Within The Dark

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val didn't bother ducking.

The figure disappeared into the mine, and Val followed right after, or rather, he wandered up towards the fenced off gate. He paid no attention to Ryssa who was doing her best to be stealthy, but he'd learned a long time ago that...well that just wasn't for him. At six and a half feet tall it was easier for a Besalisk to be sneakier than he was, not to mention his bright gold armor and left eye that seemed to glow no matter how dark it was outside. There was no point in trying to be stealthy.

"Don't worry." Val said as he half turned back towards the girl, gripping the heavy lock that hung off a chain holding together the gate. "I'll keep you safe."

He offered her a smile, though half of him wondered if she could even see it through that weird helmet...mask...thing that she was wearing. Before Ryssa could object or say anything at all, Val wrenched his hand down. There was a loud creak, then a snap as the weakest link in the metal chain shattered and broke apart. Pieces of metal fell to the ground, and there was a rattle as Val pulled the lock and chain free from the gate posts.

Whoever their mysterious friend was would either hear them, or he wouldn't. Either way they would have to deal with him eventually.

With a gentle press of his hand Val pushed the gate open, waving for Ryssa to follow after him.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Keep me safe?

That made Ryssa give more of a double take than having the guy stop the drunk miner from groping her too much. The soundless click back of her visor being slid back revealed a rather curious expression, not quite sure what to make of the barrel-chested man.

Was this guy serious? It wasn't that Ryssa was so much of a cynic that she didn't believe there were good sapients out there with well-meaning intentions and truly attempting to be 'good,' but hearing it from a stranger was rather... well, random. Could not fault her for that bemused expression of disbelief that crept over her cerulean face.

Then he had to go all Houk and literally snapped the metal chain that held the gate in place.

What. The. Kark?

"... you've been eating your Wheaties?" it was a slang Core World term at a quip about his bulk strength. It oddly made her feel a bit tinier. A rather odd contradictory stirring that ran along with mild impression.

"Remind me to ask for your frequency later if I ever need more gates ripped off the hinges," it was a mild quip, a bit of sass. Darting in behind him Ryssa slid back her visor down. Night vision would do best here -- not that her companion was going to be rather stealthy.

With as loud as the gate had rattled when Val snapped it open, it wouldn't surprise the Clawdite if whoever it was heard them. Sure enough, any movement within the mine had come to a halt. Tension rose with a pregnant pause, the woman searching for any other sign. Switching back to the life detector, Ryssa would pan her gaze from left to right.

Not two hundred meters there was another flash.

"There!" she whispered, gesturing to the manbun.

Darting up ahead in front of him, she moved forward to investigate a bit more.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val didn’t rush towards the source of light, if only because his eyes were still straining through the dark. His lips thinned as he tried to see what the hell was over there, but unlike Ryssa he didn’t have night vision goggles and even his sight only went so far in the dark of night with the barest moonlight. He frowned for a moment more, then stepped forward as Ryssa charged towards the flash of light.

He moved quickly, outpacing Ryssa in just a few steps.

The flash of light turned out to be a person, or rather, something person shaped. A small cloak was wrapped around them, a strange device that seemed to shift with the light around them, bending it but not completely concealing them either. That was why it had reflected the moon, unexpected brightness had thrown off the cloak.

The man turned towards Val as he charged him, a blaster peeking out from beneath the cloak. Two bright red blaster bolts shot forward, striking Val’s chest and searing his armor. He flinched slightly, but a second later he went crashing into the man.

There was a loud thud of impact, and a groan of pain as the man went falling to the ground.

Within half a second Val grabbed him, arm slipping behind his neck and the crunch of bone ringing out as he snapped the man’s arm like a twig. The cloak shifted slightly, falling off the man’s shoulder and landing on the ground to reveal the mans black jumpsuit beneath, and odd sort of insignia sitting on his arm and chest. ”Easy.”

Val said as he held onto the man, wrapping a thick arm around his throat to keep him in place.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Ryssa couldn't help the involuntary wince at the sound of cracking bone. You could hear it a dozen times and it still made one get a shiver up and down the spine, and not in a good way.

Slinging her visor up her head, the pale blue face peered down at the figure the man had managed to pin down in a choke hold.

"You don't hold back do you?" another sassy quip, the young woman flexing her wrist back and igniting a portable light that shone off of her wrist. A blast of bright white light struck the face of the trespasser - which to be fair all three of them likely were.

"Who are you and why are you here?" she demanded, leaning forward to get a better look. There was an odd insignia on his chest. Huh. Slipping her visor back down, she selected the scanner. Maybe she had something in her database.

"What with your sneaking abo--" a half grunt and wheeze was the reply. With a sigh, Ryssa cocked her hip to the right and gave Val a pointed look.

"You gotta let him have enough air to talk y'know." the corner of her lips twitched. Okay, it was a little bit funny.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]


”Why hold back?” Val said as he slowly loosened the grip on the mans throat, giving him enough air that he could breath but not enough that he could yank himself away from his grip. ”It’d only ruin my fun.”

The man took in a gasp of breath.

For a moment Val though that he was about to answer Ryssa’s questions, but instead his mouth snapped shut and there was a loud crunch. Val’s eyes popped open as the man began to seize and surge in his grip, foam instantly beginning to pool in his mouth. The Warrior’s hands reached up towards the man’s mouth, trying to pull open his jaw long enough to fish ou-

There was one last seizure, and then the mystery man was dead.

”Poison.” Val pointed out the obvious as he let go of the man, allowing him to fall onto the ground so that he could stand up. There had likely been a capsule within the mans mouth, a way for him to...end it if he were ever captured. Brutal, and not something that you saw with amateurs.

A frown settled on Val’s lips, eyes looked towards Ryssa in a questioning manner, then back towards the corpse.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Why do they do that?" there was a sort of exasperation in her voice that might be rather shocking to hear from the woman. "It makes no sense, why bother?" okay, it did make sense. If they were trying to keep their secrets to themselves, especially if they came from some sort of cult, there were radicals and zealots that would take those secrets to the grave.

This guy was clearly one of those.

Crouching down beside the foamy mouthed corpse, Ryssa switched to a different scanner. "I should have expected it," she was talking aloud but it was more for her own benefit; yes, Ryssa had a bad habit of talking to herself. Mainly because she went tomb diving by herself and well, 'Me, myself, and I' were the only ones keeping her company.

"Guess that confirms my theory." the twelve bright red orbs swiveled over to meet Val's gaze. Might have appeared a little bit unerving, but what were you going to do when your visor made you look like a Glitterstim spider?

"There is definately something fishy around here. No one just kills themselves off because some some statue with a great rack."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val said nothing to her, simply allowing her to play over her thoughts in her own mind. He had his own theory of course, and it wasn’t a very complex one. This man, now dead, had likely been a part of some sort of organization or cult, and said organization was whatever sat behind the door within the mine.

Simple.

Of course, that theory likely had complexities that could be interwoven into it, but for right now Val wasn’t willing to make any commitments. He reached down and grasped the man’s uniform for a second, pinching the odd insignia between his fingers and tearing it free from the black cloth that had cloaked the man in his life.

He held it up and slowly inspected it. The odd symbol was a pair of snakes, each one wrapped tightly around what appeared to be an arm with a closed fist at the end. Val had never seen the symbol before, nor had he ever heard of anything like it. He frowned and then looked over towards Ryssa, again giving her a questioning look. ”He’s not alone.”

They knew that for sure.

One of them had already made it into the Mine itself, and Val highly doubted that it was just the two of them. Perhaps they would run into more eventually, though if that worried him he showed no real sign of it.

”I suspect.” He began as he handed her the insignia, walking towards the mine. ”We’ll find our answers in there.”

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Behind her HUD, her viser was taking a scan and comparing it to her database. When one finally clicked, her eyes went wide. The Cult of the Omnious Fist. Not a group to be dallying with. Of course.

"Oh sh--" the annoyance in her voice came to an abrupt halt. The bolt came right out of the blue, a bright red flash of light that shot right in the direction that Val was walking to.

"Watch out!" Ryssa cried out, darting up with a sudden surge of strength. Maybe the sudden cry and the thrust of her body might shove the larger male out of danger and to the ground. Or maybe she simply went crashing right against his back only to flop down.

Either way, he was right. They were most certainly NOT alone.

This expedition had turned into a firefight.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

The bolt struck him once again, this time his armor was more than just singed. He felt a sting of burning flesh on his ribs, wincing slightly and then half caught off guard as the tiny blue demon went crashing into his back. He lurched forward, another bolt flying exactly where his head had been just a moment ago.

”Kark.” Val said as he half spun around. Ryssa was still there at his back, half pressing, half falling to the ground as her tiny frame struggled against his bulk. Blaster bolts began to rain down from the sides of the pit, but Val was already on the move.

Before the Clawdite could offer any argument or objection, his arms went slipping around her. In one smooth and liquid motion Val scooped her up and off the ground, tossing her over his shoulder and breaking out into an impossibly fast sprint. Within just a few steps they passed through the entrance of the mine, blaster bolts illuminating their path for a few heartbeats until they passed into the pitch black of the cave.

There were shouts behind them, the sounds of reloading blaster rifles, but as far as he could tell no one immediately followed them.

They knew better.

Val kept running however, only stopping when the pitch black became too thick for him to see through, his left eye giving off an odd sort of glow within the dark of the cave.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Annnd just like that, Ryssa's galaxy spun on it's access and the next thing she knew she had the wind half knocked out of her lungs. Thrown over the macho man's shoulder, the tiny Clawdite barely gave a half wiggle and a grunt of protest before the flurry of another set of bolts came down range.

"What are you -- OMPH! " pew, pew, pew and then when Val began to sprint, she really felt like a sack of Rodian potatoes. Every sharp, long legged stride was enough to drive his broad shoulder into her belly, making her bounce up and down as he rushed into the mine.

"Oh. My. -- OW!" her head accidently managed to smack right against the wall when he gave a sharp turn, the dark an unfriendly enviroment for them to realize how truly small these mineshaft were. Her visor took the brunt of the damage, and she gave a slight wince not only at the pain, but at the sound of crunching glassteel that surely meant one of her delicate lenses likely shattered.

Oh bloody hell.

"Wait, wait, wait! You can't see bloody well in the dark." she wiggled, trying to get a good look over his shoulder but finding herself struggling for breath and feeling the rush of blood to her head. Not the best sensation in the world. Sight on the other hand -- no wait, deal with the more immediate details here, Ryssa!

Glancing up, she attempted to swivel around. There were three mine shafts. Uhh... Quickly she leaned a bit up to go into her pocket. With how she lay across his shoulder this made it a bit more difficult. It felt as if she were diving into her pants just to find the bloody electrical contraption.

"Ughh, got it!' hand locked around the prize. Bringing it up, she struggled to quickly bring up the map. Come on.... come on... The holographic display surged to life and she frantically tapped to find their location.

"There! Go to the left!" she hissed, encouraging him to move -- FAST.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

In truth Val wasn’t all that worried about finding his way through the dark. He was pretty confident in his own directorial abilities, and as they got closer to walls he was able to tell them apart from the blackness, though of course getting directions helped.

He shifted slightly as she let out a yell.

The run was an interesting experience. He could make out general shape and the size of objects, he could even see the outlines of certain corners, but...well beyond that it was all blackness. If one of the soldiers was in front of him with their odd cloak...well the man would very likely be squashed, but that wasn’t a problem.

Eventually however, Val saw a faint light. For a moment he doubted himself, frowning, then speaking. ”There, do you see that?”

The light grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the tunnel somewhat until he began to hear something. It sounded like...drills. He frowned slightly, and then suddenly came to a stop, his armor clinking and Ryssa pressing against his shoulders as he slid to a halt, hand coming up to brace against one of the walls, still a few dozen meters away from the source of the light.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

See, oh hell. With nightvision on, the sudden bright light blinded her. She gave an audible cry, closing her eyes and slamming her visor up and away from her face. It came to a stop at the crown of her head, and Ryssa had to blink rapidly to be able to see.

"Everything is bright." she grumbled, still having trouble breathing with how she was laying over his shoulder. Bloody hell he was tall, she already was pretty high up from the ground and with her eyes attempting to get used to the brightness, she couldn't see just what was up ahead.

There was group of three cultists, each desperately clawing and trying to dig through to a carved door. You couldn't really miss it, the breasts on the figure were beyond well endowed. It would give even the Queen of Trade Danger Arceneau a run for her money with a rack like that.

One spotted Val, giving a slight hiss. He was a flurry of dark robes and sucken cheeks. Pale white skin and almost ghastly features, almost as if he were the living dead. A Nagai. He came straight to attack them, bringing up an ancient metal sword of sorts

There beyond were a series of drills that the local miners had used to dig this far, one was currently being used to dig further.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val moved as swiftly as he had outside. The blade passed him by, though it glinted off the edge of his armor, sparking slightly as gold hit metal. A curse rang from Val's lips, displeasure eeking across his face as he felt a slight rattle rush through his bones.

He might have been stronger than the average person, but he could certainly feel pain, and this armor wasn't all that well padded on the shoulder. He frowned slightly, his hand coming up like a viper as he grabbed the cultist by the throat. He wrenched forward and pulled the man towards him, smacking him into the gold hued armor before tossing him to the side. There was a crunch as the cultist landed on something hard, likely breaking something in the process.

"Stop." Val commanded, the cultist looking up at him in shock.

He waited for a moment, stuck on what to do next. He hadn't actually expected them to stop.

Then one of them charged. He let out a loud roar, a dagger slipping from his coat. Val's eyes popped open and he grabbed the man, his hand wrapping around his wrist. A sudden lurch ran through the man as Val turned the dagger and ran it beneath the mans chin.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]


Val wasn't the only one who was feeling jarred by the entire ordeal.

"WHAT ARE -- omph!" there was this sudden thrust sensation, and being blinded by the light meant that Ryssa lost one of her senses. It also meant that each block and movement the crusader made also affected her. Jostled on his shoulder, she half shrieked, arms coming down to try and brace herself on anything. That lurch in her belly made her feel as if she was about to get tossed to the floor. Needless to say, the first thing available was Val's waist.

Her arms went snacking around him, and all she heard was a sickly gurgled shrrrmp sound. Something pelted across the curve of her rump, which in all the comotion had shifted so it seemed as if it were perked up in the air along his shoulder.

Really, if Ryssa knew that she just got splattered on by some cultist's blood, she'd likely not be as impressed as much as grossed out. Not the sort of fun time she was thinking of having.

The third cultist came to the defense of the first, giving a gutteral cry. Ryssa simply reacted, pulling out her Westar-34 pistol from her thigh holster from muscle memory. Years of splunking had trained her to be able to function a bit more in the dark, so she pointed in the general direction of where the sound came.

A few post shots down range and she heard a loud groan, followed by the sudden thud of a body falling forward.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val moved in the same fluid motions that he had been before. His free hand came up and grasped the cultist in front of him, drawing back and pulling the dagger free from the mans skull. he felt Ryssa jiggle slightly on his shoulder, but he wasn't really in a place to worry about something like that.

The final cultist that had been digging at the stone door dislodged himself from the wall, looking towards the two assailants.

There was a moment where Val thought he was going to run, indecision crossing the mans face, until finally he too charged. Val gave a loud sigh of disappointment, shaking slightly and wrapping one arm around Ryssa's torso to pin her in place. His fingers slid over her buttocks and up towards her hip, holding her there as he took a single large step forward. The dagger went flipped into the air, Val catching the bloody blade as he wound back his arm and completed his step.

As he moved forward the dagger was launched from his grip.

It spun once, twice, and then embedded itself within the chest of the final cultist.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

There wasn't any time to protest the pass of a very large hand over her rump. It had in fact been done on purpose so that she wouldn't get tossed all over the place. At the end of the chaos, all three cultists were now either groaning in pain or dead. Blood stained the earth, quenching the dry, cracked ground as if absorbing rain.

By the time Ryssa caught her breath again and she could see, the amount of damage and blood shed made her eyes grow wide.

"What the..." having to fight a petty thief or two other tome raiders looking to cut her head from her shoulders was one thing, Cultists of the Omnious Fist were another.

"I.. ah.." she sputtered, a slight tremble to her hand where she held her blaster pistol tightly.

"There's still the other ones who were shooting at us earlier." finally she managed to sputter that out, her tush along the side of his face and the woman really starting to feel dizzy.

"Can... can you put me down please." it was a plea as much as a necessity, a slight strain to her voice. She felt rather overwhelmed. This was not the sort of dig she had been expecting at all.

"I think I'ma pass out if you keep me like this." blood to the head and all.

That's when she noticed the charred slice along his armor, and that she wasn't the only one covered in blood.

"Bloody hell, are you alright?"

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

His fingers latched onto her hip, and in a smooth roll of his arm he gently put her back down onto the ground. It was almost comical how easily he managed to pick her up, like she was a small child or a very large dust bunny. Val seemed to pay no mind to her weight, only shifting slightly so that she didn't step on him when her feet finally hit the ground. His hand immediately released her side too, not wanting to bring up memories of the Drunk Miner back in the alleyway.

"I'm fine." The cultists had done no permanent damage, a bruise or two, but he would be alright.

His real concern was the cultists that were still outside. They would need a few minutes to find their way, but by then Val would rather be gone. He wandered over towards the moaning cultists, standing over him for a moment only to lean down and swiftly grab him by the collar. He pulled the man up to his feet, opening his mouth to ask a question before he once again heard that loud crunch. His eyes popped open and his free hand reached up to grasp the cultists mouth, hoping to force the poison from his throat before it was too late.

A second passed however, and the man seized to his death.

"Chit." Val said as he tossed the corpse to the side. "Who are these people? They're killing themselves for...for this?"

Val waved a hand towards the door, the rather endowed woman seemingly staring down at him as he criticized her.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

He was looking at her as if she had all the answers. Unfortunately...

"It could be anything." she was honest. A little honesty right now went a long way. With what they'd just been through, it could be anything. Flopping onto the ground for a breather, the woman attempted to gather her bearings.

"I'm just here on a contract." Ryssa admitted, looking a bit haggard over the entire ordeal. Her face was grimey, there was a dark trickle of warmth along her temple where she'd smacked her head against the wall, and then not to mention the other bits from the cultists themselves.

"I typically have to deal with thieves trying to get what I've managed to find, but not like this..." she swallowed hard, bringing her hands up to her lap. There they gave the slightest of trembles.

"Something is here." that could only be it. Hazel circlets darted up, barely illuminating the towering figure of the man in the gold crusader armor.

"Something more than just a door with a woman with a great rack." a half nervous chuckle managed to bring itself out, the woman trying to rise to her feet. "Although I'm sure she'd feel rather nice to know men would die over her to keep her secrets."

Frowning, the woman took a deep breath. She breathed in the metallic scent of copper, dust, and earth.

"Hold on, maybe we can find something on them." she suggested, gesturing to the closest one. She darted a glance at the entrance of the mining corridor.

"At least, fast enough before our other 'friends' come to show us their welcome party too."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

In truth, Val had already resigned himself to killing the next bunch of Cultists that decided to show up. He wasn't a bloodthirsty man by nature, and generally he only killed when he had to, but this...this was getting on his nerves. He didn't understand fanatics, never had. The only things he would have died for were long gone, and this? This seemed pale in comparison. A carved door, whatever was behind it, neither were worth dying for, not in his mind anyway.

"You search them." Val said simply. "I'll get us through the door."

That was where they would end up anyway, that was the point of all of this, to get what was behind the door. He frowned slightly and moved down the tunnel, stepping over one of the corpses so that he could stand before the large breasted woman. He inspected her for a moment, watching the angular lines of her face, the gently carved curves of her form. She was depicted oddly, almost like...a sacrificial figure. He frowned for a moment and took a step back.

There had to be a way in, some simple trick, a key hole?

That seemed rather simple, and neither he nor Ryssa had a key anyway. "Who contracted you?"

Val asked as he stepped closer towards the door and began to run his fingers over the carvings. He felt a bit silly doing it, mostly because of the doors depiction, but as he slowly traced the pads of his fingers over every inch of the door he found that he was justified. Just beneath the woman's breasts, crossing the womans abdomen were a series of odd puzzle figures, nine in total, each with oddly carved lines. Each of the pieces could be turned to match with one another, a simple puzzle, but a time consuming one.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

"Can't disclose that." It was evident that Ryssa took her job fairly seriously. This included the protection of her clients and what the terms of the contract were about. The only difference is that the Tionese Count who had footed her travel expenses and details about this particular endeavor did not mention anything about the Cultists of the Omnious Fist being a part of the equation.

"But I'm basically a contract archeologist for hire." She gave a sigh, crouching down alongside the prone body. Deft fingers went searching through the folds of black fabric. There had to be something. What brought them here? A comm. A map. A name. Anything that -- the tips of her fingers brushed against something cool to the touch. Metal?

Frowning, Russ's focused her efforts and dig around some more. She found it a few seconds later. And odd octagon shaped metal object. Like a small box.

"Interesting."