RP: Cirrus Station [Episode 8] That Sinking Feeling

[MissingNo]

Tweak had watched Nell as the Unique started interrogating Kokuten before suddenly approaching the scouting team...Tweak took special note that Nell still had her gun in hand. "Kess, I'll see if I can keep you up-to-date, maybe even rig a camera...but do you know what's beyond the hall...well, here, if you have a lock on our position on your map?" Nell was nervous about something on the other side of that exit. No...it couldn't be the computer they were looking for...that was kinda too easy. Down two halls and across a bay? And why would a vital computer system be next door to a processing bay?

By that point, Claire had started manhandling Nell. Tweak walked up next to Claire and put a hand on the taller woman's arm.

"Claire, the Administrator ordered us to not speak to anyone. We don't want to give away who we are yet. But, even if you don't care about following that, there's no reason to intimidate Nell." Tweak said over yet another private channel. "She is in no position to stop us, anyway."

Meanwhile, she directed her passive detection toward the hallway. Figuring that ultrasonic/subsonic listening and IR detection had the most probability for getting something, that was all she spared mental processing time to...and, now that the battle was over, the TacOpSys resumed 'listening' in on unsecured radio transmissions, this time parallel-listening to the ones that had shown activity instead of cycling through all of them, mentally labeling and keeping watch for keywords, especially the undefined terms that had turned up earlier.

All of this was done while speaking the next sentence to Kokuten over the team channel.

"Sir, maybe we should ask where this 'wrong' way goes."

 

[Kokuten]

Kokuten cringed again behind his mask as Claire lost her patience with the situation. Normally, he would've stepped in to say something, but she had her reasons for becoming angry with the woman. At any rate, Nell responded more peaceably than he thought she would, so it was no cause for worry.

"Sir, maybe we should ask where this 'wrong' way goes."

"Hmm..." Kokuten thought aloud, crossing his arms and tapping the elbow end of his armor with a light clacking sound. "So, Ms. Nell, since you feel inclined to keep us from going the wrong way, what exactly is in that direction? To that extent, why? Have the Uniques not secured that area yet?"

 

[Dragonnova]

Claire snarled a little when she felt her arm be grabbed, but quieted down when she saw it was only Tweak. "Really? She's a witness to our presence here. Maybe we should just take her with us, just to make sure she doesn't start crying to her superiors about our positions." She replied in the same private channel to Tweak. "It wouldn't be that hard. Either convince her or coerce her, since she'd need to put her helmet back on to do that and we can easily ensure she drops dead before that happens if she tries it."

Either way, she ceased her threatening stance, turning her attention to Tweak and what she wanted to do, ready to follow unless it was something drastically different than their objectives.

 

[MoonMan]

"I have all of the schematics for this facility memorized," Kess's voice wafted into Tweak's ears as she gave her a response. "I am able to keep track of your progress by combining these schematics with the global positioning system Cassefin installed into this Savtech unit. I have no idea outside of these methods as to what you all are doing."

"Through that hall is a series of rooms that I assume are used as offices," Kess started speaking again. "Beyond that is a short stairwell, and then our objective."

---

Nell turned as Kokuten began to speak to her again, glad for the chance to speak to someone who was a little less threatening. The Unique sighed shortly, shrugging her shoulders after a moment of hesitation. "I dunno. Top-orders before comms units went out told mah squad and another squad to secure tha area up ahead. I was on mah way there, 'till I got a lil' caught up..." Nell explained, nodding her head over to the small group of employees as they stood up, two of the men working together to carry the unconscious individual on their shoulders. "Far as I know, this whole place is just assembly and some offices," Nell continued, his lack of knowledge about the area apparent in her tone. "Buncha offices an' some ah the backup servers for the accountin' stuff they do there."

Suddenly realizing that she was possibly giving them classified information, Nell's shoulders tensed up and her face turned back into a serious glare. "But I got assigned to ya'll, an' I'm responsible for ya, an' that way ain't the way out. You shoulda stayed in that elevator." Nell berated Kokuten, her feet replanting firmly on the grounds that they were heading in the wrong direction.

 

[Kokuten]

Kokuten playfully held up his hands in defense to his own point as Nell scolded him about the squad leaving the elevator. It seemed that the path before them was a little clearer in terms of intelligence, and it put him in higher spirits as a result.

"Well, to be honest, you were absolved of your duties as our guard the moment you were reassigned to rejoin your unit. As it may, there are unconfirmed hostiles in this 'wrong way' you have specified, and if anyone has a clear path to our Administrator, then they must be dealt with." The Captain stated, putting his hands back down and behind his back in a firm stance of attention. "While I do not doubt that your squad has excellent combative capabilities, Squad One'o'One does not leave the job to anyone, but themselves." His words rang with a true pride for a faux unit. "Now, the scouting team will move forward and relay anything they find back to us. If your intentions are to rejoin your own squad, then I suggest tagging along with me and the rest of Squad 101."

He opened his visor a bit, allowing the recycled air of the lower levels to fill his lungs instead of the stench of chemicals that pervaded his helmet. The Doctor made a signaling motion to move out, and then gave a genuine smile to Nell. He wasn't the best at lying to people, but he knew that he was, at the very least, capable of putting people at ease.

"I would say that is satisfactory enough, eh?"

 

[PlaidMage]

Method idly watched her team do important things without her, feeling a sort of itchy ache inside. She pushed it back down and flipped up the visor of her helmet to get some air, scratching her cheek with one robotic claw-finger. The weapons had been collected, but there was still something that interested her - the single corpse of one of the Uniques that everyone seemed to be so terrified of, almost hidden behind some crates.

She walked over to the body and industriously attempted to pry the helmet and the rest of the armor away.

 

[AoK]

As his target fell dead at his feet, the Kohanian canted his head a little and gave a thumbs up to Noburo when he traced the holes in the body, back to their logical origin. He then placed a foot on the man's chest and with a grunt, pulled his sword from the man's collarbone. With two shakes he got it somewhat clean of the blood, the remainder was dispatched with a sliding of the blade's flat sides against the twin's clothing.

When his orders were relayed, he would slowly look up, the faceplate of his armor keeping his features hidden, but the curt nod was proof enough that he had heard it and started to move to act. When Nell got in the way, Deacon just kept walking for the door. As he stood to the right of the door, his ear swiveled to listen down the hall of this 'wrong way', he waited for Claire and Tweak, a wry smile on his features as they interacted on their private channel. Looking down at the floor, he canted his head at the reflection in his blade.

With an unseen sneer, the weapon was returned to the scabbard on his back, and he just stood waiting for something to happen, whether it was inside, or outside, the bay they currently occupied.

 

[MoonMan]

Method would find the corpse of the Unique easy to pilfer from, given that the dead woman could give no resistance. Judging from the way the blood pooling on the ground seemed to be dripping out of the Unique's armorsuit, it appeared to be blunt trauma that had done the lady in, and not the Eco-terrorists' weaponry. The frilly, expensive-looking camisole, an extremely odd uniform requirement enforced by Marissa Cranker, was torn and slowly becoming stained from the crimson liquid. In the Unique's clenched hand was her weapon; a lustrous, thick rifle, sleek in design and, if the Uniques themselves were any indication, lethal in intent.

Method would have to pry with a little effort, but eventually the helmet slid off of the Unique's head. The lady was an older Geshrin woman, roughly in her 30's, hair done in a tight bun, a small trickle of blood falling from her lips. Despite her best efforts, however, Method would not be able to remove any other part of the armorsuit; the method of how Uniques put on their shiny security suit was a veritable mystery.

---

Nell gave Kokuten a deep sigh as she shifted her weight onto another stiletto heel. She wasn't really in a position to argue; the situation itself wasn't normal, and without the ability to communicate with the rest of her squad and the Unique Command, Nell was at a loss. She knew that a lot of this particular facility was closed off to the public for one reason or another... Vinross Yu-Cranker Materials employed their crack security team for a reason that totally eluded her. She was sure, however, that things would become easier for her once she regrouped with her team. As a result, Nell felt compelled to relent, if only for the moment. The handsome squad captain's calm manner of dealing with things didn't hurt too much either.

"Well... I guess it'd be okay if ya'll come with me," the short-statured, silvery-haired young woman said finally, rubbing at the back of her neck uncomfortably with her armor-plated glove, the soft leathery material along the fingers and palm feeling good against her exposed skin. "'Least until I find mah team. 'Ey!" Nell called over to the employees as they began to approach her and the rest of Squad 35. "Keep close behind us, we can get ya'll to the offices an' letcha hold up there 'till this all blows over."

A couple of the rattled employees nodded their heads, ready to get to a safer haven to weather the storm.

 

[Stovaa]

Stovaa had looked over the equipment of the pirates when told to, but found it to be... lacking. A few SMGs with low accuracy wasn't his style. Near a pile of crates though, was something much more his style. He threw the large crowbar from one hand to another, testing the weight.

"Bullets too slow... must kill faster..." he mused, holding it in his right hand before smashing an upturned and empty crate to pieces with a few deft blows, fully exposing the unique Method inspected a few seconds later.

"Whoa, found a dead chick. Nell, she one of your squad? Ooooh, a gun..."

 

[MissingNo]

"I have all of the schematics for this facility memorized," Kess's voice wafted into Tweak's ears as she gave her a response. "I am able to keep track of your progress by combining these schematics with the global positioning system Cassefin installed into this Savtech unit. I have no idea outside of these methods as to what you all are doing."

"Through that hall is a series of rooms that I assume are used as offices," Kess started speaking again. "Beyond that is a short stairwell, and then our objective."

"Alright." Tweak looked down as she thought, half-listening to the exchange between Nell and Kokuten. "I think we're getting an escort by Nell, and...no...no-no-no..."

The employees were going to make the going slow, and more dangerous. Hopefully they knew how to follow instructions and not panic.

Wait, what was she thinking? Of course they would panic...

A growing unease started building, but she shoved it down and tried to listen to her tactical mind as it offered some advice. Tweak hesitantly stepped up to Nell as the Unique addressed the employees and tapped her shoulder.

 

[Kokuten]

Kokuten nodded to Nell and checked his weapon. He was glad to finally get moving, and hopefully, reach the end of the most recent catastrophe. It took longer than he wanted to, but at least they had a way to move safely. He looked over to Tweak, and saw her move to talk to Nell.

"Ms. Tweak, we don't have time for questions." Kokuten radioed, a little more hurried in his tone, "I want your team to move ahead of us, preferably far ahead. Nell will assume you're just scouting at point, but I want you three to move straight to the objective. We will stay here with Nell and the other employees. Relay any information you find back to us, and I will relay anything we find as well."

Kokuten gave a short salute towards the Freespacer, before continuing, "Now get moving, I'm sure we've taken up enough time."

 

[MissingNo]

Oh... So the employees were sticking with the main group...that was definitely preferable.

"Okay," Tweak replied over the same channel, then quickly motioned for Deacon and Claire to follow as she started down the hall at a brisk job before Nell could ask what the smallest CSS guard wanted.

Once she entered the hall, Tweak slowed to a cautious, but still fairly quick and silent, shuffle with her reloaded pistol held ready and aimed at the floor in a double-handed, straight-armed grip. Her attention sharpened back to combat-aware status, alert to every tremor felt through the floor and motion visible to her, somehow refraining from being jumpy. She kept both the team channel and the comm line to Kess open so the rest of the Squad and their SavTech guide could listen in.

"Deacon, cover left, Claire, cover right." Keeping her gun pointed down, Tweak paused only briefly enough to flick two fingers held at waist-level behind her in the directions indicated before continuing. "Be alert."

Cliche, but this team needs all the lerts it can get...

 

[MoonMan]

"Not one of mine, fortunately," Nell answered Stovaa's question almost casually, however immediately realized how heartless that might have sounded.

"Anyway, we should get a' movin'," Nell nodded along for the citizens under her care to follow her as the silver-haired Unique took point into the approaching corridor. The halls were still slightly dim, illuminated by the strips of bright yellow lights running along the floor and walls. The first few sets of doors that Nell passed along the way seemed to be closed, and her efforts to open them through the simple control panel on the walls ended fruitless. Not to be disheartened by this, however, Nell pressed on, continuing to quickly check each door they passed as they made their way through the hall.

Now that the group was away from the assembly area and well into the corridors, they would suddenly hear distant shouts and the sounds of a firefight happening further on. Bright flashes could also be seen briefly around the coming corner. A closer investigation would reveal that a small group of Uniques, roughly four in all, were standing outside in the hall, their backs pressed against the walls, two on each side of one of the doorways.

Although no enemies could be seen, the squad would catch sight of a short burst of gunfire rip through the open doorway, impacting harmlessly against the opposite wall. One of the Uniques held her weapon out into the doorway and blind-fired in retaliation. It would appear that a group of enemies had dug themselves into the room, with the Uniques outside apparently unable to advance upon them.

 

[Lamb]

When Blake caught sight of the uniques guarding the door, he lifted a hand to Kokuten. "Sir," he began, adjusting the channel selector on his radio, "The civies shouldn't cross that threshold while it's still hot. Should we help them clear the room? It would provide suitable time for the foward scouts to complete their sweep."


While his tone might have been suspicious, his words were intended to remind Kokuten of the other three which had already gone ahead. He had hoped that the idea was conveyed clearly. He also hoped that Kokuten would order them to stay with the civilians and help the Uniques while Tweak and her team continued on to their objective. Not because he was truly interested in providing a distraction, but rather as an attempt to continue using the bodyguard training he had been so excited to receive. It still puzzled him as to why his government had sent him to Cirrus Station, instead of assigning him an important diplomat or a beautiful important woman to watch over.

 

[Dragonnova]

Claire stayed near the wall as she covered the small group's flank, only responding with an affirmative 'Ma'am'. She hoped her sudden silence would be interpreted as focusing on her objective, and not why she really was quieting down. Her mind strayed briefly before getting close enough for a visual on the firefight, thinking on Kess and her sudden involvement with all these clandestine activities. She knew she had already given the savtech the talk about choosing her own actions, but this wasn't helping, surely...

There was a short beep as she set up a private channel between herself, Tweak, and Deacon. "Firefight, Ma'am. Are they in our way? Or is this where our path diverges?" She had not seen the path they needed to take nor had she heard Kess' directions yet. She didn't think she needed to state that sneaking by them would be nearly impossible at best if they needed to go that way.

 

[Kokuten]

"Sir," Blake began, adjusting the channel selector on his radio, "The civies shouldn't cross that threshold while it's still hot. Should we help them clear the room? It would provide suitable time for the foward scouts to complete their sweep."

Kokuten tilted his head at Morris, unsure of exactly what sort of intentions he had behind his tone. "That's general idea of what we're doing right now, Mr. Morris." replied Kokuten on the same frequency. At any rate, nothing was to be decided until he knew where the scouts' destination was to be beyond this point. Mostly, he wanted to avoid any combat at this point, but it was true, the civilians would not make it across that passage, or, especially, through it.

It all depended on where they needed to go, but either way, Kokuten gave a nod to Nell.

"Are those your squadmates?" asked Kokuten aloud to the Unique, having noted earlier that she had a particular preference to her squad mates to other Uniques.

 

[MissingNo]

The firefight was in a hallway branching off the one that the scouting team was investigating while the main party waited behind for the go-ahead. The hallway was still dim, faint flashes of gunfire and ricochets became visible and the sound of the fight ahead following a little later.

The 'Spacer neko nodded at Claire's report. "The firefight is in our path. We might be able to pass though the Uniques involved may request backup or try to delay us," Tweak said over the team-channel, as well as her channel to Kess. "We can chance slipping by, but the line of fire does cross the hallway. Orders, sir?" she added, looking back as she waited for Kokuten's reply.

 

[Kokuten]

"Hmm... We need to remain friendly in the eyes of the Uniques for now. It's possible to bypass them and advance onward toward our destination, but doing so would be too risky. Stick with the main group for a moment, and let's see what we can work out with this group." Kokuten radioed back to Tweak, looking at Nell again. "If we can convince them you're advancing in that direction to scout for more threats, perhaps we can get you beyond our sight. Then, you'll be able to move freely."

 

[PlaidMage]

Method's agile fingers ferreted through the Unique's helmet she had pried off, though she wished she had more time and possibly a crowbar to examine the inner workings of the suit itself. She aimed to pry the comm unit from the helmet - if there was, in fact, one in there, hooking it up to her own shoddy helmet once she got it out. She picked up the shiny silver gun and holstered her small .45, poking back out from behind the boxes to keep an eye on Kokuten.

 

[MissingNo]

"Acknowledged." Tweak stopped moving and held up a hand as a halt signal to Deacon and Claire as she replied to Kokuten over the team channel. She and her teammates were on the edge of shouting range of those in the firefight. "Did you want to speak to them on your own? We need to make this as quick as we can, time is running out for Kess' plan." Pause. "What if I tell them there is a larger group behind us ready to help and that we intend to see if the way ahead is clear of enemies, maybe we can be allowed through before Nell becomes involved."

Or maybe Nell would make it easier to talk their way through, Tweak thought to herself. Kokuten had already attempted to talk his way through a Unique's objections, with...limited success. Nell might help here to give confirmation of their intent to scout ahead, or she might be encouraged to further impede the team's progress if she felt the Uniques here would back her up in keeping the whole group with her, or even move them away from Squad Thirty-Fi-....er, "One-Oh-One"...'s objective...


The neko mentally shook her head. There were many ways this could turn out, it was best to offer the most direct solutions and let the team leader decide what to do and who to use for what tasks. Please, let him choose wisely, she thought, half-praying, though she didn't know to who the prayer should go.