lucetilogs | MISSION # 4 - Third Floor Revisited

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MISSION # 4 - Third Floor Revisited

Who: Shikamaru (field leader), Tony Stark (hacker), Mia (healer), Tear (healer), Melaka, Sheik, Kazooie, Freyjadour, Caius, Joshua Bright, Jubei, and Leonhardt
What: MISSION # 4 - Third Floor Revisited
When: March 22nd to 23rd
Where: Abandoned Malnosso Facility
Summary: The site of a previous infiltration is revisited due to strange creature that now infests it.

Twelve volunteers had been selected this time, the largest group assembled for a mission yet. Specialist Davis didn't like it. Sure, the eggheads in management had told him that they didn't pick out anyone too powerful, but the situation was already pretty damn volatile. If these Lucetians decided to stage an escape, they'd be looking at one bloody battle to keep them in. Even if he personally didn't give a damn where they were. They'd probably be more useful on the outside, killing cultists full time.

The scientist staffed with them was still putting the finishing touches on the droids when the volunteers arrived. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed and turned around. Time to deal with the test subjects. Time to send them off to die, he figured. This is a suicide mission for anyone taking it, I don't care how good they're supposed to be.

It took him a minute to find the leader of the group, Shikamaru. He hadn't expected it to be some kid and initially started speaking to Tony Stark, before realizing his mistake. What was with all the animal people too?

"This is Research Building #56. Over a year and a half ago, volunteers from your Region Six- your enclosure, were tasked with an unauthorized infiltration of this building to weed out members of the organization that had been designated traitors by the previous administration. I'm not a politician and I'm not on an ethical committee. So I don't care about what went down then or why. What I do know is that I've lost three of my best teams trying to contain some hellish monster that your people were partly responsible for releasing."

That last portion probably pissed them off, he figured, but he wasn't apologetic and continued. "I know one of you has been in there before. Don't count on it doing much to save your asses. The creature originating from the third floor is now infesting every single level of the building. We have Shifts keeping it in, but the creature is adaptable. We estimate in three days, it will breech the barrier. Your group has forty-eight hours to get in and get out. That's assuming you do get out. No matter how tough or badass you all think you are, going in there cocky drops your chances of survival even lower than it already is."

That, he decided, was enough. He left further explanation to his staff. The scientist followed soon after, explaining that the droids would be accompanying them. He was quite enthusiastic about them and unusually fond of the robots, referring to them all by different pet names chosen by himself (such as 'Sparky' and 'Wires' and so on). He emphasized that they shouldn't be tampered with, urging them to remember the mission and that this was no time to try and steal technology. One final word of warning he imparted on them was to be wary of other droids in the facility. Some of them had been infected by the biological monster, which had apparently found a way to power them by its own life energy, which was more potent than the Shifting that powered the uninfected ones.

A lower ranked officer was the one to see them off. A little starstruck to be working with Lucetians, she hurriedly offered them back packs containing supplies they might need: canteens of water, energy bars, some rations, cutting tools, gas masks, and so on. Resisting the urge to want to reach out and touch Jubei, she smiled awkwardly and led them to a hover platform. (Those who have been on the farm would recognize these as being common there.) After taking the group to the top of the building, the point where they would enter, she saluted and waited for them to disembark. She did so sadly, since she wasn't sure they would actually survive.

---

The original layout of the building can be found here It's a ten story complex once used for a wide variety of purposes. The team will need to make their way down from the roof to the third floor, where the creature will be found. Specialist Davis has given them a special bomb to be planted in the heart of the creature. When detonated, it will drag everything in it back into that creature's home world. This is a place no one will want to go, no matter how much they may hate the place.

Each door requires an ID card to bypass. Although Tony was given an adapter card to swipe at each doorway, it will require determining the constantly fluctuating pass code to bypass. Attempting to destroy the doors will be dangerous, as they are heavily reinforced with an unknown variant of metal harder than titanium. They are more likely to bring the building down on them trying to breach it in that manner. The doors blocking stairwells will be even more tightly locked.

The creature grows in a plant like way, but seems to be composed of a mammal-like flesh. Large bulbous eyes grow out of it, making it aware of its surroundings. The team will be watched at all times, but it will only begin to become aggressive once they reach the seventh floor, unless they are openly hostile to it before then. One of the earlier threats will be large gaping mouths from the ceilings, walls, and floors. A putrid gas reeks from inside it, enough that it can paralyze anyone that happen to get a full dose of it. The teeth can stretch out to try and drag in its paralyzed prey. These teeth are razor sharp and nearly indestructible.

The lower they go, the more every surface will be covered in an oily flesh. Although soft, in some places it can be extremely difficult to penetrate. They may be required to burn it away in order to access door panels. One consistent threat they may face are zombie-like MSF soldiers. They resemble walking corpses (with decay already set in), but partially covered by the creature's flesh, with new eyes and mouths on different parts of the body. Those that are from the most recent mission (on floor 5) will still be in possession of semi-automatic machine guns, although their aim will be clumsy. The zombies are extremely strong and resilient, enough to match your average elite cultist.

Some infected droids may yet be encountered. Although their physical condition is rusted and looking beyond repair, they seem to be able to move anyway despite their deteriorated state. Although they have more power than their normal counterparts, the fleshy tentacles that keeps them locked in place are more fragile than their metal components and can be severed. The six droids accompanying them will be quick to destroy any of the remaining parts of the droids. This is just as well, as the parts are corrupted, rusted, and not even fit for scrap metal at this point.

Deeper below, large tentacles will sometimes pierce through the walls and doors (yes, even that harder than titanium stuff) and start openly attacking the group. At this point they will likely start losing some of the droids to the attacks and may suffer grave or fatal injuries themselves. The tentacles are lined with spikes and micro-quills that inject a quick and deadly poison into the system. Although the poison can be magically eradicated, the volunteers will need to ensure that there are no micro-quills still in the skin, as it will continue to inject poison into the victim otherwise.

On the third floor, the group will finally be near the heart of the creature. Zombified creatures that were once scientists and researchers will be present, now fully covered in the creature's flesh and stronger and faster than those on the previous floors. The tentacles will be more aggressive, the mouths hungrier, the entire area will only grow hotter due to their battle. As they draw in closer, they will begin to hear a loud 'thumping' that will increase in intensity, even causing the area to vibrate. This is because their target, at this point, is quite literally a giant heart, about seven meters tall and now crossing into the two floors below. The heart will pulsate and use the same techniques it had been previously to defend itself, but will otherwise be stationary. Although they can attempt to attack it using whatever means, it will regenerate from all damage in moments. They'll just need to cut it open long enough to plant the bomb inside it.

At that point, the group will need to set the timer to escape. It's still impossible to descend from the third floor, so they will have to go straight up as quickly as they can. The creature will be scrambling at that point and although hostile, less directed than before. The building, however, will be on the verge of collapse and may begin falling down on them in some parts. Speed will be the only thing that sees them to the other side.

If they succeed, Specialist Davis will have a hot meal and hot showers waiting for them, before sending them back to Luceti.

You can use this post for questions and plotting!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Leonhardt will find Joshua quick enough, and like the boy, he's also not in the least bit alarmed. If they don't do this, then someone else less suited would have to. Like Joshua, he's used to dangerous missions.

He'll go ahead and cast Earth Guard on the two of them. He's got more EP, so that is likely best.]

Our priority should be keeping Earth Guard cast on the healers as much as possible.

[And having said that, he'll go ahead and slip on his own gas mask. He only needs a nod of acknowledgment and once the others arrive he can cast with the mask on or not.]

[Exactly. At least if they do this, that means two others who might not have as much experience won't have to put themselves at risk.

In response to Leonhardt's word, Joshua just nods.]

All right. [He figured that's probably what they should do. Keeping the healers safe is definitely something they should prioritize, and Earth Guard is a fairly effective way to accomplish that.

He pauses for a moment as if contemplating something. When he continues, his tone is more concerned than before - not much, but enough to be noticeable.]

...Are you sure you'll be fine, Loewe? [It's been less than a week since he came back, after all, and even though he's been doing well so far... well, Joshua still can't help but to worry a little.]

[And Leonhardt can't help but sigh in response to that. He should have expected Joshua would be overly worried for no good reason.]

You can stop the excessive worrying now.

[Doesn't what happened recently plus how dangerous this mission is count as a good reason? It does from Joshua's point of view, at least.]

I'm not worrying excessively. We're not exactly here to exterminate a group of Poms. [And he doesn't want a repeat of what happened earlier this month. He'd like to think they'll be fine despite everything they've been told, but he's still a bit uneasy about his brother tagging along on this kind of mission so soon after all that.

...Someone's being a little overprotective still, to say the least.]

[Yes, Joshua is being a bit overprotective.]

And there is nothing that has affected my ability to fight. Have you seen a thing that concerns you in the past few days? [Because really, if he wasn't all right, there has been enough time to show at least some symptoms, but he's acting more like his normal self.]

Well... [As far as he could tell, there weren't really any noticeable abnormalities. Leonhardt's been doing fairly well during the last few days, all things considered.]

... No, I haven't. [He's willing to admit that much. It's not as if his condition has been progressively getting worse again like before - that would point fairly clearly toward some sort of problem, so that not being the case is a bit reassuring. But still...]

[But still Joshua has to be a worrywart, right?]

And I have noticed nothing off during my training. Worry about yourself so I don't feel a need to jump in and protect you.

[Right. At least Leonhardt being this insistent that he'll be fine is easing his concerns a little.

Still, that response actually earns a sigh this time.]

I know. You said that before, Loewe. [Or, well, something really similar. He definitely hasn't forgotten that conversation.]

[It's a very normal response for Leonhardt though.]

It bears being repeated because I don't want to see you doing something reckless to protect me.

[It is, but it's still something he would've remembered even without it being brought up again.]

Don't worry, I won't. [He'd rather have both of them make it through this alive. As long as he still has other options available to him, he's not going to do anything needlessly reckless just to keep Leonhardt safe.]

Then we are agreed. We'll both get out of here alive because to think otherwise is to set ourselves up for failure before we even start.

[It's not just sheer arrogance, it's just sound strategy. If you think you'll die, your chances of dying increase greatly. If one doesn't set their goals high, they never will accomplish anything great.]

All right. [That's a good point. If they go into this expecting it all to be a suicide mission - which is what the specialist had made it sound like - then it's more likely that that's what it'll turn out to be. Acknowledging that it's a dangerous mission doesn't hurt, but that doesn't mean they should take on a defeatist attitude toward this.

... ]

I wonder if we can find out more about this creature... and why it's here. [All they were told was that people from the village released it; logic dictates that that means it was already contained here before that happened. But why would the Malnosso keep something this dangerous here...?]

[Yeah, it is curious about why the creature is here and why the Malnosso kept it, but it also appears information will not be forthcoming.]

I doubt it. Not until we return at least and can find out more from those who are said to have released it. For now let's just gather as much information as we can through observation.

If they're still in the village, anyway. [It's always possible that they've returned to their world by now, after all.

The second statement earns an affirmative nod.]

We probably won't be able to learn much by observing, but at least that's something. [Even if what they can learn is limited to this creature's appearance and abilities, it's still a start. It'd be nice to find some sort of clue as to what the heck it was doing here in the first place, but... that's probably not likely.]

[It was a pretty large mission though. Makes one wonder if maybe there's a listing of who went somewhere. Perhaps Caesar would be a good person to ask later. If he or Albert went, they likely know who did it.]

Likely not, but it would be interesting to compare it to anything known by those who released it.

[Looking through the journals for additional information couldn't hurt, either. There's bound to be something to be found regarding that particular mission, whether it's the original announcement or residents speaking of it. Asking some of the other residents is an option, too... but that's probably something they shouldn't do over the journals.]

I agree. If they're still here, we might be able to learn more if we compare notes with them. [Maybe there was something that could be noticed about this creature back then that isn't noticeable now, considering it had just been released. Enough time can make a world of difference sometimes, after all.]

[Likely not over the journals for asking around, but at least it may be a source of information on who to ask.]

When we return, I'll try to ask Caesar Silverberg about it. He may know who was involved. If he doesn't, his brother most likely does and had an interest in what we learned from the missions. I know he'll be interested in this one.

[This time, Joshua just gives another nod in acknowledgment. Asking the Silverbergs couldn't hurt - they've both been here for some time, so there's a good chance one of them might know a bit about what happened back then.]

And I'll look for information in the journals when we return. [There's bound to be an entry regarding that infiltration somewhere... or entries by other residents mentioning it, perhaps. There's bound to be something they can find this way, at least. Even just knowing the names of some of the individuals involved at the time would already be a step in the right direction.]

[Yes, the journals may well have something as well. At the very least, they need a listing of people who went and to compare it to people still here.]

Then we have a plan for when we return. [Because obviously it will be a when, not an if. Even if it is a suicide mission, they'll come back in a week, they know this firsthand now.]

[Unless the creature can inflict actual permanent death like the Third Party can with their rituals. ...Or worse. Still, so far, nothing indicated this, so they should hopefully not have to worry about that.

Again, Joshua gives an affirmative nod. It's not until a few more seconds pass that he actually speaks up again, however.]

...We probably shouldn't tell Estelle about this. [He already refrained from telling her the details that were provided when they signed up - and while she can certainly find those herself should she decide to look through the journals, it's probably better if she doesn't learn about anything more specific than that. If only for the sake of not making her worry any more than necessary.]

[It's likely a good thing he didn't do too much digging about this before the mission and all, considering...

But as far as not telling Estelle, he can agree it may be for the best, but at the same time, they can't guarantee the others won't talk.]

Are you sure? We can't guarantee she won't find out from another here and if she does she will become more angry at us.

[He's thought about that possibility, actually... but it's one they really can't do much about.]

I know. But she'd probably be angry no matter if we tell her, or if someone else does.

[Suicide mission and whatnot. He can't imagine Estelle being particularly happy that they would willingly go on such a mission, even if they have a reason for it. Still, from the way he says that, it's fairly obvious that this time, he'd prefer taking the gamble of her either finding out from someone else or not finding out at all over telling her himself.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

MISSION # 4 - Third Floor Revisited

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