Spelunking

It doesn't take long to transport all of their troops down to the bottom of the pit, with the exception of the Deathclaws of course, which were left at the top with a couple Cyberdogs to prevent any more Tunnelers attacking their backs with an ambush.

The air at the bottom of the pit felt stale, and there was a prominent smell of decay, this didn't come from the numerous Tunneler corpses strewn around the place though, it smelt more akin to something rotting, instead.

Clearly, the Cyberdogs had noticed it, and Afton also found himself sniffing towards one direction... One of the three entrances seem to be producing it, though, Afton wasn't sure what would be at the end of it. Regardless, they'd check this one first just to see what was up.

The Ultimo-Bots led the group with flame throwers at the ready, Afton and his companions walking slightly behind them with the Cyberdogs trailing behind afterwards.

It doesn't take long before they start encountering small groups of worker Tunnelers in the tunnel, yet, they hadn't yet found anything of interest... That is, until they stumbled across yet another pit... This one was absolutely huge, maybe four of five times larger than the pit they'd originally entered through.

This clearly wasn't just for transport though, Afton was fortunate his helmet provided ventilation when he wished, as at the bottom of the pit were huge piles of flesh, which were almost fully submerged in either blood or bloody water.

Bones and flesh of a litany of creatures floated atop it, Afton didn't even recognise some of them, which was farfetched considering his maxed out Survival Skill. Mole Rats, Humans, Dogs, Snakes, Lakelurks, Supermutants, Deathclaws, Ghouls... There were bits and pieces of them everywhere.

Afton could even spot some mechanical components as well, the Tunnelers having brought them here accidentally or for some purpose other than eating... To be honest, this all looked like a Supermutant flesh pit, a place where they'd collect all their victims and let them 'stew' in lukewarm water... The subsequent 'soup' was apparently a delicacy to them, for some reason.

Were the Tunnelers perhaps trying to concentrate as many nutrients and calories from their victims as possible? If so, why? Is simply hunting and devouring their prey not enough for their needs?

"Sir, temperature readings from the liquid below seem to be around 50 degrees celsius..." she states and Afton idly nods his head in thought.

"Is it the decomposing biomass that's causing it, or some geothermic activity?" he quietly inquires.

"The latter. This appears to be a sort of naturally occurring hot springs, sir."

Afton grimaces at the thought that the pile of flesh at the bottom of the flesh could be considered a sort of casserole or stew... He didn't know what was potentially scarier, the fact that the Tunnelers were smart enough to cook food, or that they'd been down here long enough to accidentally stumble across it.

...

"We're not going down there... Are we?" Veronica incredulous voice forces him from his thoughts. Juan nods in agreement, but Christine and Tamia seem to disagree completely.

"If we don't kill all of these things, they'll just keep coming... What's getting your legs a bit wet with completing the mission?" Tamia grouses, while she didn't want to go in, she knew it was vital for them to destroy all of the Tunnelers.

Afton shakes his head, "I don't know what you're anxious about either, Juan, can't you just climb on the walls and ignore the soup at the bottom?" he asks.

"Y-yeah, but what if I fall? I'm not in an air-tight suit like the rest of you... That stuff'll get in my hair, mouth. ears..." he shivers.

"Look, we're going in whether you guys like it or not," he points at the other entrances on the walls of the pit, "We need to find where they go, and afterwards destroy them... We'll need to get some C4 delivered to bring this entire place down." Afton states.

And with that, the group begins moving again. Lowering the Cyberdogs into the pit as the Ultimo-Bots navigate around the walls. It wouldn't be good if the soup start clogging up their joints, so they'd not enter it unless forced to.

The same couldn't be said for Afton, his companions, or the Cyberdogs... Though, the latter of which seemed very excited to get down there. The pit of flesh probably smelt pretty appetising to the dogs, it was literally just a pile of cooked, soupy flesh after all.

*Splash!*

Afton drops into the pit and finds himself knee-deep in the soup... Fortunately, he didn't have to experience feeling it, as his armour was as stated earlier, airtight.

The others follow him as he slogs through the slop, strangely enough, the group didn't encounter any Tunnelers as they made their way to the other side. Afton just gives a mental shrug and uses an Ultimo-Bot to climb up to the other entrance.

This tunnel however just seems to go on for miles, and miles, and miles... The group had walked for around one and a half hours before they finally decide to just turn around and head back. No one had any idea where this led, but if Afton had to make a guess, it probably linked up with other Tunneler nests, or perhaps hunting grounds? This would explain how Tunnelers were so widespread yet unseen by the common populace...

The group backtrack all the way back to the original pit that was below the railway, afterwards entering another of the three entrances... Truth be told, everyone was getting fairly tired by now, the amount of walking they were forced to do, add the fact they were almost constantly aware that another ambush could be coming had them not only physically strained, but mentally as well.