Do the wristpad camera phone thing. Add the light I used to check down there as well. With that, ladies and gentlemen, we shall have a depth probe.
And with this depth probe, probe the depths of the crystal shaft. It has befuddled us for long enough. Make sure the camera's securely attached to the rope, though. Would hate to lose it.
You drop your probe in, turn it around, inspect things as best you can, then retrieve it.
The video shows a large chamber, mostly comprised of fused glass walls, but you can also see something else. They look like stone pillars, similar to the markers along the path. It seems like there's a structure down there, submerged in the sands, and that the ball of light pushed and fused the sand, revealing some of it. You can't tell much in terms of detail from the low quality video.
Hrm.
Make the angle of the beam a bit wider, and turn up the power to match. Goal is to keep energy per unit area roughly the same, but put a larger heated buffer zone around the Eater. If the Eater starts to act up bump the power up another couple notches.
Take quick stock of supplies, and estimate how much farther we have to go.
You adjust the beam to hit the sand as well. The thing is still getting cooler, but it's doing so more slowly now.
You take stock. There's about 12 chem logs left and the battery on the heat gun is almost out.
I think I have a better idea. Are the mk3's rockets hot enough to melt sand? If so then activate a single maneuvering rocket and melt the sand. And if it sends melting sand particles everywhere then fan them away with duct tape fans and accomplish excavation.
If not then create sheets of duct tape. Use those sheets as barriers to hold the sand back. Hold them in place with strips of duct tape and weights. Use containers filled with sand as the weights.
Excavate.
I'm gonna say this works.
I was real tempted to have one rocket just cartwheel you sideways across the desert, but for the sake of time, we'll say this works and that you manage to excavate down to the top of the fused glass bubble that makes up the bottom of the shaft.
Continue to laze the subject while the others try their experiments. Try blowtorching the ground around her to see if it will crystallize.
It will, a little bit, if you spend some time on it. Problem is that you're melting one small section, so unless you want the Eater to balance on it's left big toe on the inch wide glass nub you created, it's not gonna work.
Watch Eater, watch horizon, maintain exo bonus.
The eater is doing something weird. It keeps moving its mouth and looking around at the night sky. It's standing still, but its head is just sort of twisting about while it works it's jaw like it's chewing a peanut butter sandwich.
Dream about past adventures?
You remember that one time in Stellar Bangkok.
Then you immediately stop remembering that.
Gorat: Charge Exo-bonus.
Feyri: Aid in heating the Dernhost with the lent Raduga if necessary(It should be set up correctly, I believe).
Str 3; Dex 3; End 3; Cha 10; Int 6; Wil 15//Spe 0; Int 1; Han 0 (-1); Con 4; Unc 0; Exo 12; Aux 3 (+1); Med 0
Mk II Suit; Microwave PK Amp; Mass manip PK Amp; laser rifle (fired once); 0 tokens: normal cigarettes; blue smokes; datapad (with platformer shooter); nanoghosts; shock trigger (with Morul); white skin-tight node-covered black-shell stasis suit worn under Mk II.
Appearance: 5'11'', 170 pounds in a rather unmuscular frame, shoulder-long brown hair, short goatee, brown eyes, a rather long chin that earned him his nickname. Age 32
Half a robot foot. Robot right arm. Wears basic clothes when not in the Mk II.
Chaaaaaaaaaarge
HEAAAAAT
Sleep fairly lightly, waking up about halfway through shift three, exclaming as I come out of my dreams:
"Gnnrrfdggsh boobs shlrgrrn mmmmm hotshblll witches, what? Where's my fucken laser?"
You do this thing. Everyone looks at you in confusion and mild annoyance.
Third Shift time. It's the last shift before morning.
Author
Topic: Mission 18: The final sunset (Read 182271 times)