river_meimei | (no subject)

Moon Base Station is, apart from certain restricted-access sectors, built for tourism. Some tourists, like Duo, are just killing time during a layover; others come here, to the cheap hotels or the expensive ones with a real-time video view of Earth, to spend their whole vacation within the base's walls.

There's a casino area somewhere not too far away, but River and Duo have opted for one of the more family-friendly bits instead. It's a shopping area, full of glittering storefronts and small food-court nooks, with an intricately tiled floor and fountains every few dozen meters. Tiny potted trees show off the station's opulence -- this is space, after all, where trees are hard to come by.

River's already found herself cotton candy somewhere.

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From:

river_meimei

River hits the deck an instant before Duo -- being psychic is very handy sometimes -- but doesn't manage quite as good cover. Her roll takes her behind a single crate, big enough to hide her only while she's crouching.

"Her," she says sharply, though Duo may or may not be able to hear over the noise everybody else is making. "Got bondsmen."

She leans out just far enough for an instant's glimpse, retreats, and twists into a different crouch that allows her to snap one arm up long enough to throw one of the objects she scooped up on the hallway.

There is now a leafy green bok choy hurtling straight for the white-gowned lady's head. Think fast, madam!

From:

maxwellsdemon02

Duo spares River a dubious look. Seriously?

But something flying at your head is something flying at your head. And the woman ducks back to avoid the flying vegetable before she notices exactly what it is.

This gives Duo the chance to lay down some covering fire.

From:

river_meimei

River doesn't bother to give Duo a smug look in return, but there might be the ghost of one on her face for a second anyway. Worked, didn't it?

Also, ooh, somebody dropped a gun. River takes the chance to dart out and grab it.

Back behind the crate, she ejects the clip long enough to check how full it is -- three-quarters or so, fortunately -- and slap it back into place. Now random scavenged projectiles aren't her only distance weapon.

From:

maxwellsdemon02

With two guns against them, and not wanting to stick around anyway, the smugglers make a slow retreat towards the air lock.

Duo assumes they must have a shuttle on the other side, and the bay must be pressurized, because none of them are wearing suits.

"Let 'em go!" he says to River, finally catching up to her. "Take who we can here, then we'll get them in the shuttle. They can't do a cold-take off that fast."

From:

river_meimei

"No alarm clock," River says, which (to judge by the intent look on her face) is probably comprehension. "Okay."

The majority of the group have made it to the air lock by now, but not all. There's a good handful of wounded (and occasionally unconscious) people scattered around the floor, and a few more limping towards the shuttle more slowly than the rest. This isn't a group that necessarily helps each other, it seems -- not all that surprising, since it's really the remnants of three or four mistrustful groups.

Wounded does not necessarily mean unable to fire. All the same, it's time to judiciously begin the process of restraining them with more zip ties.

Even if it slows down their pursuit of the others, it's better than leaving wounded, angry, and armed enemies at their backs.

From:

maxwellsdemon02

After wrestling a few more guns out of the hands of angry men and women, Duo and River advance to the (now open) airlock doors. Once again, they have to be wary of any resistance.

"Wasn't that last guy wearing a snake around his neck at the meeting?" Duo says to her in an undertone. "So, where'd it go?"

From:

river_meimei

River tosses him a quick grin. "It's warm between the rooms. He's very happy."

From:

maxwellsdemon02

Duo's eyes get wide. "Oh shit, the vents?"

He looks torn for a moment, before his face sets into an expression that clearly states 'Not My Problem'. Snakes are illegal to import without specific licenses, along with many other small animals, for that exact reason: they get into the works. But he has bigger fish to fry, and at least snakes don't chew on wires.

"Come on." The first set of doors is open, and they move through, into the small, airtight room. Just as Duo palms the controls to open the other door, there's motion behind them. Someone is opening the door to the maintenance bay.

From:

river_meimei

River spins, putting her back to the wall so she can lay down covering fire through the airlock's closing door. Beside her, reacting in the same instant, Duo is doing the same.

The rest of the criminals who had gotten away before have apparently circled around to this same shuttle bay, and are trying to rejoin their fellows. There are inarticulate shouts along the lines of get 'em!, and bullets flying back towards the airlock. The four-way doors are sliding rapidly shut, though, so most of the shots go wide or ricochet off.

...And then one hits the control panel in a spray of sparks, just barely visible before the doors slam shut. The opening doors to the shuttle bay behind them jerk and stutter to a halt, half-open.

From:

maxwellsdemon02

...well, at least they aren't stuck inside the airlock, Duo thinks as he puts a shoulder to one of the doors and shoves it open. He holds it for River to dodge through before following.

The last of the stragglers are running for the shuttle. On craft like this one, you can't do much in the way of preparation for launch except strap yourself in, until the hatch doors are shut. It's got so many safety features it almost drives itself. The station probably didn't want to pay extra for skilled pilots.

...of course, you can always shut the hatch door early. The last man lagging behind starts cursing his compatriots as it closes.

From:

river_meimei

River's head snaps up, and she shoots a betrayed look at the shuttlecraft. Closing him out in the shuttle bay?

(Not that the smugglers have any cause to know that the small airlock is broken. As far as they know, he can escape into the welcoming arms of the arresting authorities, and incriminate his own boss instead of them. But it's the principle of the thing.)

Also: this means that they have no chance to take over the shuttle, either.

From:

maxwellsdemon02

Yeah, that guy doesn't seem so fond of the idea either, as he kicks at the door and then pounds in it with his fists. Duo holsters his gun. Are they really going to take off?

The sublight engines kick on, and the man stumbles back with a curse. They really are. "Get out of there, you moron! We've got to get back to the airlock now!"

From:

river_meimei

It's starting to get hot in here already -- which won't last long, because the engine will only cycle up for another minute or so before the air gets evacuated. After that, the hull doors will open onto vacuum.

"Gotta go," River mutters.

Louder, as she whirls towards the larger cargo airlock, "Time to go! It's a deadline to asphyxiation."

From:

maxwellsdemon02

"Come on!" Duo yells to him once more, before turning and joining River in a dead sprint. The person sized airlock is well and truly broken, door still half open on one side, and jammed into the wall on the other.

The other doors are locked.

"Shit."

From:

river_meimei

"I don't know the code," River says urgently.

If probably unnecessarily.

From:

maxwellsdemon02

"Hey!" Duo yells to the last smuggler who has finally given up on the shuttle and is heading their way. "Do you have this code? This door is locked!" At the frantic headshake, Duo curses again and pulls out his codepicker once more.

"God damn poorly planned operations! If I was a fucking smuggler..." He trails off to concentrate, trying to ignore the hot wash from the engines whipping around them.

From:

river_meimei

"Contingencies are a benefit," River agrees absently.

She's keeping an eye on the rapidly approaching smuggler.

From:

maxwellsdemon02

The pick is still flickering through possible lock frequencies when the alarm starts blaring.

"UNSECURED AIRLOCKS." A robotic sounding voice blares from the speakers. "DO NOT ACTIVATE EXTERIOR HULL DOORS."

"Come on, come on," Duo says.

From:

river_meimei

"It's very impolite," River informs the back of the shuttle. "Vacuum is not adequate for your host duties."

The smuggler (one Ulrich Browning, tall and skinny and limping from a bullet graze along the calf) stares at her. River levels her gun at him, without changing her mildly disdainful expression.

"No bright ideas," she says. "They aren't."

From:

maxwellsdemon02

He raises his hands and looks about to protest. Except that's when a hum of machinery starts, coming from behind the vents.

"They're cycling the air out," Duo says, grim faced. "Everyone take deep breaths. Gotta oxygenate yourself as much as possible."

'Nice friends you've got,' he doesn't say.

From:

river_meimei

Ulrich's clearly thinking much the same thing, given the shade of red his face is going. "Hey, man -- look, I got nothing to do with those bastards. They're hanging me out here too. I'll come quiet, okay?"

He is, at least, gulping down deep breaths in between every few words.

"Time to go," River says softly to the wall. She's obeying Duo, deep breaths to flood her system as much as possible while there's enough air to do it.

Click goes something inside the codebreaker, and with a low rumble of machinery the doors begin sliding into recesses in the floor and ceiling.

From:

maxwellsdemon02

Duo doesn't breathe a sigh of relief, not yet. "If they blow the doors, whatever you do, don't hold your breath."

Ulrich stares at him. "What are you talking about, man? You gotta-"

"Fine! Do what you want, but have you had any decompression training? Just get in!" Duo clambers over the sinking door, extending a hand to River.

From:

river_meimei

Duo's chivalry is unnecessary! River accepts it anyway.

"You'll burst your lungs," she says helpfully, as she slips into the airlock.

The doors are still parting, recessing gradually into the walls. The control box on the wall says DOORS OPENING: 55%.

From:

maxwellsdemon02

Duo is in front of the panel immediately, trying to shut the door. Moments later, he pounds on the wall in frustration. "It's got a safety override!" he says over the rising noise of the air pump and the shuttle engine. "We can't shut the door until it's all the way open!"

There are probably EVA suits in the maintenance bay. If the lack of oxygen doesn't kill him, the irony might.

From:

river_meimei

"Reciprocity. Override the help."

River's at his side, half a step back and staring intently at the controls. But this isn't her world or her technology, and this kind of machinery wouldn't be her specialty even if it were. There's not really a lot she can do.