Sitting deep within the cave systems of Planet Niiza in Okinawa system, lays the Kawaguchi complex. Originally built in 720 A.S, as a secret undertaking of the Watanabe Kazoku, kept hidden from its allies, and even their fellow Blood Dragons, the installation ran its course for a nearly a century. A site of many classified experiments, most of the research done on the seeker drones was conducted right here, and only a small percent of the findings published at Sendai.
At the peak of its function, the complex was inhabited by nearly 200 Dragons, most making permanent residence here sustaining themselves with hydrophonic grown food and abundant water flowing through the planet's caverns.
In 800 A.S, the complex was abandoned, its usefulness overshadowed by the project's cost, remaining in this state to the present day. Kazoku scientists estimate that native animal species and introduced plant species have overtaken the facility, and removing them may prove a challenge to the future expeditions.
--Data file end -> Close Entry? Y/N
~ ~ ~ ~
Hirotada sighed and placed the data pad on the seat beside him. Looking out the shuttle window, he could see fire igniting as they entered Planet Niiza's atmosphere. "Shields on max, approaching the entry point" - The pilot announced.
Looking at the surface, it was a sight to be seen. Massive rock formations, canyons and towering peaks, so barren and desolate, yet so magnificent and breathtaking, truly a masterpiece of nature. But there was no time to soak in the scenery, the shuttle was quickly descending, the surface closer by the second.
"Keep it steady, I'll transmit the codes" - Hirotada sat behind the terminal and transmitted a series of signals towards the hidden hatch on the surface, carefully masked and indistinguishable from the terrain. The hatch opened with a creaking sound, and the shuttle slowly disappeared into the ground....
The shuttle descended down the landing shaft, and the doors closed behind it, to protect the facility from the burning sun. As they closed, darkness took over, and only small flickers of light guided it as it descended deeper down in the abyss.
"First thing that needs doing is activating the po--" - Hirotada tried to speak but was interrupted by a sudden announcement - "Welcome home, master Watanabe. I'm sorry for the mess."
He took a moment to soak in the familiar voice, before finally recognizing Kawaguchi's main AI - "Hiderigami, you are still here, after all this time? They didn't engage your hybernation protocols after the evacuation?"
"No, I was left online to monitor the facility. I kept everything I could from decaying, it was a lonely existence, but a well spent one. I exist only to serve." - the AI stated with a hint of enthusiasm in its voice.
"I see" - Hirotada lowered his head, regretting the fate of the AI, recollecting his childhood memories of the time he spent with him when he lived in the complex.
He looked around and recollected his composure - "What is the situation in the complex?"
The walls of the landing pad chamber lit up, and the terminals went online. - "We are running at 5 percent capacity. Most of the facility is overgrown by the resillient plants brought by the original inhabitants, there are holes all over the structures, and the new residents damaged the power generator."
"New residents?" - Hirotada opened his eyes wide.
"Yes, the Kawa-Akago, they must have ran into the coils and disabled the generator. Loading data file." - The terminals loaded the data file, and Hirotada left the ship and approached to inspect them.
--Load File -> Y/N
:::Loading::
Kawa-Akago, primary predators of Niiza's underground ecosystem. More scavengers than hunters, these creatures are known to produce the sounds of other species' young and draw them into dangerous areas of the caves. The exact mechanism behind this is unknown. The Kawa-Akago live in large groups and co-operate on a pack mentality, led by an alpha-female, the mother of the pack.
An adult specimen can reach the size of a grown human, and boasts a physical strenght of two. Extremely dangerous, avoid contact whenever possible.
--File End -> Close Entry Y/N
Hirotada moved away from the terminal and looked back at the shuttle - "Dragons! Ichiro, Kyoko, and the rest of you. Unload the weapons and the spare components, we have some cleaning to do. Move out!"
He then picked up his rifle, and attached his blade to his belt, waiting for the rest of the expedition to get ready.
''Dragons.'' - Hirotada motioned towards a large round terminal and the members of the expedition quickly assembled around it. ''This is what needs to be done'' - He attached his data pad to one of the ports, entered the administrators password, and the terminal lit up, displaying two large images.
''Hiderigami, brief the team with all the details.'' - He crossed his hands and waited for the AI to brief the team.
Generator facility. Powering the entire station, it is based on geothermal and fusion energy. I assume that one of the creatures creatures recklessly ran into a coil, causing it to overload, disabling the whole chain in the process.
Its core will most likely need to be replaced, and sensors indicate that one group of the creatures made their nest here, so extreme caution is advised. The elevators aren't in function without the generators, so descending through the ventilation shafts is the only way to reach the power station, and the lack of space leaves you with limited manuverability.
Artificial Intelligence Hiderigami Mainframe. Myself. Me. You get the idea. I am running at half capacity right now, and administrator codes along with new protocols need to be added into my programming. The mainframe hasn't suffered any damage, otherwise I wouldn't be talking with you, however, the rooms outside it are overgrown with various introduced plants, and the Kawa-Akago stalk the halls.
Proceed with extreme caution. Oh, and another thing, the room also controlls the sonic pest repellent, after the generators are online, activate it so we can finally rid ourselves from these creatures. They make my circuits shiver.
Good luck, honorable Dragons. Hiderigami out.
~ ~ ~ ~
''Very well, you've heard him.'' - Hirotada pointed towards the boxes and weapons. ''Kazuki and I will repair the generator, Ichiro, Kyoko and the pilot will activate the mainframe and the pest repellant. Pick up the components and arm yourselves.''
He looked at them with a stern look - ''And do not fail me. Long live the Blood Dragons!''
„Oh, come on, you can't tell me you're already finished with all the stuff yet. I mean, that was a damn big load of documents to look through they gave you. I bet it'd take days to sort the whole mess!“
The woman, sitting at a desk not too far away from the one Kyoko was working at shook her head in disbelief and chuckled slightly. A cup of coffee rested in her hands, and as she moved it closer to her lips to drink something, Kyoko smirked. She herself leaned back in the black desk chair she was sitting in.
„Well Chizuko, you're heavily underestimating my skills then. Or you probably just didn't notice how I was almost skipping every second folder I was told to look over!“
Kyoko's smirking and her colleague’s chuckling turned into heavy laughter coming from both woman, and the person at the other desk nodded amused.
“For sure you did! that's how I know my Kyoko, always avoiding hard work as if it's boiling water!”
“Hey, don't shout out all the tactics I have to survive all day in here, alright!?”, chuckling, Kyoko continues: “And seriously, I'm not half as bad as you make me look like!”
Shaking her head as a denying gesture, Kyoko turns off the computer in front of her. “Anyway, as I did...most...of my job, it's time for a little break now, isn't it!?” Lifting from the chair, she moved towards a coffee machine standing on another table not too far away from her work place. It took only hitting one button, and the faint noise of the machine doing its work filled the room. However, suddenly she turned around, looking at her colleague.
“Oh, Chizuko? Could you do me a big favour once more and take care of Hiryu and Soryu next weekend? I'm heading out to visit my family to celebrate father's birthday, and I really can't leave those two little budgies alone or they're going to destroy the whole appartement!”
Two days before the weird events that lead here to Hokkaido, and later to Chugoku, she asked Chizuko to take care of her birds, and stated that she was going to visit her parents. Now, she wondered how all of them are. If they were still around and happy, or if her departure due to circumstances still unknown to Kyoko had consequences...
“[..]Ichiro, Kyoko and the pilot will activate the mainframe and the pest repellant. Pick up the components and arm yourselves.''
As she heard her name – quietly, as if it was coming out of quite a distance – Kyoko was thrown out of her thoughts, and had to look around. There was it again, the rather dark, and surely intimidating scenery of the old research complex. Looking around she had to admit that the installation definetely must have seen better days, but by now it seemed to be nothing but a relic. A relic that the nature seemingly claimed its property already.
During the whole way here, the woman preferred to keep quiet, rather collecting impressions of the environment as well as of the men and women accompanying her. And so she also simply nodded when Shogun Watanabe told them not to fail. He still was some kind of a mystery to her, but it was clear that he deserved the trust of those following him. That was something that could be noticed when observing others talking about him, or in the way how people behaved when he was around. Also, at the end of the day it was Watanabe who offered her a place to stay, and a cause to fight for. A constant in Kyoko's life that became very complicated very quickly.
Turning around, she could look at a small pile of crates, and little boxes, full with technical equipment as well as weapons. Ichiro Raionno, one of the Dragons that would go with her and also Daimyo of the Watanabe Kazoku, was not too far away from her, and seeing as it was certainly on him to decide the proceeding of this second team Kyoko directed her words at him when tersely asking: “Orders?”
Squished bigly ~Champ- Thanks, you're a champ. "What's the word for when it feels inside your heart that everything in the world is all right?"
"Hmph, down here or up there, a pest control, as always..." - He murmured as the shuttle descended into the installation.
It was not clear if he was just speaking his mind, was trying to start a conversation, or tried to cheer the crew. Ichiro was known of being the silent one among the kazoku. A kind of observer, staying in the corner and carefully watching everyone, rather than participating in the conversation. In fact, among other reasons, this quality made Hirotada to chose him, as his diplomat. Ichiro was able to pay attention to the very detail of the environment surrounding him, giving the ability to detect the smallest gestures every one of us does subconciously, letting him read people's minds to some extent.
To his surprise, he was not the only silent human being aboard the shuttle. Kyoko, the newest addition to the kazoku, did not say a single word since the start of their trip. It was clear to him that her silence was caused by her shyness. For him, young secretary found herself in the world, which did not belong to her.
Ichiro never could understand, why his friend believed in this woman becoming the Kazoku Guard. She had no military past and her cause was never clear for him. The Dragons were not only in a need of warriors. Somebody with her experience would do much good for their resource management. What made him make this decision? Has he seen something in her, which Ichiro failed to see? Or maybe the reason was very simple as Hiroada, at any rate, ... was a very lonely man?
''Kazuki and I will repair the generator, Ichiro, Kyoko and the pilot will activate the mainframe and the pest repellant. Pick up the components and arm yourselves. And do not fail me. Long live the Blood Dragons!" -And now he has just discovered, that this female warrior, which he never had the time to train, was now a part of his team responsible for reactivating the mainframe.
Did his Shogun really put that much trust in her? Or was this trust have been put into Ichiro? Anyways, what bad could happen on a simple cleaning mission? Were the Kawa-Akago anything scarier and more ruthless than humans he encountered in his life?
As everyone was choosing their sidearms for upcoming action, Ichiro smiled at them contemptuously and pulled his Katana, a family heirloom, off his back, completely ignoring the weapon's crate in front of him.
“Orders?” - A visible attempt of self-confidence impressed Ichiro, as usual recruits avoided speaking to him.
"Sarada, you cover our backs, I'll go in front. Kyoko! ... You go in the middle and guard the crates. If you fail, I'm sending your butt to the Hirotada, for you to explain how his millions worth of equipment is being chewed by the local fauna! There is no time to waste ... let's go!"
"It is better to reign in hell, than to serve in haven..."
As he gazed upon his brothers in arms, Hirotada wondered silently. "If I had explained everything to them, this place, the experiments conducted, the horrors left behind, locked deep down to rot - would they have followed me still?"
"Even now, 20 years after the evacuation, this place...it's still as ominous, still as cursed, perhaps even more." - He walked around the crates filled with components, as if looking for broken pieces, an excuse not to send his men to their near certain deaths. - "Those beasts, I remember how they lured many into the cavernous deeps, chasing after phantasmic cries of infants, laughter of lost children, only to be lost and never to return."
He unpacked a few crates and loaded the necessary components into backpacks, looking at the small crowd, running around, executing his orders on a whim - "And for what? Who am I that they should follow me so? Without question and without second thought? I am not my brother, I was never my brother and I will never be my brother." - he sighed silently - "When I returned, I expected to be advised by the old sages of my blood, their wisdom would guide me, but all I found was death, left alone to restore my clan" - "All family I have left now are these men and women, and I lead them to their demise, to reclaim a relic of its time. But no, I will not falther, the facility is cruicial, and must be reclaimed. These beasts are the kazoku's fault, and so Gods help me, the kazoku shall drive them back."
He stood up and looked at Kazuki, holding the backpack in one hand, rifle in the other - "Kazuki-san. Take the other backpack, we will enter through the ventilation shaft on the wall." - He approached the shaft and removed the bars - "At first, the passage will be extremely narrow, but it gets wider. Keep your eyes open, at all times. Move out."
And so he climbed up into the shaft, crawling and disappearing deeper down into the installation.