ic I Sea Dead People

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Mid Atlantic

 

September the 1st, Morning...

 

In the wake of the near sinking of the Cruise Ship Magnificent the Ocean was undergoing some increase in Military Manuevers. More for show and confidence than effect. Captain Blood had vanished, and his spectral ghost ship was unlikely to be shredded by conventional shells. 

 

Still. A show of force reassured people. 

 

The Missile Cruiser Luther was just one of those vessels, commanded by Captain Gomez, a somewhat short, lined man of Mexican descent and keen intellect swirling in black eyes. 

 

And he had invited the heroes of that day, the saving of the Magnificent, to his ship. With news. 

 

"We can't find Captain Blood anywhere" he conceded. "Although we are doing are best. Thing is, we aren't sure our satellites and scanners could detect him anywhere" he sighed. 

 

"Although we have picked up some other unusual readings. Sea bed activity, not matching any non seismic pattern. We send submarines down, but too late. Can catch it. We though it might be the Russians, or some military venture. But they deny it. Of course, they would deny it anyway..." he shrugged. Politics were above his pay grade. 

 

"We need some answers. We need someone who can get down to the sea bed, and get down fast..." he explained. 

 

 

[Thevshi]

Giang Trang was on the Luther's bridge, dressed in the costume she wore as Tsunami, as she listened to Captain Gomez's report.  Given her somewhat recent move to the West Coast, responding to the Navy's call could have proven difficult for the Asian teen, but luckily she had been able to convince John Smith (aka Myrmidon) that this was on his way towards one of his next freelance assignments, and had gotten a ride with him.

 

She had also asked John if he had wanted to come along on the investigation, given the Navy had had difficulty in getting in contact with Wave-Eye.  After all, having additional help was never something to pass up.

 

"I do believe that we can certainly get down there quickly enough Captain."  Giang stated once the man was done.  "Do you have a current fix on the activity?"

[trollthumper]

Temperance stood on the bridge, trying desperately hard not to feel out of place. This wasn't the first time she'd been on a military vessel - but then again, that would had been a starfaring Lor cruiser. Being on an actual Earthbound, US-military vessel was an entirely different matter. She was still trying to process how she'd gotten here - she'd been on patrol, trying to take some time off from the general paradigm shift of college orientation, and next thing she knew, she was getting flagged down by two guys in Navy blues. And now she was out in the middle of the ocean, about to dive down to the bed... again.

"I can stay down there as long as I need to. Any particular hazards I should be on the lookout for in this part of the ocean?"

[Semi-Autogyro]

John had his helmet tucked under his right arm as he listened to the captains' report while reading the official reports. He had not been present at the first encounter with the spectral pirate, not to mention this was somewhat out of his area of expertise but he found he really could not say no when Giang needed help that he could supply. Besides, arms dealers ranked lower on the threat scale than eldritch privateers. Canting his head slightly he picked up the sounds of the helicopter that had dropped them off onto the Luther returning back to Lonely Point naval station back in Freedom City. He waited for the others to talk before adding his observations.

 

"These readings are too fast moving to be a normal biologic contact. If it was a foreign vessel, it would be likely that the SOSUS sonar array would have picked up some sort of signal. Furthermore the average depth here is beyond crush depth for most submersibles barring deep research vehicles. I can operate at that depth, however."

 

What the cloned super-soldier did not mention was that much of his arsenal would be rendered useless underwater.

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia was twirling her hair as the others discussed the more dire concern.  Entertaining herself by examining the advanced technology on the bridge.  It wasn't that she wasn't interested in catching Captain Blood.  She was far too eager to clash with the spectral pirate again.  No, it was merely that to her traversing the depths of the sea was similar for going on a parkside stroll.  It wasn't an avenue of concern.

 

She was also spurred to further silence due to the reaction the envoy received when word was sent to Atlantis for Thaelia's assistance.  With the recent increase in foreign invaders on Atlantean territory the guards had been on high alert.  Leaving the royal frankly embarrassed when a small skiff was greeted with a spear.

 

Once satisfied with the direction of the discourse "Be it spectre or machinery, we shall put an end to their fiendish deeds."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Captain Gomez fielded the questions one by one. 

 

"We do have a fix. Sort of" he said, almost apologetic. "Its directly below us. But the seismic activity is erratic. What we have done is plot the disturbances..." he explained, pointing to a sea chart where all the activity had been recorded. It was like a spider web. 

 

"And we are at the epicentre..." he finished, pointing with a neat and slick collapsible baton. 

 

"As for hazards, your guess is as good as mine. Down there, it is cold, it is dark, and the water pressure will collapse any regular submarine..."

 

"Any regular submarine that is" he said, with a touch of pride. "The US Navy has developed some cutting edge Super High Intensive Transports" he explained. "We didn't like the acronym, so we call them the Sinkers". 

 

A few minutes later...

 

The Sinkers were like spheres of reinforced cutting edge alloys, each able to hold six marines, powered by integrated motors. 

 

"Not fast, but mobile and tough" he explained. "Armed with high explosive torpedoes too. Still in the development phase, but the Sinkers are totally seaworthy. I'm sending one down with you, but it will be much slower" he explained, as six fully armed marines boarded one of the strange vessels. 

 

Everyone was equipped with an underwater radio device, which could connect with the Sinker and the USS Luther. 

 

"Well folks, I wish you Godspeed and so forth. I will be on the radio from sea level. Providing of course whatever is down there doesn't jam our signals..." he said, ever cautious. 

 

"Any questions?"

[Semi-Autogyro]

John secured his helmet into place as it sealed the the suits atmosphere off with a slight hissing noise. As soon as that was completed he started the procedure for the suit to rig for deep submerge, namely flooding the suit with a oxygen rich liquid perflurocarbon while a membrane oxygenator was connected to his respiratory system. A few seconds later he was breathing liquid oxygen before he noticed the boarding marines, then quietly turning to face Captain Gomez.

"Captain Gomez, is there a reason a squad of marines is being assigned alongside of the four of us? I am not questioning their skill, only their orders and utility. They cannot operate outside of the the vehicle, let alone make a difference with their torpedoes in any manner that any one of us could provide normally. So I am asking you, Captain, if they have orders or intelligence that we are not privy to. Furthermore, whose orders will they follow should we be cut off from the surface?"

The statement was delivered in a monotone from the Myrmidons external comm, but there was an unmistakeable point the clone hero was driving home: secrets have no place if you wanted his assistance and compliance.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"You can ask son, but an answer is another thing" said Gomez bluntly. "You have to understand, this is a matter of national security. Why I don't you trust a group of marines on this exhibition? Well, the same reason they don't trust you" he explained. 

 

"I'll be blunt, soldier" he said to Myrmidon. "This is a military exercise, and it will need military observers. You guys, good as you are, with all the exceptional abilities you have, are not military. Not even human in some cases. Which means trust is relative. Which means procedures must be followed"

 

He was polite about it, but firm. 

 

"I don't call the shots here. The procedure is military operations need military presence. I can break procedure, sure, but honestly, I don't see why I should, and I need a very convincing argument to break protocol. An argument I don't have. So if you feel you are being spied on, sure you are being spied on. But these boys ain't gonna be firing torpedoes at you, I can assure you" he said, frankly. 

[Semi-Autogyro]

Myrmidon stood at ease waiting for the captain to finish his counter arguments before nodding once in acquiescence. "I understand and appreciate your candor, Captain."

 

"I was not originally part of this endeavor, my presence here being a courtesy to a friend. But that does not stop me from wanting the whole picture, or at least your version of it. No or bad intelligence can kill as easily as a bullet or knife." He said as he gestured idly at the Marines' weapons.

 

"I do not mind observers or lack of trust, but rigid adherence to protocol is not always a good thing." The super-soldier grasped a nearby railing. "For the record, I am always willing to fight and bleed alongside people like you and your men regardless of their issues with people like us." He glanced over at the heroines. "I am going on ahead." With that he vaulted over the railing followed seconds later by the splash as he entered the water.

Edited September 15, 2014 by Semi-Autogyro

[Thevshi]

Tsunami had been somewhat concerned by the fact a group of Marines would be following them down into the depths in the Navy’s experimental deep water submarines. But Myrmidon had addressed the issue, and likely with more pertinent observations than the Asian teen could have provided. Once the Captain had given his response, which seemed good enough for Myrmidon, for the moment, she added one comment of her own. "As long as they remember that their high explosive torpedoes are not going to be of any use against Blood, and thus more likely to just cause us problems."

She then moved over toward the edge once Myr had leapt over the side. "No reason not to get going. Myrmidon has become a fair swimmer, but not nearly as fast as us." She stated to Glamazon. With that, Tsunami dove over the side of the ship, her water forcefield forming around her as she feel downward, and then sliced into the waters below, quickly descending down away from the surface as she noted Myrmidon's location and set off after him.

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia tilted her head at the not even human part of Gomez's statement.  It wasn't offensive to her, after all she wore being an Atlantean with pride as if it were a badge of honor.  However, she had to bite back some words when she was called not military.  Perhaps not your military.  Her time at Claremont and with her more even tempered friends had taught the princess some measure of patience.  Not at a level that she was confident could be contained on the vessel.  

 

It all made Tsunami's invitation to just dive in a breath of fresh air.  "Gladly,"  the atlantean demigoddess would call out to her friend before she dove in.  Giang had expressed continued faith in the man she had invited along in the mission, so Thaelia had no reason to doubt Myrmidon's skills. Trusting him to deal with the savoir faire that was the military political machine in front of her.  

 

But not without leaving some food for thought.  "Know that you are the guest in my domain, not the other way around.  And the Daughter of the Seas wishes it to be known the creatures of the deep care not for your procedures.  Tell your men not to stray too far from adequate protection.  Lest they be lost to the sea."  Cheekily implying that the submersible itself would not count for adequate protection.  It could just as easily have been a mere tease, but Thaelia would not clarify further before diving after her former roommate.

[trollthumper]

Well, this was most definitely not Temperance's department. It helped that there would be some way to get down to the floor faster - the last time she'd gone to Atlantis the hard way, she'd had to put some real strain into propelling herself through the water if she wanted to get there by month's end. But having a whole Marine battalion watching over them just in case everything went tits up... well, it was somehow both reassuring and a great source of unease. But she was a guest of this mission, she didn't know the protocol, and she wasn't up to argue specifics. Instead, she decided to focus on her milieu - the water.

"Well. Let's go see what's disturbing the depths."

[Supercape]

GM...

 

Down in the depths, some time later...

 

First they passed the light water, shoals of fish. The water was cool, the sunlight still sparkled ahead. 

 

Then deeper, where the light dimmed and the water was cold. A large shark swam past, briefly contemplating a snack, but choosing wildly. 

 

Then, the depths. The pressure was hard, the water not quite freezing. All was dark, and silent. An Angel fish swam past, with a grotesque grin. Down below, some huge beast, all tentacles, slid past them, silent. 

 

And then, they arrived at the depth of the oceans, and the epicentre of the seismic disturbances. 

 

It was a spider. 

 

A giant spider, admittedly. A spider of metal and maxi-glass, hundreds of metres along. Crawling slowly, so slowly, on the muddy dark ocean floor. It had lights glowing a faint green. A rumble of motors and energy.

 

I giant, robotic spider. 

 

But was that all?

 

No, it was nor a robot. It was a vehicle. An eight armed walking vehicle, moving slowly on the ocean floor. 

[Semi-Autogyro]

Myrmidon grimaced underneath his helmet as he watched the metal behemoth moving across the ocean floor. it was definitely a manned vehicle of some sort, but if it was carrying weapons or what sort of crew it had was yet to be ascertained. Switching his comms to active, he sent a quick statement to his current allies.

 

"I am going to reconnoiter the unknown vehicle for places of entry and armaments. Will report back." The others could see his outline start to fade as he approached the massive spidermech only to lose sight of him in the inky blackness between the lights of the spider and the phosphorescence of nearby sea life.

Edited September 19, 2014 by Semi-Autogyro

[Thevshi]

Giang was a bit surprised at the sight of the massive spiderlike vehicle walking along the ocean floor. While it was certainly unusual, the presence of the vehicle alone was not enough reason to attack it, as it could contain passengers that had no ill will. But they certainly needed to investigate. She gave a small nod as Myrmidon indicated he would move in for a closer look.

The Asian teen stopped a short distance off, slowing swimming along after so as to not fall behind the vehicle as it continued on its path. Although there was no immediate threat, she activated her watery forecfield, as that could change very quickly.

[Semi-Autogyro]

A few minutes later Myrmidons' voice came over their commlinks. "It appears to be armed with an device I have not encountered before, which means it more than likely to be built for a specific, specialized purpose." Through the audio you could hear the ambient noise the spidermech producing filtering in.

 

"With the vehicles size taken into consideration as well, we are probably looking at a damage capability of city-grade devastation or greater. Though I do not know what it would be targeting from this area. Princess Thaelia, this is your bailiwick. Do you know of anything nearby that could be the target of this vessel?" Myrmidon at this point was contemplating disabling the weapon right now and sorting out the who and the why later, as devices and vehicles such as this were seldom used with good intentions.

[trollthumper]

Temperance just watched as the metal titan strode across the ocean floor. It was a bit strange that she hadn't considered such a thing. She thought there could be any number of reasons for the tumult on the floor - Deep Ones practicing some sort of ritual, Poseidon exerting his influence upon his twin domains, perhaps even some spirit of the inky depths surging its way to the surface. Why hadn't she thought about a great machine?

Because it wasn't her department. She was starting to realize that, and in greater detail. The world would not be so keen to slot her into solely supernatural matters. There would be the strange and erratic in science, technology, geopolitics, the alien... so many departments she may be called upon, and so many matters to solve. Even if she herself did not have the solutions.

So for now, she watched and waited, willing to let the other experts speak up in this matter.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Depth Walker strode on, apparently oblivious to the four swimming heroes, or even the Super High Integrity Transport Sumbersile (aka Deep Sinker) that lagged behind with the marines on board. To say the Walker was slow was an understatement. It probably wasn't even going 1 mile an hour. It was heavy, cumbersome, and with the pace of a snail. 

 

Dark as silty as the water was done here - and it was dark and silty - the faint grey lights of the Walker gave at least a little illumination. The walker could be studied. There was the cannon on its underbelly - a device that Myrmidon had identified. It was heavily armoured too - although one could not say if it was for warfare or for the immense crushing pressure of the ocean floor. 

 

And, last but not least, a pressurised airlock on the top. On closer inspection, an airlock that could be opened. An airlock that could also dock with the Deep Sinker. 

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia contemplate the question.  To her the Atlantean capital was a short distance away.  To the giant mecha it was a different story.  The thing was moving too slow.  If they were near enough to an  active Atlantean be it installation chances were the Deep Sinker would have been disabled by Atlantean tech.  The fact that only royals, particularly high ranking officers, and the strongest line of Warlord families could swim fast enough to clear the distance back home with ease also further compounded the unlikeliness of a place her people would keep safe.  

 

Lemuria was on the other end of the planet, but that didn't mean the possibility of relics from the ancient war couldn't have been in the area.  She, however, was not a scavenger of ancient Atlantean relics.  As such she could not pinpoint every abandoned temple in the sea.  Further barring the idea that it would have interest in an Atlantean Warlord tribe or Deep One tribe also left her thinking they were after some sort of treasure.

 

"I do not know of any such wonders that could hold this mechanical beast's gaze.  Mother ocean is vast still.  There are many places in which a wandering hand was not meant to stray.  Treasures, weapons, tomes.  I could not assure thee of which may lie here.  Do recall that dread pirate Blood also chose his target nearby.  There may be a simple ley line or mystical nexus in the area of value.  Perhaps we should examine the vessel to see if the machine has a set course?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

In due time, the Deep Sinker docked with the Deep Walker. At this pressure, something about the metal seemed spooky. It groaned and creaked. 

 

The Marines stayed aboard the Sinker, whilst Glamazon, Tsunami, Temperance, and Myrmidon entered the air lock. The air felt damp, cold, and old. There was the sound of hissing, and motors. The lights were faint, and sometimes flickered. It seemed the Walker was operating on minimal power; minimal heating, minimal lights, minimal air circulation. 

 

The inner airlock door creaked open to reveal the interior of the Walker. It was fair to say it was a little cramped, its ceilings only six foot, its corridors like thin arteries. The same flickering, dim lights. 

 

And on the floor, two soldiers, bodies bloated and grey, and quite dead. One had a handgun in his stiff hand. They were lying in a small pool of half frozen water. Their eyes were as grey as their flesh. 

[Semi-Autogyro]

Myrmidon looked around before crouching next to the body of the armed soldier, plucking the handgun out of dead fingers rigid with rigor mortis. He ejected the magazine and cleared the slide, catching the brass that was still in the chamber out of midair with practiced ease. "9 Millimeter, three rounds spent with ten left in the magazine. He must have been retreating to this position looking for an escape, firing defensively when he was cornered and then taken down." The clone stated, holding up the caught brass one in his left hand followed by pointing at two other 9mm casings shining dimly from the floor from the sparse lighting with his right.

 

"One hit, two missed with impacts there and there." His right hand shifted to aim at two chest height deformations in the wall. "Absence of blood spatter or pooling so his target was either wearing a vest or immune to small caliber rounds." He rifled through the two corpses pockets looking for ID or other clues. "No bullet wounds on the other body which means something or somebody else was here." After he was done searching the corpses, he slid the magazine back into the pistol and flipped the safety on before sliding it into an unused holster on his armor.

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia  noded along as Myrmidon ran through the forensics of the scene at hand.  Bullet casings weren't in her normal wheelhouse of weaponry consideration.  But she did consider the fact that a surface worlder was less likely to pull out such a weapon inside this sort of vehicle.  Unless there was absolute certainty that the machination wouldn't depressurize or flood.  Or they were just that afraid.

 

Whether through impervious design or fear, it still ended with their death.  "Could not these fallen warriors have missed their target instead?"  She posed the question unsure of whether the slugs had really proved ineffective or not.  Unsure of whether the assailant was fleet footed rather than sturdy.  Or worse...both.

[trollthumper]

Temperance stood amongst the dead, trying to gain her bearings. She'd seen dead bodies before, but those were at funerals - prettied up, made to look lifelike in repose, creating the illusion of sleep. There was nothing so peaceful down here, and if these guys were sleeping, she didn't want to know what they were dreaming about. Already she could see things swirling beyond the veil; indistinct presences, tinged by death. She doubted there was a giant pod of reaper spirits that had shown up at the bottom of the ocean, so odds were they were ghosts. Ghosts she could see - just like on the ship...

Something to add to the pile of worries. "Any identification?" she said, trying to sound collected. "They had to have come from somewhere. Any flags? Emblems? Dog tags?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

Dog tags their were, apparently indicating the men were US marines, no different from the men in the Deep Sinker. 

 

Further pondering was interrupted by the sound of footsteps, slow, ponderous, wet. Blinking dull lights illuminated the corner around which three men slowly walked. 

 

They were Atlanteans, in all probability. The classic Roman features, muscled and haughty. Carrying two pronged tridents, shields, and shell armour. Soldiers, in all probability. Three of them, the first probably the leader, alert and angry. 

 

"Halt! Who goes there?" said the leader, slow and with bubbling burning anger, his eyes slits, his spear ready, his shield raised...

[Thevshi]

Giang was quiet as John examined the bodies they found just inside the airlock, considering his observations carefully.  The revelation that they were United States Marines as well was a strong indication of why they had been called in by the military, as apparently they had already attempted to investigate this vehicle, and lost the team that was sent to do so.

 

But they the three Atlanteans rounded the corner calling out for them to identify themselves.  Right away the Asian teen could tell there was something wrong with the three, they were being influenced by some outside source.  Then she noted the unusual amounts of water within their bodies, even for an Atlantean actually in the ocean, let alone one operating in a oxygen environment like these were.  The water was seeping from their mouths, even seemingly from their pours.  She could tell the water was seawater, but likely from very deep, given the amount of silt and sediments she could detect in the water.

 

Not having an easy means of conveying this information to the others, Giang decided to act as if everything was natural for the moment.  "Do you not recognize Princess Thaelia of the royal family?"  She stated to the leader, indicating Thaelia.