So, I have an idea for the chapter of Colin's Tale (need better title). I'll run with it a bit to see how people react.
Chapter 2
The light of the glowstick cast odd shadows from the floor. It’s light barely reaching out to the nearby walls, let alone the corridor it was in or the hole in the ceiling.
A form fell from the hole, slowing quickly before landing softly as the arrestor in the climbing gear kicked in on the trailing wire. It swept the visible area with the rifle it was holding, looking deep into the blackness of the corridor’s ends before kneeling and pulling on the wire. It played out a bit before it cut off the backpack. With trained familiarity, the figure reached to its side, grabbed a matchbox shaped object and stuck the loose end of the wire to it before sticking the box to the ground.
A male voice asked over the comms.
Dr. Pinkerman replied clearly.
The lieutenant came on the line.
The captain sighed, putting his weapon away and attaching his armour’s ascent gear to the line.
***
As he came into the daylight of the dig site, Colin Green looked over the valley and how much it had changed in the last two months.
With a successful Contact, the TOA had pushed a FOB out to the newly named Parity (why that name eluded Colin, though he could make some guesses), along with two dozen archaeologists for a full survey. The second letter he and Mizuhara had carried was an open invitation to share the investigation. The Beebees had responded with a smaller but no less well equipped expedition, which had set up the other side of the ruins.
Eve Mizuhara hadn’t relaxed too much since he’d known her, but then again he’d always been a bit slow on connecting with new teammates anyway. Still, he’d learned quickly to read her posture and eyes to get a feel for her moods. Currently it didn’t look too bad.
“So? What’s up?” He asked.
“First trade sampler.” The blonde replied, causing Colin to frown.
“That’s a bit bigger than we normally carry.” He muttered. That was putting it lightly given it had been mostly letters and a selection of books so far. Depending on the selection, it probably wouldn’t fit in Maki’s hold. “Trade delegation?”
“Two days. The last parts for the portal anchor also arrived and they’re powering up in a couple of hours.”
“OK.” Colin sighed. “Squirt me the details to look over as I change, then we’ll go and see Suzuki.”
***
Commander Johann Suzuki stood inside the gatehouse, watching the scrying feeds as the two electric quad-bikes crossed the valley to his command. It wasn’t quite the desk job he’d been fearing, or the babysitting job his squad had dreaded, but it was rather boring most of the time. He could live with boring given his briefings.
The two quads rolled right up to the gates, stopping just far enough away for the guards to cover them. Johann knew that was deliberate, and as he stepped out the two Mobians saluted.
“Commander.” Captain Green greeted him.
“Captain.” Suzuki replied. “Lieutenant.”
“Commander.” The slim lieutenant nodded in greeting.
“So Captain, what is it today?” Johann asked.
“Dee Day impends Commander.” Colin replied. “Time for us to put our heads together and make sure things go smoothly. Or as smoothly as possible.”
“If the situation is going smoothly, you do not understand the situation.” Johann quoted, sighing. “I’ll get my staff together.”
***
The incessant beeping finally dragged Colin from his slumber. He blinked in the red glow of his omnitool’s priority hologram, just before a louder urgent tone snapped him awake.
“Sitrep.” He barked, answering the call.
“Sorry to wake you Boss.” Maki’s tone was business-like. “We’ve got an energy signature in the underground.”
“Please tell me someone didn’t press something.” Colin groaned, stripping off his clothes.
“Someone didn’t press something.” Maki’s voice was flat. There was a pause. “You asked.”
“Put a call into the Beebees, see if they can spare us a techie of their own. I’m grabbing a quick sonic then I’m armouring up. Poke Mizuhara while you’re at it.”
“Already done.” Maki told him, signing off as he hit the sonic shower.
***
Dr. Opel Oliver didn’t appreciate being roused at the middle of the night, especially with the 22 hour day NAW 353 had. Nor did he appreciate being man-handled by a barrier jacketed Sargent onto one of the Mobian buggies and dashing into the dark towards a now well-lit dig site.
Professor Ishmael Karif looked very dishevelled as Dr. Oliver was dropped off along with a pack of his gear.
“Karif, what’s the situation?” The fast drive in the cold night air had woken the doctor further and allowed him to think. And get worried.
“Oliver.” Karif picked a strap of the pack to help his colleague carry it. “About thirty minutes ago, a type seven energy signature started emanating from the twelfth basement level. We think it was in response to one of the Mobian survey drones we were using to map the tunnels. We pulled it back, but the signal stayed there.”
“Type seven implies Geomantics.” Oliver mused. “That could be troublesome, given the lack of other manatech.”
“Which is why we need you on the team. Just find, analyse, and make it safe.” The main entry tent was bustling as they got in. At which point Oliver blinked at the two armoured forms checking their packs as he was pulled in their direction. It wasn’t hard to recognise the two couriers.
“Professor.” Captain Green nodded. “Doctor?” He held out his hand to shake. “Captain Colin Green. I’m sorry to rush, but the neutrino readings are still climbing. Rather hints at a fusion reactor ramping up, and I for one don’t want it to overload. Having a mountain drop on you is not my idea of a good time.”
“It is not.” Lieutenant Mizuhara stated, fastening down her pack. “Having a mountainside fortress collapse on you is bad enough.”
“Roger that.” Captain Green acknowledged. “Doc? Sorry to ask, but are you flight capable?”
“No, I’m not that lucky.” Oliver blinked, still a bit confused by the aside.
“Right, I’ll grab a spare climbing rig. Get your device linked into the comm net and downloading the app package you’ll need. The link’ll be emailed when you sync.” Then he briskly moved off.
Chapter 2
The light of the glowstick cast odd shadows from the floor. It’s light barely reaching out to the nearby walls, let alone the corridor it was in or the hole in the ceiling.
A form fell from the hole, slowing quickly before landing softly as the arrestor in the climbing gear kicked in on the trailing wire. It swept the visible area with the rifle it was holding, looking deep into the blackness of the corridor’s ends before kneeling and pulling on the wire. It played out a bit before it cut off the backpack. With trained familiarity, the figure reached to its side, grabbed a matchbox shaped object and stuck the loose end of the wire to it before sticking the box to the ground.
A male voice asked over the comms.
Dr. Pinkerman replied clearly.
The lieutenant came on the line.
The captain sighed, putting his weapon away and attaching his armour’s ascent gear to the line.
***
As he came into the daylight of the dig site, Colin Green looked over the valley and how much it had changed in the last two months.
With a successful Contact, the TOA had pushed a FOB out to the newly named Parity (why that name eluded Colin, though he could make some guesses), along with two dozen archaeologists for a full survey. The second letter he and Mizuhara had carried was an open invitation to share the investigation. The Beebees had responded with a smaller but no less well equipped expedition, which had set up the other side of the ruins.
Eve Mizuhara hadn’t relaxed too much since he’d known her, but then again he’d always been a bit slow on connecting with new teammates anyway. Still, he’d learned quickly to read her posture and eyes to get a feel for her moods. Currently it didn’t look too bad.
“So? What’s up?” He asked.
“First trade sampler.” The blonde replied, causing Colin to frown.
“That’s a bit bigger than we normally carry.” He muttered. That was putting it lightly given it had been mostly letters and a selection of books so far. Depending on the selection, it probably wouldn’t fit in Maki’s hold. “Trade delegation?”
“Two days. The last parts for the portal anchor also arrived and they’re powering up in a couple of hours.”
“OK.” Colin sighed. “Squirt me the details to look over as I change, then we’ll go and see Suzuki.”
***
Commander Johann Suzuki stood inside the gatehouse, watching the scrying feeds as the two electric quad-bikes crossed the valley to his command. It wasn’t quite the desk job he’d been fearing, or the babysitting job his squad had dreaded, but it was rather boring most of the time. He could live with boring given his briefings.
The two quads rolled right up to the gates, stopping just far enough away for the guards to cover them. Johann knew that was deliberate, and as he stepped out the two Mobians saluted.
“Commander.” Captain Green greeted him.
“Captain.” Suzuki replied. “Lieutenant.”
“Commander.” The slim lieutenant nodded in greeting.
“So Captain, what is it today?” Johann asked.
“Dee Day impends Commander.” Colin replied. “Time for us to put our heads together and make sure things go smoothly. Or as smoothly as possible.”
“If the situation is going smoothly, you do not understand the situation.” Johann quoted, sighing. “I’ll get my staff together.”
***
The incessant beeping finally dragged Colin from his slumber. He blinked in the red glow of his omnitool’s priority hologram, just before a louder urgent tone snapped him awake.
“Sitrep.” He barked, answering the call.
“Sorry to wake you Boss.” Maki’s tone was business-like. “We’ve got an energy signature in the underground.”
“Please tell me someone didn’t press something.” Colin groaned, stripping off his clothes.
“Someone didn’t press something.” Maki’s voice was flat. There was a pause. “You asked.”
“Put a call into the Beebees, see if they can spare us a techie of their own. I’m grabbing a quick sonic then I’m armouring up. Poke Mizuhara while you’re at it.”
“Already done.” Maki told him, signing off as he hit the sonic shower.
***
Dr. Opel Oliver didn’t appreciate being roused at the middle of the night, especially with the 22 hour day NAW 353 had. Nor did he appreciate being man-handled by a barrier jacketed Sargent onto one of the Mobian buggies and dashing into the dark towards a now well-lit dig site.
Professor Ishmael Karif looked very dishevelled as Dr. Oliver was dropped off along with a pack of his gear.
“Karif, what’s the situation?” The fast drive in the cold night air had woken the doctor further and allowed him to think. And get worried.
“Oliver.” Karif picked a strap of the pack to help his colleague carry it. “About thirty minutes ago, a type seven energy signature started emanating from the twelfth basement level. We think it was in response to one of the Mobian survey drones we were using to map the tunnels. We pulled it back, but the signal stayed there.”
“Type seven implies Geomantics.” Oliver mused. “That could be troublesome, given the lack of other manatech.”
“Which is why we need you on the team. Just find, analyse, and make it safe.” The main entry tent was bustling as they got in. At which point Oliver blinked at the two armoured forms checking their packs as he was pulled in their direction. It wasn’t hard to recognise the two couriers.
“Professor.” Captain Green nodded. “Doctor?” He held out his hand to shake. “Captain Colin Green. I’m sorry to rush, but the neutrino readings are still climbing. Rather hints at a fusion reactor ramping up, and I for one don’t want it to overload. Having a mountain drop on you is not my idea of a good time.”
“It is not.” Lieutenant Mizuhara stated, fastening down her pack. “Having a mountainside fortress collapse on you is bad enough.”
“Roger that.” Captain Green acknowledged. “Doc? Sorry to ask, but are you flight capable?”
“No, I’m not that lucky.” Oliver blinked, still a bit confused by the aside.
“Right, I’ll grab a spare climbing rig. Get your device linked into the comm net and downloading the app package you’ll need. The link’ll be emailed when you sync.” Then he briskly moved off.