Golden Age: Revival

Allina: <So it's like they were prepared specially for us.>

R"I'm willing to bet this guy knows we're coming."

*After everyone files out of the boat, it shrinks, allowing Euryale to carry it like a backpack again.*

N"Well, he'll have the perfect opportunity to ambush us. We have to go through this cave to get to him."

"You know, you don't have to carry the canoe. I brought it with me, I'll carry it if you don't want to."

E"No you won't."

*She takes the canoe off of her back & drops it on the ground. It hits the sand & sinks in, showing that its size may change, but its weight doesn't vary much.*

Noct frowns, "Well then, now I feel even worse about you hefting it around. That said, I have to ask, how can you even lift it so easily?"

E"I'll give you a hint: My sister's name was Medusa."

*She picks it back up.*

"Why do I feel like the only mythology that isn't real are the Abrahamic beliefs?" Noct asked with a chuckled, "Well, you look good for a gorgon. I think. I'm not sure what gorgons look like in real life. Well, you look good for a human, so I guess that counts for something."

E"Thank you. Back when I was a monster, I had tusks & bronze claws."

N"What do you mean 'except the Abrahamic ones'? Do the Tower of Babel, Longinus, and Djinn mean anything to you?"

"I'm sure you wore them well," Noct said with a chuckle. "Oh, and you're right... Nero, wasn't it," Noct said, "I don't think I every thanked you for taking that hit from Noba-something. You saved my life, thank you."

N"That was Roatha."

*He points to the guy that Noctis is mad at.*

N"Fucked him up something fierce, he was in a coma for about two weeks. Thiera says she can't figure out how he isn't feeling the effects of the brain damage, or something."

"Ah, thank you then," Noct said, looking at Roatha, "A bit of a dick, but I still owe you my life."

*He scratches the back of his head.*

"Yeah, well...I didn't expect him to have a sword that cuts through anything. And about that spell of yours...it just reminds me of this guy I used to know. I didn't mean to make it personal."

"Noted," Noct said, "I'm sorry for making a bad second impression, especially after my first one was so bad too."

Allina: <I can go first.>

Noct looked at Allina, "What?"

R"Into the cave alone? That sounds like a really bad idea."

N"They're gonna ambush us, we don't have much of a say in the matter. The only way to get to his little club house is through this cave. We can't teleport there because Roatha doesn't know where it is. But, who really cares? We've beat up his mooks before, I'm sure this time won't be any different."

Noct crossed her arms and waited for someone to come to a conclusion, and lead the way, assuming they stopped in the first place.

Allina: <Not alone... just ahead. But yeah, all right. Sorry.>

*The group finds a slight slope with a jagged hole in the side. Assuming this is the cave, they enter. It's only about ten feet before the tunnels, previously circular & so full of rock formations that it was like a maze, become square & smooth-walled. Occasionally, there is a side shaft with rail tracks heading down.*

R"This isn't a 'cave,' so much as a mine."

E"Thiera did say that he was a diamond miner."

N"I don't think that's what this mine is used for. I don't see any workers, gems, or equipment. In fact, at the bottom of most of these shafts are sludgy water."

Noct quietly followed along.

E"Hold on, guys, there's some kind of string stuck in my toes."

N"...Aw, Hell."

*Several bombs hidden in the walls go off. Boulders fall, blocking the way in front and behind them. The ground beneath them gives way, plummeting them into one of the side tunnels. This one does not have liquid at the bottom. Rather, a light comes on overhead, revealing it to be ringed with machinegun-armed militiamen, the native fauna of Somalia. Near the back is a glass pane, behind which is an empty room.*

???<Shoot! Ptolemy will verify their corpses with his own eyes when he arrives!>

Noct creates a shadow shield for herself, then begins to shoot through it with her rifle, trying to pick off the attackers one by one. In case anyone was wondering her bullets do not deflect off the shield because both are made from the shadow, and Noct allows it to pass through. "Well, this sucks," Noct said.

*Noct drops one of them before the insanity breaks out.*

R"Get down & don't bitch!"

E"About wha--"

*Roatha points his sword in the air & shoots a lightning bolt into the light, shattering it & plunging the room into darkness. Nero, Euryale, & Roatha immediately hit the deck as the less intelligent of the mooks begin firing.*

???<Stop shooting, you don't know where you're aiming! Leave them to the ones with night vision equipment!>

Noct keeps shooting, since seeing in the dark is her thing. Plus it wasn't hard to just aim at the muzzle flares, which her gun lacked, since it was all shadows.

*Nero, who also has night vision, sets about disabling the soldiers with night vision goggles. Though he's not quite desensitized to killing people yet, so he just stabs them in both of their arms. Unfortunately, their advantage does not last: A bald man with dark skin wearing a business suit steps into the other room, & the light illuminates the room they are in.*

Ptolemy<Yes, that is them. Plus the girl who killed Selecus, somehow. This is perfect, kill them all & be done with it.>

E"You should know, when they fail, we're breaking that glass & coming after you."

Ptolemy<You should know that this is six-inch thick reinforced glass. And that I can gas the room & everyone inside will be dead within minutes.>

N"...Man, this guy does not fuck around."