Sunburns & Hyperdrive Troubles

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile's brow would furrow as more data streams would flood her mobile holo-terminal. Things were starting to get a little bit.. weird. It was an entirely crazy new code. Some super heavy encryption of the like she had never seen.

"Huh..."

Marty stood to the side, ever watchful. Chocolate brown eyes drew up, the cerulean glow of her holo terminal washing over her face.

"Hey Marty," the whir of his chassis and hydraulic systems hummed as the Dark Trooper perked his head. "You wouldn't happen to know what is in levels ten through fifteen would you?" the corner of her mouth would perk.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt had never really thought of himself as a military strategist, in fact he'd never really paid attention during the military history lessons at the academy, but even he knew that it was bad business to leave this much equipment laying around. There was really only one thing for it, and that was the fact that whoever had left all this here had very likely intended on coming back for it. Of course, it had all been left untouched for nearly a thousand years now, but to Kurt that just said that something stopped them before they could make it back.

Or did it?

He frowned for a moment. [Kaile.]

Kurt called up his companion on the comm again.

[Kaile do you have anything on those other levels?] An idea swam in his head, not a pleasant one either. [Those labs.]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

[ Huh? Oh! ] Kaile began, a bit startled. She had become engrossed in going through this encryption package. Little did she know that it had to do with an old Black Cipher coding. Well, not old, as much as it had been notably enhanced by the Empire of the Hand to a far more powerful encryption. Advanced and certainly unlike the sort she’d ever seen.

It was only because she had the prototype with her that she was able to work through the ciphering, along with her own slicing knowledge. If she didn’t have it, she’d likely have taken a good couple of days or even a week to get through a portion of it.

[ Umm… yeah. ] her voice would hum through the comm of Kurt’s sunglasses.

[ They apparently span from level ten to fifteen. ] she told him, bringing the holographic map up and zooming in.

[ Lots of security. I’m still going through it but… definately scientific. ] she swiped and turned the holographic map. Something caught her eyes then. Her eyes narrowed.

[ That’s odd. ] she began. A bit of further investigation confirmed it.

[ Power is on. ] Kaile told the pilot. [ This entire section is powered by a stand alone generator. Low, but it is there. ]

How long has that been there?

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Suspicion carried through him, his mind running away with half a dozen theories. Stasis? That seemed the most likely, and a scary thought at that. He barely recalled the mention of a tactic that had once been thought of by some Sith of the ancient Empire, not really something that most would think of, but a devious enough thought.

The idea was to leave behind an army, an entire army.

Equipment, ships, tanks, the soldiers themselves, everything that someone might need to conquer and entire planet. The army would be left behind and placed somewhere upon a planet, hidden and tucked away for weeks and months, probably years, until it was time to strike. When the army popped up it would be a complete and sudden sneak attack, there would be no warning, no alert, nothing, an army would simply appear behind all of the planets defensive and completely overwhelm the populace in an instance.

Of course, this idea required coordination and forward thinking, not something the Sith were known for.

Kurt suspected that was why it had been implemented, but this...this reminded him of that.

[Kaile.] The Pilot began as he turned around and headed out of the closet, his hand checking to see if the blaster was still latched to his thigh. [Don't touch anything, I'm on my wa-]

There was an odd scramble, and the comm-cut out.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

[ What? Why? ]

It was then that the feed to the comm cut out. The Lorrdian gave a small start. Normally, she wouldn’t worry much. Kurt wasn’t too far from her, just downstairs. There were also a good half a dozen Dark Troopers still cleaning the Hanger Bay.

None the less, her face went scrunching up in growing confusion. With her earlier unsteady nerves, it also fanned a bit of her uneasiness. Beside her, Marty the Dark Trooper, would stare quietly.

“What was that all about?” She said aloud, her query barely a whisper. A press of her finger would attempt to connect to the pilot again.

[ Kurt? You there? ] it wasn’t as if she couldn’t avoid touching things. She was already running a program to map everything; and doing pretty well at it. She already had the bulk of the Black Cipher encryption decrypted - that was something she’ll study more later, and the rest of the floors were being scanned.

Uncurling from her position, she came to her feet.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

[Kaile?] Kurt said quietly as he walked into the center of the hangar.

[Kaile?] The pilot repeated. [Can you hear me?]

Static was the only answer that the young man received, a shrivel noise that seemed to warble and fold in upon itself. He frowned for a moment, taking off his glasses from his shirt and slowly inspecting them to make sure that they were functioning correctly. When he had established that he shook his head and moved towards the Hangar's exit, the blast doors looming there. Unbeknownst to him, a camera had begun to follow his path across the hangar, slowly panning along with him as he walked closer to the Hangars doors.

[[Warning!]]

Kurt whipped his head around. "What the Kar-"

[[Warning!! Unauthorized Hangar Acess detected!]]

"Oh shit." The pilot groaned as the massive blast doors suddenly began to fold closed.

There wasn't much time to think, much time to do anything at all, but Kurt knew things were about to go south. He pulled the blaster Pistol from its place on his thigh, his fingers grasping the weapon as he broke into a full on sprint. He rushed across the entire hangar, breaking several land speed for bipedal sentients as he threw himself through the small gap within the doors.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

[[Warning!]]

"Oh feth!" her curse fell from from Kaile's lips with a start. She gave a jerk back, the room suddenly flooded in red lights. The wail of klaxons was not far behind.

[[Warning!! Unauthorized Hangar Acess detected!]]

"This ain't good." she swore, the entire holoscreen scrambling with the blinking 'Unauthorized Hanger Access detected'. Immediately, the Lorrdian slicer brought her hands upon the keys of her mobile dataterminal.

Due to Kaile's intervention and the reprogramming of the Dark Troopers, Marty did not immediately turn to shoot a few new holes into Kaile's skin. However, the Dark Troopers were activated into a higher state of alert. All of them suddenly drew up, the brooms clattering upon the floor as their grip loosened. Here came the big guns.

"What is going on?!" Kaile felt her heart kick start into over drive. [ Kurt?!! Kurt?!!] she tried to transmit again, the digits of her hands moving frantically over the keyboard attempting to deactivate the security system.

They found out the truth too late. Dark shadows

They were not alone.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt came to a crashing halt on the other side of the blast door, slamming into the ground with a loud clatter of his belt and body. A groan escaped him, his head coming up first and his blaster second. He pointed the weapon all around himself, his pistol swinging about almost half wildly as he tried to assess whether or not there was anyone around. When it became clear that the hallway was still dead empty the Pilot frowned slightly, his head turning up to listen for any sign of movement.

"Okay Kurt." The Courier told himself. "Deep breath, figure out what's going on and don't rush into anything."

He had to get to Kaile first, that was the most important thing. He knew where she was, or rather, relatively knew where she was and if she did as she was told she would stay put. Kurt was relatively confident that she would do exactly that, especially since it was the last thing that he had told her to do.

Kurt picked himself up off the ground, scooping the flashlight up and clicking it on. The bright glow-torch illuminated the hall before him, Kurt's lips slightly thinning as he began to step forward and head towards where he thought Kaile would be. "How big can this place be anyway?"

His voice rang out in an ehco.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

This was not good. Not good at all.

Panic rose within Kaile's breast. Her heart thunder at her throat. Okay, okay. Calm down, just think things through. However, she knew that she felt something had been off. This all had been too good to be true.

"Marty, keep a watch out on that door please." she told the Dark Trooper. Kaile didn't want any surprises. The Dark Trooper's gears whirled as his heavy footfalls took him towards the entrace. Something wasn't right. It just wasn't right.

[ Kurt?! ] the Lorrdian kept attempting to make contact. All she heard was static. Her fingers went typing wildly across the keys. Using the dataslicer she found, Kaile went through and entered the security protocols. Commands were entered to at the very least, halt the wail of the alarm klaxons.

But now what?

"Holocameras..." she muttered under her breath. "I can find him through the holocameras!"

Only thing was, she wasn't the only one watching Kurt through them. They had done so first.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Ok.

This wasn't so bad.

It was dark, but he wasn't really scared of the dark.

Other kids had been on Tatooine, but for Kurt it had never really been an issue. He had always figured that the dark was just another aspect of life someone had to get used to. Tatooine got plenty dark at night, the moons sometimes hiding and giving a pitch blackness to the air. Some thought it was creepy, Kurt had always thought that it was pure perfection. There was a stillness to the blackness, a sacred calm that not even teh mightiest Krayt Dragon dared breach.

Of course this was different.

There was no silence here, no serene calm. Every step that he took echoed through the facility, the creak and crack of metal began to sound out, and everything around him seemed to groan with movement. The noises were unsetlling, though they hardly stopped him from pushing forward. He frowned slightly, gripping his blaster tighter.

[Kaile?] He spoke into his com-link again, turning a corner to enter a stairwell.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

By now, Kaile was nibbling in growing anxiety on the fullness of her lower lip. She had the cameras up, but when the screens bloomed across her display, she couldn’t find him.

Where was he? Was he okay??!

Her trepidation grew by the second, with every tick that passed causing knots to squeeze her belly and her palms grow clammy. Okay, just keep searching, it will be okay. No need to worry --

A crackle and pop shot through her comm [ -alie?]

Brown eyes grew wide. Instantly she pressed two fingers to the comm as if that was her sole lifeline to the pilot and that mere pressure would keep him tethered to her.

[ Kurt?!! Are you okay?] her voice shot out question after question in her growing panic. [ Where are you? I have Marty at the entrance of the control room, but I don’t know why the security was triggered. ]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

A voice finally popped through the com-link, Kurt instantly recognizing it as Kaile's. There was a burst of joy that swelled in his chest, though it was quickly followed up by fear. She didn't know what it was either? A part of him had hoped that it was something she had done, a mistake, perhaps pressing the wrong button or hitting the wrong switch, but as soon as he heard her voice it was clear that she didn't know either, that hope quickly began to die away. A realization dawned on him, and not one that made him confident.

[I'm fine.] He answered quickly.

There wasn't any need to make her worry, at least not yet. As far as they knew some animal had gotten into the wrong part of the bunker and had chewed through a wire or two. He sincerely doubted that was the case, but there was still a chance. The glow from his flashlight began to sweep over the inside of the hall, carrying over small sectioned panels until it reached a hallway sign. Kurt read it for a moment then nodded to himself, turning down the hall.

[Not sure whats going on.] Kurt said. [It's dark here.]

Perhaps she could turn on the light? [Can you change that?]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Lights?

[ I can do that! ] Kaile’s voice would crackle, inching forward to see what she could do about that. Hearing Kurt’s voice managed her calm her somewhat, but Kaile was still feeling a bit anxious. Worry manifested in the active chewing of her lower lip, biting and gnawing on it as the Lorrdian espion fervently worked at the keys and commands.

[ Okay, give me three… two..]

She had to reboot the system, where everything shut down then flickered to life a few seconds later. Light would bathe where there had been none, allowing the pilot to see where he was at and his surroundings.

[ There! ]

Down below in levels ten through fifteen, another command prompt was activating. The security alarm set in motion that which had lain undisturbed for centuries. Dozens upon dozens of cloning vats, ever so carefully lined those laboratories. Within those chambers the hiss and breaking of a seal would resonate with a dark forebearing. The Empire of the Hand had not simply abandoned this base of operations. No, they simply had lied in wait.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt suddenly found himself completely and entirely assailed by the bright luminescent of every single light in the hallway. There was no slight flicker, no alert, just a sudden and bright flash of light that completely and entirely filled the corridor in a near instance. The Courier found himself letting out a loud swear as his eyes snapped shut, his pupils grew to the size of needles, and the recoiled slightly from the assailing lights that jumped into being overhead.

[Fagawrgbarsb.] Kurt said over the com-link.

[Jumping Rancor!] He called to Kaile. [Stifle that next time!]

He began to blink furiously.

To be fair, Kaile had warned him that they were about tot urn on, but in truth Kurt hadn't expected the damn things to be so bright. It had been nearly a thousand years since these things had last been turned on, shouldn't they be a bit dim? Blast.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

[ Sorry!! ] Kaile’s wail of lament crackled through the comm. There was an audible wince in her tone, and with how well Kurt knew her, he’d likely imagine correctly the way she’d wring her hands in apology.

[ I had to reboot the system. ] she explained, leaning over her mobile data terminal and making adjustments. Where was he?

Near Kurt at the far end of the corridor, a holocamera would start to pan in search.

[ I had no control over that… ] she felt terrible. It was due to the worry and then hearing Kurts curse. Biting her lower lip until it bled, Kaile took a deep breath. Glancing down at her hands, she caught the faint tremble that shook them.

Immediately, she would rub her hands together, as if trying to cast that fright and anxiety away.

[ Taking control of the holocameras. So if you see anything that’s me. ]

At least, Kaile believed she was the only one.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

[It's alright.] Kurt said as he flicked off the flashlight. [Just burned my eyes a bit.]

It wasn't really a big deal in the end, just rather annoying. [Any indication of what started all of this?]

The events of the past few minutes had all been rather out of the blue from what Kurt could tell. One minute everything had been fine and relaxed, the next the tnire bunker had gone crazy. The alarm was bad enough, but the bunker doors had sealed themselves and had locked them away from The Messa. That was what really put him ill at ease, the fact that they were now shut away from their escape. He frowned for a moment, still holding his blaster ahead of him as he stepped down another corner stair well.

[The droids didn't attack me by the way, so the reprogramming worked.] That was a bit of good news he had wanted to share with her, the fact that none of the darktroopers had immediately tried to kill him. Kaile should have felt pride at that, it was good work.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

A sigh of relief flew from the Lorrdian at hearing that the Dark Troopers didn’t revert to their old programing. That relaxed her a bit. It was a small measure of safety that she was grateful for.

[ Thank goodness…]

A smile shot over to Marty, who was faithfully keeping guard of the entrance. Just in case...

[ No…]

It was clear that Kaile was nervous. Not knowing what could have caused this had her a bit jittery. Nibbling her lower lip, she wiped away the bead of blood that pooled when she bit it earlier.

[ Systems are still processing the reboot. I’ll run a scan and hopefully I reckon I can narrow it down. ]

She began to run a diagnostic.

[ You might see a few things that might cause you to jump. I don’t know what the full extent of this reboot will do. Please be careful.]

Another thought.

[ If you can get one of the Dark Troopers just to cover your back… ]

I’d feel loads better.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He let out a small noise of disappointment. [Can't.]

How to explain this without making her panic.

[We're cut off from The Messa.] Good going. That aughta do it. [The Hangar door started to close as soon as the alarm went off, blast doors, two sets. I kind of just booked it and jumped between the doors while they were still closing. I figured it would be better to be inside the facility then locked out away from you. We'll have to find some way to drop the hangar doors again when we want to leave...probably sooner rather then later actually.]

Yeah.

The door was a problem, mostly because they were trapped now.

Kurt continued his path down the hallway, the beam of his flashlight now silenced in favor of the overhead lights that hung in the hall. His blaster was still held up, tightly clutched in his hand in case anything, or any one, tried to jump him.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Kaile was predictable.

[ Wha- ] she began to stammer, [ What do you mean you are cut off from the Messa? ]

The concern in her voice had hiked up a good two degrees. It was some measure of relief that he was at least still within the facility, but that did nothing to sooth her quickly growing frazzled nerves.

[ Running diagnostics.. I'll see if I can lift up that blast door to get you back in. ] Kaile told him, pulling up the details of the hanger. As she focused on that objective, each floor was slowly coming online. The one on the tenth floor would catch movement, but Kaile wouldn't notice.

The service elevator came online, moving through its start up protocols. It then began a slow decent below.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

[Don't worry about that for now, I think the doors won't really be a problem until we figure out exactly what triggered that alarm, plus, I'm not exactly heading towards the hangar anyway. I'm trying to make my way to where you are, the lights are helping.] They really were.

At first he hadn't been sure that he had taken the right path, the flashlight not exactly having been the greatest guide.

With the lights on however Kurt could focus less on the dark and more on the signs and paths that were inscribed on the floor and walls of the Bunker. This was a military installation, a massive one, and that meant there were detailed directions on how to actually pass through it. Kurt was glad for his years of training to be a Pilot, the Navy had taught him how to navigate everything from starships to space stations, and now more then ever when he read small dots and the odd carved lines in the floor of the Bunker he knew that was coming in handy.

[I think I'm almost there.] Kurt said as he sped up his step. [See if you can hear me.]

The Pilot made a little more noise, hopefully alerting Kaile.