[Carol Octavius] Lost tombs

[Mike]

"Hey," she offered in reply to both of them, "I don't control what you eat, you know. If you guys want to go nuts, eat whatever, I'm not going to stop you. If we got it in stock, I'll give it a shot."

At least it wasn't people, she reflected. At least it wasn't her furry ass on the chopping block. The moth-people seemed pretty easy to get along with, and if all the Bu-Qi wanted was bacon, well, bacon sandwiches it was. Nenna didn't have anything against cholesterol or fried foods, unless she decided to count the dirty oil smell afterwards. She could get fancy with breading, if she wanted, but other than that it was usually quick and easy - or at least it would be with fryers as large as the ship carried.

She did have a question though, and sidled and slid her way past the forest of legs and giant men to come nearer the front and ask it. She was, after all, only a foot and a half taller than Lisette - which became more obvious as she neared the even-more-diminutive girl. The height line felt somehow more ridiculous for it. Nenna would have to find a footstool herself for some of the cabinets.

"I could probably ask this later but you said something about... a specimen fridge? Like, what sort? For research stuff too, or will those be in the labs?" She sniffed a bit, the too-clean smell of a barely used kitchen filling her nose with too much acerbic chemical tinge. She didn't sneeze, though she rubbed at her nose.

[Kim]

"Yes, there is a specimen fridge. For research purposes, yes. Some of our experiments might extend to food stuffs of a unconventional nature. You will be made aware if you need to use that particular fridge," Magister Gloriana evenly replied. She nodded to Mimi's comment. "Ah yes, the settings of the atrium can be adjusted to accommodate the crew, if the Doctor wishes,her arrival can trigger an artificial time of day shift. There something romantic in the notion of being the bringer of Twilight. But yes, we have more too see. We are quite well stocked for what this is. If we are to be gone for an indeterminate amount of time, I know that I want to be as comfortable as I can be. This ship wasn't built for this type of mission but it'll do nicely. Now! we can head to the labs, follow me."

[IncuBoye]

Catriona slowly glanced to the side, and considered what was being said by the Magister. Though, it didn't take long for them to take a glance back towards the prior conversation. A slow shrug is given. Their features softened, and they gave the non-verbal cue as a means to signal in that they weren't about to try and force the matter. Their eyes softened as they returned their gaze forward, idly scanning at the interior of the place.

For the time, Catriona was happy just observing things for the time being. There wasn't anything that they could truly add to the conversation, so they enjoyed the moments where they could just lean back and observe the crew-- Despite the innate differences and strangeness that was present when the crew as a whole was considered. Though their mind was getting hung up on the sheer amount of species present, they knew how to keep their mouth shut.

Idly, a finger was raised, and dragged across a table's surface, performing a cursory check on the amount of dust or grime. It was offhanded. Catriona rolled their shoulders, before brushing their hand off at their lap, seemingly happy enough with the result.

[Jimmy]

"Ah, mana from heaven my rhyming chef muse, yes, this will do." The Bu Qi replied.

Sock maintained his intense posture as his long pink tongue slipped out the side of his short muzzle and curled up over the top of his four nostrils, one eye blinking in a twitchy manner. It took a few seconds for the man to return to the present, his eyes flicking before his tongue slipped back where it belonged and his posture returned to a less intense position.

"Um, yes. Thank ye muchly, missus muttley." He said more quietly.

[Mike]

Nenna wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, after watching it. It provoked a morbid sort of fascination. She'd never seen a Bu Qi, and now she had just seen it lick its own nose while ... having a mini-convulsion?

"Um. Yeah. You're welcome, uh, tonguedude."

[Kim]

Magister Gloriana waited for a moment before she led the group from the dining area through the corridors up to the labs. All around were the distant sounds of construction and equipment loading. Voices carried, though muffled through the clean white paneled walls. Their footsteps clacked heavily against the metal floor grating as they walked upwards. Ariel gestured to a large metal door that had been painted red. A small black rectangle rested on the bulkhead next to the door. She placed a slender hand against the black glass, and a red light illuminated under it. An affirmative beep was followed by a loud click and clank of a lock.

The doors opened with a whish and a blast of cold air. Beyond, the dim lighting cast the corners of the lab into deep shadows adding the illusion of more depth. At the back, something moved. If the Magister noticed, she did not mention it. She gestured with a flourish, “Here is one of our basic labs. All that is missing is the personal touch of the scientist,” her voice echoed with a tinny quality through the room.

Once the heavy door slide closed behind them, the outside noises were gone. In their absence was a sense of isolation and a change of pressure. Cold air pricked against their skin. She hands settled on a counter. At the back of the group, Magnolia moved to investigate the back of the room.

“Doctor Valentina, would you mind it terribly if I raise the lights a bit?” The ranger asked politely as she wandered between tall, broad cabinets, melding with the darker shadows of the room.

“The rooms are fairly modular, we can add walls, cabinets, and the like fairly easily. If you need a space for live specimens, we can add that as well. Just provide Carol with your equipment manifest if you have not already. We’ll be leaving in the next 24 hours, so please be sure to get all your belongings loaded.

A low grumbled proceeded a tremble that shook the lab. The lights flickered red as the emergency lights turned on.

[Riko]

As the emergency lights kicked on casting the room in a red glow the two Kuru and Krankoz immediately drew their weapons and went to a protective flanking maneuver around Kapil. As they scanned the room, Kuru down the length of his gun and Krankoz holding his giant cleaver at the ready, they're antennae flicked vigorously as they tried to sense what had entered the room.

"We can deal with situation here Rashayeid," Kuru growled as someone who was stalking something, "If you wanted to see what that other noise was we should have no problems here."

[Mortuary Insurgency]

"Watch over them. Magister, if any security can be spared for my command, it would be appreciated." The fungoid did not appear to have any weapons on him. This was partially correct; his firearms were stored in his cargo cases but in the close quarters of the ship, he was far from harmless. The best surprises were saved for when they were least expected.

He turned and moved towards the door they had just entered, opening it and leaving just his hooded cloak billowing in his gait as he ventured towards the source of the second disturbance.

[Ham]

Edwin seemed to turn pale as the shudder developed. He muttered something unintelligible under his breath before somewhat staggering closer to the Ranger. His eyes darted across the shadows until he suddenly locked on to her with shimmering blue eyes with uncanny ability. "Is there an issue? Is something wrong?" His eyes then darted across the room as one that was terrified would guess where a killer would emerge. He grabbed something off of a counter and attempted to fashion it as a weapon.

He was holding a cutting board.

[IncuBoye]

Holding a datapad against the hip, Catriona's eyes glanced up from a moment of distraction. An elongated pause crossed their mind and features, before glowing green eyes shifted to the rest in the room. There was shaking, something that made the claws upon Catriona's toes begin to fan out, much to their displeasure, a wince of pain coming from their features as their feet were squished in the shoe. Bracing against something close by, a chill runs down their spine.

Emergency lights bathed the room. Red covered everything. It was familiar in the same way that it was horrifying. Catriona's eyes half lid as they swallowed hard. Weapons were being drawn. Slowly, Catriona lowered their hand towards the small of their back, tracing their fingertips against where they had stashed their flintlock. Eyes trained upon the door, they weren't quite ready to draw anything at anyone, even if they came from that door. Their ears perked, listening to the surroundings.

Catriona merely stood among the people gathered, fingertips pressing against a table for leverage, waiting for some sort of update before going off the deep end.

[Jimmy]

Sock sighed and reached up to his shoulder, turning on one of the lamps on his suit as he looked for an intercom to contact the command deck. At least the emergency lights were functional, as well as the artificial gravity although that could have been provided by the station. Not being hooked into the ships systems he needed to call someone who had an overview of what might be wrong.

"So much for new ship, no problems, all good, don't need a full team fukken cake-walk..." He grumbled as his heavy magnetized boots clunked across the deck.

"Sister Bear, what do those peeping eyes see-see in the deep sea of space be?" The big alien asked in a sing-song voice to Carol as he reached the intercom and pulled the headset off the wall.

"Conn? Engineer. We've lost main lights, what have you got for me?" He asked loudly.

His big alien eyes turned to the members of the crew who had taken combat stances and wandered nervously. "Youse all know something I don't?"

[Kim]

Carol's eyes went wide and she let out a short scream. She covered her ears as her projection distorted as lines of pixels disappeared. She flickered once before her image disappeared. The warning clachions wailed as the ship trembled with another rumble.

Static came over the intercom in response to Sock's inquiry.

Mimi pulled a pistol from her belt and followed after Rashayeid, "Let's go. That feels like it might be coming from the Armory Battery."

Magister Ariel pointed to the crew with a frown, "Nenna, Doctor Catronia, Phillip, Lisette go with Rayshied and Mimi to investigate the disturbance, strength in numbers while Magnolia and the others handle this here. I'm getting some interference from whatever is going on. I'll open up a physical terminal to see what the specs are."

( @Mike @Immortal Cyan @IncuBoye @Ahoy @Mortuary Insurgency )

At the back of the room, the shadows writhed in just at the corner of their field of vision. It pulled deeper into the darkened recesses of the lab, ducking behind larger objects in the room to conceal its presence. Any nuance of the sound it was making was drowned out by the wail of the alarms. The lights above flickered white for a moment before settling back into a weak red glow. Magnolia moved forward slowly. "I can't raise the lights or get my sensor to work. Doctor Apolliona? You can see in the dark, right? Can you help us find this thing?" Her voice was tense and her posture stiff. The air was heavy with disinfectant, with an undercurrent of burnt copper and something else, like rotten meat.

( @Ham @Riko @Jabonicus @Jimmy )

[Mortuary Insurgency]

"A spare firearm would be appreciated." Rashayeid's powerful form radiated confidence but he had not survived so long by taking unnecessary risks. "If anyone else could access camera feeds on the affected area, even from minutes before the interference, that would be appreciated."

There was something else among them but it was not a force that could be felt, heard, or seen. Tendril-llike veins slithering through the flesh and murk that separated consciousness from eternity slowly wrapped then tightened around a familiar beacon and the streams of faith and belief swirling within. Something poured and slipped into his thoughts; presences within the mind free from his control but not his own influence in a willing unity of belief and the horrid unbeing that lay beyond it.

At most, his companions might feel a strange crackling in the air and what would feel like currents of wind slight against their flesh

For him, it simply meant he was armed with a weapon that could bite and rend as gruesomely as any handgun or rifle.

[Jabonicus]

Apolliona let out a deep breath as things moved and shifted. This ship was something that would take much getting used to, it did not have a system comparable to her thoughts, it had hallways and rooms, but these were not the veins and arteries of Valorian vessels. They held the shapes of passage, but they lacked the... Direction, the function that merged organic natures together. This ship was all-purpose, with no form, no pulse, only the bleated silence of empty-void. The only life that lingered in its veins was that of a machine, something near heretical to her more traditionalists history. She knew that, despite her own hidden discomfort and the following silence thus far, that any given person would feel the same if she were to take them aboard a vessel of her own.

But this? Something that lived and writhed? It felt odd to say, but it was more akin to her field of expertise, even if it was some species she could not yet identify. Her untattered hand reached up and slipped the murky goggles from her eyes, the bizarre organic coverings revealing to those that looked an eye that was not Valorian, or any other recognizable beast, took the spot of her right eye. It was a segmented eye that was broken into numerous octagonal shapes, though their edges seemed to border upon the definition of scales. A singular iris, with three distinct pupils stared out with a grim curved of sight, not quite reptilian, but any other description seemed to do a disservice to how utterly unfitting it was upon her head, particularly as dark, directed paths of scar tissue spiraled out and merged into the rest of the flesh that was more natural to her head. Her clothing provided cloth that hid her right hand, which she rested casually horizontal to her waist, but its slightly bulbous shape suggested something similar.

She stepped forward cautiously, both eyes alert as she searched for whatever caused the mess. "Please do not turn the lights on abruptly." She warned, trying to ease her mind off of something that could leap out at her. "I would prefer to not suffer notable visual damage due to sudden and violent brightness." This darkness was little more than casted shapes to her eyes. Shadows were pronounced, but not hiding, pointless and abstract images of things in the way that bent and shuttered away from perspective. She recalled many old folklore about what someones shadows in the mists and spores told of someone.

The smell was what bothered her, it was not an unfamiliar smell, and disregarding the common slander some people spoke of Valorian technology, rot was not a good sign of anything. Many beasts emitted harsh smells as defense, but few truly utilized true rot. She cautiously strode forward, eyes trying to locate, and identify, the source of the odd events.

[Ham]

Cutting board in hand, Edwin attempted to try and look for what he though was a movement. He jumped when Carol screamed, tripping over himself and landing chest-high against a counter top. He muttered something beneath his breath and stood back up. "Wills? McAvoy? Can you hear me?" He wanted his assistants to be alright. He wanted everything to go to plan.

One hand moved the cutting board into a risen position and another was concealed behind his left side. "Something isn't right..." The smell had finally hit him. His left hand moved against his left thigh before it came up against and held the cutting board up again. It didn't smell like that when they came in. He knew something was moving around. He knew he could see it. He knew it was there....

Somewhere.

"Doctor, what do you see?" He took a step towards where he thought it was but didn't move any farther forward. "What is it?"

[Jimmy]

Sock's eyes widened in surprise as Carol screamed and flickered out of the room, blinking twice before putting the handset back on the wall.

"Not the answer I was expecting." He said aloud.

The noise of something in the back of the room attracted his attention, making the alien cock a hairless eyebrow. Shadow monster, relies on darkness. They were in a lab. He opened the supply closet and picked up a bottle from among many on a rack labelled Mg(12). That done he made his way towards the cart holding his items, keeping his eye on the corner with the critter and rummaging for a certain item.

Sock was rather unhappy that he could see more colors than the rest of the group, they wouldn’t like what they were seeing.

[Mike]

"Nenna, Doctor Catronia, Phillip, Lisette go with Rayshi…”

Nenna had been cowering behind the giant, possibly cannibalistic mushroom-thing, suddenly very glad that it was there and that it was large enough that hiding behind it felt like hiding behind a solid wall of hatred, with the ‘this end towards enemy’ writing in the direction away from her. Nenna was not a fighter, and Nenna had started to really worry about the possibility of fighting, when it came up.

She looked at Catronia, Phillip, and Lisette. And then up and up and up, at the back of her giant bulwark.

His crackling magic-wind-emanation-stuff made all her fur stand on end at once, which might actually have been a little hilarious, if she hadn’t been so scared. All the hair along her spine stood directly up. They started moving and she decided that she wouldn’t trip over her tail if she could help it.

She sniffed. And she sniffed again, listening very closely to the noise in the back of the room, every nerve on highest alert.

Nenna had only one useful capability here aside from the ability, at need, to run along on four feet and possibly piss herself in fear – she had done neither of these things since she was a wee small little girl – and that was that she had excellent scent and hearing. Granted, this was so she could get the fuck out of Dodge faster, or possibly even avoid Dodge altogether, but aside from that? All she could do was bark and look terrified.

She was presently doing the latter. What the fuck was wrong with the ship? Whaaat the fuck was that over there? Whyyyyy was she being given orders like she was a combatant?

[Riko]

As they registered the smell Kuru and Krankoz's antenne stopped flicking.

Smells like the dying Krankoz telepathically messaged the other two Valsh'Nar, Unless one of your bodies has manifested itself Lady Kapil, We don't think that dead things should move

As the Kudah processed the messaged she reached into her lab coat and drew out a pistol of her own.

Those haven't haven't been delivered it, consider that Thing hostile and destroy it Kapil sent back to the two Karshvick.

Without saying a word the two large roaches went into action. Like a well greased and practiced machine Krankoz moved directly towards the corner of the lab, Kuru with his rifle at the ready follow behind him just off to the side allowing for a clear line of fire should the need arise.

[IncuBoye]

The temptation was strong, to simply keep their pistol hidden. Glowing eyes glancing to the side, towards Rashayeid, Catriona does hear his request for a weapon. It's then that a slow moment crosses their head, before glancing towards Ariel as she spoke. In all honesty, the doctor wasn't one for firearms. They had essentially given up any hope of returning to their nation on good terms because of how the military was operated, it was no wonder that their abilities to use the weaponry they had been trained a decade or so ago was beyond rusty. They sighed, before reaching into the side of their jumpsuit, fishing something out of their holster.

It was something in the shape of a flintlock. The metal was a bluish hue, the e-cell within giving a light hum.

"You'd best be good with this." Catriona said, as they approach Rashayeid from the side, "Single shot. Really powerful, though." The gun is handed over the barrel aimed to the side, away from anyone. Catriona's glowing eyes slowly glanced around, before settling on the Magistrate by the name of Ariel. A slow, contemplative nod was given. Though they had questions and doubts about this order-- They had conveniently left out their service to the military on Ersetu when they applied-- They lightly wondered about the effectiveness of this order.

But it was as Ariel said. Strength in numbers. Didn't mean Catriona had to go barreling into danger. Just meant the ones armed did.

"Very well. Everyone armed, keep at the front of the group." Catriona said, easily, their eyes glancing across the low light of the room. Silently, they thanked their heritage for the slight advantage as they began to move along with the group, unnervingly calm, "Perhaps one to the back as well, just in case."

Outside, Catriona was calm.

Inside?

They were slowly lapsing into paranoia. They didn't trust anyone here. Their latent fear of people was coming to a head.

[Mortuary Insurgency]

His gnarled talon-like fingers wrapped around the weapon, flicking a switch and momentarily aiming down its sight. "Missing means I'll have to resort to less civilized measures."

It was a primitive weapon and he had only her word to go on for its lethality. He had just one chance to see if its power counterbalanced its primitivity and truth be told, he did not have a whole lot of faith in it.

He strode forth, both hands on his weapon and sweeping about for the slightest sign of movement. Gripping tension returned and familiar killing instincts awakened. It was not his typical choice of battlefield but the same instincts and experiences that had kept him alive swirled and coalesced within.

[Kim]

Scene Split

Deputized Security Team: viewtopic.php?f=49&t=559
Lab Team: viewtopic.php?f=49&t=561&p=4090#p4090