Mass Effect Mercenaries

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He stood from behind cover as he saw the batarian leader approach, his omni-fist was powered up and his other weapons were holstered (mostly due to their size though Harlow was not limited in that way). Time slowed, sound dulled and the world around the Batarian and Harlow seemed to fall away. In that moment, they were only two beings in the whole of the Milky Way, and each was hell-bent on destroying the other...

Harlow initiated, and fired a phase disruptor from his hand, badly degrading the leader's shields, but neither hurting him nor his armor. Despite this, Harlow didn't hesitate, he channeled his biotic energy and used his charge. The Batarian realized what was happening so he did the only possible thing he could, he put up the omni fist and let his body go limp as nothing was going to stop a biotic charge. Harlow hit hard and sent the Batarian sliding backwards but he recovered fast and came at Harlow. His shields were down, and, in this type of combat, there would be no time for either of them to recharge. The Batarian swung at Harlow, who deftly parried with the flat of his saber. The Batarian seemed to have be taught some form of hand-to-hand combat, as his leg went up toward Harlow's unprotected side in response to Harlow's block, nailing a solid hit onto the human's ribs. Harlow took the impact,allowing his armor to take most of it since the Batarian's leg was going too slow for his barrier to register. This then allowed Harlow to grab the offending leg and promptly push the Batarian away; the Batarian's back step gave Harlow room to let off an overhead strike with the saber in his right hand. The Batarian managed to block the incoming blade by crossing his fists, and subsequently used the space between his wrists to catch Harlow's right forearm. Harlow then retorted with a kick to the Batarian's stomach, breaking the lock. The Batarian's armor took most of the blow just as Harlow's had done at beginning of their "dance". He then sidestepped around Harlow's next slash, brought his fist towards the human's back and landed a strong blow, the first real hit of the brawl, and powerful enough to take down Harlow's barrier. The human quickly threw another kick to the Batarian's side to get him to back off but this time it was powered with his biotics. The Batarian wasn't fast enough to get out of the way, and this time his armor wasn't going to be able to stop most of the damage. They both backed away after the traded blows, and circled each other. They had both dealt damage to one another, Harlow's back armor was useless now but he'd only received minor physical damage thanks to his barrier and armor (coupled with the fact that most types of armors put greater protection on the front and back of the torso). The Batarian, on the other hand, had it worse. Having taken a biotic-powered kick to the side where the least amount of armor on the torso was, the side was trashed much like Harlow's back armor. Unlike Harlow, however, the batarian leader's shield was already down, so the physical damage was more significant as seen by the way he held his arm close to the wounded area, protecting it.
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Harlow was quick to strike, and gave the Batarian no time to dodge as the saber cut a shallow groove into his armor. The Batarian had pulled away just enough not to get killed by the blade. Before he could get his wits about him and counter, however, Harlow pushed the attack. The Batarian pulled back again and was getting desperate, he had not foreseen this human being as deadly as he was. He then took his shotgun out from his back when he thought he had enough distance, but as he brought it up the human was already in front of him with his biotically-enhanced blade in full swing, the Batarian brought his rifle up to block and watched in terror as the human's shimmering blade cleaved it in two. Harlow delivered a strong biotic kick to the chest of the Batarian's armor, denting it and sending the Batarian onto his back.

The leader spoke between labored breaths, "No... humans are feeble and undisciplined... I refuse to be bested by you!". Harlow approached, unphased by his words, but the Batarian had one last trick. He went uponto one knee, threw his omni-fist at full force and struck something. The Batarian brought his head up, grinning triumphantly under his helmet, but what he saw immediately dashed his hopes. Standing aglow in biotic power, Harlow had caught the Batarian's fist in an iron grip. The Batarian was stunned, and before he could acknowledge what just happened, Harlow pulled up hard, overextending the arm at which point his blade flashed and the Batarian was sent reeling backwards... while his arm remained in Harlow's grasp. It was at this point that the Batarian began to feel deeply exhausted, the battle had drained him much faster than it had the human who had defeated him, and he had paid for it. The human wasn't done with him, and continued his approach, throwing the now-severed arm to the side. Harlow knelt down, and noticed that the Batarian was still breathing, although panting heavily. Harlow then pulled the Batarian into a sitting position, pointed his head towards his own troops, and spoke to him in a voice as cold as the void itself. "Look upon those you called friend and comrade, let their faces and voices burn into your mind, for it will be your last memory. Don't worry, you won't be alone, I am going to kill each and every one of your men. I will make sure their mothers, sons, fathers and daughters never see them or their bodies again in this life or the next. Now die knowing you sent them to their deaths, know you were responsible." Harlow said before standing, and with a mighty swing, decapitated the Batarian, sending his head flying and letting a geyser of blood spray Harlow from the stump of a neck as the body fell forward into the cold dirt, to be forgotten.​
 
Raymond launched a warp field at the base of a tree near the Batarian biotics squad, intending to make them his targets. The warp field disintegrated the wood and caused the tree to collapse into them, just as planned. However, it wasn't Raymond's ultimate intention to ht them with the tree, even if one or two got hit by it. He followed up with a singularity, catching as many of the off-guard Batarians as possible. He pumped as many bullets and throws into the vulnerable targets as he could before turning to face the rest of the enemies.
 
The incoming gunfire seceded to nothing, and he heard more rumbling from the other end of the compound. Dex and his companion in arms gave heavy sighs of relief. Dex peered out from the ridge they were hiding by and saw the batarian with the light machine gun peel away to support whatever else had been happening on the other end of the compound.

"Is that vehicle one of yours? We can't just let them die out there... for us. I know you said we have to go but i-is there something, a-anything we can do to help them!?", Dex began to groan, "Maybe, I mean, if we're lucky, m-maybe we can rescue the others too! You'll do something right!?".


"Sounds like suicide to me...", another dazed scientist interjected in a low voice.

The other human mercenary piped up, "There's no 'we' in this occasion. You are the objective- not the task group."

Dex agreed- but then waffled a bit- "You're going to the evacuation site and staying put. There's plenty of others inside who are alive that need evacuated. I'll go back and take a look." He then passed a look to his human comrade- "Since your armor is breached, take these four to the evac site and wait for my word. I'll see what else I can do and radio back."

The human shook his head, and then cradled his wound a bit, realizing the depth of the situation. "Alright." He tossed Dex a thermal clip, of which was caught and tucked into a thermal clip belt. "I'll take them-" he started before being interrupted by one of the scientists trying to be stubborn and wanting to help-

Dex interjected- "Shut up- this is not under negotiations." He growled sternly, but not above normal volume. "Now I will go back down there and see what can be done. IF something can be done- I will do it, and we will all go home a lot happier. If not, I'll be back momentarily and we can go as soon as our evacuation craft can get here." His tone was stern, aggravated, and unwilling to compromise any more. After all, some of his friends were just killed- he didn't want to risk any more.

"Keep it quiet, and radio as soon as you can." The human gave confidence to Dex, and looked to his four charges- "Now lets go. The faster we go- the faster we get out. Come on." He lead the scientists away, begrudgingly.

Dex reloaded the thermal clip into his weapon and vaulted over the ridge they had been taking cover behind. He moved quickly through the brush and back to the fence-line and toward the boxy structure of the buildings before him. Sounded like things were getting pretty heavy- so he moved for the small hole his team 'snuck' out of.

He approached the off-white colored wall structure, and looked up into the hole. Didn't seem to be anyone here now- so he clipped his carbine to the back of his shoulder, and leapt up a few inches so his three-clawed hand could grasp the floor. Reaching up with the other hand he pulled his elbows to the floor, and drug the rest of his body inside. This room was completely empty, and had a few metal desks for cover, and had a regular sized doorway. As Dex stood slowly- keeping an eye on that doorway, he drew his sidearm from his hip and gripped it gently- keeping it pointed at the doorway. Taking a few steps toward it- he saw a small group of Batarians- maybe three- pass by at a running speed- weapons at the ready. Giving it a second, he moved to the doorway and pressed himself against the wall by the doorway and leaned his head out to see down the hall- opposite the direction the batarian detail ran. Not seeing anyone, he looked the other way. He saw the backs of the three Batarians running toward a large amount of fire- sounded like someone had gotten these Batarians' attention for sure...

Dex slowly, but deliberately walked down the hall, opposite the direction those batarian troops were heading, which appeared to be toward the back of the building. He hoped he'd find some more techs and scientists this way. Though as he came to a corner and hallway intersection, he heard the gasps and yelps of a few people, sounding like a struggle, then the signature deep gravelly voices of the batarian slavers. It sounded like two. He poked his head around the corner to see- and there were two slavers with pole leashes around a couple scientists. One was being pinned to the ground, the other was already leashed and being lead for the front of the building. The room was square, and there seemed to be broken glass and tech spread everywhere across the ground. Maybe this was another testing room or something. There appeared to be windows and several tables and desks inside there. The captives were likely hiding under the desks there.

Dex cursed to himself, and pulled back into cover. He knew what he had to do... He activated his tactical cloak with a button on his omni-tool, and trotted into the hallway toward the room where two slavers who were grabbing up resistors and stragglers. Slowing his movements as he entered their room to minimize sound, he approached a slaver with it's back toward him- shoving the leash pole into the back of the captive's head to get them moving toward the exit.

Feeling his heart begin to race with anxiety and adrenaline as he stepped ever closer, the Batarians made their way for the door, one behind the other- their captives several feet in front of them- leashed by the neck. Before they could take another step- however, Dex kicked into gear. His left wrist's Omnitool produced an omni blade. The translucent, diamond-hard blade was near instantly forged by the omni-tool- and he drew his hand back into a fist- of which he jabbed outward toward where the Batarian's neck met the shoulder with all his strength. Once the omni-blade cooled and discharged, his cloak would be deactivated- and Dex would then be ready to put round after round of M3 ammunition into the other slaver's vitals.

Hopefully the chaos ensuing outside the slavers' perimeter would give Dex a great opportunity to secure some more of these hostages and get them out of the building. If anything else, he'd soften up some of the interior security...
 
Kodiak Team
Xavier, Raymond, Cassius, Ardent

One by one, the bodies of what used to be the batarian biotics squad stopped flailing in the air and dropped to the ground. Pools of dark crimson had begun to spread beneath them.

Ardent had been behind a tree the entire battle, peering out once in a while to fire shots towards the clearing. Ray had turned around after dealing with the biotics, and immediately noticed a group of batarians who'd managed to flank them and were now closing in on Ardent, but it was already too late to warn him. When Ardent finally turned around, he was greeted by three batarian troops standing less than 10 ft. away. They each raised their terminator assault rifles, and mercilessly unloaded half a clip. Ardent's body convulsed with every shot, as his back slowly slid down the tree's trunk, leaving a trail of bullet holes and blood. Ash sat limp at the tree's base with his limbs sprawled out and his torso littered with wounds when one last shot found his forehead. The batarians exchanged their clips, and one of them pointed in Raymond's direction...

The infiltrators retreated into the veil of shadows created by the canopy above, while the lone batarian vanguard was still in the centre of the clearing, exposed. It wasn't long before the vanguard caught sight of Cassius, sprinted towards him and unleashed a biotic heavy melee. The force of the blow causing Cassius to collide into a tree. The infiltrators, on the other hand, began to scour the wooded area for Xavier, taking slow and cautious steps, while keeping a close eye on their radar. Thanks to the signal jammer, however, their radars failed to pick up Xavier behind a cover only a few feet away...

[Body count: 6 killed]
[Remaining: 2 batarian infiltrators, 1 vanguard and 3 troops]



--Elsewhere--​


Mako Squad
Harlow, Hannah, Kronos, Jay

The death of their leader seemed to catch them off guard, and Harlow's unquestionable prowess called for a change in tactics. With no leader to direct them, however, they didn't all seem to agree on a single decision. Three batarain troops retreated back into the building, hoping to take advantage of the balcony. The fully-functioning war truck moved to position itself in front of the heavy transport, in attempt to avoid getting shot by the mako, while three other troops moved to take cover behind it. Although it seemed somewhat like overkill, the vehicle's mass accelerator cannon charged up and aimed towards Harlow rather than the mako...

One batarian moved towards the other (damaged) war truck when he noticed a fire on the inside. The damage caused by the mako's cannon seemed to have (fortunately for mako squad) mangled the door, sealing it. The driver was trying his best to kick the door open while the batarian trooper tried to assist him, as the windshield was bulletproof. The batarian trooper on the ground who'd lost his arm watched his strike leader die shortly before cursing to himself and passing out from blood loss.

Eagle eye must have hit his head pretty hard when the mako shook earlier, because he didn't respond to Shock's pleas and the mako's turret remained inactive.

[Body count: 5 killed, Leader killed]
[Remaining: 7 batarian troops, 3 drivers (one incapacitated), 2 war trucks (one damaged)]



--Not too far away--​


Dex

The batarian struck by Dex's omni-blade dropped his pole leash and made a distorted chocking sound before collapsing onto the floor. The second batarian turned around, his expression somewhere between fear, astonishment and utter hatred. With his free hand, he grabbed the submachine gun at his side, only to be shot several times in the chest. The troops' low-grade armor was hardly protective against mass accelerators, and had next to no shields at all. He also lost hold of his captive and fell back onto the cold floor. The freed captives, a technician of some sort and a janitor, stood aside in surprise, and gave Dex a wide berth.

"You. You're not with them? What do you want?!", the technician began, trembling, clearly hesitant to trust a non-human. "There's too many, there's no way...", the janitor spoke, out of breath. The sound of several footsteps and batarians growling commands can be heard from further down the hall (closer toward the front entrance) cut him off, "...more of them.". Still alive, the batarian on the ground clutched the right side of his chest with one hand and reached for his submachine gun once more...

[Body count: 1 killed, 1 wounded]
[Remaining: ?]
 
When Harlow saw the MAC on the war truck turn towards him only two words went through his mind at that moment. "Fuck that." He used his biotic charge to fly towards the truck and dump him out under the MAC's firing plain. Once he got near the truck he pulled himself onto the top to the side of the gun itself, the Batarian tried to turn the MAC towards him but Harlow was already upon him with the barrel of his shotgun mere inches away from the batarians chest when he fired. The Batarian was shoved by the blast off the gun and off the war truck, normally Harlow would of went and made sure the Batarian was dead but he didn't have time as he dropped off by the door of the truck which was being opened but he but a stop to that as a bioticly enhance kick force it shut and who ever was opening it back he then used his sword with his biotics to smash the door to keep it from opening. He then used a biotic slash on one of the tire axles, while the damage was not enough to take the wheel off it was enough that if it moved again the wheel would either brake the axle or come off all together. He had to head on top of the war truck again and looked a the gun, he found the ammo block and pulled it out before getting off the truck. Harlow used another biotic charge to get to the Mako and take cover behind it, he knew that with this use of his biotics that he was going to be hurting later when they got on the ship but he wasn't able to deal with that at the moment. "Hannah...you and...Jay ok in there..." Harlow asked over the coms as he panted, working to get his breath while he rolled the ammo block from the war truck into the trees near him.​
 
At least thirty seconds had passed without a response from Eagle Eye. Fortunately, however, the batarian light tanks appeared to be preoccupied. Hannah knew something was wrong, and for a moment, was torn between finishing the mako's repairs and checking on Jay. With a worried sigh, she resolved to take the latter option. Making sure to avoid tripping on the deep grooves created by the mako's tires, she ran unsteadily towards the side hatch, frantically punched a few keys into her omni-tool, and crawled her way inside. "Are you...!", she began to call out, before turning the corner and spotting Jay. "O... kay...", Hannah's voice seemed to fall short as she took in the situation. He looked as though he was sitting on the chair of the turret controls, but fell over, putting him in an awkward position with his legs and hips still on the seat while the rest of his body was flat against the floor.

She began mumbling the word 'okay' to herself repeatedly while circling Jay's dilapidated body. A few keys on her omni-tool brought up a vital scanner that came along with the medi-gel application. Hovering her hand over his body, the scan registered a pulse, along with the fact that he was still breathing. Good to know. Hannah then attempted to apply medi-gel, but a notification insisted that there were no external wounds. The threat of the mass accelerator cannons and the rocket launcher was still present (even though they hadn't fired in a while), and she figured an immobilized mako made for an obvious target. So, hardly thinking before acting, Hannah grabbed Jay's legs with both hands and wedged them between her arms and side. Arduous as it was, she dragged his body all the way to the door she entered from. Harlow's voice sounded in her helmet just as she forced her shoulder against the door's control panel, then dragged Jay's body outside and onto the dirt.

By the time his legs were dropped, she was more than a little winded, and took off her helmet to take advantage of the world's 'slightly above average' oxygen levels. She gasped, forcing air into her lungs then forced some hair out of her face. A few bullets whizzed by from above and beside the mako and hit some nearby dirt. She looked to Jay's body, laying horizontally in a small trench created by the mako's tires, then regained her breath before replying to Harlow's earlier question, "Yeah, uhm, we're doing great... Hehe". Although her words probably came across as sarcasm, she was actually legitimately trying to assure him that the situation was entirely under control. Which it wasn't.

Luckily, the majority of the repairs were complete, and, as it stood, the mako could probably drive for almost a day without the axel falling apart.
 
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Xavier hardly had time to catch his breath as the first of his would be killers rushed headlong into his firing zone, it was easy unloading a quarter of a clip into his chest and head and seeing the body slump to the ground lifeless. However he had little time to celebrate as gunfire came at him, getting behind cover he drew haggard breaths as he gave an irritated sigh and tossed a couple grenades blindly towards the enemy line. Hearing the shouts of surprise followed by thumps and then the explosions, he knew they dived away in time. He cursed and started running again, taking these batarians as far away from his team as he could before even thinking about making a stand. He felt something hard hit him in his left arm and cursed loudly, falling over and rolling, feeling even more pain from the wound he now has and activates his omni-shield with his right he moves back into cover. Panting as he applies medi-gel to his the wound on his arm, by some stroke of luck, it wasn't overly large. But it was deep and hurt like a son of a bitch, he felt the numbness set in almost instantly and grabbed his pistol, it felt heavy to his half numb arm. Trying to calm himself he take a deep breath and starts to control his breathing. Xavier blind fired a few shots with his Talon, knowing the batarians were behind cover too he decided the only course of action would be to try and either sneak away...something he can't do, or get the drop on them with biotic and tech explosions. To do that he would have to put himself, and his opponents into open territory, his shield would hold off their fire, but only for a short time. He'd have to make sure to take out enough of them and mop up the rest with quick decisive fire from his weapons.

With a plan thought out he moves out from behind the tree and, while keeping his shield up to cover most of his body aims and fires towards the raider party following him. He didn't believe he'd hit anyone but he needed them to duck and hide. He threw the last three of his grenades, continuing to fire on their position until the last possible second and turns and bolts again. The raiders caught unawares didn't see the grenades land in their midst, the explosions took out at least another two of the remaining raiders chasing him. Dropping their numbers down to three or four he believes as he continues moving through the forest, hoping to find a clearing like the one they had been at before.
 
Raymond watched helplessly as Ardent crumpled under the hail of gunfire. His warning cry caught in his throat as he realized it was too late to warn him now. This is getting out of hand. Raymond thought. I knew things would be rough with such a makeshift team and all, but losing one of our guys in the first engagement? This is pretty bad. He slipped behind a tree to avoid their fire, catching sight of the Vanguard charging Cassius. No more, not this mission. He biotically pulled the vanguard off the ground in his moment of triumph and smashed him into a tree with a well aimed throw. Turning to the flankers, he closed in, moving from cover to cover, getting close enough for his biotic powers to give their full effect.
 
Harlow finally got his breath before speaking to Hannah again. "We need to regroup with Ray, his group might of been hit just as bad as ours. You up to driving again?" He asked as he took cover by the Mako and traded sporadic fire with the Batarians that had go to the balcony, while he was using his pistol the shots were precise enough to keep the Batarians from pouring to much fire towards them for now. This mission was FUBAR at this point and if he was still with the SA he would of ordered a retreat but this wasn't his mission but the Batarians had fleet support and their little clunker of a ship would be torn apart, if only they had a M-920 Cain that would make things a little more even.​
 
As he fired into the last batarian's midsection, he finally exhaled as the batarian's back hit the ground.

"You. You're not with them? What do you want?!" the technician began, trembling, clearly hesitant to trust a non-human. "There's too many, there's no way...", the janitor spoke, out of breath.

"It's alright- I'm here to get you out-" Though Dex was stopped mid sentence by a sound of rumbling. The sound of several footsteps, and batarians growling commands can be heard from further down the hall (closer toward the front entrance) cut him off,

"...more of them."

Still alive, the batarian on the ground clutched the right side of his chest with one hand and reached for his submachine gun once more...

"Rragh!" Dex shouted as he shoved the janitor into cover, while simultaneously rapidly pulling the trigger on his sidearm, aiming toward the Batarian's head who decided not to die just yet. There were a few large desks in here to find cover behind, though he hoped the civilians had the smarts to stay down as the other Batarians came in. Thankfully for now they would have ample cover, and could fire at the doorway for suppression, with at least one good exit if things got worse. That way Dex would be able to tell the civilians to go out the way Dex came in- and out the blasted hole in the wall.

Dex shouted to the civillians, while drawing his assault rifle, "Hey.... Hey! There's a door over there that can lead you out. In a moment I'll tell you both to run as fast as possible."

He then popped his head out from behind the cover, getting a great vantage of the incoming Batarian team. His rifle was shouldered, and was in burst fire mode. Dex waited until one popped their head out- as well, before firing precise shots toward them. He allowed the Batarian team to reach the doorway and stack up. A few seconds passed and Dex shouted for the civillians to 'Go!'.

As the Turian shouted, a Batarian's figure stepped into the doorway, to which Dex was ready to unleash a short burst toward the Batarian's helmet. Dex would do his best to make sure no one made it through that door. This was a time where he wished he grabbed a few grenades on the lift here...
 
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Kodiak Team
Xavier, Raymond, Cassius (wounded), Ardent

Cassius, who's barrier was already down before getting hit by the batarian vanguard, struggled to stand up after colliding with the thick tree trunk. His ribcage had suffered badly, and he was having trouble breathing. The batarian, hoping to take advantage of his wounded prey, equipped his shotgun and laughed deviously. Shortly before firing, however, the vanguard was hurled into the air, his laugh becoming a frantic scream. He was then thrown head-first directly into an adjacent tree. The batarian's whimpering and gurgling noises signalled his final throes as he squirmed on the ground.

Xavier continued his feverish pace as he decided that the enemies following him were diminished enough, he needed to get back to his people. Xavier then does something the raiders weren't expecting, he stopped to a skidding halt, pushed off the ground full force and sprinted towards them. He swung his shield up to block surprised gunfire and, as he passed by one of the raiders, he crashes his shield down onto their head and continues moving through the forest. He was making his way back to Raymond and Cassius, still moving at a quickened pace, not worrying about cover and dodging as he was formulating a new plan in his head. "Raymond, do you copy? If any of you do, be ready I'm coming with the final two enemies. You'll see us coming through the clearing where we were ambushed at. You know what to do once I'm back behind cover".

He makes a mental note to take his Tempest out and sets the weapon to full auto as he continues running and seeing the clearing he flips the bird to the batarians behind him and tucks and rolls behind the nearest tree after making it halfway into the clearing "OPEN FIRE!" Xavier shouts and unloads a full clip into the clearing...

[Body count: 9 killed]
[Remaining: 3 troops]


--Nearby--​


Mako Squad
Harlow, Hannah, Jay (wounded), Kronos

The batarians on the balcony must have heard something from inside the building and moved back inside earlier, as they were now nowhere to be seen.

Being confined to his burning war truck, the batarian driver hopelessly kicked at the door. His muffled cries were audible even to Harlow and Shock as they hid behind the mako. The poor batarian maxed the throttle, shot at the windows, and thrashed about to no avail, all while being burned alive. A few distorted words to a foreign deity and the final muffled bang of his shotgun signalled his death. Suicide was the last decision he ever made.

After having witnessed their partner's jarring and fiery demise, along with the death of their leader, the remaining batarians didn't have much faith to spare. Two scrambled into (and onto) the surviving war truck, carrying a batarian with a chunk of his shoulder missing along, while the last trooper piled into the heavy transport's passenger seat. The transport's engine roared to life, and the batarians were pleading for the driver to 'step on it'...

[Body count: 8 killed, 1 wounded, Leader killed, war truck destroyed]
[Remaining: 3 batarian troops, 2 drivers, 1 war truck (can't fire)]


--Inside the compound--​


Dex

The first batarian through the door drops dead instantly, but three more take his place and fire blindly in Dex's direction. Another batarian went down, but not before their combined fire managed to deplete Dex's shields. The remaining batarians, after losing two of their own so quickly, retreated through the doorway they entered from and took cover behind each adjacent wall. Dex's shooting gave the civilians time to escape unharmed, but now it was a stalemate. The last few batarians, along with Dex himself, were pinned down. Each listened for the other to move out from behind cover.

Unexpectedly, the voice of Dex's partner blurted in his earpiece, "We're in position for extraction! *static*-re sending the bird down now! *static*-be here!". Unkowingly to him, even Dex's secure comm had been somewhat affected by Shock's short-range jammer...

[Body count: 4 killed]
[Remaining: 2 batarian troops]
 
While Harlow spoke of regrouping with Xavier, Hannah saw the transport begin to move in the corner of her eye. "No no no no Um... Excuse me for a moment". She aimed her omni-tool steadily at the transport as it slowly began turning around, supporting her elbow with her free hand. There was a clean and quick electric sound as she fired off a disruption, hitting the vehicle's hood just as it came into view. She then retracted her arm and exhaled, still staring at her target, seemingly impressed (and surprised) with her own ability. The engine of the light tank beside the transport then started shortly after. "Letting them escape would be extremely detrimental to the mission, they will alert the military camp of our presence. Could you uh... dispatch of them?", she asked Harlow, not quite sure how to word it.
 
Harlow went into the Mako without needing to be told again, he went into the gun seat and linked with the cannon's HUD. He lined up the sights on the war truck as it attempted to make a get away with a few batarians on roof as well, the first round he fired skimmed and ricocheted off of the rear so Harlow readjusted his aim. The second shot hit home as it penetrated the thin armor of the war truck, for a few seconds it swerved erratically until it hit a rock at which point thick black smoke began to pour out from the war truck. The batarians that were on top had been thrown off by this point and Harlow put a three second machine gun burst into each one. The drivers both burst out of the doors, they were both on fire but instead of firing Harlow watched.
Neither had weapons on them most likely left in the fire, one ran towards the Mako but Harlow let out a burst from the machine gun ripped into him, the first rounds hit him in the left shoulder ripping it off while the other rounds traveled across the Batarian's chest punching fist sized holes in his armor and body. The other one fell to the ground screaming as he tried to put out the fire but his armor and clothing underneath were soaked with fuel so all his attempts just spread the fire more while his skin began to boil and peel like pig's skin when you fry it and Harlow even while being in the Mako was able to smell it that all to unique smell of burning flesh and fuel mixing in the air that Harlow was more that equated with.
It was painful of course but Harlow had been unlucky enough to of watched a fellow N7 die from fire and got to see it up close and personal, you see the fire dried out your skin fast pulling it taunt against the muscle and bone until it cracked and peeled away to get to the flesh underneath and all the while your nerves are firing to your brain with pain loading you nothing but pain the the knowledge of death but the worst part was if you were put out, sure you didn't need to worry about the fire itself anymore but the after affects since the organic body was so good at holding heat especially your bones which would start to cook you from the inside out and nothing was able to stop it. Harlow let him burn for a few second before he put a burst in him from the Mako's gun ending the batarian and his suffering. He got off the gun and went out now that most of the batarians were dead, he kept his guard up though while he looked and found Kronos's body. He treated the corpse with an odd gentle reverence as he picked him up ignoring the blood as he walked back to the Mako and laid his body down on the ground, he would be buried not left to rot on some forgotten battlefield.​
 
Alexandra made an emergency landing after taking out the batarian frigate that had been dogging them the whole time of the failed raid, she sighed in relief as she and the rest of the crew could finally take a breather. She opened a comm to the two ground teams "Mako team, Kodiak team do you copy?" Alex looks puzzlingly at the console as all she hears is static, she punches a few keys and tries again. Hearing nothing but static again, she has the communications team try and boost the signal so she can get in touch with either of the two ground teams. Keeping it set to their encrypted channel, she tries three more times. Her final one barely holding back tears "Mako...Kodiak...do you read, it's the Ice, we've made an emergency landing, sending coordinates to the team leaders' omnitools now." Sending the coordinates in as heavy an encryption as she could she sits back, tears falling down her face and waits for anyone on the comm to chime in.
 
Dex's heart was pumping, and his back began to feel hot. His excitement, adrenaline, and anger fed his body the energy he had to keep hard focused at the task at hand. His eyes dilated and his senses opened. Every time he squeezed the trigger, sending a handful of sand-grain sized projectiles toward his enemies- his weapon recoiled ever so slightly. Keeping a base of fire into that hallway- his hands gripped his weapon firmly, and his mind sharp on the number of rounds he sent toward them. Though despite being able to neutralize a few batarian enemies- he was certainly not impervious. He felt that inescapable terrifying sensation of your shields being pelted with incoming rounds. His shields were running on empty- and his enemies didn't seem to have any themselves- otherwise he would have used his 'overload' capability to sap someone else's and replenish his own.

Finally, a brief lull in the firefight- after what seemed like minutes- was likely only seconds, and his weapon was screaming at him with the familiar repeating alarm tone of the thermal clip in his weapon needing changed. He fell on his rear end behind the desk he was taking cover, and punched the clip release. The orange-hot cylinder popped out, and bounced across the floor with a familiar 'hissing' noise, before he promptly jammed a replacement in there, clamping the reservoir shut with a dense 'click'.

He fired blindly behind him through the hallway, and popped his head out, weapon shouldered again before his radio fizzed at him-

**"We're in position for extraction! *static*-re sending the bird down now! *static*-be here!"**

Dex cursed under his breath, and attempted a response- not even realizing that the transmission was catching static.

"I'm still inside. Had a few more hostages." He said, firing another burst before being shot at again- to which he promptly took cover. "Headed your way now- sounds like it's getting pretty loud outside. Any ideas on who that is?" Dex growled as a hole was punctured in his cover, and the round skimmed his shoulder armor. Thankful the steely desk was there to reduce the velocity- he activated his stealth camouflage. His mission was not to aimlessly kill these slavers. His mission was to help as many civillians as possible. He didn't want to risk his life any further, being here alone. He wouldn't want to be another dead on the ground as the building was turned into rubble bit by bit.

He swiftly made his way out of the room, as the two Batarians out in the hallway fired potshots at his previous position. Trotting through familiar ground, he saw the two civillians he found previously- still alive, looking for a way out. He de-cloaked as he neared them. Not giving them a chance to respond- or to spout their fears and doubts, he barked to them sternly.

"Follow me- come on."

He trotted past them, entered another empty hallway that lead to the final room where his team's makeshift door was.

"Out the hole, hurry before more come this way." He said, poinging out the charred hole and simultaneously looking behind him. Attempting listening as more commotion was going on in the other end of the compound. Dex radioed again-

*"I've got the hostages exiting the compound. On our way to your location. What's the situation, over?" Something seemed funny, his radio and headset seemed to be acting up... Not wanting to stall and see what's wrong, he continued to get his hostages out of the dangerous situation that befell them.
 
Hannah saw the look on Harlow's face, it was clear he knew what she meant by 'dispatch'. Preparing for the ensuing slaughter, she sat on the ground with her back against the mako's newly fastened wheel and held her hands against her ears. She didn't have repairs to distract her this time. Trying her best to ignore the situation, she stared out into the expansive jungle. She closely studied the flora: So decrepit and overgrown but- *Bang* the sound and vibration of the mako's cannon caused her to shudder and blink harshly ...they had a certain beauty to them. The trees, that is- The thunderous boom of a second shot. ...some of these trees must have been around long before the colony was even established, The sound of batarian screaming. it's likely they've been here before humanity even set its sights on the stars. Her gloved hands did next to nothing to muffle the staccato of machine gun fire. I wonder what untold wisdom they would share if they could speak... The yelling seemed to grow louder, the gunfire ceased for a time. They must think of us as a restless cancer, violently spreading and reaping the resources of entire planets. While they live in humble unity. Whispering indiscernible messages through the wind, and basking in the sun's silent prayer forever... A final burst of gunfire. I envy them.

She watched Harlow appear from the vehicle's side hatch, putting a stop to her hopeless trailing thoughts, and peeked from behind the wheel. The enemy vehicles, it seemed, were inoperable, so (deciding it was safe to do so) she slowly keyed a few keys, and deactivated the makeshift signal jammer from her omni-tool. "Is that...?", she began to ask soflty as Harlow carried the remains of Kronos. His head, well... didn't look like a head. "Oh... my", she covered her mouth and walked off as she suddenly felt sick.

Alex's, apparently hysteric, voice came in through her comm, everyone should be able to hear her now. In spite of Alex's pleas, Hannah waited for someone else to speak up, she didn't know how to deal with someone so outwardly emotional...
 
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His omin tool beeped with the pilot's message, Alex was her name he thought. He knew radio coms would be heard and he had no encryption software so he made a message in text. <"Ice this is Mako team, casualties sustained one KIA one WIA status of Kodiak team is unknown radio coms are down between us. We will attempt to regroup with Kodiak team then make our way to the Ice."> Harlow sent the message to Hannah first before he spoke to her.
"Hannah if you got any encryption software on your omni tool please use it on that message I just sent to you then send it to the Ice. Also are you alright Hannah?" Harlow knew that the first time in a major engagement like this people sometimes weren't able to handle it, it was bad when people had to push the emotions they felt when they saw and caused death for the first time and he would rather Hannah not need to deal with this by herself he just hoped she would be able to handle this life. He also wondered how Xavier and the Kodiak team was doing, if they had KIAs as well or if they were still even alive.
 
Standing with her arms crossed, facing away from Harlow, Kronos and the messy battlefield, Hannah tried to think about the trees again... But she couldn't get the ringing out of her ears, she couldn't help seeing the horribly disfigured face of the drell everywhere she looked. She imagined the trees themselves were already soaking up blood, starting from the roots. Oozing tendrils of deep red ichor crawling up their trunks, as they consumed the gore and bile of the fallen. She began to detest the trees, and the hideous frailty of life in general. She wished she were an AI, so that she didn't have to feel the pain humans feel, the deep disgust, the gnawing fear, loneliness...

"Hannah", her name sounded from behind her. It was odd, it always was, hearing her actual name from the lips of another living being. She listened to what he had to say from where she stood six feet away, but didn't turn around. Encryption? Finally something her brain was capable of understanding. Lifting her omni-tool, she first gave Alex's encrypted message a hard stare, then smiled at her amateur attempt at an encryption. It only took a few moments of running several different decryption programs on the message, she recognized immediately that the encryption was made up of a combination of two popular alliance encoders and one that's widely used in the terminus systems. During her life on Omega, Hannah managed to get her hands on all of the appropriate decoders, illegally of course. She then locally ripped Harlow's message (using another illegal program), and sent it through a reconstructed copy of the encryption method Alex had used. That way it would be received faster. She was tempted to truly encrypt Harlow's message, but the Ice probably didn't have half the capacity to fully decrypt such a message any time this month.

Having been engrossed in reconstructing Alex's encryption method, she nearly missed Harlow's question. "My bpm is around 80, I have sustained zero functionally detrimental injuries, and my blood sugar levels seem to be stable...", she then turned around and gave Harlow a half-smile as she mocked her previous response to that question. She exhaled deeply, spotting Kronos in her peripheral vision and recalling the situation, "I think I'll be fine...", she nodded almost imperceptibly, her gaze trailing off before looking into his eyes and adding, "...thanks".
 
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Xavier was probably surprised to see that only one gun opened up in response to his order. Raymond had gotten into an optimal position to rain mass-accelerated slugs and biotic powers onto the Batarians and did so with a vengeance. Once the last of the raiders fell to the ground, Raymond moved in casually, with a vicious look on his face. Finding one Batarian still breathing, he looked him in the eyes and tilted his head slightly to the right, a subtle Batarian gesture that signaled superiority, before shooting him.

Ray checked the rest of the Batarians, making sure they were all dead before regrouping with Xavier. "We lost Gallows, four-eyed fuckers shot him up good and Cassius took a bad hit. I got the guy who did him in, but I dunno if he's okay." The way he said it suggested he doubted Cassius' survival. He rolled his shoulders and looked away. "I kinda expected things to go sideways, but not this bad." Just as well they die before I got to know them.
 
Kodiak Team
Xavier, Raymond, Cassius (wounded), Ardent


The under-experienced and lowly-armored batarians dropped almost simultaneously under the relentless smg fire. The last survivor growled feebly at Ray before being put out of his shame. The team had to put up with a lot more than they bargained for, but Xavier and his squad of elite mercs (despite taking considerable casualties) triumphed against the batarian specialists. Cassius remained on his knees, breathing sporadically and uneasily. The afternoon sun still shone brightly into the clearing, its radiance reflecting off of batarian armor, skin and bood. It was eerily calm, the only noticeable sounds being distant birds and Cassius' wheezing. The team had seemingly lost communication with mako squad, and they couldn't be sure if they had even survived...


[Body count: 5 infiltrators, 1 vanguard, 2 sentinels, 1 adept, 3 troops]
[Remaining: ALL CLEAR]


--Close by--​


Mako Squad
Harlow, Hannah, Jay (wounded), Kronos


The scene was riddled with fallen batarians, the grass painted with mismatched splotches of dark red, as if the work of some abstract artist or madman. Mako squad (most notibly Harlow William) had pulled its weight twofold. The single batarian trooper and transport driver, thinking the mako's gun was still being manned, slowly exited from their respective seats of the (inoperable) heavy transport with their arms in the air. The hostages were still contained within the (apparently soundproof) transport rear. The opaque smoke from the light tank had begun to rise above the canopy, and would eventually raise the suspicion of the batarian camp. Kodiak team was still nowhere to be seen, and although they managed to succeed without them, mako team feared the worst...


[Body count: 11 troops, leader, 2 war trucks, 2 drivers]
[Remaining: ALL CLEAR]


--Not far--​


Dex


"Wait, wait!", demanded the technician, refusing to follow Dex for a moment. "Stop, listen... Did you hear that?... talking, humans talking, from the other side of the compound", he gathers. "If there's even a slight chance we can save them, we're taking it", the technician boldly states. The janitor gives the technician a stern look, and a hard nudge. "Excuse my partner here, sir, his judgement is a little... marred". The technician then glares at the janitor with disgust and disbelief. "And you would, what, abandon them?", he asked fiercely. The lack of a response seemed to answer his question. "Fine then...", he shook his head, "I'll save her myself", he added before starting to jog around the building's perimeter, desperate to reach the transport on the other side.

The voice of Dex's partner sounded in his earpiece once again, "*static*-re in position, bird should be planetside in 25, what's the situation there?", he asked, his voice much clearer now.

[Remaining: ?]
 
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