Situation

<snip>
"There's a fluctuating signal coming from the far end..." Jacky said, as he was the first to see it. Almost as if he wanted to prove himself right.
"That'll be the drive recharging." Cass said. "What storage unit?"
Jamie used the computer to zoom in on that section. "Container Red 4-2" Jamie said as it appeared on screen. "I think it's colour coded. Red for temporal devices."
"Does that mean they've potentially got 42 time drives?" Eve said.
"Probably not, it specifically says 4-2." Jamie said, emphasising the hyphen. "Probably category and then item number."
"So." Cass said through the comms system that had been active the whole time. "There's only two time drives in here? We need to work fast."
</snip>
"Send me the drive's location"
A barrage of plasma seared overhead to detonate against the side of the tower of cargo crates above her; the blast making Cass instinctively flinch and glance sharply upwards at the blue-white fireball blooming from the side of the containers as burning debris began raining down all around her
“Got to go” she was moving before she had even finished the words
Darting away, down the aisle between two other containers, the crackle of yet another volley of fire made her glance back in time to see yet another burst rip into the tower behind her; the blast destabilising it enough to make the entire pile of crates slowly topple over with a tortured metallic shriek, which culminated in a deafening boom as the crates smashed down onto the ground
“Jones?” Jamie’s voice sounded in her ear
Taking the first corner at a sprint, Cassandra skidded into the next aisle, her boots slipping and sliding on the deck plates before finally gaining purchase and she was off and away, heading towards the time drive at the far end of the Core
“Jones?” Jamie’s sounded tense “Damn it girl. Are you still there?”
“Yeah” Cass gasped, slowing to a brisk trot in the sudden silence following the cacophony of the collapsing tower “Yeah. Still here”
“What the hell happened?”
“Close call. I... Shit.”
Cass flattened herself up against the side of one of the storage units at the sudden sound of footsteps above her
“You hear something Al?” an voice drifted down from above
A man leaned out over the edge of the the container above to look down the aisle where Cass was hiding, the outline of his head and torso, silhouetted against the gloomy lighting overhead
“Yeah, I thought...”
“Jones?”
Cass ignored Jamie, thankful the man above wouldn't be able to hear her communicator as she breathlessly gazed up at him. The shadows were deep where she was hiding, and while her stealth field was good, it was by no means perfect
Her fingers tightened around her weapon, just in case...
“No, noth...” the man began before someone shot him with a disruptor, the blast making the his chest explode gorily outward, showering Cass with blood and pulverised meat as the air above her sizzled with renewed hostilities
Repulsed for a moment, the dull whump of an unseen rocket launcher jarred her into action; Cass barely managing to clear ten metres before a missile screamed overhead to detonate not far above where she had been standing, the crates for the most part shielding her, but the shockwave blasted her off her feet
“Jones?” Jamie demanded. He sounded tense “Are you still there?”
“I’m working” Cass snapped as she scrambled back upright “I’ll be in touch”


Rounding a corner some ten or so minutes later, Cass scrutinised the cargo containers around her
White 89-27, 89-28, 89-29...
Thankfully things were quieter out at the far end of the Core, the gunfire here only sporadic
89-30... It was around here somewhere.
Reaching an intersection, she noticed that some of the nearby crates had been forced open, and she hurried forward, trying to remain calm as she counted the nearby crates
Red 3-3, 4... Shit!
Cass stared at the doors hanging off crates 4-1 and 4-2 with a sense of rising panic
“Shit” she hissed, moving closer to check inside the containers
They were both empty
"Jamie?" Cass activated her communicator
No reply
"Jade?"
"Looking for something sweetheart?"
Startled, Cass wheeled and raised her assault rifle to take aim at a stocky, bald man and a couple of armed cohorts, standing in a nearby intersection. Their weapons were all trained on her
"I recognise an STCP equipment when I see it" the man smirked "We were hoping you'd be coming after your time drive"
"What do you want?" Cass demanded as her target assist zeroed in on one of the man's eyes
"You're surrounded" the man ignored her question "Lose the stealth field, or we destroy this" he raised a meaty-looking hand containing the time drive
"What's stopping me just killing the lot of you?" Cass snarled; she was certain she could kill the three men in front of her, but his other, unseen compatriots might prove a problem
"You can't kill us all" the man shrugged "This thing'll be destroyed long before then, now lose the field"
"I prefer to keep it active"
"Have it your way" the man tossed the time drive down onto the floor in front of him with a clatter, and and bought his weapon up to fire a shot into the floor beside it; the blast making the device skitter and spin on the floor
"No! Stop!" Cass cried, her heart suddenly in her mouth
"The next shot won't miss" the man shouted "This STCP shit isn't keyed to us, so we can't use it. You're going to get us out of here and back to the forty third century"
"What about my friends!?"
<snip>
"ALERT: WARDEN HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED FROM SYSTEM. ALERT: NO REMAINING COMMAND OFFICERS. SELF-DESTRUCT INITIATED, PLEASE EVACUATE THE STATION IMMEDIATELY. ALL ESCAPE VEHICLES HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED. TWENTY MINUTES UNTIL DETONATION"
</snip>
"Fuck 'em"



<tag>
So what has everyone else been doing in the meantime?
The man might be bluffing about them being surrounded, but in either case, can someone resolve this and get us home?
</tag>