The Intrepid: Episode 1 (Pilot) The Walls Have Eyes!
- Thread starter Silverthunder
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Silverthunder
Dr. Inkwell
The fog was finally beginning to clear up, likely due to Dorian and Rikiti's efforts.
"Bioseeds..." Startail lamented, "they're like a kind of... primordial ooze, they're used a lot in terraforming. Compressed genetic material, slightly modified for rapid growth. We use them to reset the biospheres after long term research... some of the scientists use them for private research too..."
Upon closer view and sniff of the containers, Heep might notice something that the untrained eye might overlook. An engineer like him could see the containers hadn't been ripped open haphazardly, but instead, deliberately disassembled at certain points. Bolts, screws, and panels were removed almost perfectly, adding to the disarray across the floor of the large container and making the mess look worse than it really was.
Heep caught a whiff of it again... that earthy smell, but with an added sort of, milky twist to it. It was quite distinct, traveling away from the container and towards the wall. There were a series of access panels where it ended... all closed up, like nothing had ever happened.
"Good idea," the officer commented, placing his fishy webbed hand on Heep, "I'll log your two's location here in the bay, so when they do a sensor sweep they know who all's in here. Wait over by the entrance for now, but stay put, I need to log some of the nearby compartments. If something happens though, raise an emergency with your EVA, alright you two?"
"You- you can't be-" the bull paused, pulling back incredulously, then glanced back across the bay as the fog began to lift due to a few adjustments from Rikiti and a spare hand from Dorien.
The sergeant was gone, and of course the drone with him, presumably without ever having notified his two security escorts... he didn't even stick around to investigate further.
The bull knelt down and spoke in a low tone. "If... that's true... how do you know we can trust the third one? The other one showed up around the same time as the sergeant, maybe a little after? They're apparently in charge... I don't know for sure though... I haven't had an update to the security roster yet."
The bull exhaled loudly through his nostrils as he looked around the bay cautiously, as if expecting some kind of betrayal right then and there, just as the announcement began to blare.
"Damn... look, I have to log you two and check the rooms nearby with my partner for any crewmembers... can you wait by the entrance until I get back? We'll talk about this when we get back, alright?" he said as he got up to leave, barely waiting for a response due to the apparent emergency. "Give us an emergency call if you see those drones again."
Silverthunder
Dr. Inkwell
@Marius Merganser @Mambi
It was difficult to maneuver in the tight spaces of the ship's innards- but Trixie managed to wrestle her arm and weapon free enough to strike a few of the bots. As one cowered and let her go, another bot in the countless flood of them reached up to grab her and continue dragging them!
However, the moment she struck one pulling Marius along, it was like hitting a switch! Suddenly, the bots released both Marius and Trixie! The simply let go, the ones behind crawling over and around them, passing by like they were no longer there.
Mambi, however, was not so lucky. Instead, they seemed to gather around him even more like a horde of ants taking away a giant sugar cube... speeding off into the dark and leaving Marius and Trixie alone in almost complete blackness on the pipes and tubes with barely enough room to crouch, let alone stand upright.
Silverthunder
Dr. Inkwell
People and crew were picking themselves up, hurrying to the nearest compartment as the alarm for lockdown blared and other security officers rushed to log the crew and check the scene of Universe' incident.
"Sir, are you alright!?" one of them asked, an avian with a medic bag rushed over to Universe, along with a few other security officers. "I don't know if you've heard yet sir, but there's been an attack on the prison! Three prisoners have escaped, and two officers were abducted by a drone swarm! You're needed there right away!"
They didn't seem to have any idea that his escort had been kidnapped as well.
Firuthi Dragovic
World Serpent, overly defensive
"Affirmative."
There was so much more Dorian wanted to discuss with the bull, especially with the sergeant not doing further investigation - yet another breach of protocol in Dorian's eyes - but security had a priority job so the questions would have to wait. It was time to regroup as instructed.
"Come on Rikiti, let's go. We're supposed to wait by the entrance... and I want to know what got Heep riled up..."
He'd go when Rikiti was ready. Separating was a very bad idea in a situation like this.
Universe
Most powerful dragon human hybrid in the universe
“I’m fine annoyed but fine take me to the brig NOW!”
Marius Merganser
The Duke of Birds
Stunned by the bots' release, Marius took a second to collect himself. He couldn't really see @TrixieFox too well, or anything else for that matter, in the darkness.
"Hey, thanks for the assist. I owe you one, but I'm going after @Mambi. You're welcome to join, but I understand if you want to get out of here."
With that, Marius started feeling the floor in the dark and started to crawl in the direction he thought the cat had been carried away.
Mambi
Fun loving kitty cat
<the cat keeps his eyes closed the whole time, his heart pounding in terror as he starts to recover from the shock of the attack. He remembers the swarm approaching, a feral instinct emerging as he greyed out and started slashing randomly, then a blur of horrifically slashed spiderbot parts from his claws, then nothing but screaming as he was overwhelmed. After that...darkness and whimpering, until now.>
<fighting his terror, he slowly opens his eyes and assesses his situation. He sees his shaking limbs enveloped by interlinked coordinated spiderbots as he is dragged away from the rapidly retreating Marius and Trixie. He tries to scream but is too panicked to even squeak out a raspy whimper, as the spiderbots ignore him completely and continue treating him like the dead weight he was.>
<he tries to focus past his adrelenine and concentrate...he's not dead. They could kill him but they didn't. So they don't want him dead. This is good, he can work with that. Despite their terrifying design, these spiders, they are merely machines and they are not trying to kill him. His fear started to fade just a little as he repeats that to himself over and over while they pull him around a darkened corner. Knowing he's too panicked to even try and navigate and knowing fighting the bots is futile, he tries to relax and focus on not resisting for now, plotting his time and trying to focus on anything at all aside from these bots and the bumps, as they take him to his unknown fate>
The_Happiest_Husky
Add me Sugar Cookie#0398
"Alright."
Heep waits for the officer to walk off. After he's gone, Heep outstretches his hand, and the breeze from before returns for a moment. Again, a few balls of fuzzy light pop into existence, the same as those pushing back the fog around Dorian. They do the same, too, thinning the fog somewhat in the immediate area.
Heep turns to Startail.
"The bioseeds may be alright, just stolen."
He gestures towards a nearby access panel.
"Whatever stole them, took them that way."
Silverthunder
Dr. Inkwell
Rikiti nodded and finished his work, closing the panel back up and heading off for the entrance with Dorien. At that point, the fog had gone completely, spurred along by a few glowing orbs coming from Heep's direction. Dorien could spot Heep and Startail across the bay, standing in front of a ransacked shipping container. The other guard had hurried past them to meet up with the bull, the two rushing out to carry out their duties...
"You not be so suspicious," Rikiti commented to Dorien, his big ears likely having caught everything he had said to the bull. "Seekers smart! They do everything for reason, even if they be secret and not so nice about it... masters always know what's best. People from consortium care about clan more than anything!"
Startail stared at the ground as the fog diminished, and the atmosphere returned to normal. He waited until the officer linked up with his partner up by the door, glancing over to them. Heep could spot Dorien and Rikiti meeting up at the front as well staring over at them.
"Then I'm getting them back..." the horse gulped quietly, but with determination, balling his hands into a fist. "They tasked me with keeping accountability of everything in this hold! I'm not letting them down!"
He hurried over to the panel Heep had gestured to and began pulling on the edges! That's when he faced his first hurdle- he didn't exactly have the tools to open it...
The_Happiest_Husky
Add me Sugar Cookie#0398
Heep followed, and placed a hand on Startail's shoulder.
"We'll get you tools, and come back later. We're in lockdown right now. If you go wandering off, you're going to end up getting shot by security."
Well, not sure if that would actually happen here. It would aboard a Confederacy ship, at least
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Silverthunder
Dr. Inkwell
@TrixieFox
It was dark and cold and likely full of terrors, but that didn't deter Marius, and likely not Trixie either...
Fortunately, for someone so experienced on board larger vessels, the lack of lighting and the tight spaces may not have troubled the avian too much. It helped that the spider bots had left a warn path of scratches and marks, guiding the way like signs through the maze like interior.
"H- help! Is anyone there!" the warden from before shouted in terror!
A few meters up ahead, the squirrel had been dumped by the spiders into a shaft crisscrossed with thick cables and wires. He was tangled in the mess, holding on for dear life!
Silverthunder
Dr. Inkwell
They carried him along... gingerly, in fact. Not pulling or tearing with their jaws as they quite clearly could, until finally, they spilled out into a large cavernous interior were even more of the bots were clinging to the walls, simply... watching...
Mambi was deposited onto the floor as the bots moved all around him and into the various nooks and crannies.
Some of the ship's electronic innards were spilled out onto the floor, just under a makeshift computer display wedged between some pipes. The blue screen lit the small room. Three of the drones had their panels open, with cables connecting them to the display with the innards.
Somehow in the chaos, Mambi's cuffs had been removed, and while the spider bots seemed to all stare at him with their large red eyes, ready to lunge, bite and attack, they appeared to be waiting for him to make the first move, as images and numbers flashed on the screen across the way.
Silverthunder
Dr. Inkwell
"This way sir!" The avian hurried along with Universe to the command center, where it was buzzing with activity, and then, through there to the corridors connecting the brigg.
It looked like a small warzone, were dozens of officers were lying against the walls with scratches and injuries from the likes of animals, being treated by triage medical personnel.
Firuthi Dragovic
World Serpent, overly defensive
"It's.... it's a matter of that reason likely running counter to ship operations."
Dorian sighed.
"Actually, the sergeant isn't nearly as hostile as some of the Rukbatian engineers I've seen. There was a big fuss made before I got into engineering to do something about the reports of senior engineers throwing subordinates who popped off at the beak less than I did to the slug rabbit. That said... there's too much wrong here, Rikiti. Legitimate security can deny repairs but they don't simply blow off safety problems, for one..."
Dorian hesitated as he finally started paying attention to the orbs.
"....I don't think these strange orbs are part of the problem, though. They don't strike me as the slug-rabbit's doing."
Universe
Most powerful dragon human hybrid in the universe
*I noticed the big hole in the floor* “Hmmmmmm where does this pipe go?”
TrixieFox
Blood Rose Faction Leader
*Trix rushed over and began trying to untangle him*
Silverthunder
Dr. Inkwell
"Look, you just don't get it..." he sighed, looking away embarrassed, "they put me in charge of this! I mean, how many successful people do you know, that lost the most important things they were put in charge of!? Everyone just looks at you and knows it's your fault! You hear plenty of stories of Lords and Kings getting back what was taken from them, but never of the ones that had someone else find it for them..."
He shrugged off Heep's hand and stared at the panel in consternation, before stepping forward again and tugging at the edges to try and pull it off that way, possibly snapping screws or latches if he managed to succeed.
"I don't care if the guards shoot at me, I'm not leaving until I get those samples back," he asserted.
Rikiti gasped at something Dorien said.
"So- you think, he not loyal to ship! But ship is clan!" Rikiti countered sharply, either to say that to himself, or in anger that the sergeant would betray the ship. "Hmph!"
The two of them could see Heep and Startail clear across the bay through the shipping containers and stacked barrels and crates. The equine seemed to be causing the engineer some trouble, trying to break open an access panel.
Manwhile, Rikiti, still frustrated at the possibility someone might betray the ship, angrily swiped at the orbs like a cat trying to get a moth.
"He just- he just got here yes!? Maybe he not settle in yet!" he huffed in between jumps, attacking the ethereal orbs. "Maybe we go find him and- and tie up and smack until he know his clan better!"
Silverthunder
Dr. Inkwell
@Marius Merganser
"Thanks!" the squirrel huffed, managing to get a little free from the tangle of rubber tubes, hoses, and wires- before lurching suddenly with the lack of support!
The warden gave off a terrified yelp, reaching out for anything to grab, snatching Trixie's hand in one, and the side of the shaft with his other.
"Aaaah! I'm a terrible climber!" the squirrel squeaked in terror.
TrixieFox
Blood Rose Faction Leader
Trix: THATS IRONIC...*pulling the warden out*
Silverthunder
Dr. Inkwell
The other officers had surrounded the hole with Universe. It was far too big for him to climb into.
Two other security officers rushed in, in full tactical gear. Each had an automatic rifle from the armory, and wore armored pads. One a large beefy rat, and the other some kind of saurid like android with a F.E.A.R. insignia on his shoulder.
"Commander, give the word and we'll proceed," the synth droid said calmly in his mechanical voice.
"Wait!" Another officer in the command center tried to stop them. "It's too dangerous, let us do our sensor sweep first and find you a safer entry point!"
"That take too long!" the rat commented quickly, eager to climb into the hole.
The_Happiest_Husky
Add me Sugar Cookie#0398
Heep nods. An honourable motivation.
"Good luck, then. I'll leave a few wisps with you to keep the fog away."
He turns and heads back across the bay to regroup with Dorian. Two of the balls of light stay behind, while the other three follow Heep.