Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1230 hrs
Xavier felt a sick sensation in his stomach, as he thought about what must have happened to the Researchers. From the inside of a dead Xeno, Roman had pried freed the remains of a Labcoat, what may have been the Collar Bone Segment of a Mimeosome, and of course the ID Badge that once belonged to a 'Wallace Nguyen - GENERAL STAFF', leading Xavier to the idea that the Water Plant's General Staff member Wallace Nguyen had somehow ended up on the inside of an incredibly violent beast.
He had been eaten, Xavier knew. And judging by the surplus of Pods around them he more than likely wasn't alone.
Roman twisted and turned the Badge that he held so that the four of them could get a proper look at the item despite the grime. Terrence didn't to care much for this, as he looked away from the sight on reflex. Dwayne stood there, with his arms crossed across his chest, and a grim face that was fit for a funeral.
Xavier didn't know of anyone being eaten in the field. Not until now at least. The nice thing about living life as a Mim is that you weren't very edible. Not unless you were a Creature that feeds off of Toxic Lubricant, Muscles made from Silicon and Fabric, and a lot of Aluminum and Steel. Right now, Xavier was made up of materials that were used to make a car. Not exactly a Gourmet. The only organic properties to them was the upper level of skin and the digestive track.
BLADE had seen plenty of Bites in the Four Months they'd been on Mira, but Xavier had never seen this level of carnage. Poor Wallace had been eaten. And this thing took its time feeding, as there didn't seem to be any large ... pieces.
"Okay ... so this is kind of bad ..." Xavier said.
"Kind of?" Dwayne retorted.
Xavier cringed at his own lack of tact.
"You know what I mean ..." Xavier wiped his forehead, thinking back to the Beast's breath in his face. Roman placed a finger at his lips, and shhhed the two, reminding them of their situation. The other pods didn't seem to be that responsive so far, but there wasn't any need to be careless. So Xavier didn't comment on the fact that Roman had just brought his unwashed hands to his mouth.
"So here's the skinny." Xavier quietly said. "The transmitter in this place is down, and I can't get a signal out far enough to send an SOS to anyone who'll listen. And now, we have a survivor on the premises, and we're the only ones around who can help." Xavier looked at his teammates to make sure they were following.
No one said anything.
"Our people are in danger, and we need to protect them. So I'm going to go in there and I'm going to figure out how to get her out of here. I can't make you come with me, so if you're with me great, and if you're not, then the nearest Base Camp is about 4 klicks to the East." Xavier swallowed. "Whose with me?"
"I'm with you." Dwayne immediately.
Xavier nodded. They were a team, through and through.
"It's not like I can walk away from a Lady before the first date, anyway." Dwayne said shrugging.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Xavier replied.
Terrence didn't say anything, and he seemed to be waiting for Roman to make a decision. Oddly enough, Roman seemed to be waiting on Terrence in return. He looked at Terrence for a few moments, and then gazed at the entrance of the facility. He then said to Terrence, without looking at him. "It'll be dangerous to go alone. If you will make your way to the Base Camp, then I shall accompany you." Roman continued to gaze at nothing in particular, waiting for a response.
Terrence shifted where he stood, looking very uncomfortable. He still had his Shield out, waiting for something ugly to jump out at him. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He stopped to look at the three others before finally saying, "I'll stay." Xavier blinked, surprised. Terrence might be able to handle this after all.
Roman, turned his attention to the group once more. "Let's go save the Damsel, then."
All for one ...
"Move." Xavier said taking out his Blast Cannon. Roman and Dwayne pulled out their own Firearms, and the three followed Xavier as he returned to the Door.
"Roman, hit the scanner."
Roman moved near to where a glass panel and waved the ID Card in front of it. A chirp of a Computer sounded indicating that the system had recognized and accepted the Card's input, and the Door split in half and slid into the walls to its left and right. The team now had access to the plant.
"Dwayne, lead the way. Go." Xavier said, pointing his gun toward the group's rear.
Dwayne moved into the hallway leading into the Facility, followed by Terrence, and then Roman, and finally Xavier, as they moved in a line and snaked their way further into the plant. They hadn't even been moving for 20 seconds when they met the woman, standing near a door at the end of the hallway. Xavier recognized her. She was one of the people who hung around the Water Reservoir back at NLA. She was one of the Researchers, he realized.
"Oh, Thank God!" Ajoa said. "You got in? I was starting to think I'd be trapped in here with these things longer!"
She seemed a little shaken up, but Xavier couldn't see any injuries on her, so she was probably fine.
"You're safe now, ma'am." Dwayne said. "We're getting you home in one piece."
"You said that there were 'monsters' in here with you?" Xavier asked.
"Yes!" she said. "I haven't seen them in a few hours, but there were three of this things, that looked like naked Simius or something. They're inside here somewhere, and I was all alone here all morning!" She now seemed to be on the verge of tears.
"Last night, the alarm went off as we were all sleeping." Ajoa explained. "It freaked us out, but nothing happened so I went back to sleep, while Ian and a few others went to see what was wrong. The alarm went off again this morning, which woke me up, and when I did everyone was gone, the doors were locked, and there were these monsters inside trapped with me, so I hid in the bathroom for like 6 hours trying to contact someone ..."
She sniffed.
"I heard voices ... outside and I tried to get you to open the door, but then I heard shouting, and shooting, and monsters, so I locked myself in the bathroom again and then you called, and now we're here ..."
The team watched Ajoa as she relayed her tale to them, and when she had finished speaking, they could only wonder on where to go from there. They didn't seem to need to say anything as Ajoa continued by saying, "but the door's open now right? So we can just leave? Now, please?"
"First we need to get this facility's Radio System back online. Our situation is a little complicated." Xavier said.
"What do you mean?" Ajoa asked.
"I mean, those monsters of yours? There's a lot more of them sitting right outside the door."
Ajoa, made a sound that sounded like something between a Gasp and an Eeek!
"You mean there are others besides the ones in here?!" she asked.
"Technically they're in a Cocoon like state, and aren't a direct harm to us. They are however sensitive to sound and we're not sure if simply walking away unaided is the best course of action." Roman said.
"You're saying it's like that outside as well?! That's crazy! How did this all happen?!"
Ajoa swayed, and clutched the hair on her head. She was very stressed. Her hope for escape was dwindling away into nothingness. "If they only respond to sound, then if we acted quietly could we just sneak past them?" she asked.
Xavier, paused. He wondered if she was going to ask that, and he had considered it as well, but ... "Believe me. That thing woke up from you hitting the door and shouting from the other side. I've seen a lot of good BLADEs get chased down by Xenos they thought they could run away from, and I'm not going to take that chance with you. We need to kill these things. And we need help doing it."
Ajoa had a look of devastation on her face as she tried to process his words. She shook and grabbed herself, looking like she was really ready to cry now. Quietly she asked, "why are you even here?"
Xavier paused again. The truth of their mission probably wouldn't encourage her.
Dwayne, pitched in. "Rosie sent us here. She was worried about you, 'cause your team hadn't been contacting her. So we came to see if everything was alright."
Xavier looked at Ajoa to see if she would buy his words.
"Rosie asked you to come?" she asked sounding somewhat surprised.
"Yeah, she did." Dwayne said. "She probably isn't good at showing it, but I think she does care about you guys. And thanks to that, we're here to save the day." Dwayne put on a small smile.
Ajoa looked down at her feet. "Rosie ..." she said. She stood still for a few seconds before saying "I guess I owe her then."
A shrill ringing noise pierced the inside of the plant. It was some kind of alarm, and it made Xavier miss the sound of Dwayne's annoying whistle. "What does this alarm indicate?" Roman yelled over the sound of the alarm.
"Something's wrong with the Water Reserve!" Ajoa shouted with her ears covered.
"I think I now where your Monster friends are hiding then!" Roman said.
"Where is the Reserve!" Xavier asked loudly.
"Uhh ... you need to go through the control room-"
"What?!" Xavier asked. "I can't hear you!"
"Nevermind, I'll show you!" she said. She then walked around a corner leading into another short hallway. She reached the only door at the end, though before she could move through it Dwayne stopped her and moved into the room first with his Sub-machine Gun drawn out. "Room Clear!" he shouted, though no one could hear his words clearly. They did file through into a spacious room that held several monitors embedded into a wall, as well as a large console, and some field equipment of a purpose unknown to Xavier.
"The reserve is straight through that door!" she said pointing to another door at the far side of the room. "You just go straight through until you reach an exit just like the doors you first came through! I'll stay here and see if I can figure things out through the security footage!"
Xavier nodded. "Fine! We'll leave one of us here with you!" he shouted. "Terrence!"
Terrence looked up and shouted in return, "I stay here and help Ajoa!"
"Good man!" Xavier said patting him on the shoulder. "Roman and Dwayne, with me! Let's go kill these things!"
And they split up. With Ajoa and Terrence remaining in the Control Room, and Xavier, Dwayne, and Roman moving to investigate the Reserve where they believed the hostile indigens that Ajoa had spoke of were hiding.
BLADE Tower - 2034 hrs
"That's where things got bad." Xavier said.
Doctor Leblanc gave out a hmmm, as he typed on his monitor.