us

>Ask how long we were out
Dang, the queen stole back the blood samples? She is super protective of her nanites huh.

>>6077164
WE ARE SO BACK LETS GOOOO.

I thought we were gonna be out for longer, but I guess the unknown subject knocked us out, gave us a warning, and stole the blood sample.

>>6077267
Supporting

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>>6077164
let's rock fuckers
>Describe what happened to you before all of this went down. Maybe the girls would know something about the creature which forced you into your slumber? That, or they noticed other signs related to your sudden unconsciousness?
There's no reason to withhold any of this. In detail, how she approached, how she moved, how she looked, the sound of ver hoice and what exactly she did. I think the odds they might know the Dark One are low, but never zero. I think we could really use some extra-caffeinated coffee right about now. And what time is it?
Also, new policy for keeping watch. Always two people at a time!
The apparent flawless finding and theft of the blood samples is interesting. Could she instantly have homed in on them? Perhaps they are what brought Feng's attention to us and how she beelined our location.

Reposting the map because I'm fed up with having to dig through archive posts for the one time it was posted every time I want to get our bearings a bit. Where were we doing the digging on here?

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>Describe what happened to you before all of this went down. Maybe the girls would know something about the creature which forced you into your slumber? That, or they noticed other signs related to your sudden unconsciousness?
Given how your men wanted to know what happened, you'd sit down and told them about the last night. There was no point in withholding this intel. Thus, you explained how you were standing guard for some time when you heard a noise coming from the rubble. You had taken notice of a gap in the rubble through which a person could crawl. And after taking notice, you were quickly assaulted by what you presumed to be a subject which was surrounded by darkness. You gave a description of the subject based on memory. Given how she was completely enveloped by darkness, most features were quite difficult to discern. What you could tell was that she had relatively long horns, long hair and a tail just like Anofelis or Oreas. You also remembered her looking down at you a bit, meaning she had to be about a feet taller than you.

You wanted to go a bit further though. Clearly, you didn't just wanna leave it at that. You also explained how she ambushed you from the darkness, you either having missed her or her somehow avoiding your thermal vision. When you did see her move, she looked quite elegant and gentle. Even the way she put her hands on your head didn't feel all that forceful or aggressive. You also mentioned her voice, which got some of your men quite interested. "She spoke to you?!" Mike immediately said, Laura speaking up more softly. "What did she say?" You stated how her voice was very soft-spoken and soothing, despite how pained it sounded. Though more noteworthy was the fact that she asked to be saved, and stated she had to do this because of the Queen's control. You also remarked how some of that was told to you in a dream.

"Given she didn't harm you too much, I think she isn't truly evil. Maybe she's just under the control of the queen, like the guardsmen we faced off against yesterday?" Lydia would remark, which your men seemed to agree with. Regardless, you wanted to see if Laura or the other girls knew of this subject. Looking at them, you could tell that the girls had no clue who this was. Chrys was clearly thinking about who this could've been, Oreas also pondering a little bit. Kamara seemed unsure what to say, whilst Anofelis was clearly more focused on your wellbeing than trying to jog her own memory about this particular subject. And unfortunately, Laura also seemed quite blank about this subject, even bringing it up. "I'm trying to think if I know of this subject. My mind is sadly not coming up with anything. I would say my closest guess is this therapy subject, but she's a plant subject which you would've probably taken notice of quite early on." It seemed that figuring out who this subject was, was going to take quite some time. Still, you felt like you had plenty of time right now.

"So, did she show you anything in your dream?" Lars would ask, to which you nodded and quickly explained all the strange sights. The throne room, the path that led to it, the red fluid, the guardsmen. the cries for help. All of it was quite odd to your men, though it was also easy to figure out what it meant. "I take it she was trying to signal us where to go." Derek would say casually, to which your men all agreed. It seemed like the most logical thing she was trying to convey to you. Even then, there was still a lot of mystery to it. Where was this botanical garden, or the blast furnace section which you saw? Were the turrets going to be a threat? Or the guardsmen, for that matter? Looking at the girls, it seemed that they didn't know much about these things... except for one person.

"There... I do believe there is a section of facility which has blast furnaces somewhere within the depths of the facility. If I recall correctly, it was somewhere below the north eastern quadrant." Morgan would say, which immediately caught your attention. "Any way we could get there?" Thaddeus asked, to which Morgan shrugged. "I imagine such. I have not been there yet, but I am most assured we could go there if we trek even deeper!" Though, Laura did point out something important afterwards, which could make going to the north-eastern quadrant a risky option. "I do believe there are multiple places with blast furnaces. There might be one underneath us, or further to the south from here." It was probably worth going down right now, rather than taking the long trek back to the east from here.

>Ask them for further details about your state. Maybe they noticed something else about you which you maybe had to pay attention to now. That, or ask them about what else had happened whilst you were down.
As you listened to your men and slowly regained your bearings, you realised you needed some coffee right about now. Something with a lot of caffeine to keep you awake. "I'll start boiling some water." Lars immediately said, after which you asked what time it was. "It is currently about a quarter to nine. We've been walking for quite some time, and left the base in somewhat of a hurry. We tried taking a few important items, but some of our supplies are still there, I'm afraid." Anon said, which was definitely quite troublesome. Still, you couldn't blame them for quickly trying to get the hell out of there after all that had happened.

Regardless, you mentioned how next time, there'd be two people standing guard from now. Your men immediately accepted the offer, as you shifted your focus towards the subject again. You were left a bit puzzled by the fact the blood samples had stolen. Clearly, the queen didn’t want her blood samples out in the open. It was also worrying to see how easily the subject could find them. Clearly, the blood samples had gotten Feng’s attention, and helped her track you down. Though this did give Mike an idea which he was quick to share.

“Hmmm, maybe we can use that fact in the future? We can try and lure out more of her guards, or even this subject, with the queen’s blood. Then, BANG, we take them down and question them!” It was a bold suggestion, though there was one issue to the suggestion which had already been brought up. “What if it ruins the element of surprise if we capture some of Feng’s forces? We still know very little about how Feng’s blood works. And we’re not gonna find out more about it, given that it was stolen right from us.” Thaddeus remarked, which definitely made Mike seem a bit more doubtful about his plan. Still, it was worth taking in mind for future engagements. Any and all of Feng’s blood was bound to get her attention, for whatever reason. Perhaps she feared her blood being in the possession of others? Or maybe there was some sort of weakness which you could figure out from her blood?

Regardless, Lars would start cooking some water, as Oreas would quietly speak to you. “So, Mik, what is the plan exactly? Are you feeling okay?” You stated that you were fine, and that you just needed a lot of coffee right now. Aside from that though, your men were patiently awaiting to hear what the plan was for today.

>What do you do next?

>Just head back to the digging sight and start trying to see if you could go through the crevice. If it was what the subject used to get to you, it meant it’d definitely allow you to get to the queen.
>Return back to the green sector right away and get in contact with facility forces which were there. Maybe they had spotted the subject elsewhere around here? That, or there were other reports of her actions. (Write in what you’ll ask.)
>Listen in to Annie on the radio. See what sort of news she was bringing, now that she was no longer covering Mona’s death.
>Discuss some of the conclusions you could make based on what the subject did. Perhaps there were some matters related to the subject worth discussing? That, or you could ask Laura if she could make any guesses on who the subject might belong to. (Write in what you’ll discuss with your men.)
>Discuss some plans for the future. Perhaps employing Mike’s idea in the future wouldn’t be too bad of an idea. Or perhaps you could think of a more general plan of action for the day. (Write in what you’ll plan.)
>Something else…

(>>6077542 Hope the map is helpful for future decisions. Honestly, I should start each thread with a little updated version of this map to showcase where you are. It'd help for context at the start of each thread.)

>>6077607
>Just head back to the digging sight and start trying to see if you could go through the crevice. If it was what the subject used to get to you, it meant it’d definitely allow you to get to the queen.
We need to head back this way in any case. Not only is our stuff still there, but we haven't reviewed the camera footage over the bodies either. If we're going to be squaring off against Feng, possibly getting some information on who her heavy hitters are would be highly valuable before we head downstairs. And I suppose we can see if there was any activity in Arika's tunnels on our way past.
As for Mike's plan, I can definitely see where he's going with this but luring out Feng's enforcers to provoke a confrontation could be biting off more than we can chew if the next one's more dangerous and hostile since we have no idea who else she has in her service. Imagine if she subverted an arse-kicking type like Morgan, that wouldn't go nearly so well for us as a seemingly noncombatant dreamweaver who doesn't really want to hurt us. That and seeing that they're all unwilling slaves who may or may not still be aware has put me off my dinner somewhat and the girls wouldn't be happy about it either.
>Listen in to Annie on the radio. See what sort of news she was bringing, now that she was no longer covering Mona’s death.
C'mon. It's a given at this point that we tune in on long walks.

>>6077607
Backing >>6077636

>>6077607
As with >>6077640 , backing >>6077636

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Also posting this one of our wonderful drawfags drew in qtg a few days ago.

Speaking of drawings, where would Morg place on the above height chart? 6ft, wasn't she?
Optimal height for kissing while staring deep and level into each other's eyes.
I jest.
Or do I?

>Just head back to the digging sight and start trying to see if you could go through the crevice. If it was what the subject used to get to you, it meant it’d definitely allow you to get to the queen.
After Oreas asked what the plan was, you stated that you just hoped to go back to where you came from. You were fine, and didn't really feel like there was any point to travelling back. Especially since the girls would have to stay back somewhere around here, if you were to go through the green section. "Yeah, I was kind of expecting you'd want to do that." Lars would say as he'd get a few packets of coffee for you. "Well, if ya insist yer fine, I think it's only fair we head back." Thaddeus said in turn, to which your men all calmly agreed. Thus, you'd carefully get up and tried leading the way. Though of course, Morgan was quick to get beside you and put an arm around you. "T'is only fair I assist you further. It would be unladylike for me not to!" It seemed she insisted. Besides, there was no harm in her helping you out just a little bit. At least, for the time being.

>Listen in to Annie on the radio. See what sort of news she was bringing, now that she was no longer covering Mona’s death.
With that, you slowly started making your way back. Right away, there were a few things you wanted to discuss. You asked Lydia and Derek if they could check the camera footage. The guardsmen bodies and Arika's tunnel were both quite valuable to monitor, especially now that the dreamweaver subject was out and about. "Alright, we'll check right away!" Lydia said, as she and Derek got their tablets out. In the meantime, you also asked Anon to turn on the radio. You wanted to listen in on Annie to see if she had any news. Once the radio was turned on, you'd hear some of the more usual rock, rather than the quiet piano serenades from the day before. It seemed Annie was back to her usual self, as you waited to hear the news she had to bring today.

Whilst you waited for that, you'd also turn to Mike and would bring up his idea again. You stated that it was maybe worth it, but that it could be a risk if the queen had even stronger forces. If someone like Morgan was under the Queen's control, then it meant that it'd be highly risky to once again take some of the Queen's blood. If you even got the opportunity to do such. "Maybe. We do have Morgan by our side though, and she can potentially protect us from threats on the same level as herself. Not to mention, the element of surprise!" Mike still seemed sold on his own idea, though you and your men were still reluctant. The fact that the Queen had the help of the dreamweaver was just too risky to ignore. You also remarked that you got a feeling that all of her forces were unwilling slaves, which made you less inclined to hurt further innocent lives. "I guess, but they're still going to try and hurt us if they encounter us. In which case, we're going to have to kill them regardless."

Mike made a somewhat decent point, but the fact still stood that you didn't want to actively go out killing innocent lives. If you had a chance encounter with the Queen's forces, it could be considered. Though for the time being, you opted to not hunt them down in case you figured out a better plan. "Alright, if that's what you think works best..." Mike mumbled, it going quiet for a minute aside from the music. Though once the music stopped, you'd hear some rather important news from Annie.

"You're listening to VRCMG Radio with Annie Marconi, bringing you all your news about the deaths of innocent people, as well as the deaths of you 'honourable' and 'kind' war 'heroes'! More news has come out about the murder of subject 19-SF, called Nomi Onnayu. Nomi was killed yesterday night by a group of courageous and totally reasonable Blackstar forces. Nomi was well known for her violent and troublesome ways. With such vile acts as 'creating smoke screens to flee fights' and 'blocking off paths with hot water to avoid being followed', it is clear that she truly was a threat to mankind and deserved to be mercilessly hunted down and shot in the head!"

"The men responsible for this heroic killing was a Blackstar squad led by the valiant Sam Lefèvre, who's most renowned achievements include 'depriving his men of rations when they fail to meet deadlines', and 'sending new squad mates forward under the pretence of their armour making them invincible'. This wonderful man also has bravely stolen hundreds of valuables from areas he patrolled, which he courageously sells for his own profit! Truly, a man of status who I am sure many of you would like to meet. He can be found on the 30th floor in block D3 of the north-eastern quadrant, where he will graciously accept your meetings!"

Given the tone in Annie's voice, it was clear she had taken the news of this killing far more angrily than the news of Mona's death. Instead of giving a eulogy, or honouring Nomi with music, Annie just went for the nuclear option and basically gave away the guy's location and his darkest secrets. Your men were a little shocked and appalled by what this guy had done, though most didn't comment on it. The only one who did speak up was Morgan, who spoke quite angrily. "What a dishonourable crook! Why, if I were to find him, I will bring him to justice by my blade!" Clearly, there was no way you'd find that guy anytime soon. Even the other girls knew it, with Chrys sombrely saying: "Just... let it be, Morgan." The girls clearly didn't like to hear that one of their kind had died. "Did any of you girls know this subject?" Anon would cautiously ask, to which the girls all shook their head. "I've heard of Nomi a few times. She was peaceful, playful and very much harmful." Laura would soon mumble in a rather pained tone. Even Anofelis seemed a little bit down from the news of this subject, despite none of them having known her at all.

“So, uhhh, Mik, I noticed something quite interesting related to this subject on the tablet.” Derek would say shortly after, having taken a pause from looking through the various camera footage to check the government sheets. “Rather, it seems that this subject only got added to the tablet a short while ago. So, she probably was an unknown subject up until she was killed.” It wasn’t too surprising to hear that this subject was an unknown. Given how many of them you met, there clearly were quite a few unknown subjects roaming around the place. Still, maybe the sheet on the tablet could tell you a bit more about this subject and what she was like. Especially if you could then draw some comparisons between the way Annie described them, and the way the government described them.

Soon after though, Annie would go back to talking about other news. Nothing too interesting came out of it, as neither the Queen or the dreamweaver were mentioned anywhere. There only was more news about ongoing combat, where Annie tended to leave away the details and just tried to demotivate the people who were listening. Not much later, Annie was back to playing some fun songs on the radio, during which Lydia and Derek finished looking through all the camera footage. The two were busy chatting along for a bit, before signalling over to you. “Mik, we found something on the camera which looked at the corpses.” She’d show the view of the corpses, speeding up the footage a little. “Look carefully. It’s quite difficult to spot, but…” Soon, you’d notice a shadow like figure walking in front of the corpses and crouching. It was the very same shape as the one which attacked you the night before. It would stay there and check each corpse, before leaving without any noticeable signs. “How long ago was this?” Anon immediately asked, to which Derek pointed to the time in the corner. “It was around 1 in the morning at the time. So, this was after she presumably attacked you, Mik.” He’d say as he repeated the footage again. You sadly couldn’t see what the shadow figure was doing. It just seemed like they were crouching in front of the corpses and looking down at it. Though you could see them extending their arm to one of the corpses.

Up next, you asked for footage of Arika’s tunnel, which… Derek would quickly scroll through. Though somewhere around 4 in the morning, you’d see some movement in the tunnel, as these two black antennae popped out. They moved about, sensing the air before you saw the head of a rather large subject popping out. The subject had blue skin, almost completely black eyes with these orange irises. Immediately, Derek would signal Chrys and Anofelis to come over, with Ano immediately smiling brightly. “Arika! Arika is there!” She said excitedly, as you watched Arika looking directly at the camera. After realising what it was, she’d duck back into the tunnel.

Though a few seconds later, you saw some bits of rock and dirt being flung at the camera, most of it missing before hitting it. The camera’s vision was blocked a little, soon being presumably buried under more dirt as Arika had blocked off the view. “Huh, she must’ve known it was a camera and… blocked off the view with dirt so she could more easily pass by.” Lars would say, to which Zaria spoke a bit more sceptically. “To be fair, she pointed her head out without really looking around carefully. We still know what her face looks like now.” Though to this, Chrys would suggest something quite different. “I don’t think Arika is too afraid of cameras. She probably thinks that, despite her size, she can probably hide quite well. And knowing her, she probably just threw dirt at the camera to annoy you guys and tease you a little bit.” Regardless of why she threw dirt at the camera, it had clearly worked because the feed was completely black for the rest of the night.

Shortly after, Lars would finally give you your coffee, as he spoke up quite curiously. “Looks like we know have footage of two different subjects. One we know is ultimately harmless, despite flinging dirt at the camera. The other, well… you know best what the other is like, Mik.” As you sipped from your coffee and continued making your way back, it seemed that your men were thinking quite a bit about what these revelations meant for the exploration you’d do next. After all, Arika had clearly passed through this tunnel again, meaning she might come back in the future as well. You could potentially try and communicate with her further, or try and ally her. Though, there was also the matter of the dreamweaver, who you knew how to follow now.

>What do you do next?

>Head back towards Arika’s tunnel first. It was a relatively short detour, and maybe you would get lucky and spot her again. That, or you could leave a note to her to let her know you didn’t mean harm. (Write in what you’ll do at Arika’s tunnel.)
>Head back to the main FOB right away. Chances were, Arika was long gone and not going to return so easily. Besides, you had to chase after the dreamweaver and figure out what she was doing with the corpses.
>Check up on the corpses which the dreamweaver visited. Maybe you’d see what she was doing with them if you got close enough? (Write in what you’ll look for.)
>Ask the girls further questions about Arika, the dreamweaver or maybe even Nomi. Perhaps they knew more about these subjects which could help out? (Write out what you’ll ask and who you’ll ask.)
>Something else…

( >>6077674 Adorable Ano, though I do wonder why she looks so upset. Also, Morg is indeed exactly 6ft. Perfect for such, uhhh, intimacies if that is what you want...)

>>6077827
>>Head back towards Arika’s tunnel first. It was a relatively short detour, and maybe you would get lucky and spot her again. That, or you could leave a note to her to let her know you didn’t mean harm. (Write in what you’ll do at Arika’s tunnel.)
Let's see if we get lucky, let's send Ano down one of her tunnels and see if she can get her to come with us or at least convince her to talk with us, after considering what happened last night we need all the help we can get.

>>6077160
Oh yeah, welcome back OP, hope you had fun in India.

>>6077827
>Head back towards Arika’s tunnel first. It was a relatively short detour, and maybe you would get lucky and spot her again. That, or you could leave a note to her to let her know you didn’t mean harm.
We didn't actually leave a camera there, but it's a small thing to retcon in now right? Seems like she is of reasonable intelligence if she can recognise and think to neuter a camera.
We could leave her a handwritten note by Chrys, but getting her and us in the same location will be hard given we're still on the move. I would wonder if she is nocturnal given centipede and all, but time has no meaning down here so far from sunlight.
See if we can't send Ano down some of the tunnels to see if she's still there. If she isn't, leave her a note written and signed by Chrys (and Ano, if she can hold a pen) saying we're heading down this way, come down here if you want to catch up with us or stick around, since we'll be coming back here tonight to check for you around x o'clock (with a small battery clock, which I presume must be everywhere around the offices). I do hope she's literate - I wonder how many of the subjects aren't, if it was considered unnecessary for their training.
RE Nomi, not the fox girl! How will we touch the fluffy tails now? Annie, we'll need your fluff as a substitute. Also, being specifically designed for working with steam turbines seems a very niche and unusually civilian specialisation given the MO of the facility's work we've seen thus far. Shame, sounds like she might have been interesting to meet. And floofy.

>>6077674
Damn, a masterpiece like this was just left in a shithole like the qtg? What a waste.

>Head back towards Arika’s tunnel first. It was a relatively short detour, and maybe you would get lucky and spot her again. That, or you could leave a note to her to let her know you didn’t mean harm. (Write in what you’ll do at Arika’s tunnel.)
This plan seems good, say hi if she's there and if not leave a note

Actually have Ano dig a small hole in the area as a sign.

>>6078145
I mean, the thread wasn't up at the time, but I believe said drawfag has drawn a couple of MGFQ things in the qtg and not crossposted them, unless there's more than one doing it. Beats me why.
We could definitely leave some holes from Ano's claws and acid marks from Chrys as more verifiable signatures as you say.

>>6077827
It looks more like her "huh? What? You guys seeing this?" face than upset to me.
I'm being hammy for entertainment value but I have come round to rather like Morgan - while still sometimes irritating, she's a fun character and the only person outside our squad who we could really stand back to back with. I need my fix of lady knights since LKQ died and would like to see what colour her face goes when we grab her hand and run towards a fight to save the innocent and defeat the evil together as Lord and Knight.

And now for the customary Random Thought. It's strange how few other squads we've encountered down here given how many thousands of mercenaries there are kicking about. Is the facility really just that massive? Also, what are the plans for if we do encounter one? Obviously if they see the girls and start shooting, we shoot back, but do we kill them all to stop them tattling on us if they get away? And what if they're not hostile - can we trust them?

>>6078279
>It's strange how few other squads we've encountered down here given how many thousands of mercenaries there are kicking about. Is the facility really just that massive?
Brought this up in the first few threads and yes, the place really is that big.

As for the plan if encountering another squad, last thread was a while ago so I don't remember too well but I was under the impression that there was something keeping other squads out of this area.

>>6078279
We have encountered one before to be fair. But this place is a miniature underground city. Plus, our squad is one of the lucky/unlucky ones that's part of the expedition/deep facility patrol operation rather than asset protection/guard duty.

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>>6078145
>>6078279
Woops I forgor to crosspost it, again.

Also sorry for the lack of art of the other girls, I'll get to it, eventually... Ano is the easiest one to draw and my drawing juice works in mysterious ways

>>6077827
>Head back towards Arika’s tunnel first. It was a relatively short detour, and maybe you would get lucky and spot her again. That, or you could leave a note to her to let her know you didn’t mean harm.

Oh hey the threads finally up.
How did we get the queen's blood samples again?
I can't remember.
Was it through the office?

>Head back towards Arika’s tunnel first. It was a relatively short detour, and maybe you would get lucky and spot her again. That, or you could leave a note to her to let her know you didn’t mean harm.
With the news that Arika had passed by her tunnel, you decided to visit that first. Having a digging subject by your side would be tremendously useful to you and your men. Besides, it would be far easier and safer to go after her and convince her to join you than it would be to go after the Dreamweaver. "Well, let's hope we get lucky and that she hasn't already left and headed far away from us then." Anon said, which made Ano excited. "I hope she's still there! I'd love to have her join us!" The other girls also seemed excited by the prospect. Though Mike and some of your other men seemed a little less interested in acquiring another subject for your collection. Regardless, you kept heading the same way as before, going westwards and aiming for the chemical sector first and foremost. Though as you headed in that direction, you'd also start considering what to do to lure out Arika, or convince her to trust you. Some of your men weren't all too convinced in having Arika join your party, though they kept somewhat quiet as you had some suggestions.

You'd suggest sending Ano down into her tunnels, which Anofelis clearly didn't seem to mind. Laura was a bit more sceptical though, looking over Ano before concluding: "Isn't Anofelis a bit too risky to send in a tight tunnel she may not be familiar with? In all honesty, I'd suggest Chrys do such a job instead." Anofelis seemed find with either, whilst Chrys clearly preferred to let Ano do all the dirty work. "I'm not exactly good at digging... nor am I really fond of going into such tight spaces, I'll admit." Either way, going down the tunnel was potentially feasible now, so long as whoever went down it had some way to trace back their steps. You also suggested that taking Arika in was not necessary, just like Viridian. Arika could best serve to just give further details about this place and some of the threats you were looking for. You assumed that Arika was at least decently intelligent, so she likely would be quite the boon for intel purposes.

Though, there was also the very likely chance she just wasn't nearby, or that she'd remain on her own and would try to avoid you. In which case you suggested that Chrys could write a note or handwritten letter to her. "I can definitely try to leave a note. Just tell me what to write down, and I think I'll manage. I just hope she can read my handwriting." Chrys mumbled softly in response, to which Laura spoke up to as well. "I can help out, if you think you'd struggle with such a task, Chrys." Obviously, Chrys was more than happy with this offer, immediately accepting. Though you also suggested she could just burn some things with her acid, as that would be a decent mark to let it be known you were present.

"Hmmm, maybe I can write something with my acid? I just need to figure out what I should burn with my acid. Not sure if I can write anything on metal with it. Maybe some other material?" Chrys remarked, as she and Laura would start discussing this matter together. You'd also give some suggestions on what to write, telling her that you would go a certain direction. You'd also suggest noting down that you would go back to her location at a certain time, you noting that you could just get a clock from somewhere to help show the time to Arika. This did get you to wonder about how literate the subjects were, as well as if they were familiar with the concept of time. "A lot of places had clocks in them, and the time was always announced. Whilst they probably don't understand time based on the star we're orbitting, they do understand schedules and the fact that some things always happen at specific times, I imagine. Hell, many probably already understand the concept of time quite well."

This did beg the question about some of the basics which subjects learnt, as Lydia calmly asked: "What sort of basic things were subjects taught anyway? Did they learn history, or about biology, or other topics related to their creation and everyday aspects?" Anofelis was quick to respond to one of them, doing so quite proudly. "We were told all about humanity and their amazing achievements! I also was taught some things about biology and how I was made, but... it is a little bit complex." It was genuinely surprising to think that Ano might know some of humanity's history, as well as basic biology. But her knowledge was probably quite limited. Oreas would also speak up quite happily, wanting to share what she knew. "I was taught quite a bit, actually! Laura here taught me some simple maths, language skills, uhhhhh, history and biology!" To this, Laura would give some elaboration regarding subject teaching. "What subjects learn all really depends on the subject caretaker. Some caretakers, like myself, try and teach subjects a lot of things. Others... not so much."

Regardless, you'd keep going for some time, listening to more of Annie's radio and just casually chatting. Chrys was focused on her acid, trying to think what the best material was the best for etching things into. Eventually, you suggested that Ano could also write in the metal with her claws, or just dig a hole to showcase that she had been there. Given Ano's skills with digging, it'd probably be quite noticeable to Arika who had done it. Anofelis was quite happy to dig, though there was a bit of reluctance since it could take a little while. Still, it was something worth considering for when you did return to Arika's tunnel.

For quite some time, you kept on wandering the halls. You passed by the chemical sector, passing by the smaller office space and the bloody fighting site where Arty was injured. You passed by the food court, before returning to the head office and heading back upstairs.

And at long last, you'd carefully approach the hallway where Arika had dug through. You’d carefully peak the corner, not wanting to scare away the centipede girl or get ambushed. Though, you would be met by a rather messy yet empty hallway. There were more clods of dirt all over the place, you soon spotting the camera which was buried under rubble. Morgan would help get rid of some of the rubble, handing the camera to you and Lydia. “Camera is not damaged, thankfully.” As you two looked at the camera, you’d suddenly hear a loud scratching noise a few feet away from you. It didn’t sound too pleasant, some of your men gasping as they were taken aback by the sound. Thankfully, you’d just find that it was Anofelis who was scratching at the metal wall to dig through it. “Ano, can you please try and be a bit quieter doing that?” Lars would ask in a mildly upset tone. The rest of your men quietly stared at Ano, who awkwardly nodded and would try gently scratching at the metal. Needless to say, Ano digging a hole was probably not going to work out too well.

Fortunately, Laura and Chrys had already prepared some paper with writing and a little clock. Oreas and Kamara had also helped out, Kamara sticking one of her scales to the paper whilst Chrys used some of her dust to showcase she had also worked on the paper. “You think she’ll get the message?” Chrys would ask cautiously, to which Thaddeus responded confidently. “I think she’ll figure it out. Now, let’s place it somewhere safe where she can find it.” Thus, Chrys would put the note inside the tunnel she had popped her face out of. “Well, should we put the camera back again this time? Or should we just leave it be?” Derek would ask you, as it was clear that you weren’t gonna stay here much longer. You still had a dreamweaver to chase down, after all…

>What do you do next?

>Place the camera back, either underneath some dirt to keep it a bit more out of view, or just in its usual position. Keeping it hidden could be useful so that it didn’t get covered with dirt again, though it’d probably also look a tiny bit suspicious to Arika if she decided to stay here. (Write in how you’ll place the camera back.)
>Explore the area a bit further. Maybe Arika had gone somewhere else around here, and you could find some signs of her? (Write in what you’ll look for.)
>Just quickly head back to the Forward Operating Base again. It was only a short walk away, and you wanted to immediately go after the dreamweaver once more.
>Yell into one of the tunnels for Arika. Maybe, just maybe, she was still nearby enough that she could hear you? You just had to pray that nobody else was on the other side or nearby enough to hear you guys. (Write in what you’ll yell down the tunnel.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

(Apologies for the delay in this update. Yesterday (and today as well) have just been infuriating, because my laptop just doesn't want to work with me at all. I'll send it to a repair shop tomorrow. Hopefully I can still use another PC nearby to post updates, since my shitty fucking phone also doesn't want to co-operate with posting updates for some retarded reason.)

(Anyway, >>6078567 these are some adorable expressions. I especially like the bottom one. The idea of her moving her head wings to show emotions is pretty adorable, and definitely something I should incorporate.)

(>>6078617 Queen's blood samples came from the Queen's soldiers which you killed. You took some samples of them, which contained some of her blood as well.)

>>6078658
>>Place the camera back, either underneath some dirt to keep it a bit more out of view, or just in its usual position. Keeping it hidden could be useful so that it didn’t get covered with dirt again, though it’d probably also look a tiny bit suspicious to Arika if she decided to stay here. (Write in how you’ll place the camera back.)
>Just quickly head back to the Forward Operating Base again. It was only a short walk away, and you wanted to immediately go after the dreamweaver once more.
Dream Ending time.

>>6078567
Uuuooooohhhh

>>6078658
>Place the camera back, either underneath some dirt to keep it a bit more out of view, or just in its usual position. Keeping it hidden could be useful so that it didn’t get covered with dirt again, though it’d probably also look a tiny bit suspicious to Arika if she decided to stay here. (Write in how you’ll place the camera back.)
Same place

>Just quickly head back to the Forward Operating Base again. It was only a short walk away, and you wanted to immediately go after the dreamweaver once more.

>>6078658
Supporting the below

>>6078730
>>6078744
Also I think we should become a dreamcatcher. She clearly isn't fully under the queen's control if she's able to give us some sort of guidance.

Concur with the above. Perhaps a post-it saying "Please do not cover with dirt".

>>6078567
Very cute, but imagine encountering the bottom one coming round the corner in a dark tunnel. Anofelis could be terrifying without even trying.
Now for the million dollar question. Is her head "hair" smooth skin or is it all fuzzy wuzzy? We have yet to try and give Anofelis head scritches.

>>6078755
You want to try and bait her out and capture her? While I think we could pull it off, I'm still wary of doing that as I lined out last update and she seems to be under Feng's control enough to be coerced into doing things she doesn't want to and could possibly be remotely tortured or even killed if captured. Having her in our custody would also mean Feng has a constant bead on our location because she presumably has Queenblood in her.

I wonder how much foot-stamping went on when she discovered Andrei's office had been detonated and her expedition to it was a bust.

>Place the camera back, either underneath some dirt to keep it a bit more out of view, or just in its usual position. Keeping it hidden could be useful so that it didn’t get covered with dirt again, though it’d probably also look a tiny bit suspicious to Arika if she decided to stay here.
You quickly told Derek to place the camera back in the position it was previously in. "Huh, if you say so." Derek would say, as he and Lydia would get to work placing the camera back. In the meantime, Chrys and Laura finished putting away the note. Ano was still busy trying to dig into the wall, though wasn't getting all too far given how quiet she had to be. She'd eventually just give up and decided to dig into some nearby dirt which Arika had thrown into the hallway. It was probably not going to work well, given that it was quite a shallow layer. Still, nobody had the heart to tell her that just digging a tiny bit of dirt was not gonna do much.

>Just quickly head back to the Forward Operating Base again. It was only a short walk away, and you wanted to immediately go after the dreamweaver once more.
Once the camera was back in position and the girls were finished, you'd tell them to join you right away. You wanted to head for the Forward Operating Base as quickly as possible. "Okay, give me a minute!" Anofelis said in turn, as she was still busy trying to dig a hole. "Um, Ano, maybe just... leave it at that." Mike would say softly, to which the other subjects minus Kamara nodded. Anofelis remained focused on digging a bit longer. "But what if Arika doesn't know these are my holes?" She said softly, at which point Laura also interfered a little. "Well, she'll probably be able to tell so. Given the fact we mentioned you in our message and the fact you've also been busy digging around the place." Anofelis would keep on digging a few more seconds, before getting upright. "Done! Let's keep going now!"

Thus, you'd lead the way once more, heading back downstairs right away. You'd keep listening to Annie on the radio, not getting any updates regarding Nomi. There at least were some updates related to squad positions, and battles which were ongoing. It seemed the Oni was heading further northwards and had caused quite a few problems for some Blackstar soldiers. There were reports of major gunfights happening in the south-western quadrant as well. And more importantly, there was also a bit of news of some soldiers heading even deeper into the facility. Though most of this was just met with Annie's smugness and eagerness to see them fail. Hopefully, you wouldn't be in the same boat, given that you were also soon going to head deeper into the facility.

Regardless, you'd return to the Forward Operating base relatively soon. It seemed a lot of the tents and cooking equipment hadn't been cleaned up yet, though the more sensitive equipment was at least taken along by your men.

"Hope you don't mind the fact we didn't clean up too much, Mik. We sorta rushed you out once we saw you weren't waking up." Anon said, after which Oreas spoke up a bit more optimistically. "Hey, we stowed away all your important things, right? Your weapons and uhhh, combat items and the like." If anyone did wander into this place whilst you were gone, they probably would not have left with much. Maybe some rations could've been stolen by whatever hungry passerby there was. Or perhaps a tent taken along to be used for hiding. But aside from that, your men had managed to keep every important item safe. Regardless, you'd walk past the tents and minor fortifications, before once more approaching the pile of rubble which blocked the way. You'd look around for a moment, as Laura spoke up. "So, what are we looking for?" Only a second later, you'd head forward towards a bit in the top right. You'd wipe some rubble away, uncovering a sheet of metal which had come from the walls.

You'd pull the sheet away relatively easily, at which point you were met with a dark gap into the rubble. It was a decent size, being about a meter by half a meter. It was a smooth entrance, clearly having been carved open somewhat. Though looking deeper, it became a lot rougher and tight, you seeing that the squeeze turned and bent further ahead. It was quite a cramp looking tunnel, which your men were a bit put off by. "Fucking hell, you're telling me that the subject came crawling through this?!" Zaria would mumble in shock, as you'd carefully shine your light into it. "Are you sure that the subject came from this tunnel? It doesn't look too enticing to try and enter it." Anon remarked, to which Thaddeus spoke up more calmly. "T'is certainly rather cramped lookin'. But, this is only the beginning of it? Perhaps it'll become more accessible once ya go further inside?" Anofelis would also crawl up and look inside, poking her head in before speaking up more cautiously. "This does not look like something made by Arika. It looks... really tight and unpleasant to go through." Whilst Ano's first comment was just her being clueless, the latter comment did have some genuine reasoning behind it. The tunnel did genuinely look horribly difficult to enter.

Though, you weren't deterred. This was your main lead towards the Queen. The dreamweaver and the queen's guardsmen had to have passed through here several times. If they could pass through it with their ornate armour and bulky weaponry, surely you could also pass through? The only issue was that you didn't know how you had to pass through it. There could be multiple paths, dead-ends and other obstacles which would make travelling inwards the depths more difficult. Still, you had a few options available to you at the moment which could help you at least explore the squeeze and see how bad it actually was. Issue was, if it was worth taking such a risk to get through this tunnel to chase after the dreamweaver.

>What do you do next?

>Use your one crawler drone to go into the tunnel to see what it was like. Perhaps it'd be able to tell you just how bad this tunnel was, or if it was a lot safer than expected? Besides, if the place was trapped, you'd just lose a drone and not a person.
>Send Chrys in to explore the tunnel. She was smaller than any of you and could very easily pass through it, given her multiple limbs and smaller physique. You just had to find a way to communicate with her to ensure all went well.
>Have Anofelis get to work widening the path by carefully carving through it. Unless if she fucked up spectacularly, the risk of collapse was extremely minute. Besides, it wasn't practical to keep this one pathway this difficult to traverse, especially if you at one point needed to flee.
>Forget about this path. Sending in equipment or personnel was just asking for trouble. It was far safer to just find an alternative route...
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6079084
>Have Anofelis get to work widening the path by carefully carving through it. Unless if she fucked up spectacularly, the risk of collapse was extremely minute. Besides, it wasn't practical to keep this one pathway this difficult to traverse, especially if you at one point needed to flee.
There's no way Dreamweaver could have trapped it, right? With how tight it is and the size we observed it would have been too tight. She wouldn't have had the maneuverability. Hell, she would have set off anything she tried to set up.

>>6079084
Supporting >>6079100

>>6079056
I don't think she's under the queen's control if she can give us directions to help us deal with her. At least not directly. Plus, Feng's ability was stated to only work on small subjects. It never stated how small that was, which is an important distinction when some subjects are taller than a giraffe and others the size of mice.

QM, since this Nomi subject died, I have to ask. Is every subject we met, along with those that we haven't, that isn't with us on a timer for us to intervene and potentially save them or if it's RNG if they die or not based on their capabilities.

>>6079131
It's somewhat RNG based when or how the subjects die. However, as time goes on, I do think deaths will become more common. Some deaths will also be guaranteed as story beats at some point in the future. And some deaths will basically be unavoidable.

>>6079084
>Use your one crawler drone to go into the tunnel to see what it was like. Perhaps it'd be able to tell you just how bad this tunnel was, or if it was a lot safer than expected? Besides, if the place was trapped, you'd just lose a drone and not a person.
>Have Anofelis get to work widening the path by carefully carving through it. Unless if she fucked up spectacularly, the risk of collapse was extremely minute. Besides, it wasn't practical to keep this one pathway this difficult to traverse, especially if you at one point needed to flee.
Make sure it goes the right way and is passable first, and then send the bugdozer to widen it.

>>6079131
She's clearly under some degree of control if she's being forced to act as Feng's investigator, though she's not deep under like the human thralls. Remains to be seen whether that's spotty mind control or some other means of coercion. For all we know, Feng could have her friend hostage to force compliance instead.

>>6079196
I guess there's plenty of subjects that we might never meet. I'm concerned about the unavoidable ones. Especially if it's one of the subjects we care about.

>>6079215
I was thinking that since she actually is capable of resistance.

>Use your one crawler drone to go into the tunnel to see what it was like. Perhaps it'd be able to tell you just how bad this tunnel was, or if it was a lot safer than expected? Besides, if the place was trapped, you'd just lose a drone and not a person.
Given how tight the tunnel was, you felt that sending someone in there right away was quite a dangerous idea. Instead, you turned to Lydia and asked her to prepare the one crawler drone you had. "Of course, Mik." Though as she got ready to set up the drone, you'd turn to Anofelis and told her what you wanted her to do. Once you figured out what it was like within the tunnel, she could start trying to dig her way through it. If she could fit through the tunnel AND succeeded in digging through it, you were guaranteed easy access to the area behind all the rubble. Anofelis seemed quite happy to help, already walking towards the gap before you reminded her that it'd first be explored. "Oh, right." She said sheepishly, as she took a few steps back and eagerly watched. Lydia and Derek went to work with the drone, whilst Morgan, Thaddeus and Mike decided to watch guard from behind you. The rest of your men either just waited near the tunnel, or would help clean up the rest of the items which were left over from yesterday.

The crawling drone would soon head into the gap in the rubble, you watching along with Lydia and Derek. It seemed that the tunnel quickly had a bend in it, leading to a far tighter path which you had to literally crawl through to get through. "How on earth did those guardsmen get through here? Hell, how did anyone figure out they could safely go through this tunnel without getting stuck?!" Derek would ask in astonishment, Lydia giving a rather sombre response. "Knowing how Feng controlled them, I fear that they may have been forced against their will." She let out an audible shiver. "I cannot imagine how terrifying it'd be to crawl through a tight tunnel you know nothing about against your own will."

Derek nodded along, before speaking a bit more optimistically. "At least we've got the drone to help us out here. And once Ano dug through the tunnel a little, I think it'll be far less difficult to traverse through here. So long as the tunnel doesn't collapse..." Given that Ano had managed to dig quite well so far, you were hopeful that her tunnelling would go well enough. If something went wrong, it could end up really badly for poor Ano. Though surely, nothing bad would happen to her. She had gone through worse, after all. Regardless, the drone would easily crawl through the tight part, reaching another turn which went up. It'd probably be quite a hassle to climb up it, as well as an absolute nightmare to safely traverse downwards. Still, you imagined you could manage it somewhat if you just had a bit of assistance. After the path upwards, you'd reach a section where there were seemingly three routes you could take.

Lydia just went into the left first, finding that it quickly came to a halt. The right straight route would lead to a nasty drop and another extremely cramp dead-end. The middle route would actually take a turn leftwards after which you were able to go just a bit further. And after a few more turns and squeezes, the drone would reach the other end with little issue. The other side of the hallway looked quite messy as well, though you did notice some lights had been set up by someone. There were even electric wires and some camera systems. Though they didn't seem too active, given their lack of movement or light coming from them. "Alright, looks like we can get through." Derek would say, Lydia looking a bit more sceptical. "Those wires. I wonder if they're only attached to the light, or if they're powering something else." Derek didn't seem too worried. "I'm sure we can figure it out once we get close. Though if they are attached to something else, it's probably buried under a bunch of rubble now."

>Have Anofelis get to work widening the path by carefully carving through it. Unless if she fucked up spectacularly, the risk of collapse was extremely minute. Besides, it wasn't practical to keep this one pathway this difficult to traverse, especially if you at one point needed to flee.
With you knowing the way the pathway went and how to safely get to the other side of the rubble, you told Anofelis the route she had to take. You told her to be careful, since it could get rather tight and that she had to take the straight route, once she did find the split in the path. "Straight route. Got it!" You'd also give her a radio, which you attached to her horn with some rope. You told her to talk if she was in any trouble, or thought something was wrong. "Okay! I'll do my best!" She said optimistically, as you would watch her approach the small gap in the rubble. She'd start by feeling the rock with her claws, scraping at it and thinking out loud. "Hmmm, it's not too tough. Easier than what I dug before... I just have to be fast to not keep Mikhail and the others waiting..." Of course, Lydia heard this and would try and reassure Anofelis a bit. "Um, don't rush it too much, Ano! We don't want you to accidentally get yourself crushed. Just... take your time with it andbe careful, okay?"

Anofelis quietly nodded, before she'd start scraping at the rock to start widening it. She'd use all four of her hands and even one of her legs to widen the tunnel. It quickly became apparent that this would take quite a bit of time. In fact, after watching for less than ten minutes or so, your men had finished cleaning up the camp completely. Everything was stowed away in your backpacks, as your men were ready to get going. "Ano, do you think you can give an estimate for how long this will take?" Zaria soon asked a little impatiently, Ano pausing to think before speaking softly. "Ummm, I don't know... A day, maybe? Um, I'm not very good with time."

Hearing how long it'd take, Thaddeus would more gently ask: "How long did it take ya to make that tunnel in your previous home?" It'd probably give a decent estimate for how long this would take. Though given the lack of a way to tell the time and Ano's lacking intelligence, she still wasn't able to give too good of an estimate. "Um, I think... uhhhh... well, I slept three times before I finally finished it completely." It was hard to really say how much time that was. Given that Ano didn't really need to sleep, that could mean she worked for 7 days and only slept three times. Or it could mean she worked for a bunch of hours, slept for an hour and then repeated the cycle. Either way, it seemed unlikely that this would be finished extremely soon. With that in mind, your men would slowly start looking at you, as they wanted to hear what you'd suggest for the time being.

>What do you do next?

>Just listen to the radio and patiently wait for Ano to finish digging. You weren't completely on a tough schedule right now, and you couldn't rush Ano anyway.
>Tell Anofelis to throw caution to the wind and speed up by a lot. Maybe she'd be able to do this within only an hour or two if she really did some damage to the rocks and what not.
>Tell Anofelis to pause so that you and some of the others could already pass through. Might as well just try and squeeze through yourself and explore the other side whilst she was busy widening it for later. (Write in who will go through the tunnel.)
>Split up and go exploring the nearby area a bit more. You just needed a few people to look over Anofelis and ensure nothing bad happened to her. (Write in how you’ll split up and where you’ll all head to.)
>Try and offer Anofelis some help. Maybe Morgan could use her blade to chip away at the rocks as well, or you could give her some kind of moral support to help her focus? (Write in how you’ll try and help her out.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6079360
>Just listen to the radio and patiently wait for Ano to finish digging. You weren't completely on a tough schedule right now, and you couldn't rush Ano anyway.

Given the size of the tunnel I don't think we can help outside giving her encouragement.

>>6079360
>Split up and go exploring the nearby area a bit more. You just needed a few people to look over Anofelis and ensure nothing bad happened to her. (Write in how you’ll split up and where you’ll all head to.)

Definitely take Zaria and anyone else feeling antsy. Not sure about any specific locations, just making sure we know what the immediate surroundings are like.

>>6079360
>Split up and go exploring the nearby area a bit more. You just needed a few people to look over Anofelis and ensure nothing bad happened to her.
I want to reiterate my objectives from the first time we were here. Explore and search for alternate routes like service passages, plumbing, air shafts and such. While we have one way through, I don't feel comfortable only having one tenuous way in or out.

>>6079360
>>Split up and go exploring the nearby area a bit more. You just needed a few people to look over Anofelis and ensure nothing bad happened to her. (Write in how you’ll split up and where you’ll all head to.)
Let's try to look for some supplies, we gonna be stuck here for a while might as well see if we can find something useful.

>Discuss with your men…
Alright this might seems like a high risk to backfire but high profits if it works, we know Anne is on our coms, so how about we ask her help for safe navigation to the queen? The facility is getting dangerous by the day, with more dangerous subjects seems to be showing by the day and things get even more wrecked, some safe navigation would do wonders for our progress, we seems to be on her good side considering she's helped us before so perhaps if we explain to her ehy we want her dead she could understand, we could barter with her and say than if she support us in this mission we could help her and search for any people she knows who she wants saved.

>>6079514
>ehy we want her dead she could understand, we could barter with
I meant why we want the queen dead.

>>6079514
>Alright this might seems like a high risk to backfire but high profits if it works, we know Anne is on our coms, so how about we ask her help for safe navigation to the queen? The facility is getting dangerous by the day, with more dangerous subjects seems to be showing by the day and things get even more wrecked, some safe navigation would do wonders for our progress, we seems to be on her good side considering she's helped us before so perhaps if we explain to her ehy we want her dead she could understand, we could barter with her and say than if she support us in this mission we could help her and search for any people she knows who she wants saved.
I mean, I suggested this in the past so I'm in favor

Time for another Random Thought. What voices do you guys imagine the various characters speaking in when you read their lines, if any? Obviously the humans' names lend themselves to their general accents (ignoring that accents will be weird centuries into an interstellar future), but what about the girls? I think of Oreas as generally quite high pitched and young sounding since she's an oversized loli, Kamara as quite deep and shaky because she big, Chrys with a chipper "ISO-Standard Young Female Vidya VA" LA accent (c'mon, you know which one I mean) and Morgan with a sharp, smooth British RP. Ano though, I got nothing or much of a comparison point for how a 12ft La Mosca is supposed to sound. And for some reason I imagine Laura sounding all Brummie like Cat Deeley.

>>6079360
>Discuss with your men…
Is there NO otherway we could get in?
Surely there is another path.
The engineer, he took a radio from us right? (unless I mis-remember)
can we try reaching him seeing if he'll respond
This thing reeks of a trap. We know it, they know it. we need a better way instead of going through it. This is like being a tunnel rat in vietnam, we are going to get buried alive or worse. Digging a tunnel who knows of what length to get to the destination does not seem like a good method to go through.

>Split up and go exploring the nearby area a bit more. You just needed a few people to look over Anofelis and ensure nothing bad happened to her.
Given the time it'd take for Anofelis to be finished, you decided it wasn't worth just staying her doing nothing. Thus, you told your men that you would split up in groups. Some would stay here to protect Anofelis, for obvious reason. Those would end up being Morgan, Lydia, Laura and the other girls sans Oreas. Two other groups would go scouting the area for materials and to see what the nearby locations were like. The first group consisted of Thaddeus, Mike, Lars and Anon. The second group would be led by you, and would have Zaria, Oreas and Derek joining in. You told your men that you weren't looking for anything specific. That they were free to just explore what they found interesting. More importantly though, you told them to be on the lookout for any alternative routes which could lead towards the deeper sections of the facility. You mentioned looking for service passages, plumbing, air shafts and similar routes. "Air shafts might be difficult to traverse or break into. They were quite heavily defended, and often had multiple layers of security." Laura would quickly add, which did mean maybe the air shafts wouldn't be too useful. Still, given the powers subjects had, perhaps some could manage to use them for travelling through this place.

Regardless, the two groups would soon start heading back up again. All the while, Anofelis kept on digging and scraping away the rubble, Morgan keeping watch along with Chrys. Lydia, Laura and Kamara would watch over Anofelis to make sure nothing went wrong. You just hoped that Anofelis wouldn't make a crucial mistake whilst digging. Either way, you'd head upwards and returned to the office space, your two groups about to split and head in different directions. However, before you opted to part ways, you wanted to discuss something important with some of your men first.

>Discuss with your men…
You'd ask your men what they thought of contacting Annie again. Given that she seemed to be on your side, you thought she could help out with finding directions towards the queen. "I'd rather not rely on a subject, especially one who can blackmail us with this sort of stuff." Mike would remark, after which Thaddeus spoke up more neutrally. "I trust her somewhat. She did help us with Viridian. I just wonder if it's a good idea to risk becoming reliant on her. Besides, we got a decent lead for the Queen, right?" The suggestion was met with some mixed thoughts. Mike, Zaria and Derek seemed somewhat reluctant about the idea. Though given that Thaddeus, Anon, Oreas, Lars and you either didn't mind or were in favour of the suggestion, it seemed like it was worth at least trying. You'd even suggest offering her help as compensation, which made Derek speak up softly. "I doubt she'd need us for that, given how much she can see of this place."

You'd still keep the idea in the back of your mind, as you set up the radio and would turn it to Annie's channel. It was still playing some relaxing songs, you talking through it and asking if she could give directions to Feng's location. Unfortunately, the song would not stop playing, her not directly communicating to you. "Hmmm, maybe we ought to wait until the song has stopped?" Oreas would mumble, after which Anon responded as well. "That, or she'll make an announcement which has a hidden meaning in it." Your men were ready to hear something from Annie. And once the music stopped, Annie would respond, albeit not directly to you. "You're listening to VRCMG Radio with Annie Marconi, bringing you news about the 'brilliant' strategies employed by death squads, and the 'success stories' of your men! It is currently 10:23, and we got some delightful breaking news! There have been several reports that the brilliant minds working for the government are once again trying to track me down!"

Your men raised a bit of an eyebrow, as it was clear that this wasn't exactly what you were expecting. Though given that it was about subject locations, maybe there would be a link between your request and what she was about to say? "These brilliant soldiers have spent day and night trying to track me down, being rewarded generously in the form of 'kind words' and a salary most fitting of a slave to the government! Of course, I should remind these men that, even I don't know my exact location within the depths of the facility! So, I do wish you all good luck with attempting to find me. Your efforts are truly appreciated, fore the devices you use to try and track me down ironically allow me to see your exact locations! Fortunately, I am a kind vulpine, and this intel shall most certainly not end up in the hands of your enemies without my consent!"

Afterwards, Annie went back to just telling news about the facility. She never directly spoke to you, or remarked anything about the queen. It seemed that she either didn't catch your message, or she actively refused to elaborate. It was somewhat disappointing, given how you felt that you deserved some safe navigation right now. Especially since it'd help both you and Annie with saving more innocent lives. Still, once the music kept on playing, Oreas spoke a bit more curiously. "Did... did she say something related to the queen which I missed?" Clearly, she still thought there was a deeper meaning to the message. Though Lars would sigh and shake his head. "I guess she won't help us with this right now. I'm not exactly surprised by that, but I am still quite disappointed, I must admit." The rest of your men were quite neutral about the matter, with Thaddeus simply signalling to his group. “Let’s just keep exploring. Maybe, we’ll get an update from her at a later time.” It didn’t seem all too likely, but one could still hope for the best in a situation like this.

With Annie not being of much help, your group would once more split up. You started looking for any side-route which could take you deeper into the facility. You’d check every room, looking for any vent or shaft to get where you wanted to go. Most vents ended up being bolted shut though, it being quite difficult to really get inside without using tools or a lot of power. Sewage systems were also hard to come by, you finding one nearby which didn’t seem to have been used at all. Though as you would keep on exploring, you’d suddenly hear someone over the radio. “Mik! Thaddeus!” It was Lydia, you immediately responding and asking what was up. “So, uhhh, it seems… the tunnel was in fact trapped.” Immediately, you and the others would pause with your mission, Oreas looking extremely worried whilst Derek and Zaria waited to hear what had happened.

“Anofelis entered the tunnel and seemed to have gotten a pretty intense shock from something. For ten seconds, she was incapacitated and squirmed uncontrollably, bumping into rocks and other objects.” For a moment, you feared that Anofelis would be significantly injured. Fortunately, Lydia was quick to keep explaining what had happened. “Fortunately, she managed to crawl her way back out and seems okay now.” You even heard Ano’s voice over the radio a short second later. “I’m okay. It hurt a little bit.” You heard Laura and Kamara mumbling to Ano in the background, it being clear that they tried telling Ano to not move too much. “I’m going to check what caused it with the drone. Laura suggests it might be a repurposed bit of an electric fence system used on subject chambers. Either way, I got a feeling it’ll take a little while longer before we can actually get through here safely…” It was a relieve to hear that Ano was fine. From the sound of things, it couldn’t have been that bad of a shock. At least, nothing too serious anyway.

>What do you do next?

>Tell Ano to be careful once she continues. She clearly was fine, so she wasn’t going to stop anytime soon with digging. (Write in what you’ll say specifically.)
>Put the digging mission on hold completely. If the place was trapped like this, chances were there were even more traps in place which Anofelis could run into. It was not worth the risk of an even deadlier trap actually taking Anofelis out. Especially if you could find a safer route.
>Head back to the base right away and check out how Anofelis is doing. Maybe you could also help in some way to ensure the trap was disarmed or out of the way? (Write in what you’ll do once you return back to the base.)
>Just keep on exploring for the time being. Anofelis was doing fine, and Lydia was smart enough to deal with such a trap. She had a drone and the know-how to get things done. (Write in what you’ll look for, if anything specific.)
>Ask Anofelis how she was doing. Maybe you could decide based on her opinion if it was actually worth it for her to continue digging through the rubble. (Write in what you’ll ask specifically.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6079641
>Put the digging mission on hold completely. If the place was trapped like this, chances were there were even more traps in place which Anofelis could run into. It was not worth the risk of an even deadlier trap actually taking Anofelis out. Especially if you could find a safer route.
Look, I'm just utterly fed up with this. We've spent how long cocking about with and bashing our heads on this fucking rubble, there's going to be more traps (I don't think we've been led into a trap, but this is presumably their means of traversing so it'll have security measures) and possible even enemy forces, it might just collapse again anyway and any scenario ends with Ano or other people getting hurt and us just wasting ever more time digging fruitlessly. See where this sewer leads and borrow Morg to get us through some of these grates. What secures the air shafts exactly? If it's turrets or somesuch, they're probably powered down.

>>6079641
>Ask Anofelis how she was doing. Maybe you could decide based on her opinion if it was actually worth it for her to continue digging through the rubble.
If she thinks there's still an indeterminate amount of time left before it's usable, then I can back putting it on hold and going full exploration. Otherwise

>Tell Ano to be careful once she continues. She clearly was fine, so she wasn’t going to stop anytime soon with digging.
>Just keep on exploring for the time being. Anofelis was doing fine, and Lydia was smart enough to deal with such a trap. She had a drone and the know-how to get things done. (Write in what you’ll look for, if anything specific.)
Another way into the Queen's section, or another vat room.

>>6079641
>Put the digging mission on hold completely. If the place was trapped like this, chances were there were even more traps in place which Anofelis could run into. It was not worth the risk of an even deadlier trap actually taking Anofelis out. Especially if you could find a safer route.
Its a pointless death trap
lets get out.
Even if we get to our destination, its still a kill box.
>Just keep on exploring for the time being. Anofelis was doing fine, and Lydia was smart enough to deal with such a trap. She had a drone and the know-how to get things done. (Write in what you’ll look for, if anything specific.)
This is a giant ass facility, there has to be more then one path to a room.

>>6079641
Supporting >>6079668

>Ask Anofelis how she was doing. Maybe you could decide based on her opinion if it was actually worth it for her to continue digging through the rubble.
Before making any choices on what to do next, you'd ask Lydia if she could put Anofelis on the radio. You wanted to know what progress she had made on the tunnel. After all, had she not made much progress, it was probably just better to go full exploration mode. "Alright, here." Lydia said, after which you heard Ano's voice. "Oh, hey Mikhail! Don't worry about me, I'm not too hurt! I'll keep digging for you until you can get through, I promise!" Whilst it was sweet how determined Ano was to keep on working, you still asked her how far she had gotten. There was a moment of silence, before she gave a rather honest-sounding response. "Um, I'm a short distance away from the really tight part. I can speed up, if that is what you want." Given how little progress had been made, you decided to just call it quits. You told her to take a break and to join the girls and Lydia as they made their way over to you. "Oh, okay." She said disappointedly, after which you reassured her that you'd find another way and that she wouldn't have to get hurt again. "But, I didn't get hurt. I mean, I did, but it didn't... hurt a lot." Either Anofelis was too stupid to see how dangerous this was, or she really was determined to continue doing her best for you.

Whichever it was, you told her that you preferred it if she didn't get hurt at all, and that this was the safer bet. Anofelis didn't refute this fortunately, calmly responding: "Okay. Umm, we'll head over to you then." Shortly after, Lydia would come on the radio again. "So, we're cancelling the digging operation?" You confirmed it, before saying which direction you took. You also told her to take Morgan along, since you hoped she could help with breaking through some of the vents. "We'll be there as soon as possible, Mik. Just stay there, okay?"

>Put the digging mission on hold completely. If the place was trapped like this, chances were there were even more traps in place which Anofelis could run into. It was not worth the risk of an even deadlier trap actually taking Anofelis out. Especially if you could find a safer route.
You would also get in contact with Thaddeus and the others, telling them that they should opt to find different directions to get deeper. You'd explain how the digging operation was cancelled, stating that you felt it was a death trap to go down that route. Anofelis was struck by a trap once. God only knows what other malicious things were set up in there to take you and your men down. "Understood. We'll try and make our way over to ya lads whilst we explore." Thaddeus would remark, you giving him the okay before going your own way again. Though, you were most interested in the sewer system which you had found, since it could lead somewhere interesting. Thus, until Morgan arrived, that was what you intended to explore.

You'd return to the small side-chamber which led to the sewer system. It was a small janitor's closet, it having a few systems in place which seemed to check the water system. Of course, none of it worked anymore, no giving any readings on the water level, flow speed and other important details. Though looking down the grate which led towards it, you could already see that there were some small puddles and leftover bits of waste. Even then, you'd carefully remove the grate and decided to move down into the tunnel yourself. You didn't have Laura with you this time around, but you felt that it was just fine going down there on your own right now. Besides, who else could go down there? Zaria didn't have much armour to cover herself and Oreas would spell trouble if there were other death squads traversing those tunnels. Derek was a candidate, but the fact he had no drones to work with made you feel it was just for the best you went down.

Once you took the stairs down the cramped hole, you'd find yourself in an equally cramped tunnel. Whilst you could walk through it, you'd have to do so whilst hunched forward quite a bit. Still, you could see that the direction it took was... not towards the deeper parts, that was for sure. It just headed northwards, potentially passing by the path which you had found the engineer in previously. Though, it didn't seem to ever head more towards the centre of the facility. Though, you could also take the route southwards, which could maybe lead to an actual path further into the facility. Though you wouldn't explore these tunnels for long. Both because it was not exactly pleasant to crawl through, and because you wanted to stick with your men for the time being. Especially since the rest of your men would also soon go in your direction.

You'd thus crawl upwards, telling your men the sewers might lead further eastwards, though that you weren't entirely sure when or where you could take such a detour. With that in mind, you'd head to the hallway where you saw one of the air vents. It was quite closeby, you trying to see if you could already get through. It seemed it was locked quite securely, requiring some heavy material to really get through. Fortunately, you'd soon find Thaddeus, Mike, Lars and Anon re-joining you. Anon would take a look at the vents, trying to look through them for anything of note. "Hmmm, I don't see anything down the vent which could indicate some sort of security system. Though, I'd also not be surprised if they got some built-in traps or emergency systems in place to prevent people from crawling through them." Whatever system protected them, you felt that they'd probably not function anymore at this point in time. "To be fair, Mik, if that collapsed tunnel can have an electrical defences in it, I can see the vents still having some power as well. How things like these are powered is something we'll need to figure out." Lars would say a bit reluctantly.

It was a decent point, as these things could also run on emergency power systems. Though, it could also just be some minor paranoia related to the trap Anofelis encountered. Speaking of Anofelis though, she along with the rest of the girls would soon also re-join your group. Though from the looks of things, Anofelis was still a little twitchy from the electrocution. She had some mild spasms, and bits of her hair were standing up straight. Clearly, that shock which she said 'didn't hurt' had been quite strong. At least she clearly wasn't too bothered, eagerly joining you along with Morgan, Lydia, Laura, Kamara and Chrys. Immediately, you'd ask Morgan for help, as you wanted her to open up the ventilation shaft. "Ah, of course, Mikhail! It shall be a cakewalk for me!" Morgan would grab onto the ventilation entrance, before trying to pull with all her strength. And after a short moment of exerting quite some strength, it managed to break free with a loud bang. "Good grief, t'was quite tough, I shall admit. But, I succeeded!"

Looking into the ventilation shaft a bit further now, you could tell it'd be a similar albeit slightly more spacious crawl as the one through the sewage system. You couldn't see any weapons or obvious defensive measures, the ventilation shaft veering either northwards or southwards. There were also plenty of turns which it took both eastwards and westwards, meaning you could potentially use it to find a way eastwards. Of course, whether this was a feasible or worthwhile thing to attempt was the question now...

>What do you do next?

>Head through the ventilation shaft and see where you'd end up. Maybe you'd be able to find a way downwards into the deeper parts of the facility?
>Forget about the ventilation system and take the sewage system. You've already seen that one engineer take it, so surely it was the safer option. Especially since this place could very well be trapped like the previous tunnel.
>Send in a drone through this tunnel to see if it was actually safe or not. You still had the one flying and one crawler drone which could hopefully scan the area ahead for you. (Write in which drone you'll use and what you'll look for.)
>Forget about the ventilation system or the drainage system. Just head further south past the offices, and see if there was a different route which you could take. (Write in which direction you'll go in instead.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

By the way, I'll send my computer to the repair shop tomorrow, which means I won't be able to make updates on it for maybe a day or two. In other words, I'm gonna have to try and get some phone posts out, which can be a real shitshow to get done. I'll try my best either way!

Anyway, hope the update is good. A part of me feels like the last two updates have been mildly lacklustre, but maybe that's just me and my desire to write a lot of cutesy interactions between characters.

Also, >>6079580 this is something I've thought about at times, but never really put to paper. I can imagine each voice quite well, but it's not like I can easily provide examples of them, unless if I find VA's who really do the voices well. All I can say is that Evander is voiced by Demoman's voice actor, and Thaddeus is voiced by the Scotsman from Samurai Jack.

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I understand that your current anons enjoy your quest QM and I gave it a go with the first thread but it had too many words... I am just complainning really because a critique would offer a solution to the problem I present. I can't say anything else besides "write less words" Maybe other QMs at the general could give you some pointers on update lenght or to how to present them if you prefer to write them this way, which is valid.
in other words, (for me) pic related is yikes

>>6080357
>Send in a drone through this tunnel to see if it was actually safe or not. You still had the one flying and one crawler drone which could hopefully scan the area ahead for you. (Write in which drone you'll use and what you'll look for.)
water bad
but depending on what the drone sees, I might be fond of the water.

>>6080357
Supporting >>6080395

>>6080389
It's probably hard to catch up if you've not been here for a while but even then reading just the updates of a full thread shouldn't take that long unless you are a slow reader or hate reading in general.

>>6080397
It's not so much about the volume of each updates but the formatting. And suptg/qst doesn't help much sadly. I will give it another go and finish the first thread. Maybe the problem was the copious exposition of the first updates; I felt I had to write down stuff like the avaible objectives, facitons and floors... I think the QM has experience running tabletop games

>>6080403
This last bit is true actually.
I did end up noting down some shit in the earlier threads just to make sure i don't get lost in the sauce and remember what to take account for later on with different plot details.
stopped doing it bc I could manage but def would sitll be helpful to make sure you don't miss anything up to this point.

>>6080357
>Let's split up, gang!
Break into two teams (Mik/Anon/Lars and Derek/Mike/Thaddy/Zaria) to explore the ducts while Lydia stays with the girls in the offices to scuttle around the sewers with the ground drone. ROE are do not approach anyone unless we have positive ID or can be sure of being friendly and if you see anything interesting, mark it and move on so we can keep covering ground. Everyone meet back up here in a few hours and make sure to mark out your routes. An intertial navigation system would be wonderful right about now.

In the rubble tunnel, I think the zapper was set up by Feng's flunkies. Not sure where the power was coming from but I reckon it was brought in and jury-rigged up as a trap rather than still functional in its original configuration.

>>6080361
If GDQM can phonepost an entire quest on mobile for years, I'm sure you can slum it for a couple of days successfully.
As for the last couple of updates, you shuffling up material actions to make room for cute is threatening us with a good time.
Do share anyone you come across who you think would match the voices, though having two Glaswegians in the same place is dangerous.

>>6080389
I can't really see what's wrong about this other than not fitting on your small screen. 2-3 posts an update is pretty typical for a quest and paring it all down would risk leaving on the cutting floor the plot points, scene details and characterisation in the fluff that - to us - add a lot of colour to the quest and its characters. I will say though that the quest took two or three threads to hit a vibe that worked well and gradually dial back on the crunch and I dropped off in the first thread too before getting hooked again late in the third.

>>6080403
First thread is more rough, but thread 2 is a lot better and going on it hits the right sort of stride. There's also the google docs provided that are quite helpful. And yeah, the QM has certainly run a pen and paper game before. Thread 1 he even admits to as much by saying the setting was based on an RP with the guy who convinced him to run a quest on here.

>>6080418
I change my support to this anon and agree with the last bit this anon says. Most quests have 2-3 posts worth of stuff in an update unless they are meme quests are full on crunch.

>>6080357
>Send in a drone through this tunnel to see if it was actually safe or not. You still had the one flying and one crawler drone which could hopefully scan the area ahead for you. (Write in which drone you'll use and what you'll look for.)
Crawler

>>6080361
Hope the phone usage isn't too frustrating
>A part of me feels like the last two updates have been mildly lacklustre
I think the biggest issue recently is that things don't feel like they're moving along. Rather than "pick A through E, oh it didn't work this time but it might if you keep at it, pick A through E again", you should more often go with "pick A through E, oh it didn't work, here's how it not working changes things or what changed while you were trying it, now pick from F through J to deal with the new situation".
I see some tabletop discussion down below and the first situation is much more viable in that setting where you can get a quick response from the players and keep moving along. For a qst where there's only one update a day it can be frustrating for both players and QM when multiple updates are written only to result in multiple real time days passing with no change in the situation. It's why in an earlier thread I asked if you read any quests and tried to subtly hint that you should to see how they handled pacing.

>>6080389
It does sometimes feel like OP throws in a bunch of filler words to pad out an update even when it's unnecessary. Definitely a lot of opportunity to trim the fat. Also he overuses the word "quite".

Sorry this turned into a lot more criticism than I initially intended. I tried to keep it all constructive.

>>6080389
>>6080403
I can totally understand if my writing style and the formatting is something of a turn-off. And yes, like the other anon said, the first two threads were really me finding my bearings and figuring out a solid pacing, which I can imagine making it difficult to get into things. Fortunately, feedback certainly helped quell some of the my more problematic habits.

If you have some requests or suggestions in mind for the formatting, I am always open to hearing them. Maybe you'll suggest something which the other anons will also see as an improvement? That way, you can also get more into the story?

>>6080418
Phoneposting is definitely not impossible for me. It is just all so tiresome. Typing on a small screen is a pain, especially when the screen is quite fucky. It's also not helped by my phone just being aids in general. Obviously, I'm just gonna have to suck it all up and keep writing. No way in hell I'll have phoneposting keep me from writing!

>>6080544
>you should more often go with "pick A through E, oh it didn't work, here's how it not working changes things or what changed while you were trying it, now pick from F through J to deal with the new situation"
This might work and I'll definitely try it with the next update where such a situation occurs. I do have to admit that I sometimes feel a bit stuck between either not providing enough help when you guys are stuck, or that I will sorta ruin your own solution-crafting by revealing too much. I won't spoil much, but there was something you could've done to easily deal with the shock trap.

And yes, I do use the word 'quite' very often and tend to meander with my updates to pad them out just a little. I do sometimes feel I pad it out too much, but also don't want the updates to get too stale with just observations and no further thought processes to help.

I think with the next update I'll work on now, I'll try and trim that fat a little. And don't worry about sounding "too critical". I'd rather you be harsh and honest than hold back when there clearly is room for improvement.

>>6080805
an update can be concise, if the wordage is neccesary then its fine, but if you are just padding don't worry too much about it.
The more important thing is our actions in relation to what happens, if that is one paragraph less of text, then so be it. that said if there is stuff that DOES need to be mentioned, thats fine.

>>6080805
I reckon we could have come up with how to defeat the shock grille if we took the time to put our heads together but I threw up my hands because I'm frankly just burned out on that infernal rubble pile and don't really have the will any more, nor did I particularly want to dig through it in the first place as I have also stated my reasoning for before. That said, I assume Oreas would have been able to help disarm it?
If we're stuck on something and fruitlessly bashing our heads on a wall, don't feel like you need to throw us any more than the tools we need to solve it. If we can't see a way to solve it then that's not a dead end for us since we'll back up and try a different approach to the objective instead so the possibility of us irrevocably hitting a brick wall on further progress is low. In this case, finding a back way rather than going through the tunnel, though that's not necessarily a "can't" as a "won't" as outlined above.

I think your habit of including extensive thoughts and a monologue is a good one and while it's subtle it's one of my favourite points of your writing. Having them reflect the sentiment in the quest discussion makes the characters and audience feel more in tune with each other as well as giving other characters more opportunities to speak and also making sure to include arguments from the losing votes as an internal debate or conversation means players who voted for an option that lost don't feel left out. More QMs should do this.

While it doesn't drag it down much to me, I know what you mean by meandering and that there's room for improvement in general coherency and word repetition. While you've been good at taking and incorporating feedback so far, I'm just worried that what is fat to be trimmed to one person is needed flesh to another.

>Something else...
Instead of forcing yourself into a choice between the sewage system and the ventilation shaft, you instead decided to split up your party again. You told Lydia to stay in the nearby office with the girls, using the crawler drone to explore it further. "You got it!" She said, as she looked over the girls, who seemed between accepting and kind of disappointed to hear what they'd be doing for the next while. Still, they didn't complain, as they waited to hear what else you had to say.

You told the rest of your men that you intended to explore the vents up next. Though you'd first send in the flying drone with Derek just to make sure there were no weapons systems active in there. "Is it really a good idea to all go in there? What if we get lost? Or there are multiple threats in there which we won't be able to notice in time?" Mike asked as you stated what your intentions were here. You told them you'd spread out and try to avoid any threat. If anyone saw something which gave off so much as a threatening vibe, you'd avoid it like the plague. Only if you found something useful or someone who looked trustworthy, would you and your men be able to interact with it. Though most importantly, you told them not to pause at any worthwhile sights. Instead, you told them to keep moving and just note down any sights they saw. "Makes sense. We can cover a lot of area that way." Lars said in a pleased tone, after which Zaria made quite a good point. "How will we record everything? We just have the two tablets to work with, and nothing else, right?" It seemed your plan had hit something of a snag. Though, Derek did have a suggestion to this. "I can man the tablet from one of the offices, and listen in to you guys as you give directions. You just need to make sure distances are correct, and I'll be able to create a map of the place."

Whilst it would be a tough job, it was for now probably the best solution. Unless if you wanted to find some paper from the nearby offices and use those for a makeshift map. At least Derek could try coding something on the tablet to try and make this more manageable. Regardless, you'd tell Mike, Thad and Zaria to stick together, whilst you would stick with Anon and Lars. Your men quickly agreed to the suggestion, as it was far safer than just exploring the place alone. Though first, you'd let Derek scan ahead a tiny bit with the drone. He'd quickly get it set up whilst Morgan broke open the vent. The girls soon after left for the other office space. Though as they were about to leave, you told them you'd come and meet up with them in a few hours to discuss your findings. The girls told you they'd make their way back here if anything of note had happened, such as an encounter or finding something extremely important. And with that, Laura, Lydia and the girls left you be. You would watch as Derek send the drone into the vents to see what it was like inside, now that you could enter.

As you watched the drones camera feed, you were pleased to find that the vents did not appear highly defended. There were no gun systems, there didn't seem to be any tripwires. The only thing you would find was that some of the vents had wire mesh between them. Though these didn't appear completely solid or unbreakable, probably being easily destroyed by just using a knife or some other sharp tool. "I wonder if these are also potentially under electricity. If the tunnel Anofelis dug through had such measures, I can imagine the same being the case here." Derek said, which made Mike speak up in mild confusion. "That trap was probably set up by Feng and her lackeys though. Why would they put these ones under charge?" Given that you had previously seen turrets placed about which could've been activated by surviving staff members, there was still the chance that things were under a constant chance. And realising this as well, Derek would speak softly. "I think I'll test something real quick."

Derek would carefully inch the drone towards the wire mesh. Your men looked on in mild concern, as the wire could be deceptively more resilient than it seemed. And if it resisted the drone, it could potentially damage it. Though as the drone finally pushed up against it, the camera feed showed the drone spinning out of control slightly, followed by the camera feed becoming a little fuzzy. Derek tried controlling the drone, though it quickly fell to the ground at which point there was a large flash of light. And this time, the drone seemed to die completely. "Shit! This place is also under charge!" Derek said, much to the bewilderment of your men. "How can it be under charge?! Nothing else in this facility works!" Anon said in genuine bewilderment. "Are you sure you didn't just break the drone by flying it into wire mesh?!" Mike said in a more disgruntled tone, which seemed to make Derek a bit annoyed.

"The wire mesh was strong, yeah, but it wasn't what killed the drone! The moment it touched the vent, it got short circuited somehow! Didn't you see the flash before the camera died?! I don't know how or why these vents are under a charge, but they bloody are!" It seemed too ridiculous to be true. First the trap in the tunnel, and now the vents? Thaddeus was quick to try and calm everyone down. "Alright, let's calm it, lads. Derek, do ya have any suggestion for what might put these thing under charge?" Derek seemed to think, after which Zaria would give her proximate explanation. "I think that these are security measures for subjects. Considering what subjects are capable of, I imagine these measures were just installed for them..." It did seem highly unlikely that folk like Feng's forces were responsible for this. That trap was far more jury-rigged and makeshift compared to this far more integrated system. Regardless of what the system was for this trap, it certainly left your men irritated and unsure what to do next.

"So, now what do we do, Mik?" Lars asked reluctantly, as Derek suddenly had an idea. "Guys, I got it. Didn't Oreas say she fed on electricity? Maybe, she can come over and drain whatever battery is keeping the vents charged?" It wasn't the worst suggestion, but Thaddeus did quickly bring up a potential constraint. "What if it's too much for her and it still hurts her? For all we know, these vents have many batteries which she won't be able to drain at all. Not to mention, sending her into a potentially dangerous tunnel without protection." In turn, Anon gave a different suggestion on what to do. "The batteries which charges these vents, they should easily be able to be reached somewhere, right? I mean, those meshes and the vents need to be under some maintenance, so there should be some kind of control system for it nearby." A control system did seem logical, though finding it could potentially be quite troublesome.

"To be fair, I also want to run some tests with these vents. I highly doubt ALL of the vents are under charge, maybe a few sections. If we can figure out which parts are under charge, we can either find ways around them or locate the batteries which keep them charged." Derek then suggested, which wasn't the worst idea either. Still, it was another unfortunate snag to find yourself in. Fortunately, compared to the tunnel, there were a lot more solutions to this problem. Not to mention, nobody got painfully shocked this time around.

>What do you do next?

>Get Oreas over to try and help out. If she could absorb the electricity, she could lead the way and neutralize all of the vents.
>Explore the nearby area for a control panel for these vents. Unless if all of these vents were monitored and controlled in one singular area elsewhere, you'd probably find the power source sooner than later. Besides, you'd also get to explore other spaces this way.
>Let Derek run some tests with the vent system. Maybe he could figure out the limitations and source of the electricity running through this thing?
>Forget about the vents and just go exploring the hallways again. You had several hours to explore everything anyway, so chances were you'd find something no matter what.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6081210
>>Get Oreas over to try and help out. If she could absorb the electricity, she could lead the way and neutralize all of the vents.
EMP might be viable here.
>Let Derek run some tests with the vent system. Maybe he could figure out the limitations and source of the electricity running through this thing?
Work with Derek, on that.
>Something else...
Muh Drone...Can we get it back? I named it Wally the Crawley already

>>6081210
>Get Oreas over to try and help out. If she could absorb the electricity, she could lead the way and neutralize all of the vents.
Ore~as!
Failing this, we can chuck a bit of metal into it and watch it arc itself to death, go at cutting it with a knife taped to a plank of wood or summon Ano to dig into the wall and yank its wires out. Having Oreas do it does pose a problem however, since there's two teams of us and only one eepy electric eel loli to disarm the zappers.

>>6081334
The crawler is down the drain with Lydia, that was the quadcopter. Judging by what happens to bugs when they fly into an electric zapper, I think it might well be completely fried but we can retrieve it after we've disarmed the mesh.


Random Thought time. How long has it been since any of us last freshened up? Our gang hasn't made a proper visit topside in several days and anyone down here won't have been able to have a proper shower for weeks. Us and our men will surely be starting to pong a bit and get some decent stubble and I dunno if the nanite-fuelled biotech abominations do BO but I can almost see the hair mats and stink lines coming off Laura.

>>6081210
>Use some metal to short the vent trap to ground

>>6081545
Supporting. Just get Oreas to deal with it and be done with it.

>Get Oreas over to try and help out. If she could absorb the electricity, she could lead the way and neutralize all of the vents.
Of all the suggestion, getting Oreas seemed like the safest bet. She could hopefully absorb the electricity and deal with the trap. And if not, throwing something metallic in there could hopefully also do the job. Thus, you'd communicate with Lydia, asking her to send Oreas back. "I'll tell her right away." Lydia responded, after which you waited. You decided to wait with letting Derek test the vents. He could do that after Oreas was done and if she couldn't manage with the vents. It fortunately didn't take long for Oreas to return, her having clearly sprinted over somewhat. Though she tried to appear somewhat calm and collected. "So, uhhh, Lydia said you needed me for something?" Seeing the fact she was somewhat exhausted, Zaria pointed out the obvious. "Yeah, we did... Say, you came over real quickly!" Oreas would rub the back of her head a little. "Well, it sounded urgent!"

Your men looked at each other, as Oreas had obviously ran over to you for a different reason. Perhaps she really was eager to help you out. Or, she was just scared to be on her own in the facility and had sprinted your way. Either way, you wouldn't question it as you told Oreas what was going on. The drone had been zapped and she needed to drain whatever kept the vents charged. "Oh, okay! Anything else?" You told her that if it didn't work out, she should return. Though given how she didn't seemed too scared of being electrocuted, she probably had some experience with doing things like this. Before she crawled to the vent though, you also asked her to get the drone back. "Get the drone back. Got it!" And with that, she'd crawl up the wall and into the vent, disappearing from view. If this didn't work, you hoped Ano could at least dig her way in somehow.

"God I hope this works." Lars said, which made Mike speak up more softly. "If it doesn't, I hope it doesn't hurt her. Given yesterday's gaffe with the gun training, I don't want her ending up even further injured or scared to help us out." It was certainly a risk to have Oreas get injured even further. Though you were also concerned about what you'd have to do if this ended up working. You'd bring up to your men that you couldn't really split up into two teams if you needed Oreas to clear these things out. And before your men could say anything, you'd hear a soft dud and a pop coming from a nearby room. After which, Oreas spoke up from the vent. "I did it!" She sounded very pleased, as you heard her crawling back. She'd peak out from the vent, holding the drone out with two of her hands. "Huh, what did you do exactly?" Mike asked curiously, followed by Zaria speaking more concertedly. "And what was that noise we just heard? Was that your doing?" Oreas didn't seem too sure about the pop noise you heard. But she was quick to explain what she did actually do.

"I tried seeing if I could absorb the energy, but... it was gonna take a while, since there was a lot of electricity. So instead, I let out a burst of electricity which seemed to have done the job!" Your men were all pleased to hear that she had succeeded. Though there were still some questions about where the pop sound had come from. The most likely explanation was probably that it was the control panel for the vent's circuit being destroyed. You would've asked Derek, but he was currently looking at the flying drone. And after looking at it, he'd let out a sigh. "Whilst it's good we managed to neutralize the vent, the bad news is that our last drone is cooked. There's no way I can repair this thing without parts from the surface." It was a sad loss. The drone had done lot for you and your men. Though perhaps it could be replaced once you finally headed back up again.

Regardless, you would tell Oreas that you wanted to go into the vent as well, with the rest of your men following suit. "Would it be okay if I am the first to go in after Oreas? Just so I can maybe get an idea of how the electronics of the vent works?" Derek asked right after, wanting to run some further tests within the vent to see how everything worked. You'd give him the okay, as he went into the vent after Oreas, you following after them along with the rest of your men. The vent was easy enough to crawl into, you looking ahead and spotting the spot where the drone crashed, along with the mesh. As you approached it, Derek would make a rather useful observation. "Okay, I think these electric parts are limited to certain locations. Just look at the boundary here between these two sections of the vent." Indeed, there appeared to be a darker coloured break between the vents, which seemed to indicate that the section of vent you entered wasn't connected to the charged part. "Hmmm, given how many miles of vent there must be, I imagine they only put specific sections onder electricity." Derek continued pondering out loud.

Quickly after, Anon nodded and gave his own thoughts on the matter. "I presume those specific sections are connected to office spaces or hallways. Think about it: It'd be a pain to maintain some circuit which is buried deep underground. It'd be far easier to keep the charged parts in areas which are easily accessible." It seemed like a decent conclusion to draw. Though there was one important question which Thaddeus would quickly bring up. "So, how are these systems still charged? Ya think it could be related to whatever is keepin' the combat section charged?" To this, Derek shook his head a bit more doubtfully. "I think these things may have some local emergency power units. Something to keep them charged in case of situations like these." If they were on emergency power, chances were the system would go down sooner rather than later. Though for now, you'd have to traverse potentially actively charged vents.

Oreas soon reached the mesh, Derek getting beside her before trying to cut through it. Fortunately, the mesh wasn't difficult to get through. "Why do you think they've got these meshes in here, especially if they're this weak?" Lars asked curiously, Derek finishing up with cutting through them as he responded. "I'm not entirely sure. My best guess would be that it's for flying subjects who try and go through these vents?" Oreas would hesitantly speak up afterwards. "Maybe it's also designed for smaller subjects? Or, uhhh, other smaller organic things?" Given how fine the mesh was and how easy it was to break through, it seemed doubtful that it was intended for subjects. No subject would be small enough to fit through something like that. And the organics part seemed a little bit like a stretch, unless if some subjects were able to release pollen or other smaller particles.

Regardless, Derek easily cut through the mesh. Though this led to Thaddeus speaking up. "So, now what? Do we still split up?" In turn, Derek spoke up softly. "If we do split up still, you guys should take Oreas to deal with any more sections of vent which are under electricity." He'd say to you, Anon and Lars. It seemed that Derek, Thaddeus, Mike and Zaria would deal with the charged parts in some other way. "You sure? We can still stick together for safety." Lars said calmly, to which Derek shook his head. "I know how these vents work now and can be spotted now. I'll just throw some metal objects into charged parts to try and break them that way. And barring that, we'll just go a different direction."

Mike and Zaria both didn't seem to mind the suggestion either. They trusted Derek with this, even if it was a potential risk you were taking. At least Derek had a decent plan. And if all else did truly fail, he could always return to you and just join your group.

>What do you do next?

>Agree to split up like this. It was a good call from Derek to let you keep Oreas. She could be your guide forward, whilst Derek led the other group in the other direction.
>Just group up together. It was safer to stick with each other, rather than letting them explore on their own without a safe method to deal with the charged sections.
>Change the plan a little. Maybe there was a safer alternative for Derek, Thaddeus, Mike and Zaria? That, or something they could do to deal with the charged sections. (Write in what you'll plan further.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

(Apologies for the delay in updates. Posting by phone is genuinely exhausting for some reason. I thankfully managed to find some energy and get this out. Anyway, tomorrow I'll hopefully be back to posting on my computer.)

>>6082262
>>Just group up together. It was safer to stick with each other, rather than letting them explore on their own without a safe method to deal with the charged sections.
Teamwork, make dreamwork.

>>6082262
>Agree to split up like this. It was a good call from Derek to let you keep Oreas. She could be your guide forward, whilst Derek led the other group in the other direction.
I trust you chaps to get it done and not get zapped.
Also give the eepy eeloli daughteru a clap on the shoulder and a good job. I hope this doesn't start an electrical fire....though the lack of fire damage in general in the facility is interesting given the damage and lack of a working fire suppression system

>>6082262
>Agree to split up like this. It was a good call from Derek to let you keep Oreas. She could be your guide forward, whilst Derek led the other group in the other direction.
If we've got rubber gloves give them to him, otherwise yeah using metal to short the charged part to the vent should work, as long as he's careful and doesn't get close.

>>6082262
>>6082310
Supporting the above yet also supporting the support >>6082315 wants to give to Oreas.

Gonna need to have a tiebreaker vote before writing the next update. That, or a switch in voter choice. Either way, my computer can only be picked up on Monday, so hopefully I can continue managing to phone post properly.

>>6082262
>Agree to split up like this. It was a good call from Derek to let you keep Oreas. She could be your guide forward, whilst Derek led the other group in the other direction.

We can cover more terrain like this

>Agree to split up like this. It was a good call from Derek to let you keep Oreas. She could be your guide forward, whilst Derek led the other group in the other direction.
With Derek certain he'll do a good job, you wished him and Thaddeus good luck. You told them to not get zapped and to contact you through the Comms if anything major happened. "Of course, Mik. You guys better be careful as well, alright?" Derek responded, as he would signal those behind him to crawl back. And after a short amount of time, you would be on your own with Lars, Anon and Oreas. The first course of action was giving Oreas a pat on the shoulder and telling her she had done a good job. You saw her smiling and her tail wagging just a tiny bit. "Thanks, Mikhail. I, uhhhh, I'm glad to have helped out!" You would head eastwards, opposite from the direction your men had taken. You'd pass the mesh, still being quite careful in case you were shocked again. Though you'd fortunately find yourself passing through the electric part rather quickly. Like Derek had suggested, the sections which were charged were presumably not all too common.

With that, you'd start a lengthy session of exploring the vents. You would start heading northwards, trying to find any route which could head deeper into the central facility. You would eventually find a route which did go eastwards, though just like the previous hallway, it was blocked off. Presumably, it was the same collapse which had blocked this route off. After backtracking a little and heading further south, you would find a few interesting paths. One section of the vent to the north went straight down. You couldn't easily go down it, given that you had no clue how far down it went and what was at the bottom. Still, it was one secure path which you could take to get deeper. You'd also find a different vent the the south, which headed straight up instead.

You'd keep exploring for some time. You'd get Anon to note things down, as Derek was difficult to reach given the distance between your groups. Still, you managed to map out a decent chunk of the offices. Oreas was also able to help somewhat, using her climbing skills to go up sections which you couldn't easily traverse. Though, it were only a few, since you didn't want to send her into anything extremely dangerous. She also neutralised a few more vents, which streamlined the exploration quite a bit. After what must've been a few hours of crawling about, you decided to head back again. The vents had provided a few alternate routes you could take, though whether they'd be easy to traverse with your full team in the future would be difficult to say for sure. "I hope Thaddeus and Derek were able to have some success." Anon said, which made Oreas also speak curiously. "Yeah. I also wonder how Lydia and Laura are doing. Maybe they found something useful in the sewers?" Lars and Anon seemed a little less eager about the sewers. Probably because they didn't wanna traverse them at all.

Still, you'd keep crawling back, losing your way once before finding the first vent which was destroyed. Thaddeus, Mike, Derek and Zaria hadn't returned yet, you taking to the Comms to try and reach them. Though as you tried to reach your men, you did get the signal from Lydia. "We're on our way over. Give us a few minutes!" And as you waited for them, you'd finally hear a signal slowly coming in. "Can you hear us? Hello? Mik?" It was Derek, you confirming that you heard him. "Ah, alright. We're a short distance away from the meeting point. Do you want us to come over?" You confirmed that the time was up and that you wanted to reconvene quickly. Immediately though, Anon would ask: "Did you guys find anything of interest?" To this, Derek unfortunately responded: "Not much. Destroying some of the electrified vents was tougher than I expected. We managed somewhat, but only really mapped out the vents through this office space."

It wouldn't take much longer before you were reunited with the rest of your men. Derek, Thaddeus, Mike and Zaria didn't appear too excited. Though at least they seemed more optimistic than Lydia and the girls. Laura and Chris seemed quite tired and bored. Morgan was clearly bored and somewhat impatiently looking around. Anofelis was a bit more peppy, though still remained quiet. And even Kamara didn't seem on edge, just seeming more confused and bored with what was going on. Thus, you'd tell them what you had spotted first, specifically focusing on the vent straight up and the one leading straight down. You also brought up that the vent eastwards was completely blocked off as well, which displeased your men substantially. "Great. Is there any path nearby which hasn't bloody collapsed?!" Mike would say, after which Laura tried speaking more positively. "We can try and take the route directly down. I believe there are some unique sights below us which could be worth exploring?"

You asked Laura and Lydia about what they had spotted, given that they also didn't seem too optimistic. "Well, I checked a huge area with the crawler, and sadly didn't find much of use. Most paths head towards the flooded section, with the options for routes leading eastwards being extremely limited. We did find one path further to the north from here which seems to connect to something further on. Maybe something which is behind the blockage?" It was one more alternative route. Though you also asked Derek what he and the others had found, just to see what they had gone through. "Well, we mapped out part of these offices through the vents. We did see some interesting archives and a room containing what looks to be a vat. Oh, we also saw some more testing chambers, but not sure if they hold anything of value for us." It seemed that you and Lydia had found a few alternative routes at the very least. Perhaps you could judge which of the routes were the best, or if just sticking to the main hallways was the best idea.

Though as you discussed the matter, Anon raised his hand and signalled something to the rest of you. You and your men recognised that he was telling all of you to keep quiet. You'd do as told, as Anon would head over to the door of the office you were in. He'd listen, before signalling to the vent and whispering through the Comms. "Laura and the girls need to go into the vent NOW!" Given his tone, it was clear he had picked up on something outside the room. "What, why?" Laura would say back in a hushed tone. "I just heard footsteps approaching! And not ordinary ones! Either it's a subject, or someone in proper armour!" Morgan already readied her blade, scoffing to herself. "I shan't hide in fear. Whoever it is shall face my just blade!" This was honestly the worst time for Morgan to stay back and fight. You had no clue who or what was outside. And if it was a death squad, having Morgan appear by your side would mean the end of your cooperation with the government...

>What do you do next?

>Tell Morgan to just go into the vent with the other girls and to quickly hide somewhere. (Write in where you'll tell the girls to head to.)
>First just head outside and check who it was. If it was a massive subject, you could always just hide and escape back into the room. If it were death squads, you could talk with them...
>Ask the girls if they heard or saw anything whilst they made their way over to you. They were the only ones walking out in the open for the past hour, so they were the likeliest to actually see if anyone was following them.
>Just keep quiet for a while and see if the sound passes by or stops completely. Maybe just waiting would give further clues about what was going on.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6083021
>First just head outside and check who it was. If it was a massive subject, you could always just hide and escape back into the room. If it were death squads, you could talk with them...
At the very least we should be able to delay a fellow squad long enough for Morgan to be convinced to hide.

>>6083021
>Tell Morgan to just go into the vent with the other girls and to quickly hide somewhere. (Write in where you'll tell the girls to head to.)
>Ask the girls if they heard or saw anything whilst they made their way over to you. They were the only ones walking out in the open for the past hour, so they were the likeliest to actually see if anyone was following them.
>Just keep quiet for a while and see if the sound passes by or stops completely. Maybe just waiting would give further clues about what was going on.
If they were sighted, our appearance is suspicious to not have encountered a monster girl
If its a death squad, they mustn't know we are with each other.
Take no chances, total stealth. Get in the vent and seal it.

>>6083021
>First just head outside and check who it was. If it was a massive subject, you could always just hide and escape back into the room. If it were death squads, you could talk with them...
Might be Arika. If it's Feng's thralls, we shoot em and scarper. If it's a death squad, we try and defuse while they bundle Morgan away or formulate an attack plan.

>>6083021
>Tell Morgan to just go into the vent with the other girls and to quickly hide somewhere.
>Just keep quiet for a while and see if the sound passes by or stops completely. Maybe just waiting would give further clues about what was going on

>Either it's a subject, or someone in proper armour!
So it's not a group, its a single person? Could be a Blackstar soldier but why is he all alone? It's probably a subject and a big one if its making such heavy footsteps.

I would send in the crawler drone but I think its a tad bit late for that, It could end up being spotted coming out of the room.

My IP changed, I'm >>6078567

>>6083021
>>Tell Morgan to just go into the vent with the other girls and to quickly hide somewhere. (Write in where you'll tell the girls to head to.)
Morgan it's not a good time for playing hero, if those are death squad members then it would fuck us over and brand every single one of our team-members into traitors/targets, it would fuck over the others as well since except for you and us the others are not fighters and could get hurt or killed, hide it for now and if it's something really dangerous then we fight.
>First just head outside and check who it was. If it was a massive subject, you could always just hide and escape back into the room. If it were death squads, you could talk with them...

>Tell Morgan to just go into the vent with the other girls and to quickly hide somewhere.
You hoped to leave the room and see for yourself what was following you. However, that would require Morgan to hide as well, since it'd be highly problematic for it to be a fellow death squad on the other side of the door. Thus, you told Morgan that she didn't want to play the hero just yet. "Why, I am not playing the hero! I am just preparing myself for the worst! I got a feeling this sneaky bastard isn't one for honour and reason!" It was a bold assumption, one which made Mike groan and you explain why it was such a terrible idea. If it was in fact a death squad which had followed you, then the vents really were a lifesaver. After all, your men and the girls would all become targets if it was clear that you were working with subjects. It'd especially be dangerous for the girls, since they didn't exactly have solid ways to fight back, unlike you guys.

Finally, you told Morgan that you'd call her if she was needed. If it was a dangerous subject, or the queen's forces, she could come in to help. Morgan looked quite agitated, but thankfully lowered her blade. "Ugh, fine. But thou shan't shy me away from battle, if I sense destiny calling for my blade!" After Morgan spoke, Chrys would grab her hand and pull her along. "Yeah, yeah, you'll probably kick ass. Anyway, get in here with us right now!" Morgan thankfully listened, as she followed Chrys into the vents alongside Laura, Kamara, Oreas and Anofelis. There thankfully was little struggle, though they did make a bit of noise. Though they thankfully soon went quiet as your men awaited further commands. It was eerily quiet outside, as whoever was on the other side had gone silent. It certainly didn't help put you at ease about who or what was awaiting you outside. Though as you approached the door, you'd ask Lydia if she noticed anyone following them. You would've asked the girls, but it was better for them to just hide.

"Well, I didn't hear or see anything whilst we were heading this way. If somebody was following is, we would've obviously told you right away!" You just wanted to make sure, as there was always the chance that they thought they saw something which they dismissed. Though you'd maybe question the girls later. For now, you would prepare yourself mentally. You told your men it could be Feng's forces, or perhaps Arika. "I could quickly check if it's the former by checking the camera." Derek suggested, after which Lydia shook her head. "Don't, Derek. It'll take far too long. Besides, Arika could've just dug towards us from whatever location she was in." It was a little silly to be discussing this now, Mike soon commenting: "Let's just assume it's the worst case scenario here and carefully leave! If it looks evil or dangerous, just shoot it and don't question it!" Perhaps it was the best plan for now. Though you still prepared for it being a death squad instead.

>First just head outside and check who it was. If it was a massive subject, you could always just hide and escape back into the room. If it were death squads, you could talk with them...
You would slowly open the door, looking around the hallway to see if anyone was there. You didn't see anyone at all, the place just appearing empty. Looking up, you'd also not see anything on the ceiling. Even with thermal vision, you didn't notice anyone hiding using some kind of stealth mechanism. You would signal some of your men to follow as you carefully headed into the hallway. You kept your guns at the ready, in case some sort of monster decided to jump you. Though as you were outside with Thaddeus, Mike, Anon and Zaria, you'd hear some more footsteps a short distance away. And from a side room, you would be met by something simultaneously reassuring and anxiety-inducing.

"Was wondering when you would finally come out." A male voice said, as a Blackstar soldier stepped out of the room. "Apologies for putting you on edge there. My men and I just... we didn't want to bud in to you guys and scare you." The guys tone was a little bit concerning. He seemed friendly, but there was a smug tone to it. He would look over all of you, some of you keeping your guns at the ready. "You folk can lower your guns now. Aren't Blackstar and Lodger allies?" Despite the suggestion, Mike and Anon kept their guns raised, with Mike even saying: "I'll lower my gun once I goddamn feel like it. Have you guys been stalking us?!" The Blackstar soldier scoffed a little. "Geez, I was just trying to be friendly." He looked over his shoulder, before you watched five more men in power armour approaching you from a hallway to the side. "Relax, we're just here to explore this section. I mean, I didn't know there were Lodgerites already going through this place. Unless... Hmmm, is one of you perhaps that Mikhail guy?" He'd ask Mike, after which Thaddeus spoke cautiously. "Aye, ya heard about us?" "Let me guess. Because of the rabbit?" Zaria added onto that, which made the Blackstar soldier nod. "Well, we did hear you guys were travelling around these parts. Didn't expect you would've already reached this far south. I mean, there is quite the massive space to explore to the north here, right?" You explained you were just here to explore and hunt down any potential subjects, like the one who sung in the green section. "Ah, I see." He'd look over his men, watching them get beside him. "Hey guys! Check it out! It's those Lodgerites who took out the rabbit! They're here to explore and hunt!" The Blackstars would scoff and softly laugh to themselves, one of them even speaking up. "Isn't that why we're all here?" There were some more soft laughs, after which the main Blackstar soldier spoke up again.

"Anyway, you guys seem a little on edge. Take it that rabbit made you a bit more scared to be out here on your own or something. Don't worry though. We're not here to look for trouble, right guys?"

The Blackstar soldiers all nodded, keeping their weapons down. In the meantime, everyone sans Lydia had left the room. Your men still kept their guns close. These guys didn't seem nearly as pleasant as the other Blackstar forces you had encountered. "Ah, maybe introductions will make you guys a bit less anxious. My name's Nikita Giuliana. These are Abraham, Malu, Zeng, Gijs and Varren." Your men still remained apprehensive, not saying anything as they hoped you'd do some of the talking. Your men presumably wanted these guys gone right away, and they trusted you could help in that.

>What do you do next...

>Just calmly introduce yourselves and tell your men to lower their weapnry. The more reasonably you treated these guys, the quicker they left you alone. (Write in an introduction...)
>Tell these guys to get lost and that you were busy with something. If they pushed you on it, you could either lie about it or just tell them it's none of their business. (Write in what you'll tell them you're busy with, or what excuse you'll give...)
>Ask them why they are being so secretive themselves. Sneaking after you, keeping some distance away from you and your men. Turn this around on them and instead find a way to question them. (Write in what you'll ask them...)
>Offer them help with whatever mission they got down here. Maybe you could help in a small way which would get them off your shoulders? (Write in what kind of help you'd be okay providing them...)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6083686
>>Just calmly introduce yourselves and tell your men to lower their weapnry. The more reasonably you treated these guys, the quicker they left you alone. (Write in an introduction...)
Be formal about it, they introduced to us we introduce ourselves as well.
>>Ask them why they are being so secretive themselves. Sneaking after you, keeping some distance away from you and your men. Turn this around on them and instead find a way to question them. (Write in what you'll ask them...)
Use that as a way to measure their reactions, and whatever or not they seem trustworthy.
>>Offer them help with whatever mission they got down here. Maybe you could help in a small way which would get them off your shoulders? (Write in what kind of help you'd be okay providing them...)
Just say we're kind limited what we can do since we're hunting another nasty subject but we can share some info if share what they know.

>>6083694
Support. Generally, I say to be mostly open with these guys - I don't trust them at all but the more fibs we tell, the more likely they are to start pulling threads and spotting gaps in our story. We're hunting a dangerous and undocumented subject and are trying to get to the lower levels to pick up their trail, but the way ahead is thoroughly blocked and we're scouting for other ways down with no luck yet. That should be mostly the truth without any shifty holes in it or providing them much useful information.

We could propose an intel trade. If they've come by any juicy bits of information that could help us, we might be able to trade it for one of Andrei Files for a subject we want to see dead like Grise or Nicola. Or just see what else we can scrounge from our notes for exchange value.

Also, chaps, sneaking around jumpy and heavily armed death squads is just going to cause friendly fire incidents. Don't do it. You tailing us, or are we just hiding from each other? I have a suspicion that if we seem sus to them, they will try and stalk us some even after leaving.

>>6083686
>Ask them why they are being so secretive themselves. Sneaking after you, keeping some distance away from you and your men. Turn this around on them and instead find a way to question them. (Write in what you'll ask them...)
Ask them what they've found out about this area. They're scouts, aren't they? Surely they've been doing their jobs. A way around the collapsed rubble in particular would be nice.

>>6083686
>Just calmly introduce yourselves and tell your men to lower their weapnry. The more reasonably you treated these guys, the quicker they left you alone. (Write in an introduction...)
We are both mercs, we can play it cool. These are blackstar soldiers, they will not fair well in direct combat, they are great scouts, but low level combat threats.
Also blackstar is one of the more reasonable groups. Even if they look a little less reasonable.
>Offer them help with whatever mission they got down here. Maybe you could help in a small way which would get them off your shoulders? (Write in what kind of help you'd be okay providing them...)
They are scouting here? Which way did they come in from? We would've known if they came from the green area. Also, where are they planning on heading? We've heard the deeper parts of the facility near the center are incredibly dangerous, surely they don't plan on heading there?
Small talk helps build mutual ground, tension is only in the air so long as we keep things tense. This is sufficent base to go from here.
Everyone else voted against it. But I would avoid being accusatory about them stalking. They are blackstar, their whole thing is secretly exploring and they just said they just came in exploring this area. We haven't been had yet, (or they would've mentioned it) but otherwise we need to play it cool.

All this mentioned, we defintely need to find a place to store the monster girls after this. I forgot from last thread the greater priority is storing them somewhere so we can move forward without having to worry about losing our entire return base due to treason.

>Just calmly introduce yourselves and tell your men to lower their weaponry. The more reasonably you treated these guys, the quicker they left you alone.
Seeing how the Blackstar forces had introduced themselves somewhat formally, you decided to return the favour and introduce yourself. You gave your name, as well as the names of the rest of your men. Your men would lower their guns, which made one of the Blackstar soldiers speak up more teasingly. "There we go. No need to be so on edge and keep those scary guns pointed at us. We're all friends here!" Afterwards, Nikita would offer a handshake to you. "Well, it certainly is a pleasure to meet you and your men, Mikhail. I must say, it's... an honour to be in the presence of a death squad who fought a truly menacing beast. Do tell us more about how you took down that beast! From what I heard, she was quite the menace!" You continued to try and remain amicable. You would give a simple response, trying to be somewhat honest about how the rabbit was indeed quite dangerous. "Uhuh. She even took out some of your men, right?" One of the Blackstars asked in a rather aloof tone, your men clearly not liking the way he brought it up. Still, you answered honestly, before deciding to push the conversation elsewhere.

>Ask them why they are being so secretive themselves. Sneaking after you, keeping some distance away from you and your men. Turn this around on them and instead find a way to question them.
You'd ask them what they were up to and what they had found in this area. They were meant to be scouts after all, so they surely had found something of value. "Oh, you know... dead people, really. We've only recently reached these parts. The section to the south of here was already a lot more thoroughly explored than these parts. But, I have heard of some dead people being here as well." Nikita responded, after which he took a slightly more respectful tone. "Including, unfortunately, some other Blackstar members..."

Given the corpses you had previously found, it made sense for these guys to be aware of the Blackstars you had found in this place. You'd try and be civil as well, telling him that it was quite a shame that such fine men had to perish. It actually did seem to do a decent job in making them a bit less smug and arrogant. "Indeed. But hey, we'll find whoever is responsible and try our damndest to make them regret it! I'm sure you can understand such a desire for... revenge, given some of your own losses." You decided then was the best time to ask about a way around the collapsed hallway. You didn't specify why you wanted to go around the collapse you had encountered, but Nikita and his men would hopefully believe that you wanted to know for reasons related to vengeance. "Hmmmm, where's this collapse exactly?" One of Nikita's men asked, you giving vague directions about it being to the east from here. The men would mumble to each other, before one stepped forward with a response.

"There's plenty of pathways to the south of here which lead towards the centre. If you intend to go deeper underground, those routes also can lead you there." One man said, Derek becoming more curious. "Is this noted down on the government map, by any chance?" The Blackstars nodded, as one would even go over to Derek to try and show him. In the meantime though, you felt that these guys had been quite honest. Maybe a bit brash, but they were starting to tone it down a bit. You used this pause to try and be a bit more inquisitive and question their actions. You asked them why they were kind of stalking you. Of course, you wanted to keep the more relaxed conversation going, not trying to sound accusatory. There was a short pause, before Nikita scoffed. “Because we had no clue what the hell was awaiting us here? You had nobody standing guard. We heard sounds coming from this place, so we decided to investigate it.”

It seemed like a genuine reaction, as well as a decent-ish reason as to why they were tailing you. Still, how they managed to hear you guys move about in the distance without seeing you was a little odd. How they spotted you was definitely something which left you scratching your head a bit. You weren’t going to push it further, given that Nikita and his men definitely were still questioning what you had been up to. Before he could ask you about that though, you would take the time to ask them where they were heading as well. You mentioned that they had passed paths which went deeper, which would’ve on paper been far more lucrative to search than these parts. “Well, we were heading up north to see if we could find who killed our men. That, and we wanna avoid the dangers of those depths for now. Besides, plenty of folk who are more than happy to explore those parts, right?”

Afterwards, one of Nikita’s men spoke in a far more intrigued and inquisitive tone, finally forcing you to explain yourself as well. “So, what about you? What brings you guys to these parts? I mean, you’ve done a lot in the green section. I honestly imagined you guys would be gutsy enough to go to the flooded section. Especially considering your track record so far.” Another one of Nikita’s men pointed to the room. “And what on earth were you doing in that room there, if I may ask? Did you find something interesting or worth sharing?” You’d try and answer this with a mixture of honesty and holding back details. You explained how you were hunting a dangerous, undocumented subject in this place. Furthermore, you knew that this subject was hiding somewhere in the deeper parts, which meant finding a path which was viable. And given the blockage, you were looking for other routes. “We were checking the room back here because we’re sort of scanning this entire area for any way around. Hell, we were just looking if the vents were an option, but… that didn’t give us much.” Anon carefully added onto that to not reveal more details.

Nikita looked back at his men, before some started laughing to each other. Your men kept quiet, as you couldn’t tell if they were doing this out of amusement or as some kind of mockery. Though once they finished, Nikita spoke up more casually. “First the rabbit, now this subject. You guys are dedicated to the job, that’s for sure!” Nikita gave you a pat on the shoulder. “And what can ya tell us about this… dangerous subject? Have you spotted her already? Or perhaps know what she is like?” There were a lot of lies you could make up, as well as a lot of truths. Hell, you could very well just quote from Andrei’s files and use that to give a technical truth. However, you decided to use your position for something a bit more useful for you and your men. You stated that it was something of a secret, given that she was quite the threat and you didn’t want anyone else going after her. “Awww, come on now, you can trust us!” One of Nikita’s men said, after which Nikita also put an arm around you. “Yeah! Besides, what if this subject you’re hunting… is the one who took out our fellow Blackstar friends? You wouldn’t wanna keep it a secret from us then, right?”

>Offer them help with whatever mission they got down here. Maybe you could help in a small way which would get them off your shoulders?
You pondered for a second, before stating you could share some details. Albeit, if they were also willing to provide some intel. “Ah, I see. I scratch your back, you’ll scratch mine? Alright, if that is what you want here. I suppose we can tell you something in exchange… Though first, you have to tell us what the subject is like you’re hunting for. After all, how can we help provide you helpful details when we don’t anything about who you’re hunting?” Nikita had put you in a rather unfortunate situation. If you decided to tell a bit about the subjects you had encountered, he could very easily just go ‘we know nothing of those’ and not provide you any details about them. On the other hand, if you did give the right intel, he may just be able to help you out and provide crucial information.

Though to entice you further, one of the men would add some further details onto the offer. “We did see something here not too long ago. In fact, we headed in this direction towards you guys because we saw something peculiar going in this very direction! Something which I highly doubt was one of your men, or anything human for that matter.” Given the smug and slightly giddy tone the guy had, it seemed almost like he was setting you up for a trick. Then again, maybe he was giddy for all the right reasons, and he knew of some extremely valuable intel.

>What do you do next?

>Give them intel on one of Andrei’s subjects. It was intel which they would hopefully find valuable enough that they would tell you what they knew. (Write what details you’ll give about which Andrei subject.)
>Tell them to cut the bullshit and just tell what they know. You weren’t going to just throw sensitive intel around without first getting something useful out of it. (Write in what you’ll say to them.)
>Just tell the truth about the queen subject you were hunting and maybe show the files. If they knew why you were doing what you were doing, they’d hopefully take you more seriously and would also help out quickly. (Write in how you’ll explain Feng to them.)
>Ask further about the subjects they supposedly saw entering here. If it was obviously a subject they were chasing after, they ought to tell you quickly in case it was something actually dangerous. (Write in what you’ll ask about what they spotted.)
>Tell them that you weren’t comfortable with this deal, and that they could also leave if they’d rather not share intel with you. Maybe they’d leave you alone more quickly if they knew you weren’t playing around. (Write in how you’ll tell them off.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6084504
>Just tell the truth about the queen subject you were hunting and maybe show the files. If they knew why you were doing what you were doing, they’d hopefully take you more seriously and would also help out quickly. (Write in how you’ll explain Feng to them.)
Don't show the files but give a brief overview of what we've seen - mind controlled guardsmen and other personnel. Don't mention the sleep subject or her ambush either.

>>6084638
Supporting. However I don't like this. The are part of the dedicated scout deathsquad and are extremely smug after finding us. It gives me a very bad feeling.

>>6084638
Yeah talking about what we've seen in regards to guards bring like robots almost and unusual levels of organization that we haven't seen before, leads us to believe some kind of subject is doing it.
Note that results are inconclusive until we get proper confirmation.

>>6084659
>>6084785
We might want to have someone tail them after separating, see what they talk about.

>>6084870
Sounds like a possible job for Kamara.....if she was brave enough to accomplish, well, anything at all really.

>>6084870
Stalking expert scouts who specialize and are equiped for that entire field seems like an unnesscary risk

>Just tell the truth about the queen subject you were hunting and maybe show the files. If they knew why you were doing what you were doing, they’d hopefully take you more seriously and would also help out quickly.
Given the news of this 'sighting' and the fact they wouldn't just relinquish the intel, you decided to take the risk. You'd tell them about Feng and the things you had encountered related to her, namely the mind controlled staff an d guardsmen. Though, you refrained from telling them about the sleep subject, as well as the fact you were ambushed by her. You'd also opt to not share the files, given that you felt it would be just a bit too much. Besides, the info you would provide was already more than enough to help out. Thus, you told your story, how you were after Feng and wanted to put her to justice. The Blackstar soldiers seemed both intrigued and disturbed by your story. Hell, you could tell some didn't even believe what you were saying. There were a number of questions thrown your way, some of which you could at the very least answer. "So, how do you know for sure this is a subject you're looking for, and not something else?" One Blackstar soldier asked, you explaining it was the unusual levels of organisation the enemy forces showed.

"So, you've encountered a bunch of guardsmen and other folk working together, and you believe them to be under some sort of subject influence?" Nikita asked to confirm what you said. You reiterated that the people you encountered did not appear human. They were almost robotic in a way, which indicated some kind of forced control. "Right, robotic folk. And, you've encountered these and now wanna find where they came from so you can kill this subject, I presume?" You gave confirmation, after which Thaddeus would also add some important details. "We're lookin' for paths which won't be patrolled by these people. We'd rather get the jump on whoever's responsible, rather than just rushin' in head first."

There still was a lot of scepticism from the Blackstar forces. "Alright... Well, we don't know much about this subject. This is the first time we've heard about them, actually." Nikita would say, after which one of his fellow men also responded. "Do you have a description of this subject, or what her forces look like? Maybe some actual documens proving her existence?" You were still reluctant to provide the actual files. Though you were fine explaining what the guardsmen were like. They were hard to miss, given their more 'ornate' livery. Though as to be expected, it still left the Blackstar forces quite blank. "Yeah, we... haven't seen anything like that." One of them would respond, after which Mike spoke up. "Figures... is there anything you've encountered which could've been related somehow?" The Blackstar forces once again had nothing, you stating that the information about Feng was inconclusive until you got direct proof of her existence.

"Well, that is useful to hear." Nikita said a bit more jokingly, by now losing the thread and no longer seeming too interested in Feng. It was at least good that they didn't seem to believe in the existence of Feng, since it meant they weren't going to question it. Though, this did mean the details they would bring up next were lacklustre, to say the least. "So, in terms of what we've seen. We've heard singing coming from this general area once before. Maybe that is related to this Queen subject of yours?" It was not, but you weren't going to say that directly. "We know that there is lots of fighting going on further in the depths with some other Blackstar forces. Perhaps we could get you in contact with them? They may know more about this Queen subject." One of the men said, which was clearly just their way of saying 'we know fuck all about this'. Still, there were some points to be given for the effort.

However, there was still one unresolved topic: The thing which Nikita and his men saw going around in this place. And Zaria would calmly ask about it. "So, what about the 'peculiar thing' you guys saw going in this direction?" The men went quiet. They looked at Nikita, you able to read from their body language that they were once again quite amused. Nikita paused, crossing his arms. "Hmmmm, well... I'm not sure I should tell. I mean, for all I know, it's nothing conclusive. We don't have much proof of what we saw, after all." There was quite the smug aura coming from them, as they clearly loved to 'return the favour' regarding your arguments. Your men were not pleased at all, but they kept quiet as you just told them to tell since it could very well be real. "Hmmm..." You saw Nikita pondering to himself, trying to think of what he saw. Either he was thinking of some bullshit excuse, or he was trying to remember the details. You hoped it was the latter, but these guys clearly were more than willing to be a bit more malicious with how they treated other squads.

After some quiet contemplation, Nikita did thankfully speak up. Though what he said left you unnerved. "Well, we were heading northwards to scout a bit ahead and note down anything of interest. Though as we walked, we saw something in the far off distance. Gijs, what was it again?" Nikita looked over to one of his men, who would speak up quite smugly. "I recall it being... a group of people. Think I saw a scientist in there, as well as... well, what I presume was a subject." Before you could say or do anything, one of the other Blackstar soldiers responded smugly. "Yeah! It looked like a really big and... sort of lanky person. I remember them also having a bit of fur around their body." Another soldier responded even more amusedly. "She also had a horn, remember? A big long horn on her head which stuck out from above her head." You could tell that your men were more than a little tense now. It seemed highly unlikely that these guys were making this up, which could only mean one thing...

“Yeah, that was it! Though I also saw some other folk walking along with those two. Didn’t get much of a glimpse of them sadly. But, maybe it was just my imagination! Like I said, we… don’t have any proof to back it up. Unless if… you guys also saw such things?” Nikita continued, one of his men also joining in. “They may have passed by here, given that they went down a hallway leading to this place. Quite funny, how we followed them here only to encounter you guys!” Whilst it almost sounded as if the guy was accusing you of something, Nikita would quickly try and shift away from that tone. “It’s a fun little coincidence. Shame that you guys didn’t notice them. Could’ve maybe worked together and really put the hurt on them. Though, like I said, we have no pro-“ Before Nikita could repeat the same point again, Zaria would respond quite brashly. “Yeah, yeah, we get it. You guys have no proof of this happening.” At least Zaria was smart not to get too aggressive, only causing the men to chuckle a bit to themselves.

Still, Zaria was smart enough not to mention any further details, or to get riled up too much. After all, you had to be a bit careful with how you dealt with this. These guys were sketchy as hell, and did not make you feel too secure. They hadn’t provided anything of value to you, and instead revealed that they had spotted Anofelis and some of the other girls. However you responded to them now, you had to really think it through carefully as to not accidentally reveal too much.

>What do you do next?

>Try and shift the conversation elsewhere. Maybe just bring up that you hadn’t spotted what they had seen, before discussing something else of importance? (Write in what you’ll try and discuss instead.)
>Give them the documents to Feng or some other subject. It would be awkward to explain why you held those files back, but it would at least create a bit more goodwill before these guys questioned you further about the subjects they had spotted. (Write in which file you’ll give and how you’d explain why you held the intel back.)
>Pretend to be a fool, and really play along with the fact that you had seemingly ‘missed’ these subjects they had spotted. Maybe if you were convincing, they would head elsewhere and leave you be. (Write in what you’ll tell them.)
>Try and be more confrontative. Ask them why they’re being this smug and not really co-operating. Maybe even dig into the fact they treated this apparent subject encounter seriously, or that they refrained from telling such important details. (Write in how you’ll confront them, and what you will question about them.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6085185
>Pretend to be a fool, and really play along with the fact that you had seemingly ‘missed’ these subjects they had spotted. Maybe if you were convincing, they would head elsewhere and leave you be. (Write in what you’ll tell them.)
>Try and be more confrontative. Ask them why they’re being this smug and not really co-operating. Maybe even dig into the fact they treated this apparent subject encounter seriously, or that they refrained from telling such important details. (Write in how you’ll confront them, and what you will question about them.)
Combine these. Grill them for info in a way that makes it seem we're preparing for a hunt - what did the scientist look like? Did the subject they saw match any descriptions on the government provided list? Who were the additional folk they saw, guardsmen or other staff? How many of them were there? How well armed were they? How long ago were they last seen and where?

>>6085099
>Letting a band of scouts who have been watching us for an unknown length of time and may be carrying video evidence of us colluding with subjects back to GalGov without any attempts at confirmation
I won't deny it's risky, but unnecessary? Unless you want to take them at their word that they have no proof.

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>>6085185
>Pretend to be a fool, and really play along with the fact that you had seemingly ‘missed’ these subjects they had spotted. Maybe if you were convincing, they would head elsewhere and leave you be.
Surreptitiously finger radio transmit button. You know what, guys? Be our guests. If you think you've seen something down that hall, go look for it why don'tcha? After you, since you seem to see more than we did.
Meanwhile, picrel

>>6083811
>we definitely need to find a place to store the monster girls after this.
Come think of it, after we've removed Feng from the picture, the brand new Queenbase 9000 under new management would serve perfectly as a place to drop off party members and use as a private FOB.

>>6085185
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck F U C K. I knew they knew something. They spotted us. They had to spot us. That's why they are so smug. They know we have subjects with us... This is the almost the WORST thing that could have happened. The only way it could be worse is if they were Diamond dogs or Heroes.

>>6085198
Supporting. We might need to take the other anons idea after this though if things don't end up well.

>>6085206
It's not *that* bad, I think we could take them in the event of a blast-out. We don't have as much element of surprise as we might like and their armour will make it difficult to take them down, but a few members of our squad do have weapons that might properly hurt them and the plasma railgun will be a 1HK. On the flipside, they will have fairly light weapons - our body armour should let us take a few hits from them and in particular their peashooters will do squat all to Morgan, who can pick them apart at her leisure. It's likely we'll be coming out of this with some gunshot wounds and can't discount the possibility of fatalities, but we can make it out of this.

I wonder if this encounter is my fault thanks to me bringing the possibility up last week.

>>6085185
>Pretend to be a fool, and really play along with the fact that you had seemingly ‘missed’ these subjects they had spotted. Maybe if you were convincing, they would head elsewhere and leave you be. (Write in what you’ll tell them.)
>>6085198
They can easily submit it to GalGov, we've been able to reach out via tablets by ourselves, a video wouldn't be any harder, especially for scouts who's entire job is conveying information.
That their proof can't be sent out now is already unlikely.
>>6085201
Waiting till we kill Feng is what got us into this potential mess. We need them out the way sooner rather then later. Morgan may be an exception if only because we can pretend to start shooting her if things are getting suspicious.
>>6085206
Alternatively, mention to annie their exact location and see if she is willing to off them for us. Once again though, we can't know if we've been had or not yet.

>>6085343
Nah, its always been a possibility from the get go. We all knew that walking with subjects was a death sentence which is why we were exploring around to find a place to drop them off. Letting ourselves get sidetracked by queen too much was something we kinda just fucked up.

>>6085591
I wouldn't say we've been waiting for anything, just never really thought about finding another placeholder place after we got evicted from the Green Section while we were caught up in the Queen arc. That said though, they've all made themselves useful at some point or another so far this arc (except Kamara) and not having them with us would have made many things we've done thus far significantly harder if not necessarily impossible without having their abilities on call. I have enjoyed having them with us from a utility and character perspective, even if it's been a foolhardy thing to go around with all of them.

>>6085722
The whole reason we moved out of the green section was to find another place.
Check the archive, our entire mission was finding a post to settle them in after exiting green section.
And while they do have benefits, they are not worth the risk of us being comprised by other death squads, especially like right now. Part of why I wanted us to stay hidden instead of letting them meet us and put a face and name to their possible but unconfirmed evidence.

>>6085854
We did really completely get sidetracked and forget about our objective over the last few months, huh? Well, I'd rather find somewhere out of the way on the other side of the block, since we can't leave them anywhere round here as is and the odds of encountering a death squad in the lower levels will be lower than in these upper floors and if we stay away from potential Queendom patrol routes. After Operation Robespierre concludes, then we can move them into Queenbase as a more permanent home. That said, there's still some unanswered questions like how we're going to feed the girls now we're cut off from the green section.

While I agree we shouldn't be going round with the full entourage, I do still want to keep a couple of them with us. Morgan has been indispensible in combat and so on so long as she sticks around and probably couldn't be persuaded to stay put if we tried and Oreas has also been useful (and how else are we going to train her to be Oreas "Warcrimes" Macraei?) and to defuse subject encounters while being inconspicuous and easily hidden (I wonder if we can get her into some battle rattle so she doesn't stick out so much.....). The other girls can hang out at base since fewer = lower risk and as much as it pains me to leave Anofelis behind, an 11ft tall bug without much tact is very conspicuous, as she has shown.
I fully understand if you presumably want to leave them all behind but we'll have to disagree on that one since I think a limited MG presence in the group is worth the risk and, on a meta level, I just like having them around too much.

>Try and be more confrontative. Ask them why they’re being this smug and not really co-operating. Maybe even dig into the fact they treated this apparent subject encounter seriously, or that they refrained from telling such important details.
>Pretend to be a fool, and really play along with the fact that you had seemingly ‘missed’ these subjects they had spotted. Maybe if you were convincing, they would head elsewhere and leave you be.
Whilst your men kept quiet and waited to hear what you'd say, you felt that the best choice was to just grill them for info. Of course, you would also try and play the fool a little bit. A mixture of incompetence and aggression would hopefully convince them that what they saw wasn't linked to you. Thus, you'd first ask what the scientist looked like, the one who brought it up responding in an amused tone. "Hmmm, I thought it was a lady, but... I am not really sure, you know? Maybe it was just my mind... or maybe a subject disguised as a scientists? Who knows?" To try and convince them that you were serious, you'd tell Derek to write these notes down on the tablet. If they believed you were seriously noting everything down, they'd hopefully believe that you were preparing for a hunt.

You'd continue asking questions, you asking if the subject they saw matched any on the government list. "Hmmm, I don't know. Did the subject look like any of the subjects we know, guys?" Nikita asked a bit more seriously, resulting in a variety of responses. "Didn't look like anything I've read about on the tablet to me." "She looked bug-like, I think." "Yeah, probably something made by Anderson." At least you could tell they were honest, as you asked them who the additional folk were they saw and how many there were. "I saw... I think another smaller bug girl in front of them?" "Really? Her tail didn't look like it." "I just saw the big one and the scientist. There were more of them?" "Goddamn, Varren, are you blind or something?"

The group were starting to bicker a bit about the things they had seen, only for Nikita to hush them. "Guys, let me do the talking, before you give each other headaches, okay?" Nikita would take over, answering you a bit more confidently than his men. "The additional people were presumably subjects. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if there were other forces attached to them. Forces like the one you mentioned." It was a bit of a vague response. Though, if he was lying to you right now, then that meant that he didn't see ALL of the girls at once. Of course, Nikita could be playing some mind games. Still, you'd ask if they had any weapons on them. Nikita thought about it, before shaking his head. "Not that I saw any. They seemed unarmed and rather calm. I wonder if they saw us and just quietly tried to escape from us, hoping they wouldn't see us." You would continue telling Derek to note things down, playing into your own 'foolishness' by cursing at yourself for having seemingly missed these subjects.

You'd ask how long ago they had seen the subjects, one of the Blackstar's responding quickly. "A few minutes before we met you guys, I'd say." The other Blackstar soldiers nodded along, as it was clear that they had seen the girls as they were heading this way a short time ago. At least they didn't see everything and had gotten some things wrong. Regardless, your foolishness had convinced them somewhat. You'd tell your men that maybe you should go looking after these threats. You'd claim that you could easily find them and deal with them, which made some of the Blackstars scoff and chuckle. "You may have done well killing that rabbit, but... maybe these itsy bitsy bugs are a little outside your league." One of the Blackstar soldiers said, the others smugly chuckling along.

Nikita kept quiet however, pondering before responding more calmly. "You know, perhaps we should go hunting for them? After all, you guys are more focused on this queen subject, right? Perhaps we could just... go ahead and deal with these lesser threats for you. Hey, maybe we'll even find some useful intel for you guys related to this queen subject?" This was the ideal outcome, really. Though, it was difficult to say if Nikita believed your little spiel about having 'missed' these subjects. For all you know, this could be his attempt to see how you'd react to such a suggestion. Fortunately, one man would do a decent job further hammering in the foolishness. "Hey, don't go hogging our subjects now! You guys can't just come in here and take our kills!" Mike said arrogantly, you wondering if he was being partially serious with what he said. It certainly amused Nikita, who would look over you. "You sure this guy isn't a Heroes soldier or something?" Nikita said jokingly, to the amusement of his men. Afterwards, he'd continue his train of thought.

"Anyway, like I said, why don't we help each other? We go looking for these subjects you 'missed' and you guys can continue your search for clues on this queen. We both win!" It seemed like a solid way to get rid of them. Having them go after the girls who were hiding in the nearby vents, after which you could head some other direction. Before you could accept though, there was something a bit more questionable Nikita brought up. "Of course, if we do work together, I suggest we exchange tablet ID's so we can easily communicate. We need a way to give each other intel, after all!" Having these smug bastards constantly be able to contact you was not exactly an alluring thought to you and your men. Especially since he could be planning to abuse it somehow. Though as you thought about the offer, Nikita did add one final clause to his suggestion. "I'd be totally fine with you not wanting to work with us. Though, we would certainly appreciate it if you also shared whatever files you have on this 'queen' to us. We gave you a bunch of intel on the subjects you missed. It's only fair you return the favour, correct?"

There was no way he could force you to give those details, unless if he planned on getting into a fire fight with you and your men. Then again, maybe it was his way of giving a little 'out' of this whole scenario. He and his men had already put you and your men on edge. Perhaps if you shared the intel and just told them to leave, they wouldn't bother you any further. Then again, you could also just pretend to work together to get them to leave you alone. Though, who knows how they could abuse your willingness to co-operate and share your tablet contact info. And if you decided to deceive them further, they could always report that to the higher-ups... and god knows how the higher-ups would react to that. Not to mention, their reaction to the entire meeting that was taking place right now.

>What do you do next?

>Accept the offer to work together. Share your tablet info with them so they could leave you alone. Maybe they would actually be helpful and not abuse your willingness to co-operate?
>Give them the files on the Queen and pray that they'd leave you alone. At worst, the details would be out in the open. At best, these guys could actually come in and help you with Feng.
>Give him some other files to hopefully get him to leave you alone. You had to obviously explain why you didn't want to hand over the Queen files, but maybe he'd be willing to compromise. It will definitely be awkward to explain though. (Write in which file you'll give away and why.)
>Tell them to just piss off already. What were they going to do? Shoot you or threaten you? Report you to the government for being secretive and unwilling to share key files? Actually, maybe there were some risks to this.
>Go for a surprise attack. These guys had small arms. Lydia was still in the room with the vents leading to the girls. Maybe Morgan could come in for a surprise attack and you could deal with these guys together? (Write in your plan of attack.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6085960
>Accept the offer to work together. Share your tablet info with them so they could leave you alone. Maybe they would actually be helpful and not abuse your willingness to co-operate?
Not sure how they could abuse this, aside from spam calling us. Maybe check with Derek first to make sure they can't track our location with it or anything.

>>6085959
>A FEW MINUTES BEFORE YOU MET US
"YOU MEAN THEY WERE RIGHT HERE AND YOU CHOSE TO WASTE TIME FUCKING TALKING? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WE GOT PAID FOR THAT DAMN RABBIT? JUST ONE OF THEM WOULD HAVE BEEN OUR ENTIRE CAREER'S WORTH OF PROFIT" -Not words for word, but along these lines.
>Accept the offer to work together. Share your tablet info with them so they could leave you alone. Maybe they would actually be helpful and not abuse your willingness to co-operate?
>Something else...
Tell him Blackstar's job is the explore, why don't THEY go searching where these guys are coming from and WE go after ths subjects.
Besides, it was looking into there that we found those blackstar corpses, so its definitely more up their alley.
Leave it to us more combat oriented groups to deal with the subjects.
As for the tablet, we can share info on where we found the blackstar corpses, and where we saw the patrols/killed them. We gave them info on what we found, they gave us info on what they found.
>>6086051
We have a lot more important info on our device then we should have, we can let them contact us, but we shouldn't just drop our information gathered. They could bug our tablet, or find out we have way more info than we should.

>>6086236
>They could bug our tablet, or find out we have way more info than we should.
If someone gives you their phone number, can you look at the files they have on their phone? Doesn't seem too intuitive that just providing contact info would let them do all that. Of course if we know differently we shouldn't share it, and I wanted to double check with one of our tech experts Derek, but otherwise it seems a fairly harmless giveaway.

>>6086311
no I agreed with that, we can share our contact information, I was just stating we shouldn't share anything beyond that.

>>6086313
Ok, I thought contact info was all this option was offering based on this part of the update:
>I suggest we exchange tablet ID's so we can easily communicate. We need a way to give each other intel, after all!" Having these smug bastards constantly be able to contact you was not exactly an alluring thought to you and your men. Especially since he could be planning to abuse it somehow.

So yeah, quick check with Derek to make sure he can't abuse it too badly and then go ahead with it.

>>6085960
>Accept the offer to work together. Share your tablet info with them so they could leave you alone. Maybe they would actually be helpful and not abuse your willingness to co-operate?

Fuck it. Maybe we can use them as cannon fodder for the queen instead of the subjects? Also supporting >>6086236 and >>6086365

>Accept the offer to work together. Share your tablet info with them so they could leave you alone. Maybe they would actually be helpful and not abuse your willingness to co-operate?
Not wanting to cause any further complications, you decided to just be nice and give your tablet contact information. You did worry that they'd abuse it somehow, bugging into it or doing something else with it. You'd thus quickly and quietly ask Derek if he thought it was safe to do so. "Of course it's safe! What could we do with your contact information?" One of Nikita's men said, after which Derek would softly respond. "I'll just do a quick safety check. That's all. I think neither of us would like it if Annie or some other technology-oriented subject uses this opportunity." It was a strong explanation, one which Nikita and his men did buy. And as Derek did the check-up, you decided to continue your grilling just a tiny bit. Enough to hopefully get these guys to leave you be or treat you a bit more respectfully.

You'd ask them why they had opted to waste time talking to you and your men. Especially after they had literally spotted subjects passing by this location a short while ago. "Hey! To be fair, you guys also missed them! You've got no right to now complain that we 'missed' them!" One of Nikita's men, after which Nikita spoke calmly. "Look, we thought the noises you were making in that room behind you was actually the subjects in question. That's why we waited for an ambush here. How could we've known it was actually you guys?" Despite their reasoning, you still argued that they should've continued scouting somewhat forward. It had only been a few minutes, and they could've just left you be once they realised the subjects were not in the room you were in. Blackstar was the scouting group of this operation, after all. You even said that you would've been able to help them deal with these subjects, given that your role was that of an actual kill squad.

You even brought up the sheer profit the kill could've netted them. You openly asked why they decided to spend time questioning you instead of doing something really profitable. You could tell that Nikita was becoming a bit more displeased with what you were saying. Though given the silence he and his men had, it was clear they had no real retort to this. You would also reiterate one last time that they should be out searching where these subjects are coming from. That way, they could provide proper intel for your squad or other kill squads. Eventually, you relaxed your tone a little, and said you'd give some details about the locations of the Blackstar corpses. It was the fairest exchange of intel at this point. "So, not even handing over any files you guys have on subjects, huh?" Nikita said a bit more annoyedly, you stating that you'd at least provide details about where you had found the Queen's forces. They could look around there for any clues as to where Feng's forces came from.

"Well, since you're so insistent." Nikita would respond after a short pause. You could tell that your lecturing had upset the Blackstar soldiers somewhat. They remained silent, as they looked over at Derek. He'd thankfully quickly get the tablet ready, showing how he had linked your tablet up with his. "There we go. We can now easily message you and you can message us. I've also already given the approximate coordinates of where we found the Blackstar corpses, as well as the coordinates of where we found your men. Sounds good?" Derek asked to Nikita, who gave a slow nod. "Of course." He'd look over to his men, before looking ahead. "Well, suppose we should follow your... advice now and perhaps go looking for those subjects, huh?" Though he'd then look over your shoulder, and ask you one final thing. "May we check the room behind you?"

The sudden question certainly left you and your men stunned. "You know, since it's our job to explore." Nikita added onto that, clearly saying it with a smug look on his face. "It's just a borin' old storage room. We've already thoroughly checked it, including the vents which connect to it. So I highly doubt ya will find anythin' special there." Thaddeus would say calmly, trying to dissuade Nikita from 'exploring' it. "Hmmm, you may never know! Besides, you guys missed the subjects passing by you. Perhaps you missed something else in there which we can find?" Nikita would suggest, as your men looked at you. Though, Anon would calmly try and speak before you could, hoping to succeed in making Nikita leave. "Look, those subjects are still out there. We've given you our contact info. Why don't you do as Mikhail said and just go looking for them? If you find them, you can contact us and we'll eagerly come over to help."

Thankfully, after another pause, Nikita would relent. "Very well then." It lifted quite the weight off of your shoulders, as Nikita would signal his men to head forward. Your men quietly watched them leave, remaining vigilant in case Nikita tried anything funny. Though as Nikita was about to leave, he'd approach you and put a hand on your shoulder. "Glad we can work together down here, Mikhail! We'll try to remain in contact and provide you with as much useful intel as we can find! Hopefully, you can use it to make sure you don't miss any more subjects passing right by you, hahaha. Oh, and make sure you don't leave us on hold, or provide lacklustre intel." After he finished, he scoffed and tightly gripped your shoulder. He'd soon lean forward to softly murmur something in your ear.

"Otherwise, we'll have to tell some of our other allies about your failure to notice those subjects we saw. It'd be quite embarrassing and damaging to your reputation if that news came out, don't you think? Not to mention, inviting more kill-happy squads to come over to this place to properly hunt down and... take down the subjects and survivors you failed to spot."

Nikita would let go of your shoulder, giving you a softer pat before looking to your men. "Good luck with that Queen. Try not to die before you tell us where she or her forces are located." He'd let out a scoff, before turning away and heading further down the hall. You and your men would watch them fade into the distance, eventually seeing them taking a right turn down a different section of the office. Once they were gone, Derek would look down at the tablet as it seemed to get a notification. "Nikita just sent us... ugh, 'Let us know what you found before 8 o' clock tonight. Hope that's enough time for you to make some good findings'." Your men were still a bit on edge and not all too pleased. It seemed that Nikita and his men were going to abuse your ‘generosity’ to their heart’s content to squeeze intel out of you. And given what he said, it would be quite risky for him to reveal to the world that more unknown subjects were in this area. The damage to your reputation was nothing compared to the risk of more death squads like Diamond Dogs coming over to this location.

>What do you do next?

>Go back into the room with a few of your men to talk with the girls and let them know what happened. It was for the best they realised what was going on so you could together think of a plan. (Write in who you’ll take along and what you’ll tell the girls.)
>Take the girls and start booking it. Keeping them in this place was not safe at all, and you had to find a location where they could safely stay at. Even if only for just today. (Write in where you’ll try and head to.)
>Send some strong words to Nikita. Maybe figure out what the hell he even wanted and why he was doing all of this. Perhaps there was some way you could ensure he wouldn’t keep harassing you too often? (Write in what you’ll send to him.)
>Just send the queen details over to Nikita. Maybe if you did the one thing he really wanted from you, he’d leave you alone for a while or would start treating you a bit more respectfully.
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6086743
>Go back into the room with a few of your men to talk with the girls and let them know what happened. It was for the best they realised what was going on so you could together think of a plan. (Write in who you’ll take along and what you’ll tell the girls.)
Just us, everything that happened.
>Send some strong words to Nikita. Maybe figure out what the hell he even wanted and why he was doing all of this. Perhaps there was some way you could ensure he wouldn’t keep harassing you too often? (Write in what you’ll send to him.)
"Why are you asking us to do your job? You're the scouts, you let us know what you find."
"Before 7:30 tonight."
"Bitch."

"So, not even handing over any files you guys have on subjects, huh"
We don't have anything that we haven't already submitted to the gov. Along with our Kills.
Also that we missed them when we were investigating shit they were behind us is no were near the blunder that a fucking scouting team losing them because they wanted to talk shit and giggle, especially when they actually DID see them.

But alas

>Go back into the room with a few of your men to talk with the girls and let them know what happened. It was for the best they realised what was going on so you could together think of a plan. (Write in who you’ll take along and what you’ll tell the girls.)
>Discuss with your men…

We need to find a place to put you guys, because at this rate we are all gonna be put on the execution list if we don't find a room to hide you in. Need to ground ourselves in the fact that there are multiple squads of roaming kill teams dedicated entirely to your execution, and we can't help if we are also determined to be on the opposition.

Can we go through the vent(no way to confirm the back entrance is safe or not)? Leave a camera at the entrance if we have some to see if they are trailing us, and have Derek check for any updates on the rest of the cameras. If there is a spot for us to keep going through the vent, we need to take it and get the hell out of here and find a spot to drop em off before finishing the queen.

Now this isn't for asking or discussing with the others but between us anons
I have another suggestion, how about we just report that there were subjects in the area first, and that blackstar saw them by us and didn't pursue? We call his bluff and post all the info. Pull the rug right out from under em.

Anyway, Priority is to drop the girls off on the way to killing the queen. Let's hope Oreas made some progress.

>>6086859
He may have evidence, and even if he doesn't lets keep the antagonism low. I suggest we just find something that is most certainly a death trap, and making them want to go investigate, and end up dead.
Say for example Queen who's killed em before, or maybe Annie has a suggestion (she likes death squads dying)
Either way, even though Blackstar is usually a decent support group, if they have reasons to doubt our alligence (which they do but can't confirm hopefully) than their behavior makes sense. It is because it makes sense that making them disappear would be a welcome event.

>>6087076
>He may have evidence, and even if he doesn't lets keep the antagonism low
If he has evidence he's reporting it whether we're antagonistic or not, we aren't friends. I want to establish ourselves as abrasive and difficult to work with now so it looks less suspicious in the future when we're not cooperative.

>>6087076
Supporting

>>6087097
He could have evidence and not plan on showing the government yet because he can use it as blackmail.

>>6087108
What this anon said. he wants information over some percived dirt he has on us. If he thinks he has leverage, he will want to milk it. It is in his interest to exploit us, it is in our interest to lead him to his death.
We are now playing a politics game. We just need to organize a Kennedy for their entire team in the form of a subject encounter.

>>6087108
>>6087118
If he's holding out on big GalGov money for blackmail opportunities, you really think a few insults are going to push him over the edge? Ok...

>>6087121
It's simply an investment. Would you rather a million euros/pounds/dollars/ect now or ten million down the road? Him informing Galgov that we are traitor will probably not pay even a quarter as well as a subject kill. So, drain us of intel. Get as much as possible and give it to the gov for lodes of money and ideally bag a few subjects too. Only reason for him to release the intel is once things are wrapping up if he really wants to be a greedy scumbag but at the rate things are going that's likely an in game year from now at best. Even so, if we are so overtly hostile to him, he can just put even more pressure on us for intel as punishment for annoying them. Let us not antagonize the guy who's holding the lever to a trapdoor while we have a noose around our neck.

>>6087192
Or we could push him into revealing his hand

>>6087218
This is playing a stupid game for a stupid prize.
There reward isn't worth the risk, hell the reward isn't even worth the payoff of the alternative we gave by playing differently. I see why you would use it, but the strategy overall has its con, and in our situation the other way around makes more sense. I am not saying we should act submissive or even provide anything, but we shouldn't be poking the hornets nest when its our lives on the line.

>Go back into the room with a few of your men to talk with the girls and let them know what happened. It was for the best they realised what was going on so you could together think of a plan.
With Nikita having sent a rather obnoxious message and him having clearly shown his true intent, you were very much upset. Though, you didn't let it show and would tell your men that you'd opt to be somewhat diplomatic for now. "Why don't we just kindly tell those bastards to fuck off? Or better yet, give them some intel which will be helpful: the directions to the nearest psychotic murderer!" Zaria said angrily, you telling that the latter would be a good idea for the future. However, you told your men to keep calm and not act brash. You told Derek not to send Nikita any response yet. You first wanted to have a little chat with the girls to see how they were faring. "Very well, Mik." Thaddeus would say for your men, after which Lars spoke up as well. "Do hurry up though. I think I speak for all of us when I say we have to get the hell out of here as fast as possible."

With that, you'd enter the room once more. Lydia was still in there, looking into the vents and having taken off her helmet. She pulled herself free and looked over at you. "Oh, thank god, it's you." She'd get on her two feet, before approaching with a concerned look on her face. "I was worried that those bastards would really come in here, so I told the girls to move a bit further ahead and out of sight." Hearing that Lydia had listened in, you asked how the girls had taken the news and if she was doing fine as well. It would've been most shocking to her as well. "I'm fine. I was prepared to pretend like I was analysing the vents, in case those bastards did actually come in." Lydia would look over your shoulder at the door, perhaps expecting the rest of your men to enter as well. Of course, you simply headed straight for the vent and told the girls to quickly come to you.

Shortly after, Morgan would come crawling over, closely followed by Anofelis, Kamara, Chrys, Laura and Oreas. "Are those guys gone?" Chrys calmly asked, after which Morgan spoke more furiously. "Those cowards probably fled! They dared to harass us and try to hunt us down?! Had I gotten the chance to put them on the edge of my blade, they would've learnt to respect us!" Anofelis seemed more confused, asking an obvious but fair question. "So, what just happened, Mikhail? Were they bad guys or not?" You'd calmly explain to the girls what had happened, how these guys had spotted them and tried to make you look incompetent. They had forced you into an 'alliance', where you had to provide intel. And if you failed, they would spread the news of the girls being here around the place. Obviously, that last part really upset the girls, with Oreas mumbling in disappointment. "We're sorry for putting you in this situation, Mik. We didn't know that we were being followed by these guys..."

You told Oreas that it wasn't their fault, and that you had taken too many risks already by having the girls wander around the place with you. "What are you going to do with them now though? You've given them your contacts. Will you actually try and provide them valuable intel?" Laura would ask, you contemplating before admitting that you would try and plan something to get back at these bastards. Though, getting the girls somewhere safe was far more important in your mind. Not just for their own wellbeing, but because it'd potentially reduce the power which Nikita had over you. After all, how useful would the intel he could provide about the girls be, if the girls weren't even in this area anymore? And with that in mind, you'd tell the girls to stay in the room with the door left open. That way, they could still join in with the discussion on what to do next.

>Discuss with your men…
You'd leave the room and look to your men, immediately telling them that you were going to shift gears. Instead of focusing on the queen, you'd try and find a place for the girls. The longer you walked around with them out in the open, the larger the chance that you'd all end up on the execution list. You'd ask Oreas and the girls if they had made further progress in the vents whilst you were talking with Nikita and his men. Oreas looked away, before responding quietly. "I-I didn't know you... w-wanted me to do that." Laura quickly stepped in to absolve Oreas from her lack of searching efforts. "We didn't want to create any noise, lest those guys heard us. Besides, we didn't wanna escape too far away from you guys, in case something bad happened to you." It made some sense that the girls didn't just create a bunch of distance between you and them. Still, at least there was still a chance you could find something through the vents.

Thus you told your men to get ready to traverse the vents. You also suggested to Derek that he could leave a camera near the entrance to see if anyone was trailing you. "What if Nikita comes back over here and starts screwing with it though? Or worse, he tries to find a way to abuse the fact we've got such a camera lying about? I got a feeling he’ll use any opportunity to question us or get more intel out of us." Mike asked rather anxiously, you stating how you felt it was unlikely to be abused. The rest of your men also felt that it was unlikely to cause you any trouble in the future, Derek giving a nod and getting ready to place a camera down already. And with that, you’d tell everyone how you hoped the vents would take you somewhere safe. It was far safer than walking the hallways with the girls. Being electrocuted was far better than being spotted by Nikita and his friends… or worse. “Shall I help lead the way then? Or would you prefer I stay at the back to protect us from those crooks?” Morgan asked more confidently, you telling her to remain in the back. You would lead the way forward with Oreas by your side.

Oreas would already head back into the vents, you following suit right away. Though, you’d quickly find yourself being approached by Laura. “Mikhail, I personally suggest we either find a location closer to the surface, or somewhere to the south of here. Think about it: The green section has just been turned into a large forward operating base. So, whatever forces are heading to this place, are likely to be supplied from there. If we head south, we’ll likely avoid them. Besides, the locations to the south of here have already been explored somewhat, which I imagine will result in less scouts being there. As for going upwards, I feel like most squads are also planning on heading deeper, rather than heading closer to the surface…” Laura’s suggestion was definitely one to take into account. You already had found one vent which led further upwards, which could give you access to the upper areas.

You told Laura that you could discuss it with your men right here. It actually gave you another thought, as you realised there was one way you could really cripple Nikita’s plan to syphon intel from you. If you, your men and the girls were going to leave this place, you could very well just report that the girls were spotted here. Not only would it make Nikita’s threat null and void, but you could also humiliate him instead by pointing out how he had missed the girls. Suggesting it to your men did make them visibly enticed. “Could be a good way to screw with them.” Anon commented, to which some of your men nodded. “Hmmm, I am not entirely sure if it’d be worth it. What if the groups exploring this place realise that we’ve been screwing with the vent systems? They could use them to maybe try and find us.” Chrys mumbled, which was something of a good point. Besides, Nikita could still find other ways to harass you, even if you did pull the rug right from under him. Hell, maybe foiling his plan would only make him up the ante out of pure spite.

>What do you do next?

>Follow Laura’s suggestion and try and find a way closer towards the surface, or a way to the south of here through the vents. Maybe Anofelis could fly you and the others up through whatever way up there was. (Write in which direction you’ll take.)
>Head some other specific direction through the vents. Maybe going deeper was still the safest bet now. (Write in where you’ll head instead.)
>Publish the intel about the girls being in this area. Whatever Nikita could do to retaliate wouldn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. (Write in what you’ll publish specifically.)
>Contact Nikita to try and test his bluff, or the limits of what he knew about you and your men. (Write in what you’ll say to or ask him.)
>Just randomly explore the vents until you find a secluded and safe area. Maybe you’d get lucky and find something nearby. (Write in if you’ll split up or search around for something specific.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6087627
>Follow Laura’s suggestion and try and find a way closer towards the surface, or a way to the south of here through the vents. Maybe Anofelis could fly you and the others up through whatever way up there was.
Upstairs. If we get lucky, we can gain entry to parts of the upper facility that aren't very accessible the normal way like this and even less likely to be stumbled into. Just find a good place to stash some of the girls and then we'll be back down here. Don't forget about our appointment with Arika, though.

I still think we should have just opened fire. Ultimately, I say drip feed him the bare minimum to keep him quiet while we find a safe place for the girls a substantial way away from here, finish Feng's arc and then report it ourselves and be done. This place is going to be swarming with activity anyway after we deliver her head, same as with Caera. It might literally have to be her head since she's way too big to carry.

>>6087627
>Follow Laura’s suggestion and try and find a way closer towards the surface, or a way to the south of here through the vents. Maybe Anofelis could fly you and the others up through whatever way up there was. (Write in which direction you’ll take.)
South - all new troops are going to come down through the surface levels. GalGov just brought in Scary Monsters, they might bring in more, or move in themselves. Plus the girls won't have anywhere to run if they are found up there.

>>6087643
I think we should have stayed hidden, opening fire on guys with excellent armor, is not a good idea. If even one survives we are blacklisted. I kinda was willing to bet the girls hid away and we could show them the vent, but ig that was out of scope for us.
Regardless, no use worrying over spilled milk.
We could make him head over to andrei's office.
Its buried and shit, but he doesn't know that.
This is one of the rare situations in which I would be fine with asking Annie if she had info she wanted us to drip feed to this squad to lead em somewhere she'd want em. (it's what she's been doing across the entire facility, we'd just be helping by providing an alternative method of communication/deception to this one squad.)
Alternatively, after we get closer to the queen, we can mention significant survivor activity, have them get in contact with queen's forces/engage them, where we use the distraction to go for the kill.
Not sure if surface or vent is the better play, so I'll not vote on it just yet.

>>6087643
Opening fire would potentially be viable only if we had Annie's full attention to screw up their communications and radio transmissions so they couldn't fuck us over before they die. Otherwise I do agree we just give him what he want's so he shuts up and leaves us alone. As for what we should do, I'm conflicted. While death squads will certainly try and search lower portions of the facility more than upper ones, unless we can find some place obscure and hard to reach a higher position wouldn't necessarily be better as while patrols will be less likely, that will only be the case once the upper floors are fully cleared out, and given the scale of the facility that won't be for some time. Realistically, if we want to ensure our girls safety, we need Arika as then we can make all entrances to the room completely collapsed and sealed off and have Arika dig out an exit whenever needed. Until then, it is likely better to leave them in the depths that are hard to reach before eventually trying to transport them to some secure spot up above that won't be looked at.

Also having the girls with us is great for their utility and combat support against other subjects. If we could find some way to ensure we have constant vision on nearby squads so this doesn't happen again that would be nice. Though unless we find some all seeing eye subject or one that has magnetoreception and can sense electromagnetics while having good perception we probably won't be able to. In laymans terms, we probably should try and get best girl Annie if we can. She probably has something along those lines.

>>6087627
>Head some other specific direction through the vents. Maybe going deeper was still the safest bet now.
Delve into the depths. We have a vent that goes straight down. Time to take it as carefully as we can.

>>6088162
>Also having the girls with us is great for their utility and combat support against other subjects.
Having Morgan and Ano is great. Oreas was kinda useful one time. Chrys can at least make conversation, and Kamara is just a disaster.

>>6088217
Ano is extremely useful for her strength and mobility and is arguably the most useful subject of all of them so far. Morgan would be highly effective in combat, yet her stubbornness can cause problems. Fortunately, she isn't the lawful stupid knight I thought she was given she listened to reason and didn't just charge blindly at the blackmailing Blackstars. Oreas is useful for her phase ability and deactivating electricity grids, plus she wants to actually be able to contribute to a fight so later on she can be useful for combat as well if we can train her. Kamara would be extremely good as a living camera and scout if she wasn't so much of a craven that she'd probably jump at her own shadow. If she can overcome her fear she'd be highly useful. And Chrys... I guess if she's trained like Oreas she could be decent? Given Kamara isn't utilizable as a scout she could fill in that role given her mobility. But the first subject we met is arguably the most useless in terms of capabilities. There's a reason she's the only member of the stinky womanlet club.

Also I kind of don't blame Kamara for being a coward given what other subjects can do and the simple fact she wasn't made for combat. Sure, it's annoying. But if you were in her place I doubt you'd be that brave either. It's one thing to read about someone getting mind raped, crushed slowly and agonizingly, raped or experimented on in a horrific way. It's another to risk having that happen to you personally. Plus I am waiting for that moment where she overcomes her fear to save someone and potentially get killed in the process. It would be kinda funny if the person she saves is the same one she sent to the hospital when we first met her.

Gonna skip out on an update for today. Mostly because I need to go to sleep quite soon, and because we're currently in a bit of a deadlock: We've got one vote for heading upwards, one vote for heading to the south, and one for heading into the depths. I'll post a notice in the discord as well, so maybe some other Anons who are lurking from there can give their thoughts.

Also, an important notice: Starting on Monday, I'll begin my internship which could mean losing out a lot of free time. I did manage to work well on updates even with Uni, but I am admittedly worried that this will take away a lot more time than regular uni. I'll still try and get some things done during breaks or in the free time I got left, but I do worry that it will impact the rate of updates. Hope you guys can understand.

Anyway, I'll try and get an update in tomorrow when I get the chance!

>>6088269
Ano has been great, but she is the one who got spotted just now after all - if we're leaving some of the girls behind to be less conspicuous in the future, keeping the giant bug with us somewhat defeats that point. I'd love to have her around, but it might be better as an as-needed thing rather than a permanent companion. Even if learning we're not taking her with us because she's a potential liability would probably make her cry. I thought much the same about Morg initially, but I've come to like her and I mean what I said and by the end of this quest I want Oreas to be our protege. While Chrys is agreeable and seems to want to be useful, being a small and high-mobility flying creature isn't as useful here in the tunnels as it would be in other environments and she's only gotten to use her acid/sleeping powder abilities once with the chemical barrels. I'd like to find Anderson's office at some point so I can get ahold of his notes to find out exactly what she was designed to be - if he ever even finished her before he moved on to his spiderfu.

I don't really blame Kamara either, but she is my least favourite of the cast at the moment. She has suffered from something of a lack of 3D characterisation - the other girls have established personalities that we've gotten to know and see more of organically, but Kamara says and does so little that we haven't had that chance with her chronic lack of screentime and I can't recall much about her beyond "is a nervous wreck". Much of the time I forget she's even with us.

Random Thought time. Why are all the subjects female anyway? The Watsonian answer would be that there must be something in the biotech they were using that worked better with XX than XY like the opposite of the Astartes, though the Doylist answer would be that it's because this website is mostly male.

>>6088312
You do bring a good point about Ano's size being a give away. Though again, if we get someone who can sense incoming death squads early enough for everyone else to hide it won't be too much of a problem. Finding Anderson's office is also a good idea, or just anything with files on the girls we currently have so we can learn what they were specifically made for and what their creators viewed them as.

I agree Kamara hasn't had too much screen time. She mainly had her shine in her introduction. Though, she has had some interaction past that. Like when Mona died. I wouldn't be surprised if the one subject that can go invisible is intentionally the one forgotten and has the least screentime as a joke.

As for your last question, why not both? Though, in the case of the former, another question comes in as to why hermaphroditism is viable in subjects but not full on male examples.

>>6088162
>>6088217
The benefits we get from being able to go back to homebase outweigh any benefit we get from any of the girls. We are better off not jeapordizing ourselves, its a massive intel hazard. Annie has her hands full across the rest of the facility, she can help every once in a while, but I don't think she's available to be our support whenever we need it. All it takes is one squad seeing us and a monster girl before alerting high command and we are fucked. I'm sure they can help, but there is a time and a place, and we are most certainly not in either right now. Find a place to deposit them, do so, and go on our way. At best maybe give a small radio to Morgan and have her move separate from us. But for now we need to find a spot to leave the girls.
>>6087643
support.
we had excellent success with the first surface shelter, we'll need to bring them rations for our later expeditions, but we can make do. For now we need to drop em off so we can kill queen and deal with the blackstar squad.
After we kill queen we can continue exploring and perhaps find a better location deeper in the facility, but we need to stop gambling on finding something via exploring deeper like we have and try something that's tested and true like a closer to the surface location that requires a keycard to access. Everyone is moving deeper in, hidding in plain sight is best, at least for the short term, which is needed right now.

>>6088389
Also can someone confirm if the engineer we met took the radio? I forgot, but if he did get one from us, there isn't much harm in asking him if he knows a safe spot for monster girls to hide in. If he doesn't respond, he doesn't respond. If he does, we got lucky.
Alternatively, there were guards who also got a headset from us, they might not be in range, but we can give it a shot and see if they are.

>>6088389
No shit sherlock. Base is more important sure, however the girls are a huge help. If we went up against that rabbit and didn't have tons of cannon fodder in the form of the guards with us we'd likely have multiple casualties. And that was just a threat level 7 subject. Now, imagine if we fight the queen and she is just as capable as the rabbit on top of having tons of guards, some of which might be subjects themselves. If we miss our railgun shot or only graze her we are FUBAR without subject support. Annie might be busy sure, but if she's with our group our safety is tied to hers so she can focus on that. Besides, we can also just get some other subject that is able to help spot death squads before we can.

As for moving to the surface, part of the entire reason we moved the girls from that location was the increasing patrols past the area. So again, until the upper floors are fully cleared out and death squads aren't searching them and are instead fully focused on clearing out the deep facility we should relocate them below rather than above.

>>6088501
We moved them down from the surfacs because the green area had food and space, it was not a matter of safety. We moved them out of the green area for security.
There have been developments that have shown death squads moving deeper (the flood zone) and going to where more activity is (little monsters being deeper in).
So far we have been exploring deeper
And so far we have not found shelter.
We need to kill queen sooner rather than later, and for that a short term closer to surface shelter thats hidden is the better bet. After which when we DO find a location deeper in, we can transport them there. Same as when we found green section.

>if we had a subject that could detect guards
>if annie is with us
But we dont and she isn't. Current plans are not going to be drawn up on convenient imaginary hypotheticals. When we find ourselves a subject that can do that or Annie herself, we can consider it. As I said earlier, if we give Morgan a radio we might be able to use her provided we keep distance and coordinate, but otherwise info hazard applies to the girls.

>Follow Laura’s suggestion and try and find a way closer towards the surface, or a way to the south of here through the vents. Maybe Anofelis could fly you and the others up through whatever way up there was.
It was a tough choice, deciding where you wanted to take the girls. Each option had something good going for it, as well as something incredibly problematic or risky. In the end though, you decided that Laura gave the best advice, and that heading upwards was your safest bet. Though even then, you didn't 100% feel comfortable with the choice. Still, you would tell your men to follow you back to the spot which would let you move upwards, asking Ano if she could help lift you and your men up there. "Okay!" She said happily, as you navigated the vents to get to where you wanted to go. It was not too difficult to find the vent upwards, Oreas saying something quite smart. "Maybe I should be the first to go up there with Anofelis? Maybe some parts up here are still under electricity." The only real risk to letting Ano and Oreas go first was that they could be spotted by death squads or other folks who were checking the vents. Though so far, it seemed like nobody would be traversing these vents aside from you and your men. Thus, you and your men gave Oreas the okay, as she would clamber up on Anofelis and the two would head upwards. "Let's hope they don't rush this. I don't want Ano to get shocked and come tumbling down the vents." Lars said, which made Mike speak up a bit smugly. "Given how she got electrocuted by a trap potentially intended to kill, I think she'll be fine."

As you and your men waited at the base of the vents, Anon would soon break the silence with an interesting suggestion. "Say, Kamara, you climb as well, right?" Kamara was taken back by the sudden question, looking around and fidgeting a little. "Ummm, y-yeah? Uhh, why are you a-asking?" Anon would speak reassuringly, bringing up the obvious suggestion for what she could do.

"Would it be possible for you to maybe carry some of us upwards as well? I mean, you're pretty strong, I imagine." To this, Zaria would jokingly respond. "She most certainly is, I can assure you of that." Kamara clearly hated being reminded of her little stint with Zaria, but tried desperately to ignore it. "Ummm, maybe? I, uhhh, I don't know if I can carry people a-all that easily. I mean, I-I have lots of sharp bits a-and holding onto me p-probably is not the s-safest thing. I d-don't wanna risk injuring you g-guys." Given that it was the first use you had found for Kamara, Anon would speak up a bit more confidently. "Come on, why don't you try and carry me up there? Or someone else?" Thaddeus spoke up reassuringly, hoping to give Kamara a chance to shine as well. "Ya can try carryin' me up. I'm quite tough, so ya don't need to worry about hurtin' me by accident." Kamara paused, before nodding softly. "O-Okay, I'll... g-give it a try."

You could tell that some of your men were not entirely sure why Anon tried to get Kamara to help out. She clearly didn't want to get too involved with you guys, given her clear anxiety and wish to just hide. However, once Anofelis came down, you'd find out Anon's reasoning soon enough. "Oreas said there was a vent which was under electricity all the way upstairs. She already dealt with it and said we can come upstairs now as well." Thus, Thaddeus would squirm his way past you and signalled Kamara to come over. "Well, Kamara, let's try this." Kamara nervously made her way over, trying to find a way to lift Thaddeus up. She would try and grab Thaddeus with her claws, but obviously that made climbing impossible. Fortunately, her tail did seem to do the trick, as it wrapped around Thaddeus and soon was able to lift him up. "There we go, las. Ya got this, right?" Thaddeus said reassuringly, as you could tell Kamara was stained. "Y-Yeah!" She let out, before she started clawing her way up the vent.

"Anon, are you sure this is a good idea?" Mike soon asked, after which even Laura stepped forward. "Kamara isn't exactly the strongest of our group. If she screws up, it can end pretty badly. Especially considering she does have that sharp tail part..." When even Laura seemed to have her doubts, it was clear that maybe this was too risky a move to take. However, Anon seemed ready, looking over to Anofelis. "Ano, can you maybe stay at the bottom of the vent and fly up in case Thaddeus does fall down?" Anofelis nodded, getting in position as Anon responded to the various concerns. "I've been thinking that all the girls have been able to serve us quite well. All aside from Kamara. Maybe, just maybe, we can try and ease her into helping us out? Especially when you consider the beneficial combat traits she has. She can hide in plain sight and has pretty deadly weapons on her!"

Before he could continue any further, Lydia would softly share her thoughts on the matter. "She told me that she does want to help us out in some ways, but that she really doesn't want to do any fighting or risk injuring anyone. She is very much a pacifist." Given that Oreas and Chrys were also pacifists previously and were now willing to learn how to use guns, it did seem that Kamara could maybe be convinced in some way. Though, it was definitely a bit of a pipedream right now. "Look, I know it is going to be tough to convince her. But if we can somehow convince her, she could serve us extremely well! She can be a scout, or maybe an assassin!" Despite Anon's excitement, your men were still visibly doubtful. "I can see her becoming a scout. But an assassin? I really doubt that is ever gonna happen..." Chrys would even respond, echoing the general feeling your men had.

Anon groaned and spoke a bit more defeatedly. "Look, I just think we could try and help each other out. We can help Kamara be less scared, and she can help us in a variety of other ways. Obviously, we're far away from her willingly killing people. She probably is too scared to hurt a fly right now. But, I still think we should help her get out of her shell a bit more and give her chances to be useful. The more we do so, the better our odds become in this place." And shortly after he finished, you'd hear Ano speak up quite happily. "Kamara made it!" Looking up the vent, you saw Thaddeus signalling you and the rest of your men to come up as well. You quickly told Anofelis to help someone else get up, Derek raising his head. "Let me go next. Oreas and I can try and navigate ahead already."

And given that Kamara had successfully helped you out (albeit in a tiny way), Anon would try and get more done. "Oh, Ano, once you get up there, ask Kamara if she wants to help carry up more of us. We can speed things up substantially if both you and her carry all of us up." Ano nodded, as she took Derek upwards, Anon seeming quite pleased. "It may take a while, but I think I'll try and get Kamara on board with our mission. Maybe it'll not help us right now, but I do think it'll be useful to teach her some things. Just like how you taught the girls to fire a gun, Mik." Of course, given that your current mission was to find a place to keep the girls safe, trying to now teach Kamara to be a combatant was maybe a little too late. Still, it was at least a decent suggestion for if the girls needed to defend themselves. And fortunately, it seemed Kamara was willing to help again as she got down once more along with Anofelis. "Who do we carry next?" Ano asked, Kamara still looking a little anxious yet willing to help out. Up next were Morgan and Mike. Anofelis carried the former whilst Kamara carried the latter.

"Please be careful with that tail of yours. It's bloody sharp." Mike commented, which didn't help Kamara feel all that optimistic. Still, she'd start lifting him up, with Ano lifting Morgan up. "Geez, you're heavy." Anofelis mumbled, which made Morgan go into a little ramble. "Well, when you're a knight with such brilliant armour and weaponry, it is to be expected, don't you think? Perhaps I should craft you some armour as well in the future, Ano? I imagine you looking quite fine in it!" You heard Morgan's ramble fade into the distance as she was taken upwards, Kamara and Anofelis slowly but surely getting everyone upwards through the vents. Lydia and Laura, Chrys and Anon, Lars and Zaria, all of them were taken upwards. And finally, you would be the last one, Anofelis coming down to pick you up. "Hello Mik!" She said happily, as she would gently hold you with two arms and started crawling up the vent. "Kamara is a little bit tired from carrying everyone. Other than that, everyone is safely upstairs waiting for us!"

Anofelis would gently carry you upwards, until you finally reached the top. You'd thank Anofelis and Kamara for their hard work, Kamara seeming a bit exhausted. Though, she was also very giddy and excited, speaking softly. "N-No need to... thank me! I... I am glad to h-have helped out!" Lars would hand Anofelis a bottle of water, her quickly drinking quite a bit. In the meantime, you'd squirm you way over to Derek and Oreas who were the furthest away from the drop-off. You asked them what floor you currently were on, Derek responding calmly. "Somewhere between the 30th and 40th floor. We've jumped up approximately 12 floors, is my guess." Up next, you asked what they had found in terms of nearby areas, also stating where you hoped to head to: Somewhere that wasn't very accessible through normal methods, and even less likely to be stumbled into. It also would help if it had some food sources for them to utilise.

"You're asking for a lot here, Mik. But, I think we can find something which suffices somewhat. I just checked the map, and this vent leads to a few interesting spaces. We're currently parallel to another corridor, which is heading to some sort of testing course for subjects." Oreas would chime in right away. "I think it's some sort of chamber for testing flight skills, but that's just my guess." Derek continued speaking calmly. "If we head further north, we get to a decently large assembly and distribution centre. The good news is that it seems these spaces have already been scanned somewhat. Only issue is that there are reports of 9-SB having ran past here, and she is currently being searched for. Other reports state that the place has also been trapped previously by PF-4." Honestly, you wanted to be quite fast right now, maybe not wanting to spend time looking for those two subjects. Especially since one of them was already being hunted down by Heathens, and you didn't want to risk encountering even more death squads now.

For now, you needed to just drop them off somewhere safe with food. Afterwards, you could continue your search for the queen, as well as finding a way to deal with Nikita and his irritating behaviour. Though, the meeting with Arika was also still on your mind, you hoping you could meet her and then maybe send her over to whatever location you'd find for the girls right now.

>What do you do next?

>Try and find a way even further up. The further towards the surface you went, the more distance you made away from other death squads.
>Head towards the testing range. It was spacious enough that there'd probably be some rooms you could barricade and turn into a small holdout for the girls.
>Head towards the distribution centre even further northwards. Given the fact that it was trapped already made it a risky area for death squads to go to, making it less appealing. It would be more of a risk for you and your men though, depending on the type of traps.
>Tell the girls to stay here whilst you explore. Just in case that you do happen to run into another death squad down here.
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

(You guys mentioned wanting more Kamara interactions, so I gave this. Anon wants to try and train Kamara into someone quite useful. Whether it will work is… gonna be difficult to say. In any case, I’ll try and utilise her just a tiny bit more in the future. Just cuz she’s a a scaredy cat, that doesn’t mean I should keep her uninteresting!)

(Anyway, like I said yesterday, tomorrow, I’ll start an internship which will maybe make quite the dent in my schedule. I do think it will be manageable, but I’ll let you guys know if things get too busy for me to write updates. Either way, do wish me luck, because I am admittedly anxious as fuck about it.)

>>6088787
>Try and find a way even further up. The further towards the surface you went, the more distance you made away from other death squads.
Go up more. we are still in active zones.

>>6088787
>>6088957
Supporting. If we are going to commit to this, may as well go all the way.

>>6088787
>Head towards the distribution centre even further northwards. Given the fact that it was trapped already made it a risky area for death squads to go to, making it less appealing. It would be more of a risk for you and your men though, depending on the type of traps.
Somewhere already explored, and trapped so it won't be explored again? Sounds almost ideal.

>>6088787
>Try and find a way even further up. The further towards the surface you went, the more distance you made away from other death squads.
Keep ascending our way to heaven. I think the ideal might be some kind of plant room on the top machine floors - the kind of boring shit nobody is interested in and easily accessible from the vents (perhaps we could collapse the main entrance to make it vent access-only?). Hey, I wonder if we could go all the way up and out? Just a peek outside, to be able to see the sky for the first time ever in their lives and for Chrys to catch some real rays. If we're lucky, we might even find some of the mythical children up here.
That said, I do want to investigate the warehouse if it might have food in it. We do still need to feed the girls after all and we're trying to feed half a dozen more people than our rations were meant for.

I wish Anon all the best. While I don't think she will ever become a killer, anything success at making Kam less of an undeveloped dead weight would be a win.

>Try and find a way even further up. The further towards the surface you went, the more distance you made away from other death squads.
Despite the options which Derek provided you, you still weren't satisfied. Given that this zone still had some activity, you wanted to go as further up as possible. After telling such, Derek seemed surprised. "Okay. Let me look for something. The vents aren't shown on the map, but maybe there are some unknown spaces above us which these vents can lead to." Derek said as he checked the tablet, after which Oreas also spoke up. "I'll just look ahead, if that's okay with you guys." Thaddeus would join her, clearly wanting to make sure nothing bad happened to her. "Damn, we're really heading all the way up, huh?" Lars would comment, you explaining that you might as well just commit and go all the way. There were a lot of locations which would hopefully not be in the crosshairs of other death squads: Boring locations which nobody would try and seek out.

Though if you went higher and higher, you did wonder if you could go all the way up and escape the facility. Maybe you could find a safe spot where you could indulge in a bit of the sun? The girls especially could use it, given how they were stuck down here for a while. After bringing it up to your men however, Anon would speak up disapprovingly. "As much as I like the idea, it would be incredibly dangerous to do such. I got a feeling that the government is currently watching over the upper ruins as much as possible to ensure nothing escapes. I imagine that if we do get spotted, it will be worse than whatever Nikita or any Diamond Dogs group can do to us..." Obviously, it was just a thought you had, not something you immediately wanted to do right away. Maybe if it looked safe enough, you could actually consider it. For the time being though, you would just wait for Oreas and Thaddeus to return with any news, or for Derek to give suggestions on where to go next.

After waiting some time, Derek did get a few suggestions on where to go to. "Okay, so everything above us is hardly mapped out. It says here there are some control rooms for maintaining environmental factors in this section of the facility. Stuff like ventilation, temperatures and other variables for deeper within." This actually got some of your men interested, with Lydia even asking: "Do you think we're at risk being down in this place, if those environmental variables aren't being maintained properly?" Though to this, Zaria would give her own thoughts, which did actually help out somewhat. "Given the gigantic crater and the massive explosion, I feel like maintaining those things is both less important now, and pretty much impossible. Look on the bright side though, the crater will surely allow for some excellent ventilation towards the deeper parts!" Despite the joking nature of the remark, it didn't seem too far-fetched that maintaining these things was no longer necessary.

Regardless, Derek would bring up some further suggestions. "Aside from that, we can also head further south, or try and see if there is a way eastwards. Maybe there are some rooms close to the edge of the crater?" It was not exactly the safest of locations to check out. Though that also meant that these locations would be remote enough that they didn't see any death squad traffic. Fortunately though, you'd soon get your decision made for yourself, as Thaddeus and Oreas returned. "We found a way upwards not too far away from here. T'is gonna be quite the climb again though." Derek commented, Oreas nodding before also speaking up. "We also saw a vent heading right, ummm, I mean east. It headed to some open space in the distance, which we think was the crater." With you still wanting to head further up, it was clear that there was only one real route you could take now.

You'd tell Thaddeus and Oreas to lead the way over, them swiftly and eagerly getting to work. And after a short few minutes of crawling ahead, you'd once more see a vent leading upwards. Once again, Oreas would get ready to lift you up. Though Anon would once again use the time to try and get Kamara to help. "Hey, Kamara, would you be willing to help again?" Kamara would look unsure, rubbing the back of her head before responding. "Ummm, I-I can try? Uhhhh, I-I'm still a little t-tired from the previous climb, s-so ummmm... I-I may be a bit slower th-than before." She remarked, Anon giving her some pats on the back and reassuring her further. "Just give it a try and see if you can carry more people afterwards. If not, you can stop after just one person, okay?" Kamara nodded, as she and Anofelis would get to work lifting everyone up. Unfortunately, it did go a bit slower than the previous time. Mostly because Kamara was indeed quite exhausted. Anofelis did manage to keep up quite well, not even breaking a single sweat on her way up.

And after another fifteen to thirty minutes, you'd all once more be a bit more further up in the facility. Though unlike before, the vents only headed forward. You simply followed it as Derek followed close-by. "Okay, the control chamber will be to our left a short while from us. I'll let you know once we get there so we can try and break in." And surely enough, you'd soon find a panel on the vents. And with a bit of help from Morgan, you’d carefully break through and found yourself in another messy room. Though it didn’t look like it was messy due to human interference. It looked like the place had just been shaken around, papers strewn all over the place and things having been knocked all over. As you stepped into the room, your men were quick to check some of the papers. “Hmmm, doesn’t look like anything too interesting. Laura, what do you think?” Lars said as he looked at some paper, Laura scoffing. “I doubt this place will have anything useful related to subjects. Though maybe there’s a map of the facility somewhere?”

Immediately, your men started looking around for such a map. They opened up the nearby cupboards to find it. Though unfortunately, no such map was found. There just were books about the ventilation system and other systems. They would’ve been important had you been engineers. But for you they were not really of any use. As your men kept looking about, Thaddeus would already head for the door, unlocking it and peaking past it. “Place looks empty outside.” Derek would also approach, having his tablet in hand. “If the map is correct, this place should be attached to some lockers, storage space and staff areas.” Laura also chimed in again, elaborating on where you guys had found yourself. “I imagine this is where some of the staff of this sector stayed at. Or maybe a space for temporary workers or engineers. Either way, I doubt this is a place where many scientists who work on subjects would find themselves.”

As your men kept looking around, Chrys would approach you and Derek with a curious question. “So, uhhhh, how far up are we now?” Derek would look at the tablet, before giving a calm response. “We’re close to the top floors. If we find any stairwells leading up, we’d be able to reach the very top floors. But even then, it’s quite a distance below the surface. About 30 meters at least.” Chrys seemed disappointed, after which Morgan spoke confidently. “30 meters is nothing! Anofelis can most surely dig her way through that, if that is what we intend to do next!” Of course, you weren’t going to confirm whether or not you’d start digging up just yet. For now, you still had different plans on your mind. And shortly after, Thaddeus would pause with peaking into the hallway, looking over at Derek. “There’s a large open space to the north of here. What do ya think it is?” He’d ask, Derek checking the tablet before giving a calm response. “Living quarters, if the map is correct.” Anofelis spoke up quite happily. “Well, guess we can make our home there now?”

However, Laura quickly stepped in to give her opinion. “I suggest we be careful. For all we know, there still are some survivors there.” Whether it was a good space to occupy was indeed still a mystery. You didn’t even know if it’d have any food for the girls, or if it could be locked so that the girls were safe.

>What do you do next?

>Just barge into the living quarters with your forces. What were the odds anyone was in there, let alone anyone who could threaten you and your men? (Write in how you’ll barge in there.)
>Just stay here for a while to maybe wait things out and see if anything happened. Maybe you could even create a little noise to see if anyone came out and revealed themselves. (Write in how you’ll create a noise or how long you’ll wait for.)
>Head somewhere else. Maybe there was something more interesting nearby worth checking out? (Write in what you’ll look out for.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

(Apologies for the lack of an update yesterday. I was absolutely exhausted due to my sleep schedule changing heavily. At least now I could spend more time working on an update, since I'll start much later with my internship tomorrow.)

(The update is nothing too major, I'll admit. Hopefully, it's not too bland or boring, which I feel like it might be due to my exhaustion and what not having affected my writing. Hopefully it'll get better as I get more and more used to the sleep schedule my internship requires. Speaking of which, my internship is going quite smoothly so far. I do think I'll be quite busy in the next few weeks still, but I'll hopefully figure out a good rhythm and be able to maintain my update rate. I was able to do so previously when I continued with Uni, so I imagine it'll get better with this internship as well.)

>>6090779
>Send Kamara out to scout the place
The true and intended use

>>6090792
I was gonna ask how that went, I thought you started yesterday. Good luck tomorrow!

>>6090779
>Just barge into the living quarters with your forces. What were the odds anyone was in there, let alone anyone who could threaten you and your men? (Write in how you’ll barge in there.)
Since we need to secure the area, just start sweeping rooms and opening doors - if there are any survivors in here, they'll likely be civvies. Oreas and Chrys can come too since they're pretty unintimidating and less likely to make anyone panic than we are and can help defuse any confrontations. See if we can find a janitorial station or security kiosk, since they might have a skeleton key or keycard to the rooms - if we can't find one, Oreas can just peek through any locked doors.

That said, I do have a dastardly plan. If there's one thing that'll really put the wind up a civilian and make them leave their hidey-hole if they think the coast is clear, it'll be the fire alarm. Since I bet it has an inbuilt battery like loads of things in this place do, if we can get Oreas into the right junction box to charge it up and then pull the closest fire handle, it might just flush out anyone in these rooms. Though speaking of backup batteries, I guess it must be super future batt-tek that means anything is still working after weeks when emergency lights might otherwise last hours or a day or two at most - Ori can give them a charge-up if we're staying around here.

In other news, I can't encounter a track titled "Death Squad" and not share it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JEcgyVSlmw. Which of the factions might it fit best?

>>6090805
But yes, see if we can coax Kam into having a look around first to give it a once-over before we start crashing around in it.

>>6090779
>>Just barge into the living quarters with your forces. What were the odds anyone was in there, let alone anyone who could threaten you and your men? (Write in how you’ll barge in there.)
No subjects until after we secure the area.
we just move in, secure the area and then leave the subjects there.
Our guys can do a sweep, afterwhich we can head back down via the vents. we shoul leave em a radio so we can talk to em when we need to.

File: ZA WUNNY.png (88 KB, 542x514)

88 KB PNG

Based on a dream.

>Send Kamara out to scout the place
Given that Anon had already given Kamara a use not too long ago, you decided to continue the positive trend. You would tell Kamara that she could head forward and use her camouflage to look around the place. Immediately, you saw her eyes widening and her starting to shiver. "Ummm, I-I... m-maybe that's... w-well, I-I don't..." She stammered a bit, after which Anon stepped in as well. "Kamara, we're in a part of the facility which doesn't have too many potential threats. Chances are you'll be fine. Besides, perhaps you could see this as practice for in the future? We won't be able to protect you all the time, so this could help you get used to such a thing!" Despite what Anon said, you could tell that Kamara was terrified. Laura also seemed heavily opposed to the suggestion, though she just kept quiet for whatever reason. And after Kamara hesitated for some time, she'd look away and mumbled to you. "I-I'll... ummm, I-I'll give it a t-try... I-I'll be slow a-and careful though. S-So please d-don't rush me."

Anon gave her a pat on the back, before speaking reassuringly. "We won't rush you at all. Just take as long as is necessary!" After Anon reassured her, you would ask Derek to get her a radio to work with. You told her to just see if there were any signs of people actually being there. If she saw anything of note, you also wanted her to report it back. "O-Okay." She said, before Derek gave her a quick rundown of where she had to head to and what to expect. Whilst this was happening, Zaria approached you and would give her own thoughts on what was going on. "So, how long do you think it will take her? If she had the patience to hide upside down for god knows how long, I am quite concerned she'll take her sweet ass time here to look around." It was quite a fair concern, but you still trusted Anon and Kamara here. Surely, Kamara would get out of her shell a bit more and become more comfortable on her own?

Shortly after, Kamara would carefully hold onto the radio and peaked into the hallway. She'd look back at you guys, letting out a sigh before quietly stepping forward. Before she disappeared, you saw her changing the colour and texture of her tail to better hide in the environment she'd find herself in now. And with that, you'd wait. "Are you really sure it's a good idea to push Kamara this much?" Oreas soon asked you, to which Anon responded confidently. "If she gets scared, she can always retreat or let us know over the radio. Besides, what are the odds she will find herself in danger over here?" Oreas was still sceptical, but didn't decide to question it too much. And for the next while, you would spend your time just keeping quiet in the control room. Your men would keep checking through some files, as well as just figuring out the plan. Of course, you already had a plan for this location, unless if Kamara returned with some horrific revelation about the place ahead of you.

Time would pass, you occasionally asking Kamara over the comms if she was fine. Every time, she quietly whispered to you that she was fine and that she was just looking around. Though based on her tone and the time it was taking, she clearly was taking her sweet time doing this. Eventually though, you would hear her speak over the radio to you, saying something quite reassuring. "I-I think... t-there's nobody here... I-I've not spotted a-anyone. A-At least, n-nobody's out in the o-open." You told her you would come over then, since there wasn't any reason to sit back and wait for her to return. "Uhhh, o-okay! J-Just let me kn-know where you are s-so I-I can meet u-up with you guys."

>Just barge into the living quarters with your forces. What were the odds anyone was in there, let alone anyone who could threaten you and your men?
You'd look to your men, telling them you wanted to sweep the area quickly. You would check out each room, open each door and make sure that there really was nobody in there. You also told Oreas and Chrys they could come along, which made Oreas seem rather happy. "Sweet!" Chrys also appeared content to join you, putting her hands to her side and smiling proudly. "Sure. I'll gladly join as well!" Of course, Anofelis appeared confused as to why she couldn't join. Morgan appeared far more offended. "Why am I not allowed to join? My blade and shield have served you effectively before, have they not?" You explained that you wanted to appear reasonable and non-confrontational to whoever was maybe in there. And having a knight dragon girl and a giant bug girl would certainly not be reassuring to whoever you'd encounter.

"Don't worry. I'll stay back with you two. We'll just wait for them and join in in case they need our support." Laura told the two, Anofelis nodding understandably whilst Morgan crossed her arms and looked away. Thus, you'd signal everyone to follow you, as you would also step out of the room and headed down the hallway. You kept your guns close-by, as Oreas and Chrys followed you closely. You would take the time to ask Oreas if she could use her powers to activate a fire-alarm. “Huh, why do you want me to do that?” She’d ask, you explaining it could potentially force some of the people in hiding to break out of there. This made Mike chuckle softly. “I’m sorry, but… how would that even work? You think that these guys will hear an alarm and suddenly decide ‘I gotta run now!’? These guys have already experienced a gigantic explosion and potentially even have been stalked and hunted by some of the genuine psychopaths down here. I doubt a fire alarm will do the trick in getting them to flee.” Mike was questioning your suggestion quite intensely. Though he did make some decent points, which even your men didn’t seem too sure about how to refute.

“Besides, I doubt they’d see the fire alarm as a genuine alarm, given the limited number of things which could set it off. They’ll probably just see it as more destruction or the presence of something capable of producing fire… like a subject or some lunatic with a flamethrower.” Mike continued, you telling him that you still thought it could work elsewhere. It’d maybe require some setup, but it was not entirely without merit. Especially in busier places where survivors were actually thriving somewhat, and would actually show themselves if there was some alarm going off. Regardless, shortly after you shared your thoughts, you’d reach the large open space leading to the living spaces. The place reminded you somewhat of the guardsman dormitory you found near the engineer in the sewers. A large set of sliding doors revealed a large lounge of some kind. There were plenty of tables, chairs and benches strewn about the place, along with some sort of kitchen and storage area. Though the difference was that the space led far further inwards, revealing a hallway which was connected to six different rooms.

As you entered and looked around, you’d soon see a silver and flat object waving about between some of the tables. “Kamara, is that you?” Lydia asked calmly, after which the object changed shape and colour back to Kamara’s tail. “H-Here.” She mumbled softly, you approaching her as she’d slowly get up. “Anything of note ya spotted down here?” Thaddeus would ask right away, Kamara shaking her head. “M-Maybe I m-missed something…” Regardless of what she had found, you’d still give her a compliment along with the rest of your men. You saw her starting to calm down a bit, actually giving a more optimistic smile as she’d get up. Perhaps this scouting thing wouldn’t end up going too badly for Kamara in the future after all? Regardless, you’d tell your men to look for janitorial stations or security kiosks. They would maybe have vital intel for you and your men, as well as keycards to nearby rooms. The good news was that the nearby rooms all appeared to have their doors left wide open. So, finding keycards for them wouldn’t be exactly necessary.

Given that Kamara hadn’t spotted anything of notice, perhaps a quick scan would just suffice. It did look like this place could make a fine base for the girls to stay in. Though maybe checking it out fully was for the best first.

>What do you do next?

>Just get Laura, Anofelis and Morgan and help them settle into the new place. You could keep some rations with them and block up the door somehow and then leave them be and continue your travels.
>Do a quick scan through the place first. Maybe check for anything of value. If there was nothing of value, it’d be just a waste of time but nothing too troublesome. (write in if you’ll search for anything specific.)
>Call out to anyone maybe hiding in this space. The only risk to you was that if you spoke up too loudly, it could attract some unwanted attention. (Write in what you’ll say to try and get people to show themselves.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

(>>6091389 I am shocked she isn't currently chewing into that poor soldier's neck. Perhaps this version of the rabbit is a lot tamer. Either way, adorable artwork. Though a little concerning that this was part of your dream.)

>>6091408
>>Do a quick scan through the place first. Maybe check for anything of value. If there was nothing of value, it’d be just a waste of time but nothing too troublesome. (write in if you’ll search for anything specific.)
Thorough scan. Let's make sure the area is safe for us to get the hell out of here.

>>6091408
>Do a quick scan through the place first. Maybe check for anything of value. If there was nothing of value, it’d be just a waste of time but nothing too troublesome. (write in if you’ll search for anything specific.)

>>6091408
>Do a quick scan through the place first. Maybe check for anything of value. If there was nothing of value, it’d be just a waste of time but nothing too troublesome. (write in if you’ll search for anything specific.)
I want to find personal records. Diaries, audio logs (does anyone even still do those?), photos and so on - an insight into facility life from the ground and may yield some nuggets of incidental intel on the Facility, its key staff and the odd subject. And maybe stuff like security creds and useful tools, as well as a cursory check of all the hiding places like wardrobes and under beds. Honestly, if someone was living in one of these rooms, we'd probably be able to smell it since it'd be weeks since they would have been able to have a wash or get clean fabric. Does these look to be any signs of recent use in the kitchen, common room or elsewhere?

While we're away or having some downtime, I wonder if there's anything nice we could do for the girls now we're in a proper living area do just destress a bit. Is there a TV or games console in the common room? With Oreas and a rigged up battery, we could finally see who would slay in Mario Kart or built a better house in Minecraft. Or just put a movie on to chill to.

We're also going to have pick our MG loadout for when we go back down. As much as I want to say "all of them", we have to be on a reduced team - I want to bring eepy electric eeloli since she's still needed for navigating the vents and as a potential mediator and knightfu as our big stick.

>>6091389
sorry bunny, we blew up your hutch. Or, rather, your boss did.

>>6091389
damn file isn't loading for some reason : (

>>6091408
>>6091432
+1

>>6091432
Supporting.

File: caerabbit.png (113 KB, 570x516)

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Caerabbit again because she cute.

>>6091449
A bit late but here you go.
https://files.catbox.moe/n6e8ga.png

>>6092347
Good stuff
Loving the ominous rabbit expression

>>6092347
Seeing the MGs without the G part is freakier than it should be

>>6092347
much obliged for the Chonky Rabbit

>>6093067
I keep forgetting that the midget beetle actually has hair and that she would likely unironically be attracted to a nice bright lämp for feeding on the light.
While we get pretty close with La Mosca, are there any bona fide moth girls around? Are they a yandere perchance?

>>6093105
Isn't she a moth? She has two sets of wings unlike most beetles with no protective chitin over them, low durability overall and high agility, and I am fairly sure those antennae aren't beetle antennae. Sure, she can spit acid but some moths can do that too. Plus I always thought her feeding method was an obvious lamp joke.

>>6093138
I don't think her design has much in common with a moth (the antennas look more like an arthropod than an insect) and her name is a nod to Carabidae, the ground beetles. While yes beetles don't have two sets of wings, they generally don't walk on two legs and talk, sedate people and have more species' genes in them than you'd find on Captain Kirk's dick either.
Wait a minute. Member of the carabid family. Can fart out mildly burning chemicals. She's a goddamn bombardier beetle.

>Do a quick scan through the place first. Maybe check for anything of value. If there was nothing of value, it’d be just a waste of time but nothing too troublesome.
With Kamara not noticing anything, you decided to just go for a quick search. You told your men to look for personal records: diaries, audio logs, photos or other related items documenting what had happened in this place. You also cautioned your men to check any wardrobes, beds and other typical hiding spots. You doubted anyone was hiding in here, but you could never say for sure. There didn't seem to be any real signs of activity around the place, indicating that it really was untouched. Still, your men would quickly start looking around the place for anything. Most of your men gravitated to the six room sin the back, quickly pushing the doors open before looking around with their guns at their side. Oreas and Chrys would also look around, Oreas following Lydia whilst Chrys stuck with Thaddeus. Kamara would also join Anon, anxiously checking the kitchen area.

"Kitchen appears empty, Mik." Anon would say soon after, after which Kamara would also speak up. "Ummm, i-it's quite m-messy. I... ewwww, there's something really gross in this pan." She'd take a step back, as you could see that someone had indeed been cooking there. They had been making some sort of sandwich. Though given how stale the food looked and how it was already getting mouldy, it probably was being prepared right as the disaster struck. Still, the fact that food had been prepared here was enough of a sign that the place was being used right up to the disaster. Or at the very least, sometime close to the disaster. It could mean that someone had fled from this place right before the disaster as well though, so it wasn't anything too substantial for the time being. Though Anon would keep looking for any further clues, hoping to find anything.

You would also head for the six rooms ahead of you, checking out what your men were doing. Looking inside the first room, you saw Mike and Zaria trashing the place a bit. They threw everything to the side, opened everything and scanned any place where someone could be hiding. Though in the room behind you, you would soon hear Lars speak up. "Mik, I found this." He'd come over with a picture of some kind, showing a female with a facility lab-coat and hard hat, along with what was presumably her male partner. She looked quite happy in the picture, appearing on some kind of tropical beach. Checking the back of it, you saw a pretty sombre text: "If you ever miss me, just look at this picture and remind yourself that I am always there for you. No matter what. -Your lover eternal, Kent". It seemed sappy, but the fact this was directed to someone who was highly likely dead did make you feel a little uneasy. Still, the note didn't offer much else than that, aside from knowledge on what one of the engineers looked like.

Shortly after, Derek would come out of one of the rooms with a book of some kind. "Mik, this might be interesting." After being given the book, you would open it up and find that it was some sort of logbook of one of the engineers here. It had a bunch of dates, each having events, quotas and further notes scribbled onto them. '50 litres of nanochip fabrication', 'Meeting with scientist', 'Bring your child to work day excursion', were just some of the notes which you read in the past few weeks. And it seemed that the logbook ran from the start of this year all the way to the end. "I bet if there is one of these for this year, there ought to be more around for the previous few years. Maybe they can also be useful?" Derek said as he was ready to do a bit more searching. Given that you had only given the book a skim read for the past three weeks, there was a chance that there was far more to this book than what you had checked through.

Regardless, you'd soon also enter one of the bedrooms. The place was somewhat messy already, but far cleaner than some of the previous locations you had been to. You'd try and check it thoroughly, finding some more small personal belongs, but nothing too interesting. The most interesting thing you found were some posters showing some politicians from the capital planet. As well as a calendar where each month showed a different city from a well-known planet from around the capital systems. There were a few dates circled on it as well, but it didn't seem that it contained any vital information. Unless if the birthdays and holidays were really important in your mind. Still, it was another hint of some of the people who used to stay here, as well as their names. Your next find would be far more interesting though, showing what looked to be an engineer giving Agami a handshake. There was another scientist in the back of the picture, who clearly had a higher rank than the engineer in the picture.

After your findings, you decided to shift gear just a tiny bit. Since this place was going to become the place where the girls would be staying, you wanted to find some entertainment for them. You’d check the cupboards for games or anything which could keep the girls entertained. You would mostly find some simple board games, plenty of somewhat complex literature covering numerous scientific topics, as well as some empty paper and drawing tools. There were also the flatscreens in the main space, though they were presumably designed for announcements rather than entertainment. Still, with a bit of time and effort, Lydia or Derek could maybe find a way to plug a tablet into the screen, so that it can be used for playing videos or even games. Though perhaps just keeping it to the board games and books was for the best. Hopefully the material would actually be understandable to the girls, as well as fun to read through. At least Anofelis would have a wonderful time just drawing stuff here.

Whilst you were considering your options though, you’d suddenly hear Lydia speak up loudly. “Crap, put your hands up NOW!” Immediately, you and the rest of your men would rush over to the room you heard her in. She was all the way in the back, you entering the room and seeing her pointing her gun at a rather tiny cupboard. Inside of it, you saw a terrified and messy engineer. He was shivering and raised his hands, his eyes watery as he spoke up. “D-Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!” You and the rest of your men would all rush into the room, Kamara, Chrys and Oreas seeming a bit unsure what to think of what was going on. Still, Lydia handled the situation well, keeping her gun aimed at the guy as she made her demands. “Get out slowly and show yourself. We won’t hurt you if you co-operate.” The rest of your men also got their guns ready, just in case there was some sort of ambush awaiting you here. Though given the terror and the lack of hiding locations, it really seemed like this guy was the only one here. Funnily enough, as he stepped out of the cupboard, you saw plenty of candy wrappers and bottles strewn around inside of it. Clearly, the guy had stockpiled a decent amount of food for himself, albeit rather unhealthy food.

“P-Please, I-I mean n-no harm! I-I’m just a s-survivor, j-just like those g-girls there!” He’d say as he looked over to the girls. “Y-You’re here to s-save people, r-right? I-I’m not a threat, I-I swear! J-Just… y-you can put the g-gun down! I-I promise, I-I’m just an o-ordinary dude! Y-You can check me f-for weapons o-or anything! J-Just…” The guy was visibly shivering, giving Kamara a run for her money with how utterly terrified and anxious he was. At least he was co-operating and didn’t seem like he’d cause too much trouble.

>What do you do next?

>Ask the guy some basic details about who he is, what he is doing here and what he knew about what the hell was going on in this place. (Write in what you wanna ask him.)
>Reassure the guy to make him calm down. He looked like he is about to piss his pants, so it probably was just better to help him feel more at ease with you. (Write in how you’ll reassure him.)
>Ask the girls if they can confirm whatever he says. Maybe in a way that you could check if he was being 100% honest with everything. (Write in how you’ll have the girls help in fact-checking.)
>Get one of your men to check him for weapons or anything else on his person. Better to not run the risk of him actually having anything nasty on him. (Write in who you’ll send in to do the job.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

(>>6092347 >>6093067 Ah, wonderful to see more works from you guys. I like the terrified look on Kamara in the first, and the smug aura the rabbit has in the second pic. I love it. And >>6093155 yeah, Chrys is partially based on a bombardier beetle. I also had some cockroach and jewel beetle influences, as well as indeed a tiny amount of möth)

>>6093213
>>Reassure the guy to make him calm down. He looked like he is about to piss his pants, so it probably was just better to help him feel more at ease with you. (Write in how you’ll reassure him.)
Never a dull moment.
Tell him to keep calm.
>Ask the guy some basic details about who he is, what he is doing here and what he knew about what the hell was going on in this place. (Write in what you wanna ask him.)
Go down the question list.
Standard shit about himself and what he does
then what he knows about facility and top staff
then shit about what went down when disaster started and after
then ask him how tf has he survived here this long.
>Ask the girls if they can confirm whatever he says. Maybe in a way that you could check if he was being 100% honest with everything. (Write in how you’ll have the girls help in fact-checking.)
After he's done, cross examine and if there is anything peculiar we have a second round of questioning.
>Get one of your men to check him for weapons or anything else on his person. Better to not run the risk of him actually having anything nasty on him. (Write in who you’ll send in to do the job.)
This, but be careful so that he doesn't try to use anything while we are checking him for said thing.

Chances are we keep him here with the girls until we head back down and link him up with other survivors.

>>6093213
>Get one of your men to check him for weapons or anything else on his person. Better to not run the risk of him actually having anything nasty on him. (Write in who you’ll send in to do the job.)
Ourselves

>Ask the guy some basic details about who he is, what he is doing here and what he knew about what the hell was going on in this place. (Write in what you wanna ask him.)
THE LIST
Might have to archive dive to find that

>>6093251
>>6093289
Supporting.

>Reassure the guy to make him calm down. He looked like he is about to piss his pants, so it probably was just better to help him feel more at ease with you.
Given the sheer panic in his voice and his anxious tone, you would first try and get him to calm down. You told him to relax, that you wouldn't kill him and that he just had to relax a bit. He was still shaking, though nodded his head as you heard him mumble to himself. "C-Calm down. Calm d-down. I-It's okay. I-I... okay... o-okay, I-I'm calming down!" Clearly he wasn't calming down at all, as he was surrounded and knew this could end badly if he didn't co-operate. Your men clearly were not impressed with the guy, keeping their guns at the ready but also pointing them down just a little bit to help him feel at ease. You'd see him closing his eyes as he kept his hands raised, still whispering to himself.

>Get one of your men to check him for weapons or anything else on his person. Better to not run the risk of him actually having anything nasty on him.
You'd calmly approach the guy with your gun lowered, telling the guy that you would first frisk him. "Okay! O-Okay!" He said quickly, nodding as you would approach him and carefully check him over. You checked his person, specifically searching for anything on him which he could use to attack you with. You did end up finding one thing: a screwdriver. You'd ask him why he had it, making him shiver even more than before. "S-Self... s-self d-defence..." It seemed like a fair thing to have on your person in this place. Besides, he was honest about it, which did make him seem a bit more trustworthy. Searching him further, you found some keycards, a wrench as well as a wallet on him. He also had a bottle of water on him, the water actually looking somewhat fresh still. "That water looks quite fresh. Where did you get it from?" Anon would ask from behind you, to which the guy hesitantly responded. "Ummm, uhhhh, I-I got it from... a-a s-soda m-machine?"

Having checked him fully, it was safe to say that he didn't have much else on him. He had given you all the arms he had on him, as well as some decently useful tools. And with that in mind, you'd take a step back and tell your men to lower their guns a bit. Unless if he had some well hidden weapons, he was probably harmless at this point.

>Ask the guy some basic details about who he is, what he is doing here and what he knew about what the hell was going on in this place.
>Ask the girls if they can confirm whatever he says. Maybe in a way that you could check if he was being 100% honest with everything.
You'd ask the girls to come over to you, as you wanted their help with doing some fact-checking. You'd tell the guy that you were going to ask him some simple questions, and that any lie he told would be used against him. "I-I won't lie. I promise!" He said desperately, as you would go down the usual questions which you'd ask the people you found.

You began with the basics, asking him about who he was and what his job was before everything went to shit. "Ummm, I-Ingmar P-Parson i-is my n-name. Uhhhh, I a-am... or, uhhh, I w-was an e-engineer. I, uhhhh, w-worked at the... f-facilities n-near here! Ummmm, y-yeah, I just... h-helped f-fabricate some, uhhhh, b-basic things for the c-containment ch-chambers and what not. N-Nothing special." You'd look for the girls, trying to see how they reacted. Though given their curious expressions, they clearly weren't questioning it too much. You'd thus ask about the disaster, asking him how it started and what had caused it. "Uhhhh, w-well a subject e-escaped, I-I think? Ummmm, I-I don't know t-to be honest. I-I was t-taking the d-day off a-and staying here w-when we suddenly were o-ordered t-to stay put. T-Then there was a m-massive blast a-and... t-that's it."

This time around, the girls did actually seem a bit surprised. “You had a day off?” Oreas asked right away, to which Ingmar nodded quickly. “Y-Yeah?” Kamara also seemed surprised by the suggestion, even mumbling back a little. “I didn’t know staff could take breaks…” Ingmar seemed insistent though, raising his voice just a little. “W-We’ve got break days! S-Some go back to the m-mainland a-and… m-maybe your caretakers j-just didn’t inform you o-of those? T-That or e-engineers g-get more days off! I-I don’t know! E-Either way, I-I spent my day off here, o-okay?” You kept asking questions, wanting to know what he had been up to since shit hit the fan. “Ummm, j-just reading a-and hiding? I-I f-feared subjects w-would be f-free because of w-whatever the b-blast was… a-and thought that s-staying up here w-was the safest b-bet, r-rather than leaving. E-Especially after the p-power went out.” You wanted to know how he survived here for as long as he presumably did, as he would look a bit ashamed. “Ummm, n-nonperishables. I-I had l-lots of c-candy bars a-and… ummmm, s-soft drinks from a v-vending machine.” It clearly wasn’t the healthiest diet, but it clearly let him live. Albeit presumably not in the healthiest of states.

You would ask him about his co-workers and top staff, making him look confused. “Uhhhh, I-I don’t… I’m n-not sure? I-I just… uhhhh, I’m j-just contracted h-here t-to do a job, n-not socialize. I-I didn’t interact w-with too many p-people. L-Let alone the h-higher ranking staff.” Obviously it seemed a little odd that an engineer wouldn’t know much about the people he worked with. But given his anxiety and the fact he was all alone, it could just be that he really was a loner. Still, you’d ask what he knew about Tengri and the likes, given that they were the head of staff and essentially in control. You specifically focused on Roraima and Elbrus. “Ummm, I-I only met T-Tengri once. H-He seemed nice, I-I guess… I-I don’t know, I-I just focused on w-work, n-not meeting o-other folk. S-Sorry.”

Given that he really didn’t seem to know much, you’d just move onto some other questions. You’d ask him about Titania, wanting to see what he knew of the giant subject. Whilst the guy apparently was unaware of much of the staff or the disaster, surely he’d know about her! And fortunately, he did have some things to say about her. “Uhhh, s-she’s the b-biggest subject, r-right? W-Why are you a-asking?” You told him that you’d maybe explain later, first wanting to hear what else he knew of her. “Ummm, s-she was… I-I think some s-sort of dragon g-girl? S-She uhhhh, oh yeah, s-she was designed for s-space transport o-or something along those l-lines! Ummm, uhhhh… I-I think that’s it.” It wasn’t much new intel, but at least it showed that the guy knew SOME things about the place he worked at. Though your next question was one which made him seem a lot more confused, as you asked him about escape routes. “E-Escape routes? I-I don’t… I don’t r-really understand.” You’d elaborate, stating that you wanted to know ways through which folk could leave this accursed place.

“Ummm… I-I… I don’t know? C-Can’t you folks just t-take the m-main entrance? O-Or was that place d-damaged somehow d-during whatever the hell happened h-here?” Clearly, Ingmar had no clue about escape routes. He probably had spent all his time holed up in here, meaning he had no opportunity to really explore what was going on. In fact, it actually made Zaria speak up in quiet disbelief. “Have you… have you actually left this place once or tried contacting anyone to find out what is going on around here?” Ingmar would take a moment to think, before sheepishly responding. “W-Well, I did t-try contacting folk, b-but… n-nobody responded. S-So, I-I’ve just… s-stayed here, y-yeah?” This actually got you asking what his plans were for the future, seemingly confusing him. “I… w-well, um, y-you’re here o-on behalf of the g-government, r-right? A-Aren’t you here to… a-aren’t you here to s-save us?” Given that you had the girls on you, he probably made the misconception that you were here to save any survivors. Of course, you were here for highly different reasons.

Though before saying anything, you asked the girls if there were any inconsistencies in Ingmar’s story. Kamara shook her head, whilst Oreas casually said: “There isn’t much to say, given what he has just been up to here.” She’d look over to Ingmar, before asking: “Don’t you know any staff personally or have any friends?” Ingmar shook his head, giving an awkward smile and a bit of a shrug. “Ummm, y-yes?” You saw some of your men genuinely being shocked by this revelation. Though a few of your men seemed sceptical or distrusting. The guy barely knew anything about this place, despite working for it. Maybe he really was that socially inept. Or perhaps there was more to Ingmar than he was willing to show.

>What do you do next?

>Question him further. Maybe there were some other questions you could ask him to either prove that he was just a loner or hiding something? (Write in what you’ll ask)
>Answer his question about what you were doing here and what was going on. You couldn’t tell him that you were here to save him, given that you couldn’t exactly bring him anywhere safe right now. (Write in what you’ll tell him.)
>Try and intimidate him with the help of one of your men. Perhaps he’d have a better memory about this place if you were to give him some ‘incentive’. (Write in who will do the intimidating)
>Just tell him to get the hell out of here since he clearly was of no use to you. If he was lucky, he would find a different, better place to hide in and not get found by other death squads.
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

(Apologies for the lack of updates this weekend. Suppose I'll just say procrastination and exhaustion from the week are reasons enough for me to hesitate until the very last minute with making an update. Anyway, next week may be a bit busy as well, but the week after I'll def have a more relaxed schedule to hopefully get back into action a lot more than the previous week.)

>>6094812
>Question him further. Maybe there were some other questions you could ask him to either prove that he was just a loner or hiding something?
>Answer his question about what you were doing here and what was going on. You couldn’t tell him that you were here to save him, given that you couldn’t exactly bring him anywhere safe right now.
There doesn't seem to be any glaring holes in the story, and he's either being genuine or a very good actor but there's a lot we can't verify. It stands to reason that the girls wouldn't know what the lower-level non-scientific staff got up to and if they were permitted time off and we know the facility was extensively hiring, but it is odd that they would be permitted to leave readily with all the security and jump through all the security hoops to bring in a contractor to do grunt work when they had so many in-house experts to do that.
So, grill him a bit more. Who did he work for, how long had he been here and what are some specific examples or what he was working on? Also, where was he actually staying (whose room is this?), why was he up here instead and where did everyone else here go?
And then we drop the bomb. Yes, the facility is in chaos, yes all the subjects are loose (nice and nasty ones alike), most of your coworkers are probably dead and the Government is not here to save you.

I wonder how our green section guardbros are doing. We haven't talked to them in a while.

>>6094854
actor with nothing but a screw driver is a very ballsy actor
also, supporting.

>Question him further. Maybe there were some other questions you could ask him to either prove that he was just a loner or hiding something?
Seeing that you couldn't verify some of the things Ingmar claimed, you opted to ask some further questions. Mostly because it seemed so strange for some random contractor to be accepted into the facility. Especially given the intense secrecy and security this place had. Not to mention, the fact the scientists would surely know how to manage the engineering part as well. Regardless, you'd ask him who he worked under, as he would surely have some superior he answered to. "Ummm, th-the head of th-this engineering d-department. H-Her name was, ummm, L-Leyla? T-That's... ummm, y-yeah, t-that's it. I-I didn't remember her l-last name..." Your men seemed a little stunned, with Anon even asking: "So you don't know your superior's name? What?" To this, the guy would look a little embarrassed, as he mumbled to you. "I-I'm not a... p-people person."

Zaria would scoff, before speaking in a rather smug tone. "Yeah, I think we've figured that out." You still continued, asking more about how long he had been working here, as he would look at his wallet, before pointing to it. "Ummm, i-it's in th-there..." Some of your men raised their eyebrows, as Thaddeus calmly asked: "Don't ya remember how long ya have been workin' in this place?" Ingmar shook his head, as he thought about it for a bit. "I-I think... t-two years now? K-Keeping up with t-time down here c-can be tough..." You'd check his wallet, finding that it was indeed just a bit longer than two years. You'd then ask about what he worked on, wanting to hear some specific examples. "Oh! I-I worked on... ummm, s-some of the p-panels a-and... oh y-yeah, I worked on these, ummm, w-what are they called... o-oh yeah, these sp-special d-door locks which use s-scanners! R-Really useful stuff!" If the guy worked on the key cards, it could actually be useful to you and your men.

Still, given that he was clearly not the most sociable and competent guy, there was some doubt about the possibility amongst your men. Especially since he did still seem a little sketchy. You'd even ask him about why he was here when the others were in the bunkers. "Ummmm... I-I s-sorta ran back here d-during the l-lockdown thingie? I... I wanted to get m-my, umm, m-my wallet since I f-forgot it here... a-and then as I g-got here, there was a big e-explosion a-and I just... d-decided to st-stay here." Your men remained quiet, staring the guy down in silent disbelief. Still, you went on and asked him two more important questions. You wanted to know who stayed in this room as well, and where they all went. "Oh! C-Co-workers! Ummm, I-I don't know w-where they went, but... uhhh, t-they also were e-engineers. W-We were good f-friends though!" This made Zaria speak up again. "Can you recall what they were called?"

This made Ingmar look a bit down, as he would rub the back of his head and chuckle awkwardly. "Heh, f-funny you asked that. I-I just... w-well, I... I forgot?" Your men all stared at him, as you heard the exasperation at his comment. Mike even shook his head, whilst Zaria facepalmed. Lydia appeared more sympathetic though, responding calmly. "You... you say they were friends, but you didn't even know their name?" Ingmar didn't say a word, just looking down awkwardly as this was undeniable proof that he wasn't exactly well versed in this place. Still, the fact he spent two years here did make you wonder how he didn't even make a single friend here. At least he knew the name of his superior and a few of the higher-ups. But not knowing the names of his co-workers was just... sad. You just moved on, asking him where his 'friends' went, at which point he spoke a bit more honestly right away. "P-Probably b-back in the, ummm, b-bunkers I stayed at b-below here... I-It's quite a w-walk down though. D-Did you see and s-save them too? "

>Answer his question about what you were doing here and what was going on. You couldn’t tell him that you were here to save him, given that you couldn’t exactly bring him anywhere safe right now.
At this point, you decided to drop the ultimate bombshell. You told him that the facility had basically fallen to utter chaos. Something had created a massive chaos, all the subjects were loose, which included the horrific murdery ones. And most importantly of all, his 'friends' were likely all dead or being hunted. You could see the colour in his face fading away, as he froze in place and slowly looked down. Finally, you told him that the government wasn't here to save him, and that you were sent here to kill him. This revelation made him slowly crouch down, as he soon sat in the foetal position. "Probably should've been a bit more careful with how you told him that." Oreas would say more sympathetically, at which point Mike spoke up to Ingmar. "Look, we're not here to kill you though. The government wants us to do some cleaning operation, but we got a feeling they're hiding something. Do you know of anything secretive down in this place?"

It was maybe not the best time to ask such a thing to the guy right now. He was clearly processing the horrific revelations you just told him. And even then, it seemed doubtful like this guy would know of the deeper secrets hidden within the facility. The guy didn't even remember the name of his co-workers after all. Still, Mike had given it a try, and was met with just some soft whimpers from Ingmar. You couldn't exactly hear what he was saying, as Lars would let out a soft sigh. "Probably could've waited for a better timing to ask the guy that, Mike." To this, Mike would look a bit confused. "What? What else are we supposed to do with him then? Just... let him cry to himself instead of letting him know that he will survive and that we're here to help guys like him?"

Whilst it was good that Mike let Ingmar know that he wouldn't die down here, it was still not the right time to ask him such intense questions at this point. Ingmar clearly needed some time to process things. That, or you could try and do as Mike did and hope to get him to calm down somewhat to maybe talk some more.

>What will you do next?

>Try and comfort Ingmar so you can hopefully gain some further intel from him. Maybe let him know that he could stay here so long as he wasn't a threat to your girls? (Write in how you'll comfort him.)
>Just ignore Ingmar for now so that you could focus on more important business. Namely, getting the girls over here so they could colonize this place and turn it into a nice hiding spot.
>Kick Ingmar out of this place now that he wasn't going to fight back anyway. He was far too much of a liability and clearly didn't give much valuable intel. (Write in how you'll kick him out or if you'll do anything else.)
>Try and contact some folk you had on your radio. Maybe Nikita, the guards formerly in the green section, or even your favourite foxy radio host. (Write in who you'll contact and what you'll try and tell them.)
>Discuss with your men...
>Something else...

>>6094812
>Answer his question about what you were doing here and what was going on. You couldn’t tell him that you were here to save him, given that you couldn’t exactly bring him anywhere safe right now. (Write in what you’ll tell him.)
Tell him GalGov has brought in mercenaries to kill everything that moves down here. Lucky for him we are treating those orders more like suggestions, but he should be very careful.

>>6095623
>Try and comfort Ingmar so you can hopefully gain some further intel from him. Maybe let him know that he could stay here so long as he wasn't a threat to your girls? (Write in how you'll comfort him.)
Bro why do you care that people down here are dying, you didn't even know their names.

>>6095623
Still kinda sus and even more craven than Kam, but seems harmless enough and might just really be a total recluse. Come think of it, have we even encountered any insurmountable locks so far? He's clearly been here for some time, knowing where things are and being socialised to the MGs - him not knowing who anyone was isn't that far fetched, by the end of university I could only name a couple people in my class and not a single person from my dorm. You can dance around knowing someone's name a lot.
>Try and comfort Ingmar so you can hopefully gain some further intel from him. Maybe let him know that he could stay here so long as he wasn't a threat to your girls?
>Just ignore Ingmar for now so that you could focus on more important business. Namely, getting the girls over here so they could colonize this place and turn it into a nice hiding spot.
Look mah dude, we're not going to kill you, there's lots of people still alive around the place including engineering crew and we're preparing to head down to one of the bunkers to bail them out and kill the bad girls dead if he has anything that might help like where the bunkers actually are, any shortcuts or unofficial routes around. Then we leave him to process for a bit while we set up some beanbags and introduce Morg to chess.

>>6095623

>Just ignore Ingmar for now so that you could focus on more important business. Namely, getting the girls over here so they could colonize this place and turn it into a nice hiding spot.
He needs to process his situation a bit more before we hit him up.
once we bring in the monster girls his curiosity will bring him back to life.
Works every time.

>Try and comfort Ingmar so you can hopefully gain some further intel from him. Maybe let him know that he could stay here so long as he wasn't a threat to your girls?
Seeing how Ingmar was sobbing quite badly, you were a little confused at first. He didn't even know the names of the people around him, so why was he so bothered by their deaths?! Clearly, he didn't have the best relationships with these guys anyway, so it seemed somewhat confusing to you. Still, seeing as he was rather emotional, you opted to give him a tiny bit of support. That way, you could get some more intel from him later, once he was actually able to talk again. Thus, you headed over to him and would calmly tell him that he was going to be fine. You weren't there to kill him and that there were plenty of survivors. He would keep quiet, seemingly listening to what you had to say, but not showing his face.

You'd elaborate on your plans just a itny bit, stating that you were going to head to some of the bunkers to free the people there. You'd even mention that some of the more threatening subjects were going to be neutralized, at which point Oreas bumped into the conversation. "Mik already dealt with a really evil rabbit subject who was causing tons of harm. You can trust him to do a good job!" Despite what Oreas said, Ingmar anxiously remained in the foetal position. You would calmly ask him if he knew anything about how to get to the bunkers. Shortcuts or unofficial routes could help you, after all. Unfortunately, Ingmar just shook his head, clearly not wanting to reveal further details at this time. With it clear that he wasn't going to talk any further, you decided to just move on. Perhaps the time alone would help him calm down. And if it didn't, then you imagined that the girls would help him open up and maybe show himself again.

>Just ignore Ingmar for now so that you could focus on more important business. Namely, getting the girls over here so they could colonize this place and turn it into a nice hiding spot.
You told your men to leave Ingmar to recollect himself, them nodding after which you told them it was time to get the rest of the girls. You'd leave the room and quickly returned to the room where Laura stayed with Morgan and Anofelis. Once you entered the room, you'd quickly explain what was going on. Laura seemed ecstatic to hear that the room was safe, though the news of Ingmar being there left her a bit more unsure. "So, he's just... hiding there? On his own? And he knows nobody down here?" Laura asked after you gave her the gist of the story. Laura thought about it a bit longer, before you explained that you didn't feel like the guy was harmful. There were still some lingering questions, but you didn't feel like his presence was compromising. "Well, if you say so. I guess I can say for sure once I've met him." And with that, you would tell Laura, Morgan and Anofelis to follow to their new place.

Once you returned, you'd show them around and noted the amenities the place had: Entertainment, beds, a kitchen as well as ample hiding space. Though you did also suggest getting some sandbags to help block off the place and ensure nobody could just come waltzing in. "Alright, hope that there's enough food for me and the girls to live off of. At least the girls won't need to take up too many resources." Laura said, as Morgan and Anofelis both wandered into the room. Anofelis was curious, looking all over the place and grabbing some of the stools, pillows and other items which were strewn on the floor. Morgan would look at the main door, before scoffing. "I shall act as guard here. None shall pass through here with me as the brilliant bulwark of justice!" You heard Zaria and Mike both groaning near the hallway, as Morgan once more showed her prideful side.

Regardless, Laura would look around the place as well, passing by some of your men before ending up in the room where Ingmar was hiding in. You'd follow her to see what she did, watching her as she carefully approached the still heavily shaken engineer. Oreas and Kamara were also there, Kamara sitting beside Ingmar to try and comfort him a bit. "Hey, it's okay." Laura would say as she extended her hand. "You'll be safe with us, okay?" She was taking the more respectful and pleasant approach, not wanting to confront the poor guy despite her hesitations. "My name is Laura Porcher. I've worked with Oreas before this. Um, what about you?" There was still some reluctance in her tone, as she probably didn't know how to behave in this situation. Fortunately, it did seem to do the job somewhat, as you saw Ingmar looking up at her just a tiny bit. He'd glance away again, before responding with a hoarse voice. "I-I-Ingmar P-Parson." Laura nodded calmly, before looking over at the girls.

"I take it you've already gotten acquainted with Oreas, Kamara and Chrys?" Laura asked, trying to break the ice a bit, Ingmar looking over at Kamara. "K-Kamara d-d-did t-tell me her n-name..." It seemed that Kamara had tried to converse with the guy as well whilst you were gone, which was certainly good to see. Perhaps the two could relate to each other, given the fear they felt about their current situation? "Alright. Well, we'll be staying with you for a bit. Kinda like your previous co-workers. You wouldn't mind that, right?" Laura asked, to which Ingmar shook his head a tiny bit. "N-N-No, it's... f-fine." Laura would sit beside him, as the guy now had both Kamara and her flanking him. Maybe it was a bit much, but at least the two seemed on amicable terms so far. "I was told that you weren't aware of what was going on in the facility. Take that it came as quite the shock?" Laura asked again, to which Ingmar nodded once again. Laura let out a soft sigh, before looking up a little. “Yeah, I was shocked as well. But hey, we’re together now and we got help from Mik and his men. We’ll do fine, alright?”

Laura would tell Ingmar that more people would hopefully come over to this place after you saved them. Though to this, Ingmar did give a somewhat… odd response. “I-I’m not sure… i-if I feel l-like I w-want that? S-Sorry, I-I just… I-I’m k-kind of… n-not the b-best a-around lots of p-people.” Laura seemed taken back, before looking over at you. “Well, we can help fix that. I mean, your job was one which involved interactions, right? Hell, it should be something of a pre-requisite for the job!” Laura looked slightly perplexed, even getting more of a teasing tone. “We’ll spend a lot of time together. So, you’re gonna have to get used to it.” Ingmar didn’t seem all too comfortable, though didn’t say anything whatsoever. He just looked to the side Kamara was seated at, even looking over her for a bit.

>What do you do next?

>Try and initiate further conversation between Laura and Ingmar. Maybe get them to talk about something interesting to you as well? (Write in what you’ll try and get the two to talk about.)
>Just leave Laura and Ingmar to discuss things together, maybe with Kamara as well. Head back to your men to maybe set up a plan for what you’d set up here for the girls. (Write in what you’ll try and set up.)
>Go over to Morgan, either to chat about her regarding guard duties, or to perhaps challenge her to an honourable battle on the chess board. (Write in what you’ll tell Morgan.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6097239
>Go over to Morgan, either to chat about her regarding guard duties, or to perhaps challenge her to an honourable battle on the chess board. (Write in what you’ll tell Morgan.)
WE SHALL CHALLENGE HER IN THE MOST HONOURABLE BATTLE OF TACTICIANS AND STRATEGISTS! WE SHALL PLAY THE GAME OF KINGS! CHESS!

You can't just give us this option and not expect us to pick it.

>>6097239
>>Just leave Laura and Ingmar to discuss things together, maybe with Kamara as well. Head back to your men to maybe set up a plan for what you’d set up here for the girls. (Write in what you’ll try and set up.)
>Go over to Morgan, either to chat about her regarding guard duties, or to perhaps challenge her to an honourable battle on the chess board. (Write in what you’ll tell Morgan.)
Protect them, but the best protection is secrecy, you must NOT initiate a battle if you can avoid it. To start one will attract attention, attention will not go away until your dead or escape. Every second until then will have the full force of the government not just on you, but them as well. Just keep that in mind
>Discuss with your men…
Anything so far? Or are we ready to start heading out to kill that bitch.

>>6097239
>Just leave Laura and Ingmar to discuss things together, maybe with Kamara as well. Head back to your men to maybe set up a plan for what you’d set up here for the girls.
Okay, plan. We'll take inventory of what we've got around here, primarily food and any useful knick-knacks. Then we assess the security situation - how easy is it to get in here, and can we secure the entrances (though by the sounds of it, nobody's been in here for weeks). Then we work out some sleeping arrangements (I'm sure we can shove a couple of beds together for Ano if she even wants one).
>Go over to Morgan, either to chat about her regarding guard duties, or to perhaps challenge her to an honourable battle on the chess board.
Morg, while you're the best at guarding, a little bit of R&R would do some good instead of being so tightly wound all the time - which is how you get tired and stressed - considering nobody has been through that door since the Big Bang. So how about a match of this? It's an ancient and honourable game that was long popular among rulers, philosophers and tacticians, but I haven't had anyone to test myself against down here ssh, don't ruin it.. How about a nice game of chess?
Tug her away from the door by the hand if we have to.

If there's a girl in this place who would be the chess fiend, I suggest never playing with Alexandra Wellesley.

>>6097239
>Go over to Morgan, either to chat about her regarding guard duties, or to perhaps challenge her to an honourable battle on the chess board. (Write in what you’ll tell Morgan.)
Get ready to hear the word "check" a lot you metal lizard

>>6097660
And he moves pawn to E4! Can she match this thrillingly bold move!? But don't you think that pawn is fitting for you death squad types? Shuffled around as a meat shield and a sacrifice by an uncaring master in their big games? But anyway, here's Start By Sending A Prawn Back by The Hasselblads.

>>6097660
That looks adorable. I like how chill you drew Morgan... she's honestly going to take the chess match quite serious. And now I also imagine Annie giving commentary over all sorts of games, showing her bias and trying to infuriate one of the opponents to get them to lose. Though, given what >>6098211 wrote, the commentary may be a lot more amicable, albeit with the constant reminders of all the 'evil' death squad tactics.

Anyway, gonna try and get an update out tomorrow. I'll have lots of free time later in the day to get one out.

>>6098246
It looks like the nervous expression one makes when their internal monologue largely translates as "oh shit". One of these days we'll get her to unwind. Maybe with some ethanol-based help from Kiyo.

I wonder if we found her and got her to read a copy of Don Quixote if it'd amuse her, infuriate her or break her.

>>6098416
I dunno man, she looks pretty relaxed to me.

>>6098471
It could be interpreted a few ways, to me it looks like a nervous smile. Though that would be a huge win as far as I'm concerned since I'm utterly determined to crack that composure of hers eventually. A flustered Morgan would be so funny.

>>6098930
HA

>Just leave Laura and Ingmar to discuss things together, maybe with Kamara as well. Head back to your men to maybe set up a plan for what you’d set up here for the girls.
Seeing that the two were starting to converse more and more, you decided to leave Ingmar and Laura alone. As you left, Kamara and Oreas would stay by Laura's side, whilst the rest of your men and Chrys followed you. "So, what's the plan now, Mik?" Chrys asked right away, you stating that you wanted to see what this place had in terms of resources. Food, toys, tools, any of those would be useful. And once you had figured out what this place held, you could look at security flaws and what gaps needed to be filled. "Want us to help?" Thaddeus asked, to which you calmly accepted. The more people looked around the place, the better. In fact, you'd get everyone aside from Morgan to help out, as you quickly got an idea of the stock you had in this place. Anon, Thaddeus, Mike, Lars, Derek, Zaria, Lydia, Chrys and Anofelis would start rummaging through all the space, you telling them to bring everything useful to the main table near the kitchen.

After a few minutes of searching about, your men checking all the rooms thoroughly, you would find that the place did have a few resources you could use. In terms of food, there were a bunch of candies, cookies and other non-perishable sweets. It was quite a huge stash, containing enough food for Laura and Ingmar to maybe survive a week or two. That is, if they didn't also share some of the foods with the girls, which Laura was bound to do. Aside from other tools, there were dozens of kitchen utensils, plates, small containers, bottles and cooking pans. One thing of value which your men found was a pretty sharp knife which could definitely be used for self-defence purposes. Perhaps Chrys or Laura could use it to stab whatever threat entered this place, if either of them had the guts to really use it for that.

Having considered all the amenities, you would next tell your men to check every nook and cranny for ways into the place. You wanted to know if there was any way people could break into this place, your men searching the place thoroughly. Though it really did seem that the only route into the place was the main entrance. You did find that the vent system connected directly to this room, as there were two extra vent entrances in the kitchen and one between the bedrooms. You could ask Morgan to try and fortify these locations with her metal manipulation, or could even set up some snares or other items to help out with safeguarding the vents. Though honestly, such work wouldn't be difficult for the time being. Hell, maybe just protecting the vents was all that was necessary, as nobody really walked through the nearby hallways to begin with. Thus, that left you with sleeping arrangements, which would require the girls' opinions. Then again, they could also just figure that stuff out on their own after you left...

>Go over to Morgan, either to chat about her regarding guard duties, or to perhaps challenge her to an honourable battle on the chess board.
Given that the vents were the only thing of note, you would decide to have a chat with the one person who would play the role of guardswoman here. You'd go over to her, saying you wish to discuss some things. "Of course, Mik! What is it you need of me?" You'd tell her that you hoped she wouldn't be too overly protective of the people you'd leave here. You advised her to avoid starting fights, instead just hiding if it was possible. "Mik, I shan't seek out battles. But I will not let my blade rest when I know there are crooks and evildoers abound. My blade shall bring justice if I deem it necessary! Not to mention, you agree that letting evildoers roam this place freely does not help anyone, correct?" Whilst you could agree that fighting injustice was fair, you still were certain that secrecy was the best option here. You elaborated that she’d garner a ton of attention if she did start fights down here. Hearing this little chat, Mike would bud in as well with a pretty fair comment. “It’s made even worse by the fact that you don’t kill people? I get that you got this… code of honour or whatever, but letting people live only means a greater chance of being targeted.”

Morgan scoffed in turn, grabbing her blade and speaking quite haughtily. “My, you death squads and your brutish ways. T’is in a knight’s nature to show compassion to all life, even those of wretched and crooked individuals! Whoever I do encounter, I shall defeat and show the errors of their arrogance. I shan’t slay them or hurt them in the process. I shall protect the others and ensure nobody dies down here!” It was irritating that Morgan was this insistent on not killing anyone. In turn, you just told her to try and hide at all costs. It was the best she could do, if she decided she wasn’t going to kill anything anyway. “Hiding is for cowards! Besides, I’m always on duty! I’m always ready to find myself facing some heinous evildoer who I can bring to justice!” This actually got you thinking about the fact Morgan was always so insistent on being combat ready. Given your experience with combat and the way it could affect the mind, you would tell her a bit about how she should spend her time instead.

You would compliment her guarding skills, but also tell her that she needed to take time to relax and do something which wasn’t work related. You felt it would reduce her stress and keep her more awake, making her scoff. “I’m not stressed, nor tired! Besides, why would I put down the blade when a threat could walk in any second?” Hearing her insistence, you decided to prove your point in a different way. After all, why not give her a taste of something to potentially soothe her mind? And what better way to do that than to play a relaxing, honourable yet friendly game of chess against her?

You’d grab the chess set from the pile of board games, showing it to her and explaining what it was. Fortunately, it didn’t require too much effort to convince her to play the game. “Well, I am actually familiar with that game. Illimani told me about it before and how it was something some subjects played with their caretakers. I even played some matches against him!” Morgan would thus pause her guard duties, following you to the nearby table so she could actually play a proper game of chess with you. Though your men were… well, they were a bit perplexed. “Mik, are you really going to play chess with her?” Lars asked in bemusement, Mike seeming a bit more irritated. “What a way to spend our time here.” Though some of your men seemed more into the suggestion. “A battle of the wits, huh? Lets see how well those scientists did in making artificial intelligences!” Lydia said excitedly. “Careful Mik. Don Quixote here is quite the madman. With their expert knowledge of the game they might even have their rook jump past their pawns to capture yours." Zaria said jokingly, which seemed to confuse the rest of your men, as well as Morgan.

"Who’s Don Quixote?” Mike said in a somewhat bewildered tone as you set up the chess board, Zaria letting out a sigh. “Come on. Am I the only literary person here? I know it’s a story just a tad bit younger than the game you’re playing now, but still." Morgan would speak more curiously in turn, helping to put the pieces in place. “I presume this Don Quixote was some daring and brilliant knight from ancient times?” Knowing the story of Don Quixote, you weren’t going to spoil it to Morgan just yet. And neither was Zaria, who would smirk just a bit. “Oh, he sure was daring. He was truly insane!” As the pieces were set up, you’d make the first move, as the rest of your men would watch the game which was about to unfold. And it quickly became clear that, despite having experience with the game, you were certainly a lot more familiar with it. Morgan played heavily defensively, not wanting to let go of any piece whatsoever. Whilst it meant she did plan ahead quite well to ensure her pieces were covered, it also meant she didn’t ever do any risky plays. Nor did she ever get any valuable exchanges in.

It was honestly kind of a slog at first. Though you did soon start getting the upper hand. And given her reluctance to go on the offensive unless if it was quite safe, your lead would only grow stronger and stronger. You did overextend a couple of times, but not enough that it would really harm you in the long run. And it wouldn’t take long for you to check her. “Hey Morgan, just because you don’t wanna kill anyone in real life, that doesn’t mean you should limit yourself to that in game as well.” Anon would jokingly remark, much to the chagrin of Morgan.

She responded softly as she thought out her next move. “A true lady does not throw away any pieces or act in desperation. She waits for the right opportunity to strike with finesse and honour!” Despite her tactic of waiting for the right opportunity, that opportunity would never come. You kept checking her king over and over again, her every retreat widening your victory. Until finally, the advantage became too big and you started pushing onto her side of the board. And within a few turns, she had nowhere to go and it was checkmate. “Aye, well done, lad!” Thaddeus said positively, the rest of your men also cheering you on and supporting you. Morgan seemed a bit irritated, but nothing too seriously. “I see that your experience triumphs over my own. You are victorious.” She said with a mild grumble, your men clearly amused to see you beating Morgan in this way. For a potentially very intelligent subject, putting her in her place was highly satisfying.

Regardless, looking around, you saw that your men had finished getting all the supplies in one spot, and had spent the rest of the time watching you beat Morgan at chess. The only one who hadn’t watched was Anofelis, who found herself a nice spot to rest. She lied on a couch and seemed to be taking a little nap. You’d ask your men if they were ready to go out and finally hunt the queen properly, to which Derek responded calmly. “We should maybe try and meet up with Arika first. And afterwards, we’ll probably have to deal with Nikita again, given what he told us.”

>What do you do next?

>Just wrap up helping the girls out here. Maybe tell Morgan to close the vents or ask Ano to help move the beds elsewhere. (Write in what you’ll do to help the girls out.)
>Go down the vents and head straight down. Better to just continue your mission right away, now that you knew that the girls had a somewhat safe location. (Write in if you’ll go any specific direction.)
>Try and find some more resources for the girls. Whilst they had some food to survive off of, candy bars weren’t exactly going to keep Laura and Ingmar healthy down here. (Write in where you’ll go to get food items.)
>Head over to Ingmar and Laura to see how they were doing. Maybe bring up some important sticking points or suggestions for what they should do without you. (Write in what you’ll discuss with them.)
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

>>6098930
(Honestly, eating the chess pieces may have been a better strategy than what she actually did. Or at least, it is on parr with her current strategy. Anyway, adorable art as always.)

>>6098999
>Just wrap up helping the girls out here. Maybe tell Morgan to close the vents or ask Ano to help move the beds elsewhere. (Write in what you’ll do to help the girls out.)
Definitely close up the vents

>Try and find some more resources for the girls. Whilst they had some food to survive off of, candy bars weren’t exactly going to keep Laura and Ingmar healthy down here. (Write in where you’ll go to get food items.)
Search nearby
With the lack of transportation methods in this place there would need to be food in the area.

>>6098930
My chops hurt from grinning too widely. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we're blessed to have all of you drawfags....even if Morgy-moos would never resort to such underhanded tactics. Dear me no. Definitely not. Pah!

>>6098999
>Just wrap up helping the girls out here. Maybe tell Morgan to close the vents or ask Ano to help move the beds elsewhere. (Write in what you’ll do to help the girls out.)
Seal the vents and main entrance - obviously leave the vent hole we entered through open. Bail into it if anyone comes knocking and tries to breach the door.
>Head over to Ingmar and Laura to see how they were doing. Maybe bring up some important sticking points or suggestions for what they should do without you.
Better yet - ask Ingmar where food if he's willing to talk. Surely they had a staff canteen or something round here - if he lived here, he'd know where the places to get the food were. Probably. Maybe.

RE Morgan, she's definitely intelligent but not smart. Her subject programming is a straitjacket on her thought processes and hamstrings her ability to turn that intelligence into anything useful - Q.E.D. in the chess match, she had the brain cells to play and could well have won but was forced to leverage it support of a heavily suboptimal strategy that shackled her playstyle. The sooner we can work on wearing down her mental conditioning, the better (more Dame Louise, less Lawful Stupid) - if we ever can.....
Wait. Hold up. Morgan Caliburnus. "Morgan" Le Fay + Ex"calibur". Very Arthurian.

>>6098999
in the end...
It was a matter of resolve.

>Just wrap up helping the girls out here. Maybe tell Morgan to close the vents or ask Ano to help move the beds elsewhere. (Write in what you’ll do to help the girls out.)
>Head over to Ingmar and Laura to see how they were doing. Maybe bring up some important sticking points or suggestions for what they should do without you. (Write in what you’ll discuss with them.)
>Go down the vents and head straight down. Better to just continue your mission right away, now that you knew that the girls had a somewhat safe location. (Write in if you’ll go any specific direction.)
WE HAVE QUEEN TO KILL

>>6099312
Supporting. We can get more supplies from them later, potentially even stuff taken from the Queen after we kill her. They should be able to last for at least a week so we don't have much of a time crunch.

>>6099057 (me)
>>6099573
Eh, yeah, whatever, let's jus head back out. Leave the food til later, they can subsist on cookies and crisps for a day or so And perhaps they can push a couple of beds together to give Oreas the big bed she said she wanted to sleep in when she comes back. While we head down into the depths, I do want to stop by Arika on the way down, it should only be a small detour.

That said, we have to decide on which girls to bring with us now. I still say Morgan and Oreas as our designated bullet sponge and utility protege, especially for vent travel. I would say Kamara as well as scout, but she's nowhere near ready for this. Perhaps in due time.

Ya know, it still trips me up that after nearly a year of this quest, we're still only on Day 7.

>>6099586
no way its been year.
I personally prefer just our deathsquad.
I could compromise with morgan, but currently leaning the deathsqaud gang

>>6099586
>after nearly a year of this quest,
>>6099621
>no way its been year.
N-no way it's been year, right?
>Checks archives
>First thread 10/28/23
Oh god

>>6099586
It has been a slow burn, that's for sure. Though, I do think that things will speed up significantly sooner rather than later. I'll probably skip past some days where Mik and his men are just quietly exploring, giving a quick overview of anything important and then continuing from a more exciting point.

And yep, it has almost been a year. I'm surprised I've gotten so far, and do hope to keep it going a lot longer than just a year. I might try something fun for the 1 year anniversary, but I'm not entirely sure what it will be yet. If you guys got any suggestions, do let me know. It's still 2 months away, but might as well just bring it up now.

>>6099586
Morgan might be better off with us but we did just tell her to guard this place. Realistically, I'd say Ano or Oreas should join us. The former is fairly large sure but a major boon while the latter is probably the best bet for having some decent utility but also not getting caught. Though I am willing to take Morgan as a compromise in place of Ano.

>>6099623
It's really been that long huh...And we've been in here a week... Yeah this quest has another 2 years in it at least at this rate.

>>6099637
Even with this I still think that we probably have another 2 years. Need fox, must huff fluff. Gib for anniversary. That, or put us in charge of an absolute monster of a girl on a rampage or some other high threat level subject that can do fun plot relevant stuff. Maybe tell us what Wilhelms ex is up to while you are at it.

>Just wrap up helping the girls out here. Maybe tell Morgan to close the vents or ask Ano to help move the beds elsewhere.
With your men ready to head out and get back into action, you'd consider what else you had to do before you could really get out of here. The most important thing you could think of were the vents and the main entrance, you asking Morgan if she could use her metal manipulation to seal the vents and maybe help block off the main entrance. "The vents, I can most certainly assist with. I do not wish to deal with crooks getting the jump in, or sneaking in like cowards." At least Morgan wasn't insistent on keeping the vents open, or ignoring them for some reason. This was mostly a concern, given what she'd say next. "I shan't block off the main entrance. I will remain as guard and will ensure no evildoer slips past my blade!" This made some of your men sigh, as you insisted that she just find a way to maybe lock the door. Or a way for her to act as guard behind the door, so she wouldn't have to stand near the entrance all the time.

You'd also remind her not to close the vents you came from, instead focusing on just the other vents through which other threats could come. It could help out to just have your vent be the only one which could lead to this place. "Hmmm, very well then. I shall try to block those vents like you suggest. I'm not sure how I'll do it just yet, but I shall find a way." Morgan was thankfully going to listen here and help out. She wouldn't just stay as guard all the time, which was what you really needed of her in this place. You'd also suggest that she could escape using the vent you went through, if things really did get bad enough and she had to leave. "I shall send the other girls there if it comes to it. I won't sit back and let some evildoer terrorize me into hiding though!" She said insistently, which was not what you had hoped for. Still, so long as the other girls were safe, it wouldn't be too massive of an issue.

>Head over to Ingmar and Laura to see how they were doing. Maybe bring up some important sticking points or suggestions for what they should do without you.
Whilst security was going to be handled by Morgan, there still was the issue of food. Whilst there were a lot of sweets, you knew this wasn't going to be something Laura and Ingmar would be able to survive on. And given that the girls also likely wanted to eat something, you'd need more food. You felt that Ingmar could help out here, since he likely knew a nearby location which had food. After all, there had to be some sort of distribution centre nearby which supplied this section. Thus, you'd tell your men you'd head over to Ingmar and Laura again. "What, are you gonna let them know we're leaving soon?" Lars asked calmly, you responding that it was a bit more important. In turn, your men would also follow. Though Zaria, Mike and Lydia would opt to stay, seemingly wanting to help out Morgan a bit for the time being.

You'd enter the bedroom where Laura and Ingmar were chatting not too long ago, Chrys, Kamara and Oreas also being there. Laura and Ingmar were still talking, Kamara also having joined them as they all looked a lot more relaxed. Oreas and Chrys were clearly just listening, not seeming to mind what was going on. As you entered, all eyes turned to you as Laura spoke up calmly. "So, take it everything has been set up?" Laura said as she got up and walked over to you, Ingmar and Kamara following her. You'd explain that you still wanted some intel about where to get food in this place, looking over at Ingmar for a response. "Ummm, f-food? W-Well, ummm, w-we had f-food here, b-but most of that... w-went bad, s-so I just h-have the s-sweets and... o-other non-perishables! D-Didn't I already t-tell you a-about that?" He'd ask a bit anxiously, you elaborating on what you actually meant.

You told him how you needed to find where the food came from, since a place like this needed a food distributor. That, or there was a nearby canteen which needed such a food distributor. "Ummm, w-well, there's... a c-canteen t-to the east of h-here. B-But, I'm n-not sure how s-safe it is t-to get there." Given that you wanted to head downwards as soon as possible, you were left to think about what the best course of action was. You could try and head to the canteen which supplied this place with food, though that would cut into the time you wanted to spend searching for the queen. You could also just get the girls, Laura and Ingmar to do it themselves. But given that Ingmar knew nothing of the situation there, and the fact that you wouldn’t be there to help, it was quite the risk for the girls. In the end, you would tell Laura to just be very conservative with the food you had here, and that you’d come over sooner rather than later with more supplies. And if things truly went bad, maybe the girls could try and look for some food in the canteen.

“Just promise to stay in contact with us, in case something goes wrong and we’re in need of some food.” Laura said in turn, as Lydia spoke up a bit reluctantly. “I just hope that the nearby food sources haven’t gone bad just yet. Maybe some of their contents are still good, but this place has been without electricity for quite some time now.” You didn’t wanna really think about this issue, you telling Lydia that you were positive that the girls would have enough food. Besides, surely you’d do as Laura requested and hear out how much food they had. It was better to just monitor it for the time being, than to pre-emptively go out searching for food which you already had in this place. If there was an emergency, the girls and Laura could figure something out without you as well.

>Go down the vents and head straight down. Better to just continue your mission right away, now that you knew that the girls had a somewhat safe location.
With that, you’d tell the girls that you would finally head out again. You told them that you’d stay in contact using the radios and that you’d make sure all was well with the help of the trackers they had. “I’m still a little concerned about this place. What if the reception goes bad, or we run out of batteries or something?” Chrys would suggest, after which Derek gave a pretty solid suggestion. “You can always try and contact Annie if things really do go south. And I wouldn’t worry about the batteries. Oreas can very likely help out with that.” This actually made Laura think for a moment, bringing up something useful. “Maybe we can run some tests with Oreas to see what else she could get to run? Getting some more lights in this place, or getting the refrigerator running would be very helpful.” It looked like the girls were already making plans for what they’d do whilst you were away. Still, it was quite a difficult moment, as you knew this gamble could end up going quite poorly for the girls.

>What do you do next?

>Take one or two of the girls along. Maybe it was better to have a bit of their support, in case you encountered other subjects or scientists you wanted to befriend. Besides, they could provide other utilities, right? (Write in who you’ll take along.)
>Head over to the meeting point with Arika first and foremost. It was something you had planned out right away and couldn’t just ignore.
>Just head back to the blockage which you tried digging through, and try and use some explosives. You may not have Evander to help out, but any fool could set off a big explosion to clear out a path.
>Take the vents as far down to try and find your way to the queen. Better to just use the path you established as being somewhat safe, rather than finding another route.
>Discuss with your men…
>Something else…

(Hope this update suffices. I decided to give you guys a chance to maybe specify what you wanna do a bit more. You're gonna head downstairs either way, but maybe you can choose a specific girl to take along, if you even wanna do that.)

(Also, >>6099641 mentioning Wilhelm's ex did give me a good idea. Perhaps you guys could think of some old plot points which weren't resolved which I can then elaborate on or showcase what happened with. Could maybe flesh out some story beats a bit, or be like the horror sidestories for further context on the hell that is this place.)

>>6099662
You know, worst case scenario, if we all die at least Annie can let them know through the radios so they don't think we abandoned them

>Head over to the meeting point with Arika first and foremost. It was something you had planned out right away and couldn’t just ignore.

>>6099641
That is true, we did put her on guard and the girls need someone who can and will bash some heads together. I think I see Morgan as a kind of security blanket when it comes to combat since she's the only one here who can soak up bullets and not care so all the Queen thralls packing heat makes me instinctively reach for the Morg Button. We need to recruit another combat subject at some point so we can stop leaning on her, though they do tend to be the insane ones. Feh, I'll comb the MGE for recruitment targets at some point and can perhaps track some of them down during the timeskips to come when the Queen arc is finished. While she's incredibly useful, Ano isn't a fighter (though she could definitely bring some serious hurt if sufficiently motivated) and her presence isn't really conducive to us absolutely needing to stay low profile down in Feng's domain.

QM, since this has been nagging at me ever since the fight, how would Caera v Ano have gone if we called her in as backup?

>>6099662
>Head over to the meeting point with Arika first and foremost. It was something you had planned out right away and couldn’t just ignore.
>Just head back to the blockage which you tried digging through, and try and use some explosives.
While we head over to Ari, a few of us can set up some boom boom at the blockage. Not to clear it, but the opposite - to collapse that tunnel and keep Feng's flunkies out of this level for a while.

Also, I've decided no girls for now. We're heading into dangerous and unknown territory and the only one who should be present for that is responsible for the others and would compromise our stealth (though we should bring Morgan for when we actually go to slay Feng, she'd probably be quite cheesed off if we didn't). This is a scouting run, we're not looking to start any big fights right now and keeping a smaller team of professionals is more important. It is tough to leave them behind (this is your fault QM, you've created too good characters).

As for things to show, I'm not sure what we can cover without risking spoilers and metaknowledge. The aftermath of some of the brief PoV swaps in particular, what the big snake is getting up to now, how Anderson and Mona is doing in jail, the wider galactic public or some of the naval personnel up in orbit watching events, where the other squads we've been introduced to like Mr. Pollux's lot, , Mr. Cobbler's friends and the ones Kiyo duffed up are now.


This is a completely unrelated thing, but if any of you made fanart last thread, can you repost it here? Suptg didn't catch any of the thread images and I'd hate for such masterpieces as Big Caerus to be lost.

File: vmgc monthly.png (781 KB, 1612x2006)

781 KB PNG

may as well repost the magazine cover I slapped together too for the benefit of archive readers