<span style="color: DarkOrange">I don't know what you're talking about, Darion. For an inebriated, delirious, gunshot victim, I think it went fine. </span>Sorv responded to Darion, smirking. When Milenya told him to watch for potholes, it prompted a slightly amused<span style="color: DarkOrange">Hah,</span>out of the Quarian.<br/><br/>Ashana looked at Maethia as she expressed her disquiet. The idea that it was something far more mundane that had happened was as likely as anything, she had to admit. Although, a lingering thought popped into her mind as to what may have happened. They hadn't told Maethia and Milenya about Cerberus yet, and while Ashana knew very little of them, what mutterings of the organization that had reached her weren't pleasant.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrchid">I wouldn't know.</span>She admitted, removing the thought of Cerberus from her mind as she was jostled by the rough terrain they were crossing.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">This is only the third planet I've ever been on. Anything beyond screwing someone out of credits or shooting them in the head is kind of outside of my area of expertise.</span><br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Taseer gave Kala a lingering look from behind her helmet at the mention of setting up some lights, then nodded.<span style="color: navy">"If you think you can, then be my guest."</span><br/><br/><span style="color: navy">"Now you, and you! Let's get this shit off this thing!"</span>She ordered two of the crew, intent on getting the large container open to see what valuables may lie within.<br/><br/>While the crew worked at unstrapping and moving the various crates, Shira'Va paced around the cargo bay, examining it. Everything on the ship was open, she had heard them say. As she passed by an access tunnel leading into some part of the ship she paused and scanned her flashlight over it. Open. She squatted down and pointed her weapon down the narrow crawlway that turned sharply deeper into the ship. She was reminded why she didn't envy engineers, having to crawl through hundreds of feet of tunnels in such vessels to actually keep them operational.<br/><br/><span style="color: navy">"Shira!"</span>Taseer called,<span style="color: navy">"Come give me a hand with this."</span><br/><br/>The Quarian looked back at the Asari who was attempting to heft a large container off the top of the crate she was fixated on. Shira glanced back at the access way then stood.<span style="color: Indigo">"I'm coming."</span><br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Sorv squinted behind his visor and leaned forward slightly in his seat. Ahead of them was a pinpoint of light, that he strained to determine the source of. As the crawler drew closer, the point became two points which slowly seemed to drift apart. He slowed the crawler slightly as the terrain changed to their left. They were drawing near to a drop off, and the closer to it they came, the more its scale was revealed to them.<br/><br/>In the back, Firas watched as the fissure that they had seen in the scans finally came close enough to see. Sorv pointed the crawler at the two points of light, which he knew now to be markers for the descent into the fissure where the dig site was. The crawler continued to slow until it came to a full stop between the markers. Sorv took a deep breath as he looked over the lip.<span style="color: DarkOrange">Shit.</span>He muttered, seeing what was below.<br/><br/>The markers were set to indicate the top of a semi-naturally occurring descending ramp that ran along the edge of the fissure. Some of the rock was clearly natural, while portions appeared to have been blasted away or gaps spanned by large bridge segments bolted into the rock. The ramp couldn't have been wider than thirty feet before it disappeared down what could only be a sheer drop into the fissure. Its edge was marked by similar rods that had been jacked into the rock, topped with marker lights. The fissure itself, perhaps a variable hundred to two hundred feet in width ran jaggedly ahead with a noticeable rightward curve. Sorv could only guess at how many miles long it was. The obsidian rock within was sharp, broken by whatever geological event had split the lava plane open. Sorv looked at the various overhangs, abutments, and other natural features of the fractured earth, as well as several natural holes in the rock face on either side of the fissure that had once been magma tubes when the plane had been covered in lava time after time over the eons that the planet had been dominated by volcanic activity. But Sorv didn't look at the fissure half as long as he looked at what he could see over the drop's edge. Far below ran a blazing river of lava that was alive and well, traveling far below the surface, balefully illuminating the fissure.<br/><br/>Firas stood in the back of the crawler and looked over the top of the cabin, seeing what lay ahead of them. Ashana stood as well, the Asari falling silent in awe of what she was looking at.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">I hope this is worth what we find down there.</span>He tapped the top of the cabin.<span style="color: blue">Be careful.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrange">No shit.</span>Sorv responded, not needing to be reminded. Firas and Ashana took their seats as the crawler began inching forward again, slowly accelerating as it began descending. The open plane of black rock became walls around them, slowly rising as the crawler rolled onward.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrange">Are all of these Prothean dig sites in such stupid places?</span>Sorv asked, keeping a tight grip on the steering, and making sure he kept their speed slow and steady, ready to hit the brakes at any moment.<br/><br/>They passed a magma tube above them in the fissure's wall that had a large fan installed over it that was slowly spinning. The white and grey of the plasteel in stark contrast to the black rock it was attached to.<span style="color: DarkOrange">Looks like a vent. </span>Sorv noted. Anyone familiar with excavating and mining procedures would have likely recognized it as just that - part of a ventilation system meant to keep the atmosphere inside of a site clear of particulates that could clog intake on the atmosphere cycler and turn the environment toxic.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrchid">At least its running.</span>Ashana said, though their precarious descent prevent her from taking any solace in the operational machine.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Yeah...</span>Firas agreed as they passed under it.<span style="color: blue">It could mean the dig site has a stable, breathable atmosphere.</span><br/><br/>Eventually their descent started leveling out as they rounded a bend, and Sorv spotted the grey and white of a large airlock built into the cliff face. He rolled the crawler closer.<span style="color: DarkOrange">We're here.</span>He announced, rolling up to the airlock's doors, wide enough for two of the crawlers to fit snugly between, and sealed tightly. He waited for a moment, watching the apparatus for any signs of life. It didn't look like it had been there too long, the signs of ware on its surface being minor beyond the few obligatory streaks of ash.<br/><br/>Firas stood in the back of the crawler, examining the airlock doors.<span style="color: blue">Doesn't look like anyone's home.</span>He said, walking to the back of the flatbed and jumping off. Ashana watched him walk around the crawler to the   airlock.<span style="color: blue">Its got power.</span>He said,  as the airlock's exterior holo-interface blinked on as he neared. Firas looked at the readout.<span style="color: blue">And it looks like everything is working just fine. Maethia, Darion, get ready. I'm opening it up.</span><br/><br/>Firas hit a few keys, and a strobe light began blinking red at the top of the doors. Firas readied his Revenant planting his shoulder against the airlock's frame, ready to breech. The light stopped blinking and the seal between the doors spun, unlocking. The doors began sliding open, the breathable atmosphere within having been changed out for the sulfurous toxin outside. Sorv pulled the crawler slowly into the airlock, the bay long enough to comfortably park the crawler and probably another vehicle in. Ashana watched the edge of the airlock pass over her, happy as ceiling of the airlock came overhead a short distance above. Firas walked beside the crawler, keeping his rifle ready for any threat, but the bay was empty - and to his relief, well lit and functional.<br/><br/>Sorv stopped the crawler, letting Firas move on to the second seal and trigger the atmosphere cycling. Ashana watched the outer airlock doors close behind them, seal, and hear a loud hissing as the toxic fumes inside were filtered and pumped out, and relatively fresh air pumped in. She checked her omni-tool. The atmosphere read breathable.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">I'm opening the inner seal.</span>He said, readying himself again and triggering the seal to open. Like the outer seal, the inner unlocked and slid open. Inside was a well lit parking garage, much larger and wider - appropriately large enough to turn one of the land crawlers around in while towing a trailer, as well as park several other larger all terrain vehicles. Firas swept his rifle around the corner, ready for anything - but it was like the ship had been. Empty. Devoid of any signs of conflict or life.<br/><br/>Directly across from the airlock back out into the fissure were several parking spaces butted against a raised walkway that was just high enough to be even with the crawler's bed. The walkway extended back against the garage's far wall where another, smaller airlock was closed. The several spaces at the foot of the walkway, marked with yellow painted lines on the smooth floor, were straddled by two short stairways up to it.<br/><br/>Parked in two of the spaces was the other crawler from the freighter, and detached beside it was the trailer, its back resting against the walkway so that its bed was flush with it for easy unloading. Ashana gave the trailer a lingering stare as she assessed its contents. Both the trailer and the bed of the crawler had efficiently stacked piles of crates on them, as if they had just arrived and were waiting to be unloaded. It was even still secured to the trailer.<br/><br/>Sorv pulled the crawler slowly further in, Firas walking along beside it, sweeping his rifle around. The left wall of the wide garage had several standard ATV personnel carriers lined up in similar parking spaces, while the right hand side of the garage was dominated by an independent power cell, running constantly to ensure the airlock was maintained in the event of a breach somewhere deeper in the facility.<br/><br/>When Sorv had finished pulling the crawler into the parking space beside the other from the freighter, he shut it down and got out, carrying his rifle. He walked around the back of the vehicle as Ashana and the others were jumping down. Firas was examining the power cell for the installation.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Its operational.</span>He said over the comms.<span style="color: blue">Nothing out of order.</span><br/><br/>Sorv looked from the generator to the other parked vehicles, bulky to safely maintain the controlled environment within. Nothing about them seemed damaged. Well used, perhaps, but usable.<span style="color: DarkOrange">Then it wasn't an environment failure...</span>He looked at the others.<span style="color: DarkOrange">They could have retreated in here and called for help.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Acheron,</span>Firas opened the comm link.<span style="color: blue">We have reached the site... So far everything in working order. There's no damage to the adjoining airlock installation.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: MediumTurquoise">Fi-- we'r - ard time - reciving. Ple -- repe--.</span>Mickey's voice, or what Ashana judged to be Mickey's voice answered, but there was enough static that it was making it difficult to hear what was being said.<br/><br/>As Firas attempted to clear up the transmission, Sorv just chuckled and shook his head. [COLOR= "DarkOrange"]Of course...[/COLOR] Ashana looked at him, unfamiliar with what was going on.<span style="color: DarkOrange">We can't communicate... The structure and probably the several million tuns of rock on top of us are scrambling the signal.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrchid">What?</span>She looked around in disbelief.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">So what, we can't call for help?</span><br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrange">No, we can. I'm guessing that somewhere inside is a transceiver connected to something outside to maintain signal clarity. We just need to patch into it.</span>He paused.<span style="color: DarkOrange">And, you know... find it.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Or decide this place is just a little too creepy and get out of here.</span>Firas said, rejoining the group.<span style="color: blue">Speaking of which...</span>He looked at them, then at the airlock into the excavation.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>