WCGW Chpt 127

<<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
==Chapter 127 - What Could Go Wrong==
----
14 June 3043
Wokha (Former Outworlds System)
----
It was almost midnight and inside the Tunnel "2" mech complex, a team of technicians were about to start painting the SaRI logo on the former SLDF Battlemechs. Sergeant Denny Hisborio tested the spray gun before aiming it at the Crab and pulled the trigger and nothing came out. He moved the spray gun away and it sprayed just fine, taking aim again at the Crab, he pulled the trigger, and nothing came out. He tested the spray gun again, but this time kept the trigger pulled as he moved back to the Crab, but the spray ceased before it got close to the Crab. He looked down at the floor of the mech bay and saw the hose unplugged from the spry rig. Cursing his unknown prankster, he lowered the work gantry to plug the hose back in.
On the next row over he heard "Dammit, who the hell is screwing with my spray rig?"
So, the prankster is not just messing with me, he thought as he plugged the hose back into the spray rig and shooting a quick spray as a test. He was just about to raise the gantry back up when a small bolt barely missed him and pinged off the foot of the Crab. He looked around but saw no one even remotely close by. ******, he thought as he engaged the gantry to take him back up. This time a small bolt hit him squarely between the shoulder blades. He spun around yelling "Hey ****** that hurt, cut the crap!!!" He put the gantry back up until he reached the shoulder of the Crab. He had also been keeping the spray rig and compressor in sight out of the corner of his eye but for a split second he took his eyes off to check that he was where he wanted to be and glanced back down, and the hose was once again disconnected.
"Dammit, we have work to get done. Whoever is hording around, I will be checking the security tapes when I finish. You will pay dearly." Sergeant Denny Hisborio shouted as he once again took the gantry back down to the floor. Reaching the floor, he stepped off the gantry and before he could reach the spray rig, the hose shot past him like someone had yanked it, he spun around but no one was there, the hose was stretched out straight as an arrow on the floor towards the tunnel entrance.
From deeper in the mech bay, a loud crash was heard that spun him back the other way only to see a five gallon paint can slide across the back wall of the chamber. He heard Corporal Wendy Murphy say loudly, "That's it, no more, I am not playing this game."
In three minutes his entire team, including himself were at the tunnel entrance looking back into the brightly lit mech bay. Nothing, not even a shadow could be seen. But when a bolt came shooting towards them from directly in their view and no one was to be seen, they took off up the tunnel at a run.
They had just reached the security office at the main entrance when other work teams for other sections started appearing. As they all got closer, Sergeant Hisborio could hear different snippets of what they were saying.
"I will shoot the ****** when we find out who he is. He could have thrown me off the gantry hitting the emergency descent button."
"I'm telling you, the damned hose just shot straight up towards the ceiling and then dropped like a rock."
"It was like getting machine gunned, but by tiny crews. Hurt like hell."
Second Lieutenant Christian Manswell was the Duty Officer inside the base tonight and exited the security office to see what all the ruckus was about. He was bombarded with everyone talking at once "Hey, quiet down. What the hell is going on?"
"Sir, we have several practical jokers that are screwing with our jobs. We can all take a joke, but someone could get hurt with some of the pranks." Sergeant Hisposio said
"Unless they have been hiding in here since I came on duty, no one but you folks have entered the base." Second Lieutenant Manswell replied
"Check the security tapes sir, someone is getting an ass whipping and we want to know who's ass we are kicking." Corporal Wendy Murphy said
"Sarge, rewind the tapes for 30 minutes and lets see who is playing games. Give me bay two and tunnel two cameras." Second Lieutenant Manswell said
Virtually every part of the tunnels and bays were covered by a camera, and they could see hoses being unplugged but nothing could be seen, nothing at all. When the hose shot past Sergeant Hisborio they had a perfect view on the camera and nothing was there at all, just the end of the hose, straight as an arrow pointing down the tunnel away from the mech bay.
From the door, Sergeant Hisborio said "****** this, we are done. No damned way I am going back down there tonight."
----
<<Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter>>
127