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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 1886286" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 78: Who Gets the Medal?The wait ended sooner than any of them had really expected. Not that anything happened, but time simply seemed to speed up. It was not long at all before the everyone was suited up and checking weapons. By this time, though, Voort and Jen had already left. Hansen had given them a datapad with the locations of the turbolaser batteries on them. It also contained a map of Haladin, itself, but hopefully they’d not need to use it. Any reason why they’d need it were not in either of their thoughts at the moment, though. Both of them were focused on the task at hand. No surprise for Voort, but Jen was showing a somewhat unusual determination.    Only the third day on Arranis and they knew the area well. The two of them easily climbed the winding path up the plateau. Once at the top, Voort used the electrobinoculars to first check the city’s defenses. It looked generally calm, though there were a few more guards walking around looking bored. He then took the map from Jen and compared it to their position. Figuring out where exactly they were in relation to the nearest turbolaser, he pointed his electrobinoculars in that direction. And there it was. Hidden in a small hole in the ground, with only the top half and the two barrels extended up to the sky. A few moments later, he’d pinpointed three others and made sure Jen knew exactly where they were.    Now came the decision that both of them new was going to have to be made. Voort pulled back under the cover of the path and gave Jen a very serious look, “We need to do this quickly.”    She nodded, glancing over towards Haladin and then kneeling back down behind their cover, “Give me half the explosives and copy that map onto another datapad.”    Voort did as she had asked, handing her six charges in a small sack and then a copied datapad, “You sure you can do this on your own?”    “Don’t have much of a choice, do we?” she grinned slightly, tossing the pack gently over her shoulder. Sure, the charges weren’t active, but they were still worrying.    After resealing his own equipment, Voort managed a smile, “Go east and we’ll meet on the other side.”    “So how much do I get if I blow up my six before you get yours?” Jen asked mischievously, settling back in a position that looked like Shadow when she was prepared to pounce.    Laughing shortly, Voort said, “Respect. And a medal.”    Jen smiled and then kissed him. After what seemed like an eternity, she pulled back and started towards the other direction. Before he was out of earshot, though, she said, “I’m going to hold you to that medal.”    And then, Voort watched her walk off. Or rather, sneak off. His smile slowly faded, and his mind turned to the task at hand. She’d be fine. So would he. It was the others that were going to have more trouble. Not that Voort was going to let them have all the fun once they’d taken out the turbolasers, but he’d deal with that hurdle once reaching it. Now, though, he turned and headed off across the plateau towards the first turbolaser he’d spotted. Twelve turbolasers in total. One of the charges, placed correctly, should easily be enough. There wasn’t going to be time to check, though, as once activated, each charge would have a three minute timer. Hopefully, by the time one was destroyed, the second charge was already placed and the Voort would be moving to the third.    When Voort was close enough to see the turbolaser with his naked eye, he slowed down. It was only a few hours after dawn, and the growing light was still something to be cautious about. One thing they didn’t know was whether or not each turbolaser had guards or crews that were there. They were close enough to the city that it wouldn’t have been trouble to station the gunners in Haladin and move them to the weapons when it was necessary, but it was always easier to leave a team right at the spot. Or at least...in theory it was. Theory never seemed to account for boredom.    After a quick yet careful look through the electrobinoculars, Voort is both relieved and slightly more worried to see no one around the turbolaser. Standing around wasn’t going to do any good. It looked clear enough, and even if there were guards, he was going to have to approach. So, he moved in. Quickly and low to the ground, Voort ran across the sand in plain sight of anyone that was on the wall or even walking past the entrance to Haladin. Despite the large distance, a moving object was easy to detect on such a dead world. But he made it to the hole with the turbolaser unhindered, and quickly slid down the slop to the base of the weapon. Looking around, he could see some footprints in the ground off to the left.    Voort did his best to silence any movements he made, which he also limited. Those prints had to be recent. And they only went to the large weapon. He looked up the height of the turbolaser battery...as big as most of the houses within Haladin. Despite the fact that they wouldn’t be able to see him where he was, sound was still a possibility. That made it tough to plant the charge. But carefully, Voort withdrew the cylindrical object from the sack and placed it close to the base. It stuck with a noise that he felt was far too loud, but he was probably being oversensitive. Waiting just a second to make sure there was no response, Voort then turned the activation switch. It beeped once, quietly this time, and then was silent. One down.    Doing his best to remain silent, Voort carefully stepped around to the other side of the turbolaser and climbed up the hole it was placed in. He stared for a moment at the side of the weapon, knowing that it would be easy for any gunner to spot him from inside if they were looking. But nothing happened...so obviously, they weren’t. Not wanting to risk this, Voort ran to the nearest cover he could find an reoriented himself. Looking over the small map again, he knelt behind a small rock and then found the next turbolaser. It was a good distance off, but he’d be there before the three minutes was up. Easily.    So he ran for it. At least near this side there were more smaller rocks and boulders to provide at least limited cover. But he was running, so the cover really didn’t do a thing for him. And then something happened he had not anticipated. There was an explosion. Loud...behind him. But there should still have been another minute on that!! He spun around, stopping his run to see the turbolaser still in tact. What?! Wait...he caught a flash in the left sight of his eye, just barely. Quickly turning to see, Voort watched a flame extending into black smoke. Then he laughed. Loudly. And turned back to his run to the next turbolaser. Jen was already ahead of him. She was probably gloating at this point, too.</blockquote>

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