Outside The Crystal Mines Of Altenia
Lou hopped into the Land Traveler with Jeremiah but the rest of the Moles took their rescue vehicles and followed; keeping pace with Jeremiah and their team leader. Once they arrived, they wasted no time with the others there; getting a quick assessment from Gwen before walking to the mouth of the mine and taking a look around. After a few minutes Lou looked back over at Gwen. “Keep doing what you’re doing here, we are taking another route,” he said before walking over to their main vehicle.
“Clive, Jewell, Antoni; I want you to climb and scan. Sephro, I want a resonance check. If that mine is humming I want to be prepared. The rest of you split up and check the ventilation outtake shafts on top of the plateau. Make sure they are clear of debris so those fans aren’t creating a buildup of pressure,” Lou ordered quickly and the crew got to work, securing their equipment and making their way up the side of the cliff that the mine was dug into.
Lou walked over to Jeremiah and nodded. “Okay, goof work, see what you can do about making sure all power into the mines other than the fans for ventilation is cut, we don’t need a spark being set off for another explosion.”
An hour passed as the Moles worked on their plan and did their scans; the rest of those keeping to what they were doing to try to clear out the mouth of the mine shaft. Trevors body was found crushed between the fallen debris and the ground below; Lou had it moved out and taken care of before being put in the back of one of the rescue vehicles to be taken to the morgue later on. Wiping the sweat from his brow he was about to go check on his crew when he heard Sephro yell from near one of the outtake vents.
“Boss, we got a problem. This baby is humming like a bee hive,” he said as he yelled up high up on the cliff face.
“Can we go in?” Lou asked.
“Oh we can get in but not a Talent around can without risking a level 1 mental melt down,” Sephro responded quickly before lowering himself down to the ground and taking a few steps over to his boss who was there waiting now.
“Think she could survive it?” Lou asked.
“From the scans it is sporadic throughout and being a T-1 she might be able to shield herself but the rest of us are screwed. We need a Basic,” Sephro said. “What about him?” he said pointing over to Jeremiah. Lou shook his head no.
“No, we need him out here if the fans die again but,” Lou said as he perked a brow and looked over to the Brax’na. “They aren’t affected by the crystals.”
Gwen and Marx looked at Lou and then at each other before both sets of eyes found and fell on the Jun’Krama. “You’re the only I trust not to try to kill her inside,” Marx admitted after listening to what the Jun’Krama had said earlier.
“Boss, we have movement. Sector 10-80-D, off the maps but whatever is down there is alive and small,” Jewell said through the com from on top of the plateau.
“Closest access point?” Lou responded.
“It would be a trek but 6-34-A outtake vent. It’s the only one large enough to fit someone through without having to blast or dig. Have someone cut the power to outtake vent 52 and get someone up here,” Jewell answered.
Lou cut the com and walked over to the Jun’Krama and looked him over. “Well, up to you man. You aren’t GTC so I can’t exactly order you in but she has already been in there over 2 hours. Even with the fans going we still risk another cave in. So, what’s it going to be?”
Mor Of The Altenia Tower
Craig rose from his place as he saw Ailen and perked a brow when he noticed he didn’t have the Twins in tow, sighing deeply he placed his hand over his face and listened to Ailens little rant; letting him finish before he said or did anything. Turning without a word he accessed the crystal generators and locked down the black crystal access ports with his emergency override code. Once he had locked it down to where only he or Silvia could override it he slowly turned to look over to Ailen. He was about to speak when he got a com in from the Mine.
"Craig, Lou here. We have one dead so far but we have completed our scans and have at least one alive deep in the mines. Small, very small but alive. From what I have heard, it has to be Silvia, so we are holding on to that," Lou sent through the com. "Plans are in the work for extraction. Moles out," he added before cutting the com.
"Good work, keep us posted," Craig was able to respond before the com cut out and then turned his attention back over to Ailen. "Well, that is good news but right now I have something else I need to deal with," he said as he looked at Ailen once again.
“Yes, T&C are canceled, the Tower is on lock down, a Lead isn’t required right now. Now, go ahead, enjoy your time in the chair. I am fully aware of what Silvia told you, she told me the same. I think you may be following the letter of what she said but I do not believe you are following the purpose of what she said. She told you that to ensure the Twins or Tristan couldn’t force you do something you didn’t want to. Not to totally disregard your job, which you have done by not bringing the Twins back to the Mor or staying with them, like you were assigned under her order!” he hissed as his antenna twitched.
“You may be a T-1 but you are not trained for that seat and even if you tried to use one of the crystals we have, which are all already bonded to another T-1, the crystal would melt you, sensitivity or not,” he said as he walked passed Ailen and towards the elevator. “I am recommending to Silvia a transfer of you off world, you are no good to me or her if you aren’t going to do your damn job. Which is security, not operations,” he said as the doors of the elevator opened and he stepped inside.
“Now, if you will excuse me Tristan 2.0 I have to go do your job and retrieve the Twins,” he finished as the doors closed and he made his way down to the commissary. Stepping off the elevator he made his way through the corridors and into the meal room proper, seeing the Twins sitting there and eating quietly. Stepping over to them he sat down. “Afternoon Ladies,” he began. “I will be escorting you back once you finish. Dangerous times with a Tower Lead in a cave in, we will need your skills if anything goes wrong.”
“Of course, we are just finishing,” the answered together.
Near the Entrance to the Resistance in the Crystal Mines
Silvia coughed a few times and was becoming light headed due to the lack of air circulation until she heard the fans power up. “I don’t know who fix that but they are going to get a big kiss when I get the hell out of here,” she mumbled slightly as she crawled over to the closest vent and began to take some long deep breaths. Once she had cleared the light headedness from her brain she pushed herself up and raised her hand once again, letting a soft glow flow from it to cut through the darkness.
“Time to find a way out of this hell hole,” she muttered to herself as she began wandering the mine tunnels. She eventually found another cave in but this one was different than the one at the mouth of the mine. This seemed to be caused by the hum of crystals she was feeling throughout the mine. It wasn’t horrid to her yet, only coming in waves but it was enough to keep her from using her abilities fully and just forcing her way through the debris; tilting her head to the side as she looked at the base of the cave in. She saw two more bodies but they were not dressed in singer gear but Tower Security Uniforms.
“So you two are the cause of this, serves you right,” she said as she spat on their corpses before turning and leaving them there to rot. Right now her concern was getting out of there and she had no idea just how to do that yet. She had checked the outtake vents as she went by them but the fans were spinning and the outtake shafts were too small for even her to fit through. “Great… just great.”
