Bonne Airship <Gesellschaft>

The bridge of the Gesellschaft is a wide open command center with a sweeping view of the world outside. The central control area is a circular trench of stations where the Servbots man their positions, with piloting, engine, and weapons stations. Within this there is a raised platform with a walkway and another tier above that. Jutting from this tier is the captain's position, dominated by a great wooden wheel. The Bonne's smiling robotic skull set on the wheel housing to watch over the command center. To either side of the forward Servbot stations are a pair of hemispherical navigation displays.

Corridors lead back from the bridge, leading to many other parts of the massive craft. The main one of these being the Forward Hangar Bay. Situated in the 'mouth' area of the Gesellschaft, the 'teeth' slide open vertically to disgorge the flights of Drache that are situated in fighter bays across the backs and sides of the hangar bay. Several large, square hatches on the hangar bay's deck are clearly marked with red danger signs, the locations from which the Bonne Ride Armors are launched.
Contents:
Tron Bonne
Gesellschaft - Tron's Room <TRR>
Gesellschaft - Teisel's Room <TR>
Gesellschaft - Bon's Room <BBR>
Gesellschaft - Vehicle Bay/Lab

Knight Man stands on the bridge, arms folded, looking out at the peaks of the mountain. Something certainly seems to be on his mind, especially after the events of last night. Knight seems more worried now than ever.

The door to the Bridge slowly opens... and the figure of the Pirate Princess slowly strides in. Emerald eyes scan the bridge, and finds Knight Man. She smiles softly then, slowly walking up and towards him. "Heya, Knight... ...The Servbots said you were up here. Anything new?"

Knight Man glances back at Tron, and sighs "Aye, ye could sayeth that. Dost thou know of the events that transpired last night with the 9th pendent?"

The Pirate Princess sighs, then shakes her head. "No... I needed to sleep... ...I've been so..." Tron sighs. "I've just been out places, enjoying myself, and trying to relax. I'm so tired, Knight... I just..." Tron just waves it away. "Please, tell me if you were there. It could be important."

Knight Man shakes his head "Nay, I wasn't present. Though Sir Ballade twas, I knoweth this because... he was the victor." He folds his arms and looks back out at the peaks, he wishes what he had to say was good "Sir Ballade now dost possesseth Pluto's pendent of death, and dost now claimeth to be the judge of it. *pause* I art afraid this pendent cameth with a rather high price. From what I dost understandeth, in the final riddle only Ballade and a human girl, I believeth her name was Ayla.. something, were the only ones left. In the end howevereth, Sir Ballade was victorous.. and the girl apparently.. died." He is silent for a minute "Now three of mine brothers possess pendents of Chaos, I fear for tonights activities."

Tron pauses... then shakes her head slowly, steping around to slowly sink onto the Captain's Chair. Teisel wont mind, especialy when Tron just needs to sit down or fall down right now. "...So... Ballade has it." Tron shakes her head and sighs. "...This has the potential to be bad, Knight, if not for Enker and his Truce... i'd be even more terribly worried then I am now. Ballade... with the power of Death at his command. ...Well, at least I know he's probably one of the best people to have it. He's calm, collected, and extremely intelligent... ...he'll be able to overcome it. And for tonight..." Tron shakes her head. "I don't want to be anywhere /NEAR/ the desert tonight. Sunstar's... ...will be found tonight, I'm sure of it. ...my enemy." Tron closes her eyes, and sighs.

Knight Man nods "I can understandeth that. But I dost feareth for another reason. Before last night, Ballade was mine best bet to keepeth Lord Wily from getting Sunstar's. He twas reluctant to let him get on himself, we both fear the effect that power would haveth on his body, he may not survive. But now... in Sir Ballade's message, he clearly stated he cares not for life anymore, not even Lord Wily's." He pauses again "Thou art right though, Sir Ballade is indeed a stable individual, he'll not go out to abuseth his power. But he'll do nothing to assisteth us, that's for sure. I fear Lord Wily or someone less... stable may aquireth the pendent tonight. And that would be utterly disasterous. I... have been pondering going out mineself tonight. I wanteth not Sunstar's power, but mayhap I can keepeth an eye on things."

Tron nods slowly. She turns her head, looking upon Knight Man. Slowly she nods to him. "You, being there, would be a very good thing, Knight Man. I'm just as worried as you are... ...and I hope you can help prevent such from happening. It would be a deep request of mine for you." Tron sighs. "As for Ballade... I'm as worried as you are. But, as I said, he's perhaps one of the better people to have as the Bearer... though Skull Man perhaps might have been better, and more interesting to see." Tron smiles softly at that. "Skull being what he's always thought he was, the Incarnation of Death, would likely be the best of all ends... But, no matter. Ballade it will have to be... ...I'm going to go up to Eurasia again, I think... maybe contact the other Order members from there... and speak to a few friends. I want this to end, Knight Man... ...this has caused so much pain, that I can barely stand it anymore. Every fiber of my body is crying out for it to end, and even the Pendant wants to stop this pain all over the world. I just don't know /how/." Tron sighs.

Knight Man sighs as well, he can truely see how this is wearing on her. Perhaps the power of the pendents is too much to bear for humans. Which makes it all the more important Dr Wily doesn't get this one, if he does he could easily die, powerful or not. He nods "I shalt go to oversee-eth it. And I do believeth that would be the best thing for thou to do. And I agreeth, this must end soon. The toll on the world is becoming too great. ...even if it means we go back to normal... this all has to stop." He looks back out at the peaks "If thou art taking the Gesellschaft, couldst thou droppeth me off near the desert? I'll do mine best to oversee what happens tonight."

Tron sighs softly, and smiles softly to Knight. "I'll do better then that... when it comes to it, you'll wait here and just use a Drache to go wherever... A Servbot can pilot you there. I want to make sure your at the right place... and I'll be monitoring for it. I'm not entirely sure which desert it will be, I need to consider perhaps." Tron shakes her head. "So, we'll just have to think and get you there on time. Hopefully, tonight, when this last Pendant is found... ...the last place where we can get rid of them/do whatever with them can be found. And yes, Knight. This has to stop... ...though..." Tron smiles softly. "It's still gratifying to my old self to be on the UN Most Wanted... I'm glad they lowered me from #1, at least... they know i'm not a threat." Tron then shakes her head. "But, thats just me rambling again. Thanks for everything, Knight... and come the end, I owe you a /VERY/ large hug and kiss on the cheek for this."

Knight Man eyetwitches, he's not changed that much. Still he chuckles "As thou wisheth... I suppose. Well then, I shalt go prepareth. Best of luck on thine side Tron." He heads off the bridge.

*Some time later that night...*

Eastern Sahara

Forever stretching across the continent of Africa is the Sahara Desert, its begotten landscape spanning as far as the eyes can see. Reaching 1000 miles wide and around 3200 miles from east to west, this is without a doubt the largest desert in the world. Its entire square footage is a blistering 3,500,000 miles, although currently you are in the eastern region. This is primarily the Libyan Desert, considered the most arid part of the Sahara itself. Oasises, as rare as they normally are, are almost nonexistant in this region, leaving little hope and even less chances for anyone to survive who manages to get lost here. The majority of the land here consists of sandy dunes, often rising up 400 feet or more in height. Far off to the east is the valley of the Nile River, the only end in sight to this infinite realm of death and, beyond its grace, is the mountainous area of the Nubian Desert as well.

Sonic Banshee [Armored] [M]
Guts Man [Normal] [RM]
Blaze Dalmatian [Firefighter] [RF]
Sewa [Cat-ears] [M]
Blast Hornet [M]
Storm Eagle [M]
Maverick Hoverbike <Tachyon> [M]

Obvious exits:
North <N> leads to Barbary Coast.
West <W> leads to Western Sahara.
South <S> leads to Ivory Coast.
East <E> leads to Egypt.
Up <U> leads to Sky Above Sahara.

Guts Man is happy to be in the heat, compared to the cold, he still hasn't had time to get proper repairs after last night's tumble down the fissure, instead he has makeshift patches all over himself. The equivalent for robot band-aids.

Storm Eagle had broken the soundbarrier when he left Cairo... but the eagle eventually banks around toward Blast as she calls. "Nothing yet, I'll scout around a bit... Keep aware and call on the radio if you see something," he tells her. The eagle again surges off, looking around for signs of life, or signs of... a different nature.

Blast Hornet nods to Storm Eagle, and buzzes off in a seemingly random direction. Her head pans from side ot side, and she tries to find something in this featureless desert. Sand... Sand... Sand... Scorpion... Sand... Sand... Ugh, this is boing!

Ahh the sands of the Sahara. The temperature today is Frickin HOT as always. Fortunatly for Knight Man he's A)An android, and heat to a certain extreme doesn't bother him, and B) He's in one of the Bonne's Drache's, being piloted by Servbot (insert number here) As they navigate through the desert (much faster than Knight would have on foot, thanks Tron) Knight keeps an eye out on the present company within scanning range. Maverick, Maverick, Maverick, Guts Man... dandy.

Storm Eagle simply continues at speeds just under the sound barrier. The faster the area was found, the better. Those wings and the engines they're connected to simply continue to push the eagle quickly through the cloudless sky.

Blaze Dalmatian looks up, spotting the Maverick eagle flying through the air, "Goodie." She mutters, "Just keep driving. He's here for the same reason we are, I'm sure." She says, as she pulls out her Gameboy Advance XIII, and starts to play.

Tempest Dolphin arrives from the Sky Above Sahara.
Tempest Dolphin has arrived.

Byakko is trudging through the sand, searching for something. That is the most of what she does, since no one else is with her.

Blast Hornet buzzes along in a different direction than Storm Eagle, to spread out the Maverick presence on the area. Her buzzing wings and her speed of flight keep her nice and cool in the hot desert sun, and at her altitudes wont get sand into her armor either.

Tidal Whale arrives from the Egypt.
Tidal Whale has arrived.

Storm Eagle can't help but peer downward toward the small buggy. "...Excellent," he muses to himself before he pushes ahead, breaking the sound barrier above them rather intentionally. They're slower, on the sands, he's flying, past the barrier, who has the better chance? ... Actually that's a good question.

Blast Hornet buzzes along, and sees nothing but more sand and roiling dunes. Almost like waves on a sea frozen in time, but dirtier.

Knight Man continues to fly through the air in the Servbot piloted Drache, thankfully the thing is small enough not to be noticed from a distance. Knight hmms "As expected, the usual turn-out of pursuers. I just hopeth we can find the right place in time. Should the wrong person get the pendent tonight, t'would be disasterous for everyone..." The Servbot pilot continues to navigate the air above the desert, as they make their way to their unknown destination.

Tempest Dolphin descends from sublight in a swirl of sparkling starshine. She swims looks around briefly and executes a radar sweep before pulling up alongside Storm Eagle, offering a polite smile and a tightbeam.

Tempest Dolphin sends a radio transmission.

Medieval Fox slogs through the sands with a little help from the natives of the area. It could almost be said that she likes the desert clime... and it is, in fact, one of her favourite locations to be on the globe. The vulpine reploid heads to what she thinks are the proper coordinates.

Firestorm Phoenix enters the Egypt.
Firestorm Phoenix has left.

Cappella has arrived.

Storm Eagle is caught slightly off guard as Tempest comes up beside him. He just hadn't expected anyone else until he banked back around to find Blast. ~Ah Tempest, seems your in better health now.. how are you?~ he asks before glancing downward, still hunting for anything in the sands

Firestorm Phoenix arrives from the Egypt.
Firestorm Phoenix has arrived.

Through the blown sands of the desert walks a traveller. Hunched over against the occational gusts, this wanderer adjusts his etremely wide brimmed hat, and pulls desert camo brown arms back within the comfort of a circus tent sized poncho. The trail he leaves in the sand has a set of footprints, and a wide center line where a tail might drag. He pauses at a high point, and the green forward opics of Tidal Whale can be seen from under that brim, flashing with anticipatory vengeance.

Skimmer Bee arrives from the Sky Above Sahara.
Skimmer Bee has arrived.
Afterburner Accipiter arrives from the Egypt.
Afterburner Accipiter has arrived.

Blaze Dalmatian just keeps on moving along in the sand buggy she's riding in, playing her Gameboy. She's so not taking this whole situation seriously..

Byakko just keeps trudging. However, halfway in several paces away from her hoverbike, she mutters a growl to herself and wonders why she doesn't just go back for the &^$&$&$ing bike, and from there, hover in the air till she sees something. .. Of course, the thing doesn't like flying in the sane, so..

Skimmer Bee buzzes around. Lots of Mavericks here today; that's good. Hope sand doesn't clog up his wings.

Storm Eagle is flying at supersonic speeds, glancing over the endless golden sea for anything. Signs, signs that seem to show themselves with every one of these artifacts.

Afterburner Accipiter roars overhead at a high altitude, making his way quickly towards Egypt.

Skimmer Bee enters the Egypt.
Skimmer Bee has left.
Afterburner Accipiter enters the Egypt.
Afterburner Accipiter has left.

Sewa is also, ironically enough, travelling the desert. She's running at a good speed but she has ran faster but she's trying to limit the usage of her pendant as much as possible. This is the pendant Sewa was certain she'd find Sonic at and she keeps an eye out as she travels. Unfortunately, she's in disguise. How evil!

Blast Hornet buzzes along, and can't see anything but endless sand. "This place is boring!" She cries out to the dry empty air. "But at least it isn't cold."

Tempest Dolphin settles into Storm Eagle's wake and follows the curve with him. ~Still a little fuzzy. I'm not sure. But I can help you find it.~ She's got the energy patterns of these devices burned into her brain by now, so if her scanner falls across an active one, she'll see it. Her scans make rotating blue lines on the sand below her.

Knight Man is still flying across the desert in one of the Bonne's Drache's. He muses "The answer to this riddle tis somewhere out here, but where... tis nothing but a huge mess of sand." He glances at the Servbot pilot "Be sure to keepeth an eye out for anything unusual..."

A sonic boom rings out across the sands, though it is not the one created by Storm Eagle. it is infact the avain of gold, Firestorm Phoenix. Homing on where he's sure the others Mavericks are located.
Storm Eagle nods, starting to bank ever so slightly. May as well go check on Blast again, ~Excellent, thank you for the help Tempest,~ he transmits to her as he begins a return path over some new ground. ~If you sense anything, tell me.~

The Kyuubi-Maverick mutters as she comes to a stop in the sand, and looks upwards, mistaking the forms of flyinjg Mavericks as vultures overhead.m Shakign a fist, the Byakko curses at them in silence, adn then sighs, looking out upon the sands.

Guts Man keeps on searching for anything out of the ordinary or any nomads.

Skimmer Bee hovers to Byakko. "Problems?"

Job arrives from the Egypt.
Job has arrived.

Tempest Dolphin sends a radio transmission.
Storm Eagle receives a radio transmission from Tempest Dolphin.
Storm Eagle sends a radio transmission.

Tempest Dolphin receives a radio transmission from Storm Eagle.
Blast Hornet buzzes along. "*sigh* Sand... Sand... Sand... Guts Man... Sand... Wha?" She says, and stops her buzzing flight. She peers down, and looks at the large red and black Robot Master, Guts Man. "Well, so the Robot Masters are going to get in our way again this time too." Blast says, and drops down to the ground to hide behind a dune, peeking over the top.

Sewa sends a radio transmission to Storm Owl.

Guts Man is standing on top of one sand dune, looking the terrain over. "This is almost worse as the stupid south pole. Only instead of ice and cold, it's sand and heat!"

Tidal Whale enters the Egypt.
Tidal Whale has left.

Blast Hornet peers over at Guts Man, and stays quiet. It'd be a bad idea to let that lummox spot her, and try to squash her like a bug.

Sewa sends a radio transmission.
Storm Eagle receives a radio transmission from Sewa.

Storm Eagle continues his trek across the sky, only to notice something below. A speck, smoething shaking a fist up at him, ~Now what's that?~ He transmits to Tempest before heading down toward it, circling slightly in that decent.

Storm Eagle sends a radio transmission to Sewa.
Sewa receives a radio transmission.

Job moves across the sands on his ever trusty but rather battered hover bike. Kicking up a plum of sand as he moves seeking the location of the last trial.

After recieving a few radio transmissions, Firestorm alters course ever so slightly, and pushes his engines further, accelerating enough to try and catch up with Storm and Tempest.

Tempest Dolphin is tempted to make a nice rainstorm... but no, that would be out of place. Just a few light fluffy clouds to offer some shade in selected areas. The blue lines sweep and rotate, and then she looks back to Storm. ~I believe that is Byakko, Sir.~

Sewa sends a radio transmission.
Storm Eagle receives a radio transmission from Sewa.

Blaze Dalmatian keeps on riding along in her dune buggy...Until it sputters and runs out of gas, "..." Shes hakes her head, "You have to be kidding me." The man looks upset, and she tosses him some money, "Guess you'd better call for a tow service." She says, turning and walking off, in the same direction she was headed. She has a mission out here..

Storm Eagle sends a radio transmission to Sewa.
Sewa receives a radio transmission.

Guts Man crosses his arms, if only he had cool Luke Skywalker binoculars, he could scan the desert for stuff. Like pendants or nomads. But as it is he doesn't, so he just walks across the hot sand.

Sewa sends a radio transmission to Storm Eagle.
Storm Eagle receives a radio transmission from Sewa.

Knight Man continues to jet across the Sahara in a Drache. Not doing much else than that, nope.

Blast Hornet creeps along around the end of her sand dune, and quickly hops over to the next one, cotinueing to watch Guts Man, assuming he's heading towards whichever fellow Robot Masters he came with.
Sewa continues merrily on her way, slowing down somewhat as she catches a transmission... Huh? She replies to a different transmission.

Tempest Dolphin sends a radio transmission.
Storm Eagle receives a radio transmission.

Variable Assault Ride Armor <Glyder> arrives from the Sky Above Sahara.
Variable Assault Ride Armor <Glyder> has arrived.

Storm Eagle sends a radio transmission to Tempest Dolphin.
Tempest Dolphin receives a radio transmission from Storm Eagle.

Byakko keeps walking along, her armor keeping anything visible of her true self from the world. Except the impatience and anger.

Messenger Marou arrives from the Egypt.
Messenger Marou has arrived.

Guts Man came with no one. For he is not a lemming. At least not until the TP starts and people end up fleeing to the same spot.

Variable Assault Ride Armor <Glyder> soars above the desert sands, quartering over the area as its pilot searches for signs of unusual activity.

Storm Eagle slowly continues his decent before landing a few yards away from this... Byakko. There's no greeting for now, he's not heard of this.. Byakko. All he does at this point is wander up to it.

Blast Hornet doesn't know Guts Man is alone, and wants to see who else he came with so she can tell the other Mavericks. Since we want to shoot Ballade in the head. She creeps along behind Guts Man, hoping to stay out of sight.

[Radio: (A) RMBroadband] Snake Man transmits, "Apparently we have visssitorsss to our region..."

Medieval Fox departs from her small party of nomads as she begins to spot other robotic activity in the desert. Explaining her reasons to the group, the Hunter moves towards the location of the others.

Knight Man is still flying in a Drache. Flying in a Drache, yeah!
Sewa catches sight of Stormy landing and so increases her speed a little bit to catch up. She mutters to herself, "Soon things'll become clearer...I hope..."

The Golden Kyuubi-Maverick pauses as a 'vulture' lands before it, it's head tilting to the side as it examines for form. Oh. Storm. It's an eagle. The Fox bows her head breifly, displaying reverance to the eagle, and then stands upright pointing into the desert, the direction she came from, where the Tachyon still sits, protected from the sand and sun by a tarp pulled over it.

[Radio: (B) RMSecureI] Snake Man transmits, "I hope none of them get it into their empty headsss to invessstigate the disssguissse to the bassse."

Messenger Marou glides in, flapping her wings every now and again to keep a good altitude. Having missed out on the last few hunts, she feels that she should definately show up for this one, since it is her orders and all. Squinting, she glances down to the sandy desert below, while trying to make out any familiar shapes.

Alia arrives from the Egypt.
Alia has arrived.

Blaze Dalmatian is wandering along through the desert. La la. Then she spots that Drache. And she remembers that Tron drives those. And then she remembers that Tron owes her a favor, so she tries to flag it down.

Guts Man isn't turning around to take notice of Blast Hornet.

Alloy arrives from the Egypt.
Alloy has arrived.

Storm Eagle peers back the path this reploid came, then ahead towards where it seems to be going. Doesn't talk hrm? He shrugs a little bit. At least this one seemed to respect the Eagle a little. He simply nods back to him

Firestorm Phoenix finally makes it to the general area of where the transmissions were made and begins to search for the ever familiar blue of a certain windy eagle. Finally spotting the avain he's looking for, Phoenix banks down, heading for the Storm and... ah, the silent fox from the northpole.

.. Byakko is very distinctively a female. But she allows it to slide for now rather than bring any attention to it, both because she doesn't know, and because she doesn't talk. At least, not when she plays the part she is playing now.

Blast Hornet creeps along, following Guts Man. Well, how exciting. But at least it's not as boring as flying above and seeing nothing but sand.

Messenger Marou quirks an ear as she dives down a little, folding her wings onto her back to give her a bit more speed in her descent. Hey...that one reploid looks kinda familiar to her. She turns a little, now gliding down towards Blaze in hopes that it's not a Maverick and she's not just imagining things.

Sewa comes up to Storm and Byakko finally and says, "Hey...guys...", she then looks at Byakku and blinks. And the hoverbike. Blink. That's weird. She looks towards Eagle and says, "What's going on?"

Storm Eagle glances up towards Firestorm first, "Ah. Welcome to the Sahara Firestorm!" he calls toward the Phoenix before he turns back toward the reploid. Then he looks at Sewa next, slightly surprised to see her here. "Simply searching for the Artifact Sewa, like I told you on the radio."

Guts Man trips over a stone in the middle of the desert, he falls down from his sand dune.

Byakko reguards all of her fellow Mavericks in Silence, and then keeps walking.

Firestorm Phoenix nods to Storm's greeting, "So this is where we have decided to go? Very well." He isn't so certain that this is the right place, but eh, the rest are here, so why not.

Blast Hornet watches Guts Man trip over a stone, and covers her lowr fce to stifle a snicker. Good thing Gust Man isn't known for his hearing.

Skimmer Bee locates the gathering of the Mavericks, and buzzes to join them.

Tempest Dolphin sends a radio transmission.
Storm Eagle receives a radio transmission.

Blaze Dalmatian shakes her head a little bit, and then hmms, and kneels down, starting to dig around in her backpack for something..

Knight Man continues down the desert path in a Drache. "I do hopeth we art headed in the right direction. The clue did appeareth to state the Valley of Kings as the destination, though I art afraid I know not the exact location." He turns back to the Servbot "Continueth to taketh us in the directions Tron gaveth us, hopefully we shouldst cometh across something."

Storm Eagle sends a radio transmission.
Tempest Dolphin receives a radio transmission.

Job speeds along the desert path himself, looking about as he speeds along. "Sand, sand and more sand. I'm stuck in a giant litter box." Job shakes his head and heads on.

Storm Eagle continues after Byakko once his greetings are finished, "Come now... lets see if we can find this medallion.." he says as he takes to the air once more, "Sewa," he calls, "Be cautious here, I'm sure many will be arriving soon if this is indeed the correct area!" That said, he takes off.

Messenger Marou lands a few feet away from Blaze, tucking her wings against her back so they're out of the way. "We meet again, huh?" the demoness chirps happily, while waving towards the canine reploid.

Blaze Dalmatian blinks, and looks up, "Oh, hey Messenger." She grins, "Yeah, funny how that works out." She says, "Not the best area I've ever been in, to say the least.."

Medieval Fox approaches the Maverick entourage but stops when she's still a good distance away. She isn't here to intrude, only to observe.

Tempest Dolphin shimmers into starlight and heads up into the sky again. For some reason she's decided to leave.

Messenger Marou chuckles. "I'm enjoying the place, myself. It's nice and warm here. Not cold, like New York." She glances around, quirking a brow curiously. "So...is this the place?"

Blaze Dalmatian shakes her head a little, "Here, no." She says, looking around. She's on top of a sand dune, which is almost like a huge hill of sand going down, "But I'm gonna keep looking in this general area."

Firestorm Phoenix follows after the Eagle, heading back into the sky. Green eyes gazing out at the endless sands of the Sahara, "This place is as bad as Antarctica. Though atleast its not cold."

Skull Man arrives from the Egypt.
Skull Man has arrived.

Messenger Marou nods. "Well, here's hoping to you being right." She grins, then begins glancing around. "Are we looking for something in particular, or just something out of the ordinary?"

Byakko continues to follow her fellow Mavericks. And isn't posing much to save on spam and ebcause her sanity is down to nil.
Lawn Gnome slowly rolls over the sandy dunes from somewhere in the east, a tiny little speck in the wavering desert heat, most likely unnoticed by all.

Skimmer Bee is buzzing along, too.

Storm Eagle simply keeps his eyes scanning much like Firestorm's own. He's looking for anything in these never-ending sands that would stand out. "Keep your eyes open for anything Firestorm. I'd imagine you know how these treasure hunts work better then myself."

Guts Man just gets right back up and resumes searching for nomads and tusken raiders. Or nomadic tusken raiders!

Knight Man hmms as he looks at the vast expanse of sand. "...I think we're lost." He shrugs at the Servbot pilot "Keep going though, we shouldst findeth something sooner or later."

Blast Hornet holds back more laugh, and continues on behind Guts Man. o O (Hrm... It doesn't really look like there are any other Masters around... Unless they're hiding...)

Sewa looks towards Storm and Firestorm, "...Who is that? And why's she on the Tachyon?", she furrows her brow irritably...And then shakes her head, "The place will likely show itself."

Cappella has connected.

Blaze Dalmatian shrugs a little, "Nothing's ever ordinary with these. Umm.." She finds what she was looking for, and pulls it out. unfolding it. A snowboard? "Here, this should work." She puts her backpack back on, and hops onto the board, "You should like, look from the air, Marou. It'd be better off there. Radio me if you spot anything." And with that, she pushes off and starts to snowboard her way down the dune.

Sewa looks towards Storm and Firestorm, "...Who is that?", she furrows her brow irritably...And then shakes her head, "The place will likely show itself."

Ah, so much pain awaits the foolish. Pain for those that seek power, without knowing the price to pay. And for some...? Deactivation. The eternal slumber. Whom better, then, to guide the weary to their never ending rest than Death himself? Skull Man, that is. The electronic Angel of Death riding quite slowly upon the skeletal horse, Pale Mount. His tattered and ancient cowl rustling like corpseus skin against his lithe frame, keeping his features hidden from the eyes of mere Mortals. That wicked sharp scythe, Shame, casually leaning upon one shoulder - while souless emerald optics glow from underneath his hood.

Nothing more than tracks in the sand mark his slow but unavoidable travel. The Angel of Death is a creature of patience... he is in no hurry..

Messenger Marou eyes Blaze, then shakes her head and flares her wings out, taking to the sky. Circling like some type of demonic vulture, she attempts to cover as much ground as she can.

Storm Eagle sends a radio transmission to Sewa.
Sewa receives a radio transmission from Storm Eagle.

[Radio: (B) RMSecureI] Shhh! Sword Man transmits, "Sir Snake? What is your status? Do you see any visible security threats?"

[Radio: (B) RMSecureI] Snake Man transmits, "None at the moment, but there'sss a lot of enemy activitiesss clossse by."

Medieval Fox continues her walk across the hot sands, her dark staff giving her balance as needed when she climbs the higher dunes. The fox pauses at the top of one sandy hill to look at the area below, using a hand to shade her eyes.

Lawn Gnome rumbles along. Still a tiny speck. Pay no heed to the lawn gnome. Meanwhile, beneath the dunes...

Chitinous Khan, king of the Saharan Scorpion people, lets out a shriek as his kingdom rumbles around him! His little desert scorpion servants panic around him. "He has come!" they wail! "The giant that the legends spoke of! He has come to destroy us all! Aiiiiieeee-" Their cries are silenced as their little scorpion-hole in the sand collapses, burying them all. Up above, the lawn gnome continues to roll along, heedless of the destruction it has wrought and the prophecies it has fulfulled. Anyway.

Sewa shakes her head, "No..I wasn't trying to...", she pauses for a moment and then says, "...I'd rather have anybody but a Maverick get this one...Because we might -lose- that person as a family member...y'know?", she frowns, "And I guess she's not here or ahead of us...It's like she dropped off the face of the earth."

Messenger Marou sends a radio transmission to Blaze Dalmatian.
Blaze Dalmatian receives a radio transmission from Messenger Marou.

[Radio: (B) RMSecureI] Shhh! Sword Man transmits, "Brothers currently occupying the Citadel, be on guard. It is very possible that the enemy activity in Egypt may spill over nearby. I suggest that you NOT open the bay doors for fear of compromising the base's location."

[Radio: (B) RMSecureI] Delta CO Dust Man transmits, "Understood."

Blaze Dalmatian sends a radio transmission to Messenger Marou.
Messenger Marou receives a radio transmission.

Messenger Marou sends a radio transmission to Blaze Dalmatian.
Blaze Dalmatian receives a radio transmission from Messenger Marou.

Knight Man hrms, and he turns to the Servbot piloting the Drache he's flying in "We art nearing the coordinates that Tron gaveth us. Let's hopeth her hunch was correct..."

Blaze Dalmatian sends a radio transmission.
Messenger Marou receives a radio transmission.

Byakko could actually tell storm a bit more about the treasure hunts than Firestorm, having come closer to winning several of them than anyone on the team. But she's not speaking. She just keeps walking.. and listening to Sewa...

Storm Eagle simply continues to fly, looking for a difference in the seas of golden sand. "Anything Firestorm?" he calls back to him, flying at a rather casual pace now.

Messenger Marou sends a radio transmission.
Blaze Dalmatian receives a radio transmission from Messenger Marou.

Job oO(I wonder where TD is? I thought he was going to be in on this operation. Oh well on with the quest then again is Sunstar's powers worth the price?) Job floors it and races across the desert landscape heading to his desitantion.

Blaze Dalmatian sends a radio transmission.
Messenger Marou receives a radio transmission.
Messenger Marou sends a radio transmission.
Blaze Dalmatian receives a radio transmission.

Lawn Gnome comes to a halt as its batteries die. Uh oh. And the heat of the desert claims another victim!

Messenger Marou continues to glide about. Weee!

Guts Man continues searching. Oh what fun this is.

Blast Hornet follows Guts Man. Yay!

Vile has arrived.

Messenger Marou is gliding about the sand dunes, looking for signs of anything unusual, while keeping track of Blaze Dalmatian below her. Every now and then she'll send off a radio.

Skimmer Bee is buzzing along with the other Mavericks in the area, just keeping up. Attempts at striking up conversation, especially with the fox-like Maverick, seem to have failed.

o/` Roaming sheep in search of the place you'd never know, listen to the wind, until you can hear the sign. Roaming sheep in front of the gate that close so tight, take a rest upon the earth, until you can find the key. Roaming sheep in search of the people full of love, bathe yourself in water, until your mind is soothed again. Roaming sheep in front of the deep and dreamless sleep, here you're by the fire, able to warm your heart.. o/`
Byakko Keeps walking along after the fellow Mavericks in Silence, though the faint sound of a song playing in her mind comes to her ears, and softly, the beast that walks in golden armor, starts to hum gutterally, as she growls. She is following her fellow Mavericks as they walk along, scouring the desert for some sign, in a prade-like troupe.
o/` Each and every m,oment, oh, as time goes by, all in this world has to change.. o/`

Blast Hornet is following behind Guts Man, hoping the huge robot master doesn't spot her. She had been looking for any signs of something unusual, and only found the un-extrordinary Guts Man. But he did fall over an land on his face, so it ws worth it.

Storm Eagle continues in his flights above the Sahara, searching, scanning, reaching out with anything he can to try and find some difference, some... spot in this endless sea that seems different. There had to be something out here. An Oasis, a tomb, perhaps a forgotten pyramid. He doesn't know what he's looking for, he just knows he's looking for it. Another glance goes back to Firestorm, wondering if he's seen anything yet.

Blaze Dalmatian is sandboarding along the dunes below Messenger, trying to see if she can spot anything down on the ground, while Messenger keeps track of the area from the air.

Medieval Fox is about one or two dunes away from the Maverick party. Having spotted them earlier, the vulpine Hunter is keeping an eye on the troupe in case they get into any trouble.

Guts Man keeps searching the desert for nomads and that giant dune that was seen in the vision. There sure are alot of big dunes around here, if he could only figure out which one was in the vision he'd be set.

Knight Man is in a Drache that Tron gave him, being piloted by a Servbot "Alright, these art the coordinates that Tron gaveth us. Let's hope her hunch was correct, and this tis the true Valley of the Kings." He prepares to depart "I'll proceedeth alone from here on." He opens the exit hatch to the Drache and leaps out. The Drache was still considerably in the air, though Knight is prepared and takes his shield and lands on it when he hits the dune and surfs down towards the valley, or the valley at the coordinates that Tron gave him anyway.

Sewa sighs and puts away her vocal radio and goes back to listening to text, which is more annoying, but more secretive. She looks towards Byakko and says, "...Sorry...Just wish I could find someone...I'm alright.", she narrows her eyes and scours the desert for some sign of anything interesting looking or Sonic Banshee herself.

And finally, after an hour or two of searching at sub and super sonic speed... "...Firestorm.." he calls to him. Pointing toward a slight difference in the desert. "I believe we've found something..." with that said the eagle soars toward this area in the desert...

And, out in the sea of sand... A lone suit of armor stands out in the sand, emerging from over a massive sand dune. Encased within... The Maverick General, Vile. The mystery man is moving in no particular direction, either, but he seems to have /something/ in mind regarding his destination. More interestingly, the fallen angel seems to be... Taking it slowly, as he stomps through the sand, an illusion or a dark mirage. The Mavericks -- His Mavericks -- would be on-site shortly. They would provide him the firepower he needed..

Messenger Marou squints her optics, shaking her head a little as she mutters into her radio once more.

As Knight surfs down the dune he landed on, he notices something near the base. From what he can tell they seem to be some strange tombs. He nods "Alright, this must be the place. Tron, I promise I'll keepeth an eye here, at least Lord Wily isn't here to endanger himself..." He jumps off the shield and reattatches it to his back, and progresses on foot the rest of the way, which isn't too far.

Messenger Marou sends a radio transmission to Blaze Dalmatian.
Blaze Dalmatian receives a radio transmission from Messenger Marou.

Alia is actually here. And in the middle of trying to avoid all the Mavericks and Masters and .. just about everyone else .. though wearing bright pink and black wasn't the best way to go unseen.. she follows the flow of movement. Which has miraculously begun to gravitate toward some tombs in the sand. Amazing, isn't it.

Blaze Dalmatian sends a radio transmission.
Messenger Marou receives a radio transmission.

Byakko has been following the commander bird.. And thus, when he calls out, and takes off, so does she, loping off towards the direction the bird has headed, in a sprint that's uncomely in the sands that shift beneath heavy foot. o/` Roaming sheep in search of the place you'd never know, better not take a breath until you can hear the sign. Roaming sheep in search of the place you've never seen, better watch yourself, until you can find the key.. o/`

You enter the Desolate Tombs.
Desolate Tombs

In the last century, thanks to the aid of technology, most of Egypt and the rest of the Sahara has been scoured for ruins and artifacts of the past. It is very common to one who travels in the Sahara to come across an excavation sight, as they litter the the desert's scenery. This series of tombs is one such, mostly barren tunnels and chasms, they wind around the depths of the Sahara in many good directions. However, one section of the tombs appears to be relatively newly 'carved', as the rock gleams freshly, and droplets of water run along its rims. Here there are strange etchings, not hieroglyphics, but something different. More like carvings in the brown rockface, but they shimmer with a quiet incandescence as they run along the walls of this particular tunnel.

Obvious exits:
Out <O> leads to Eastern Sahara.
Alia arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Alia has arrived.
Messenger Marou arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Messenger Marou has arrived.
Storm Eagle arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Storm Eagle has arrived.
Blaze Dalmatian arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Blaze Dalmatian has arrived.
Guts Man arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Guts Man has arrived.
Sonic Banshee arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Sonic Banshee has arrived.
Skimmer Bee arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Skimmer Bee has arrived.
Vile arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Vile has arrived.
Firestorm Phoenix arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Firestorm Phoenix has arrived.
Alia has disconnected.
Alia has connected.
Medieval Fox arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Medieval Fox has arrived.
Sewa arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Sewa has arrived.

[Radio: (E) Public] Plum transmits, "This is GNN Anchorgirl Plum reporting live from the Egypt, one of the areas rumored to be the location of the mysterious tenth pendant. We'll be covering things live all evening long, whether or not we're in the right place or not! Keep tuned in to GNN folks... it's gonna be an exciting night!"

Plum arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Plum has arrived.
Job arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Job has arrived.
Blast Hornet arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Blast Hornet has arrived.

Skimmer Bee notices Blast Hornet coming in, and buzzes to meet her.

Messenger Marou sticks close to Blaze, and since she's just so darn cool, activates her flame aura to act as a living torch. "Hrm...interesting place."

Blast Hornet is behind Guts Man, trying to be quiet. She brings a finger up to her face and glares threateningly at Skimmer, trying to make him be quite. Or else Guts Man mgiht squish the two flying insects. Like bugs.

Byakko arrives at the Tombs, and ducks into them slowly, drawing from the dempths of her armor, a lighter, which she flicks on. Then, carrying on forward some steps into the temble, she starts examining the walls, silently, especially as, wandering into the tomb further, she comes across a set of ruins which appear.. New.. and unlike any heiroglpyh she's seen..

Knight Man thankfully is sort of prepared for the dark. Tron did send him afterall. She figured it may turn into a spelunking expedition, and she gave Knight some materials to get by. Knight whips out a nifty lighting torch thing and begins to make his way down into the cave, hearing voices behind and ahead of him, seems he's not alone, as always.

Storm Eagle lands outside one of the many passages and simply decends inward. "Firestorm, mind giving us a light?" he asks. He was a Phoenix after all, he should be able to do something along those lines he would assume.

Skimmer Bee nods and transmits, <Oops, heh, right, right.> and 'casually' buzzes off in another direction.

Vile enters into the matrix of tunnels and tombs beneath the sands... That was one thing. But going deeper within... Was another. It would have to be something that had not already been raided by busty tomb raiders and smart-alecking archeologists - And that, more than anything, was where the challenge lay.

Guts Man enters the excavation site, he spends a few minutes looking around.

Job enters into the maze of tombs under the desert. oO(I always wanted to tomb raid at least once. Looks like this is new... odd very odd.) Job pulls out a flash light of some sort and turns it on to light his way into the inky darkness.

Blaze Dalmatian nods a little bit, "Yeah." She says, "Lets just keep on going. We've gotta explore." One of her fists lights on fire, to keep a light of her own//

Medieval Fox's dark staff makes faint clicking noises as it touches the rock floor. The Hunter is making her way along the tunnel, running a hand along the wall. She's keeping half an eye on the path itself, while the other is scanning over the imagery. Fox begins to notice the occasional change as well... from paintings to the odd engraving.

So many different entrances to these tombs. So far, thanks to that, Alia had managed to avoid getting seen by anyone, apparently. And so the Hunter Dispatcher keeps wandering, bemused.

Firestorm Phoenix nods to Eagle, "No problem." Both hands erupt into crackling flames, lighting the tunnle around them quite nicely, atleast untill told otherwise. "Lets try and find the others while we're at it."

Messenger Marou nods to Blaze. "Hey..you any good at reading those funny symbols on the wall there?" Still glowing due to the fmales dancing around her, the demoness steps towards them to get a better look.

Plum roller-skates into the area, smiling as she takes note of the others entering this large tomb, Camera floating over her like a little helicopter.

Sewa follows Byakko. She draws one of her daggers and ignites the flamethrower at a low level flame for light and follows after her since she kind of picked her as her 'leader' so she doesn't get lost. "Be careful...", she warns casually.

Skimmer Bee checks around on his person for a flashlight, finds one, and clicks it on.

Storm Eagle nods in agreement, "Yes of course.." he says as he begins to walk. The light clicks of his talons most likely echo through out this place. "...Look at this Firestorm," he says pointing at the walls. "These seem rather new..."

Blast Hornet follows after Guts Man, and looks at the walls as she goes. o O (Never been in a real tomb before... Place looks kind of interesting... But I've got more important things to do than lok at old walls!)

Vile seems to walk alone - Solely alone. He could care less about the others. The Mavericks had only proven to slow him down in the past, but now... No, now he would operate alone. If he needed the firepower... He would tug on the puppet strings he had taken from Sigma. But that was only if. Vile stalks along, paying little attention to any particular designs on the wall, but taking them into account - Clues, yes. Something potentially important, yes. Interesting beyond that basic purpose? Definitely not.

Blaze Dalmatian hmms a bit, and moves towards them, "Eh...Not really, but I can try." She says quietly, as she runs one of her hands along the symbols..

Byakko was just thinking that, as she looks to Sewa, Firestorm, and Storm Eagle. Without much word, the Kyuubi-Maverick turns, and starts to slowly trail her way down the wall, gloved fingers touching the new Heiroglyphs on the wall thoughtfully, as she attempts to follow it to it's source.

Messenger Marou flicks an ear back curiously. "Knew I should've studies foreign languages..." she mutters. "Ah well." She then blinks, "HEY! Do you have any paper and a writing tool? We can make rubbings of the symbols."

Job moves through the tunnels and mutters as his light lights up the armor profile of what looks like a Knight who is moving through the tombs as well. oO(A master Uhoh.) "Hey you up there!" Job calls out. oO(Please let it be a reploid and not a master.)

Medieval Fox mutters as she can't see the markings so easily anymore. Reaching over her shoulder, the Hunter pulls out one of her many arrows from her quiver and strikes it on her boot. As she does so the arrowhead ignites and burns merrily, providing adequate light once again.

Skimmer Bee buzzes after Firestorm Phoenix and the other Mavericks with him, not wanting to be left behind.

Alia pauses to study the incandescent carvings on the wall nearer her for several moments as Job passes by her, brow furrowed briefly before noticing the Gumbiebot. And sliding into step behind him. In perfect step. Nobody's here, really.

Skimmer Bee studies the carvings on the wall for a while, taking mental note of them in GREAT detail, as he is wont to do. He's a curious little fellow with a great memory!

Knight Man glances over his shoulder at the one who calls out to him from behind, not breaking his pace of walking. He quirks an eyebrow beneath the black darkness under his helmet "...yes?" His voice doesn't sound friendly, but not unfriendly either, and he continues to walk down the tunnels, not breaking his pace to talk.

Guts Man is on his own, so it's only natural he walks across the desolate tombs by himself. Or so he thinks. Blasted bees! Tonight Guts MAn is very perceivable, one of the tombs seems to be newer than the others. Could this be the right path?

Storm Eagle continues along these narrow halls, looking upon the rather new engravings in slight awe. "This is incredible.. this can't be as old as the Egyptian empire... this has to be the right place.." he muses as he continues on. A glance is given towards Skimmer, "If you can walk, please do so, I'd rather pay this place some respect and stay quiet.." he tells him. The eagle even starts to consciously try to reduce the noise of his talons on the floor.

Blaze Dalmatian hmms, and takes off her backpack, digging through it, "Here's some paper, umm..." She searches some more, "Pencil. Here, go for it."

Skimmer Bee blinks, shrugs, and touches down. He doesn't really LIKE walking, but he can.

Quint has arrived.
Get on your knees, simpletons! Quint is here!

Messenger Marou nods, taking the pencil and paper, then puts the paper against the wall. Holding it in place with her tail, the demoness begins to rub the pencil lead overtop of the paper, imprinting the symbols onto it. "There we go..."

Blast Hornet is a wasp, darnit! Not a bee! The femme wasp continues on along behind Guts Man, but doesn't yet notice the change in wall texture and carvings. But she is in the strange, seemingly new corridor.

Firestorm Phoenix nods to Storm as he looks back to observe the Vixen and Sewa, "Hmm, we're still missing Blast. I wonder where she got off too." He really doesn't care about the walls being new, since frankly, he isn't surprised.

Skimmer Bee says, "Blast's off following Guts Man; I saw her earlier and she waved me off."

Byakko shoots Skimmer a glower of red hot optics, before grunting softly at Stormie. She points down the tunnel the Glyphs seem to travel down... And starts to head down that tunnel silently, her many tails swishing slightly as she goes. There's something to the writing, but until she's seen it all, she doesn't know what.

Vile's crimson optic cleaves through the darkness like a blade through butter, announcing his coming and going as he stomps through the tombs away from the rest of his Maverick mini--... Er, comrades. Something that would probably turn out as a bad call in the end; But we shall see. He didn't know how to read hieroglyphics, so to spend time on them would be wasteful. So, he would simply continue delving deeper into the subterranean labyrinth. After all... The greatest prize of them all was here, and, potentially, the most dangerous theft of his will. But perhaps -he- could overcome Sunstar's influence and become truly independent. Perhaps not. In either case... That power would further his goal.

Skimmer Bee wonders why he's being glowered at, but doesn't expect an answer out of the silent one.

Cappella arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Cappella has arrived.
Stealth Nekojin arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Stealth Nekojin has arrived.
Snake Man arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Snake Man has arrived.
Ten arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Ten has arrived.
Ether Skunk arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Ether Skunk has arrived.
Alloy arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Alloy has arrived.

Medieval Fox pauses at one point where the number of engravings is almost equal to the number of painted images and carefully draws a finger along the carving. "Looks to be pretty fresh," she murmurs to herself as she holds her burning arrow higher. "And there's a small source of water as well. What is this odd iridescence?"

Morph Moth arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Morph Moth has arrived.
Gimel arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Gimel has arrived.

Plum heads down toward some likely-looking individual. Of course, she skates towards the biggest newsmaker here... VILE. "Hello, there, Vile, the world would like to know what kind of things you'd like this pendant for, and what exactly do you think it is?" She circles the Maverick Fett, holding up her microphone for a word from him.

Seismic Earthworm arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Seismic Earthworm has arrived.
Gravity Man arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Gravity Man has arrived.
Dr. Doppler arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Dr. Doppler has arrived.
Stormbringer Selkie arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Stormbringer Selkie has arrived.
Shyster arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Shyster has arrived.
Sword Man arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Sword Man has arrived.
Quantum Kitsune arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Quantum Kitsune has arrived.
Seismic Earthworm enters the Eastern Sahara.
Seismic Earthworm has left.

Gravity Man beams at Sword, waving him on. "Ha! We made it after all!" His excitable tone leaves no room for debate -- he's seeing this one through.

Job says, "I take it you searching for the pendant like everyone else?" Job asks the knight as he heads down the tunnel himself. "Might I ask your name?"

Afterburner Accipiter arrives from the Eastern Sahara.
Afterburner Accipiter has arrived.

Snake Man simply follows everyone else. He's here to watch the others mostly, and make sure they don't mean any harm to the base.

Sewa follows along. She herself isn't bothering to study her surroundings. She isn't here to get the pendant. ... And the pendant wants different people anyway, likely. "Urgh...Guess this is it.....I hope everybody got my message...", she shifts unsteadily and ponders sending out a transmission.

Sword Man glares at Gravity's exuberence as he manages to drag him along on this hunt. "I do not believe I have let myself be led on like this...." He follows Gravity, trying to make the best of the situation. "Well, perhaps this is the best way to monitor our foes..." he says softly....

Guts Man is near the section of the tomb where there's a newly carved looking section.

Storm Eagle simply continues along these silent halls, still slightly impressed by the nature of the tomb itself.

Messenger Marou continues to etch the carvings into paper like a good girl.

Blast Hornet creeps silently along behind Guts Man. Sneak sneak. o O (I wonder where the other Mavericks are?) She thinks to herself, and now sees the strange new carvings on the wall. How odd.

Knight Man maintains his glance at Job, while still maintaining his pace deep into the cave. Had he been thinking he would have worn his human disguise, but there's no matter now. Hiding his identity would just waste time "I art Knight Man, if thou cannot tell." He continues walking "..and I do not so much seeketh the pendent, that I do answers to this whole situation..."

Stealth Nekojin stays to the ceiling, moving silently and stealthily along, dodging the larger peoples and trying to get an accurate idea of who the heck is here.

Blaze Dalmatian hrms, "Yeah, lets get all of these things written down, Marou. Then we'll be able to study them later.."

Gravity Man nods his agreement to Sword. "Exactly. Keep an eye on our foes, and maybe we'll find out a few things that we can report back." He beams. "This is going to work out just fine, don't worry. Just stick close. You and me are in this together now."

The 'biggest newsmaker in the place' halts in the darkness, as one rather foolish skating newsgirl stops in front of him, pointing the camera square in his face. ... Fool. And he's got an answer to her question, as well. That answer is to slowly lift the Vile Cannon into place as it clicks with energy cartridges loading into the barrel, before firing just about half a dozen rounds into the newsgirl's direction, the muzzle flashes from each cartridge detonating in a release of plasma lightning up the entire corridor.

Ether Skunk rattles off a few quick radio messages as she peeks into the dark tomb entrance, sending out messages to the rest of the hunters. <<Hello?!>> she asks. <<Hello?! Hello?! Alloy?! Medieval?! Heeelllloooo-hoooooo!!!>> She quickly slinks inside and tucks herself into the shadows for now, dimming the ambient light of her optics and attempting to remain hidden for now...

Vile misses Plum with his Scatter Blaster attack.

Sword Man nods back to his brother. "For better, or for worse, brother, we are together in this venture....."

Quietly, the duo of Elite Master and pogo make slowly their way through the winding tombs, the optics behind Quint's dark visor scanning their surroundings carefully. Not very far ahead of Snake Man, the two slow their pace in caution, unknowing of what amazing adventures they'll get themselves into today.

Shyster enters the Eastern Sahara.
Shyster has left.

Messenger Marou gets a few more done, then curls the paper up into a tube, handing it and the pencil back to Blaze. "Where next, temporary partner of mine?"

Job says, "I see, Knight man. The name is Job." oO(Great the Dark Knight of the Master's himself.) Job keeps up his treck down the hallway. "I hear your umm brothers have had some problems after getting the pendants Is that ture?"

Ten carefully makes her way into the tombs, looking about as she does. The phoenix is carefully walking, feeling annoyed with the fact that she can't fly in the closed space. Her annoyance is quickly swallowed up as she witnesses the incredible mystery of the tombs. "Wow!"

Gimel is silent as he looks around the ruins, optics shifting left to right as he studies the walls, a smirk crossing his face as he moves along, the riddle going through his head as he focuses on a few of the carvings

Firestorm Phoenix moves along with his fellow mavericks, taking note of the markings, but not making anything out of them at this time. "Now if we can just manage to figure out what the problem that lies ahead."

Byakko the Maverick Fox says nothing. She hasn't said anything since she first made her appearance, and she's not going to say anything now. But to save on spam, she's going to keep her poses short since it's already going to be terrible. Whee. She's currently follwoing the trail of New-looking Glyphs, trying to see where they lead from.

Afterburner Accipiter slowly walks over to the small gathering of his fellow Repliforce members and gently places his right hand on Blaze Dalmatian's left shoulder as not to startle him, but alert him of his presence in the matter.

Ungodly spam aside, Alia remains still. The irridescent carvings draw her attention briefly before simply following the path they seemed to be pointing. It seemed like the most logical answer. As her path cross .. lots of others .. she looks for someone marginally familiar.

Alloy steps into the tomb, not entirely sure how he managed to find the place, but what the hey? He's here, so he starts traversing the corridors, mindful of any traps that might be present. Coming across the entrance to the somewhat newer complex, he murmurs to himself, "What's this?" and enters, fairly sure that something this out of place should be a fairly good starting point. Hearing Ether's transmission, he makes one of his own in reply.

Knight Man continues moving forward, deeper into the cavern, not paying total attention to the reporter, but not ignoring him either "Mine brothers have gotten three of them thus far, and while I art worried about their conditions, I haveth other things on mine mind right now." He stops as he comes in front of a wall with markings on them, and examines it "...dost thou haveth anyone else to bother?"

Storm Eagle nods slightly to the Phoenix behind him, "That's always the trick Firestorm," he says as he continues his trek through the passages. "I imagine more are on their way. Simply hold steadfast, keep your wits about you and pray that one of us mavericks get it.

Sword Man trails a hand along the walls of the tomb, taking in the various etchings and eccentricies of them. "Interesting. I believe brother Pharaoh would be pleased in such ancient, yet noble surroundings." However, he says nothing else as the duo make their way deeper into the area.

Pulling her fedora over her eyes, Cappella steps cautiously through the tomb, scanning her surrounding closely. The thief frowns just abit as her fingers lightly run across the wall, letting her gloved fingers touch the carvings.

Quantum Kitsune hrms, glancing around. "Great. Why did I volunteer for this? I'm not an archaeologist, for the luvva Pat Boone ..." She taps her chin, eyeing the architecture and structure ... "Well, I guess we'd better get rollin' here ... We'd better mark our path, so we can avoid backtracking. Feel free to mar, deface, or otherwise demolish the ancient writings of remarkable historical significance."

Alloy sends a radio transmission to Ether Skunk.
Ether Skunk receives a radio transmission from Alloy.

Plum leaps back, nimbly avoiding the scatter fire, and skates back. "And that was Vile's opinion... always a model citizen, but I'll probably have to talk to Sigma about his interview etiquette the next time I interview him." She moves over toward the other group of Mavericks, the avians. "Let's hope these guys are more polite than Vile. Excuse me!" She addresses Storm Eagle. "What does your group intend to gain from this pendant, and what do you think it is?"

Gravity Man, suddenly a bit nervous by this whole ordeal, flips to the ceiling in an effort to feel like he has at least SOME control over the situation. His head is still at about eye-level with Sword's, and he finds the curious sight even more so from an inverted stance. A marvel, indeed.

Sewa hasn't caught on that Byakko doesn't speak. Sewa probably figures that she's just angsty or something. Or speaks in Hiryunese, which like these Hyroglyphics are unstranslatable by Earthian means.

Medieval Fox glances up to try and find the source of the water. Not finding it, Fox continues her way up the tunnel where the iridescent carvings are more numerous. She flicks an ear at the sounds of others but keeps moving on her own for the moment.

Quint's already-crawling speed winds down to almost a stop, allowing himself to devote minutes of his precious time in gazing upon the etchings made upon the wall. He says nothing; he simply watches, quietly, as his prized pogo begins to give itself distance from its master. The Elite Master, however, has yet to notice the exploring Sakugarne.

Vile's optic slowly fades. As his rounds fire, he already begins to walk, ignorant of whether to connect or not - He could care less. It got her out of the way. With that, he stalks on. He didn't give a rat's about pretty pictures on the wall... Besides. If he had anything to say about it this entire temple would be reduced to ash by the end of the day.

Blast Hornet is in the wierd new corridor, but can't read the walls. Not that anyone would ever bother learning hoe yo read Hieroglyphs anyway, and she can't tell that they are some 'new and improved' heiroglyphs. She walks behind Guts Man, still undetected by the large Robot Master.

Ether Skunk drops out of her hiding-spot as she spots Alloy padding past, following him quietly- little cushions of antigrav beneath her feet ensuring the silence of her steps. At his radio message, she smiles brightly and says aloud... "Yeah, it is pretty neat, isn't it?!" Boo! Surprise! "So, do you know if anybody else is down here?" She glances around at the nearby shapes of Masters and Mavericks, before finding a nook to tuck herself into again. "On our side, that is."

Alia pulls out, of all things .. a small notebook. And in it, as she walks, scribbling several very quick sketches of the glyphs written on the walls. Just because she couldn't translate them -now- didn't mean she wouldn't try again at some later point in the future.

For those that managed to take a right turn and find the 'newly' carved portion of the expansive series of Tombs, will notice that the etchings along the walls seem to flicker for a moment as you move down them.
Blaze Dalmatian scratches her head a little bit, "Hmm. Just keep moving.." She says, "We'll figure it out as we move along.."

Stealth Nekojin studies the carvings as he moves along, saving them to memory so he can show them to someone whose field is more suited to translating them later. He keeps to the roof, stealth field on full power in the hopes of not having to get into a pitched battle with the others searching when the time comes for the 'showdown'.

Storm Eagle hrms slightly, blinking at the walls for a moment. "Firestorm... did you do anything with your flames just now?" he asks as they continue to go.

T Byakko pauses, peering at the Glyphs, as they flicker and flash. The Kyuubi-Maverick tilts her head, and reaches a claw out to touch them.. before she continues following, looking them over, curious in thought.
Job says, "Okay, I'll leave you alone then. For what it is worth watch your self." Job heads down the hallway looking at the odd symbols on the wall.

Guts Man keeps moving down the newly carved portion of the tombs, as the etchings on the wall flicker he presses a hand the flickering writting.
[OOC] Terra says, "For now, yes."

Blast Hornet sees the glyphs flicker. o O (Well, I'm no expert, but I'm sure the walls aren't supossed to light up. There's no electricity down here. The wierdness begins.) She says, and wanders on.

Vile pauses a bit as the characters etched into the wall flicker... Hmph. That was not his actions... And he was alone in this sector of the ruins. He had seen similar in the other locations. With that, he continues on, stomping forward.

Dr. Doppler is being neither careful nor respectful. He's stomping about these old tombs, heading ever inwards, his labcoat flapping behind him, spying all the other reploids, androids, and worthless organic beings gathered around him. He can't read hieroglyphics, real or otherwise, so he walks around with a medical scanner, checking for anything particularly out of the ordinary... And behind the majority of people of here.

Skimmer Bee scuttles along as fast as he can, trying to keep up while walking.

Messenger Marou nods, starting to walk forward, glancing around every now and then. "I wish I knew what these mean...and why they're all shiny and whatnot. I'm totally clueless here." Stretching a hand out, she turns to touch the new symbols in front of her.

Knight Man rubs his chin as he examines the markings. Curious. He can't seem to find a translation in any database, and they don't look like normal heiroglyphs. He doesn't pay attention as Job leaves, instead he tries placing his hand on the wall to see if it's a solid as it looks.

Gravity Man is utterly unaware of the flickerings, having been looking in the wrong direction at precisely the long time. Staring up at the floor did that to a person sometimes.

Afterburner Accipiter continues to follow Blaze Dalmatian, she being one of the only Repliforce members he can recognize in the dark. Silently, he flickers his engines, giving off a blast of heat and flame to enlighten the cave where he can see a little better. His attention seems to shift from side to side as he examines the walls for more physical clues, such as other passageways or unqiue sculptures.

Sword Man is taken aback as the glyphs he was examining before suddenly gleam and flicker. "Most interesting...yet disturbing. I believe maybe this is not meant to be, brother. However, I doubt you are willing to leave, true?"

Firestorm Phoenix blinks as the glyphs flicker, "Wasn't me." He also reaches a taloned finger out, tracing his finger along several of the glyphs as he moves down the passage.

Alloy jumps slightly as he hears Ether's voice. "Oh! Ether, it's you." he exclaims in surprise, but calming down quickly. "I'm not sure who else on our side is- What?" he stops speaking as the intricate carvings on the wall flicker. "Well that's new. Unless Egypt's government put this in as a tourist attraction, I'd say we're on the right path."

Sewa looks towards Plum as she tries to interview Stormy..and just groans... "Wonderful...", she says, "This is gonna be televised.", she doesn't seem to think it's so wonderful and a cloak appears around her to hide her at least somewhat with all the darkness and only low level illumination.

Morph Moth peers at the shimmering of the carvings as he passes along down the tunnel. o 0(Intetersting, definately more shimmering than any strand of my silk. What material could that be?)

Medieval Fox spares the walls another glimpse as the shimmering increases and decreases. "That's odd," she muses. "Considering that my arrow isn't at the right angle to produce this reaction."

Gravity Man nods. "True. Very true. What's got you so shaken up all of a sudden?"

Blaze Dalmatian nods a little bit, "Just roll with it." She says, "We'll figure out what's up with them further in. Trust me."

Ten momentarily stops in her tracks, she is so awestruck by the interior of the tomb. "Wow! This is just... just not where I should be right now!" Suddenly remembering ehr immensely important mission, Ten begins dashing down the corridor, hoping not to miss the party.

Gimel smirks as he moves on, turning right into one of the other corridors as he continues to study the markings, shaking his head as he finds no clue to what he wants to find as he keeps one of his hands near his sword

Scribble scribble doodle sketch. If Alia sees the walls flicker like most probably do, she makes no reaction to it, content to simply sketch and walk. She taps Knight Man briefly with her pencil and pauses. "A night ago someone caused a cave in by doing something silly. Might not want to touch, sirrah." Smiling broadly, the Dispatch Officer ambles on.

Storm Eagle nods ever so slightly. "Then it is the glyphs," he says as he peers toward the walls. "Curiouser and Curiouser... I wonder what they mean," he muses as he continues onward. "This is indeed the correct location. Pay close attention them Firestorm, they may be a clue.

Messenger Marou grins. "You're always telling me to trust you. I swear, I'm just waiting for the day you're wrong." Chuckling, the demoness continues to walk ahead, keepnig an eye out for anything unusual.

Skimmer Bee notices Sewa's reaction to Plum and has almost the opposite reaction. "Ooh! Can I be on TV?"

Job peers at the oddly flickering wall. "What do we have here?" Job sets his left hand against it to see if its solid or not. "Well it seem like this is the place."

Knight Man ignores Alia and continues to run his hand down the markings.

Sword Man says, "Just remembrance of the ordeal for the pendant of Pluto. It is of no concern at the moment. However, you may ask Sir Crystal and see if he is willing to divulge the information I entrusted with him..." He examines the markings even more carefully and wonders if these are at all natural...."

Quantum Kitsune casually takes a step, leaving an afterimage of herself in her wake ... then another, doing it again, all three of the Quantums walking in unison, then begins a marching cadence. "My-cat-had-nine-kittens-I-gave-some-away-and-now-I-have-three-kittens-left, left, left right left ..."

Medieval Fox enters the Solar Pit.
Medieval Fox has left.
Guts Man enters the Solar Pit.
Guts Man has left.
Alia enters the Solar Pit.
Alia has left.
Sonic Banshee enters the Solar Pit.
Sonic Banshee has left.

Ether Skunk takes up a stance beside Alloy, scratching behind her neck, and along with him, surveying the strange and flickering runes. She glances up and down the hall, swallowing heavily... good thing most everybody is focused on the riddle and not eachother. A battle in here would be... nasty. She keeps her antigrav field raised just in case, however, ready to rouse a shield of she must. "Doesn't look like a language I know of..."

Plum hrmphs as the Maverick Avians simply ignore her, and skates over to Skimmer Bee. "You certainly can! What is it that you hope to do down here tonight, other than just find the pendant?"

Sewa enters the Solar Pit.
Sewa has left.
Blast Hornet enters the Solar Pit.
Blast Hornet has left.
Alloy enters the Solar Pit.
Alloy has left.
Storm Eagle enters the Solar Pit.
Storm Eagle has left.
Vile continues stomping down the tunnel, moving deeper.
Vile enters the Solar Pit.
Vile has left.
Blaze Dalmatian enters the Solar Pit.
Blaze Dalmatian has left.
Firestorm Phoenix enters the Solar Pit.
Firestorm Phoenix has left.
Ether Skunk enters the Solar Pit.
Ether Skunk has left.
Afterburner Accipiter enters the Solar Pit.
Afterburner Accipiter has left.
Sword Man enters the Solar Pit.
Sword Man has left.

Letting her focus fall on the etchings, Cappella peers at them, trying desperately to understand their forgotten meanings. Still there is nothing when it comes to understanding and ever so gently she bites her lower lip in thought. "Interesting..I would have thought I would have seen it all, but this if anything is much different then I would have expected." Continuing on her way, Cappie moves through the tunnels moving and winding though.

"Hmm?" Quint mutters, noticing the lack of small taps his Sakugarne emits as it travels. "Sakugarne?" Quickly, his lithe form swivels, his facial features displaying something of panic. "Sakugarne?" he repeats, his voice no louder than a whisper. . o O ( Now is NOT the time, Sakugarne... ) He takes a mere six steps forward, watching in awe as the wall around him begins to flicker, emitting their eerie glow in the dark tombs. Beyond confusion, Quint treks forward, at a relatively quick clip, hoping to have a rendezvous with Sakugarne ahead.

Messenger Marou enters the Solar Pit.
Messenger Marou has left.
Stealth Nekojin enters the Solar Pit.
Stealth Nekojin has left.
Quint enters the Solar Pit.
Quint grows bored of his surroundings and marches his high and mighty self over to Solar Pit.
Quint has left.

Gravity Man blinks over at Alia, thinking her rather bold, and frowns. He doesn't say anything, but he does nod in her direction, alerting Sword that maybe they oughtta watch them. "Wow. C'mon!" And he follows along.

Job enters the Solar Pit.
Job has left.

Skimmer Bee says, "Well, first off, I don't wanna be left behind by my team! C'mon, I'll talk to you on the way." He takes to wing and starts buzzing down the corridor.

Gravity Man enters the Solar Pit.
Gravity Man has left.
Skimmer Bee enters the Solar Pit.
Skimmer Bee has left.
Plum's Camera has left.
Plum takes Plum's Camera.
Plum enters the Solar Pit.
Plum has left.

You enter the Solar Pit.
Solar Pit

Quite suddenly, the flooring of the tunnel bends into a steep decline, almost a sheer embankment, and sends any who march on its way down a chasm into this Pit. From crevices in the ceiling, shards of smoldering sunlight arch into the Pit, making rays of light that illuminate only the area they cast downward through, but not the majority of the chamber. The light seems to fall in some sort of design, like a connect-the-dot image -- though from this angle it is hard to perceive what pattern the light beams have.

Cappella [Armored] [RM]
Plum's Camera
Plum [Newsgirl] [C]
Skimmer Bee [M]
Gravity Man [Normal] [RM]
Job [C]
Quint [On Sakugarne] [RM]
[Stealthed] Stealth Nekojin [On-duty] [MH]
Messenger Marou [Normal] [RF]
Sword Man [RM]
Afterburner Accipiter [RF]
Ether Skunk [MH]
Firestorm Phoenix [Flight] [M]
Blaze Dalmatian [Unarmored] [RF]
Vile [Vile] [M]
Storm Eagle [M]
Alloy [Standard] [MH]
Blast Hornet [M]
Sewa [Cat-ears] [M]
Sonic Banshee [Armored] [M]
Alia [Armored] [MH]
Guts Man [Normal] [RM]
Medieval Fox [MH]

Obvious exits:
Out <O> leads to Desolate Tombs.

Byakko is quite curious, quite curious, indeed, over these new signs on the wall, and the flickering they cause. She continues following them, semi-at the head of the throng, as she was one of the first to start doing so. Her eighteen tails swish slightly in the aired, dead air of the tomb, faintly making a sound like breathing as she goes. But the fox makes no real sound.

The expansive tunnel suddenly becomes incredibly slick, and steep, and only the stoutest and most balanced of sorts will find that they can avoid tumbling forward and downward.

Skimmer Bee is momentarily distracted from the camera by the lights all around and flutters around to get a better look.

Well, Byakko was walking, until she slipped, and fell. "Ayeeeeoooo--*silence*"

Storm Eagle peers downward at the decline... "Now... we seem to be getting somewhere..." he says quietly as he leads his group forward. "I think you can put your flames out now Firestorm," he says. Those eyes dart all around, trying to make out the patterns before his talons seem to give way. "Ack!" Down he goes... not enough time to get his wings open since he lands on his back before slidding the rest of the way.

Gimel arrives from the Desolate Tombs.
Gimel has arrived.

Medieval Fox extinguishes her make-shift torch as she reaches for another arrow of the same composition. But at that point she begins to slip down the suddenly slick incline. "Dammit," she curses, forgoing the light for her black quarterstaff to try and regain equal footing.

Blaze Dalmatian continues walking...And she's definatly not the stoutest or most balance, "Whooaaaa!" And down she goes, tumbling along the steep path, "Eeee!"

Stealth Nekojin shifts down along the incline, then moves up, trying to get a better look at the place from the air, see if he can decipher the pattern from above better than he was able to from below.

Plum follows Skimmer Bee lower into the tunnels, Camera peering about everywhere as Plum keeps up with the bee.

Kind of disconcerting to have your flooring suddenly change its angle. Alia steps back quickly as soon as she finds out the floor is far slicker than it looks, sliding forward a few steps anyway. Call it good balance, call it incredibly good friction sneakers, either way. And carefully tries to sidle toward a wall in order to get out of the way of the sliding people.

Gravity Man frantically reaches out for Sword Man from his vantage on the ceiling, shifting his gravity as well to keep him from slipping. "Careful, Sword!"

Sewa notes the slippery slopes down here and says to Byakko and the other nearby Mavericks, "Be careful. I think it's just gonna get worse here."

Vile immediately falls with one gap - but his flight systems engage immediately as he floats down the incline, landing softly on the ground below with a harsh *clink* of metal greaves planting against stone. Well... Well, the Sun. So it -was- /his/. It was the only elemental theme he could garner from this place; Unless sand had a particular elemental affinity. However, as soon as he lands... The Maverick General immediately slips and slides, accepting this newfound speed immediately as he boosts forward, taking advantage of the runway before lifting off, flying forward as he takes note of the pattern cast on the floor by the sunlight, trying to commit it to memory.

Afterburner Accipiter blindly makes his way into the area, his hand still on Blaze Dalmatian's shoulder when suddenly the floor drops out from underneath him. Feeling his entire body lean forward, he throws his hands out to try and catch himself, but feels there is nothing where the ground should be. Grabbing ahold of his senses and reacting as quickly as possible, he extends his tremendous winds and fires his engines slightly to send himself into the middle of the room. Cutting his engines and throwing his wings back, the Repliforce aerial unit quickly makes sure he is steady in the air before looking back for his compatriots.

Messenger Marou luckily enough, has wings and was able to glide down. While hovering a few feet off of the floor she blinks, squinting her optics towards the lights. "And what might these be?" she mutters softly towards Blaze. "Someone's bad idea of a disco party?"

Alloy looks back at Ether amused. "How many Egyptian scripts can you read, Ether?" he asks. Continuing on, he says, "If we hurry, we may catch uuuuuup..." His voice is lost as he slips on floor of the tunnel, which has inexplicably become a precipitous incline that draws him away from Ether. And no, he doesn't activate his anti-grav systems, since he's too distracted bumping into the sides of the tunnel as he goes. 'Argh! Ouch! *clunk* Ooof!' all the way down.

Skimmer Bee buzzes back to meet up with Plum again. "So, now, what was it you were asking?"

As you enter the Pit below the slick portion of the tunnel, your optics or eyes are met with a blinding light for several seconds, like staring directly into the pits of the sun. But it subsides, leaving your eyes to adjust to the suddenly lessened light.

Guts Man is pretty damn stout. That's his whole gimmick and people call him chubby which have given him nightmares over the year. But he's not the most balanced of sorts, so his weight is a little disadvantaged, he starts to run down the steep floor, but ends up falling on his rump, sliding downwards.

Job urks as he loses his balance balance and starts to slide down the the tunnel. With some quick thinking he pulls out his sheild and uses it like a kids crazy carpet going down a snow hill. oO(Away we go!)
Sword Man grabs Gravity's hand as his lower half tumbles down the pit. "Blast!!! My legs have fallen!! I plead, release me, Brother! I am useless as just a half!"

Ether Skunk squints at Alloy. "I can't read it. I think it says... "STUPID TOURISTS YOU CANNOT READ THIS. Heh. Hee hee... hmmm- uh?" Perking her ears, the skunk looks towards the slick shaft, and notices... many people falling down. Goodness. "Good lord! The tomb is trapped! Alloy- ALLOY!?" With a squawk of dismay, she hurries up to catch up with her fellow Hunter, hopping into the air and shooting down into the slick shaft. Flying, not sliding, she soon reaches the bottom on her own accord and touches down with a grunt.

Blast Hornet feels the floor below her begin to drop, and tries to cling onto the wall to stop from falling. Why not fly? Because she's right behind Guts Man, and he'd hear her wings. But, she can't hold on very well at all, and begins to drop down the passage, smacking into Guts Man on the way, and then tumbleing uncontrolleby to the bottom.

Firestorm Phoenix sighs, as the others in his group fall, he only hopes they're ok as he readies himself and then... pulls out a small board from no where, setting it on the ground, he slides down the pit in STYLE. "YEEEEEEHA!"

Blaze Dalmatian erks, and rubs her eyes a bit as they get blasted with the light. She grunts a bit, and is glad that it finally goes away, rubbing her eyes just the same.

Plum says, "Well, basically, what do you guys plan to do with the Pendant? Is it a direct military objective, or do you have some large plan for Pendant collection? And is there any other reason to be here tonight other than it?"

Quint continues his journey down the tunnel, his small legs now carrying his frame as fast as they can, in a desperate search for Sakugarne. "SAKUGARNE?!" he calls, his high-pitched voice echoing as the waves make contact with the stone walls. "SAKU-" he begins to repeat, though interrupted by the sudden change in floor. The shock he gets from the sudden incline make his large Android feet trip over themselves, and he begins tumbling down the slope at a quick rate.

Now would be a good time for someone to say, 'Jane, stop this crazy thing!'

Knight Man is a big lunk. Who fortunatly is pretty good at keeping his balance considering his stout form. He continues down the path, he jumps and lands hard, though he doesn't slip or fall. He eyes the design, though from his angle he can't make it out. All he can do for now is push forward and see what he can find.

Skimmer Bee says, "Well, I'm not sure about the higher-ups, but from what I can see, it's like a race -- we know they've got some kind of power, and we know we like power, and we know we don't want anyone else getting them."

Finally, Vile makes it down into the deepest portions of the pit after sliding forward forcibly... And then... DAMN! Twisting his head away from the light, Vile deactivates his solitary optic, caught off-guard from the sun. He should have expected as much... This was, it seemed, the temple of the Sun. Blinded by the light, the Maverick General simply stares forward after reactivating, as if the pain of the illumination didn't register. After a moment,,, he begins to adjust... To see what?

Medieval Fox lets out another shout as she encounters the bright light. "Oh, man," she says, waiting for her eyes to acclimatize to the new source of light. "Light, dark, light. This is going to definitely be a trial on the senses at this rate."

Storm Eagle continues in his decent, vainly trying to get some traction with his claws. The eagle hardly looks very graceful slidding down the large incline. When the light floods his optics his hand raises to block his vision.. "Nggh," he squints a bit before the light subsides.

*CRUNCH!* "Yeeeeoooowwww" Whines the form of the Kyuubi-Maverick as, hitting the pit, she flails breifly in the air, and then falls, crashing into the wall and the floor of the pit. What's more, there's a momentary flash of light that nearly blinds her. "Nrrr?" Remarks for Armor-Fox, as she peers up into the darkness.. Nrrrgh.. Why is it always -darkness-?

Gravity Man watches the mass slide with dismay, hauling Sword Man's top half to the ceiling. He doesn't get the bottom, though, and searches through the fray for it. Finally spotting it, he leaves Sword's top on the ceiling, jumping down to snatch his legs out of the mess. He returns to his friend's top, reuiniting them, helping him to adjust to the altered gravity. "That was close. C'mon. We're okay up here."

Job is blinded by the flash of light at the bottom of the pit. He looks about dazed for a little while as his optic adjust to thelight and then back to the lower levels of light. "That was enlighting." He comments dryly as he gets to his feet and recovers his sheild.

Gimel scowls as he tries to keep his balance as he shields his eyes at the light before looking around, optics narrowing as he tries to figure what the source of the light is as he hovers for a few seconds before attempting to continue on

Messenger Marou glances down towards Blaze and chuckles. "Looks like we need to get you a set of wings, my friend." She then glides towards the lights, attempting to get a better look at things while shielding her optics with one hand.

Guts Man feels something or someone smack into himself as a bright light fills the area for several second, this temporary blindness is quite a burden, he's had it up to here with blinding lights in their search for pendants. But as the lights fade out he slowly sees things as what they are again. But will he see the Hornet who smacked into him?

Stealth Nekojin merely blinks, lens flare protection keeping him from being blinded, and moves into position overhead, looking directly down upon the chamber from near the roof.

You find yourself in this moderately large pit, with the only exit the quick slope of the tunnel above, which is cutoff by a cliff edge. There are no other discernable exits, and the ceiling rises high, nearly 50 feet upwards above, with tiny cracks in it yielding thin slivers of glowing yellow Sahara sunlight.

Alia looks distinctly disoriented for several moments by the bright flash of light, sliding down the incline at more or less (less than more) a controlled pace. Okay, so she's practically falling. But she's still standing, sort of.

Afterburner Accipiter throws both his upper torso engines on, but not powerful enough to give him any momentum. Instead, he uses them like miniature torches to light the way. His wings flap slowly as he lowers himself to the ground to try and successfully find some of his compatriots. Seeing Messenger Marou join Blaze Dalmation in the distance, he slowly flaps himself in their directions while making his way to the ground, but not quite sure enough to land yet because of the previous drop.

Alloy *thuds* as he comes out of a corridor and lands on the hard surface of the Pit. Standing up a little shakily, he rubs his head a little before looking around at the room, and the light streaming through...from somewhere, falling onto the ground in some sort of pattern.

Gravity Man peers up (down?) at the ceiling, a good distance above him. He ponders hopping for it, gauging the space.

Firestorm Phoenix boards his way to the bottom, looking much like a snow boarder on the slopes. Before the light hits him and he hops off, landing conviently near Storm and Byakko.

Blast Hornet covers her optics as best she can when hit by the light, and then hits the floor below, and bounces once. "Ooof!" She cries out. "That hurt..." She whines, and peers around at the thin beams of light coming down from the cieling. "Well, at least it isn't pitch black and cold."

Guts Man is in a pit, a gladiatorial pit perhaps? Or a pit of death? Or maybe it's even a pit with a giant scorpion monster ready to kill all those that would enter? Meh, he doesn't know and as he stands up looking for an exit he finds none within reach. Having learned his lesson from yesterday he decides to remain in place.

Cappella continues to study the carvings still trying to make some sense out of it. Yet confusion hits in and the thief pushes further on. Ever so gently the thief pulls out a small baton and hits it against the wall. The baton imediately exploding open and forming into a rather large walking staff. Clinging tightly against the staff Cappella steps down and begins to slide downwards from the slopping ground.

Vile's solitary optic slowly adjusts... As he steps inside, to find himself face to face with the -rest- of the adventuring party at long last. Ignoring their presence at all, the Mvaerick General stares up above towards the ceiling, scowling. Well, well... Now what would they find?

Storm Eagle comes to a halt nosily, his armor skidding across the floor for a few moments. When he does stop finally he rises and dusts himself off. "Perfect..." he says glancing back up the incline, then around to the others in the area. "...Not nearly the number I had expected..." he says. "Firestorm?" he glances to his hind side, looking for the Phoenix, "Lets regroup with the others,".

Sword Man stares from his place on the ceiling, still somewhat disoriented from the gravitational flip. "...interesting, brother. A unique view we have. Still, I think we should venture into the pit? I doubt this is the most ideal place to be at the moment....

Plum hrms. "Interesting... thanks!" Plum starts skating toward the Maverick Hunters, smiling all the while. "Hello, Maverick Hunters! Anyone have a comment on this pendant race for the people watching at home?"

Sewa blinks a couple times, "Sonic?!", she shouts and starts floating instead of walking, "Are you okay?", she ups the power of her flamethrower to try and get more light. "Oh brother... maybe I'm losing it...", she sniffs softly.

Skimmer Bee says, "And anyhow, miss, as much as I'd love to stay and enjoy my TV appearance, I'd better catch up with my crew. Later!"
Byakko is probably at the bottom of a large dog pile of other people who fell into the pit. Isn't THAT fun. She grunts, and moves to stand on her knees and hands, and then peers up at the ceiling, attempting to make out the constellations high above.

Messenger Marou turns and nods to Afterburner, then spins around in place to survey the room. "Isn't this an interesting little puzzle, hmm?" she questions of Blaze and the new fellow. "Anyone have any ideas, suggestions, or anything similar?" While talking, she flaps her wings and attempts to move towards the ceiling.

Skimmer Bee buzzes down to join his team. "What happened to you guys?"

Knight Man looks up at the cracks in the ceiling. Well surely if they could illuniate the place better, they could all see what's going on. Knight Man looks at the platform ahead of him, and at the ceiling above, drawing his mace out he readies himself, and leaps into the air, and when he reaches the full of his jumping height he whips his mace at the cracks to try to blow a hole in the ceiling to light the place up.

Out come a pair of .. sunglasses? Alia looks around her breifly before slipping on the yellow-tinted shades; a style designed to cut down on glare and brightness without sacrificing visibility, before carefully sidling toward the cliff edge. Incredibly wary, but more worried about what's behind her than in front of her.

Morph Moth lands in the pit, having kept his attention upon the glyphs instead of the footing. It's an interesting room they have found themselves in. He studies the picture formed by the thin slivers of sunlight. o 0(Very innovative, almost as good as the work of Reploids.)
Afterburner Accipiter leans forward towards Blaze Dalmatian, throwing off a quick burst of flame to make sure it is her, and then starts to whisper to her. "So Lieutenant... What do you make of this room? Can't be too far underground if we have natural sunlight coming through those cracks..."

With a deafening crash, the tumbling Elite Master makes contact with the unsloped floor of the pit - headfirst, natch. "Ow..." he whines, rubbing the top of his head gently. Lowering his hand, rising his head, he brings himself up to a standing posture, glaring silently at the tiny slivers of light above. In a minute, his head lowers to face forward, and he begins to travel across the pit, a curious glint in his eye.
Blast Hornet sees Storm Eagle, Firestorm Phoenox, and the other Mavericks. She quickly makes her way over to them, and hopefully escapse the notice of Guts Man.

Or, at least, he begins walking. Somewhere.

Ether Skunk dons a stylish pair of sunglasses. She needs no light-adjustment! Smiling cheerfully, she turns to help Alloy to his feet, before whistling quietly as she looks around the room. "Oooh, coool. This reminds me of that one video game, where the light..." She squints, and takes off her glasses once her optics have adjusted. "The light... uh..." Slowly, the skunk begins to rise into the air, about ready to take up a stance in the air- when Plum spots her. GASP! A CAMERA! Ether turns and grabs Plum's microphone, shouting into it! "Hey, everybody! I wanna give a shout-out to Mike and Rock and Lucent an'... an' Dr. Cossack sir and everybody who isn't here with us! HI EVERYBODY!"

Dr. Doppler arrives from the Desolate Tombs.
Dr. Doppler has arrived.

Unfortunately the thief cannot catch her balance and the thief slips further down, landing in the huge dog pile below. Temporarily blinded Cappella groans and lets her eyes try to focus.

Plum managed to grind her way down the pit... yeah.

Medieval Fox takes a few stumbling steps into the chamber. Leaning on her stave momentarily, the Hunter takes a long look up at the solid wall and the cracks in the ceiling above. "Okay, this is going to be an interesting trial," she says to no one in particular. "But what is the trick..."

Voices rumble into your head, asking you why you let your enemies enter the Solar Pit. The statement seems pretty obvious to you when you hear it, strangely enough, as you look at the opposing factions huddled in the Pit. Knight Man'smace meanwhile, bangs harmlessly off the ceiling.

Quantum Kitsune arrives from the Desolate Tombs.
Quantum Kitsune has arrived.

Blaze Dalmatian hmms a bit herself, "Well..." She hmms a bit, "I'm not really sure what we should do about this light. After all.." She pauses, "Man, all these Mavericks and Masters in here. This is bad. We're way outnumbered."

Guts Man answers to the voices in his head, "They must have followed me..." That's his only explanation.

Gravity Man shrugs to Sword Man. "I'm really not sure. If they're all down there, and we're up here, maybe we've got some sort of advantage? I don't know if we should give that up just yet. Unless you really want to head down, in which case I can flip you back."

Sewa sends a radio transmission.
Sonic Banshee receives a radio transmission from Sewa.

Also, that familiar crackle of your radio dying snaps into your other ear. Although, somehow, perhaps as if someone wished it so, Plum's camera continues to function.

Lifesaver has connected.

Vile stares at all the others who followed the same course, before cocking his head and rising up, firing off a radio transmission to his fellow Mavericks to -destroy-... Only to be cut off. Instead, he does it vocally. "... Mavericks. Prepare."

Firestorm Phoenix nods to Storm, "Good idea." He begins to look around and spots Byakko and walks over, offering a hand to the proned Fox.

"Well hey, I didn't exactly /let/ 'em come!" Balst Hornet says out, and then realizes everyone probaly heard the voice too. "What are we gonna do now?" She asks to her fellow Mavericks, and looks around some more.

Sword Man is taken aback at the voice that pounds his head, questioning. "It would have been impossible to prevent all our foes from reaching here, even with a large force en masse." Idly, he wonders why he all of a sudden his responding to a voice in his head and his alone...

Afterburner Accipiter nods in agreement with Blaze Dalmatian, still continuing to hover a foot off the ground behind her. "I don't like it either... But I know I can lift one of you - maybe two - to safety if needed. I think we should just keep our eyes open and our backs to one another. What do you think Lieutenant?"

Messenger Marou squints. "Perhaps we can try to block out the light? Maybe that might accomplish something?" She then zips towards the closest beam of light and flares out her wings, trying to stop it from beaming down.

Storm Eagle hrms, glancing upward at the ceiling. A question, from who? It's then that those eagle eyes peer about curiously. He doesn't answer for the moment, carefully considering. "If I had known so many were coming I'd proably have made a distraction outside.." he muses.

Medieval Fox gives her head a shake as her internal radio suddenly goes silent with a crackle. "Time to get a little rustic. Wonder if the rest of these robots can handle it."

Knight Man growls as he lands with a hard *whomp* on the ledge he was aiming for below. Re-attatching his mace, he ponders, it does seem things won't be so easy, as always. He looks around again, and tries to ignore the voice in his head. Thinking again, he prepares to jump again, this time just straight up, and when he does, he looks down to see if he can see any sort of pattern on the platforms.

Byakko would allow her ears to fall meshed against her head, if she had the ability to move them. The voice is.. not comforting. She casts her eyes upon her enemies, and her fellows alike in the same light: They're all out to get her, to beat her out to the pendant. The Mute Maverick doesn't answer aloud.. But instead responds to the voice in her head. .o( They came seeking the same thing I want.. and will not find, because I'll find it first.) Smug, and over-righteous.

Alia didn't -let- them in there .. hardly. She wasn't exactly built for head-on combat, and there seemed to be few Hunters here. And yet she doesn't head for her factionmates. She'd do this alone. And she wouldn't listen to little voices in her head either.

Skimmer Bee starts to say a few things in answer to the voice, cutting himself off several times, before finally saying, "My enemies seek the same things I do. I do not intend to let them succeed. Their presence is no big deal, as long as they don't get in my way -- because I'm going to beat them to it."

Gravity Man's eyes widen, then turns to Sword. "You heard it too? We didn't have a choice, right? ...I think we definitely want to stay up here now."

Ten arrives from the Desolate Tombs.
Ten has arrived.

Guts Man starts to back away towards the other Masters, oddly enough he stands beside Quint. Looking down to the pogo riding Elite he asks, "What now Quint?"

Sewa blinks as her radio stops working. "We must be close...", she looks around and sighs softly. "...sheesh."

Gimel's optics shift left to right as he hears the voice before his radio dies, optics narrowing as he keeps his hand near his sword as he looks towards the others that are nearby

Looking at the light pattern from above yields nothing but random dots, nothing obvious...

Quint's attention shifts momentarily to the hammering mace above. "I...my enemies are here, O Crazed Voice Inside My Head, because..." he begins to think, aloud, not taking particular care in his words. "Well, truthfully, I didn't let them come. Had I gotten the chance, I would have pushed anyone who tried to enter this place away, allowing only my glorious self entrance! Had I recieved the chance, O Crazy Voice, I could - would - have crushed them likes flies, and claimed all that is in this place for my own!"

Firestorm Phoenix fehs at the voice in his head, "Why not let them come? I am not afraid of competion."

Job args as his radio gives out. oO(Looks like this be the right place.) Job gets an idea from the dots of light.

Sword Man turns back to his companion, eyes wide. "So this voice does not seek my sanity alone? Hrm..." For a moment, he ponders how these voices and visions managed to breach their visual sensors and processors enough for them to see them. Then he looks at the light patterns. "I wonder, SIr Gravity? Can you figure any image from these random lights? I cannot myself...."

Cappella removes herself from the pile and gazes up. Yet a thin smirk continues to touch her lips as she begins to look around into pile of junk in her trench coat, retracting a small grappling hook. "Well I would love to sit and chat with you guys but I do believe I have a pendant to go after. Farewell my friends." The thief hisses as she tosses the grappling hook upwards.

Skimmer Bee checks the light patterns from several angles, circling around the perimeter of the room first, and then various arcs up and down.

Blaze Dalmatian shakes her head a little bit, "That doesn't seem to be doing anything. Besides, there isn't enough of us to block out -all- the light." She adds..

Guts Man stares upwards at the dots, "Hmmmmm." He remembers stuff from his formal education training for his basic dexterity skils, connect the dots. Reaching into subspace Guts Man grabs a hardhat, aiming upwards he starts to fire at the dots, trying to connect them with hardhat pellets.

Vile waits silently on the order to wipe the other factions off the map... But perhaps they could figure something out... And he could take advantage. Staring up for just a moment, Vile glares at the patterns of light... Could they be... Constellations? Of stars?

Plum doesn't gravitate toward anyone especially, having no enemies here... she's a reporter, and almost totally neutral to boot. Since she was moving towards the Hunters, she continues to do so, heading over towards Alia, though not saying anything... yet.

Alloy looks around as he notices the pit filling with people rather quickly. And not just Hunters. .oO(It wasn't exactly a matter of choice.) he thinks dryly to the internal question of why his enemies have been allowed in here. Not wanting to force the factions into a faceoff by joining his fellow Hunters straight away, Alloy observes the room more closely. The light doesn't make any obvious patterns on the floor where it can get to it, but there's always another clue. He just has to find it.

Morph Moth stays silent despite the going-ons. After all, when underground in a place like this, who knows how far your voice just might carry. And what sorts of things might be listening.

Knight Man lands again with another hard *whomph* Sensing that this platform becomes unstable due to his two landings, he quickly jumps to another. He then digs around in the bag of supplies Tron gave him, and takes out a flare (Not my alt, a flare lighting thing) He activates it and tosses it into the air, to illuminate the area, so he can get a good look at the place.

Messenger Marou hrms. "Good point," she calls down to Blaze while still hovering. She flutters up a bit higher while glancing at the lights. Gosh darn it, puzzles aren't her thing but she's gonna try!

Ether Skunk lets the microphone go and prances away from Plum, having said her piece. She'd love to bask in the glory of the Camera for a while longer, but there is work to be done. She rises up into the air and, like several others, begins to float... looking at the pattern of the beams of light. Something tells her...

Alia is being stalked by a reporter. However, she doesn't seem to notice Plum's approach yet, gaze turned upward for a while at all the little dots before she looks down again, curious as to the pattern they'd leave on the ground. Or, for that matter, in the cliff..

Quantum Kitsune , though lagging a bit behind, catches up fairly swiftly, standing to the right, left, and behind Dr. Doppler while a cat paws at her player's monitor. Kawaii! "A Maverick better get this one, darn it ... we're WAY below par on this little power-hunt ..."

Blast Hornet eyes all the dots up above, but can't make any sense out of them. She takes a few steps, and wanders out into the middle of the room, trying to get in the center of wahtever shape might be on the cieling.

Knight Man's flare yields a quick flash, before it's light seems to be put out as if by the dry air itself, and the only light returns to the beams that cascade down from above. Again the voice repeats its earlier message into your ears.

Speaking of being crushed like a fly, Dr. Doppler choses this moment to arise, fire-dashing in from the tunnel which all the others found earlier. When his dash rockets deactivate, gravity takes over, and the Mad Maverick Doctor falls... Landing right on top of Quint!

Skimmer Bee mentally compares the pattern of the lights to the rune carvings he tried to memorize earlier.

Ten slides down the pit, and lands lightly on her feet. Looking at the scene in front of her, she frowns slightly. .oO(Sheesh, why the heck didn't anybody tell me there was a big party down here?)Oo.

Vile crosses his power-gauntlets over his breastplate, cocking his head. He had... an idea... Could they be? Hmph. Or would that be too simple? It would fit. Well, then. "Mavericks... Prepare to eliminate our unwelcome guests."

Medieval Fox hmms, eyeing the dots of light. Noting a few others taking to the air, the vulpine affixes her staff to her back and climbs up the wall to get a different perspective. "If you can tell me how to prevent others from following, it would be most interesting to know," Fox says to the voice as she stops from her perch.

Plum wheels back toward Ether as she's already captured the attention of Plum's Camera... and her Mic. How'd she miss that? "So, what do you think of the situation here, and do you think the Maverick Hunters will be able to make it out with the pendant?"

Storm Eagle hmms slightly, pondering that question. He nods slightly at the thought. What this one is, what this one would want, yes, he's brought them here for something indeed. He simply whispers it.

Stealth Nekojin watches the lights, then brings up the files on Sunstar from his memory, trying to match them to something. A frown later, and he's moving towards the largest source of light, trying to track where it falls on the floor as well.

Job looks about at the beams of light light and wonders for a moment He looks about for one of the beams of light anf tries to reflect it with his sheild. oO(I wonder...)

Blaze Dalmatian looks around a bit, "There's way to many people in here.." She mutters, "And none of them look friendly. I think we're in a bad way, Marou.."

Messenger Marou quirks a brow at the message. "What enemies?" she snarls, her tail beginning to lash angrily. The demoness moves back towards Blaze. "I say perhaps we look for another way out, before there's a cave in or we get attacked by snakes..."

Alloy turns his head quickly at the sound of Vile's voice, announcing his intentions. This...is not going to be a good place to be right now.

Byakko responds, onc