multiversallogs | Mission Beta

Who: List forthcoming.
What: Going to get a queen ant!
Where: ...in a hive.
When: NOW. This thread will likely cover a few days.
Notes: The basket contains a blanket and fresh and perfectly edible stuff; sandwiches, a stack of wrapped pancakes, syrup, sugar cubes, random assortment of sweet candy, two bottles of sweet blue lemonade.
Warnings: To be updated.

Dear Beta Mission,

So. Large social arthropods and we are going after their queen. We got all of those houses checked and the royalty was in another castle every time. Leaves us (or rather you) with only one option: GOING UNDERGROUND. Thousands of people have done it before you so it should be simple enough! But just in case and just because you are so very dear to our hearts, your gods have decided to grant you some simple boons to help you on your way. You will get:

Glow Sticks - Do you folks like chemiluminescence? Well now you can have 200 sticks of single use biodegradable tubes worth of it! Break it and shake it, it will light up any deep dark tunnel of your choice.

A Magical Compass - Actually I don't know if it's magical or just really scientific but when you're lost somewhere deep underground and you want to know the way out it really doesn't matter does it? What you do is you tell it where you want to go, and it points in that direction. Talk about useful.

A Crate With a Tarp - The very latest in ant queen kidnapping technology!

A Picnic Basket - Well you are out hunting ants, aren't you.

It's hard but not that hard to track the ants down to their original brooding nest. Keen tracking skills or magic should do it. The best entrance lies inside the old subterranean Karsten and Pierce's Mushroom Farm just outside the City. The ants in this nest do not appear to be afflicted by the illness of their sisters on the surface.

It's perfectly dark down in these tunnels, and it smells of mold and formic acid. It's also quiet, or would be if it wasn't for the constant scratching and static tittering of worker ants milling up and down with food and building materials in their mandibles. Much like the ants in the houses, they will not mind intruders as long as the intruders are on their best behaviour. The queen is likely to be in the brooding chamber, surrounded by eggs (some of which may be queen eggs) and workers. She's also likely to be huge and ill disposed to being moved.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hellboy looks around the assembled group -- Pickman's hooves get a chuckle and a wiggle of his own little hoof-toes -- and says, "Okay, this looks like a pretty good sized group. If there's anyone else supposed to show, hopefully they'll catch up.

"Anyway, yes, I'm Hellboy. Mina and Meg have introduced themselves... and... Daji." He looks down at Daji for a moment, scratching at the little bit of beard at the center of his chin, then gives a slouchy shrug and says, "Nice to meet you. Also, this is Richard Pickman, and Boromir. Boromir and I are both Hellsing agents. I didn't catch names for you two, though." He looks at Cindy and Clark.

(Hopefully, Clark's thought of some sort of name, or else that hoodie and shades are going to get him called the Unabomber, and none of them wants that.)

"I didn't throw it," Cindy replies dryly. No offense meant, honestly. That's just her automatic response to that particular phrase. "Cynthia."

She glances around at this motley crew of god-drafted people and wonders who's the weakest link of them all. It's something she wants to know now rather than guess about it and find out the hard way later. The big red dude, the girl with the polearm, and he who calls himself Boromir look like decent enough battlers. Cindy can't say much more for the others. "Any of you have experience in these types of missions? Speak now so the rest of us will know how to work with you."

Or around you if she gets frustrated enough with this entire shindig.

As the rest of what seems to be their group filter in, Pickman considers each of them in kind. (And most certainly does not make any kind of squeak of delight when the fox appears. You're hearing things if you think otherwise.) It's an impressive collection of people, and he's not sure where he'd place himself on it, but... nowhere near the top, certainly.

Still, he's got one thing going for him that he's pretty sure the rest of them don't.

He shakes his head, when Cindy poses the question of their experience. "Not with none've this adventure team shit. I ain't no fighter. But I know fuckin' tunnels. That's my motherfuckin' summer home."

Mina sighed softly. She didn't particularly want to share her resume with this...assortment of individuals. But she supposed if she was going to die with them, it was no matter. No one seemed to care much about the Masquerade anyway. "Yes," she said bluntly. "Not with ants, but I have deal with...supernatural threats before. I've fought a...dragon. And a train that was brought to life by a fae." She glanced at her fingernails absently. "And an army of unpleasant Catholics, although I suppose that's small potatoes right now."

She glanced up at the group. "I imagine I'm here to patch you all up as we get torn apart," she added bluntly, "but for what it's worth, if we're running out, I have a little trick of my sleeve that can keep the ants from following us."

Mina left it at that. If they cared enough to know, or if they needed it, she'd play her part.

Boromir's glad to hear there's someone who knows their way around tunnels, and fighting a dragon is certainly no easy feat.

"Hellboy roughly knows this, but I was Captain-General of my country's army in a war waged against the Dark Lord Sauron. He was one of the Maiar, and from what I gather that's similar to what you would all call a lower god." He's loathe to use the term, as it implies worship and reverence, but it is a close approximation. "I was involved in a quest to destroy an artefact that was crucial to his power before I was brought here. I've fought against Orcs, trolls, spiders bigger than horses and an assortment of other foul creatures."

"Oh, no, hon. You're getting torn apart by yourself. It was nice knowing you for however long as it's been."

Cindy doesn't know who or what Mina's all about, but the point where she gave a shit has long died and is rotting off in a corner somewhere. She hates working with pessimists even more than having to work with a team. They haven't even planned on who does what yet and here this woman is already sentencing them to death. Somebody wants to be the weakest link in this mission chain; Cindy's more than glad to let Mina be it. And she definitely doesn't care enough to beg Mina to confess her little hat trick.

Turning to the foxy girl, Cindy nods at her weaponry and glances at the fox. "Please tell me his or her teeth aren't just there for decoration."

"Okay, that's enough, the both of you," Hellboy says, looking at Mina and Cindy. "Save it for your own time. Now, since you asked, yeah, I've been a paranormal investigator for most of my life, and stuff like this is practically run of the mill.

"Now..." He gestures at the equipment. "As for the gear and who does what: It looks like most of us are combat-ready, so that's good. First thing we'll need to do is track the ants back home. I can do some of that, and I expect Boromir can, too. Anyone else, speak up. Whoever's best at that should probably get the compass. Pickman's already spoken up about having underground navigation covered. Mina patches up whoever gets hurt. I recommend we all take a share of the glowsticks, and whoever has the spare cargo capacity takes the basket."

He sets his Right Hand on the crate, tapping its big stone fingers on the tarped lid. "And last but not least, I can carry this myself, but I'm hoping at least one of you is strong enough that we can switch off as needed, especially if we have to fight on the move."

"I don't need no glowsticks," Pickman says quickly. He taps the side of his head with one long nail. "I got my eyes." Which means, of course, that someone else can take his share. He's trying to be helpful, in his own way. "So, ah -- I can take the basket?" It smells strongly, strongly of sugar... hardly the most appealing thing in the world for a ghoul, but he imagines that for an ant...

"'less one've you trackin' want it. Bait, maybe, yeah?"

Mission Beta

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