Kujito: The Awakening

Chapter 5: Motherloads and Monstosities

Miyuki wakes up early in the morning, and gets herself ready for the expedition. Oshiro had been up since O-five-hundred hours and was waiting for her down in the lobby. She met with him and the others who were early birds for breakfast. They discussed X-G5 and Akira's grand plans for it, and how everyone could learn from that man. Oshiro was silent the whole time though, he knew something was off but couldn't quite put his finger on it. Amaya rose from her bed just 4 floors above them. "It's showtime!" she thought to herself before getting herself ready to head downstairs. She met with the group downstairs and learned who each was. Miyuki Serizune and her brother Oshiro Serizune, high-ranking officials for the NSA, Tojo Shamaka, a spelunker and geologist working for the NSA, Sukiko Manabe, a woman who was part of the NSA Security Corps, she was second in command just under Oshiro. Another man was Junichi Masoki who was a biologist working for the NSA, he would be coming with them to study the creatures they may encounter beneath the mountain. Several others were in the group with more already heading to the trail, but the ones here didn't hold her interest, as they were just Security Corps officers and were no one of importance. "These were the main members... interesting group" she thought to herself silently. They all referred to her as Miss Tojima, and legitimately bought the disguise. Her plan was a success, she had fooled everyone, and was now more than a Director for STORM.

They all finished breakfast and headed out to their vehicles. The drive didn't take the group too long, and they parked just outside of the Mountain Trail. Amaya and Miyuki were the two heads of the expedition and lead the team down the trail. Amaya informed the group, "This trail will lead us into a cave at the base of the mountain. This cave leads into a cavern system that hasn't been explored fully yet. Our job here is to map it out and discover the source of the X-G5 in the area." Miyuki chimed in, "If we can discover another motherload of Tachomytes here like we did with Fujitake the NSA will be incredibly happy. We'll have enough power from them to power the entire country for centuries." The group nodded and they walked down the forested trail. It was peaceful out there in the wilderness, away from the business of the city. Everything was tranquil out in nature and Miyuki thought to herself, "Akira should take a vacation and come out to the mountains, he works so hard the man deserves a break." They all moved along, taking a small break every now and then until they reached their destination.

"This is it, the Mouth of Kujitake!" Miyuki said before letting Amaya take over from there. "Alright, we need a to set up a base here to monitor any wild life, seismic activity, or anything else that could be dangerous to our well being." She points to a tall brash man and says, "Sokoro you're in charge of base camp, you're the geologist the NSA sent so it's your job to monitor seismic activity." "Right! I'll start setting up equipment and then help set tents up." he responded before getting to work. Amaya directed another individual who was a Kujitake Park official and knew the land well, "Your job is to set up a camera trap perimeter around the base camp to monitor our surroundings. You and the other park rangers will be taking shifts keeping watch tonight." Miyuki took the main group with her and ventured into the cave while Amaya directed base camp. She trusted "Miss Tojima" with keeping things together on the outside. Oshiro was the group's second in command should anything happen to her, she knew he would make sure the expedition was a success and that everyone would be fine.

They ventured through the long cave and into the tunnel system. As it began to grow darker they started turning on their flashlights in order to still be able to see. Miyuki lead them down a long narrow path that led to an opening in a large cavern. There was a narrow crevice path that they would have to traverse one by one. Below them was a deep chasm that no one could see the bottom of. Oshiro took out a flare and threw it into the abyss below them. They all watched as it tumbled down into the darkness until it's bright red glow slowly dimmed into nothingness. "Yeah it's incredibly deep, we're gonna have to go one by one to ensure this thing's structural integrity" said Tojo, who had been through caves like this before and knew the dangers. He offered to go first in order to test the narrow path's integrity. He slowly walked down the pass and made his way to the other side. One after another the group walked through and each made it across the chasm. The group entered the next cavern and heard a clicking sound. None of them knew what it was, as no one had been down this deep in the mountain. Several people who had joined the main group, who were members of the NSA Security corps. went off to the right where the sounds of clicking were coming from.