Dynamic Patrol: Gel-Squad (Remastering!)

Chapter 11: House Guest

After starting the fire, intended to be nothing more than a distraction, it grew larger than Tommy was anticipating... at least now he could enter the building without being detected... because everyone inside already evacuated, fleeing with their proverbial tails tucked between their legs. Now that the building was becoming rapidly engulfed in flames, his time was limited. What he was looking for was definitely behind the door those two men were guarding. Luckily, in their attempt to make a speedy escape, they just left that door wide open, probably trying to get themselves to safety. Hopefully, they did not care enough to take whatever they were guarding with them. Tommy paused right in the doorway and was confronted by a wall of dark smoke, to be expected. He looked around for anything that seemed unusual, but with the smoke, it was difficult to see... anything. So it was a combination of touch and what little sight he had. If not for his inability to breathe. Tommy would've suffocated seconds ago.

His hip collided with a table resting in the corner of the room. That was first, Tommy blindly felt around the flat surface until he grabbed what felt like a belt and a backpack, which he quickly snatched up, figuring such things would be useful later. There was also a rag, which he also took. Just when he was starting to think nothing was interesting here... he spotted it... the cylindrical tube in the center of the room was glowing majestically, a white gel with red-pinkish accents, encased within a cylindrical tube and suspended in a giant contraption that appeared to have many different devices connected to it monitoring what looked like vital signs. An Omeocoon..? Despite the smokey room, Tommy could easily make out the being... Tommy's mouth and eyes widened. So this is what they were here for. Poachers.

Without hesitation, he stretched his arms up to the suspended tube and, with a grunt, ripped the tube out of the other devices it was connected to. He grew accustomed to sparks flying everywhere when something was damaged and was not phased by the ones emitted when he ripped the tube from its housing unit. The displays monitoring the tube emitted a low tone, signifying the devices were disconnected. Tommy did a swift about-face and bolted out of the room with his loot; he rapidly made his way out of the fiery building, his body not quite enjoying the heat; he was starting to sweat. After pushing through smoke and broken beams covered in fire, he made it out to the recon point where even D1 was surprised by Tommy's appearance, hugging in his arms what appeared to be valuable equipment, and on top of that, he was covered in ash from the fire. The assault on the building had gone down terribly, but it was successful.

"So much for distraction. I trust these trinkets were worth risking your life over. What is it?" D1 said, once again getting straight to the point, "Thanks, I'm fine." Tommy huffed, "And yes because it's important, it's one of my people. I'm glad I could save them... seeing as the entire building was engulfed in flames while I was doing this." Tommy said, irritated at D1, that even though he was the one who started the fire, to begin with, even though it was her idea, at least those people got out okay. He hugged his container tightly as they proceeded down the hill to their base, and D1 attempted to take the specimen from Tommy, grasping at it eagerly. Tommy had to keep telling her multiple times to stop before they reached the cave; it was incredibly annoying; he was already waddling down the hill with a bunch of stuff on his body, and the last thing he needed was some droid trying to make him lose his balance. Tommy finally relieved himself of the loot as soon as they made it to the cave, and he finally collapsed on the ground. Letting the loot clatter around him.

Tommy got comfortable, more or less. He was still covered in sand and soot and would likely bathe in the ocean as soon as his feet stopped throbbing in agony. D1 finally analyzed what looked like a science experiment; she also took the time to go through the utility belt and pack, which were also saved from the fire, hoping to find something that could help them get off the island. Her efforts were unsuccessful; instead, she just found a bunch of random items: a tourist map, a pair of binoculars, a communications device, which, of course, carried no signal far enough to reach anything meaningful, and a photo of friends in the Omeocoon Capital City in a holographic frame.