Sunburns & Hyperdrive Troubles

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile wasn't the only one who caught the sound of incoming footsteps. The first thing that Kurt would see would be the looming figure that was Marty; the Dark Trooper had taken Kaile's command to heart. He stood by the doorway, the large firearm within his hands at the ready.

There was the whir of hydraulics, and the firearm drew up. Those bright red eyes would stare down the corridor and the stairwell. Only after he managed to get a visual did he set the tip of his weapon down.

The Lorrdian had plucked herself from her perch. Her lithe figure would appear from behind the great hulk of the Dark Trooper. There was a notable amount of relief at seeing the pilot.

"Kurt!" she cried out. Needless to say, he would know what would be coming. The embrace of relief.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt held Kaile for only a moment, mostly due to his own paranoia.

He felt oppressed suddenly, confined, as if there was something watching them. The idea was of course utterly ludicrous, they were in the very center of the bunkers security, but he felt ill at ease, and he took half a step out the door with his blaster still at the ready. His heart was beating at an irregular pace, his eyes darted up and down the halls. It was clear that The Pilot had entered an altered mood, as though something had set him off. He frowned slightly, one hand still half hanging on to Kaile.

"Have you figured out what happened?" He asked quickly. "With the security?"

His jaw set slightly after he spoke, his eyes darting back out to the hall.

Kurt felt as though there was something out there, watching, hunting. He didn't know why, but his instincts were screaming.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"I'm narrowing that down." Kaile would tell Kurt, drawing away as she gave a brief exhale. A rock of her feet and then a beckon with the crook of her finger, the Lorrdian would led the pilot into the control room. There, her make -shift arena was on display. Six different data screens, not including the holographic array of the bunker's map.

"I found a rather interesting data spike." she informed Kurt, giving a small gestures towards it's placement along her mobile data terminal. "It has helped in getting through some of the pyrowalls. Certainly mapped out more than I'd originally thought I could." A finger would move to point out levels ten through fifteen.

"There is some sort of electric activity here." she told him, still a bit confused. "It has to be some sort of a secondary generator. I'm still running diagnostics to find out exactly what set it off... but.." a nibble of her lip at her pause.

"I don't feel too good about it." she told him honestly, turning those chocolate brown eyes up at the pilot.

"The only thing that comes to mind is to investigate further.."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He frowned. The idea of going anywhere in this bunker, even with the two of them didn't really settle on Kurt's nerves. Oh they could do it, the two of them worked perfectly fine together, but they had no idea what they would be walking in to, no idea what they would find or who they would find for that matter. He frowned for a moment, shifting slightly and taking half a step to the side so that he was more inside of the room. He doubted that anything could sneak up on them, at least for now.

"What about him." Kurt said as he pointed to the droid.

If they could send one of the Darktroopers, well, the only darktrooper they had access to now then he would feel a lot safer. He was more than willing to bet that the thing had a camera in it's head somewhere, and if they could use it as a probe...well he'd prefer that over going himself. "Why don't we figure out a way to send him in first?"

"That way we can avoid any danger." It was as simple as that. "I'd rather not walk into a fire."

Of course there wasn't likely to be an actual fire, but it was something that Kurt was still weary of.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Marty?" Kaile would start with mild confusion, panning her attention over to the towering hulk of a Dark Trooper. At first, that didn't seem like a good idea. What Kaile did to reprogram the Dark Trooper was still relatively new for the Lorrdian. However, the more she thought on it..

A few steps forward, and the young brunette would amble over to Marty. "I could slice into his ocular sensors." she said, walking a half circle to inspect the Dark Trooper. "Maybe use it as some sort of holocamera... or add another one that would help keep a visual." That shouldn't be hard right? With all the extra gear she had in her bag that she collected. It wouldn't be hard at all.

"I can rewire him to transmit to my mobile dataterminal." a hand would gesture over to the small portable gadget by the holographic map. "Then we can watch up here as we send him to investigate. " a pause, then the ponytail would swish as Kaile returned her attention to Kurt.

"I don't know how far the sensor would transmit, but I can do my best."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Lets do that." Kurt said simply.

He didn't quite understand any of the technical aspects of the plan, but that wasn't really up to him anyway. Kurt had never really been one to understand slicing or anything like that. He was a good enough mechanic to work on The Messa and get all the electrical systems going, but anything beyond that and he was right out of his element. He'd never minded admitting that, mostly because everyone had to know what their shortcomings were or else nothing would ever get done.

Kurt looked at Kaile, expecting her to spring into action.

He waited.

Waited.

"Sooo..." Kurt said quietly. "You gonna do it?"

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Her mind was elsewhere. For Kurt, it may seem to be because of everything that was going on. Who would blame Kaile? It was a lot to process for sure. The time away from Kurt. Asmus. This vacation and then the bunker. Now for whatever may very well be in the same building.

"Huh?" Her ponytail swung as Kaile turned to Kurt. A second later and she gave a start. "Oh, yes!" both hands came up, her eyes wide and she nodded profusely.

"Yeah. I'll get started on it now." she told him, already walking backwards towards her satchel by the holoarray. A gesture would have the woman point the pilot towards the map and the ever continuing decryption of the area's security. The boot up was almost completely done.

"Just will take me a few minutes." her muffled voice would relay, digging through her satchel for her tools. No time to think about things, had to focus on the now.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt wandered over towards the small console that contained the map. He wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, even really what he was looking at, but he figured that he could at least take a look at everything and try to memorize as much as he possibly could. If they needed to wander around the bunker he'd at least have a base knowledge of where everything was, not that he'd ever been much for studying. A yawn passed his lips as he sat himself down in the dusty chair.

He began to slowly sift through the data, searching the different layouts and areas of the bunker.

It was still a wonder to him, just how huge this place actually was. For a brief moment he thought about if anyone had actually lived here, whether it had been populated or not. He doubted that for some reason, mostly because the computers, the speeders, everything appeared as though it had been meticulously placed in preparation, not used. He frowned for a moment, stopping on a small chart for a level that seemed tiny in comparison to every other floor.

"Think I found the commanders room." Kurt said to Kaile.

It was a few levels above where they were now, right in the middle of the bunker and difficult to get to, if not impossible.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Oh?" Kaile shot him a spare glance. "Check to see if anything stick outs in regards to security then. Those would usually have some form of increased protocols just to enter it. " it was funny to consider that Kaile was the spy and Kurt the pilot. It must still be a bit crazy to believe that the former Yum Bunny waitress conducted espion work.

Taking her gear in hand, the Lorrdian ambled over to Marty. "Hey big guy." she told him. He was still quite a ferocious looking thing, and it was only the knowledge that Kaile managed to reprogram him that made things a little bit easier on the mind. One had to remember that droids were simply acting on set commands inputted into their systems. As long as she made sure that Marty knew that Kurt and she were the goods guys and to please not shoot at them, all was well.

"What level?" she tossed him the question, getting to work with popping off a small panel from Marty's armor for access. "Is it far?"

The rewiring wouldn't take long. Even without a holocamera, she could use the Dark Troopers ocular sensors as her input, then have it transmit the feed into her mobile data terminal.

Kaile just had to make sure that they had the distance covered to successfully stream holocoverage.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Not really." Kurt said as he looked more closely at the specifications and layout. "There's only one elevator that goes to it."

That made sense really, it was probably a secure area for the commander of the bunker. "We'd have to go up three levels and then find the passage that leads to that elevator."

The Pilot frowned slightly, following the odd path in the blue prints all the way back to where he and Kaile were. If one were to look at the blueprints from the outside, with a topography map overlayed on the bunker itself they would be able to see that the secure room was located directly in the center of a mass of bedrock. That meant that the room was safe from everything up to and including most bunker buster weapons and orbital bombardement. Kurt couldn't see that of course, but he'd flown enough bombing missions that he could guess that's what was at play here.

"Bet you it has the most comfortable bed." Kurt joked, though part of him was actually intensely curious about that.

Officers always got the best stuff.

Always.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Is that where you want to check out first with Marty?" Kaile question him, darting over the Dark Troopers massive arm over to the scruffy faced pilot. His hair was standing on end here and there in short tuffs, Kailr could only imagine how she looked like herself. Shaking her head, she returned to adjusting the wiring.

"I can work with three floors," she told him, "s'long as nothin ends up blocking the signal." One elevator. Meant the regular one, not the service. That uneasy feeling twisted her stomach again, recalling how the other elevator had suddenly dropped. Trying to keep her mind busy, Kaile plugged in the connection she had in her hand and then began to focus. Reprogramming with the Force was was a bit more tricky, but would be faster.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He thought for a moment.

The Officers quarters were likely to be plush and nice, but he doubted there was really anything of value there. Maybe they would have to visit when they were done with everything else here, but for now it was best to explore the more dangerous section of the Bunker first, like the laboratories. He was entirely sure that if there was anything sinister in this place, well, more sinister, then that was where they would find it. He'd really only ever known one place that had a good laboratory, and they had crafted several life saving drugs.

Everything else? Awful.

Even the Republic.

"Nah." Kurt finally said as he turned to Kaile. "Better explore the labs first, officers quarters can come later."

He'd rather not end up dead just because they'd neglected to look over some things, especially because...well, it wasn't like their luck was the greatest thing in the galaxy either. They weren't about to fall off a cliff, but they'd already stumbled upon this Bunker, free parts, one another...they were bound to run into something bad eventually.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

A small beep and a slightly weary Kaile drew back from Marty. The amount of concentration required for her to do what she did with the Force was a bit draining. She wasn't used to using it so much so quickly. With Bobo around, that meant that she had to use her own skills gathered by her own merit. Not that she believed using the Force was a crutch, just that she was happy sacrificing the extra tool to have Bobo around.

She'd been working on going back and forth between Bobo's bubble and out of it to slowly allow her body to adjust to the shift, but even then, using the Force repeatedly after so long in a short amount of time tired her.

"Okay." a lick of her lips. Her mind a bit absent. Thinking. Pondering. Mulling. About the bunker. About Kurt. About how they were going to ensure their skins remained without any extra holes and more often than not, about green eyes.

"That should do it." she told him a few minutes later. Dragging her mobile data terminal, she brought up the program to wirelessly connect with Marty. A test run of diagnostics and after a few seconds, it connected.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Fantastic." Kurt said as he leaned back in the chair, adjusting himself slightly so that he was comfortable.

They wouldn't be leaving this area of the Bunker for the next hour or so, getting comfortable was paramount to survival. He shifted slightly, moving so that he could see the map in front of him but also the exit to the security room.

There was still paranoia hanging over him.

"Let's get going then." The pilot urged Kaile. "Or rather, get him going."

He motioned to the darktrooper. The thing wasn't a simple warbot, it was a killing machine designed to mimic humans and terrify them. He hoped that if they did stumble upon something that the droid's own protocols would kick in and whatever it encountered would be smashed into a pulp. Of course that dream was just a bit of...well flight of fancy, but one could dream.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

“Reckon we can have him start in the blackout area.” Well, formally black out area. More and more of the map was coming online. Kaile might be able to send a computer spike and try to get into the holocamera network; but if it was a closed system that might take a bit longer.

Marty will have to do.

“The service elevator is closer,” she’d add, but it was also slower. “Maybe we can have him go to the regular one.” a few tap of the keys and the Dark Trooper straightened in a whiz and hum of gears and hydraulics.

“Hey Marty,” Kaile spoke to the massive droid, giving a wave of her fingers. The Dark Trooper’s ocular sensors captured her movement, transferring the same image back to the slicer’s mobile data terminal.

“Let’s take you exploring a bit, okay.” she was nervous. It was easy to tell by the slight catch in her voice. More things now a days made her nervous. A pan over to the elevator brought up level ten.

“Okay, we’ll sweep level ten first.” with that, Kaile entered the instructions for Marty to head off in that direction. Each footstep was so loud to the Lorrdian, maybe even gave a bit of a dark foreshadowing. With an expression of, here we go , they watched the feedback from the Dark Trooper as he ambled down the corridor to the main elevator.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt wasn't too concerned with what they would find, in truth he was more concerned with what they wouldn't find. He'd never been a paranoid man, but the idea of a laboratory being here in the Bunker didn't sit all that well with him. His greatest fear was that Marty would walk into the place and find a large empty tube that was labeled as 'Danger; Deadly Murder Machine'.

The fear wasn't exactly realistic, but it was one that he firmly held.

Kurt could deal with soldiers. He could fight stormtroopers, beat up scouts, hell he could even handle a Sith or Two, what he couldn't deal with were giant monsters that wanted to maim and kill him for no other reason then the fact that he existed. Something like that scared him, and in a place like this where the power was out and the architecture wasn't exactly on their side...well he ahd seen enough horror holo-flicks to know that he wouldn't make it out alive.

Kaile probably would.

The pretty girls always made it to the end.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Honestly, it was the hype up and her own internal concerns that seemed to amp up the anticipation and trepidation. Kaile found herself worrying the fullness of her lower lip, nibbling and biting it as her gaze remained fixated upon the tiny holographic screen of what Marty was relaying back. Her features were washed with ambient blue light, and just a bit of dark under her eyes and a notable strain in the clench of her jaw.

As exciting as this was, it still was vividly clear that things could go easily over their head. So very, very easily.

"Okay, we are at the turbolift," Kaile told Kurt, barely glancing over to the pilot beside her. "Reckon we'll see how this goes." a few taps of the keys, and she directed Marty to select the tenth floor.

"I really don't like that lift," she would confess quietly, remember how it suddenly shot down with no warning. Freefall hovercoasters were okay, randomly dropping turbolifts were not. The doors slid shut in front of Marty, and within seconds, the small dings and the flash of floor lights would descend towards the tenth level.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Well, we don't have to use it anymore." He motioned towards the map. "There's stairs."

Kurt said it half in jest, but there was also a truth to it.

The Lift had been rather terrifying, not really an experience that he cared to repeat. This Bunker was centuries old, meaning that none of its systems had been maintained in at least half that time. He was surprised that half the shit here even worked, more so that it worked properly. There was something to be said in regards to Imperial construction due to that, though Kurt had no doubt in his mind that it helped that the place had quite literally been completely sealed for nearly all of its existence.

"Plus we have the hangar now." No need to get to the original entrance anyway.

Kurt of course wanted Kaile to be comfortable, and unlike his own fears, hers were far more rational.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile gave a grateful smile at the pilot. The relief there was vivid in her brown eyes. "Mighty grateful." she began, returning her attention to the screen. "I swear I just about lost two years of my life." as an added laugh, perhaps to lighten the mood, she added, "You'll have to tell me if you see any grey hairs on my head."

The crooked half grin was a shadow of a happier Kaile, two fingers reaching up to tuck the wayward strands of brown hair behind her ear. With the dye washing off, her typical strawberry blonde glinted against the pale cerulean light. In closer inspection, one could see the bits of scratches here and there over a cheek and her brow. Neither of them had managed to remain unscathed. This little vacation had certainly progressed into a full on adventure, complete with action and looming danger from any direction.

A half laugh burst out of Kaile, thinking back on everything up until now.

"Can you believe this?" a slight gesture would motion to the bunker, but it incorporated everything. "Our week vacation turned into an expedition... " brown eyes locked upon the holoarray, Marty was at the eight level. Ninth.

Tenth.

The lift slowed to a halt. Kaile gave a nod towards the feed.

"... here we go..."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt was no stranger to the irony that was happening. Their week long bout of relaxation had turned into a stressful half nightmare that could easily end up with both of them dead. He wondered if it would have been easier to simply go to Spira or some other more designed vacation world, maybe Zeltros. Things would have certainly been more planned out, and they wouldn't have stumbled upon any massive secret bunkers on the surface of Zeltros.

That was for sure.

Eventually however he simply shrugged. "Better then being in a warzone."

It was important to look on the bright side of things, and thankfully they hadn't ventured into some territory controlled, or worse, being invaded by the Sith. It was a small thing, but at the very least it was something that they could be appreciative of, after all things could be worse.

Kurt turned his attention to the monitor, watching as Marty slowly moved out of the elevator and into the halls. The space that he stepped into was more narrow then the halls they had so far experienced, slightly smaller and less tall, as if they were meant to be more of a labyrinth. The Pilot frowned slightly, leaning forward and shifting his focus on the tunnels that laid out ahead of him. The Darktrooper moved forward, as he had been directed taking the first left in the hall.