08-21-2023, 11:52 PM
(Joint Post with Xiomera)
Situated in the picturesque Amalin Hills in northwestern Eiria, the Davant Hydroelectric dam was certainly a sight to see. Built where the Serai river comes down from it's mountain source into the valley below, it was a key structure in the Eirian electrical grid, supplying power to many in Monterre, Nordjura, and Jurmala Provinces. In addition, the top observation level boasted one of the most beautiful views of the heartland valley and western mountain ranges.
It was a shame, then, that someone wanted to blow it up.
Raimonds Priede was that someone. The Imperial Intelligence agent had been assigned to operations against Eiria for several years. His most notable operation had been the poisoning of two asylum seekers from the Xiomeran Olympic team. That operation had brought him many rewards, including a meeting with the Empress herself. If Priede succeeded in taking down the Davant dam, he could count on many more rewards from the always-generous Empress. Calhualyana had decided on this strike as retaliation for a hack of the Tlalacuetztla traffic control system. She had not been able to prove Eiria was behind it, but she suspected it. And that was enough.
Priede had chosen a spot near the base of the dam to make his infiltration. The security perimeter at that point was weak, and he believed he could slip in and plant a lovely set of explosives at the base of the dam without being detected.
---
Janis Akers slowly took another bite of his breakfast sandwich, admiring the beautiful sunrise over the valley as he sat on the riverbank. The recently-transferred engineer had been hard-pressed to find a tranquil place for his breakfast break, with most of the other staff crowding the top observation deck or side entrances. Still, in this part of the country, beautiful views weren't exactly hard to come by, and he was quite satisfied with the spot that he had found.
A pair of footsteps caught his attention, and he whipped around, exhaling only when a familiar figure came into view. "Cēra. Are you here to disturb my breakfast once again?"
The guard smiled, wiping some dirt off of her uniform. "Maybe. I saw that Adam and Krikōrjevs stole your normal spot, so I started looking. You have a knack for picking spots that are a massive pain in the ass to get to. I nearly broke my ankle getting over here."
He smiled. "Gotta get away from all of the workplace politics, you know? The gossip up there is so toxic." He picked up his container of potato dumplings and held it out to her. "Want a Pelmes? I found a new place up the road that sells them. They reheat really well."
As Cēra took a bite of a dumpling, Janis saw it. A shadowy figure behind a group of trees. The figure disappeared as quickly as he had noticed them. "Um, Cēra? Someone's over there, through that group of trees. I just saw them move."
Cēra quickly stood, hand on her radio. "A tourist? Why would a tourist be this far down? The observation deck entrance isn't even close to here." She brought her radio up to her face. "Yeah, perimeter team? I need some help out on the lower bank. I think someone hopped the northern fence."
Unaware that he had been spotted, Priede moved quickly and silently through the trees. He was nearing the base of the dam now. He finally reached it, and ducked around a structural pillar out of sight.
Priede quickly assembled his bomb, setting the timer to four minutes. That should give me enough time to get away, he thought. The agent placed the bomb well-hidden inside a maintenance hatch, closing the door before peeking around the edge of the pillar to see if anyone was around.
Unfortunately for Priede, Cēra had made it up a small hill and had full view of him closing the maintenance door. She sprinted down the slope, unhooking her taser gun as she ran. "Arjiet! Rekuliet dei kur nag!" ("Stop! Back away from there now!").
Priede cursed in Eirian and rather than run away, he ran towards Cēra in a zigzag pattern to throw off her aim. He lashed out with a solid kick aimed at her head.
The blow glanced off the side, causing her to fall sideways into the dirt with a grunt. As she fell, she reached out and grabbed hold of her assailant's foot, preventing him from getting further up the hill. With her left arm, she grasped her taser and jammed it into Priede's calf, activating it.
Priede grimaced in pain, just barely managing to avoid shouting out as he fell to the ground. He struggled with being unable to move, several seconds ticking away.
Cēra stumbled while trying to stand upwards, holding the side of her head with one hand. Janis hustled down the hill towards her, grabbing the handcuffs from her belt. Together, they restrained the twitching Priede, putting the cuffs on him while he was facing the ground before flipping him.
Cēra nodded at the maintenance panel, trying to catch her breath. "He did something in there. You should check it out."
Janis nodded back and walked over to the hatch by the support beam, prying it open. Holy shit. Angels help us now! He stumbled away from the hatch, slurring his words. His face was ice white. "Metdi... It's a bomb. He put a fucking bomb in... It's ticking down... What the... Shit!"
Cēra blanched and instinctively took a step back. "Call the police and get up the hill." She turned to the restrained Priede, kneeling on one leg and grabbing him by the collar, a murderous look in her eye. "You're going to tell me how to disable that thing, or I'm keeping you here until it goes off. If you want to live, start talking."
Priede shrugged. "I'm not afraid to die. Are you? You'll have to stay here to hold me here, after all." He grinned at that, in a perverse glee.
Cēra pushed him back to the ground in disgust. Janis was pacing back and forth, on the phone. Suddenly, he raced up the hill, disappeared for ten seconds, then reappeared with his box of tools. "Okay. There's a timer, a few different sizes and types of wires, and three plastic-wrapped packages. The timer is just under two minutes. Each package has a wire connected to it via a metal connector at one end. It looks to be stuck in there around a white substance." His voice was shaky, and his natural Monterre accent was very prevalent as he spoke.
The bomb expert spoke in a steady, deep voice. "Alright. Sounds like a standard plastic explosive with a timed detonator. If it doesn't look like a powder, try touching one of the packages. Is the substance malleable?"
Janis sighed, closed his eyes, and pressed down on one of the packages. To his surprise, the bomb did not show up, and he could see an indentation that his finger had made. "Yes, it is. It's not a powder, but I can mold it."
"Okay. If you can't cut the wires, I'll need you to slowly pull the metal parts out of the substance. Don't worry, plastic explosives are incredibly stable to outside forces. Someone could shoot it and it wouldn't go off."
Janis laughed nervously. "Alright. I can do that." He slowly tugged on the first one, wincing as it inched out of the putty-like substance. "One down." He got to work on the second one, flinching once as he thought that he had pulled too hard. "Second one is down."
He glanced up at the timer and saw that there was only thirty seconds left. "Shit, okay. Working on the last one." Every millimeter of the blasting cap felt like it was glued in, and every second felt like an eternity.
Finally, Janis pulled the last metal connector free, removing the timer from the three plastic packages. "It's off. Holy shit, it's off. What do I do now?"
"Nice job. Now, take the timer with you and get as far away from the package as you can, okay? A bomb squad and the police have been dispatched to your location. Thank you for your help, sir. We'll take it from here."
Situated in the picturesque Amalin Hills in northwestern Eiria, the Davant Hydroelectric dam was certainly a sight to see. Built where the Serai river comes down from it's mountain source into the valley below, it was a key structure in the Eirian electrical grid, supplying power to many in Monterre, Nordjura, and Jurmala Provinces. In addition, the top observation level boasted one of the most beautiful views of the heartland valley and western mountain ranges.
It was a shame, then, that someone wanted to blow it up.
Raimonds Priede was that someone. The Imperial Intelligence agent had been assigned to operations against Eiria for several years. His most notable operation had been the poisoning of two asylum seekers from the Xiomeran Olympic team. That operation had brought him many rewards, including a meeting with the Empress herself. If Priede succeeded in taking down the Davant dam, he could count on many more rewards from the always-generous Empress. Calhualyana had decided on this strike as retaliation for a hack of the Tlalacuetztla traffic control system. She had not been able to prove Eiria was behind it, but she suspected it. And that was enough.
Priede had chosen a spot near the base of the dam to make his infiltration. The security perimeter at that point was weak, and he believed he could slip in and plant a lovely set of explosives at the base of the dam without being detected.
---
Janis Akers slowly took another bite of his breakfast sandwich, admiring the beautiful sunrise over the valley as he sat on the riverbank. The recently-transferred engineer had been hard-pressed to find a tranquil place for his breakfast break, with most of the other staff crowding the top observation deck or side entrances. Still, in this part of the country, beautiful views weren't exactly hard to come by, and he was quite satisfied with the spot that he had found.
A pair of footsteps caught his attention, and he whipped around, exhaling only when a familiar figure came into view. "Cēra. Are you here to disturb my breakfast once again?"
The guard smiled, wiping some dirt off of her uniform. "Maybe. I saw that Adam and Krikōrjevs stole your normal spot, so I started looking. You have a knack for picking spots that are a massive pain in the ass to get to. I nearly broke my ankle getting over here."
He smiled. "Gotta get away from all of the workplace politics, you know? The gossip up there is so toxic." He picked up his container of potato dumplings and held it out to her. "Want a Pelmes? I found a new place up the road that sells them. They reheat really well."
As Cēra took a bite of a dumpling, Janis saw it. A shadowy figure behind a group of trees. The figure disappeared as quickly as he had noticed them. "Um, Cēra? Someone's over there, through that group of trees. I just saw them move."
Cēra quickly stood, hand on her radio. "A tourist? Why would a tourist be this far down? The observation deck entrance isn't even close to here." She brought her radio up to her face. "Yeah, perimeter team? I need some help out on the lower bank. I think someone hopped the northern fence."
Unaware that he had been spotted, Priede moved quickly and silently through the trees. He was nearing the base of the dam now. He finally reached it, and ducked around a structural pillar out of sight.
Priede quickly assembled his bomb, setting the timer to four minutes. That should give me enough time to get away, he thought. The agent placed the bomb well-hidden inside a maintenance hatch, closing the door before peeking around the edge of the pillar to see if anyone was around.
Unfortunately for Priede, Cēra had made it up a small hill and had full view of him closing the maintenance door. She sprinted down the slope, unhooking her taser gun as she ran. "Arjiet! Rekuliet dei kur nag!" ("Stop! Back away from there now!").
Priede cursed in Eirian and rather than run away, he ran towards Cēra in a zigzag pattern to throw off her aim. He lashed out with a solid kick aimed at her head.
The blow glanced off the side, causing her to fall sideways into the dirt with a grunt. As she fell, she reached out and grabbed hold of her assailant's foot, preventing him from getting further up the hill. With her left arm, she grasped her taser and jammed it into Priede's calf, activating it.
Priede grimaced in pain, just barely managing to avoid shouting out as he fell to the ground. He struggled with being unable to move, several seconds ticking away.
Cēra stumbled while trying to stand upwards, holding the side of her head with one hand. Janis hustled down the hill towards her, grabbing the handcuffs from her belt. Together, they restrained the twitching Priede, putting the cuffs on him while he was facing the ground before flipping him.
Cēra nodded at the maintenance panel, trying to catch her breath. "He did something in there. You should check it out."
Janis nodded back and walked over to the hatch by the support beam, prying it open. Holy shit. Angels help us now! He stumbled away from the hatch, slurring his words. His face was ice white. "Metdi... It's a bomb. He put a fucking bomb in... It's ticking down... What the... Shit!"
Cēra blanched and instinctively took a step back. "Call the police and get up the hill." She turned to the restrained Priede, kneeling on one leg and grabbing him by the collar, a murderous look in her eye. "You're going to tell me how to disable that thing, or I'm keeping you here until it goes off. If you want to live, start talking."
Priede shrugged. "I'm not afraid to die. Are you? You'll have to stay here to hold me here, after all." He grinned at that, in a perverse glee.
Cēra pushed him back to the ground in disgust. Janis was pacing back and forth, on the phone. Suddenly, he raced up the hill, disappeared for ten seconds, then reappeared with his box of tools. "Okay. There's a timer, a few different sizes and types of wires, and three plastic-wrapped packages. The timer is just under two minutes. Each package has a wire connected to it via a metal connector at one end. It looks to be stuck in there around a white substance." His voice was shaky, and his natural Monterre accent was very prevalent as he spoke.
The bomb expert spoke in a steady, deep voice. "Alright. Sounds like a standard plastic explosive with a timed detonator. If it doesn't look like a powder, try touching one of the packages. Is the substance malleable?"
Janis sighed, closed his eyes, and pressed down on one of the packages. To his surprise, the bomb did not show up, and he could see an indentation that his finger had made. "Yes, it is. It's not a powder, but I can mold it."
"Okay. If you can't cut the wires, I'll need you to slowly pull the metal parts out of the substance. Don't worry, plastic explosives are incredibly stable to outside forces. Someone could shoot it and it wouldn't go off."
Janis laughed nervously. "Alright. I can do that." He slowly tugged on the first one, wincing as it inched out of the putty-like substance. "One down." He got to work on the second one, flinching once as he thought that he had pulled too hard. "Second one is down."
He glanced up at the timer and saw that there was only thirty seconds left. "Shit, okay. Working on the last one." Every millimeter of the blasting cap felt like it was glued in, and every second felt like an eternity.
Finally, Janis pulled the last metal connector free, removing the timer from the three plastic packages. "It's off. Holy shit, it's off. What do I do now?"
"Nice job. Now, take the timer with you and get as far away from the package as you can, okay? A bomb squad and the police have been dispatched to your location. Thank you for your help, sir. We'll take it from here."
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