Tanya shot an uncertain glance at Kosso and Luek before quickly inputting the keycode into the omni-tool, and before she set down to work on the safe, her fingers moved in another sequence, and 'Shithead' the combat drone appeared, floating a few feet from her patiently while it waited for instruction. Inputting the commands in the omni-tool, the drone floated towards the doors, "Anyone comes through there uninvited, they're getting roasted." she said, moving to the wall, tracing her hand along the coral panel, searching for the button that would open it. It had to be something fairly large, otherwise Luek's tentacle would simply be too large to access it. Her fingers moved along the smooth metal before she felt something somewhat spongy to the touch. With a firm press, the panel slid to the side, exposing the safe. Looking back at Kosso and their hostage, she raised an eyebrow. "If he gave me a code that sets off a silent alarm, made sure he bleeds out slowly." she remarked coldly before her fingers danced over the comically large keypad.
1...7...3...9...2...
The telltale sign of a magnetic clutch disengaging was audible through the thick metal and the first door opened easily. One edge of Kosso's mouth twitched, the only sign he could show of the relief that the mission was still somehow on track. "Apparently you are[/ good for something." He addressed Luek, the point of his gun never wavering from its position above the criminal's gelatinous body.
"This one imagines that this one must be worth a great deal, to warrant the attention you are giving it." The Hanar answered, without a trace of humor.
"Cute. Now the second code."
"Are you so eager to end this 'business' and leave? This one was just starting to warm up to the two of yo-" The Hanar's sentence wasn't finished when Kosso's foot caught him in the side. Luek actually left the ground for a short second, tentacles flailing uselessly, before landing with a soft plop a few feet away. Kosso was over him again immediately with his gun.
"I'm losing patience, and you're losing time. The code. Now." Luek remained silent. With a frustrated sigh, Kosso motioned to Tanya. "Better start on plan B."
Opening an algorithm in her omnitool, Tanya worked at connecting it to the software in the safe. Hundreds of numbers filled the screen as she made minute adjustments, concentrating on the job at hand. The program, preloaded with every number combination, putting priority on the most commonly used, threw these numbers at the safe's programming, comparing thousands of potential combinations to the safe's program in a way that was not unlike trying a box of like-sized keys in a keyhole and seeing if any turned the lock. While the program did its thing, she had to manually bypass security features in the program, such as overriding the lockout from too many incorrect guesses, disconnecting the alarm sequence while resetting the redundancies that made up the security protocols.
"This one knows who you are." Luek's voice was quieter now, so different and somber that it took Kosso a bit by surprise. His grip tightened on his pistol.
"I don't think you do. And unless you're ready to spill some codes, I'd shut up if I were you."
Luek continued undeterred. "No, this one is sure. The way you fight...your anger...this is all personal, isn't it?"
"Don't act so flattered, this is just business." Kosso's words were hissed through strained teeth. Every second dealing with Luek was driving him closer to the edge.
"This one thinks not. You're one of this one's little apprentices aren't you?" His voice, cold and vast as the Kahjean sea, firmed into certainty. "You're the one that got away."
Kosso jammed the barrel of the gun into the Hanar's side. "Shut. Up."
"This one stopped looking for you long ago. Not worth the time or the money. But you just couldn't keep away, could you?" Luek continued with a deep sound that might have been a chuckle. "You came crawling right back. Yes, this one remembers. Not your name, or where you came from, or how old you were when Cirn tried to beat some sense into you...but I remember you. The rebellious one, the one always causing trouble. This one couldn't tell you how many times Cirn tried to convince it to drop you from the training, send you back to whatever lowborn family threw you at us, but what she saw as a weakness and a liability, this one saw as...potential. A pity you chose to run. You could have been worth so much more than what you are now."
Any reply Kosso could have made was cut off by the sound of the second safe door sliding open. "If this was a typical safe, I could just slap some fucking omni-gel on it and call it good." Tanya muttered, establishing a connection with the third layer of the safe, being sure to check for security systems this far into it. It was slow, tedious work, but they were getting there. "What's the status on the others? No critical fuck ups?" she asked, heart pounding and brow saturated with sweat from the tension and exertion from the fight.
Kosso stepped away from Luek, snagging a discarded drink as he did and taking a quick sip to steady himself."Oh I'm sure there's been fuck-ups," he replied, relieved to have something else to talk about. "Just none so major as to sink this mission. The stealth team's neutralized the main security hub, and I just got word that our favorite Asari has secured the gear and the auxiliary security room. All things considered, things seem to be going fairly well." He glanced over at where their host lay, silent and still.. "But we're not in the clear just yet. Might as well get to work on that third door. I'll see to Luek."
Kosso strode back over to the Hanar, gun at the ready. I tower over him like this, He thought suddenly, but I remember when it was the other way around. He didn't dwell on the thought, or the memories it invoked. Instead his foot once again made contact with Luek's side. "You're quickly outliving your usefulness, you know. Two doors down, and only one to go. So I'm only going to ask this once: what is the code?"
"Yes, this one can see that your partner is quite proficient with safe-cracking." Luek answered, a mocking edge working its way into his usually monotone voice. "You, on the contrary, need to work on your interrogation process. If you mean to intimidate me, you-"
There was a quick motion from Kosso, and a blazing blue light, and suddenly Luek was in the air, tumbling, tentacles whirling, before the crime lord came to a sudden painful stop against the opposite wall. The impact practically shook the room. The Hanar's body was barely at rest before Kosso was striding towards it, eyes directed forwards with a singular purpose. Along the way, one hand darted out to wrench an ornament from a nearby wall: an ancient Kahjean fishing spear, wrought of coral and intricately carved with forgotten script. A priceless object to be sure. A few more steps, and Kosso flung the object downwards, impaling one of Luek's tentacles. The Hanar made some low, croaking rumble that Kosso assumed to be a sign of pain. The tentacle writhed pitifully, pinned to the floor beneath and spurting a thick, clear liquid.
Kosso jammed his gun once more into Luek's side. "I'm out of patience, Luek, and now you're out of time. I'm not afraid to get this suit dirty. Give me the code, now, or I will kill you, one tentacle at a time."
The voice that came through Luek's communicator was like nothing Kosso had heard before. It stuttered, a mess of low tones and painfully high screeches, the translator doing its best to interpret the Hanar's pain. After a few seconds, Kosso was able to make out words within the jumbled syllables. "It's-It's-It's a voice loc-lock! Yo-you nee-ne-need the cod-code word! This one's voi-voice! Voice!"
Kosso pushed the barrel of his gun farther into Luek's side, twisting. "Speak, then."
There was a quiet moment as Luek composed himself, body quivering as he became still. Even the impaled tentacle came to an uneasy rest, twitching slightly beneath the point of the spear. Then he spoke, with surprising clarity. "Enter passcode: 'Aurelion may rise again.'"
Across the room, an orange light appeared on the surface of the safe's security lock. It blinked three times before being replaced with a bright green light that shone steadily. A cheerful beep echoed through the room. Then, only silence. The third door remained closed. Kosso looked to Tanya, but she just shrugged, unable to detect any silent alarm triggers.
The silence was broken by a low, echoing rumble, as terrible as the depths of the sea. Luek was laughing. Kosso's finger tightened on the trigger. "If this is your idea of a joke-"
The lights abruptly went out, casting the room in darkness. Kosso glanced around, unable to see anything besides what was illuminated by the stormy light through the overhead skylight. "The fuck-"
The floor jumped beneath his feet, sending him sprawling. The entire room jolted, tilting violently. The room was filled with a cacophony of sounds as desks and chairs overturned and wall hangings flew from their spots. Kosso tried to regain his feet, struggling for purchase on the sleek and slanted floors, but the room was already tilting again, the opposite direction this time. He went tumbling, hands outstretched, searching for something to grab. Something solid and heavy slammed into his side, winding him. He grabbed at it, hoping for a purchase, some sort of anchor, but it had already spun away in the darkness. Or maybe it was him that was spinning, as the room shook and danced, the floor tilting wildly again and again.
In a flash of lightning, he saw Tanya, clinging to Luek's holo desk as the room turned nearly 90 degrees and the floor became a wall. In another, he saw Luek, a mass of tentacles, flailing and gripping at what they could as the Hanar flung himself towards the door. Somewhere above (or was it to the side? Below? He couldn't even tell anymore) there was the sharp sound of breaking glass, and seconds later Kosso felt the cold lash of water against his face. There was some sound filling the room, the roar of some vast and powerful beast, a force of pure intensity and fury that filled Kosso with deep and primal dread. And still he fell, landed, fell, in the darkness and the sound, for what must have been only minutes but felt like hours.
Finally, things seemed to come to a rest. The floor's swaying calmed to a steady movement, punctuated by occasional shakes. The darkness was cast away as red lights flashed into life overhead, spreading a bloody glow over everything in the room. Kosso found himself pinned beneath an ornate chair; with a groan, he pushed it off of him and struggled upwards to his knees. His whole body ached now, not just his injured arm, and for a moment he thought he might have broken his leg before he managed to bend it gingerly as he rose.
The room was titled now, a near constant 10 degree angle. The furniture, once meticulously designed and placed, was now torn and overturn, thrown all about the room. Above, the skylight was shattered, and heavy rain poured through to pool on the broken glass below. The wind was howling, reaching in through the opening with wet, angry fingers. Outside, the sea was roaring, its intensity no longer muffled and hidden behind walls and glass.
"Tanya?" Kosso called as he rose shakily to his feet. His eyes searched the ruddy haze, looking for a friendly face among the rubble. "You alive?"
"Barely." Tanya coughed from behind Kosso, having lost her grip and been half tossed across the room into a shelving unit. Her arms and face had several fresh gashes from the glass, her dress torn and seeping with blood, and she was thoroughly soaked with sea water. Despite the adrenaline flooding her systems, she shivered. The sea was freezing. She wiggled her toes and fingers, testing to see if they still worked with the savage impact she had just endured. With a small amount of difficulty, she managed to remove herself from the wall, ignoring the sharp pain that seemed to come from everywhere, her back in particular. "You owe me a new dress for this." she said, limping over to Kosso. "Shouldn't have asked him for the codes, a few extra minutes would be better than... oh god, Kosso. That fucker's going to sink the ship, isn't he?" she asked, her eyes wide with worry and barely contained panic. "The others... the people on board..." she eyed the safe, everything coming to focus. "Shit!"
"Yeah, and that's not our only problem." Kosso was staring down at a certain section of floor, where, against all odds, his spear had remained lodged within the waterlogged carpet. The tentacle that he had impaled was still there as well, but now if had no owner: one side ended in a ragged bit of torn flesh, still leaking fluid. Alone and severed, the tentacle continued to twitch and curl beneath the point of the spear. "Luek's escaped. Sick bastard must have had this fail-safe installed in case things go really bad for him. Cut the primary power for the ship, and the mass effect shields keeping this ship protected go down as well. In any other case he might have had more tricks up his sleeve, but tonight all he needs is the storm. Even a ship this advanced can't stand against waves that size." He glanced up at the dim red lights overhead. "Ship must be running on auxiliary power, just enough for the essential systems. Not enough to save us, but just enough to keep us afloat...long enough for Luek to escape." He talked fast and clear, only an edge of anger in his voice.
Tanya hurried through what was amounting to ankle deep water, pooling in the once pristine study to the safe. "The fucking lock's not going to work without a power source. I'm going to probably fry my omni-tool doing this, but I'm going to try to power the system and get the last code open. I... I managed to get it down to about 20,050 variable combinations, which might take a few minutes to run through." she glanced down at her hand, which was shaking violently. She hurried to clasp it and began a breathing exercise. "Call the others... we need to get an extraction, fast. We need to get somebody down to engineering who knows what the fuck they're doing to try to get support systems back online, or this entire ship is going down and bringing everyone aboard with it." she gave Kosso a hard look. "If that bastard Luek isn't dead now, put a bullet in him quick and make him pay for this. I'll be fine. I'll find you when I have the safe open." with that, she turned to the safe, activating her omni-tool and quickly entering several command prompts and dismissing warnings as the omni-tool integrated with the safe. While the red power light returned on the safe, her omni-tool began to waver, the power fluctuating as she ran her hacking program, mind on several things at once. If she fucked it up, the safe would lock down, regardless of power, and everything would be for nothing. She brushed her soaked hair out of her eyes as she continued, trying to pretend the might of Kahje wasn't currently threatening to drown her.
Kosso's mind was racing when Tanya told him to go after Luek. Yeah, ok. He can't have gotten far, not with the ship in this condition. He's probably got an escape craft stashed somewhere onboard, but I can catch up to him if I move fast. But when he opened his mouth, what came out was: "No, fuck that. He began sifting through the ruins of the once posh room, hastily throwing furniture aside. "Luek said he has other bodyguards on this ship, and I believe him. He'll keep some with him, I'm sure, but he'll send all the others here to stop us from getting away with the info. Even with a sinking ship, he's not one to take chances, and he doesn't give a damn about the lives of his men, as we already know." In one pile of assorted splinters and shards of glass, he found his glasses. They'd been thrown from his face in the commotion, and now they were twisted and cracked. Mangled and useless. Damn shame. He tossed them aside and kept digging. Finally he found what he was looking for: one of the guard's guns. He stood, checking the ammo and firing mechanism with practiced precision. Good to go. "I'm not leaving you here alone." He called, speaking loudly to be heard over the roaring gale outside. "These guys that are coming are going to be well trained, and this time we don't have the element of surprise. You get that safe open, and then we'll go after Luek together."
There was a voice inside him, nagging. Now is not the time to be a good teammate, Kosso. He ignored it. One hand moved to his omni-tool to open a communication channel with the Tyrus. "Captain, we need immediate evacuation. Lock onto my coordinates and bring the Tyrus around quickly and quietly. We definitely don't want to be drawing any attention when we ditch this party."
The voice that responded was male, but obviously digital, its speech somewhat stilted and artificial. "Yes, Private Irak. Receiving coordinates now." I swear I'm going to kill whoever programmed this thing to address us all with military ranks. Harmless when we were safe on the Tyrus, annoying when we're facing imminent death. The AI's voice turned hesitant. "Warning: weather conditions around proposed extraction point are unsuitable for personnel boarding. Suggest establishing extraction point at new coordinates."
"There isn't any other extraction point, unless you want to fetch our bodies from the bottom of the ocean."
"I am not programmed for such a task."
"Well then, you'd better hurry up. Make it happen, cap'n." Kosso closed the comm line. The little voice in the back of his head was still talking. You're letting Luek get away. If you don't kill him, he'll come after you. And this time he won't give up the search that easily. He grabbed the edge of an overturned desk and began moving it into a better cover position. As he did so, he opened another comm channel to the rest of the crew.
"So in case you can't already tell, we're all pretty much fucked. Luek trashed the power systems and now this ship is going down fast. I've called in the Tyrus but who knows how long it'll take before it's out of the hangar, or even if we can manage to get onboard when it does show up. So you might as well start saying your prayers and hugging your neighbor, because to be honest, it doesn't look good for us." He grunted a bit as he pushed the heavy desk along the floor, shoulder afire with pain. "But Tanya and I, for our part, are getting this thing done. We're not leaving without the information. We're gonna crack this safe, and then we're going to kill that son-of-a-bitch Luek."
Satisfied with position of his new cover, he checked his gun one last time for damages. "Everything else is up to you guys. If you can get the main power systems back on, it may buy us sometime. If Tsvi or Kygg know of any other way to keep this wreck afloat, all the better. And we need to make sure Luek doesn't escape. If he does, he use every ounce of power he has to hunt us down and wipe us off the galactic plane. We still have the security feeds, or at least as many that will actually work on auxillary power. Mari, you've got the firepower: see if you can track Luek and slow him down before he reaches whatever escape he's got planned. We'll meet up with you when we're done here, and with anyone else that's still alive and kicking. Good luc-"
A bullet whizzed past his ear a fraction of a second before he ducked to huddle behind his makeshift cover. "Shit shit fuck shit." He growled under his breath, "That was fucking fast." To Tanya he yelled "Here they come! Get that fucker open!" Then he was up and firing, his eyes full of muzzleflash and seawater.
"Oh, because I was having an easy time concentrating before." she snapped, fighting the overwhelming temptation to look at the guards who were approaching. A heavy pistol round cracked at the baseboard above Tanya's head, causing her to flinch but otherwise she kept at her task, driving herself forward. If she fucked up now, everything was for nothing, and while she didn't fancy dying, she fancied being the one to drop the ball with everyone's lives on the line even less. Numbers flew by on the fading omni-tool display in rapid succession, too fast for the eye to register, and for a very real moment, she feared the omni-tool was going to break before...
Click.
"Holy shit." she breathed, pulling open the heavy door and reaching inside for the contents. A large, hefty data drive and a projection globe sat within, which she grabbed both of without hesitation and having nowhere else to put them, stuffed them down the front of her dress, the uncomfortable corners and bulk of the items extremely uncomfortable against her bare skin.She scrambled behind the desk as a pair of wild shots followed her, missing her entirely. Tanya's eyes scanned the floor, unable to locate the pistol she had taken from the guard. His body, and his weapon, were gone. "For fuck's sake..." she cursed, dreading using her omni-tool but seeing no other choice. A quick sequence of movement with her fingers on her left hand activated her combat drone's micro fabricators and she leaned over the hardwood table to launch the drone at the enemy. As 'Shithead' finished fabricating, her omni-tool glowed brightly for a moment before shattering, the pieces raining down around her arm like heated shards of glass. She pulled her hand away, shaking her entire arm with a curse. The yells of the security force were met with the sounds of micro rockets launching towards them and the hard whomp of detonations. She didn't look up to see if a kill was registered. "I'm helpless unless I can get my hands on a weapon... I shouldn't have done that." The distinctive sound of a flame thrower could be heard, along with the screams of one of 'Shithead's victims. "We're going to have to sneak around 'Shithead' or kill it, because its IFF signal came from the omni-tool. As far as its concerned, anything that moves is fair game." despite the pain and fear, she grinned at Kosso, no doubt looking like a hell of a mess with her makeup running down her face as well as the various cuts and abrasions she suffered. "Let's get the fuck out of here, partner."
Despite everything, Kosso had to smile back. "You took the words right out of my mouth." He fired one last shot before tossing the pistol to Tanya. "You're a better shot than I am anyway. Cover me, I'm about to do something stupid." He spun up and vaulted over the desk, sprinting towards the other side of the room where 'Shithead' was currently roasting the latest guard that had been bold enough to step foot through the door. Behind him he could hear the pistol barking as Tanya moved to cover his advance. Just like old times, he thought. It was only afterwards that he realized that the two of them had never been together in a situation like this before.
As he moved past the spear he'd used as an impromptu interrogation tool, he wrenched it free from the floor and carried it with him. The room was spacious, but not large by any standards. Kosso had closed the distance within seconds. Without breaking speed, he took one step onto an overturned chair and used it to springboard himself out and up over the renegade drone. His entire body was aglow with brilliant blue light as his biotics were unleashed. He drove the point of the spear downwards, into and through the top of the drone. To his surprise, the drone didn't immediately dissipate upon being struck. Instead it turned violently at the attack, the spear becoming lodged within it's side. The spear stopped; Kosso didn't. He tumbled over the drone, grasping for his weapon and missing as he fell with a splash to the floor below. He barely had time to roll behind some nearby furniture before 'Shithead' had turned its flamethrower in his direction. The flames leapt and crackled, bathing Kosso in heat as they bit at the edges of his cover. He thought for sure that the couch he was hiding behind would burst into flames, forcing him into the open, but it had been thoroughly soaked by now, and only emitted a great gout of steam as the drone torched it. "Fuck, why is this thing so durable!?" He yelled, looking for his next move.
It boggled Tanya's mind to witness Kosso's agility. It was all she could do to keep the guards trying to stream into the room heads' down with quick taps of pistol fire, the distance and size of targets not so different than the shooting range back on an Alliance base. As the drell behaved more like some kind of iron-age hero instead of a contemporary assassin, Tanya subconsciously tried to activate the disruptor ammunition function on her omni-tool, which despite having been destroyed only moments ago, still came out as something of a shock. It had become so second nature, such a part of her, the word phantom limb came to mind somewhat unnervingly. Kosso's strike on the drone was a success, but it wasn't enough to dissipate what had at one point been Tanya's pride and joy. The drell managed to climb behind cover as the flamethrower began to smother Kosso's cover in ungodly heat. His shouting, at least, was a sign he was still alive.
"What the fuck do you think I do in my workshop all day?" Tanya yelled back. "If we fucking bought the Mako or Kodiak like I'd been requesting, I wouldn't have put all my attention into this bastard!"
She popped out of cover again, firing a quick succession of bullets at a guard, taking him out by the throat, and then turning her attention on the drone, which she fired at, flakes of micro-fabricated materials chipping off with each subsequent bullet impact. It was, however, enough to distract 'Shithead' from Kosso's position before it rotated to face Tanya. She knew the drone's functions better than her own body; the very faint whirring sound it began to emit only meant one thing. She sprinted to the side of the room, overheated pistol in hand, and dove away from the desk, which splintered from the impact of the micro-rocket 'Shithead' had launched at her. She survived one crisis, but found herself in another; she was completely exposed.
"Why is it the smart people are always killed by their own creations?!" she exclaimed, dunking the pistol into the water in a desperate attempt to cool it down.
"You and your goddamned Mako fantasies! How many times do I have to tell you, we-" Kosso stopped yelling when he realized Tanya wasn't listening, the latter engaged with dodging 'Shithead's' micro-rockets. She'd evaded one, but 'Shithead' was already loading another, if the whirring sound it emitted was any indication. Kosso stood, exhaling deeply as he stretched one arm out, biotic energy crackling and fizzing along its length. He pulled back suddenly with a sharp yell, creating a pull field that expanded outwards at blinding speed. The biotic force slashed through the cloud of steam and falling rain, catching 'Shithead' just as he was firing his payload.
The drone spun erratically as he was towards the Drell, whirring and beeping. The micro-rocket that had been intended for Tanya's face spun off course, spiraling into another corner of the room before exploding in a great gout of splinters and saltwater. Kosso was moving again, sliding through the water beneath 'Shithead' as the drone was pulled violently overhead. He rolled into a fighting stance on the other side, grasping the end of his spear as it swung by and wrenching it free from the 'Shithead's' hull. The drone was already priming its flamethrower again, even as it struggled to regain control of its movement. Kosso didn't give it that chance. Another deep strike through the side, and 'Shithead's' fabricated body began to collapse. The rampaging machine made a few last death noises, clicks and beeps and frantic whirring, before it settled into the water below like the dead-weight it was, the digitally constructed materials already beginning to fall apart.
Kosso glanced over at Tanya. "We're not getting a Mako unless you can guarantee that it'll never try to murder us." There was a shout from the doorway, and he was back in action, sliding into a cover position on the wall next to the entrance. Two last guards, emboldened by the death of the rampaging drone. Kosso grabbed the first one that came through the doorway, one hand on the man's collar and another on his back as he reached from the side and swung him into the adjacent wall with enough force to leave a dent. The guard struggled, but Kosso was as efficient as ever. One strike to the neck, one kick to transfer the gun from the guard's arms to Kosso's own, and then one quick shot to the faceplate. He turned to face the second guard, newly-acquired weapon in hand, but that opponent had already pushed through the door and was advancing on him quickly. Kosso ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding the opening shots as the guard pushed forward.
As 'Shithead' dissolved, its form unable to sustain itself after such structural damage, Tanya let out a sigh of relief. Had Kosso been unable to act in time, she would have been in pieces, shredded from the force of the micro-rocket. There was not much time to sit and ponder, however, as the last of the guards made their push into the room, the primary threat neutralized. Kosso quickly dispatched one of the assailants with his usual flare, although a second came in after, weapon trained on the drell. Kosso, fortunately, managed to avoid the opening salvo of submachine-gun rounds but was forced behind cover. As the man prepared to traverse the obstruction, Tanya opened fire with a series of double-taps that were trained largely at his chest. It was drilled in her to always aim for center-mass; vital organs were vital organs, and the body was a much easier target to acquire than the head. The guard was caught in the open, his only possible cover was currently occupied by a hostile assassin. Having no other choice, he swivelled, weapon shouldered, and tried to acquire Tanya before his shield failed. Without the protective barrier, the heavy pistol made short work of his armour, punching through it like a knife through a tin can. The man was dead before he had the chance to squeeze the trigger of his own weapon.
Raising up from the flooded floor, Tanya made her way over to the body, kicking it away from the weapon. She scooped the submachine-gun up from the water, shaking the salted water out of the barrel. "Glad I'm not using my own weapons. Submerged weapons are a bitch to clean properly, especially when it's salt water." she mused, as if they didn't just survive a rather determined attack and a rampaging piece of lethal technology. She offered a hand to Kosso, who took it, raising to his feet. She handed the weapon to him. "I know it's disappointing, but you can't kill everyone between us and Luek with a spear. Besides, it nearly killed you. It's lucky." she grinned. "As for the Mako, I can't make any promises about it trying to kill us. After all, isn't shoving VIs into everything the way of the future?" she gestured to the door. "Our hanar friend has enough of a head start with a bad leg... tentacle... thing. It would look bad on both of us if he managed to outrun us, yeah?"
As the pair exited the room, checking the corners and sweeping the halls, Tanya elbowed Kosso. "By the way, I'm serious. I want my tank."