Weekend* Treasure Hunt 32: The Number of Power (open to all)

[Hatchet]

IN THE COMPOUND
ENTERING EASTERN WALL

Hatchet watched with an unamused expression, blinking as he saw Vinon crash and burn into the sand. He just awkwardly looked away, trying to keep an eye on the Trandoshans on above and avoid the entire issue of Vinon's dignity. He adjusted his grip on his weapon as he watched, glancing up the admin building they were basically pressing against. His eyes narrrowed as he spied something on the side of it, an idea running through his head.

The clone leaned over and whispered to Yrgo, making a small motion to the Trandoshans on the wall. "Keep an eye on them." With that, he moved aside and let the Aqualish take his place, moving his rifle onto his back and making sure the sling was properly attached. He looked over to the others, glancing between them and the building as he tried to measure the distance, how far it would have to be. It didn't seem too dangerous, probably the smarter option since getting out would be easier than getting in.

Hearing Rook's question, he immediately answered. "Climb." To make it look like it had been, of course, Vinon's plan all along. Obviously. That way he wasn't taking the rap if this went wrong. He timed it until he had his gap and suddenly began to hoist himself up the side of the building, using his upper body strength to climb from hand and foot holds, until he reached the window that had been left carelessly open on the side, to get more air in the stuffy office room.

Hatchet threw himself inside, combat rolling as he drew a blaster pistol from his holster; nothing special, just the same kind of sidearm he used in the military, but an older model. Harder to get that kind of tech in the Outer Rim. Thankfully, it seemed this room was empty, but he watched the exits into other rooms anyway, keeping low and his blaster ready. He was preparing for the others to enter; after all, he was just the triggerman here. If they could get all the loot in here without kicking up a Lizard hive, that would be ideal, but he had to trust the more impulsive and experienced thieves among them.

Unfortunately.

[member="Rook Lokar"] - [member="Vinon Demeaux"] - [member="Saul Terrik"]

 

[Mishka Larraq]

Location: Outside North Research Complex > Running Towards Residential Buildings > Inside Residential Buildings


Mishka's eyes closed to the world around her, her hearing dimmed to the roaring wind and sounds of gunfire, and her mind drifted away from the sensation of course air caressing her skin as it made her hair dance. Instead, her awareness drifted away from her, passed through solid metal walls, and began exploring the interior of the building next to her. Metal walls, heavy machinery, banks of computers, chemical laboratories... Here and there a Trandoshan mercenary patrolled a hallway or rummaged clumsily it search of valuables. An intern and a lab assistant hid in a remote closet in one of the chemical labs... But they were in no immediate danger, and they were not who Mishka had come to save.

Mishka opened her eyes and her awareness snapped back like a whip. The gunfire had moved to a different section of the western wall and more and more of the big lizards were running towards the sounds of conflict. Vaguely, she was aware that several of the beast-men were dragging a heavy machine from one of the eastern buildings that looked like some sort of storage shed or cheap garage, towards the conflict on the western wall. Mishka gave it the fullness of her attention for a moment and saw that it was some form of high caliber cannon. Clearly, the disturbance on the western wall had the fullness of the raiders' attention.

Stepping backwards, away from the cluster of raiders and their heavy cannon, Mishka quickly and quietly moved to the back corner of the northern research building and peered at the western wall. Between the distance and the swirling sands, she still couldn't see anything up on the walls, but Mishka could see several buildings on that side of the complex. The closest building looked nearly identical to the one that she currently hid behind and was likely another research complex. The one behind that though... looked an awful lot like an apartment complex. And hostages needed to use the bathroom, right? Unfortunately, there was a great deal of open ground between herself and the residential buildings.

Mishka closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. As her lungs filled, the world around her grew quiet and distant, all movement slowing as her lungs filled with air. Mishka held her breath and slowly opened her eyes. The world around her had paused. Sand hung in open air, blaster bolts froze mid-flight, and screaming Trandoshans stood frozen like grotesque, sand covered statues. Mishka's gaze narrowed upon the residential buildings on the far side of the complex, her awareness retreated within herself, and her muscled radiated heat as she focused the light of the Manda into the fibers of her body. Slowly at first, the world began to move again as she adjusted her stance, the muscles in her legs rippling with power as they prepared for the coming exertion. Then, in stuttering bursts like ice shifting in a glass, time jerked itself forward bit by bit until it flowed as normal in Mishka's perception. As it did, Mishka hurled herself forward in a dead sprint, legs biting deep into the sandy ground as they pushed her forward. Chunks of loose dirt flung behind her and a cloud of sand spread in her wake like exhaust from a rocket.

Mishka raced past the open ground between the two research complex, she raced past the western complex, a trio of blaster bolts crossed the air ahead of her as she crossed the ground between the western complex and the residential buildings, and in a flash she had slammed shoulder first through the first door she had noticed. The door, some sort of reinforced compost to withstand the harsh climate, hurled through an open hallway and clattered to a stop at the far side of the building. Mishka braced her body against her momentum and skidded to a stop somewhere in the middle of the hallway. One of the doors near where the reinforce door had slammed to a halt opened and a hulking Trandoshan stepped into the hallway wearing a confused look, a pink sundress, and a floppy yellow straw hat. Clearly, the outfit of someone trying to keep children complacent. A loosely held blaster rifle rested within the crook of the Trandoshan's arms, a weapon that the big lizard was quick to point in Mishka's direction. Mishka had drawn and fired her own pistol before the raider had managed to get his weapon halfway into a firing position. A chorus of high pitched screams shouted out as the Trandoshan's blood, brains, and skull fragments splattered the inside of the door he had been guarding.

<Found them.> Mishka thought to herself as she moved towards the open door.

 

[Felicity Skye]

Inside Perimeter Wall / Behind Utilities Building / Underneath South Research Complex

Keeping close to the inside of the perimeter wall, Felicity walked a portion of it’s length before she felt okay separating from it. Her feelings on the situation had become uneasy, and she was no longer secure going forward with no real plan behind enemy lines. There were too many things she didn’t know, and too many things she could've done so she did.

“It is hard to stare one’s own mistakes in the face especially in the midst of making them, but such is life, and it is something to be overcome.” Words of wisdom spoken by her father had never been truer. And now it was Felicity’s turn to overcome. She was brought into this situation by her own overconfidence and an inability to let others suffer. But she would get out of it with a bit of ingenuity and elbow grease… at least that’s how she usually got out of precarious situations.

Looking around and watching the center structures Felicity could see how many guards were on patrol and where they were. The distraction being caused by force knows who had succeeded in pulling a couple bodies out of the area but most stayed where they were. The task was to avoid their gaze and break into the Southern most building undetected. From what she could see, Felicity determined there was rarely an opening between eyes on the center buildings. She figured that meant she was right and that the prisoners were held there, and while that provided her a little satisfaction it didn’t help the ultimate goal of saving anyone, let alone Eline.

“Think, Skye! Think! It’s a research facility. This isn’t a holovillain’s lair there’s more in there than just test tubes and chemical pipes… That’s it.” She said before turning her eyes east toward the utilities building. “I hope their pipes aren’t backed up.”

Felicity stuck to the inner wall like glue, timing patrols to avoid the glowering stares of scaly men who’d been forced to walk in circles, triangles, and hexagons for the past several days. It didn’t take long for Felicity to reach the back of the utility building. There she found an air filtration pipe both small enough to squeeze into and big enough to move comfortably in, albeit in a prone position. It didn’t seem as the pipes had been used in recent years so either the base had been abandoned or the slavers had been operating on the moon for quite sometime. Either way it didn’t seem likely Felicity would encounter any life damaging chemicals or toxins, but to be safe she used the force as a means to control her breath. Through the force she was able to make one breath last several times itself.

So Felicity entered the pipeline and followed it to the west and then south hoping to come right underneath the Southern Research Complex. The deeper she went into the pipes the more apparent it was when they were cracked or damaged. The light from buildings would leek in like a stab wound, but would also give way to the maintenance hatches into each building. Once she found the hatch she though was right, she opened it up and over. And there she was, innocent people in cages around her, but the eyes drawn to her weren’t just of the innocent. As she looked up Felicity caught the eyes of two trandoshan slavers, rifles in hand and absolutely speechless as to what they were seeing.

[member="Eline Djo"]

 

[Xin Boa]

Western wall towards southern research complex

[member="Delila Castillon"]

As the barabel and aqualish made their way towards sabotaging the shield generator Xin and Dells moved south to cross the wall. Dropping to one knee he interlaced his fingers for her. Hefting her up slowly she was able to check the wall before he helped her up the rest of the way. A few seconds and she helped him Scrabble up himself.

“Over and down,” he murmured as he checked up and down the wall from behind the sights of his E-22 rifle. The action elsewhere and dust in the wind wouldn't cover them forever.

Taking stairs down they kept close to the inside of the wall, following it south. Blaster shots rang out. They still had their goal and needed to move quickly on the hostages. Xin rounded a corner too quickly. A pair of trandoshans were running towards them.

The nautolan fired first. His bolt cut down the lizard on the left. He wasn't quite quick enough to shoot the second. A concussion rifle had a short range. A short lethal range. Even though he was beyond that the air shimmered in front of his eyes and then it felt as if his head imploded as he was thrown to the floor. Xin scrabbled in the sand for his rifle. His ears didn't stop ringing.