Can't One Thing Go Right?

JP with Omni, Jaxx, redsword_7

~Aboard the Montero~

Hel and Captain Bolaji escorted Captain Kenny to the shuttle and tried to open the shuttle door.

It didn’t respond to the open panel button.

"What's wrong this time?" Hel punched the open panel, "Just needs to be kick started."

...Nothing happened... but there was a blinking yellow light on the terminal next to the door.

"So... this doesn't work, where do we go now? Where is Joe when you need him?" She looked behind her for any hope.

The terminal pipped and the following text appeared across the monitor as well as Kenny’s data tablet in real time.

- ...Proceed with the mission directive… -
- Priority #1 -
- Recover scientific data / samples from the USCSS Cronus. Special order 966... ...shuttle access denied... ...please use docking umbilical to board the USCSS Cronus… -

Overlooking Kenny's tablet, Hel rolled her eyes at the message, "Of course, Stupid thing! Just open up and let us in!" She banged on it a couple of times, "Open!"
Cham spoke over the Sotillo comms, “Cap... I don’t know what the hell just happened, but these fools over here just started freakin’ out, shootin’ at the floor and shit. Now there’s a hole in the junction on that ship. I can’t let em in the airlock without decompressin’ it first. You sure I should let them on board? No sign of Davis and Rye by the way.” Captain Bolaji looked at Cpt McCormick.

~Aboard the Cronus~

Looking down at the corpse of the mutated cat, Asahi cursed, shaking his head, “Damnit! Can't one thing just go right? Roberts, what’s the situation up there? You said you’re safe? And Vera’s... dead? Where's her body? If I can get it back here I can save her.”
Reyes said, “You can’t seriously be thinking about going up there.”

“Android or not, Vera’s been a close friend for a long time and I can’t leave her up there.”, Asahi argued. “Hikari, I’m sorry, help me get Tsuki detached from this harness.”

“Asahi...” Roku sighed with a pleading look, but she couldn’t argue. She knew the feeling. After all, she had waited years to have a chance to find and return to this ship to save Tsuki and her father.

Reyes said, “Here, I’ll carry her.” Together they got Tsuki situated onto Reyes' back.

Asahi moved over to the terminal in the C1 Junction to redirect emergency power. He tried to depressurize the B1 Junction and the area surrounding it but the display informed him that he would also need to depressurize the central corridors since the doors were now damaged. It would take several minutes. He confirmed the commands and depressurization commenced.
Meanwhile, Cham, the man in the airlock, had disappeared from view.

The Montero softly reverberated as the EEV, piloted expertly by Jensen, connected to the docking umbilical at the forward starboard side of the ship.
Setting the Mood again...

Asahi opened the hatch to B1 Junction, now depressurized. His footfalls and movements were all silent, completely opposite of what was going on inside his helmet. He breathed deeply, steeling himself for what would come next.

"It's still down the hall.", said Roku over the comms.
Asahi winced at the sound, fearing that any noise could alert the damned thing.

Below, Roku watched the motion tracker while Reyes aimed her shotgun at the open hatch.

Asahi walked over to the bent Port side junction door and peeked through the shattered viewport, checking for any sign of Vera. Nothing there. He moved to the forward door of the junction. It was still in one piece. Peering beyond the viewport, he could see the fallen body of Vera outside the door to the Bridge. He pressed the button to open the door and it opened, soundlessy, but the vibrations rang through his space boots. He tiptoed out of the Junction, over to Vera and checked her wounds. She had certainly been disabled. He reached for the Incinerator and slung the strap over one arm and as he went to reach for Vera...

"Asahi, hide! It's headed your way fast!", came Roku’s voice over the comms.

Asahi froze. He could feel the vibration of the abomination’s movement.

"Damnit, Asahi. Get outta there!", pleaded Roku.
Sure enough, the gelatinous cowl of the mutated man rounded the corner, searching the corridor.

Acting subconsciously, Asahi grabbed Vera's legs and pulled her with all of his might into the B1 Junction. The creature was fast, it ran to him, tossing him aside like a ragdoll. Asahi hit the starboard door and fell prone, dropping the incinerator. Then the beast picked him up and slammed him chest-first into the port door.
Hearing the distress, Roku fought her instincts to crawl into a fetal position and popped up out of the hatch. She fired a slug from Robert’s old shotgun into the abomination.

Asahi's chest was in severe pain, he let out an awful scream into the comms, causing Roku to lose her footing and stumble out of the hatch, dropping the shotgun.

Following behind, Reyes climbed the ladder with Tsuki strapped onto her back. She fired at the creature's face , smattering blood all over the Junction. The abomination finally crumpled into a heap of flesh.
Recovering from the panic, Roku checked Asahi for injuries. "Don't move. You're gonna be ok, Asahi. Stay with me…” She could see his eyes through the helmet. “That's right."

"Agh...My chest..." Asahi grunted in agony.
Roku looked around desperately. "Lie still. Try to breathe shallow breaths. Good... good. We're gonna get you to Medlab."

Roku pulled up the motion tracker. -Pip. Pip.- Movement above them still around the A1 Junction they first entered. Movement on C Deck starboard side somewhere.

"OK. Here's what we're doing…" She looked to Reyes. "We are going to depressurize the ventral elevator airlock and space walk to the Montero. I don't know how yet… but that's what we are going to do." she decided, winded.

Roku moved over to the B1 Junction terminal. "Asahi, I need you to walk me through the steps to turn off the artificial gravity."

Asahi slowly nodded, groaning slightly and feeling something that tasted dangerously metallic bubble at the back of his throat. He nodded once again, mumbling slightly as he said, "Right. Right. I can... just, let me catch my breath…”

He was quiet for a few seconds with the exception of his breathing. “OK… I'll walk you through."
"Right. Take your time." Roku breathed, trying to calm herself down.

Between pangs of chest pain and labored breathing, Asahi walked Roku through the commands to reroute power to depressurize the airlock and turn off artificial gravity on the Cronus.

"Ok everyone... you might want to hold onto something. We're going zero G," Roku warned and she tapped the ENTER key.

Everything in B1 Junctions started slowly rising. Reyes collected the incinerator and pushed the shotgun through midair back to Roku. It gently rotated across the room toward her and she took hold of it.

Roku maneuvered herself around the room to position herself next to Asahi. "You're weightless now. That should take some of the pressure off of your injury, and now I can carry YOU."

Roku followed Reyes down the ladder, holding onto Asahi, she helped him down the junction with ease.
"Doctor Flynn, can you go back for Vera? Roku asked.

"Uh…” the Dr hesitated before coming to the conclusion that he owed his very life to these people. “...Certainly."

He climbed up and pulled Vera's weightless body feet first, into the hatch, avoiding the disturbing view of the abomination as spheres of floating milky lubricant formed a trail behind the disabled android.

They called the elevator. When it arrived, they opened the door, entered the airlock, and the elevator took them out into the icy void of space below the Cronus.

_________________________

- End of Act II -