How About A Game?

Posted on Sat Aug 3rd, 2019 @ 3:41am by Lieutenant Commander Adlyn Rowley & Commander Logan Vance
Edited on on Sat Aug 3rd, 2019 @ 4:01am

Mission: Down the Rabbit Hole
Location: Deep Space Station 317 - Holodeck
Timeline: MD 1, Time 1845

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Time: 1845
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Grabbing her jacket and the PADD, had her things. She downed her drink in one go, and set the glass on the table next to his. “I can use the holodeck iterations for everything. Let’s do this.” Her right hand extended out to the right side of the promenade towards the center of the base where holosuites were down at the central part of the promenade. “I am glad you did get out behind that desk though. It’s no place to be. Anything else super exciting over the last couple of years since you been on the Hawking?”

Logan followed her, requesting the computer to download his program to the holodeck. "I wouldn't be there if there wasn't exciting stuff that people were interested in. Of course I can't talk about it much but needless to say, we've been in a strategic position to keep our eyes on some former enemies."

“Ah so you’re still in then,” she commented confirming her earlier suspicions. “Makes sense.” She dropped it then knowing how that went and wasn’t going to pry. She knew how that game went. As soon as the holodeck chimed it was ready, she stepped through the doors and dropped her stuff next to the archway. The program hadn’t started yet, so it was still the yellow isogrided room. “There is a spot I can change and pick my weapons, yes?” she asked. Even though she was game to partake in his little challenge, she wasn’t about to do it in her nice civilian clothes with ankle high boots with heels. She was not dressed for a confrontation.

Logan wasn't really hiding the fact that he was still in, although he couldn't come out and say it to her outright. If anyone asked, he could say she was mistaken and explain his comments away.

Logan initiated the program with a few commands on the arch. He pointed to a room a few feet away. "Everything we need is in there. I'll let you go first if you're shy," he teased. He didn't care if she didn't want to change in front of him but he wasn't going to let it slide without giving her a good ribbing over it.

“It’s not like it’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” she poked back and walked through the doorway to the room and sat down on the bench and unzipped her boots kicking them off to the side. She lifted the dress shirt over her head and slipped out of her pants which revealed a knife attached around her ankle, which would allow her to get dressed in the slim fitting black outfit she always preferred to wear. “At least you remembered what I preferred.”

"Ironically enough, that's left over from another friend of mine I shared the program with. You and her had similar tastes," he explained. "Although hers was a little more snug in the chest area if you catch my meaning," he chuckled.

Laughing lightly, she didn’t comment. She fluffed her hair out and then put it into a tight bun. Behind her was the wall of weapons that she could choose for herself. Since she preferred to be armed to the nines, she grabbed the stuff that she normally ran on training simulations and prior in the field. The small knives and daggers started disappearing into the different folds of the fabric and the multitude of pockets that these outfits had. She then picked a compression rifle for good measure and looked at him as he finished getting ready. “So two pieces of intel we are going for or one piece of intel? I need to know how cooperative this challenge is.”

Logan brought up a rough sketch of the city. "The building we're aiming for is this one here. There are two objectives. A list of operatives that have infiltrated our organizations and information on the location of the enemy's secret weapons manufacturing planet. We need both. I'll let you decide what you want to get. We don't have precise location on either. Points are scored for kills but also for passing an enemy undetected. Whoever trips the alarms gets a points penalty. Being the first one back doesn't guarantee a win but there is a points bonus if you've secured your objective. Any questions?"

As she did one final check of her equipment, she made a tally of the objectives and layout. "I'll go for the plant. Get in, get the data, get out. Most points wins. Got it. Ready when you are."

Logan sheathed his knives and concealed his lone phaser. "Then let's get to it," he replied. "We'll go in together and split here to reach our objectives," he pointed to the map and winked. "Good luck."

"You too." She slung the rifle over her shoulder and strapped it down. When they walked out of the prep room, she looked around the poorly lit city in front of them. The buildings were in a grid pattern and all averaged between two and four stories high. Most had wall to wall windows across each old the floors. The building they were heading to was just beyond and down the way by three buildings. The sound of someone coming made both of them slink into the alley between two buildings hiding in the shadows. She had her hand on a knife in her belt. She didn't want the metal to catch light and reflect it giving away their position. Pulling up the black scarf, it covered the majority of her face allowing her to seemingly disappear into the darkened alley as the two guards walked by.

Logan followed closely behind Adlyn and put his hand on her hip to silently communicate both that he was there and when he was going to move. He tapped her hip three times quickly to indicate a count. Then he tapped it more slowly before the pair bolted on the third tap.

The reached another guarded check point where there were two pairs of guards patrolling the outside perimeter. He once again touched her hip to trace a plan of attack, swiping twice on the left and then tapping quickly three times again. Before he started the count, however, he skipped a rock off a couple walls to the right. It only drew one pair of guards, however. Meaning they'd have to evade the other pair as he counted off on her hip one more time.

As the guards passed investigating the noise and he finished the tap on her hip, she pushed forward to the alley across the way that ran along the southern perimeter of their target building. He had kept a hand on her shoulder as they crossed the way making sure their footfalls were identical and where in line to be as little disturbance in street as they crossed. Behind a dumpster, she closed her eyes as he kept watch. Using her three implants, she created a radar image of the building. The original goal was through the main entrance, but she had found an alternate.

She tapped his hand on her hip and turned to look at him. She used two fingers to indicate a back guard and then motioned her hand to reveal a back entrance to the facility. She then traded places with him so he was in front and she was in the back. Her hand gave a steady beat on his own hip and then she indicated to go. They proceeded in the shadows to the door. A small access panel was there and she couldn't hack it. Taking out her knife she popped off the front of the keypad and used the tip to realign a couple circuits. She then replaced the keypad and pressed the button. The maglock on the door released and she opened it allowing them to slip unnoticed into the building. The door closed and resealed right as the guard on patrol turned the corner.

Once inside, the number of guards was increased ten fold. There were several stationary guards at each of the stair cases as well as several of the doors to side rooms. There would be no place to skate by unseen by conventional means. There was, however, another way. Logan pulled out four sealing pads that would allow them to traverse the ceiling. He moved to a point the ceiling was lowest and motioned for him to boost her to the top. He cupped his hands and she stepped inside. She secured herself with her hands and he gave a final boost on her backside, giving her ass a firm and completely unnecessary squeeze as he did so did. He winked at her when she looked at him.

She rolled her eyes after he winked and placed the two pads on the ceiling. As they were over designed, they would hold the weight of two people. Her left hand grabbed the pad and she reached down, extending her hand to him to pull him up to the ceiling with her.

Logan pulled in tight to limit the amount of space between them. His own seals were nearly side by side with hers, with only a small space between his body and hers. They proceeded slowly and carefully until they reached an area where the ceiling for the first floor ended over one of the stair cases. Soon they'd have to split up. Logan dropped down first and waited for her to drop into his arms. When she did, he had her at his mercy and french kissed her for nearly ten seconds before he put her down.

As much as she enjoyed that, this was a challenge. "Hey, now…" she whispered barely audible in his ear, lingering herself and then she pulled away. And as it was a challenge she was determined to win. Him distracting her was pleasant enough, but she was in it to win it. Her hand rested on his hip as they moved to the end of the corridor. They took opposite sides staying in the shadows at the tee the branched either direction.

Logan split off to the other side but it didn't get any easier from there. The halls were narrow with low ceilings. Slipping by would be impossible so either fighting or strategic killing was the only method through. Thus far since they were together, the score was essentially tied. This is where the real game would begin.

He slipped in close and pulled the first guard into one of the side rooms and slit his throat. He stuffed the body in a closet and held in the room until he could move again. He squeaked by two others but soon found himself pinned between two enemies. He would have to move quickly or end up sounding the alarm.

Adlyn moved opposite and had been scanning the complex to locate the servers. There was a small security annex down the hall to the left. She was surprised how many guards were around on a night shift. The ambient street lights filtered through windows. The interior corridors were lit at night time low lumens allowing her to stick to the corners and avoid the major guard packs that were thankfully roaming. However, there were four guards in close proximity that she wouldn't be able to make it through. She ducked into a closet scanning the ventilation. Then she pulled her knife out and popped the grate off of the vent duct in the closet. She crawled into the tight space and then closed the grate behind her. It took effort to minimize her efforts of being silent as she worked her way towards the security annex.

Thinking fast, Logan ducked into a room where the two guards in front of him would soon inhabit. He waited from the guard behind him to turn back the other direction and then surprised the two in front of him. Two quick slashes and the were both down. The downside is that eventually someone would notice the blood. He was on the clock now. He grabbed the uniform of one of the downed guards and quickly changed. He partially covered his face and kept his head forward to discourage any suspicion. The gambit worked long enough to get him to his intended room. The next part would be much harder and even harder still, getting out.

Adlyn reached her room. There were three guards in the room. The four outside the door. She would need to act fast. Using her knife, she popped open the grate and quietly slid it to the side. She slipped a canister out from between her beltline and her spine and in one twist of her wrist highly compressed gaseous nitrogen released through the room. It was the nearly silent asphyxiation she was going for. The two guards slumped over their terminal and then the third that was standing started to fall; she bolted. Right as he was about to hit the floor, she slipped her hand between his head and the floor cushioning the sound. She rested him off to the side and then went to the computer accessing the information she needed.

The encryption on the devices was particularly difficult. Logan knew that wouldn't slow Adlyn down but it would test his own abilities. Cracking encryption was not his strongest suit. He did have a bit of a cheat through and removed the device he'd gotten from Starfleet Intelligence. It went through searching for the desired data and in a matter of a few minutes secured it. He removed the device and started searching for his way out. He likely couldn't go back the way he came. He looked over at a door to the left and a window behind him. He picked the window and scaled the building from the outside.

As she was half done downloading the data, she noticed the ventilation system to the room on the schematic turn red. Either there was a deadman switch somewhere. She would have to figure it out later. The room started filling with a poisonous gas. Pulling her scarf back over her face to help block out the gas that was pouring into the room, she armed each hand with a small hand size dagger. She waited until the room was getting pretty toxic and she held her breath, opened the door, allowing the poisonous gas to flood out the room and into the hallway. At the same time, she stabbed both right and left hitting the necks of the two guards that guarded the security annex. Then she darted forwards and nailed the one that hadn’t had time to react. The other one did, and sliced across her neck as he went to stab her and missed. She felt the sting of the blade slice through her skin. “Safeties off…” she mumbled. She then turned on her heel and then elbowed him hard in the nose breaking it. That changed her game plan. She backtracked her position, going right from the annex to go back the way that she originally came from as there was a window at the end of the hallway. Then the alarm sounded, and a metal shutter came down over the window. “Takia!” she cursed.

Logan carefully scaled the outside wall until he got around to the front of the building. He had bypassed pretty much everyone inside by carefully waiting until they were clear of the windows. The problem was, he was still on the 2nd story. He dropped himself down to hang from the ledge but it still felt too far. He knew this one was going to hurt, but he started to swing himself back and forth before he let go and rolled as he hit the ground. He was sure he sprained his shoulder but he would live. All he had to do was make it to the rendezvous point now.

The sounds of boots is what caught her attention before the red HUD showed the number of guards coming to her position. She pulled the rifle over shoulder and took the offensive position. Her breathing slowed and she watched her HUD as it starting growing more and more red. As she turned the corner towards the hallway she split off in from Logan, two guards walked around the corner. She tapped each one with a shot and then paused at the corner that led down the stairs. Exposed in the open, she waited planning how she was going to make her escape. She had tagged Logan when they first started and she knew he was clear of the building. It was just her.

As the guards came to the bottom of the stairs, she chucked a small grenade and killed the guard that rounded the corner. The grenade set off the fire suppression system activating the sprinklers. She then took a running start after the grenade went off and dove down over the four bodies. Tucking into a roll, she slowed and went down a hallway, waiting for the three guards to run past. They did and she snuck out towards the back entrance from whence they had entered. It was locked. She wasn't going to be able to break it, even with her strength and agility. From her pocket she pulled out a small bomb and stuck it to the maglock at the top of the door that held it closed.

She darted out and around the corner as the door blew. The three guards that had gone past turned. She killed one and bolted. The object was speed and she hoped to get not too bad of a score. She wasn't ready to spill that secret to anyone. In an all out sprint, she seemingly glided over the terrain towards the room they had entered soaked and covered in mud.

Logan jumped when the explosion went off, knowing it was Adlyn that had caused it. He couldn't take that girl anywhere he shook his head. He was sure she was ok but if something had gone wrong, he'd be ready to step in. As it stood, he was sure to make it there before her. He hoped it would be enough to win. But either way, he considered telling her his secret anyway.

She was dead sprinting watching him get closer and closer to the doorway and then he crossed it. Bowled into the room like thirty seconds behind him and bent over and then threw her head back breathing heavily. "You're...the ...better...sneak…" she admitted between breaths. As her breathing steadied, she wiped the dust turned mud from her face with her hands and then dropped it on the floor. "That was tough…"

Logan laughed. "Computer, end program and calculate score."

"Score complete. Logan Vance 175, Adlyn Rowley 180."

"Dammit," Logan swore. "I guess that little show at the end put you over the top. Show off."

"Depends on how the score is tallied," she smiled. "You're the spy. I have a kill count cause alarms were tripped. About that… I figured the air vent was triggered or was it a deadman switch?" she asked. "Does the computer break it down?"

He tapped a few commands on the arch and got a full breakdown. "No apparently one of the guards found a body of mine. That penalty gave you the edge combined with the kills you had to make."

"Tsk tsk. Always needing to be difficult, huh?" She asked. "It was fun, even if you tried mixing play with business." She shot a mock serious look on his direction as she started to disarm herself.

"Well there /might/ have been an ulterior motive to entice some fun after we were done," he admitted as he moved in and put his arms around her waist. "And now you're all dirty. I'm sure you don't want to go all the way back to your ship. My temporary quarters on the station are not far."

"Oh is that so?" she asked about his ulterior motives. "You did tease me with thirty six different mating rituals once upon a time We only made it through a handful of that and I nixed another handful of way too weird ones…" she teased back as her hands grabbed his hips as he held her waist. "I should have also realized the safeties were off, so I guess you can play medic." She tilted her head showing the cut on her neck.

"Pretty sure I did that last time too. So I guess this is history repeating itself?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "I could start by kissing to make it better?" he suggested.

"You did. It is, because I need a shower. Then you can kiss it to make it all better," she teased.

"Please. I've dealt with much dirtier," he smirked

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Commander Logan Vance
XO, USS Andromeda

Lt. Commander Adlyn Rowley
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Andromeda