Stranded Warriors

5

C- The trucks led to a tunnel into the mountain. A security gate and watchman booth watched over the tunnel, and a security camera overlooked the area. The trucks had already entered the tunnel and disappeared from sight.

Z- *Volk stops, glancing at the gate and watchman, then the camera. Probably to see a good way to approach...*

*Or not. He draws his lasgun, aiming for the watchman through the building and opening fire, the strength of his weapon of choice a bit more valuable here, before then shooting out the camera and heading into the tunnel.*

C- His shot shattered the window of the booth and hit the man clean in the chest. The security camera was damaged beyond further use, and smoke drifted up from the damaged tech.

Arivil was as stiff as a board, watching in a sort of horror. Their brain eventually caught up and they jogged after him to catch up. "W— that was a CIVILIAN!"

Z- "No, he wasn't." *He responds simply, before starting to trot down the tunnel, apparently not caring at all about just murking a man*

C- "But— but—" Arivil let out an uneasy groan, still following after him at a hasty pace. They weren't sure how they could reason with him, since he saw such a severe act so simply with his mindset.

The tunnel went on for a while, leading uphill. It eventually lead to a fork in the path. Neither path was labeled. From one, the sound of wind could be heard, from the other, dead silence.

Z- "I mean, I could go back and dispose of the evidence. Just assumed we didn't have time." *It was clear what he meant of "disposing" of it ... stopping for dinner.*

*Volk stops, listening for a moment, before turning to the silent path. He assumed that wind meant the path lead outside. Silence hinted at a path that went deeper.*

C- Arivil grimaced. "Too late for that now, I think. The security cam probably saw us." They put their hands to their head with a nervous groan. "God, I'm a criminal again... I just had a clean record starting out in this system."

They realized they were falling behind as Volk took one of the paths, and sprinted again to catch up, muttering nervous words under their breath. The tunnel continued to lead further upward at a sort of spiral.

Z- "I was the one that did it, and they probably caught your look of horror on your face as I did it, so."

*He shrugs, but maintains his quick trot like it's nothing. Hell, if he wasn't trying not to leave Arivil behind, he'd probably he running this, and as Arivil catches up, he does speed up to a jog as they head up the spiral.*

C- "Hrrrgh..." They didn't seem completely at ease with this. "Looking horrified is a natural response to seeing someone get killed in cold blood."

They panted as they tried to keep up a mix of a sprint and a jog to keep up with his pace, finding it especially difficult with the steep incline.

Further up, things seemed to level out, and a light could be seen in the distance, soon leading into a large underground loading-area. The trucks they had seen from earlier were all parked in an orderly row in front of a high entrance leading deeper into the area. Some Shidetans were unloading boxes from the trucks and taking them out into the furthest tunnel.

Z- *Volk stows his lazgun on his back, drawing his shovel again, and then getting low, staying at the edge of the dark and behind trucks and boxes to sneak his way towards the tunnel that the boxes were being unloaded into.*

C- Arivil snuck after him. They were grateful he didn't go in guns blazing at least... yet...

One of the Shidetans lifted the last several boxes into the air with their magic, then went to follow the others into the tunnel, leaving them alone. Light shined through the tunnel brightly, appearing natural. From their vantage point, they might see the long windows on one side of the hallway which looked over the snowy mountainside. They had traveled up pretty high through that road tunnel, and this was their first view getting to see exactly how high up they were.