Mt. Elymarov

**Day Four:**

**Ben:** The suits have arrived. I had them custom fitted.

**Wek:** How?

**Ben:** I work for Oaken. What did you expect?

**Towards Off:**

**CJ:** Sela, try to stay under control.

**Selva:** What do you think I am, an idiot?

**CJ:** I mean, you did spend most of your life stowing away on various spaceships.

**Eazor:** Including this one!

**Star:** Thanks, Captain Obvious. I didn’t know that.

**Gorvos:** Cool it, people. Now is not the time for fighting.

**Star:** Now is very much the time for fighting! Now is the *only* time for fighting!

**CJ:** No, he’s right. We should stop fighting.

**Star:** Yeah okay.

**Gorvos:** We’ve got a tough climb ahead of us. Get ready.

**Meanwhile…**

**Damien:** Due to charity events, we’ve been exempted from the extra taxes.

**Ben:** We should do more charity. Get the news on us, and not Radox.

**Damien:** Good idea. I’ll start planning a big Fourth of July event.

**Ben:** That’s still a thing?

**Damien:** The USA is the biggest independent country still around. Why would it not be?

**Ben:** I guess.

**Meanwhile…**

**Wek:** Brace for landing, everyone! I sure hope that nothing is happening out there.

**CJ:** Well, half of us are terrified, and the other half are real hyped up. Eazor.

**Eazor:** Hey! What’d I do?

**Gorvos:** You’d all best be bracing for landing. It’s gonna be rough.

**Ferniek:** I don’t understand why we can’t just go back to Torvan Hill!

**CJ:** If there were something on Torvan Hill, somebody would’ve found it by now.

**Gorvos:** If there’s anything out there, we’ll find it at the top of Mt. Elymarov.

**Ferniek:** Last time I tried to climb a hill, I-

**CJ:** I know what happened, but you’ll be okay this time. I’ll make sure of it.

**Ferniek:** Let’s just get this over with.

They land and walk towards ominous Mt. Elymarov.

**Wek:** Well, this is it. The deadliest mountain in the galaxy.

**CJ:** That might not be the greatest thing to say right now.

**Eazor:** Let’s get going! I’m bored!

They step up to do a 10 mile hike at a 15° or more angle.

**Selva:** We’ve been climbing uphill for hours! Can we take a break?

**Star:** Oh, this is the easiest bit. It’s pretty much straight up after this hike.

**Wek:** We’ll set up camp at the end of this hike before we start climbing.

**Gorvos:** We’ll probably stay there for a few days, to get acclimated.

**Wek:** Yeah, the atmosphere gets really thin up here.

A few hours later, after finishing their hike, they set up camp.

**Wek:** Welcome to the Elston Plateau! Where oxygen is at 50%!

**Gorvos:** Yep, that’s right! We haven’t even technically reached Mt. Elymarov yet!

**Wek:** We will. Tomorrow. Probably.

**Gorvos:** Until then, goodnight!

The seven go to their respective tents, with Jeque Wek getting her own.

**Day 5:**

**Gorvos:** Oh, good. You didn’t do anything last night.

**Selva:** What time is it?

**Gorvos:** I don’t know. We’re on a mountain.

**CJ:** It’s 5 in the morning, and the sun is up. Mountains are weird.

**Ferniek:** We should get going.

**Wek:** Today, we enter the freeze zone.

The 7 start a 3 mile hike to the base of the mountain and a little up it.

**Wek:** But first, we have breakfast.

**Selva:** First, in front of what?

**Wek:** In front of the freeze zone! Did I not say that?

**Selva:** Yeah, like an hour ago!

**Eazor:** Quick, let’s eat so we can get moving again!

**Gorvos:** You all have coats, right? It gets really cold on Mt. Elymarov.

**Wek:** Everyone has a coat, Gorvos. I made sure of that before we left.

**Gorvos:** Selva?

**Wek:** I grabbed her one back at Torvan Post

**Gorvos:** Oh. Okay.

After eating, the group begins to scale a 200 ft cliff.

**Wek:** There aren’t too many places to rest once you get up here!

**CJ:** You know, I really worry about the readiness factor.

**Gorvos:** Also the rapidly thinning air.

**CJ:** Yep. That too.

50 ft. behind them…

**Ferniek:** How are they so far ahead?!

**Star:** They’re a lot more conditioned for this. I wish they wouldn’t get so far, though.

**Eazor:** Why not? They’re no fun.

**Star:** Well, for instance, one of us could fall or get attacked…

**Eazor:** Attacked? On this clifface? Now that’s what I call a joke.

**Star:** I don’t know. Somebody here might just lose their temper or something…

**Selva:** Shut up.

**Gorvos:** You okay down there?

**Star:** I think so?

**Gorvos:** You got 50 ft left. Just keep moving.

After they all reach the small ledge…

**Ferniek:** I don’t like the size of this ledge…

**Gorvos:** Listen, the deaths don’t start happening until another 500 ft, probably.

After 30 minutes of rest, they begin to climb a 515 ft cliff.

**CJ:** This time, we gotta stay together. In case someone falls.

**Eazor:** Noones’s gonna fall!

He loses his balance.

**Eazor:** Ah! … see? Didn’t fall.

They manage to climb without hindrance.

**Wek:** We will climb no further today. Stake your claim to the ground.

**Day 6:**

**Wek:** Rise and shine! We’ve got a big day of acclimation ahead.

They eat breakfast and proceed to climb a 306 ft cliff.

**Ferniek:** That wasn’t too bad.

**Wek:** We need acclimation. Get some lunch ready. It’s time to cook a feast.

After eating lunch, they climb their largest cliff yet - 896 ft.

**Ferniek:** Hey, this is a pretty big ledge.

**Wek:** Look at this sand. We’ve hit the death zone.

**Selva:** Hey look! A cave!

**Wek:** We’ll go there tomorrow.

**Day 7:**

**Gorvos:** I really don’t like the fact that we’re making all this progress.

**Eazor:** Our equipment can handle it.

**Gorvos:** But can we?

They climb the massive 1,568 ft cliff up to the cave above them.

**Ferniek:** We made it! We all made it! I don’t believe it!

**Mountain Chreshe:** \*Growl\*

**Ferniek:** What was that?

The Mountain Chreshe attacks, Selva and Wek rush to stop it.

**Wek:** Just follow my lead!

As they fight that one, another one sneaks up on the others.

**Star:** Hey, Selva’s using her insane fighting ability to help for once!

**Gorvos:** She’s doing a damn good job.

The second Mountain Chreshe leaps on the closest person…

**Eazor:** Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!! Help meeeeeeeeeeeeee!

**Gorvos:** I’m on it!

**CJ:** So am I!

**Ferniek:** Do you think there are any other of those things?

**Star:** I don’t know!

Ferniek starts to panic, adding to the chaos.

**Wek:** Wow, that didn’t take long. You can fight.

**Selva:** Look! It’s another one! I’ll help you, Gorvos!

**Gorvos:** Yep!

**Wek:** Ferniek! Ferniek, calm down! Everything’s okay. We took care of it.

**Star:** Yeah, everything’s okay. Calm down. Calm down.

**CJ:** Yes! Wow, Selva can fight. Oh no! Ferniek!

**Gorvos:** Eazor? You good?

**Selva:** What about you? You don’t look great yourself.

**Gorvos:** I’m fine. Help me revive Gorvos.

**CJ:** Everything’s alright, Ferniek. We got them. They’re gone.

Ferniek squeezes CJ close as Eazor dies from his wounds.

**Gorvos:** Well, he’s gone. Maybe it’s a good thing.

**Wek:** You can’t climb in that condition, Gorvos.

**Gorvos:** You’re probably right. But I can’t just stay here until it heals.

**Wek:** We’re done climbing for the day.

**Star:** I am really glad I didn’t have to climb this thing by myself.

Wek patches up Gorvos’s wounds, and everyone goes to bed.

**Day 8:**

**Wek:** Gorvos is not going to continue climbing. We will return for you.

**Gorvos:** If you make it. There’s still a long way to go.

They hike to the top of the sandhills, to the next cliff.

**Wek:** This is not the final cliff, but it’s the one most people don’t even make it to.

They begin their climb of the 3,972 ft cliff, and don’t finish until nightfall.

**Wek:** That was really difficult.

**Ferniek:** I can’t believe we all made it up.

**CJ:** Neither can I, Ferniek.

They set up camp and go to sleep.

**Day 9:**

**Wek:** We’ve climbed so high. So incredibly high. And we have so much left.

They begin their climb of the next cliff, 3,444 ft.

**Wek:** That’s right, take breaks. These cliffs are insane up here.

**CJ:** You all good? With Gorvos gone, this is getting risky.

**Ferniek:** Surprisingly, I’m doing okay.

**Selva:** I’ve been blessed with limitless energy for the past week.

**Star:** …

**Wek:** Star? Star? She’s unresponsive.

**CJ:** What do we do?

**Wek:** I don’t know. She’s probably a goner at this point.

**Selva:** Can we carry her to safety?

**Wek:** We can try.

Selva manages to carry Star for an insane 1,223 ft, but then…

**Selva:** Whoa!

**Wek:** Hang on, Selva! There’s less than 100 ft to go!

In an effort to hang on to the cliff, Selva drops Star to her death far below.

**Selva:** Help! I can’t hang on!

**Wek:** I’ve gotcha! You’re good!

While Selva manages to regain her balance, Wek, who overextended, falls.

**Wek:** Go! Summit! It’s our last chance!

**CJ:** Let’s finish this cliff. Then we’ll decide what we wanna do.

They finally crest the cliff, and CJ takes charge of the group.

**CJ:** Right, as the most experienced climber remaining, I’m in charge.

**Ferniek:** It’s just the 3 of us now. The 3 of us, and a mountain.

**CJ:** Well, for now, we desperately need rest.

**Day 10:**

**CJ:** We will do no climbing today. We need to acclimate to the height.

**Ferniek:** I can see the bodies. With my binoculars.

**CJ:** I wouldn’t recommend standing that close to the cliff edge.

**Ferniek:** They’re covered with snow.

**CJ:** It did storm last night. Now, who wants breakfast?

**Day 11:**

**CJ:** Do you two feel up to climbing?

**Ferniek:** Let’s just get this over with.

**Selva:** I feel great! Let’s go!

**Meanwhile…**

**Gorvos:** What is that?

He starts to climb the sandhills for a closer look.

**Gorvos:** Oh! It’s a body!

He gets even closer to the body.

**Gorvos:** Jeque Wek is dead. That’s not good.

**Meanwhile…**

**CJ:** Let’s get climbing!

They begin their climb of the 3,745 ft cliff.

**CJ:** I don’t think anyone’s made it past this cliff. Keep going! Press onward!

They somehow crest the cliff without trouble.

**CJ:** We’ve gotta be getting close, right?

**Ferniek:** Real close. I can see the summit now.

**Day 12:**

**CJ:** You can see the summit, Ferniek?

**Ferniek:** Yeah. Way up there.

**CJ:** Huh.

They begin their climb of the final cliff, 3,535 ft.

**CJ:** That’s it for the cliffs, but we still have 2 miles left to hike. Tomorrow.

**Ferniek:** How much have we climbed already?

**CJ:** About 31,000 ft. We still got over 10,000 to go.

**Selva:** What do you think we’ll find when we reach the top?

**CJ:** I’ve got absolutely no idea.

**Ferniek:** I hope whatever it is, it helps our condition.

**CJ:** We’ll find out tomorrow. 42,544 ft at the summit.

**Ferniek:** We gotta do it fast. I’m running out of oxygen.

**CJ:** You’d think with all the technological advancements…