|
|
Post by togger on Jun 16, 2010 18:55:13 GMT -5
Jonea knew something was wrong from the moment she heard a slight pop in her ear, as if something had gotten disconnected or severed. She had not yet responded to Will's comments; she was saving her abuse for when the ship got closer. Then she would have her fun. Some of the hostages were whimpering, causing Jonea to shout:
"Quiet! I don't need any of th.." That's when Annabelle fell on her. She was stunned for a moment, but quickly tried to roll out from under the woman's grip...then she felt the barrel pressed to her head.
"Why don't you do it? It'll be easier for all of us."
"Actually, no. I need you to tell me where the back up power generator is." Will looked down at Jonea, then back to Annabelle, asking:
"Why did it take you this long? And why haven't you cut the hostages free yet? Get me loose so I can do your job, Ms. Tactical." His way of thanking her.
|
|
|
|
Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 16, 2010 18:59:36 GMT -5
Anna rolled her eyes, keeping her gun dug into the woman's head, as she reached across to undo Will's bindings. "I only have so many hands you know." If she'd moved to sort out the hostages straight away, the leader would have shot her.
Handing her gun to Will so he could deal with the leader, she moved around, setting all of the hostages free, telling them to head back to the main ballroom to wait with the others, before turning back to Will. "Okay, what do we do now?"
|
|
|
|
Post by togger on Jun 16, 2010 19:09:21 GMT -5
Will took the gun willingly, pointing at Jonea's head, the terrorist leader spitting out over the intercom:
"Get your butts in here! They have me pinned down!" Will's eyes widened, looking at the hostages who were now free and ready to head out the door.
"Annabelle! Lock the door! Don't let them leave!" Jonea took the momentary confusion to grab Will's arm and throw him to the ground, the terrorist grabbing the gun and pointing it at Annabelle.
"Looks like we have a reversal of situations."
"Not really." Will took hold of Jonea's right ankle and twisted it, an audible and sharp CRACK resounding in the small space. Jonea howled in pain as Will took the other ankle and did the same.
"Learned a few things from my days as an orphan. Gotta know these things, darling." He looked over at Annabelle, asking:
"You got that door locked? Come on and help me up." Another bolt of pain darted across his leg.
"And where's the rest of the crew when you need them?"
The dignitaries and civilians could now see glimpses of the planetary surface.
They didn't have much time.
The ship's co-pilot was antsy. Very antsy. They needed to do something, fast. He knew where the back up generators were, but he would need the crowd's support...and a lot of luck.
"Hey, listen up..."
|
|
|
|
Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 16, 2010 19:18:26 GMT -5
Annabelle froze when the gun pointed at her, but didn't even wince when she heard the woman's ankles snap. That would teach her to mess with them. Annabelle rushed over to the control panel, her hands moving like the wind, typing the command to close the doors.
The hostages looked confused, after all, Anna had just told them to go, but certain death awaited them out there, whereas in here, they stood a chance of living.
Hoisting Will up, she supported him by keeping an arm around his waist, biting down hard on her lip to ignore the screaming pain in her arm. "I have no idea," she said, "fat lot of good they are." She growled slightly, annoyed. She had to try and keep her cool, otherwise the situation would get the better of her, and they needed to get something done fast.
"Where are the back up generators?" she asked generally. They needed to get there now. There were only minutes left before the ship crashed into the surface.
|
|
|
|
Post by togger on Jun 16, 2010 19:26:53 GMT -5
One of the hostages, a crew member, came forward a bit nervously and said:
"The..ah..the back up generators are down on the lower levels. They might not be in ser.."
"They will be in service. These idiots wouldn't be so stupid that they would blow up their escape route." Shouts were audible from the outside...then a few thumps...silence. The room went dead quiet as the door, which had been locked, opened from the outside, revealing...
"I'm the co-pilot. I need to get you people off of the ship before it crashes. We have escape pods on the lower levels! Lets get moving!" Apparently, the co-pilot had been able to rustle up enough support on the main deck to attack the rest of the terrorist goons, which turned out to be a small number. Just heavily armed idiots. Will turned back to look at Jonea, who was trying to make her way to the door.
"Sorry dear. You won't be catching this ride." He looked to Anna, saying:
"Come on, I've got an idea."
|
|
|
|
Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 16, 2010 19:33:35 GMT -5
Anna was glad someone else had finally had some initiative and taken control. With the terrorists immobilised, it would make their job a whole lot easier.
Everyone began to move towards the escape pods, and Anna looked at Will, "we need to get the back up generators up before the escape pods can launch." She didn't know whether she was just stating the obvious there, but she felt the need to say it anyway.
She'd do as she was told for now. Time was of the essence, so many lives depended on them. "Just point and I'll go whichever way you want me to," she said, "you're the boss." She'd be able to help, but he was the one who knew what to do.
|
|
|
|
Post by togger on Jun 16, 2010 19:38:38 GMT -5
Will knew where the back up generators were because of their close proximity to the hangar where they had docked...speaking of which, he hoped the Venia was doing alright in that hangar, because the explosion was pretty powerful. He mentally reminded himself to do a check on the AI systems more thoroughly when they got on board. For now...he looked past the crowd and said:
"Down those stairs to the left. All the way at the end of the hall, last door to the right. We need to make sure that the flux capacitors are online, make sure that..."
Techno gibberish to most...but to Will, a complex and beautiful language.
|
|
|
|
Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 16, 2010 19:45:34 GMT -5
As soon as Will gave the first instructions, Annabelle began to move, making sure to keep Will off his injured leg whilst listening to all of the instructions. She'd always been good at listening to instructions and following them (as long as they were something she wanted to do, of course).
"Right," she said once they had got there. She left Will at the main control console before running around, hacking passwords and making sure that all the necessary components were switched on before Will could do his thing. She could hear a proximity alarm going off. It was counting down five minutes until they hit the surface.
"All right," she said, tapping furiously at the last screen, "we... are... a... go!"
She whipped her head round, watching to see Will sort out the final things. She very rarely prayed, but right now, she desperately hoped this would work. "Come on," she whispered to herself.
|
|
|
|
Post by togger on Jun 17, 2010 11:27:04 GMT -5
Will could hear a few shouts coming from the end of the hall. Apparently, they had figured out that the escape pods weren't working. And they were on course to crash in just a few short minutes. Just. Wonderful.
He quickly began typing, symbols and numbers appearing on the screen at a lightning fast pace. As he continued to type(and mutter about how stupidly the programming was constructed), he heard Annabelle say that things were solid on her end. It paid to have someone who had brains in this kind of a situation...other than himself of course.
"One last adjustment..." The system beeped loudly...and nothing happened.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me."
As if the engines responded to his accosting, they began to start up, albeit slowly.
"Anna, we need someone to get upstairs to activate the auto pilot. We may have power, but we need someone to guide this thing."
|
|
|
|
Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 17, 2010 11:44:37 GMT -5
Anna's heart skipped a beat when she thought they had failed, but then the engines started and for a moment she felt relieved. That was until she realised they had another problem. Everyone else could escape, but as long as they didn't have the autopilot set, they would still die. That wasn't going to happen.
She was going to get on the comms and ask someone to do it when she heard the escape pods deploying. They were all gone. "Crap," she muttered, shaking her head. "Stay here, and stay on the comms, I might need your help." There was no way she'd make it back up there in time dragging him with her, even if they tried to run.
She set off, sprinting as fast as she could, taking as many short cuts as she could in order to get to the main control room. Skidding to a halt in front of the pilot's console, she tapped it to make it light up, and her eyes went wide as she looked at the screen. She'd never seen anything like this before. "Jeez," she said, her comms on so Will could hear her, "this might as well be written in Dutch." The countdown was now into the last minute. She began opening commands, looking for autopilot control. "Will? Help?"
|
|
|
|
Post by togger on Jun 17, 2010 15:41:18 GMT -5
Only two left on the ship...and it was riding on his shoulders to get them out of a lava pit. Always wanted to do this.
"Ok, type in this set of numbers." He listed five three digit numbers, then followed it with:
"After those are typed in, hit the beta key, followed by the words Execute Program Engage. That should be it." Oh he hoped she would be able to get all that. If they didn't make it out of this alive, it would be a horrible way to die. Alone on a broken cruise ship that sank in lava.
|
|
|
|
Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 17, 2010 15:50:14 GMT -5
Dragging up the number keys, she did as she was told, punching the buttons as furiously as she could before hitting executre. There was a couple of moments where there was total silence, then the ship pulled up, throwing Anna against the console, making its way back into orbit. Anna breathed for a second or two, then let out and relieved cry, "we did it!" she said, burying her head in her hands. That was too damn close.
She sent a message out to the escape pods, recalling them back to the ship before heading back to where she'd left Will. Taking it at a jog, she made it back there, looking across at him with a sort of indescribable look on her face. "Hey." All she wanted to do was collapse, and she had a feeling she was about to.
|
|
|
|
Post by togger on Jun 17, 2010 16:38:21 GMT -5
Will could feel the ship jolt, then the auto pilot take over, causing the ship to ascend back into orbit. This rise of force put Will off balance, throwing him to the ground as the ship rose out of the planet's sky and into the deep void of space. He looked up at the ceiling, smiling a little as he realized what he had just done. Would she be proud of him? He sure was proud of himself. Being able to guide Annabelle, who didn't have a complete working knowledge of ships, into putting the ship into auto pilot was, to himself anyway, a big accomplishment. Of course, what else could he expect? He was a natural born leader.
A leader who had a large, gaping hole in his right leg.
Speaking of which, he wondered how Jonea was doing...
"Hey"
He heard Annabelle greet him, Will sitting up with a grimace, looking at her and saying:
"See what happens when you listen to me? Things get done around here." She did look exhausted, which prompted Will to actually have a momentary concern...for someone other than himself. Her dress was torn, her hair a mess, her posture horrible.
But boy did she look good with that dress torn.
|
|
|
|
Post by ~ ADMIN on Jun 17, 2010 16:47:20 GMT -5
"Right now, I'd probably agree to anything," she said, not entirely realising exactly what the connotations were of her statement. She went and flopped down beside him, running a hand through her hair, "next time I say I want a night of no work, slap me." Next time she'd be saying that she wanted a night of punishing torture, and maybe she would actually get the chance for a relaxing evening.
Unable to stop herself, she leant her head on his shoulder, "seems we make a decent team," she said, not wanting to sound too egotistical. Saving 100's of lives, no biggie.
Even though he was now dishevelled and bleeding, he still looked great. How did he do that?
|
|
|
|
Post by togger on Jun 17, 2010 17:02:37 GMT -5
"Team members need to be able to save their partners faster than that. I got a hole blown in my leg." As Will said this, his right hand had taken her left, squeezing it slightly as he continued:
"We need to make sure everyone got back on the ship safely." He could hear the slight hissing sound that accompanied an escape pod docking. Then another hiss...boy those things were loud.
"Never mind then." He gritted his teeth as another flash of pain shot through his leg. He turned his head to face hers as he said:
"Also, get me a doctor. And while you're at it, wear that dress the rest of the night. I like it that way."
|
|
