Posted by Commander Amelia Manning (Executive Officer) in Main Sim: Manning’s Quarters

Posted by Gamemaster Wolfe Of Chaotica (Senior Gamemaster) in Main Sim: Manning’s Quarters

Posted by Commander Amelia Manning (Executive Officer) in Main Sim: Manning’s Quarters
It had been the best two weeks of the past year, and Amelia didn’t exactly know how to thank Harris for them. She hadn’t had the opportunity to see Peter for over a year and having him for even a small amount of time had been magical. But now that she had found herself back at lonely ship life, Manning had found it much harder to readjust.

The previous night, Amelia had put on her favorite silk nightgown, rolled up on her favorite blankets, laid down on the couches and put on her favorite movie. Accompanied, of course, by her favorite drink — 15 year old Laphroaig Single Malt whisky. And she had a whole new stash that Peter had brought with him! There were a lot of reasons why that man was perfect. And that had been only one of them.

Eventually, the Dresden’s Executive Officer had fallen asleep, viewscreen still on, and probably having poured way more whisky than she should have into her system. The truth was, it was hard. After having him around for those weeks she had gotten used to life as a couple again, and with him gone the hole in her heart had grown bigger.

After a heavy and dreamless night, Amelia woke up with a start as the first explosion threw her off the couch and into the coffee table before landing hard on the floor. The whisky bottle toppling and shattering beside her in the process. Red alert klaxons came into life, making her feel like someone was cutting her brain with a knife.

Holding on to the couch to get to her feet, the succession of explosions that followed brought her back to the ground. Her head was pounding with the force of a thousand hammers, all hitting her at once.

Something was not right.

Getting up as fast as she could, Amelia slipped on her previous day’s uniform before wiping the whisky off her face with her sleeve, only to be surprised by the bright red liquid on her hand. Taking her fingers to her left eyebrow she realized she had cut her face on the coffee table, along with a few small cuts in her hands left by the glass fragments. Quickly grabbing a clean cloth, she tried her best to stop the bleeding.

Hurriedly, Manning pried open her door and ran to the Bridge.

Cmdr. Manning, XO

As the doors parted, the relatively benign and disturbingly normal looking corridor of this third highest deck greeted her. Containing only hers and the Captains quarters, there was little to see beyond the single corridor with turbolift shafts at either end. That was at least until a gold-green transporter stream appeared further down the hallway, in front of the door to the Captains quarters, resolving into group of four large humanoids in black EVA suits, with tinted helmets. Two raised their rifles as the door to the Captains quarters opened, the Colonel himself appearing momentarily in the doorway, a third spinning left, his rifle towards the turbolift shaft at the end, the fourth turning directly towards Manning, his own rifle rising

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Amelia stopped on her tracks as the beam made four large figures appear between her and the turbolift. Her eyes catching a glimpse of Harris between the doors to his quarters before rifles were held to his face by two of the members of the group. The other two pointing their weapons at the turbolift and at her, effectively blocking her route to the Bridge.

Manning’s eyes widened in panic as she realized what she had to do. Harris was gone… compromised. If she tried to create a distraction both her and him could wind up dead. They might have him, but they didn’t have her.

Raising her hands level with her head, open palms facing towards the assailants, Amelia took a slow step back inside of her quarters, moving away from the doors as soon as they closed. With one swift gesture, Manning opened the numeric pad beside the door and pulled the circuits out, jamming the door shut.

The odd and unexpected reaction of the officer was sufficient to make her opponent tilt his helmeted head to one side in confusion as she backed into her quarters. This confusion lasted only a moment as she heard first a pounding on her door and then the sound of disruptor bursts first melting and then penetrating the doorway

Even if she was the Dresden’s XO, Amelia was a trained Engineer. She knew the insides of the Dresden like the back of her hand. Quickly moving her dining table and standing on it, Manning removed one of the ceiling panels, and climbed onto the ship’s conduits, before putting it back into place.

The small cuts in her hands hurt as she crawled, but she bit her tongue. The blood pouring from her left eyebrow dripping onto the plating and leaving a small trail behind her. It wasn’t ideal, but she had to get to the Bridge.

Cmdr. Manning, XO

The sounds of the remnants of her door scraping aside and the rummaging in her quarters carried through the ceiling into the crawlspace she had entered. This continued for several moments before commotion outside forced her assailant to abandon his search as his footsteps faded. The pathway to the bridge through these spaces and into the jeffries tube network would be painful, hot, and long.

SGM