Well, depending on what kind of scientist he is, he may be interested in the botanical garden. (A botanist, perhaps?) I personally would suggest working your way from the outskirts farther in to the city. And from the looks of it, you should get to some lower ground. If your planet has no sun or stars, then that means the "sun" you were staring into may be a ship, or something similar. Keep in mind that if you could see it, then it could probably see you. That, and try to see where it's going down, if it is a ship then it may provide a location of tannon or even a military outpost from a rival nation.

>>140590
The museum seems like a pretty good bet. If you don't turn up anything there then the botanical gardens might turn up something useful. There should be some people somewhere in the city, if you can find them then they likely know where to find the scientist.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)12:08 No. 140594 ID: 65a023
File 126747412852.jpg - (186.08KB , 777x777 , 03-32.jpg )

>If your planet has no sun or stars, then that means the "sun" you were staring into may be a ship, or something similar.

Sorry, am I not saying that right? I'm trying to make it easier to understand what I'm trying to tell you. Is it the "planet" that's your light? I would normally say that the sky is darkening, or that the light was going down. Trying to relate to you guys is difficult.

Well, anyway.

>The museum seems like a pretty good bet

I suppose. I hate having no direction, no orders. This is just like my retirement. I didn't realize how much I hated not having someone to order me around. My wife accused me of using that as an excuse to come out of retirement, when the military called me up.

Kitty's ready to go.

I guess we'll just head to the museum, if that's what you want. Can't think of anything any better.

>>140594
Hey we can order you around. Just imagine it, you will get wildly conflicting orders that often makes no sense, to the point of being irrelevant or even dangerously stupid, and can be reinscinded at any second. It will be just like being in the army again.

But seriously try to find some people there. They should know about the scientist. I'm guessing the normal people here would be at the botanical gardens while the scientist might be at places of intrest to the scientific community. A museum would be one of those places.

Move out, soldier!

You should have asked your wife to order you around then. Bow chicka wow wow.

Please realize we only suggested the tower because of the "last place you'd look" phrase. I'd figure this man would try and hide from dangerous humans than architecture. So he chose the most dangerous place because no one would look for him there. Also, big foreboding towers are places for madmen in stories. Just so you know.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)12:29 No. 140611 ID: 65a023
File 126747539238.jpg - (169.92KB , 777x777 , 03-33.jpg )

>Hey we can order you around. Just imagine it, you will get wildly conflicting orders that often makes no sense, to the point of being irrelevant or even dangerously stupid, and can be reinscinded at any second.

Hey, just like -

>like being in the army again.

Ha-HAaaa! Ah. That's depressing.

After some distance traveled, the light has - the SUN... the planet? Damn, I'm just sticking to my guns. Light's darkened. Night should be here, soon.

This place is trashed. I can't imagine much of anything of value has been left here. There's a blatant hole in the wall, and the doors are falling off their hinges. Looters probably got to this place ages ago.

I guess there's not much harm in heading inside.

>>140611
Let Kitty take point. We know she can survive an acid bath and head shots, and she can rip people to shreds with her bare hands.

Also, if she takes point you can get an eyefull of that sweet ass.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)12:49 No. 140624 ID: 65a023
File 126747657613.jpg - (138.95KB , 777x777 , 03-34.jpg )

Museum is completely looted. There's no sign of any human life. The walls are bare.

We keep descending through the halls until we come to a vault door.

>>140624
Open that shit. And brace for extradimensional horrors that wants to eat your face.

If you can't get it open then go check out the botanical gardens next.

Mneme!CRITTerXzI 2010/03/01(Mon)13:07 No. 140628 ID: a85626
File 126747765132.jpg - (57.80KB , 777x777 , arrowww.jpg )

>>140594

Ah, so the light has direction. Otherwise it would be coming from this direction too, making shading your face with that clumsy mitten impossible.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)13:22 No. 140638 ID: 65a023
File 126747854324.jpg - (157.48KB , 777x777 , 03-35.jpg )

>Ah, so the light has direction.

Well, yeah. It's different every day, of course. Most days I think it's always right on top of me. Today, it seemed to settle south.

>Open that shit. And brace for extradimensional horrors that wants to eat your face.

I hope you realize that everything with a locked door isn't going to have a horrible... whatever behind it. That was the first thing like that I'd ever seen. It'll likely be the last, unless I ever decide to vacation back in the Artifactum.

This is a normal, ordinary vault. With likely nothing important behind it. Looters apparently had no luck getting in. There're scar marks on nearby walls and the ceiling, where I suppose they tried to dig through, past the door. The room on the other side likely has armored walls.

Kitty tries her hand at tearing it off its hinges, with no luck. She punches it a few times, which looks really painful. Still nothing but a few dents. She sticks her hands into her pockets, but doesn't seem to be in any real pain.

"No good?"

>"Even amortals have their limits. I can feel it budging ever so often, though."

I stare at her for a moment before I realize she's changed clothes since I woke up. I've really been out of it. I almost hope we don't run into anyone. Her tail is hanging right out.

"Can you hear anything?"

>"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"You're closer to the door."

I guess she thought I was talking about her ears.

>"Ah. Well... there's sort of a faint rumbling, I guess. Some kind of machinery in another room, probably."

"I wouldn't think it'd be running."

She shrugs.

Durandal!swQABHZA/E 2010/03/01(Mon)13:31 No. 140641 ID: 1583f3
File 126747909318.jpg - (12.03KB , 343x480 , Aragorn.jpg )

>>140638
Kitty, what do your cat-ears hear?

>>140638
If it's still running then there might be someone inside there. Hang around for a bit and see if anyone opens the door. If not then go to the botanical gardens.

And that thing you ran into earlier. We got some more information about it. It's possible that it exists in an external dimension and all the creatures are actually part of the same creature. They can also apparently reform out of thin air. So it's possible they can pretty much appear out of thin air. Which means that since you took what it was supposed to be guarding it might come after you again.

Isn't life full of joy?

[paused] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)13:33 No. 140643 ID: 65a023
File 12674792062.jpg - (109.25KB , 777x777 , 03-35-p.jpg )

[[Failure to creatively design solutions for puzzles and problems results in dire ramifications for the main characters.]]

>>140643
Oh, were we supposed to equip Kitty and use her to pry open the door?

No wait... I'm confused. What's going on?

>>140643
Ugh puzzles. They have never been a favorite of mine.

Ok lets see what we have, one very strong catgirl with big boobs, one jeep, catgirls weapons of awesome destructive potential and one old soldier who has sideburns. We need to get through a door. The door also appears to have some sort wheel dial thingy in the center. It can also be dented by furious kitty fists.

I really should be to easy to blast out way to the hinges and pull the door out of the wall. But the only other thing I can come up with right now would be blast through the roof and that seems even more ridiculous. So I say blast through the door hinges and pull it out of the wall, using the jeep if necessary.

Examine DOOR

>>140643

Damn that weird puzzle shit.

>>140643

Always with the weird puzzle shit...

I've a crazy idea. Have Kitty try and TURN THE WHEEL.

Suggestion 2010/03/01(Mon)15:13 No. 140680 ID: db20e0
File 126748520393.jpg - (93.95KB , 1022x768 , BRILLIANT!.jpg )

>>140672

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)15:15 No. 140681 ID: 65a023
File 126748532090.jpg - (129.50KB , 777x777 , 03-36.jpg )

A puzzle? More like trying to break a fucking door down.

>jeep

As crazy as it sounds, I may be able to get the jeep up here. And I think I have a chain in the back. The extra power may be what it takes to yank the door off. But before I drive a jeep onto rotting floors, let's exhaust a few other options.

>blast out way to the hinges and pull the door out of the wall

Unfortunately the hinges to these kind of doors are on the inside, exactly for this reason.

"Kitty, do you have any explosives?"

>"I've got a little bit of CT9 left over."

No idea what that is, but I guess it's what we need.

>"You think that might help?"

"No clue. Voices are saying we might get the jeep up here, yank this damned thing off."

>"Could help. I can nearly feel something about to break. Me and you together - the jeep, I mean... that could do it. Wouldn't want it getting stuck in here. Not even sure it'd get through the front door."

>Examine DOOR
>I've a crazy idea. Have Kitty try and TURN THE WHEEL.

She tried just opening it first thing, of course. Judging from the looks of it, the door is old and worn down. There's some explosive scarring, and what looks like tearing near the edges. Plenty have tried before us. They didn't have Kitty, though.

Judging from the damage, we may be able to jar this thing enough to damage something on the other side, although probably not the way it is, now. We'd just be scraping the exterior.

Hm. How about we get the jeep up here with Kitty and try to tear this thing out, and if that loosens it up, we can fit some explosives in its seams? These are your ideas, voices.

>>140681
Yes that seems like it could work. But try weakening the wall around the door a bit before you bring in the jeep, have Kitty punch them some or shoot at them.

Just make sure Kitty knows what she is working with, we don't want to use too much explosives and bring down the entire fucking building. I'm fairly sure you would both survive but it would suck pretty hard.

And examine the path before you bring in the jeep, we don't want it to get stuck in the floor or fall through the floor.

Speak the Qer-ish word for 'Friend' Failing that, as long as it you won't be putting your mode of transportation at significant risk, go ahead and see if you can pull it open with that. I don't like the idea of Kitty using her explosives, both because they could be useful in the future and because it might damage whatever's behind the door. If the car-kitty combo doesn't work or seems impractical, i'd suggest just fuckin' it. There's no real proof that there's anything you desire beyond here.

>>140681
Why don't you just focus your strength on yanking the bars? Break that mechanism, not the door.

>>140681

Not in all the seams. The door will only have one set of hinges-and possibly additional lock-on clamps mounting it to the wall-you need to find those first.

If you had a sufficiently long and strong lever (Such as a metal i-beam) attempting that might work as well.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)16:40 No. 140713 ID: 65a023
File 12674904599.jpg - (172.26KB , 777x777 , 03-37.jpg )

Kitty continues trying to soften up the door while I get the jeep. Getting through the front door isn't a problem, with a giant hole to drive through.

I checked the floor beforehand to make sure of where to drive. I manage to get across the museum all right.

We won't use the explosives unless it's necessary. This is a lot to go through for possibly nothing, but if nothing else, we can use what's in there to barter with later. There's a reason why looters infest places like this. It's extremely profitable.

[cutscene] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)16:44 No. 140716 ID: 65a023
File 126749064451.jpg - (114.93KB , 777x777 , 03-38.jpg )

Kitty's had no luck while I was gone, so we chain the door. She signals ready.

[cutscene] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)16:47 No. 140717 ID: 65a023
File 126749086557.jpg - (113.29KB , 777x777 , 03-39.jpg )

After a few minutes, we manage to pull the door free a bit. Something finally broke. The opening isn't big enough to get through, and we still can't pull it completely free.

Oddly, the air on the other side isn't stagnant. It's fresh. And the rumbling on the other side isn't mechanical. It's muffled enough to still be ambiguous.

Looks like we don't have much of an option. Kitty plants the explosives in the small opening we've created.

[cutscene] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)16:53 No. 140720 ID: 65a023
File 126749122154.jpg - (113.70KB , 777x777 , 03-40.jpg )

"Listen, Kitty. I'm sorry if I bit your head off earlier."

>"Bit my...? Oh, you mean made me mad?"

"Yeah."

>"You didn't. Just giving you some space. Figured you need some time."

I'm not sure what she means, but I'll let it go.

>"I am running away from something. To be honest, Burns."

"Yeah?"

>"Guess we all are, in a way."

She continues working. I'm not going to press her. She's been surprisingly cooperative. I'd forgotten she'd taken me hostage.

[cutscene] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)16:57 No. 140723 ID: 65a023
File 126749143690.jpg - (186.99KB , 777x777 , 03-41.jpg )

We set off the explosives as we huddle behind the jeep. They make an odd sound, like I've not heard before. More off-world technology. I'm glad Kitty's the one using them, and not me. The whole museum would be rubble.

[end cutscene] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)16:59 No. 140724 ID: 65a023
File 12674915878.jpg - (152.48KB , 777x777 , 03-42.jpg )

Shit. Looks like that did the trick. The hinges on the other side were blown off just enough for the whole door to erupt out.

>>140724
Cautiously go up to the opening. Check it out for any traps or odd things. If there isn't any then send in Kitty first. She has more experiance in dealing with odd shit and she is more capable of taking care of herself.

Well better hope that you don't run into a situation soon that's all "gee I wish I had some of that magic explosive stuff." Personally I would've seen if you could shout into the vault once it had been partially opened... if there's someone in there they'd probably realize it'd be better to NOT piss off the guests that'll inevitably get in.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)17:12 No. 140730 ID: 65a023
File 126749235664.jpg - (105.64KB , 777x777 , 03-43.jpg )

All right. Kitty takes point.

It doesn't take much time to see that there's no traps, no sentries or any other hostiles.

So that's where the wind and fresh air was coming from. I can finally make out the sound coming from the winding tunnel. It's a combination of sounds. One is indeed a machine of some kind. It winds up and dies down ever so often. The other, drowning it out, is water, rumbling somewhere far away.

>>140730

It looks like your gray hairs disappeared.

Try checking your fingers.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)18:11 No. 140756 ID: 65a023
File 126749591168.jpg - (226.54KB , 777x777 , 03-44.jpg )

We head down the stairwell, until we come to the source.

Looks like your orders weren't a complete waste of time, voices.

>>140756

Nice shades, by the way.

[end of chapter 3] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/03/01(Mon)18:14 No. 140760 ID: 65a023
File 126749605183.jpg - (297.67KB , 777x777 , 03-45.jpg )

Although I can't help but wonder, if I should have just stayed home.

Call shotgun, quickly.

>>140773
If she calls shotgun first, call shotgun's lap.

>>140760

Keep your distance and make sure none of this craft's defenses are active.

We didn't come all this way to get blasted to tiny pieces by an auto-turret or something.

Why would he call shotgun? There are only two of them, so that means one of them drives and the other gets shotgun. And if you call shotgun, then, you're merely stating your unwillingness to drive.

>>140810
Does he really wanna try his hand at driving that thing?

Fucking called it, it's a ship.

>>140818
At this point, Burns can't try much of a hand at anything!

Because... you know... hand... broken...

....Yeah, that wasn't too funny.

>>140936

I'll give you a B+ for effort.

>>140936
That's sort of funny. Made me smirk.

>>140760
Ask her if she recognizes what it is and if she can drive it. Because I'm guessing you don't have any experiance with flying artifacts.

And that thing should make it easier to locate the scientist or any other people living in this city. Air recon is a wonderful tool.