[In the Maitenance Tunnels of the Empress' Time Weapon....]
Vyynd tr`Khaine, having reached one of the maintenance tunnel's ladders, begins to crawl down it a bit, then looks up at the others who have climbed on board as well. "Try to keep up...." he says, then lets go with his feet and slides down the ladder. Aeris climbs down a little further, giving Vyynd a chance to clear, then uses the slide technique as well.
Vyynd stops himself one deck too low, and starts climbing back up. He ends up catching Aeris on her way down. "Here's good." he looks up at her, then helps her into the floor's tunnel. The pair wait next to the ladder for the other two.
tr`Nigh starts to slide down the ladder as the others had done, but being unsure of himself, he grabs back on for dear life after only a slight drop. Aeris sees this whispers quietly to Vyynd, "Au don't think he'll become stuck up there, do au?"
Seeing that tr`Nigh had resumed inching himself down the ladder slowly,
Vyynd whispers back, "Nah...he'll just take a bit longer..."
The rear-guard Agent had also used the slide technique, and slows above
tr`Nigh. Getting frustrated with the snail's-pace, the agent gives the Eredh a slight kick to the head. tr`Nigh slips back down the rest of the way painfully, "Hey!!"
Vyynd, seeing tr`Nigh start to slide, reaches out and pulls him off the
ladder at the right floor, quickly covering his mouth, "Shhhh!!"
The rear-guard drops the rest of the way, "Au can thank me later...." he says off-hand to tr`Nigh, earning the agent a scowl from the scientist. "Where are we?"
Aeris, covering a smile at the pair, turns to point down the tunnel. "Na too much further. At the end of this will be engineering."
Vyynd glares at the rear-guard and whispers low, "Try something reckless like that again, and I'll spend some personal time training with au. We're near engineering..." he helps tr`Nigh into the tunnel after Aeris, then follows.
As they walked, tr`Nigh asks quietly, his eyes on his multicorder, "What's the plan? Come out of the tunnels and start shooting?
Aeris nods at that, "Works for me..." After another minute or so, she
comes to a stop in front of the panel, and turns her head to look at
tr`Nigh, "How many? And where are they?"
Still looking at the scanner, tr`Nigh answers back matter-of factly,
"Approximately 219. They're in a lot of places in a very large room."
Aeris throws a lost look to Vyynd, and silently mouths that number
'219...?!' suddenly re-thinking her previous statement.
The rear-guard frowns and interjects quietly, "Rekkhai...we do na have much time to deliberate. My charges will detonate in less then five seuren-a."
Tapping a few keys on his multicorder, tr`Nigh offers, "Actually, I have an alternate plan. The tunnels lead to back parts of certain systems in engineering....a lot less personnel are actually in the tunnels."
Aeris, trying to peek at tr`Nigh's multicorder screen, nods, "Ie. That will work. Where are those, then?" As Vyynd looks over the layout on the isd once more, zooming in on the mentioned parts of engineering.
tr`Nigh gestures down the tunnel. "Down a ways. Engineering is curved, and we can access the outer systems from the tunnels."
Vyynd nods, "Let's go then...quickly...."
As the group starts walking again, tr`Nigh announces, "Io minor problem, rekkhai..."
"Ie?"
"I have na idea how these systems work, or how it's unorthodox shields work. I'm na sure where to blow it up, in other words. If io person could go out there and find out...."
"Ie." Vyynd nods, "I'll go...au all continue on to the branches of
engineering. I'll walk in, *pretend* to be a bossy Tal`Shiar officer..." he laughs a bit,
The rear-guard agent internally groans, committing the ultimate error in judgement, he mumbles, "I'll go."
Vyynd pauses, and looks to the agent, "Au sure?"
The agent nods grimly, his eyes closed, "Au are the Leih, I am expendable on this mission. I will go."
tr`Nigh glances at his chronometer and interrupts, "Whoever goes, au have three seuren-a to get the info, send it back, and get back here so we can head for the lounge."
Vyynd nods at this news and addresses the agent again, "Na io is
expendable.. but we do na have time to argue; go swiftly...... Jolan'tru." He pats the agent on the shoulder. The agent puts his finger to his forehead in quick salute, swiftly turns around and heads for the nearest exit. As the agent disappears from view, Vyynd pushes passed the other two angrily and bounds down the tunnel, "Okay, move!"
tr`Nigh looks to Aeris hopefully, but all she could offer was, "Just tell us when to stop, I guess...." she shrugs, then runs after Vyynd. tr`Nigh answers with his own shrug, and runs after.
After another moment or two pass, Vyynd stops at a branch in the tunnel and starts reviewing the engineering layout further, "We wait here then?" he asks as the others run up. Aeris screeches to a halt and looks back at tr`Nigh.
The field scientist stops quickly as well, "Elements! Hope that he gets the info..." he glances down at his chrono, "and quick. Hey, what was his name, anyway?"
Keeping her ear open to the ip, Aeris shrugs, "I'm na sure. He wasn't on my shift usually..." She looks to Vyynd for the answer to Nigh's question, but tr`Khain seemed to be ignoring most of the conversation.
[]
The Agent steps into an engineering side room, taking a glance at the busy officers as they move from panel to panel. Eatching one as he shuffles by, the Agent appears flustered. "Rekkhai, I was just sent over from operations section -- we have a mess over there and I don't know what I am supposed to do -- I don't even know who I'm relieving to relieve my superior!"
The officer frowns as he looks at the Eredh, "What are au being sent here for?"
The Agent snaps to attention, "Here to replace the shielding officer...he's required over in operations..."
The officer cuts the Eredh off, by point irritatedly in the direction,
"Over there, second chamber, down the hall. Move!"
The Agent tips his forehead and salutes, "Much thanks, rekkhai..." and runs off. Running up to the officer in charge of shielding, the Agent starts babbling off random orders and questions all at the same time. The Imperial is completely thrown off, but gets up to do something about it. As the Imperial steps by, the Agent places his bolter to the Rihan's head, and pulls the trigger -- pushing the man into a corner. The Agent hurries over to the console. His eyes skim the display, and pointing at various places on the panel, he mumbles to himself. He marks off a few possible targets and passes them along his ip to the rest of the team.
[In the Maintenance Tunnel...]
tr`Nigh looks down at his chrono sporadically. After a little while he
asks, "Any word yet?"
"Na..." Vyynd answers, distracted.
Aeris shakes her head and repeats this. "Na...none. The last I got, the other team was headed for the lounge. I haven't heard anything from the Age...." she breaks off as she started to receive his message. Tapping the locations on her isd, Aeris nods, "Got it... here's where we should hit!" she puts the isd into Vyynd's hands. Vyynd glances at it, then heads down the appropriate tunnel, the other two following quickly behind, getting explosive charges ready. They scramble along, hurriedly placing the charges where needed, when tr`Nigh's chrono starts beeping.
The five seuren-a run out which is evident by the large explosion noises, destroying the lift system. tr`Nigh finishes placing a charge, "Time's up! Orders, rekkhai?"
Vyynd, setting a hefty amount of explosives at a separate location, stops and turns around. "Fvadt! Let's move!" he dumps a good amount more of hisexplosives at a last area, and dashes back to get Aeris and Nigh. "Move fvadt it, MOVE!! Through the tunnels...."
Aeris sets her last charge, and turns, bolting back to the ladder, tr`Nigh right behind her. The field scientist calls back over his shoulder to Vyynd, "Where's whatshisname?"
As Vyynd's running, making sure to keep the others with him, he opens a line to the Agent. "Can au get to the rendevous?"
[Engineering....]
The Agent fires wildly, getting the engineers to duck and cover more than hit anyone. Within a few seconds, his pistol jams, and he is forced to run. A random Imperial shouts, "What in Eli...?!" and the Agent spins around, his trainning putting a round through the man's head. Not wanting to be detected, he runs out into a hall full of surprised engineering officers.
About five steps down the corridor, a bolt catches the Agent in the back, sending his lifeless body crashing into the wall of the tunnels.
The intruder alert sounds, and guards and engineers alike can be heard
shouting all over the place...not that they weren't already dealing with the dead-but-walking Klingons and the destroyed lift system.
[Maintenance Tunnels....]
tr`Nigh looks around, "Let's get out of here! The engineering charges will go off soon too..."
Reaching the ladder, Aeris looks back to Vyynd, "How many decks?"
Vyynd hears the Agent's yipe before he dies, "Son of a susse`thrai...." he drops some explosives in the tunnel on this floor. "Okay, let's get up those decks, just *climb* fvadt it!!" he pushes Aeris up the ladder, then practically throws Nigh up after her.
The trio frantically climb, and Vyynd suddenly calls out "Okay, this deck." he points Aeris to the tunnel she was across from.
As the Agents hop onto the appropriate deck, the charges from Engineering go off below A dramatic fireball rushes up the tunnel shaft. Vyynd hears this, and glances down, "A little *faster* would be appreciated!" Aeris runs down the tunnel, gets a little way, trips, and hits the deck. Nigh dives onto the deck, and Vyynd follows diving on top of Nigh. They avoided the gush of fire that rushes up passed them, but the blast still manages to push them further.
There is a notable shift in the environment. Not something specific that anyone can put their finger on, but definitely there. tr`Yhylk voice startles them all as it comes over the ip. "Wildstrike is reporting the weapon has phased into normal space! Meet at the rendezvous point for further orders..."
Aeris picks herself up, and runs again, heading down the tunnel. Vyynd
blinks a few times, then regains his feet, calls after her. "Where do au think *ninte-a* going? The lounge is *that* way...." he points in the other direction, and smiles.
Aeris slides to a halt, hitting a wall with her shoulder. Shaking her head, she heads in the direction that Vyynd was pointing, throwing him a small glare.
Still smiling, Vyynd answers tr`Yhylk, "On our way...we'll be there in less then a minute..." and follows Aeris, making sure that Nigh is keeping up. The field scientist does keep up with the other two....barely.
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