Kill the Power (HIVE)

It wasn’t long ago that Quinn had been given her first task under the new HIVE management. Whatever it was that Tiberius had installed before that negated their powers whilst within the Oil Rig was a problem. It made them weak, vulnerable to certain intruders. It needed to be taken out, removed, and negated. With Quinn having occupied the Oil Rig prior to when HIVE started so long ago with its limited ranks, she knew the base best and thus had been instructed to find this device. Thus far it had been unsuccessful, Quinn had looked almost everywhere and never found it. But… there was one place she hadn’t looked yet, and through the process of elimination assumed there is where the device was located. Chances are, perhaps it wasn’t straight forward as turning off a switch. Knowing Tiberius, there was a high chance of security measures having been put in place - which is why Quinn had asked Pix to meet her, just outside the abandoned hallway.

The assassin waited at the entry way of the hallway, leaning back against the wall. She was geared up, dressed in her armour with her bow in her left hand and a quiver on her back; you don’t want to find yourself without your tools. She remained there, bored, blowing bubbles with the gum she was chewing as she awaited the arrival of Pix – and whoever else had opted to tag along. A glance down the hallway did nothing to bring a calm feeling. It was dark, murky, the walls nor the floor in good condition. It looked like an area from within a haunted house or something – hopefully nothing goes bump in the night.

Kris walked next to Quinn, he had multiple bandoleers, one with grenades, one with 9mm clips, one with 7.62×41mm mags, and finally one with tear gas canisters. He had his laser katana on his hip, deactivated of course, and he had his pistol in his holster. He had his AK-47 with flashlight in his hands and cigarette between his lips. He was in the mood to annoy Pix so he had a tanktop and grey camo pants with combat boots, looking like a Russian soldier. Kris looked at Quinn, "Do we have a plan?"

The sprite arrived promptly to the summons. It had taken long enough to find this piece of technology, it was about high-time they shut the damn thing off. Pix wanted to use his powers with impunity around the base. Every time he turned them on in the combat arena, someone tried to make him fight. It was barbaric!

Expecting to see Quinn stood in front of the device, Pix was disappointed. It seemed her alert had been a bit premature. "Is it invisible?" Actually... didn't TIBERIUS get his hands on Zydon cloaking technology. Like those stealth aliens used? If he'd retro-engineered one this fast, he could theoretically... "We always have a pl-" Pix froze mid-sentence and registered what Kris was wearing. The political bigot in him awakened from its dormancy.

"What. Are you annexing HIVE base now? Lemme guess. You're not a Russian soldier, you're a Russian citizen who decided to invade a foreign country on behalf of your empire because you're running out of stamps to collect." Pix waved the assassin away and turned to Quinn, "I knew we should have deported him when we had the chance. Housing someone of Russian ethnicity is like giving the Kremlin an all-access pass to stick their grubby fingers in your cookie jar."

Blake walked in behind Pix. Quite frankly she didnt care how uncleared for duty she was. She was coming with them. She wasn't in any fancy combat outfit like Quinn was, she just had her clothes and Gambol Shroud. She wasn't in any need of armor because she, unlike the others, had most of her powers. She stepped next to Pix and raised an eyebrow at Kris. "Really? During a time of war? That's really insensitive." She said blatantly, back to her typical matter of fact tone. It was business time, and that meant she had to act like it. "Where's the generator Quinn?"

Upon having seen what attire Kris had chosen, along with all his equipment. Quinn couldn't help but sigh, rolling her eyes rather unimpressed. What was he expecting them to find? A Decepticon or something? It was too much, as usual. Perhaps Kris was over compensating for something. Still, it was good that Pix and Blake had arrived promptly after, with Blake being the only one to actually ask something smart.

"Well, I've been all over the base... apart from here, and found nothing...". It wasn't that Quinn was bad at finding stuff. She had spent the past two days searching, going around the base a few times, thoroughly searching. But so far the results had been poor. She would now push herself off from the wall she had leaned against, peering down the dark, gloomy hallway. "So, by process of elimination, whatever generator, machine, robot, Decepticon that Tiberius has negating our powers... it's probably down here". How splendid! "You wanna go first, Kris? Put that equipment to use". That's the problem with being so well geared, it makes you the ideal volunteer to be thrown into the unknown.

Kristoff looked at Pix and said nothing, ignoring him. It was obvious something was loose in his head. Kris used to be a well adjusted individual, now all he wanted to do was kill. Then Blake said something about being insensitive? "You need to lighten up, pop some cyanide pills or something."Kris chuckled and nodded to Quinn, he had the itch to kill again, he whistled the Russian anthem, something he did before the war.

Nina came running down the path to the group then slowed to a stop, catching her breath a little "s-sorry I'm late guys, I was getting a few things from some friends" she said as she adjusted a laptop case on her shoulder "I've got some equipment that might help us if smashing it to pieces doesn't work" she told them as she looked around to the group then looked to Kris "at least someone is fully prepared, we've got no idea what's down that hallway, could be mutant fish people or anything" she said, seeming to be the only one who approved of Kris' attire, she herself just wore her usual jeans and t-shirt but she was also wearing a pair of glasses too, a very rare occasion when she would wear her glasses outside her house.

((OOC: So sorry about the wait.))

Pix raised an eyebrow at Blake's rebuke. They were in a time of war? Oh. Fair enough. They wouldn't want to hurt their enemy's feelings after all. That would be going too far. Best just stick to maiming fine young men in the prime of their life. He understood he was being openly prejudice about another population but he reasoned that he had no social obligation to pay the Russians any politesse. Especially not in the privacy of his own secret base.

Not that the current HIVE exactly dominated this base. Given their difficulty finding just one control console, it was most assuredly still TIBERIUS who owned this compound. The big lug was just content to let his prior associates use the facilities. An arrangement that was tenuous at best. Anger the tyrant and they would fast be in the poor house. A reason Pix had okayed the argument to establish an auxiliary base.

It was a task entrusted to Kris. And Kris himself was somewhat unstable these days. The sprite had convinced himself that he understood how his friend thought. But people change. This particular metamorphosis Kristoff was undergoing could be categorised as 'spiralling out of control'. His close-to-the-cuff response to Blake caused Pix to turn his head, but otherwise didn't react. Considering how meddlesome he'd gotten with his team's mental wellbeing lately, that in itself was unusual for the sprite.

With the arrival of Nina, the group advanced into the unknown section of HIVE base. Zero at their head. Hugh rather thought out of all of them, Kitsune had packed most appropriately. There might be security, yes, but Pix didn't think it was of the lethal sort, given how well hidden the technology was. About five minutes in to a section of run-down, lightless corridors and companionways Pix had a thought.

"If there's a secret passageway down here, it could take weeks to find. However, every room needs air. Nina. Shimmy about in the ducts while we cover the ground out here." The entry point Hugh pointed to was encased by a grill that was far more secure than those at other sections of HIVE base, "And someone rip that loose."

Blake was up to the vent in seconds, her hidden blades outdrawn. "I'm on it." Unlike most members of HIVE, she maintained many of her powers through genetics. That meant her ability to climb wasn't hindered in the slightest. And that was an advantage they would need if Tiberius ever came around sporting this technology again.

Normally, Blake would have slashed it open with her Gambol Shroud without a second thought, but given that magic was negated, that meant so was her blade's invulnerability. She had to be more careful with it. After some work she managed to pop the ventilation system open, looking inside with her feline vision before hopping down, cupping her hands together to give Nina a boost if needed. "Alright, you're all set. Just be careful in there, all right?" Unlike the usual as of late, Blake was much more calm. Focusing on the mission was keeping her in the right mindset.

The vent was of no interest to Quinn. Sure, there could be a secret passageway, but Quinn had little confidence on that being the case. These halls were abandoned - much like those stood within it now. If there is something, anything down here, why hide it? This was the first time any had ventured to this part of the base. The eerie, horror themed nature of the place made it not the type of place you would flock to during your off time. Quinn ventured further down the hallway, fearless really. She soon disappeared into a veil of darkness, ahead of the rest. Scout ahead, run a little recon. That was the idea here, if there was anything that wanted to fight them as Kris clearly anticipated, a warning would be nice.

((OOC: St? Hellooo?))

OOC - A) Posting order reset B) If someone who has posted, doesn't. It will be assumed that their charrie was never in this thread to begin with. C) 3 Day waiting rule for posts, then skipped.

Quinn entered one of the rooms at the far end of the hallway. It was difficult to see, perhaps darker than the hallway leading to it. Not much could truly be made out, other than an overwhelming sense of nothingness. The room was barren, it seemed. Cold, with water dripping down from the ceiling to form a puddle on the floor in the middle of the room. Quinn hit the light switch as she entered, but the lights only flickered on and off for a few seconds before the bulb died indefinitely. What a creepy place to be, and it's not even Halloween!

Nina fixed her head torch on and switched it on, climbing into the vent via Blake's assistance and turning into her fox form to become smaller, adjusting the head torch to fit on her foxy head she ventured in, still wearing the collar that allowed her to keep some of her more practical powers but no attack powers, having a crowbar at the ready for any monstrosities who enjoyed dusty air vents, creeping around silently and peering into each room that she passed above, not seeming to mind the roaches that skittered away from the light when she shone it down each of the vent corridors.

Pix held a map out in front of him. He couldn't read a thing. If only he could use his powers then the light from the diodes could banish this gloom. As it was he was staggering into junk and dashing across patches of absolute dark, in pursuit of the next corridor's hardly sufficient landing lamp. Finally he reached a dead end. Pix held the map up high to the lamp above him and strained his neck trying to read. This passageway should be open.

A creaking sound caused him to swivel back on the door. He noticed an access panel. The digital display activated as he pressed a button. The command read LOCKED DOWN. Hugh was quick on his communicator, "Hey guys. You know those bulkhead doors the base has in case of a sea breach? I just found one that's active. Be careful. We don't know what state of disrepair this section is in. If you hear something leaking, investigate."

Blake wasn't using a standard communicator, she had an earpiece. She was used to it when she was a guild member so...it just felt wrong not to have one. She pressed the button to respond. "Yeah, I noticed Pix." She said, finding one of the emergency doors locked up, quite a bit of flooding outside it too. "I just found a flooded room down this way. It looks like anything lower than this is completely condemned, and if there were any gear that would inhibit your guys' powers down there, it'd be broken either by the water or the water pressure." Blake was a bit lower on the station than Pix was at this point, but anything lower was definitely condemned.

Blake sat staring at her digital map for a few minutes, scratching her chin. She knew how the guild built things, and this base shouldn't be TOO different, right? "Hey Nina, do you see any hidden switches in that vent? It might open something near me or Pix." She sighed, staring at the map. There were a few rooms that couldn't normally be accessed, whether it be by the breaching doors or through a wall.