Silverraptor

Here's the next portion of Silverraptor's journal. SandyCaesar and I were researching a bunch of topics to make sure it's accurate, so you guys can't say we didn't do our homework.

Apr .19

Three days out from Atlantis, heading southwest. We're going to go through the Panama Canal, and our final destination is somewhere in the South Pacific. More dreams, drawing me to that spot. The Vice-Admiral is still following that plan.

Apr .23
We've just picked up an escort. MV Tartarus, registered to the Keno Corporation, twenty thousand tons, outbound from Woods Hold. I wonder how they'll keep up with us, though, as we're generally much faster than they are. We'll wait every few days for them, I think. Not sure why we don't just keep pace, but the VADM is in a hurry. UnderseaLcpl, the leader of the science crew, is working with Tarjak to try and translate some of the images we got of the stone tablets at Atlantis. They say they're halfway through deciphering it, not bad for six weeks' work.

Apr .25
The Vice-Admiral has authorized three days of shore leave for everyone aboard. Kind of unsettling how, the moment we docked, we were mobbed by voodoo worshippers. Although it was pretty cool how they parted and ran when I came down the pier.

Apr .28
Just crossed through the Panama Canal. Took on a shipment of fresh vegetables. Cthulhu knows, about time. Living off tuna for two months would be enough to drive anyone mad. Someone didn't do their shopping correctly. I told the VADM to steer southwest. It is only a vague feeling, but I can feel something drawing me in that direction.

Apr .30
The science crew says they have made a breakthrough on the tablets, and they'll finish translating within a few days. So far, however, they've managed to unearth a few things. One of which is the name "R'lyeh", as well as a set of navigational points. The target is somewhere in the vicinity of 47° 9′ 0″ S, 126° 43′ 0″ W...in the direction I can feel the power, drawing me in like a beacon.

May .7
The source of the power seems to be growing stronger and stronger as we approach it. My dreams are almost always the same: I am a strange, squid-like creature, but strangely insubstantial, swimming through the black water. I hunger for something, but I don't know what.

May. 9
Tarjak and UnderseaLcpl both say that they've finished translating the tablet information. It is an Atlantean account of a myth. The priests had apparently perfected some sort of ritual that would "call forth the essence of the squid" and which gave them enormous power, at least until once when "something more was drawn through the gate". Nobody knows what that means, but I have an inkling. Notably, two days after that the waters began rising around Atlantis...

May .12
We're in the general area, but the seafloor around here is unusually mountainous. It will take a while yet to navigate it. I can feel the power pulsating, can almost see the tendrils reaching from the valley, searching for us. Let them come.

May .15
They come at last. I can feel the first of the flood, strange creatures that have forced themselves onboard, stealing through minds like open doorways. I can feel the source of power. We are almost atop it. Only a short time until the first of the sacrifices begin.

May .16
The creatures are lying dormant, I can feel them. But something's not right. There's another power aboard, and it seems different than the rest of the creatures that are coming aboard. The Vice-Admiral has ordered the boat stopped for ROV operations.

May .18
Disaster. Whatever this other power was, it was waiting in the minds of several of the seamen, and it struck. I woke up this evening with a blinding headache. That was what saved me, I think, as many of the creatures aboard felt it, too, and lashed out in reaction, in many cases irrevocably damaging the minds of their hosts. As I write madness is sweeping the boat. We must not leave the sacrificial site, or it would all be for nought.

May .19
The two powers are fighting each other, the creatures and those among a few of the crew men. The VADM is being pestered by many to leave. I have to set off the charges now. Penelope Grey seems to be one of those who have the power and is focused on me. Fortunately, I managed to get her down to the lower chambers and set off the charges. The sub is taking on water, and the chaos is great....

May .20
The chaos has subsided a bit. Most of the crew is dead or drowning in the lower chambers. A rescue sub came today from the Tartarus, but managed to jam itself at the rescue hatch. I don't know how they got here so fast, but I have a suspicion.

May .21
I started the sacrifice. Letum was isolated near the submirged area. No one heard his demise as I ripped him to bits. This morning during roll call, They discovered what happened to him. I offered what help I could do and so far they're buying it. I just need to talk to Vice-Admiral Stealth Hunter tonight on why the rescue sub got here so quickly.