[IC] Mass Effect: The Face of Injustice

[EliteCommander]

Avatar quickly ran projections on Voira's proposed course of action. The Krogan was now temporarily immobilized, but he still had access to his firearm, and was already trying to aim at Voira. Nevertheless, Voira's plan did have a marginally higher chance of ending with zero allied casualties, as the Turians were already close to bringing themselves to their feet and were a more immediate threat.

Within 0.18 seconds, Avatar had decided to abide by Voira's suggestion to focus its fire on the Turians. However, as Avatar was bringing its weapon to bear, Donny hit both of the remaining Turians with a biotic charge, knocking them from their feet once again. One was slammed into a wall, while the other was hit to the floor, and quickly shot by Donny. At the same time, a round, likely from a high-powered sniper rifle based on the sound, pierced through the other Turian.

Taking into account the new developments, Avatar snapped its weapon back onto the Krogan, which was now the most immediate threat. Shortly after Voira began her barrage, Avatar fired a series of rounds from its shotgun, first at his unwounded hand, then straight at his head. Pellets and poison-infused rounds alike cut through his armor after a few shots, then passed into his flesh. The poison spread rapidly, and the sheer volume of incoming fire destroyed primary, secondary, and tertiary organ systems. Even being Krogan, his body could not withstand the damage he had taken. Once the mass effect field keeping him levitating died away, he fell to the ground, bleeding profusely and struggling for breath for a few moments before his body finally gave way. All hostiles in the hallway had been neutralized, though there was still the matter of the Turian of which RK had just warned.

[cqbexpt]

After the grenade went off everything began moving at a break neck speed. Those not involved in actively holding up the barrier took up positions on either of the two holding up the barriers with weapons drawn. When the Geth broke ranks and ran through the biotics the Asari also then quickly broke ranks. The large bubbles that were blocking off the hallway quickly turned into two large translucent walls which also just so happened to block bullets. Tacticus and his team began getting shots in between the mass of allies that were now engaging the enemy directly. It quickly became two risky to fire into the group once Donny joined the fray and everyone quickly switched gears to waiting for an opening and scanning for more enemies. Sura's voice chimed in over the comms. "Cactus Numso, check the diplomats. Make sure they didn't hurt themselves."

Both of them squeezed their respective Turian barrier projectors on the shoulder to let them know they were leaving. Just before they turned around a large noise echoed through the hallway. Almost as quickly as the crack of what sounded like a sniper rifle came the AI also piped up over the comms about an incoming Turian. Rotating on his heel Tacticus looked back at where the diplomats were and saw a Turian clad in non-standard Turian military armor, spec-ops maybe. Not wanting to take chances on a quick glance he and Numso both imbued themselves with bitotic energy and charged to just in front of the unknown Turian weapons raised. They both turned up mere feet in front of the Turian effectively blocking his path with just their bodies. "Identify yourself and your unit now soldier!" Tacticus barked at the Turian.

[WardenCelestine]

Taking an advanced tactical position behind the group, Solares enabled Shredder rounds for his executioner pistol before firing at each hostile whenever he was able to. Every time he fired the weapon it would kick back and cause a loud pop to echo down the hallway. Removing a used thermal clip from his weapon and reloading, he watched as the same Geth he had seen only a short while ago, turn it's attention away from the Krogan and onto the Turians. This however did not last long, for one of the other members of the group used a biotic charge against the last two remaining Turians, knocking them back. Both of them were then quickly and efficiently eliminated. The Geth snapped its attention back to the Krogan and shot a couple poisoned shotgun rounds through his body, along with a barrage from the Asari. The Krogan fell to the ground and proceeded to make grotesque sounds before finely dying in a pool of his own blood beneath him. The battle was over as quickly as it had started, and the group had managed to impress Solares, which was honestly a feat in itself.

Standing up slowly, he placed the pistol onto the back of his armor and let his arms fall loosely alongside his body. Knowing that the group would want an explanation as to why he had helped them and where he came from. Solares was about to open his mouth to talk to all of them though before he could talk there was a bright flash of blue light, and suddenly two Turians appeared only a couple feet in front of him. Without flinching, or showing any discomfort, intimidation, or fear at all, he raised both of his hands. Grabbing onto his helmet slowly and cautiously, he removed it and placed it down next to him, his light blue eyes peering back at the two Turians standing in front of him. “I am Sergeant Major Solares Vanore, AGTSAT branch of the Turian Special Forces.” He would pause and salute the two in front of him before going back to his relaxed position. “I was ordered to protect a diplomat upon the space station but, in all his infinite wisdom, he ordered me to stand outside of the room and down the hall as if he was expecting something to happen. I have not seen him since I heard the shooting so I am going to presume he is dead. If it is not too much, I would like to ask who all of you are? Also, could all of you please lower your weapons and not point them at me? I assure you I am not a hostile and honestly have no idea what is going on here."

[Rtron]

Voira instinctively flinched as she heard the all too familiar and terrifying sound of a Black Widow sniper rifle going off. She had gotten to know that sound during a long drawn out conflict against some pirates. The Alliance sniper she had been sent to work with was remarkably lethal with it. The Asari hadn't seen any of the turians in the Cabal with a sniper rifle of any kind and the human was ahead of her, so that meant someone new had come up. Which meant that there was a distinctive chance that the enemy was behind her with a weapon that could easily shred through her armor and leave her with a hole that no amount of Medi-Gel in the world could fix. More importantly, that enemy was going to be near Raa. Voira whirled around, ignoring the Krogan for now. If he was still alive after eating round after round of poisoned ammo, and the two shotgun blasts she could hear behind her, they were all going to be killed by him anyways. Much to her relief, the sniper rifle round tore through a Turian just before RK announced the newcomer's presence.

"Thank you RK, for alerting us to that fact after we nearly had a heart attack. Truly, what we always wanted to hear was the sound of extremely powerful weapon being fired in our direction by an unknown Turian." Voira replied, slightly testily. She moved quickly towards the newcomer, mostly to check on Raa to make sure the Quarian was okay but also to yell at the idiot for randomly firing without announcing himself. As soon as she was in ear range she began berating him, even as he was talking. "Who the hell just jumps into a gun battle and starts firing without announcing himself?! You stupid son of a-" Voira paused mid sentence, the Turian's name finally clicking into place.

"What the hell are you doing here? We thought you were still in C-Sec?" She asked incredulously, walking past the two Cabalists. "Don't shoot him. He's not working with whoever is trying to kill us." She crouched next to Raa, ignoring the rest of the diplomats. "Are you okay?"

[Lucius Cypher]

The Geth, Voria, and Donny finished off what little remained of the current threat. So far so good, but the sound of a high power rifle tearing through one of the turians left Donny very uneasy. With little-to-no cover in the halls Donny simply got low to the ground and readied to do another biotic charge once his body was ready for it. Fortunately for him, the Cablists were quick on the draw and had their sights down on the rogue turian. "Always turians. And I thought we were going to be the one to cause trouble." They seemed to have the situation under control, though Donny still kept his shotgun at the ready. Turning over to the Geth Donny watched the krogan dying on the floor. While he wasn't exactly well versed on the culture or anatomy of krogans, he's heard all the stories about how tough they were, and Donny was debating shooting him in the head just to make sure he was dead. Technically it was a war crime to finish off obviously incapacitated enemy. But then again they were also attacked by unknown forces for unknown reasons, so who knows if the laws and customs of war would apply here. Least of all human customs. And Donny really didn't want this guy sneaking up behind them. Compromising, Donny started gathering up all the weapons from the fallen enemies and using his Omnitool to break them down into Omni-gel. On the off chance that some of them were still alive, at least they wouldn't have their weapons.

After degrading the weapons into omni-gel Donny walked towards the others, weapon still in hand. He only caught the tail end of Voria's words mentioning that the new guy wasn't the enemy, so that eased Donny's worries a bit. Still, they couldn't stand around to exchange pleasantries so Donny took it upon himself to bring the newcomer up to speed. "We're heading to the docking bay were the rest of my team should be. They have a ship ready to board and get us out of here, but first we need to make sure they're alive and then secure the docking bay. It's likely on lockdown, so we have tech specialists we must protect to override the lockdown long enough to get us all out of here. I don't know who or why this is happening, and frankly I don't care. Once we're out of here someone can look further into this." Looking around Donny made a quick head count to ensure everyone was accounted for, and making sure no one was injured during the short firefight. He wanted to go quickly, but after all that excitement he wouldn't mind a minute or two to catch his breath.

[Fallenreaper]

When the fighting finally stopped, the bullets and botics no longer flying, Raa felt her body still. Her heart kept poking her ribs relentlessly and lungs seemed to lose air faster than it gained it, leaving her breathless with each inhale. It was like someone maliciously poked a hole into the fleshy bags and intended on leaving her to suffer. The young quarian’s eyes closed as she leaned further back against the metal supporting her back. Her bones had turned into food paste and left her struggling to keep upright, her hand collapsed while the gun slipped from her grasp and fell to the ground. She was shaking uncontrollably due to her closeness to the fight, several times nearly being clipped by the bullets missing their targets several times.

Immediately she pulled her hands to her helmet and tried not to curl into a terrified ball. She barely noted that the turian had taken off his helmet and introduced to be none other than Solares Vanore, the very C-Sec officer who both got her involved with a tech bust and spared her from a miserable fate. She sat there listening to the VI react to Voira’s disgruntled comment.

RK shrugged, the digital image made a common and uncaring gesture as she replied. “At least I warned you. I’m not exactly in the system after all and can’t track every single movement so how was I supposed to be able to detect a rogue Turian coming out of no where. I didn’t even notice he was there until his firearm betrayed him. Besides, my only concern is Raa after all. It’s not like you can’t handle yourself in the field.”

As Voira brushed past the cabal, RK was already systematically checking Raa’s well being. Other than a fast heart rate and accelerated pulse, something reported normal after the stress, the quarian was perfectly alright. It made the VI relax as she turned to survey the scene opening out before the pair. Already Avatar and several cabalists were changing their focus upon the newly arrived turian. Two cabalist immediately had already teleported to his front, blocking and weapons drawn on him while ordering for rank and squadron. Meanwhile Voira was already screaming at the idiot until he finally removed his helmet. RK’s eyes narrowed in disapproval as she clicked her digital teeth together, under the helmet, making the sound radiate from Raa’s omnitool.

“Should’ve known.” RK said in a distasteful tone then added when Voira crouched next to Raa and spoke.

“Her vital signs are normal considering the stress, her emotions are highly escalated. Otherwise perfect health when she settles down.” RK stated when it took a moment for Raa to acknowledge Voira’s presence.

Raa hands moved down, her eyes opened to look hard through the visor. Slowly she nodded then pulled a hand out and was pulled to her feet by Voira, her voice trying to sound stronger than it was. “I’m alright. I stayed well hidden and against the wall. What about you? Did you get hit?”

[WardenCelestine]

Crossing his arms over his chest, Solares turned his attention away from the Turian Cabalists and towards the male human who was now attempting to explain the situation at hand to him. With his left hand he tapped the fingers of his left hand against his armor while listening attentively. Apparently they were currently heading to the docking bay where the human hoped the rest of his squad would be waiting for them with a ship, ready to evacuate them from the station. The whole plan sounded rather sketchy, especially how they would have to protect tech-specialists while they lifted the lockdown upon the docking bay.

“As soon as we try to lift that lockdown I am sure someone is going to be informed about it. I would recommend just blowing the door open but as we all know that would inevitably cause the whole hostile force to charge our position. You have a Geth with you, sorry that I do not know your name, so I would like to recommend letting him remove the lockdown. He would be the most efficient and qualified person for this job.” Of course this was just his opinion, though he had seen Geth hack and disable electronics with little to no effort. Behind the two Cabal Turians, he could hear a familiar voice start lecturing him about how much of an idiot he was for shooting at a hostile from behind the group while being unannounced.

To his surprise, an old friend appeared before him, the Asari known as Voira. "Good to see you again Voira." he nodded his head at her before speaking once more, a smirk now spread across his face. "I doubt it would of have ended well for me if I would have ran up behind the group in my armor then yelled at everyone before shooting a hostile. For all I know, I could have ended up like that Krogan over there." he pointed at the now dead Krogan who was lying motionless in a pool of his own blood. "It's a long story Voira about how I worked part time for C-Sec then ended up here. In fact I do not wish to elaborate upon the subject further, perhaps later I will explain. Thank you for telling everyone here that I am not a hostile though, being killed is not at the top of my priorities."

Gently pushing past the two Turian Cabalists in front of him, he chuckled lightly to himself as he saw RK, the VI that belonged to Raa. "Seem's Raa didn't take my advice on the modifications to make you less obnoxious, RK. Speaking of which, how is my favorite Quarian doing, holding up alright I hope?" Solares moved the Raa's side before placing a hand on her left shoulder. "You seemed shaken during the battle, once you are in enough of them that won’t happen anymore. I am more concerned about your wellbeing though, you were not hit or caused too much mental trauma were you?" he asked, looking over her to make sure she was not wounded during the fight.

[EliteCommander]

After the hostiles had been neutralized, Avatar grabbed one of the Turians' weapons before Donny could break it down. The shotgun it had been using was effective for some circumstances, but an assault rifle could fill a more versatile role. It was a rifle in the "Vindicator" line of weapons. It was not the most recent model, but was known to be 10% less likely to fail than the current version, at the expense of 8% less kinetic force per shot.

Avatar quickly scanned the Turian soldier's face once he removed his helmet. His file identified him as Solares Vanore, a man in service of the Turian military who was present as security. Though, it gave little other information of note. The conversation between him, Raa, and Voira did indicate that he was familiar to them, and gave some details about him, but Avatar judged that there was not sufficient time to maintain a conversation. If enemy forces behaved as expected, they would be converging on their location within two to four minutes. Likely, they would be forced to hold against at least one enemy attack.

Raa, and the other diplomats who were rounding the corner, showed signs of stress from the fight, but dedicating time to calming them would not be worth the additional risk, Avatar judged. "Warning: it is not advisable to remain here. Hostile forces may converge on our location shortly. I recommend moving into the security station and establishing a defensive position while I attempt to access station security."

Avatar had noted before that, despite the fact that the group had not reached a consensus, Donny had prompted the others to follow him simply by taking action before anyone else. Avatar decided to integrate that tactic into its approach by moving to the door to the security station nearby and opening it from the control panel beside it. Immediately, Avatar stepped into the room and moved inside along the wall with its rifle at the ready. Within moments, it detected movement in one of the corners, on the far end of the right side of the room, a Turian woman had been attempting to hide behind a row of weapon lockers on the wall, but the angle from the lockers to the door gave a clear line of sight. Unlike those in the hall, she was wearing civilian clothing, but a facial scan could not identify her as a member of the Council delegation. Likely, she was one of the civilian crew of the station.

The woman stepped out from behind the locker holding a common "Predator" pistol, which she was pointing in the direction of Avatar and the others entering through the door. Based on her breathing rate and the noticeable trembling in her hands, she was significantly afraid. "D-don't step any closer! I'll...I'll shoot...I mean it!" She stammered.

[SgtEasy]

1 Month Before: Anhur, Eagle Nebula

"There is no honour in this fight."

"Then we came up to the guy and shot him right in the fucking face. His buddies knew not to mess around with us anymore and limped away. The smell of piss could be smelled for miles!" The room filled with a huge roar of laughter, drinks spilled all over the tables as good mates shared stories of previous exploits. Banha smiled at the scene and took a swig of some good Human Mead, the sweet nectar tickling his tongue before the strong kick of alcohol hit him like a truck. "Ahhh, nothing is better than a good drink and the taste of victory. Eh, Varhak?"

He felt a huge hand pat on his shoulder, his eyes widening in pain before gesturing for the man behind him to sit. "Banha." The old Krogan grunted, his deep gravelly voice may be confusing to some but not to the Batarian. He's heard it too much. "There's some news from John. He's got something on that Shadow that's been fucking around with us." The jolly mood suddenly ended, everyone in the bar suddenly going silent. A lot of them has dealt with the Shadow before and everyone in the room has some beef with them. Every Yakuza hated them

"The infamous Shadows huh? Those guys tore up the Hiroshima Territories real bad." The five territories of Yakuza. Kyoto, Nagasaki, Tokyo, Osaka and finally Hiroshima. Each governed by one of the Five Generals. Due to the size of the Yakuza, Banha needed to spread the workload out. So he made the different territories, naming them after old Japanese cities. He then chose four of his trusted members to govern each territory. Reia of Nagasaki, Varhak of Tokyo, Nathaniel of Osaka and Erkon of Hiroshima. Of course, Banha leads the Kyoto sector, the one based around Anhur.

"Hiroshima is in ruins. Erkon was killed on the way over to the meeting. Reia and Nathaniel has arrived safely. As of this moment, the Hiroshima Territories are no more. We have no influence in Omega." Banha clenched his fist. If it was revealed to the public that Hiroshima has fallen, it would be a sign of weakness to their adversaries. They would pounce on the wounded Yakuza, crippling it or even finishing it off for good. He looked around the bar only to see solemn faces around the room. There was no honour in this fight. No open battle, just chapters falling one after another.

The sound of the door opening awoke the room, heads whipped to see who broke the tension. It was a Turian, dressed in a traditional kimono, a uniform enforced by Reia. It was a simple thing, shades of black and grey with a small patch on the heart with the Hiragana for Nagasaki on it. The alien looked solemn and timid, it seemed that news has reached far. Nagasaki had always had close ties to Hiroshima, therefore the Yakuza in them had ties too. The Turian's headband had the number "35", the Batarian noted. "The meeting has started Banha-dono, Varhak-sama." He gestured for them to follow him before walking calmly out of the doorway.

The two old pals looked at each other before following the man. Before exiting however, Banha looked over at the occupants of the room behind him. "Today is a day of victory, celebrate and drink. Hold your women tight and party until the end of the night. For war is coming tomorrow and we need you all ready." He closed the door, uncaring if they don't follow his instructions. If it was war that they wanted, they shall have it.

Fifteen minutes later

Banha entered a grey room, with a round circle table in the middle. The walls were grey, ceiling and floor was grey and the only thing that decorated the dark and ominous room was the banner at the other end, the ferocious Yakuza dragon. An Asari sat on the right side, wearing a beautiful floral kimono. The red, pink and blue colours complimented her azure skin, her distressed eyes flickered toward them before returning to talk the other person in the room. Nathaniel was dressed in a simple tuxedo, the human man not recognising their entrance into the room.

Varhak sat alongside Reia while Banha sat next to Nathaniel. There was solemn silence between the four leaders, feeling the weight of loss on their shoulders. The Turian who led the Batarian in politely nodded his head and closed the door behind him. "We need to reclaim Hiroshima." He nodded, agreeing with the Asari of the table but it seemed like the others did not agree.

"Hiroshima is a wasteland for Yakuza. You know what the situation there is. They've wiped almost all presence in the territory and resistance is quickly being put out. We cannot afford to retake all of Hiroshima." Reia snarled at the local Krogan, the stoic male from Tokyo not giving a care for her anger. "Please be reasonable Reia" Nathaniel started "I understand that the loss of Hiroshima hurt the Nagasaki hard but we can't do anything about our situation. The loss of Erkon hurts us all and if we will deal vengeance, we will deal it intelligently and immediately counter-attacking the enemy now to retake Hiroshima is inherently stupid." This went on.

Banha sat there as the meeting went by. Arguments and insults flew around the table, even Varhak looked like he was about to blow. Banha spoke. "Silence." The other generals looked at the founder, the original Yakuza. "I have received news from John. Varhak can confirm this. They have been spotted in the Pylos Nebula, it seems that they have some activity there. I will be taking the Katana First Response Group. There will be no arguments, only I will be going. If you do not hear from me for two weeks, assume I am dead and appoint John as the new leader of Kyoto. This is my word. Swear on your lives and your men's lives that you will follow my orders."

There was silence.

---

A Day Before The Present: New Colony, Pylos Nebula

"Fuck." That was the only word that could describe Banha's current situation. He was completely and utterly fucked. The attack completely failed, the enemy was too much for the Batarian's fleet. It was silly really, if you think about it. He had severely underestimated the enemy's resources and size. Of course, they had defeated the Hiroshima Territories but the mighty Katana First Response Group was a good match for any gang, warlord or organisation. He was wrong.

Banha of Kyoto, founder of one of the most influential criminal organisations in the galaxy, is stuck in a colony in the Pylos Nebula waiting for a damn gunship to start working so he could travel to a settlement that has supplies he's running out of. Passing by a few villages and stealing stuff doesn't sustain you and twelve others for long.

"Banha-dono, we have fixed the gunships and plan to go for the settlement now." Banha brightened up and marched towards the clearing where the two gunships have been getting fixed. They were patched up with corrugated metal and they looked like they were from a scrapyard but the two outdated but rugged Mantis seemed to in working condition. The Batarian gathered his men and set off to the temporary settlement.

When they arrived in the settlement, the Yakuza quickly got supplies for the two Mantis and food. The broken group quickly established themselves in the few fabricated buildings of the temporary settlement.

(I'm sorry about the quality of the ending, I just wanted to get the post done. Most of my other posts will probably not be this long but it depends on the situation. Again, sorry for the seemingly rushed ending.)

[cqbexpt]

Tacticus's mandibles flared a few times in quick succession as he lowered his weapon. Why was there other spec-ops on the station? No one had told them about that. Numso and Cactus exchanged looks again and holstered their weapons and were then promptly pushed out of the way by the Asari...who appeared to know the Turian. The name didn't ring a bell for him but he knew AGTSAT and what their operators were for. They unlike the Cabal had the ability to actually leave their line of duty. They were also used much differently than the all biotic shock troops. When it became clear that the Quarian ALSO knew the Turian he decided it was best to leave. "I would check the other Turian diplomat we managed to get out of the killing floor. He might be yours." Tacticus said as he began to walk back over to his squad who were all sitting on the floor resting from the extreme use of biotics. Though of course Sura was still standing hands on her hips lecturing them all on what they could have done better. "Mam did you catch all that?"

Turning on her heels rapidly and responding just as quickly. "Yes, I did and I'm interested in the fact that I was not informed about this guy being here. Command is going to have to give me answer about that when we get back. Regardless, having another friendly spec-ops here is helpful to say the least." Before he could respond Avatar informed them that they would need to defend the location and should move quickly to make a defensible position. Sura turned back to the resting group and began barking at them to get back into combat ready status. Since Tacticus was still rather fresh comparatively he made his way towards the door first along with the others that had been in the lead earlier.

When they entered the security station with a gun pointed at them Tacticus just about shot the women square in the head with his heavy pistol. The only this that stopped him was how much the gun was trembling. Cactus suppressed a laugh and cracked a smile. She wasn't going to shoot them, even if she did he couldn't imagine she'd hit a damn thing. Even though it would be faster to just shoot her and be on their way he assumed atleast someone would have a problem with it. He also guessed it would be illegal or something to shoot a civilian if they had the chance to disarm her so he decided against it. "Look lady, frankly we don't really care why you're here or who you're with. Just lower the gun, step away from the terminal, and we'll be on our way. You don't want to die for whatever "this" is." Tacticus said gesturing with his off hand around the room. If this took too much time Cactus was ready to charge too her and subdue her on the ground. He really wanted to leave the station.

[Lucius Cypher]

"That's the idea. Either the Geth or Raa will shut down whatever is locking us in while the rest of us cover them. I know it's not fool proof, but we have neither the time nor the intel for anything better. We should hurry though. It'll be much more difficult if my people get gunned down."

Donny was getting more impatient and worried by the minute. While most of the other soldiers were actually far mroe competent then he was, he still couldn't help but think of what sort of disaster they could find themselves if the enemy were able to outmaneuver them, or just get lucky. The geth was already taking point followed by some of the turian.s donny ran to catch up to them but lingered on behind to let them take the first shots if something came up. And something did, though not exactly what he had expected.

In what looked to be a room full of guns was a lone turian woman. Donny and Tacticus nearly shot her, but noticed she was a civilian. Donny hesitated. While it wasn't likely that every turian or alien on this ship was his enemy, Donny was uncertain if he should let this one live. She was obviously armed and dangerous, but also obviously scared out of her mind. Donny would have done the same in her situation himself. He could only take cover and listen to Tacticus try to talk her down, but the human had doubts that Tacticus was being particularly charming. Looking to the others behind him Donny spoke out somewhat-quietly. "Psssht, could someone talk to this civvie? I'd rather not have to gun her down, but she's starting to look trigger happy..."

[Fallenreaper]

Raa had been easily brought alongside the other diplomats. Her mind was still shaken by the experience as she played the scene over and over in her head, trying to calm since the chaos was over. It was then she recognized Solares. Her eyes blinked and head leaned into examine the turian closer, making sure she wasn’t seeing things. He was busy talking with Voira and the human, making Raa listen and stare for bit. It wasn’t until Solares moved past the turians and addressed her did she snap to full attention.

"Seem's Raa didn't take my advice on the modifications to make you less obnoxious, RK. Speaking of which, how is my favorite Quarian doing, holding up alright I hope?" Solares’ hand placed upon her shoulder causing her to relax. She gave him a small smile, though it was unseen past his helmet.

"You seemed shaken during the battle, once you are in enough of them that won’t happen anymore. I am more concerned about your well being though, you were not hit or caused too much mental trauma were you?" His eyes turned to concern and glanced around her figure, inspecting for tears or wounds.

“No, I’m fine. I managed to stay near the wall, avoiding a few close calls. Not much use in a gunfight.” Raa stated, her eyes avoided Voira’s stared, while noting RK sticking her digit tongue out.

“At least I don’t put my friends in harm's way, turian.” The AI remarked and was refering to the scene back when they first met. She had been against it the whole time yet couldn’t do much to persuade Raa from being naive.

Before Solares could likely answer, Avatar spoke in his artificial voice. "Warning: it is not advisable to remain here. Hostile forces may converge on our location shortly. I recommend moving into the security station and establishing a defensive position while I attempt to access station security."

Quickly, before following the Geth, Donny added. "That's the idea. Either the Geth or Raa will shut down whatever is locking us in while the rest of us cover them. I know it's not fool proof, but we have neither the time nor the intel for anything better. We should hurry though. It'll be much more difficult if my people get gunned down."

Her attention whipped back to the platform, spotting the Geth already moving toward the door and started to open it. His fingers tapped the control panel rapidly, then raised his new rifle, stepped into the room. Raa edged over to follow though she knew he wouldn’t need her help and slipping from Voira’s reach once more. Careful not to risk getting involved in a gunfight, she remained beside the doorway and watched. Naturally the others were already there, including Voira, taking position behind Avatar. Unsure what the Geth was staring at, another turian, a female, jerked out of cover and pointed her pistol at Avatar. Her hand was shaking as she spoke, eyes widened with fear, while she stammered. "D-don't step any closer! I'll...I'll shoot...I mean it!"

Raa’s expression paled. Her hands pushed up to her mouth piece and startled at first, for the first wondering if she was about to get shot now. Slowly her mind realized how shaky the gun was. Something an intended killer wouldn’t have done, her eyes focusing on the individual and unsure what to do. One of the cabalist near her began to laugh and cracked a smile, seemingly knowing something she didn’t. What it was, though, was a mystery.

Bravely the turian stepped forward. "Look lady, frankly we don't really care why you're here or who you're with. Just lower the gun, step away from the terminal, and we'll be on our way. You don't want to die for whatever "this" is.”

His hand, freed from his gun, waved about the room to ensure the civilain understood.

While the turian spoke, the human looked behind his shoulder to whisper. "Psssht, could someone talk to this civvie? I'd rather not have to gun her down, but she's starting to look trigger happy..."

Raa immediately stepped forward and passed her gun to the asari, not allowing herself to be stopped. She was moving past both the human and turian, to rest beside the Geth where she slowly held her hands upright to see she was unarmed. Her head tilted in a friendly manner while she spoke in a clear but kind voice.

“I’m going to flip my transparency, is that alright? So you can see my face and determine what I’m saying isn’t lying. Is that alright?”

Turian nodded as Raa’s hand gently reached for the helmet’s side. She pressed the button which caused it to make a gentle hiss, her face more clearly seen through the visor. “Alright. Let’s take a breath and calm down. No one wants to hurt anyone as we were just nearly killed ourselves. If you look at my asari friend, over there.” Raa pointed to Voira. “We just got attacked when some strangers tried to take the room hostage. We barely made it out. Now we’re all trying to find a safe haven, but we need to get to one of those terminals. Will you let me or my friend, Avatar, get to them?”

[EliteCommander]

The Turian woman seemed to only become more panicked as more people entered the room. At first, her gun darted back and forth between each newly arriving target, but she finally settled on leveling it at Raa once she started to speak. She looked at each of the people Raa pointed to as she mentioned them, but her gun did not budge. However, she was at least listening to Raa, and willing to respond. "I...I don't trust you!. Stay back! You're...from the Council, right? Why should I trust the Council? You don't care about us, you just want our planet. You'll just...lock me away for the rest of my life for pointing this thing at you. I'd...I'd rather die!"

Avatar remained silent as the others spoke, as it knew it was the least qualified among them to negotiate with an emotionally compromised individual. It was aware that, when influenced by emotion, organics could behave irrationally, even when faced with undeniable evidence to an error in their actions. If the Turian were to engage in a firefight with their team at its current strength, the probability of her survival was negligible. However, if it presented her with that probability, she was still not likely to be dissuaded. Avatar did not understand how to appeal to emotion, so the task of calming the Turian fell to the others. Internally, however, it was calculating the probability as time passed of hostile forces arriving at the security station.

Once again using the radio, Avatar communicated with the others without speaking aloud. "The probability of hostile forces arriving within ten seconds is approximately 12%, increasing by 0.38% per second." It warned.

[WardenCelestine]

Without saying a word, Solares quickly pulled Raa into an affectionate hug that only lasted for a couple of seconds. It was sure to catch Raa off-guard, and to upset Voria but in his defense he had not seen any of them for many years. After letting go of Raa, he grabbed onto his helmet and placed it back onto his head, locking it into position with a soft almost inaudible hissing sound. “Just a moment Raa, I have a weapon for you that I do not require or even want.” He reached onto the back of his urban digital combat armor and grabbed onto the executioner pistol he had just shot only a few moments ago. “Take this and be careful, it uses explosive ammunition.” Solares quickly turned around to regard Avatar who was warning them that they should move to the docking bay because there was a high chance that hostile forces could converge on their location.

“I agree, we should move to the docking bay as soon as possible.” said Solares as he nodded his head once at Avatar. As they entered a security station shortly after heading out, a lone female Turian who seemed to be a civilian came out of hiding while brandishing a low level and mostly harmless pistol compared to their weapons. Not wanting to take any chances, Solares quickly removed the shotgun from the back of his armor and attacked a muzzle choke to it, taking aim with hammerhead rounds loaded. The Turian woman pointed her weapon at each of the group members while yelling at them to stay back, and tossing empty threats at them. "If someone does not do something quickly, we are going to get swarmed with hostiles and end up being killed." He glanced up at Avatar and motioned at the Turian, "Think you can overload her weapon?" he said quietly into his helmets com so only his squad could hear him.

[Rtron]

Voira nodded at RK's words before smiling reassuringly at Raa. "We're perfectly fine. We didn't even get close to being shot. Just remember to stay behind us and the rest. We don't want you to get in the line of fire, especially without your shield." She merely glared at Solares as he drew Raa into a hug, quickly wiping her face clear before RK or Raa could see it(the former no doubt making some sarcastic and very pointed comment). She raised an eyebrow at Solares as he handed a pistol with explosive ammunition to Raa, and then took off after the Geth. Ignoring whatever the human who had dragged them into this mess and the Cabalists were saying she gave a short comment to Raa.

"Be careful, we're almost to the security station. Who knows if anyone else will come in from behind like Solarus did, and introduce themselves with bullets to our backs rather than friendly help killing the local opposition. Stay safe." She drew her assault rifle again and followed after the rest into the security station.

Unlike everyone else (excluding Raa) in the room, she didn't aim her weapon, laugh at, or speak harshly too the Civilian. Rather her expression softened in sympathy. Before she could do anything, or encourage Raa to do anything, the damn Cabalist spoke bluntly and the human spoke loud enough for the entire space station to here him. Rather than smacking the both of them, Voira looked over her shoulder at Raa. The Quarian was already moving forward and Voira gave an encouraging (if incredibly nervous) nod. "Be careful." She muttered as Raa walked past her. The Asari fell in step behind the Quarian, her gun holstered and hands lightly raised to show she meant no harm.

As Raa spoke to the turian Voira turned around, effectively blocking any shots from the front runners at the Turian, her back itching at the idea of a gun pointed at Raa and she couldn't see to do anything about it. She glared at Cactus as he was closest, shifting her gaze to each of those closest to Raa.

"Put your guns down, you're making the Turian nervous. Solarus, that means you and your damn shot gun. Avatar, no overloading the pistol unless it looks like she's about to fire. Goddess I swear if any one of you gets Raa shot at or injured I'll gut you like a pig, very slowly. We're going to wait, 12% and .32 or what the fuck ever and rising be damned, and let Raa talk her down." She spoke softly, but fiercely, into her own radio. Her eyes moved from one person to the next, daring them to do something stupid.

[Fallenreaper]

Raa was sure she was going to get shot. Her hands raised where the turian could see them and slightly shaking, mind racing with numerous possibilities with how this was going to turn out. It wasn’t hard to feel the nerves rattling through the moment she passed off the gun to Voira, Solares’ still placed in her belt pocket in back, while the scene seemed to become worse by the moment. The woman was clearly frightened by everyone entering the room and it was little wonder why. She was being threatened, treated as a joke, and worse by those who had entered. Raa could only understand why while she tried to ignore Avatar’s warning for the moment.

"The probability of hostile forces arriving within ten seconds is approximately 12%, increasing by 0.38% per second." He warned through the radio.

"If someone does not do something quickly, we are going to get swarmed with hostiles and end up being killed." Solares spoke, loudly, making Raa more nervous. Meanwhile RK caught Solares’ little whisper over the radio-Raa’s helmet one being shut off to prevent panic and distraction after Solares' comment- and gritted her digital teeth, causing the omnitool to flicker in annoyance. To most people it looked like glitch or oddity, but to Solares, Voira, Raa and most likely others, they knew it was RK.

Raa voice was a gentle and kind as she spoke. “We need to get out of here and to do that, I need to get to the terminal before they arrive. Else things are going to get worse. Please. I’m going to take a step toward you, alright?”

She tooks a small step, trying how far she got through to the turian.

On hearing Voira’s words, RK spoke up quietly in the radios. “I advise you all do what the asari says. As for the overload, it won’t make a difference if we can’t get her away from the weapons locker. She’ll just grab another and likely Raa will get shot. Right now, we’re wasting time and as much as I want to give Raa time, there’s none to give. Can someone lift the turian into the air after I overload the gun? Then just knock her into the wall hard enough to put her out cold. Crude, but effective and we’ll allow Raa to fix the hurt later. Sadly, I know Raa will disagree and bitterly do something so someone will have to likely stop that. Solares, think you can?”

As if sensing Voira’s protest, the AI whipped on the asari. “Before you argue, Voira. Consider this: When bullets fly and the turian’s in a shaky state, who do you think is the first target? Raa. As much as I want to trust she can do this, you and I know that time is ticking. What is more important, Raa getting out alive or her pride?”

[EliteCommander]

The Turian took a few steps back, closer to the weapon locker. She started to shake her head slowly as her hands started to twitch even more violently. "No...no they're not here for me, they're here for you. They actually offered to help us, not...take our land and livelihoods. You're just going to take me as a prisoner...or hostage. They told me what you would do."

Avatar still remained silent as it made note of some of the information the Turian was disclosing. It seemed that the assumption that the local civilians, at least aboard the station, were opposed to the hostile force was incorrect. Based on the Turian's apparent perception of the Council, and her attitude towards the incoming hostiles, she seemed to support them. It was uncertain if the same would hold true for the rest of the population of the planet, but for the moment, this Turian seemed to view the hostile force as potential saviors.

"If you're going to murder me, just...do it!" The Turian shouted, but even as she grew more forceful, tears started to form in her eyes, and her voice became more strained. With her gun still pointed straight ahead, she continued to stare down Raa while sobbing lightly, but not yet pulling the trigger.

[Fallenreaper]

When Raa stepped forward, she noted the Turian suddenly got frightened and her own body froze. The female held up her gun and started to move further away, her mandibles quivering in terror, as she shook it. She was edgy and twitchy, every inch of her looked closer to pulling the trigger. Contrary to the other’s belief, the quarian was certain the Turian would pull the trigger and her helmet would shatter, sending her brains splattering upon the others. the grisly image filled her head making Raa tremble slightly as she pushed it away, trying to focus on the present and not the possible future.

“Look at me? Do I really look like someone who could take you hostage? I was originally hired on for tech and software services thanks to a friend.” Raa said in her softest, and gentlest voice. “I’m only 21 years old, my name is Raa’Kinsa nar Rannoch.” She then shifted her hand cautiously, hoping that knowing them could help prevent themselves from being shot, gesturing to each she knew. “This is Voira and Solares."

She didn’t pause to see the reaction as she continued. “Solares is a Turian who works for C-Sec, he’s bound by the same laws. You know C-Sec right? I know you’re scared and why, I recall being the same back on the Citadel. I was nearly made into a slave once because I got involved with the wrong crowd. I would never wish that on anyone so, please, let me help you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

[Lucius Cypher]

Donny watched and listened carefully as Raa tried to talk down this turian. He kept kicking himself mentally, as about all the alarms in his head just kept telling him to kill the turian. It was his training kicking in, and it was rather effective. If he was alone and in a hurry he might have really shot her without a passing thought. He tried not to think too much about how loose his morals was. He was a soldier, she was armed. On the battlefield not being able to make split second decisions makes all the difference between being dead or alive. But now Raa was risking her tail trying to calm down this turian, who everyone outnumbers and outguns, and what does he do? Just watch. He has to do something. He knows he could do more.

Slowly putting his rifle on the floor, Donny stood up, his hands open and in the air for the turian to see. He had no idea what he was doing, but it was too late to stop him now. He needed to help Raa. He couldn't live with the guilt of a civvie dying over negotiations. "We only want to live, just like you. We want to be able to go home and see our families. And most of all, we don't want to fight." Donny's helmet collapsed, revealing his very human face. He didn't even have his shields up, making him even more exposed to death. But anything to let the turian know that he wasn't trying to trick her or get her to lower her guard. He needed to make sure she still felt like she could walk out of this alive.

"I may be human, but I don't want you, or Raa, or anyone else here to die. I don't even know why we're under attack. But I want to save as many people as I can. I want to save you. Please, lower your weapon. Come with us. We will protect you and bring you to safety. I promise that you won't have to worry about anyone hurting you, and you can go home." Donny stepped up slowly next to Raa. This was for two reasons: One so the turian could see him and look at his face, which hopefully looked honest to her. The second reason was so that she may aim her gun at Donny instead, and if she does shoot, he could knock Raa to the ground to protect her from the ensuring gunfire. Not a fool proof plan, but it was do-or-die now.

[cqbexpt]

Tacticus was starting to become impatient with the situation. Every second they wasted they were getting closer to being captured or killed, though both of those things were probably the same. It didn't help when Avatar gave him something to count. This did not help the extreme discomfort he felt in this situation. I'm a shock trooper for spirits sake! he thought. His job was not negotiating or hearts and minds, that was the press corps job! He began clenching his jaw rather tightly trying to get his nerves under control. This situation was absurd to him at this point. Every second he counted in the back of his mind the more every fiber in his being was willing to risk the shot. These people were not part of his squad... his family, hell they weren't even part of the mission. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the rest of the cabal minus Sura pile back out of the room to make defenses. If Sura wasn't shooting yet surely he shouldn't be?

The commentary the various parties were piling on was atleast helping him to think there was atleast some plan in this chaos. If the Asari was willing to neutralize the women he was mostly sure he would be able to follow up without killing anyone. That's what these crazies wanted anyways right? Not to kill anyone, that sure was a foreign concept given the situation. Then again he was mostly sure he wouldn't kill the Turian women...mostly. He debated for a moment if he even cared, the answer to that did not change from when he first walked into the room. Covering his mouth slightly from the Turian women's view with his right shoulder he whispered into the comms. "If you give her a lift... I can follow for the grab." He just hoped the Asari would figure out what he meant or rather would abide by his idea.

His grip tightened on his pistol as he was thinking of things that would help take his mind off the cost-benefit analysis he was being forced to make. Then the Human walked forward aswell, filling Cactus with unseen rage. The Humans were going to get them killed weren't they? They couldn't possibly still be mad about the first contact war could they? Regardless, these people seemed like they wanted to die. Especially Donny considering he noticed the slight flicker of his shield as he deactivated it. The odds of him hitting one of the two in the back of the head at this point was high. This made him take his eye off a head shot of the women but still keep the weapon in her direction. If shit hit the fan at now his odds of keeping allied casualties down were better with a charge. He put himself out of his firing stance and more of a lunge. Then something else scratching at his brain slipped out. "Lady if it counts... we could have killed you awhile ago. We really just want to get out of here alive." Cactus said in a less rigid voice than he had been using the whole time they had been on the station.