While we wait (mini adventure)

[Corporal Hicks]

Roberts felt his stomach drop with fear. Did he just shoot a civilian? Still, caution was best. "Let's be careful boys, we still don't know whats up there." He remembered all too well calling out and alerting the alien queen on Ekylprillion.

(Option 2)

[Medic Guy]

Clint McKenna slung his rifle on his back and pulled the shotgun out as he followed behind Roberts to see what was up in the office.

Option 2

[Quicksilver]

Motion tracker clicking away, Mark followed near the back of the group.
(Option 2)

[Corporal Hicks]

(OOC: I forgot that we all stayed together as one group. Clint McKenna is in Second Squad. Now they have 4 members. I am enjoying this game.)

[Whisky]

(OCC: As before this is on hold until another lull appears. Unless of course one doesn't appear and folks are happy to run this along side the main campaign I'll continue the story. However for the moment I'd like to keep focus on the main campaign.)

[Whisky]

As the marines advanced up the stairs carefully, as they did so the sounds of the persons screams quieted down to a whimper. As they approached the door at the top of the stairs even the whimpering had stopped. Using his head Roberts motioned to Clint to open the door. Using the barrel of his shotgun Clint edged the door open and advanced. It was a mess, like a hurricane had passed through, heck, even hurricanes don't leave this much destruction in their passing. Only USCM marines could leave a mess like this. Edging past the ventilated partitions, shattered windows and destroyed furniture they saw the source of the noise earlier, now slumped silent and still in a still expanding pool of blood, a hole clean through their thigh. The office worker, judging by the outfit, had bleed to death from his wound.

1) Inspect the corpse and room.
2) Move on.

[Corporal Hicks]

Roberts looked sickened by what they had done. He was in no mood to stick around. "Come on, let's get outta here."

(Option 2)

[Medic Guy]

Clint was amazed by the amount of blood all over the floor. "Let's keep looking and get out of here he commented to Roberts.

Option 2

[Whisky]

(Just going to continue this for a while, new people are welcome to jump in.)

Confident they found what was to be found in the admin block the Marines filtered back out to the boulevard, the green of the APC stark against the desert around it. With Admin searched that left only the Bar and Storehouse in the complex. A hundred yards or so the entrance to the mine stood, dark and quiet. Motion trackers had gone quiet yet again. Place was a ghost town.

1-Investigate Bar
2-Investigate Storehouse
3-Move on to Dig Site

[Corporal Hicks]

"Let's check out the dig site next," said Roberts.

(Option 3)

[Whisky]

"Fancy being in charge Roberts?" the LT remarked, "Don't answer, it was rhetorical. Well there is no point loading up, you are going to have to huff it. Pope, bring the APC round and cover our advance." Behind them the APC's engines came to life followed the marines as they advanced across the sand to the dig site. Colson mutter some gripe, echoed by Morse, silenced by Quinn.

The APC came to a halt a hundred meters from the entrance. "The sand is too soft to continue," Pope said across comms, "Any further and we risk getting stuck."

"Well, nothing can be done about that. Marines, continue on and set up repeaters at intervals so I can monitor your progress." The LT added.

And so the marines came to the entrance of the mine, one of it's doors ajar, the lights inside glowing with a cold light. Moving in two the marines open the doors and entered the covered entrance to the mine. It looked like someone had staged a makeshift blockade, it hadn't lasted. Brown smears showed that bodies had been dragged away, dragged toward the mine. Ahead was the cargo lift, to the side was a door marked "Stairs".

1) Use the Lift
2) Use the Stairs

[Medic Guy]

Looking at the lift, Clint spoke aloud "That lift looks like it'd be a death trap, anybody want to take the stairs?"

option 2

[Corporal Hicks]

"I'm with you buddy" said Roberts.

Option 2

[Morse]

Morse had vivid memories of the lift at Anubis Station years earlier, and he had not liked using them since.

"Stairs's good." He said forming up.

< Option 2

[Whisky]

As they formed up the Roberts tested the door, it hadn't been secured and opened without too much issue. "Sam, I want first on point, we are looking for civilians after all. Start from the bottom and work your way up." The LT ordered, all too aware of second squads MO. Filing through the door they moved smooth and quiet, the only sounds the ping of motion trackers and the boots of the marines on the metal steps. Gisso dropped a repeater out of his pack at the entrance as he passed. Hopefully it would allow them to stay in contact with the APC as they descended.

The stair way descended below them, at about he 3rd level the lights began to be intermittent, by the 4th they were in darkness, relying on their own lamps. As they were about to descend past level 5 the stairway abruptly ended. Seemingly having melted away. "LT, we can't go any further this way." Quinn reported.

"Leave the stairs and cross the mines, its a straight line to a backup stair well. All mines have them." The LT replied.

Nothing is ever that easy, as the squad filed out onto the 5th level they found the route blocked by a digger, leaving them only two options,

1) Heading off down a branch line
2) Climbing back up a level and attempting to go around that way.