The Tiamat

Arc Alpha: Chapter 5

You are Laela, currently you are looking over Falks' shoulder as he shows you & Mutie some videos of his bugs. Mutie seems to actually be interested as Falks goes on about spiders moving via hydraulics. To be honest, you are looking out of a combination of no other options & because he enjoys it. Lindi & Jocos are currently piloting the dropship, Lindi actually steering while Jocos uses clairvoyance to navigate.

You do a quick scan of everyone's minds. Lindi is constantly going over the controls along with the directions while Falks' thoughts & speech are perfectly synced. You can't read Jocos' mind as per usual but you have a feeling that you'd just see what he sees through his clairvoyance if you could. Mutie's mind ... you can't really describe it, you can't read it that's what's important.

Lindi yells back to you & the others that you'll be landing momentarily. Falks puts his tablet away. Everyone holds onto something as the ship descends.

~~~~~

You are Falks Vi- the ship lands shaking everyone inside. Your claws dig into the metal as you steady yourself. Laela falls as the ship shudders. Mutie clings onto you. You can't tell how they Captain & Jocos are. Everyone pulls themselves together. Captain Lindi & Jocos join you in front of the door as it opens, you all pose dramatically cause stuff just got real.

~~~~~

You are Lindi. The five of you exit the drop ship. You instruct Jocos & Mutie to search the surface for entrances, Falks to search for anything of interest with bug powers, & Laela to ... to. Laela just stands to the side. You pull out your tablet & open up your Alternian database. You bring up "Communal Hive Stems", the image shows a lot more grouped together as opposed to just the two that are here.

Falks informs you that he's sensing some tech but that's it. You ask him if he can do anything with any of it. He tells you he's going to avoid randomly setting off unknown technology, you're forced to admit that that's a good point.

Jocos calls you over. You join him & Mutie at a trapdoor, Mutie says that they can't get it open. You ask if they asked the strongest Drakkon in the area, Mutie makes an excuse of psionics being safer. You roll your eyes & attempt to rip off the trapdoor.

~~~~~

You are yet again Falks Vi- there's an explosion of electricity & shrapnel as Lindi violently rips the trapdoor from the floor ... ceiling? You hear Mutie say something about this proving their point.

Lindi assures everyone that she's fine & her shield took most of the damage. You think that her shield should have only absorbed the electricity. Laela chimes in telling you that's she's lying as to not show weakness. She doesn't think that's healthy, you agree.

You & Lindi go join the rest of the group over the blasted open hole. Mutie throws a piece of shrapnel down the hole, it takes about ten seconds. Jocos asks if anyone brought a ladder or rope. Lindi offers to levitate everyone down. Mutie is quick to agree to that plan but Laela points out that if anything happens to Lindi then everyone is stuck.

Everyone is silent for a while as they try to think up ideas on how to get down. You muse how it's a shame that you can't see if the other tower is any better.

~~~~~

You are Jocos. You & the Captain have just piloted the dropship over to the other "communal hive stem" as the Captain calls it. Everyone piles out of the ship ignoring Falks as he insists on dramatic posing.

The Captain rips off the trapdoor before exiting the ship. There's no trap this time so you suppose it's just a door.

Falks & Laela go over to the new hole in the floor. You take a quick clairvoyant peek & see nothing there so you say nothing. Falks calls back to you that it looks safe.

The Captain goes forward, you retrieve your rifle & follow right behind her. She looks down the hole & mumbles something about how she can't see. You turn the helmet light on your suit on. She face palms before turning hers on as well. It looks clear as far as you can tell. The Captain seems to think the same as she descends.

~~~~~

You are Laela.

You watch as Lindi rips off another door. This has been a rather boring expedition, barely anything to loot & the few barely working pieces of tech aren't very useful. Most of what's been happening is finding corpses of Alternians & getting attacked by the wildlife.

You feel someone tapping your shoulder. It's Lindi, she asks you to carry some stuff. You agree & take the ... whatever it is you're taking. She asks if you're all right. You nod & tell her your mind is just wandering since you can't really help in this situation. She says she understands & goes back to front of the group.

You suppose you are spacing out a bit too much, you should really try to focus. Falks does another bug psionics thing & tells Lindi that there's nothing on this floor. Lindi motions for everyone to go down the stairs. Mutie groans & asks how many floors they have to go down.

The rest of the group starts talking amongst themselves as you all go down the the stairwell. You check your inventory to see what they have you hauling around. Just some tech stuff, clothes, a few weapons. Useless.

There's a roar below, everyone stops. Lindi has Jocos take a look. His eyes start glowing. Falks asks you what you think it is, you tell him that it's probably just some animals. Jocos comes back & tells Lindi something you can't make out.
Lindi orders everyone back to the ship. You have to admit now you're curious as to what it is.

~~~~~

You are now a very scared Jocos.
Nothing should have that many eyes.