The pillar to Heaven built in Hell

Cebra knows that if he starts shooting the guards will be alerted to his presence, that would eliminate the element of surprise he'd worked to obtain. After this it might be a good idea to drill Jeannie on the finer points of stealth if they survived. His aim was fixed on a small gap on the right side of Jeannie's head where he could target a bit of the woman arm and hand. No, it wasn't worth the risk this time. Not to mention Cebra still felt awful about Francine and wouldn't put Jeannie in that kind of danger. He lowered his gun and placed it on the floor gently.

"You win, just dont... Dont hurt her."

The woman slowly inches forward making sure not to take her eyes off Cebra or the knife from Jeannie's neck. She picks the gun up and aims at Cebra. She starts yelling out loud.

"SOUND THE ALARM, INTRUDERS ON THE SHIP!"

In a few seconds the whole ships security system goes off, sirens and red lights everywhere as security guards scramble about the ship. A group of six guards enters the room where Cebra and Jeannie are. The two of them are taken prisoner and hands tied. The ship is now being swept from end to end.

"No shit genius I was just messing with you.

The guard starts to walk over to where his companions voice is coming from, flashing his light around but not really paying any attention to where it is pointed. He closes in completely unaware that the other guard has been rendered unconscious by Sam. Just as he's about to turn a corner another three guards appear from the door behind the guard.

"Hey get Phil and move your ass to the engine room, we're doing a sweep of the ship. Security breach happened."

"Fuck you serious? Finally some action! YEAH!"

"Take it easy Mathew it's probably nothing. Hey Phil come on get out here, what's taking so long?!"

so is this part of the plan mister cyborg? jeannie wasn't sure if getting captured was a good plane well lucky sammie was still out there.

hey think you could scratch my nose it's itchy and I can't reach.

Sam bit on her lip as she nervously made sure to stay out of the light while wondering how things could have gotten out of hand so quickly. One moment she’d managed to separate those two guards, the next moment she was dealing with a ship-wide search.

Jeannie and Cebra’s doing, no doubt. But had they willingly caused this state of emergency to further their own plans or had it been the unwanted result of their actions? If it was the first, getting involved might spoil whatever plan it was they had set into motion. Otherwise the were at the very least spotted and might need an extra hand to help deal with this crisis. She silently cursed the both of them for not having gone through the plan before venturing in here. How was she supposed to know what to do?

This Matthew fellow urging Phil to joining him didn’t help matters either. Her eyes quickly moved to Phil who was still lying unconscious on the deck. She’d done a proper job, he wouldn’t be joining anyone anytime soon. She could continue the masquerade but not for much longer. If Phil didn’t show up soon, his companions would start looking for him and they’d find the both of the here. Even if she were to put his clothes on, it wouldn’t fool anyone for more than a second.

But what is she let them find him here? It would lure more guards here, that was for sure. But that didn’t need to be a bad thing. If all of this was part of some plan it would draw more guards out and clear the inside, where she assumed Jeannie and Cebra where. If it wasn’t part of the plan, it would at least keep those guards of their back. That sounded like a plan.

“I’m coming, you dick,” she spoke with Phil’s voice. “Just got to-” She stopped midway her sentence and pushed a small, wooden crake down. It crashed on the deck, creating a loud noise.

If these guards were worth a scratch, they’d come to investigate and find Phil here. That would be her chance to slip past them. When moving fast enough all they’d see was a black and red blur. Maybe even less if she could stick to the shadows. And even if they did manage to see here, what were the odds they would pose a threat to her?

Despite the thick bulkheads separating them, Sam could hear Jeannie as if she was standing next to her. She made a mental note the explain this part of her abilities to Jeannie when they had the time. While she didn’t understand every detail about it either, she wasn’t sure even her aunt did, she at least knew she was not ‘In Jeannie’s head’ as the girl put it.

“I’m coming as fast as I can,” she reassured Jeannie.

But before she could turn to Jeannie’s and Cebra’s aid, she first needed to get past these guards. At least now she knew for certain her move wouldn’t spoil any plan of them. Not if they were ‘tied up’.

"Jeannie... "

Cebra look over to Jeannie with a deadly serious expression though he says nothing. From the look he's giving one might sumise he want's her to be silent. It was on Cebra's mind this might happen and so he had an alternative plan and the less these people knew the better. The guards escorted Jeannie and Cebra at gun point to a large open space in the ship. A few light above make cones of visibility through the thick blackness, the room is full of crates and large scale materials. There's the mysterious low mechanical hum coming from somewhere in the back beyond sight.

"Sir! Intruders on the ship. We captured these two and are sweeping the ship for more. What are your orders?"

In the dark something shifts mechanically, the sound of computer system coming online and power flowing. Three red lights in a triangular shape are the first thing Cebra and Jeannie can see. Hovering out of the darkness, eight feet wide and nine feet long emerges a drone. Armed and armored in the state of the art armor that Orion makes the massive war machine approaches Jeannie and Cebra. The force from its thrusters was intense enough to stir up a little dust and blow it away. It stops nearly face to face with the two who stood in the center of the room and looks them both down with its main camera.

"... Project Hephaetus... Jeannie Rose... It is a pleasure to meet the two of you in person."

He says with a computerised yet still obvious Southern U.S. accent.

"My name is Red Glare and I have been waiting for you to arrive. I had hoped the missile strike would gain your attention"

Cebra's face shows no blatant signs of rage however something about his face now radiates with venomous malice. It comes off him in waves as he now sets his stare on Red Glare.

"You... What the hell are you? Someone gave a drone AI algorithyms? You're disgusting and I'm going turn you into scrap!"

The guards near Fort Sam all stand waiting for the other guard to come join them. After a few moments they take a step towards Sam but are instantly thrown off by the sound of crashing crates. They rush to the crates weapons drawn and shouting loudly various commands. They completely lose focus on the fate of Phil.

jeannie looks at the robot amused oh nice to meet you mister robot, huh my daddy would love to take a look at you. your fancy huh you know if you wanted to meet us a phone call would be more practical then a frigging missile, bet overkill don't you think

They were distracted, this was her change. In a blur of motion Sam dashed forwards. Once past them, she stopped just long enough to check if they’d spotted her or not. The guards were shouting various commands while searching for whatever had caused the crates to come down but nothing seemed to indicate they’d seen her moving. Good, she’d waisted enough time on these goons.

She proceeded forwards, checking every door she passed to see what was behind. Even when performed at super speed this was a time-consuming activity. To say nothing about having to see about a dozen different bedrooms in rapid succession. Finally, she stumbled on a door, slightly larger than the bedroom doors, that led to the inside of the ship.

Sam followed a poorly lit metal staircase downwards. Because the metal bulkheads amplified and echoes even the tiniest of sounds, making it harder for her to pinpoint the source of a specific sound, Sam didn’t dare to move though them at anything beyond a normal human’s speed. It made her loose valuable minutes, but at least this was she was able to locate Jeannie and Cebra.

They were in a room not far from her current location and by the sound not alone either. Sam couldn’t hear what they were saying, the words were too distorted for that, but she was willing to bet her life on it they were guards. If their weaponry was similar to those on deck, she shouldn’t have any problems with them.

Rapidly she moved forwards, even flying a little to cross the final few meters as fast as possible. She stopped in front of a large double door. In this part of the ship the corridors were larger too, enough for two persons to stand next to each other and still have some space left. She was near the cargo hull no doubt.

Before moving in, Sam took a moment to peak though the walls. The hull was small enough for her to see everything inside. Surprisingly enough it was mostly empty though this made spotting everyone all the easier. Jeannie and Cebra were inside alright and unharmed by the looks of it. And with only a handful of guards around them. She should be able to take them all out in a single try. But why hadn’t Jeannie and Cebra done so themselves? These people shouldn’t have been much trouble for them.

Than she spotted the last person in the room. Though person wasn’t the right word to describe the last one in. Object sounded more appropriate for hovering in front of Jeannie and Cebra was a large object that seemed to belong in a science-fiction film rather than the cargo hull of a ship. Sam needn’t any special powers to know this thing was dangerous. That her friends hadn’t made a move against it told her enough.

Having lost enough time, she decided now was the time to act. She slammed her fist against to door, knocking it out of its handles and sending it flying though the room. An action that would no doubt alarm anyone on the ship. So be it. If she could keep everyone occupied for long enough, Jeannie and Cebra would have time to escape. Especially if she could disable that hovering thing.

“Someone ask for a rescue?” she asked when stepping in, ensuring everyone had their eyes focused on her.

Cebra was ready to make his move having finally found out the one responsible for this unwarranted attack. But one thing was bothering him about how the drone was reacting to Cebra, something that almost felt personal.

"A.I?... Me? Oh I'm afraid not Cebra, that is what you call yourself right? Please excuse my use of Hephaestus before, one of the things I gleamed from your profile is how you dislike that."

The drone turns to Jeannie.

"You are rather non-nonchalant aren't you little lady? Is that because you can regenerate? Oooo-weee Orion sure does like your kind young'un. I hear they restrain you and cut you open doing all kinds of experiments. and they can do it over and over and over again since you keep healing... How gruesome really."

Cebra glares hard and snaps at Red Glare.

"HEY! Dont you ignore me. If you're not artificial intelligence then what are you?"

Red glare turns back to Cebra.

"... You were in Houston Texas three years ago."

Cebra's face in the space of a second turns from seething anger to deep thought and worry.

"But... That's, that's not. It couldn't be."

As Cebra is starting to put things together in his head the door bursts open with a concussive force. The door flies right past Jeannie's head missing her by a foot, it hits the drone with such force it flies back into a bunch of crates crushing some as others fall on top of it. Cebra is immediately broken out of his thoughts, it's time to do some damage. He first looks back to see three guards getting up from the ground. The shock from the door flying must have made the guards hit the floor. Cebra looks behind them to see Sam in the doorway not to his surprise.

"I thought you might arrive some time soon. Jeannie gets a funny look on her face when you two speak telepathically.

Cebra elbows one guard hard in the face as they try to get up and point their hand gun.

"If you'll excuse me I have to deal with R2 over here."

Cebra touches some piping coming out from the wall and a charge goes out from his hand to the wall. Some metal melts off and floats in a liquid state. It forms the shape of a scimatar, the scimatar itself becomes charged and heated by Cebra's energy. Cebra takes it and goes forward with malicious intent towards Red Glare. This might be a fools task however since Cebra knows nothing about it's armaments.

oh, so Mr. roboto knows about her and her powers interesting. umm think maybe I can be the lab rat and run around a maze for cookies instead? I don't want to be the froggy that gets dissected that's like so mean I protested when we had to do it high school. did get detention but I saved froggy and got to keep him.

her story was interrupted by the flying doorhey I thought you said rescue what part of hitting me in the face with a giant door says rescue?

she was happy to see Sammie though,hey wait I'm still tied up! so he can make a fancy sword but couldn't bother to cut her free first. owww sammie and Mr. cyborg are going get it when they get out of this when she lectures them on better teamwork. she wiggles like a caterpillar over to Sam so she could untie her

The geeky part of Sam wanted to explain to Cebra that her way of communication had nothing to do with telepathy. While telepathy originated from the power of the mind and worked by linking two minds with each other in order to allow communication, her method was supernatural in origin. The circumstances, however, forced her to wait with an in-detail explanation until another time.

Jeannie was within her right to complain about Sam’s sloppy entrance. She’d been so focused on getting to her and Cebra that it hadn’t occurred to her that her actions might put them at risk too. It had ended well, apart for that strange hovering thing, but it could have easily been different.

“I know, I know. I should have been more careful,” Sam apologised to Jeannie when the later came crawling her way. Apologies came, as always, too late. “Here, let me free you.”

She breathed a small gust of hot air at Jeannie. Hot enough to cause the ropes to smoulder but not enough to harm Jeannie. Sam had learned her lesson for today. One by one she burned though the ropes. Within moments Jeannie was free to move again.

And right one time. Some of the guards had gotten up again and for some misguided reason had decided that two women were easier targets than a guy who could make swords with the wave of his hand. With their guns at the ready they closed in on the women. Their tactic was as simple as it was efficient. Approach the from all sides to trap them and open fire. Were they in for a rude awakening.

yay Jeannie is a free Jeannie! thanks, Sammie!yikes she see the guards and goes to hide and look for goodies to play within the boxes

One of the guards notices Jeannie as she dashes for the crates. He opens fire on her as a trail of bullets follow her but fail to hit. A she gets too the crates one has already been opened, there are no weapons inside however there are pipes, metal parts, Parts to various vehicles that look disassembled. Some of the pipes are small enough to be used as a makeshift weapon but there's nothing that would constitute an actual weapon. Seeing Jeannie run the other guards turn to Sam and engage. They start firing directly at her, now all but one guard is focused on Sam as Jeannie is hidden behind the cover of the crates.

Cebra approaches the seemingly stunned drone Red Glare, his blade raised and ready to strike. The drone rises back up as Cebra approaches, Cebra moves swiftly dashing up to the drone. Unfortunately Red Glare see's the attack coming. On it's right side is a repeating turret, the turret charges up with a high pitched whine and then opens fire. A flurry of blue bolts fires from the end of the barrel headed right at Cebra. With his lightning quick agility Cebra manages to block some bolts with his blade and then take cover behind a busted crate. Red Glare keeps up his fire on Cebra's position still not paying attention to the other two intruders and that fight.

"Cebra you must understand this is a pointless effort, Orion will discover your intentions eventually. Why do you choose now to make moves against us? We know you stole the information on The Pillar, white bridge. The CEO will not let you interfere in this great work!."

After saying that Red Glare's left side open up revealing a missile launcher, no doubt the same weapon that destroyed the apartment building earlier. A rocket fires from it, the yield is significantly smaller than the missile fired earlier however the explosion radius is enough to blast the crate to nothing and send Cebra flying back though he recovers.

"Why do you talk like that? Like you actually care what that delusional prick wants?"

"DON'T CALL HIM THAT!"

"... You're not an AI are you?"

Cebra says as he quickly molds a rifle in his other hand from some scrap on the ground.

"So then Orion has been experimenting in the transfer of consciousness... I never thought they'd do something so sick."

Seemingly insulted by Cebra's words the drone has become increasingly aggressive. The bolts of energy and rockets fly all about.

oww no fair i want rockets
jeanie was annoyed when she saw just pipes, she grabs a big one then hides behind the boxes she'll get one of the guards to follow her.

then bonk them and take their gun yeah that's a great plan.