Geartopia : The Case of the Assassination Plot

[cityship]

||Attention, Attention. Would the following personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Please bring with you any weapons and tools you might need. Attention, Attention. would the following personnel please report to the Observation Deck:

Allenby Beardsley
Maridian Gladespring
Ellyn Vitner
Red Robin
Sam Winchester
Dean Winchester
Kanoe Zouichi

Attention, Attention, would the following personnel...||

Stacy's voiced called the entire crew, until all of them were gathered at the Obs Deck. Then, a dossier appeared on the screens, along with the image of a rotating planet.

Planet Designation: Geartopia
Status: Terrestrial, H-class.
Non-sentient life: Extensive flora and fauna.
Semi-Sentient Life: Yes.
Sentient Life: Homo Sapiens, Homo Animalia, Machina Erectus.
Water: 20.6% of the planet's surface.
Climate: Earth-like, Arid desert
Landscape: 70% Desert..
Air: Normoxic concentration.
Air Pressure: 101.3 kPa (kilopascals) = 14.7 psi (pounds per square inch)
Sky: Blue
Sun: A class G2V, yellow star.
Warnings: Wildlife, humanoids and plant-life can be hazardous.
Mission: Find out of town mayoress Nomalanga's suspicions of foul play are correct. Full shore leave will initiate once this is problem is resolved.

Once the entire team was ready, they were whisked of to the planet with little fanfare, their ship landing close to a town, where a woman...well not quite a woman, but a cross between a woman and a hyena dressed in a strange outfit, greeted them along with three other figures behind her. They had arrived near the end of the day, and the sun was beginning to set behind them, staining the sky a deep orange color.

She greeted them with a bow and a wave.

"I think you for coming 'ere just barely an 'our after I send out my distress signal." She mentioned for them to follow her, while the three other figures remained behind.

"I will make this quick, as we are short on time. My name is Nomalanga, and I'm mayoress of Utorian, 'ave been for the past five years. We have asked for a small team to aid us cause some of Snidley's damn dogs have been trying to upsurge the town from my grasp. "e's was the mayor before me, but was removed for having no 'onor. He still has control of some sections of the town due to loyalty and fear, and some townsmen still suspects I threw 'im out to get more power. Now 'e's trying to regain it all, but I have no proof except for a tip I was given by one of my own that says the attack's in two days and there's enough clues stuffed in the 'aunted cave to get the entire town behind me."

She pointed to a cavern on the far left, covered by the dunes of soil and desert sand.

" 'Alf the townsfolk believe the place to be filled with ghosts at night so no one enters unless they have to. But during the day we go in and get our supplies of underground water. The entire place is a maze. I wish I could 'ave send the distress beckon sooner, but we had problems with space pirates recently."

"There is also another problem...the tip also told me one of my own three is a spy. If you could also find out which one, we could end the terrible man's grasp on the town and myself. I am pretty sure they already suspect that I have doubts, but you may find clues inside the cavern. You can also speak to them and ask a few questions, but you should get into the cavern as soon as possible, as not to get too many ghosts attacking you. And there are also men-eating bears spotted inside. My people are strong, but our technology is nothing compared to yours. Once we have more time I can explain to you how I was able to contact you at all. But for now, I can supply you with guns and torches, if you don't have any."

She seemed like a truthful woman, even if her speech was strange and spoke of someone who had lived a harsh life, despite the clothing she wore.

"My three don't trust you at all, due to our stance with outsiders and our last distress signal falling into pirate ears. I understand if you refuse, but if you accept I will make it worth your while, and the rest of your comrades on your ship will be welcomed with open arms one justice and truth is brought to light. My people do not have much but we can offer clothing and animals from our lands in exchange for your services."

[And done! There is no posting order, feel free to all start you own threads to ask questions, or butt in each other's threads while they talk back and forth]

Comments

[cityship]

It was, perhaps a good thing that Tim had was ready to grab his weapons, as their walking close to the ledge had alerted the reason the huge danger sign had been placed there. The splash of water echoed in the cavern until they could something trying to get a better view from inside the cavern walls. the creatures luminescent skin made him easy to see as it jump into the water, and it disappearing into the darkness a few seconds later.

...at least until the tentacles reached out, slithering around on the ground, right up to where the other man had run off. It seemed to be the limit of where it could go, as they moved, searching for its prey. Following the man's footsteps had been a wise move, and longer and they might have been dragged down into the waters below.

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

Oh. Okay. No rats, just a GLOWING CAVE LAKE TENTACLE MONSTER. Allenby stopped dead in her tracks, making an undignified and kind of high-pitched noise in the back of her throat. She fought the urge to dash over and start jumping up and down on the tentacles as hard as she could. Otherwise she'd find out what they were coming from real quick--

--hey, that was an idea! Allenby glared into the water and held out her hands, aiming her attack at where she figured the monster's body must be. "Nobel Hula Hoop!" Would it work in water? Good question! But damn, did she want it to, and a Gundam Fighter's spirit played a huge part in the effectiveness of their techniques.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Since they seemed to be out of reach of the tentacles for now, Zouichi aimed his gun at the monster, but didn't fire. He didn't like harming animals unless he had to... though if it tried coming after them, he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

"See anything?" he asked Tim, eyes still fixed on the creature.

[battorch]

Tim was quick to pull out his staff, extending it to be ready to defend himself but... it seemed 'safe' for the time being. He tensed, looking out at the creature and raising his torch higher.

"Allenby," he said firmly. "No point making it mad. It doesn't seem like it can reach us here." And he didn't want to test if attacking it could inspire it to reach a little further. Or if it would get out to come after them.

"Whoever was in here," he said to Zouichi, "was pretty obviously attacked by this thing." He frowned. "We should probably head that way while we still can, it seems like there's not much else here." He peered into the water one last time, just to verify that, but he didn't get any closer.

[cityship]

There was nothing buy an angry beast in the water. However, near the tracks running backwards, a piece of paper could be found, completely dry.



It appeared that the person wanted to put it in an area that wasn't going to get much traffic but someone searching around might find.

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"It's probably mad at everyone all the time," Allenby muttered, but she didn't launch an another attack. As long as they stayed here and the tentacles stayed there it'd be fine. And okay, it was a good thing she'd thrown it at the water than the tentacles themselves. Maybe just this one time avoiding a fight was better.

She edged along the tracks, still throwing wary looks at the water, but something on the ground caught her eye. "Hey, look at this!" She picked up the piece of paper--for being in a dank, dripping cave with krakens in it, it was in really good condition. "This can't have been here too long, look at how dry it is... the writing is total gibberish, though." She held it out to the other two. "'Bout all I can read off of it is the four."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"It's code," said Zouichi, frowning at it. "Whoever left this is asking us to rescue their daughter."

Four fountains, huh? Hopefully the 'four' wasn't in code, too. In any case, there were only two areas marked on the map that met that description...

[battorch]

Tim nodded to Zouichi. "Unless it was meant for someone else. Either way, I'd have to assume this is related to Allard, if it's related to the Three-- he was the only one with any daughters." He frowned. "And a warning about the bodyguards." Unfortunately, this played right into Tim's suspicions that the families were being used against them. It was a plausible motivator for betrayal.

"Assuming the four is coded in the same way, that leaves only one area on the map that fits. It could be related to the location of the daughter."

[cityship]

The only two areas the group could go now (if they remembered them properly was 1 or 10, which both had four fountains, if their guess was right. the first had been visited by Zouichi before, and the other currently had one(1) Mar covered in tiny bats, looking around.

[[You guys can join his thread if you wish, if that is your guess, or go back to area 10.]]

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

Why the hell am I on this mission? I don't know the first thing about codes. I never even had a decoder ring from a cereal box, Allenby thought as she frowned at the note.

But that didn't mean she was bad at thinking at all. "Well if his daughter got kidnapped, maybe she's bein' used as a hostage!" The very thought made Allenby's blood boil. If that was true, she was going to pound this Pridelash into a pulp--using a kid like that! "We'd better check out that spot, then!"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"'Please find my daughter," Zouichi read. "And be careful, there are two bodyguards. 4 fountains.'" He glanced at Tim. "I've been to the first area with four fountains, and I believe the second is covered. I suppose that leaves only the area with three..."

Then he looked back at Allenby. "I agree. If a family member is being held hostage, it would also explain why someone would betray the town. We should at least check it out."

[battorch]

Tim nodded to Zouichi. "Worst case, we double back quickly to make sure nothing was missed in the other areas, then."

He frowned to the suggestion from them both, but he nodded seriously. "Right. I spoke to the mayoress, and she had confidence in the guards she set with the families, but I've been worried about the possibility of a family being exploited." The thought didn't sit right with him.

"Let's take a look at this unexplored area, then."