Experimental multi-writer storyline: The Nano Odysey

[Stonyman]

The cryochamber's cover slid off with a hiss of air and various other chemicals, through the heady mix Mack saw Badpacket drop like a stone to the floor, his body covered in blood. Calling upon all the strength he could so soon after waking he lept from the chamber, his muscles straining every step. He reached Badpacket just before his tortured leg muscles gave way.

"Ya know Packet, onea these days someone's actually gonna listen ta me." He muttered quietly to himself as he turned his head towards Kotts' Chamber.

"Hey sleepin' beauty, we got a man down here and this room's lookin' like it's gonna burst at any minute. Don't rush, but we really need ta get outta here soon." He shouted, his voice horse.  His vision danced, light coloured spots coming and going in front of his eyes as he looked at the forth chamber in the room, though judging once he saw the disfigured hand that lie hanging out of the chamber he thought twice about trying to help the person inside, judging by the smell he/she was already dead. He reached for the comm-link on his arm before remembering his armour was sat in a storage locker two decks up.

"I know i should have had Felina tail us in the talon, feth." He muttered as he dragged Packet into the corridor and half walked, half crawled towards Kotts.

[Xeenah]

(( more!  more!  *gleeeee* ))

[Absyn]

Jen turned and smiled at her as Luci appeared in the doorway of Operations.  The diffuse lighting cast upon the room by dozens of glowing strips gave it a bleached appearance and made the monitors in the place stand out in their multicoloured schematics and satellite imagery.  'Hello, Jen!', the mage exclaimed, and she gestured with a cheery wave as she moved next to the redhead at an adjacent display.  'Are you want a scone?'  She pulled a crumpled bag from a coat pocket and plopped it on the desk before reaching in to snatch one for herself.

Luci jammed the curranted bread in her mouth and held it there while she slid out of her overcoat and hung it on a rack, brushing down the velvety fabric reverently to rid it of a few crumbs.  She returned to the display and sat on the stool munching happily. 'The boys are to will do a wonderfully job I think!  They will.  Be just fine.'  Luci managed around the scone, reading the apprehension on her boss's face.  'Now just watch to this!  It is.  Something I prepared of a little earlier!'

She giggled and tapped at controls, handling them like a musician playing a musical instrument.  The screen in front of her displayed only a blank area of desert sand.    Cyan overlay boxes began popping up framing what looked like buildings with a stylistic copy of their perimeter, and snippets of data crowded around each polygon.  What the blue boxes were sketching on the sand was a map of a sizeable Omni-Tek outpost, camouflaged by a cloak.  All of a sudden she reached a pause in the bollero of fingertapping played on the dials and icons under her hands.  The delay following the crescendo of commands drew an anticipatory intake of breath from both of them.  Jen watched with an interested grin growing from the corners of her lips.  Finally Luci smiled sweetly at the glowing icon that presented her last needed input.  She stabbed at it with a glossy fingernail.  The cyan boxes around the cloaking device and nearby buildings in the image flickered and buzzed out of existence, indicating power to the buildings had been cut off.  In their place emerged entire concrete and plasteel grey buildings, rippling into view like a mirage in a dream.

'Some little devices. We smuggled into the nice Omni encampment.  EMP charges planted just nicely!'  The picture formed fully and all the buildings were now easily identified.  Small dots began scrabbling into motion, the frenzy of ants on the screen darted here and there, prodded by this electrical surprise as their cloaking device shut down completely.  Luci gasped with delight and hopped off her stool to disco dance in the middle of the room.  Through a fit of giggles and retro dance moves she exclaimed, 'That will bring some attention of keep them know that they have some issues to deal with of.  Their own!'

She knew that within minutes, the Kyr'Ozch would be descending on the military installation like a cluster of scorpiods swarming an injured baby bronto.  In a strange way the thought comforted her.  'Looks like that woke them up.  Nice work, Luci.' Jen said.  The nanomage settled down after a moment and returned an appreciative grin.  'I am think the craft will be just about to dock.  With the Morning Star in some minutes, and then they'll lullaby to change to their freighter and lift their way across the stars.  To Beta Orionis.  They'll be just.  Fine.', she repeated, for her benefit as well as Jen's this time.  She imagined what a peaceful trip it must be, to sleep your way across a galaxy and wake up as if only a nanosecond has passed.

[Kotts]

The hiss from the compressed air escaping the chamber echoed off the metallic walls of the ship's room. The mix of cold and warm air steamed up quickly, and the lid to the chamber lifted. There was a sharp rush of cold that stung his body, and his eye shot open. Kotts' slit pupils widened and narrowed again trying to correct the blurry vision, his body refused to move at first. He could hear a voice, but couldn't make out what was being said, Kotts reached out to the blur of pink in front of him like a newborn testing his new found sense of touch. He blinked again, he could make out a face on the blob, the blurry edges slowly sharpened.

"Wake up Sticks, we got fethed!"

He blinked again, his skin prickled, something went wrong. He could make out mack's face, namely the beard, and his voice. he leaned forward, his body feeling as if it was made of metal groaning trying to bend. His head was spinning, the prickle grew, he could feel the blood in his veins moving. The smell hit him, and his gut cramped quickly, and he quickly leaned over the side and threw up. He blinked again hearing the splatter. He landed his hand on Mack's shoulder pulling him self out of the chamber.

"wh- happened? Where's Cain?" Kotts' body shivered again, trying to get used to the sudden wake up and change in temperature.

"He's hurt, and we need to get outta' here."

Kotts followed Mack's glance at Packet's bloodied body. 
"We need to get our gear, we might be under attack." Mack continued, Kotts nodded and stood shakely.
"Kay, let's move. We'll need to find something to patch up Cain too."
Kotts hobbled over to the corridor with Mack, slowly regaining strength. He didn't bother to look back at the fourth chamber, the smell wasn't Cain, Mack, Or himself that only left one possibility left. His mind began to race trying to figure out what could have happened, what went wrong, and who attacked the ship. Kry'Ozch? Omni? Pirates? Then the next question floated into his mind... Where the bleedin' hell are they? They needed their meds, and equipment. No telling what was waiting for them in the next room, or what their motives are.

He looked down at Cain, he was covered in blood, but nothing was spilling out, or gushing. Kotts braced himself on the wall. glancing at the other two. Cold, wet, with nothing protecting them but their underwear.  His body shivered again.

"Damnit..."



((Mack if anything I had Mack do seems out of place hollar at me and I'll use the magic edit button ))

[Stonyman]

"Ok, first things first. We need ta get BP ta whatever passes fa a medical bay on this tub" He said, looking at kotts, "And frankly our equipment wouldn't go amiss, Somehow i doubt we'll be able to do much armed with only our swingin' cods."

He slowly felt life return to his legs as he lifted Badpacket off the floor, slinging Bp's arm over his shoulder.

"Locker room's two levels up, Sticks i hope ya up ta runnin', just in case we've got boarders."

Mack made his way down the corridor, he was on full alert.... he had a bad feeling and no cigar.

(Yea, short and crap, but i really could think of much without knocking Kotts outta the loop)

[Kotts]

"Locker room's two levels up, Sticks i hope ya up ta runnin', just in case we've got boarders."

Kotts Nodded back at Mack, and moved in front to take point. No way would he let Mack and Cain be his meat shield.  The three made their way down a hallway checking doors, they were all locked shut, at least all the ones that had not living bodies still in them. A thin red beam caught Kotts' eye, he pulled his arm wide catching Mack's shoulder and pulled him and Cain around a corner in the hallway. Mack's composer was still calm, but he was defiantly on edge now, same as Kotts. Kotts lift his fingers to his eyes and over his shoulder signing he saw something. Mack nodded once, and grabbed a piece of shrapnel in his free hand. Kotts jabbed his finger into his own chest and then ran his thumb along his neck. Mack narrowed his eyes and shook his head, held up one finger and nodded, then held up two and three and gave a swipe with his hand. Kotts watched not making a sound then nodded back, and put his fingers to his eyes. Mack hesitated then nodded. Kotts checked his NCU. The readout on his HUD was depressing at most. 1273 concealment. He tightened his jaw, and nodded. Nano bots began to spin on the surface of his skin, bending light around him but not by much.

He kept to the shadows cast by the doorways, Checking the map on his HUD, which much to his disgust was not working. He inched closer to the doorway, he could see one laser sight, and a beam of light which he assumed was a headlamp. Human. He closed his eye and listened, it was shuffling around in the cabinets, looking for something. Kotts held up his hand with one finger. Mack nodded and ran his thumb over his neck giving the go ahead. He was edgy, and with good reason. Damn near naked, unarmed and uninsured, and nothing to take the edge off, no booze, no smokes, no music... music... his ear implant. He had a few thing stored in his NCU, maybe it'd be enough to calm him a bit. He tapped his ear. the shuffle started, he could see the light green readout on his HUD scroll.

"You heard it right there, and right here on the LTK Static Array, Gridstream Productions, Rubi-ka's number one source of live audio entertainment..."

He grinned, Tarryk, Perfect. The noise in his ear blared, and his heart raced, it seemed to blur together. he watched the headlamp move to the doorway across the room, and made his move. He grabbed the man's helmet and gave it a sudden jerk left, then right, his neck crackled and popped, he head fell limp, and slumped down on the ground. Kotts looked down at the corpse. Patched armor, and a cheap looking assault rifle. he smelled kind of funny too. a Pirate maybe? He reached and pried the gun from the pirate's fingers. It looks like an out of date BBI model but he wasn't sure. He switched off the laser sight, and checked the ammo. Full clip. He pulled another clip from the dead man's pack, Bit down on the case, and moved back to the door, signaling Mack it was clear. Mack grinned and began to move BP, then stopped and ducked around the corner. Kotts' smile faded.

'Shit'

He turned quickly to see the three men entering the room, they started to yell. Kotts opened fire unloading the entire clip intothe hallway, and slid underneath the armored corpse. The song pounded in his ear, reaching the apex. His veins were burning. A small smile formed releasing the clip from his mouth and ejecting the spent on on the ground. He slammed the fresh clip into the gun. bullets slammed into the corpse, blood from the dead man began to rain on the walls, and on Kotts. He heard clicking, and bolts locking into place. He rolled out leveling the nozzle at the door, the second man rolled partway out lowering his gun form his shoulder to take aim, Kotts held the trigger aiming at the knees. The gun Jerked up quickly, bullets pelted the wall rising up, catching the man's knee, torso, Shoulder, neck, withthe last three rounds ripping into the man's head along the temple. He skull saved his brain, however the shot to the neck was more then enough. The second man collapsed back ward in the hallway, gagging on his own blood. Kotts rolled back under the corpse, more bullets rained into the room, but erratic. He searched the body for another clip, nothing. No sided arm.. not even a knife.

'Some pirate. No wonder you died first.'

The third man gasped. He was paniced. Kotts head him fumble with the next clip, then heard a loud clank from the case hitting the metal floor. Kotts sprang up and rushed the door. He jammedthe butt of the rifle into the man's face, and the man dropped his gun. He lunged at Kotts like a cornered animal and connected, knocking them back into the room with the first corpse. they slid a few feet on the droplets of blood using Kotts' back as a sled of some sort. They traded punches, Kotts lifted his knee and caught him in the crotch. The man gasped the wind escaping his lungs, and the pain locking up his body. Kotts pulled his feet into his stomach and threw him back into the wall. the man thudded hard. and slumped to the floor. Kotts coughed trying to catch his breath and struggled to his feet. He straighted his back, popping the vertebrae, and exhaled. The man moved, and struggled, standing slowly. Kotts sighed.

"Just stay down damnit."

"Alright folks, i don't know about the rest of you, but I wanna hear something with a bit of energy" Kotts' ear piece sounded
Before it fully registered the foreigner lyrics began, that bubbly, super chibbi sound... J-Pop...

"Arrgh! Damnit Tarryk! Not now!"

The third man charged Kotts took a stance he was used to seeing Cher use for combat. He swung, Kotts slammed his fist into his forearm, and leaned to his side catching his foot in the man's side tossing him back to the door.

"More where that came from, cupcake!" Kotts danced on the front of his feet. "Common' Come get some sweet heart!" He continued taunting the man.

*Shhhh-Thuck!*

The man's eyes widened, not blinking. His body fell forward, a chuck of shrapnel was lodged deep in the back of his head. Mack was looking straight forward, Cain hanging by one arm around his neck. "Like I'd let ya have all he fun Sticks."

Kotts scoffed. "Kill stealer."

[Stonyman]

The man's eyes widened, not blinking. His body fell forward, a chuck of shrapnel was lodged deep in the back of his head. Mack was looking straight forward, Cain hanging by one arm around his neck. "Like I'd let ya have all he fun Sticks."

Kotts scoffed. "Kill stealer."

"Well i had ta do somethin', if only ta get ya ta stop those Chronos awful taunts. I mean come on, cupcake, sweetheart? Have ya learnt nothin' from me these past 2 years?" Mack replied, smiling.

The strength was slowly returning to his body, but even so mack just felt tired. His muscles ached as he followed Kotts down the hallway. He had no idea who the boarders were but they weren't very good afterall Kotts had taken two and a half of them out while still in his boxers. Mack got the feeling that would be part of the grand story Kotts would be telling Cher once they got back to Rubi-Ka.

"Come on BP, just stay awake a little longer. Few more minutes and we'll pump ya full of whatever pain killers ya what.... wonder if they got Bronto Tranqs on this tub?"

He watched Kotts as he slowly worked the Locker room's manual override, the door slid open a few inches and he quickly looked inside, happy that the room was empty he opened the door fully before waving Mack in. As the door slid closed behind him, Mack laid Cain down on the bench in the middle of the room before checking out the lockers in front of him. He gave a humourless smile when he found the one with his name on the status panel... Locker number 1337. Placing his thumb on the lockplate he was a little surprised when the locker popped open to reveal his Armour, a pair of pistols and a few spare ammo clips. Judging by the way they sat exactly as he'd left them, he guessed nobody had had time to mess with his equipment. He pulled out his right gauntlet first and keyed in Felina's frequancy, only to find he was out of the unit's range.

"Well i can tell that this much Sticks, we ain't in kansas anymore." He said as he pulled the rest of his armour from the locker and started to put it on.

[Badpacket]

Cain wasn't sure what was going around him. But by the sounds of it it was time to cut the sleep, and cut it right now. The moment he regained enough clarity of mind to focus his thoughts, he knew what to do. The cybernetic augmentation of his brain he carried inside himself since ever he remembers granted him the power to, to a degree, control his mind, the introspection and self-adjustment of a machine rather than that of a man. In the blink of an eye a complex formula was executed by the electronic device and the organic brain responded to the increase in levels of neurotransmitters, adrenaline, and binding of opioid receptors. This kind of high would probably wake a dead body.

The engineer stood, or perhaps rather jumped up from the table, looked around himself. The first thing he realized was both Mack and Kotts staring at him.

"So finally the sleepin' beauty woke up" said Mack who was hastily finishing putting his armor on.

"Cut the crap and give me a status report" said Cain, inspecting his cut hands then pulling out an inch-long shard from his forearm.

"You've slept over the whole party here" - Kotts nodded to the corpses littering the room.

"You mean they weren't intent on taking prisoners?" said Cain with a frown, inspecting his torso for any more wounds, then taking a glance at Mack.

Mack shook his head.

"Odd, I knew piracy exists, especially near and around worlds in conflict, but they usually sell the people to slave ca.." - Cain was interrupted as the walls of the ship shook, as if a giant drummer was using it as a drum. The metal structure wailed like an elephant in pain and for a moment the lights went out. A pipe in a distance cracked open and released it's fumes, like a bursting blood vessel.

"I don't like where this is going. " - Cain glanced at Kotts and the gun he was prying from the hands of a soldier he killed a while ago, then at Mack, then at the lockers. One of them was open, and inside he saw two pistols and some ammo. "Isn't that Mack's stuff" he thought. He glanced over the remaining lockers -  "It must be here somewhere, Kotts, our baggage." - Kotts took a look at the lockers and answered "No luck here, we'll find our  toys at the lower deck, along with the rest of those guys".

Cain nodded and looked at the nearest corpse. The twisted remains looked like the person swallowed a grenade, little fragments of torn flesh littering the floor around him. His armor was in no shape, but looking down the corridor he saw another man, near where Kotts was, with his armor in one piece. Cain walked a few steps and felt a pain in the side. A long shard was still stuck between his ribs. He pulled it out, gasped through clenched teeth and coughed two times. "Let's see if that symbiant really was worth 60 million" he thought, moving on to the pile of bodies near the fixer.

"Any of these are in OK shape?" said Cain.

"The armor? Guess this one's ok if you don't count the smell." - without a word Cain quickly put on the armor and pulled a small SMG from under the pile. He took the clip out and looked at the color of the rings around the bullets - plasma jet penetrators. He shook his head. Bringing armor-piercing bullets on a big baloon floating in the middle of space - bad idea. He put the clip back in, loaded the first bullet, switched on the laser and activated his personal targeting assistant.

The ship shook once more, but this time instead of a series of hits the ship was shaked by a force that threw Mack and BP off their feet, the ship resonating like a bell.

"So gentlemen, do we have a plan?"

[Kotts]

"All things considered, I think good ol "Plan B" sounds about right." Kotts said pushing himself up to his feet along with the other two.
"I don't think there are any others left on this boat 'sides us, and what's left of the crew." Kotts eyed Cain's bloodied wounds.

The ship rocked again, thudding footsteps over head, and a few more gunshots echoed through the ship. Kotts are almost certain that their ship would not be going anywhere now, much less safe to stay on after the vultures are through with it. He tapped out on his HUD, and sent a link invite to Mack, and Cain both. He knew in the back of his mind Cain was not int he best shape for combat, but that would only lead to an argument, which would cost the very time they did not have the luxury to spend at this moment. He dropped the rifle in his hands, snatched up a vest a few partial clips, and a different gun. "Mack, you're on point. Once we get to the lower deck me and Cain will get our iron, and then we'll head up to the cargo area from below. That's gotta be where they docked on us." Kotts knocked back the blot on the gun charging it's rounds.

"After that we try out the pirate's life ourselves."

[Badpacket]

Cain felt the rush of adrenaline through his veins. He heard the beat of his heart pump - he always was a man without a heart, in all meanings of the word. This state of vigilance, enchanced senses and feeling of dread made him feel alive. For a man of little emotions any escape from apathy is a blessing.

"You heard him." said Cain, looking at Mack, who responded with a smirk. It wasn't exactly a smirk of confidence, Cain noted.

Mack quickly walked up to the wall of the ship and aimed his weapon straight ahead. Cain walked up behind Mack and started aiming in the same direction as Mack, using the heavily armored soldier as a shield, placing his elbow on Mack's shoulder, supporting his weapon.

"You know the drill, soldier?" asked the engineer, to which Mack simply turned his head to the left a bit and nodded. As a soldier Cain expected Mack to be experienced in tactics. Kotts didn't wait for an order and ran up to the other wall - the team was now covering both sides of the corridor. Should anyone pop up, he would be greeted by a burst of three guns.

The trio starter progressing along the corridor of the ship. Apparently this was one of the central passageways of the ship, as it was quite wide. One couldn't exactly see how long it is, as there was little light, mostly red alarm lightning tubes, some of them not working, for some reason. In addition the noise on the ship was so loud one had to make an effort to hear what's being said in a normal voice. Hissing cracked pipes, fried electronics - though fortunately the thing hadn't burst open.. yet.

"Right" said Mack. And indeed, a few steps after that Cain noticed that there was an intersection up ahead. So far so good, though through the noise cracks, or shots could be still heard. A few junctions more and the party stopped as they saw a man. The remains of one. Another pirate apparently, with a deep cut through his back and belly, on the floor in a pool of blood with his face petrified in terror. Cain took a glance behind his back to check for any enemies and then took a closer look at the corpse. There were many more cuts than he previously saw from a distance - the man had both his hands cut off, his right hand taken off at the biceps, the left one at the elbow. Those weren't jagged cuts either - strangely clean for wounds done in battle. And how would anyone get as close to an armed man?

Cain gestured to guard the perimeter, while he picked up the nearby rifle. An OT PF57 Flechette System model - nothing too fancy. He pried the neatly severed hand off of it and checked the magazine - it was full.

"Alright, let's go.. " said Cain, wondering about what, or who, could have killed the pirate.

[Badpacket]

[ Whoever wants to join in on the story is welcome to. I've made the error of basically limiting the story to three people - but hey, anyone could find himself on the ship by accident - you're more than welcome to join in

Note: If you want, you can create new characters and join in - it doesn't need to be your current AO playchar. This *is* an RP forum after all! ]

[Zatchibana]

Medical Bay

"Dammit, Dr Iri to anyone on board, report." He stumbled across the room, reaching for a medical kit to help a few of the individuals who had come into the room seeking treatment during the breach. "Nurse, I need that cyto-toxic treatment. He's getting too close to brain damage."

There was a large thud at the door. "We sealed it didn't we?" Iri looked across the room at the medical staff, although concerned they seemed sure that they'd definately secured the locks on it. "Doctor, I need you here." Iri called over his assistant, and turned his attention to the array of medical chemicals he had availble.

"14 milligrams phosphorus...2 of Sulphur." He carefully transferred the two into a separate container and checked the room. "Lets hope that door holds," Iri added, another loud bang outside the door, this time contorting it slightly, "It's weapons-fire, I'm sure it is."

One of the nurses did a second check on her patient, "Doctor, Flight Supervisor K'mal is dead."

"I'm a little busy right now Leanne, log the time and cause in the computer and move onto the next one, we don't have the capacity to move them to the morgue right now." Iri grimaced at the words he just uttered, almost careless but he continued selecting chemicals to include in the concoction. "Sodium Trioxide...5 millilitres and one millilitre water...four parts nucleotic catalysts and one part metastatic inducers." He looked over the black liquid grimly, swirling it up as it bubbled slightly.

The door took another hit, a warning siren sounding off as main power began to fail, "Alright that's it, evacuate the medical bay. Get everyone into the access shaft." Iri looked around the room at his staff. "Well don't just fucking stand there, get the people up and sodding well move!"

Iri moved across the room to his desk and opened the top drawer, tossing one of the Electron-Charged pistols across the room to one of the other doctors. "If it isn't wearing a uniform, shoot it. Get to the shuttle bay and follow distress beacon procedures."

Once again the door buckled slightly, impacting from what must of been bullet like weapons fire. Iri sidestepped the evacuating personnel and moved towards the operating table, collecting up all the sharp objects he could he loaded them into one of the outlet valves of the ventilation system. Pulling the control panel off the wall, he stretched the leads and lead them round a corner, placing the panel on the floor. "If this works..." he muttered, darting back into the room and collecting the blackened vial.

The door buckled slightly, a small opening being created no more than a second after the other personnel had made it out through the access hatch. Iri crouched away in a corner with the access panel, waiting for the sound of the door to be breached completely. They were speaking, but he could hardly hear them over the infernal roar coming from the corridor, must of been a burst plasma conduit or something.

There was a creak, a crunch and a bang. The door was on the floor, "One...two....three." Doctor Iri set the ventilation to maximum level and as if for only a second it whirred to life, shuddered and the valve burst open, launching scalpuls, saws, syringes and fragmented bulkhead parts across the room with fatal intent. Blood showered parts of the room as one of the intruders was minced by several pieces of bulkhead, the others simply dropped to the floor suffering from extreme blood loss due to the multiple lacerations of the surgical instruments. Iri simply rose to his feet and looked around the room, "Medical emergency in the medical bay," he joked, collecting up the corpses weapons and throwing them aside bar a select few. "Oh wait, you took our communications out didn't you." He pulled some of the syringes out of the corpses and dipped the ends into the black vial, syphoning up fluid.

There was a few drops left in the vial, Iri shrugged, upturning it into one of the corpses mouths the drops touching the back of its throat. Almost instantly a hissing noise began to take place as Iri moved back to his desk and collected the other Electron-Charged Pistol. "ooh, dropped my watch." The corpse began to bubble over with cancerous growths at an alarming rate thanks to the catalysts before exploding horrifically, showering blood and sulphuric acid. Rising back up, Iri looked around as parts of the room were hissing from acid damage. "Overkill, but...slightly not enough."

In one final check over the Medical Bay, he collected up a syringe launcher, an almost small minigun used for sedating people at long range and slung a shoulder-strap medkit over himself before stepping over the wreckage and into the corridor.

Taking a sharp left he listened intently, trying to distance himself from the roar of the ruptured corridor. He couldn't hear talking, nor any other footsteps, but had heard lots of crashing and clanging, giving him the distinct feeling that the ship was being torn apart. "Hull breaches, or looters."

"HOLD IT!" Came a cry from the junction. "Identify yourself."

Iri squinted, "Doctor Iri, Chief Medical Officer."

"Iri's dead, we found the entire staff of the medical bay slaughtered two decks down."

"We?" Iri asked, edging forwards but noticing only one.

"Me and Gunny here," The man demonstrated an almost insane affection for his weapon.

"Oh my good look out behind you!" Iri shrieked, in an almost camp fashion, the gun-wielding officer darting round. There was a slight hiss and an odd look stretched across his face as the insane man dropped to his knees, having taken a syringe to the back of the head.

Iri walked off down a separate turn at the junction, no more than twenty paces away before a loud wet pop resounded, followed by the sound of a shower of blood. He chuckled slightly, naively taking a turn into a darkened section. He felt the wind rush, a breeze almost and looked around him, only darkness.

SLAM! and things went all warm. Above him there was a distant spark, infront of him, a small plasma fire and a sign 'Engineering.' Checking himself over he struggled to rise to his feet, and rightly so having fallen eight decks down. Checking himself over he found a large bulkhead protruding through his leg, while it had softened his fall somewhat, he wasn't going to be leaving. A grunt came from over the way, beyond the fire and into the darkness. "There!" Iri took no chances and sprayed the remaining syringes out of the launcher in a horizontal pattern. He waited for the splash....nothing....a small flicker in the distance, the energy-beam hit him in the face and he gave the biggest sigh of his life, letting his lifeblood ebb away...