"Entrée vers l'inconnu" (An Enclave Story)

[Cat]

Alsace Bridge
Present moment

Emeline walked into the bridge like an unstoppable force, disregarding everyone and anyone on her way. The XO stood up from the captain's seat and stepped aside mere moments before Emeline occupied it. Once certain that the keypad in the armchair was at the ready, she focused on the screen, not even looking at the man she was about to address. The discussion that followed was rather matter-of-factly, as if they weren't about to engage their own men.

— Give me a status report, Capitaine.

— A Triumph-class destroyer has approached the station. It doesn't belong to Escadron XXII. They dispatched a shuttle towards the station, and appear to be on standby. We have intercepted some transmissions, but can't decypher them just yet. The Alsace should have the upper hand. We can engage them on your order.

— Do they know about us? Are they a liability yet?

— Non. Our cloaking device is engaged, so they can't see us. Whatever emissions the Alsace still makes can be easily mistaken for those coming from the station. Sub-space jammer prevents them from contacting any nearby facility or patrol and asking for reinforcements.

— Status of Lieutenant-Principal Celice?

— She has restarted gravity systems per your instructions. It should kick in in a few minutes, after warm-up. Apparently, the station's power systems are still on, and the systems were simply shut down.

— Tres bien. The Alsace shall engage as the last resort. The fates of those soldiers can't be traced back to us.

Disregarding the XO, Emeline started typing on her keypad...

Derelict Trading Hub
Gravity generator, lower decks

Leila was making her way through the dark corridors of the derelict, her silenced kinetic pistol at the ready. The time for bravado was over. Ever since the HUD had given her a textual warning about a shuttle full of potential hostiles, Leila was paying close attention to Manticore's passive scans for bio-signs and power sources. Nothing her far. Still, she had prepared for the worst and was already one breach charge short. A failsafe, as she deemed it.

Activate station defenses...
First internal, then external...
Dispatch them to the power core.

Left, empty elevator shaft...
Up to command center.

That comment made Leila chuckle nervously. She knew what that order implied. The intruders had two ways to disable defenses: the command center or the power core. And Leila couldn't defend two positions at once. The power core was a priority: without it, the station's guns wouldn't fire. The command center was secondary, but that's where Leila needed to be to start the defenses in the first place. She couldn't help but feel doubtful. Was Emeline sacrificing her for the mission? With a deep breath, she cast her doubts aside, realizing that it was the only way for the mission to succeed.

These thoughts didn't impede Leila in any way: while calculating the game multiple steps in advance, she pushed he half-open doors and stepped into the shaft, on the roof of the stuck elevator. That was a long way up, Luckily, the gravity generator hasn't kicked in yet, so Leila had time. She disengaged the gravity boots, straightened up like an arrow and allowed the jets of air from the arm and leg vents to propel her upwards...

Some time later...
Derelict Trading Hub
Command Center

s%#&. s%#&! s%#&!!! Leila was clinging desperately at the edge of the elevator shaft, trying hard to reach it with her other other hand. The Manticore exoskeleton made holding onto the edge easy, but reaching it with the other hand difficult. The weight of the plasma rifle behind Leila's shoulder didn't help either... At least psychologically; the exoskeleton did help to carry that weight.

The gravity had kicked in at the worst possible moment: just as Leila was about to float into the command center from the elevator shaft. She barely managed to shoot her wrist-mounted grapple hook. If it hadn't been for Emeline's ingenuity when designing the suit, Leila would've been a mashed filler in a Manticore pie lying at the bottom of the shaft. Stretchig with all her effort, she finally managed to grab the edge and lift herself up.

After lying on the side and regaining her breath, she stood up and walked inside the command center. A circular room at the very apex of the station, filled with various computers and stations for personnel, and surrounded by duraglass windows. To Leila's surprise, there oxygen levels in the room were good. Probably a leftover, since the life support systems had been offline. Bien, just what I need. She then looked through the window and noticed a ship in the distance: the long Triumph-class destroyer seemed like a rather large toy from where Leila was standing. Now, how do I bring you down?

Leila noticed the central control terminal in the middle of the room: a rather large facility meant to be operated by at least 1 administrator and 4 assistants. If Leila were to reactivate the station's shields, weapons, and defenses, that's where she'd need to go. She fully intended to comply with Emeline's order: dispatch any defense droids or drones to the power core, and sic whatever internal turrets at the intruders. If it meant marking everyone aboard as hostile, herself included, then so be it. She would then activate the station's defenses and target them at the Triumph. However, the moment she'd do that, the command center would become a honey pot for whomever else aboard.

That's why instead of going to the central controls right away, Leila took out the last remaining breach charge and one of the two EMP devices. "There'll be too many guests for me alone to greet," she mumbled, somewhat nervously. "You'll help me organize a proper welcome."