"Repeat query: what is your position? Over." Buffalo's voice comes through, albeit muffled by Wolfe's peculiar membrane. The device's vibrations create a strange, unpleasant tingle in the veiled slime's lack of a skull.

Meanwhile, their entire team just looks on at the debacle. Some of them had already begun their descent down the switchback stairs, but they all stopped to stare at the confounding conscript that just, unprompted, ate their only means of communication with their allied team. Dozens of blank, red eyes are upon the ooze.

"Conscript Wolfe, query," BF begins. "why did you eat the handheld two-way communicator? Additional query: how did you eat the handheld two-way communicator?" Its lack of emotion (and, therefor, judgement) is a surprising asset, but that doesn't make its question any easier to answer.

"Repeat query, final warning: what is your position? Over." the device reverberates with Buffalo's words again, then falls silent. And it would seem that it will remain silent; down in the city, at the intersection where the other team has gathered, Buffalo can be seen, lowering its clone of the device. Its teammates twist into motion, spurred by some command that cannot be heard from this distance, and they all march down the crumbling street.

Blue Raspberry notices the panicked motions of Astrid before looking at the bots that are now questioning them. The unpleasant vibrations of Buffalo's voice rang in their head. They started to get the idea that eating the communication device may have been a bit of a bad idea.

Clearly, everyone except the ooze believed they needed to keep in contact with the other team. They didn't get why they had to talk to that jerk, but if even Astrid was trying to keep in contact, there must be a reason. With a sad face, they spit the device back out of their mouth and into their hand before passing it back to Astrid.

They looked at the bots that were gazing at them questioningly. They were still uncomfortable with the robots, especially now that they were looking directly at them. They didn't know what a query was, but the robots were also asking questions, so they should probably answer them.

"Uhh, sorry, my hand... slipped...? I didn't actually eat it. It was just in my mouth, um, accidentally. I have a big mouth. Just don't worry about it. I won't do it again. Uh, just forget it happened, right?" they hesitantly answered the bot, trying their best to think of a reasonable excuse that didn't expose themself as an ooze.

They looked at Astrid, a bit ashamed of their mistake. They waited until she finished speaking into the device to try and solve the situation they caused before speaking to her.

"I'm sorry. I'll do what you say, offrismas."

Looking quite stressed, especially with the questioning of the bots, Astrid takes the communicator back and wipes the bits of oozey slime off of it. She wastes no time in reporting back to Buffalo, though her voice is muffled by the layer of mucus. "Buffalo, we're reportin' in!" she says quickly. "Sorry, we uh... dropped the thing. We're on a cliff workin' our way down. We can see yer group." Astrid takes a couple of steps closer to the edge, trying to get a better grasp on where they are in relation, but without the sun, she doesn't know what direction is what.

"We're toooo yeeeerrrr behin-" Her foot slips as she's taken a step just slightly too far. "Ack!" The slippery communication device fumbles in her hand. She tosses it about like a hot potato, trying to catch it before it tumbles away. Unfortunately, she's a strength build, not a dex build, so it tumbles down deep into the city below. Even more unfortunate, that's not at all where the switchback goes. She peers over the edge of the cliff, looking into the darkness below but unable to see it. She's making a horrible first impression, isn't she?

"Mistress Astrid, it appears you have dropped the communicator Mistress Veliky provided you," Charles says with unintentional comedic timing. 

Definitely an awful first impression.

It's truly impossible to tell whether the bots approve or disapprove of Blue Raspberry's answer, or if they're even capable of that sort of judgement. All that BF does is emit a little chirp - the same that any bot does when it's acknowledging a command or otherwise saying "Okay."

The sight below the cliff, where the communicator was dropped, does not bode well. There is a chasm between the cliff and the city where plates of earth must've shifted apart long ago. It is safely spanned by a haphazard, but sturdy-looking bridge, likely established by the scouting team, but things that fall directly into the chasm - like handheld two-way communicators - don't benefit.

A soft, but erratic series of hisses marks the approach of a Stalker bot: an eight-legged arachnid with a body the size of a cat, built for subterfuge and espionage. "Officress Astrid, Conscript Wolfe, query," It can also talk. "shall I locate and inform Beta Team that we have lost our handheld two-way communicator?"

Astrid's head whips back towards Stalker then back over the edge of the cliff then back towards Stalker. The rest of the bots' eyes seem to leer into her, though in actuality they remain emotionless. She looks at Blue Raspberry then at Stalker again and stammers anxiously, "Uhhhh, nope, nope. We can get it. S'pose ya can come report if we get inta trouble. We'll grab it, yup, yup. Not a problem at all." At this point she's standing straight trying to feign confidence. She is not confident. "We'll meet the group at the bottom of the path!"

“Yeah, we’ll go get it, no problem!”

There's a unanimous chirp among the bots, but they don't depart quite yet. BF tilts its head at its organic commander. "Officress Astrid, Conscript Wolfe, query: would you like an escort? Recommendation: Moonlight-01 can illuminate the chasm should inadequate light become problematic."

Astrid looks at BF and nods. "That's probably a good idea," she says. "Wolfe can't see in the dark like I can, and extra light's never a bad thing. Seems like everyone can see alright up here, so yeah, we'll take Moonlight."

A second chirp, and the squad is in motion. They march in single-file down the switchback stairs, taking Spicy Pawsage and Charles with them but leave the hovering elemental, Moonlight, to act as a guide. It's an eerie device that certainly stretches what few preconceptions there are of 'bots.' It slides (or whatever apt a word there might be) down the wall of the chasm, the lantern swaying back and forth in its fiery grip.

The temperature drops the deeper they descend into the pit. But, given the heat they'd just been immersed in, the change is actually quite pleasant, if foreboding. It extends perhaps a hundred feet downward before the walls meet at a rocky floor, but it's a simple trek for the (for lack of a more accurate word) 'resourceful' trio. Illuminated only by Moonlight's supernatural glow, with darkness above, the experience is reminiscent of traversing a valley in the dead of night, with the warm lanternlight over the cliffside shining dully like a wayward campfire.

It takes a moment over sweeping over dust and boulders to locate the communicator. There's a number of ugly dents on its face and one of the lenses is missing. Whether or not it remains functional has yet to be seen.

The march of the bots above echoes faintly at the chasm's depths. Peering up, one can see that they yet march over the ramshackle bridge.

"Officress Astrid, repeat query, final warning," That voice crackles through the device again. It seems it's still working. "are you able to hear me?"

This has not gone well in the slightest, but there's no point in dwelling. It's time for action! The weird talking head's been dropped (by her), and she can't be a disappointment to Miss Veliky. Once the other group starts moving, Astrid looks at Wolfe. "Time ta make like Avasha and fly!" Then she turns and simply... jumps off the cliff. The child has a surprising lack of fear considering she doesn't outwardly have the means to avoid a deadly fall. Luckily, she inwardly has this means as two strange wings sprout from her back - each wing shares a mixed appearance of a bat's wing and a bird's wing. They flare out from under her cape and catch her in her fall, and she flaps them to stabilize herself. This is still incredibly new to her, but apparently, she's confident enough in her new ability to have just thrown herself from a significant height. The weekend she spent throwing herself off a rock outcropping over the ocean at grandpa Bellighul's villa paid off it seems.

This entire trip, of course, is made with the expectation that Wolfe will shapeshift into a bird and follow her. Hopefully, that's the case. She didn't forget to tell Wolfe about this new ability. In fact, she was quite excited to tell them about it when they reconvened recently. The situation as a whole though would be understandably unexpected.

Once she collects herself, she glides down towards where she saw the communicator fall. It's pitch dark below, and her eyes glimmer golden in the blackness to reveal shapes that don't quite catch Moonlight's light as it creeps down the cliff above her. The cooler temperatures are welcome through the descent, but the communicator is small, and apparently, this drop was much, much deeper than she expected. Now that she thinks about it, she never quite heard it hit the ground, did she? Finally, Moonlight's lantern light catches the ground below, and Astrid manages to land without twisting an ankle. (She did that once before and shored up her boots with some additional support as a result.) 

With her feet firmly on the ground, Astrid furls her wings close to tuck under her cape, and she looks around in the darkness. Her eyes shine like a cat's as she searches for the likely broken communicator. She hears some movement, and her eyes dart in that direction. Bumbling around and partaking in its own investigation is a bulbous creature with three tree trunk-like legs, three tentacles shaped vaguely like leaves on a vine - but with the addition of dangerous spikes - and a mouth that takes up nearly its entire head and seems to be nothing more than dozens of sharp, spiny teeth. It seems particularly interested in something lodged behind a boulder. Its rear tentacle, which Astrid realizes has eyes, peers over the boulder curiously before the strange, lumpy, earless elephant clambers over the boulder to collect the treasure or snack.

It's at this point Buffalo's voice comes through the communicator. The communicator that seems to be this creature's recent find. The communicator that she's looking for. The communicator that's spitting it's a final warning! Shoot!

"Aht, no, back off!" Astrid shouts, lunging forward with hammer in hand. "That's ours! Buffalo, I hear ya!" She shouts desperately, hoping the bot will hear. Likely it's fruitless, but it's worth a try.

The bulbous creature startles and scrambles back, which happens to be pressing itself into the crack the communicator is lodged in. Its tentacles lash out defensively, but the creature seems more afraid than outwardly hostile. A garbled voice with clicks for undertones speaks, "My treasure!" This strange creature is an otyugh. Not that Astrid would know to call it that.

---

Bat Wings [post 1/3]
Night Vision

Blue Raspberry watched Astrid leap off of the cliff and was a bit startled. They ran to the edge to try and grab her to stop her plummeting, but she had suddenly grown a pair of wings and had begun to fly her way down. That was a relief. The ooze almost did the same thing, but looked behind them to see all of the remaining bots still there, in easy watching and noticing weird things that would make them suspect that the man before them may actually be an ooze in disguise distance, so thought again for a moment. Instead, they just began to climb down the rocky wall, still in humanish form. Astrid would get to the bottom before them, but she was good at fighting and could see in the dark. She would be fine. Probably.

Their descent down the rock wall was far more graceful than their tumble down the slope earlier thanks to their hands sticking onto the rocks like goo. They didn't even need actual handholds in the rock to scale its surface, and none of the robots should be able to see that their hands were blue and their boots were covered in a blue slime seeping out from the opening at the top. They flipped around so their back was to the rock wall and continued climbing down. They made quick progress, almost like they were just crab walking on all fours, but vertically.

As they approached the bottom, following the blue glow of Moonlight, they finally saw the scene of Astrid face to face with the strange, tentacled monster in the chasm. Now was the time to follow Astrid's lead. They pushed themself off of the rock wall and began to fall down, directly over the creature. However, as they fell, their body morphed, their clothing was swallowed up by the ooze, and they took the shape of a huge, blue-furred dire wolf with sparks of electricity arcing over its fur which fell directly between Astrid and the creature. They took a stance, ready to pounce at the creature.

---

Slimy Hands
Shapeshifter's Plate
Lightning Armor

In mere moments, the chasm is filled with the sounds of crackling lightning, desperate shouts and monstrous gurgling. Adding to the chaos is Buffalo's voice, crackling through the communicator, but the words can't be discerned in the struggle. All of this commotion should draw attention, even reinforcements, from above. But there is none. Where are they?

The party's left with only Moonlight, and Moonlight does not appear to be an able fighter. Even its flames refuse to draw near the disgusting heap that shambles and ambles about. But it does provide an illumination that, for some, is much-needed.

The otyugh gallops backward on its three legs: a gross enough display on its own, without its three-eyed tentacles wriggling and peering at the would-be thieves. It is not a hateful being, but it is viciously territorial.

Its tendrils peel back and, like whips, crack violently forward, toward Wolf-Wolfe! But it's hopelessly outmatched; how could it contest with magic? The moment each tentacle comes near, it's struck with a jolt of electricity and, in a bright flash, all three of them fall limp, paralyzed^[1].

The hapless, helpless thing clicks and groans. It's feet - flat and three-toed, like those of an elephant - stamp on the stone floor, crushing pebbles beneath themselves. It's a tantrum, and one that offers little solace.

It isn't long before it's settled from its fit. But it still stands between the party and the device. Will violence be necessary?

There's a lull in the chaos, a silence in the noise as the thing appears to have calmed - albeit remaining defiant. Drool pours endlessly from its jaws; it bends its knees, slowly and painfully, to lower itself in some display of - submission? Pleading? Were it a person, the gesture might be interpreted as a kneel.

But, then, 'person' is a broad term, isn't it? It creeps into the minds of Astrid and Blue like a wave of anxiety: a guttural, yet meek voice^[2]. "Mine...? Please...?"

---

1. Lightning Armour (Blue Raspberry)
2. Limited Telepathy (Otyugh)

The sound of lightning crackling brings a certain comfort and confidence to Astrid, and having her trust wolf friend at her side shields her from even an inkling of fear. When the creature lashes out at Wolfe, she gets ready to pounce, but the magic of the lightning drives the creature back into its pathetic fit. She feels... well, bad for the creature. After all, they're invading its territory. And it really wants this radio. Astrid lets her hammer fall to her side, still keeping it held fast and letting the head float just above the ground. 

"Maybe we can trade?" she suggests. But she needs the communicator, so she starts inching towards it. Her eyes dart between the boulder, and the otyugh with each step. Buffalo's voice growls through the device. She just needs to nab it. "I'll take this, and we'll give ya somethin' in return. Then we don't hafta fight, and we'll get outta yer hair." Her wings against her back are ready to unfurl and sail her towards the prize.

The otyugh struggles to push itself to its feet but the paralysis of the Lightning Armor remains. "T-T-Trade...?" it sputters. 

"Yeah, a trade," she says, inching ever closer to the device. "I've got some food. Ya want some food? Me friend's got all sorts of weird treasures."

"H-Hurting," it groans. "Hungry... Food. Yes... Treasure, yesss...." 

"Yeah, I'm sorry 'bout that. Ya did attack us first though. It'll stop soon." Astrid is so close to the device, so she looks over at Wolfe with a look that asks, "Can ya cough somethin' up fer him?" Literally cough something up, please. Finally, she can squeeze behind the boulder and reaches the communicator. With glee, she lifts it then brings it to her face, but speaks quietly to avoid upsetting the strange monster. "Buffalo, come in. I've got the thing back. Our team's makin' their way inta the city."

---

Bat Wings [post 2/3]

Blue Raspberry looked from Astrid to the Otyugh and back a few times before they finally put together the situation and nodded to Astrid vigorously, still in the form of a dire wolf. The electricity sparking off of them ceased and they approached the trembling Otyugh. They lowered their head and spit out a metal and glass flask at the creature's feat.

The Otyugh tried to lift their tentacles, slowly regaining the feeling in them with the fading of the electricity numbing them. They picked up the flask and looked at it. It was a rather fancy flask, with ornate brass details overtop of a silver top and bottom with glass in between. Inside, visible through the clear glass, was a blue liquid.

Blue Raspberry backed away from them and began to shift back into their humanoid disguise, their clothing reemerging from the gooey form and put on before the body seemingly solidified and regained its more normal skin tone, but the hair remaining the same shade of blue.

"You can drink that, it's really good. And it'll make you feel nice and full!" they said, pointing to the flask in the creature's tentacles. They'd been told the liquid they could produce made the drinker feel full, a feeling the ooze had never experienced for themself, but understood to be a good thing.

The Otyugh had some difficulty opening the flask with their clumsy tentacles, but eventually managed it and drank the contents of the flask happily. With that, they seemed satisfied.

"T- Treasure..." they said, holding the now empty, but still beautiful flask lovingly.

The otyugh's tentacles, still debilitated coil softly around the flask.

"Good trade... good day..."

It... smiles? Its mouth does something. But would its smile even mean the same thing that a person's does? Perhaps it's better not to think about it. The creature shifts its weight begins about a galumphuous turn, then stomps off and into the shadows. Two of its tentacles drag on the floor, behind it.

"More find... more trade..."

...

It's gone. A strange encounter, to be certain, but it'd be difficult to say that it was altogether unpleasant.

The crackle of Buffalo's voice through the communicator recalls attention to the matter at hand (literally).

"Officress Astrid, this is Buffalo-01, report: our mission officially began seven minutes ago. Complications so soon after insertion will reflect poorly on your performance report. Recommendation: you should entrust the communicator to more capable hands. Over."

There's a pause in its rough drone, met by some mechanical chatter that's barely audible through the device.

"Officress Astrid, report: we have met resistance from unidentified, humanoid hostiles. They have been eliminated, but more may be present in the ruins. Recommendation: remain cautious. As you are technically in command of Alpha Team, ally casualties will also reflect poorly on your performance report. Over."

Astrid almost groans into the communicator but restrains herself. "Me hands are perfectly capable!" she huffs. "We met our own resistance, but me an' Wolfe handled it on our own. Alpha Team is in good hands, and we're gonna kick yer team's butt. Won't have no casualties, but thanks fer the warnin'. Let us know if ya need backup."

"Yeah! No causalities! We got this!" Wolfe cheers Astrid on, pumping a fist into the air.

Clash! Clang!

Sounds from above mark a dreadful interruption: a meeting of metal, and one that does not bode well for what awaits when they return to the squad.

"Report: threat disacknowledged. Additional report: competition is not the purpose of this mission. Do not lose focus on your objectives. Out."

Blue Raspberry played Astrid's hype ooze as she spoke to Buffalo through the damaged communicator. They felt a pang of guilt as it crackled and buzzed from all the damage it sustained from falling down here, into the chasm. It was their fault. The communicator had been too slippery for Astrid to keep a good grip on thanks to the slime they left on it when they spit it back out. They felt like they were just causing one problem after the other on this mission and making Astrid look bad in front of Miss Veliky's robots. Buffalo had even just spoken badly about her thanks to them.

Their attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of battle on the ledge above them. Something was fighting with the bots they'd had to leave up there to come down here to get the communicator. Another problem that might be their fault. Now they weren't there when the bots might need them. The escaped experiment had no love for the bots, but letting them get destroyed would make Astrid look bad, as Buffalo had also just pointed out. They had to go up there and help.

They were about to begin to climb up the wall when they realized that Moonlight, the little lantern bot, was looking at them. They'd completely forgotten the lantern was also a robot! It had definitely seen them transform into a wolf before, hadn't it!? They'd already messed up and shown one of the robots that they weren't human! Wait, maybe this was fine. If one robot had already seen them transform, then they didn't need to hide it anymore. Maybe Astrid could just tell them to forget about it or something, or they could just eat all the robots once the mission was over or something.

They let go of the wall and began to shift and morph into a huge, blue eagle that stood roughly seven feet tall. They looked at Astrid. They'd give her a ride up, but she already had her own pair of wings out, so they spread their wings and took off toward the sound of battle.

Why does Buffalo have to be such a jerk to her? Astrid huffs to herself, feeling completely justified in the attitude she spouted over the communicator to the croc-bot. She's good at adventuring and leading the charge, but leading people or Blixtbots^TM is different than running around free-spirited with Blue Raspberry. Maybe she's got to get herself together and stop being so anxious about what others think about her. Why does she care anyway? Oh, because it's Miss Veliky, and she doesn't want to disappoint. But if being nervous is making her make bad decisions, she needs to suck it up. She's the leader of this outfit, and she's gonna prove herself to be just as awesome as she wants to be!

The sounds of fighting above draw her attention. That was fast. Now's the time to show her stuff to the rest of the unit. Looking over at Blue Wolfeberry, she sees them shift into a big and fly up. Her wings won't carry her forever, so she squats down, unfurls them, and with a mighty push of wing and foot launches herself into the air to fly up the chasm again. Astrid grabs both of her hammers and slams them together. A thunderous CLAP reverberates along the walls and returns to her information on the creatures above. The expected number of BlixtbotsTM, Charles, Spicy Pawsage, Wolfe, Moonlight below, and...

Uh oh.

Astrid rockets to the top, straining her wings with each flap until she reaches the top where the group is and takes in what's going on.

---

Bat Wings [post 3/3]

Up, up and out of the chasm, Astrid and Eagle-Blue ascend! Moonlight follows behind and below, but slowly; what max speed it can muster is not to be admired.

The party crests the chasm's edge to first glimpse the battle at the city's outskirts. Barely thirty paces from where the bridge spans the chasm, the bots are under assail from wild, alien beings! They're dressed for the desert heat, but don't belong to any race of man, elf or dwarf; they're little - only slightly taller than Astrid - but huge, yellow eyes shine from beneath their shrouded hoods. As well, their proportions are bizarre: wide at the shoulder, but thin elsewhere and with oversized heads. Their weapons are curved into all shapes: sickles, khopeshes, shotels, scimitars; some even wield odd, curved axes.

The unknown beings' foreign blades clash against the polished, mass-produced weaponry of the Blixtbot™ army. The clashes, nearer now, is loud to blaring. The sandmen are acrobatic combatants, leaping from opponent to opponent, from the walls and rooftops to ambush the bots at every opportunity! But the bots' superior coordination and unshakeable discipline grant them an upper hand.

Nearest to the ledge, a peon of the sand-borne marauders stands over a battered and dented bot, ready to strike with two undulating knives! But it hesitates at the moment that Eagle-Blue appears before it. It lets out a shrill, startled sound before diving into a nearby pile of sand and burrowing through at shocking speeds, like a mole.

The rest of the beings, though, have yet to take notice. While the bots are holding their ground, they've yet to make much progress in driving them back. But the party's reinforcement should swiftly turn the tides.

Blue Birdberry took aim for one of the attacking figures that was about to swing a scimitar at a bot and dove down. The attacker didn't notice the large bird until they were being launched away by the impact of an oversized bird skull from the ooze's headbutt. They had thought about diving beak first, but decided against it. Even if the robots already knew about their ability to shapeshift, they didn't think swallowing one of these creatures would go unnoticed. Also, they looked at least mostly humanoid shaped, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

With one of their own suddenly headbutted away the other attackers finally noticed the appearance of the big blue bird. The nearest ones also seemed to panic as the first one did and began to dive into the ground and burrow away, obviously not hopeful of their chances of winning this battle now that reinforcements have arrived.

Blue Raspberry changed back into their humanoid form, but still armorless. They didn't want any more damage to come to their armor from fighting in it. The irony of this was lost on the ooze brained adventurer.

With so many of the attackers losing motivation and fleeing, even those who would have continued the fight had to leave now that their numbers were dwindling so rapidly. In hardly any time, the battle was over. The only remaining attacker being the unconscious ones, including the one that the bird had taken down.

Things suddenly are very chaotic in the underground city. Astrid takes a brief second to catch her breath and take in the situation. No! She literally just said she'd make sure none of the bots got lost along the way! Luckily, Wolfe startled off the one about to coup de gras the downed bot. That's good. What even are these things? No time to think! Astrid hefts her war hammer and sends it, electrified, soaring into a dense crowd of the strange creatures. Those who don't scatter in time are knocked away like zapped bowling pins. Then the hammer comes flying back into Astrid's hand just as she dives into the fray and starts bashing the creatures away from the bots. She sure as hell won't be losing any of them on this mission.

And then, just as quickly as things started, they ended. Huffing tiredly, she sets her war hammer down and hooks the battle hammer on her belt again, looking at the carnage. Mostly minor damages. Charles and Spicy Pawsage are unharmed, and there are two crispy burnt creatures laid out near them. The hellhound decides to make one of them a chew toy. A burbling rage suddenly swells in Astrid's chest, mostly from her frustration, and the urge to throw the unconscious creatures into the pit below hits her. But she doesn't. She takes a breath and pulls the communicator to her face. 

"Buffalo, come in. Alpha team encountered some strange creatures. They were hostile. I don't think we've got any casualties, but we've got a few banged-up bots. Things are about me size in brown garb with different kinds of blades. Seen anythin' like that on yer end?"

She goes over to one of the unconscious creatures and pulls back their hood to see what they are while she waits on a response.