Scene 1
With a hold full of rather hostile prisoners, a very pissed off crime lord in the form of Karen Wulagu, an away team waving away a smoke cloud and hoping they didn't just kill their target, and well, Greg; the Scroungers are in it deep. It remains to be seen if they can get themselves out of this one.
As the smoke from the grenade clears, Sylvie moves up beside one of the men. She pulls off his riot shield, figuring it might come in handy, then after a moment, grabs his gun as well. She's about to stand up and move on, when she thinks to check his face and see if he matches their description of Samil. Perhaps we should have thought of that before we threw the grenade...
Behind the mask, the guy is pasty as they come. Not Samil. Sylvie drops him back to the deck, silently thanking him for her new equipment. Then she moves on to the next guy, pulling of his mask as well. "Check the faces. Makes sure none of them are Samil. Then we need to get moving. They definitely know we're here now."
Eleanor's lips twitch. "I'm pretty sure they knew we were here when we took a dozen of their crew, too."
"They know we're on this ship now, I mean." Sylvie says. She checks all the faces, just to be sure, but none of them match the description. She hefts the shield, holding it in front of her. "I don't think he's here. Let's go."
Seiko addresses Greg over the comms. "Mr. Lee. Can you tell us where on the ship we might find your friend? We don't want him getting caught in the crossfire."
"He'll be in the command center proper, wherever that is," Greg says. "I assume that Wulagu wanted him close when she finalized whatever she's planning for that Jaeger tech. He'll be on a team of other analysts, probably."
"So we'll probably find him and Wulagu together," Sylvie says. She tries to decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. "Two birds, one stone, I suppose. Katie, care to grab one of those shields as well? We need to move quickly."
"Mr. Lee," Seiko says. "I should note if we run into Samil and he sides with Karen, we may use you as leverage. Please take this as an attempt to get him to safety, not a threat on your life."
The crew can almost hear Greg shrug as he responds. "I've already been shot today. Bring it on."
Oh yeah, the drugs kicked in alright, thinks Eleanor.
"Okay, same positions as before, but hey, we'll have shields this time," Sylvie says. "Follow me." She starts back into the slightly smokier hallway.
Eleanor and Katie follow, their new shields at the ready. Eleanor's pistol is out, too, but aimed at the floor. She doesn't want to accidentally maim someone.
The hallway still has low visibility and their ears are all ringing, but the team can still make out voices at the far end of the hall. Panicked voices. A booming voice with a Minnesotan accent pours out of the room ahead. "Barricade the door!"
A muffled thump and scrape sounds behind the door, almost like someone is using a bunch of very expensive, eight-hundred-dollars-a-pop Aeron chairs to prop closed a door. They must truly be desperate, they'll ruin the mesh backs!
"Um," Eleanor says tentatively, "do you think we could break the door down with these shields? Or does one of these guys have a crowbar we could 'borrow'?"
"Try shooting at the doors with the automatics a bit," Seiko says. "Get them scared."
"We could say we're here for the reward. We do have the captain. Think they'd let us in?" Sylvie says sarcastically. She levels her new gun at the door though.
"Wait, these bulkheads look metallic. The bullets could ricochet," Eleanor says.
"You could try it," Miranda says. "But I think she's under the impression that I'm the captain, and because of those floodlights she'd probably be able to tell us apart. She'd probably just kill you for trying."
"Do we have a better plan than shooting ourselves via hard metal door?" Eleanor asks.
"We've got shields, and it's not like we've got many other options," Sylvie says. "You want to do the honors?"
Eleanor winces. "Okay. I can aim for the lock again, I suppose..." She raises her pistol. She shoots, but misses. No luck. But at least the bullet doesn't ricochet back at them—though she doesn't see where it ends up—and she hears some panicked shouts coming from the other side of the door.
"Now might be a good time to try talking them down," Miranda suggests through the comm. She seems to have calmed down considerably, and a bit of the wryness has returned to her voice. "We might even have a few crates that are still unoccupied."
"Right, because taking prisoners has worked so well for us in the past..." Sylvie says.
Katie steps up to the door. "This is Katie Horner, captain of Tranquility. I'm here to collect that reward."
Sylvie's eyes go wide. "I was… mostly joking, Katie," she whispers.
Katie's expression is anything but humorous. "I'm not."
Scene 2
Back on the Tranquility, Seiko is staring at the cases, watching them carefully. One of them starts acting up again, so he moves over and and gives it a good kick. "The safest way to get rid of one of you would be to dump the whole box in the ocean. I recommend your friends consider that."
There's a muffled insult from inside the box, followed by the sounds of a scuffle. Then another thump comes, and the sounds stop. After a moment a quiet voice speaks up. "Sorry, sir."
Seiko steps back, satisfied. "Thank you for your cooperation. I hope we'll all be making it to shore alive."
An unfamiliar Australian voice from behind the door clears its throat. "You don't appear to be on your ship, Ms. Horner. I suspect a trick."
"A trick?" Katie calls. "That wouldn't be very sportin' of me, would it now?"
"And grenades are, eh?" says the Minnesotan. This voice sounds male.
"I never claimed I didn't have one, did I?" Katie says. "Come to think of it, I never claimed I didn't have a few meters of primacord either. Could try to limber that door off with a bit of that, hmm?"
There's muffled deliberation behind the door. Then, a third voice, this one very familiar. Wulagu. "Fine. You've stated your case; you're obviously a woman of business. What do you want?"
"I want you to open that door just a crack," Katie mutters under her breath.
"Ask for Samil?" Sylvie whispers. "If they open the door we might have a shot at them."
Katie glances over at her. "What do I tell her we need him for?"
"We trust him to negotiate for us?" Sylvie suggests. "If we're negotiating, we need a twixt, right? We want him."
Seiko interrupts over comms. "That might get him suspected as a traitor. Be careful."
"You might not want to name drop our target," Miranda adds. "Any chance there's someone else we know in the room?"
"We can tell the truth," Sylvie says. "We captured a prisoner who said he could be trusted. Throw out Greg's name so that he knows we've got him, maybe? He may volunteer to talk with us."
"That will just make it look like Mr. Lee and Samil have turned," Seiko says.
"Well I don't hear you offering any better solutions, Seiko!" Sylvie snaps, louder than she should. Her eyes go wide as she realizes that she used his name aloud. She immediately claps her hand over her mouth, but the damage is done.
Katie raises her voice again toward the door, making her decision. "Let me point out that we've taken both your salvage ships, y'all are bottled up down here, and the PPDC is in the process of rounding up the rest of your friends. 'What I want' is for y'all to fucking surrender. Except Ms. Wulagu. She needn't bother."
After a moment of stunned silence, Miranda chips in over the comm. "Well, I bet she's real eager to open the door now."
Wulagu laughs. "Good. Glad to hear you've acknowledged that I have won. No need to surrender, indeed."
Katie's cell phone buzzes. She checks it, and finds a text from a number she definitely wasn't expecting to see.
Tara: Katie, this is Tara. Remember, from the Sacramento job? I'm in the room. I think I can help you. Are you really looking to hire?
Katie: Absolutely
Tara: Wulagu's not on the ship, she's on a telepresence thing. One of her best lieutenants and one of her beefiest thugs are in here instead. What did you come here for?
Katie: We've taken that already. Now we're trying to preempt any retaliation, but if your boss isn't there that's not going to happen.
Katie: A yacht and some new talent would help, though. You know how well I pay. I'll take anyone who wants to defect.
Tara: Lot of loyalty here. I think I know maybe one other person who you could convince.
Katie:They got a name?
Tara: Pillai. Samil Pillai.
Katie:I thought he might be. Tell him Greg's with us.
"Syl," Katie whispers, "any chance you can get me eyes in there, or mess with their net connection in any way?" Katie whispers.
"I can give it a shot. Any chance you know their wi-fi password?" She asks jokingly. She props her riot shield against the wall and sits down. In one smooth motion, she pulls her laptop out of her backpack and flips it open.
Katie: We could really use the wifi password, Tara
Tara: Leviathan
"The password's 'Leviathan,' Syl," Katie says. "First letter capped."
Sylvie blinks, then quickly types the word in. Much to her surprise, it works. Her laptop connects immediately. She looks up, bewildered. "How did you-" She cuts off as Katie gives her a look that says don't ask.
"So, Karen," Katie calls toward the door. "Sure is brave of you not to surrender when we have you pinned down like this. Must be inspiring to your people to have a boss like that."
Wulagu laughs. "My people are inspired by competence and intelligence, Ms. Horner. Dead crime lords don't pay well."
"I don't know, we could test that theory..." Sylvie mutters darkly, still typing.
There's a groan over the comms from Miranda as she figures it out. "...Dammit, she's not on the ship, is she?" Assuming that Seiko has been listening in and also made the connection, she takes a moment to send him a text.
Miranda: Ok?
Seiko: None of the prisoners have escaped Ms. Cross. please attend to the ship.
Miranda: ...Alright. Just be careful.
She lowers her phone with a sigh. He's worse than I thought. She resolves to check in on him later, but for now she returns her attention to the away party.
"Dead employees don't draw much pay, either," Katie calls back.
"Yes," Wulagu says, sounding amused. "But haven't you heard? I give excellent health benefits. For example, have you considered the health benefits of not smoking?"
At her words, small vents in the side of the corridor open up and a thin white vapor starts emitting from the vents. The three women in the hallway grab for their scuba masks, quickly fitting them into place before the gas can reach them.
"Cut her off!" Katie shouts. "I don't want to hear her voice anymore."
Tara: Oh no. She opened the vents, didn't she? I'm working to open it up but I don't think there's an override. Get out of there NOW.
As the ominous mist fills the hall, it seems the masks are enough to be effective, for none of the three shows signs of being hurt by it. Katie motions the others back anyway. No idea what all is in this vapor.
Sylvie snatches her laptop up with frustration and starts to move away. "I've got nothing, Katie! Her security's too tight. I can get limited access to one computer in there, and that's it!"
"Good thing we have several hours' worth of oxygen left," Eleanor says, the mask muffling the sound of her voice. "We might be stuck here for awhile."
Katie's phone buzzes again, a text from a new number. From the contents, she quickly realizes it's from Samil.
Samil: Are you the ones who called me earlier? What the hell have you done with Gregory?
Katie: He's safe. Hurt, but safe. We offered him protection in exchange for intel, but he wouldn't leave without you.
That's not quite right, but it's romantic.
Samil: Gregory? Offered you intel? Really now.
Samil: He offered you MY intel, didn't he?
Katie: He was worried about you. We were the ones who realized you'd know something useful.
Samil: ...that idiot. Okay, I'm on board.
Samil: I'm sure Tara told you there's no Wulagu on the ship.
Samil: Anything specific you want us to do in here?
Katie: Sit tight. If you can find something to protect you from whatever the gas is, let me know.
She flips back over to the conversation with Tara, checking the new messages there.
Tara: Are you okay? Did you get out?
Tara: You scuba'd here, right? You should be fine if you have your equip.
Katie: We're good for now. Any idea what that gas is?
Tara: It sure isn't laughing gas. I think there's a couple of air cylinders I can grab for me and Samil if you can create a distraction.
Katie leads the strike team all the way back to the entry hallway, where the four downed men still lay. The smoke from the grenade has mostly cleared out, and it's much easier to see now. She points at the bodies. "El, see if any of them dropped anything useful. We need to get that door open."
Eleanor adjusts her nosepiece to be even tighter, kneels by the men at their feet, and carefully pokes around in one's pockets. She pulls out a bundle of flares and tucks them in her bag.
"Katie, any chance your wi-fi password genie can take out whoever's in there, or open the door so we can?" Sylvie asks, still fruitlessly trying to fight through firewalls.
Katie almost responds, but she's interrupted by yet another new text conversation making her phone buzz.
PROMOCODE: THIS IS YOUR DAILY CHICKEN TREAT PROMOTION! Come in now and get $3 off a Mega Meal. Just tell your cashier the code "Ironsides"!
This one is more easily dealt with: she ignores it entirely. She flips over to her rather more important conversation with Tara, ignoring the text promo.
Katie: Scuba is right. I'll let you know when we are coming in.
Tara: Give me about a minute after you stir the pot and before you open the door.
Katie: Any chance you can cut your boss off and make it look like it happened from the outside?
Tara: That's easy.
Tara: Done.
"Hey, is everyone okay in there?" Miranda says, trying not to panic again. Karen might not even be on the boat; if something happens to them while they're trying to protect her…
"We're good. Karen ain't here," Katie says. "Tell Greg we'll have Samil over soon."
"Alright." Miranda stops for a moment. "You're telling me Wulagu left her overdesigned piece of cr- I mean, her expensive and high-tech flagship behind?"
"I don't think she was ever here. She was on a conference call or something." Though she isn't anymore, Katie thinks with a vindictive smile.
Tara: Okay, the brass is getting worried why Wulagu cut off. Do you have an actual plan?
Katie: On our way. We're about to find out if this gas burns.
Tara: Don't think it does. Some kind of paralytic.
Katie waves everyone back again. "Ok, everyone back on deck."
Sylvie finally gives up on breaking through the firewall, closing her laptop and evacuating the murky hallway after Katie. Eleanor follows close behind.
"Hey, try not to scratch the paint up too badly," Miranda says quickly. "I think I've got an idea our captain might like."
"Now toss one of those flares in, El," Katie orders. "I want to make sure we aren't going to blow ourselves to bits if we light one in there. Syl, keep on it. Miri, if you are thinking what I think you're thinking..."
Sylvie sits down again on the deck with a huff, pulling out the computer once more. "It's not going to do any good…"
Eleanor lights a flare with her waterproof lighter and tosses it into the hallway. "I hope I didn't just set the ship on fire..."
Gas is still billowing out of the entrance. The flare lands on the ground and sputters a bit. It seems the gas is not flammable after all.
Katie looks to her two crewmembers. "Anyone know how to melt a hole in a metal door with an aeronautical flare?"
"We might have better luck trying to go around the door," Eleanor says. "Can we go belowdecks and try to get through the wooden floor?"
"Find a way to focus the flame," Miranda says off-handedly. "The hotter it burns, the quicker you'll cut through. Also, try not to get hit with anything. Molten metal is not a fun thing to get on your hands."
Katie: Tara, is there another way in there?
Tara: Not that I know of.
Tara: Are you trying to get in?
Katie: We've got a way, it just isn't fast.
"What about the gas? Is it dissipating at all?" Eleanor asks.
Miranda's voice sounds almost annoyed over the comms. "Are any of you going to try breaking through that door, or am I going to have to come over there and do it myself?"
Katie puts a hand out toward Eleanor for the flares and lighter. "I"ve got it."
"Make sure that anyone with anything flammable is standing back from the door," Eleanor says, passing them over. She and Katie begin walking back for the locked door, leaving Sylvie typing away on the deck still. "By the way, will they be able to breathe in there?"
Katie pulls out her phone once more, shooting a warning text to both Samil and Tara, then kneels down beside the door.
Katie: Coming in, both of you
Tara: Got it.
Samil:Fine.
Katie motions Eleanor to be ready with another flare, then begins to melt through. The doors are hardened steel, and don't melt at all. However, they do start glowing a fair bit. A thick black smoke starts seeping under the door. A fire alarm sounds, and the room behind the doors bursts into frenzied screaming, chaotic rustling, and a lot of scraping sounds.
"Stop!" Eleanor shouts.
Katie pulls the flare away quickly, yanking her phone out again.
Katie: Shit. Things ok in there?
Sylvie snaps her laptop closed as the alarms go off, slinging it into her bag. "What's happening?" she asks before she realizes that she's now alone out on the deck.
As things start to sound like they're going wrong on the other end, Miranda stumbles out of her corner, staying low but getting closer to the helm. "What's wrong?"
A six foot eight inch tall man who looks like he's made of solid muscle throws the door open and spies Katie standing in front of it. He glares at her, takes a deep breath, and pulls his fist back for a punch.
And then collapses bonelessly to the ground.
Sylvie rushes into the hallway just in time to see the man succumb to the deadly influence of the gas. "The door's open?!"
A HALON system has kicked in inside the room, stifling the flames from the extremely comfortable and expensive Aeron chairs that once served as a barricade. But the paralytic also pours into the room. Within seconds, the only souls left standing are a lanky South Asian man with a shaved head and a short, freckly blonde woman, looking slightly sheepish and sharing an air cylinder.
Eleanor moves forward, starting to shove some chairs aside to clear the doorway. Katie leans down to help. "I suppose we should get these two out of the gas too," Katie says. "Mr. Watanabe, I've got you a few more prisoners."
Seiko however, is not listening to Katie. Something far more ominous has captured his attention: His phone is ringing. He looks down at the caller, but the number is unlisted. He switches his comm off and picks the phone up. The voice that answers makes his blood run cold.
"Mister Watanabe. I don't quite know what involvement you have had in this escapade, but I will not forget it. I will be taking measures to ensure compliance. Not soon, but eventually. I know how good of a defensive network you can erect in the short term, but keeping it up for longer would be, as I know, a tax on your resources. This is neither a deal nor an offer; just a threat.
"Oh, and tell your friends that I don't let my toys get taken away from me very easily. Wulagu out."
The call goes dead. Seiko stares blankly for a moment, trying to take in what he's just heard. Then he breaks the phone in half, and throws both pieces as far off the ship as he can before finally turning his comm back on.
During Seiko's unexplained radio silence, Miranda answers for him. "Excellent. Captain, did you happen to come across the bridge in your search for Samil?"
"I think we may be in it now..." Sylvie says, walking into the room and looking at the array of computers. Her eyes are already going starry at all the devices.
"I've been thinking," Miranda starts, shifting to a more comfortable position while still staying behind cover. "Wulagu was kind enough to leave us her ship, and it looks like it's got several goodies stashed away in it, like that nerve gas. It would be a shame to let such a valuable gift go to waste." She pauses for effect. "Plus I would love to see the look on Karen's stupid face when we use her own ship to take her down."
Seiko finally answers. "No."
"Seiko?" Miranda asks. There's something strange about his tone that worries her.
"That is a very bad plan Ms. Cross."
"Hey," Tara says, passing the mask over to Samil. "Do you hear gurgling?"
"Uh-oh," Eleanor says.
"Everyone off!" Katie yells. "Samil, Tara, we'll pick you out of the water."
Sylvie isn't listening anymore. She's already found the most important looking console in the room and is trying to access whatever she can.
Katie notices her as Samil and Tara run for the hall. "Mansen! You can play with your toys once we know she isn't about to explode." Eleanor starts to follow the two ex-syndicate workers, but pauses when she sees Sylvie isn't following.
"Katie, I think I've got something here..." Sylvie says, grinning around her oxygen piece. "I'm loading it over onto my laptop but I'm pretty sure I can get more. I've got access to her whole system from here..."
A thin sheet of water has started to cover the floor of the room, flowing steadily around their feet.
"Leave it!" Katie orders. "The ship's taking on water."
"Just give me a moment..." Sylvie mumbles. Her voice is absent, she's barely even listening. "There's so much data here. We could ruin her if I can grab a copy of this..."
Overhearing the conversation, Miranda chances a look out the windows. The scene outside is not a pretty sight. "Cadet Mansen," she snaps. "You have to leave NOW. I'm all for getting extra data, but literally EVERY Wulagu ship just turned this way. I've dragged your ass out of danger at great personal risk once before, and I DON'T want to have to do it again. Now get moving!"
The words shake Sylvie out of her thoughts. "Wait..." she says, bewildered. "You what? When did you..."
"We gotta go!" Eleanor yells, grabbing Sylvie by the upper arm and trying to haul her up.
The panic in Eleanor's eyes is what finally snaps Sylvie back to the moment. Realizing the danger they're in, Sylvie starts running for the outside, doing up the seals on her backpack as they reach the deck.
Miranda has pulled the ship as close to the Bunyip as she can. Unfortunately their deck has dropped several feet below that of the Tranquility's. Looking around quickly, she pulls a rope ladder out of one of the deck storage units and tosses it over the side. "Come on!"
Samil and Tara are already swimming across, making for the ladder. Eleanor stands next to the two new crewmembers. "Our ship's not far. Jump," she says, and then does so.
Trying to pretend she's in some action movie, Sylvie leaps over the side with the other two, praying the seals on her backpack hold. The Wulagu syndicate ships are steaming at full speed toward the Tranquility and the rapidly sinking prow of the Bunyip.
The three women clamber aboard, dripping water from their wetsuits beside the drenched Samil and Tara onto the Tranquility's deck. Despite the warmth of the February weather, a sudden wind across the deck causes the group to shiver.
Then, suddenly, from the shore: A giant humanoid figure, floating through the air against the nighttime glow. Beams of light cut through the darkness from the eight Chinook helicopters towing it towards the battle.
"Shit!" Miranda limps back towards the bridge. Ducking behind the helm, she fumbles with the keys and fires up the Tranquility's engines.
From behind them, a loudspeaker crackles on one of the PPDC ships, broadcasting a very loud, and very angry sounding female voice.
"This is Marshall Rachel Zhu of the Sydney Shatterdome. This battle ends now. Now, I have one question. Who are you people?!"