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“I’m telling you, you go down that hole and you're not coming out of it.” I desperately pleaded with the Captain to listen but to no avail. 

“That’s why you're going with us Doctor Larkens, to make sure we recover the subjects. After that we’ll be done with you.” That’s the response he always gives me, no matter how many times I try to reason with him, as if he wasn’t capable of responding any other way. No matter how many times I tell him that cave he wishes to go into is a suicide mission, no matter how many times I tell him the risk isn’t worth it, he refuses to listen.

 To be honest, I was lying about that fact. I know that I could guide them through that cave to get whatever they want, but I do everything in my power to convince them otherwise. Once they find the troops trapped in that cave, they will kill me and the rest of my team. The ones they hadn’t killed already. 

How did this happen? It started as a simple mission. Lead a rescue team into a cave to recover a squad of officers who went missing when investigating a string of bizarre murders. We had explored the cave for a few days now for recon, so we had mapped a bit of the cave. But then when we returned one day, a swarm of soldiers ambushed us. They did not act a lot like professional soldiers though, so I only assume they were mercenaries. They quickly rounded us up, tied us up, and comendered our equipment. Once they singled me out as the leader, they brought me into a tent set up nearby for questioning by a bald man wearing a lab coat calling himself Doctor Silvermen. Everytime I said something he didn’t like he’d order one of the soldiers to shoot another member of my team. And he wasn’t a patient man. By the time we were done talking, 8 of the 13 officers were killed, the second one because I’d was stupid enough to tell him he was going to die for that. 

I explained what we were here to do, and when I mentioned that the one thing all the murders had in common was the small traces of black muck present at every crime scene, he told me he’d heard enough. He said that if I want my team to survive, I would guide his troops through the cave. But I can tell he’s lying. He just murdered a bunch of rescue officers. He can’t have any witnesses once he gets whatever he wants. 

I don’t even know what it is that he wants, and I don’t care. I just want to make sure what’s left of my team gets out of this alive. I also want to kill this Doctor, but I have to prioritize my team’s safety.

“We’re good to go,” when I heard those words I felt my heart stop. The Captain turned back towards me and stared directly into my face. “This way Larkens.” He turns around and starts walking. I let out a frustrated grunt, took a deep breath to compose myself, and follow after him. 

He led me to the entrance to the cave, surrounded by other mercenaries. There were 17 of them, each wearing full body armor and a gas mask. They each also carried some kind of hunting rifle. The rifles weren’t like rifles I had ever seen before. I look back towards the camp, the rest of mercenaries are setting up some kind of electrical funnel shaped cage. I don’t know what I find more concerning; the fact that they have this kind of equipment, or that Silvermen can afford all of these troops and equipment. I could only assume someone is funding Silvermen’s operations. It makes me worry about what kind of person would give this madman support. 

I feel a slight tap on my shoulder and turn around to see one of the soldiers standing in front me holding a gas mask out to me. “You’re going to need this,” he said in a rather soothing voice. “You do what we say and I promise will get the rest of your team out of this alive.” I stared at him for what felt like forever before I took and put on the gas mask. I didn’t expect any of these people to try and reassure me, and I couldn’t figure out if he was being sincere or not. I suppose he thinks I’ll be more motivated to guide them through the cave if I wanted them to survive as well. 

“Alright. Lead the way.”  I proceed with the Captain into the cave and the mercenaries follow suit. Every step I take makes my skin claw, because I know I’m marching towards my death. We stopped at the end of the tunnel, where the cave split into four directions. I turn back towards the mercenaries, three of them already standing behind me with various different types of equipment. 

“Where to?” The Captain said.

 I paused for a moment before saying, “The path to the right leads to a curved path. The rest either circle back around or are deadends.” 

“Does it lead directly below us?” 

“Yes, but-” 

“Then the dynamite will make this easier. Arclo, watch him.” On his orders, ‘Arclo’ grabbed my shoulder, and led me away from the explosive crew gathering around the center of the intersection. “Why don’t you take a seat Doctor?” Arclo said to me. I’m reluctant to listen to the orders of these soldiers but I reluctantly do as he says. 

I slip on the gas mask and back away from the explosives crew. I felt compelled to tell them that dynamite is likely to bring the cave on our heads, but frankly I don’t think they’ll listen. That and as long as I’m out of the way it will only come down on their heads. And I could take their equipment and chase off the rest outside. 

Sadly was not the case as they seemed to realize this. The Captain instructed the others to make sure to use a shaped charge to not cause the roof to cave in on us. I am not sure how that is supposed to work, but after they blasted a hole in the ground, there was only a bit of shaking. Or at least not as much as there should have been. 

“Perhaps we shouldn’t blow up any more of the cave. I would rather not get stuck down here.” I say dryly. Nobody responds to that, they just tell me to keep moving. After we repelled down the hole, I continued to direct them deeper and deeper into the cave. All the while they’re leaving some sort of spike into the wall every twenty or so paces. I could only assume those spikes are either a bread trial or a scanner. The mercenaries certainly weren’t answering any questions. I was sure of that.