[hider= Kaya and Tamás on the beach] [center][h2]Havana, Cuba

Febuary 7th, 2187

Afternoon[/h2][/center]




[color=6b8e23]“Canlius!”[/color]

Still chasing after his lover, Tamás made his way through the crowd at the security checkpoint without much trouble. He didn’t give the pursuit up even if the turian always seemingly vanished from the corner of his eye. It seemed never-ending as if Canlius wasn’t even paying attention until he went into an alley. Tamás followed without any hesitation. The alleyway was somewhat dirty with trash bags scattered around and trash cans filled. But just near one of them was something strangely familiar. Upon a closer look, Tamás realized that it was… a kuwashii visor sliced in half. 

And when he reached for it, Tamás was back on the war-torn Citadel as the chaos was unfolding all around him. The broken visor lay beside a well-dressed turian that wore an expensive armor set with his colony markings painted on the chest piece. It didn’t protect him from the Reaper forces. He was one of the many victims that were caught off-guard by an explosion caused by one of the oculi occupying the skies. But, he wasn’t Canlius. Tamás felt relief and then guilt for thinking so selfishly. 

Then, before he had the chance to leave, Tamás realized, to his horror, that the turian was still alive and alert. He stared at him and said, [color=red]“Get me up. I can’t feel my legs.”[/color]

Tamás was so startled that he remained speechless for a second. That explosive should’ve killed him in all honestly. But, instead, the turian was alert and still insisting on helping him back up. There wasn’t much left to ease his suffering nor time before the Reapers found them. Tamás knew that he had to keep going. He tried his best to avoid the pleads for help from the dying turian as he went for the emergency exit. But, it proved incredibly difficult to do so.

Outside, and with the image of that dying turian seared into his mind, Tamás was more determined than ever to find Canlius—alive or… dead. But then, he saw someone going down into the lower wards. Without a second thought, Tamás gave chase assuming that it was Canlius, and then called him out. [color=6b8e23]“Canlius?!” 

“Canlius is that you?! Canlius!!”[/color]


[color=lightgreen]“Excuse me, are you alright?”[/color] Kaya asked, waving a hand in front of the shell shocked human. The smell of the ocean wafted up pleasantly from the sea, the breeze carrying the sounds of laughter. Kaya recognized him as one of the new additions to the team. One of the ones replacing Sigma. He hadn’t said much of anything to the man but still invited him out. Albeit via omni-tool. Kaya was horrible with introductions. 

Tamás was surprised by the salarian’s presence and the fact he wasn’t on the Citadel anymore. Instead, he was staring at the ocean with someone staring at him rather awkwardly. He took a moment to compose himself before speaking with a weary tone. [color=6b8e23]“It’s… It’s nothing.”[/color]

Kaya doubted that. But he was a complete stranger and the look on the man’s face told the salarian this was a scar on his soul. He knew what that was like, so he didn’t pry. Instead he steeled himself to make a formal introduction. Kaya would have felt more comfortable braving machine gun fire. He stuck his hand out, his arm a little too rigid.

[color=lightgreen]“This is the customary human greeting, yes? I am Erinle Laka Greengrove Voten Kaya...but you can just call me Kaya, it’s far easier to remember.”[/color] he said a little sheepishly. 

Tamás couldn’t help but chuckle at the question. It reminded him of Zrartak back on the Citadel, but a little least awkward and a lot older. Tamás took his hand and shook it before introducing himself. [color=6b8e23]“Tamás Zsolt-Cox. Don’t worry about mispronouncing it, a lot of people often do. Just call me Bolt or Tamás, if you can.”[/color]

Kaya let go of his hand and immediately had to idea what to do with them. So he put them behind his back in what he hoped was a more dignified stance than it felt like. [color=lightgreen]“Okay, Bolt. How are you finding the team so far? I believe there are some more of us scattered about. I think I saw Karnoc yelling at some water earlier.”[/color] he commented. Kaya began to casually walk along the shoreline, hoping Tamás would follow suit.

Upon being asked about the team, Tamás realized that he knew nothing about them nor there were already others. All he got was just the notification for SRN to leave for Earth immediately without any notes or dossiers. But he didn’t blame it on them since the network connection between the Citadel and Earth was still terrible. Although, it didn’t take much for Tamás to figure out that Kaya was part of the team.

[color=6b8e23]“I assume you’re talking about SRN, right?”[/color] Tamás followed the salarian. [color=6b8e23]“I actually don’t know anyone else. I… just got here.”[/color]

[color=lightgreen]“Right, of course. Well, you have Karnoc, like I mentioned earlier. He’s a bit...aggressive, but he’s a great fighter. I happen to quite like him. There aren’t many people who are unapologetically themselves. I think Janiri is around here somewhere too. She’s an Asari. Between you and me I think she’s a little...out of her element here. She’s kind, however, I’m sure you’d like her.”[/color] Kaya explained, letting the waves wash over his feet. The sensation was nice. Nicer than a gust of arid, desert wind anyway.

[color=lightgreen]“The others are a bit more...mercenary, I suppose you could say. Keslia mostly keeps to herself, I don’t think we’ve traded more than a few words. Kysar is...interesting. I don’t particularly trust him but he’s competent and I suppose that has to do for our purposes. Then there’s Katya, our leader of sorts. She’s a human like yourself. She’s kept us alive so far which is more than some.”[/color] he pondered aloud, sidestepping a laughing couple playing in the tide.

[color=lightgreen]“Then of course, me.”[/color] he added awkwardly as an afterthought. [color=lightgreen]“I’m a sniper. All the rest are a mix of biotics and gunmen. “I think I read your dossier before you got here, you’re an...engineer, correct?”[/color] he asked with genuine curiosity. [color=6b8e23]“You… you read my dossier?”[/color] Tamás asked with a subtle hint of shock in his voice. [color=6b8e23]“Then, you know about…”[/color]

Kaya glanced at him with some confusion, then realized this must be connected to his incident earlier. [color=lightgreen]“I know very little of your personal history. For team members, the dossiers are just a record of your skills. The SRN keeps their member’s privacy. Um, so no and you don’t have to speak about it if you don’t wish to. I’m sure all of us have some dark shadows in our past.”[/color] Kaya said gently, silently scolding himself for not clarifying such things before. 

[color=6b8e23]“Good.”[/color] Tamás breathed a sigh of relief while looking up at the Citadel. It was so beautiful to witness even though it had seen better days. Hell, it was the first time seeing the outside of it before the war. So, he marveled at the space station while forgetting about his surroundings for a minute. Then, he felt sorrow upon noticing the scars of battle for a war that seemed eternal. It was way worse within the station.

Kaya watched him for a moment. [color=lightgreen]“Have you been there? The Citadel, I mean. I had lived on Erinle my whole life. I only left because the reapers showed up so I haven’t really had the chance to visit. I imagine it’ll be a while before the opportunity presents itself.”[/color] he said, now also gazing up at the floating station in the sky. 

[color=6b8e23]“Yeah, that’s… that’s my home.”[/color] There was sadness in Tamás’ voice upon answering the question. He kept on walking along the beach leaving behind the salarian for a moment of peace. Kaya watched him walk on and got the sense he was finished talking. That was fine with the quiet salarian. He understood the comfort of silence. [/hider]