Cradle. Year... I literally don't give a crap anymore.
We got a new task, as if numerous attempts to purge the Swarm wasn't troublesome enough, now we got this to deal with.
A team of about 20 Recon Rangers led by one of the higher ups mysteriously disappeared at Depth 22 while investigating some unknown activity regarding poison gas.
Not much is known about this gas, except that it is obviously poisonous, and that it doesn't even look like poison gas.
"Our squad has a size of 3, as a covert operation.
The primary objective is to reach a control terminal and hack it for the coordinates of important areas, in which we will be able to vent the gas or shut it down completely.
A secondary objective is to locate and rescue any survivors.
The radar's down, so we'll-"
"What do you mean the radar's down?"
"...Ah yes, the gas is also sending out jamming signals. Probably full of powdered tinfoil or something."
"Gas that sends out jamming? What else are they gonna come up with, robots that-"
"STOP interrupting the briefing."
"..."
"Thank you. Everyone will wear gas masks to replace their headgear. These offer as much elemental protection as a trinket could, but render you practically immune to the gas." The captain cleared his throat. "Alright, all of you, let's start."
-Depth 22-
"Put on the gas masks." The captain said, putting on a gas mask of his own.
"Gas masks are on, sir." The third operative said.
The captain checked his radar. It was jammed, of course. He activated his communicator. "This is Captain of the 114th Squadron. We're on the 22nd Depth... Hello?"
The second operative giggled. "Didn't you remember that the gas has a jamming effect, dear?"
"Screw it. Okay people, ready your swords. We haven't completely analyzed this gas so we don't want to be using the carbines. The gas might be flammable.
(The two operatives will be referred to as Two and Three at this point.)
Three drew a Khorovod, and after some thought, said: "Captain, if the gas is flammable, then shouldn't it already have lit up? There were Recon Rangers around here several hours ago, they could've easily created several sparks."
Two brandished a Silent Nightblade, and shrugged in response.
"While that is easily a possibility, it would be wise to move in stealth, this gas obscures vision."
"Says the person also wearing Night Vision Goggles." Two said.
The captain sighed. "Let's just go already, we're wasting time."
It was a short walk, surprisingly. The control terminal was just a building of some sort. They decided to add stairs when building it for some reason.
The captain looked through the window of the building door. "Hmm... Looks like a standard devilite apartment. The gremlins replaced one of the windows with a door for their installation."
Two sighed loudly. "Ugggggh. When can I take this stupid gas mask off. It's so hard to breathe with this thing on!"
"When there is no gas. Simple as that." Three replied nonchalantly.
The captain opened the door after he finished looking through the window. "It's all clear. You two, stand guard here while I hack the terminal."
"Whatever." Two said.
The captain closed the door after listening to his cohort's reluctant 'yes'. He turned and examined all the contents of the room.
One stapler and one computer thing.
He checked what he assumed was important.
Looks like there's no security on this thing. This'll be a piece of cake. Now what should I look for first?
(Pick one of these choices.)
>Search for the coordinates. It's the primary objective.
>Try to vent the gas. It's annoying everyone.
>Search the audio files for anything important.
He could his teammates chatting outside while he was figuring out what he should do.
"What's with Captain Fancypants? Why's he gotta be so serious?"
"I don't know, just because we're flying buddy-buddy doesn't mean that we're buddies."
"So, what do you do for fun?"
"Run around hacking and slashing whatever comes my way. That's what everyone else, does, anyway."
"Aww man, y'all are a bunch of boring people."
I say they should get the coordinates. Firstly, it's what they went there to do anyway. The audio files seems kind of random, and I actually feel like keeping the gas around will make things more interesting.