[IC] Mass Effect: The Word of Icarus

[Crossfire]

"It was just supposed to be a routine job... don't know what else I can say"
"You can start with your name, for the record"
"Right.... Sergeant Major Dan Hawke, Troop Garrison of ARC P.M.C."

C-Sec Interrogation Room 1
The Citadel
3 Hours After the Icarus Bombing

"So let's take it from the top Sergeant Hawke" The turian agent said as he paced the dimly lit room "Says here you were with the Alliance for a short time. Dishonorable discharge. Shortly after, you drop off public record, which I presume is around the time you joined ARC, correct?"
"Yeah that's about right. I've spend most of the past 8 years with the company. We're based in the Terminus Systems"
"Indeed. Until today, that is. You and those others show up here just after this devastating terrorist attack. Can't you see how that looks from my point of view?"
"We didn't have anything to do with that. We came here cuz we were attacked by those gold-faced freaks ourselves. The Commander still has a contact back this way, he was hoping to gain some intel"
The turian stopped pacing. He pulled out the chair nearest him and sat, leaning in. Dan moved back slightly.
"Talk" The interrogator said.
Dan sighed and began "We picked up a contract. Anonymous. We were to travel to a desolate planet, Helios in the Hades Nexus, and meet with another contracted group to pick up a package and authorize a credit exchange. Pretty standard deal for smuggling, bootleggers, anything dealing in contraband. I've been around long enough to know not to ask questions as to what the cargo was. Anyway we get there and we see some Blue Suns have already set up. Fisher and Arterian, the bosses, wanted me to match their number, so we loaded up 4 shuttles worth of men and headed planetside. Just as the meet started, we heard the first shot. It was Icarus, but of course we didn't know that, just thought we were bein' set up, same with the Suns, so naturally, we started fighting each other. I think we all caught on when the rockets started firing, blew all the shuttles to hell, but by then, it was too late"

"Back up for a moment" The turian cut in "So did you see them or not?"
"I'm just getting to that part" Dan said "But yeah, we saw them. All decked out in black armor, gold faceplate on the helmet. It was impossible to tell what they were. Human, turian, asari, salarian, quarian, I mean, all our species are roughly the same shape, few more than that even, but the armor hid any other distinguishing features."

"That aligns with what the few eyewitnesses we've had have said. One last thing that puzzles me. How did you escape without shuttles?"
Dan flashed his best shit-eating grin, one that hid a profound sadness "Never count out an ARC man"
He coughed and shifted a little in his seat before continuing "We were split up. Commander Fisher and a few of my guys were with the rest of the Blue Suns. Comms were being jammed, so Jarek, myself and 5 of my troopers fought our way out of that pit and worked our way up to a hilltop. We made contact with the flagship and requested reinforcements, but Icarus was on our trail, and we were trapped there. Fisher and the Suns weren't responding to our hails, so we bunkered down, and started returning fire. Few of our guys went down, but not before ripping through a few of theirs. A biotic shockwave ripped through our defensive line, knocked me off balance. Whatever happened, I couldn't move, it was almost like the biotic wave had me locked into a stasis field. I watched helplessly as Jarek Arterian took a blast right through his chest plate. His body fell from the cliffside. Last of the troopers went down, and the shooting stopped. They must've thought we'd all been eliminated. I could move again so I sat up and peeked around cover. They were falling back. I caught sight of one of them. He had a holograph wrapped around himself, like off an omni-tool, looked like wings. Don't know what it means, but that's probably something to look out for"

"You're lucky to be alive Hawke" the turian said "This has been helpful. Now on to more pressing matters. I don't think I introduced myself. My name is Tarrin Karvik. I'm a Spectre. Though officially, as of tomorrow, I'm a renegade who stole a top-of-the-line frigate. I don't know how the council will spin it, but that won't be your or my concern. Your Commander has already signed on, and he suggested I talk to you. We're putting together a team to go after Icarus, and we could certainly use your talents"
".... The Commander's on board?"
"Yes. From our brief conversation, seems as though he's quite eager for a chance to avenge Lieutenant Arterian"
"Well ok then. I'm in"
Tarrin extended a hand, which Hawke grasped "Welcome aboard. Come along with me now, Commander Fisher's waiting for us"

[Arcarius]

Rubble littered the area as Arlus stood in the market district, he had just been released from his own interrogation by C-Sec, but finding nothing to connect him with that attack he was released but not before he was offered a deal, the deal was to get back at the savages who did this. Naturally Arlus accepted and he only asked to keep his name off the record, now he was just waiting for the call.

Walking over to a group of C-Sec who where busy moving and digging though a large portion of rubble and debris that was a few feet in height, they stopped for a moment and watched him as walked over to them and began moving away a good sized corner stone voluntarily before they went back to work. Arlus was just about fully geared out and ready to go, the rest of his things where already packed and ready to go back at the apartment he was renting for the time being, Arlus was someone who never stayed in one place for too long he like to move around and explore.

As he continued to help move away rubble he was watching left side of his helmet HUD as a conversation was going on in a heavily encrypted channel that was his group, he was watching them speak about the attack on the Citadel, every so often he would stop what we was doing to toss in a word or two to the other members. His attention was taken when he heard one of the C-Sec officers call out that they found someone, Rushing over he began to help move away rubble to find a Turian female who looked to be just a few years younger then himself, she was alive, wounded and barely conscious, reaching over he grabbed a hold of a large piece of rubble that was pinning her down and lifted it just enough for two of the C-Sec officers to drag her out, before dropping it and looking back at the female and smiled beneath his helmet before turning and leaving for his apartment knowing she was in good hands with the C-Sec guys around. He needed to make sure he had everything in check, needed to make a few calls and prepare himself for what he had just signed up for.

[NecroKnight]

Varok simply scratched his snout - once somebody in a suit had offered him this job. It was the same old, same old issue - some terrorists attack the Citadel; and the first person to get arrested is the Krogan.

He wasn't much in the mood of getting taken in, nor was he however eager to fifty rifles either. Surprisingly, they hadn't been as hostile as Varok expected. Compared to the other trips he had been forced to take to here. None of the terrorists, looked krogan - and bringing him in was simply 'standard procedure'.

Varok merely rolled his eyes at that excuse, it was one he had heard several dozen times already. The surprise came, when somebody fancy looking - he wasn't sure, who exactly, albeit he had left enough details. Get hired, go after these terrorists and get paid.

It looked the same-old job as before, although with the smell of politics behind it. Their targets were in the Terminus System, so his help would be greatly rewarded. He didn't care much for that, the Terminus System was as danger as any backalley on the Citadel - if you were dead-stupid. The Terminus had a certain feel to it, that if you understood it - then it was an okay place to live in.

As such, Thax Varok got his things handed back in a bag - and was given the directions for a ship, that would be his next living quarters for this mission.

[zackattack279]

Reezan & Sena

How many times has this song and dance been played? No matter what they won’t get any information out of me. thought Reezan as he sat in his hard metal chair, hands handcuffed to the metal table in front of what he knew was a one way view into his room. Reezan closed his eyes and let out a long breath, this practice not only has let Reezan control his breathing and heart beat but it soothed his mind as well, reminding of the instance right before pulling the trigger. He replayed his memories from all of his adventures that led him to this cold room, to the time back on the Flotilla with his kind. Sometimes I wish I could go back. he let out a heavy sigh But this is my life now, the Blue Suns are….were my new family but now everything has been taken from me. An old memory about the only quarian he could remember, the only ones that were ever nice to him during his rebellious childhood. What was her name….ah right, Sena. Heh, I wonder what she and her mother are doing now, probably saving my whole race from killing themselves.

His peaceful reminiscing was cut short to the sound of the door being opened and the lights being turned on. Reezan kept his eyes shut, not like they could tell anyway and awaited the obvious interrogation. “State your name.” a voice called out to him, a voice he recognized, it broke him out of his concentration in a wave of disgust. Reezan opened his eyes to see none other than Faulius, ”You know my name, traitor.” he said in an aggressive tone. Faulius slammed the table and brought his face right to Reezan’s mask, “State. Your. Name. Before I tear off that mask and watch you die from exposure.” Reezan watched as this Turian faked his threat right through his disgusting mandibles and chided, ”If you wanted me dead then you’d have killed be way back then Faulius, I am Reezan’Tarak nar Voruuk, the Shadow of the Blue Suns, I admit to whatever crimes you have on my file because they were obviously me, no I will not take the deal to shorten my sentence by ratting out any of my former group, and no I have no last call.” This was not the first time he was asked all this so he thought to just skip to the end and get it over with, much to Faulius’ anger. “Feh! I have no idea why they want to deal with you but I’m not doing it,” Faulius turned to the wall facing the table, “You come in and deal with him! I’m done here.” He made one last disgusted look at Reezan and walked out of the room.

Again Reezan sat awaiting whatever it was that comes to him. The door opened again and replaced his old nemesis with another one of his kin, another familiar one but he couldn’t quite remember whom. “Do you know why you’re here?” He hated the game Turians played. ”I assumed I was here to pay for my crimes, I already did months in maximum security, I thought I’d be there for life but you guys keep pulling me out hoping to get dirt on the Blue Suns. The Turian walked over and uncuffed Reezan and sat in front of him, hands folded, “That may have been true in the past but now there is a different offer. How would you like a shot at redemption?” Those words struck Reezan, Could it be possible? Could I somehow get my life back? No, it’s too late for me now. ”It’s too late for me, I’m here now thanks to my choices. I don’t feel bad for what I’ve done but I know these are my repercussions for my way of life.” Reezan muttered coldly. The Turian ran his hand across his face and sighed, “That is a shame, after taking an attempt on my life you don’t even have the decency to take me up on my offer to help?” Reezan’s eyes grew wide when he realized he sits before the same man he was arrested for attempting to murder. “I’m here to offer you a mission. One you will probably horribly die on but if you make it through you’re free to go. You’re one of the best damn shots in the galaxy as far as I was told and frankly we need someone like you on the team. So, what do you say now? Rather die out old in your cell? Or fighting the good fight for once?”

The offer hung in the air while Reezan took his time to think, but the answer was obvious, Reezan reached his hand out and shook the Turian’s. ”I’d rather die holding my rifle then holding myself or some book in prison.. The Turian smiled, “I thought you would see to a soldier's reason. Now the crew is waiting for you, let’s get you on the ship.”

”One thing first, why are you doing this?” Reezan couldn’t believe what he was being offered, the Turian smiled again, “You’re too young to die in prison son, and no one is too far from redemption.” These words were continuously playing through his head after being let out from the interrogation room for what he hoped was the last time.

“You’re being foolish” Octavus warned, but Sena had made up her mind, Reezan was in trouble and this was how she could help. She ignored Octavus’ protests as she was escorted by armed guard to an interrogation room, opposite Reezan’s, not that she was aware he was currently being held there.
“State your name for the record” a bored-looking C-Sec human officer drawled. ”Sena’Raan vas Alarei” she answered.
“And you’re here to bail out a friend aren’t you, Quarian?”
”I am here for Reezan’Tarak nar Voruuk” she replied curtly, ”If you do not release him, Octavus will make sure you pay dearly” Sena didn’t like to threaten, but the universe had dealt her a strange hand, several strange hands actually and she simply made the best of a bad situation.
“Y’know you’re a strange one, your file is relatively bare, the only strikes on your record is the company you keep and the way you dress”
”The way I dress?” this seemed ridiculous, she had no choice but to wear her envirosuit, that wasn’t a crime!
“You’re Octavus’ girl, he’s a snake, I wouldn’t recommend sticking around with him, no matter what you owe him, guys like that don’t have friends, and your buddy Reezan, he done some bad things. I’m trying to convince myself you aren’t involved in any of this trouble but eye-witnesses claimed that the Icarus terrorists wore gold visors, just like yours. You can see you’re putting me in a bit of a bind here right? Girl walks in with a band of pirates asking for a Blue Suns assassin to be released and she just so happens to be wearing the colours of a known terrorist organisation?”
”I am NOT a terrorist!” she insisted, it seemed ludicrous to suggest such an outlandish notion.
“Then what do you plan on doing with your Quarian friend if we bail him out?”
”I will bring him home, to the Flotilla where we belong”
C-sec guy scribbled a note on paper. “And Octavus? I’ve heard he has quite a crush on you”
Sena blushed, but beneath her visor it was invisible to the human. ”I am a Quarian on Pilgrimage, once I have found a suitable Gift for the Fleet, I will go home, Reezan will come with me” she wasn’t exactly confident in convincing Reezan, but, well she could try at least.

“Alright, here’s the deal. We know you’re crafty, you escaped a band of Batarian pirates single-handedly, and you’re dressed like one of those Icarus goons, maybe you could even do some stealth. If you work with us, we’ll give you your buddy back. Sounds like a fair deal?”
Sena thought hard for a moment … was this a fair deal?
“We were looking for Octavus but, he refused and you might just be exactly what we’re looking for. Whaddya say?”
”I want to see Reezan first. I want to know he is alive and well” she insisted. There was no point joining this mission when she wasn’t even sure the reports on Reezan were real. He could have been dead and she was being tricked.

The C-Sec officer banged on the door of the next interrogation room.
“We got a visitor for the Quarian, open up” he barked, the door hissing apart.
Sena couldn’t believe her luck had worked out for once, Reezan was alive and looked rather well all things considered.
”Keelah!” she exclaimed, overwhelmed to finally see another Quarian, and one of her friends no-less. She briskly stepped over and checked him over. No suit breaches, no injuries, he wasn’t even fighting any infections. Perfectly healthy and alive.
”I thought you were dead” she spoke in Khelish, the Quarian’s native language. ”I’ve come to take you home”

Reezan looked to the door as he heard it open. A golden clad quarian came through the door and began to hurriedly examine him, the only hint of surprise Reezan showed was his head performed a double take. What the hell is she doing here?! Reezan not expecting to see his long lost friend, Sena, again just after signing his life away. Concealing his emotions he responded coldly in his native tongue, ”It didn't take. And I'm not going back, I just signed myself on to some mission, I'll either die out in the field or die in my cell. Reezan takes a step away from her back to the Turian officer, ”Sena, go back home. You're smart, you could probably engineer a gift instead of needing to find one. I don't know what you know of me now but I'm not the boy you used to know. I've killed dozens of people if not more in my vain attempt of living in this world. And now I'm off again to go kill others, I guess this time it's the ‘good’ side I'm helping. Reezan turns to the Turian, ”Let us get this over with. Reezan starts to walk past Sena, off to his death.

Sena wasn’t giving up so easily. She’d been kidnapped, traipsed across the galaxy with an amourous Turian smuggler doing goodness knows what kind of mischief with his dealings. No. Reezan wasn’t going to waste all her efforts. They’d left the Flotilla on Pilgrimage together and she’d be damned if they didn’t make it back somehow.
”You boshtet!” she fumed, losing her temper for the first time in … possibly her entire life. ”You have no idea what it took for me to get here.” she sighed, maybe it was another ironic twist for fate throwing a bad card her way again. ”Fine. You go on your mission then” she switched back to english again, there was no point speaking their native tongue, Reezan clearly didn’t feel he belonged with her back on the Flotilla.
The C-Sec officer chuckled under his breath, “An amicable reunion I see. See here Reezan, she’s going with you. Are you going to sign the deal girl or have you changed your mind?”
Sena gave Reezan a furious glare, he was a Quarian too, he could probably read her body language, humans and other aliens struggled to read emotions through the suits but Quarians were used to this way of life.
”I’ll go … Someone will have to patch up that suit when you throw yourself on a plasma grenade”

Reezan looked at the C-Sec officer and boldly stated, ”She. Is. NOT. Going.” pointing at him with each word. I can't believe this idiot, she's not a person for combat or even what seems to be all out war. He strides over to Sena and looks deep into her eyes behind the visor, ”I don't need help. I've lived for years with my group as the only Quarian, I can patch myself up. Plus if a grenade gets anyway near me then I haven't done my job properly and deserve what happens. Go find your gift and go back to the Flotilla, your mother will be worried sick about you coming back, you're not going to make her sad are you? Reezan knew this was a low blow but it was his last trump card to ensure Sena’s safety. Reezan turned away from Sena and walked away towards the assigned ship.

Sena shook her head. She didn’t want Reezan, or anyone, to know what she’d gone through. The pirates, the violence … it had pushed her to the limits … Try as she might, she couldn’t quite bring herself to say she didn’t enjoy seeing all these strange new worlds with Octavus … it was beautiful and exciting, but she done bad things to get there.
“I think you underestimate her. We wouldn’t have recruited her if she wasn’t able to handle herself well enough.” the C-Sec officer scanned the file with the report of a destroyed Batarian base.
”I can. Reezan, trust me … I can do this.”
“She probably knows more about pirates than you do at this stage, what with her buddy Octavus an’ all” the C-Sec officer laughed.
Sena was growing impatient with his unnecessary comments and she signed the deal. Ready to board the ship.

Octavus was waiting on the holding-bay and gently grabbed her arm.
“They told me what you’re doing. Stop this madness Sena’Raan” he said, oddly polite for a pirate but he’d always been rather kind to her.
”I will be safe Octavus” she looked over at Reezan, ”We’ll stick together. Thank you for helping me.”
Octavus glared at Reezan and stomped over to the considerably smaller Quarian. Quarian’s were often small stature and Turian’s tall and hulking, but this time Octavus was throwing his weight around.
“Be careful Quarian” he snapped, mandibles clenched tightly. A thinly veiled threat, for some reason or another, this gnarled Turian pirate was rather defensive about his Quarian friend.

Reezan looked this Turian, Octavus, in the eyes with a glare that has seen enough blood shed to be as deadly as his rifle. ”If this is a threat, I've killed people much larger and scarier than you, Turian. he spat the word like it was a disease. He looked back at Sena one last time and said in his native tongue, ”This isn't that you aren't capable, I was just trying to keep you safe you dolt. If you're so set on this then let's go already. Reezan turned around again and walked to the shuttle without turning back.

Sena smiled. I know, and together we’ll stay safe this time she thought. Looking back at Octavus one last time before walking onto the shuttle.

[Crossfire]

Prisoner Holding Deck,
Citadel Docks,
22 Hours After Icarus Bombings

'At least they finally managed to cut off that incessant message' Tarrin thought to himself as he walked past the blank screen of a Galactic News Terminal. His team had been assembled, and as per the Council's instruction, they were sitting in the holding cells designed to detain prisoners who were being shipped off-world. Their gear had been placed inside the SSV Omaha, a newly constructed Alliance-Turian vessel in the same design of the Normandy. The official story would be a loss in power triggered the door opening, and the 7 prisoners made a break for it aboard the stealth ship that was awaiting deployment. Fisher and Hawke were supposed to be passing the message to the others, but to be sure, he was heading in himself.

The door to the C-Sec checkpoint slid open and the two human officers stationed there stood to salute.
"There's no need for that, officially I'm a renegade now, remember? You're both clear on your role in this?"
"Yes sir" the closest one responded.
"Well, cuff me and bring me in. Time is short"

He was escorted into the holding room and took a seat alongside Fisher.
"Status" he whispered to the human, keeping an eye on the cameras above them, waiting for the signal to move.
"All ready to go sir"
"Let's get to it"
The light above the camera flickered and went out, they were free to talk. Tarrin stood and addressed his new crew.
"You're all sitting here cuz you agreed to a job. Whatever reasons you had for signing on are your own. Consider this the moment you clocked in. In one minute, the lights will go out and that door's gonna spring open, when it does, don't hesitate, just run. We're gonna board that frigate and make for the relay. They're gonna shoot at us because they have to, but they will not hit. We'll discuss the mission once we're free of Council space. In the meantime, explore the deck, find a place to call your own. Now run like hell"

As he finished, the doors sprung open, and the crew moved out. The next 15 minutes were a blur of gunfire, blasting cannons, and way too many close calls for Tarrin's liking, but they finally hit the mass effect relay, and with that, their mission began.

[zackattack279]

Reezan

As the alarms sounded and door opened Reezan could only feel tension, the door moving much too slowly. When the door was half-way opened he shot off like a bat out of hell towards Sena's cell, he yelled in Khelish, "Sena, stick behind me and keep up!" He quickly caught up to Tarrin, his light armor making up for his body's non-athleticism due to his sedentary position as a sniper. He figured if he stuck close to a beloved Spectre then there would be no way a bullet would come near him, and having Sena behind him gave her a shield in case of such an incident.

The smell of gunpowder was one he knew all too well but it gave him the adrenaline rush required to make this look real. Something bore into his shoulder, "Damn it!", Reezan exclaimed but pressed on. He covered his shoulder with his hand as he kept moving, I thought they weren't supposed to shoot at us! This was probably on purpose, maybe someone getting revenge for someone I killed, just another form of karmic retribution I guess. Blood began to pool under his hand as he rushed faster to get to the ship to avoid contamination.

Once on board Reezan moved quickly to the medbay to start his treatment for his shoulder. Well looks like I do need a patch job, he laughed to himself and seeked out Sena in order to fix his suit. After he was cleared he immediately went to the lower decks to find himself a rifle to call his own, his old rifle being confiscated that is. He chose his loadout and after the feel of a jump he came up to the navigation deck to discuss this 'plan' Tarrin was talking about.

[Spud]

Sena'Raan vas Alarei

Sena may have made a grave mistake. Up until now, she'd been a hostage of sorts, to the Batarian Pirates, to Octavus and his Turian crew, and yet ... even when she'd been "arrested" by C-Sec, she was viewed as a non-threat. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time and they didn't real hold her culpable for her actions. That didn't fit this mission though, so she was arrested but no chargers were filed on her record. Amid the group of smugglers and pirates and thiefs, she was just there. When they began their less-than-heroic escape, she felt further out of place, she felt as alien as she had when she'd been kidnapped by Batarian's except this time she'd put herself in this position. Reezan's familiar suit sent a wave of relief over her, perhaps she didn't have to feel so alien after all. She did as she was bid and stayed close, bullets zipped by and she thought she'd gone mad- no, she was certain she'd gone mad. At some point Reezan got hit and and blood splattered on her visor in a fine mist. Even when they were on board and the airlock sealed shut, she still didn't calm down, adrenalin pumping. Reezan needed medical attention and she immediately began performing first aid and suit repairs for him.

"Oh I don't need help, I can patch myself up" Sena quipped sarcastically, putting on a mock-Reezan voice. "The mission hasn't even started and already I have to stitch you back together" her voice softened a little when she was certain the wound would heal, there was no guarantee Reezan would get away without an infection though ... hopefully it would only be a mild fever.
"I hope you know what you've gotten us into" Sena said, putting away the medical things as Reezan left.

She took her time to explore the ship, examining the engines with great fascination ... this ship was far more high tech than Octavus', far too high-end for her to ever hope to bring back to the Flotilla but she could learn from it in the mean time. The engineers on the engineering deck gave her queer looks and kept a distance until she asked a question about the drive core.
When it came time to find a place for her things, she selected quarters near the lab where she could study and examine weapons and geth and things.

[NecroKnight]

Varok grumbled at the sentence - when the guards were ordered to miss.

When they arrived at the experimental ship, he was likely hit thirty times somewhere.

Luckily his krogan regeneration, helped in fixing his wounds. While the quarians set themselves up in the media, he was stuck looking around the CIC. "So think there are any food here? Dextro and Levo?"

"It would be a waste of our mission failing because, the crew starved," spoke Varok, taking a look at the star-map. "Also your bad at giving encouragement."

[Arcarius]

As soon as the doors opened Arlus sprinted out, even in his heavy armor he was able to keep up with the rest of his new team, rounds zipped passed him and a few off the smaller caliber shots even ricocheted off his armor, leaping up and sliding over a downed pillar Arlus quickly regained his footing and continued towards the ship, but just as things seemed to be going to plan a cannon blast landed rather close to him, the blast itself was close enough to knock him off his feet and to the side. As he toppled to the ground he rolled a few feet and managed to catch himself on one of the rolls, looking up towards where the shots where coming from he noticed another cannon shot coming straight for him, quickly glancing back to see the rest of the group out of range of this current shot he looked back and threw up a barrier. There was an explosion as the round made contact with barrier and out of the smoke Arlus came running his breaths where heavy, blocking something that powerful seemed to drain him but never the less he made it aboard the ship. "I thought they where suppose to not aim for us.." he grumbled out loud as he stepped onto the CIC.

Stopping at the star-map for a moment to catch his breath he overheard the Krogen's comment about food he grinned then removed his helmet and tucked it under his arm "I'm sure there is but theirs only one way to find out big guy" he said with a grin before he started for the ships dinning area. Something else seemed to catch his eye just passed the dinning area, walking down a long corridor Arlus stopped for a moment at a door "Well well well, what could be behind door number one" he said to himself before opening it, inside seemed to be the ships main batteries, upon stepping inside he walked around the room and examined it "Impressive, this could really do some damage given the correct power level and the right pilot" he also notice a spot in the room which he would be able to set up his own equipment "I call dibs on this room!" he called out before sitting on a bench nearby.

[Crossfire]

@Arcarius@NecroKnight@zackattack279@Spud

"All Crew gather in the CIC"
Tarrin set the Omaha to auto-pilot and marched off towards the Galaxy Map display. Fisher and Hawke were already waiting on him.

"Why do humans always name these ships so strangely" Karvik wondered aloud as he got within earshot of his companions.
"Historical significance I think" Hawke grinned "Alliance likes to remember it's past or some la-di-da bullshit. To be fair, perhaps the ship does need a better name now that we're officially pirates"
"we can debate that later Sergeant, crew'll be arriving shortly. Did the crew receive their belongings?"
"I assigned my engineers to dig them out of the storage crate. I'll radio down, have them drop off the gear at everyone's quarters"

Commander Fisher nudged Dan's shoulder and beckoned him aside.
"We need to talk a moment, want your input on something. Clearly neither of us can lead ARC while we're on this mission, and we'll be taking a few more of the boys onboard when we hit the rendezvous point. Can't just have the company disappear, so we need someone to be in charge for the interim. I'm down to either Donaldson or Warrick"
"Donaldson's an ass, but he has a good eye for the business of things... can't shoot worth a damn though. Warrick's a nervous wreck when you even mention the possibility of him leading a squad. Damn good front line man. Excellent battlefield awareness. Can't they co-lead like you and Jarek?
The very mention of their friend's name still stung. His passing would be mourned for quite some time.
"Can't do it, as much as I'd prefer to, that'd stick us with Lanbo as the head of our backup squad on here. I'd rather have a vorcha chew up my innards"
"Aw hell, I don't want Donaldson here bitching at me, and like I said, he's an excellent negotiator, and I'd prefer Warrick to watch our six if we need it"
Fisher nodded in Tarrin's direction. The crew had assembled and he began to speak.

"Welcome aboard the SSV Omaha everyone. You all know why we're here- to hunt down these fucking savages that call themselves Icarus, and stop them. Few of us in this crew have a good reason for wanting them gone... myself included. We will take no prisoners and give no quarter. We find them, and I guarantee you, we will, we send them to their maker in pieces. No exceptions. Right now we're en route to link up with the rest of the ship's crew, who come to us courtesy of our friends from ARC. They'll fill the ancillary roles on the ship as well as provide backup on the ground if we need it. After that we'll be following up on a lead from an STG decrypter I worked with in my Spectre days, he's provided me with coordinates to the Icarus message's broadcast origins. We'll hit the ground there and see what we find. We'll reconvene once we're in scanning range, around three hours time. Dismissed. Oh, and any of you who had gear confiscated by C-Sec. We had it brought on-board. The engineers are fishing it out of the storage bay. If anything's missing, talk to Sergeant Hawke, I got nothing to do with it"

[Arcarius]

As he listened to the Turian, Arlus paced back and forth a bit at the back of the group, from what he was gathering they where going straight into the heart of the enemy or to go cut the head off the snake, part of him started to wonder why he had signed of for this, but the other part could see that Icarus was a big threat and needed to be dealt with. But this seemed to just bring up the next question, why send this little group of nobody's and not a military force to deal with them, Arlus was getting frustrated just thinking about it, and it showed as he continued to pace and clinch his fists.

He waited until the Turian was finished before stepping forward "Umm... Hi names Arlus Vulcan, I'm a Specialist in a number of different things but that's not why I'm speaking up" He said slightly nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "My question is to you, Do you think we are really fit to take on these guys by ourselves, I mean it seems sorta suicidal if you ask me" He asked before taking a deep breath. He could only hope he asked the right question and not sounded dumb doing it, but he felt it needed to be asked and he wanted to see if anyone else felt the same way, considering he didn't even know who he was technically working with or any of there names for that matter.

[zackattack279]

Reezan

The briefing of of the mission was short and sour, the way he's used to things; back in the Blue Suns you got your mission and you liked it, not like you had the choice. When Tarrin mentioned his confiscated weapons Reezan perked up and was anxious to get his old friend back.

Right before he left he heard the other Turian, Arlus, complaining about the mission. Reezan couldn't deal with cowardice, sure he took a long distance approach to things but when he was sent out, he got results. "This is our mission Arlus, there is no point wondering if anyone else can do our job for us." Reezan stated coldly and walked down to the storage bay himself.

Reezan found his gun quickly, after all it was easy to spot, a M-98 Widow, modified with a silencer, with a Blue Suns paint job. He didn't like the colors but it was the rifle issued to him so it became his own. Reezan took it to the weapon tables near the crew storage lockers and began to perform upkeep.

The Widow has seen better days, some of the parts were jammed and the barrel was filthy. While cleaning he spotted an old memory on the side of his rifle, a row of tally marks that he made with his omni-blade representing his past kills. It marked 44 as of now and he only felt he'll need to start on the other side soon enough, I think I'm getting tired of all the killing, but it's what I have to do. he somberly let out a sigh of exhaustion.

[Crossfire]

Tarrin strutted off towards the cockpit, seemingly oblivious to Arlus' question. Fisher decided to jump in.
"The Council isn't welcome in the Terminus Systems just based on principle. An official military task force would get no help from the locals. Besides that fact, an invasion of military forces might be seen as an act of war by certain groups out here. Even if it didn't, the very rumors of military presence wold send Icarus burrowing deeper into whatever holes they may be hiding in"

"Pirate crew like this is exactly what's expected out on the frontier" Hawke added, taking the cue from Fisher to take over. "We can't roll around promoting ourselves as mercs with ARC or a made-up outfit, cuz Icarus will know someone's payin big to have them wiped out. Again, that'd scare 'em into hiding until they can cause more damage, but I think the point is no one's gonna blink twice at a rogue Spectre hoppin' around in a stolen Alliance ship with a small crew, just enough off the radar to not arouse suspicion while gathering intel, I mean maybe the Spectre thing would draw some eyes, but then we just stab 'em and go on our way"

He chuckled at his own bad joke before trailing off. He coughed awkwardly before launching into his best 'bad comedian' impression. "Soooooo, any other questions? comments? Interesting backstory? Come on guys, help me out, I'm dyin' up here"

[Spud]

Sena'Raan vas Alarei

Sena wasn't used to these kinds of debriefings ... Octavus largely left her to tinker with things in the lab, she was a support role, not a front-lines type and, well, he was rather protective of her. Still, she couldn't help but think that their debriefing was very very brief indeed to say the least. She wondered what exactly they expected her to do ... She wasn't military trained, very little experience ... she could make a bomb in a pinch and work wonders with tech and could pilot a ship as easy as breathing but shooting holes in bad-guys? ... Not particularly her forte btu she was a fast learner.

Arlus had a point ... this sounded like a suicide run. To her surprise, Reezan seemed netiher surprised nor non-plussed about it... He was rather scathing toward his teammate, she hoped it wouldn't cause problems later on in the mission considering they were now a haphazard team of sorts.
"He's not usually quite so scathing ... I'm sorry Arlus" she apologised, hoping there wouldn't be bad vibes between the two team-members.

"This crew is made up of criminals ... bandits and pirates and smugglers ... Surely your life was at risk in your previous profession ... try think of this as just another job, perhaps that would help"

When Hawke asked if there were any questions, she had only one.
"I will need some supplies for my work, theres bound to be a shady dealer lurking around the Terminus system that will have the parts I need, will you be able to make a stop? It will only be brief."

[Crossfire]

Hawke nodded in acknowledgement of Sena.
"We'll likely make a few stops at Omega across the course of this mission. In fact, probably a good idea to top off the supplies once we pick up the rest of the crew and they have time to take inventory. I'll bring it up to Commander Fisher, maybe he can convince Karvik to head that way before we hit that first lead. In fact, we should be hitting the Shadow Sea any minute now. I'll head up to the cockpit"

As Dan walked up through the ship he felt a slight lurch as the ship came out of FTL travel. Peering out of a port, he saw the distant shape of ARC's flagship Rocinante, they'd be initiating ship-to-ship docking any minute now.
"Commander... sir" the Sergeant Major nodded towards his superiors as he entered the cockpit "The crew was wondering if we'd be stopping off at Omega before the mission began. Supply run"
Fisher leaned to his right and swiped his hand over a holographic readout "Omega's a quicker jump to make than the Ismar Frontier, couldn't hurt to stock up first"
Karvik sat in silence, his jaw mandibles waving slightly as he contemplated.
"Fine. Have the crew provide a list of everything they need. This needs to be quick"

Over the next 20 minutes the ship docked with the Rocinante and the process began of carrying over Warrick and the rest of the ancillary crew. Their numbers suddenly increased from the fireteam and the 5 pseudo-engineers to over 35, including a dedicated pilot, cook, medic, and armorer, just to name a few. Fisher came back onboard after debriefing the new leader and remaining members of ARC, and soon they were on their way. Hawke, seated to the left of the pilot, stared out at the old frigate as he heard the groans of the space bridge uncoupling from the Omaha's docking port. The two ships broke off and he watched as the Rocinante faded into the distance, right up until the moment they hit the mass relay for the jump to Omega. He wondered if he'd ever see the old girl again, and from that thought he allowed his mind to wander, dreaming of an all-too-distant past.

Some time later, he was woken by the sound of Tarrin's voice echoing throughout the ship.
"Attention crew, this is Karvik. We'll be docking at Omega shortly. If you need to acquire anything from the station, head towards the docking port now or locate a member of the crew who can acquire it for you. As will be the norm, any requisitions from a member of ARC, send word to Sgt. Major Hawke. This is a short trip. In fact, from the moment we dock, you have one hour. Anyone not on board when that time is up gets left behind. Karvik out"

[Arcarius]

Arlus was sitting on the floor next to the ships main weapons and in the processes of setting up some of his equipment when he heard Karvik, glancing up at the comm speaker for a moment he listened before muttering to himself as he got up, Arlus was sorta keeping to himself after the debrief not really wanting to get involved with anyone from the crew, His years in the Turian military as a Calab where rough on him, the isolation, segregation, and most of all the way they where treated, they where seen simply as tools some of the time.

But with all that he gained unbreakable bonds between other Calabs. Walking over to a crate he had moved into the room he opened it and quickly began to get his gear together, surprisingly Arlus had never been to Omega but he had that feeling that trouble might show itself. Once he had all of his weapons and ammo in check, he reached into the box and removed his venom gauntlets, slowly running his talons over them he slipped them on and secured then before attached the cylinders to the side, inside the clear cylinders was a bright green almost glowing liquid, various numbing agents and poisons mixed together to make a deadly but effective cocktail.

"Stage four compressor, long range amplifier, some cords, class two tripod, class five minitripod, maybe some camo netting if they have it, some ties, and a little bit more ammo" He said looking back at his equipment before placing his helmet on and leaving the room, the large Turian quietly made his way to the docking port. Upon getting there he leaned against the nearby wall and crossed his arms "So anyone else never been here before, to Omega or am I alone on this?" he asked out loud to seemingly anyone around as he waited.

[Crossfire]

"No worries bud, everyone has their first sometime" Hawke laughed at the bad joke and clapped the turian on the shoulder "Ah, trust me, by the time we're all done you'll be sick of lookin' at the place. Not as bad as everyone says if you know your way around He flashed the datapad at Arlus.

"I gotta get all this stuff for the crew anyway, so I can point ya in the right direction. In exchange, I'm gonna need a hand bringin some of this stuff back, sound like a deal? Come on"

About an hour later, the crew was back on board, Hawke was hard at work in the storage bay, checking all the crates and making sure he hadn't missed anything.
"That container there are the supplies requested by the quarian.... Sena, not Reezan. Have someone bring it up to her quarters. he told Carrick, the chief of the dock boys "Those 8 are weapons, should be 2 full of rifles, assault and semi-auto, 2 for assorted pistols and SMGs, 1 for shotguns, 1 of sniper rifles, and the last one should have our launchers. The 4 smaller crates on the end are thermal clips, explosive charges, and grenades. See that they're all unpacked and placed in the armory. Anything we haven't gone through are personal requisitions from the crewmen, they can claim them at their own convenience, list is right here" He handed over the datapad and walked off towards the elevator. As it started to ascend he heard the beep of the P.A. system going live.

"We're arriving at the planet Xerkanos. Strike Team, gather up your gear and meet at the shuttle"

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

The shuttle rocked and rattled as it descended through the atmosphere. The team all sat around as Tarrin examined a datapad. He tossed it down on the floor and a hologram projected up.
"Ok, initial scans show a spike in electron waves coming from this region. We're dropping in on this ridge overlooking what used to be an Alliance Exploratory Station. We'll survey it from above, then move down and breach. Clear out anyone left then explore for further leads"
They landed and set out, scanning the building below for outward threats.
"Seems clear out here, no cameras in sight except for the one right over the door" Fisher noted "Old Alliance buildings like this were designed with an unfortunate flaw. I can see it from here. There's a control board for internal systems on the right side of it, around the corner from the door. It's meant as a link-in point for exterior security checkpoints or transport stations, but this one has no such structure, but it's there, hidden beneath an off-color silver wall panel. Easy to hack"
Tarrin took charge once more "Ok Fisher, take Sena and Reezan down there, watch their back while they hack in. Arlus and Varok, you'll breach from the rear of the facility. Hang back out of sight until the hack is complete and the door opens itself. Hawke, you're with me. We're goin in the front"

[Arcarius]

Back Door Breachers (Part 1)

Varok & Arlus

A collab between @NecroKnight and @Arcarius

"Ok Fisher, take Sena and Reezan down there, watch their back while they hack in. Arlus and Varok, you'll breach from the rear of the facility. Hang back out of sight until the hack is complete and the door opens itself. Hawke, you're with me. We're goin in the front"

Arlus was overwatching the base using his own set of binocs when he hear the order, lowering them he turned and glanced at the Krogan before reaching down, grabbing his helmet he placed it on and secured it before syncing it up.

”You ready Krogen?”

“Ready as ever. Try not to get eaten, by another krogan. That would be highly embarrassing for me,” he replied, scratching his snout and soon pulling out his assault rifle. “And its Krogan...learn your Galactic….idiot…”

”Apologies… but there’s no need to worry about me, just keep talking so I know you’re alive, I’d rather not get shot in the back” Arlus replies as he reached back and unfolded his Mantis then began heading down towards the base at an angle.

So… care to tell me alittle about yourself, or would you rather keep quiet?”

“Not much to say about me, a krogan with a brain. Or you actually want to hear my story, turian?” asked Varok, actually surprised rather than angry with his ‘mortal enemy’.

Arlus glanced back and nodded before looking back at the small trail “I do, when the Turian Hierarchy isolates you from your own kind… well the story’s are few in number, plus I would like to know the people who I can only hope will have my back when the time comes.” he paused for a moment before looking back once more. ”How about this, you tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine, sounds like a fair deal to me, what do ya say?”

“Fair enough. I was born into a small clan. We were smarter than the rest - as we mostly used our head and not our ego, to guide our policy. We stayed neutral and killed any other idiot, whom came towards our lands,” spoke Varok. “Eventually I left, not much you can do on Tuchanka anymore.”

Arlus listened to the Krogan’s story and couldn't help but smile beneath his helmet, the tinted visor masking his emotion. ”Interesting if I do say so myself, You’re one of a kind from all the other krogan I’ve come across which haven't been a lot.” he pause and stopped, they were closer but not quite in position yet, raising his rifle he looked though the scope and scanned the base once more before noting that nothing had changed.

Lowering his rifle he began walking once more. Well… as for me I was born and raised on Palaven, lived a relatively normal life with my two younger siblings until i was forced to join the military where I was pulled aside”

“Pulled aside? For what?” he asked, looking at the turian.

”For being a biotic, the Turian Hierarchy… well they think that “we’re” a danger to everyone around us, so they isolate us into small squads called Cabal’s, but every once an awhile they throw us into a normal unit to keep an eye on someone or tell us to get rid of one of their own high ranking official who has done something, we don’t question, we just do what we are told, but mainly we are used for reconnaissance.

“So? I hear the humans also work the same way. Putting skilled people in special groups,” spoke Varok. “Would it be easier, if you were a single Biotic in a group of ten normal guys?”

”One would think so… but a Cabal unit is only filled with biotic’s there are no normal people in it, we only get taken out for a task then put back into our unit. he paused and took a deep breath. ”That’s why I left, disappeared off the grid without the Hierarchy's approval.

“Isn’t that kind of being an ass? We krogan have Shamans - who do great sacrifice, so others could understand. Wouldn’t you acknowledge that same?” asked Varok. “Not every turian is a biotic So isn’t it written somewhere - that everybody of yours have some role to play in that fancy Hierarchy?”

”Well… not necessarily, when the a cabal as seen it’s use they pull us from field work and stick us behind a desk, the Hierarchy like to keep us isolated, rather than deal with us, I believe they say it will affect “safety and unit cohesion concerns” if we were to be balanced in with the normal units. I personally think that they might be a little afraid of what we are able to do.

“Meh. Your country, can’t say mine is any better,” replied Varok.

”It’s why I left to go off and do my own thing, and so far I enjoy what I do, lets me meet people like you” he said and looked off towards the base, they were close the back entrance was in view now all they needed was a place to set up.

”So… where would you like to set up until we’re called in to kick open the back door?”

“Something large, but close,” spoke Varok, eyeing their surrounding.

Folding up his mantis and harnessing it, ”Well we could set up along the exterior wall and wait or we could use one of old vehicles for cover, your call” he said pointing to the two locations before unfolded his mattock and checked it.

“Near the exterior wall. Best place to hide, is right under their noses,” spoke Varok.

”I like your style... let’s get down there” he said then activated his omni-tool to contact the rest of the group ”This is breach team two, we’ll be in position in thirty seconds” he said as the two began to move down.

[zackattack279]

Unlocking the Door

Reezan & Sena

In the shuttle Reezan whispered to Sena, ”Don’t do anything stupid out there, if it gets too hot you get the hell out, you got that?” He couldn’t bring back a dead body to the only family that showed him kindness, he wouldn’t.

Sena gave Reezan a quizzical look and replied sarcastically, ”Me do something stupid? You’re the one who was arrested and shot.”

”A sting operation was performed to take me down, thank you very much. And remember you were behind me when I was shot, things could have been,” Reezan went through a bout of coughing, ”Worse.”

Reezan took point on the squad holding out his heavy pistol he scanned the surroundings. Getting close to the panel they were looking for Reezan held his fist up, signaling his party to stop. Bringing up his omni-tool showing all the systems within his suit, Reezan activated his suit’s cloak ability. As the fibers of his suit began to bend the light around him Reezan was slowly absorbed into the background. He rounded the corner to check for enemies, only to find nothing at all. This is weird, I don’t have a good feeling about this. Reezan kept this skepticism to himself while de-cloaking and giving Sena and Fisher the all clear signal.

Reezan pulled off the panel and began to examine the workings of the tech. ”Damn this thing is old, Tarrin wasn’t joking.”

Hanging back until it was time to move forward, Sena kept low, being so petite, it wasn’t particularly hard for her to be subtle and discrete. Oddly, the coast appeared to be clear. She couldn’t help but wonder why on earth she was even here. Really, this was an utterly stupid idea, she should have stuck to her pilgrimage, there were other ways to help Reezan … right? The pilgrimage was safer, was it not? And yet, she found herself oddly enjoying this strange rush.
”So this is what Octavus was doing when he left me on the ship and went down with his crew…” it was no wonder he protected her from this more dangerous element, and yet, she felt a buzz of adrenaline that was oddly addictive as she looked at the aged panel.

”Move your hand, that circuit right there, there is something wrong with it” she said, immediately noticing a bizarrely shaped circuit. ”Could be a trip-wire for some kind of bomb or alarm … this thing is old but whoever put in this circuit here wasn’t stupid” there was only one way to find out … or rather two, disabling it safely and examining later was the safer option, tripping the mystery circuit was the other way, and it was likely a bomb or an alarm so that wasn’t a good idea.

Taking a closer look at the circuit board, turns out Sena was right. Damn I’ve been out of practice… Reezan holstered his pistol to place his hand against the wall next to the board, bracing himself as another round of coughing came through. Looking up to his partner, ”You’ve always been better with tech, if it isn’t a weapon system or these suit systems I don’t have much experience.” Ah shit, this isn’t going to be good, seems that bullet did more than I thought.

”You’re getting an infection. Let me check your suit” Sena insisted, of course that meant slightly delaying fixing the door-issue, but the welfare of the crew was more important than the mission right? I mean what use would they be if they were dead?
The circuit let out a high-pitched whine. ”Gr, you boshtet!” Sena fumed, now was not the time.
”We may have triggered it when we pried off the panel. Grab some immuno-boosters from my pack, I’ll shut this thing down and then patch you up”
It was hard to concentrate with Reezan getting ill right beside her, but if she didn’t diffuse the circuit it would either alert someone they were there, or blow them to pieces. He had to hold on just a little longer.
She tapped away on her omni tool and bypassed the mechanism, temporarily scattering its signals, with a quick, sharp yank, it came free and the device didn’t seem to explode in their faces.
With the imminent threat out of the way, she turned her attention to Reezan. ”I’ll treat the rupture in your suit, you focus on the panel, if you get stuck, just tell me what you see and I’ll talk you through.”

Reezan’s mind was starting to move sluggishly, the sickness taking hold of him faster than he thought. Reezan was touched by yet upset from Sena’s actions towards him, ”Don’t worry about me, fool! We are here to do a job, nothing is more important than our result!” Reezan didn’t want to chastise her, but it was true that he believed the mission more important than his personal health.

Looking to the circuit board he tried to recall his old missions, he had to break his way in every now and again. Finding a few similar circuit structure, Reezan began to slowly piece his way through this obstacle as his hand slipped as another bout of coughing overtook him. An alarm began to sound again, Get ahold of yourself!, ”I’ll take care of it!” he reassured Sena. He furiously worked through his oncoming fever to quickly turn off the alarm and with a satisfying clunk the doors began to open.

Pulling his rifle off his back Reezan began to stagger forward, ”Sena, call in the update, I’ll scout on ahead. Fisher, report to Tarrin’s squad, we can handle it from here.” Without waiting for their responses he melted into his surroundings.

”Reezan wait-” Sena called but it was too late, he’d already disappeared. Sena gathered up their things and got up. ”We can’t do a job if you’re dead you fool” she hissed, not daring to raise her voice too loud incase there was someone in there waiting to ambush them. She freed her pistol from its holster and raised it up before stepping into the darkness around the corner. She tapped her comm channel on, silencing the external speaker on her helmet so that her voice would be confined to radio. ”Doors opened, the mechanics were simple enough but the mechanism was bugged with a trip circuit. Be careful, this place may have more traps.” Sena reported.

She flipped her comm channel to Reezan, her voice would appear inside his helmet rather than externally, she couldn’t tell where he was in the dim surroundings and they needed to stick together.
”Reezan, where are you!” she cursed, eyes darting around trying to analyse the environment.

Something scurried towards her, she could see a flicker of movement, but it certainly wasn’t Quarian, it wasn’t Reezan. She yelped and fired her pistol, obliterating the unsuspecting space beetle as her heart hammered in her chest from the ambush.

”Sena, I'm right in fron-” Reezan was cut off as a gunshot passed by his foot by mere centimeters. Reezan reappeared, grabbed Sena and brought her behind some crates in a dark corner. He sat in wait waiting for any possible footsteps, hearing none, his rage boiled over. ”Goddess! What's wrong with you?!” Reezan’s voice exploded in Sena’s speakers. ”This is why I didn't want you out in the field, you're too nervous. You should have trusted me and waited for my scouting information. Damn, just stay here and stick to the shadows, I'll be back and if I don't I'll radio in what's going on.” Reezan pulled away from Sena, pulling out his pistol he once again disappeared from view.

Sena blushed beneath her visor. She’d overreacted … but she wasn’t built for the frontlines, wasn’t that obvious? She was a genius but not on the field.
”You just vanished- I was looking for you!” she protested, of course he was right, she had overreacted, but he was silly for leaving her out there on her own, they were a team, they had to stick together, and with his fever he could hardly run off on his own, what if he got sloppy again and suffered another suit rupture?
”Reezan! Don’t run off and leave me here in the dark again, I’m coming with you” she insisted, this was part of the plan was it not? To meet up with the others later, they couldn’t afford to get separated already.

She pawed around in the dark, hoping to find her way but the adrenalin pumping through her was making her dizzy, plus she recalled her capture by Batarian’s, the fear she’d been going through back then. This time she had a gun though, and … backup, it was different. She knew she wasn’t safe, but … this was a different danger.

”This is stupid! What a stupid plan, he should have let me send out a combat drone, then we wouldn’t be fumbling around in the dark waiting to be ambushed” she growled to herself.
”Whadda we have here-”
A hand reached out from the dark. Sena knew it wasn’t a bug, knew it wasn’t her imagination going into overdrive.
Her muscles coiled up tight and she spun back to grab the assailant by the upper-arm and threw him over her shoulder, sprawling out on the floor in front of her. She pressed a pistol to his head, hand shaking slightly as her vision blurred back into focus. She didn’t recognise the face staring, bewilderedly, back up at her.
”Don’t move, or I’ll shoot- … I’ll shoot” she threatened.

Reezan heard Sena’s complaints with heavy heart, Can’t she tell I’m trying to keep her safe? Feeling bad for leaving her behind he began to return to his partner when he heard a loud thud coming from where he left her. Worried, Reezan took off in a sprint to make sure she was okay; the sickness spreading through him slowed his movement but he kept pushing forward. He found Sena holding down someone, seems as if this place wasn’t as abandoned as initially thought.

Reezan’s eyes were already attuned to their dark atmosphere, a trade skill when you're not allowed to be seen. As he drew closer to Sena, he noticed the person she was holding down was moving in a strange, erratic fashion. Haven't I seen something like that before… Reezan bolted in full sprint after his realization of what they are dealing with but it was too late, Sena’s prisoner was already grabbing at her arms. Reezan grabbed his rifle off his back and took a swing as if it were a club, knocking the assailant off of his friend. Before it could stand, Reezan placed the barrel of his rifle against its head and took the shot, blue tinted blood spraying on the wall behind.

As the body sunk to the ground he helped Sena to her feet. Reezan brought his omni-tool up to make a small light to illuminate what he just killed, the scarred, blue skin and dead eyes made it very clear on what it was. ”It’s a Husk,” informed Reezan, ”Fought some of these on random planets the geth left behind during my career.” A visible shudder went through Reezan’s body, ”If these are around then this is definitely going to give us some interesting intel,” Reezan changed his comm link to include the other groups, ”Reezan and Sena reporting in. Just identified a Husk here, possibly more on grounds, there's some weird shit going on here. We will keep moving forward. Reezan out.”

Reezan began pulling Sena by the hand for a few paces then settled it onto his shoulder, ”If you still can't see I'll guide you along, just stay close. More should be coming thanks to the noise we made so we need to move fast.” Switching the filter on his scope to night vision, he scanned the immediate area, he saw nothing but you could hear their shambling steps echoing in the dead silence. Reezan began moving them down a corridor where the noises didn't seem to be coming from.

Sena blushed slightly at Reezan pulling her along … Living in a suit meant skin-to-skin contact was non-existent, but even with her suit, no one had really tried to make physical contact with her. Octavus was a little too forward at times, but everyone else kept a huge distance, as if there wasn’t a person inside the suit at all.
Her visor wasn’t equipped for this kind of darkness, she usually worked in a well lit lab, night-vision wasn’t a feature she’d modified her suit to include, that would be the first thing she’d do when they got back- if they got back. She was taking mental notes of lots of different modifications to make, to weaponry, armour, everything …

She’d seen some of the vids about the husks and reapers … but seeing one up close and personal, feeling it clawing at her suit … it was something else entirely. It was utterly horrifying. Deathly cold, making inhuman noises, lurching horribly and hungrily towards her …

”So we shoot anything we see … Right? Aside from the rest of our team, there are no innocent civilians in here right? Just Icarus and those … things”.

Reezan kept them moving at a quick pace, no time to slow down and let those things catch up to them. He heard Sena’s worried tone, ”Don’t go shooting anything first, I have the silenced weapon. I know you are worried right now but I want you to calm down and trust me, this isn’t the first time I’ve fought these things nor the first mission in the dark. I promise you that you will be fine.”

While walking down the corridor they came to an intersection, checking both for enemies, Reezan noticed that down the right hallway that there was light coming from the end of it. Their path opened up to a large, empty chamber, the flickering lights in the floor casting shadows throughout the room. Reezan shouldered his rifle again, ”This is...strange,” he looked deeper into the room and found what looked like a guard station, ”Over here, maybe we’ll find something.”

[Crossfire]

"Husks? How did they... Reezan, Sena, Fall back to the door and link up with Fisher!" Tarrin called into the comms. He saw Fisher, but not the quarians, they had slipped inside early "Damn it. Fisher, what are you doing? Get in after them. Rear team, breach now! Let's move in Hawke!"

The turian moved quick for his age, closing the gap between their covered position and the doorway in just a few seconds. It slid open and he entered the dark interior, Hawke just behind him.

"I recognize this design. Alliance pre-fab 328-47b. There should be a stairway along the west side wall of the main chamber, leads up to a control room. Of course these damned hallways are in the way. Let's see.... Forward to the first junction, up the left path, then right."

A husk stumbled into view, Tarrin raised his rifle and put a blast between its eyes, no telling how many of the abominations were in here, or how they had gotten here. He spoke into the comms.

"Team, be alert, Reezan was correct. It seems Icarus somehow acquired geth technology and left husks in this facility. Damn things are everywhere. Doesn't seem like any signs of life here apart from them. Hawke and I are heading to the control room in the main chamber, 2nd floor. Converge there, and watch your backs"