Mission 1.2: Sinister Trail

As the 3 of them slowly leave the room, the mass of faces starts to give echoing laughs. When they speak, they now speak not as one anymore.

"Ha ha he...
No, not funny...
Very funny, humans are scared...
Let's get them...
No, we are to let them walk free...
Stop pushing me...
Hah ha!...
We will lose our opportunity to leave...
No, we need ambassdors. In the past we did...
Hey guys! I'm Samuel! Please free me!...
No, no shut up you jokester...
Haha, Samuel is with us...
No, I'm the real Samuel!...
Then I'm James...
No, we made James into a communicator for the nearby humans...
Hahaha, baby humans, scared of us..."


As the almost skeletal hands rip up more of the material off, the cluster of balloon-like heads are fully seen. They appear to connect directly into the neck of the corpse of Samuel via black stems. The remains of the cocoon are still wrapped around his legs, where something like an umbilical cord connects it to the thick growth on the room wall.

By now, the 3 Spacers have made their way into the corridor. Their eyes watching the monstrosity that haven't moved closer to them.

Matsuki forced everyone else to stop staring back and run away quickly. As the 3 people in Vacsuits find that they have seen enough, their body now focuses on running up the stairs, avoiding to trip on any of the steps.

Behind them, the chilling voices continue to talk amongst themselves, partly to argue about the decision, partly to taunt the fleeing humans. A beeping noise is heard, possibly coming from the main computer in the large room. The group are now on the stairs to not see what is happening.

As they continue on to the next level, they now notice the strange small devices in some of the corners of the structure. It could be mistake for an odd ceiling light, except now they are blinking a red led light erratically. A camera? A bomb? Something else?

While this happens, a distant slamming noise can be heard. As if something bashed against a wall or a floor. Seems to be coming from the corridor of level -2...

With focused determination to not die in this cursed complex, the group of 3 make their way quickly out. They don't wish to know what else there is, as their traumatic experience should be enough evidence that this strange location is something they are not equipped to handle.

They climb up the ladder of the -1 level and emerge from the entrance of the structure. As they catch their breath a bit, they will see the starry sky again along with the towering mysterious pillars. On the pillar tops, the mold glow red as lights now pulse rhythmically. There are the face balloons now swaying high above the ground level. Their attention are on the pillars, and some are looking down at the escaped Spacers.

"Hi there...
Ooh, they are running...
Ha ha ha, run...
Ooh, will they betray us?...
Ha ha, red light, human creation...
Funny, stupid humans..."

As the group make their way out, the Faces don't seem to chase them. With this, the group will easily reach the rim of the pit, and they will see the vehicle they took to come here, and the abandoned vehicle of the previous team.

Indeed, the slain body of Tariq lies ruined near the entrance of the structure, with the woman known as Christina not too far away as well. It is a very cruel end for a caring doctor animals. There is subtle signs of breathing from Tariq's corpse. As if to taunt that his body is still not fully at rest.

Nikolai will drive away. Matsuki keeps watch on the back with her sniper scope. So far, nothing chases after them. Only the haunting gaze of the balloon faces can be seen watching the groups departure.

Nikolai have driven for a few hours to the West when the engine seems to stutter a bit. Zakk has been also awake, and is looking through the footage he got. So far, it is as expected, the video starts getting fuzzy when they enter the pit, and slowly grew worse the deeper they descended the structure. The strange red graphical artifacts can be seen too. He then exclaimed a bit, saying that his filming device have randomly been turning off and on.

Looking at the landscape, there doesn't seem to be anything off, other than the region of holes in the visible far distance.

Zakk quickly turns his camera off, which stops the problem for it for now. After while, the engine stops making odd noises and returns to normal engine noise.

By now, at least 6 hours have passed since the truck left the Face. Nikolai drove it through the fields of holes. How deep the holes are, it is hard to tell from inside the vehicle, but from the shadows it has, it is like capable of trapping it if it fell in. Since Nikolai is now also growing tired, he will not take the risk of driving too fast.

Since he goes slower, it takes a longer time to travel through. Eventually he passes it without trouble, and heads south West. Meanwhile, Zakk takes the opportunity to sleep.
(I'll be nice and not ask for any saves for this.
Also, I checked, and the rules say Exhausted condition happens after 2 days of no long rest, I'll not apply disadvantages yet.)

A few hours more, Matsuki spots something in the distance to the North West. It looks like more tall shiny pillars, identical in shape to the ones the structure had. This one isn't blinking.
(Check it out, or ignore?)

Indeed, there is too much adventure for one day. Risking another confrontation with the fungus aliens or similar is undesired. As pillars disappear over the horizon, Matsuki have a feeling that something is watching them, but it could just be paranoia.

As Nikolai passes through a hill valley, he remembers that his friend Tariq mentioned that he saw movements around the area. Right now, Nikolai cannot see anything off, but he can't help but feel that now it is not impossible for there to be other creatures hidden on this world other than the colonising humans.

By now, more than 12 hours have passed since they left the Structure.

Zakk wakes up suddenly, in a sweat. He says he had a nightmare. He saw himself in his own music studio, recording his new album on the wonders of travelling through space on a rocket ship. As he reached the last part of the song, the lyrics began to grow intense, about dying alone, consumed by laughing darkness. Outside his recording room window, the room grows dark, as the white smiling faces headbang and chant to the deteriorating rock music. As the song ends, the faces began to make hollering noises and applause as they bash themselves through the window.

Fortunately, he manages to crack a joke at it, saying how even the aliens liked his music. (Will save passed.)
He however is still quite affected by it, so he offers to stay up to take over either Matsuki's watch of the back, or Nikolai's driving, so they could rest if they wish.