Oren was doing his best to keep an eye on things. Unfortunately when he had Weiss contact Ironwood for the raids, it became a "military" operation. They were all about clearance levels and classified information. Ironwood was willing to share some, but not all. Of course this was frustrating for Oren, when you're a strategist but can't get any information…. Well it makes your job very difficult. When Oren wasn't trying to plan he and his team would go out and relax. It was all very repetitive for a couple of days, until Oren received a letter. It was from those archaeologists Mullberry, and Plum. They had discovered a whole new section of that temple underground. Oren suspected that he wouldn't find any new info, but it was always worth looking. So for a second time Team GHOST found their way to the ruins.
"What do you think?" Asked Grey.
"The letter was from Mullberry and Plum. They don't "work" for Alizarin. I suppose they could be being manipulated, but Helen will be able to sense their intentions." Responded Oren.
Once they arrived Plum greeted them with a friendly
"Hello! It's nice to see you again."
"Likewise, I'm glad you remembered to inform us. I'm sure with this discovery there has been a lot of excitement." Responded Grey.
"Of course. It's not often we see today's youth interested in ancient things like this." Said Plum, leading them down into the ruins. The group went down a staircase that was undiscovered during their prior visit. The staircase lead them deep into the underground. They found Mullberry examining some statues in the newly discovered part of the temple.
"Ah Welcome." Said Mullberry.
"Good to see you again. How's the dig going?" Asked Grey.
"Excellent. We discovered this new segment of the temple only yesterday. There are tons of rooms and corridors that we haven't explored yet."
"Good, maybe I'll finally discover something new." Said Oren.
"The most fascinating thing isn't the new rooms though." Said Plum leading them towards a large set of double doors. Before following Plum, Oren checked with Helen, she confirmed that Plum and Mullberry had no ill intent. When Plum opened the double doors, the group found themselves in a massive cave. That expanded in approximately a one mile diameter in a perfect circle around the temple.
"What in the world is this?" Asked Grey.
"We don't yet know. All we know is that it's man made." Responded Plum.
"Are you saying that this temple was built underground?"
"So far it appears that way."
While Grey continued talking to Plum, Oren started walking off into the cave. He wasn't feeling quite right. He could feel something coming from a specific direction in the cave. It was very faint but It was there. It was so faint in fact, that he didn't expect Helen to notice it. The only reason Oren noticed it is because it felt familiar. He made it all the way to the wall of the cave. He pressed his hand to the wall. He was confused now, because he could feel something coming from the other side of the wall, but also from somewhere to his right. He recognized both of these feelings, but couldn't figure out what they were, Neither of them could possibly be down here. Up closer to the wall, it wasn't as smooth as it looked from afar. There were also small boulders and rocks lined up across the entire wall.
"Is something wrong?" Asked Mullberry, who had followed Oren.
"I'm not sure. Something doesn't feel right." Responded Oren.
"Maybe you just need some air, Alizarin did say that it was easy for people to feel claustrophobic in this cave."
"Speaking of Alizarin, where is she now?"
"Oh she's at a meeting. Apparently some very important people are coming to town tomorrow."
"I see."
"She does send her regards though."
"So she knows we are visiting?" Oren began sweating a little.
"It was her idea. Plum and myself thought that you might want to wait until we actually discover something, but she recommended we invite you, just the day after we discovered this cave."
At this point Oren was hyper alert. He started paying attention to these feelings he was having. Instead of figuring out why these feelings were down here and focused more on what they were. He figured out what one of them was, right in the other side of the cave wall was Grimm. A massive herd of them. But the other feeling he still couldn't quite place. It was contempt, hatred, rage, and sorrow. Grimm, while being attracted to those emotions, were incapable of feeling them. This was pushed from his mind immediately when,
"Do you hear that?" Oren asked Plum.
"Hear what?"
"Be quiet for a second." There it was again. An almost imperceptible beeping noise. Oren started following the noise and digging under rocks. He found what he was looking for. A bomb on a timer was attached to the cave wall, with the time about 20 seconds from detonating. With the Grimm on the other side of the wall it didn't take much effort to put two and two together.
"TRAP". Oren shouted at the top of his lungs. He jumped away from the bomb right as it exploded. Oren got hit by the main blast, but luckily his semblance gave him a certain advantage when dealing with shock-waves. Mullberry was not so lucky. While he was far enough away from the blast, he was still in range of the shrapnel. A rock struck him in the head knocking him unconscious. The explosion blasted a huge hole in the cave wall, and a huge herd of Grimm were on the other side. Oren immediately picked up Mullberry and ran towards the temple.
Grey had heard Oren shout and saw the explosion. His eyes widened when he saw Oren carrying Mullberry and being chased by a herd of Grimm. He ordered everyone out of the temple. Oren was reaching the temple door as everyone else was making their way up to the surface. Sam and Thane were having to drag Plum, who had seen Mullberry in Oren's arms.
Oren was about to make his way up to the surface when he heard what sounded like cackling. Another explosion went off in the stairs to the surface. The ceiling collapsed, sealing Oren and Mullberry In the underground temple.