MSNPC Legend O'Connor & LT Gila Sadar - Exposed and Warped
LT Gila Sadar
(( Hallway - Secret Lunar Compound, Surface of Moric ))
The group moved out of the visitor’s lounge, now irrevocably changed in dimensions due to the Tetris-like bric-a-brac Legend had had to play with the room controls, but thankfully the hallway looked pretty much the same, at least for now. That being said, Legend didn’t much relish the idea of staying around until some of the Kydonian figured that they’d repeat his little performance, so they’d better move quickly.
Vailani: Did you know what Vef-Lai was planning than while time?
Silveira: I have a pretty good guess about that.
O’Connor: Oh, that’s news to me too. I just got paid to get the boxes here and get out. I’ve never even met one of the alien buyers before today. ::looks around the corner:: It's this way.
Gila shuffled after the others, still shaken from her experiences in the tumult, but she did her best to move forwards. Getting stuck wouldn’t help them escape, and she refused to be the cause of her friends’ recapture. She wouldn’t be able to bear that.
Sadar: A-And you, uh, d-didn’t know your employer either?
O’Connor: Nope. A stickler for secrets, that one. Don’t even know their name or species.
Vailani: How far away is the cargo?
Bergmen: And try to be more specific... this time, Mr. O’Connor.
Legend briefly toyed with the notion of moving the modular hallway sections in such a way that the lanky teenager was dropped down into the storage compartments below them, but given the very boy scout-ey way Starfleeters stuck together, he doubted that’d go over well.
Alas, all must make sacrifices for survival, even if it means being on the receiving end of cranky boys.
Silveira: Please…
O’Connor: The closest storage compartments aren’t far. Just a quick jaunt over here, and- ::pauses::
Footsteps echoed from around the corner, causing Legend to pause at the intersection, unwilling to take the Fleeters further. If they ended up recaptured, he doubted Vef-Lai would be in a forgiving mood for any of them, even him.
Sadar: ::shallow breath:: W-We don’t have much time.
Vailani: Is there any other way?
Bergmen: Or a little corridor reshuffle?
Gila didn’t like the idea of the floor moving again - she’d barely gotten her sense of equilibrium back as it was - and thankfully the strange smuggler seemed to agree with her.
O’Connor: I’d prefer not, given I have no clue where these maniacs are. I’m as likely to get them closer to us as I am to get them further away.
There was a brief pause as they all considered their options, when Vai-net seemed to get an idea.
Vailani: That could work. Bergmen, where do you think that hatch could lead?
At Vai-net’s words, everyone turned to look at the hatch she’d noticed. Gila briefly felt an overwhelming sense of dread at the notion of being inside one of those vents when the hallways moved, getting violently sandwiched between two moving walls...
oO Stop it Oo
Bergmen: It should lead to maintenance access to the reactor heatsink ventilation on one side, and life support vents if we turn left? Through those air conducts, we can get where we need to be. ::muttering to himself:: It would mean a longer, but narrower route, though at least we won't get crispy.
Sil-net looked at her, and Gila did her best not to look back at him. He knew something was wrong with her, she could see it in his eyes. Had he seen? Did he know? Was this watchful gaze meant to say ‘Where are you hiding them?’ or ‘I’m watching you, so don’t try anything’?
O'Connor: Also smaller risk of us having to explain why ya’ll aren’t in a cell right now.
Vailani: Okay :: to Silveira:: What do you think?
Silveira: Are you sure about it, Lieutenant?
Bergmen: ::almost confident:: Sure enough…
Sil sidestepped, getting slightly closer to the tall and quiet one in the hood, and the lady visibly recoiled at his approach. She had to be an extremely jumpy individual, if she was this on edge around her fellow crew too... It sounded like an exhausting way to be.
Silveira: Lieutenant Sadar if you are able to crawl through I am good with this plan.
Sadar: I-I can do it...
The blonde Bajoran - who seemed to be in charge of the ragtag band - nodded with satisfaction that a plan had been decided on, before looking to him. Legend raised his hands in a disarming fashion. Not that he was particularly threatening to begin with, but you know - gotta make a good impression on the boss lady.
Vailani: O'Connor, I'm sure I don't need to tell you how important your next steps are for your long term future?
O'Connor: Well, in that case, let’s stop dilly-dallying. Get in there, already.
Legend crawled in first, evidently needed at the head of the pack as sacrificial fodder/pathfinder, though his broad torso and shoulders meant he had limited visibility behind him. He hoped whoever was behind him was of a mind to appreciate the view, ‘cause it was all they were going to be looking at for the next couple of minutes as they found their way through these vents.
Gila crawled in as the third person, unwilling to be parted from Vai-net, and oddly comfortable with Lieutenant Bergmen forming a defensive shield between her and Sil-net’s watchful eyes. She felt both at ease with that situation, and deeply guilty. Sil-net had always been kind to her, always warm and welcoming, and yet here she was, a literal threat in their midst, and she wasn’t allowing him to do his duty to defend the others from an obvious security hazard.
She looked down onto her pale hands as the group proceeded through the vents, one shuffle at a time.
Bergmen: ::whispers:: Second left…
Vailani: Response
Legend follow the course laid out by the whispering teenager - hardly a sound course of action in most situations - but he had to admit, these Fleeters knew their stuff.
Bergmen: ::whispers:: Lieutenant… take that next right turn, and there, after a few meters, you should notice another access hatch on the left side of the wall that leads directly into the ducts.
Silveira: ::Whispering:: Are they wide enough like these?
Vailani/Bergmen: Response
O’Connor: ::whispers:: Master Duct Spelunkers we’ve got with us today. Guess Starfleet has experience with these kinds of things, eh?
Their crawl continued, only paused for those short moments that movement on the other side of the walls made the smuggler ahead of them cease his movements so as to not attract too much attention to their location. Gila didn’t like this. Giving the Kydonians this much time to familiarize themselves with the new base layout meant that they were sure to have posted guards at the Keystone now.
Which meant they were headed for combat.
Silveira: ::Whispering:: How much further?
O’Connor: ::Whispering:: Should be just around the corner here. Hang in there, Starfleet.
Vailani/Bergmen: Response
Gila’s tympani shuddered slightly. She couldn’t look backwards, so she couldn’t verify her suspicions, but she thought she heard heavy breathing somewhere behind her. Lieutenant Bergmen? Or Sil-net? It could just be the strain from having to crawl through this small space - far smaller than even the Jefferies Tubes on the Artemis - or maybe one of them had gotten hurt during the altercation with Vef-Lai’s men.
oO I really need my medkit Oo
Eventually, the procession ground to a halt as Legend turned the corner, their immediate escape visible to them in the form of a hatch at the end of this stretch of duct.
Silveira: ::Whispering a little louder and breathing heavily:: Be careful… Before moving… Forward…
Vailani/Bergmen: Response
O’Connor: Hang in there, we’ll be out soo-
The sound couldn’t be described. It sounded like metal being ripped apart at the seams, and she could feel the vibrations through every surface she was in contact with, it was as though the entire base was in its death throes. Gila cowered, laying flat inside the ventilation shaft as the primordial sound of the base being cowed by some sort of nightmare beast echoed around them.
Legend, meanwhile, sped up, trying to get to the hatch even just a fraction of a minute quicker, when he felt the hatch they were in start to twist and turn around him, like some sort of sadistic galactic force was braiding rope out of the thin crawlspace they were occupying. It was by the skin of his teeth that Legend managed to withdraw his feet before it got pinned in as one corner of the shaft was folded in on itself. One positive to this, of course, was the hatch ahead of them was popped off from the nails holding it in place being violently torn by the unnatural stretch and tear of the wall it was embedded in.
Gila was certain.
oO This is how we’re going to die. Oo
And then it stopped. The sound stopped, the vibrations. Everything was just quiet.
Sadar: A-Are we... A-Alive?
From ahead, Legend had crawled out of the vent and looked back towards them, his form partially distorted due to the unnatural shape the ventilation shaft had taken from being manipulated in such a way.
O’Connor: Everyone all right in there!?
Bergmen/Vailani/Silveira: Response
Sadar: We need to get out of here. There’s no guarantee that won’t happen again!
Bergmen/Vailani/Silveira: Response
TAG/TBC
MSNPC Legend O’Connor
Smuggler
&
LT Gila Sadar
Assistant Chief of Medical
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1