Slowly and steadily, the metal lugs on the opposite hatch that lead into the armoury were being undone - like individual fingers peeled, dooming those within to the cliff below.
Keib imagined as though he was a child tiptoeing through a hallway and memorising where the noisy parts of the floor are - just as Four Six was slowly and steadily undoing the lugs. Eventually, the hatch popped open and swung open, lightly tapping the wall. She was met with blackness.
The armoury, since it was in lockdown from the pirate invaders had no need for light. Not even the emergency lighting. If someone was to get in here, they'd be fumbling and stumbling - with their newly found treasure and with no way to locate it.
Vithr was the second person to move up into the gloom, out of the safety light-strips of the maintenance passage. "Wow. Really in lock down here..." He commented as he poked his head out, the freedom from the earliest licks of claustrophobia a wash of relief through his features. Met with darkness, he immediately began fiddling in his pocket for something to light the room.
He opened a communicator, and managed the flashlight on it, lighting up the racks, lockers and drawers of weapons, armour, accessories and computers.
"First thing the pirates always go for." Keib replied as he waited near the floor hatch, looking behind himself to look at the other two. "Its like a roach motel."
"Makes sense," Aiesu said, finally feeling her nerves start to settle. She hadn't said anything in a while. "I'm going first."
Keib moved through the hatch, and held it open for her, with Vithr illuminating a path. "After you."
In Vithr's movement of the torch around the room before settling on the floor in front of Aiesu, the light shone on an idle combat computer for a split second, catching Aiesu's eye as the command prompt's white-on-dark-blue haze was temporarily drowned by the white light.
Aiesu carefully making her way to the edge of the hatch. Slowly, she unzipped her boots, leaving them with the others and stepped out - surprisingly quietly into the inky black, sinking and drowning out of existence. No foot-steps, no sounds. Nothing. She was only visible again when she stepped into the white of his torchlight.
"You can turn it off, if you want. I don't need it"
Vithr turned the light off indignantly for a moment. The sound of someone being tapped in the head could be heard, and the light came back on. Keib did not seem impressed by Vithr's cheek in the dire situation.
As light returned to the chamber, she was already positioned in front of the dull light of the combat computer. Growing nearer, the thing purred every few seconds, a cooling fan audible as she got closer.
She eyed the screen thoughtfully.
"She's on lockdown. Anyone here have permissions?"
Keib could be heard coughing loudly.
"No?" she grumbled quietly - reaching into her pocket for a series of discs. She felt something else, fishing it out - a pair of coloured jumper-pins from the medicomp.
"
Whenever you put something back together, there's always a bit left over" she smiled, slipping them back into her pocket.
Aiesu took delicate steps, almost floating on the tips of her toes. She took a combat-knife from an open locker and scored the edge of a wall-panel with it as she took careful note of the serial number, peeling it off like an oyster. The panel hit the ground with a noisy thud, her hands already in its guts as she held one of the jumpers in her mouth, suckling on it for a moment to get the oxygenation off the super-conducting metal.
She ran her fingers over the live board, pulling several pins from the board with the elegance of removing teeth from dissolving putrid gums and repositioned them, then fished for the extra she had with her, plugging it in. She gave everything one last look before she took the combat knife and traced circuit paths with it delicately - her other hand slipping a disc into the drive with a satisfying click. She bridged the circuit paths, tricking the thing into thinking it had a power-surge.
But it didn't reboot when she removed the blade.
"Fuck."
"What is it?" a voice sounded. Aiesu couldn't tell who's it was.
"Nothing. Hold on."
Aiesu eyed another panel, stripping it off. A high-voltage line. Delicately, the sawed through the insulation and then she took one of her boots, shaking her head before putting it back down. She fished for a pair of combat boots from the armoury and scored a line of rubber from the sole, wrapping the handle of the knife with it, and then bandaging and tape before carefully sawing through the line. Everything went dead. There was a low hum as the fuses cut in and the air-pumps and filters disengaged.
She could feel the warmth of the tang inside the handle, vibrating with the charge running through it, her face lit by stray arced flashes. She could feel a shooting pain along her arm - muscle shivering and then a coldness in her muscles. She felt her synthetic elements working to prevent her arm from pulling the blade out - teeth chattering for a few moments.
Dread sank through the other occupants.
Carefully, she adjusted the angle of the knife, everything coming back online, the combat computer booting up again. It froze at its login screen, rebooting several times before asking for a maintenance disc. She hit enter. As the thing began loading, she twisted the blade, breaking off its tip inside the cable. She then began wrapping it in the rubber that she'd formerly used for the handle, taping it up thickly. The remaining blade glowed a dull orange, even the length of the tang through the knife in the low light.
"Was that you?" Vithr said, venom in his voice.
Soon, the arms-computer was soon reading the contents of the disc she'd fed it - a series of rings branching from the middle of the screen like a bullseye, each with a set of rounded loading bars inside it. Bubbles popped up with loading bars and microterminals as information was written into RAM and the OS was rendered live.
She soon fished up a terminal, the only UI element any of them would be familiar with.
Code:
┌ ooo ┐
Last Login: March 12, YE35 20:36:52 on TTYP1
Welcome to [email protected], root!
[root.akahar] #
└ ┘
Keib's bunny-slippered footsteps could be heard across the floor, shortly punctuated by a bump, some stifled cursing, and the footsteps resuming. Keib's face was reflecting into the monitor and looking into Aiesu's eyes when she looked back up, half illuminated, framed in shadow.
She peered back, a luminescent quality about them, not unlike cat's eyes or those of a rabbit as the sun disappears over the horizon. Despite her goofed aspectation, she did get a few things right.
"Are you alright?" Aiesu asked, eyeing Keib with concern. She could still feel the twinge in her arm from the knife, her hand smoking, flesh burnt along her left palm - capillaries burst along the length of her arm. A blueish color clouded her features. It took her a moment to realise her heart had likely stopped, taking a moment to force it into a normal rhythm with a twitch of muscle - yet her skeleton refused to move, the puppeteer beneath the flesh still calm. Soon, she ejected the first disc, popping in another.
He said nothing as his hand hovered over the keyboard and came to rest for a moment as he recalled something. The command line was waiting for him, and then his fingers danced across the keyboard like a concert pianist.
Code:
┌ ooo ┐
Last Login: March 12, YE35 20:36:52 on TTYP1
Welcome to rabbithole@akahar, root!
[root.akahar] # useradd -G sysadmin -m a.kalopsia -s /bin/ksh -d /path/to/home/a.kalopsia a.kalopsia
>Writing out... Done.
[root.akahar] # passwd a.kalopsia vivek'gite
>Writing out... Done.
└ ┘
"I'll have to trust you on this one, that's all." He stated as he looked towards the doors of the armoury, hearing pirates still trying to beat the doors down arrhythmically. He'd had his computers on lock down as a precaution in case one of the pirates had bothered to get the skills to fight on the digital battlefield.
The question that wasn't crossing Keib's mind was what she'd do with a user account that had root privileges. "Can I trust you?" He asked, tone of voice wavering between rhetorical and a genuine question. He took steps away from the computer and faded into the blackness behind her.
"Yeah," she said, feeling herself wind into the network slowly as she logged in remotely, wirelessly - an ethereal feeling she'd craved since she got onboard - one that slowly made her heels rise from the deck with a sense of lightness - a cool shiver down he back of her neck. She was perfectly still as she peered up at him - the lights a dim red before flashing with a wet clap of fuses and high voltage into crisp white.
"You can trust me."
The sudden lighting in the room made Keib, Vithr, Four Six and Shimakage cover their eyes as the lights came alive and overstimulated their visual senses.
Aiesu hadn't flinched, still in that perfect stillness. As the blue and purple left her cheeks, it was almost like she wasn't really there when she did these things.
"There are three at the door. I don't recognise what they're using... I won't for another ten minutes" she said, fishing into her pocket for one of the operating discs, eyeing its title for a moment - hesitating a few second with it in her hands as if it were poison before she slid it into the combat computer and issued a few commands, watching something compile - a semantic library of some sort.
"Big, dull worn metal, loud, angry. Big shoulders. Top-heavy. Guns" she tried her best, waiting for it to compile.
"It sounds..." Keib blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. "...like a Demon." looking at the console and watching whatever she'd put to it compile. He leaned over and looked over her shoulder, unfamiliar with the output that was before him.
Code:
╓────────────────────────────────────────────────ooo╖
║ [SEMANTIC LIBRARY - [Writing update...] ║
╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────╢
║ Rendering crisis library... ETA: [13hr 16ms 26s] ║
║┌ ┐║
║ ░▓▓░▓▓▓▌▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓█▓▐█▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓█▓▓▓▓▌▓▓▓▓▓ ║
║ ▓▓▓▓▓░▓▓▌▓▓▓▓▓▓█░░▓▓▌▓▓▓▓▓▐▓▐█▓▐██▓▓▓▓░▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▌▓▓ ║
║ █░▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▓▓▐▐▐▓█▓█▓▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▓▐█▓▓▓▓░▓▓░▓▓ ▓▓▐▓▐▓▓▓▓ ║
║ ▓▓▓▓▓▌▓▓▓▓█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░▓▓ ░▓▓█▓█▓▐██▓▓▓▓▓░▓▓ ║
║ ▓░▓▓▓▓░▓▓▓▌▓█░▓▓▓░▓▓▐█░█▓▐█▓░▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▬▓▓▓▌▓▓ ▓▓ █▓ ║
║ ▓▓▌▓▓▓▓▓█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▌▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▓▐█░ ▐█▓▓▓▓█░▓▓▓▓ ║
║ ▓▌▓▓▓▓▌▓▓▓█▓▐▓▓▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▓▓▓█▓▓█▓▓░▓▓▓ █▓▓░▓ ▓▓▓▓ ░▓ ║
║ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▓▓░▓▓▓▓▓▐██░▓▓░▓░▓▓░▓▓▓█░▓▓▓▐░▓▓▓▓ ▓▓ ▓ ║
║ ▓░▓▌▓▌▓▓▓░▓▓▐▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░▓▐▓▓▓░▓▓▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║
║ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░▓░▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓█▓▓▓░▓▓▓▌▓▓ ║
║ █▓▓▓▌▓▓█▓▓▓░▓▓▓▐▓▓▓░▓▓▓▓▓▓░▓░▓▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓█▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ║
║ ▓▓░▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▐████▓▓▓▐▓░▓▓▐ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓ ║
║ ▓▓▓▓▓▓░▓▓▓░▓▓▓▌▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▐▓▓▓▌▓▓▓▓░▓░░░░▓▓▓▓ ▓▓▓▓ ║
║└ ┘║
║ ║
║ Pass [ 1005 ] Sector [ A9 ] ║
║ Write [ 2% ] Phase [ 3B ] ║
╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────╢
║ OK Cancel Options Pause ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Keib's eyebrow raised: "What's that supposed to do?" He whispered near Aiesu's ear.
"Its a crisis library," she said between the loud thumps at the door. "So I can work well... In a crisis situation. Gives me permissions and drivers and idiosyncrasies I wasn't issued with."
"Drivers for
what?"
"Everything," she said. "Its going to take hours. And to be frank with you, half my operational lifespan."
Keib looked at the doors and noticed that they were starting to deform. He swallowed a lump in his throat, nudged her and made an upwards nod towards the deformations in the door before looking towards a M'Cel that was in a locker.
She soon returned to the screen, eyeing the evolving mess of shaded blocks as they changed. "Alright, alright" she said, making her way to the display, looking over it. "No, you're not done yet... Neither are you... Or you..." she skimmed, looking for something useful in the blur of pixels and patterns on the display for possible recruits for her cause.
Keib had walked off and thumb-printed a locker open and withdrew a M'Cel with a shoulder stock attached to it. He inspected the action and flexed it a couple of times before snapping it shut and determining that it was in working order.
"Not you... Not you... You haven't started yet... Still cooking... Ooh! Do we have any of those.... Yeeeaaahno. Well. This isn't going well. Let's try... Antiquated... Antiquated..." Aiesu muttered to herself, thinking aloud.
"Keib, I ask you one thing and one thing alone in this moment of peril and I want to be frank" she said, visibly excited but jumpy to boot, still getting used to the network.
"Hm?"
"Do you even HAVE a quartermaster?"
He turned around with with the weapon in hand, inspecting it. "The last one got a promotion from higher up and the first thing they did was show their gratitude by leaving without thanking me." He snapped the action shut and tossed it to Shimakage. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing. He just took PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING WITH HIM" she shouted. "What good is a combat ship if it isn't ARMED? Even Nepleslian TERMITES are more favourable than a man who takes your... Oooh what do we have here~?"
She then eyed the door, wondering if the invaders had heard that. But then something caught her eye.
"
Nepleslian termites shit bullets." Keib murmured aloud in Trade as he grabbed another M'Cel from the same locker.
"Yes, yes, this looks good... " Aiesu's voice immediately softened. She'd almost forgotten he was there. She said, before glancing at the console and cursing in at least three languages Keib didn't recognise and two he did, at least one of them high Elysian.
She watched the display, the interface moving without input now as she tried to narrow something down. "More specific... More specific... Keib, any idea where-"
"Hold on, let me see how Away team is doing." He held a hand to his earpiece. "We're in the armoury, what's your status?"
-
"
Siddown!"
Shrie'keng had some full metal jacket friends heading towards him and the pirate, given lease and license to kill from Merril's My'hyz.
BRAKKABRAKKABRAKKA! Her initial shots struck the pirate in the hip and shattered his hip bone, before the recoil made her weapon climb up and bullets hit their marks in the ribs and arms of the pirate before hitting the ceiling.
As the pirate was falling over with his finger over the trigger, his hand clutched in pain and he pulled it. Two rifle rounds flew past Shrie'keng and hit the floor beneath him, while one bullet struck him in the biceps and another in the right breast, forcing the breath out of him as they deformed against the Stone Thread weave.
The sounds of falling bullet casings were all that punctuated these events.
-
Aiesu slowly looked over, grimacing as she heard gunfire - and also the communication. The echo of the two was a strange experience for her.
"Not good?"
Keib shook his head with a frown as he passed the next piece to Vithr.
"Grenades here." Keib stated as he unlocked another locker and took one of the grenades, an armour piercing high explosive, and loaded it into the breech of his weapon. He put a hand to his earpiece, hoping that things had cleared up.
"Away Team, we're in the armoury - and they know."
"You... Really don't want to be using those" Aiesu said, already knowing the contents of the locker. "We're in an armoury, remember? Everything here goes boom. The chain reaction and resulting compression blast-waves would cripple the ships critical systems and kill us... Oh, I'd say pretty much instantly."
The door had begun to crack and strain under whatever assault the pirates were doing to it.
"Then what? Hurry up, or steak night is going to be indefinitely cancelled." Out of place and out of context, the phrase wouldn't have held much weight, seeming ridiculous given the circumstances. Bastion knew, however that only a handful of things could cancel steak night on the Akahar - the death of Keib.
"Steak night?" she said in confusion. "Oh. I need another... Oh... About one-hundred eighty seconds. Arms up, guns down."
"What?"
"I said arms up. Guns down. Its a simple instruction."
I seriously doubt they'd want to talk with their mouths." Vithr observed dryly.
"Let me put it into perspective for you: In a fire-fight, you specifically have a 13.661% chance of survival. As a group, the odds are less than 3%."
They stared flatly at her. She was almost an entirely different person now.
"Oooh dat hardware! Dat predictive modelling!" she said, her voice loud again. "Oh yes~ It feels good finally having some horsepower. Of a full ship, my rig and even another ARIA, no less! Isn't that something?"
"Wait, what?"
"Okay look." she thought for a moment. "Pirates... Don't take the brains of an operation with them, especially not to a combat vessel. The people who do the thinking and the fixing and the cracky and the hacky sit nice and cozy because they're valuable. They're too important. No brains, no booty. Same goes for the big cheese. No cheese, no strategy, no tactics, no control. Pirates have no brains and usually no cheese."
"A sentiment I can agree with."
"Good. If you can show you're a brain, that makes you an asset, because brains hate being taken onboard a ship, especially a combat ship. They like doing things by remote and... Because of the lockouts I just made, they uh... Sort of can't." she said, on a roll now, her voice becoming theatrical. "They're going to be really mad, aren't they?"
"Er..."
"So they'll do what they can to resolve the issue without bringing any brains or the big cheese onboard. For six hundred, what do pirates do with bounty~?" she said, pointing at Vithr now with both hands.
"Collect?"
"Gold star to team Akahar!"
Vithr rolled his eyes.
"Get to the point."
"Pirates are simple. Binary, even. Good, bad. You're either spoils or a problems. If you're spoils, that's good. If you're a problem... That's... Not so good. Guns, death, screaming. But why in that order? Anyway. You need to convince them that you're useful. Ideally, that the ship needs proof you're alive before it'll surrender control to them. Or better yet, a keybond. Brains hate working with keybonds, you know? Or cake. Pirates love cake. Whatever it takes, convince them."
"Then what?"
"
Barter. Convince them so we have something to barter with."
"You
can't negotiate with pirates. Everybody knows that."
"Correct. You can't negotiate
successfully. But you can
still negotiate."
"Stalling?"
"Gold star to the doctor!"
"Stalling for time. Right. And what good is time?" Vithr watched in horror, trying to break the girl's argument. What really got him was the way just Keib listened. So attentively.
"Oh, time is everything. But that's my department. Now, promise me: Whatever you do, don't run. Don't even move. If the lights go dead, I want you to stay perfectly still and keep your arms up."
"But why?"
"For your own safety."
"From what?" Vithr said, examining her small frame.
"I'm... Not entirely sure yet. Isn't it all exciting?"
Perhaps not the word he would have used.
The sound of a weapon being put down and kicked away could be heard from Keib as he stood with his arms behind his back.
"I hope you know what you're doing."
"So do I." Aiesu said to herself - smiling with a strange confidence.
