As Tazen made his way back towards the rest of Fireteam 2 alongside Dex he couldn’t help but notice that his turian comrade seemed on edge around him, a stark contrast to her more upbeat demeanor when they had set off. Letting his mind wander back to the events that had just happened a few moments ago Tazen noticed that Dex’s nervousness had begun the moment he had begun talking about how the Kett could have gotten access to Initiative communications. After that, it didn’t took him too long to recall her words about how she was worried about the Exiles and his mind connected the dots. “[i]She is worried that she might have said too much. That I might use her sympathies against the Exiles somehow.[/i]” He mused to himself in silence. He couldn’t exactly blame her, Salarians had a reputation for being manipulative individuals and the fact that she knew he was ex-STG only served to probably to worsen those concerns. 

He couldn't blame her for those concerns, not really, he had met plenty of people in STG which would have taken advantage of such a piece of information after all, either to keep Dex in line or as a trump card in case there was need to use Dex for some plot or any of the million scenarios that the vast majority of STG agents always kept planning and plotting for. He frowned to himself “[i]I should talk to her at some point, there’s no way that she’ll be able to trust me as her CO if she’s constantly waiting for the moment when the other shoe will drop and I'll use what she said against her[/i].” He thought to himself, letting out a soft sigh before he shook his head. There was no time to distract himself with idle thoughts, the lives of the trapped scientists depended on him keeping his mind fully on the objective; he could deal with the situation with Dex later on, once the mission was over. 

It didn't take them too long to rendezvous with the rest of the team, a fact that was readily apparent when Volintis cheerfully greeted Dex. “Yes, we are good to advance, keel the same formation as before.” Said the Salarian, idly noting with a slight tinge of irritation that the team had met them halfway from where he had told them to stay put. He had told them to stay put for a reason, of the three that had remained only Volintis had a tactical cloak and if it weren't for the distraction he and Dex had provided, coupled with the charge from Fireteam 1, they could have been easily discovered. More importantly than that however he noted that the three that had remained behind seemed inordinately tense, it was expected for such a mission to put pressure on the team, especially since they had to scramble fro man on-going training exercise to get to it, but the amount of tension that everyone gave seemed to be disproportionate to what he had expected. A Kett ambush was out of the question as a possible source of the tension, after all none of the three were hurt and if they’d have been attacked he was sure someone would have contacted him, and so the only explanation left was that there must have been some sort of altercation or something similar to that “[i]Perfect, Noratus thinks that I’m going to turn on her at any moment and the rest of the team doesn’t get along for one reason or another[/i].” He thought with a sigh before he began moving towards the building that contained Site 1’s laboratory. 

Luckily for them, the attack from Fireteam 1 had rerouted most of the Kett forces away from the lab and what few stragglers remained were easily avoided by the team. As such it didn’t take them more than a couple of minutes for them to reach the place where the scientists were hiding, unfortunately that’s when they encountered their first setback. “Ah, damnit.” Hissed Tazen as he looked at the door that led into the lab, he had tried to open the door with his omnitool, even using his clearance as an APEX commander just in case the scientists had changed what codes the door accepted, only for the door to remain stubbornly shut and only now did the cause became evident to him. “The scientists welded the door shut, Matthews I need you here.” He said, turning to face Serena when he said the last part “Volintis, Noratus, you are with me, we’ll watch the perimeter for any hostiles while matthews works on opening the door.” Said Tazen as he turned to face the pair of Turians. “T’vessi, once the door is open I want you to check for any injuries on the scientists and to provide medical aid in case they are injured.” He said while pulling out his SMG “Matthews, tell me when the door is ready to be opened, ok?” Tazen added without turning, his eyes scanning the horizon for any potential Kett threats. 

Serena nodded, snapping her fingers at the three Dels. [color=hotpink]”Watcher positions.”[/color] They beeped their understanding, taking up positions to either side of the door, and above it. She settled down in front of the door, scanning it with her eye. She tsked as the scan came back. [color=hotpink]”Sloppy and hurried. This weld wouldn’t have stopped that Fiend if the Kett wanted it to break this door down.”[/color] 

She opened her omni-tool into blow torch mode, settling down to begin cutting through the right places. As Tazen told her to alert him when the door was ready to open, she replied with sarcasm without thinking, focusing on what she was doing. [color=hotpink]”No, I was just gonna sit here quie-”[/color] She paused, biting her tongue. [color=hotpink][i]This is gonna take a bit of getting used too.[/i] “Sorry. I’ll make sure to tell you when it's ready to be popped opened, ETA 2-4 minutes. Sir!”[/color] She added the end hastily, almost forgetting it.

Quickly she applied the blow torch, sparks flying against her helmet.

Luckily as Serena worked on cutting through the weld nothing happened, the 4 minutes went by without FIreteam 2 being disturbed as Serena worked. “Good job Matthews.” Said Tazen after Serena told him that she was done, giving the woman a brief pat on the shoulder for a job well done. “Take my place on the lookout for hostiles.” He said as he approached the door that led to the labs, unfortunately the doors automated systems were a bust after all that it had been done to it so Tazen was forced to open the door manually. 

Once Tazen finally managed to open the door several things happened in the span of a few seconds. The scientists, and what few guards remained with them, panicked when they noticed that the door was being opened forcefully and began screaming; simultaneously one of the few remaining guards raised it’s rifle and shot at Tazen, the staccato sound of the rifle’s gunfire breaking the seeming calm around the area.

“Everyone, calm down!” Shouted Tazen forcefully, his shields having absorbed the gunfire directed at him by the panicked guard. The scared survivors stopped suddenly when they heard Tazen’s shout, as if suddenly breaking out of a reverie, their eyes widening in recognition as they took notice of the Initiative's logo on Tazen’s armor. Unfortunately the panicked shot from the scared guard had more dire consequences than merely weakening Tazen’s shields, as the sound of gunfire drew the attention of a nearby Kett patrol a fact that soon became clear to the rest of the team outside the building as the sounds of footsteps drew ever closer to the labs. 

Soon enough the Kett forces, a group of about 7 consisting of 5 Chosen and 2 Anointed, were close enough that they were able to take potshots at Fireteam 2. “Survivors, you stay put here, this is not up for discussion, and that includes the guards as well.” He said as he turned towards the door once again. “Volintis, Matthews, Noratus, take defensive positions, engage the Kett forces!” Shouted Tazen as he hurried out of the building once he heard the first gunshot from the Kett “T’vessi, give the scientists and guards a cursory analysis then come to help defend us.” He said while taking cover outside the building, taking out his SMG once again. “Let’s wrap this up people, we are on the final stretch now.” Said Tazen as he briefly peeked from cover and took a potshot at the advancing group of Kett.