Freelancers

Rescue

On datapad, the control room was not too far from her current location at the detention blocks. However, the distance seemed to have doubled, since dodging patrols has slowed her progress considerably. She darted in and out of the darkness, utilizing doors, hallways, and other alcoves for cover when possible. The detention block, still drowning in darkness, was occasionally lit up by the slow rotating emergency beacons. With little to no viewports opening to the vast backdrop of space, the prison station began to feel increasingly claustrophobic. Veriss continued to move silently along the smooth, dark gray walls of the hallway. She stopped short of two guards walking towards her, and ducked into the darkness behind a stack of storage containers. The two burst out in laughter, seemingly amused by some indiscernible comment, and continued to walk down the hall past Veriss distracted by their musings. She slowly followed them with her eyes for a moment until the sound of gushing wind caught her attention. She searched for the source of the noise. At the end of the hall a door slid open. A bluish-green glow was cast on the nearby walls, and Veriss watched as a small man shuffled out slowly. He's seemingly too preoccupied by the writing on his clipboard to notice her. A gray fog spilled out onto the hallway floor, and infused a faint chemical smell with the surrounding air. Veriss caught a glimpse of a man strapped to a table. Even with the dim lighting, she could recognize those boots anywhere.

Jag.

The door was about to close. Veriss bolted out of her hiding place towards the attendant. He looked up from his clipboard, his face contorting with shock and confusion. Before he could scream out, Veriss' hands were around his neck and pinning him against the wall. His feet dangled a foot off the ground.

Her green eyes narrowed, and her lips curled back into a snarl.

She snapped, "Open the door, now!"

The attendant repeatedly pounded his hands into her arms in a failed, futile attempt to loosen her hold. He gasped for breath; his feet desperately trying to find a foothold on the smooth steel wall.

"I can't," he huffs.

In between hurried breaths, he frantically stammers, "The door is on a security timer. Every three hours we're issued a new entry code."

Veriss yelled angrily, tightened her grip, and raised him even higher off the floor. Her gauntlet's retractable blade made an audible click as it quickly snapped into place. She raised her right arm and brought the blade menacingly close to his neck.  His eyes grew wide with terror and his pleas for help became increasingly louder. He could feel the cold steel pressed against his neck.

Veriss, frustrated and unconvinced that this is the truth, leaned back and sharply slammed the front of her head into his. The vicious headbutt snapped the attendant's head back and rendered him unconscious. She released her hold and he collapsed onto the floor; his screams still reverberating off the walls. She stepped over his body to closely inspect the mag-locked door. As she moved closer, she noticed a faint, yellow, translucent energy field hovering a few inches above the door itself.

"The energy lines should be nearby," said Veriss, under her breath.

She briefly scanned the area for any obvious paths. The floor panels were placed tightly next to each other. Likewise, the ceiling seemed equally inaccessible. She quickly stopped her analysis when she heard faint shouting. She whipped her head around to check behind her, but the hallway was clear for now. She needed to hurry before the prison guards discover her. She turned back to survey the door once more.

There's no time to figure out a way to shut down the shield. I need to blast it open.

The energy shielding was strong enough to ward off stray blaster bolts, but a concentrated barrage should weaken the shielding enough for a well-placed explosive. Fortunately, she still had a thermal detonator.

Veriss withdrew the blaster pistol from her thigh holster and prepared the detonator. She took aim at the center of the shield and released a continuous stream of blaster fire. The blaster's barrel began to glow a faint yellow from the sustained fire. Flashes of red and yellow accompany the deafening roar of her weapon. The thin shielding visibly buckled under the onslaught. Veriss had only a miniscule window of time to hurl the detonator at the weakened shield and detonate it with a precisely aimed blaster bolt. The guards no doubt knew her position now, and were rapidly closing their distance.

She continued to fire, hoping to weaken the shield further; ripples of pearlescent yellow and blue danced across the surface of the shield resembling waves of a tumultuous sea. Finally, the shield's center gave way to briefly expose the dark gray door beneath. Veriss quickly hurled the detonator towards the new opening. She took aim at the explosive sailing through the air. She squeezed the trigger and a line of crimson flew forward to collide with the detonator. With a mighty explosion of dust, sparks, and molten metal, the door burst open and landed in the medical ward with a loud, resonating crash. She stepped through the darkened opening as chunks of durasteel and ferrocrete fell around her.

Jag, I'm going to get you. I'm going to get you, and we're getting out of here.