The elevator halted abruptly and the lights went out. They were in the dark, unable to see while the two marines with them had their night vision visible by a faint green glow in their equipment. Franz shuffled himself up to stand and tried squinting to get a good look around.
"Hmm.. Gentlemen, I believe my assistance is required. I'm employed here to work as a part time mechanical engineer. Though, mostly with terminals, I've seen the blueprints of this elevator before and already know every knob, switch, and lever in this shaft. I think I could solve the problem if you'd unhand-cuff me and gimme some vision. There should be a hatch.. right.. Ah. Here, Kurtt, open this would you?"
"Right!"
Kurrt stood up and clutched his hands together in a fist with the handcuffs and jumped upwards with force. A loud klunk was heard and a slight breeze entered the container they were in as the large man fell to the ground with a sigh.
"Ah! There we are. Kurtt's managed to open the hatch with some good old fashioned brute force. Now, I can easily set the controls outside to turn the power back on in here and give us a nice ride down, if I were able to use my hands though."
Oberstabsgefreiter Kleiner stared at the two civilians for a moment before making up his mind with a wave, "Alright Schütze! Go uncuff those two, get this Elevator moving again!" Sighing the marine leans against the bulkhead of the elevator, watching the three now work on getting it moving.
Schütze Richtopher quickly moves over and undoes the electronic cuffs letting the two work more easily on the controls while speaking, "I'm in training for der machinist corps. I know my way around electronics und such just tell me what you want cut, welded, or jury-rigged und I'm sure I can do it." The Schütze stands back waiting on seeing what the two civilians think should be done.
The Schütze handed Kurtt and Franz night-vision goggles and the three hopped up on top of the freight elevator. Franz looked down inside the container and saw the Staff Sergeant looking up at them curiously.
"Sir, I'm gonna close this hatch in order to work more efficiently and have more space. I'll be putting a thirty second delay on when the elevator gets moving again, so that will give us time to hop back in when ready."
And with that, Franz closed the hatch and for a moment smiled to himself menacingly, thinking of all the different ways to fill his lust for murder.
"Franz."
He quickly turned around, startled, seeing Kurtt hover over him.
"Oh. Right. Let's get to it."
The 'part time mechanical engineer' approached the wall of the shaft and took a look around. His eyes stopped at the switch box, located only a few feet up and to the right of them, above a small standing platform.
"Hmm. Hey. Soldier marine thing, you good at throwing?"
Tucker not so much pressed but punched the door's activation keypad. The door slid open to reveal a middle-aged Rheinlander sitting behind a computer. Startled by the sudden intrusion, he jumped up from his desk, but calmed down when he recognised the man standing in the doorway. Hands shaking nervously, he put down the sidearm he had been directing at the doorway. INTERSPACE was emblazoned on his pale grey jumpsuit.
"Ah, h-herr Tucker. I was wondering when you would show up."
Found him at last. Took me a good while to find the sneaky bastard.
"We are going to escape, yes? We have to get out of here!"
Tucker glanced over his shoulder to check no one was watching, then stepped inside and sealed the door.
"Don't worry... I'm here to ensure the project's secrecy."
The other man breathed a small sigh of relief.
Tucker raised his gun.
"Tucker! Wait! No-"
*Bang, bang.*
The Interspace employee slumped to the floor, two bloody holes violating his chest and forehead. Tucker emptied the rest of the clip into the computer, shattering the screen and scattering optronic shrapnel flying across the room. Stepping around the mess, he rumaged through the desk drawers until he found a small silver flask. Reaching under the desk, he pulled out the Interspace man's briefcase and emptied the contents onto the ground.
The words CONFIDENTIAL - ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS were emblazoned on the papers. Tucker unscrewed the flask and tipped it over the paper, the clear liquid soaking into the pages. He stood back and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a lighter.
No going back now.
Tucker flicked the lighter on and tossed it onto the stack of documents. A small flame grew from the corner, then rapidly consumed the rest of the pile.
Time to leave.
He ditched the spent energy clip and reloaded his pistol. He had only two spare clips left. Taking one last look at the room, he blasted the fire alarm and stepped out, shutting the door behind him. Then, he input a 10-key sequence into the door lock. By the time anyone cracks that code, the contents will be long gone.
*****
The hour was late, and the Rheinlanders had near-complete control of Bonn Station. At least, that's what Tucker thought. He had no way of knowing the status of the Corporate HQ Nodes - internal communications were down.
I wonder if my final hours will be spent behind this damn barricade before the stormtroopers kill us all.
James Tucker was sheltering behind makeshift defenses, deep within Bonn, huddled with a group of remaining Interspace Security personnel. I guess they're not all hopeless. These guys are either real tough nuts, or damn lucky.
He had "acquired" a carbine from a wounded Rheinland marine a few hours ago. There was enough power left to last for a while... but would it run out before reinforcements arrived?
Who was he kidding - they were the reinforcements, and there was no one coming to save them.
Suddenly, one of the ICS guards yelled out. "They're cutting through the doors!"
Tucker cursed and adjusted his position, training the gun on the doorway. Some kind of cutting beam was being used to carve a breach into the heavy double doors.
15 seconds passed after Boss pressed the button and a big explosion was unleashed in the two decks, destroying everything. The shockwave from the blast shook the whole station and make everyone to wonder what had happened. In the VIP section rumours already started spreading, rumours of Rheinland marines planting explosives to destroy Bonn "The Military want to get rid of this station, what should we do!?" somebody screamed. "We must get out of here before they do the same here!" said another man and started running and the rest would follow him soon, they were trying to escape by using one of the shuttles in the hangar bay.
The aftermath from the explosion was devastating, several civilians, interspace employees and equipment were caught in the explosion killing them. From the outside, you could see Bonn burning, you could see that something bad happened in there.
Boss having accomplished the task, he waited in the VIP section for the siege to end so he could get out of there. Meanwhile the VIPs were terrified and tried to reach the hangar bays where "salvation" awaited them. On their way there they fell on a marine patrol that was occupying the hangar bays and captured them. The salvation for them was now gone.
Voss was surprised when he felt an explosion shudder through the deckplates, tightly gripping the edge of the engineering console he kept himself steady and activated the deck's Fire-Suppression Systems, however the delay for activation would mean there would be considerable damage still to those decks and if anything was salvaged from them after the siege it would be a miracle in itself.
"Krieg Schwein, this is Hansel, an explosion was registered on Decks Six and Eight, Fire-Suppression Systems have been activated but Engineers will be needed to evaluate the damage first-hand. Plant the Flag and upload the new IFF Signal into the Transmission Array." he ordered Frederick in a calm voice, keeping his cool despite the minor setbacks.
Activating Bonn's internal Communications he spoke loudly and calmly.
"Attention Citizens of Bonn, by the Order of the Federal Republic of Rheinland this station is now under the control of the Military, do not attempt to leave the station, remain where you are and stay calm, any attempts at sabotage will be considered a criminal act and you shall be detained by the Military for acts of Terrorism. I repeat, Bonn Station is now under the control of the Rheinland Military, remain where you are until Military Personnel reaches you."
Oberleutnant Bernhard directly interfaced his mech with the stations controls, doing the digital equivalent of planting the flag, Bonn Station's IFF emitters starting blaring Republican Shipping codes. Opening a transmission to the Battleship Strausberg he spoke firmly, "This is Oberleutnant Bernhard from Bonn Station Command, if you cannot tell already we have assumed control of die station. However there appears to have been sabotage by, I assume, Interspace employees. Decks six und eight have suffered extensive damage, please send over any emergency fire fighting und engineering squads you may have on hand, judging by the readout from der console, it won't be pretty." Closing the channel the Oberleutnant sighed internally, wondering how many letters to home he would have to write. Before reflecting too long on those prospects, he shook his head and opened the security footage using Bonn's own defenses to help lead the marines in their assault on the few stubborn defenders that were left.
The Schütze nodded towards the civilian. "Ja I've got a gut arm. Und this suit practically doubles mein strength. What are you thinking?"
With the Military's announcement everyone knew any further struggle would be pointless so they decided to turn themselves in so they could go to their homes sooner rather than later. Wiith the surrender of Bonn, Rheinland had full access to it's systems and the cause of the explosion was being investigated.
//This post takes place before the above one. I meant to finish it sooner. Also, i have Gentlefood's permission to post this since there will be some meta.
The Schütze obeyed Franz's command and, with the strength of himself and the power-suite, sent Franz flying to the ledge with the control panel. He had successfully made it across. The odd pair of Franz and Kurtt were one step closer to their goal.
"Alright, now Kurtt, send him over. I'll need your mechanical ingenuity."
He tried to hold back his grin slowly creeping on his face, thinking of the pleasure he would have to finally free himself of the thirst for bloodshed. For a moment he began to doze off, staring at the wall in front of him smiling at the thoughts in his head. Though it was a short lived daze, as the metal of the Schütze's power armor crashed beside him with a clank. Franz shook his head, startled, but remained ready to proceed.
"What tools do you have, marine?"
The power-armored marine shuffled through a bag he had brought with them and held an item up. He placed it on the left of the control panel and a spark flew across it, lighting up some of the options. There was electricity running through it, enough for the plan to be finally put in action. Franz stared at it for a moment, examining the contents of the panel and controls available. Yes, it would work.
"Kurtt, get ready!"
Franz turned to face the marine and grinned. He placed one hand on the marine's chest, and looked at the next victim of his hidden motives. He gently gave a small push with his hand, just enough to send the marine stumbling back and falling off the edge, twisting and turning as he began bumping into the sides of the shaft with a loud clank at each contact.
"Kurtt."
The big man had positioned himself beside the hatch that opened to the inner cargo elevator. He grabbed onto the metal bar, and started pulling it open. The sergeant was immediate to react, aiming his weaponry directly at Franz, whom had his hand on a lever attached to the control panel. The sergeant began yelling at the two.
"Civilians! Where the hell is my marine?! And what the frak did I hear battering against these walls just a moment ago?!"
Franz tilted his head back and laughed.
"Hah! Sergeant! He's gone. And you will be too, if you don't do as I say.. Take off your power armor and place it to the side, or I drop this lever and you fall to your death, along with every other damn Rheinland marine in these shafts! We wouldn't want that, now would we? Do it, or my friend Kurtt will be happy to 'help' you. And no, I'm not afraid to drop it with him inside.. Sorry, Kurtt."
The bulky killer simply smiled back.
"Hey, it's for the cause. And besides, I think I'd make the fall.. With a bit of luck, of course."
The sergeant realized his situation, and took off his armor, slowly. Kurtt and Franz waited anxiously as the marine looked down at the floor, almost as if in shame. He began taking even longer with each piece of armor, every mechanic or lock he had to undo.
"Alright, we're going to move things along if you don't mind.."
Franz nodded to Kurtt, and he proceeded to jump down into the elevator. The big man was quick to act, grabbing the sergeant by the throat and pinning him against the wall. He squeezed tighter, beginning to suffocate the marine. But released his grip just in time, dropping him onto the floor beside several crates that were scattered across the inside of the cargo elevator. Kurtt stepped back and turned around to face Franz, whom was smiling back at him in approval.. Though, that quickly changed. The mechanical killer was now frantically pointing to something behind Kurtt. He soon go the message, and turned around to face a battered half-dressed sergeant holding a piece of weaponry that resembled a rocket launcher.
"Eat this."
The shot was fired directly in front of Kurtt, sending a spinning projectile flying out of the weapon's chambers, crashing into the big man's torso and carrying him along for the ride. It flew across the elevator, spreading Kurtt's blood in a spiral on the walls.
"NO!"
Franz looked on as his friend was brutally destroyed, being taken rapidly through the elevator and then through the shaft, finally exploding at the wall, leaving a trail of debris and smoke behind. Though, before the sergeant could even admire the feat he accomplished, Franz was already jumping down through the hatch, knives in hand. His eyes resembled that of a red fire as he began stabbing unrelenting at the man's body.
Franz exited his blood-lust state of mind when there was finally nothing left to stab. He looked up, turned his head back and forth, examining the scene of the event. The power-armor was still there. The goal was going to be achieved, but not without loss. A member of the syndicate had left them that day.. The killer grabbed the armor and slipped it on with precision of the alignments in mind. He picked up the nearest metal shard then lifted it up to the sky.
"Now the fun really starts."
With a heavy drop, he descended the shard and plunged it into his thigh and fell to the ground.
-static-
"Hallo! This ist Schütze Richtopher requesting immediate medical attention!"