Both Anya and Theo suspected that protecting three Crew Members was going to be problematic, especially in an Expedition that was so far above their level. They had each received 2 copper coins for completing their previous Expedition, and Anya had 13 more on top of that. She popped the pile of coins into her hand and waggled her thick eyebrows at Theo, "Pretty impressive, huh?"

  Theo furrowed his brow in response, "What? How did you get so many?"

  Anya laughed, "What did you think I was doing before we teamed up? I was running contracts!"

  Theo crossed his arms, "So was I, and I only have 3 Copper."

  Anya laughed even harder at that, "Sounds like you're being underpaid, Theo. It's probably because you're not a skilled Excavator like I am."

  I really need to learn that skill! Theo sighed, "I guess we won't have to worry about hiring guards then, since you're a fantasy millionaire."

  Anya held a hand to her chest and her face fell, "Once again it falls to the wealthy to provide for the poor. Oh, the injustice... When will our pursecution cease?"

  It turned out that hiring additional Crew wasn't overly expensive to begin with. The base price was 50 Tin Coins, roughly the cost of one tick the 10% completion bonuses. Theo and Anya had discounts to hiring that reduced the cost even further, since they were top ranked in the region advancement event. Theo's bonus was a little larger, a 15% discount vs. Anya's 10%, so she gave him a copper coin to make the purchase for her two guards.

  Their first hire was a healer-type. They both agreed that healing was their weakness, so a healer should be top priority. Anya could heal herself but that wouldn't matter if one of their essential Crew members died. The healer was a young Sormer man named Carthin. He was a something like a Cleric, and used a specialized weapon that was halfway between a flail and a censer. Although he was painfully shy, he eventually explained that he could use three basic spells: one that healed a target for around 8 health points, one that provided a blessing which translated into a flat 2 damage block, and a final spell that healed and shielded a target for 20 health points. The last spell had a 5 minute cooldown, so he suggested that it should only be used in extreme circumstances.

  Theo had become better and better at hiding his own healing powers, so he was confident he could supplement Carthin if needed, but he was also looking forward to concentrating on damage again. The Scout that came along with the Expedition for free also turned out to be a battle-capable class, and had both a short-bow and a pair of snaring traps. In addition, the fidgety man, Abrel, could mark enemies on the map for everyone to see and track. He had a sleek black beard, ashen skin, and a permanent scowl.

  "I think we have solid defense and healing, but we lack burst damage," Theo mused as he scrolled through the rest of the Crew dossier, "A melee specialist could help you manage enemies, but too many people in the mix could be confusing for our healer..."

  Anya reached over his shoulder and tapped a name, "What about this one? That class looks powerful."

  "What does it do?" Theo asked.

  "Looks like it has a bunch of fire magic," Anya shrugged, "Doesn't that always do big damage?"

  "Yeah, a wizard would be useful. The cost is slightly higher, but maybe that means they'll be extra powerful," Theo confirmed the option to hire Metrya.

  She was a particularly short woman with a similar complexion to Abrel, which Theo recognized as being an Earth Sormer quality. She carried two long rods of dark metal that were catalysts for some kind of divine fire magic. She also wore thick leather gloves and had a stiff, horribly scorched, apron. She demonstrated the single 'spell' she was capable of using, which involved rubbing the blacked metal rods together until they began to glow red hot. After they were sufficiently heated, she held one outward in a fencing pose, then smacked its sparking tip with the other rod. A cone of fire exploded out of the site of impact with a thundering roar. Theo's hair was blown back. Geez! That was like someone set off a shaped charge...

  Metrya swiped away a sheet of sweat from her face and smiled faintly, "I can only do that once per minute per bar, but whatever gets caught up in the blast isn't likely to survive. I've beaten up more than a few beasties with the bars themselves, so I won't just dawdle about."

  Uh... interesting class. Seems like another emergency button type. Theo gave Metrya a shell-shocked nod before wobbling back to Anya, who was smirking, "Seems scary. There's our burst damage. What else do we want?"

  "Lets get a melee user who has some support skills. If we get split up, someone who can defend or attack would be nice," Theo said as he picked a mote of soot out of his beard.

  "I saw one of those types... this one," Anya said as she scrolled and came to a sudden stop.

  Goleny was a fairly simple brawler. He had twin handaxes and could rush to a target with supernatural speed. His kit wasn't the most exciting thing Theo had ever seen, but a nimble fighter would serve their needs well enough. The man himself was cheery and boisterous, with golden orange hair and an unruly beard. Theo liked him.

  "Why don't we get a second ranged fighter who can support, too?" Anya suggested, "It seems like we're doing fine on damage potential, so a safety net would be a cherry on top."

  It took them a few passes to decide, but they eventually picked a musketwoman who had some forced movement and blinding abilities. Her name was Baerhes and she seemed like the type who wouldn't speak unless it was absolutely necessary. With their Crew of 7 assembled, they stopped to formulate a plan. Dulvan was keen to warn them of the danger they were putting themselves in by undertaking such a high level Expedition, but he also had a lot to say about how they should approach the problem.

  "If it were my choice, I'd find the lift plaform first. Once that's repaired, you'll save lots of time by using it to navigate the chasm. Bringing it up top will make jumping back into the job less of a bother as well. After that, any progress you make towards repairing the cograil should give you the means to navigate to the landing station at the bottom," Dulvan said, clearly having thought on the issue at length.

  That sounded ideal to Theo too. They headed for the abyss in a loose crowd, their Scout taking up a distant lead to watch for threats and identify points of interest. Theo hadn't noticed the modest cargo platform at the lip of the cavern the other times he had passed through, but, sure enough, there were two hefty rails leading away from station that plunged down into the darkness. Agatia had re-enlisted as their engineer, and she immediately marked a few weak points on the plaform and rails that would need to be repaired.

  She could integrate any new construction, but the Blacksmith, Reidrin, would need to fabricate the pieces. Crafting magic seemed to be a mixture of refining and summoning, Theo noticed as the man worked, but he would also occasionally call for something to be harvested from the enviroment to supplement his work. He made to plop down a mobile forge right down on the decrepit platform as the Crew whirred into action, but Theo waved them off from establishing a work camp.

  "Let's just keep notes on what needs repairs for now. Until we find the platform we're just being inefficient," he said in his best leader voice. Not as commanding as Anya...

  The Sormer responded well to calls for efficiency, and Reidrin and Agatia especially looked pleased with his decision making. Abrel, the Scout, had already made his way down into the spiraling roads of the cliffside city, and angry red dots littered the map, indicating enemies. While the Scout could move silently, the rest of the Crew needed to be defended as they slowly traversed the tangle of old roads.

  Theo was itching to use his new powers. He suspected that his build had gone from unduly powerful to completely broken after he picked up two Utility Skills from his Fortifying and Surveying lines respectively. Maintaining, the healing focused line, continued to be mostly independent of the others. The Maintaining Utility Skills all focused on transforming a healing node into a more specialized worker. One option halved the healing potency and duration of a node, but turned it into an area of effect healer. Theo almost chose that immediately, but after considering it, he didn't think that he actually had many problems with group healing. He was incentivized to have multiple nodes active already, so he could split his healing up whenever necessary, but multiple area of effect heals could stack up too. Gah...

  In the end, his solo play would benefit most from keeping his barricade turrets up for as long as possible, so stronger healing just made more sense. He ended up with a skill that maximized single target healing.

  A continuous stream of 2.5 health per second would go a long way towards keeping anything alive, especially his damage-negating barricades. That would have to wait, though, until he was either alone or the team split up. Machinations and plans occupied Theo as his team picked off enemies on the path winding deeper into the darkness.

  They found the mobile platform about six layers down the cavern wall. It was not in good condition. One of the two cogwheels had completely derailed and the casing of the rail it had popped out of was twisted and mangled. As a result, the platform was off-kilter and had crashed into the roof of an unfortunate home. Agatia quickly surveyed the scene, pointing out everything they would need to do to right the ancient construct. She concluded by warning them that restarting the large cast-iron engine would almost certainly draw in monsters from every nook and cranny around them.

  Theo suggested splitting the work between Agatia's repair needs and Reidrin's blacksmithing tasks. He was surprised to see that their combatant Crew members were able to help with menial tasks, like clearing rubble from the embedded platform corner, or gathering scrap metal. He took the Vanguard, Goleny, out to help collect the wreckage of the cograil from the city layer below. Anya and the musketeer, Baerhes set out to find coal, replacement planks, and other miscellaneous engineering needs from the surrounding homes. The fire mage and healer remained with the non-combatants to protect them from wandering enemies.

  This Expedition had a much longer timer than the previous mission they had run. Of the forty-five minutes they were allotted, they had used ten traveling. Theo felt pressured to at least finish the platform in order to save time on future runs, so he worked at a frenzied pace. He only needed five minutes to return bearing an inventory bursting with cogs, bearings, rails, and other huge chunks of metal. The blacksmith grinned as his workspace became crowded with workable metal, "Ha, very good. I'll have the rail back in good standing in no time."

  Rather than wait for Anya, Theo set out to supplement their gathering tasks too. The materials needed were listed on a communal tracker, so he focused on the items lower on the list. A few minutes later and all three people on the work order had returned with everything Agatia needed. She and Riedrin needed a few minutes to implement their fixes, but a trickle of enemies kept everyone busy. Before long, they were ready to start the engine and see how far up it could climb.

  Theo smiled to himself, it's finally time to see if my plan is going to work.