Art:
http://www.mechscapeworld.com/forums/index...=si&img=152
Incident Report
“Mr. San Tarsun, our reinforcements, I presume,” the imposing, yet seemingly friendly man half bellowed, walking to the gate entrance.
“Yeah, that’s me,” I said, approaching him with a forced grin.
“Well then welcome to the 11th UGF Excavation Team, site 5d. My name is Dr. Mence. Let’s not waste any time, I’ll show you your room, but then I want to give you a tour.
He would have been shown to his quarters, but then taken directly to the actual site.
Understood, continue.
The doctor led us into the elevator. We stood next to each other, facing the door, doing nothing.
“Oh, right”, the doctor mumbled to himself, pulling something from his coat pocket.
“Accepted” the panel exclaimed, and allowed us to begin our descent.
We arrived at our destination.
“HA HA HA, isn’t it magnificent!?”
A full bellow this time.
“It looks like a giant mechanical blue-glowing leg, doctor.”
“Well it is. You know that artifact we’re excavating? This is it; a machine. Granted, it’s not that big, but progress has been slow…it seems to be, well it seems to be guarded.”
“Guarded by what?” I asked, feigning interest.
“Nanites; they’ll cut anything they come in contact with in two symmetrical halves, especially people. But don’t worry; they’ve all been taken care of.” He smiled but still seemed to be in deep thought. “I should tell you now that what we are excavating is valuable to others as well. If an enemy unit is detected it will be your duty as Sentinel to neutralize them. You know all this but I just wanted to let you know that the odds of this happening are very high. Well I won’t keep you”
Retreating to my quarters did seem to be in my best interests.
It was the next morning that the Sentinel met the third party.
The first thing I noticed was her blue eyes. I couldn’t place them but they seemed so familiar.
“Hello, I’m the liaison for the UGF Safety Administration and Inspections; a safety inspector. Call me Deze.”
“I’m the Security Captain and resident Sentinel; a security guard. Call me San”
They then left the lobby to join a meeting with the so-called Dr. Mence, but were prevented due to an altercation started by a lower ranking security officer.
“Hey you” said a gruff voice met with a gruff face. “I wanna talk to you. How is it ya just stroll in here an’ not only get Captain, but all the guns too?”
“Military experience”, I replied coldly, “and being a Sentinel-”
“The Military? You don’t seem the type.” He said smirking.
He began to walk away but before I could get my guard up his fist was inches away from my face. His jab didn’t connect; it should have, but it didn’t. He noticed that too, taking two steps back. Deze stepped in only to continue the fight; a jab right to his face. She didn’t connect either, but he took another step back holding his nose. I could see blood seeping from his fingers.
“The military…right.” He said walking away defeated but still smirking.
“Mind explaining to me what just happened…and why your eyes are glowing?
“Gravity manipulation” She said casually.
“Right, well we should get to the meeting.”
“…So the fact that I can-“
“I’ve seen stranger things.”
“Oh”, she said, sounding disappointed.
We finally arrived at the doctors meeting. All I could think about were those eyes. Such an eerie glow; such a familiar blue…
It was later that night that the units sent to investigate were detected.
“Tarsun, do you copy? Enemy units spotted.” My intercom shouted out.
“On my way” I responded automatically, racing to the tower.
“Weapon systems online, locking on target…wait, they’re recon…”
“They’re armed and unresponsive; we can’t risk them getting any closer. Take them out, that’s an order.”
…It was finished with one loud hum. Nothing else was on radar so I left the tower. The doctor asked me into his office.
“I should tell you first that they weren’t responding and that they had no authorization to approach. I should also tell you that a MRS shipment was stolen last week. If there’s something you like to add to the report…?”
“I thought they looked familiar, but no.” I couldn’t help the feeling that whoever was piloting those suits knew them too well. Like they didn’t just see them being used…
“Doctor!” his intercom shouted, “We’ve freed the third leg.”
“Excellent! I’ll be right there” he said standing up. “Just don’t think about it too hard.”
The doctor left his coat behind. Out of curiosity or suspicion, I had to search it. The small lump in the pocket caught my eye. I reached in. It wasn’t quite a stone but it was cold. I thought it was a trick of the light but there it was; a severed thumb.
Laughter shocked me back into reality. My heart skipped a beat.
“My goodness, what do you have there? I forgot my coat and I need that thumb to use the elevator. It’s such an inconvenience.” he said pointing his charged pistol at my head.
“Who are you…all of you?”
“We are the others I mentioned earlier.” He said with a grin, finger on the trigger.
“Not so fast doctor…”
“Deze…” I muttered.
“Ah, Ms. Veer, what are doing here…I can’t move…what are you doing!?”
“What I’m doing here is preventing the property of my ancestors from falling into the wrong hands…hands that aren’t ours.”
They had been playing me for the fool I was, and apparently, she had been playing them.
“Your eyes…the machine…even the nanites?” I asked disbelievingly.
“We all share the same power source. Well the nanites can’t do much on their own; they need me to give them a little…push…”
The last of the recording need not be played.
Understood. This concludes the events pertaining to the incident. The 11th UGF Excavation Team, including the Sentinel later sent, was completely wiped out. All members were found cut in half, presumably by the nanites seen in the only surviving recording. The recon units suffered friendly fire, from the Sentinel tower.
We know either the whereabouts of the artifact, nor the member of the third party.