Part II: The Science Division
Dye led his men to the science division. Like their route to the command post, the streets were empty with no civilian or creature in sight. It was weird seeing a dead city, and even unsettling knowing that an entire battalion of highly trained soldiers just disappeared.
"Sir!" Unn called out. "Look at this!"
Dye went to go see what Unn found. He was pointing at a building with a sentence carved into the wall. Some of the letters were softened out and were incomprehensible. Dye tried to read it.
T-n -ck -ow.
"Can our instruments pick up the message?" Dye motioned Acer.
Acer held his scanner against the message. After fiddling around with the settings, he replied, "Negative sir."
"It could just be graffiti." Vex suggested.
"Maybe, maybe not," Dye replied. "Either way, it is no use to us at the moment. Let's press on toward the Science division."
The group continued until they finally got to their destination. The Science division was a large dome shape on top of a rectangular prism. It was large enough to be used as a Republic Base. It seemed that the building was locked down and the gates were shut. Dye took his men around to the rear entrance. It was a less fortified gate and could be scaled by their ascension cables. After roping over the wall and travelling to the building entrance, they stopped at the large front door.
"I don't like it," Tob said aloud. "It's quiet. Too quiet."
"Grow a pair, Tob." Jinx teased.
"No, I'm with Tob on this," Ware agreed. "Something doesn't feel right. This place is a ghost town."
"I agree with that gut feeling," Dye piped in. "But we have a job to do. Acer, can you open that door?"
Acer walked up the the console and shook his head at it's broken remains. He took out a computer from his pack and plugged it into the broken console.
"Can you get it open?" Dye repeated.
"Maybe," Acer replied uneasily. "Lock's encrypted. Hard. Whoever shut this door didn't want anyone to open it. Even torched the console to help."
"Well we can always use these." Knaf slipped a thermal detonator out of his pack. "I've been itching to blow something up all day."
"Let's not go that far yet." Dye suggested. "Acer?"
Acer was silent for a few moments. "Yes, but it's going to take a couple minutes. Someone tried really hard to lock this down."
"Understood, just open it."
"Yes sir."
"Unn, Doy, have a look around the complex," Dye ordered. "Report back in ten minutes."
"Yes sir!" The two replied in unison and went off to do their task.
"Vex, do you have the building plans?" Dye asked.
"Yes sir." Vex nodded.
"Can I see them?"
"Of course." Vex shrugged. "Anything in particular you are looking for?"
"Entrances and exits." Dye stated. "This is a science building. There has to be more than one exit due to fire and safety hazards."
Vex pulled out a metal plate with a hologram projector. He slipped a data chip in and set it on the ground. The hologram projector went online and displayed the facility. "There is the rear entrance, which can be opened from the inside." Vex explained. "There is a top entrance for ships, but it was sealed off by the 283rd to implant more Anti-Air defences. It could still be accessible."
"Anything else?" Dye ushered him to continue.
"Four emergency exits, two on both sides of the building."
"Jinx, Xav, Ware and Tob. Split into duos and check these two exits." Dye ordered, motioning to the building plans.
"Yes sir." They replied in unison and did their assigned task.
"No faith in Acer sir?" Vex asked.
"Just in case we need a quick exit or if Acer is unsuccessful." Dye explained.
Unn and Doy came up upon the security post. Predictably, it was empty. They stepped inside. The place was a mess. They knew Republic soldiers weren't working here but whoever was working here left the place trashed.
"Well this is rather disappointing." Doy nudged Unn.
"Ugh, this place looks like a bunch of gdans lived here." Unn agreed, referring to the burrowing and vicious animals of Qiilura.
Doy walked up to a desk and felt his hands around a cold coffee mug. He then dipped his index finger inside and licked it.
"This is old." He stated in disgust.
Unn walked up to the monitoring station to find it offline. Other than that, a red light flashed on the desk.
"This place is on lockdown." Unn said and turned to the lockers which were left open. "Weapons and uniforms are gone."
"You think someone took them?" Doy suggested. "Maybe held the building under hostage?"
"With a large military presence, I doubt they would've lasted." Unn shook his head. "Doesn't fit with the facts and story either. By the way this looks, the guards were in a rush to help."
"Help what?"
"The building is under lockdown." Unn shrugged.
"Dye to all patrols," Their Sergeant's voice came over the commlink. "Return to the front door. We are ready to breach."
Dye was watching Acer pack up his gear. A minute after Dye recalled his men, they arrived, ready for duty.
"Report." Dye ordered.
Unn stepped forward. "Sir, the complex is clear." He explained. "As clear as the rest of the city was. Although," he added, "We found evidence that security had been called and the building was in lockdown."
Dye nodded and turned to the others.
"I think I can speak for us all sir," Jinx spoke, "The lockdown explains why the entrances were sealed."
Dye turned to Acer. "Can you get the lockdown disabled?"
"If you can get me to the Command Center, I can disable it." Acer promised. He paused, then turned to Dye. "I can only open this door for twenty-three seconds. The encryption will rewrite itself and close it again."
Dye thought for a few moments. They needed to find out what happened. They might find their answer inside. It was worth a look.
"Alright, we're going inside," Dye informed. "We'll get you into the Command Center, Acer. Everyone form up to breach. Snap on your floodlights."
Everyone snapped on their flashlight attachment to their DC-15S blaster and got into a breach position, clinging to the sides of the entrance. Acer signalled with his hands. Three, two, one,-
"Breach!" Acer yelled and tapped a command on his data pad.
The door slid open with a fast hiss. Dye was first in, shining his light everywhere, searching for enemy targets. Soon, everyone followed. After twenty-three seconds, like Acer said, the doors clamped closed with a magnetic chunk.