thebastion | Day 129 and Day 130 :: The Mancer Observatory

Entry tags:

Day 129 and Day 130 :: The Mancer Observatory

Who: Nathaniel and the characters listed here
Open: Closed
When: Days 129 and 130
Where: The Mancer Observatory
What: With enough power and supplies to make the long trip out to the Mancer Observatory, a small group has gone there to look for clues about the Calamity.
Format: action
Warnings: None so far

[After finding several pieces of information and some intense discussion, Nathaniel has decided that it would be best to head to the headquarters of the Mancers, the Mancer Observatory. After all, if anyone would have an understanding of what cause the Calamity, it is the Mancers, and several clues have been pointing in that direction already. Nathaniel is apprehensive of what he will find there, but he still has to look. If something can help them figure out just what happened to rip the entire universe apart, then maybe they can find a way to fix it.

However, Nathaniel can't do this alone. He is just one man, and he cannot protect himself on the Skyway for as long as it will take to get to the Mancer Observatory. So, he has arranged to have a small team of residents go with him, so that they can use teamwork to accomplish their goal of finding out more about the Calamity. With rations and supplies for two days, the group sets off from the Bastion on Day 129, early in the morning.

Hopefully all of them will return, safe and sound, in a day or so.]

Thread links:

Day 129- getting started
Day 129- Observatory: front gates
Day 130- continuing the search
Day 130- the records building

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Well. That went better than expected. Rin released her grip on the hilt of her blade before letting out the breath she'd been holding, following the group in to the hangar.

The various items about were interesting, but they weren't anything she'd have a working knowledge of. If anything she was really more impressed with the sheer size of it. She walked around with her head tilted upwards, mouth open slightly as she let out a quiet noise of admiration.]

Y'could almost fit the Academy in here!

[Rin you're supposed to be on a mission...]

[ Viola whistled, impressed by the sheer scale of this room. Even the biggest buildings she had ever seen would probably fit quite easily inside here with room to spare. She couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of gigantic objects the Mancers would need this much space to store. ]

[ Her curiosity nagged at her to go investigate the remaining objects in the hangar, but she heeded Nathanial's warning and kept her hands to herself. ]

[ Paarthurnax was right; this stuff looked incredible! Viola couldn't even identify most of it, but she had a feeling it was all very useful. ]

Hard to believe this isn't what we came out here for.

[Nathaniel actually smirks a bit at that.]

If you think this is amazing, wait until we get to building E. That's where all the fun things are.

[By the way, Paar. There are two things of note: near the far door is a broken box on the wall, which looks like whatever was in it (spoilers: that particular control for the main doors) has been ripped out, though someone with a knowledge of how circuits work could probably twist the right wires together to get it working.

Besides that, there is another button, on a side wall about halfway between the two doors. This one is a big red button in a glass box, with some important-looking words written around it. Nobody can read it, of course, it's written in Caelondian. But it still looks important, somehow.]

[Sorry, Nathaniel, Paarthurnax is going to be ignoring you for a moment. He's a bit preoccupied with sniffing at the busted up box and turning his head so that he can look at the mess somewhat better. Now, he is rather unfamiliar with most of the strange Dwemer-like technology that some of Bastion seems to employ, and especially whatever the Mancers create. However, he is fairly certain that this is not the state a button should be in.]

Collin, I require your knowledge of strange colored cords and advanced metal objects. Zu'u dreh ni mindok fos gjok dreh het.

[Ryu looks up at Paarthurnax and grins a bit.]

I don't know what any of it is either.

On it!

[Curiosity can wait, once again. Colin actually sprints across the hangar at a speed that someone with his frame shouldn't be capable of. He arrives next to Paarth shortly, and he immediately sets to work studying the damaged control box. He frowns, and looks back to Nathaniel.]

Weapons out, everyone! We're not alone here! I want a security formation around the non-combatants!

Nathan, this has been damaged. I can't tell if this was wildlife or intentional. But given the lack of damage elsewhere, I'm guessing that we're dealing with sabotage.

Meaning, this is going to be a lot more dangerous. I can get past this easy, but I suspect we're going to have a lot more to worry about...

[He's not about to touch anything just yet, not until Nathan gives the all clear. But yes, he can definitely bypass this... As a matter of fact, he's scanning and tracking the wiring, just to make sure that he's not looking at any surprises when he tries to bypass it.]

Edited 2013-11-20 04:29 (UTC)

[Alucard nods and moves into a better position to intercept anything coming at Nathaniel, cautiously sniffing the air and listening for anything unusual. A very basic tactic, but it had always served him well.]

[Colin's sudden order had Rin snapping to attention, looking away from where she'd been gawking.

Oh.

Even she could see that was a Very Bad Thing over there at the controls. Scowling, Rin looked around with a more pointed gaze, but nothing stood out to her. There were no distinct sounds, no telling scents...

But that could have meant anything. There was a control room, higher up.]

... I'm gonna go scope out the operator's room.

Good idea.

[Nathaniel goes over to where Colin is, and he frowns.]

Looks like a monster got to it. We don't really have time to fix it properly, so let's just get it working enough to get moving. I think Colin is right, we're in for trouble if we stay here.

[Up in the operator's room are some strange, shiny objects of nominal value. It looks like someone had brought something to tinker with while they were working up there. The object in question resembles a trumpet, but with some extra parts sticking out of it.

Also, up in the operator's room, are buttons. Looooots of buttons. Good luck finding the right one!]

All right, I can get this.

[Colin glances at Nathan for the go-ahead, and if/when he gets it, he sets to work on the bypass. A keypad with an access could would be harder to spoof, but a hangar door is usually an on/off switch. Relatively easy.]

Think it was a Gasfella? I think the damage is a little localized to be collateral...

[Ryu stares at all of those buttons.]

Which one should I push?

[He wants to push all of them...]

[Alucard doesn't feel much urge to press any of the buttons; that was his imp's department.]

...Perhaps you should wait until those who are more used to these devices confirm it is safe.

[ Obeying Colin's command, Viola nocked another arrow on her bowstring and moved to a defensive position not far from Alucard. She stood with her back to Nathanial, Colin, and their broken button. She didn't like the idea of sabotage, not in the slightest. Fighting non-sentient monsters was one thing, but another person purposefully working against them was quite another. ]

[ Her manner of thinking was along the same lines as Alucard's. She wasn't going to fiddle with things she didn't understand, not when the possible repercussions were life threatening. Leave her to defense. Fighting she understood. ]

[Push buttons, Ryu. You know you want to.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Nathaniel is inspecting the broken box some more.]

They could have broken it trying to get the door open. Gasfella aren't smart by any means, but they have a basic enough intelligence to manage small tasks, and they can learn by observing. One that worked in the hangar could have seen humans opening the door that way, and decided to try it.

[Colin is right to be suspicious, though. Nathaniel's guess is shaky at best, and there are far more nefarious reasons that this button could be broken. Like, say, if something was living in one of the buildings beyond the hangar, and wanted to keep anything else out.]

What I'm about to say is just an explanation for my line of thought.

Back home, I am in charge of a high security section on my ship. One of our operating procedures is "Never attribute to accident what you can attribute to enemy action." It's given us several false alarms, but alarms mean that security is doing its job and not slacking off. It's ALSO caught several agents who were sticking their noses where they shouldn't.

The Gasfella theory is plausible, but it's not safe.

[Colin looks back at Paarthurnax, Alucard, and Viola while holding his tools at the ready in his hands.]

You three are the closest voices of security. I can get this door mechanism to do its job in the next ten seconds, but you're probably going to have to deal with whatever's behind door number one. I think someone's trying to keep us out. What do you guys think?

[He freely admits that he doesn't have the facts, but he doesn't like the look of the evidence. He also, however, isn't the one in charge here, and he knows his perspective is sometimes skewed. He needs another opinion, and more importantly, he would like Nathan to have one too.]

[This is all quite beyond Paarthurnax's realm of experience, so he makes sure to stay silent as Colin and Nathaniel speak with one another of what could have happened. He starts to shift, making sure he is right before the doors and thus a more likely target whatever happens.]

I can see beyond these walls and tell you if there are others besides beasts. Laas Yah Nir... It allows me to see the presences of others. Walls would not shield them. That would clear any doubt, would it not?

[It wasn't one of his Thu'um that he thought he would be using for this mission, wanting to make each word count, but it will certainly come in handy for this.]

If you feel it best, Old One. If there are enemies beyond, we shall be ready.

[He punctuates this statement by drawing his sword. Perhaps a slightly dramatic way of putting things, but it gets the point across.]

[ Viola nodded to Paarthurnax. ]

It'd be a heck of a lot better to know what we're up against than to get surprised. [ She'd never really liked getting surprises. She preferred being the one to catch people with their pants down. ]

[Rin had been picking up the items and looking them over carefully when Ryu asked about the buttons. Tucking them away in her bag for something to be looked at later (that trumpet thing especially) she turned to where he was and gave the buttons her own curious look.]

I'unno if we should push any of 'em... though I guess if they're here they gotta do somethin'--

[Rin stops talking, training her ears to the conversation outside.]

Sounds like they're gonna try to get the doors open. Hey, stay here for a second, okay? We might need you to push somethin' after all.

[Setting the bag down, Rin headed out of the operator's room and back down to where the others were, tapping Nathaniel on the shoulder.]

There's a bunch more buttons up there. Think we should try and see if there's like another way to open the door with 'em? Ryu's up there right now.

Edited 2013-11-22 00:11 (UTC)

[Ryu nods, and looks over the buttons. ... They're all very tempting. Didn't he have to push a button to open up that door at the sluice?]

[Which one, though...]

[The big red one looks like the most likely button. He takes a look at the box to see if he can pull it off.]

See, if this was happening before the Calamity, I could believe that. But so few people survived, and everyone else has been going to the Bastion. Who would be left to hide out here anyway?

[But even as he says that, he sounds unsure.]

Though maybe...intelligent monsters? You guys came from other worlds, so maybe it's possible that a smart monster from another world is holed up in here.

[That said, he's still skeptical of it. He is glad Paar and Viola are right here, though. He's going to be counting on them if anything goes wrong.

Then Rin shouts down to them, and Nathaniel suddenly remembers the controls up there. He mutters to himself first, which only the people by the door would hear.]

The controls up there aren't broken too? Then it might not be sabotage...

[Then he speaks to Rin.]

Yeah. Look for large buttons, it should be a really big one.

[The box easily opens. The glass is there more to prevent the button from being bumped unintentionally.]

Edited 2013-11-22 00:21 (UTC)

[He can hear Nathaniel clearly enough, so he pushes the big red button.]

[... And any other big buttons he can find for good measure.]

[Rin had nodded to Nathaniel and was heading back up the stairs to get her bag back, since Ryu obviously had the button pressing handled when whatever he had done activated...

something.

Something noisy as hell.

A very loud alarm started to blare, ringing and bellowing in a repeated pattern that was very piercing to anyone with sensitive hearing, or even people who didn't have sensitive ears. It was just that loud.

In spite of the noise, nothing opened.

Something else was happening, but only those who could pick up the sound beneath the cacophony of the alarm could really catch it. It was a low hissing, going on above their heads, seemingly connected to a set of red, bell-like fixtures facing outwards attached to the high, high ceiling above.]

[Although his hearing isn't a whole lot better than a rather sharp-eared human's would be, the lack of any prior hearing damage makes the combined noise of the alarm terribly painful, even when he covers his ears. The low hiss just makes it worse.

He's not normally prone to yelling, but the likelihood of anyone being able to hear him otherwise being as slim as it is makes it necessary.]

SOMEONE PLEASE SHUT IT OFF!

[Colin's eyes go wide as he hears the alarms and he looks at the control room. His mind races as he looks around and the headache he'd finally managed to banish with caffeine returned as his more sensitive ears were overwhelmed by the alarm. Fortunately, this was not his first alarm, and he had the presence of mind to know what was coming.]

BIG AND RED IS A WARNING IN A HANGAR!

[He's not going to wait, he knows what big and red means in a hangar. It means fire suppressant. It means emergency shutdowns. And if there's a giant honking alarm? It means get the hell clear because something bad is going to happen on the floor.]

FORGET SHUTTING IT OFF!

[He tries to bypass the door quickly, though he suspects with that warning, it's going to be overridden. He stands and points to Paarth, then he points to the wall.]

PAARTHURNAX! FUCK SUBTLE! TAKE OUT THE WALL! WE NEED TO GET THROUGH!

[He holds up one arm straight up in the air. He means it to represent the wall. He slams his other hand into it in a fierce clap, and then he drops his arm as if it signify the wall coming down. He then points at the wall again for good measure. Then, against all hope, he returns to trying to get the door top open manually.]

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