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[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/851798918349586452/1114216277372833822/debrief.png[/img]
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[cell][h3]
[u]  DEBRIEF[color=red]◢[/color][/u]
[sub][b][code]Havana,[/code][/b][color=gray][s] Cuba[/s][/color]
[b][code]April 10,[/code][/b][color=gray][s] 2187[/s][/color]
[b][code]Windy,[/code][/b][color=gray][s][abbr=68°F] 20°C[/abbr][/s][/color]
[/sub][/h3]
[/cell][/row][/table]
[indent][indent]
[color=red][b]C[/b][/color]aptain Riley couldn't believe what she had heard. A group of freelancers took out the Tenth Street Reds? Impossible. The Reds eluded both the alliance and Bragus Thul's enforcers for over a month, and now they just folded to a bunch of newcomers?

Solveig and Lizbeth sent Riley footage of SRN's raid; the captain was speechless. And at Sol's urging, she agreed to pick them up.

Shortly before Riley arrived, Outcast called back after being away for more than thirty minutes.

[color=silver]"I lost Banes!"[/color] Outcast radioed in. [color=silver]"Tell your friends at the spaceport to watch out for-"[/color]

Then Riley's M-080 APC pulled up to the front of the meat plant.

"Watch out for what?" Riley and her squad strode in. "Don't tell me you let them go, Wistrom."

"Like how she let this guy go?" Lizbeth pointed out the quarian hostage.

"I can hear you, you know." Riley quipped as her squad ripped Weisman out of his suit and tied up the quarian.

Turns out, Banes did get away through the spaceport. While Riley and some of her team went to the meat plant, a cloaked figure slipped through the less guarded perimeter. When they returned to the spaceport control tower, one shuttle had taken off without authorization. Surveillance cam footage showed only one person flying it: Armistan Banes. Thankfully, he didn't steal SRN's shuttle.

What followed was nearly three hours of debriefing. It started in the infirmary, where medics worked on the team's injuries as Riley made them talk through events of the night. About an hour in, Zenn and Nadara were allowed to leave for hospital care, if they wished. 

Nadara only suffered a flesh wound on her shoulder. She got a sling for safety, though she should be swinging her arm as normal in a few days. Zenn, on the other hand, developed a minor calf infection. Thanks to quick actions from Sevipia, it was contained below his knee. However, Riley's medics had little quarian antibiotics available. This meant Zenn had to heal the old-fashioned way. His calf would be hurting for weeks unless...

...Kenn's crew provided the antibiotics! Surely enough, those quarians scrappers kept a better stocked medical crate. With the antibiotics administered, Zenn would recover as quickly as Nadara.

For the others, Riley wanted no details spared of their experiences. After hearing all of it, even a grizzled veteran like Riley was thoroughly disgusted by what the Reds' did. Still, she was glad to have Weisman locked up and the stolen T-5V suit back to its rightful owners. Weisman's bounty was transferred to SRN; each member of the team received 1200 credits (after processing fees).

Back to Kenn and his crew. As agreed upon, the quarians would be released for providing intel on the Reds. They became SRN employees, who would assume liabilities for their actions and deduct their initial wages to pay for damage caused by their looting. However, the snitch, who had ran from Riley straight into Reds captivity, was not included in the agreement. Riley didn't care for this one quarian, but Kenn and the others would absolutely not have the snitch back. In the end, Riley simply took the snitch's credits as fine and released them.

"Thank you, Zenobia! Thank you, SRN! Thank you, Captain Lee'Riley vas Wiley!" Kenn rejoiced at his freedom.

"And I suppose you too." He added for Solveig.

"No thanks to you." Kenn waved the snitch off.

Toward the end, Riley inquired about Outcast. They hadn't shown since driving off after Banes, only leaving two messages.

[indent][quote]
[b][code]Outcast:[/code][/b]
[code]I can't be around the military; we may have misunderstandings.[/code]

[b][code]Outcast:[/code][/b]
[code]I will tell you everything when you're not being watched.[/code]
[/quote][/indent]
Riley figured it was not worthwhile to prod further regarding Outcast. There were countless individuals with unknown pasts, and this one posted no threat to the alliance. She was, however, concerned about Banes. According to Riley, Banes was an undercover alliance asset presumed to have perished four years ago. Him resurfacing and masterminding the Reds was worrying. Riley said she would forward the reports directly to Admiral Singh.

Before letting the SRN team go, Riley pulled Solveig aside for an "alliance business chat".

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/w0XWwEk.png[/img][/center]
It was noon when the team left Havana Spaceport. The immediate concern for some was Katya and Janiri. Riley's medics could not make any progress with them, and going through Havana's hospitals and clinics, neither could anyone else. The diagnosis was coma with possible brain damage, the prognosis was uncertain and the only treatment was "wait and see".

Eventually meeting back at Meliá Resort, the team found Lizbeth playing with Ranger in the courtyard. Ranger made a beeline for Zenn.

"I took care of the van business with Saneamiento; SRN's insurance partner will cover the repair." Lizbeth passed a dog toy to Zenn. "Lucky any of you didn't have to break the news to them. They're already not happy with Ranger relieving himself on their carpet."

Further inside the resort, the normalcy was staggering. Some guests were just waking up from a wild night of partying. All of them went about their day with no idea that an organ trafficking gang had been taken out in a explosive firefight. The cigar lounge was exactly as it were yesterday, wood furniture, classic decor, plush sofas and sitting on one was...Outcast?

Wearing a long hooded coat similar to the one worn by Amina, Outcast browsed a datapad with a glass of rum and case of cigars on the side table. Both the liquor and cigars were untouched. Approaching Outcast, the SRN team could finally see the face under the hood. It was a tangle of damaged implants among twisting scars; the sum of which could barely be called human.

[color=silver]"I imagine you have questions."[/color] Outcast's unfiltered voice was deep and guttural. [color=silver]"Let's start with my real name: [url=https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Randall_Ezno]Randall Ezno[/url]."[/color]

Randall, as they, or he ("it doesn't matter") was called, was a [url=https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Mass_Effect:_Infiltrator]cerberus infiltrator[/url]. Having escaped horrific experiments on a [url=https://masseffect.fandom.com/wiki/Barn]secret research station[/url] (the source of his implants), Randall spent majority of the war hunting down the station's director. In the process, they passed on whatever they could to the alliance.

[color=silver]"Some call me a war asset,"[/color] Randall recalled, [color=silver]"but others say a cerberus is always cerberus."[/color]

Toward the end of the war, Randall finally located and neutralized the director. But searching through the director's files, Randall found they weren't the last to receive such "upgrades". Sure, cerberus introduced reaper implants to its rank and file. But this special package, designed to give superhuman prowess and even confer biotic capabilities to those not born with them, was extremely rare. The director had a short list of candidates passed down from the Illusive Man himself.

[color=silver]"Most of them, including a squad leader codename 'Rogue', who has a preference for burst-fire rifles, were unavailable or KIA."[/color] Randall's eerily bright blue eyes glanced toward Amina. [color=silver]"But one has completed the procedures and is active in the field: Armistan Banes."[/color]

That's how Randall ended up on earth; Banes' last known assignment was aiding the Illusive Man's Citadel coup. When the crucible fired, many of Randall's implants fried, horrifically disfiguring them yet somehow sparing their life. This wasn't the case for all cerberus members, but it must've also been the case for Banes.

[color=silver]"Banes isn't working alone, and it's not just hired thugs like the Reds."[/color] Randall noticed. [color=silver]"Someone must be backing him up right now. How can one ex-cerberus agent gather enough credits to pay off the Reds and have the connections to broker a deal with the Blood Pack?"[/color]

Even so, Randall stated they would rather track Banes alone. Putting the SRN team on his trails would quickly alert Banes, and without knowing how the full extent of Bane's resources, they could blunder into another ambush.

Before leaving, Randall answered a few lingering questions.

[color=silver]"Like how I gained anonymous access to SRN?"[/color] Their deformed face curled up to something resembling a smirk. [color=silver]"I gave the director's data to the president of SRN. Your boss said it's a good trade."[/color]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/w0XWwEk.png[/img][/center]
With their business concluded, SRN team members enjoyed one free day in Havana. Then, on the 12[sup]th[/sup], a priority email came.

[hider=ENCRYPTED - BIOMETRIC VERIFICATION REQUIRED]
[code]
From: Charles Saracino
To: Elizabeth Baynham, Zenn'Valin vas Konesh, Amina Galal, Zenobia Vartius, Solveig Wistrom, Nadara V’Lanis, Kysar Proctus, Sevipia Paetmus
Re: Immediate Reassignment
[/code]

Greetings,

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Charles Saracino, recently appointed president of SRN. My callsign is "Regent".

It is regrettable not being able to close the deal with Dr. Jelize. Though Dr. Baynham has informed me that she managed to convince Dr. Jelize to keep SRN as an option for future employment.

I have read Dr. Baynham's report of the events that transpired in Havana. Please accept my sincere condolences on the passing of four team members; their sacrifices in making earth a better place will be remembered.

However, there are deep concerns regarding hostile forces encountered during your assignment. I am sure "Outcast" has explained the dangers posed by Armistan Banes. The ambush orchestrated by Banes confirms my suspicion that SRN has been compromised. We cannot let Banes and his co-conspirators subvert our growing network.

Therefore, I ask all current team members to report to my headquarters at Svalbard ASAP. It is best to meet in-person for confidentiality. In addition, there is a state of the art hospital in [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longyearbyen]Longyearbyen[/url] staffed by renowned doctors across the galaxy; we will find a way to help Lt. Cmdr. Serova and Specialist Danya.

Sincerely,

Charles Saracino
President, Sol Restoration Network
[/hider]
Lizbeth was quick to comment.

[indent][quote]
[b][code]Egghead:[/code][/b]
[code]Welp, guess we're parting ways.[/code]

[b][code]Egghead:[/code][/b]
[code]I got another email, and a promotion to manager of the SRN branch here in Havana.[/code]

[b][code]Egghead:[/code][/b]
[code]Feels like all of you got the short end of the stick; tropical paradise to a frozen rock?[/code]

[b][code]Egghead:[/code][/b]
[code]Just wanted say, it was a joy working with you all. We make a great team.[/code]

[b][code]Egghead:[/code][/b]
[code]Watching that raid was quite a show. I went through two bags of popcorn. Almost puked in one...[/code]

[b][code]Egghead:[/code][/b]
[code]Uh, forget what I just said.[/code]

[b][code]Egghead:[/code][/b]
[code]Anyone wanna go grab a drink to celebrate. Nadara? I know this cool cabana bar.[/code]

[b][code]Egghead:[/code][/b]
[code]BTW, Zenn, take Ranger with you, ok? That dog really likes you.[/code]
[/quote][/indent]
[/indent][/indent]