In the Deep Dark Hills of Eastern Temba

[heypartner]

WHO: Cobb Vanth & Mining Expedition Team
WHERE: The Mines
WHAT: Mine exploration
WHEN: First Week of Event.
WARNINGS: Cursing. Blood/Injury.



Mining Expedition - for Mining Team

It had been a long time since Cobb had worn the armor he bought on Coruscant. He stood outside the entrance of the mines in the polished slightly gold colored durasteel with no cape. Last thing he wanted was for that to get caught on something while underground. The armor would protect from minor cave ins and small falling rocks but a part of him wanted to take it off. If the ceiling came down, Cobb would honestly preferred to be crushed immediately instead of survive.

A few had happened while he worked underground and he'd been lucky not to get caught in them. He had seen what happened to slaves who had been and those images haunted him as he looked at the entrance to the darkness beyond.

As the little team started to gather together Cobb pushed those thoughts from his mind. He needed to focus to keep all these people safe underground.

"Here's the general plan," he said when they had all arrived. "Drake's probe, Mini, and this guy here will go first. The probe should be able to tell us the air quality which should be your number one concern. Anyone who breathes starts to feel light headed, you walk out immediately. No pretending everything is fine. We're here to map this place and see what needs fixin', not start digging around."

Anyone who toughed it out and then passed out would put them all at risk. Cobb's tone was very stern and grim. This was not a time to fuck around like this was a walk around talk. Luckily, this group didn't seem like the type to do that.

"Second thing to look for is the ceiling. You see it bowing down anywhere that's a good sign of a collapse. Should be even all along the way." That was how it was back home, at least. "And it might get tight in there depending on how the Agrii build their mines. No one goes off alone. You always have a buddy. Any questions before we head in?"

The mine's entrance was big enough but Cobb felt once they got inside and got under they might be in for a tight squeeze.

---

Cave In - for thesepreciousthings

It was surprisingly easy to get comfortable underground again. Cobb was all too willing to explore around with Starling when she asked. Apparently, she came from mining people too. She felt more useful helping out in the mines than exploring the new city.

"I can't tell much of what they were doing down here," Cobb said as they walked down a side tunnel, intending to map it. They had a pretty decent map taking shape with marked spots for the strange place they found and the holes to the surface. "They didn't leave any mining equipment behind so who knows what they got from here? Haven't seen crystals or coal or oil. Not even salt. Just the stone walls."

He was a little bothered by that. This was an extensive mine and clearly served a purpose at one point. There was no real clue what the purpose was however. Not to Cobb's eyes, at least. They had some hope once they understood the panel and all that, it would become clear.

Cobb was about to say more when he noticed something in the glint of his flashlight. A piece of metal hanging down from the ceiling. He had half a second to realize it was a roof bolt meant to hold the roof of the mine in place when a stone slipped.

"Starling!" He grabbed her just as more stones start to slip and the roof broke apart. Cobb dragged her out of the way but they were caught in the fall. Not the worst of it. Cobb pressed her against the wall as what felt like the whole of the earth came down around them. It was his worst fear come to life and it hurt as the stones bounced off his shoulders, his back, and his head while he tried to keep her from the worst of it.

When the rumbling stopped and the air went still Cobb blinked in the darkness. His flashlight was somewhere but they were in complete blackness now with the mine closed in around them. Well. Damn it all.

---

Comments

[sinistral]

He shook his head, annoyed both at himself for thinking of it only now, and at the disorganized nature of everything lately, with people running off on the train all carefree. On his mind if made an excellent opportunity, dividing the people stuck on the planet. He wondered what they would encounter next.

"No one I would trust," he finally replied, though followed by an admission, "not that I trust easily. But for a test perhaps when we're done today, if you'll wait outside the entrance, I will come back in."

[plate_builder]

"That sounds like a plan. If we are out of here by the end of today."

Reeve... didn't know about that. He tried to have faith, but he also expected things might go wrong.

[sinistral]

"When we are out of here, then." If it was today, or if they ended up camping in the tunnels. Slow, safe progress was better than trying to rush, especially since not everyone was used to extreme physical endurance.

"You mentioned once some skill in architecture. Does that give you any insight to the tunnels here, or is it too different?" To the Soldier, a tunnel was a tunnel. He could spot major concerns of course, big cracks or rock that looked loose, but that was the extent of his skill.

[plate_builder]

Oh rushing would truly be silly. Reeve, though, was mostly glad he wasn't overworking his arms here. His legs could handle the strain. He did used to do the stairs at his work just to keep fit. Which was really a special form of self-hatred he supposed.

"The tunnels are primarily cut into what seems to be natural stone. Which is more a geological side than architecture. I can glance at this place and tell you the angle of the join between floor and walls, and how strong the curvature of the ceiling is. But caves in general?"

He gives his head a brief shake. Nope. This is beyond him.

[sinistral]

"It's all rock to me," he admitted. A lot of rock, above their heads. Mindfulness in regard to their surroundings was a must.

Still, at one point the Agrii must have mined it themselves. That spoke to stability, at least at some point in the mine's past.

"What I wonder more is, what might find us down here. How's long the protection of that so-called bug gel will last."

[plate_builder]

Yes, he didn't like it all over their heads either. He didn't know the tensile OR compressive strength of this material. It made him vaguely tense. He was trying to fight it down though.

"Well, those are both good questions. Me? I want to know why the mines exist. I've been looking at the walls, and a cursory glance by an admittedly not talented eye can't find any valuable mineral. It's possible they just removed it."

[sinistral]

"Do you think we're just not far enough into the structure for it?" The thing about a mine was that it provided access from the surface to whatever was being mined: as more material was removed, the mine got deeper. Or so that was his understanding, anyway. And that was of course comparing Agrii behavior to human. "Were they even really mining anything? Or is this a path to some kind of underground workshop or bunker?"

Just, you know, tossing that out there. Not that he had experience with a secret installation hidden in an old underground bunker or anything like that.

[plate_builder]

"That, of course, is another good question. The mines I am most familiar with back home are all mithril mines, and mithril is actually a mineral that, while rare, is near the surface. So I do not know if this is common or not."

Again he felt so clueless to everything going on. But the idea of underground workshops and bunkers yields a visible flinch from Reeve. That was bad. Deepground. Oh what a thing he had never wished to think of.

[sinistral]

"I'm not sure either. I'm more familiar with structures deliberately built underground." Which wasn't to say this wasn't such a thing, Agrii-style. But then again, it could be something else entirely.

He did notice that flinch though, and made a mental note of it. He hadn't meant to make the other man uncomfortable so carelessly, especially when so much of what the Soldier was made others uncomfortable enough. "It is possible that the mapping of the space still gives a clue to its purpose. Could not its footprint, viewed at once, give some idea?" Likely a vain hope, but not impossible.

[plate_builder]

"Yes, those... tend to be problems," Reeve answered, his voice darkening with the weight of his opinion. Things like that got people killed.

He took a deep breath and nodded at last.

"I intend to do my best, on all aspects of mapping."

[sinistral]

He simply nodded, and dropped that line of conversation. There was no way it would bring positive associations for either of them, it seemed.

He nodded to the assurance; from the little he'd seen of Reeve's work thus far, the man was meticulous. And the accuracy of the map would be important, should something happen to extend their stay down here. "An official cartographer then, to put a name to it."

[plate_builder]

"If you wish to call me such, I won't turn away from the title," Reeve laughed. "I made physical ones back in the last place that took me as well. The technology level didn't work well with my skills."

[sinistral]

"I suppose that we could attempt to record some of our progress as we go," he mused. "But the paper copies are important, I think. Something, some kind of virus maybe, could infect the network, and our devices." Then where would they be?

And the paranoid part of him wondered if there was anyone else out there snooping on their network and activities, either with the knowledge of the Agrii or without.

[plate_builder]

"Exactly my thought," Reeve agreed. Which was why he had brought so much paper and so many different things to write and draw and measure with.

"I didn't trust the last place, I learned to be paranoid."

[sinistral]

They certainly seemed to have enough supplies. And the cave wasn't damp at all, which was promising for the drawings surviving the trip. Still he knew they'd all likely be careful of them, because one could never predict what would happen.

"Your home, or somewhere else before here?" His gut told him it was likely the second, which was the reason he asked.

[plate_builder]

Having extra supplies was always the best choice, just in case.

"Both," Reeve answered, because why not both. "The last place felt... Like we were being watched. Like here. But the forces were definitely messing with us intentionally. As for home, well, I was in a very awkward position."

[sinistral]

He was nodding before Reeve even finished. "The constant being watched, I don't know if it ever gets easier. In the Fleet there were people who were unbothered by it, but I could never get used to it." Here it didn't seem as active — there were no ratings, no account for credits to go to — but that didn't make him any more comfortable with the entire thing.

[plate_builder]

"Sometimes the more active watching is a bit less threatening because you always know to be on your guard."

And often it's harder to think of that, of being on guard. Reeve, though, had spent most of his adult life as an executive in a horrible company where everyone watched each other for signs of weakness.

This? This he was used to.

[sinistral]

"I can't imagine not being on guard." It was just how he was wired anymore. Not paranoia, but a constant state of awareness and consciousness of his surroundings — and of the Agrii, watching from afar.

Curious though to find someone else with similar awareness. Their situations were hardly alike but still, it made him marginally more comfortable around the other man.

[plate_builder]

Well he would be glad to know he was comfortable. Instead he nodded.

"It's... hard to believe when you don't need it anymore."

[sinistral]

"I doubt think I could ever believe that." If he ever made it back home there was HYDRA and the Soldier knew they'd never let him go. And if he didn't make it back home, well, HYDRA was hardly unique in its mindset; there were no doubt other similar organizations scattered across the universe. No, there would be no relaxing, not as long as he was what he was.

But best not to bring down the mood more than he already had. "But it's a nice enough thought."

[plate_builder]

Well, that might be a better way for the Soldier to live than it might be for other people. As it was, Reeve offered the man a smile and a nod. Yes, it really was a nice thought.

"But not one that men like us are likely to ever truly embrace," Reeve observed.

[sinistral]

"Yes," he agreed. It didn't matter if the Soldier wished it otherwise; he was not so arrogant as to think wishing alone could change his situation. He doubted anything could, not as long as he held all of HYDRA's programming in his head.

"But we have taken that guard with us underground, haven't we? It pleases me that someone else is also prone to constant awareness." That it was different kinds of awareness could only serve them in there long run.

[plate_builder]

"Of course I am cautious. Dragons dwell in caves."

And that is said with an absolutely straight face.

"Sadly I will be less aware while I map."

[sinistral]

"Don't give the Agrii ideas." Bad enough that they were relying on the bug-repellent goop, with no word on how long it would last. Best not to tempt fate — or the Agrii — into throwing something else in their path.

He cocked his head slightly to the side at that statement, considering Reeve carefully. "I was given to understand that the mapping was your primary function, and awareness of potential threats the province of those of us with more combat related experience. Do you feel that you're not partnered with someone of adequate skill?" To say the Soldier didn't fully trust most of their companions wasn't an insult as much as unfamiliarity with their skills.