shipmaster | (no subject)

[ Miles can't help but breathe a faint sigh of relief himself. Good, they've still got things under control. Now he just has to convince Bel that they've rescued Miles - so that Miles can convince the rest of the fleet. He takes a step back towards his captain. ]

Some sort of power room, I think. A few of the panels still look active.

Oh, that's promising...

[Bel brightens at that and straightens from where they were gulping air to look around at the room. A soft groan of metal and a tiny give echoes over their footsteps.

Bel frowns and stops, just short of one of the still glowing panels.]

[ Miles goes still. Did that groan come from under his own feet or Bel's? Surely the former ... the floor is rusted fairly badly where h is. Miles suddenly decides that he'd like to be rescued from a slightly less perilous position. He takes another large step back towards Bel - with another groan that goes through the entire portion of the floor they're both standing on.

Shit. Miles is in the middle of it, isn't he? Maybe Bel is far enough away to get clear... ]

Captain, you should step back.

[The last groan they could feel shuddering straight up their spine. They shift the pearls to their left hand and brace.

They take a careful step back towards the more solid panel, because however light Miles is, their combined weight might bust it...

The whole flooring jolts, and they freeze again.]

Hurry up, sir.

[ Miles is coming to much the same conclusion. He takes another step forward - and then another after that, more quickly than the first. The floor groans and swings wildly underneath him. By the time he's almost to Bel's position, he's flat out running. A few more steps and he might make it -

Just as the floor gives out beneath both their feet. Miles lets out a faint cry as the rusted metal under him collapses in on itself, taking him with it. ]

[Bel is actually manages to get a hold of the other panel on the way down, lunging for it.. But the weight and force of the sudden drop mean the salvation only holds for the barest of instants. They fall almost immediately after. Shards of rust and two mercenaries mercifully land in ... well, what created all of the rust. The water is deep enough to be safe, and not far enough that the impact is fatal.

But god DAMN if it doesn't hurt.]

[ Hurts like hell. Miles sputters back up to the surface after a moment, reeling from the sudden change in scenery. Goddamn that water is cold. It's a good thing he's remembered how to swim or this could have been much worse.

He turns in the water, both relieved and alarmed to see Bel down there with him. ]

Captain? [ He sucks in a harried breath. ] Are you alright?

[It had taken Bel a moment to shove down the sheer, blinding animal panic at the water. Betans never wasted so much precious water as to NEED to learn to swim, and space had exactly zero opportunities.

They did, at least, learn to float. As much as they'd never had a chance to practice it before NOW. As it is, the motions are keeping them up, but a little too wild to be energy efficient.]

Yes! [It echoes and the strained tone of it makes Bel wince.] Survived, made it. Please tell me there's a way out.

[ Miles paddles closer to help then. He also looks up at their surroundings, trying to get a read on them. That ... was at least a thirty foot drop just now. He can't see the walls from where they're floating, and it looks as though the closest twist of rusted metal is a solid twenty feet above their heads. No climbing back up the way they came. They'll have to find a wall and hope there's a way out that way.

Or ... He stills a moment, frowning. There's a faint current tugging at his feet.]

The water is moving. That may be our only option.

You don't- you mean down. Don't you.

[ Miles nods grimly. Down into this black, cold water, with hardly any light and no indication of when either of them will find air again... Their suits will likely provide them with oxygen, but at what cost to to their power supplies? ]

I'm sorry, Captain. This wasn't one of my better plans.

Not even a little.

[Bel angles a look down and... they're doing this aren't they?

Without a word, Bel passes over two of the pearls. Half of what they brought.]

Well. I've followed you into worse.

[ Miles takes the precious baubles and tucks one away in a storage compartment on the suit. The other he holds out as a light for himself. ]

For certain definitions of worse. [ A beat. ] But we cannot let the alternative stand.

[Drowning wasn't a way they wanted to go. Not a way they ever had to think about. Getting spaced, blasted, hung, and all variety of violent deaths but.]

For the record, sir, I've never learned to swim. [With the suits being as they were, that might not be the problem it COULD have been, but...]

Edited 2016-11-06 15:42 (UTC)

[ Shit. Of course. A Betan who spent all their adult life in space would have zero need for that, wouldn't they? Miles falls silent for a moment, mulling this over. ]

You're going to have to hold on to me, then. I'll swim for both of us.

[They give Miles a more than nervous look. Practically speaking... Miles is... well. Miles size. But still reaches a hand - and then pulls back, compensating as they bob in the water.]

Okay! Lets just get this over with.

[ This would be much easier if their positions were reversed. But there's no choice. Miles is just going to have to hope he's strong enough to propel them.

Taking a deep breath, he plunges beneath the surface of the water. The glow of the energy pearl illuminates a faint circle of water around them. Not much, but perhaps enough. He strains to pull them both down towards the source of the current: a small gash in the bottom of the chamber, leading to territory unknown.

He manages to grab the lip of it with on hand, using the leverage to pull Bel down to his level. It's going to be a tight squeeze for either of them. Bel moreso than Miles. ]

[It does help that Bel isn't the dead weight of the drowned, or the dangerous thrashing of the panicked. They're just very, very determined to survive this. They help where they can, pulling when they are in reach, mimicking (if poorly) how Miles moves.

Miles is right though, in the slow push downward, that first involuntary gasp from burning lungs is met by air, rather than a rush of damning water. Something Bel is DEEPLY grateful for as they force themselves through the gash after Miles...

The current that takes them afterwards barely needs any swimming at all. Rushing headlong, the twists and turns throw both of them into the walls of the corridor with bruising force. It's only in the eddies created by an open door that Bel manages to close their hand around SOMETHING, and in turn drag Miles to a stop.]

[ That was a miscalculation on Miles' part. Of course the pressure would become intense once they were past the gap. He's fallen headlong into the current as soon they're past the gash, and it's only Bel's firm grip that saves him from continuing their bruising journey. Without it, his small frame would be easily whisked along.

He turns bodily, reaching back to grip Bel's arm with both hands. (The pearl he'd been using for light disappears, lost in the swirling current.) If he gets separated from Bel here, that will be the end of everything. They're lost enough as it is.

They need somewhere relatively safe to regroup. Miles looks up past Bel to what the captain has managed to cling onto. A broken catwalk, hanging down into the water ... He can hear the rush of the surface not too far above them. He gestures upward, trying to indicate to Bel that they should climb. ]

[Bel's expression goes from a pinched frown to an illuminated "ah." Bel drags them both close body screaming from the strain and, fighting the current those first couple of pulls.

As they get to higher waters, the pull of the current stills, and by the time both of them break, the water is deceptively calm, reflecting the emergency lights above.

Out of the water, Miles' suit is beeping wildly.]

[ Despite not actually having been without oxygen underwater, Miles finds himself gasping for air. He wants to find a place to lie down for a while now. He wants ...

Shit. His suit is down to a couple percentage points. He looks for the pearl he'd had in his hands, but - no, its glow is receding into the gloom. Dragged away by the current and thoroughly irretrievable. Instead, he has to fumble for his backup in the pouch. He doesn't breathe again until the glow dims and his power levels shoot back up to much more reasonable levels.

Safe. For now. ]

How much do you have left?

[They, having also just. Just leaned against a wall heavily, lifts their wrist. Inexplicably, it says 98%.]

It cracked when I grabbed the walkway. Seemed to work under water, thankfully.

Small mercies.

[ He reluctantly gets to his feet. Considering what resources they have before they go any further. ]

That leaves us with full power but only one recharge between us.

Edited (forgot a word, gg) 2016-11-06 20:30 (UTC)

[They pull their second from safety and hold it out. The glow adds to the emergency lighting to the room. The room is large, rounded (adding, one could presume, to the water slowdown below), with numerous walkways, some looking more stable than the others.

Bel swallows, frowns down at the pearl and then nods. That fight they could have if the needed to.]

Lets get moving, then.

[ Miles isn't going to start that fight just yet. Just ... something to note for now. His gaze flicks over the maze of walkway, trying to find one that stands out. If they take the wrong path now, they're probably screwed. Might be screwed already.

Hmm ... ]

Over there. In the far corner - that walkway has roots.

[ A twisty overgrowth of them, reaching down into the water. Making the path rather more choked, but possibly leading back up into the green room they'd seen before. ]