Sunburns & Hyperdrive Troubles

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Well, that was one optimistic thought.

Kaile had never personally been in a warzone. She spent most of her time being one of the first to be embedded, gather the information required, and then taken out of the picture before anything too dangerous occurred. She wasn't meant to be in the front lines; not how Kurt had been. He had seen plenty in that, and it still haunted him. The recounting of what had occurred to his squadron and what happened afterward, his guilt, how he seemed to still see the stain of blood of his hands, was still very real for him.

That he managed to tell her about it meant the 'verse to Kaile. While she would never push him, knowing how emotionally discrete he could be, it was nice to know that he was willing to share more, and more with her. They were family after all. Best friends. She realized this now, after everything and looking back why it stun so much to leave. Why it meant the 'Verse to have him back. It also put things into consideration with Asmus... and why she did the best thing at leaving him behind.

"Here we go." Kaile said, trying to push darker thoughts to the rear of her mind. Marty's slow, heavy steps took him left. Even with the reboot of the systems, this area seemed a bit dark. There was a flicker of lights here and there, and if they had any audio, they would have heard the hum of generators.

"I wish we had sound," she told Kurt. Not having any made her feel a bit uncomfortable, and honestly, seemed to heighten the creepiness factor. A row of blue lights came up ahead.

"What is that?" she frowned, getting a closer look. It was hard to see. As if there was some sort of haze. What that two didn't realize, is that it was due to the activation of several of the pods within level ten.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He frowned for a moment.

Was this what he was afraid of?

Marty took several steps forward, shambling, moving across the duracrete floor as though it barely managed to stand. The light became a bit brighter, the camera picking up more of it's sensitivity, and then suddenly things came into view. Dozens of cylinder shaped pods, each one glowing, each one with an odd silhouetted figure inside. "Kark."

It was all he could think to say.

Everything that he had been thinking about for the last thirty minutes or so, every thought that he had towards what might be on those levels, every idea that had crept into the forefront of his mind, i twas all put out in front of him. He couldn't quite see what was in the tubes, couldn't quite make out any labels, but the bare light that they had was just enough to tell Kurt everything that he needed to know, and what was that? Well, the answer was very simple.

"We're leaving." Kurt suddenly said as he stood up and walked towards the door, forgetting that the blast door to the hangar was sealed. "Come on, Kaile."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Wait what?" Kaile exclaimed, eyes wide and confused as she peered at Kurt. He had hair up so quickly that he scared her a bit. His body was thrumming with anxiety, muscles tensing. She barely saw the shift of shadows, but Kaile had never had experience with what Kurt had before. What he knew.

"I... The blast doors." She told him, gesturing to the hanger bay. "We still need to get it open." She told him. Along the feed, more shadows shifted.

"We still have to get them open."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"Well, good thing there's an armory down there." Kurt pointed down the hall.

There wasn't really much point in arguing right now, and Kurt was essentially just making things up on the fly. He didn't much care about anything else that would or could happen, at this point he was just ready to go. Laboratories, experiments, weird things in tubes, nope, he was out. He'd seen enough movies and experienced enough Sith antics to know that some things were just a bad idea, this? This sounded like one of the worst ideas he'd ever heard.

"There's explosives in there." He'd seen them. "Set some Baradium on those doors..."

Kurt began as he grabbed Kaile's hand and dragged her out the door. "...Boom, we get in The Messa, and we're out."

Simple.

Easy.

No one ended up dead because of some weird experiment.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

“Wait.. WHAT?” this time, Kaile shot up, bafflement spreading across her face at the pilot. “That’s a little bit extreme…. Not to mention we don’t know how well if any of those ordnance is even viable!”

Kaile was confused, and his growing escalation of things was starting to rub off and make her panic. Why was he so agitated? It didn’t make --

A sudden burst of bright ammo fire lights went streaking across the holographic screen. Kaile jerked back, giving a small cry of alarm as Marty’s feed filled with varying glimpes of bodies and dark shadows.

“What the…” Her stomach sank, her limbs felt white hot then cold, and the tiny hairs at the nape of her head rose.

“What was that?!” she seemed take a few steps back away from the feed, as if that would protect her.

“What is that?!”

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Almost instinctively Kurt drew his blaster pistol. There wasn't really any point to it of course, the culprits to what had just happened were three floors up and quite a bit away from where they were, but that didn't really matter all that much to him when he was already quite paranoid about the whole thing. A scowl pulled at his lips and all sense of humor disappeared entirely. He wasn't here to play games, and he certainly wasn't here to die, they had to leave now.

"That." Kurt Began. "Is the reason we're leaving."

One might have thought Kurt could use the force with how he had simply known what would happen.

That was ridiculous of course, Kurt could no more use the force then a rock could, but he had simply known that something stupid like this was going to happen, and he'd be blasted if he was just going to stand around and die. "We're getting some det-cord, and we're leaving."

Kurt was putting his foot down this time.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile's throat bobbed. She could only numbly nod her head. It took her a second before she reacted. Marty had to be left behind, but she could do something.

"I'm locking down the lift." desperate fingers shot forward, moving quickly as the Lorrdian attempted to go through the little bit of security systems she could to lock it down. At the very least, she should be able to prevent it from going up or down.

Which left the service elevator.

Okay.. okay!. "I... let me gather my things." She shut the remote data terminal shut. She couldn't look at it anymore. "Go... I'll make sure things stay clear up here."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He looked at her for a moment.

"Have you ever even seen a horror flick?" His voice was dead serious. "Split the group, we die."

The idea might have seemed silly, even downright stupid, but Kurt was deadly serious. His foot was jittering slightly, his free hand was fidgeting, his entire body was shaking sightly. It was very clear that Kurt was incredibly uncomfortable at the moment, not twitchy, not exactly scared either, but simply out of his skin. He did not want to be here, and it was clear that he would not be leaving without Kaile. His fingers tightened on the blaster he was holding his head peeking out of the room.

"Come on." Kurt urged her.

The armory was just down the hall, but he wasn't going to be chancing anything. They had no idea what was up there, no idea what was coming, and no idea if whatever it was knew it's way around this bunker. He frowned slightly, making a plan in his head to grab more than just detonation cord.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Wide brown eyes stared up at Kurt. Kaile was scared, anxious, and yes, the panic was evident. However, there was a steely look in those brown orbs that said she wasn't going anywhere just yet.

"Kurt, I need to make sure things are secured first. I can't just leave -- If i don't lock down the service elevator or make sure that things are covered, i don't know what -- "

Her attention drew as there was a loud hum. The sound of another lift. It was the service elevator. So much for that plan.

"Goe se!" she cursed, and shook her head. Trembling fingers began to pack things up. "Go.. GO!"

Her eyes shot up at him. "I'll be right behind you."

At least they still had the other dark troopers in the hanger...

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt didn't agree with that plan. The pilot quickly decided that instead of taking Kaile's advice, and indeed her commands, it was easier to simply disobey and do his own thing. Of course it might have been simpler to listen, might have been easier to simply go along and leave her behind, but he'd already done that once. It hadn't been on purpose, and in truth it had more been her running away at the time, but in his head there wasn't much of a distinction between the two.

Not right now anyway.

So he simply wandered over to her, still somewhat jittery, and scooped her up.

In one quick, almost instant motion, Kurt picked Kaile up and threw her over his shoulder. His hand then snatched the bag on the floor along with the datapad attached to the console. He took three steps before suddenly swinging around and in one quick, almost liquid motion, firing four shots into the console. There was a loud buzzing noise, sparks, then a sudden eruption of red lights. The whirring of the elevator stopped, replaced by loud klaxons going off. He frowned slightly, knowing that he had likely only stalled whatever was coming down that lift.

He then swung around and walked out the door, carrying Kaile and her bag down to the armory.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Oh my --GAH!"

Kaile gave a half screech, bouncing and holding for dear life to Kurt as he bounded down the corridor. Sparks flew as the service turbo lift stalled, and her world seemed to spin as the pilot rushed down towards the armory. There was no hesitation, he simply was trying to do what he had to. Her heart felt as if it was at her throat, blood pumping hot.

"Kurt!" she cried out, as the pilot plopped her down once they entered the armory. She felt out of breath, half stumbling as she managed to stay on her feet. Kurt was on a mission, moving from one side of the armory to the next looking for det cord. For a second, Kaile felt helpless. She could take care of herself. She could have helped in a way. But it wasn't the time to start going back and forth.

Frantic eyes turned to the right, and she thinned her lips, she might as well help out looking for the det cord. She wasn't sure if it would work, but Kurt was fixated on that. Come the nine hells or high water, they had to get out of the bunker -- fast.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

His boot met the end of one of the footlockers, the top of it popping off and the heavy metal lid crashing against the ground with a loud clatter. A satisfied look pulled on his face as he saw what was quickly revealed. Not detonation cord as he had been searching for, but instead something that would actually work out for the better.

"Shaped charged." They had trained with these in the military, or something similar.

Part of what Kurt had been taught had been boarding tactics in case of emergency. The idea had never really happened, and indeed had been a bit farfetched, but a few of the officers that trained him had always maintained that in case of emergency a squadron working together could use arms and a few shaped charges to take over an enemy command ship. Apparently the tactic had been used once or twice in the Clone Wars, and thus Kurt's unit had been trained in the tactic.

They had never used it, but it would help now.

From another one of the lockers he pulled a bag, quickly loading it with three of the charges as well as a handful of extra powerpacks. From one of the weapon racks he pulled an old Blaster Rifle, an ancient E-11 and one of the ones that he had earlier cleared and checked on.

He loaded the weapon, flipped it, then offered it to Kaile.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

There were were plenty of supplies here in the armory; the only thing is, whether or not any of it was viable. The det cord and barium blocks that is. Such things were volatile as it was. It made the Lorrdian uneasy and fretful. Rushed footsteps had the woman moving back and forth, scanning what else they would need. Honestly, all Kaile had was a bit of field experience when it came to exploring -- or surviving during that crash.

“I hope you know what you are doin’” her drawl came out thick due to her rattled nerves. She’ll need to get her Morp blaster from her back, just in case. That’s when she heard the kick of the footlocker, and she heard Kurt mention shaped charged.

Shaped what?

There was no need to worry about getting her blaster; not when the pilot shoved an E-11 into her hands. A rifle? Well, it was just a bigger version than a heavy blaster. She could do this. I have to.

“Kurt,” she began, realizing that he likely wouldn’t like the following suggestion. “I can reprogram the other dark troopers… Reckon I can have them give some sort of cover fire…”

And that would also extremely wear her out. But it was something.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"They're in the hangar." Kurt said simply, dismissing the idea since he knew it would very likely tax her beyond all belief.

"We can't get to them yet." By the time they did they would already be on The Messa. It was no use having Kaile nearly kill herself just to get an advantage that they didn't know would actually be useful or not. He shook his head slightly and then picked up another one of the rifles. He did the same routine as he had done with the first, testing the barrel, checking the internal components, dry firing it and then slapping in a power pack before letting the weapon charge up to ensure it worked. "Don't worry about it until we can."

His words were final and were met with the sound of the bag hitting his back.

The blasters would work, he was confident of that, the shaped charges? Most explosives had a shelf life, but that shelf life generally meant that the explosives didn't become inert, they just became...less stable. He had learned that well enough form experience, and it was why many 'expires' explosives still made it onto the black market.

They would just have to be careful. "Come on."

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Feth, this was it.

There was no room for thinking. No time left to. Kurt told her not to worry, but that was like asking her to not imagine a pink Gamorrean wearing a tutu.

“Okay.” she said, squaring her shoulders. “Okay.” Swallowing hard, she followed Kurt. They would have to move out of the armory, down the corridor and back into the control room. From there they had another corridor and the flight of stairs down to the hanger.

Or they can try jumping the first story drop from the control room down the line of maintenance lockers and avoid the lengthy route back.

Bringing her rifle to the ready, a grimy faced and sweaty Kaile covered Kurt from behind. So far, nothing. But she could hear them.

Footsteps.

Many of them.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Right now, Kurt didn't particularly care what was on the way. He'd never been a soldier, well, he'd never really thought of himself as one. In the Navy he'd been a pilot, he'd flown a fighter, even a bomber once, but he'd never done any combat on the ground. Oh sure he'd received the training, he'd spent time on the firing range and even exceeded expectations there, but he'd never participated in actual combat. There had been a few shoot outs here and there, on Tatooine, on Nar Shaddaa, some random backwater worlds, but never real war.

Never against anyone who knew what they were doing.

But that didn't matter now.

Now, in this moment, the only thing that mattered was that he and Kaile were trapped. They were pushed into a corner, and that was their predicament. The luck of it was this of course, when someone was backed into a corner, when an animal was cornered with no way out...

That was when it fought the hardest.

Kurt strode past Kaile, one hand gripping the handle of the E-11, the other clutching a silver orb that he had scooped from one of the footlockers. He wandered passed her, his thumb pressing against the small button on top of the thermal detonator. There was a beep, then a quick succession of small lights that ran up the spine of the orb. He shifted, the footsteps growing louder. His arm came up and the silver orb went flying in the opposite direction of the footsteps. There was a loud ping the orb bouncing off the wall and then towards the footstepts.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

This sooo was not like Belsavis.

That was the singular thought that raced through Kaile’s mind as she turned, sweeping the barrel of her blaster rifle for any movement. She had to remind herself to keep calm, to not panic. She also had to be careful with her foot, the toe still a bit tender from when she had accidentally stubbed it in the Messa yesterday afternoon.

Too bad they didn’t have slave drivers for an automatic start. Kurt didn’t like them for some reason. Likely due to the fact that they could slow down the speed significantly and were a power drain. Heck, they still had to fix the Hyperdrive and the generator. Everything was on secondary.

Biting her lower lip, they traveled up to the control room. Kaile kept her watch up on the entrance. She tried to not think about how this could very well mean she’ll have to kill someone.

She’s never killed anyone before.

But everything moved so fast. Kurt shot right in front of Kaile, tossing a thermal detonator down the hallway. Kaile’s eyes went wide as the ping, ping, ping, of the silver orb went shooting down the steps.

“Get down!” she told Kurt, drawing him back and down beside one of the control dataterminals.


BOOM!

The sound was nearly deafening, blasting through the tiny tunnel with a concussion wave as flames and shrapnel went flying. A thermal detonator only exploded a certain radius, but that didn’t mean that what was caught up in it wasn’t going to get blown to bits.

Or maybe it was.

The thud, thud, thud of debris littered the corridor. Kaile had barely managed to cover her hands with her ears, but she could smell it. Oh stars…

The scent of scorched flesh and blood.

There was no time to waste. Kurt didn’t let her. They had to leave, fast.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt was already out the door, two steps ahead of everything. He knew that now timing was everything, knew that they had to move fast. There was a part of him that was familiar with this, with the explosions, the heat, the feeling of adrenaline coursing through his veins. Flying had always been different. There was a part of you that was detached from everything when you flew. A pilot didn't see the face of the man he killed, a pilot didn't observe the life drain away from someone, all they saw was an explosion.

Here.

In this bunker.

He would see it all.

That didn't click with him however, none of that really reached him. In his mind there was only one goal, one thing that he could do, one thing that he had to accomplish. Get out.

He had to get himself and Kaile out of here. Kurt didn't care about the cost of it, he didn't care about what it would take, he barely cared if he got injured in the process. He raised his blaster and pulled the trigger, two shots flaring through the dust cloud that had filled the hall. They were followed by two more, then another two. He heard the thump of a body, the sound of clattering plasteel as an armored man fell to the floor. His advance didn't stop as he passed the stormtroopers, their helmets shaped with a long slit across the eyes instead of two eyes.

Kurt didn't recognize the difference, though the change was an obvious one.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kurt may have been able to disconnect herself.

Kaile… Kaile, not so much.

She had to dig deep. She had to go inside to that little place where her mind was blank and all she did was react. It took a deliberate thought to not breathe in through her nose and instead do so from her mouth.

Don’t talk. Don’t look. Don’t think.

Eyes were kept at chest level, whatever agonized groans or the splatter of bodies and armor were kept in the fuzzy edges of her vision. Adrenaline was pumping hot through her veins, and she kept close to Kurt. Her boots sank into sticky liquid - don’t think, don’t think.

A few more shadows came up ahead, and the burst of fire from Kurt’s blaster rifle silenced them. Thump, Thump.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Funny, it all seemed to move in slow motion yet was so fast. All a blur. Was this what Kurt felt when he was flying in the Republic? When he was in a firefight?

How could he work through it?

How did he still?

They darted swiftly down the corridor, and more figures blocked the stairwell to the hanger. Kurt sent down another volley, but it wasn’t before Kaile caught sight of two more.

She didn’t think. She couldn’t hesitate.
She pulled the trigger and shots were fired. The two bodies sank to the ground, silent there after.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

They turned into the stairwell with an almost artful grace, Kurt half pulling Kaile into the enclosure just as he turned and fired two blaster bolts into the control panel that sat on the inside of the wall. A heavy durasteel door fell shut and sealed in place with a loud hiss.

The Bunker of course had dozens of those doors, probably hundreds.

They were meant to segment each area so that it was easier to defend, though he suspected that they were also put in place in part to keep certain people from entering certain sections. They would help Kaile and him escape now, though he was afraid that they would be a hindrance later. He frowned slightly, shifting as he reloaded another powerpack into the E-11. His face was filled with dust and grime, his side ached slightly, a blaster bolt from one of the troopers having missed him.

"They must be clones." Kurt said quietly, taking a minute to catch his breath.

"They must have had them here for centuries." The pilot said as he pushed from the wall. "Waiting to be used for one invasion or another."