Through the Horizon: Whats Found is Taken
#4 of Through the Horizon
Hello all, yet another chapter of Horizons. Dasher helped me edit and I bounced idea's off of him to get this one started. Without him, I could not write as I do. I certainly could not be the fur and individual that I am today. So I dedicate this chapter to him. My friend, thank you for all you've done for me. I look forward to many more years of friendship. OH no gay butt sex yet, but its cumming. - snickers at my joke- A certain former cheetah is getting a little overly horny and Bane's tired of eyeing a green fox from afar.
Through the Horizon: Whats Found is Taken
Lucian sat in Hugo's office. He had came up to it for some privacy and to think about their situation. All supplies had been moved into a vacant office near the control room and a guard placed upon it. Lucian looked at his communicator, he was over due to check in with Bane and he knew the wolf would become worried as any commander would. However he just couldn't risk sending out a signal from the base. It was vulnerable, and if the wrong group got the signal and information that Lucian wanted to tell Bane then it would pinpoint the location and prompt a battle against both the inhabitants of the base and another invading force, seeking what they had found. Lucian wasn't sure they could win against the enemy they had and certainly wasn't planning to look for additional enemies to fight. He stood up and walked to the window, looking out of it. So much had happened in so short of a time period. Bane must be informed and somebody would have to return with the information personally lest it be intercepted. It was a good opportunity to bring back more supplies and manpower. They would need it for the fight they had ahead of them. Ron would be needed to run the equipment and repair what he could of it. Seamus was a doctor who would be needed in case of more attacks. As he had all the information, it seemed he was the logical choice to be the one who went back to report it to Bane. He turned around to see Seamus and Ron stepping out of the elevator into the office. Lucian smiled at them and it comforted both of them. They were afraid of the unknown creatures that had attacked the party but his calm leadership had provided the structure both needed in this difficult time. "I'm glad you are both here," said Lucian, "I have made a decision to return to the base to inform Bane of our situation and bring more help. We all know we are fighting a losing battle, we need more men." Ron and Seamus nodded agreement to this, so Lucian continued, " Ron, call all defense drones back to the tower. I want them working to secure this tower only. Its our only concern for the moment and I want it protected to the best of our ability. Do your best to conserve power and protect the troupes against attack. When I return we will work to bring the city back up. Until then maintain our status." Ron nodded, and headed off to begin his work to lower power consumption. Lucian then addressed his second in command,"Seamus, I'm going to leave you in charge of the city while I'm gone. You are the best man for the job. I want you to keep everybody alive. Do whatever you must but keep them alive. That's your primary order and it supersedes all others until further notice." Seamus nodded in complete understanding of what he had just been told. He too turned and left as Lucian gathered up a blaster and headed back to the control room. He handed over command to Seamus officially and went to the shuttle they had arrived in. It undocked and with its departure, the expedition was trapped with no means of escape until its return.
Seamus sat at the console next to Ron and consulted the biometric scanners for the city. They were at full power in order to track the inhabitants. None were near Accendo Tower, so they seemed safe, for the moment at least. Next, Seamus delved into the fragmentary records Hugo had left them of the personnel. He pulled up a biological chart for one of the survivors. The name had been erased as many of the files in the central computer were corrupted. They could be repaired but there wasn't enough time or power to bother with that now. What was clear was that it was an adult wolf about thirty years old. The DNA had been so radically altered that the original wolf DNA was almost unrecognizable. It had been morphed into a wild animal with the powers of a god. This concept frightened Seamus and he looked though the list of survivors that had already been compiled by Hugo before he had died. All were infected and beyond help. Seamus was good at what he did and he could repair minor DNA damage. This was not his specialty and scope was very much beyond anything he or anybody he knew, were capable of understanding. As Seamus concentrated on the screen before him, totally absorbed in his work, Ron tapped him on the shoulder. The fox jumped and yelped getting the attention of everybody in the room. Ron blushed though his fur and apologized, "Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you." Seamus chuckled,"Its ok, what do you need." Ron told him"Well, I've gone over the power situation and things are much worse than I originally thought. Basically, the only thing keeping the city from flooding are the pumps that are stationed though out the city. Problem is, none of them are at full power and two of the stations are in danger of going under water. If we lose those stations, the remaining pumps will be unable to keep up with the incoming water and we will lose the city. We need more power and we need it soon." Seamus looked over the holographic map of the city that Ron had found, showing where the city was damaged and current water levels. The green fox asked,"Can we reduce life support in all area's of the city except Accendo Tower? That might buy some power." Ron shook his head and answered,"Life support is on the ragged edge as is. Even if we did that it wouldn't give us enough power. I've gone over the figures in as many ways as I can and the only answer is, we must get three more generators online. That will give us enough power to bring most of the city's systems back online, including the shield and internal defenses." Seamus sat back down and thought over the situation. To venture out into the city would be very dangerous. It might very well be a one way trip for whoever went. Ron continued, "Seamus, I know its dangerous but the last generator is under a great strain and nearly dead. It needs to be shut down and reset and I can't do that from here. If it goes offline, then we all die. This isn't me trying to play master and commander of the city, this is me trying to save the city and not so incidentally, all our lives. Also I have found a way to go directly to the generator rooms with this!" Ron got up and Seamus followed as the engineer led the way to another secret room that contained an inter-city teleporter that was operational. "Its a one way trip as the other end will not be able to send us back but it will get us there." Seamus nodded,"We can send a team to do it but you will need to stay here." Ron began to protest but Seamus stopped him with,"Ron, as much as you want to go and do this, we cannot afford to lose you. You will need to be here to take control of the city when the systems come back online. We will send two soldiers to the four dry generator rooms. Under your direction,they can bring them online and guard them. Once Lucian gets back we can begin the pumping of the remaining generators and rest the remaining one." Ron nodded, Seamus was right and he knew it. Just as the two stepped out of the room, the lights dimmed. Ron ran back to his station. "Seamus we have to do this now, I'm losing the last generator!" Seamus nodded and started giving out orders. Eight men were given rations and supplies, then two by two they were teleported to the rooms with specific instructions on how to get the generators back online. But would it be enough? Would they be able to do it in time? Ron typed away at the keyboard of the master engineering station. He shut system after system down, trying to lower the strain on the generator, trying to buy much needed time. Seamus took the comm station, all four of the teams checking in. Seamus called out,"Ron, they are all in place." Ron nodded and replied,"Tell them to do it now or we all need to grow gills!" Seamus instructed them to begin the start up procedures. One by one the generators slowly came to life bit it was then that Ron noticed a major problem. "Seamus, it will take an hour for these generators to build up enough power to complete the start up sequence, we don't have that kind of time!" The tenseness in Ron's voice frightened him considerably and he asked,"What are our options Ron?" Ron sighed, "There are none. We don't have enough power to use the transporter now and if I leave to walk there it will take an hour just to reach it. That's if the override panels aren't shot to hell." Seamus nodded, "what is going to happen Ron?" Ron sighed, "the water levels are already rising. In an hour we will lose at least one pump, maybe more. That would give us more power to run to the remaining pumps, so I could increase the remaining pumps but not enough to make up for the difference. But we have another problem, the creatures are moving towards the generators. I have an idea but it is risky. Our men are in hazmat suits, and we have enough left for us. We could . . . rid ourselves of the problem for good." Seamus eyed Ron and said, "What do you have in mind?" Looking none too happy, the red fox answered,"Well, there's a room on this level that contains cleaning supplies. I can take some bleach and rig the environmental systems to convert it to chlorine gas which if put into the air system, can be spread though the city. Anybody not in protective clothing will be killed." Seamus was appalled at what he was hearing. Was Ron really prepared to murder the survivors? Seamus thought harder and realized the survivors were no longer the people they had once been and even if they could be captured, restrained and held, there was nothing that could be done for them. Since they couldn't be saved and were a danger to his men and his mission, they needed to be dealt with. He sighed and said, "Do it." Ron nodded and ran off to prepare the system. There was an access point on this level and more than enough chemicals to do the job. Seamus figured this was a possible plan of Hugo's before he locked himself away but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Half an hour passed and Ron returned with a pair of hazmat suits saying, "We are good to go. Here, put this on." Seamus took the suit and radioed the other members of his men to put theirs on right away. Ron and Seamus were the last two to seal themselves into their suits. Ron sat down at the control panel and his fingers danced across it. In a minute he was ready and said,"Its now or never Seamus." Seamus nodded and gave a silent prayer,"May God forgive us for this." Ron started the process and an invisible gas hissed into the environmental systems. Seamus could detect it with his equipment but it was a clear gas. He sat at the scanner control station and watched as the life signs in the city slowly faded away. The gentle engineer's face showed how he felt about once more being called on to take lives. He hated it and as the lives show on the scanners screen slowly faded out, he began to feel sick. Seamus didn't need his talent to know what Ron was going through. The signs were all too evident on his face and in his body's position. Seamus came up behind Ron and put his hands on the shoulders of the upset fox. He wanted to provide what assurance he could, but how does one comfort a person who is obliterating an entire city's remaining population? Saying that it was duty or necessary sounded so hollow. By the end of the hour they were the only one's left. The four generators that were being started up finished their cycles and came online. The lights returned themselves to their normal levels as power was restored to the central tower. Ron looked at his station and said,"We have all four generating stations running at one hundred percent capacity. Its more than what we need to run all the remaining pumps." Seamus nodded and asked,"Whats the status of our pumping stations?" "Well, the water level rose above the rooms that two of the stations are located in but the water seals held and the water is currently being pumped out. We won't be dry but we won't have to swim either.", Ron said as another work station came to life and started beeping loudly. Ron walked over to it and saw the words on the screen read, Critical damage detected! Start repairs? Under these words were the words yes and no. Ron instinctively reached out and hit yes, not knowing what would happen but figuring there were automatic programs that would be initiated. In seconds after hitting the yes symbol, a floating metal orb appeared inside the control room. It buzzed softly and seemed weightless. Ron approached it carefully and looked at it. As if detecting him, it moved back, then floated around him to a damaged control station and arms emerged from it. These arms went to work tearing away the twisted metal and broken command keys of the station. "I'll be damned. . .", said Ron,"Its an automated repair drone!" Seamus shook his head, he then walked over to a display pedestal in the center of the circular command room. He looked at the holographic image of the city that had been hovering in place since they had arrived. Small red dots floated throughout the city, that Seamus guessed were more repair drones. "Well," said Seamus, "that explains how they built such a large city." Ron moved beside him and nodded in agreement. The station the drone had been working at suddenly came to life and hummed as it began working again. The drone assessed the condition of the station and seemed satisfied at its' repairs. Ron gasped, "It replicated new parts for the station!" Seamus looked puzzled at what Ron meant and looked at what the repair drone was now doing. He saw a part for a broken light appear in place as the old one vanished. Ron had moved back to the damage control station where he said,"We only have enough power to run twenty five percent of the total number of drones in the city. I'm setting the priority on the dry areas of the city first, and then the more damaged sections. We first want to make sure we don't have to swim, and then we can work on getting the flooded area's fixed." Ron moved back to the power management station and gasped,"The generators have been fully repaired and the failing one is back up too! They sure are quick at what they do." Seamus nodded and watched with amazement as the drone floated though the room fixing the inoperative stations in the command room. System after system hummed to life. It was amazing to watch life slowly being restored to a once dead city. Seamus sighed as he thought of this. So many had been killed by his own orders but what else could he have done? Ron shifted to life support and looked at it, then said,"Its safe to take off our suits now. The air is clean." As soon as they were unsealed, Seamus took a breath and was amazed to find that the air smelled clean. It had been somewhat stale and even dank from the water that had been slowly increasing when they had arrived. Now it smelled fresh and new. Ron chuckled as he watched Seamus drink in the clean air. "Save some for the rest of us will you?", the engineer kidded. Seamus chuckled with slight embarrassment and amusement. It was then the defense control station's alert alarm sounded off. Seamus ran over and looked. "Its just Lucian,", he reported. He activated the docking beam for the command deck and looked over the display for the screen. The shield system had been reset when the power was restored by the four repaired generators and it was ready to be brought back up. Seamus informed Ron of this but Ron was too nervous to bring it up just yet. Ever cautious, he wanted to make sure it was ready to be activated by checking things himself. The city wouldn't survive a collapse in its current condition. Seamus nodded his understanding as Lucian walked into the room. "It seems as if somebody's been busy while I was gone.", the dragon said as he smiled with pride at Seamus.
Seamus smiled back and said,"Well you did say I was to keep everybody alive and I didn't know how long you would be gone." As Seamus said this the drone floated past Lucian and begin to fix a hole in the wall beside him. Lucian looked surprised at this strange object and Seamus laughed as he explained,"Its a repair drone. They are throughout the city fixing the systems." Lucian eyed the device and walked around it. As he did, fifty soldiers, twenty engineers, and many other support staff walked onto the deck. Seamus proudly reported,"Oh, by the way Lucian, all the creatures are dead. We eliminated them with some gas Ron cooked up." Lucian eyed Seamus and said,"I am impressed. You did in hours what would have taken weeks with the methods I had been planning to use, and without the casualties that would have taken." Lucian walked into the command office and sat down. Ron and Seamus followed and took seats in the room. "Well?" asked Ron, "What happened?" Lucian smiled, and said as he ostentatiously fingered the gold star he was wearing,"I've been given command of this base and promoted to a General." Ron and Seamus congratulated the dragon, who blushed slightly under their praise. "OH!" said Ron, "Give me a couple of minutes and you won't have to use transport ships to get back to base." Seamus and Lucian stood up, following Ron into the command room. It was now occupied by a number of technicians. "Guys, bring the communications array online and link it to the orbital satellites." Seamus and Lucian looked confused as they followed him to the greeting room. Ron pushed a code into a keypad and a wall vanished to reveal a teleporter. "Well now, that helps!" said Lucian. "Now that we have power we can teleport directly to the base. No need for transport ships.", Ron told the new base commander. Lucian nodded and asked, "So I can go to base right now?" Ron nodded and Lucian stepped onto the teleporter pad saying, "Ok, send me." Ron nodded and walked behind the control panel and started the machine. He quickly ran some diagnostics on it to ensure that the power failure had not damaged it and linked it with the city's communication array. He locked onto the destination and engaged the machine. Lucian appeared on the teleporter pad as Bane walked past it. It caught Bane's attention and made Dasher jump into a defensive posture and growl. Lucian smiled down at the hackled wolf and said,"Hey Bane! Came back to give you an update." Bane nodded with surprise. He had not been expecting to hear from Lucian for a number of days, given all the tasks he had to get done when he had left. Bane said,"Ok, lets go to my office." Lucian followed Bane to the office where they took seats. Lucian told his boss, "We've dealt with the infestation of creatures and they are all dead. Ron gassed them." Bane laughed and joked,"I didn't know you packed chili?" Lucian laughed loudly and explained what had happened, "There's a lot of work to do but a most of it is automated, or so I've been told. Damn odd to see a metal ball fix something in seconds that would take a man hours or days. There's tech in that base that I've never seen before. More room than we could ever need and it is almost attack proof." Bane nodded, so Lucian continued, "Its a perfect home for the central government of the alliance." Bane eyed Lucian as he said,"The alliance doesn't have a central government . . . but it is about to. The members have been calling for more organization and many factions have expressed interest but only if there are signs of longevity and real organization. So the proper answer is to create it so we can continue to grow." Lucian nodded and smiled as he said,"I still can't believe you made me a general. There are so many more who are more deserving and have more experience." Bane nodded, "That well maybe. You are indeed relatively new to the position of command but with that said, you are a dragon. One of only a few who is a member of the alliance and dragons are known for wisdom and calmness under stress. I chose you because during the attack you took over your squad when your commanding officer was killed in action. Your command kept your men at their positions and you held off the forces attacking you. Every one of your men mentioned you in their reports as the reason for the victory. Position, birth or wealth do not interest me. Results do and you got results. Don't worry yourself further about my choice, Lucian. I am confident I made the right one." With those words, Bane settled the doubts the dragon had and made him feel at ease. It was a sign that Bane was the right person to be in control of not only the base but the Alliance. He was smart and the decisions were the right ones, He also knew how to deal with people, be they covered in skin, fur or scales. Lucian stood taller and worried no more. Bane would make sure that everything would come out alright.