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[Kel Riever]

Aoide was waiting, perhaps not perfectly patiently, in her room.  She had lit a normal cigarette and held it loosely between two fingers, the hand resting on a raised knee while her other leg extended outwards from the chair.  She was still removed of the hide strips that once had covered her shoulders and chest above her breasts, leaving bare her surprisingly delicate form.  But her face was determined and maintained its hard edge, the violet eyes and white facial markings giving her a warrior appearance.  

When Menos returned, she gazed hopefully at him, wondering what seemed to bother the salarian she'd just met.  "Did Isis give you what you wanted?" she asked him.

~ ~ ~ ~

Chris, Juric and Darya had come across the occasional gang member on their way back.  Perhaps there was a total of four, one at a time, each with some sort of harsh injury that kept them down on the ground.  Two had clearly broken legs, one was unconscious from a head blow, and one simply lay doubled over, gargling something horrible with injury indeterminate. There was no reply to Chris' attempt to reach Tolema and by the time the three reached the small lobby that lead to the landing pad, a concern had grown for the whereabouts of the asari. 

A series of gunshots was heard then, but not from the landing pad where the skycar was.  Instead, the sound of the shots was from back inside the building, in a direction the group had not gone.  

[Cainhurst Crow]

"She said...to do whatever we wanted, but to leave her out of it..." Menos said as he let out a sigh, rubbing his eyes as he looked towards aiode, "She was certainly...something." He said, not quite sure what else to say. "I think she wanted to talk about it before the others left. But I don't know..."

[TheMajonese]

Alarmed Chris turned to the direction from where he heard the gunshots. It seemed that Tolema was in trouble if she was't able to respond to him, maybe she was hurt or pinned down and couldn't activiate her tactical cloak. Maybe the remaining gang members blocked any escape path left for her.

 

Chris got an uneasy feeling about this. He had wanted to do this without killing these thugs, for some reason he had assumed that it wouldn't be a problem for any of them. Like he said earlier; grabbing the box was just a matter of seconds. And even though Tolema had volunteered to be the distraction Chris couldn't just wait at the skycar for her to return on her own. After all it had been his plan.

 

"We have to bring the box to the landing pad and make sure that the leader and the remaining gang members can't do anything to our car!", he said without looking at Darya or Juric. "Just give me a minute..." Then Chris just ran off into the direction of the gunfire and he was prepared to kill any of the gang members on his way.

[Kel Riever]

The gunshot had come from the right, when going past the lobby into the building, instead of left.  There was a gentle curve to the hallway, and then a sharp bend inward.  Only two gang members were encountered along the way, one crumpled and unconscious on the floor, and another leaned up against a wall holding a bleeding leg.  When Chris came within sight, the bleeding ganger raised his hands in a gesture of fear.  He either had no weapon or he had lost it, so appeared harmless at a glance.

Ahead, however, the hallway ended in a lounge that was perhaps a mirror to the ones the prototype had been in, but this one was much larger.  Also, it was dark within, lit only by light that seeped through from outside, or a bit from the doorway.  Chris was able to see the silhouettes of figures moving about.  It seemed two were closer to the door, with their backs to him, and the other two struggled by an outside window.  For a brief second, Chris was able to see one of the struggling figures was Tolema, and the other figure was grappling her, overbearing her into submission.

~ ~ ~ ~

Aoide said to Menos, "Don't let her get to you, that's how she is."  Somehow, it seemed to be a quick dismissal of what Menos had seen happening with Isis, but Aoide didn't push it any further.  "I suppose we wait for the others to get back.  Since I'm not getting laid tonight, guess I'll go mingle with the guests some more and put in an appearance until they return.  Nice job, Menos."

[TheMajonese]

"One move and you're dead!", Chris hissed at the thug with the bleeding leg, his rifle pointed at the men's face. When he realized that the man was unarmed Chris just kicked him in the face to make sure he was unconscious before he continued.

 

When reaching the room where the remaining thugs had surrounded Tolema he stopped for a second and listened carefully if there were any more gunshots, this time from the landing pad. Chris had no idea how much time they had until the turian leader and his men would reach the landing pad or if he was even pursuing the unknown attackers. 

 

Then, with pounding heart, he carefully approached the gang members from behind. At first he thought of using his last flashbang but felt that it was better to just take out the thugs before they could do anything and save the grenade for later. He couldn't get a clear shot on the thug next to Tolema but the two who had turned their backs to him were easy targets. Chris carefully moved closer until he was only a few meters away from them.

 

The first gang member cried out in pain as he recieved two bullets in his legs and fell over, only a moment later the second one was hit by a concussive shot that immediately knocked him down. Then Chris stomped on the first man's hand that was holding a pistol and aimed his Mattock at the last gang member. "Drop your weapons and get away from her!", he shouted.

[Kel Riever]

Moving into the room, Chris' eyes adjusted to the dim lighting.  It was clear that both gang members he'd incapacitated were armed.  So was the third, but the problem with him was that it was too late to get at him so simply.  The third gang member was a husky man who now had put his Predator pistol to Tolema's head and placed her as a shield between himself and Chris.  His back was to the long window behind him, and there was no clear shot as he rotated Tolema in whichever way Chris would aim his gun.

"Put it down!" The man shouted at Chris.  "Put it down or she dies, then you die!"

[TheMajonese]

When he stared at the man Chris knew that this situation had been inevitable. If Darya and Juric were with him they weren't able to do anything, if Chris had stayed with the others the gang members would have overcome Tolema anyway. 

 

"Okay...", he said in a low voice, slowly lowering his rifle and crouching down to lay it on the floor. Then he suddenly held his breath when he came to the realization that no matter what he was doing now, it would result in his or Tolema's death or worse. These thugs would probably kill him in any case, especially after the pain that they had to endure and they would do the same with Darya and Juric if they were able to. Surrender was no option here but everything else would have a high risk of getting Tolema or him killed. 

 

Completely concentrating on his breath Chris carefully grabbed his knife and the remaining concussive grenade and pretended to put them down as well. Triggering the grenade's activation mechanism with just one hand while being watched felt impossible. "So what do you want?", he wanted to know, trying hard to keep his voice calm and use his voice to drown the suspicious click from the flashbang when he laid it down. Then he slowly stood up and took a careful step back. "What now?", he tried to distract the gang member before he closed his eyes, knowing that the grenade would detonate within the next second.

[Kel Riever]

"Okay, first thing, f**k you!"  The man with the gun to Tolema's head was sweating.  He pushed the barrel into her head hard, causing her to groan.  "Second get the f**k out of this room!  If you want to see her alive.  I don't know who you are, but you made a bad choice!"

Tolema grimaced and looked to Chris helplessly.  She cast an apologetic glance, before she was roughly handled again to be kept in front of her captor.

[TheMajonese]

Although Chris was prepared, the flashbang's detonation was still like a punch in the face. Even with his closed eyelids, for a split second it was like looking directly into the sun and the painful pressure in his ears silenced any noises around him except for a extremely high-pitched sound in his head. When Chris opened his eyes everything turned around him and the severe impairment of his sense of balance caused him to unsteadily stumble in the thug's direction who was blinded by the concussive grenade.

 

Chris had no idea what was happening, he just launched himself against the gang member and Tolema, using one hand to grab the man's pistol while ramming his outstretched ellbow into the face of his opponent. The momentum of his strike carried all three of them back against the windows where they fell to the ground. Still concentrating on his breath Chris grabbed the pistol he had taken from the gang member and sat up. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion when he slowly raised the gun and pointed it at the man's head. Chris knew that he was an naive idiot who always thought the best of everybody but he wasn't going to take any chances this time and pulled the trigger.

 

The gunshot seemed to come from miles away but Chris could see how the bullet entered the thug's head, immediately killing him. A few moments he just stared at the dead body before Chris began to get back on his feet but he simply toppled over on the side. Lying on the ground he shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. "Tolema, are you okay?", Chris asked before starting another attempt to get up again.

[Kel Riever]

"Fine," Tolema said, but of course she wasn't.  It was dark, but it was apparent she'd suffered some not only from the effects of the flashbang, but at the hands of her captors as well.  She reached around to recover her pistol, crawled over on hands and knees to Chris, stood unsteadily with a gasp, and tried to help Chris to his feet.  "We have to get out of here."

The attempt was successful, though when Chris got up, Tolema was mostly leaning on him for support as much as she was trying to help him.  "Pistol whipping hurts like the darkness," she remarked, and let herself be led by Chris out of the room.

[TheMajonese]

"I'm sorry I couldn't warn you about the flash", Chris apologized while picking up his weapons from the ground before he cast a glance at the two remaining gang members. The one who had been hit by the concussive shot was still unconsciously leaning against the wall while the other one was lying on the ground, unable to do anything due to the pain in his legs and his hand as well as the effects of the grenade.

 

"You're right, let's get out of here", he said and tried to help Tolema as well as he was able to. His eyes had already recovered from the flash but he still had problems with his balance. 

 

They came accross the gang member Chris had knocked out and eventually arrived at the lobby.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Darya saw Tolema and Chris entering.

 

"I was beginning to worry about you. I didn't want to leave Juric alone otherwise I would have gone looking for you," Darya said, and with some urgency. "We have it. Come on. Let's get out of here."

[Kel Riever]

With haste, the four made it back to their skycar, only hearing the gang members start to reorganize, and never seeing any more threat from them. Tolema wasn't in good enough shape to manually pilot, so she left it to another.  While heading back to the hotel, Tolema asked to see the prototype.  When she took the box, she stared at it for a long moment, then opened it.  

Inside was what looked like a rough textured, matt black ball, made of some unknown material.  There was a thumbnail drive universally meant to interface with an omni-tool.  "All here," Tolema simply said, forgetting about the harsh bruises on her face or the pain that she felt.  She closed the box, and glanced at each of the others in the car.  "Thank you," she said to them, and then stopping on Chris in particular she added, "Thank you for coming for me as well."

[TheMajonese]

Chris felt the need to ask if this prototype was worth risking their lives and at the same time he remembered that after all, Tolema started this whole affair with her heist on that Ariake transport. But when the asari looked at him his face turned slightly red and he didn't say anything until the skycar arrived at the hotel landing pad.

[Kel Riever]

The mood had changed significantly upon returning to the hotel where Seirenes stayed.  It was only an hour more before the day cycle in the Presidium, and though the wards operated under no such simulation of nature, psychologically it could be felt in the sense that the crowds had dispersed (save the really die hards), most of the hotel occupants in other areas had gone to sleep, and the hotel staff was much lighter.  Security was still maintained on the band's floor, but there were almost no fans waiting in front of them either.  Getting through the guards was no issue this time, and there were stares, but mostly of envy.

Chris, Juric, Darya and Tolema entered the suite, and the party was winding down.  Inside, the crowd hadn't lessened so much but had broken down into groups of people who had gravitated to each other throughout the night, and a few who had fallen asleep or who lay about in various states of highs.  The caterers had mostly cleaned up, though one had been left behind to serve.  None of the band members were in the main room anymore.  Or if they were, they were under a pile where they couldn't be found.

The returning four moved through to get to the rooms, and they found Menos, Aoide and the band manager in Aoide's room, waiting.  Apparently, Aoide and the manager were already talking about the next show, but when the four came in, and Aoide saw Tolema, she leapt up immediately and went to her.  They exchanged soft words, Aoide stroked and kissed her, then Tolema explained what had happened and how the others had saved her.

"Thank you so much," Aoide said to the Stormhammer members.  She smiled at Chris in particular, and placed her hand gently on his cheek.  "Got my girl back because of you.  Crazy as she is."

[TheMajonese]

Chris winced when Aoide's hand touched his face and the red colour of his face grew even darker. He knew what he wanted to say or what he should say, something like Screw this, I'm out! It seemed to be the only appropriate reaction for him after he just risked his life, while helping people that he barely knew with something illegal. Now Chris regretted not having left the hotel with Naomi, his sister needed him more than Aoide and Tolema anyway. But when he saw the grateful look on Aoide's face he just mumbled: "No problem..."

 

Then he took a step back, his face the colour of a red traffic light, and turned to Menos so he didn't have to look at the asari. "So...what about Isis? Is she okay with your plan?"

[Cainhurst Crow]

"She seemed....accepting, after a bit of...stuff." Menos said, having spent all this time trying to figure out the words for it and still not finding them well. Emotions, one of the few things he'd not been so good at handling during his stint on this mortal plane, "You're a real hero there chris. Seems like you did good there, kid." He said, not helping but call him that after seeing the reaction he had to aoide. It was actually kinda hilarious, in one of those strange animal video sort of ways.

[Kel Riever]

"Isis will live," Aoide brushed off Menos' regret.  "Let me see what all the trouble is for!"

Before Tolema could stop her, Aoide deftly snatched the box out of her hand, tossing it playfully in the air and catching it again while stepping back.

"Give it back," Tolema said, reaching but missing.

"It's light!"

"Come on..."

"I'm not going to break it," Aoide went on, playing keep away from Tolema until she surrendered and stopped reaching for it.  "I'll be careful with it," Aoide said to her, then reassured everyone, "I promise."

Tolema huffed, leaned back against a wall, and folded her arms.

"Out," Aoide told the manager, who watched with curious eyes, then gruffed as he couldn't tell what the fuss was all about.  He excused himself, looked at the guests like they were going to cause him trouble, and left.  Tolema shut the door behind him.  Aoide opened the box and pulled out the rough textured black ball and thumbnail drive.  "I bet this is just as important," Aoide said about the thumbnail drive.  She handed it to Tolema, while examining the black ball which was about ten centimeters in diameter.

"It is," Tolema confirmed.  "The thumbnail drive holds the blueprint and design notes for the prototype.  All the damning information is going to be on the drive."

"How does it work?"

Tolema felt like she was answering all the questions of a curious child.  "That ball goes into an armor fabricator.  When producing a chest piece, the biofeedback system is installed.  The protective, outer shell, which is the black surface, is peeled away and the Omni-gell inside delivers the system to the inside of the chest piece.  Nanites spread across the surface, etch the system onto the armor using micro lasers, then install the basic software and interface with the rest of the wearer's suit.  You can apply it to any armor chest piece but once it's on, it is on for good."

[TheMajonese]

For a second Chris forgot the embarrassment of his situation and Menos' comment, as Aoide opened the box containing the prototype. He even leaned forward to have a better look on it. But when he saw the piece of high-end technology, he couldn't help but feel disappointed, even after Tolema's additional explaination. That's what we risked our lifes for? 

 

"Out of curiosity...", he turned to the asari and crossed his arms. "What exactly are the benefits of applying this to your armor?"

[Kel Riever]

"That will lay directly against the skin of the person wearing the armor," Tolema replied.  "It's a biofeedback system designed to regulate the wearer's adrenaline surges.  The net result is short bursts of increased physical activity, such as when lifting things or in hand to hand combat.  It would combine with other, yet to be developed, servos on armor joints that would coordinate those effects for even greater benefit, but this can be used by itself.  At least that's the concept."

[J.Ezra]

Juric had remand quite throughout the groups return to the suite. He was angry with himself for failing to help Tolema, granted he was the one with the prototype and he couldn't just leave the skycar with only one person defending it but it had still felt wrong. It was his job to protect the band and while Tolema wasn't technically part of Seirenes he'd still wanted to protect her. He wasn't sure what would have happened if Chris hadn't acted as fast as he did.

 

"So it heightens your senses? Makes you into a super-soldier sort of thing."  He had was trying to be serious despite the grin which had settled on his face at the sight of Chris's embarrassment.

 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Darya had to ask the question. "So, Chris, how did you guys get out of there?"

[TheMajonese]

"I guess you stole the manual as well", Chris commented, nodding at Tolema. The asari seemed to know everything about this prototype. But it just made sense, she had wanted to steal something of value from Ariake and for that she needed to know what the prototype was supposed to be in the first place. Juric's words perfectly summarized the point of this developement.

 

 

Turning to Darya Chris rubbed the back of his head while trying to avoid directly looking at someone. "The gang member held his pistol at her head and told me to leave...ahm...I...thought that he was going to kill her anyway. So...I pretended to drop my gear to the ground and...well, I set off my last flash grenade. The thug was unprepared so I just killed him before he was able to recover..." Feeling that his face beame red again Chris cleared his throat and then became silent. He just realized how absurd and dangerous at the same time this situation had been for him. Chris decided to not tell a single word of this incident to his sister.

[Kel Riever]

"Right out of a story," Tolema said with a smile.  "Should have recorded it.

"But back to the prototype, I could only tell you what's been on the promotionals from Capella and Ariake.  The specifics will be on that thumb drive.  A supersoldier, in a way, but this isn't changing anyone's biology.  It's about creating the next best battlesuit."

"Right," Aoide jumped in, "But if they could inject someone and change their DNA to make them a killing machine, they would.  It's the same thing, even if it's artificial and you wear it instead of injecting it."

Tolema shrugged.  "The idea isn't a problem for me.  It's that it is going to damage the person wearing the armor, and they are going to push it through without disclosing it.  For money."

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Sloppy work and cutting corners...another L2 all over again." Menos said as he'd been holding one of his hands under his chin in thought, that hand now starting to clench into a fist, seeing where this mess was headed.

 

"Only this time it could affect a lot more then just human biotics. If one of the big powers, private corp or military, get to using this thing, the others are gonna jump on it just to keep ahead..." He said as he looked towards the others, giving a simple nod.

 

"If the promotionals and health effects get released, without the specifics of the armor, it'll have the best chance of stopping anyone from using this tech. Least until the bugs get worked out..." Menos said with a nod, recalling some of the lessons on information dissemination he'd picked up in STG, "If we leak everything, governments and merc groups will be using this armor as is, free of charge. They won't care about the health effects. This way, we force Ariake and Capella to improve the design, or risk this being a commercial failure."