This day is going pretty piss-poor. Mostly because of the weather. There's a cold snap rolling through, it's raining, and he's in the middle of a forest looking for a probably empty cache to hopefully find something. Andy grumbles to himself, clutching the Walkie-Talkie in his grip as he shivers. Right now, he'd love nothing more than to be back in Vancouver, sitting in his apartment next to a space heater running full blast and with a jambuster and some KD. The wet socks are of no help either, squishing with every step. Frankly, his only saving grace right now is the weather keeping all the bugs off of him. Plus somehow they haven't gotten any attention from the local mounties either so that's good too.
Suddenly, the radio crackles to life as one of the other members searching this forest speaks into it. Quickly, Andy brings it to his ear to listen in, hoping it's not some hoser being a dumbass and radioing in just to complain to literally everyone else who can hear them. That got old quick after the first few times. Lucky for him, it's not someone complaining for once. Seems someone actually found something.
Crrk! "Hey! Uh... I think... might've found something eh? Found a hidden valley in the mountains and there's a ladder going across it, didn't cross it yet, just wanted to ask if any of yous set it there." The voice states. After nothing but denials of anyone having put it there, Andy starts to get a little excited. They might've finally found something. Finally, one of the heads asks where the original caller is so a couple of the others can get to him and help him check out the area.
"Uh... not too sure, I don't think this mountain is named eh. I'm between Mt. Columbie and Hamber so if you reach one of those then you've gone too far eh. It'll be tricky to spot the opening so keep your eyes wide as well eh." Andy thinks over that location, realizing it's basically on the other side of the highway that cuts through the middle of the park to him so he just shrugs and starts to trek back to his car, thinking about the two-four he'll be grabbing so him and some of the others can unwind after this boring day. Sure it's a little early to call it now but it's getting late anyway and no one wants to search a forest at night.
After about 15 minutes of walking, Andy's radio crackles to life again. A different voice is talking this time. "Jesus Murphy! we just pushed past some brambles on the other side and there's a whole bunker here! Door's ajar, eh? We think our little mouse might've been here!" They call out, followed by a lieutenant responding, telling them to check the inside while he heads over there with some others. Andy clips his radio to his belt, leaving it on so he doesn't need to carry the thing since he'll clearly have nothing to say. Better to keep it on though incase he needs to hear something.
Andy just continues walking back to his car when his heart drops at the sight of it. There stands a pair of mounties next to his car which was currently in the process of being loaded on a flatbed. In his negligence, he parked partially on a pedestrian pathway, so he's pretty sure why they're loading it up. At least, that's the case until he notices someone decided to smash it up as well, the windows shattered and tires slashed.
"Oh shit!" Andy says, hands on his head as he walks up to the remains of his care. Sure it wasn't a nice car but it was his.
One of the mounties looks up at him. "You're car then, eh?" He asks, sticking his thumb towards the car. Andy nods, wordless. "Well at least we got one of the vehicles owners then," the mountie continues to his partner before turning back to Andy. "We caught some teens smashing up vehicles in this lot for fun. They probably thought no one would catch them but we did, so you don't need to worry about-" The mountie is cut off by the walkie on Andy's hip suddenly crackling to life.
"Fuck yeah! This looks like the place that Bant bastard might've found! There's some gear here with his name on it, eh. Wonder why he left it eh?" Now both mounties are looking at Andy with rapt attention, the man starting to tremble under their intense gazes.
"Did that walkie just mention finding Bant?" "It did." "And he's not a cop?" "Nope." "Right..." They speak to each other. "You are coming with us to answer some questions. Understand, eh?" One of them tells him. Andy just gulps.
----------------------------------------
"This is Officer Cois. Just got a lead on Jonathan Bant's disappearance whilst responding to a vandalism call. Requesting backup at Jasper National Park's Maligne Lake to secure the suspect, and for addition units to meet up on the southeastern end of Hamber Park. Suspect is member of Rocky Powder gang, and confirmed they found his trace at a bunker between Hamber Park and Mt. Columbie. Can also confirm large gang presence currently in the park, proceed with caution." Officer Cois speaks into his radio while partner guards the now-cuffed Andy. They don't exactly have a way to transport him safely, save for trailing him behind a horse like it's the American Wild West, but that's not exactly an idea any of the three want to do.
"I know, just happy we might actually have something." He continues in the radio, a little less strict now. "Careful when you tell Angie, she didn't take his disappearance the greatest." The mountie finishes, putting his radio away. Looking back at the sniveling man on the ground, he just sighs, rubbing his forehead. "This is going to be a nightmare. Hopefully our American friends bring some of their toys with them, and everyone's got their shit-kickers on, eh. Something tells me this won't be a clean bunch of arrests eh?" He says to his partner, the more stoic man just shrugging. He was never much of a talker but a good guy so Cois puts up with him. Hopefully transport shows soon so they can move to the search area. mounted cops are better in a forest that foot patrols after all, and they can't use helicopters as that could alert the gang the police are onto them.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
----------------------------------------
At the bunker, Jones isn't having a great time. He and about 5 others are sitting around the rusted entrance, waiting for the ones who went in to come back. They're just doing that to make sure the place is actually empty, don't want any nasties to jump out at the rest or have some leftover trap take out everyone's legs. That wouldn't be pleasant. The issue is, though, the fact that looking inside from the entrance gleams a place which, to him, doesn't look like an abandoned gang stash site. Frankly, the place looks like some kind of bunker meant for experiments or the like. At least the air is nice, feels like he's back at his prime back at university when he felt like king of the world.
It's also a slight issue with it having been several hours since he sent in a small crew to clear the place, and is wondering where they are. Him and the others are starting to antsy with the sun having mostly set, bathing them in shadows. The lanterns help keep things visible but no one brought a fire starter with them. Well, a few of them are armed, but starting a fire with a gun doesn't seem like a smart idea.
He pulls out his radio, hoping someone inside can hear him when he's stopped by sudden yelling as several flashlights suddenly appear trained on the small group of gangsters. "Police! Hands up! You are under arrest!" Someone shouts out. Jones drops his radio and lifts his hands. He's not an idiot and can clearly see he's surrounded, outnumbered, and was caught unaware. Frankly, a terrible situation for a criminal to be suddenly caught in.
One of his subordinates apparently either can't tell the obvious or doesn't want to get taken without a fight, whipping out a pistol to try and point it at the nearest cop. His resistance is short lived as an officer with their gun already trained on him drops him with a short staccato of gunfire. No one else resists.
Jones grumbles to himself as he's forced to his knees, searched, disarmed, and cuffed. This was a disaster.
----------------------------------------
Officer Cois is relieved, this was a much simpler affair than he thought. Sure one guy was an idiot and is currently being airlifted to the nearest hospital, but aside from that this was a relatively easy arrest. His horse probably isn't too pleased with being left behind across the ravine though, but they couldn't set up any proper temp bridges across it before arrest the crowd on the other side. With that done though, all they'll need to do is put one up, then escort them back to the nearest clearing that transports can reach.
Yeah... This is just going to be a long march. Hopefully Sargent Carrots doesn't mind.
Heh, just thinking about how his mount outranks him is already helping improve his mood. It's been 4 years but he can never grow tired of that tradition. Or maybe its how the air in this small clearing feels much cleaner than normal.
Actually, wait, why does he feel like he just had a coffee? "Hey Jacobs!" He calls out to a nearby swat officer whose walking past with a slight pep to his step. The man pauses, looking at him. "What's up, eh?" "Just wondering, is it just me or do you suddenly feel like you just had a strong coffee?" Cois asks. Jacobs thinks for a minute. "I wouldn't say coffee, but now that you mention it, I do feel a lot better than I'd think after hiking through a forest in combat gear." He responds after a short contemplation.
Officer Cois thinks about that for a minute, then shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe it's just my imagination eh? We did just have a much better mass arrest than I'd think eh. Anyhow, I better got help with guarding the bunch as we escort them back to civilization eh. Good luck with finding the group still in there eh." He says to Jacobs, who just waves in response before jogging off to group up with the rest of the team about to enter the bunker. No one went in yet, but they did close the door as softly as possible, not wanting those inside to take shots at the officers as they secured the outside. Only one way in or out though so they've got some time to prepare.
----------------------------------------
The dungeon is enjoying it's most recent meal. It was a bit aggravating at first, the challengers spending almost 30 minutes on the first room alone before moving on to the hall, where they did the same thing. Thankfully though, they did close the door behind them after entering the hall, and looking over that group huddled outside, it helped make everything much more soundproof than it normally would be. Mana truly is a wonderful thing.
It got it's entertainment too after they entered it's first abominations arena with fear on their faces. Plenty of screaming, some gunshots, and the noises of bodies being broken later, It's consumed another 5 lives in about just as many minutes. The abomination truly is a terror, though it didn't kill them all. No, the last one tried to bolt but forgot about the electric trap and stepped in it, then was promptly hit with a strong enough current his hair caught fire and he just dropped like a brick, skidding across the floor. Thus ended the first party to enter.
After such a display, it even levelled up!
----------------------------------------
[Unnamed Rainbow Dungeon Core]
Level: 2
Floors: 2
Core attunement: Unknown
Dungeon Theme: Research Bunker
Mana: 20/20; Regen: 1/hour
Creatures: 0/2 (-50% Max Creature Count)
Special Creatures: 0/0
Boss Creatures: 0/0
Skills: Mana Generation (SPECIAL) (PASSIVE); Territory Manipulation; Domain Sight; Creation; Destruction; Absorption; Spatial Storage; Analysis
Titles: Herald of The System; Timekeeper
[Select Boon!]
[More mana] [New creature type] [Unlock special creatures]
----------------------------------------
Oooo! it even got a boon. These are always nice, but for the first on, it feels mana is best. It'll need more mana for better creatures after all. After though, new terrors to inhabit it along with its new floor will be perfect~ Especially with that growing crowd outside, it might level up before the day breaks!
----------------------------------------
[Unnamed Rainbow Dungeon Core]
Level: 2
Floors: 2
Core attunement: Unknown
Dungeon Theme: Research Bunker
Mana: 20/40; Regen: 1/hour
Creatures: 0/2 (-50% Max Creature Count)
Special Creatures: 0/0
Boss Creatures: 0/0
Skills: Mana Generation (SPECIAL) (PASSIVE); Territory Manipulation; Domain Sight; Creation; Destruction; Absorption; Spatial Storage; Analysis
Titles: Herald of The System; Timekeeper