Into the Cave

Ma'at stood there for a few seconds, trying to think of an excuse for why he was in Caz's tent. Finally, he just sat down next to Caz's bed roll, crossing his legs.
"Hey... do you have any extra clothes that would fit an Alteriian? I saw you guys traveled with one, but he looks a lot larger than me..." Ma'at trailed off, looking hopeful. His T-shirt and loose pants were stained with grime and dark speckles of blood, and he was frankly beginning to smell.

"I'm not sure," Caz answered simply. "We probably do, but I wouldn't be the one to ask. You'd have to ask Archelaus- you remember, right? The Alteriian who was fighting Verax on the Voyager? Well, certainly, if you were looking for clothes that would fit you would definitely have to find him." Caz didn't believe that was why Ma'at was there- he already knew the real reason, but his mind denied it, refused to believe that there was any real connection between the two of them.

Ma'at nodded, but didn't move. He just sat there looking into Caz's eyes before the Kazesqui turned away. "I-" Ma'at stuttered, "I met Zyria. The Princess?" his voice trailed off, but his eyes were pleading. 'Don't say it's true...'

Drel-Caz sighed, closing his eyes only briefly, not much longer than a blink. "Yes, it's true." He didn't give any details, even though he felt he should. "We're together."

-Zyria is taken aback. The poor little rat speaks, her tone tinged with hurt. "I suppose I shouldn't just be blabbing- you probably don't care anyways." 'Don't care'? When has Zyria /not/ cared? She's a little offended, but understands. Of course she would have different opinions of living creatures. How could I forget my knowledge on clockwork machines? Boggs always tells me, 'A clockwork robot is much different than your every day machine. They can grow, adapt, learn. They develop feelings, opinions, in a sense. Not like you would think, Zyria, but feelings and opinions nonetheless.' -sigh- I need to keep up on my robotic research, too, not just biology. Zyria continues out of the camp, to the cave entrance, not far away.-

Dragijh was not upset by this turn of events. In fact, he had hoped it had been like this. He turned to his mercenary military commander, a prestiged general from some world, Dragijh honestly didn't care, he didn't ask for much money, and he was brilliant, and that's all that mattered. "Pursue him. I don't care if he somehow figures out how to take that Dreadnought to the gates of Hell, follow him, and destroy him. I have to partake in planet-side activities. I shall be with Raulch, who has already gone on ahead. I give you command of my fleet." And without another word, he turned around, and walked off. He boarded his personal one-man transport, and shot off towards Mars. And revenge.

Things had seemed to calm down for a while, finally giving Robless some time to think.

Dragijh A'lecto...Another poor victim of that damned parasite. He still could not shake the thought of the billions of innocents he had killed and how many millions of families he'd destroyed and ripped apart. The pistol on his side was a tempting way out, but Robless knew all of the work that Tam and the others had put into him would then go to waste. Frustrated, he sighed.

Something made him tense up and sent a shiver down his spine. He's going to kill me. That one thought was enough to make him worry. I can't stay like this, it'll worry my allies. Got to pull it together now. Zyria and the others are probably headed our way. Let's get this thing sorted out.

Ma'at, who had been hunched forward hanging on Caz's every word up to that moment, sat back. It was true. The worst thing he could imagine and it was true. His Neiede was with someone else. A pretty, powerful, kind, female someone else. The thought swum around in his mind, searching for something to connect to.

Finally it did- and what it connected to was rage. It was a slow, burning anger, much like the one that had consumed him after Verax had killed his parents. The anger that sat quietly burning everything you desired until it was all that was left.

Mine. Caz is mine... Ma'at thought viciously. This Zyria had better get out of the way before she got hurt. Ma'at didn't want to hurt her, that would only hurt Caz. If only she would just slip away and leave his Caz alone, Ma'at would be the one his Neide came to for help. A plan began forming, ready for use if necessary.

"But.." his outside self said, detached from his inner rage, "Aren't you my..." Say it, just say it. "Neide?" his voice carried the weight of his doubt like a ton of bricks.

((Le gasp! :O No Robless! Don't do it! Suicide isn't the way! Jk but really. I'd be sad. So would Tam. xD))

Caz swallowed, really turning away, and pulling on a shirt. After a moment, he whispered, trembling, finally acknowledging it audibly. "Yes." Somehow, that made it more true, and his walls lowered slightly. But the thought was still there, the one in the back of Caz's mind. Could he do it here? Could he do it now? No... "Yes. I... I am." Then he steels himself against whatever might come from Ma'at- anger, sorrow, hatred, anything. "But she came first. I loved her before I loved you. I mean--" Caz's eyes widened and he retraced his steps in a panic, "--I mean, um, before I met you. Geez, I gotta get out of here." He stood, turning away from Ma'at, turning away from the emotions that a simple wording mistake had brought boiling to the surface. And he opened the tent flap and stood in the darkness, his eyes scanning the horizon, picking up the very faintest hints of dawn.

Cassus approached Caz. "Where are the others?" A slight gesture to the tent gave him his answer. "Right. We need to meet up before we make our venture into the cave. I caught wind of some curious engineer that managed to coax his superiors into letting him go. He should be there by now."

Minutes later, the group arrived at the preparation site. Robless addressed everybody. "This is it, guys. Any questions or concerns we might have to bring up? Any information that would be helpful to know before we go in?"

Ma'at smiled, but his heart was breaking. "Love." It was simple, overused, and perfect. But Zyria... Caz loved her more. More, in fact, than Ma'at could comprehend. Caz was forsaking a not only emotional, but physical bond that has existed between their races for thousands, if not millions, of years. Ma'at couldn't understand how Caz could pull away from this, this feeling of strength and power and sheer belonging. Ma'at wouldn't give it up for the world, but Caz was. He was giving it up for Zyria.

Ma'at slowly walked out the tent. He put a hand on Caz's shoulder. "We should go, the others will be waiting for us."

Caz nodded, and followed Robless to the tent.

((Gah low muse sorry))

(Awwww... Alicia wanted Zyria to follow her. Oh well.)

Alicia turned back, looking at the tent where Zyria had disappeared. She almost wanted to follow her, wanted to talk to her, but... Zyria was busy. She didn't have time for a piece of junk like her. She sighed quietly, and disappeared into the shadows.

[D'awwww, sowwy. I'm terrible at reading between posted lines. You can always have her show up where everyone's meeting, for some reason. DX Plus, then Zyria could apologize! Your choice.]

(( Hey, can someone speak up and answer Robless' question about whether or not we feel ready? Archelaus can establish his knowledge of the cave and then we can go into the cave! ))

[Zyria's still walking to the cave. Who else is already at the cave entrance, anyway?]

(For all people related to the group minus Verax, everyone, including our currently inactive members.)

After opening the cave, Archelaus realized that no one was paying attention to the fact that the giant crystallized/ceramic-psycho-kinetic barrier had just collapsed.

"Oh..." Archelaus though. "They probably don't know I'm here.... the base is few clicks off to the southwest..."

And so a weary blue Alteriian began to traverse the sandy wastes to the base camp.

On a (different thread maybe)
I see a whole lot of posting about people walking about base camp...?
Pardon my confusion.

(Oh, I had thought the base camp to be constructed around the entrance to the cave, much like an excavation site. Maybe a normal, passable barrier now remains over the previous crystalline structure? Whatever the case is, I would like to get this thing started.)

[Ditto to that^ I don't really have anything to reply, though...... Who would be up to post anyway?]

(You are with the group after Cassus took you, Caz, and Ma'at to the main group. We're all together now, can we agree? Now we may start.)

The twitchy rookie seemed to want to say something but did not speak. Robless addressed the group for one final time. "If none of us have further questions, let us move out. Archelaus, lead the way."

Zyria joins Caz, taking his arm. She looks around for Deston, curiously. Where is he? I would think he'd be here by now. Did my offending the rat-bot cause something? No, it couldn't have, the rat said that they have their own opinions, thoughts, and feelings. Nonetheless, Zyria wonders if Dreston will refuse to join them.

Looking to Caz, Zyria realizes he's still detached, as though he's not even there. "Caz? Did you sleep well enough?" There's a distant look in his eye, but there's no time to do anything about it; the others are entering the cave. "Just...don't strain yourself, okay, Caz? We don't need you getting stuck in this cave."

Cassus turned back, and noticing that poor Dreston was not with them, halted, causing the rest of the group to come to a stop. "Dreston?" Where had he gone? Cassus did not have to think long before realizing that he had never left the ship. Dreston had most likely noticed them by now and was probably headed their way already.

"It'll be dark in there. We better wait here." Robless signaled the others to stop. Tapping into his communications again, he messaged Dreston, urging him to be on his way as soon as he could. A dark thought still remained in his head, that Dragijh would kill him before he could save Tam, but he shook it off. His friends were here, and he would not stand alone against this master assassin.

[Then disregard the previous post]

"Before we set out," Archelaus began in the rich tones of his voice, "We need a plan of action. I doubt that everything has stayed the same since last I traversed this place with Emerik... but... anything I know might be of use."

Archelaus paused briefly, summoning the unpleasant memories of the past.

"The first obstacle is a sheer cliff, which should be climbed easily enough, followed by a maze of ravines several miles thick. Those wouldn't be too hard to pass through, given the equipment we have, except that these caves are thickly lined with Unobotanium. Our sensors and technology are nearly worthless in these caves. All plasma and electrical gear will be worthless in here, and it will just weigh you down, so leave it at the entrance. Make sure to be heavily armed with non-electrical weaponry. Zyria, you have a sword I believe? I have my Ratranka...

Because yes, there are fiends in this place. When Emerik and I passed through those years ago, they had left acidic mines implanted in the surfaces of the walls and the floors, as well as pitfalls and other booby-traps which will be difficult if not impossible to detect."

Archelaus paused briefly, ordering his thoughts once more.

A nervous hand shot up from somewhere the back of the meeting.

Archelaus sighed briefly.
"Yes, you in the back...? A question? Wait for me to finish my take first, then I will answer as many questions as I am able."

A shaky voice replied, its sharp pitch wavering over the shaded desert sand.
"Bu-but sir...!" the voice said. "I mean High Druid! What.... what are... 'they'?"

Archelaus set his jaw grimly, like a weightlifter staring down the sights of 300 pounds. "They...." Arch intoned, "Are insectoid-like creatures. Various different sizes. Some are massive, well over twenty feet in length, and maybe three or four tons in weight with talons and poison dripping from their mandibles. If you don't look too closely, you could probably mistake some of the smaller ones for fleshers. There are also the smaller "creepers" which appear to be merely workers... pawns of some kind. They aren't very strong, but there are thousands of them, and they seem to repair the larger ones somehow, when they are damaged. There are various other kinds of these monsters, but the most dangerous are the Stalkers. They are lithe, cunning, and veraciously quick. It is nearly impossible to spot them against the green croach of the walls. They stealth behind you, then with a few vicious snaps, you are monster-lunch-meat, and then they slide back into the darkness waiting for another kill.
There monsters abound inside the ravines and mazes..."

There was an audible gulp from the audience, punctuated by a sharp intake of breath from Arch's collective audience.

Despite the rapidly decaying moral, Arch continued.
"Thankfully, once we past the Calming Waters, we won't have to deal with them anymore. We'll just have bigger problems to deal with.

After we pass the croach, there is the brief zone of relative safety, the Calming waters. It is a small cavern nook, located inbetween the maze and what I call "Tajh Norlah" or, the Spiral Tears.
The Spiral tears is a network of tunnels, each barely large enough for me to fit through, leading to alternating passages of larger caves. Inside of these caves are what you might describe as Furies in your language. They cannot die, not by traditional methods. You can stall them for a few minutes, but inevitably they re-form and continue the hunt. They do not rest, they do not stop, they do not give up. Your only hope is to make it past them to the cut-off point, which for some reason they will not go past...
and once we reach there, I we will not be far from The Cove of the Shattered Sun, where hopefully we will find what we have been looking for."

Arch's tone took a deadly hue, as cold as the metal of his Ratranka, and just as merciless.

"Our work is cut out for us, in the blood and stone of the Alteriians I cam here with decades ago. Let us finish this once and for al---"

Archelaus stopped mid-sentence, obviously with a thought on his mind.

"Once and for Aurora."