Soul of a Gambler

Part IX - "Mutiny"

"Shields online! Repulsor integrity at one-hundred percent!" The vaguely-fenale automated voice of the prototype reassured the blat of the alarm, reducing it from a painful wail to more of a persistent drone in the background that blended into a symphony of hollow sounds that came from above.

The fine hairs on the back of Jax' neck stood up, and he directed Rocky to get the door open. His heart thumped and adrenaline pulsed through singed nerves. The red intoxication of combat would come on those waves, these were only the first signs of the inner cataclysm to come.

The door slid away easily, sent rushing away on its track by the powerful golem, and Arna pushed Jax aside to take point. She knew the way to Engineering better than anyone, having been assigned to its curator Jacobson on more than one occasion.

Jax kept pace behind her, his weapon held near his cheek and ready to be leveled at the first sign of activity. Nevermind that pulling the trigger would let every soul with functional hearing know that the conscripts below had sprung some kind of trap.

She guided them through several hallway junctions on the way toward the bow, and each they passed through tightened the knot in Jax' gut. The red wave was coming, and every quiet passage signaled it's approach growing nearer.

Engineering lied beyond a heavy bay door, which Arna opened with rapid presses on a nearby keypad. The door slid open, revealing what was fundamentally a supply closet around the size of a modest apartment. Several work benches preceeded a bank of bleeding edge monitors and devices that appeared out of place among racks of tools behind chain link cages and the tangles of poorly managed wires and heavy cables that snaked across the ceiling.

Jax took aim over Arna's shoulder at the only occupant of the room, who was craned over a workbench away from the entrance. The weapon drooped in his grip, the weight more than his wrist could support alone.

"Turn around!" Jax barked, his next trick was to be sending Four-Arms forward to check his jaw and put him to sleep, but he let his weapon fall back to his hip as the crimson rings of Jacobson's eyes made themselves visible.

"You may take whatever you wish, as long as you wish." He rumbled in a distant, desert-dry tone then unlocked the cage near the half dozen hanging rivet guns. As Arna passed out the improvised arms first-come first-serve to anyone and everyone who wanted one, members including Marten and Cosmo, Jacobson opened up another portion which let the rest of the mob arm themselves with tools including sledgehammers and portable torches.

Jacobson picked up an assault rifle that was leaning against a nearby workbench and pulled the charging handle. Brass casings and white rings of oxidizer shined in the open bolt.

"Allow me to take a position among the bridge crew before you start your attack. I will attempt to silence General Calhoun before he is able to escape."

Jax cocked an eyebrow, trying to give the aptly named Triple Regret a Calhoun-style spin before dropping it to the floor with a deep thud, "How do ya' know he's gonna' try and run?"

Jacobson patted his breast pocket where he produced the tarot card from earlier. "I have seen the timeline."

Whether he truly had or not was irrelevant. An attacker from the inside would divert attention, which is just what Jax would need to pulp the good Commander. He nodded to Jacobson, who gave a wink and two-finger salute in return.

"May blessings of the Starless Sky fall upon thee."

With that, Jacobson left in a hurry. Down here where there was no Blackwatch presence the turncoat had the freedom of running, a luxury which he would lose on the upper decks. Jax gave him five minutes, if someone with the proper clearance as Jacobson had couldn't make it to the bridge in five minutes something was already going wrong.