[indent]
Janiri's overload and Karnoc's shots weakened the Locust's barrier. After that, grenades from Kysar and Keslia finished made short work of the collector's remaining defenses. It all happened within seconds, while Locust was recalling its swarm. 

Realizing its danger with a sharp screech, the Locust's retaliation came first with a green biotic blast toward Janiri, which shredded the metal ship she hid behind, but otherwise left the asari unharmed. Then came a burst from its particle beam, directed at Kysar and Kaya's position. Once again, their covers took brunt of it. Finally, it turned to the charging krogan. They were too close to each other to miss now, but luckily for Karnoc, one of Kaya's shots hit dead center on the Locust's chest, puncturing its chitinous armor and knocking it off balance.

Then, one of Keslia's grenades exploded seconds after the others, possibly malfunctioned due to sand or overlapping biotics. This explosion threw Karnoc back. Fortunately for Katya, who had armed herself with the rocket launcher (which the drell conveniently reloaded before dying) and climbed on top of the shipwreck, this meant Karnoc wouldn't get close enough to the collector. 

"Firing rocket!" Katya announced over their comms. And once she had done so, the rocket homed in on the Locust. With no barrier and fractured armor, the resulting explosion tore the Locust to darkened bits.

After the dusts settled, Skeleton Coast fell silent. The swarm crumbled without control; their shells littered the sands. Wind and waves were the only sounds remaining. In the furthest east, a tiny speck of light appeared on the horizon.

Katya dropped the rocket launcher and let out a sigh of relief. Others in the team were checking the Locust's remains, so she tended to Solveig. Solveig had recovered enough to shoulder her rifle, and told Katya she was fine. But Katya wasn't so sure. Solveig would never say she's vulnerable, even in the worst perils. Katya supported her to the shuttle and told her to lie down for the time being.

Upon confirming the Locust's destruction, there was no one more relieved than Yarik. The tense, guarded alertness vanished from his body, replaced with simple jubilation as if he relived the victory over the reapers. "The war is finally over," he rejoiced. Now, the problem was the surviving drells. Some of them begun to stir, and about half of their number were still alive. Apparently, none of them remembered fighting the SRN team.

"This is our only shuttle now." Beanie reminded everyone. Right, it would take two trips to get the SRN members and other drells back to Windhoek. Katya and Solveig would be back on the first flight, along with several injured drells. Yarik would stay behind for the second flight. In her place, Katya appointed Janiri as temporary squad leader (for those waiting with Yarik); reason being the asari had shown surprising amount of initiative (and less likely to do something reckless, like Karnoc).
[/indent]
[hr]
[indent]
It was well into the morning when everyone returned to Windhoek. The predicted sandstorm had fully blanketed the area. Resistance members, relief workers and the newly arrived drells cramped inside whatever shelter they could find to avoid this sandstorm. The interior of the only intact building in Windheok suddenly felt very cramped. For what it's worth, Karnoc was wise to secure a janitor's closet. In fact, it looked like a cozy closet.

Katya accompanied Solveig in a medical tent outside. A doctor examined Solveig and found no serious injury. Though this was with the limited equipment on hand. Solveig recounted what happened with the infiltration team. Later, the tent was sealed up against the sandstorm. Solveig rested on a cot, and Katya sat the next one. She wasn't sure if her cousin-in-law was sleeping or not. Either way, she respected her silence. As Katya typed the mission report, she realized this was the first time she had worked with Solveig. Actually, it was the first time they had spent more than a few hours together. Outside of lunch at mess halls and dinners at family gatherings, Katya had no idea what kind of person Solveig was. Her eyes fell on the metal arm by Solveig's side; she clearly had burdens, but just how much was she carrying on her own?

When the report was done and submitted to SRN, it was time to get paid. This was a strange process, getting paid job-by-job like a mercenary. Though the credit chits Yarik presented were enticing enough...hold on, they were half of what he promised!

"Don't worry, the remaining payment is here." Yarik produced a suitcase. Inside were paper bills. Katya recognized one of them, something she hadn't seen since her childhood: a Russian ruble! Old currencies like that only circulated on Earth, where traditional nation-state had precedence over Alliance authorities.

"How did you get this?"

"Well, I found them." Yarik tried to make an exit.

"In?" Katya grabbed the back of Yarik's armor.

"A bank? You have them on Earth, yes?" Yarik did something akin to a human shrug. "Look, we were salvaging and found the reapers had blown open the vault, so..."

"You robbed a bank." Katya couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"It's not like anyone else needed the cash, right?"

"Right..." Katya reluctantly let Yarik go.

At the end of the day, money is money. Katya distributed the credits and paper bills (half each) in equal portions to the members of her team. When everything was done, she could finally put down her gear, scrub them clean of dust and sand, and finally get some shut eye.

Waking up 90 minutes later, Katya found a message on her datapad.

[hider=CONFIDENTIAL MESSAGE]
[code]
From: Crucible Circuitry Department
To: Katya Serova
CC: SRN Brokerage
RE: Artifact Fragments and Data
[/code]

Dear Ms. Serova,

I am Dr. Jelize, lead scientist at the circuitry department, crucible project. We are currently researching enthrallment devices deployed by special operation units during the war. Information about these devices is difficult to find.

Therefore, it has come to our attention that your team has encountered one such device during your latest mission. I have been authorized to purchase all fragments and data from your encounter. 

Please meet me at Havana at your earliest convenience. The payment can be negotiated.

Goddess watch over you,

Dr. Jelize
[/hider]
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