[table][row][cell][right]
[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/851798918349586452/1105601840445395004/mesvcerro1.png[/img]
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[h3][u]  DISTRESS SIGNAL[color=red]◢[/color][/u]
[sub][b][code]Cerro Municipality,[/code][/b][color=gray][s] Havana[/s][/color]
[b][code]Evening,[/code][/b][color=gray][s] April 9, 2187[/s][/color][/sub][/h3]
[sup][@Awesomoman64][@Shift][@Shu][@High Casual][/sup][/cell][/row][/table]
[indent][indent]
[color=red][b]"W[/b][/color]e need to stay together.” Amina commented on the presence mentioned by Zenn.

Zenn looks back and forth between Nadara and Amina. He places his hand beneath his chin to ponder how to handle a tied vote. 

"Well, I could run across the street and just do a quick sweep with my omni-tool? I would still be close by and if I find something we can proceed from there. Does that work?"

A dog bark comes from the back alley.

“Go quick!” Nadara turns to Amina with a frown. “We don’t have time to stop and question every decision in times like this.” If they hadn’t stopped to question the decision earlier she wouldn’t even need to be here in the first place!

Zenn nods at Nadara. He makes sure there aren't any cars coming before running across the street to the spot he saw the cloaked figure. He pulls out his omni-tool and scans the area for anything out of the ordinary. Heat signatures, traces of element zero, etc.

“We also cannot split up at every turn and just go running towards every problem without some forethought.” Amina squeezes the handle of her suitcase.

Now Nadara did roll her eyes. “How can you not see [i]this[/i],” she motioned in the direction Zenn had run off in, “makes the most sense in this situation?” Her tone was louder than it should have been, the absentminded sweeping motion of her arm gaining the attention of those around them. “You’re either still too young to have honed good instincts, or you’re too insecure about your own abilities.” Her attention was fully on Amina. She could have been sipping martinis and coaxing information from Liz on other resorts SRN had on file. She didn’t need this.

“I am just speaking generally. I never actually spoke against the Quarian just running some scans. So long as we don’t go chasing shadows down through the alleys.” Amina ended with a hard jab in Nadara’s midsection. “Young? Don’t talk to me about experience. I certainly don’t need a century or two to mature.”

Air expelled from her lips at the unexpected blow, but Nadara quickly turned it into a scoff, hiding her surprise at the strength Amina had used. “Yes, well, that’s only because you couldn’t last two centuries.” Her eyes trailed over to the Quarian. “He hasn’t even gone down the alley, we won’t need to chase him,” she said, misunderstanding Amina’s point. Zenn’s moniker was “Shadow” after all.

“Hey!” Zenn called out to get the attention of the other to the two across the street. He didn’t want to announce to the world and possibly the person they were tracking they were on to them, so instead of yelling everything, he attempted to signal to them what he found. He held his omni-tool up and tapped on it a few times, then pointed to a nearby dilapidated two-story building the trail led to.

“So much for being inconspicuous,” she murmured to Amina.

Amina clapped her free hand against her face, “Fine, let’s go see what he’s found. Then we go check out that signal location.”

Before they went, three locals walked by Amina and Nadara.

"Damn [i]turistas[/i]." One of them grumbled.

"Hey," another one said to Amina, "go argue with your alien girlfriend somewhere else."

“We find that term offensive, [i]cabrón[/i]. You’re an alien as much as I am.”

"What, she speaks Spanish?" One of the locals was astonished.

Another dog bark comes from the back alley.

"Uh, sorry. We're just not used to seeing some many new faces." The second one apologized. She glanced at the back alley. "Anyway, don't try to pet that one. Stray came in after the gang went through. Smells like all kinds of nasty."

"Come on, let's go. Party's already started at Alejandro's place." The third local waved them along.

“Come on,” Amina nodded across the way, “let’s go check up with the Quarian.” Amina pulled her coat up tight and hustled along towards the building where Zenn had gone.

“But there’s some kind of nasty dog down this way,” Nadara complained. “Besides, Alejandro’s party might be a good place for intel!”

“Come on!” Amina shouted looking back, brow crinkled in a growing aggravation at the Asari.

Nadara hesitated, shifting the weight on her feet. The Quarian could certainly handle himself, but the opportunity to follow the locals to whomever Alejandro was, was fading fast as they continued farther down the street. 

“Ugh!” Her hands came down in fists beside her as she definitively turned away from her last glimpses of the three locals and toward Amina and the building Zenn had indicated.   

After crossing the street, Nadara crossed her arms over her chest in a huff. “We better not have just given up valuable information from a group of locals for this.”

Zenn waited a moment to see if his teammates had picked up on his signals. However, he also didn't want to lose the trail. It wouldn't hurt to at least make sure the coast was clear, right? Zenn cautiously entered the building, checking all corners and keeping his hand on his pistol as he stepped inside.

As soon as Zenn crossed into the building, the cloaked figure materialized behind him on the left side of the doorway. The figure was a [url=https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/851247559682818098/1100886964741357599/19I.png]helmeted human[/url], and they went to grab Zenn.

However, Zenn was able to react first, by a split second.

The quarian released his grip on his pistol and prepared for his attackers grapple. His close quarters combat training kicked in as he instinctively reached up to grab their arm with one hand and wrap his other arm around the back of their head. He then attempted to pull them forward, using their momentum and his low center to throw his assailant over his shoulder.

The human was taller than Zenn by half a head and heavier by at least 20 kilos. He was unable to throw them. Zenn was shoved away forcefully, and landed on his ass. The impact kicked up dirt and dust all around the room.

When the dust cleared a second later, Zenn found the human's rifle pointed at his head. Streetlights shined from the window behind them, revealing the human's silver and yellow armor. It was an advanced stealth armor devoid of any markings of insignias.

Then Amina and Nadra came through the doorway. The human's weapon and armor were familiar to Amina.

"Don't do anything stupid." A filtered voice came from the human's helmet. "Or your friend gets it."

“You’re Cerberus.” Amina blurted suddenly. The woman had dropped her coat onto the floor revealing her own armor in full and was just starting to unlatch her suitcase when the assailant gave his warning.

[i]I guess I gave Zenn more credit than he deserved,[/i] Nadara thought as she took in the scene before her. Her hand was on the handle of the Asari blade. She was certain she should could end the Cerberus grunt before they pulled the trigger with the speed of her charge. 

“Stupid, huh? I don’t think we’re the ones who made the bad call here.” She made a show of counting their numbers by pointing a finger at Amina, Zenn, and herself before pausing and pointing only at the armored figure. Surely, her blade could slice right through it. 

“Were you tailing us?” Perhaps if she got them talking, it would be easier to surprise them with an attack. All Nadara needed was for them to point the gun away from Zenn. Safety first and all that. Besides, if the Quarian died now, she really wouldn’t be able to make that party at Alejandro’s later. Too much paperwork.

[i]You stupid bosh'tet! How the hell did you let yourself get captured?[/i] Zenn remained still. His eyes darted between the Cerberus soldier and his teammates as he tried to weigh his options. [i]Think. You have to figure something out or else you're gonna blow this whole mission.[/i]

"What, how-" There was an almost imperceptible tremble at Amina's words, then the voice was back to its filtered monotone.

"Not tailing you. I've been watching this area." The human's rifle remain trained on Zenn, but they were now sparing glances at the other two. 

"You're too sharp for gangsters." They addressed Zenn. "And don't gear like them either." To Amina and Nadara.

"Who sent you here?"

“Eat it.” Amina made a hard forward swinging with her left arm, her large suitcase containing her rifle flew towards the armed individuals’ legs - ideally it would hit the back of their knee and crumple them. At the least it would make them stumble so she could tussle them to the ground and disarm them.

The suitcase missed its mark completely. Though it did hit someone: Zenn. Just when he had regained his breath, the quarian's wind was knocked out of him again.

On impact, the suitcase opened and Amina's vindicator tumbled out to the armored figure's feet.

There was moment of confusion, then the figure realized something from Amina's weapon.

"You're with SRN." The figure planted a foot on the vindicator, to keep it out of Zenn's reach. "Rogue, isn't it?"

Was the SRN letting just anyone join their ranks? Nadara had seen incompetence before, but this was on a whole new level. She supposed her companions were lucky she’d come along. Goddess knows what would’ve happened had she not. 

No matter, this was all the distraction she needed. Not bothering to wonder about how the assailant had so much intel on Amina, Nadara charged, pulling out and unsheathing her sword as she did. Hoping to utilize the surprise of her speed, the Asari angled herself to stop just behind the Cerberus grunt, intending to hold her blade firmly at their neck.

Zenn had been focused on the Cerberus operative when Amina made her move. The quarian let out a long wheeze as the brief case slammed into his chest. He was too stunned to even notice the vindicator rifle until after the Cerberus Op had it pinned under his foot.

The human reacted just Nadara charged. She was too fast for them to evade, though they managed to turn their gun to Nadara as her blade pressed up against their neck. In the same move, they kicked Amina's rifle back to the next room.

A millisecond was all it would take for the blade to decapitate, or the trigger to be pulled. But the millisecond passed and nothing happened.

"Easy now..." The human spoke emotionlessly, though their body was clearly tense. "Was scoping out the alley when your quarian friend came. Locals say a firefight happened two days ago. Valuable intel."

"How about we put the weapons down and talk?" Offering a gesture of goodwill, their right index finger shifted slightly off the trigger.

“What is Cerberus doing here?” Amina blurted out. “And how do you know my handle?”

"[i]Ex[/i]-ceberus. I am well-informed on SRN, and other ex-ceberus."

"If you're... so well-informed..." Zenn managed to say between deep breaths. Sis arms clutched his chest as he pulled himself up. "Why the hell... did you try to attack us?"

"Wouldn't you do the same when you get tailed while stealthed?"

"Not... If I knew who it was. Seriously... You have knowledge of SRN... but didn't think the one quarian in the city was also the one they hired?"

"Only? You don't know about the batch at the spaceport? Look, I'll share my intel when there's no risk of decapitation."

“How can we be sure this isn’t just an act you’re putting on? Drop your gun, and I’ll sheathe the sword.”

Spaceport? Weren’t the other human and Turian headed there for something?

The figure holstered their rifle on their back.

Nadara sighed, but released the human and sheathed her sword as promised. Apparently tonight would consist of no fun whatsoever. 

“Your helmet too.”

"No." They turned to Zenn again and offered him a hand up. "You should know."

Zenn glared at the cerberus op. He wasn't normally in the habit of accepting a helping hand from someone who nearly put a bullet in his head, but then again, one of his teammates had also nailed him full strength with a briefcase. Kind of hard to tell who the bad guys were. In the end Zenn let out a sigh and grabbed the man's hand to pull himself up. 

"Alright. Spill. What's going on here?"

Amina kept her lips pursed, saying nothing as she waited for this apparent ex-Cerberus op to spill their guts.

Nadara narrowed her eyes at the human’s refusal to identify themselves. She didn’t trust them.

"I've been tracking a dangerous ex-cerberus agent called Armistan Banes." They looked at Amina. "SRN and I have been...exchanging information, and it seems Banes has recently associated himself with a gang called Tenth Street Reds."

"Locals told me some Reds entered the back alley shortly after several newcomers went through there." They looked out the window. The sun had set. "Then there were gunfire and explosions. Most of the Reds left. But only one newcomer walked out, supposedly a turian biotic."

"Was going to scan the alley when you showed up. We should still do it now. Isn't that why you are here?"

“I wouldn’t worry yourself about why we’re here,” Nadara said. Honestly, she couldn’t remember exactly. There was some signal? 

“Show us some proof you’ve been working with SRN. Seems odd they didn’t tell us about you if they knew you’d be here.” Nadara blinked, suddenly hoping she hadn’t made a fool of herself. Liz hadn’t mentioned this ex-Cerberus grunt earlier, right?

They tapped their omni-tool. A holo-projection appears of a secure extranet page for authorized SRN personnel, where members applied for jobs and received briefings. Their callsign appeared on the top: [b]Outcast[/b] - SRN Associate. Their account had no profile picture.

Zenn let out a long sigh as "Outcast" pulled up the secure SRN page. That certainly looked legitimate. 

"So we almost killed each other because no one bothered to tell us there was someone else monitoring the area?" Zenn asked. He looked at his companions for confirmation.  He certainly hoped one of them would correct him. Tell him he was wrong and that he simply missed that part of the briefing.

Nadara looked at him point blank. “With the reception I received at the resort, this doesn’t surprise me, honestly.”

Amina squinted at the operative, stepping slowly around with the intent to retrieve her weapon - coat left on the floor.

"SRN didn't tell you because I work alone, and discreetly." Outcast shrugged.

They watched Amina pick up her vindicator. "Might want to hydrate, Rogue. You're white hot on thermal." 

Outcast started walking out toward the alley. The street was a lot less busy now. Though Alejandro's was booming with sounds of merrymaking down the street.

"What should I call you two?" Outcast asked the quarian and the asari.

Zenn hesitated to answer. Not because he didn't feel like he couldn't say, but because it felt awkward giving a callsign like [i]Shadow[/i] after being caught so easily. Regardless, this guy was going to find out anyway.

"They call me Shadow." Zenn replied.

“Sunset.” Nadara peeked out over Outcast’s shoulder towards the alley. “There was talk of some nasty dog out there,” she murmured, eyes quickly losing interest in searching for the animal and instead shifting over to the loud party. 

[i]Who cares about Alejandro’s, that place seems intriguing enough.[/i]
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