Urdnot pushes the door aside and stands to his feet with some difficulty. "I'm fine," he grunts almost defensively through comms as he draws the Claymore on the door as he carefully walks up to stand on it. "There were two asari, maybe three." His Scimitar shotgun is on the floor in front of the doorway.
#Aroste – April 9, 2026
Renala nods at the order and stays back by the door Jason was about to open. "I think there's someone in here," she says with a gesture at the door.
Uvena takes a few steps towards the north door at the status, but awaits orders with Victoria and Zaylus.
(Maintenance Corridor) The door interface sputters to life briefly together with concerning electrical sounds coming from the server room. It does not stop Celyna from pulling open the doorway, which leads to another small corridor with another closed unpowered door at the end of it.
(Outside) The hail continues to let up, improving visibility outside. The wind is picking up, however.
Leah is quick to sweep her Predator across the exposed room once Celyna has pried the doors open. She utters a quick, "Clear." and moves forward, not wanting to waste time in assisting with the rest of the fighting heard throughout the facility. She once again stacks up on the next door, her prior knowledge of the layout and the time spent reaquainting herself with the map during their ride over having informed her enough to report in:
"We're about to link up with the central hallway." She positions herself off-center from the door, hugging the eastern wall in case they're thrown right into the thick of things as soon as the door is opened, and keeps her weapon trained on the door before offering Celyna another nod to indicate her readiness.
Jason continues to move up along the western wall. Syld's report merely garners a nod, but Victoria's check-in causes him to pause his advance down the hall. "We've got the western hall locked down. Still facing some resistance but we should have it under control. Sounded like you linked up with Ehanis-..." he continues, having garnered as much from the comms chatter, "...so once you're sure the threats in the hangar are taken care of,
clear any rooms to the north that she hasn't covered yet and make sure the hallway stays clear." Renala's addition causes him to bite down, attention pulled in several directions as a biotic barrier erupts over the kitchen door. "Copy. Just keep eyes on those doors and let us know if it seems like anyone is trying to force them." he says, deciding the very obvious threat from the kitchen should be their main focus for now since,
for all they know, the sounds Renala is hearing could very well be from the hostages. So as long as Renala can keep the doors covered, it should be good enough. He posts up closer to the kitchen door, drawing in a breath as he activates his helmet's external speakers. "Is this the part where you turn off all the lights, close the curtains, get really quiet and hope we just go away?" he calls out to whoever is in the room, hoping
to open a line of communication to get a better idea of what they're dealing with. "If so, you're gonna be real disappointed..."
Victoria nods at both the fact that the batarian is dead, and Jason's words. "Understood." She looks over roughly in the direction of both Uvena and Zaylus. "Make sure everything is secured before we leave and start hitting the north side." She then looks at the shuttles. "Wolfe, do you want me to break the engines on these shuttles? I could use the launcher to bust them up or bust up their
Zaylus | "One already tried running." He adds to Victoria's sentiment. "Can you ground them without blowing anything up?" He suggests hopefully, keeping his eye on any potential hiding spots as he goes back to inspect the hangar door controls. Having that door stuck open doesn't sit well, and not because of the cold wind seeping in.
Celyna stomps through the corridor, eager to get back into the fight and unconcerned about hostiles opening up on her as soon as she breaches again given the layout of the map in the corner of her HUD. "If you're outside the shitters, get the fuck out of the way!" she calls out, biotic energy building as she crosses the short hallway. She casts a brief glance Leah's way to seek confirmation, and another at her map to make sure no
friendlies are right on the other side, and then she aims another high powered kick - at the center of the doors this time, hoping to send both halves flying.
Philip doesn't seem entirely sure what to do, opting to press up against the wall behind Jason, rifle clutched close as his head swivels, looking down both ends of the corridor.
Urdnot walks up to stack up on the north side of the door, staying out of sight of the door, lowering his shotgun for now.
Renala remains where she is, keeping watch. She does bring up her omni-tool to try another scan for anything wireless she could mess with.
Ehanis was about to pass in front of the door, but she backs up and stacks up on the meeting room door instead readying her biotics. "You're good to breach, Leah," she reports over comms. "And east exit is still clear."
(Kitchen) A voice responds through the door, on helmet speakers. "No, but I'll give you a choice," the asari, probably Sala, says. "You get clear of my way out, or I make a new one, but you might take issue with where I set my breach charge." A smell of curry seeps out of the kitchen.
(Hangar) The crates, tires and other tools along the west half of the room are rife with cover, but there's been no sign or sound of activity there. Nothing from Uvena's vantage either.
Uvena shakes her head. "I don't see anyone," she says through helmet speakers rather than comms as she aims around the covers.
Leah gives the briefest of looks through the door and steps out into the kitchen, only making it up to the corner. But, upon hearing the kitchen threats and seeing that Redrock has an overwhelming presence in the hallway, her posture relaxes. She peers out around the corner, seeking out Jason's attention and giving her chest a quick pat and then pointing upwards, not wanting to be overheard given her lack of a helmet. She begins to
backpedal before turning on her heels and heading right back the way she came, offering a silent, departing shoulder pat to Celyna as she passes by. "I'll pull back and post up on the roof." she announces over comms once she's back through the corridor she and Celyna just arrived from and far enough from the kitchen to speak freely, "If she's planning to blow her way out then she might try to get to the maintenance hatch." With
that she breaks into a jog, eager to get past the backside of the kitchen before any breaching charges might go off.
Jason shakes his head to himself as Vicky chimes in over comms. opting to respond first to her. "Negative. We're not blowing up anything that we don't need to. If you can't keep it grounded without damaging it, then keep someone posted at it for now. Probably not a bad idea to keep someone in the hangar anyway. We want to keep any escape routes locked down. That's you, Uvena." he says. If someone does make a break for the shuttle, it
can't hurt to have a biotic on guard. Next order of business is Leah. He passes an understanding nod to her signals, an understanding that's fortified as she explains her intentions when she pulls back. He, too, begins to pull back, not wanting to be against the wall if a directed charge goes off on the other side of it. He raises a hand, gesturing Phil to move as he begins to backpedal a bit. With that handled, he focuses on the
more pertinent problem, drawing in a heavy breath. "That you, Sala...?" he asks, raising his voice now to be heard. A slight smirk makes its way into his tone. He tsks. "I did warn you, didn't I? Didn't have to go this far. Could've come to a nice 'you don't fuck with us, we don't fuck with you' understanding." he continues, mostly just filling the air to buy Leah time to get into position. "But it's a little late for that, and no
amount of threats are gonna change the fact that you've dug a pretty deep hole for yourself. So here's the deal: The place is surrounded. If you try to fight your way out, it's not gonna go in your favor. You're smart enough to know that. Well-..." he shrugs, "...maybe not. Hard to tell at this point, but that's where we're at. The only play you've got left if you want to leave this place vertically is to put down your weapons and
come with us. Answer some questions-..." he shrugs to himself, "...and we turn you over to Freedom Falls authorities. It's the only deal you're gonna get out of me."
Victoria nods yet again and starts moving towards the northern door. "Understood. Zaylus, let's finish sweeping the north side." She looks over to Uvena. "We got this. Let us know if you need backup."
Zaylus circles back to the others, satisfied neither he or Uvena spotted any stragglers. "Let's get to it." He says through the helmet mic, jogging briefly to catch up to Victoria.
Celyna takes a brief moment to assess the situation in the corridor, offering Leah a nod of acknowledgement as she passes back the way they came. With plenty of people clearing the north and just as many stacked up on the west - which is where the action seems to be - she starts with quickly clearing the bathrooms. The last thing they need is some straggler bursting out behind them. She pulls her pistol, keeping it aimed at the door as
Philip 's face scrunches up in thought as he listens to the conversation, and it takes him a moment to notice Jason's gesture, at which point he scrambles away. He shifts his rifle into one hand and unclips one of the flashbangs attached to his vest, holding it at the edge of Jason's field of vision in a silent suggestion as he listens to the exchange.
Renala stays where she is. "I hear more movement in here," she reports over comms. "Near the back wall, I think."
Uvena nods. "Copy," she replies over comms and runs over to take up a vantage point on top of the central Kodiak shuttle, using her biotics to climb on top of it. The pillars may be a problem, a single escapee would have a hard time shooting at her without being stasis-able. While she's unhappy to be far from the action, preventing escape gives her something to focus on.
Ehanis has already opened the door to the meeting room and is sweeping through it, aiming underneath it as she crouches down. "Meeting room clear," she reports.
(Hallway, Kitchen Door) The asari laughs. "I'm not stupid enough to take that offer," she says. "The hostages are still alive, but one of them is standing a little too close to the charge for comfort. So what'll it be? You fucking off?" She speaks away from the doorway. "Get Wenera out from there."
(Hallway) The other doors remain closed. The last door by the destroyed north-east entrance leads to the lobby according to the map.
(Maintenance Corridor) A thin layer of smoke has formed in the corridor, coming from the server room where an electrical fire is slowly spreading from a rack on the back wall. It's not thick enough to hamper visibility and Leah will make it out just fine, but it might become a big problem soon. There is no fire extinguisher visible in the server room.
(Meeting Room) It's a very sparsely furnished meeting room with a oval table, chairs, a file cabinet and a screen. There are a few documents scattered over the table, but a cursory glance finds only schematics and user manuals.
Leah continues down the maintenance corridor, only briefly passing a glance into the server room as she passes it. "Looks like we've got an electrical fire in the server room. Might want to wrap this up quick!" she warns over comms as she continues towards the ladder.
Jason tilts his head, glancing back over his shoulder to Phil, holding up a hand, palm out to pause him rather than outright weighing in on the suggestion. Sala's mention of the hostages causes him to bite down. "So what do you think happens if you kill the hostages?" he asks, projecting as much confidence as he can considering the circumstances. "You do that and there's no going back. You have to know that. Might as well eat the barrel
of your own gun at that point." He pauses a beat before continuing. "Turn them over and you have my word that you walk away from this." As soon as he finishes speaking to Sala, he switches back to comms, his tone picking up in urgency. "Change of plans, Leah. Sounds like she's dumber than I gave her credit for. Prepare to breach from above and wait for my signal."
Victoria strides through the door that leads to the corridor and then into the conference room with her weapon lowered. Once entering the conference room she looks over at Ehanis. "Still need that room to the right cleared?" Wanting to know if she needed to provide assistance there.
Zaylus follows closely, turning toward the commotion while crossing into the meeting room. It looks secured already so he proceeds to the adjoining door, anxious to clear the whole floorplan before things boil over in the kitchen. He's on the next door, anticipating Ehanis' answer.
Celyna lowers her gun after verifying that the bathrooms are empty, casting a quick glance around the corridor. "Joining Leah," she decides - it's already crowded down here, and there's no time to waste asking for permission. She backpedals rapidly into the corridor and then turns to sprint, moving fast as she tries to catch up with Leah.
Philip lowers his hand, shifting nervously in place as he continues to listen, wishing he could do something - it's hard not to feel useless standing around while the lives of their targets are being threatened. The comment from Renala makes her look her way, and then to Jason, seeking permission to join the asari.
Ehanis nods. "Yes," she says over speakers and she uses her biotics to pull open the door between the conference room and lobby.
Uvena aims her pistol towards the wall, roughly in the other team's general direction. She has her biotics readied as well.
(Kitchen) The asari sighs. "Here's how it's going to go," she says. "My friend presses the button that blows a big fucking hole in the wall and we get out. Maybe I'll die, maybe I won't, but your friend won't make it. I'm not giving you another chance. I want to see movement out right fucking now."
(Lobby) The door opens with little resistance and reveals the lobby. The back of the desk is immediately to the left through the open door and there are seats along the left and right wall. The entrance door at the other end is closed and not presenting an interface. There's no immediately visible targets within, but a sweep is needed to get a good answer.
(Maintenance Corridor) There is nothing else obstructing Leah on her way through the corridor and the hatch is still open. A puddle of water has formed at the bottom of it, but it's running towards a drain at the bottom of the right wall.
Leah is already most of the way up the ladder when Jason gives his orders and she mutters a quiet, "Shit..." under her breath but complies with a sharp, "...Copy." She double times it the last few rungs, gripping the edge of the hatch and launching herself upright onto the roof, immediately pulling a breaching charge from her belt. The sound of Celyna in her comms is a welcome one, as this is gonna be about as risky of a breach as it
gets. "Keep her talking. I'm gonna need a few seconds..." she sighs, her green eyes shifting about to study the map that's now in the corner of her visor. She brings her forearm up, quickly swiping through a few menus of her omni-tool interface, forcing the map to shift and rotate across her visor until it's superimposed over the rooftop, giving her a more accurate feel for the layout below her. "What should I expect down there?"
Jason is quick to nod to Phil's silent request. Finishing with their building sweep can only help. He report back to Leah as Sala speaks. "Doesn't sound like we've got seconds to spare! Get ready to make entry!" he urges, "The krogan said two, maybe three asari. Piros and Wenera for sure, but V might be in there, too. Sounded like Piros was issuing orders to someone, so expect a second hostile." He doesn't bother responding to the
krogan. Those are concerns for once they've handled this little standoff of theirs. "You won't make it, Piros." he announces. "We're gonna give you a little more room to breathe..." he gestures for the krogan to back up, hoping to just alleviate enough pressure to buy them those precious seconds for Leah and Celyna, "But you need to think this through. You're in a rough spot. No doubt about it. But if you hit that button your
chance of surviving this drops to zero. We've already taken the building. So just let the hostages go and nobody else needs to die."
Victoria moves through the doorway once Ehanis has opened the door. She moves to the left to clear around the desk, wanting to make sure no one has been hidden under or around it. Her weapon now raised, and ready.
Zaylus steps back as the door is pulled open, giving Ehanis an appreciative nod. He filters right to complement, not yet letting down his guard as they reach the end of the building.
Celyna rushes through the corridor, waving her left arm in an attempt to keep smoke away as she hurries to the ladder, taking the rungs five at a time, a glow enveloping her as she lightens her own mass. She shoots out onto the roof and sets down right next to the hatch.
Philip nods and moves over to Renala's doorway, touching her shoulder briefly to get her attention. "Can you open the door?" he asks in a hissed, urgent whisper, showing her the flashbang still in his hand to alert her of his intention to clear the room.
Urdnot turns away and stomps down hallway past the corner. "We're going," he shouts over helmet speakers.
Renala nods at Philip's request, and uses her biotics to pull the door open. She stops partway through as a neural shock strike her from the dark room inside and she freezes up, her biotic field dissipating.
(Ktchen) Sala snorts. "You're testing me," she says. "I want to see all of you pass my door, and nothing else. Five... four...." There is some movement from two other people in the room, but it does not interrupt the countdown.
(Hallway) An unarmored human should be able to squeeze through the opening Renala made without having to pry any further. Some hallway light shines into the room, but not enough to see anyone inside.
(Lobby) The lobby is clear. There's a terminal on the desk, but it's just showing an error that it is unable to connect to its server.
(Roof) The two are alone on the roof. The visibility is a lot better now than the last time they were up there, but it's still quite gloomy, and the wind is getting stronger.
Leah makes the split second decision to set her breaching charge over the center of the room, deeming it the most unlikely spot for anyone to be standing in the middle of a heated standoff like this. While the blast itself is unlikely to do damage to anyone on the other side given the height of the ceiling, the debris is another story. It's gonna rain every which way. And as much as she'd love to pack enough breaching charges to drop
the whole ceiling right on top of that psychopath, there's no way to ensure that the hostages would be spared, so the best she can do is mitigate collateral damage as much as possible. So... a single breaching charge over the center of the room. Just enough to get them inside and cause a bit of shock and awe and confusion. She passes a glance Celyna's way as she emerges onto the roof and stands up, taking a step back from the
breaching charge. "Ready." she announces. Barely a heartbeat passes before Jason's command sparks through her comms and, with just a tap of her forearm, all hell breaks loose. A shimmer envelopes her a moment before the rumble of the explosion is felt through the facility, relying on her biotics to keep all of the dust and debris out of her face given her lack of helmet. She drops through the hole left behind by the breachign
charge and lands in a shooter stance- Predator crossed over her blade hand- and immediately gets to work on target aquisition, confident that Celyna will only be a step behind her.
Jason takes Sala up on that offer. After all, complying with her order to 'pass' the kitchen door gives him an excuse to move up to it without setting her off, putting him closer to the door when that barrier inevitably goes down. "We're moving." he claims, starting towards the door. But as soon as he hears Leah's report, he snaps back over comms with a sharp, "Go!"
Victoria straightens her posture and lowers her weapon, she takes a look at the terminal and just shakes her head at it. "Cleared in here, can't do anything with this terminal." She walks about into the conference room. "Let's link up with Wolfe and be ready to assist there."
Victoria straightens her posture and lowers her weapon, she takes a look at the terminal and just shakes her head at it. "Cleared in here." She turns towards the sound of the explosion. "Book it over there." She moves back through the conference room and into the corridor in a hurried fashion.
Zaylus hisses, reflexively looking back as the building is rattled. He follows at a short distance, biting bite a useless word of caution as they head straight into a cramped confrontation.
Celyna returns Leah's glance with a nod, rolling her shoulders, light on her feet as she tenses, ready to burst into action. She's briefly rocked by the blast, but then she's moving, dropping down right after Leah, landing back-to-back with the human, Carnifex held high in one hand and the other thrumming with dark energy ready to be unleashed the moment she gets eyes on a hostile target.
Philip 's eyes go wide as Renala seizes up. Still, he primes his flashbang and lobs it through the opening into the room, and then gives the asari a shove to get her clear of the doorway, issuing a "Sorry!" as he does, then bracing for the detonation, eyes squinting and head turning away from the opening. With his own mess to deal with, he is unable to spare any thought to the chaos of the breach happening down the hallway.
Renala stays paralyzed as she tips over, her omni-tool still on. She rolls over after some seconds as the effects wear off, and gets to her knees, still rattled by the shock. If she was swearing or responding to apology, one wouldn't hear it as comms and speaker are not on.
Ehanis nods to Victoria's order and begins sprinting back towards the kitchen door at the sound of the explosion. "That better not have been Sala's," she says off-comms.
Uvena is growing increasingly anxious at the sound of the comms chatter as their conversation doesn't reach her in the middle of the hangar clearly enough to be parsed. The explosion makes her heart sink and she resists the urge to leave her post. "That was only ours, right?"
(Kitchen) "Three... two..." Jason passing gives him a chance to look inside, and Va'ynna is indeed tied up at a vertical pipe at the back between the kitchen counter and table. The other merc, a human woman in full armor, seems to be struggling to get Wenera turned away from the impending blast. "One..." Then the lights go out as a solid chunk of the ceiling comes crashing down, debris (panels, concrete, sharp metal pieces) showering
the people just below it. Sala brings down her barrier and forms a singularity in the hallway just through the doorway without even looking behind her (maybe assuming that was hers). The other hostile lets go of Wenera as she stumbles forward, but she pulls out her M-6 Carnifex to fire at Leah dropping down.
Va'ynna is wearing her winter clothes from this morning, but nothing shields her head as a small piece of debris hits her and knocks her out. She slides slightly down along the pipe before her back pushing against the wall stops her. The breaching charge is not triggered.
Kitchen Positions: Sala by doorway, Va'ynna and Wenera by wall between counter and table. Human hostile north-east of the hole.
(Unknown Room) The flashbang goes off inside, and there's sounds of one person and a small weapon falling to the ground just afterwards. The person fell in view of the doorway, and appears to be a salarian judging by the visible armored legs and midsection.
Wenera ((after Va'ynna post)) is wearing a sweater and simple pants. The attacker had managed to shield her from the damage, and she crouch-runs over to Va'ynna's side to look at her, but the poor lighting is not helping her assess the damage.
Leah's shields flicker in the dark room as Carnifex shots ring out. Her visor automatically cycles to nightvision upon detection of the low light condition and she immediately seeks out her attacker. Thankfully it's not hard to discern between hostage and hostile given the attire. Even before Celyna hits the ground behind her she's already returning fire, Predator pulled in tightly in an effort to ensure that she's not disarmed if a
scuffle ensues. Suddenly there's another flash in the dark- this one aglow with energy- and she reaches out with her left hand, knife pressed against her palm with her thumb as she swings her arm across herself. She twists to the right at her waist, a biotic glow encircling one of the tables as she attempts to lift one end of it and hurl it towards the woman to squish her against the wall like a bug.
Jason is able to brace against the wall just beside the kitchen door as the breaching charge goes off, but before he can swing in, the (unfortunately) familiar feeling of weightlessness settles in when the singularity catches him. He lets out a sharp, "Mother fucker!" as he reaches out with one hand, attempting to find purchase on the doorway to pull himself inside.
Victoria continues down to the hallway and rounds the corner to see Jason floating weightless due to a singularity, the same that would block her entry to the room. "Of fucking course. Really hate this bitch." She stops moving anymore forward before the singularity takes her and positions herself against the wall.
Zaylus rounds the corner a moment later, reflexively backpedaling at the sight. He saw exactly how this scene plays out just this morning, and needs to be ready to help pick up the pieces. To that end he calls over comms, "Uvena fuck the shuttle, get up here." Countermanding an order to move all their pieces up the board, especially a biotic, feels justified as the endgame unfolds.
Celyna 's helmet likewise does its best to compensate for the low-light conditions, taking in both the hostages to her right, and Sala to her left. Finding the lead kidnapper has her back turned not far from her makes the decision for her - she lunges, aiming to wrap her left arm, still shimmering with biotic energy, around the asari's throat and press the barrel of her Carnifex against her back, just below the chestplate, and fire off
Philip takes a quick peek into the room, and on spotting the salarian on the ground he hesitates for a split-second and then rushes in with his rifle trained on the stunned hostile, hoping to grab the fallen weapon and throw it out of the doorway. "Surrender!" he shouts as authoritatively as he's able, which is... not very.
Urdnot is unfortunately too close to the door when the singularity appears, and his uncontrolled orbiting ends up preventing Jason from getting a hold on the doorway.
Wenera turns Va'ynna to the side help her get low as the table next to her is enveloped by biotics and she continues to check on her without drawing too much attention to herself or trying to think about the breaching charge right above her head.
Renala gets to her feet and looks hopelessly at the singularity going on down the hall and instead uses her biotics to finish opening the door.
Ehanis stops next to Zaylus and Victoria, raising her weapon but finding no openings to fire with the system in front of her.
(Kitchen) Sala is about to turn around when she is lunged by the other asari, and she is successfully grabbed. And she gathers biotic energy to respond, the two shots ring out and she stumbles forward and collapses flat on the ground, and her biotics give out. The human's shields take the shots on the way down, and she dives to the side as the table comes loose and flies towards her, and manages to get out of its way before it slams
(Hallway) The singularity ends abruptly as Sala is brought down. The final closed interior door remains so. The smoke from the maintenance corridor is starting to be detectable near the doorway.
(Office) The room Philip is in turns out to be an office with four desks along the north and south walls and an bare wall on the east. A breaching charge has been planted on that wall. The salarian is recovering from the flashbang, but he heeds the order for now and does not make any sudden moves. The weapon on the floor is an M-6 Carnifex, and it's easily kicked through the door to the hall. The salarian has a compacted M-97 Viper
Leah immediately follows up with a flick of her left wrist, biotic energy flashing as the Carnifex that the woman is crawling towards bids her adieu and skitters across the floor. Continuing the motion, she tightly clenches her left hand into a fist around the handle of her blade, her glow enveloping the woman, and jerks her fist upwards. If unable to escape, then the woman would feel the crackle of energy surrounding her as her limbs
fight against her muscles and she's sprawled out by a powerful force, her body lifting off the floor and floating into an upright position, feet inches off the ground.
Jason finds himself floating aimlessly with a krogan blocking his only hope for freeing himself and then.... nothing. That sense of floating passes and suddenly he's on his back, Revenant skittering down the hall and wind knocked from his lungs. His eyes go wide as he's faced with a problem the size of a small vehicle and he instinctively rolls to his side just as Syld crashes down beside him. "Fuck! You're gonna need to wine and dine me
first if you're gonna pull moves like that, big guy..." he offers breathlessly, checking himself over to make sure that nothing was pancaked.
Victoria watches both Jason and Syld suddenly drop, she keeps her distance for a moment waiting for them to finish their fall before she moves up. She makes a little jump over the human krogan pile up, so she can get into the room. Upon seeing Va'ynna in her current state, she rushes over to her. Planning on using both her shields and armor to protect Va'ynna from anymore incoming danger.
Zaylus moves forward with Victoria but stops short of the pile, aiming over them into the room. His focus is on Sala as the only hostile in his sight, but the situation has unfolded better than he hoped so he just holds the active stance. "In one piece?" He calls down to the pile, eyes still on target.
Celyna loosens her grip, allowing Sala to drop when she collapses, but her hand shifts down, snatching the asari's left arm as she falls and stomping down on it hard, aiming to break her arm and keep it firmly in place as she tears her omni-tool free.
Philip keeps the rifle aimed down at the salarian with his right hand, planting a boot on his back as he reaches down with his left hand to remove the rifle and attach it to the back of his vest. "Don't, uh, don't go doin' anythin' stupid now!"
Urdnot falls straight down as the singularity ends, bracing himself. The helmet makes some concerning sounds, but a sarcastic reply of, "Very funny," confirms that he is not out of the game yet. He stumbles forward (not towards Jason) as he gets to his feet.
Wenera looks up at Victoria, relieved to have an armored figure between her and the fighting. "She's breathing," she says. "Do you have medi-gel?" Va'ynna's head wound is shallow as it's more a scrape, and bleeding slowly. Her jacket has also some signs of damage, but it's too dark to get a more accurate view of her.
Va'ynna is cuffed to the pipe with simple metal handcuffs with an electronic lock. What the pipe carries is unknown but it goes from floor to ceiling.
Uvena runs up to the doorway, stacking up and looking inside to check the situation as she hasn't had the time to get the full picture like the others from her team.
Ehanis enters after Victoria and turns her back towards Victoria as she aims at the human woman with her Phalanx, holding her fire for now.
Renala pulls out her Locust SMG and aims it at the salarian on the floor. "You heard him," she says.
(Kitchen) Celyna gets control of Sala's arm and she is able to tear her omni-tool free under its armor plate with some effort. Sala is not dead, however, and she quickly builds up energy to release a weak but precise warp field on the back of the asari on top of her. The armored human groans as the weapon is kicked away, and again as she is pulled off the ground into a painful stance that tests the limits of both limbs and armor.
"Okay, okay, okay, let's... talk about this, okay?" she asks in a pained voice through the helmet speakers
(Office) The salarian does do something stupid unfortunately, and as the omni-tool flash briefly around his arm after a reboot the charge on the far wall goes off. The salarian goes invisible at the same time, perhaps hoping that Philip lets the boot off the back long enough for him to roll away and get up in the chaos. About 1.5m/5ft separates them from the charge, but the surprise of it is probably more impactful than the actual
((*Celyna gets control of Sala's arm with the stomp, but she does not succeed in breaking it. She is able to tear her omni-tool free under its armor plate with some effort. Sala is not dead, however, and she quickly builds up energy to release a weak but precise warp field on the asari on top of her, which is strongest around her torso....))
Leah has no intention of talking. But she isn't looking to drag things out any longer than necessary, either. She lifts her left hand level in front of her face as the shimmer of energy returns but, before she can continue- before she can do whatever she was about to do- something seems to give her pause. It's small. Likely imperceptible to anyone not looking for it. But it's there. Unfortunately for the woman, however, whatever is
troubling her quickly passes. The position of her hand changes, seemingly thinking better than whatever she was about to do and, with a jerk of her left hand, she yanks the human towards her- letting the woman's own momentum do the work for her- and raises her blade, twisting at the waste to bring it across her throat. With one final flourish of energy she carries that momentum around and plants a jumping spinning back kick
squarely into the woman's chest with enough force to shatter bones, launching her unceremoniously into the table.
Jason brings his arms up reflexively when a whole-ass person suddenly leaps over him, but as soon as he's sure he's relatively unscathed he clambers back to his feet. He fights that natural instinct to rush into the room, a career of training reminding him to gain control of his weapon first. Once his Revenant is back in-hand, he returns to the door, helmet concealing a frown as he spots Uvena, her repositioning having been lost to him
amidst the commotion, and explosions, and floating, and krogans and... "You're supposed to-..." he begins before his words are cut short by another blast coming from his left, his focus snapping down the hall. "Shuttle! Now!" he commands over comms.
Victoria lets out a sigh of relief to hear that Va'ynna is still breathing. "I do, but we need to get the both of you out of here first. Especially with that there." She points to the breaching charge. Victoria would then activate her omni-tool and start cutting the cuffs into half to free Va'ynna. Hearing Jason words. "Get the launcher off my back, shuttle will take a little time before it
Zaylus is rocked by the second explosion, having been painfully unaware of the other situation unfolding. The uptake is short and chilling as he realizes his tactical error. The urge to run back the hangar is cut short by Victoria's shout, and he obliges in snatching the heavy weapon off her back. If the place is going down in a fire, may as well speed up the process. That is if he can skirt
Celyna lets out a cry of "MotherFUCKER!" as her shields are shredded and her armor plating starts to buckle and rend. She staggers back slightly, teeth gritted under her helmet, but she has enough presence of mind to know that a warp field can't be "shaken off" - panicking is useless. There's only one viable answer - she starts unloading her Carnifex into the asari on the ground beneath her even as her HUD fills up with flashing red
Philip stumbles back as the charge goes off, a brief, wild spray of gunfire escaping his rifle as he staggers, narrowly avoiding falling on his ass. "Christ!" he exclaims, left hand rising to one of his ringing ears.
Wenera nods sharply, but the blast elsewhere in the building gives her pause. "Sounds like there's still fighting going on," she says. She tries to ignore the fighting around her as she focuses on Victoria and Va'ynna.
Urdnot gets to his feet and he stays out of the way as he sees the turian run in, and he circles around and takes aim with his shotgun at Sala but he is not dumb enough to take the shot with Celyna in the way and the running turian.
Renala flinches at the blast and gets into cover briefly before leaning out and firing at the hole to the hangar with her Locust since she has a line of sight on it that doesn't risk hitting Philip.
Uvena nods and pushes away from the wall, and she hurries back towards the hangar door. Her anxiety is still present, but somewhat calmed by Victoria being by Va'ynna's side and Leah's team having control of the hostage room. Thankfully, she has not seen the state Va'ynna is in.
Ehanis decides to not get in the way of what Leah is doing and instead turns her attention towards Sala, and she takes a few quick steps closer to fire off a warp field targeting Sala's head from practically point blank range to avoid additional risk to Celyna.
(Kitchen) "No, p-..." The armored human caughs and struggles to breathe as she is sent flying towards the table, and she falls on the floor limp. The gunshots does cause some pained grunts as Celyna continues to obliterate the asari's spine and there's a cough as it punctures the lung; which makes her own warp field fade out. Ehanis' warp field causes a pained scream from Sala before she suddenly goes quiet.
(Hallway) The smoke is getting thicker, and visibility is pretty bad if one is to look towards the maintenance corridor on the way to the hangar.
(Office) Both of their shots do seem to strike kinetic barriers, but only for a moment before sounds of footsteps sound from inside the hangar.
Leah quickly turns her focus to Sala Piros once her opponent has been dealt with, but the combined efforts of Celyna and Ehanis seem to have do the job before she can get involved. The additional explosion outside briefly pulls her attention towards the door and the people filing in and out. "Someone want to fill the rest of us in on what's going on out there?" she asks.
Jason steps aside as Zaylus hurries past to take initiative on the launcher situation. He, too, is just about to get involved in the Sala situation when it proves unneeded. His gaze briefly settles on the asari lying on the ground that has been a thorn in their side for far too long already. But there's little time to celebrate with everything going on. "Unclear." he responds to Leah, his attention once more pulled in a number of
directions. As Victoria scoops up Va'ynna and he gets a look at her current, quite unconscious condition, he resists the urge to check on her. That can wait until everyone is clear of the building. Once everyone is safe. As long as she's here, she's still in danger. So instead, he waves Victoria out. "Get them out of here!" he instructs with a nod of his head to indicate Wenera as well. He doesn't wait around for a response,
instead turning on his heels as Zaylus files back out with the launcher and falling into steap behind him. "Report. What's your status, Phil?" he asks as he follows the turian.
Victoria begins to lift up Va'ynna bridal style, she looks over to Wenera. "Don't worry about that, I need you to follow me to our shuttle. I gotta get Vay out here." She looks over her shoulder to see Zaylus approaching. "Working on that, Wolfe." She waits until Zaylus collects the launcher before she starts moving out. "Grab Sala's omni-tool to see if we can get any answers from that shit."
Zaylus fumbles with the launcher as he frantically races down the corridor, unable to pay mind to the growing smoke. He can thank his brief military training for any familiarity with weapons of this type, but he's sure it's just like riding an explosive bicycle. He'll only stop after getting a few strides into the hangar, levelling that launcher up in anticipation of orders to fire.
Celyna 's gun hand lowers with a heavy exhale that fogs the inside of her helmet for a moment. She holsters her pistol and reaches up to undo the straps on her mangled chestplate, letting it fall to the ground and freeing her chest from the warped pieces of armor that were digging into her skin. Her undersuit is ripped in places, revealing steel blue skin and wounds oozing purple. Her hiss is half pain and half relief, garbled slightly
Philip shakes his head in an attempt to refocus after being dazed by the close-quarters explosion. When his gaze lands on the freshly made hole he's quick to hurry after, crouching through it while lifting his omni-tool to respond to the radio chatter. "Salarian - blew the wall to the hangar! Pursuin'!" On emerging into the hangar he stows his rifle, instead pulling the M-100 from his back. His gaze sweeps the hangar for any sign of the
cloaked salarian as the grenade launcher unfolds in his hands, and he moves to keep both shuttles in his line of sight.
Wenera nods to Victoria. "I'm right behind you", she says but she runs over to the kitchen, giving the two asari combatants a wide berth as she tries not to look at what they've done to Sala as the pained sounds made her wince. She opens a specific drawer and gathers an omni-tool from the clutter and pockets it before hurrying to catch up with Victoria. When they're out in the hallway, she breaks off again to run up to Syld
Urdnot returns the hug gently. "Wenera!" he says with a smile the voice from his helmet. "It's no weather to go outside like that, don't you have a jacket?"
Renala is right behind Philip, biotics forming around her, and she also switches to thermal to be able to spot him.
Uvena enters the hangar first and turns on thermal vision to better see him among the clutter on that side of the hangar, and she spots movement. She gathers her biotics and runs towards and past the central shuttle to get a better angle on him. "He's by south-west pillar, maybe going for the door," she reports on comms.
Ehanis enables her omni-tool and crouches down next to Celyna. "Fuck, she almost got you," she says and taps on her omni-tool, and she begins spraying generously with medi-gel over anything purple. "Did it go deep?"
Va'ynna remains unconscious as Victoria carries her out into the hallway. The hallway light does give a better view of her injuries, which includes cuts on her jacket and pants that have drawn some blood but there's no immediate danger or strong bleeding. She is still breathing.
(Hangar) The garage door is stuck half-open from early on in the fight, and the ceiling hatch is still closed. Most hindrances on this side are easily vaulted over or sidestepped, but there are some taller ones that make getting a consistent line of sight on a target difficult.
(Kitchen) The enemy's breach charge remains inert, but there are some concerning sounds coming from the north wall that are especially audible now that the sounds of the battle has died down.
(Kitchen Counter) The curry was not hit by debris from the blast, and someone had the foresight to put a lid on the pot. They did not have time to clean the counter, which has gotten a bit dusty from the breach. The kitchen is without power, though.
Leah seems eager to join in on the action but Celyna's condition keeps her in place, a concerned frown coloring her features. She reaches towards one of the pouches on her belt, thumbing it open to retrieve a small canister of medi-gel, but stays her hand when Ehanis beats her to it. "How bad is it...?" she chimes in overtop Ehanis' own concerns, the low lighting of the room making it difficult for her to accurately assess the asari's
Jason breathes a sigh of relief upon hearing that Phil didn't have his ticket punched by the explosion, firing off a quick, "Copy. We're approaching from the northern hall to assist." in response. Contrary to Zaylus, however, he does pay mind to the growing smoke, uttering some colorful words under his breath. "Looks like that fire is spreading so let's wrap this up. We've got one last room unaccounted for. You and Syld can handle
that, Ehanis." he says. Uvena's update causes him to break off from Zaylus, continuing straight out the door left open by Ehanis and Syld's breach since there seem to be enough people piling into the hangar. "I'm exiting east in case he tries to swing around!" he announces, rounding south as soon as he's outside. "Give me something to work with here! Description-... something!" he continues, blue eyes scanning the distance as he
Victoria slows her pace to a slow walk, allowing Wenera her reunion. A face of rage is drawn on Victoria's face after looking down to examine Va'ynna condition, her emotions hidden by her helmet. "Sorry to break things short, Wenera. But we should get going, I think the bosses would like to talk to you." She looks over her shoulder towards Wenera and Syld. "I'm sure the boss will let you come
with us too." Her major concern is Va'ynna at this time, everything else is not really something she can deal with at this time.
Zaylus relaxes his grip after a few moments, Uvena's callout and the lack of engines starting breaking his singular focus. It's not off the table though, and without a reason to switch back to his pistol he carefully advances into the hangar with the launcher raised, scanning for any glimmer of recognition.
Celyna seems a little caught off-guard when both Ehanis and Leah start fussing over her, but she hardly seems to mind, a strained chuckle sounding through her helmet speakers. "Hey there, nurse," she greets the unfamiliar asari, voice a little gravelly from pain. "Still breathing, so can't be-... hfh, that deep." She remains in place as Ehanis works, head turning slightly, the eye-slots of her helmet glowing bright in the dark as her
gaze falls first on the dead human and then on Leah. "Nice work, travel-sized," she manages, her intonation of the last word turned hissing as a particularly sensitive wound is coated with medi-gel.
Philip has no means of detecting the cloaked salarian, but what he does have is Uvena's report and a grenade launcher. With no time to waste, he does the one thing he can thing off - he gets clear line of sight on the floor in front of the hangar doors and... "FIRING!" With a 'THUNK!' a high-explosive grenade is let loose.