Topic: Ch 3 : The Hunt is On [ Day 1

Topic: Ch 3 : The Hunt is On [ Day 1 | 1530+]

February 01, 2025, 07:49:34 PM

[Kelistina Kavat Droga | Hallway | Deck 04 | Vector 01 | “Helmet”]
ATTN: @Ellen Fitz @Brutus @Stegro88 @Dumedion @P.C. Haring @JacenSoloDjo @Juzzie @GroundPetrel @Nesota Kynnovan

Lights started flashing in the corridor and Kelistina ducked even lower than before. The weapon in her hand felt odd and she wasn’t sure she even knew how to use it. She kept herself hovering over the body that lay before her. She knew she couldn’t stay where she was but she wasn’t sure where she should be going. She stood up and moved to stand by the wall. She turned to her companion and pointed down the corridor, “We find more hurt?”

It wasn’t exactly what she really wanted to do, but if someone else was down here and was hurt she would forever feel guilty for at least not trying to help. She inched her way along the wall of the corridor trying to see what was ahead. She could hear something further along the corridor. She held the borrowed weapon in her hand, not at all certain she could even use it, but it was at least better than nothing.

Kelistina prayed to the gods of her ancestors and the spirits of her people for strength and wisdom. She was not a hunter, but that did not stop her from trying to protect the ones that saved her and let her stay on their ship.

She took a deep breathtaking a decision before looking at Ja-ya, “You call help. Arrive soon. Come, we find hurt, or we find evil ones.”

Re: Topic: Ch 3 : The Hunt is On [ Day 1 | 1530+]

Reply #1 – February 24, 2025, 12:20:23 AM

[Ensign Jaya Thorne | Hallway | Deck 04 | Vector 01]
[OOC: Tag: @Eirual @Brutus]

Ensign Jaya Thorne was not the kind of person who was easy to scare but, in this particular case, the Assistant Chief CONN Officer found it particularly difficult to stay calm. As her brown eyes scanned the dark hallway, which was periodically illuminated by the flickering lights just enough to mess up her night vision, the Denevan knew that they were at an incredible disadvantage; whoever (or whatever) was out there in the hallway was likely aware of their presence and had not only the defensive advantage but also the choice of when to engage them. Those were only the advantages Jaya could think of at that moment and only one glance at the deceased Lieutenant Commander Kai Akoni, whom had been a trained and highly decorated Security Officer, was enough to convince her that their enemy had plenty of other tricks which she couldn’t even think of. Every instinct Jaya possessed screamed at her to run, that she couldn’t possibly hope to succeed where the burly Chief Security Officer had failed, but she knew she couldn’t.

All it took was one look at Kelistina to realize that running away would mean abandoning the Zaroodian to her fate, and the only outcome would be that the red-skinned woman would get killed by whoever was out there. Jaya listened to the words of the woman and took a couple of deep breaths to regain her composure before nodding. If they were to stick together, at the very least they would be able to watch each other’s backs and stand a fighting chance. ”I already triggered the intruder alarm, so Security is en-route.” As she spoke, she lowered her voice to a mere whisper so only Kelistina would be able to hear it. ”Let’s go, we might find other people in need of help.”

With those words, Jaya began to sneak forward. While she was scared, the Denevan knew that they would stand a better chance if they were to keep moving; if they would stay near the body of Lieutenant Commander Akoni, they would only make themselves a stationary target and become much more vulnerable in the process. And thus, she slowly began to move, making sure not to make any noise in the process.

It would prove to be a good idea too because, if Jaya had moved at a regular or even slightly faster pace, she might have completely missed the flickering reflection in the corner of her eye. ”Kel!” While her voice was still a whisper, there was an urgency to it when she held up her hand and crouched down near the green blood that had drawn her attention. The blood was still fresh, slowly dripping down the hatch of the Jefferies Tube and reflecting the light of the hallway. ”Look, the blood is still fresh.”

The first thought that crossed the Denevan’s mind was that this could be an ambush, an elaborate attempt to get them to lower their guard, and Jaya’s brown eyes flashed around the dark hallway in a way that must have looked ridiculous and paranoid to Kelistina or any other onlookers. When nothing happened for several seconds however, Jaya took a deep breath to calm herself down and turned her attention to the hatch once more. It was one of the entrances to a vertical Jefferies Tube that ran all the way up to Deck 02 and the Assistant Chief CONN Officer had been about to disregard it and signal for Kelistina to keep moving when the thought struck her.

”Hey Kel…” When she spoke up once more, her voice was just a little louder than a mere whisper as she voiced her thoughts out loud. ”If someone triggers an intruder alert, all nearby Security Officers are sent to the location of the alert, right?” She turned her brown eyes to the other woman in the hopes that her thought process held water. ”Security Officers shift their priorities accordingly and zone in on the threat.” Jaya tried to remember if there was anything of value on the two decks above them. Due to security reasons, the Jefferies Tube didn’t run all the way to Deck 01 so whoever (or whatever) had killed Kai Akoni couldn’t be headed for the Main Bridge, and the only things of real value on the decks above was the Primary Computer Core.

And at that moment, Jaya realized. ”Kel!” As Jaya’s brown eyes widened out of sheer shock, she gestured towards the Jefferies Tube and spoke up on a normal volume; now knowing that the enemy wasn’t waiting to ambush them. ”It’s Thea. They are going after the Positronic AI Brain Core.” While speaking, Jaya stood up and began to insert her command codes into the access panel of the Jefferies Tube. It took her a while to open it, given how her own intruder alert had locked out the entrances to the Jefferies Tubes so any potential intruder wouldn’t be able to escape, and in the meantime she tried to convince Kelistina of her logic. ”Think about it, if they destroy the Positronic AI Brain Core, they’ll kill Thea and cripple the entire ship in the process. With Security scrambling to our location, the Core itself is vulnerable!”