Looking down, all three of them saw what Aban could only assume to be their command camp in the caves. There was a lot of blood down there. Bodies of miners tore apart. Excavation equipment destroyed.
"I-it must have been one of those creatures."
"Damn, we arrived too late."
Aban was confused.
"Creatures?"
The girl started to head down, keeping to the edge of the cave. Den, that seemed to be his name, looked at Aban with a startled expression.
"H-how, do you not remember, th-there were three."
"We'll explain later, let's just investigate what happened here."
They all went down; there was a lot of blood. People were both mauled and stabbed by something. Lots of random organs were scattered around. There were three buildings in the camp. One seemed like the main hub, the other the resting quarters, the final one is where they seemingly stored equipment. It was evident because outside there seemed to be a few excavating mechs.
Aban was wondering how far into the past the challenge was. They were guns littered all around, and from what he knew about the nameless, the heroes of his present, most of them don't use guns. The majority of people who use guns were those with names. Even then it was usually when expecting something dangerous where they were going.
The question why they wouldn't sign at least one of the nameless. They might be on the lower side of humanity, but they were still plentiful even very far into the past. From what Aban knew they have always existed in history books. His education was not very good, so there could have been some gaps in his information.
Aban was looking around the camp. He and Den decided to explore the resting quarters. The girl went to explore the equipment. They had decided to explore the main hub afterwards because something felt off. There was a smell that was worse that made the entire place reek of something horrid inside.
The resting quarters were just that, resting quarters. There seemed to be no difference between the miners, no one had special treatment. There was just top or bottom bunk. Den seemed to be crying, because some of the people he knew were killed in their sleep. This was probably not the best time to ask, but he had to know.
"Den, were there any of the nameless here?"
Den looked up. He still had tears in his eyes, but he realized something when he heard the question. At the same time, he asks with a look of inquiry from the question.
"N-nameless?"
Aban wondered why he phrased it as a question. Something told him that he probably should end the conversation. Probably the fact that Den was about to cry, unable to answer his questions in a way that sounded literate.
"Never mind, I'll probably ask someone else."
"Y-you mean Lydd. T-there is no one else. N-no offense Raiden, but I don't think y-you should bother her. W-whenever you hit your head, y-you have been very forgetful of nearly everything w-we asked about. W-what she needs is help, not more questions."
"Yeah, and I've probably created my own delusions too. Getting hit in the head seems to be causing me to mistake my dreams for reality, sorry about that."
Aban was lying through his teeth, if anything this was more likely to be the dream. A horrible dream, but still a dream. Both of them, Den and Lydd, need to be focused on the situation right now, not the fact that their companion is from the far-off future. There wasn't much in the resting quarters besides the bodies, and a few rations.
Both Den and Aban left the resting quarters. They went to the center of the camp and waited for Lydd to arrive back from the equipment storage. They were mostly silent, just eating some of the rations. Lydd arrived back she was carrying around a box in one arm, and the other wielding a gun. Also, there was another gun of the same type on her back.
She gave one of the guns to Den, giving it to the guy with one arm would hurt their overall firepower. The gun seemed to be a gun with a long barrel, and mag, Aban didn't know much about guns. She placed the box in the middle of them.
She opened it and got two big gloves. The gloves seemed to have something inside it that enhanced the power of those who wielded it.
"This is all the salvageable equipment I could get. Everything else was used to its fullest potential or broken apart."
Den looked inside and got one glove putting it on.
"R-Raiden, do you want the last glove, or should I put it on."
"It looks like the only way I can have something to defend myself, so I wouldn't mind having it."
Den put the last glove on Aban. Whatever it was inside the glove, it seemed to only activate when balling up the fist. The glove seemed to have some number on the back. The number was currently at 89%.
All of them got up to finally explore the hub together. It was a big tent with a metal door at its entrance. They opened the door to the main hub.