Log:A Breach in the Case, Scene 13

A Breach in the Case 2016/06/09 Breach Griffin Indira Quiet 13

IN THE LAST EXCITING ISSUE OF Colonial Bay Mercs, SPACETEAM continued its re-infiltration of the mysterious Operation Sundial black site under the Colonial Bay Industrial Park.

Breach and Indira remain in the Medical & Computer Lab that was their subterranean access point on this mission beneath the Industrial Park. While Indira has made herself busy by using her spacesuit's advanced Omni-Access Utility Suite to gain forcible access to the Operation Sundial computer systems, Breach has made himself busy by creating a deadly tetrad of grenades surrounding the lone entry point to the Medical & Computer Laboratory. Indira is now busy with the task of setting Operation Sundial's mysterious mass teleportation system - built into the raised crystalline dais at the center of the strangely elliptical room - to teleport SPACETEAM and a veritable host of honored undead warriors to Starguard's secure tarmac across the city.

Griffin and Quiet, meanwhile, have taken the freight elevator from the generator room from which they previously rescued Rick "Breach" Mason down into the depths of the facility. Somewhere deeper still beneath the Colonial Bay Industrial Park, Griffin and Quiet have found themselves inside of a gargantuan Mausoleum filled with sophisticated technological sarcophogi, like the one which had contained a nearly dead Breach on their first trip into this mysterious facility. The adventuresome duo are now deeply involved in the process of loading down the freight elevator platform with sarcophogi using several hover-dollies and their surpassing field medical abilities to safely disconnect the sarcophogi from the Mausoleum's primary power source and transfer them to the dollies and then to the freight elevator's sled-like platform.

More than an hour into their thrilling infiltration mission, SPACETEAM knows themselves to be operating on a rapidly dwindling clock. Indira can already tell that Operation Sundial's security forces are starting to overwhelm their own automated security measures and are beginning to make their way down into the subterranean levels of the facility. Griffin and Breach are both obviously on edge, expecting the worst to rain down upon the team at any moment, though sharing a laugh over high explosives seems to be keeping them calm and on task. Quiet, of course, has the mission to keep her focused though time is liable to be gnawing at the back of her mind as well.

Can SPACETEAM complete their new evacuation mission before time runs out and things go horribly wrong for our mercenary heroes?!

Lien has a mission to keep her focused. Specifically, a task. Most specfically, the task of getting the poor SOBs who deserve bettler the hell out of this frozen-over hell. Disconnect. Monitor. Load. Repeat. She tries to work as efficiently and properly as she can.

Indira announces over the comms to the other members of SPACETEAM, and to Rick near her, "Our time will be gone. They are coming to find us. Please to hurry." With the growing number of voices in her head, her english is hurried in its translation, carrying a sense of urgency with it.

"Tee el, dee el: Playtime's up, kids," growls Breach into his radio. He frowns slightly as he pulls the particle revolver from its holster again. Priming the blaster, he backs up onto the dais toward Indira while the miniaturized particle accelerator inside of the gun spools up to full power with its trademark keening whine.

Griffin has just successfully unloaded another hover-dolly into the freight elevator.

He's turning around to run the device back down the hall before his vision blurs.

Instinctively, he reaches out to catch himself on the dolly but he misses. Falling down to the ground.

Indira's warning comes over the line just as he gets up on all fours, still wondering what the hell that was.

He responds over their shared lines, "10-4. Double time."

He waits for his radio to disengage before letting out a grunt and pulling himself up via the dolly.

He takes the dolly by the handle and takes a run down the hall pulling it behind him. His vision is still a bit rattled.

Rick's statement sends a chill down his spine. He swallows and says over the comms, "Damn. Ok- Q and I are falling back to you now with Masonettes in tow. Over."

"Tee el Dee El playtime?" Indira asks Breach as she checks the security systems while keeping her mind open. She's a bit distracted to understand the reference. She isn't even looking at him, her eyes focused on her holo display.

Indira estimates it will take the lead security team about five minutes to make it through the last of the automated security systems in the warehouse. After that, it's perhaps another five minutes to get to the end of the main hallway... Assuming they move at approximately the same rate as SPACETEAM did when you all took that route.

Lien hops up onto the elevator, using her anti-grav to hoist the last of the current cache of corporal corpsicles with her. She points a finger upward and twirls it.

Express elevator to hell. Going.. up?

She follows this with lowering her hand to her armored right rump, then pointing to Griffin. While the left pulls her weapon from its attachment on her back just above and to the left.

That chill running down' Griffin's back doesn't shake, and his vision- still blurry shifts towards the path he just came from as he gets the sense that something here is terribly wrong.

Its only after almost slipping on a slick spot- something that looks like rapidly evaporating moisture that he realizes the chill isn't just some feeling. He turns back and nods to Quiet. "Oh yes, please- lets get the hell out of here."

He bends down to touch the wet spot, uncertain of where it came from- and only then sees its in the shape of a human foot... and the liquid is icy cold.

He lets go of the dolly, and turns to run- back from whence he came.

"Quiet- we've got company. Someone's out of the thaw..." He says hoping aboard the elevator, but watching the hall the whole way.

Indira tries to make sense of the urgency of their opponents. "I would guess they are ...perhaps 5 to 10 earth minutes from here," she warns the team. She tries to find ways to slow them down while not sacrificing time spent preparing the teleporter.

"C'mon guys. If we are going to roll out, we need to roll out fast. My party favors are not going to keep them entertained for long," growls Breach into his radio. About a second later, Breach yelps and jumps backward toward Indira, clearing the main surface of the raised dais. It is busy lighting up with a subtle wrongness that is difficult to put into words.

With Quiet and Griffin aboard the freight platform, it shouldn't take them long to exit the Mausoleum. One of them simply has to hit the button to engage the lift. Both of our trained soldiers get the feeling that they are being watched by someone or something now. Exactly how much of that is just because Griffin has put that possibility out there is unclear.

"I think our LZ is going live," hisses Breach as he casts a wary eye over the raised dais' luminous crystalline surface.

Quiet may curse. In her head. Her helm does pan to and fro after Griffin's warning and she beckons him with her free hand to move a little faster, then uses it to help him aboard the elevator. After that, it works very well to slap the go button.

Indira doesn't have the sense of discomfort that Rick has about the lit up surface. "LZ? Rick, I am having trouble understanding you. I think my translation collar is malfunctioning," she says with a mild note of irritation, fingers poking and sliding along the interface before tapping in a few spots.

Quiet pauses her scanning at their 11. Her weapon is lifted and sighted, but lowered after a moment. There is a notable pause before she switches hands with her rifle to tap out a rapid message. The text displays in a dim holo between her and Griffin, facing him.

HOLD THE BIRD AS LONG AS YOU CAN.

She then bounds off the rising elevator to hover towards what she thinks she saw. Could it be some mutant behemoth waiting to tear her arms out of her sockets? Maybe. It could also be some disoriented defrosting dude just wondering WTF is going on.

About three seconds after Quiet hauls Griffin onto the freight elevator, the enormous sled offers a tremendous mechanical groan of protest. It lurches into motion rather sharply, though it doesn't dislodge any of the sarcophogi or the hover-dollies holding them. The round portal out of the Mausoleum and into the umbillicus begins to iris open as the freight sled eases into its former easy glide up the track.

Something continues to lurk in the sarcophogi. It is watching Quiet and Griffin ascend toward freedom.

"Landing Zone," comments Breach. He looks over his shoulder at Indira, eyebrows knitting together in consternation under his mirrored orange helm. Of all the times for a short-hand lesson, Breach may or may not be thinking. Breach may also be contemplating the eerie wrongness that thrums in the luminous corona cast between the crystalline plates of the dais and the ceiling.

By good fortune, Quiet leaps free before the freight elevator has gained much momentum or altitude. She lands nimbly alongside the track and loses ready line of sight with what she thinks she saw.

Griffin lets out a sigh of relief as he leans against the nearest object he can and steadies himself, and he hopes his vision will follow- tht is until that feeling that he's being watched washes over him and then his partner decides he's going to hold the fort all by himself.

"Oh yeah. Bird watch." He says drawing his sidearm, and holding it in front of him. as he scans the perimeter of the elevator.

"Landing Zone," Indira repeats, maybe still not clear on the matter. But now is not the time. "What is going on down there?" she asks over the comms.

"We're not alone down here. Q went to investigate. I'm 'holding the bird' and this bird isn't flying nearly fast enough." Griffin grumbles as he paces the deck of the elevator looking for a feeling.

"No gear shift on it?" inquires Breach of Griffin. He tries not to pay attention to the churning in his stomach at the news that Quiet is busy investigating instead of retreating. Breach grumbles to himself, largely not using words that Indira's collar can translate, while he starts to shift his weight from foot to foot as he mentally counts down the seconds until first contact.

Indira eventually reaches a hand up to tap at her collar, trying to get it to work. It's obviously on the fritz. And it couldn't be at a worse time!

Quiet hovers on towards the last known of her intermittent, semi-unidentifiable contact. Her weapon is at the half-ready. She doesn't want to shoot a friendly, but doesn't want to get... whatever the thing might do. Quiet, the diplomat. This should go well.

All told, it might not be too bad. She could always stun and drag his/hers/its ass out. He/she/it can buy her a beer later. Wouldn't be the first time she carried an unconscious he/she/it out of a freezer and to a bar.

Griffin continues pacing and watching for movement on the elevator.

Its the waiting that's maddening. Like Damocles sword, hanging- ready to drop.

It takes Quiet some time to find the same tracks as Griffin found earlier. They're quickly starting to dry out, even in the cool, crisp Mausoleum air. Quiet could waste more time trying to track her prey by following these largely human foot prints or she could make good her escape with the anxious Griffin on the slothful freight elevator.

Damnit. Well, if Quiet could speak, she'd probably use much, much more colorful and prosaic language. Quite possibly in several different languages, that might give Indira's collar even more trouble than it already seems to have.

She isn't a Ranger, but is loathe to leave a man behind. On the other hand, there is one metric s***load +4 of people already ready to go, and the clock is ticking.

With some reluctance, she goes with what's in hand, and cuts back to the elevator at top speed. This may not be a job paying in hard currency, but the addage of not being able to spend it when dead is still applicable.