Hearing the panic in Tump's voice is enough to make Django back away slowly from the cave mouth. He will get back on his bike and make a hasty exit.

Django crests another snowy hill and looks down over the steep decline of the mountainside.  From this new position he can clearly see the gaping hole with steam pouring out of it that represents the Vent.

He presses forward, another five minutes to go before he arrives.  His timing is perfect as the storm clouds are rolling in.  The temperature is beginning to drop and frost forms on the bike and RX.

Three minutes from the Vent, Django comes up on three more small hills.  Each is little more than ten meters high and twenty meters to the other side.  A dark grey, almost black coloration shot through with yellow veins makes them stand out in the thick white blanket around them.  None of the three hills have snow on them.

Tump's voice crackles back in over the comms. "Djang-, -blem. -ture is multi...zzz... new ones just - bzzt...crackle...bzzzt near you?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:45, Thu 26 Apr 2018.

"-ump zzz I can-... ya". Django wonders if his coms are having the same problems as everyone else's. Seeing the three objects ahead, he opts to go around them rather than between. He accelerates in the process of swinging around, trying to keep from losing much time.

Django swings wide, which is a wise choice.  The three hills begin to shake slowly then rise.  What were once hills turn out to be creatures of gargantuan size, standing almost 7 meters tall.  Each has a unique profile:

Beast 1 - Stands on two legs with four forearms of great musculature.  It has a rounded head with a wide mouth that looks like some parody of a grin.  It has two columns of three eyes glowing blue with a seventh singular eye above them in the center that glows red and is a bit larger.  A short tail provides balance in the back.

Beast 2 - Stands on four legs with a very long tail that swishes about.  The tail has some kind of complicated-looking barb on the end of it.  It's head is elongated in the way that mimics a wolf or other canine, but the mouth has row upon row of teeth filling the roof and the area where a tongue might normally go.  It has two pairs of red eyes, one on each side of its face heading back from the mouth.

Beast 3 - Stands on six legs with a short stubby tail.  Back and head look armored.  It's snout is thick and curled downward somewhat, perhaps for charging and slamming into things, but there is also the suggestion that the thing might be able to roll up into a ball.  Is has no discernible mouth or eyes.

Each beast looks as if it can see Django as their heads track him.  None of them seem to move very fast, though.  They are all down hill - at least a 15 degree slope.

Django increases in speed, continuing his wide arc around the creatures.

As Django kicks the hover bike into high gear, the snow, the added and oddly-distributed weight of RX, and the weather all culminate in swerving too much.  Django and RX go tumbling into the snow, which thankfully absorbs the impact.

The hoverbike rights itself on repulsors and floats a few meters away, the kill switch still active after the rider is gone from the seat.

The three creatures tromp toward him, three hundred meters away and closing on ground eating steps.

[Creatures are approaching at a rate of 60m/round.]

More crackling comes over the comms as Tump tries to relay more information down to the surface. "zzztt-nit! That...bzzt...vin' even more...crackle.... you do... zzt... ead south!"

Django frantically scrambles for the bike. "RX! Move it!" he yells, jumping back into the driver's seat and starting the ignition sequence.

RX does his best, but the cold is slowing his joints and hydraulic systems.  He finally makes it to the hoverbike, but cannot climb aboard on his own.

[240m]

Django unleashes a torrent of curses at the situation and springs into action to get off the bike and load RX.

With a little difficulty due to the ice and the metallic hide, Django finally gets the droid loaded.

The ground is starting to shake a bit as the creatures approach.

[180m]

Django whips around and regains his bearings, headed for the vent at a speed greater than the beasts but not enough to kill him.

As Django saddles up and engages the hoverbike, the beasts roar their frustration.  At 120 meters, the one on four legs with the longer tail extends its body out straight with its mouth open.  A beam of yellow energy lances out like a thick laser blast and hits the ground just behind Django (about 100m range).

Thankfully, Django is able to move faster on the bike and quickly leaves the three monstrosities behind.  He speeds toward the vent as the weather gets colder and colder.  At one point, though, the temperature stops dropping, then reverses and starts to get warmer.  Eventually, Django enters a ring around the vent opening that is clear of snow.  It is almost entirely bare rock.

There is a low sound, like a THUMP, that he feels in the air.  He looks up from the vent to see another of the beasts.  This one is far larger than the others.  It has four legs and two muscular arms, a bifurcated tail which swishes about independently.  The head is wide and tapered with multiple sets of eyes scattered about, four nose slits, and a serpent like profile to its mouth.

The really scary part is how much detail Django is able to get on a monster that is still several kilometers away judging by the ground distance.

Django will make into the vent, but it is anyone's guess what will happen after with the monsters about.

Tump shouts into the comms. "bzzzt--crackle--" Nothing seems to get through.

Django stows his bike and gets RX back on its feet, hoping the warmer air will help the droid regain functionality. "Not even an hour in and this place has me by the choobies.." remarks Django, and he quickly begins searching for a way down the vent and away from the incoming monstrosity. He gives one more call on the coms in the hopes that something will make it through.

The monster takes a step forward and covers hundreds of meters in a single step.

Django finds a makeshift ramp down the side of the vent.  It has no handholds and water is trickling down it as runoff from the surface.  The heat is stifling, but not unbearable.  It is hard to imagine what it might be at the edge of the vent further down.

Nothing but static comes in over the comms. Maybe Tump tried to say something, maybe it's just the ringing in your ears.

With RX in tow, Django starts a hasty descent down the vent shaft's ramps.

Vyctor sees Tump head for the larger beast and aims his bulkier assault bomber toward it as well.  He unloads his full payload during a strafe: two torpedoes, four laser cannons, and a heavy ion cannon.  The ensuing explosion from his attacks coupled with Tump's is glorious.

He swings by, up and to the right as Tump passes to the left.

When they circle back around, the monster is still standing, roaring it's anger at the sky.

With the sounds of laser blasts and explosions up above echoing into the Vent area, Django makes his descent.  There is nothing but ruins this high up.  No sign of life or civilization other than the remnants of a thousand years past.  The light wanes except for a low, red glow from the Vent itself.

As he continues down, he reaches a point where the ramps end, but there is a door to into the wall away from the Vent edge.  It is a heavy blast door, but there is a lock mechanism on this side.  The lock is secured, but easy to open.  Whatever this door is locked against, it's to keep something in, not out.

Django places hands on his pistols, ready to draw. "RX, open that door and stand aside"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Sun 06 May 2018.

Tump swings back around to make another pass on the largest beast and unloads his full weapons payload.

"Affirmative, Captain" says RX, as he opens the door and stands aside.

The scent that wafts out is horrible, primal and filthy.  There is still light, but what appears on the other side of the door is not promising.  Skeletons of strange creatures, most humanoid, are stacked to either side of the walkway down.  They have been there for enough time that they were picked clean a long time ago.  However, it could not have been thousands of years as most would have decayed into dust by then left in the open like this.

There is nothing of technology here, only a sharp turn to the left and then a gently descending, wide ramp that curves around the vent.  It's construction looks like it used to be something else, part of something more modern, but was retooled around the vent using primitive, makeshift tools.

It is half an hour before Django encounters his first issue, a huge gap in the floor that drops six stories.  It looks like some giant claw or sword sliced through the wall of the vent here leaving the scar.  The ramp on the other side is fifty meters away.  There is no door on this side.  Two levels down, there is some kind of room on the side of the ramp.  Each ramp level is thirty meters making the six floor drop almost two hundred before the hole stops twenty meters below the lowest ramp.