outsiderslogs | Fire, fire.

Entry tags:

!event: mercs

Fire, fire.

who. Anyone and everyone.
what. Fire. Varren. Pyjaks. Varren and pyjaks on fire. Everything on fire.
where. Zeta District.
when. Effective immediately.
warnings. Did we mention fire?

Needless to say, the station has been through some shit in the past week.

First, the water supplies went offline. Then, there was a pyjak infestation. Then, some well-meaning vorcha let loose a bunch of varren to take care of the pyjak problem.

Now, they're setting fire to the surrounding areas to take care of the varren.

The fire has started at one end of the living area and is very swiftly making its way through the district - but lo and behold, finally, the water comes back on! Now, this doesn't mean that everything is fine and dandy all of a sudden. Given the severe lack of engineers working on this problem, the fire can't be put out in its entirety, and will end up spreading far enough to render some of the buildings in the area uninhabitable. There will still be a scant few varren and space monkeys meandering about, but mostly, it's time to worry about not getting burned alive.

How your characters make it through is up to you.

Consider this post the end of the event - and use it as you like to to expand on any threads and CR you might have started. (Also, feel free to backtag as long as you want! We don't mind any of that 'round here.)

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While Kengo was content to keep himself cut off from the rest of Omega when he wasn't working, he'd still agreed to help out with the water line repair when Dun had approached him. As much as he wanted to pretend that he didn't care about anyone else, he couldn't just leave the situation alone. It was the same thought process he'd had during the adjutant attack, when he'd made it his responsibility to broadcast emergency alert messages to anyone who would listen. This time, he wouldn't be available to perform that sort of role. The fire would burn on without his knowledge, with him otherwise occupied.

Keeping his face and identity hidden from everyone was one of Kengo's priorities. No one aside from Dun knew to connect him to his network-self. It was getting too dangerous to draw attention to himself, so he'd taken to hiding his identity on the network behind the layers of encryption he'd learned while working for Ariake Technologies.

This mild paranoia was also the reason that he was now in armor. He'd made a deal with Daisen, his boss, to get the armor at a slightly cheaper rate -- one used primarily by human engineers. Most of the money he'd saved for his research up to this point had been spent acquiring the suit, but it had made for a good investment. Thankfully, it was light enough to not put the strain on his body that he had expected, the helmet keeping his face from view. The gun he'd acquired during the adjutant attack was at his side, though he sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to resort to using it.

Because of his armor of choice, no one in the Talons would see what he looked like, his voice was muffled from his suit, and he'd insisted that no one would know his name. When thinking up a list of names to go by, he'd of course aimed towards space oriented ones -- Selene, Kaguya, Apollo, Soyuz -- but had settled on the one that meant the most to him. It represented the tie to his friends he'd lost and left behind. Hayabusa.

Following the water lines and keeping an eye out for any breaks, Kengo was thankful for the constant uplink he had to the person responsible for repairing the systems and running tech. During the adjutant attack, he'd had to rely on slower communications. It was strange to be on the physical end of things for once, as he had always been the one giving orders to Fourze. He just hoped that his body would hold up in the meantime.

York didn't know this Hayabusa guy, whoever he was, but she figured he must've had similar reasons for wanting to fix the damage -- the shortage was affecting everyone, and York, for one, was sick of going without showers. Her hair was getting awful greasy. Besides, now the station was on goddamn fire. They didn't have much of a choice.

With the Talons' help, getting into the central water control wasn't too difficult. Her instructions were pretty simple: figure out what went wrong and fix it. And if she couldn't fix it, well...Omega was probably going to get uncomfortably hot. She tapped into the system with her omni-tool and did a quick survey of the damage. Man, this didn't look good. It was gonna take a while to fix all by herself.

"This is York, checking in. Just got to water control. It's pretty bad in here. How's it lookin' out there?"

And standing next to Hayabusa is Dun, weapons at the ready and on alert. There might be Talon mercenaries around, but as Dun told the one on the network, he doesn't trust any of them to do the job well. The chaos of the adjutant attack with mercenaries blindly shooting at anything that moved had not left a good impression on him and he'd rather not leave Kengo alone with them for protection.

He didn't really get why Kengo wanted to maintain his anonymity by creating this Hayubusa identity, but with what he knew of the kid he could guess that it was for privacy and safety reasons, both of which were good reasons to have in Omega. For some. Dun never liked hiding in the shadows. He prefers a direct and honest approach and while he's had to pay for his callous approach to the mercenaries with broken ribs and a minor concussion in his first month in Omega, Dun can at least keep his head raised high and proud that he's stuck to what he believes in. As a soldier he's used to brute force and pain, but he can't say the same about Kengo. What works for Dun won't work for the skinnier and less fit teenager, so he passes no judging comment and simply accepts Kengo's decision as an odd, but wise one.

None of the other engineers wore helmets but Dun recognized none of them so he had assumed that it was just going to be him and Kengo. Thus it was a surprise, but a somewhat pleasant one, when he heard a familiar voice coming from his omni-tool. He enters the shared communication channel and replies with a slight smile on his face, "Nothing suspicious here just yet. It's good to hear from you again, Lady-I mean, York."

Kengo kept his eyes on the water pipes as he walked, a bag slung over his shoulder with the supplies he would need to patch them up. Some technology didn't change too much from his own time, though he'd never bothered to work with anything like this. Astro Switches and cosmic energy and the Fourze system were completely different from actual, physical repair work. Regardless, it was the job he had been given and one he was going to stick to. No one else was going to do it, or it would take twice as long to get around to it. The Talons had mentioned to him how short-handed they were.

The paranoia of keeping his identity a secret was something Kengo knew others might not understand, but he had been feeling like something of a target, ever since acquiring the research data from the scientists he'd run into after the adjutant attack. He'd been hanging on to it for a month now and the sudden rash of murders had reminded him how easily he could be killed for something simple -- let alone something valuable. Kengo also didn't like looking young and inexperienced around everyone in the mercenary group, plus if they ended up turning on him, he had an extra safety precaution in hiding his identity. This really was no place for him to be so open.

At hearing the two speaking to each other, Kengo kept himself quiet for the moment, making sure to check his surroundings every so many steps to make sure no one would sneak up on them. Having Dun around really was invaluable.

York finds it odd that the other guy doesn't chime in -- because she knows there is another guy -- but hearing Dun's voice is an actual surprise, and not an unpleasant one. She actually laughs, shaking her head as she navigates the water control system, surveying damage. Admittedly, she's only got half her attention on it at the moment, her other half focused on the conversation.

"Shit, Dun, is that you? I didn't know you volunteered for this too. How's it lookin' out there?"

There are some engineers around, but Dun doesn't consider them a threat. He and York are just having a casual, ordinary conversation; no need for any extra precaution.

"In the flesh. I am no tinkerer, so all these pipes and wires are lost on me. You will have to wait for my companion here to fill you on that."

Dun gives Kengo a friendly thump on the back; he's careful to make sure it's not too hard, but Dun's a strong man and he might've accidentally knocked Kengo a little. Nothing forceful enough to hurt him, but enough to push him a step forward. Dun's spirits just got a good lift though; York seems to be someone he might just get to like. Good skills and a seemingly good heart, she's looking more and more promising as a potential member of the guard.

"But in general, things are quiet on this end. I trust that all is well on your side too."

The friendly conversation makes him feel even more uncomfortable, especially since he didn't feel there was anyone on the station he'd been able to talk to like that since arriving. Ryusei had shown up, of course, but Kengo still didn't trust him and the events that had happened before Kengo's arrival made it difficult for him to relax. Dun was the only person who had gained his trust, which was exactly why he'd asked the other to come along with him on the mission. Kengo was simply back to being the cold-hearted person Gentarou had accused him of being when they'd first met.

At the smack on his back, Kengo stumbled slightly and then cleared his throat, turning to look back at Dun. If there was an expression on his face, it was hidden by his helmet. Really, breathing in this thing was a lot easier than he had expected it to be. It was starting to feel like this was a better idea than he had anticipated.

Finally spotting something that looked out of the ordinary ahead of them, Kengo initially started to speed his steps to rush towards it, but the first step he took forward made him pause. There was debris on the floor and black marks up the wall. The pipe a few yards ahead of them had a large hole in the side, as though someone had attached a small explosive. At the risk of running into a trap, Kengo reached over and nudged Dun's shoulder before pointing further down the hall.

"They're probably gone by now, but we should do a sweep just in case." Bringing up his omni-tool, Kengo tapped in a few things, holding it up and running a scan on the area around them. While his Kaban would have been just as useful, it was a lot clunkier. It didn't look like anything on the scan was standing out -- organic or otherwise.

"We found our first one. It looks like someone set up an explosive." Though his voice was still slightly muffled with his helmet, it was clear that he wasn't much older than his early twenties, if that.

"Things are all right over here," York tells Dun, but when Hayabusa starts talking she pays attention. He's the other repair guy, and the sooner they coordinate and get this together, the sooner they can get the fire out.

"Explosive?" York frowns, pursing her lips, and she returns most of her attention to the water control system, looking over the damage to the system. "From what I'm seein' now, I can't exactly say I'm surprised. This isn't a hiccup in the system. Somebody went in here and did some real damage."

Man, this is gonna take forever to fix with only three of them plus the Talons -- two, technically, with Dun just standing guard. She's glad he's there, but they really could use some other people on repairs. She starts cycling through the system, collating all the physical locations that've gone offline or reported physical damage. "How bad does it look out there?"

Dun quickly draws out his podao and snaps his focus onto the hall ahead. He's careful as he scouts the area ahead, taking extra caution just in case someone was hiding behind the columns or some of the fallen pillars. Eye and ears straining, he doesn't detect anyone else around other than those on the site working to fix the problem. But what he does find is worrying; a few feet away from the damaged area, he finds a small cylindrical object half-buried underneath the grime and dirt. He doesn't recognize it but he does call Kengo's attention to it.

"Hayabusa, over here. Do you know what this is?"

Dun picks it up, only to startle when the device starts emitting beeps. Unfortunately for this tech-deficient general, he's accidentally activated a grenade.

"Probably as bad as things look on your end." As Dun had moved forward, Kengo kept a few steps behind him, making sure to watch any place that Dun wasn't. As he had expected, there wasn't anyone who had decided to stick around, but that didn't meant there wouldn't be something else left behind for him. That was reason enough to keep his omni-tool up, scanning for anything that might be giving off heat. Would there be traps? That part certainly didn't seem far-fetched after everything else they'd gone through.

Kengo turned as he heard the man call to him, moving closer to the other. While he wasn't sure he would have known what the object was a moment ago, the second it started emitting beeps, Kengo's heart jumped into his throat. Without taking the time to say anything, he quickly moved forward and ripped it from Dun's hand. He hesitated only long enough to determine which area would cause the least amount of damage, turning his body and tossing the grenade so that it slid across the floor and would stop in an open area. Thankfully, when it detonated, it didn't cause anything more than a loud noise and black marks across the floor.

His hands wouldn't stop shaking, nor would his breath calm. The grenade had gone off before it had even stopped moving across the floor -- far too close for Kengo's comfort. As soon as his voice returned, Kengo turned and looked back at Dun. It was impossibly difficult to keep himself from leading into the sort of yelling rant Gentarou would have been subjected to. The tense tone in his voice let on how bothered he was, though it was a combination of worry that the other had nearly hurt himself, as well as frustration that the other had activated the item in the first place.

"Don't touch anything else, if you can help it." Kengo's snarky attitude always showed through, regardless of where it was, but it helped him feel like his true self wasn't as lost as he thought. As an afterthought, Kengo attempted to soften his words. Dun likely wouldn't have known what something like that was.

"... it was a grenade. A small, portable explosive device that is activated before being thrown towards the target." He shook his hand out at his side, his body still shaking. "There are different types suited for different things, but the main purpose is to cause as much damage as possible from a long distance. I doubt they left it here on purpose. It's not something that could be set to detonate from a distance. It has to be activated locally and the time before it explodes is always rather short."

Now that the area was clear -- or as clear as he hoped it could be -- Kengo slid the repair bag from his shoulder and crouched down in front of the damaged pipe.

York's only got an audio link with the two of them -- she needs her omni-tool screen for diagnostics -- so when the grenade goes off, all she hears is the explosion, she jumps. She hears Kengo snippily explaining the grenade to Dun, so she figures they're okay, but the blast had set her on edge a little.

"Jesus -- you two all right out there?" York gets out, most of her attention still on the control system. "That didn't do any worse damage, did it?"

Kengo's shaken; Dun's merely angry at himself for having fallen for the enemy trap. The last time there was a fire ambush and he'd lost three thousand men due to his impatience and short-sightedness. Clenching his fist tightly, his frustration bleeds into his voice as he snaps back at York.

"We're fine, woman. Hayabusa dealt with it."

"It detonated in an open area. I made sure that it didn't hit anything else. Don't worry about it." Kengo kept his head forward, trusting Dun to completely watch his back as he worked. It was a trust that he didn't give lightly and one he wasn't even sure he could give to Ryusei at this point.

As he removed the materials from his bag to patch the hole, Kengo had to pause a few times to take a deep breath or shake out his hands, his body still trying to recover from the sudden shock of what had happened. No... He needed to stay focused and finish as soon as possible. Omega was depending on them to get the station running again.

"The damage to the pipe isn't as bad as it looks. It won't be the best looking repair work since we're strapped for time, but I can make it work."

"Hey, it doen't have to be pretty as long as we can get that fire out," York says, a little tersely, and she swipes through a few screens on her omni-tool until she's found the nearest location with damage. "Once you're finished up there, I've got the next damage site lined up. I know you're only one pair of hands out there, but the faster you can do this, the better."

She pauses, her lips settling into a frown. "Hey, Dun? I got a name, and it's not woman. Use it next time."

He's definitely on guard right now. His senses are attuned to the environment around him as he scans every inch of the area for any more surprise grenades or even an enemy ambush. Not that he wouldn't welcome a chance to vent out some of his frustration and irritation, but he had Kengo's wellbeing to keep in mind and he's not had the best track record when it comes to making decisions when he's angry.

York's request though sets him slightly on edge, his pride already stung by his mistake. "What's wrong with being called a woman? That's what you are." A comment that might sound OK on pen and paper, but with his temper so riled up at the moment he just comes off as scornful and perhaps, even condescending.

Well, they certainly seemed to be getting along well. Kengo kept his attention on the pipe and his mouth shut, not wanting to contribute to the disagreement and figuring his chances were higher of getting snapped at if he bothered putting himself into it in any way. Digging through the bag, Kengo worked quickly to patch the hole up, knowing it would have been much easier to accomplish with a second set of hands, but having Dun at his back was more important than having the other help him.

If he wanted help, he needed someone he didn't have to talk through the process. It was faster to work on his own. Ryusei might have been a welcome addition, but he didn't know how he could have ever asked the other to help him. Not with the way things were between them now.

As soon as he was done, Kengo patted the pipe down, smacking his fist against the sides to make sure the compound would hold, before shoving the supplies back into the bag. "Next."

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Fire, fire.

water line repair kitaaaa

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ahhh sorry this is late i didn't get the notif :T!!!

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