Briefly lamenting she hadn’t procured a hair tie prior to departure, Esma swept her curtain of hair out of the way and pressed an ear to the cargo bay door. Doing her utmost to discern the events unfolding on the other side. Rohner’s arrival was apparent, and it wouldn’t take a genius to infer what a meeting between the two opposing forces would devolve into.
What gnawed at the interim officer’s conscience was whether any degree of intervention would be expected on her part. Because while she could be mistaken, the role of a security officer probably didn’t include cowering behind a door while a crewmember weathered an assault on their person. Not that she intended to go so far as partaking in the melee to right this wrong. Rather Esma ventured her presence, or at least that of her rifle, could serve to dissuade the armor-clad lantern shield wielding assailant from prolonging his siege on the cargo bay. Or at least provide a decisive opening for her superior to gain the upper hand.
Admittedly both takes were uncharacteristically optimistic given her earlier fumble in front of the engine room during the raider’s first appearance. As a result they could have very well written her off as a threat and might not so much as flinch at her sudden involvement. There was also a strong argument to be made that Rohner would disapprove or take offense to her attempt at assisting him. Because vacating the cargo bay would not only create an opening for Cloud Nine to exploit, but depending on when she exited Esma could find herself obstructing her colleague’s throwdown in an already cramped corridor.
With so many of these contradictory thoughts crowding her head it was no small wonder that the brunette couldn’t bring herself to pull the trigger on a decisive action. Instead searching for more roundabout ways of providing help. Such as pinging the bridge for assistance using the speaking tube to her left.
Assistance from who?! Anyone with the leeway to move freely would already be down here moron!
Esma’s hand slipped from the door and a light thud sounded as her forehead took its place. A drop of sweat that had collected on the tip of her nose falling to the floor she gawked at with a defeated look on her face. Amidst her despondence the sounds of the engineer poking around the cargo could be heard somewhere behind her.
At least someone here is doing their job...
That realization threatened to drag the young woman deeper into a pool of her own despair. Until the sound of a faint voice from the other side of the door recalled her back to the surface.
“Captain Reed!”
...
“Forget me you fool!”
The sound of a lantern shield striking one of the corridor’s walls punctuated the raider’s command.
“Their belly is exposed, cripple the Crusader!”
Esma could almost picture the look on the face of the Cloud Nine member who’d appeared below. Like someone who found a treasure chest with a key still inside its lock.
“Dammit—!”
No other word could have encapsulated Rohner’s frustration towards being caught on the wrong end of the corridor relative to the new arrival better. Not that the reimagined symbol of the thunderbird would forfeit an opening. Evident by the continuation of the struggle bookended by the cargo door and ladder. The engineer, also picking up on the development from behind her, stood from where he’d been fiddling with a crate’s temperature gauge. Remorse at the decision to temporarily vacate the engine room apparent in his hoarse tone.
“The balance of the elixir...I screwed up... ”
For her part Esma ignored the incoherent murmurs coming from the man and instead found herself taking a few shaky steps away from the door she’d been using as a crutch. She collected the rifle off her back and found the safety, her earlier gaffe contributing to the nonchalance in her movements. Flicking it into the off position wordlessly she tightened her grip of the rifle in hopes of stemming the tremors in her arms.
“Oi, overalls.”
The engineer snapped out of whatever self-imposed trance he’d been in and met the slender frame of the brunette stood between him and the door to the cargo bay.
“Open the door.”
“Huh...?”
The girl looked borderline despondent.
“Hurry! Before I lose my nerve...!”
The man stepped around the young woman and reached for the door, his attempt at getting a more definitive read on her facial expression and by extension her headspace coming back inconclusive due to the angle of her head. Namely the curtain of wind-swept hair obscuring her features. His attention promptly shifted back towards her appeal, leading him to place one hand on the handle and his other on the barrel bolt. But in place of following through immediately he turned and waited for a final confirmation. Not a surprise given the one-eighty she’d taken in regard to leaving the safety of the cargo bay.
This only came to pass because you needed to be rescued. Some security officer. What will Lux say when she finds out how useless you’ve been? Meanwhile she’s off somewhere entrenching herself behind enemy lines for the sake of the convoy and so many others who won’t ever know the service she provided.
Esma thought she might cry. A natural reaction given the lengths her first real friend had gone to just to catch the, at times, unseemly CO up to speed on matters of the security division.
It’s time to move damn it! Things aren’t like they were back then! You have the means to make a difference now, so why do you still refuse to join the fray! You said it yourself back in the armory didn’t you!
She didn’t realize it at the time, but amidst the flurry of internal conflict Esma’s subconscious had already come to a decision for her. The product of which was a tenuous nod of the head to the unnamed engineer posted beside the door. He answered that resolve in kind.
It’s time to go now Esma. It’s time to take that second step. That’s one whole step further from the place you were before! And even if it is just the one, I promise you’ll be forgiven! Because life’s NOT a race! And there’s no telling how many people are waiting patiently for you on the other side of that step! Waiting for you in the space just beyond your comfort zone! So grab this opportunity and live! Live for yourself, and live for the people you aspire to catch up to one day!
Sparse tears gave way to a current of light brown hair, the flow of which whipped side to side restlessly in pursuit of its champion. Such would best describe the wake of the young Communications Officer as she exploded through the door she’d held off on opening for so long. Bottle of acetone in her pocket, feronetic rifle in hand, and family mantra playing on her lips.
No need to fret, you have the advantage here! Why? Because!
“Only a fool—”
*
In place of pursuing the Cloud Nine member down the ladder directly, Youn opted to clear the railing and confront them from one of the platforms. A decision that would admittedly tack on a few extra seconds of commute time but put him in a less vulnerable position at contact in exchange. But even those precious seconds could be offset by the wariness commonly exhibited by raiders whenever it came time to put their backs to the ladder way. The ladder being a direct means into the belly of the Crusader and by extension the cargo bay. In other words the raider’s most likely destination.
In the process of making his way over to said location Youn started to question the efficacy of their officer allocation, namely the whereabouts of their station worker who’d performed admirably for his first convoy. But given the two of them made up the entirety of the Crusader’s current security forces, they couldn’t afford to move carelessly. Lest their lackluster distribution of defensive zones draw unwanted attention from the castle garrison. It was for this reason they’d need to devote someone to watch over the back deck for at least the lead up to the exit gate. And with Youn on his way to confront the Cloud Nine member with an inclination towards compact explosives, such responsibilities would naturally have to fall to the unversed Brewer.
A potential problem given his unfamiliarity with both defensive alignments and the rotation system. Something they’d been able to mask thanks to a combination of the unexpectantly full crew roster prior to the planned and unplanned departures, and the intervention of other crew members like Cade directing the less inclined to their zones. A dicey venture if not for the broad-shouldered engineer’s knowledge of how Lux typically called and organized a defense. Both responsibilities that fell under her purview when it concerned the role of acting security representative. In that regard Youn was also acting in accordance with her scheme and or system to an extent, in particular her tendency to simplify the defense whenever atypical circumstances arose. Raiders falling from the sky for example.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The usage of explosives could also be considered atypical now that Youn thought about it more. Even in cases where the yield was comparatively small like the explosive he’d nearly fallen victim to up in the turret bay. And while a feeder party of Baugh’s may not concern itself with the unwritten ramifications of damaging Crusaders, any party would balk at putting their spoils at risk. Which was probably why a second explosion hadn’t rocked the Crusader yet. Key word being yet.
Because just as Youn reached the junction of the corridor and shifted his momentum to turn another small explosive detonated from where it had been placed at the top of the engine room door. Not in an effort to blow the door open as engine room doors were blast resistant by design, but to disable whatever unfortunate soul happened to pass in front of it and set if off. In this case Youn who’d made the error of looking ahead to the state of the cargo bay instead of scrutinizing his more immediate surroundings. A mistake that made the security officer lose consciousness for the time it took him to meet the floor.
To the young man’s credit someone with a outside perspective would have assumed that the officer had simply tripped himself up given how quickly Youn sprang back up to his feet. A visceral reaction accrued through untold hours of combat training, all for the purpose of minimizing the amount of time an officer spent exposed or in a vulnerable state. His mind however, much like that of other officers, would need a moment to catch up with his surroundings.
Speaking of surroundings, the security officer’s impaired vision could just make out a form further down the corridor hesitating by the foot of the ladder. But rather than move forward to confront Youn sought the nearest wall to brace himself against with one hand and tried to will his senses to return faster. Fully expecting he’d be needing them for whatever came next. Because as the intruder’s face started to become clearer so did how apparent their desperation was. To the extent one could mistake the wobbly and potentially concussed Youn as the bad guy here. It was this observation paired with another worse realization that kept him from pressing further down the corridor.
My consciousness cut out around the moment I stepped into the junction, meaning the explosive must have been planted on the engine room door. But those suckers are notoriously blast resistant, and I’m dazed but still intact despite my proximity to the detonation. That trap wasn’t meant to kill me or anyone who happened to pursue this guy. It was meant to serve as an alert signal! But why bother?! A failsafe? Is that why they’re hesitating at the base of the ladder?!
In an effort to glean more information Youn made to take a step forward but stopped short when the raider turned halfway and reached for something around the side of his chest. Fortunately his vision had recovered enough to make out what appeared to be one end of some type of cord.
A rip cord...!?!
The door to the cargo bay slammed open the same moment Youn’s realization drove him to make a mad dash for the Cloud Nine member, Cade emerging from the battered door with what appeared to be a similar sense of urgency. Having started much closer and possessing enough coordination to be able to run in a straight line, the engineer arrived to the threat first and grabbed a hold of their forearm to prevent the cord from being pulled. He called out through gritted teeth.
“It’s a reconfigured flash pack! He’s trying to go down with the cargo!”
Youn adjusted his course to narrowly avoid a collision with the ladder and closed in as well.
“And take all of us with him?! Like hell! I already have one grave to visit!”
But it didn’t make any sense, why try and destroy the cargo? And now of all times? Both Federation servicemen proceeded to recall the supposed rift in Baugh’s feeder party, courtesy of the supposed leadership dispute. And yet to go to such lengths to sabotage a collective raid attempt. It was practically unheard of.
“I’ll restrain his upper body, strip him!”
Cade wrapped a strong forearm around the man’s neck from behind and began to extend him backwards while his other hand fought to keep the raider’s wrist in place. Meanwhile Youn practically toppled the both of them as he arrived in his conscious impaired state and immediately went about frisking the would-be suicide bomber’s torso for buckles or clips.
“No good! The charges are embedded in the fucking plating!”
Youn gave one last fruitless tug of the chest piece before backing up a step and taking up his rifle.
“Keep him still, I’ll blow his head off!”
A violent measure to take, but in the absence of a means to remove the explosives in a timely fashion, eliminating the enemy’s motor functions was the next safest bet. And as long as he took the right angle all the engineer could complain about was being covered in some degree of viscera. An outcome the Cloud Nine member wasn’t keen on seeing come to pass. Prompting him to gamble on an unorthodox measure that could have just as easily sealed his fate as revived it.
He went limp, instantaneously. And the whiplash of struggling with all one’s might to restrict an opponent’s movement only to have them turn into what is essentially a sack of potatoes saw Cade’s muscles slacken for a momentary respite from the continuous strain. But that was long enough for the raider to free themselves of the engineers weakened grasp and drive forward, stunning the preoccupied Youn with a headbutt to the nose. Superseded in short order by a shoulder tackle hard enough to send the officer tumbling back down the way he’d come.
“Ngghh...!”
Sensing the incoming retaliation the raider turned on a dot and just managed to slip a punch from the engineer my mere centimeters. A costly miss as the nature of the swing had Cade’s body turning away from the enemy, opening him up to an arm thrust designed to send him away as well. Leaving neither crewmate close enough to prevent a second self-sacrifice attempt. A wicked grin spread itself across the face of the party member as his finger found the ring of the rip cord once more.
“Rest in pieces Federation do—!”
Cade cut the man off.
“Hard port!”
Almost as if the Crusader adhered to voice commands, the entire corridor jerked to the side violently without warning. And the arm that had been set to extend so as to detonate the explosives was suddenly being slammed into the corridor wall instead.
“...?!”
At the same time, further down the corridor, Youn had succeeded in extending his leg in time to keep from crashing into the wall and brandished his rifle a second time. Fortunately for the officer he had an unobstructed view of the staggered raider as the Crusader’s veer had also taken Cade’s legs out from under him. This despite being the one to orchestrate the event. Though it did serve the added benefit of eliminating any chance of being used as a shield or caught up in the line of fire. Needless to say Youn didn’t hesitate to make good on his earlier proposal and dropped the raider from where he’d ended up beside the ladder. An unspoken sigh of relief passing between the men as they regained sounder footing.
“How about that, an instance where Wash’s speaking tube tinkering and antics actually proved useful.”
Youn cast a glance in the direction of the cargo bay where the door remained ajar from Cade’s surprise attack. The speaking tube located just inside the door being the closest. If you were among those who didn’t count the ladderway itself that is. A safe exclusion in this case since the bridge was under lockdown and its door therefore sealed above.
“You mean he’s been listening the whole time!?”
Cade hummed in confirmation as began dragging the deceased Cloud Nine member down the corridor.
“Word of advice Sigurd. Assume Wash is always listening.”
“Kill confirmed.”
Youn made a face at the unexpected commentary spilling from the room down the corridor before moving to help the engineer drag the body to one of the platforms.
“Why port by the way? We’re not exactly aboard a ship.”
Cade grunted as he repositioned his hands, the plate armor and explosives adding to the raider’s weight considerably. Also a sound explanation as to how he’d been able to generate the force to knock them away so decisively.
“Saying left or right would have created needless confusion on account of our respective orientations. But by using a term applicable to the mode of transportation itself we’re able to get on the same page more easily. The starboard and port sides of a ship don’t suddenly change according to the passenger’s orientation after all.”
The two men proceeded through the junction with their huest in tow, just so happening to settle on the port platform.
“I’m more surprised you can think that rationally in such a high stakes situation. I’d have defaulted to my lefts and rights for sure.”
“Well, I also had to factor in where everyone onboard was so Wash could pull the maneuver off without hesitating. And with the bridge on lockdown and the two of us here, that left our hopeless romantic as the only one I needed to account for.”
The two arrived on the platform and crouched down to pick the raider up by his limbs
“Hopeless romantic?”
“The station worker, I’ll explain later. On three sound good?”
The two crewmen began to swing the body side to side to gain enough momentum to get it over the railing.
“1. 2. Wait a minute...?”
But by time they’d both taken a closer look at their surroundings the momentum they’d generated had already carried the party member over the railing and onto the karst landscape with a thud and short bounce. What really made it so anticlimactic however was that the Crusader had stopped moving, literally having parked within eyeshot of a very much open exit gate. This despite the sounds of rifle fire nearby suggesting the area remained contested.
Both men noted that Crusader C471 had also stopped ahead of them and even saw what looked like the Convoy Commander and another officer disembarking from the equivalent platform in a hurry. Crusader C274 on the other hand was nowhere in sight. Taking their position in the formation into account this likely meant they were already out the gate and home free, whatever the reason.
“This is where we’ll be picking up the kids from school. The oldest should be here any second.”
Cade and Youn began scanning their immediate surroundings in response, not that they could see much beyond the massive limestone column looming over the Crusader. From behind which they could hear the sounds of footsteps getting closer. Youn trained his rifle on the spot of the column they would likely appear out of caution while Cade jumped down from the platform.
“You’re no spring chick yourself jackass!”
Soon after Emica appeared from behind the wide column equipped with a party issued firearm and the headset that had been trusted to Lux for updates. Cade noted that the tall woman didn’t appear surprised or troubled by their presence. Not even the rifle pointed at her out of habit seemed to faze the woman as she slowed to a stop in front of them. But rather than open with a defense of her new acquisitions the former raider turned her attention towards the exit gate and the other Crusader’s presence.
“Good, they’ll need the help considering your buddy’s injury. As for the rest of us we need to protect the gate so we can get out of here before it’s too late.”
Youn looked about ready to protest taking orders from a party member when Cade cut him off and approached the woman.
“Too late for what?”
Emica was about to respond to the inquiry when she finally noticed the corpse littering the ground between them. She immediately crouched down, taking a special interest in the tailored armor or more specifically what it was concealing. Cade snapped his fingers to regain her attention. Causing all those present to flinch.
“Too late for what?”
“Seems there’s a Cloud Nine member with intentions even more confusing than my own.
She rapped a bruised knuckle against the plating and made eye contact with the engineer.
And they’re passing out this hardware like candy.”