Below Absolute Zero

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DeletedUser28032

Harriet
Apparently it wasn't as cold as people said it was...it was much, much worse. With chattering teeth Harriet climbed aboard the cramped bus and took a seat next to Peadar so that the two of them could talk however from the look on her face it was clear what the answer to his first question would be "No...nobody told me to bring anything to eat" she replied quietly feeling rather embarrassed about the whole thing, though come to think of it they'd also told her that she wouldn't need gloves as she wouldn't be there long enough to get really cold which now that she was actually here was most certainly a lie "I think I’ve been set up Peadar...anyway why would you want any of the stuff we're mining? you can't forge with it and there’s no way you could sell it privately...not from here anyway" should he be capable of getting off of this rock with out being caught with any of the ore on his person it wouldn't take much effort to find a buyer for the superconductor, the problem was surviving long enough to spend the money as Blackwater definitely didn’t share.
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Speer
“Good to hear it Ethan, I knew we could rely on you” Speer spoke enthusiastically as he clapped him on the back “…As for your request we don’t plan on killing anybody but accidents happen and the people we’re working with don’t mess around, however so long as your friends do as they’re told and don’t try anything stupid they’ll be just fine. Now to business…Isaac take Ethan and Raul here up to the comm’s tower and await the signal to shut it down” Isaac nodded his head in understanding before turning to Ethan “Suit up and get yourself a sidearm Ethan, if there’s anything you need to ask me now’s the time” as soon as Ethan had finished collecting his gear the three of them moved out and made for the comm’s tower.
 

Deleted User - 819397

Xenon frowned. He'd misunderstood the timeline, apparently. An oversight he'd take care not to make again. He was handed a helmet and mask, Stieg telling him it wasn't necessary to wear just yet. Nodding to show his understanding, the head driller proceding to warn him not to wander off...from his tone it was clear people had done it and died before. An interesting piece of information to hold on to. "Very well, I understand. Shall we proceed?" he asked.
 

DeletedUser13682

The slight vibrations of the hydrogen engine didn't impede conversation as a diesel would have, and the smooth road and soft suspension didn't mask any of Harriet's movements. She was cold. Peadar was somewhat surprised; she did come from Albion, and it wasn't all sun and blue skies. Peadar, though somewhat cool, wasn't as cold as he should be; the years in Canada, Mongolia, and the Irish Sea, amongst other places. Peadar was broken from his thinking by Harriet, who didn't bring a lunch. "Oh well. Guess you'll have to eat what's down there. But if you really don't like the idea of that Nord lackey's cooking, I may have enough extra to share." The fact is that Peadar had packed double lunch, including a Newkie Brown sitting next to an angry Guinness, knowing that no one would tell Harriet to bring a lunch.

Then Harriet asked why he wanted some illegal ore from the dig site. Though it was just a joke that wasn't meant to be taken seriously, Peadar decided to carry it on a bit more. "Well, foodstuffs is expensive here, what with having to ship the good stuff from Earth or other garden planets. I've been doing alright for myself, but if I want to cook a special meal for a special person, I would be cutting into most of my pay for the next few weeks. But you're right. I can't get anything like that offworld, and it's worthless if I can't convert it to coin." That sent Peadar thinking again, ending up (somehow) at an idea. "Ya know, instead of going to that digsite and freezing your arse off to report what everybody already knows, you could stay in the repair shop. It's a lot warmer in there than it is out here. Has to be or the printers won't work. And you can relax, take a small holiday. Nearly nobody comes in, except to drop off or pick up parts. While everyone else does field maintenance, I got stuck in the shop, on account of my experience with the printers. What do you say, Harriet?"
 

DeletedUser35174

“Good to hear it Ethan, I knew we could rely on you. As for your request we don’t plan on killing anybody but accidents happen and the people we’re working with don’t mess around, however so long as your friends do as they’re told and don’t try anything stupid they’ll be just fine. Now to business…Isaac take Ethan and Raul here up to the comm’s tower and await the signal to shut it down. Suit up and get yourself a sidearm Ethan, if there’s anything you need to ask me now’s the time” said Speer. Ethan simply nodded and collected his gear. He turned off the safety on the sidearm and left the holster open, then he followed Isaac and Raul.
 

DeletedUser28032

Harriet
"hmm tempting... though I'd better show my face if only for a few minutes I've heard the new managers a bit of a hard ass" Harriet replied to the Irishman, taking the precaution of dropping her voice when it came to sharing the gossip on the new manager "Well you that fella that sat at the at the back and wouldn't say a word to any of us?...well he's the manager" Harriet rolled her eyes dreading the prospect of having to work with him already.
Once the bus had arrived at Alpha Harriet stepped off with the rest of the workers gasping as the cold air hit her "Gods its even worse down here...How is that even possible!" her obvious discomfort causing Peadar and several of the other workers to suppress humorous expressions as they passed her.
"Let me guess...you won't be down there long enough to get cold...that’s what they told you wasn't it?" a short stocky man with blonde hair and a northern England accent said as he approached the murderous look on Harriet’s face being all the answer he needed "Stieg sent me to fetch you, him and the boss are already at the dig site so if you would follow me...oh you too Peadar, Donald's off sick so we need you to fill in for him" so much for a cosy day in the workshop Harriet silently lamented as she and Peadar began to follow the other man.
It was just as she was leaving the crowd that she caught sight of Ragnar heading for the main building. Cupping her hands about her mouth she shouts across the yard to him "Hey! Ragnar! Just to let you know no hard feelings about the other day, alright?" she wasn't sure if the man had heard and she didn't stick around long enough to see any reaction she might get from doing so "Why'd you tell him that?" Peadar asked sounding just a tad irritated, almost as if it had been him and not Harriet that had fallen out with him "Peadar I've got enough problems with Speer without holding a grudge...besides I might have to eat his cooking really soon"
"Fair point" Peadar laughed as he followed the former Canary to today’s fun and games.
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Isaac
“Right keep it cool guys, we don’t want to alarm anybody” Isaac cautioned the others as he holstered the 9mm Glock, dropping the bottom of his jacket over the top of it so as to keep it out of sight; although they were security personnel side arms weren’t a common sight and so were liable to raise suspicion if seen.
Leaving the armoury the small group of men made a bee line for the lift; riding it all the way up to the surface where the communications building was located.
The door opened with a hiss of pneumatics revealing the pair of surprised engineers within, the look on Isaac’s face making it clear that they weren’t supposed to be here “Against the wall now!” Raul screamed drawings his gun and pointing it square at the nearest mans chest “make one move and I ventilate the both of you! Ethan go and get that console ready for the signal whilst I watch these two gringo’s”
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Stieg
The small party of men had made their way down the long cold tunnel to arrive at the new dig site; a pair of men already drilling holes within the ice in order to place the charges “As you can see we’ll be ready to start blasting as soon as the lab tech has done the required tests” Stieg announced proudly to his new boss as they surveyed the near completed work.
It was as they were stood there that a faint droning noise could be heard coming from somewhere nearby, in fact if they didn’t know any better they could have sworn it sounded like a wasps nest.
 

Apelatia

Well-Known Member
Ragnar stiffened as he recognised the all too familiar voice of Harriet, as she shouted his name from across the courtyard. The colour draining from his face as he prepared for the inevitable torrent of verbal abuse that was going to follow. He would run away as soon as anything bad started to happen. Yes, that would be the best thing to do. When it didn't come, Ragnar looked across the courtyard back at Harriet, who was walking alongside one of the other men who had confronted him the previous day. Peader...That's what his name was... Strange though it was that Harriet found fit to apologise to him, Ragnar shouted back, "I'm sure everything's fine Harriet! No hard feelings..."

The last few days had consisted of cooking, cooking and more cooking! Making sandwiches had been his many duty at Alpha, but he had done more exciting things up at the main kitchens. He had heard a strange noisy from the ventilation system the first day down at Alpha with the Andy, but since then he hadn't come across any more unexpected noises... Now he was off to another shift of making sandwiches! Great. With that thought, Ragnar continued to walk in the direction of the main building.
 

DeletedUser31931

It had been simple, she had downloaded the encrypted files onto her drive and from then transferred them to a battered old laptop; which she'd bought from the store on the base. She made sure that the laptop hadn't been bugged, getting her employer's techies to do a thorough remote scan of it before she started uploading the files. When it was finally ready she brought up the message channel and began to type. Neo darling, it’s been such a long time, here’s a little message from me to keep you company, Trinity. X She hit send and then inserted the memory chip containing the worm into the laptop (which she had kept safe with her for the entire time since she'd received it) for once in her life deciding to place some faith in someone other than herself, it was her best way and as much as she didn't like it she didn't really have much choice, her employer would probably not be too happy if she turned up a lead that could have gotten them the information much faster than she was getting it now.
 

DeletedUser35174

Ethan followed Isaac and Raul to the communications tower, the trip was silent, no one uttered a word. Upon entering the comm tower two men were there, Raul quickly pointed the gun in their face and ordered them to freeze, then he told Ethan to go near the consols. "ready" Ethan said to Raul as he looked down at the console.
 

DeletedUser28032

Ethan
"What the hell is going on...you guys are crazy!" one of the engineers screamed in reply as he moved away from the console; keeping his hands in the air and a wary eye on the gun "Shut up amigo, we aren’t fooling around" Raul responded in a menacing voice "Hey cool it Raul we just..."
"No you cool it we have a job to do and there’s no nice way of doing it ok?" the Columbian snapped interrupting Isaac in the process.
A crackle of static suddenly erupted from the console nearest to Ethan along with a garbled message "This is...zzzt....final approach....zzt...are...zzzt... a go?"
 

DeletedUser35174

"What the hell is going on...you guys are crazy!" screamed one of the engineers, only to be shut up by Raul and his gun. Isaac told him to cool it but was stopped mid sentence, "No you cool it we have a job to do and there’s no nice way of doing it ok?". Then suddenly a voice erupted from a console near Ethan. "This is...zzzt....final approach....zzt...are...zzzt... a go?". Ethan turned to the two men, "What do i do?" he questioned.
 

DeletedUser13682

Peadar had to suppress laughter at Harriet's discomfort from the cold weather. Peadar had a fairly good heater and very few escape holes in his cold weather PPE. Guessing from the amount of shivering, Harriet hadn't received nearly as much protection from the cold. That gave Peadar a tinge of regret for forgetting to bring an extra jacket. After the brief episode with the Nord chef was over with, Chris from Manchester had approached them and given the worst news Peadar had ever heard; he would be working in the pit today. It was cold in the pit. The workshop was warm enough to wear shorts in. The pit was probably one of the coldest places on the planet. Why did Donald have to get sick? "Alright, Chris. But tell Donald he owes me."

Down in the pits, Stieg was explaining to the new boss that all that was left to do before mining could commemce was the lab tech check. Today's lucky labbi was Harriet. Before she could begin whatever she needed to do, a strange buzzing sound began to fill the pit. Since the pit, or any of the planet for that matter, was supposed to be devoid of wasps, bees, and other creatures that buzzed, that telltale sound caused everyone to stop and search for the source. After a minute of it getting slightly louder, Peader walked to the nearest IVCS, and called Engineering. "This is Peadar. We're at the pits, and there's a strange buzzing sound, not unlike a nest of wasps. We don't have a clue as to what it is. Wondering if you might."
 

DeletedUser28032

Ethan
With his gun levelled at the two hapless engineers Raul herds them into a corner whilst Isaac started working on one of the other consoles "I don't know...try and clear the signal up or something!" the Columbian shouts irritably over his shoulder; his guns aim never wavering from the chest of the nearest engineer as he does so "...I am kind of busy here in case you haven't noticed!"
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The Pit
"What the hell?" Stieg spoke as the buzzing sound started a look of confusion on his face over the mysterious noise. However with Peadar already on the radio he merely shrugs his massive shoulders before beckoning Harriet over "Its Harriet right? begin the tests I want to get this hole started so that we can get out of here before we all freeze" the freezing lab tech looked as if she was about to protest or perhaps question the strange sound only to think better of it; she wanted to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible and so instead unclips the small briefcase she'd been carrying and starts pulling out the required equipment.
Meanwhile with the buzzing sound already beginning to subside, Peadar received nothing but static over the radio, only receiving a reply after he tried a second time when an unknown voice answered him "err...its just electrical...discharge...yeah probably caused by the cold nothing to worry about" the voice spoke with a complete lack of conviction over the answer it had provided "Peadar! get those charges set we can report...whatever it was later" Stieg suddenly calls from where he stood beside the new manager "The sooner its done the sooner we can get to somewhere warmer"
 

DeletedUser13682

What was wrong on the other end? The first time the reciever had answered, but there was nothing but static. The second time, there was a response, but it was from a know nothing. Peadar wasn't an electrician by trade, but he knew enough that electricity did not buzz like a wasp. It buzzed like electricity. It was unique. Something was rotten in the state of Engineering. He was brought back to the task at hand by Stieg, who wanted Peadar to set the charges. Apparently, Harriet had already proven this hole was a moneymaker.

"Stieg, I don't think that's a good idea," Peadar stated. "Something is wrong in Engineering. I don't know what, but we must prepare for the worst. I suggest bringing the charges back to the repair shop, getting everybody from the pits there, and barricading in. I'll call security and see if they can help." Peadar once again activated the IVCS, and called security. "Security Central, this is Peadar in the pits. Something may be wrong in Engineering Central. Do you mind checking it out, and putting this old mechanic's heart at ease?"
 

DeletedUser28032

The Pit
Keying in the number for security Peadar finds the response to be much quicker than that of engineering as he is answered by a curt business like tone of voice "Security, How I being of assistance?" Zipora; the dark haired Israeli girl they'd met on the first day spoke, listening patiently to what Peadar had to say before replying in her broken and heavily accented English "Ok is checking it out...probably just someone covering for idiot friend, is bug going round at moment, bad tuna" the girl laughing obviously meaning the last statement as a joke.
However before Peadar could go any further with his enquiry Stieg's angry bellowing cuts him off "I don't give a rats ass what you think McMannus! Now I told you to set those charges so damn well do it or I’ll be docking the cost of not doing so from your wages!" perhaps challenging the validity of the foreman’s orders whilst the new manager was present had not been the best of moves.
By this point Harriet had completed running her tests through the small "mobile lab" in her case turning to face Stieg and Mark to announce the findings "The tests are complete there are large quantities of the ore here only..." Harriet pauses, the ore wasn't the only thing that she had found within the samples of rock and ice she had taken, there had also been something else, something organic. Despite the strangeness of finding the unknown material the tests had proved it not to be harmful in any way and by now the cold had cut all the way through her coat to her bones so that she could barely talk through chattering teeth "...never mind its nothing important, may I return to the station?"
 
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DeletedUser35174

"I don't know...try and clear the signal up or something!, ...I am kind of busy here in case you haven't noticed!" Raul responded after he had herded the engineers to one corner. "do i look like a bloody electrician to you?!" snapped Ethan. Letting out a loud sigh, he pulled out his M-9 and pointed at one of the engineers. "you...clear the signal......now!" he ordered.
 

DeletedUser13682

"Thank you, Zipora," Peadar responded with a chuckle. The mild joking had eased him up a bit. Before he could respond, however, Stieg yelled at Peadar, ordering him to set the charges. "Fine, I'll set the charges, Stieg. No need to drop trou for the new boss, though." Though irritated, Stieg was right, and Peadar was acting paranoid. As he went about setting the charges, Harriet was reading off her results. As expected, the ore was there, but there was something else. Or at least there might have been something else, but Harriet decided not to tell, probably because of the cold, which her voice revealed was causing her extreme discomfort. "There, I've set the charges. Let's go." Peadar walked back to the IVCS, which had been left on. "Zipora, you there? How's engineering?"
 

DeletedUser28032

Ethan
"Ok just don't shoot me alright!" the engineer replied, throwing up his hands in a defensive posture as Ethan brought the gun to bear on him. Running over to the console the engineer quickly starts tapping keys though what exactly those keys did Ethan didn't know for sure though the message came through once again loud and clear "This is Omega, we are making our final approach...are we a go?" hearing the message; the sound of engines loud in the background, Isaac quickly slides over to Ethan's terminal and depresses the transmit button "This is Trojan horse mission is a go, repeat mission is a go"
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Stieg
It probably took around about three quarters of an hour to both place the shaped charges they would be using and perform the required tests by which point anyone not wearing thermal PPE would be seriously feeling the cold by now.
"Good to hear Peadar, nice work" Stieg replied to the Irishman back to his old self once again. Whilst Peadar went to contact Zipora; the Norwegian slowly shaking his head at his colleagues apparent paranoia, Stieg turned to speak with Mark "Ok now that we've got the charges set we'll all head back to base, an alarm hooked up to a motion sensor will prevent anyone one from wandering in here by accident and an audible count down will commence once you hit the big red button just in case that wasn't enough" Stieg said explaining the safety procedures employed hoping the boss would be sufficiently impressed by the safety measures taken "...I mean something would have to go seriously wrong for those charges to go off on their own"
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Peadar
Putting the call through to security Peadar once again gets Zipora on the other line and can practically hear the confused frown she gives him on the other end "Engineering? Oh yes all is good was just..." whatever Zipora had been about to say goes unheard as the tunnel is plunged into darkness as all of the power is suddenly cut off "What the hell!?" Stieg exclaims somewhere in the darkness; a giant shadowy form to one side of the Irishman "How...how can we be in the dark? I thought there were back up gennies down here?" this voice Harriet's as her teeth continue to chatter "DETONATION IN...ONE MINUTE AND ENCOUNTING" this voice unfortunately belonging to the explosives.
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The Main facility
With security personnel positioned within key area's within the station it took little effort for the conspirators to shut down all power and communications; the sudden loss of power caused by the power plant being improperly shut down causing a surge that would fry several systems and activate the arming mechanism for the explosive charges currently set in the tunnels of Alpha.
Within about three minutes of the power going down teams of men dressed in combat armour would storm the main facility ordering everybody to get down and striking any that resisted.
Once they had seized control of the main facility they would turn their attentions to the pair satellite facilities, though that wouldn't be for quite some time yet.
 

DeletedUser31931

Sara had left her room and was beginning to head back to her work when the lights went out. She had seen the schematics for the base, this was impossible, unless... as what had happened dawned on her (deduction 2) she began to run for her room, the door thankfully sliding open and she slid in. She slipped into her cupboard and stayed deadly silent, she would wait for at least an hour before checking the situation. Silently, she stood there, breathing silently and she waited. (stealth 2)
 

Deleted User - 819397

Xenon had remained quiet during the process. He needed to observe everything if he were to understand how to exploit it, and that didn't leave much brainpower for talking. Things were running smoothly aside from a small mishap involving engineering, and the charges were placed. They were just about to leave when the lights went out. Not unduly worried, the criminal remained much calmer than Stieg had. However, a mechanical voice called out that a detonation would be occurring in a minute, and that was enough to have him break his silence. "Stieg, it would appear that things have, in your words, gone seriously wrong. I suggest we remove ourselves in an expedited manner from this area via whichever way you deem quickest. I have no desire to die this day." His voice was as controlled as ever, but the slight flicker of unease he felt was a huge feeling for him. It wasn't the charges exploding that made him nervous, but rather the fact he didn't know this area...he was now in the hands of Stieg...if the man panicked and couldn't guide them away, then there would be little he could do. The loss of control was worrying, and he hoped nothing would come of it.
 

DeletedUser13682

As Zipora explained that Engineering was ok (not entirely sure if that was true, but why would Zipora lie?), and was about to explain what happened, the connection went out, as well as the lights and the hum of generators in the distance. Though IVCS was hooked up to backup sound powered phones, IVCS itself still needed electricity. As Peadar switched on his PPE's light to find the phone jack, a very bad voice announced a very bad message, somehow heard over Stieg's worrisome questions. "Detonation in one minute."

As to how this could have happened, the main and backup electricity being taken out, yet somehow the explosives were triggered, Peadar was led to one conclusion; sabotage. There was someone in the base who wanted to strike at the corporation, and they got sucked into it. As Stieg was apparently panicking, Peadar took charge, his military training beginning to kick in again. "Alright, everybody follow me, and keep up. Follow the light." Peadar began to run toward the entrance. "Remain calm. Sorry, boss; we'll have to ignore minimum safe distance today."
 
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