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[Cainhurst Crow]

-With Infiltration Team.-

 

Essul landed in a crouch as he moved up with the others on the team, looking between his squadmates, Mira, Avan, and Eteon. What had happened had been dangerous, more so then anything else they'd done. The units they went up against had a different air to them, and essul knew it all to well.

 

'They've gotten a lot more dangerous now.' Essul thought to himself as he advanced up with the others, following Avan's lead as he took command of their squad, 'We won't be able to deal with them mercifully for much longer, if even at all...' he thought as he came to a halt, looking to the others as he resolved something he knew had to be done.

 

"Everyone..." He said, looking between his three other squad members, his voice sounding grim as he spoke, "The enemy we're facing, the strategy they've employed, its different from what we've faced coming here. I think we're getting to the real threats in all this, the ones with the proper training and discipline to put us all at risk..." he said as he looked solemnly to the ceiling.

 

"We're not going to use the non-lethal methods anymore. Not unless it'll be more effective..." He said, fist clenching as he spoke and looked to the shorter human in charge of their squad, "I'll trust your judgement on how we go forth. But I thought it needed to be said. Since the enemies using stronger tactics, we have to meet them with stronger force as well."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The snipers redeployed and began shooting at the commandos. Naleena's team laid down suppressing fire on the squad defending the building. Anika got a fix on the sniper position with her grenade launcher. She knew it would have to be a quick accurate shot, and she popped up from behind cover and fired taking out the window on the left. Iole propped the Hellbringer on the barricade and opened up raining 5.56 mm AP rounds on the two remaining windows, destroying the cosmetics around them. Nothing behind them could have lived through that.

 

"Move up!" Anika shouted, taking advantage of the suppressing fire to get within range for the Disciples and biotics of the commandos.

 

The Batarian leader drew his Kishock and took aim at Naleena. Dahlia saw him, threw up a barrier and deflected the bolt. Irina fired her Mattock in bursts. She'd killed two of the Batarians so far.

[favoritehookeronthecitadel]

"We'll sleep at night. Besides, I believe the phrase is 'fight fire with fire' " Avan nodded to the batarian, and faced the other 2 team members. "Whatever needs to be done."

 

"Then let's all agree to use lethal force." Eteon agreed and Mira just gave a stern look, agreeing with the team.

 

They advanced forward.

[TheMajonese]

Inside the Com Building

 

(First two parts by SJ)

 

The Batarians threw the beat up reporter back in the room. He was very shaken and had blood splatters on his shirt. The door closed.

 

Chris' left eye was swollen and he was coughing. "They... shot someone.... Jesus! Just shot him right there. He didn't do anything! They're gonna kill us all. They got a line to the outside.... *cough* *cough* *cough* ... One every half-hour."

 

Arian looked at the human but he didn't say anything. The batarians were serious, there was no doubt about that anymore. Arian didn't feel sorry for Chris but he knew that neither the reporter nor any of the other hostages really deserved that violence.

It's just a matter of time until they kill me..., he thought. Or a miracle happens, I get rid of theese ties and can kill all of the Batarians. But he didn't believe in miracles so it was unlikely that he was going to leave of this building alive. He snarled and glanced at the office door. Maybe it was better for him if he was the next hostage to be executed because waiting for anything to happen was unbearable.

[TheMajonese]

(first part by SJ)

 

"You hear that?" Chris said. "Gunfire... and explosions. It's outside, and it's a lot of gunfire. I knew the Alliance wouldn't take this lying down."

 

Arian heard it too but he wasn't as relieved as Chris to hear a battle going on in the streets. Whoever tried to fight the Batarian terrorists was careless enough to start a firefight instead of taking out the terrorists silently and evacuate the hostages.

There were only two possibilities, something went wrong and the rescue team got spotted or it wasn't an Alliance team but some idiots trying to take on the Batarians on their own. If the terrorists were able to force them back, they would kill some hostages as a determent to prevent further rescue attempts. However Arian didn't share his thoughts with the reporter and kept silent.

He harkened but heard nothing in front of the office he and Chris were in. The only noises came from outside and it seemed this rescue team or whoever it was encoutered fierce resistance of the Batarians.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

At the Communications Building

 

Mira turned to Eteon. “I hear gunfire from outside. Naleena has begun the assault. We have to move quickly.”

 

Eteon and Essul nodded. The team advanced up the ladder into the dark basement wearing their night vision. There were boxes and crates scattered everywhere, but there was no movement.

 

“This way,” she said, and moved to the stairs going to the main floor.

 

The door at the top of the stairs was locked. Mira slid a fiber optic snake under the door while Avan unlocked it.

 

“It’s clear,” she said. “Switch to passive IR.”

 

** **

 

Iole had perfect elevated position for the Hellbringer and she wasn’t moving up. She could provide suppressing fire and rain hell on the Batarian positions. Jenus and Tallis moved up with their Disciples and began taking the Batarians apart with their biotics.

 

Naleena and Dahlia coordinated biotic attacks on the Batarian positions, and Frank overloaded Batarian weapons.

 

“I’m moving closer. Cover me!” Irina said, hopped over the barricade, and sprinted to a pile of rubble resulting from Anika’s grenade shot. She had who she thought was their leader in her sights and hit her stim. “There you are, you bastard.” The world slowed down and she had the optic crosshairs of the Mattock on the Batarian and fired a burst of three rounds.

 

Osarem recoiled in pain as one of the rounds penetrated his armor into his lower right rib area. “F*ck! Kill those b*tches! What the hell is so difficult? Aim and shoot!” He took cover.

 

“Ready, Dahlia?” Naleena asked. “Third from the right.”

 

Dahlia nodded and threw a warp on the merc pointed out by Naleena.

 

Osarem heard a loud biotic explosion as Naleena’s flare detonated Dahlia’s warp. Half the right flank was gone.

 

Jenus reached over the barricade in front of her and grabbed one of the Batarians and pulled him over onto the ground and ran him through with her combat knife. Tallis looked up at her.

 

Jenus shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t worry. I’ll save some for you.”

 

The Batarians began to fall back.

 

** **

 

“You two: take position in case they try to storm the building,” Camak ordered, “You two, watch the windows in case they try to scale the building. I’ll go where I’m needed.”

 

Mira noted there were five inside on alert. She gave a signal to move in. Avan quietly slid the door open. Mira, Eteon, and Essul entered and flared out into the corridor. Mira paired with Essul and Eteon paired with Avan. They could hear hostages talking in the offices. A series of corridors led to the front of the building. As they approached the front entrance two Batarians appeared on the IR, but couldn’t see the team.  Mira noted that they were wearing helmets. She had her Disciple drawn. Close quarters like this would be perfect. Avan hit both of them with a chained overload that disabled the shields, and Eteon and Mira fired splattering red blood all over the wall behind them.

 

** **

 

Chris and Avian heard two shotgun blasts immediately outside the office in which they were held.

 

"F*ck! They're inside! Take cover!"

 

Still the battle raged outside the building.

 

"In here! We're in here!" Chris shouted.

 

 Arian glanced furiously at the reporter. "Shut up you idiot, we still don't know what's going on!"

 

“Have faith, Arian.”

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Iole’s Hellbringer was tearing down the barricades, but Jenus and Tallis were now running into the razor wire.

 

“Over here. Over here!” Tallis said pointing to another barricade near the building.

 

Jenus followed her, turned and signaled to Anika to drop grenades on the razor wire, and clear it. Anika obliged. The wire snapped and uncoiled wounding a retreating Batarian, and entangling him in the wire with his gun out of his reach. Irina finished him off. Jenus and Tallis advanced on the collapsing Batarians.

 

** **

 

The corridor opened into a large office lobby. Camak and the two remaining mercs had moved off to the right side behind a long counter. There was a corridor exit to their left. Mira knew they would try to escape, but there was no way to pull up the building plans. She’d have to improvise, and that’s one thing commandos were good at doing.

 

The Batarians opened fire on the intruders as they took cover behind desks.

 

“It’s over!” Mira shouted. “Surrender and you’ll live.”

 

“You think I’m stupid?” Camak replied. “The humans won’t let us live. We’ll take you with us.”

 

The Batarians opened fire. Camak fired and hit Mira in the shoulder. The Asari let out a scream as she rolled on the floor trying to extinguish the incendiary round. Camak used the opportunity to run down the corridor along with his two remaining companions. Avan reached into his med kit and grabbed some medi-gel and squirted it into the wound.

 

“Thanks. I’m alright for now,” she said, and got to her feet. “That corridor is a kill zone, any ideas?”

 

“Concussion grenades.” Eteon said. “The launcher can fire them and we can sprint down.”

 

“And I’ll toss a flashbang if we need it,” Avan said.

 

“Good. Let’s do it.” Mira said and gave the signal to move.

 

Essul knew the terrorists were committing suicide by making their last stand, and that Mira had given the opportunity for surrender. That satisfied him for the moment. He moved to position with the team. Eteon fired a pair of concussion grenades to the end of the corridor, and the team rushed the enemy position. Two Batarians clutched their heads on the floor, and Camak was running down to the other end of the corridor. Eteon and Mira secured the two.

 

Essul brought up his Kishock and had Camak in its sight. “Halt!”

 

Camak heard a Batarian voice and froze, then turned around. He saw Essul and recognized his armor. “You! What are you doing?” Camak asked, and then laughed. “I know your armor. You’re one of us.”

 

Essul was puzzled for a moment and then seethed with anger. “I am not one of you!” He said, gritting his teeth and fired his Kishock, hitting Camak in the forehead the bolt impaling him into the wall behind.

 

** **

 

The situation outside deteriorated rapidly for the Batarians, and Osarem, now wounded, retreated into the building. Hopelessly outnumbered, the three remaining Batarian mercs, seeing their leader desert them, dropped their weapons. Dahlia, Irina and Tallis secured them face down with zip-ties.

 

** **

 

Avian saw the wounded Batarian enter the office. The Batarian was furious. He hit Avian on the head with his pistol, took out his knife and cut the ties on Avian’s feet.

 

“Don’t try anything, or you’re dead for sure,” he said, and pulled Avian to his feet and shoved his gun to Avian’s head. “You’re my ticket out of here.”

 

“You really think that’s gonna work, Batarian?” Chris asked.

 

“Shut up!” Osarem shouted. He had one arm around Avian’s neck.

 

Avian noticed Osarem had a detonator in that hand.

 

Osarem dragged Avian outside the building. He stood on the steps. “Don’t try anything or he dies. In fact, everyone inside dies.”

 

** **

 

“What do he mean, ‘you’re one of us?’” Mira asked.

 

“I’ll let Naleena explain. It’s a long story.” Essul said. “We should see if we can help outside. Sounds like the firing stopped.”

 

“She knows, then?” Mira asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

The infiltration team made haste to the main entrance. The door was open.

 

** **

 

“It’s over. Put down your weapon and the detonator. No one else has to die,” Naleena said.

 

The Batarian laughed.  “You don’t know what you’re in the middle of, Asari. Black Fire is in its infancy. Soon we will take back what was ours. This Turian is my ticket out of here. You want to live, don’t you, Turian? Tell the Asari you want to live.”

 

“Who are you?” Naleena asked, holding her weapon up trying to get an angle, but Osarem kept the hostage in position to make it a very difficult shot.

 

“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is that I have a detonator in my hand that will take down this building, and kill every single hostage inside,” he replied. “I want a car and safe passage out of here.”

 

“Electronics are out in the area.”

 

Essul saw the situation outside. Osarem had been speaking loudly enough for him to hear. He’d lined up a shot with his Kishock at the base of the skull where it would sever the spinal column and cause instant death. He had the angle that would miss the Turian. Osarem was too preoccupied with Naleena.

 

“Except for IR line of sight,” Osarem said, “You see, Asari, you overlooked that….”

 

Essul fired. The bolt blew out the front right side of Osarem’s face. The gun and detonator dropped from his hands, and Osarem’s body collapsed on the steps and rolled down to the bottom.

 

Essul closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was over, but there would be a lot of questions to answer.

 

Naleena turned to the team. “Alright everyone. Search the building for hostages, and see if there’s a way we can make contact with the outside.”

[Cknarf]

"Gross." Frank wrinkled his nose at the batarian's exploded face as he ascended the stairs, and entered the building. He immediately began wandering.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Seems like a good enough place to start.

 

Frank tapped at his omni-tool, before holding it near the door controls. After a short series of beeps, it slid open.  He raised his rifle, and slowly moved inside.  A pair of restrained hands snatched the long barrel of his rifle, and tried yanking it away, but failed, as the sling was wrapped around his forearm. He was pulled into the room.

 

"I'm not going out like this!"

 

The man shoved Frank into the corner of the room, still furiously tugging at his rifle from behind.

 

What the f***

 

"I'm here to help!" Frank threw an elbow back, but his bulky armor prevented it from connecting.

 

Realizing that the rifle wasn't going anywhere, the man released his grip, and grabbed at Frank's Raikou.  He managed to unholster it, but Frank had a frim grip on his wrist.  The man was able to fire several rounds into the wall. The shots were deafening in the small room.  With a grunt, Frank pulled at his arm, twisting it slightly, causing him to drop the gun. Frank put his power-assisted armor to use. He shoved off the wall, pushing the man back, and giving him some room to move.  He spun around with an arm out, striking the man with a vicious backhand, sending him off balance and onto the floor. 

 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Frank scowled, while pointing his rifle at him.

 

The man looked up, while rubbing the side of his face. "I thought you were one of them."

 

"Really?"  Frank's feelings were hurt for a few seconds. He was way too handsome to be mistaken for a batarian, and he knew that, but still. Ouch, man.

 

"I just saw the gun, and the armor, and--"

 

"Shh!" Frank stopped him, as something came over comms. "Yeah, everything's fine." It was about the gunfire. "I've located a hostage."

 

Frank picked his pistol from the ground before holstering it.  He crouched in front of the man. "Do you know where they're keeping the others?" He asked, while cutting the ties from his hands.

 

"Floors one and two." The man nodded. "There's a... body in the basement." 

 

"I see." Frank pursed his lips. He stood up, and got back on the radio. "I'm sending one back."

 

Frank held out a hand, and helped him to his feet. "Do you know where the lobby is?"

 

The man nodded again.

 

"There'll be someone waiting for you there." He patted him on the back. "Thanks for the help."

 

Frank headed down the hall in the opposite direction. "Boss, the guy said there's more people being held on the second floor. I'm going up to check it out." He stepped onto an elevator. "Possible casualty in the basement. Might wanna look into it." He pressed the button for the second floor.

--------------------------------------------------------

 

"Okaaaay..." Frank looked around the office. It was the fourth consecutive room of nothing.

 

I thought there were supposed to be people up here?

 

He shrugged, before walking on.

 

"Neat." Frank pressed his head up against the glass, like a child looking through a toy store window.  He hacked the door and stepped inside.  Computers lined the walls.  In the center of the room, there was a large monitor, with a control panel in front of it.  Frank took a seat in the chair.  The display was divided into sections, each displaying security cam footage from each floor.

 

Makes my job a helluva lot easier.

 

He began flipping though cams for the second floor.

 

There was what appeared to be a microphone for the intercom.  Frank pressed the button, and leaned forward. He opened his mouth to speak, but not before adjusting some settings. His overly-modulated voice boomed over the systems."This is the batarians. If our demands are not met by--" Frank laughed.  He adjusted the settings again. "Actually, this is the Salarians! Don't f*** with us, or we'll sterilize you! OoOooooOOOooooo! Sciiiiienceeee!"

 

"Pfffft. Nah guys, it's just me." He said in his normal voice, before sitting back in the chair.

 

Ha.

 

The monitor displayed the computer room. "Hey good lookin'." He smiled at his image, and waved to the camera, before switching again.  Something on the next cam caught his eye.

 

There you are.

 

Frank squinted at the screen

 

"Room number..."

 

That's right next door.

 

He got up from the chair, and exited the room.  He hacked the door to the office, and poked his head inside. He looked between the asari and quarian that were sitting against the wall.

 

"Sup?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"You're not Batarian, and the shooting stopped. Thank the Goddess! I take it your side won? I hope?" the Asari said. "Can you get us out of here? I have to go to the bathroom."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Outside the building (collaboration with Maj0nese)

 

 

Naleena approached the Turian and cut his wrist ties. "Are you alright?"

 

Arian gazed down at the Asari like he was facing one of the spirits. For a few seconds, he wasn't just expecting to die...he wanted it. And now he was going to live. Confused he started to look around and realised the bolt sticking in the Batarian's head.

 

Instead of answering his savior's question Arian mumbled without really paying attention to his words: "There's this reporter in the room I was in. You might want to free him too..."

 

Dahlia was standing next to Naleena, nodded and went to look for the reporter. Naleena put her arm around him and guided him to a sitting position on the steps and knelt beside him. She took a flask of water out of her coat and offered it to him. "It's over now. My name is Naleena T'sarius. I'm a Council Spectre."

 

Essul walked down the steps, picked up the detonator, removed the battery, and handed it to Naleena. SIU involved? No. How could they...? Why would they? It's counter to my mission... unless... my mission is... No! Anger seethed under the surface. He felt betrayed. In the end, he saved lives: Batarian, human, Asari, and Turian, and that was all that mattered to him.

 

"Naleena, I'll take DNA samples from the leaders. There's some things I need to check," Essul said.

 

"Do it," Naleena replied.

 

Avian caught sight of a Kishock rifle and most likely the one that fired the shot that saved him.

[Cknarf]

"Of course." Frank smiled. "There's a bathroom by the elevators." He threw a thumb over his shoulder.

 

"You're welcome to come too, Slick." He held out a hand, and pulled the quarian up.  "Follow me."

 

"Boss, I got two more. We're heading back."

[Cainhurst Crow]

Essul had already taken blood from his previous kill, and knelt down to look at his latest victim. The sight of gore didn't phase him, and there was no sense of satisfaction from seeing the dead body at his feet as he bent down and withdrew a injector gun, one he normally used to inject his medication, and selected an empty vial, shoving it against the mans neck as he squeezed the trigger, drawing in the red liquid as he rose up to his feet.

 

He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be anywhere near here, or near the hostages, or on this planet or anywhere. He wanted to be away from the light and the sound and the people and he wanted to go back to his room. Essul wanted nothing more then to go back to the dark recesses of his quarters, or maybe the cockpit of his personal transport, his ST-55 Jegulza Gunship, tear out everything he could and just sit there by himself.

 

Essul felt alone, utterly alone, when his mind drifted to something important. He turned to look to naleena, speaking in a monotone as he put the blood vial into one of his armors pockets.

 

"We should send someone to collect Williams. Get her some proper medical treatment..." He said flatly, remembering how she'd been injured earlier, "Some counseling for the hostages...something to take the nightmares and stress down after this..." he said as he began to trail off in his words.

 

Essul turned away from the others, beginning to make his way wordlessly from the others as he walked slowly from the communications building, heading in a general direction of the exits without a seemingly clear reason. He paused as he realized he'd still had the battery from the detonator on him. He pulled it out and looked at it, seeing the small hegemony logo on it as his biotics flared about him.

 

Essul reared back and threw the batteries at the ground, cracking the ground with their added mass and cracking open the casing. Essul stepped on them without even glancing down, feet grinding for a second as he strode off, needing to get some air and calm himself down.

[Kel Riever]

Faed’Vells nar Ketsa took the hand of the thin man in ill-fitting Predator armor.  The quarian hadn’t been fed well, as the hostages did little to think about capturing those who had dextro based needs, or they didn’t care.  The asari, Lysix, next to Faed had intrigued him, but since their capture, Faed had reverted to his typical shyness.  Besides, their captors didn’t like the talking.  Now that they had been rescued, Faed wanted to speak but didn’t have much to say.

“Thank you,” was all that Faed started with.  The human didn’t walk with the practiced moves of a veteran combatant or the swagger even of someone proud of their rescue.  As it was tradition, Faed introduced himself.  “I am Faed’Vells nar Ketsa.”

With a tilt of his head, Faed studied the human more, and then examined what he could about Lysix’s health.  She still seemed tough.  By comparison, Faed felt weak, in capability and because of his lack of food, and the effect left him feeling melancholy, overall.  At least until he spotted the omni-tool on the human’s arm.

“Is that a Serrice Council Savant omni-tool?”  Faed’s eagerness put all thoughts of his own difficult situation aside.  His eyes were wide as he stared at the human.



 

[Kel Riever]

Onboard the Medusa

 

Morgan got to the bow faster than when the Medusa had been reclaimed.  Iyana, shutting down the main spinal corridor with several blocking points, had cut off the fastest way from the aft to the fore.  Now, the maintenance crews had cleared that corridor, at least enough to move personnel through.  It made their jobs easier as it made Morgan’s.

The few meters leading up to the access hatch for the hangar bay were bathed in red emergency lights.  One of the workers exited the bay as Morgan made to enter it.  He was feeding a cable for some standing temporary lights that would serve better than the emergency reds.  Laboring busily, the worker barely noticed Morgan as he passed. 

When Morgan entered the hangar bay, he saw it busy with activity.  What stood out to him were two figures, a man and a woman who had their backs to him.  They were dressed in clothes that seemed rather ‘civilian’ to Morgan, though they appeared comfortable with each other and with the ship.  The man moved forward, and Morgan caught the tail end of their conversation, as the man said, “I’ll let you know when things are normal.”

Wondering who the two were, Morgan made to move forward, lifting his leg over the workers cable that stretched in front of him.  He called out to the woman, in a polite voice, “Pardon me, are you here to help replace the bulkhead?”

Just then there was a shout, “Here’s the bypass!”  Then the lights in the hangar bay came back on, full force.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Dahlia found the office the Turian had mentioned. The reporter was tied up on the floor.

 

"Finally!" Chris said.

 

Dahlia approached, reached into her belt and unsheathed her knife. "Hold still." She cut the zip-ties binding him.

 

"Thanks. I thought you'd never get here," Chris said. "Good work with those Batarian bastards."

 

"They were bastards, and they were Batarian, but you should know a Batarian is responsible for saving your life. And I'm part Batarian," Dahlia said.

 

Chris felt awkward.

 

"I'm told you might know a way to contact the outside?" she asked.

 

"Yeah, the leader connected to the old fiber optic lines in a part of the basement. I'll show you." Chris left the room and Dahlia followed.

 

Chris took her down a different set of stairs than the commandos used to an old studio. There was a body on the floor, a camera set up and a microphone. "I'll establish the connection. You sit there. That's where I was sitting."

 

****
 

in the news center

 

"Hey, we have a connection inside the dome again!" the tech said.

 

Steph rushed to the headset. "Put them on."

 

"My name is Dahlia T'anini. I'm with Spectre Naleena T'sarius. I need to speak with Captain Stone immediately."

 

Steph looked disappointed. "Captain Stone, some Asari wants to talk to you."

 

Finally! Jess got out of her chair and grabbed the headset from Stephanie. "Dahlia, what have you got."

 

"We took the com building and have secured the hostages. Have VERA lift the blackout."

 

"How do I know there's no Batarians around and they're not making you say this?"

 

"Chris, come around and wave to the nice lady on the other side of the camera."

 

Chris walked around and clowned in front of the camera. Dahlia shoved him out of the way. "There. Now if you don't believe me. We need med-evacs sent in for the hostages. Also we could use some refreshments, too otherwise we'll break into the vending machines."

 

****

 

The electronic blackout was lifted and communications were restored.

[Cknarf]

"Sure is." Frank looked at his arm and flexed his hand. "It's an older IX model. Pretty cool, huh?" He closed the omni-tool, and returned his hands to his rifle.

 

"Name's Frank." He said, still looking forward as they walked on. "Frank Eli nar Vepr."

 

Although it wasn't his legal name, Frank often used nar Vepr when speaking with quarians, as Adir had taught him years ago.  He came to the realization that he's never dropped the name on the ladies.

 

I'll be sure to change that.

 

"Scratch that.  It's vas Janiri now." He shrugged.  "I'm still getting used to it."

[Kel Riever]

“A very wonderful pleasure to meet you, Frank Eli….vas Janiri…you said nar Vepr, first.”  Faed began to talk faster as his interest grew.  “I have never met anyone from the Vepr, even when with the migrant fleet.  May I ask how you came of that name?  Oh, I do not mean to offend…no…I mean you must have had that name given to you by someone who cared…it has been some time for me, I apologize for my forwardness.”  Faed unconsciously wrung his hands together, and tilted his head up at the human who was slightly taller than he.  “But still…”

[Cknarf]

"It was given to me by my adoptive father, Adir'Razt, captain of the Vepr." Frank pointed out the bathrooms to the asari, before stopping at the elevator.  He leaned up against the door. "It was an independent vessel, not part of the fleet." He brought up his omni-tool again. "Hold on a second."

 

I bet there's still schematics on this thing...

 

"There." A holographic image appeared from his omni-tool. "It wasn't anything fancy. It had a crew of four, including myself."  Frank smiled at the image of the ship. "Sometimes I miss that old heap." He closed his omni-tool. "But it's nothing compared to the one I'm on now."

[Redbelle]

Jess contacter VERA. "Lift the blackout luv. Looks like things are under control. but keep your eye's peeled"! She said to those still in the tent. "If they had observer's or backup's in the area they'll be squarking for an update form their boys in the dome! Anything that looks suspicous? Tag it! Send the recon teams in to check it out"!

 

"Um.... Captain"? The comm tech behind his equipment spoke up.

 

"You have something"?

 

"Not so much something as..... It's Guyvartus again".

 

Jess sighed. "Tell him it's all clear luv. Then tell him we appreciate his offer to help but....".

 

"Actually captain, it sounds like the clearence team were the ones to help".

 

"What"?

 

The tech picked up a padd. Tapped a few times and handed it over. "Guyvartus has our tac sheet's from before so he heard everything. He's broadcasting to the galaxy how a team of his has confirmed rescue of the hostages".

 

"Oh fer crying out....". Jess brought up the pad and watched as Guyvartus stood in front of a camera with a reporter thrusting a microphone in his face. She turned up the sound.

 

"......then naturally after I took over command here I ordered a pincer assualt. One obvious, the other meant to catch the terrorists while their attention was drawn".

 

"Didn't that put the hostages at risk"? The reporter asked.

 

"The hostages were always at risk Ma'am. The longer they were held the more certain it was that their would be casualties. Unfortunately the team intended to catch those unaware tripped some sort of warning that alerted the terrorists to their advance and only my rushing forwards on the front drew their attention long enough for the Spectre team to complete their mission".

 

"The other team had a Spectre"?

 

"From what I have gathered. The spectre and collection of wraith's at her command did the job in the end and only one casualty has been confirmed thus far. I expect I'll have more to say but if you'll excuse me, I have to go file my report".

 

Guyvartus left and Jess thumped the padd down on the table. "Oh that's just great! Naleena and the gang do the hard work and this twit claims the credit"!

 

The comm tech winced. "The.... eh.... comm blanket's been lifted as well Ma'am. That broadcast just went galactic".

 

Jess ground her knuckles into her eye's. "At least the records will show things didn't go down that way".

 

"Ma'am, the records are going to be sealed and studied". The comm tech pointed out. "This is a terrorist action. We can't reveal anything about what's happened until the intelligence service's clear what we can say".

 

Jess felt a growing throb at the base of her skull. "Somehow.... I think Guyvartus just made our teams s**t list".

 

The reporter was still talking and out of curiousity, Jess toggled the mute button.

 

"....and so we have received reports that a strike force has gone inside and recovered the hostages under the command of General Guyvartus. This team, reported to be operating under the classification of Wraith's, should be emerging soon. We are still trying to confirm these reports but once again. It is being reported that the hostage situation has ended and that only a few of the hostage's were harmed in the assault to retake the dome.....".

 

Jess felt the need for a drink as she handed the pad back to the tech. "Keep me appraised on what's happening will ya luv"? She told him. "I'm going to see if I can catch up to General McBrag". Toggling her comm she spoke to the group.

 

"Stone to all you cheeky ducks. I'm sending tranports to get you and the rescued out of there. Grab your egg's and bring them home. And congratulations to all you Wraith's on a job well done. Drink's on me when we find a bar".

[Kel Riever]

"Ohhhh," Faed responded to Frank as he examined the ship hologram closely.  "Independent?  Ah, not part of the fleet...well, can't say I blame...ah, you are the member of another ship?  I thought, when I saw you, you were part of some force on Caleston.  Ah, with that rather large rifle as such."

The two came into an area where hostages were gathering.  Some were hugging each other, some were looking around wondering what to do.  The commandos were trying to direct some, and other members of the assault team awaited their own orders.  At the sight of the large group of people and so many armed combatants, Faed quieted.  The corpse of one familiar batarian hostage taker was on the ground.  The quarian looked at him and became sad.  

"I...hope as little life was lost as possible," Faed spoke under his breath to Frank.  

[Cknarf]

"We-- They neutralized a good number of terrorists using non-lethal means." Frank pointed out some of the crew. "Obviously, not that one." He motioned to the corpse with the barrel of his rifle. "Better them, than the whole dome, I say." He rolled his shoulders.

 

"Say, how'd you end up a hostage anyways? I didn't think quarians and asari were on the batarian's sh*t list, too."

[Kel Riever]

"Ah, there was no list per se.  More sort of a general sweep of the dome by a group of armed, short-sighted bullies.  But that does not really answer your question, in why I was among those captured.  Simply put, I was here in the process of acquiring a specialized cache of software.  Civilian enterprises wishing to win contracts for the military here are quite innovative.  And they wish to extend the results of their work beyond the meager government contracts they receive.  Caleston has technology."

Faed thought he might be losing Frank with his banter.  "I fear I might bore you with the particulars...it is a flaw of mine that I tend to ramble about these sorts of things."  Faed touched his suit where he had ripped off a piece of his sash to give to Lysix.  "As I had told the asari you found me with, I'm an incurable explorer of all things that have to do with code.  It has gotten me into my fair share of trouble.  'Close, but never caught,' like I said to her.  I'd prefer to keep it that way."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The following was written by SJ an Maj0nese

 

On the steps of the Communications building in the aftermath.... continuing from here

 

Suddenly, an enraged Arian watched the Batarian approaching the corpse of the terrorist he had taken down with his Kishock. To him the Batarian looked like one of the terrorists by himself, but he seemed to be part of the rescue team. Saved by a Batarian...

 

"Who are these people? Are they under your command?" Arian demanded to know from the Asari, ignoring her offering.

 

"Yes, they are," Naleena replied, "I head a special team. The Council gave me dossiers on most of the team members. A few of them we picked up along the way after a vetting process. We're on a special mission. At the moment we're looking into the disappearances of entire colonies, among other things I can't discuss."

 

The aggressive nature of the Turian who sat on the steps before her didn't go unnoticed. While he appeared to be poor, she noticed he wore his battle scars proudly. The brown-gray cartilage on the left side of his face had been damaged in a fire fight possibly a couple years earlier and the scar ran up to the tip of the pointed crest horn at the back of his head.

 

"That's from a military grade weapon. Where did you get that?" Naleena asked, pointing to the scar.

 

The sudden change of topic caused Arian to cringe and it took him some time to answer. "I was shot by a mercenary...at close range." He had no idea how he got that scar but a distant memory came up to his mind, of him approaching a human mercenary in close combat and getting hit in the face. Maybe it was that fight when he received this injury, maybe not. But he had no desire to talk about this anyway, about anything that happened in the past. 

 

His mandibles quivered and he felt the urge to just stand up and leave this place. But something kept him where he was. "What does it matter to you?"

 

"All of us bear scars: some on the outside, some of us carry them on the inside. You survived the encounter, and that indicates toughness," Naleena replied, "I was just curious. I didn't mean to offend. Were you a soldier or a merc?"

 

Arian felt ashamed and didn't want to answer. At first he hesitated but then, almost whispering, he gave a short answer. "Mercenary."

 

"Hey, why so quiet? It's almost like you’re ashamed of it," Naleena said, she sat down next to him, pulled out a cigarette and offered him one. She lit hers. "Do you think my past is glorious just because I'm a Spectre? I was on the Special Task Group's most wanted list for 200 years. I did wet work. One day, I found myself granted a reprieve because the Council needed my services. I ended up organizing a mission to save 130 people and later ended up as a Spectre," she said and took a deep drag off her cigarette. "This job is awful.

 

"Why did I accept it? Because it came with a pardon. I could stop running. You know there's a saying about no such thing as a free meal. It used to be that I had no one to look after but myself. Now I have a team, a crew, and a ship to look after. I have missions that may affect the balance of power in the galaxy. They weigh heavy on me."

 

She turned to him. "What about you? You're free now. A moment ago you could have been dead. Now you live. What do you want to do with your second chance?"

 

Again Arian ignored the Asari's offering; he was too busy thinking about what she said. For a moment he was about to give a rash answer but the moment he started to talk, he shut his mouth again. It's actually my third chance now... 

 

He remembered hiding between crates in ware houses, stealing just enough food to not attract any attention and staring all the time at the same grey wall until he fell asleep due to exhaustion...he knew for certain that he didn't want this life back.

 

"You have no idea what I did..." he mumbled staring at his feet. Suddenly he looked up. "Why do you even tell me this? What do you want from me?" he asked with distrust in his voice.

 

She studied him. I could walk away and leave him to his own troubles, or I could continue to speak with him; find out what is holding him back from speaking openly? Perhaps he's not used to an Asari like me? Many are not. Hmmm....

 

"You committed murder, perhaps?" she said, "Shocked that I can see it in your eyes? We're killers, you and I. How may have we killed? I have held the fate of people in my hands more times than you can imagine. Sometimes I weighed what should happen. Tick tock," she gestured with her finger and smirked, “Seconds passed, and I completed the job. And now that life is behind me. I've done many bad things in my life; brought a lot of sorrow into people’s lives. I wish to bring some good into the galaxy before my days are done.

 

"Why do I tell you this? And what do I want from you? You are at a crossroads in your life, friend. The question is not what I want from you, but what do you want for you?" she took one last drag from her cigarette, extinguished it, and stood. "Think about what I said. I'll be around here for a while if you want to speak."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena heard chatter over her communicator. Things were getting back to normal. People started to emerge from their apartments and investigate so the commandos had roped off the communications building and Ashland Security forces had entered the dome and roped off the bomb sites. Med evac teams began to arrive.

 

Ashley hobbled toward the building. "Hey Blue! You did it!"

 

Naleena ran over to Ashley and helped her walk to the building. "No Williams. We did it. Thanks."

 

"My LT is going to kill me for this," Ashley said, "Getting wounded like this."

 

"I'll have you taken back to my ship and have our doctor fix you up before you go back on duty. It'll get you out of filing any reports," Naleena said. "And if he gives you any trouble, he can talk to me."

 

Ashley gave her a funny look.

 

"Spectre authorization."

 

"Now you sound like Shepard."

 

Naleena sat Ashley down on the steps near Arian. "I take it that's a compliment. You can wait here for a med-evac. Like it or not, Chief, we're all in this mess together. You know I could use someone with your combat experience on the team."

 

"Sorry, Naleena, I've been picked to be aboard one of the new Alliance cruisers. You should see them."

 

"I can imagine."

 

"They're as advanced as the Normandy was, and the firepower? Wait, I'm not supposed to talk about this anymore." Ashley said, "They're just bad ass."

[Cknarf]

Frank struggled with himself internally.

 

Go on. Do it. You know you want to. Tell him he's under arrest, just for laughs.

 

He smirked, nodding slightly, while looking off in the distance.

 

No, you idiot. This guy was just involved in a hostage situation. Let him be.

 

He shook his head.

 

"If that's the case, then you probably shouldn't be so open about it around strangers." Frank raised his hands slightly. "Just sayin'."

 

Frank looked around the lobby at the group of hostages.

 

I should probably be helping the others, instead of bullshitting with this guy.

 

"Hey, it was good talking to you, Faed." Frank nodded. "But I should probably get back to work." He motioned at the chaos in the lobby. "I guess you can uh... go stand over there, or something. Transports should be here shortly."

 

Frank walked off to find something to do. He thought a bit about what the quarian had said.

 

I'm no programmer. My hacking skills are as only as good as the programs on my omni-tool will allow. Hell, I can hardly understand even the most basic code...

 

"Boss, you got a minute?" He said over comms.