collab with @Tlaloc
The security office of the Basilisk was barely functioning. Several security consoles were empty of crew while a lonely officer sat in his assigned chair. The console beeped as the shift went on, the monitor above flipping to several empty corridors. Occasional a few officers or troopers could be seen roaming or patroling the hallway. For what? Nothing. The planet of Lotho had no indication that anything could happen. Even the Hutts stayed away from it. The monitors flickered again, two troopers and a maintenance worker flashed on the screen on Deck 77. It quickly moved on, the security officer didn’t think much of it. Medical floor, nothing out of the ordinary. He had received word a leak had formed and several crew were working on it. An hour or so had passed, the shift was dragging along like always. The officer rubbed his eyes, drinking what appeared to be coffee which had long turned cold. He was starting to stand before he noticed two figures on the screen. He sat up in the chair, pressing a few buttons, pulling up the footage. Two technicians were dragging bodies across the hallway on the medical floor. Then blasted the door shut. Kriff. He moved his hand to the other side of his console pressing the alarm. “Suspicious activity on the medical floor. Send a squad to investigate.”
Aellyn was more concerned that Fel hadn’t answered the comm channel yet. Thoughts ran through her mind, were they captured? Dead? This ship was a ghost town and what was so important she was risking her life for. Plus dragging in med tech who seemed to have as much trust in her as she did him. This point, they both needed each other to get out alive. She stopped at a service elevator as she looked upward, a surveillance camera turned away from their position. She knew there would be some cameras on the ship but as Viszt stated, it was a skeleton crew. Who would be watching so closely? The door to the elevator slid open and two officers stepped out. No word, they just went on down the hallway. Aellyn looked toward Viszt with a sigh of relief before stepping onto the lift. Floor 85. That was when it turned south.
The lift closed as she heard Fel on the comm channel. They had grabbed whatever they came for and were headed to floor 85. Great, at least they were on the same page. It was that moment the lift came to a dead halt. Floor 80. Kriff. The alarm rang over the intercom as the doors slid open. Aellyn stepped out, turning to the med tech. “We need another way off this ship. Or we can act like we belong here and still get to the docking floor. ”
Viszt’s pulse quickened. It seemed he would be granted no reprieve from high intensity situations on this day; in fact, he considered, he’d probably encountered more drama in the last two hours than the last year of his life. A Star Destroyer wasn’t the ideal place to find yourself in trouble with Imperials – even worse if you were one. It seemed like his decision had been made for him. Though unconsenting, he was just as implicated in this as his captors, so it struck him that he’d have to invest his trust in them, wholly, to ensure his survival. The thought wasn’t a reassuring one, given that the crew of brigands barely seemed to trust one-another, but it was the only plan he had.
The lift’s abrupt halt set the pair on edge, and as the doors opened, the familiar, dreaded sound of marching stormtroopers echoed from down the corridor. Viszt locked eyes with Aellyn. He could tell she was thinking the same thing: they were moments away from being discovered. He glanced towards the empty corridor, mind racing. Floor 85 was their goal, but now the situation had changed. The skeleton crew wouldn’t be much longer, not with alarms blaring and squads mobilizing.
”We’re not going to bluff our way out of this one,” he replied. ”We need to find a way to get to your friends. It’s our best chance. – Shoot that out.” He pointed up to the surveillance camera that was aimed in their general direction.
Aellyn watched him closely as he pointed to the camera. She shrugged, it was a plan, at least. Raising her rifle, aiming and firing two shots. “Done.” Her attention went back to Viszt wondering what else he might have thought of.
He stepped towards the elevator’s control panel and fiddled with the box, opening a small hidden compartment on its side. There, he pulled a concealed lever, and within a moment, an exhaust sound emerged from the side of the elevator, and a hatch opened out into the elevator shaft. If they were going to get to Floor 85, it’d have to be this way.
”Always helpful to keep informed on maintenance crawlspaces and emergency protocols,” he winced, glancing down into the dark, gaping pit beneath the elevator. There was a maintenance ladder running down the side, but it still looked incredibly perilous. However, as the march of stormtroopers grew closer, he inhaled, pulling himself through the gap and down onto the ladder. ”Quick – we can lose them if you close the hatch.
“Definitely useful..” Aellyn smirked, watching him climb into the shaft. The stormtroopers were drawing closer as she managed to crawl into the gap, closing the hatch behind her. She held onto the ladder hearing the boots against the metal floor as the troopers passed the elevator. One of them noted the surveillance camera but continued down the corridor. Aellyn looked up to Viszt and waved her hand to motion an all clear.
The two managed to quickly move up the five flight decks to Floor 85. Stopping shy of the hatch, they listened to any sound just outside their position. Hearing nothing, the hatch was removed as both Viszt and herself climbed out. Aellyn swiped the hallway with the rifle as Viszt placed the hatch back on. “Gotta move.” Picking up the pace she hurried down the hallway, seeing the docking bay just head.
“Hey, you! Aellyn turned and saw two stormtroopers pointing at them. Kriff. “Run…get to the shuttle..” She yelled to Viszt as she raised her rifle, shooting off a few stun shots in the troopers direction. This time, they shot back. Kriff! Aellyn turned and ran toward the docking bay, seeing their companions talking to another pair of troopers. Another few shots from her rifle. “We gotta go, now! Get the cargo on that shuttle…” She made sure the med tech boarded before she followed suit.