Bida looks around. . . "Well, most of our group is here."

Devaine_Hawk steps through the portal and waits to one side for Flash still looking behind them . As Flash steps through he reaches out to grip an arm and pull him aside , whispering to him.

Flash_Guardian emerges from the portal after all the rest, turning a quick somersault before landing on the stone ledge that surrounds the rocky cliff beside them. One one side is the odd stone formation, on the other is a rather sheer drop off, as the hill is a few thousand feet up. The breeze is cool, and the view is breathtaking thanks to the partly cloudy sky above. The hilltop is shaped in a peculiar fashion. Where the surrounding rock is coarse, dark brown and jagged, a certain jutting swath of stone sticks out of the surrounding rock face, triangular and flat, slightly more smooth, with an evenly rounded surface, and colored a bit more lightly, with smaller grains of a more greyish substance.

Flash_Guardian gets led aside by Devaine. He whispers to him in response.

Llane looks around, cautiously. Perhaps there are no enemies...but its a long-stanidng habit and one of her good ones.

Bida looks in the direction of the drop-off, then to the flat surface that she had visited days ago.

Flash_Guardian seems to shrug as he whispers to Devaine, then looks back at Bida with an uncertain look.

Devaine_Hawk shrugs his shoulder as he lowers the bag to the ground and opens it “your show , but she makes me …itchy “ he mumbles as he reaches in the bag for something.

Aiza keeps her eyes on Devaine_Hawk, occasionally looking at one of the others. She did not want him to see her and there were no trees for her to hide in.

Bida Feels Flash's look, and looks back, a curious expression on her face.

Llane wonders, the thought possibly but not likely showing in her expression, should any look, what she Devaine means. She speaks, however, on a different question.

[Llane] "You four may know each other, but I do not, and saying 'Hey, you, the stupid one I'm talking to!' wouldn't do much good. "

Bida laughs, "true, both men would look up." she smiles then bats her eyes at Flash a couple of times to show that she was kidding

Flash_Guardian moves away from Devaine, regarding Llane apologetically. "I'm sorry ... introductions might be a good thing, yes. You can call me Flash," he says, giving a short bow.

Flash_Guardian just grins at Bida and shrugs.

Llane 's player rewrites "four" to three after a whisper. Icly, she chuckles at Bida, then nods to Flash.

Devaine_Hawk pulls out the same semi automatic pistol grip shot gun as the night before and re shoulders the bag after he closes it . Standing with the weapon in his right hand he turns to Llane , “not you”

Aiza crouches further down, and tries to be as invisible as possible, silently praying, 'please don't let him see me!'

Llane gives Devaine a quizical look. Perhaps that's mainly because, as her player read that post, the gun would look like it was pointed at Llane, or at least facing her.

Flash_Guardian regards the others briefly before turning his attention to the odd stone before him. Settling into a stance, he moves his arms in the same motions as the day before, fists to his hip, charging with yellow energy, then releasing it in a brilliant blast of forked lightning at the stone. The entire rocky outcropping begins to flash, flicker, and crackle as before, until at last the image of the stone fades away, like a veil being lifted, to reveal the smooth grey metallic surface seen before. Where once there was a swath of discolored stone, now it appears as if some large metallic object is sticking halfway out of the rock here. The object appears to be artificially constructed, though the outer surface is nearly seamless, only marred by a large rectangular indent on the object's side, nearly seven feet tall and four feet across.

Devaine_Hawk keeps the gun pointed at the ground , not her , and clarifies the best he can ,”your not the one making me itchy, and my name is Dev or Hawk , either ,it’s up to you”

Bida turns to face the metal, her strong dislike for the place washing over her.

Llane nods. Player uses the quizical look as she looks at the...metal object. "By Kes's sword, what would that, whatever it may be, be doing here?"

Aiza cringes at the sight of the gun, but does her best to not move or make a sound. She had just finished healing her wounds before entering the pub, and did not want more of them.

Bida says, "I don't know myself. . . But I do not like it."

[Llane] "Mysteries were generally unlikeable things in the Fleet. Tended to get people killed who didn't know what they were doing and didn't know that they didn't."

[Llane] "This, however, doesn't sound like quite that kind of danger...Not immediately, at least."

[Flash_Guardian] If anyone chooses to inspect the door-sized indent, you see some assorted markings about mid level and to one side: a pattern of numbers, a triangular shaped rune, an ancient symbol with three interlocking triangles, an odd sort of diagram, and what appears to be a long strip of parallel black lines.

Devaine_Hawk walks over beside Flash , clicking the safety off , and rests the gun over his shoulder “never can be too careful ,” he grunts . He narrows his eyes at tone part of the metal and flashes cross his eyes. He nudges Flash ,”check that out where I took the shavings for the metallurgy tests is as good as new, interesting ..”

Aiza peeks her head up for a moment, just to see what everyone was looking at, then ducked back down, hopefully before anyone saw her.

Llane studies the symbol intently. "Triangles...three triangles. Now what could that mean..." She seems to speak to herself, although any thoughts by others would be noticed.

Flash_Guardian nods to the others and speaks up. "We haven't really encountered a dangerous situation inside ... at least not during our last couple of visits," he explains. He walks over to the spot Devaine indicates, and tilts his head in fascination. "You're right, those scratches you put into this thing aren't there any more ..."

Bida walks to the door-looking indent and runs one hand down the side of it, looking at the different markings.

Devaine_Hawk points to the triangles , “when I tried feeling that , the word Triad popped in my head ,”

Bida says,seeming to stare at the triangle at her eye-level, but her eyes were glazed over, as though she were looking elsewhere, "Triad. . . There were supposed to be three of these structures, for the three. . . for the three. . . " Her eyes cleared as she shook her head and turned back to the group.

Llane 's expression twists as she considers what she's seen. She turns to Bida.

Aiza closes her eyes and sees the shapes in her head. she thinks to herself, 'guardians.'

[Llane] "Three of these...structures?"

Devaine_Hawk continues to look at the smooth metal ,”there has been theoretical debate that metal infused with nanotech fibers could repair itself like that , but it’s still in the developmental stages as far as I know , people worry about the gray ooze scenario…”

[Llane] "Are you seeing somethng more of this...object, than I am?"

Llane 's not questioning that being possible, merely asking if that's the case. Her eyesight isn't as good as it coudl be, by any means.

Flash_Guardian hears Bida muttering about something, and looks over in her direction. "Looks like they found the door," he tells Devaine, wandering over in that direction.

Bida shakes her head, "I don't think so, I just touched it, and then. . . I saw something. Something about three. . . things."

Llane thinks. "....Three parts...three groups?"

Bida shrugs, her palms up and open helplessly, "No idea."

Flash_Guardian stares between the two women, then at the markings on the door, recognizing them. "Oh yeah," he says, pointing them out. "We found those earlier. What do you both make of them?" he asks the pair curiously.

Bida looks at Llane, then to Flash, "Not much."

Aiza thinks to her sister as hard as she can, hoping her twin would pick up, 'Guardians!'

Bida suddenly says "Guardians. . ." then wrinkling her brow in thought, "Guardians? Three guardians?" She shrugs again, "I have no clue."

Llane turns back towards Flash. "Nothing...clear. But I strongly think those triangles can't be there for decoration. It seems like a religious...trinity."

Flash_Guardian nods in agreement to Llane and Bida, pointing out what he can recognize. "This rune here is used in magic ... the Triad rune. These markings are a religious symbol that indicates a trinity of some kind. More than that, I don't think I could tell you," he says with a shrug, before looking at Bida. "Guardians?" he asks her curiously.

Bida shrugs, "I don't know. . . It just came to me. When I ran my hand over the triangles, I saw construction for three identical structures, but only one got completed. They were supposed to be for three somethings. . . I suppose it could have been guardians. I really don't know."

Aiza smiles slightly, listening to Bida's voice.

Devaine_Hawk follows Flash over to the door where the women are , glancing back over his shoulder into the darkness .” basically , nanotech is based around the concept of being able to develop computer driven robots on a sub atomic scale that could be ….incorporated into other materials, and mold themselves molecularly with the other . With the right tech and programming they could be used as a self repair in weapons and materials on equipment ,. The scary part is that in order to do that , they would have to be capable of self reproduction , to grow in a way or multiply, but the problem some people see is that if they do that on their own, they might not want to stop. So what you get is an independent organism that grows nonstop, assimilation other organic material to use for repair and reproductive purposes, eventually it grows from sub atomic size to consume any and every thing , the gray ooze.”

Bida turns back to the triangles and traces the top one with her left index finger, muttering, "trinity?. . . triad?. . . guardian?. . . deity?. . .protector?"

Llane turns to Devaine, a bitter smile on her face.

[Flash_Guardian] No sooner is the rectangular indent touched than it seems to vanish piece by piece, revealing a smooth metallic corridor that leads deeper into the hillside, its interior rather dark after a short distance. Perhaps this metallic object is much larger than it appears ...

[Llane] "Its almost like humanity, only mechcanical, not biological."

Bida asks, "why are we here though? not in a metaforical sense, but why are we here" she motioned to the door.

Devaine_Hawk steps through the door , “Flash I need to beak a flare out or you gonna whip up some light ?”

Llane follows Devaine, a hand resting on the hilt of her well-tested sword. Simply the wary caution of one ambushed one too many times.

Bida waves a hand in the air, producing a small amount of light, just enough to see. she could do more, but chose not to show exactly how powerful she was.

Aiza cringes back at the light, even though it did not touch her behind the hill where she lay

Flash_Guardian stares between Devaine and Llane blankly. Normally this sort of topic would amuse him greatly, but not at this particular moment. He grins at Bida and her reactions to the strange structure. "Well, whenever we're all ready," he says, indicating the darkened passage that Bida had just opened with his hand. As he does so, the top of his palm glows for a second, the glow seeming to drip upwards and form a small light-yellow ball of light that shines as bright as a small lantern. The ball just hovers over his hand. He then looks over at Bida's light, laughing and shrugging. "Well then ..."

Flash_Guardian follows the others inside.

Devaine_Hawk moves down the corridor , gun barrel sweeping right to left in front of him , “it was clear so far in the other day , but I’m not taking any chances , “ he whispers to Llane as he proceeds,” never know when whoever built this might take an exception to trespassers”

Bida holds back until Flash is in, then follows slowly, listening. She spoke up, "I'm pretty sure no one is in here Devaine. I don't think the archetects are around anymore."

Llane gives him a slightly offended look. "Does something about the fact I'm half-crippled make you think I'm also ignorant of the fact we might be in danger?" She follows him, her own "sidearm" slowly drawn, held casually but firmly. Technically loaded and read to fire, but not as trigger-senstive as most weapons.

Llane glances back at Bida. "The architects may not be, but if I built this, I wouldn't let it be completely defenseless."

Aiza follows slowly and carefully, staying just out of reach of Bida's light. She smiled at Llane's words. She liked how the girl thinks.

Devaine_Hawk runs his left hand along the wall feeling the runes and symbols again as he had the day before , maybe he’d pick up on something new “this is where I got the flash of the old man tracing these into the metal with his hand , that I was talking about , “ he tells the others .

Llane listens, thinking. "I assume, Dev, you don't think we're the only ones interested."

Llane is a little old to be a girl, at two centuries and some for a human, but it doesn't really show. She could pass for a very healthy forty if she tried.

Bida says, "perhaps they weren't expecting to need. . . defences." She stopped and looked at the wall, bringing her hand close, but stopping partway there and snatching her hand back, clenching it to her chest as though she were injured

[Llane] "Better over protected than the other guy's overkill."

Devaine_Hawk shakes his head , “someone went to a lot of trouble to build this place and put all the stuff in it , makes no sense they’d just leave it to rot down , but then again it seems to stand the test of time pretty well”

Flash_Guardian looks quickly in Bida's direction. "You alright?"

[Llane] "No...but other people being interested may not be the builders, who or whatever they were. And for that reason, I admit I'm inclined to assume the worst."

Bida backs away from the wall, "I think so," her hand is in a tight fist against her chest, and her eyes are as wide as saucers. Shaking her head she asked Devaine without looking away from the wall, "What did you say you saw here?"

Flash_Guardian looks down the corridor at Llane and Devaine, offering his opinion. "Well, this place is pretty well hidden ... the illusion that covers the outside of this place could certainly be considered a defensive ability ... a rather passive one, but effective none-the-less."

Bida nods "good camoflague."

Devaine_Hawk presses the plate on the door he’d went through before with Flash , and starts to cross the other room to the door on the far wall , “Flash ,you bring that pink crystal over here , “ he asks turning , “what’s wrong …an old man , long white hair , maybe an elf or not hard to tell but he was tracing the runes in the wall with his fingers , right in to the metal”

Flash_Guardian glances back behind them all for a moment, looking around in concern briefly before returning his attentions elsewhere.

[Llane] "It could be, but against some determined to break in its less than child's play. You wouldn't built something this solid unless you expected some...tough conditions, regardless of actual armed threats."

[Flash_Guardian] As the door opens, the light spills beyond it to reveal the room beyond. The room is large, appearing almost as a place to store and maintain vehicles, or some sort of laboratory. Odd bits of smooth, metallic machinery extend up out of the floor in places. The walls are lined with metal shelves that hold numerous wooden boxes. There is a table in the center of the room with various electronic oddities and instruments, all very futuristic. Another door, similar to the one that just opened, is in the wall on the opposite side of the room. The wall to the left contains a massive hangar door, stretching from one wall to the other, and running almost to the ceiling.

[Llane] "....Tracing the runes into the metal with his fingers?"

Llane glances at the hangar door, paying more attention to it than the other door.

Flash_Guardian follows behind Devaine quickly, already fishing in his small belt pouch for the light pink crystal key.

Bida opens her hand and looks at it. Silver blood drips from between her fingers as it seeps from one of the runes, now carved into her hand, "He never finished working."

Devaine_Hawk presses the plate on the door he’d went through before with Flash , and starts to cross the other room to the door on the far wall , “Flash ,you bring that pink crystal over here , “ he asks turning , “what’s wrong …an old man , long white hair , maybe an elf or not hard to tell but he was tracing the runes in the wall with his fingers , right in to the metal”

[Llane] "Never finished working...I wonder why."

[Devaine_Hawk] “remember all that flashed in my head in a couple seconds when I touched the wall ,just how I perceived what he was doing”

[Flash_Guardian] The lines of characters and runes that line the walls are complete, spanning the entire length of the corridor.

Bida shakes her head, staring at the wall, not noticing her hand anymore.

Bida *finishes* "he had to stop, someone else finished."

Llane turns to look at the characters. "...Some language? I doubt its merely pretty symbols, but..."

Llane gives a nod to Bida first, however. So the nod, then that post about looking at the characters.

Devaine_Hawk makes his way along still on guard , to the wooden door , before he opens it this time he turns to Flash “sure we want to do this , I got a bad feeling …”

Llane 's hand curls around the firing mechanism of her gun, eyes scanning for...pressing, danger.

Aiza brushes against something and yells in pain, spreading her wings and drawing her sword and looking for whatever hurt her.

Flash_Guardian reaches the other side of the room, pulling out the long, slender crystal. As before, he slides open the panel on the wall beside the far door, placing the crystal within it. Something behind the door hums, then cracks and flashes. He watches as Devaine opens the door, stepping into the corridor beyond it ... then looks back to the other two women. "Coming, you two?" he calls back to them. ((Slow down a bit Devaine, I'm having a hard time keeping track of everyone ...))

Llane is standing only a bit behind Devaine...few paces worth. She nods, however...then stops in midstep.

[Llane] "Who was that?"

Llane is refering to the sudden yelling in pain, and says so if asked.

Devaine_Hawk spins around at the sound of the scream , “the girl , she was behind us , sensed her , what the hell happened ?”

Bida begins to follow Flash, palm still up and bleeding, but then turns at the sound of her sister scream. She runs back to them, and sees Aiza with her sword drawn, and drawh her own sword.

Llane is about one step...the actual pulling of the trigger, if you will, short of firing her gun. Something is definately not right here now....

[Bida] *draws*

Aiza mutters, "effing. . . blankety blank. Just healed my wounds." She looked up at her sister standing there, both of them bleeding, Aiza bleeding black, Bida silver, and both with swords drawn.

Devaine_Hawk pump cocks the shot gun as he races back up the corridor , “son of a ….” he crouches low a he runs to make a smaller target .

[Flash_Guardian] The passage leading out of the large, garage-like room is in the same style as the first, but marble floors and patchwork stone walls give it a much more rustic appearance. Metal brackets with torches also line the walls, their torches dark and unlit. The door at the hallway's end is wooden with a knob, but bears the same strange marking as before.

Llane was about to follow Devaine and all, then Aiza yelled and she stopped. That's clear enough.

Llane also has her gun out, as does Dev...we're apparently expecting trouble.

Aiza ((k.)) lowers her sword slightly, not wanting to appear a threat, but still wary of the guns, "hello Bida."

Bida sheathes her sword, "Hello Aiza," she says, her voice cold.

Flash_Guardian spots the blood on Bida's and Aiza's hands, his concern growing slightly. "Bida, Aiza ... are you alright?"

Aiza says, "I'm fine," looking at her hand she sees a shape, identical to one on the wall where she touched it, carved into her hand.

Bida looks at Flash, "I'm ok." She sees the rune on Aiza's hand. It looks like the one on hers

Flash_Guardian just scowls at Aiza. "Well, since your cover is finally blown, you may as well just follow us now ..." He shakes his head in exasperation. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Bida's sister, Aiza," he says, indicating her with an open hand.

Bida looks at the cut, now healing at an astonishing rate. Looking back to Aiza her expression softens. Her sister was herself. . . for now.

Llane simply nods, giving no indication of favorable or unfavorable feelings.

Devaine_Hawk lowers the gun and looks at the women’s hands , blue white sparks crossing his onyx eyes and recognizes the runes patterns from the wall,” bad mojo , Flash , I’m telling ya”

Aiza growls, "it wasn't my fault." but follows after putting her cloak back in her bag.

Bida begins walking to the hallway, not meeting anyone's eyes, especially Flash's and Aiza's. She stops and looks down the hall.

[Llane] "Sounds as if you think you know something is amiss...not just think, but know there is trouble."

Flash_Guardian just shakes his head. "Don't worry about it. We were about to check something out in the next room, if you'd like to come along," he says, looking only modestly concerned by the markings that are quickly healing on their hands.

Aiza has a sudden idea, and presses her other hand against a different shape, leaving it there for a moment as her hand gave off a hissing sound, like something burning. Looking briefly at her hand, she clenched it, and followed slowly, looking at everything.

Devaine_Hawk turns his back and makes his way back down to the wooden door , “just a feeling , a bad one , is all I don’t know anything the rest of you don’t ,” he replies waiting for Flash and the rest to catch up.

Bida whispers to Flash when he is near her again

Flash_Guardian sighs, and whispers a heartfelt and sympathetic reply to his love.

Aiza rolls her eyes at the whispering lovebirds.

Llane follows Devaine, putting away her gun fo r the time being.

Bida nods

Flash_Guardian casts one worried glance back at Bida and Aiza, then follows Devaine down the other, more ancient stone corridor to the wooden door.