It is year five hundred and fifty-two of the seventy-sixth millennium by the Imperial calendar...
- Created
- Status
- Ongoing
- Watchers
- 14
- Recent readers
- 0
- Threadmarks
- 1
-
Statistics (1 threadmarks, 1.8k words)
User Total Tempera 1
Update 1- Iuros Prison Complex (Escape- Part 1)
- Location
- Australia
Stale air flowed through the Iuros prison complex. The planet does not have an atmosphere conducive towards supporting most species. In particular, Rutherians and Ustehrs are susceptible to the native nitrogen-rich atmosphere.
If the planet is anything like the Empire's own prison compounds, the air is likely being recycled through the compound's atmospheric conditioning system. That would explain why the air around you is as sterile as the air on a starship, at least, clear of all dust and scents beyond the faint smell of burned steel.
Were you acting as an independent operative, rather than as an Alliance prisoner, you could take advantage of that by flooding the atmospheric control system with toxins, or simply venting the oxygen-rich air to the planet outside if you had orders to kill.
You are not acting as an independent operative, however.
It is not a viable plan. Not when they are aware of your presence, and certainly not when you are not wearing an environmentally-controlled covering. It would not do to get yourself killed or recaptured during your own escape attempt; that would be highly embarrassing.
Non-viable, then. Useless. Discard- no, file, store in case of acquisition of requisite physical materials. New plan.
The compound itself is quite large. You hadn't been able to see from your cell on the starship, and you had been moved from the starship immediately to a medium-security centre closed off from the rest of the complex, but it would have to be large to hold any significant number of prisoners.
An enormous amount of machinery is needed to run complexes like these; hard-light barriers overhead to prevent atmospheric incursions, complex atmospheric control systems to encourage the survival of a variety of biological and technological lifeforms, recycling systems to lower total water usage and grow minimal-requirement foods, and a variety of subsystems needed for automatic maintenance and survival mechanisms.
Perhaps you could use one of those subsystems to escape; security subsystems were difficult to reprogram, but if they used standard algorithms, it shouldn't take you a substantial length of time.
"Blasted creepy," one of your guards mutters. You flick your eyes up towards them, and the guard who had spoken shivers, causing the faint gold flicker of their web-shield to shine brighter for a moment before fading back to a dull glow.
They don't think you can understand Common, the tongue used by most Alliance soldiers. Most Imperial soldiers would not be able to; the sounds were similar to that of Imperial Basic, but their tongue has an entirely different structure to it. They do not even use pictograms to write, which is the biggest barrier for most.
The second guard takes a long look at you, then shudders exaggeratedly. "Snake-eyes," they mutter. By the cadence of their vocal filters, you are fairly certain this one is a biologically female Ustehr. The other one had sounded distorted, gravelly- they had not spoken with an Ustehr accent. Either they were alien, or had spent decades amongst them. "Light save us, look at it stare. You're right. Blasted glad they're not with the Alliance."
Behind you, one of the guard units the complex's manager had sent to escort you speaks up. Its voice is distorted, tinny; it has not undergone maintenance recently. You tilt your head to glance at it, taking in its chrome casing and sharp, angular design for a moment before turning your head back. A Setheraan Core unit, likely model GX-3H, although it could be GX-7H, which had used the same core chassis with a chrome-plasteel alloy.
"Alert," it drones. "Galactic Systems Alliance personnel are not permitted to speak through unsecured channels within seven hundred and fifty klicks of unmonitored Imperial personnel. Cautionary; cease and desist prohibited behaviour, or this unit will file a cautionary warning with: Designation- 1722-IHN-3V-'s supervisory officer."
The female officer scoffs and turns away, tension turning her shoulders rigid.
None of them speak again as they led you through the facility's halls, twisting and turning so often you are having trouble keeping your mental map of the facility correct. Likely by design; the longer it took escapees to find an escape route, the longer security had to track them down and reapprehend them. Basic security features in a prison complex.
The walls are bare and sterile for the same reason, the only features identifying them being the occasional marker identifying a particular hall- Wing F-i8, a holographic display proudly declared as you walked past it. Theoretically, you could build a map in your head by those, but it was more likely than not that the names are randomized to prevent that, or could be changed in moments at a security console. Physical maps are better.
Even the ground beneath you has no identifying markers, apart from occasional scratches and marks where a robot or guard had scuffed their feet. The floor beneath you is solid steel; the cold of it bites through your uniform and into your feet as you walk. Occasionally, you can hear the distant calls of a guard- "X-19, step back from the door or we will incapacitate you!"- or the garbled calls of a prisoner stripped of their vocal filters.
Eventually, you hear low murmurs ahead of you. An office, then. Indeed, as you approach, you can feel a slight shift in the atmosphere- the air is warmer, here, and there is a faint scent of fabric, a common scent for aerosol sprays. Soon, there is the low hum of lowered voices, then the whirring of machinery.
And, indeed, you are led into an office.
Your group is not alone in here; there are several other groups being processed alongside you. Most of them are larger, consisting of half a dozen or more people; pirates, perhaps, or Imperial prisoners-of-war. It was unlikely they were rebels; the Alliance had few rebels. Their propaganda machine was very good at spewing platitudes at anyone who even considered rebellion.
A sigh escapes you. No, that iss not true- a half-truth at best. They did not spew platitudes; they were very good at promising cultures what they wanted, and on occasion even delivered on that. It is enough to give everyone hope that the Alliance would help them in future.
It is important to acknowledge your enemy's capabilities. You must not exaggerate or downplay them.
You are jarred out of your thoughts when a cold hand on your back pushes you forward, causing you to stumble. Shooting a glare at the robot that had pushed you, you sniff imperiously and step forwards, returning to your place between the guards, who had stepped forwards while you were being inattentive.
"One-seven-two-two and three-six-zero-four, please step forward," a trembling voice speaks over the office's communications system. Obediently, the two guards step forwards towards the counter. You follow them quickly, before the robot could push you again.
Your chest constricts momentarily as you glance at the form they're filling out; Prisoner Acquisition (Unplanned).
This is it, then; you have little time to escape. From here, you will be escorted to a cell- and on your own, without any of your fellow soldiers to help you, your chances of escaping from a cell are very slim indeed.
Subtly glancing around, you eye the rest of the room.
Guardsmen stand attentively at the doorways, blasters held ready in their hands. With your hands cuffed securely behind you and your shield stripped from you, you will not stand a chance in open combat- a single shot and you will be dead.
No open combat for the moment, then. Either you wait until you're alone with your guards- an unpleasant thought; fighting four guards with your hands tied behind your back is well beyond your capabilities- or you escape without provoking a violent confrontation.
A soft cough turns your attention to your right, where a tattered group stands between half a dozen guardsmen, sullen scowls on their faces. Pirates, most likely; none of them are wearing Imperial uniforms, and no rebels would make it here before meeting with an unfortunate accident.
Pirates- the notion tugs at your mind. You can use them. How?
Pirates; notorious for their efforts at evading lawmen. Obviously, this group was unsuccessful, but one unsuccessful attempt does not make the pirate bad; merely unlucky. And you do need to evade the lawmen.
Yes, that may work.
It would be hard to secure the pirates' cooperation, but it would be easier for a group to escape- and for you to escape in the chaos of theirs.
All you had to do was escape the guardsmen surrounding you without being shot to pieces.
[] The plan was beginning to form. First, you would;
[] Then you would;
If the planet is anything like the Empire's own prison compounds, the air is likely being recycled through the compound's atmospheric conditioning system. That would explain why the air around you is as sterile as the air on a starship, at least, clear of all dust and scents beyond the faint smell of burned steel.
Were you acting as an independent operative, rather than as an Alliance prisoner, you could take advantage of that by flooding the atmospheric control system with toxins, or simply venting the oxygen-rich air to the planet outside if you had orders to kill.
You are not acting as an independent operative, however.
It is not a viable plan. Not when they are aware of your presence, and certainly not when you are not wearing an environmentally-controlled covering. It would not do to get yourself killed or recaptured during your own escape attempt; that would be highly embarrassing.
Non-viable, then. Useless. Discard- no, file, store in case of acquisition of requisite physical materials. New plan.
The compound itself is quite large. You hadn't been able to see from your cell on the starship, and you had been moved from the starship immediately to a medium-security centre closed off from the rest of the complex, but it would have to be large to hold any significant number of prisoners.
An enormous amount of machinery is needed to run complexes like these; hard-light barriers overhead to prevent atmospheric incursions, complex atmospheric control systems to encourage the survival of a variety of biological and technological lifeforms, recycling systems to lower total water usage and grow minimal-requirement foods, and a variety of subsystems needed for automatic maintenance and survival mechanisms.
Perhaps you could use one of those subsystems to escape; security subsystems were difficult to reprogram, but if they used standard algorithms, it shouldn't take you a substantial length of time.
"Blasted creepy," one of your guards mutters. You flick your eyes up towards them, and the guard who had spoken shivers, causing the faint gold flicker of their web-shield to shine brighter for a moment before fading back to a dull glow.
They don't think you can understand Common, the tongue used by most Alliance soldiers. Most Imperial soldiers would not be able to; the sounds were similar to that of Imperial Basic, but their tongue has an entirely different structure to it. They do not even use pictograms to write, which is the biggest barrier for most.
The second guard takes a long look at you, then shudders exaggeratedly. "Snake-eyes," they mutter. By the cadence of their vocal filters, you are fairly certain this one is a biologically female Ustehr. The other one had sounded distorted, gravelly- they had not spoken with an Ustehr accent. Either they were alien, or had spent decades amongst them. "Light save us, look at it stare. You're right. Blasted glad they're not with the Alliance."
Behind you, one of the guard units the complex's manager had sent to escort you speaks up. Its voice is distorted, tinny; it has not undergone maintenance recently. You tilt your head to glance at it, taking in its chrome casing and sharp, angular design for a moment before turning your head back. A Setheraan Core unit, likely model GX-3H, although it could be GX-7H, which had used the same core chassis with a chrome-plasteel alloy.
"Alert," it drones. "Galactic Systems Alliance personnel are not permitted to speak through unsecured channels within seven hundred and fifty klicks of unmonitored Imperial personnel. Cautionary; cease and desist prohibited behaviour, or this unit will file a cautionary warning with: Designation- 1722-IHN-3V-'s supervisory officer."
The female officer scoffs and turns away, tension turning her shoulders rigid.
None of them speak again as they led you through the facility's halls, twisting and turning so often you are having trouble keeping your mental map of the facility correct. Likely by design; the longer it took escapees to find an escape route, the longer security had to track them down and reapprehend them. Basic security features in a prison complex.
The walls are bare and sterile for the same reason, the only features identifying them being the occasional marker identifying a particular hall- Wing F-i8, a holographic display proudly declared as you walked past it. Theoretically, you could build a map in your head by those, but it was more likely than not that the names are randomized to prevent that, or could be changed in moments at a security console. Physical maps are better.
Even the ground beneath you has no identifying markers, apart from occasional scratches and marks where a robot or guard had scuffed their feet. The floor beneath you is solid steel; the cold of it bites through your uniform and into your feet as you walk. Occasionally, you can hear the distant calls of a guard- "X-19, step back from the door or we will incapacitate you!"- or the garbled calls of a prisoner stripped of their vocal filters.
Eventually, you hear low murmurs ahead of you. An office, then. Indeed, as you approach, you can feel a slight shift in the atmosphere- the air is warmer, here, and there is a faint scent of fabric, a common scent for aerosol sprays. Soon, there is the low hum of lowered voices, then the whirring of machinery.
And, indeed, you are led into an office.
Your group is not alone in here; there are several other groups being processed alongside you. Most of them are larger, consisting of half a dozen or more people; pirates, perhaps, or Imperial prisoners-of-war. It was unlikely they were rebels; the Alliance had few rebels. Their propaganda machine was very good at spewing platitudes at anyone who even considered rebellion.
A sigh escapes you. No, that iss not true- a half-truth at best. They did not spew platitudes; they were very good at promising cultures what they wanted, and on occasion even delivered on that. It is enough to give everyone hope that the Alliance would help them in future.
It is important to acknowledge your enemy's capabilities. You must not exaggerate or downplay them.
You are jarred out of your thoughts when a cold hand on your back pushes you forward, causing you to stumble. Shooting a glare at the robot that had pushed you, you sniff imperiously and step forwards, returning to your place between the guards, who had stepped forwards while you were being inattentive.
"One-seven-two-two and three-six-zero-four, please step forward," a trembling voice speaks over the office's communications system. Obediently, the two guards step forwards towards the counter. You follow them quickly, before the robot could push you again.
Your chest constricts momentarily as you glance at the form they're filling out; Prisoner Acquisition (Unplanned).
This is it, then; you have little time to escape. From here, you will be escorted to a cell- and on your own, without any of your fellow soldiers to help you, your chances of escaping from a cell are very slim indeed.
Subtly glancing around, you eye the rest of the room.
Guardsmen stand attentively at the doorways, blasters held ready in their hands. With your hands cuffed securely behind you and your shield stripped from you, you will not stand a chance in open combat- a single shot and you will be dead.
No open combat for the moment, then. Either you wait until you're alone with your guards- an unpleasant thought; fighting four guards with your hands tied behind your back is well beyond your capabilities- or you escape without provoking a violent confrontation.
A soft cough turns your attention to your right, where a tattered group stands between half a dozen guardsmen, sullen scowls on their faces. Pirates, most likely; none of them are wearing Imperial uniforms, and no rebels would make it here before meeting with an unfortunate accident.
Pirates- the notion tugs at your mind. You can use them. How?
Pirates; notorious for their efforts at evading lawmen. Obviously, this group was unsuccessful, but one unsuccessful attempt does not make the pirate bad; merely unlucky. And you do need to evade the lawmen.
Yes, that may work.
It would be hard to secure the pirates' cooperation, but it would be easier for a group to escape- and for you to escape in the chaos of theirs.
All you had to do was escape the guardsmen surrounding you without being shot to pieces.
[] The plan was beginning to form. First, you would;
[] Mislead the guards into putting themselves in a vulnerable position, then taking one of their unsecured weapons. It would be difficult, but you were trained in espionage; you should be able to fool them into not realizing you had taken the weapon. 1.2x
[] Mislead the guards into putting themselves in a vulnerable position, then taking one of their code-bracelets. They will realize it is missing when they attempt to open your cell doors, but if you work covertly enough, you may be able to sieze control over one or both of the robots by the time you get there. 1.0x
[] Wait for the guards to arrive at a crossroads, then flee before they can capture you. Risky, but in not killing the guardsmen, you are less likely to anger the other guardsmen who will follow you. 0.7x
[] Then you would;
[] Make a break for the nearest security console- there would be one nearby, in case of prisoner breakout. You could- theoretically- incapacitate any guardsmen within, then attempt to subvert the compound's security systems and…
[] Open the doors of any nearby cells connected to the security node. 1.1x
[] Send out an override signal to all robots nearby, designating the station's guards as hostiles. It wouldn't take long for their programming to reassert itself, and it wouldn't make you safe from them, but it would keep the guardsmen busy. 1.0x
[] Attempt to secure information about the area- maps, locations of storage and bunk areas, directions to the nearest hangar, and so on. 1.0x
[] Make a break for the nearest armoury; there would, of course, be one nearby- within guard barracks, if nothing else. You could- theoretically- incapacitate any guardsmen within, then arm yourself once more. 1.3x
[] Make a break for the nearest hangar. Hopefully, you could find a personal-class starship and make a break from there. If not, at the least you should be able to find basic arms and armour from there- and possibly even an environmentally controlled bio-suit. 0.7x