Underworld Lower City

Allied Team Claim

Mynock Cave

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hours pass as the duo watch the silvery tendril, working on their projects, they keep an eye on the fluid metal rope at all times

shifting across the far third of the floor and walls, huntng, the mess is swept leaving no debre, not even sand is left behind

TH-NG crawls up Naruto's clothes to get a better perch monitor it at all times

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"Statement: highly efficient at absorbing acids, silicates and minerals"

unseen in the shadows left by the directed lights, the black fluid moves to the doorway using the cracks of the walls

sliding to naruto it attaches to his clothes, looking like just another patch of wiped lubricant from Naruto Working with the droid parts

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noise of shifting gravel and the chatter of discussing what areas to mine first, herald the return of the trio

groaning the trio unload packs along the tunnel to lighten their loads

Nameless reports to Leeds "Took care of the hidden camera, turned out the lights, moved it, now all it can see is a dark tunnel"

noticing the odd looks from the pair, the trio go quiet

pointing into the chamber Leeds croaks "Something odd showed up."

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the three shift to watch as the tendril continues cleaning and probing the chamber

"Came out and started little more than two hours ago."

"Cleared the liquid from the pool and removed any debre or mynocks it contacts,"

"its moving like it expects to be attacked, I think the mynock were eating it for its minerals and metals."

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setting down the last of the equipment they brought carefully

Nameless, Bo and Mack watch the tendril for several micro-cycles

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"Lets see if it stays away from a shield generator."

sticking a portable generator in the nest chamber on the floor in one of the of the uncleaned areas, Bo switches it on by remote

with a short range shield, then expanding it slowly to cover most of an area.

oddly the tendril seems to avoid the area of the shielded equipment by a wider margin than the visible shield effect

Nameless spends time watching the tentacle "Does not look actively hostile, an active shield keeps it away."

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He starts unpacking gear from one of the packs, "Naruto, here's a datapad for you to use."

handing him a battered datapad "The twins had a spare, so thank them" grinning

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"Now lets see if a shield really affects that tendril." Nameless sets up a second generator in an area cleared already

setting the field for almost 5ft range into its 'sweep zone'

the party is surprised when the field is activated by Nameless the tendril stops momentarily but continues its sweep

moving further into the area shielded, closer to the generator

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manipulating with the shield control, Nameless tries various modes

electrical, heat, pain and sonic screens have no effect but cold-heat siphon mode

caused it to retreat quickly

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"Must be something native to deep crust, likes heat but hates the cold."

"Kind of makes sense, mynocks can exist and survive in space, so they could nest in areas it would avoid."

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when Bo and Mack begin to start mining for local deposits further back in the tunnel

it stops for a few seconds before withdrawing completely from the cavern

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spotting silvery flakes left behind "Ah samples, kind of like how nova slugs leave slug crystal behind."

the flakes are scooped into sample containers "Lets see if these will hold." setting them aside to be monitored

'the cold probably caused the flaking' Nameless notes the details in his datapad on the shield levels used

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Leeds sends to Nameless's datapad some downloaded records

"Found a record in one of the buffers on one of the droid cores for the last minute before deactivation"

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the stored holo shows 3 uniformed humanoids in the tunnel directing droids to mine toward the cavern

when the cavern was opened they and the droids entered the cavern, the mynocks decended on the droids

the party watches as the leaders acting in panic, try to use the bots and their mining disruptors to shoot the mynocks.

several of the droids having optics covered, fire blind, downing 2 of the humanoids

the third was watched diving into the pool to escape the mynocks and blaster fire, thinking it was water, unaware it was acid

the droid watched as he surfaced several time, before the droid was deactivated by a mynock

"The poor fool was unable to issue any orders due to the acids effects."

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"There was also reference on another droid core, to information about deep core samples from a nearby target area about a mile past the cavern."

Nameless looks over the data "So its just outside our claim unless we expand it by exploring the tube."

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Leeds also comments "Want to bet that the two Corperations are still after something there."

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giving Leeds a sideways look "Do you and Naruto still want to explore?"

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Nameless watches the pair move into the tube

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after updating Mack and Bo he starts assembling the parts of the remaining mining droids

getting one running with one of the wiped behavior cores, he makes sure the control cluster has no hardwired loyalties.

Clearing the software protocols he sets them for mining only, no self defence. Unlike the three corperate fools who managed to kill themselves with their own droids.

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Having the first droid pick up his mining disruptor, he starts having it sectioning off an area near the tube.

He sets it to follow the signal of his exploring friends,

muttering to himself, "lets see how many droids we can get running from parts"

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sadly, Bo and Mack hate his race's music, they say it sounds like steam pipes blowing their gaskets.

crooning to himself, grinning he pumps up the volume

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moving through a low cramped tunnel of heated dark stone, the two move slowly as the tubes curved sides make for a slippery floor.

several times Leeds has Naruto use a mining disruptor to shear off protrusions to clear the path for ease of passage.

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eventually and happily the passage opens to a vertical shaft with crystals

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using the disruptor the pair move down the walls by creating ladder steps, Leeds moving with care from step to step harvesting the crystals

15 major crystals, 45 smaller and an abundance of shards are cased, packed and sealed to Leeds delight

having worked from the middle down the pair grin at the amount above the tunnel yet to be cleared, pockets of crystal still visible in their limited light

placing a claim beacon the two paint their claim marks in the entrance and exiting tunnels

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moving on, the tube widens and continues leading the pair in a twisted path to an even larger chamber twice the size of the mynock chamber.

Filling one section is a shimmering pool.

The fluid metal fills 20 percent of the chamber in a pool at the deep left end of the sloped chamber.

Ripples shiver the surface, flickering the lights they carry to the walls showing deep cracks clawed into the walls and ceiling.

Seeing the shivering surface increasing pace as they step nearer, the two back off.

"Definately reacting to our presence." Leeds remarks

TH-NG snarks, "You mean it surrounding us is not hostile?"

Alarmed the pair spot the tendrils that moved from a crack and cut off their exit.

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oddly tendril tips dance around like snakes to pipe music

Naruto feels a shivering sensation and feels flush as nerves start going twitchy

Leeds seeing Naruto almost going into a panic sets down the portable shield and activates it

shifting it to anti-heat mode the tendrils back off from the shield letting Naruto recover from his panic attack

mumbling to Leeds, "Sorry, I almost blew it and ran in panic."

patting his shoulder, Leeds replies "No worry, if the shield did not work, I would have panicked also."

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"Now since I do not see any exits, we can asume the tunnel stops here."

spotting some left behind flakes of metal from the retreating pool's tendrils

he pauses pulling out ceramic containers and collects some of the more easily gathered flakes

"Lets move the shield back to the entrance, mark the walls and set a claim beacon."

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moving carefully only in areas cleared by the shield, Leeds spots an odd circular hole in the roof near one area off to the right

"I think that is the drill hole the corperations drilled to get the core sample.", as the two are distracted by movement in the hole

they spot an odd form crawling out, Leeds pulls his pistol and shoots it cursing, "Mynock!?, blast it, those back cycled corperate bantha fodder."

"I hate those things.", cursing and laughing Naruto keeps an eye on both the tendrils from the main pool and his elder.

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At the exit, Leeds waves to Naruto calling him closer "It's irony the murglacks drill the hole for samples,"

"but the mynocks moved in and nested in nearby chambers while they were testing the cores"

"Their own miners died by what they let in because they did not seal the shaft"

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"Naruto with your wall walking can you walk upside down?"

puzzled Naruto nods

"Ok, head back the way we came grab some of the rocks you seared off when the tunnel was tight, and bring back some of the larger pieces."

"When you get back I am going to need you to shove several of the smaller pieces up the bore then hammer the largest into it sealing it."

"Don't know what this thing is" pointing to the pool "but it does not deserve to be eaten by mynock."

grinning while sitting down "I'm going to sit here and shoot any mynock popping out."

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when returning Leeds waves to Naruto, "Had four more come out, shot each, and the pool cleaned them up."

"Anything that disposes of mynock has my respect"

as Naruto starts filling the bore and hammering the blockage in, noise from one of the walls near Leeds grabs their attention.

unseen by any, Leeds has a new black stain on his clothes

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shortly an opening forms, as the new tunnel widens, a battered mining droids steps out

the first using the mining disruptor, the second moving debre assisted by a one armed third droid that moves about clearing the walking path

rubbing his chin on seeing a familiar face behind the droids Leeds catcalls, "Just couldn't stay behind could you."

waving back Nameless replies "Always have a plan B."

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leaving behind a shield to block both passages and camera to monitor the bore and pool

they leave the pool for later

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backtracking the tube they cut the tunnel into the tube near the vertical shaft

letting Naruto gather the upper crystals while gathering the other crystals and shards to pack

Nameless asks Naruto "What else can you do?"

jumping from the wall to the tunnel ledge Naruto forms a handsign taking a familiar form

Nameless laughs "you look older than any of us"

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Pulling out a sensor and scanning Naruto's altered form

"TH-NG what do your sensors say?"

"Scanning, normal humanoid parameters, this is not emitting any energy like a skin cloak."

"Delight, master can be the ultimate infiltrator."

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Leeds notes this and remarks

"You realize, we can send you ahead in disguise and sell some of the largest crystals at reasonable rates," seeing narutos grin, continues

"without them thinking you are with us and having them drop the value?"

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"Carrying an active comlink he can also allow us to hear what is going on for better timing."

"This may allow more accuracy on the targets to be neutralized." is noted by the droid

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on the march back up to old claim storage

the party rests and plans their moves topside

snacks and tales pass back and forth

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"hey kid want some spoo? asks Mack "fresh off the transport"

"Sure." Naruto replies, "What was the ship name?", "Warhammer 4000"

snacking "Tastes like squid jerky." replies Naruto around a tough piece

"Don't talk with your mouth full." mentions Bo

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"How did you guys get here?"

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Mack and Bo grin, "Since we're swapping stories. Back home we kept a station running"

"A guy I know told me the government in our area had no need for the B5 station anymore."

"So the government 'retired' the station by blowing it up."

"We watched it go, but later saw something bout a year later, a mobile black version."

"When it was reported we were shipped out and 'lost' to a backwater station"

"When a friend said we were to be killed, we faked our deaths by blowing up a wrecked shuttle"

"It was being repaired by us for hobby, we used it's unstable engine to blow up the 'killers' in faking an escape."

"we then left using the real shuttle, and took over the assassin's main ship"

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looking Naruto in the eye, "Never piss off an engineer, it's harder to keep something running, than letting it blow up."

smiling to Naruto Mack grabs his drink, "Engineers can make everything go wrong at once, and smear their opponents."

"unsung heros, because few talk about the details of what goes wrong."

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Picking up the conversation Bo steps to Narutos side, "We had to sell it long before we got here, some credits were used getting here."

"When we got here talk about whining, we had to go back to school, we had to update all our skills,"

"had to take all the credits left from selling the ship to get new credentials."

Mack and Bo laugh, "Now that we are updated on the local tech, we are roaming and fixing for pay or trade."

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Nameless calls out from the lead catching everyones attention, "We have several matters to discuss"

"figure equal shares on this, but do we want to keep the entire run?"

"they are goin to be 'taxin' us like crazy and the charges they have shown already,"

"are ten times normal."

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Lookin each other over Bo and Mack grin, "No way do we make this easy for them." Mack replies

adding his 2 credits Leeds speaks up "we have the option of paying it ourselves or running a trick"

"It will scalp someone, hopefully the assassin who tried to fry us alive."

"We also have our packs full and a scroll that may smuggle out ten packs of the best crystals."

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"Naruto may be able to score what the prices are and beat our run by going in disguise,"

"he can hold it for hours and still be hyper." hearing this the boy pouts momentarily.

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Hand seals flash as Naruto takes on what for him was a familiar form

"Will this look make them cautious?"

"Can we craft an oversize vibroblade to match this swords form?"

"Looks like a sword for a rancor" states Nameless, "Well Engineers? the challenge is yours"

Looking it over Bo states, "Almost a shield, as well as a weapon, might have to use a layer of the claim door, hour for the blade."

"Can you handle the field vibration cutter and other internals, Mack?" Mack answers Bo with only a grin

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echos from elsewhere

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"master, an assassin was stopped, while protecting the queen"

"the assassin had an acomplice that killed him with an odd dart"

"keeping him from being interrogated"

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as for the dart I recommend our friend at the diner on level 411

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in a greasy diner

on a metal coated world

questions are raised over a dart between friends

a place mentioned

warning of the customs

a friend watches the door close

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you could have warned him

i am the first to retire in over 600 years

they may send hunters

their choices are him, windu or both

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a question to the grandmaster

turning to a child

the child answers when questioned

pointing to an empty spot in the holo display

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concerned at the missing piece

"you look.. as will I"

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omake

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Little known facts of Konoha

The Black Widow of Konoha

some ladies take their pound of flesh with them

"Kakashi, you don't mind leaving yours, right?"

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