Ep2.3: Old Habits....

The lights went out and instantly a panic erupted. Screams could be heard in all directions as frightened shoppers rushed to the doorways before they closed. Aeryn felt her Luxan companion's shoulder pass by her as she was thrust backwards. Feeling herself thrown to the ground, she closed her eyes and waited for the madness to pass. Finally, after the running footsteps around her died down, Aeryn opened her eyes. She was outside. The cool night air touched her skin and sent shivers down her spine. "D'Argo! Meryl!" There was no answer from them. She pushed her way towards the entrance and found the doors closed. Tugging on one of the handles, Aeryn realized something terrifying. She was locked out.

D'Argo grabbed hold of Meryl's feeble arms as the stampede began. She fought him for moment but soon realized what was happening. "Where's Aeryn?" He looked her right in the eyes with a look of confusion. "She's not here." Meryl nodded slowly and turned to check the faces surrounding them. Plenty of different species swarmed around her but no Aeryn Sun. "Are you going to be alright?" His soft words helped to calm her a bit. She touched her stomach involuntarily before answering him. "Yes, fine." Gunshots erupted from somewhere to their right and a single scream rang out. "Attention! We know some of you have weapons. This man had one." One of the men with guns lifted up a body for them to see. "Anyone else want to try?"

Chiana felt someone tug the edge of her coat and then she was behind the stall. The merchant signaled for her to stay quiet and pointed to a small hatch on the wall. "Follow me. Don't talk." She nodded and crawled in after him. The opening led into a long tunnel that ran inside the walls. There was enough room for them to stand. "What the frell is going on out there?" The man turned to her with a worried expression. "Terrorists, maybe religious extremists." His words did not comfort her. "What do we do?" He rolled his eyes. "Hide."

There were at least fifteen of them. Acrenian gun runners armed with high powered pulse weapons. One of them, possibly the leader, stepped in front of the stunned crowd and raised his hands. "Now that I have all of you here, we will discuss the rules." His cohorts had rounded up everyone they could find. The once thriving stalls and shops were deserted and trashed. D'Argo and Meryl were among the ones stuck in the crowd. They watched nervously as the leader continued. "It is not our intention to harm any of you. We have come for your merchandise only." He pointed to the stalls behind him. "My men will empty out this floor and then leave you peacefully." The Acrenian raised his gun. "No heroics please."

The power outage triggered a silent alarm that protected the building at all times. Inside a quarter of an arn, police vehicles had approached the commerce station from all sides and moved into strategic positions. Chief Blevins of the local military authority stepped out of his auto and walked onto the empty parking lot. "Start tracking down the stolen cars boys." One of his officers nodded from the driver's seat and tore off down the road. Blevins was about to check in with the other positions when he spotted a lone woman ahead of him. "You can't be here miss. This is a police situation. Aeryn turned to face him. "I hope you're carrying a gun."

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Two marauders left the open hanger doors of the Artanis and flew down towards the ruined gammek base. Grisham watched them go through his window on the command deck and nodded to Lt. Ness. "Have them check in when they reach the surface." Ness repeated the words into the comm system. "Yes sir." One of the pilots answered back immediately. "Sir, we're receiving a distress signal." The captain turned to see one of his teks approaching. "Apparently, the commerce planet Taos 7 has reported terrorist activity." Grisham sighed and nodded. "Lt, tell the team we will return for them shortly. Make a vector for Taos 7." The science vessel turned in place and sped off.

Zelaya heard the commands being given to the away team through her earpiece. It picked up all surrounding comm transmissions with perfect clarity. She stuffed the mini-computer into her satchel and prepared to leave. A commotion stopped her dead in her tracks. Down the corridor, she could hear boots hitting metal. The first marauder had arrived without her knowledge. "You there! Stop!" Zelaya dashed away in the opposite direction amid pulse blasts. "We have a hostile entity." The soldier called into his comm again but there was no answer. The Artanis was already out of range.

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"How do you people get here so fast?" Blevins noted her peacekeeper uniform and quickly decided against throwing her out. Aeryn tried to remain civil while answering his questions. "I'm on vacation. Just happened to be here." He shook his head in disbelief. "Never in my life have I seen a peacekeeper on vacation." She nodded in agreement. "Well, I think it just ended." Aeryn pointed towards the building. "They're Acrenians, I'm not sure how many. At least three hundred hostages." Blevins relayed the information into his radio. "We've closed off the other floors so they're isolated down here." He pulled out his radio again. "Can someone get me a blueprint of the first floor?" The radio chirped. "Right away sir."

Chiana poked her head out of the hatch and looked around. There weren't any of the gunmen outside so she slipped out. "You're going to get both of us killed." She ignored the man's pleas and walked out into the hall. All the shoppers were gone, leaving an eerie sight of empty stalls and fallen merchandise. "I'm just going to see what's going on." He stepped out of the hole and grabbed her shoulder. "Not without me you're not." Chiana nodded and led the way forward. As they looked around the first corner, one of the Acrenians spotted them. "You two! Hands up!" The merchant started to raise his but Chiana had already taken off. "Frelling Nebari." He turned and ran after her.

Another officer in military uniform joined Aeryn and Blevins outside the main entrance. He brought with him a portable computer. "What are your orders sir?" He looked up at the young man and shook his head. "She's peacekeeper. Ask her." Aeryn, taken by surprise, fought to keep a straight face. "Just search the grounds for any possible escape routes." The soldier saluted her before walking back the way he had come. "I can't take command of this." Blevins looked up at her. "Don't worry, we called in reinforcements. Some pk assistance should be arriving in about five arns." Aeryn felt another chill run through her. "Wonderful."

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"They said it would take an arn." Rygel spit the words out angrily to the blue priestess in front of him. Zhaan shook her head and frowned. "Perhaps they haven't found any coolant rods yet. Best for us to remain patient." Her narrowed his eyes at her and floated towards the door. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother talking to you." She brushed off the remark and returned to her rest. "Zhaan? He's asked me to tell you something." She stood up again at Pilot's words and went to follow Rygel. "What does it want Pilot?" The creature definitely felt uncomfortable relaying messages. "Scorpius says he will need the rods very soon." Rygel stopped in his tracks and looked at her. "To the ice machine." Zhaan smiled. "After you."

Pilot chuckled to himself as he prepared the water fountain to process ice again. Something odd caught his attention. A comm transmission seemed to be coming in but he didn't recognize the location. Tapping the receiver, he waited for it to come through. "Pilot? Is that you?" Chiana's voice burst through the console's speaker and flooded his ears. "Yes, is there a problem?" Her words came frantically. "Find Aeryn. Tell her I'm ok for now." The sound of gunshots came through and then the link was broken. "Fre-." He stopped himself.

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D'Argo tried using his comm again but for some reason it would not go through. Angry shouts from his right sounded over the crowd. "You there, give me that." One of the Acrenians came forward and thrust a gun in his face. "Give me the comm." Before D'Argo could remove it, the gunman ripped it off and placed it in his pocket. "You too." Meryl had been sitting in a daze against the door. She lifted her head slightly and glared at the man. "Frell you." The Acrenian stepped forward. "Gladly." D'Argo jumped in between them. "Please, she's not herself." He took the comm off her jacket and handed it to the man. "Sorry."

Chiana ducked behind a counter just as the materials on it were blasted to pieces. "Come out now, you can't get away." She searched the ground around her for some sort of weapon. The merchant motioned towards her from his own hiding place. "Do you have a gun?" He shook his head. As if suddenly realizing something, he reached into his coat and pulled a small object out. Chiana took it eagerly but was immediately disappointed. "What is this?" He shrugged. "A rock hammer." Etched into the hammer's handle was a name. "Carle?" He nodded.

The gunman heard their whispering and tossed one of the stalls aside. He caught a glimpse of grey skin before it disappeared behind another stall. "I won't hurt you. Come now." There was a shrieking sound off to his left and then she was on him. Chiana swung the rock hammer with all her might and smashed it against his face. The man gasped as it made contact with his temple. "Ha!" She cried out again in triumph. He fell to the floor in a heap and dropped the gun. Chiana picked it up and charged the power source. "Now I have a pulse rifle."

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Sgt. Reese motioned for his crew members to stay back. "I will go ahead and approach it. The rest of you take positions and shoot anything that moves unless I say otherwise." They nodded and he stepped forward. Wielding his pulse rifle in front of him, Reese moved cautiously into the dark hallway ahead. Every sound echoed loudly in his ear. The one that disturbed him the most was what seemed to be hissing. Something ran across his field of vision. A woman. "Step out now and we won't hurt you." The words came tumbling out of his mouth before he could think of anything to follow them up with. "Leave now and I won't hurt you."

Zelaya stepped out of the darkness and grabbed his gun. "Tell them not to fire." He nodded and motioned for the others to lower their weapons. "What is your rank?" She moved in close to him, smelling the beads of sweat that ran down his face. "Sgt. Reese." Zelaya frowned and shook her head. "Not high enough." The three soldiers heard him scream once and then nothing. All of them raised their guns as a woman in black walked calmly out towards them. There was blood on her mouth. "Rank please."

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Aeryn turned away from the chief as her comm started to transmit. "What is it Pilot?" His voice came through thick static. "Chiana says she ok." She froze as the words reached her ears. Chiana had gone off ahead, leaving D'Argo and Meryl alone. "She hasn't been captured?" Pilot confirmed her question. "So the only person inside the building in a position to do something is Chiana?" He didn't say anything. Blevins walked over to her with a questioning look. "You've got someone on the inside?" Aeryn sighed heavily and looked up at black tower. "Sort of."

Chiana and Carle left the dead gunman's body hidden behind a stall and continued on down the corridor. The Nebari led the way with her new weapon held in front. Voices could be heard off in the distance. "Wait." She whispered the words to her companion and snuck forward to take a look. At least ten of the Acrenians sat in a cluster up ahead. Some of them where shouting. "We should just kill them and get out of here!" That didn't sound good. One man sat in the middle and listened quietly. He seemed to be the leader. "Denion, what do we do?" The man lifted his eyes slowly and answered. "Has 12 checked in?" The others were referred to by numbers. "No sir, he doesn't answer his radio." Chiana almost cried out. She turned and ran back towards the body. Sure enough, a radio sat nestled on its belt.

Denion frowned at the sound of footsteps behind him. "Someone is watching us." He stood quickly and fired at the far wall. Carle dove back into the shadows where it was safe. "Aeryn, can you hear me!" He looked down at his radio as the message repeated itself. "Someone help me! I'm trapped in this frelling-." Denion smiled. "I will help you little girl. Tell me where you are." Chiana stared down at the device and cursed herself for being so stupid. "I'm right down the hall. Come over and get me." She searched the body for anything else of interest. A small red box was stuffed in the man's pocket. "Hmm."

"Come and get me." Aeryn and Blevins heard the last of Chiana's transmission through his own radio. "She's talking on an open frequency. They can hear her too." Aeryn's last hopes died at that moment. "Well, Chiana's not exactly trained for this." Blevins was confused. "She's not a soldier?" She didn't bother to answer him.

Gunmen 2 and 3 made their way down the dark corridor towards the source of Chiana's radio signal. 2 stepped forward ahead of his counterpart and raised his gun. Something was rustling in front of them. Chiana saw them first but did not fire. "What are you waiting for?" She glared at Carle and thrust the gun into his hands. "You wanna try?" He passed it back and shook his head. Suddenly one of the gunman was standing right over them. Chiana screamed as loud as she could, startling him and giving her a chance to move. The second one heard the blast of a pulse rifle and then his teammate went down. "You're dead little girl." A flash of grey shot past him up ahead and he fired. The Nebari shouted as the shot grazed her leg and knocked her down.

Gunman 3 walked up to her and laughed. "A Nebari eh? I've never killed a Nebari before." He raised his pulse rifle but stopped when his flashlight hit her face. "You're very pretty." Bearing his teeth, he knelt down beside her. Chiana panicked momentarily but then regained her composure. She smiled back at him and licked her lips. Caught up in the strange moment, 3 did not see Carle sneak up from behind. The rock hammer crashed down on the back of his neck and he went down. "Thank you." Chiana breathed a sigh of relief and let herself fall to the floor.

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D'Argo sat down beside his distraught companion and put his arm around her. "How are you feeling?" Meryl looked up at him and actually smiled. "Better now, thank you." She stood up and paced back and forth in front of him. "Just need to move around a little." He nodded and let his gaze move around the room. The two nearest guards to him were arguing about something. Staying low, D'Argo slid towards them to hear. "Boss says there's a Nebari still loose. Tells me she's killed three guys already." The Luxan froze and for several seconds he had to fight to keep from laughing. Chiana was playing the hero. "Three men? There's still enough of us to finish the job." The other shrugged. "Just the ten of us now."

A gun was fired several times into the air as Denion charged into the main lobby. He walked up to the two guards and pointed into the crowd. "Have you seen any more of them in there?" Both henchmen looked at him with blank stares. "Any more of what sir?" He slapped the man hard with his pulse rifle. "Nebari!" One of them finally understood. "No sir." Denion sighed and searched the room himself. Something caught his attention immediately. "There are security cameras here. Find the control room." D'Argo felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. They would know who had come in with Chiana.

Aeryn watched the portable computer as Blevins brought up the first floor plans. "Doesn't look good." He glanced up and motioned for her to get closer. "The entire area is sealed off except from this front entrance. My men could only attempt a frontal assault." She groaned as the image of ill-trained boys in army uniforms came to mind. "If that's our only option, we might as well wait for the peacekeepers." Blevins shook his head. "Not if you want to save the hostages." Aeryn searched her memory for the protocol on terrorist situations. As if reading her thoughts, Blevins answered. "They'll go in shooting blind."

Chiana sat down back inside the vent system and turned to her frightened companion. "You're not used to this type of thing are you?" Carle attempted a weak smile and shook his head. "I've never killed anyone in my life." She laughed. "I killed them." Somehow that didn't comfort him. "What are you?" Carle pointed at the rock hammer. "I'm a prospector. I survey uncharted planets out here for colonization." Chiana remembered her thought from earlier. "What's with the church clothes?" Now he laughed. "That is a long story."

Denion ran through the security tape yet again to make sure he had seen it. "It's a Luxan sir." He looked up at his companion and nodded. "Yes, I saw him earlier. Had the tattoos of a warrior." The gunman was confused. "I thought they were all warriors." Denion groaned. "Don't say another word unless you want to get shot." He backed away from the video screens and headed out the door. "Go tell the others. We're leaving very soon."

D'Argo heard the commotion before it reached him and stood with a hand on his qualta blade. "What are you doing?" Meryl stepped up beside him and reached for her own weapon. "No, you stay here." She glared at him with eyes that almost reminded D'Argo of his wife. "Are you questioning my combat skills." He grinned. "I wouldn't dream of it." She went for her pulse pistol but stopped when a shot rang out. Meryl watched in horror as D'Argo cried out in pain and fell to the floor. Denion walked over to him but she blocked the way. Before Meryl could say anything, a gun was pointed at her stomach. "I don't enjoy killing children." Reluctantly she backed away.

Chiana heard the gunshot and flinched. She stood from her seat and went over to the open hatch. Peering down the hall, she could not see clearly into the lobby. The radio suddenly burst to life in her hands. "Nebari! You're friend has been shot." Chiana held her breath as the terrible possibilities ran through her head. "The blood is not clear." Her question was answered.