[center][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4828914][img]https://i.imgur.com/NFJre65.png[/img][/url]
[h1][b][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4828586]Ashton[/url][/b], and [b][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4829027]Flame[/url][/b][/h1]

[hider=Interactions]Collab between AWACS and [@Letter Bee], briefly interacting with [@Rune_Alchemist], [@RangingWolf] and [@CaptainSully][/hider]
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[sub][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg5-pZscmyI]Red Faction Guerilla OST - [i]Uprising Ambience[/i][/url][/sub][/center]

	Barely a minute has passed and the rest of the party seems to be arriving. Not the Blue Suns, [i]yet[/i], but other folk gathered here for Mr. Fen's request it seems. Lokea squinted her eyes, seeing a quarian in the distance. [color=02fc5e][i]Hm.[/i][/color] She only had rudimentary knowledge on Quarians, just stuff implanted from Shiala telling her the basics. This one must be on her pilgrimage or something, though before Lokea could give it more thought, another human approached the group. This man in full armor, she blinked to him. Elijah Messner the mercenary hot-shot, huh? It's good to have someone like him on the team anyway, if he is what he says he is. She was just about to greet him before Alexis filled him in on the situation. [color=02fc5e]"Yeah, that's basically it. The mercs got air support too, so I'll make sure to grab whatever cover you can. Lokea Zhu at your service."[/color] Lokea did a little bow while she rifled through her duffel bag, grabbing an energy bar, snacking on it. It wasn't the best tasting bar, but it would give her the energy needed to operate at intensity with biotics. She finished the energy bar while listening to Alexis. 

	After Alexis mentioned protecting the two 'brats', Lokea couldn't help but return to the important thought she buried. [color=02fc5e][i]Oh yeah. Those two are just [b]kids.[/b] What the hell are they doing here?[/i][/color] She looked to Ashton and Flame. She would probably never live with herself if they got hurt, she's seen enough dead children in the Reaper War to last a lifetime. [color=02fc5e]"I agree with uhm... Alexis here. I'd rather you two stick with me. I can keep you both covered and protected while you both do your thing."[/color] She nodded towards them, before tilting her head a little. [color=02fc5e]"Aren't you boys a little young to be doing this sort of thing anyway? None of you look old enough to join the Alliance yet."[/color]

	Flame blinked and said, "Yes, yes we are. I'm a former slave who escaped back to Alliance Space, then got 'farmed out' to an abusive foster home and a therapist more interested in selling my life story than actually helping me. So I decided I'd prefer to make my living as a Biotic merc."

	Ashton sighed and said, "During the Reaper War, I was part of a refugee convoy with a few Batarians on board; outcasts and political dissidents. I was taught the basics of locksmithing, cybersecurity, and security by one of them, Rigger. Rigger disappeared into Omega a few years ago and as he was against the Batarian Hegemony's policies, I doubt he'd have willingly vanished."

	Flame looked at Ashton. "I still can't believe you'd risk your life just to save a Batarian. At least tell me that you had other reasons."

	The response from Ashton was arch in tone, "Other than repaying a debt for learning valuable life skills? Well, I did want to prove myself better than other kids my age. Other 'normal' kids, I mean. Either way, we should go towards the control tower; we're wasting more time."

	Lokea nodded a bit at the two, biting her lower lip. She'll comment and ask about all of that later. However, Lokea couldn't agree more with the last statement, until Rob arrived. She was just about to speak to him, but Ashton already began filling him in. So instead, she synced up her omni-tool with this new contact Ashton met, hoping it wasn't a spammer, and she fished for her helmet from her duffel bag. As Ashton introduced himself and the others to Rob, she smiled and waved, before donning her helmet. It took a little bit to maneuver it around her head, but once she got it down, she used her biotics to help seal it and connect the tube to her oxygen supply, allowing the helmet to supply her air, filter out harmful gases and whatnot. The helmet let out a hissing 'click', indicating that the helmet was indeed sealed. Patting her helmet as a little 'good luck test', she [url=https://i.imgur.com/5rekvhk.png]looked ready for battle,[/url] to say the least. 

	Once Ashton finished, she spoke to the two, her voice filtered by the speaker that amplified it. [color=02fc5e]"Are you two good to go?"[/color] She asked, raising her assault rifle to shoulder, allowing her duffel bag to levitate next to her. [color=02fc5e]"As Rob said, the bad guys are getting really close. We gotta hole up quick and get ready."[/color] She turned to the others. [color=02fc5e]"My shortband channel is NAP-8492, we should all keep in contact as much as possible. The rest of you should hole up somewhere safe so we can hold out against the assault. I'm taking the kids with me to a safe place so we can assist in the op."[/color] Lokea said as she stepped backwards. [color=02fc5e]"See you on the other side!"[/color] She looked to see if the kids were following her, and if they were, she would continue on her way to the control area. It was a bit of ways away from the dock into the hangar, but they got there in short order. 

	Ashton obediently followed her, while Flame said to the Asari as he walked beside the 'security expert', "You look like a skeleton in that armor."

	The redhead found his new friend turning towards him, saying, "Stop that - Don't be insensitive!"

	Lokea chuckled a little bit at that as she made her way to the control center, periodically raising her rifle to check for enemies and hazards. [color=02fc5e]"It's fine, little one. At least I'll look a little frightening to the Blue Suns."[/color] She said, a smile in her voice.

	Flame looked at Ashton, before saying as the door to the control center came in sight, "Are you sure you're not scared?"

	Ashton gazed back at Flame, "I'm a 16-year old who made a series of bad decisions. Of course I'll be scared. But there's no other way out; I have to make it through this battle if I am to repay my debt to Rigger [i]and[/i] prove myself better than other kids. Plus, who doesn't want an astronomical sum of cash?"

	Lokea held up a hand at Ashton and Flame to signal them to stop, before gesturing for them to form up at the wall behind her. She turned to Ashton while she kept her rifle pointed at the door. [color=02fc5e]"It's okay to be scared, kid. It tells me that you still have your head on your shoulders."[/color] She turned back to the door. 

	Gently using her biotics to use the door interface, she waited for the door to open, and once it did, she entered, sweeping her gun over the large abandoned control room. She activated the night-vision in her helmet, allowing her to see in the dimly-lit room. She checked the corners, looked for hiding spots, and even for hidden ceiling vents. After seeing nothing but desks, computers and several walls separating different workspaces, Lokea relaxed. [color=02fc5e]"Clear!"[/color] She shouted, gesturing for the kids to enter. 

	Flame and Ashton entered, with the former leading the way. Once the door was shut again, Ashton began trying to connect his personal computer with the computers in the control room in order to maximize computing power. As the computer whiz did that, Flame then looked at Lokea and said, "He doesn't deserve to be in this situation. He's smart but he's naive and he has a future ahead of him. I don't."

	After leading the two to a nice cubby area that has equal distance to all of the exits, Lokea put her duffel bag down and began using her biotics to lift the desks and other non-computer objects towards them, trying to build as much cover as possible. While the walls that made their cubicles should suffice, Lokea didn't trust them entirely. As she worked, she turned to Flame. [color=02fc5e]"As far as I'm concerned, all three of us have a future ahead. The galaxy is way too big for any of us to run out of opportunities."[/color] Lokea said as she shored up their defenses. [color=02fc5e]"While I'd rather have you both not be here at all, there's nothing I can really do to stop you kids from doing what you want. I'm not your mother."[/color] Lokea opened up the duffel bag to reveal some clothes and snacks. [color=02fc5e]"But since I have about 7 years experience of protecting non-combatants from bad guys, I may as well keep you boys out of trouble for the time being."[/color] It was the least Lokea could do anyway. The asari raised her rifle to shoulder, preparing for a fight.

	Flame takes a bag of chips while Ashton takes a fruit drink, before the latter says, "I'm just glad I met a friend before, well, before this entire conflict starts." The boy was multi-tasking between drinking, accessing the control room's mainframe, and talking to Flame. "And for all it's worth, I'm sorry you had to suffer even after you got free from slavery."

	A pause as Ashton continued, "You are strong, you know that?"

	Flame smiled. "I'll protect you. Also..." he looked around, frowning uncomfortably, "If you umm... Like boys, and we survive this encounter -"

	Ashton choked on his drink, before saying, "I do! I do! And girls too. But you're the hottest person I ever met."

	Flame's frown faded as he said, "Live, then. Let's both live. And for the love of... Anyone, can we [i]not[/i] give the Asari a free show?"

	Lokea couldn't help but smirk underneath her helmet. [color=02fc5e]"Hey now, Flame has a point. Please save the awkward flirting until [i]after[/i] we kick the Blue Sun's ass, okay?"[/color] Lokea asked with a smirk. Regardless, it warms her heart a little to see a budding romance happen right in her presence, despite the circumstances. A thought came to her mind, before it went out of her mouth. [color=02fc5e]"How long have you boys known each other anyway?"[/color] She asked, keeping an ear on the comms.

	"We just met," Ashton said bluntly. "I had just escaped a bunch of mercenaries who wanted to enslave me after going back on a deal I made with them through the extranet. You see, for the past two years, I've been masquerading as 'Aegis', a freelance security specialist who prevents both cyber and mundane thefts. I then spent most of the funds and connections I made using that identity to get to Omega, although I still have a small nest egg left - it doesn't compare to the sum this job will pay me, though."

	Lokea listened. [color=02fc5e]"You know, for an asari you just met, you seem to be trusting me with a whole lot of information about yourselves."[/color] Lokea said, chuckling a little. [color=02fc5e]"I'll give you a tip, be careful about what you share. Information out there is valued to the point where people sell that shit. It's why information brokers exist. They can easily use that shit against you."[/color] Lokea explained.[color=02fc5e] "But, in good faith I'll give you both a bit about me."[/color] Lokea continued to check for hostiles, staying alert. [color=02fc5e]"You've heard of the Thorian from Feros, right?"[/color] 

	Both shook their heads.

	[color=02fc5e]"Well, it's this... super old plant being that was like 50,000 years old, and it can control the minds of other beings through spores. An asari commando under Saren's command was given to it as a bargain for some Prothean stuff, and the plant took that commando and made clones of her it can control to speak for it, defend it and perform other tasks."[/color] Lokea sighed. [color=02fc5e]"I'm one of those clones."[/color]

	"Oh, cool!" Ashton said, "Clones are people too."

	Flame said, "How do you deal with the degeneration?"

	Lokea couldn't help but smile quite a bit. Those kids were so precious! [color=02fc5e]"Oh uh... I appreciate the thought, Ash. So uh... yeah, that's why I have green skin."[/color] She turned to Flame. [color=02fc5e]"Oh, I take medication for it. It's expensive but it helps. It's kind of why I'm here."[/color] She paused for a moment, thinking about what she said earlier to them. [color=02fc5e]"I'll tell you more about it when we have the time. I'm pretty sure the Suns are getting close."[/color]