The 28th Facility

The exterior.

**The 28th Facility** is where Retrieval Squad 4820 were sent to recover an unknown artifact. The facility is located within the desert mountains of the Vallina Peaks, located in Southern Gratus Territory.

It is rumoured to contain a great power source for the ARK project.

It was revealed that the facility actually contained a huge source of the nanophage, which the Gratus Confederacy wanted for unknown reasons. Within the huge source was a bio-automata connected to and corrupting the entire facility.

## Retrieval Squad 4820

The squad were sent in after being directed to obtain a vial of silver fluid for the guards. After being ushered in with the help of heavily armed guards, the squad (excluding a hiding Lok'tar) went into the facility.

### The Entranceways

Carl's lack of intelligence led to him licking the wall and complaining of a stinging sensation. Jaxon gently chided him, while Sakiran sped off in disgust when Carl looked to her for comfort. This led to a pair of turrets firing upon Sakiran and Carl, though it only did minimal damage to them both before running out of ammo and sending out some spider guardians that were quickly dispatched. Flah'fle advised that he go ahead to look for traps, and expertly guided the party through the facility. It was at this point that Lok'tar, or Lock, appeared, having been apprehended and sent in forcefully. Carl was experiencing a severe amount of pain and feeling unwell, with Jaxon comforting him gently.

The party came to a sealed door and opted to come back once they found a way to get in without hurting themselves by trying to pass powerful warding runes. They continued onto a containment room, marked 280, which warned that "clean suits" were needed and was also protected by warding runes. Flah'fle was able to pass the warding runes with the coats around the room, and the rest of the party followed.

They came to another room, which had more warding runes and a sign advising them of the danger within. The party determined that the white environmental suits were what they were looking for, and were able to pass the warding runes without incident. They came upon a central silver pipe matching the description given by the guards, filled with the silver fluid.

### The Central Chamber

The party climbed to the top by using the ladders connected to multiple gangways, trying to ignore the impaled bodies as they ascended. They found many copies of the vials they were looking for. Flah'fle took some vials and made his way down, reasoning that he had gained what they wanted and they would be granted freedom without further danger. The rest of the party chose to investigate the console at the top, wanting to see if there was more to it than they expected.

Sakiran and Carl, having come into direct contact with the nanophage in high amounts, were both experiencing pain at this point the higher they ascended. They were spoken to by a being within the tank, with Carl being urged to release them while Sakiran pondered if it was a message from Yutmaya. Against his better judgement, and against warnings from Lock and Jaxon, he pressed the button to release the being. The fluid drained out of the central pipe and revealed a humanoid connected to the roots that they had seen throughout the dilapidated facility. It lacked angularity and its form was smooth, though corrupt.