Before they left the ship, Minx wanted to create a plan. She brought up the surface map to see where the actual entrance to the underground area was. The mouth faced the Earth shelter. The underground area she wanted to take over surrounded the vampire area in a crescent moon shape with the solid portion under the earth settlement easily with the distance between the two. According to the surface map, the same area as the tunnels had those rolling hills, as marked by the map, that Minx new to be those dumping bait beasts.
This meant they had to walk over dumping bait beasts or wither them to get through. Another issue was the regeneration factor. On the Crow base, the beasts regenerated over night and were able to be killed again the next day. Noone understood how this happened, just that it did. It seemed to be a slower regeneration factor the higher the tier. What Minx decided was Midas should fly the ship over the area and see if the ones she withered before were still gone. It had been about four months since they were here last. Based on the Crow planet, they should be back. Were all the planets the same?
Another note was the Bree reported only basic and intermediate beasts. While the earth-shelter was attacked by the advanced tiers that kills Quinn's classmates. This enabled her to focus better on where to place her own above-ground portion.
As she thought more about this, Midas lifted off. They would need all kinds of supplies. She would need rope, some powered train-like carts that could be hooked together, a whole bunch of light crystals. Her mind was rolling with all kinds of thoughts and ideas. It didn't take long using the ship to determine the dumping bait beasts she killed were still gone. She now wondered if the timing was different on this planet? Was it exclusive to the Crow planet? Did the plant-based creatures regenerate? Was it just the other kind? She couldn't help but smile at the thought of things she needed to learn.
"Do you want me to fly anymore?" Midas asked.
"No, the more we fly, the more power we use. There are blue crystals down below, though. We'll be able to refill the hopper for the power system. The general said it lasts a month."
They landed back in the Bree shelter which was quickly becoming overgrown. Minx thought it was beautiful.
They agreed Midas would carry the bag on his back. They would not worry about the scanner just yet and stick to the mapped area while trying to decide exactly where she wanted to place the first tree. She would wither every one of the dumping bait beasts on the way to get an idea of the lay of the land's actual terrain.
They also needed to know where all the holes were. Some would become stair cases. Others were to be filled with crystal to let natural light into the caves. Still others would become elevators or air exchange areas. Today's task was place the area for their new home and have the local plant life help them find the safest place for them.
Minx was hoping this day would be uneventful as she was going to be doing a lot of withering and knew it would drain her. These dumping bait beasts were huge so she needed to put more power into her ability.
It took them an hour after leaving the Bree area to find the dumping bait beasts. The heat and muggy air was hitting Minx harder than she thought it would. Midas was carrying the bag and he was feeling the heat as well but not as bad. Based on the map, she decided to wither all the dumping bait beasts in front of her and take a right hand turn.
Taking a left would take her to the spot she had already cleared which was only an hour from the earth settlement. She took out 30 and needed to rest. Midas got the crystals for her as she took them out. She was just getting ready to walk away from the next one when she felt a rain drop him her forehead.
"Midas, RUN!" and they turned and headed back the way they had come. Midas was quick to turn and started running but he didn't have her speed. Where he got lucky was a few drops won't animate them but the amount of rain that was soon falling did. He just got out of range when the would-be carnage started. Minx slipped and fell in the mud. Caser was able to grab her with his tentacles. She almost fell down the hole that was nearby.
Midas saw this and his heart was in his throat. He dropped to his knees and held his sister holding back tears.
Minx hugged her brother and offered a smile. "Change of plans. I need to rest. I suggest we go back to the Bree shelter and set up that market system. I would like to have you and Max go down some of these holes. If you can find some crystals, you can use them to fill in these holes so we don't fall down them when it rains…"
Midas chuckled. "yes, we also need more people."
Minx nodded. "Remember this is an expedition to see what we need. I'd like to have shelter up for the number of people we bring back, a source of water so we don't drain Aqua."
Once the rain stopped, Midas helped Minx to her feet and didn't let go. They found the way back pretty easily. The plants were very helpful in giving them directions. There were some basic tier beasts in the area but they didn't attack. Minx found one that resembled a frog.
Back at the ship, they set up the market place in one of the abandoned buildings. They ordered chains, four powered train-like carts, 30 light crystals, and an anchor system that had four points so they could place it over the holes, lower the cart down and fill it with crystal then bring it back up. Having Max would help this go a lot better. He could scout for beasts then bring him down. Minx would have the plants to use as her warning system on the surface and she had Caser. Not that her warning system was much use if she was taking a nap but Caser would be.
Another thing Minx thought of was something to hang the light crystals in. She was thinking they could put some spikes in the walls in the areas they were working and hang some extra light. She'd need to talk to Logan about some ideas there.
Once all their stuff was there, Midas suggested Minx try to nap in a cart. She climbed in but needed a pillow or two. She grabbed a few things from the ship and the mobile bed was created. She felt so lazy. Caser stayed walking next to her. All four carts with supplies and no need to carry the bag followed Midas as they returned to the holes. Max was summoned before she went to sleep and they started searching holes for crystal. The fourth hole had some.
Midas set up the system, hooked up a cart and lowered it down. Then Max lowered him down. Using the light crystals, Midas found the bases of the crystals and broke off pieces using his earth ability. He didn't expect it to be so exhausting but he got as much as he could to fill a cart then Max took him back to the surface. Midas soon discovered it took a whole cartful to fill in one hole. This was really going to take a long time. He decided to do one more then rest, himself.