Siege Perilous - Part 4 - The Tunnels
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xp_logsSiege Perilous Day 13 - Jean, Artie and Sarah break into the lower levels via the sewers.
To outsiders, it was easy to believe the Morlock tunnels were just the sewers beneath the city. But the tunnels were really a combination of sewer, abandoned subway, and maintenance hangars that provided shelter for the mutants least likely to be safe in the outside world. It was a system that was easy to get lost in. Sarah could have navigated them blindfolded.
She moved quickly, but kept listening for the footsteps that ensured she hadn't lost the others. At a junction where the walls changed from concrete to stone, Sarah stopped. "Not far now. Cross your fingers they haven't locked the grate."
"If they have, I'll break it open," Jean said, eyes narrowed as she ran behind her. She kept the nervous feeling in her stomach squashed down. It'd been a long time since she'd been to the Hellfire Club headquarters, and the last time wasn't by choice.
She cast a glance to Artie to see how he was doing.
Artie gave her a grim smile and nodded. He was armed, he was ready for a fight and hopefully he'd survive.
Once they reached a steel ladder hanging from a grate covered opening in the ceiling of the tunnel, Sarah stopped and pointed up. A rusted lock hung from the railing. "Once you break that, they will know we're here. We will have to move quickly to get everyone to safety before they send in reinforcements for whatever guards they have stationed down here. Ready?"
"Let's do it," Jean said. The rusted lock was so old it practically disintegrated when Jean broke it, opening the grate with a heavy screech.
She used her telekinesis to give her a boost, lifting off the ground, up into the tunnel.
"Anyone need a hand?"
Artie shook his head and, realising she probably couldn't see him, sent a wavery pink "no thanks" floating up to Jean. He caught hold of the opening and dragged himself up, brute stubbornness nearly giving out under his own body weight. A vein bulged in his forehead as he pulled himself through. "I'm fine." At least the synthesiser meant that he didn't sound as strained as he would have otherwise.
Sarah took one final glance down the tunnel to make sure they weren't being cornered into a trap, and pulled herself up fluidly behind him. The room contained an old, worn desk, several file cabinets and three or four ornate chairs stacked in the corner. "Old fire maps obviously don't list the underground prison cells, but this hallway does contain 14 very small "sleeping quarters". She made her way to the door.
Outside, a dimly lit hallway flickered to life under movement-triggered fluorescent lights, and a muffled shout came from the end of the hallway. Sarah took off, eyeing the heavy wooden doors on the right side of the hallway. "I'll try to get some of the doors opened to get us some cover!"
Jean glanced up, her mind reaching out. Jaw clenching, she turned back to the others. "Gotta go. There are more upstairs and those Hellfire pricks are about to get started with their stupid ritual," she said. Saluting them, she took off, yelling down the hall in her wake.
"Don't die, okay?"
Artie snorted. "Not my first rodeo." The text streamed across the wall for a moment.
From behind one of the large wooden doors, Sarah glanced back to Artie. "Looks like it's just you and me now." Heavy footfalls came from the end of the hallway. "There's our guards. Let's see if one of them will give up the keys."
Standing, Sarah pulled at a protrusion from her thigh, and cracked off a jagged bone with a sickening snap. She ran down the hall, meeting two men in suits head-on. Swinging the bone like a bat, she shattered one guard's hand as he reached for his gun, swatting the now unholstered weapon down the hall towards Artie. The second guard shot at her, but the angle was off and it only ricocheted off the layer of bone under her collar, cracking it. But one more hit there and the bullet would go clean through.
Artie shot the man in the chest with his taser and kicked the gun away as the man lay on the ground jerking and drooling until the current died away and he could grab the keys off his belt. He set off down the hall toward the cells and the Morlocks. The keys worked - it was the right set, which was always more a risk than you'd think, especially around security types who always keys to something but possibly not the thing you needed.
The cell doors swung open.
The cell was surprisingly large, and Sarah had only a moment to make a mental note to see if they couldn't find someone who could get them updated plans for the right price. A small body vaulted from a shadow in the corner of the room and clung to Sarah. "Miss Sarah! I didn't mean to get lost!"
Sarah chuckled, and patted the young Morlock on the head. "Come on kiddo, let's get everybody up and get out of here before someone else shows up."
The Morlocks looked at Artie with various degrees of fear, suspicion and outright hostility. Shit. They sure weren't going to follow him. He said "You'd better lead here and I'll cover the rear."
While covering the Morlocks’ escape, Artie comes across Topaz and it’s time for Round 2.
TW: character death
Artie flattened himself against the wall at the sound of footsteps. Someone was coming. Shit. Shit. He couldn't run, obviously, and fighting his way out would be ... challenging, at best. He took a deep breath and began to create an illusion of a blank wall. It was more complicated than he usually managed but maybe he could hide behind it. Usually, as an X-Man, he just settled for bright lights and flashes and distraction.
The excuse was going down to check on the prisoners, but really what was happening was too much for Topaz at that moment. She hurried down the stairs, looking around, and saw the shimmering of Artie's wall. "Now, now," she called in a calm she didn't feel. "What do we have here?"
Aww, crap. Hiding was apparently not on the cards. It had been a long shot, anyway. Artie shifted his weight and charged at the voice, illusion falling around him. He stumbled as he saw Topaz but managed a tackle.
Maybe it was the magic still in the air. Maybe it was frayed nerves. Maybe it was being absolutely done with all of this insanity. But something in Topaz snapped as Artie hit her. Anger - pure, unfamiliar anger - flooded through her, momentarily blinding any common sense. She gritted her teeth, growling as she ripped into her attacker's head without a second thought, drained every emotion she could find, and hit him with a blast of energy, sending him across the room.
Artie landed with a sickening thud, head and neck hitting the wall first. His arms and legs spasmed but he didn't get up.
She heard the thud, saw him fall, but after everything that had happened, Topaz wasn't taking anything at face value. She gathered more energy in her hand, stepping forward, senses on high alert.
Artie tried to move but the room was spinning and he just. Didn't care. It was more that he knew he should, training speaking louder than any actual feeling of urgency.
She stood over him, watching him twitch, some amount of calm returning. "It's nothing personal," she informed him, as if that somehow made what she was about to do any better. "Wrong place, wrong time. You know how it is."
She drove the ball of energy right into his chest, going right through his heart and causing it to rupture.
To outsiders, it was easy to believe the Morlock tunnels were just the sewers beneath the city. But the tunnels were really a combination of sewer, abandoned subway, and maintenance hangars that provided shelter for the mutants least likely to be safe in the outside world. It was a system that was easy to get lost in. Sarah could have navigated them blindfolded.
She moved quickly, but kept listening for the footsteps that ensured she hadn't lost the others. At a junction where the walls changed from concrete to stone, Sarah stopped. "Not far now. Cross your fingers they haven't locked the grate."
"If they have, I'll break it open," Jean said, eyes narrowed as she ran behind her. She kept the nervous feeling in her stomach squashed down. It'd been a long time since she'd been to the Hellfire Club headquarters, and the last time wasn't by choice.
She cast a glance to Artie to see how he was doing.
Artie gave her a grim smile and nodded. He was armed, he was ready for a fight and hopefully he'd survive.
Once they reached a steel ladder hanging from a grate covered opening in the ceiling of the tunnel, Sarah stopped and pointed up. A rusted lock hung from the railing. "Once you break that, they will know we're here. We will have to move quickly to get everyone to safety before they send in reinforcements for whatever guards they have stationed down here. Ready?"
"Let's do it," Jean said. The rusted lock was so old it practically disintegrated when Jean broke it, opening the grate with a heavy screech.
She used her telekinesis to give her a boost, lifting off the ground, up into the tunnel.
"Anyone need a hand?"
Artie shook his head and, realising she probably couldn't see him, sent a wavery pink "no thanks" floating up to Jean. He caught hold of the opening and dragged himself up, brute stubbornness nearly giving out under his own body weight. A vein bulged in his forehead as he pulled himself through. "I'm fine." At least the synthesiser meant that he didn't sound as strained as he would have otherwise.
Sarah took one final glance down the tunnel to make sure they weren't being cornered into a trap, and pulled herself up fluidly behind him. The room contained an old, worn desk, several file cabinets and three or four ornate chairs stacked in the corner. "Old fire maps obviously don't list the underground prison cells, but this hallway does contain 14 very small "sleeping quarters". She made her way to the door.
Outside, a dimly lit hallway flickered to life under movement-triggered fluorescent lights, and a muffled shout came from the end of the hallway. Sarah took off, eyeing the heavy wooden doors on the right side of the hallway. "I'll try to get some of the doors opened to get us some cover!"
Jean glanced up, her mind reaching out. Jaw clenching, she turned back to the others. "Gotta go. There are more upstairs and those Hellfire pricks are about to get started with their stupid ritual," she said. Saluting them, she took off, yelling down the hall in her wake.
"Don't die, okay?"
Artie snorted. "Not my first rodeo." The text streamed across the wall for a moment.
From behind one of the large wooden doors, Sarah glanced back to Artie. "Looks like it's just you and me now." Heavy footfalls came from the end of the hallway. "There's our guards. Let's see if one of them will give up the keys."
Standing, Sarah pulled at a protrusion from her thigh, and cracked off a jagged bone with a sickening snap. She ran down the hall, meeting two men in suits head-on. Swinging the bone like a bat, she shattered one guard's hand as he reached for his gun, swatting the now unholstered weapon down the hall towards Artie. The second guard shot at her, but the angle was off and it only ricocheted off the layer of bone under her collar, cracking it. But one more hit there and the bullet would go clean through.
Artie shot the man in the chest with his taser and kicked the gun away as the man lay on the ground jerking and drooling until the current died away and he could grab the keys off his belt. He set off down the hall toward the cells and the Morlocks. The keys worked - it was the right set, which was always more a risk than you'd think, especially around security types who always keys to something but possibly not the thing you needed.
The cell doors swung open.
The cell was surprisingly large, and Sarah had only a moment to make a mental note to see if they couldn't find someone who could get them updated plans for the right price. A small body vaulted from a shadow in the corner of the room and clung to Sarah. "Miss Sarah! I didn't mean to get lost!"
Sarah chuckled, and patted the young Morlock on the head. "Come on kiddo, let's get everybody up and get out of here before someone else shows up."
The Morlocks looked at Artie with various degrees of fear, suspicion and outright hostility. Shit. They sure weren't going to follow him. He said "You'd better lead here and I'll cover the rear."
While covering the Morlocks’ escape, Artie comes across Topaz and it’s time for Round 2.
TW: character death
Artie flattened himself against the wall at the sound of footsteps. Someone was coming. Shit. Shit. He couldn't run, obviously, and fighting his way out would be ... challenging, at best. He took a deep breath and began to create an illusion of a blank wall. It was more complicated than he usually managed but maybe he could hide behind it. Usually, as an X-Man, he just settled for bright lights and flashes and distraction.
The excuse was going down to check on the prisoners, but really what was happening was too much for Topaz at that moment. She hurried down the stairs, looking around, and saw the shimmering of Artie's wall. "Now, now," she called in a calm she didn't feel. "What do we have here?"
Aww, crap. Hiding was apparently not on the cards. It had been a long shot, anyway. Artie shifted his weight and charged at the voice, illusion falling around him. He stumbled as he saw Topaz but managed a tackle.
Maybe it was the magic still in the air. Maybe it was frayed nerves. Maybe it was being absolutely done with all of this insanity. But something in Topaz snapped as Artie hit her. Anger - pure, unfamiliar anger - flooded through her, momentarily blinding any common sense. She gritted her teeth, growling as she ripped into her attacker's head without a second thought, drained every emotion she could find, and hit him with a blast of energy, sending him across the room.
Artie landed with a sickening thud, head and neck hitting the wall first. His arms and legs spasmed but he didn't get up.
She heard the thud, saw him fall, but after everything that had happened, Topaz wasn't taking anything at face value. She gathered more energy in her hand, stepping forward, senses on high alert.
Artie tried to move but the room was spinning and he just. Didn't care. It was more that he knew he should, training speaking louder than any actual feeling of urgency.
She stood over him, watching him twitch, some amount of calm returning. "It's nothing personal," she informed him, as if that somehow made what she was about to do any better. "Wrong place, wrong time. You know how it is."
She drove the ball of energy right into his chest, going right through his heart and causing it to rupture.
