Breach-16
Riana Brians
Naturally, the three of them all had reacted to that. Although a suitcase nuke wasn't as powerful as your average city-destroying-weapon-of-mass-destruction, just the word 'nuke' was enough to send her desired message over to her teammates.
She saw Keith open his mouth, clearly intending to speak, only to find that he didn't really know what to say. This whole thing was probably a massive bombshell for him. Both literally and metaphorically. After all, she had just placed a real, working nuclear bomb right next to him. The girl he had been arguing and fighting with a few hours ago was basically a nuke walking on two legs.
Or at least that was what Riana thought was going through the man's head right now.
She didn't know why, but the man seemed so easy to read when he seemed out of it. He was acting unnaturally uncertain and hesitant. Although, Riana couldn't put that on him. There were far too many unknown variables in this operation, not including already raised problems such as whether they could even enter the Crack in the first place, or if there really was another side at all. Who knows? Maybe those monsters were just materialising out of nowhere. God, she really hoped that wasn't the case. She would look so dumb right now if that were it.
Well, if this totally-not-risky-endeavour-filled-with-unknowns didn't work, they were as good as dead. Although, that really didn't make it any worse than their current option of wait-around-and-die. Any death was better than being torn to shreds and mutilated by giant insect mandibles and rodent claws.
Seeing all three of her teammates silent and pondering, she interrupted the cast of silence over them. If she wanted to make this work, she needed to hurry. Those abominations could start crossing over any second now.
"Alright, we all got our thoughts, yeah? But there isn't much time left so I'll be heading over to the Crack if you excuse me."
With that, she began moving away, preparing to make a dash for the Crack. But it was at this moment that Keith, who had been silent until now, grabbed her arm just as she was about to make a run for it.
"Wait, I'm going with you."
That provoked a response from her.
Snapping her head around, she turned to stare at the type. His words hadn't been what she was expecting.
"That's……unexpected. I didn't take you for the altruistic type. At least, from what I saw later on during the battle, you seemed more pragmatic in your actions if anything."
That, in turn, made the man wince a little. Guess he hadn't been expecting this level of observation from her. Well, she was self-aware she did come off as a bit air-headed, due to her aggressive nature and recklessness. She continued:
"There's no need for you to follow me in. Why add more casualties? Besides……"
She really didn't want to go there, but she was in a hurry. They didn't have much time.
"You'll only be a burden. Even if I'm carrying this heavy thing with me, once I step into the Crack, I can let loose until it goes off. You? You'll be lucky if you survive the first three minutes in there with me. Of course, provided there's actual breathable air in there, but seeing how those abominations look like familiar animals for some reason, I wouldn't put the possibility past us. Still, I have countermeasures for that worst case scenario. You don't."
The man remained silent, unable to retort, but his gaze continued to linger on her. Feeling uncomfortable over his persistence, she turned to look at the other two remaining members of the group. The other operative gave her a short reply.
"I'll stay. You're right. No need to follow along to my own grave. Besides, I'll only be a burden as you said. Name's Richard, by the way."
The man, Richard, paused briefly before adding on: "Still, if you need help……"
She cut him off: "Relax Richard. I got this."
Turning her head to look at Keith once more, she sighed.
"The two of us got this."
She didn't know why Keith was insistent on following her along. She didn't know why she herself had conceded so easily to letting Keith tag along. But even so-
"Ehem, make that three, would you?"
She did a double take. Now that was the most unexpected. She turned towards the source of the voice, and faced the white-coated technician who had spoken.
"You? Ok, seriously. Keith is one thing, but I'm not sure how someone like you would help. We cant afford to look after you or hold back because of you. You'd seriously die."
The man himself simply shrugged her comments off. "I can look after myself. There's no need to be concerned even if I'm in the way. Besides, we don't have much time, as you said. Are we going in or not?"
Shit. He was right. The rumbling was getting worse, and it was emanating straight from the Crack. From what she remembered of the rumbling before the first wave, they didn't have long before monsters started spewing out. She turned to look at the technician once more. As much as she wanted to argue right now, they didn't have time. She was going to have to trust his judgement, and her belief that he wasn't suicidal or stupid enough to have gotten his job.
Steeling herself, she announced: “Alright, no time to lose. Let's get this mission done folks.”
Breach-16
Riana Brians
Naturally, the three of them all had reacted to that. Although a suitcase nuke wasn't as powerful as your average city-destroying-weapon-of-mass-destruction, just the word 'nuke' was enough to send her desired message over to her teammates.
She saw Keith open his mouth, clearly intending to speak, only to find that he didn't really know what to say. This whole thing was probably a massive bombshell for him. Both literally and metaphorically. After all, she had just placed a real, working nuclear bomb right next to him. The girl he had been arguing and fighting with a few hours ago was basically a nuke walking on two legs.
Or at least that was what Riana thought was going through the man's head right now.
She didn't know why, but the man seemed so easy to read when he seemed out of it. He was acting unnaturally uncertain and hesitant. Although, Riana couldn't put that on him. There were far too many unknown variables in this operation, not including already raised problems such as whether they could even enter the Crack in the first place, or if there really was another side at all. Who knows? Maybe those monsters were just materialising out of nowhere. God, she really hoped that wasn't the case. She would look so dumb right now if that were it.
Well, if this totally-not-risky-endeavour-filled-with-unknowns didn't work, they were as good as dead. Although, that really didn't make it any worse than their current option of wait-around-and-die. Any death was better than being torn to shreds and mutilated by giant insect mandibles and rodent claws.
Seeing all three of her teammates silent and pondering, she interrupted the cast of silence over them. If she wanted to make this work, she needed to hurry. Those abominations could start crossing over any second now.
"Alright, we all got our thoughts, yeah? But there isn't much time left so I'll be heading over to the Crack if you excuse me."
With that, she began moving away, preparing to make a dash for the Crack. But it was at this moment that Keith, who had been silent until now, grabbed her arm just as she was about to make a run for it.
"Wait, I'm going with you."
That provoked a response from her.
Snapping her head around, she turned to stare at the type. His words hadn't been what she was expecting.
"That's……unexpected. I didn't take you for the altruistic type. At least, from what I saw later on during the battle, you seemed more pragmatic in your actions if anything."
That, in turn, made the man wince a little. Guess he hadn't been expecting this level of observation from her. Well, she was self-aware she did come off as a bit air-headed, due to her aggressive nature and recklessness. She continued:
"There's no need for you to follow me in. Why add more casualties? Besides……"
She really didn't want to go there, but she was in a hurry. They didn't have much time.
"You'll only be a burden. Even if I'm carrying this heavy thing with me, once I step into the Crack, I can let loose until it goes off. You? You'll be lucky if you survive the first three minutes in there with me. Of course, provided there's actual breathable air in there, but seeing how those abominations look like familiar animals for some reason, I wouldn't put the possibility past us. Still, I have countermeasures for that worst case scenario. You don't."
The man remained silent, unable to retort, but his gaze continued to linger on her. Feeling uncomfortable over his persistence, she turned to look at the other two remaining members of the group. The other operative gave her a short reply.
"I'll stay. You're right. No need to follow along to my own grave. Besides, I'll only be a burden as you said. Name's Richard, by the way."
The man, Richard, paused briefly before adding on: "Still, if you need help……"
She cut him off: "Relax Richard. I got this."
Turning her head to look at Keith once more, she sighed.
"The two of us got this."
She didn't know why Keith was insistent on following her along. She didn't know why she herself had conceded so easily to letting Keith tag along. But even so-
"Ehem, make that three, would you?"
She did a double take. Now that was the most unexpected. She turned towards the source of the voice, and faced the white-coated technician who had spoken.
"You? Ok, seriously. Keith is one thing, but I'm not sure how someone like you would help. We cant afford to look after you or hold back because of you. You'd seriously die."
The man himself simply shrugged her comments off. "I can look after myself. There's no need to be concerned even if I'm in the way. Besides, we don't have much time, as you said. Are we going in or not?"
Shit. He was right. The rumbling was getting worse, and it was emanating straight from the Crack. From what she remembered of the rumbling before the first wave, they didn't have long before monsters started spewing out. She turned to look at the technician once more. As much as she wanted to argue right now, they didn't have time. She was going to have to trust his judgement, and her belief that he wasn't suicidal or stupid enough to have gotten his job.
Steeling herself, she announced: “Alright, no time to lose. Let's get this mission done folks.”
