Before Moonstrike could send the child soldiers out to for some Ascendancy-kicking action, it would seem that the action had come to them.

Restarters… the name rung a bell. A tiny little bell, but it was vaguely familiar to Ariel all the same. Their ultimate aim was pretty much the total genocide of humankind, although they had long been considered extremists or outright terrorists in practically all polite circles and weren’t known for being particularly well-organised. Even accounting for the sheer expanse of the Bazaar, though, the security forces’ response time for an incident of such gravity was [i]atrociously[/i] slow. Stalling for time with such a violent group wouldn’t be a tenable strategy in the long run.

Although Ariel had drawn her stunner, it wouldn’t work against Mirrorshard — he was a Kaisoken, after all, and a little zap would hardly be of any effect. The same was unfortunately true for the baton, and her magic was not well-suited to a close combat situation such as this. Her time to shine would perhaps come later: right now, it was time for the others to take the limelight. A peaceful resolution — somehow, having someone with the moniker of ‘Kinslayer’ speak to their fellow Kaisoken was actually the most diplomatic approach — would of course be for the best, but if that didn’t play out as planned, then Tarak and Nero had thankfully come up with a plan.

Now she just needed to find a niche to slot herself into…

[color=e9e6e1]“I’ll stay on this shuttle and evacuate the civilians here to someplace safer. If they try to board us while you guys are over there, I’ll fend them off. And, if things go awry—“[/color] heaven forbid, Ariel muttered silently to herself [color=e9e6e1]“—don’t forget that Flame, Iris, and I all have med-kits. Please get back in one piece, though.”[/color]

The shop’s proprietress was a Rau’ve, but her customers were of all species. There was no guarantee that they would all speak English, and on occasion even Basic. Fortunately, Ariel knew her fair share of alien and foreign tongues, more than enough to communicate.

Ariel spoke to the store owner first. [color=e9e6e1]“Madam, let’s move everyone to shelter. Do you have a room with metal doors or locks?”[/color] Leaving the area entirely would be best, but with so large a group it would be difficult to evade detection from the militants. 

Next, she began to speak to the customers all around the shuttle, all in various stages of shock or disbelief, some already showing sign of panic. Managing crowds wasn’t Ariel’s specialty, but someone had to take control of the situation. [color=e9e6e1]“Everyone, please remain calm and listen to my instructions! We cannot exit the shuttle, so follow the owner and we’ll head to a safe room until security arrives. Keep calm, and don’t push!”[/color] She repeated this first in English, then Basic, Rau’ve, and any language she could muster until she was confident that no one was left confused.

Ariel wasn’t a police officer, but looking at all the regular people in the store whose lives were at stake now, she had only one objective — to serve and to protect these innocents.