137. DELTA-4 Entrance
Along the hike around the mesa, while looking for an entrance, you come across some kind of stone altar of the Old Ones. Taller than a person could stand or reach, the obelisk is carved from a dull red stone. It has some kind of inscription etched into it, but it’s been worn away to illegibility. Characters with cartographic proficiency would notice it’s aligned to the cardinal compass points.
The valley entrance to the Cauldron is nestled into a bend in the mesa, again with a half-dozen Glinthawks rotating through patrols overhead. There’s enough ground cover to be able to get to the door with only Moderate difficulty. The path leading to the door shows heavy foot traffic, and the door opens easily when overridden.
Entering the Cauldron from here reveals the exact same layout as the previous Cauldron: a corkscrew shape of the same dimensions, almost a kilometer from top to bottom. As before, a trio of Glinthawks fly up and down the column, ferrying items and containers to and from storage along the paths. Ramps conceal you from the Glinthawks as long as you’re quiet. The exit to the mesa is several hundred meters above you, while the Shell-Walkers working in Processing are maybe 100m below.
If you choose to go up first, you find a Garden, very overgrown, but no human workers. As near as you can tell, there aren’t any Stalkers up here, and the Glinthawks aren’t paying much attention to the Garden.