Chasing the Stars ~ Omega, 2185 (In Progress)

The plan agreed upon, Delan, Kalia and Justice left to get into position and prepare, while Kato and Sal scouted the back of the structure. Getting to the back involved using a narrow access tunnel through the space station's thick walls. Paid for by ancient eezo mining, the station was riddled with passage ways through its thick walls and bulkheads. Security passages had thick doors ready to slam shut at a moments notice, should an air leak take place. Currently though, the maintenance tunnels were open, and poorly guarded since they did not give access to any sensitive areas. Sal scanned for cameras or other alarms anyway, just in case. Finally they exited into what was likely used as a ship yard, and loading bay. Any shipments out would come through here on the way to the docks. large cargo transport shuttles stood ready to take cargo to and from between the docks and the various warehouses.

They soon identified the Black Suns cargo area. It appeared deserted. Sal activated his helmet, and encouraged Kato to do the same. Hopefully no one would look too closely. A cargo transport soon approached the gate. It stopped while the driver exited to speak to the guards. Sal took the opportunity to hop in the back, doing his best to look like he belonged. The truck soon entered and drove to a warehouse door. There it stopped, several workers approached to unload the goods. Sal and Kato nodded at the workers. The workers didn't give them a second glance. They made a show of assisting in unloading a crate and carrying it further into the warehouse.

Cargo elevators and trolleys occupied the back of the warehouse, used in the old days to sort and distribute eezo to various destinations. Now they seemed mostly silent. Not required for whatever operation the Black Suns were running here.

Placing the crate down, Sal pointed to stairs up to what looked like offices. he indicated to Kato "That's our safest bet I think."

Kato nodded in agreement and they started walking to the stairs.

"Hey, who are you? You're not supposed to be back here."

Sal turned to the speaker. The Batarian appeared to be a foreman, wearing a jumpsuit with the Black Sun logo. Unarmed.

"Just checking on some special shipments required by the boss." Sal bluffed hoping he would buy it.

"Hold on, let me check-" the man turned on his omnitool, the cursed. "Trouble upstairs, a krogan on the loose, or something. They'll need all the help they can get."

Sal jerked his head towards the stairs, looking at Kato. "Right away."

Looking at Kato he said over a private channel, "That's our cue."

They headed up the stairs, weapons drawn.



[OOC Tagging @tzeenchianapostrophe ]

(OOC: Sorry this is late! Listen to this music while you read, General, SofaJockey and my posts!:

)

Justice followed Delan to the Black Suns base all while pushing Kalia. In a way he was glad that his idea of being a slave was rejected, he was too proud of a Krogan to appear weak and Kalia is a semi-decent actor anyway.

"Personally, I think you would have made a good slave... but you just need to work on your looks, your acting, your smell too, maybe. I dont think it would be very convincing, but hey, maybe next time? Next time you can be the slave and Ill be holding your leash." Kalia whispered.

"Probably if you can do a good slave master impersonation." Justice smiled "But I'm worth more on the market than you. Believe me on that." Justice chuckled as Kalia imitated a whip crack.

As the trio approached the entrance Delan spoke at the intercom explaining that Kalia is a slave who they would like to sell. As the Volus was speaking Kalia whispered: "Am I the only one who is really, really, really excited about this?"

"Be quiet, human" Justice hissed.

Does this human ever shut up? Justice has no idea why would a human posing as a slave be "exciting" maybe it has something to do with it being "kinky".

That's the type of thing humans are into right?

The Black Suns gang welcome the trio and examined Kalia "Human slut" Justice growled pushing the human.

Despite being weirded out and annoyed by her, the Krogan admits that he is a bit worried about Kalia. Alien thugs are VERY brutal to humans and Justice's sense of protecting people is getting the best of him. As Kalia made her what humans called: "scared puppy eyes"look at the Batarian Justice glanced at the other soldiers who looked like had their rifles drawn at the ready. The Krogan has observed these deals before and it usually ended up with the sellers getting killed and the slaves being picked up for "free". It was waste to pay the slavers anyway so why pay them but that was to the lesser known sellers.

"Good condition," the Batarian said examining Kalia good size good looking".

He turned to one of his human comrades, "What do you think?"

"She looks good," said the human, "She can service the patrons. We could earn quite a few credits from her. Im sure they will be most pleased."

"Twenty thousand credits for the bitch," the Batarian said to Delan, "Take it or leave it."

"That is acceptable," (kss} came the reply from Delan.

20 thousand credits?! No way Kalia is worth that much! Humans usually sell for cheap around 1,000 credits especially if they are going to be used to service patrons. This is a bunch of Vorchashit something is going on, and it's not good. The Krogan turned to the Delan and then to Kalia giving them both a suspicious look.

"Come, we will sort your payment in the room back here. Safer." The Batarian finshed. 

Justice gulped, they were going to kill them It was just like he predicted, there are times where he really hates being right.

Delan and Justice were lead to an empty room, as the entered the guard closed the door behind them. Justice could barely hear the Batarian say: "Kill the Krogan," said the Batarian, "Take the Volus and the human and put them in the slave pens."

Justice just had to laugh. "Am I not valuable on the slave market?!" He turned to Delan "People want Volus slaves now?! No offense to you Delan."

It was a bit silly being appalled for not being thought well on the slave market, but the sheer thought that a Krogan won't make a good slave actually wounded Justice's pride...... a bit.

The guards began to open fire while Delan and Justice made their move. Justice fired two biotic bolts to two guards, killing them instantly, while Delan took care of the guards on his end. Taking out his shotgun, Justice blasted any guards who were attacking Kalia. "Go Kalia!" Justice shouted, "Find Aleeta and let's get the hell out of here!"

Turning around he saw Delan literally charging at the Black Suns like a bowling ball: A human sport. "What the hell are you doing?!" Justice yelled.

Wasting little time, Justice performed a biotic charge zipping past Delan and smashing his Krogan mass into the mercenaries, killing them all.

The Krogan shaman, covered in blood and feeling even more exhausted for using up his energy, put his foot out in attempt to stop the Volus from rolling.

"Do you have a death wish? Delan?" Justice asked "If you do, there are easier ways to die you know?!"

Shaking his head Justice turned to Delan "Come on let's make sure that Kalia and Aleeta get out safely!"

The Cabal continued to play opossum as the guards' footsteps moved away from her pen, followed by the metallic grind of a metal locker opening.

"Nice Wraith," one of them said. "Think I'll claim it."

Aleeta's head shot up and her hawkish eyes narrowed at the two Batarians. As she'd suspected earlier, her confiscated possessions - along with, most likely, those of the captured humans here - were being kept in those lockers.

"Go ahead," she replied, growling. "Take it. I'll be getting it back from you before this is all over."

Taunting the guards would normally not be a smart move by a prisoner, but if she could lure one of them into her pen, well... her legs weren't bound like her hands were... that could be the start of an exit strategy.

The Batarian holding her shotgun cocked his head to the side, a bemused expression on his face. "Is that so?" he responded, amusement tickling his tone. Then, he turned to his fellow Batarian guard. "The Turian's got spunk. I like that."

Before Aleeta could try and bait him further, both guards startled and looked down to the communicator in their omni-tools. They shared a look briefly.

"A Krogan on a rampage, huh?" the second one said.

A Krogan, Aleeta thought. Could it be... Justice?

"I'll go check it out with the others," replied the guard with her Wraith. "You stay here and guard the merchandise."

Things were quiet for a few moments after the first guard left. The second one paced back and forth between the pens for a bit before stopping in front of one containing a human female. Aleeta couldn't see the guard's facial expression - his back was to her - but judging by the way the woman cowered as far backwards in her cell as she could, it must have been menacing.

"Hmmm," purred the Batarian. "I suppose some of the merchandise ought to be... tested... before it goes out. Make sure everything is satisfactory for our clients." He let out a rather dark chuckle that made the Cabal shiver.

The human started sobbing. Aleeta's blue blood boiled. She didn't much care for what the Batarian was implying.

"Hey, Four-Eyes!" the Turian shouted. "Why don't you pick on someone at least half as ugly as you are!"

The guard turned and gave her a sneer. "This doesn't concern you, you scaly bitch."

"Better scaly than covered in feathers," Aleeta shot back, "like the chicken you are."

The Batarian growled and stepped over to the Turian's cage. When he got closer, she could see the knife points sticking up from the shoulders of his blade armor. Perfect. Bet those would do well for the bindings on her wrists.

"I'll show you chicken," he threatened. "Should've kept your mouth shut."

The guard opened Aleeta's cell and was quick to rush over and try to pin her down. But not quick enough. The Cabal rolled to the side and kicked out a foot, sweeping the Batarian's feet out from under him. She followed it up with a swift kick to his head to disorient him. Before he could reach for his pistol, Aleeta rolled one turn closer to him and wrapped her thighs around his neck as tightly as she could. The Turian couldn't get quite enough leverage to break his neck, but if she could keep the pressure on long enough, he'd either pass out or suffocate entirely. When he tried to reach for his pistol, she tightened her grip, making him reflexively reach up and try to paw at her legs to loosen them. The blades on his shoulders bit into her thighs, but Aleeta easily ignored that pain in favor of prospective freedom.

[OOC: Tagging Space Cowboy , who I believe is next?]

(OOC: Collab post with GeneralXIV thanks General! WARNING very long post below! But It's enjoyable! XD)

Fatigue has began to take over Justice.

His energy levels on reserve after using what little biotic power he had to save Delan from foolishly rolling INTO the mercenaries like a madvolus. Volus were usually conservative types not daredevils! His thoughts went to the slaves who were trapped here, It may be a little foolish but they should rescue them. Justice hoped Kalia would find Aleeta first and then he'll tell her his plan.

Speaking of Kalia......

The human walked towards Justice momentarily confusing the Krogan. "What the hell are you doing?!" Justice barked. "I told you to go and find Aleeta and we'll be right behind you!"

"Hey, guys," Kalia said to Delan and Justice, "Do you think you and the rest of the bozos we have here could blow something up? Like something really big? Get all of them in one place so I can slip in and out and free Aleeta? Just provide a distraction, because hey, Im technically a non-combatant. So long as you ignore some of the blood on my dress, anyway."

Blow something up? A really big explosion? Justice barely had time process it due to his tiredness.

But he was full of that Krogan rage at the human disobeying his order.

"You have your tactical cloak!" Justice shouted. "You could just sneak past them and grab Aleeta, are you fucking lazy human? Do you need everything done for you?! Do you want me to carry you to your destination as well? While Delan messages your feet?!"

What Justice was saying wasn't really logical and part of him knows it but he was hopped up on anger to really address it.

Kalia shrugged her shoulders, "Coming to think of it, that would be great, thanks! But hey, Im the one in charge here dumbass, and theres a plan, and youre going to follow it, you hear? Youre going to make a distraction, so I dont have as many people to worry about while I go and find Aleeta. Then Im going to go and free all of the slaves that they have, and do you know why lots of scared, possibly injured, unarmed people running into guards with guns would be a bad thing?"

She clenched her fist and extended her first two fingers so her hand was in the shape of a gun. She pointed her fingers at Justices head and made a farting noise with her mouth while moving her hand because of the fake recoil.

"I cant think of why that wouldnt work, can you? Yes, I can sneak past them all. But you two cant. And that means if we set off an alarm, or alert someone, they will know we're after the slaves and... well, how many Black Suns do you think there are? If you guys cause a distraction, the better... you know, action people, can deal with the Black Suns, and there will be more of you. There will be less guards for me to worry about, I wont trip any alarms, Ill find Aleeta and free the slaves and guess what? No one will die. Not you, not me, not Aleeta, not the slaves. No one. Do you see why thats better? You know, theres a reason why Im in charge here, and it isnt because of my good looks. Sheesh."

After hearing Kalia's response, Justice calmed down..... a bit. Still he did NOT take being called a dumbass well.

"First of all DO NOT call me a dumbass." Justice growled. "And second, we need to have a plan to where we are going to take the slaves! The slaves being held most likely have tracking and explosive devices inside them the Black Suns will blow them up if they track the slaves down and find out if they're not where supposed to be. Do you honestly believe we are just going to free slaves and that's it?!?! We need to contact Sal so we can remove tracking and explosive devices devices if they have any?! Do you know anything about how slaves are treated here Kalia?!?!"

"Yes, I know how slaves are treated," Kalia said, "But do you know what else I know? A simple bomb/detonator isnt going to work for hundreds and hundreds of slaves. What are they going to do, explode everyone for one slave misbehaving? Theyre going to have a system in place to manage every slave individually. And the most logical place for that? Near the slaves themselves, so they can contain any uprisings before anyone gets hurt. Believe it or not, I know exactly what Im doing, dumbass. I can disable the system. I dont need you to hold my hand. Or are you just upset you dont get to play hero? Boo freakin' hoo."

That really set Justice off.

Not the fact that Kalia is ignorant of the fact that slave technology has grown over the years to the point where you can monitor a slaves whereabouts from long distances and that even if the system to control slaves is disabled in a slave pen then the signal will still remain active due to the main system being in tact which was usually located in their base. Not the fact that she does not know that slave handlers have killed slaves for the actions of one slave even thinking of rebellion just to prove a point and that the Black Suns are callous to the point where they will not hesitate to kill some slaves if infiltrators would try to get their hands on them.

It was the fact that Kalia called Justice a dumbass even after he warned her not to. To further twist the knife she even taunted him for not getting to play "hero" despite the fact Justice wanted to see the slaves and Kalia safe! It must be due to being exhausted but Justice had just enough of this human's nonsense.

The Krogan grabbed Kalia by her long black hair and began dragging her on the floor towards a private area in the room. "I'll be back Delan!" Justice said to the volus trying (and failing) to remain calm "maybe Kalia will come with me! But right now I need to talk some sense into her!" He wasn't going to kill the human but Justice really needed to speak his mind to Kalia who was being dragged by the hair like a ragdoll.

"Get your hands off me!" Kalia shouted as his large hands grasped her hair painfully and pulled her away. She took some of her weight by holding on to his arm so her hair wasnt pulled out, also lifting her a little away from the floor.

Any protests from Kalia were ignored by justice as he continued dragging Kalia to a secluded area once they were alone Justice hoisted Kalia up by her hair and looked the human straight in the eyes "I warned you not to call me a dumbass!" The Krogan barked still grabbing the humans hair.

As soon as he lifted her into the air, Kalia wasted no time using his size and the fact he was looking directly at her to her advantage, raising her pistol to his crotch.

"First of all even if you disable the system it still won't affect the signal from the slaves tracking devices. In case you don't know slave tech has advanced over the years to the point where if one system goes down than the main system will be warned about it and possibly take action. Secondly you don't know the Black Suns they'll gladly execute slaves to prove a point so we need to contact Sal he can jam the slaves tracking and explosive devices! This is NOT being a hero Kalia! This is about being careful this isn't a fucking game innocent people's including Aleetas lives are on the line and one arrogant mistake from someone like you will get them all killed. Stop acting like you know fucking everything and think this through! As soon the Black Subs are aware of us they'll take action and that'll be killing slaves including Aleeta! We need to contact Sal as soon as possible and then have you infiltrate and get Aleeta!"

Still gripping on Kalia's hair Justice still looked at the human with anger. "If you call me a dumbass one more time...."

"We dont even know if they have explosives and tracking devices!" Kalia said, "Jeez, calm down already. Im actually not at all arrogant. But do I know my own abilities and Ive got this! Im actually good at this kind of thing. Sneaking into places, disabling computer systems without tripping failsafes... this is an ordinary day for me. I was doing things much worse than this when I was a teenager. I. Can. Do. This. And if I need help, I can ask for it myself. Youre right, I dont know everything. I dont know why you dragged me by the fucking hair into a private space. But I know lots about this kind of thing, and Ive got this. So let me go before I ruin your sex life forever, dumbass."

Justice was too busy ranting that he failed to noticed that Kailia had her silenced pistol aimed directly at his crotch.

The Krogan must be REALLY exhausted if he didn't sense the fact that Kalia pulled a trick like that. Still once again Justice admired the human's tenacity..... begrudgingly. Still he's not going to risk the human blowing off his quad and he did WARN Kalia about not calling him a dumbass. With his free hand, he wretched the gun out of Kalia's hand and casually tossed it aside while using his other (still gripping Kalia's hair even during his rant.) yanking Kalia's head back by pulling her hair. "I told YOU not to call me a dumbass didn't I?" Justice growled.

Justice continued while STILL gripping her hair. "I've had run ins with the Black Suns!" The Krogan responded. "The definitely have explosives and advanced tech, that I'm sure! I should've warned Sal about it but we can still turn this around and the reason why dragged you by your stupid hair is because you need to slow down and pull your weight and maybe not be an insulting human bitch!"

"That's insult for female humans right?" The Krogan thought.

"I've seen too many people close to me die or become slaves I don't want the same thing to happen to these innocents and Aleeta! I just...." Justice trailed off his face gaunt and his eyes wondered downward thinking about his past, the Krogan closed his eyes and tried to forget about it.

Kalia kept holding on to Justice's arm with her right hand to alleviate some of the strain, but she drew her sword with her left. She swiped it above her head, narrowly missing his hand but severing the hair he was holding, cutting a few inches from its overall length but freeing her from him. She delivered a quick jab to his snout and stepped away from him, picking up her gun from the floor. She aimed it at him, only half-serious.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Kalia shouted at Justice, "You are the most emotionally unstable Krogan ever. You cant just grab someone like that! You know, Im good at what I do. Do you think that Id put lives at risk when Im wanting to set them free? Im a planner. I plan things. I plan for plans going wrong, I plan for failsafes, I plan for alarms. I have to. Ive dealt with much more complex things than this before, and I know what Im doing. Whatever your problems are, I dont care. I wont babysit you, you hear? Im here because I want money. I need money. And I saw the opportunity to do something good. Something which isnt even part of the plan. Because I actually have a conscience... somewhere. I also want to show off, but thats besides the point. And what do you do, exactly? You drag me in here against my will because of your own problems. Not mine. Do you know why I call you a dumbass? Because everything that comes out of your mouth is undermining... well, everything. Its almost as if youre trying to make us fail. And I dont think its about me, or any of the other guys the Salarian hired. I think its about you. I think youre paranoid about this, and I think youre going to screw everything up if you dont get a hold of yourself. When I say that I can do something, I can do it, ok? I dont care if you dont like it. Im going. Stop acting like a little kid, while I go and save the damsel in distress from the dungeon where all the bad guys have her locked away, maybe slay a big lizard or two, then everyone is going to live happily ever after. Got that?"

She took a breath before adding, "Dizzy probably wouldnt like me describing her as a 'damsel in distress', would she?"

Justice hates to say it but the Kalia was right. He was so concerned about not repeating the past that his intense paranoia is compromising the whole the mission. He's usually level headed..... for a Krogan but the fact that he's taking his frustration over a human who while still untrustworthy is capable is not helping matters at all. Justice dropped the strands of Kalia's hair while rubbing the area where Kalia punched him. It didn't hurt but he wanted to make sure there wasn't any blood.

He still hated the fact that she called him a dumbass though.

"I've lost my entire family Kalia." Justice blurted out obviously feeling uncomfortable it's very rare that he shares his past with anyone. "I just don't want the same thing to happen to these people. It's part of the reason why I named myself Justice is to avenge my clan and help other species."

"Justice?" Kalia questioned, "Like 'everyone should get what they deserve' Justice? That totally doesnt sound self-righteous at all."

Justice sighed. "Look." He said calmly "I'm sorry I dragged you by your hair, I see now It was just me projecting my own fears of since I've had my entire clan be annihilated in front of own eyes."

It was also because Kalia was being so abrasive but Justice let it go.

"Like I said I trust you, and I think you'll do a good job. Again sorry for that I forced you to have a haircut you humans wear your hair too damn long."

Kalia sighed, "It wont be happening again. Seriously. History doesnt repeat itself. People learn. And, last time there wasnt a me to save the day, you know?
So, Im going back to the Volus while I mourn the loss of some of my hair, and you need to calm the hell down. Yes, your clan is destroyed. Boom, gone. You got that? But that doesnt mean these people will too. And hey, if youre going for the 'everyone getting what they deserve' route, every slave deserves to be freed, and every slaver deserves a shotgun in the face. Oh, and I deserve millions of credits of course. Im covering the first one, but that still leaves quite a few people needing to be shot in the face. And thats on you. Well, partly at least. Ok?"

Justice smiled "Thanks I guess, I'll go with the plan and besides I don't think Aleeta will appreciate being a called a damsel."

Looking ahead Justice said to Kalia "Come on we can't keep the Volus waiting."

Justice arrived to where Delan was "Don't worry Delan the human lives!" Justice said smiling "Or do you don't care for her?"

Just then two shadows approached the trio. Grabbing his Krogan Shotgun Justice shouted: "More of you guys? Looks like it's time for more slaughter!"

"Relax, it's only us." Sal said flanked by Kato.

"Oh." Justice said lowering his weapon "One more step, and I would've blown your head off."

"Good work gang. I trust you didn't have trouble.." Sal looked Justice and Kalia over, noting the blood. ""Well, not too much trouble. " he grinned. "I take it the slave negotiations didn't go as planned."

"Oh no it went perfectly." Justice grinned "It was more in line with...... aggressive negotiations."

"Now," he said thoughtfully. I need to find a terminal. He tried one door. It was locked, but he soon had it open. "Lets see what we have here."

Justice continued to watch Sal work his magic. After a while Sal spoke "it seems Aleeta is being kept in a large room, designated for.. " his eyes narrowed. "Slave pens."

The Salarian continued to talk about the plan which involved stealth and a sound of a Krogan army advancing as a distraction

"About the slaves." Justice said "The slaves there most likely outfitted with tracking and explosive devices that may include Aleeta. If the slaves escape in any way. The Black Suns could blow them up. Sal, I need you to jam the slaves signals so they won't blow up. It should take the Black Suns a long time to fix the problem and by the time they do. The slaves should escape."

Just as the Batarian's body finally stilled, the sound of her cell door opening drew Aleeta's focus off of the life-and-death struggle. Her eyes widened.

"So," Kalia said, folding her legs, "the whole 'no following you' thing... does that include placing a tracking device on you and coming to your rescue?"

For once, the Turian found herself speechless. She continued to stare, golden eyes looking more owlish than hawkish at the moment.

Kalia got out of the chair and used her sword to cut the Cabal's restraints. "I mean, I'm happy to see you and everything. But you obviously decided to take things into your own hands. Well, legs. I'm not even sure why I'm here. Are you weak? Do you want to sit on the chair I borrowed so I can push you?"

Once freed of her bindings, Aleeta stood up and stretched her stiff arms. Then, she looked down at the human thief with an expression of respect and thanks. "No, I'm fine," she replied. "I don't need a chair. But I will admit - and I never thought I'd say this - but you're a sight for sore eyes." She lightly clapped a hand on Kalia's shoulder, then noticed the human's bleeding arm. "You're hurt? That won't do."

Aleeta marched over to the locker she'd seen one of the guard's steal her Wraith from. As suspected, the rest of her gear was stowed away there, probably waiting to be put up on the black market. The Turian fished out a package of medigel, turned around, and tossed it to Kalia. Then, she began to put on her armor while assessing the situation with Kalia.

"So, what's going on? What's the plan?" Aleeta asked. "I heard one of the guards say something about a rampaging Krogan - I assume that's Justice?"

She double-checked that the rest of her hidden weaponry was still there - nightshade blades, smoke bombs, explosive jellies - then opened the next locker and looked for some type of gun to fill in for her Wraith for the time-being.

"I'm sure you noticed already, but these Black Suns are in the slave business," Aleeta continued. "Are we taking out this whole facility? Because I'm not leaving without freeing these poor people... but we can't just set them loose to run into bullets on the way out either."

The Turian found a Carnifex handgun and several spare thermal clips. That would have to do. She turned and looked around at the other cells while holding up the pistol. "Whoever this belongs to, I'm only borrowing it until I get my shotgun back, I promise. And then we're getting you folks out of here, one way or the other."

[OOC: Is it Space Cowboy next?]

The conveyor belt lurched to life, sending bullets into the ranks of the Black Sun guards. Screaming and yelling, they dove for cover, only to be blasted by the exploding oil canister. Sal counted six mercs down just from the first wave of attacks.

His eyes widened at the Krogen lieutenant's use of his weapon. Some sort of plasma perhaps. It's yellow beam cut through metal and machinery like a knife through butter. It would do a number on any of them if hit. Sal tried overloading the weapon, to no avail. Whatever it was, it was immune to that sort of attack. He had little better luck with the Krogan's armour. Sal swore and the Krogan turned his attention, and deadly beam, towards Kato. Just as he let loose, sending Kato flying out of the way, A forklift, of all things, trundled past, driven by Delan. The Krogan shot his weapon at the forklift, doing some damage, but miraculously leaving Delan unharmed. The krogan was soon pinned against some machinery, roaring with rage. More importantly, Delan was now trapped in a hail of gunfire from the remaining mercs.

The turret the had placed on the conveyor belt was spent, and out of range anyway. Sal did his best to take another few down. there were about 6 left, when Sal called to Justice. "Take them out, there are more incoming!"

Just then, the other group arrived, including a sniper perched on a platform above their heads. Sal cursed and ducked into cover. "Sniper! And someone get that beam weapon before the Krogan gets loose!"





[OOC Tagging smilesja Could Justice grab the weapon with biotics?

After Justice comees Kalia and then Aleeta. Welcome back to the party!
]

Aleeta seemed very happy to see her, which wasnt much of a surprise. She had rescued her after all.

"No, Im fine," she said "I dont need a chair. But I will admit - and I never thought Id say this - but youre a sight for sore eyes."

The Turian placed her hand on her shoulder, but she recoiled a little because she thought for a moment she would be trying to touch her gunshot wound on her arm. That... unfortunately seemed to bring it to Aleetas attention.

"You're hurt? That won't do."

"Well, when you play action hero youre going to get shot a little, right? It probably looks worse than it is, most of the blood on my dress isnt actually mine, but hey, I dont think I did bad for a girl wearing a dress. I should probably get changed..."

Aleeta opened one of the lockers and threw her some medigel. She caught it, and applied it to her bloody arm. It almost immediately started to lessen the pain, which was good.

"Thanks," she said as Aleeta started to retrieve her armor. She also used the pause in the fighting to remove her leather outfit from her bag where it had been packed. She took off her dress, and slipped on the leather instead. Although it wouldnt provide anymore protection, she actually wanted to look... a little more impressive than a girl in a dress while doing what would probably be the most important thing she had ever done in her life. Well, second most important thing. She had robbed a bank when she was younger.

"So, whats going on? Whats the plan?" Aleeta asked as Kalia finished getting changed, "I heard one of the guards say something about a rampaging Krogan - I assume thats Justice?"

She scoffed, "I doubt it. Last time I saw him, he was whining like a little girl. I think he will be crying somewhere, not rampaging."

She smiled to show she was joking, "The plan... well. I sneaked past the Black Suns to free you while the others made a distraction. So we should probably go and help them. It isnt like they could manage without us, right?"

"Im sure you noticed already, but these Black Suns are in the slave business," Aleeta said, "Are we taking out this whole facility? Because Im not leaving without freeing these poor people... but we cant just set them loose to run into bullets on the way out either."

"The slaves were fitted with trackers and explosives controlled by a mainframe and backed up by a secondary server if the first one went offline. I disabled them, so we're all good on that front," she explained, "It was actually me who suggested that we kill them all, so yes. We're taking the facility. I think. Either way, we werent going to leave the slaves. Theyre coming too. But I agree, it might be a good idea to kill all the bad guys first and then free them. If this gets into a movie, I want it to be called 'Victory: The heroic story of the downfall of the Black Suns', not 'The Black Suns Massacre'. That wouldnt make a good movie. Now, Im going to let them know that theyre being freed, and then we can kill the bad guys."

"Ladies and gentlemen," Kalia told the slaves, "My name is Kalia and this is my associate, and we will be your rescuers for this evening. The Black Suns have you imprisoned and we're going to stop them. This should be a good lesson for you all. Sometimes, freedom means you have to shoot people in the face. No wait... freedom is worth fighting for, thats what I meant. But hey, who is to say which one is right?"

When she turned back to Aleeta, she was holding a pistol, taken from one of the lockers no doubt.

"Whoever this belongs to, I'm only borrowing it until I get my shotgun back, I promise. And then we're getting you folks out of here, one way or the other," she said.

"There are a few dead guards around, you should check them?" she suggested, "It will turn up, Im sure. Shotguns dont run away on their own. Come on, lets go."

Kalia headed away from the slave cells and back towards the warehouse. When she opened the door, she was expecting to see lots of dead Black Suns.

"Hey guys, look who's ba-"

She ducked quickly when gunfire narrowly missed her. Kalia cloaked, and took cover behind a crate. She was hoping they would all be dead. But apparently some of the team werent especially good at their jobs. That, or there were more mercenaries than she expected.

She wasnt exactly a combatant, but the volus looked to be in pretty big trouble. He was in a forklift, and a few mercenaries were shooting at him. She ran in his direction, sneaking behind the mercenaries. She grabbed one by the shoulder, drawing her sword and stabbing him in the neck. which broke her cloak. She let him drop as she sheathed her sword, and held her pistol in both hands, starting to open fire on the mercenaries, who switched targets to her instead. She missed most of them, and killed none, but she hoped it would provide a good distraction for the volus to get free. She took cover behind the conveyor belt, then changed her mind and cloaked again.

Kalia climbed on to the conveyor belt, letting it carry her a few feet until she reached one of the machines designed to move crates. She started scaling it until she reached the top, jumping on to one of the steel beams on the roof and balancing on it to gain a height advantage over the mercenaries. She started to open fire with her pistol, hitting a merc with a sniper after a few shots. Between her silenced pistol and her elevated position, she was relatively sure that the mercenaries wouldnt find her. She dropped two more mercs before she had to reload. She started to sabotage weapons where she could to make them easy pickings for rest of the team.


[OOC: DragonRacer ]

[OOC] Accompanied by a little Jerry Goldsmith 


Delan realised he had made a big mistake.

Shots were clattering off the cab of the forklift, punctuated by the growls of an angry Krogan trapped by the prongs of the forklift, wheels squealing, pushing against the rumbling conveyor. And the Volus was stuck in the middle of this cacophony.

Mercs were closing on him, and Delan was struggling to draw his Shuriken, teetering in the cab.
One merc sighted the Volus and would surely have killed Delan, had the merc's shoulder not tugged backwards and a sword blade slid through his neck.
The other mercs turned their attention on Kalia who backed off pistols firing.

Delan feeling a burst of relief eased himself up in his seat.
Then as a shot grazed the top of his pressure suit he ducked right back down again.

He clenched his eyes, wondering if the pressure suit's fabric would give, spilling Delan on the Warehouse floor (yes? no?)
There was a gassy bang and Delan dropped a particularly fruity Volus expletive.
His end was nigh, his vision had already failed (his vision had gone, well, 'smoky') though the worst of his expiry must be over because he felt no pain.
Perhaps Delan had saved up enough Plenix, ('karma' the earthclan called it) for a merciful death.

His family would be disgraced to hear what had happened, he smiled: Forever, Delan would be considered a total... 'oooof!'

he gasped as the Turian appeared out of the smoke and pulled Delan onto her shoulder.
With some mercs still firing through the smoke, Aleeta strode to the safety of some packing crates and set the Volus down.

Muttering an invocation to Cherk Sab, Delan couldn't help but laugh, giggling away through his repirator:
He had survived yet another brush with death, this time because of the Turian and the earthclan female.

"I agree", the Turian said playfully, "being free of one's cage is a large relief,"
"I'm honestly flattered you guys went through all this for me. And chagrined."

"it was totally worth it" [kss], Delan said, though the remark was drowned out by a shout and merc action around the forklift truck.

"Here," Aleeta said. "Have some fun with these. I've gotta take off. Watch yourself."
She handed Delan some smoke and sticky bombs and biotic-dashed at the Krogan.

I can do more than throw grenades, Delan thought, shoving the bombs into his belt pouch, and pulled his Avenger from his shoulder-holster.

Whilst the mercs were focused on the battle between the Krogan Lieutenant and the Turian in the centre of the room,
Delan was taking careful shots to thin the crowd, peeking between the packing crates.

First the merc driving the forklift keeled over from a burst from Delan's Avenger.
Then another took a headshot while clambering past the conveyor belt,
a third slumped over from a body shot.

He might be small, Delan thought, but he could aim, and he'd had a lot of practice (even if only at inanimate targets).

He'd just dispatched a fourth merc when the Turian/Krogan battle came to an abrupt climax.
A sticky bomb on the Krogan exploded and the blast sent Alleeta sprawling into the packing crates next to Delan.

"Aleeta" [kss] he gasped, holstering his Avenger, he was aware that the Drell was still firing at the enraged but injured Krogan, but first things first...

The Turian looked hurt and dazed but was still conscious.

"My turn to help" [kss] Delan said cheerily and slid (actually more like rolling a ball under something) below the Turians arm and with a grunt  
and a shove of his little legs, lifted Aleeta if not to her feet, then at least to a crouch that allowed the Volus to help her behind the crates to safety.

"You recover here a moment" [kss] he said, the Turian now resting against a packing crate.

There was an awful sound of the Drell finishing off the Krogan lieutenant, and relative silence took hold in the warehouse.

Delan looked at Aleeta and glanced over at Justice who also looked badly injured.
They had medi-gel suppllies with them, but Delan though some additional assistance would be required.
Warehouses had machinery, where there was machinery there would be first aid supplies.

Delan paused; Was wandering around a warehouse by himself really a good idea?

"I'll just borrow a few more sticky bombs if I may" [kss], Delan said, helping himself to the remaining clutch of such bombs at the waist of the dazed Turian.

"Can't be too careful" [kss], he said, accompanied by an unobservable wink, as he headed off to find a first aid cabinet.

If Volus could whistle, this would have been his moment, but pressure suits are such a killjoy that way...

(OOC: Music for the boss battle!:
)

Justice was bleeding badly, looks like that sniper shot actually penetrated a weak spot. Thankfully, Delan managed to come in and slip him some Medi-Gel. "Thank you kindly!!" Justice yelled at the Volus.

Sal then try to arrange a plan to rescue the slaves, which pleased the Krogan. He was about to speak but the intercom activated . "I don't know who you people are, but no-one invades my base and lives." The voice boomed.

As soon he said that big footsteps stomped towards the group "Scatter and find cover!" Sal ordered.

Justice retreated behind some boxes and saw an Atlas Mech in all of it's glory. Sal managed to overheat the minigun, overheating but mech used the yellow plasma to target Sal. "Someone take that thing out!" Sal shouted.

"Got it!" Justice yelled aiming his new gun towards the cannon and began unloading on it. The gun has very little recoil as Justice was able to maintain his aim while firing. The cannon was being ripped apart and was eventually destroyed, Justice smirked the gun was very powerful as well.

However the minigun cooled off aimed right at Justice. He was low on biotic energy and couldn't shield, so he tried to run to cover but the minigun released a hail of bullets with half of it hitting the Krogan Shaman. As he was getting hit Justice was surprised that he couldn't feel pain it was almost like he was numb to it. "It's not hurting me?" Justice managed to gargle out as he was severely wounded and near death, the mech stomp firing his minigun and Justice collapsed, a pool of his own blood was starting to form around him. The mech advanced towards Justice and kicked him to the crates. Where he was reduced to a bloody mess and close to death.

"ONE DOWN!" The leader shouted. "NOW WHO ELSE WILL HAVE THE HONOR OF DYING?!"

(GeneralXIV could you have Kalia try to save Justice? XD)

Aleeta's world was fuzzy and filled with a high-pitched ringing, accompanied by occasional garbled noises. She was passively aware of someone snuggled up under her arm, tugging at her urgently. The Turian was groggy. She didn't want to move, but the short figure - Delan? she wondered through the pounding in her head - was quite insistent, so she grumbled and tried to shuffle her sluggish feet. When she felt something solid against her back, she stopped and leaned against it, sighing heavily. The garbled sounds grew louder and more frantic. It vexed the Cabal. That crazy Krogan wasn't dead yet and her team could be in danger, but right now she was utterly useless to them. She closed her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them again, it was definitely Delan standing in front of her. She still couldn't see very well, but she was vaguely aware that she didn't have to look UP while sitting down to be eye-to-eye with the blurry figure. He said something, but she couldn't make it out for all the ringing in her ears. Then, the Volus leaned in and she felt a small tug at her hip before he disappeared from view. Aleeta had no idea what had just happened, which was worrying. She did not like this helplessness and disorientation AT ALL.

Her head swam. Everything looked and sounded as if she were underwater. Probably a concussion, she guessed, aware enough of what was happening but unable to do anything about it. She took a few deep, hesitant breaths. The right side of her torso was pretty damn sore with each inhalation, but nothing felt broken. Good. The left side of her face felt scorched. Aleeta reached up tentatively and touched her mandible, then hissed in pain. Her vision had begun to clear up enough to see the blue blood coating her fingers as she pulled her hand away. She needed medigel. She remembered giving some to Kalia earlier. Did she have more? She probably did. 

"Graaaahhhh..." Aleeta groaned, cradling the unburned side of her face in her right hand, eyes closed tight. It wasn't usually hard to think. This was so frustrating!

A voice, which might as well have been a hundred kilometers away for all the clarity with which she could understand it, said something somewhere off to her left. Uncharacteristically, Aleeta ignored it in favor of staying curled away against herself. She hated being useless. Even worse, she hated being seen in this worthless state.

Suddenly, the Turian felt a small hand gently patting the left side of her face. It hurt, and it instantly set her off. Aleeta quickly turned her head and glared at the offender. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" she snarled. And then she instantly felt like an ass.

Delan shrank back from her, an open medigel packet in his left hand and his right hand still in the position of mid-application of said gel. He quickly dropped his hand and looked away. "I... I found their storage room, [kss]" the Volus sputtered, "which had medical supplies... [kss]"

Already, the pain began to recede along with the burning sensation. Her head was even starting to clear up, the foggy haze lifting. Aleeta frowned and stared at the ground, ashamed. "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Delan," she said. "Thank you, for all your help."

The Volus cleared his throat, which came out as a rather odd sound through the respirator. "If I'm not mistaken, this is your Wraith, [kss]" he said. "One of the dead guards nearby had it. [kss]"

Aleeta's head flew up, golden eyes wide. Sure enough, the shotgun Delan held out towards her was her beloved Wraith. The Turian grinned like an idiot as she grabbed the weapon and looked it over for any signs of damage. Then, she glanced back up at the Volus and gave him a particularly warm smile. "Delan, I..." she stumbled. "'Thank you' doesn't bear enough meaning. I'm not sure what to say."

"[kss] Thank you for helping me from the forklift," he replied. "It is rare that someone - what do the earthclan say? - 'has my back'. [kss]"

The Turian smirked, recalling Justice's quip from back when the group first met and was vying to prove their worth for the job. "Well, it's rather rare that a Volus has enough quad to want to go on a dangerous mission like this, so..." The Turian gave him a sly wink. "Yeah, I've got your back."

There was a slight pause, which was almost immediately broken by Sal walking up. The Turian nodded at him, answering his inquiry if she was all right. "I'll live," she said with a little swagger injected in her tone.

Delan added, "I'm going to see if the Krogan needs medical supplies, assuming he would admit it. [kss]"

As the Volus headed over to Justice and the others began looting, Aleeta remained seated and finished applying the medigel everywhere it would be of use. Just as she finished, the world changed in a flash.

"I don't know who you people are, but no one invades my base and lives." A deep, booming voice said.

The Turian gripped her shotgun and hunkered down as the Atlas made its hulking appearance and started spraying the room with rounds. Everything happened so quickly. Almost too quickly to react. In between sprays of firepower, Aleeta dashed from crate to container to more cover, trying to slink closer to the beast. She watched in horror as Justice was brought down and said a quick, silent prayer to the spirits to tend to him. She watched with equal concern as Kalia rode the Atlas and pecked small bits of damage to it.

Hmmm, thought the Cabal, an opening in the cockpit. Good job, thief.

As soon as she saw Kalia clear of the machine, Aleeta reached into her sticky grenade pouch to start causing some real damage. It was empty.

"What?" she wondered aloud. 

"One hundred credits says you can't get a smoke bomb through the hole," Kalia whispered over to her.

The Turian was annoyed that her firepower was gone - surely she hadn't given all of them to Delan before her showdown with the Krogan - but there was no time to worry about that now. She palmed a smoke bomb, narrowed her eyes, focused a little harder than she normally would need to in an effort to compensate for the lingering effects of her concussion, and lobbed the little round ball.

Bull's eye.

She grinned wickedly as black smoke started to fill the Batarian's cockpit.

[OOC: Tagging @tzeenchianapostrophe ]

---

---

The smoke soon cleared, the blast from Delan's grenades pretty much obliterating everything within ten feet, including the Batarian leader. Sal approached the wreckage, weapon drawn.

Shaking, the Batarian was clinging to life, dispite his shattered body.. Faintly his whispered "You've won nothing, they will come for you too." With that he made one last gurgling intake of breath and passed. Sal shook his head, puzzling over the dying Black Suns final words. Maybe this deal was more than it seemed.

He looked at the others, still reeling from the combat, but no obvious injuries. Then he stopped. Except one. Justice, their indestructible Krogan ally, lay o the ground not far from the smoking wreckage. Sal knelt down, inspecting the Krogan,s limp form. For all he could tell, there was no life in the body. he sighed, waiting a moment, as if to see if his redundant organs kicked in, bringing Justice back to life. It as not to be.

Sal closed the krogan's staring eyes, and wished whatever spirits the Krogan believed in to accept Justice. Looking at the others he said. "Justice is gone. I'm sorry. He fought well." He hated to lose a team mate. Such a waste.

"We can see to his body once my clean up crew arrive. It is hard to lose a team member, but we must carry on. We made a good haul today."

He stood and picked up the plasma weapon Justice had been holding.

"We have two tasks left. Free those slaves, and deal with whoever wanted to buy them. Are you all still with me?"


[OOC Tagging GeneralXIV ]

[OOC: ]

Aleeta grinned at the smoldering wreckage that had once been the Black Suns leader and his mech, then sauntered over to where Delan had taken cover.

"So, THAT'S where all my sticky grenades went!" she shouted, but in an amused tone rather than accusatory. She playfully slapped the Volus on the back. "I'm rather impressed, Delan. Maybe you should consider merc work full time."

With that, her eyes quickly scanned the room to check on everyone else and do a mental headcount. The others were all on their feet, not much worse for the wear. All but one. As Sal moved towards Justice's fallen form, so did Aleeta. The Krogan's body was utterly broken. No movement. No breath. The Turian knelt down and gently placed a hand on his chest. Not even the faintest flutter of a redundant heartbeat.

The Salarian closed Justice's distantly-staring eyes and turned to address the others. Aleeta bowed her head, still on one knee next to their fallen comrade. She closed her eyes.

"Justice is gone," said Sal. "I'm sorry. He fought well. We can see to his body once my clean up crew arrive. It is hard to lose a team member, but we must carry on. We made a good haul today."

"This is Omega," Kalia quipped. "Justice was dead a long time ago."

Aleeta tuned out the rest. The others were so quick to move on, immediately talking about the loot they'd gained or cracking jokes. All while the Krogan's body was not yet even cold. She balled up her left hand into a fist, biting down her anger at it all. Having been in the Turian military, she'd seen her fair share of death, lost comrades. And everyone here had signed on knowing full well what the risks were. But still...

"I'm sorry, Justice," Aleeta said quietly to his body. "This was my fault."

And it was. Her little stunt in Afterlife to throw the Blue Suns off their trail had unnecessarily attracted the attention of the Black Suns. That had resulted in her and Kalia being ambushed, and Aleeta had been captured as a result. Then, rather than do the logical thing and leave her to rot while they continued on with their original mission, the group had instead chosen the absolutely insane route of taking on the entire organization... all to rescue her. And it had cost Justice his life.

But it would not be in vain.

"I will avenge you," she swore. Those slaves would be freed, the mission would be completed. And once it was all said and done, the Turian would track down every last surviving splinter cell and member of the Black Suns and end them.

She stood up, her expression severe.

"We have two tasks left," said Sal. "Free those slaves, and deal with whoever wanted to buy them. Are you all still with me?"

"I am," Aleeta answered. "And by 'deal with', I hope you mean with extreme prejudice."

Kalia added, "So, I'm going to go and free the slaves. Anyone want to join me?"

Aleeta stepped towards the human thief and gave a quick, curt nod.

[OOC: Tagging @tzeenchianapostrophe ]