station72 | (CLOSED)

We'll call for Kylo Ren if necessary. But there won't be an incident that necessitates it. [It's not that she doesn't trust Steve in all his earnestness, it's just that he's so trim and inexperienced when it comes to things like this, or so she assumes from their training session. He can follow orders, but they would be better off without him expending too much strength.]

We should get moving now. Make sure that your equipment is secure.

[ She catches her indignation swiftly, like snatching an insect out of the air, and quashes it down. The violence of the emotion surprises her, Don't disparage him like--

Ilde chews her lower lip roughly for a moment. It is an unfamiliar sensation, she does not know what word to put to it, something more complex than just anger or offense. She understands it must be because of their close ties as brood, but it does not make the reel of it more relatable. ]

We won't need them.

[ Agreement, pushing it aside because it is a distraction in this moment. She must be attentive. Equipment in place, she follows Lexa to lip of the steep tunnel. ]

[There is little more than a steady rise and fall of Lexa's eyebrows as she looks at Ilde. Her thoughts were barely negative. As far as she's concerned, she speaks (thinks) the truth. He seems eager to learn, but the idea is to not lose any Hosts when their skills can be better utilized.

Perhaps she is too callous. Either way, she doesn't remark upon it. Her own brutal analysis of the other Hosts is something that she wishes she could keep to herself. And she can't.]

I'm in agreement.

[For her part, she hadn't considered using her own broodmates. She knows she can more readily guide them here if necessary, but the thought of it sits strangely with her.

No, they will be fine on their own. She already has tested some of her increased agility since ending up here, along with her strength. She intends to rely on it.]

Let us go.

[ She waits, watching the way that Lexa takes the descent. She follows when she has had a moment to observe, getting a grasp of the movements while they are still near enough to the entrance for natural light. Soon they will require torches however, and while she hardly understands the electric thing on her belt, she switches it on. A low intensity, wary of it drawing attention, in that vein, ]

( I will be silent until we ascertain whether this site is truly abandoned or not. )

( A good idea. So far, I hear nothing. )

[It's the nothing that's curious. She pauses, and there's a sense in her mind that she wants Ilde to pause, as well, and she listens. Her eyes close as she focuses on what lies below. Nothing. More nothing. The sense of nothing is unsettling, though familiar. Still, there is so much life outside that she wonders if the nothing is a trap. Are they being sent in the wrong direction?

But they may have a better idea the further they go.

Lexa, who had actually failed to think of her own flashlight, hits the button on it when Ilde does. Had she intended to go on without it? That's the reality of her life: she's still growing used to such things, though there are others that come more naturally. She carefully pulls it off her belt and holds it down. There is still more to go, but the ground is solid enough beneath them. That will help.]

( Did you get the sense that what awaited us would be lively? ) [she asks, hooking the light back into place. She continues her descent, this time much more confidently.]

Edited (choose an icon self) 2016-04-27 21:51 (UTC)

( It is a large structure, it has the potential. )

[ She is at least not under the illusion that it might be nothing more than simple scientists. She cannot image what kind of weapons they were researching, but understands that the hidden facility and subject at hand meant it would be guarded well. ]

( Is your preference to pull back, should we encounter guards? )

[ It is the better preference, although this discussion will all matter little when they finally stumble upon the trashed elevator. ]

( Yes. We should aim to keep from taking any lives. ) [She's spoken of wanting no bloodshed already, but this is different. There's a clear pragmatism behind her words. The fact that they were asked to leave where they were before is a bothersome thing. They are drawing attention, and given that the traders here are not all housed here, word might spread about them.

(Lexa still knows little about where they travel, but it is still a thing that they should consider. The last thing they want is someone to do recon on the Station itself.)

( For that reason, I'll go ahead. ) [She had thought Ilde's rash willingness to lash out had been a little quick, after all. It may have proved necessary in time, but Lexa is more than just a military commander. She's a diplomat, willing to weigh the odds in their favor.

She trusts herself more than she trusts anyone else out of the Hosts. It makes her decision easy.]

( Very well. )

[ It is not her preference to kill, she had thought perhaps to use stealth to investigate further if guards got in her way... but she supposes she is not surprised for anyone to assume it of her now. Not surprised, but somewhat embittered to it. She was stained dark with blood before she arrived to the Nest, staying her hand now would not improve her as a person. She keeps that little brew of dark thought wrapped up carefully, to herself, and simply follows as she's told. ]

[Lexa's hands are just as covered, but that's also why she's determined to stay her hand. She assumed that Ilde's rashness came from a place of believed necessity, but she sees no reason to cause further trouble. If there are people below, they may need to kill to escape: she has no illusions about this. That's why they have to descend this way, because otherwise, it wouldn't be so difficult to reach.

There would be a latter, or someone guarding the area.

Still, she quickly finishes moving downward, and when she hits, she turns off her flashlight and moves toward some nearby debris, uncertain.]

( I believe there may have been an accident here. ) [Polis has an actual elevator shaft that's been repurposed.

This is not the same.]

Edited 2016-04-29 05:05 (UTC)

[ Ilde does not immediately know what she means, and while she does not know what to make of the damaged parts, she assumes none of it was done purposefully... ]

( Should we still proceed? )

[ She had said the descent would be difficult, this exceeds her anticipation however. ]

( Yes. I believe our worries may be unfounded. I don't believe this was merely meant to be a difficult climb. )

[It's a security measure that she'd understand, albeit not one in reality.]

[ Ilde joins her, closer to the wreckage of the lift, taking a closer look. ]

( Very well, how shall we approach this? )

( We can't expect to find no one inside. There may be some who have chosen to use this as a place to hide. )

[Read: caution. Though there are no immediate signs of life to greet them, it seems all the more important to proceed assuming that it may be there.

Lexa is quickly adjusting her expectations, though. Whoever might be here might be easier to surprise. Questions of killing aren't out of the question if they brush up against anyone, but she thinks it may be easier to avoid it. Whoever houses themselves here might want to survive more than anything.

And on this planet, this seems like a good enough place to hide.]

[ That is fair, but a few squatters was a much different threat than a full military operation. Still dangerous, but more easy to sneak around, to handle if needed. ]

( Agreed, a wanderer or two can be incapacitated. )

( Precisely. And if we handle them efficiently, there's no reason to believe that they will have backup. If they are housed here, they will have an efficient means of escape. We will have to prevent that. )

[It seems like a sufficient enough plan to carry out. They can find the information that they're seeking without letting themselves be stopped.]

[ Those housed here would not likely be aware of the troubles in the port, but should they go to report further mischief from the synchronously dressed visitors... Well, Prince might just yell at her again. ]

( Understood. Our time here should not be broadcast. )

[ She peers at the mangled lift, ]

( Our equipment is sufficient for this? )

[ The shared gear they had landed with contained spelunking gear... A good start to the process. ]

( It will be enough, especially with what else we've brought. )

[Some part of Lexa wonders if they were meant to visit a place such as this. Many of the sites did seem as if they might require this sort of action, but she had been trying to divide her time between obtaining goods and figuring out precisely how to trade those goods for "credits." Understanding money was an uphill struggle.]

( Given our usefulness, what they offered shouldn't be defective. )

[And she doubts they want to do away with the symbiotes in their bodies. That would also be a "waste."]

[ As much as she dislikes Prince, she agrees with that. He would not have them down here with defective equipment. ]

( I have done some climbing with rope before... )

[ Not frequently, the flat open planes were safer, but she has repelled down into a cavern in search of water and shade in her life. Caverns meant death, overflowing with shadows... It makes her skin prickle, but if there is one thing she knows, it is that those monsters have remained in her world with their master. She wonders if that association, and the search for water underground, is part of her utter phobia for the Station's pool.... ]

( Then we'll proceed as we did before. )

[There is a beat where she considers remarking upon Ilde's fear, but she thinks better of it. She recognizes it, but it's not her place to question it—and Lexa is poor at offering reassurances. Everything that comes from her is like a blunt object, and that's no different.

She knows it can seem as if she's uncaring, at least if Ilde is anything like Skaikru, but she can't bring herself to change that. It is better to be herself, than to reveal an aspect of herself in a moment where her stability may be just the thing to help move them both past that fear.]

[ Ilde is not know for her comforting or tactful nature herself, so Lexa's silence is acceptable to her. It lets her deal with her own uncertainty, something she is well-used to and growing ever more adept at as this new phase in her life continues to challenge her abilities to adapt... She shuts off her thoughts about the water and just focuses on the task at hand. Ropes tied off, preparing to fight their way first into the lift and then down into its belly.

Flashlight shining downward, it seems to go on a long ways... ]

( This must have been quite a secret, to bury it so far beneath the earth. )

( It may not be just that. They may have been protecting themselves, as well. Naturally, something happened to change that. )

[What she means is that the way in has proven, despite the difficulty, that they are likely no longer safe. If it were this easy to get into Mount Weather (and comparatively, it is), then the people there would have died long before Clarke managed to decimate them.]

( We may not be safe once we reach the inside. It may simply be a matter of ... there being hazards. Don't unhook yourself from your gear until we have a better idea. )

[ That was an idea that had not quite occurred to her, that they may have been hiding from something... Was that something they needed to worry about? Being found by their hunters? That seems a bit strange, that they would still be here... but it does agree with the idea that they may be stepping into something deathly. ]

( Understood. )

[ She goes quiet with that acknowledgement to focus on the climb downwards. She hears Lexa's feet hit the bottom before she truly realizes they've made it, torn between satisfaction and now new worries to contend with. ]

( What do you see? )

( Whatever made this ... inconvenient ... did not reach the door on the inside. [There's a sense of agitation as she strides forward, using her flashlight to see if there's any disturbance on the ground. The doors themselves don't look as if they've been opened for a long time, and she sees nothing that would get them to open.]

( How strong are you? ) [It feels important to ask before they unhook themselves to head inside. Brute strength will be required here.]

[ That is a good question. ]

( The symbiote has... changed things. I am not certain where my limit is. )

( Hence why I asked. It's much the same with me. I've trained to know my limits, but there are certain things that we can't test on the ship. ) [Endurance as a result of adrenaline, for instance. Lexa knows her physical limits from before, but she also knows she's hit them since.]

( This should be a worthwhile test. ) [Look, she's not about to turn back now. Might as well accidentally dislocate a shoulder along the way, right? It's ... science ... of an unscientific nature.]

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