Fandom Mass Effect

[Jagson]

The Alliance cruiser Iwo Jima glided through space heading to a mass relay. It soon enters it's gravity and is sent to another one some seventy thousand light years away.

In the bottom decks of the cruiser Iwo Jima Lt. Commander Peirce was working out stripped to his tank top he punched a punching bag as sweat poured from his face.

"All hands... all hands Echo team report to the briefing room." Ty stopped mid punch as he looked at the intercom something was wrong.

He grabbed his uniform top and walked towards the elevator. Two sailors were inside the elevator. One of them an asari looked sick as she looked at Ty's ruined face. "Commander." The other sailor said. "How's the zoo doing." Ty ignores the man. As the asari glares at the human.

He walked out of the elevator on the CIC deck and headed to the conference room. He saw he was the first one there. The second to arrive was Private Leroy Carmine. He was fresh out of basic. Ty envied that innocent look Leroy had. He was the same when he graduated the officer academy. And immediately got put in his place by his Gunnery Sargent. "Private Carmine reporting." He said giving a crisp salute.

 

[Goodknight Song]

Though she was little more than a slender shadow moving about the ship since coming aboard she had seen every crew member atleast once so far though most likely very few had noticed the lithe quarian female. She wasn't actually meaning to sneak about, it was simply her usual method of moving from place to place while keeping a low profile, and it was with great obvious effort that she was attempting to "socialize" with the crew.

She was comtemplating about joining several of the ship's crew at the table in the eating area when the ship's com sounded, "All hands... all hands Echo team report to the briefing room."

In her hurry to the elevator she actually glided and spun pass several other crewmen without thinking, their stunned expressions was not noticed by the quarian as the doors closed. She was not alone in the lift, a man and a woman were standing side by side to her left, and though she was in a hurry, this opportunity shouldn't be wasted, the quarian thought to herself.

But as she turned to make small-talk, as she'd heard it called, the man's expression made her gut clench and she caught the words he was murmuring to his companion, "..suit-rat.."

Clenching her fist she fought the impluse to either strike him or show how his words affected her. When the elevator's doors opened she stepped out as calmly as she could but try as she might her next actions could not be stopped. Before hurrying on she turned her head so the dark tinted mask was obviously pointed towards the male human and simply said, "Bosh'tet!"

He most likely did not know the quarian phrase, though the quarian female's tone made it obvious that it was not pleasent, and whether the man would have done something about it remained unknown since the doors closed then. Upon entering the briefing room she saw that Lt. Commander Peirce was already waiting alongside another male human, she could not recall his name.

Effortlessly she swept her cloak aside so it didn't obscure the front of her black enviromental suit, with its gleaming silver accents and designs of swirling stylized smoke and a multitude of what appeared to be metallic totems at her hip, before pulling the deep hood back to fully reveal her dark tinted mask. The multitude of tubes and cables were streamlined and led from the mask to the back of her suit. She then held both hands in front of her, one hand clasping the other, and gave a small nod to the Lt. Commander, "Specialist Kali'sora vas Iwo Jima reporting, sir."

 

[RikuXIII]

In the Iwo Jima's hanger bay, Attyka T'Faun was checking over the maintenance reports for the Kodiak Drop Shuttle she was leaning against when the intercom buzzed for all hands. Her eyes narrowed as she digested the order. With a team called, it seemed likely that orders for a drop somewhere were close on the horizon. She called over one of the techs to start preflight checks on the shuttle. The tech was a young human who, while trying to maintain some level of professionalism, was still very unsure how to treat the asari pilot. Attyka tried to brush it off, though that and other human interactions aboard this ship were distracting. She liked to think it wasn't bothering her, but she nearly jumped when she turned back to the shuttle and nearly collided with a figure leaning where she had just been.
"Whoa, cool the drive." Ryn'Mavir said in his smooth, calming voice. "Briefings take time."
Attyka gave the quarian a sour look. She wasn't sure where exactly he fit in the ship. He seemed to be some kind of consultant, but moved like a seasoned commando. He always seemed to be hanging around at the periphery, unperturbed by comments made about him. She wanted to demand what he was doing in the hanger bay, but experience thus far with him told her he would evade the question with some form of nonanswer.
"Pays to ahead of the curve." Attyka replied as she went around him to pop the hatch to the shuttle. "Are you here to help, or just talk?"
Ryn chuckled, an amused smile forming on his lips under his environmental suits mask.
"Love to, but I got a briefing to crash." He said, causally pushing himself away from the shuttles hull. "Want to tag along? The crew can handle this, and things could be juicy."
Attyka paused in her preparations. She had a prickle on the back of her neck like when there was an inspection going on. Was Ryn testing her? She had taken her interactions with her and the other crew as just a case of misplaced friendliness. But was he doing more than that? Her dad had always said to watch out for the friendly officers. They always had something they wanted. Ryn wasn't an officer, but maybe that was just another evasion.
"No." She said slowly, eyeing the quarian again. "I'm on duty and need to make sure we're ready to go when the orders come down."
"Party pooper." Ryn said, using a human term he had grown fond of. Though his tone sounded almost pleased despite the negative connotation. "I'll give you the highlights later."
Leaving the suspicious asari behind, Ryn bypassed the elevator by using maintenance hatches and ladders to ascend the decks. Once he was on the right deck, he sauntered to the conference room, greeting crew members as he passed them. He paused a moment at the door of the conference room, running a mental check list over the members of echo squad before entering.
"Peirce, Carmine, Kali'sora." Ryn said in greeting before picking a spot by the door to lean against.
Kali was of special interest to Ryn, thus he wanted to make sure he was at this meeting. The bits and pieces he had dug up about her seemed to indicate a hard life. Not something he wished on any fellow quarian, but such events could forge some into the kind of person he was. Not a good person, but a necessary one. He wanted to see if she had the grit. But more importantly, he just wanted to make sure she was going to be alright in her current position. With how the universe was, you had to look out for each other.

 

[Goodknight Song]

Normally Kali would've made it so her back was not exposed to any one person or possible source of danger, positioned herself for the best plan of outgress, but knew that any experienced eyes would see such actions, no matter one's skills, especially if you have already presented yourself to them. So she fought not to display the effort it took to not do what was second nature to her.

As the quarian Ryn'Mavir entered the room Kali felt that familiar grip in her stomach, unsure of this member of her own species, much to her own shame, but it was the truth. She knew very little, almost nothing of Ryn'Mavir, only that he was a specialist..some kind of consultant apparantly and that he was very observant. At times it had made Kali feel somewhat awkward and uncomfortable but this was nothing new to her, she had been this way even with her own squadmates.

Not wishing to show disrespect Kali made pains to be pleasent dispite her clashing emotions and thoughts, giving a nod before replying, "Ryn'mavir."

Afterwards she made a point to turn her mask towards the commander and appear nonchalant, her hands loose at her sides.

 

[Becker]

Not many Humans have seen a Krogan on their side before, fewer have seen one with biotic abilities and Vorge's demonstration in the armoury attracted it's fair share of spectators. Casually lifting a crate of Turian food stores in a sphere of biotic power whilst also holding an upside down Alliance Navy Ensign up by his foot for continuing to show prejudice against the Krogan's fellow non-human Marines. Despite Vorge's 'subtle' warnings to back off, the young and brash Human simply wouldn't let the matter drop.

"Anymore of your little antics and i'll drop you.."

Vorge's green reptilian eyes narrowed down at the stricken Ensign's face.

"Down my gullet.."

The two continued to stare in silence and without a word the Ensign nodded slowly. Tensions on the ship had been in constant flux with the vast number of aliens aboard and some felt the Human junior officers were taking advantage of their authority, moving their goods and munitions to favoured spots whilst relegating non-human supplies to the limited space on the lower decks. Though none would admit to these prejudices, which Vorge could only tolerate so much bothersome handicapping without a face to smash in to fix all the problems.

"Good boy."

Deciding he's already done enough damage to the Ensign's ego, Vorge lowered his arm and allowed the Human free from his grip whom rapidly scampered away from the Krogan. With the show over, the various Alliance personnel wondered off in their groups to continue preparing for the mission ahead. The thought also came across the Krogan's mind as he returned to the weapon bench behind him and gathered his mighty Claymore shotgun. The few remaining crewmen still observing the Krogan became un-nerved as the bulking creature grinned from ear to ear before sealing it's head within the confides of his helmet. By tapping on a secretive button below the neck, a soft hiss confirmed a airtight fit and Vorge felt prepared enough to head upwards to the bridge.

It was easy going for Vorge as many of the crew wisely made way through the tight corridors that littered the lower decks, whilst those that did not were unapologetically knocked aside without a second thought. To him, Humans were often too concerned with formalities and proper procedure to get the job done. Whether it's venting an entire room despite the odd hostage aboard a pirate ship or surprising troublesome batarians by 'making my own door', no-one could accuse Vorge of being a conformist to the norm.

Passing through the occasional croud of busy crewman and preparing ground troops, Vorge eventually made his way towards the CIC deck and into the adjoining conference room. There already was his CO. and some of his fellow non-humans.

"How touching.. an invitation to the Brass' table. It's a shame really, I must've left my formal clothes back on Tuchanka."

Surveying the room from within his helmet, Vorge gave a simple nod to Lt Cmdr. Peirce and stood at ease across from the rest of Echo Squad.

"I hope this ain't just a footpatrol on some agri-world, Commander."

And with such little said, he folded his arms and grunted like any uninterested Krogan would.

 

[CuChulainn]

Daragh looked through his files on all the new crew members of the Iwo Jima. He had worked with aliens hundreds of times before, but he'd never been assigned a full command of the medical bay onboard an Alliance ship, and not only that, the first one in history to have alien crew. It was surreal to him, years of training for this and he still didn't feel like he was quite ready for it. Nevertheless he was here now and he would work hard to ensure his place was well earned.

Natalia came into the med bay just before the jump through the relay. She was a smart kid, smarter than a lot he'd served with, but she was always superstitous about space travel which was an odd thing for an alliance officer. Without fail she would ensure she was safely seated for any jump through a relay fearing some awful fate or sudden inertial change that would send her flying.

"You feeling ok Natalia?"

She looked pale, although she always did, it was her complexion.

"Yea all good, you know me"

He smiled and turned back to his workstation when the all-hands call came over the intercom. He sighed and rubbed his temples. He wasn't a member of the ground team but as chief medical officer he was one of the senior on board crew and so was required to attend. Better to be aware first hand how many med gels we need, he always thought.

"Ok Nat, I'm going up to the briefing room, can you check inventory for me and record whatever we're short?"

"Sure thing bossman"

They were never overly fond of protocol. He had only been working with Natalia for a short time but he was never one for formality with his squad. He found it chafing. Of course, in front of the brass he would address, and expect to be addressed properly by his team but in private he did away with formalities.

He made his way up to the briefing room. "Well that's certainly a Krogan he though" as he watched the alien enter the room. He was always both awed and perplexed at their bulky yet terrifyingly fast movement in battle. He followed shortly behind nodded to the officers present and stood near the back waiting for the brief.

 

[PlusUltra]

The hulking form of Burta appeared hunched over an extensive bench of partly disassembled weapons with a far larger crate of stowed guns to their side. Though perhaps the term hunched wasn't quite right, given the usual posture of the Elcor they were actually raised far higher than normal to nearly eight feet giving a somewhat intimidating appearance to some of the human crewmen. The reactions of the others were somewhat humourous as if they had only ever really seen Elcor lazily standing around or the less conditioned merchants or diplomats, so were surprised with the degree of dexterity and fine care with which they worked.

Clearing another of the alien weapons that looked more like a child's toy in their hands they gave it a discerning look to zero it in as well as several other small adjustments. For such important devices, humans did seem prone to mistreating their tools and creating more work for them.

They were just about to take another weapon from the pile when their hand stopped mid-movement, raising their head to look upwards as the call went out for Echo team. Without missing a beat they began a slow steady walk towards the elevator and meeting room, not stopping their stride as their head turned to the throng of the crew they passed "Chastising Sarcastic Remark, As much satisfaction I take in my work. Please attempt to limit your impromptu ball games with the sensitive equipment while I am gone."

The slow heavys steps of armour against the floor of the ship ring out as they make their way, likely making any announcement of their arrival pointless given any room would hear them well in advance. That and their quite distinctive appearance made the formality redundant but expected anyway.

"Malpertly, Volus Dancer Tingles Reporting In, Alternatively Artificer Sergent Nosirc if such is more believable" The deadpan tone of Burta resounded through the smaller room as they shifted in to find a place among the rest.

 

[Jagson]

Peirce saw his crew enter the conference room. He moved a little to the side to let the Elcor have some more room. He raise an eyebrow at the consultant Quaran and doctor when they entered. "I don't know I only work here." He said responding to the Krogan.

He quickly stood to attention as two people walked in. The Ships Captain Juan Lopez a man who originated Spain. And the XO as well as ground leader Commander Beverly Picard.

"At ease." Lopez said as Peirce took a seat. "About twenty minutes ago we received a distress call from Eden Prime. They've been attacked by an unknown source." He said as his eyes glanced towards the doctor. " The Iwo Jima and the Normandy are responding. While they'll have a team searching the dig site and northern settlement we'll search the southern. Commander Picard and Alpha team will be going to the settlement Echo will search a Lab the researchers were using. Your objective is to find civilians and find out who is attacking them. Dismissed."

As the two of them left Peirce stood up. "Gear up and meet at the shuttle bay."

 

[Goodknight Song]

As more people entered the room, a faint chime chirped within Kali's helm before a HUD, visible only to her, would highlight points and persons of interests. IO, her on-person VI that was integrated into her suit and omni-tool, was running smoothly for the time, Kali was constantly making adjustments to the virtual intelligence, refining both the software and hardware, which could sometimes lead to errors..but very few.

When the krogan, Garner Vorge, entered he was listed as one of echo squad, but Kali's HUD had highlighted the M-300 Claymore, the shotgun was massive. Its specs were being displayed even as the fearsome krogan settled into position within the room. But Kali simply whispered softly a code phrase and IO had ceased the function.

More crew arrived and once the humans, Lopez and Picard, had said what was needed it seemed the meeting was truly to live up to the room's designation, brief.

"Gear up and meet at the shuttle bay.", the words were only finished for a moment before second nature took control. Having been trained to forgo formalities in lue of a mission, Kali only gave a quick nod to the commander once she was sure there wasn't anything else before quickly exiting the briefing room. On silent feet, due to both her training and the technology of the her boots, Kali slipped passed any crew and headed for the elevator. One would've expected to, at the very least, hear the sound of her suit but Kali was a silent figure, made more foreboding by the deep hood she'd pulled over her head.

Unlike the previous time Kali had spent amongst them, there was now a certain look about her as she crossed paths with any crew, one that let others know instinctively to not impede her progress or face possible heavy consequences.

If in fact there were any other echo squad in the lift, Kali did not recall as she hurried to her locker, located passed the workbench and opposite of the transport in the shuttle bay. A slew of equipment was quickly taken from where they'd been put into order, the webbing on Kali's suit securing them into place. With her customized and modded Scorpion holstered on her hip, opposite of the equally unique M-12 Locust, and a number of grenades, she was ready for the drop.

Kali quickly got herself to a position both out of the way and visible to the commander if she was needed then began her slow breathing exercises to calm her innerself while shifting her body, as to keep limber for the oncoming mission. IO was quickly reviewing all that was known of Eden Prime, the VI's simulated voice familiar, it should be since it was derived from Kali's own voice, while the HUD displayed various information. That was key, information..without it you were blind and with it, empires crumbled.

 

[CuChulainn]

Daragh felt the blood drain from him, an attack on eden prime? It's those damned Batarians again had flashbacks of the battle above Elysium half a decade ago. Although the alliance navy escaped relatively unscather the ground forces were much harder pressed. He remembered landing after the victory and establishing field hospitals for the wounded. He remembered that his mother was teaching at the local university. Arms trembled and his knee's weakend again.

Being in an all military family he knew the risks. Ever since his father was killed during the liberation of Shanxi he had never lost the deep seated anxiety of losing his mother. She should have been safe, she wasn't in the navy. She was an alliance colonial officer. Daragh could feel his breathing getting heavier now. His body burned up and sweat trickled down his forehead. He looked up and his eyes locked with Lopez.

He took a deep breath and slunk out of the briefing room. Desperately wanting to run he used all of his willpower to stand straight and walk as an officer of the Alliance. He knew that after transit of the realy, and with this new information the officer mess would be empty. Everyone had stations to be at, jobs to do. Luckily he was right. It was empty, and he finally let out a deep breath and crumpled into a seat. His breathing sped up, his leg twitched up and down. And then, a ping on his comms device. A message from Nat

"Hey Chief, what's the word? Is everything ok?"

Daragh took a breath and steadied himself to reply

"Attack on Eden Prime. Unknown force. Iwo Jima is responding. I'm fine." -
"It's time for some real experience kid. Head up to the ops deck and buckle in. I want you to listen in to the ground teams comms and note down anything about casualties on the ground. I don't know if we'll take on casualties, or send a ground crew after but at the least Alliance brass will want a medical report of the situation on the ground. I'll let Captain Lopez know you'll be in ops. I'll follow you up shortly"

The message was sent, and he sent the update to the Captain. "I know the medicine for this" Daragh thought to himself, and poured himself a small tumbler of whiskey from the officers bar.

==========

Natalia's comm device pinged with the reply from Daragh. "Oh no" she though. She resisted the urge to respond asking for more details on his status. Instead she readied herself and left the med bay to head for the ops deck. A sudden sense of excitement spread through her, "I've only done this in training" she though. Quickly remembering the severity of the sitatuation she brushed awa the excitement and carried onwards.

The ops deck was buzzing with people, tactical maps and imagery of eden prime flashed on the holo screens. She had never seen the Iwo Jima this alive before, granted she'd only been stationed here a short time ago.

Not wanting to get in anyone's way she found an unoccupied station and brought up the audio and video feed channel that ground team would broadcast on.

 

[Jagson]

Ty walked out of the briefing room and started towards the elevator to get to the armory. In his mind he was thinking of what could've happened. If it was the Batarians again hopefully it didn't go tits up like it did on Tolfan. His hand subconsciously went to his scared face touching it with one of his prosthetic fingers.

Getting out of the elevator he walks to his weapons locker and grabs his N7 armor and helmet. He grabbed his Avenger I sniper rifle and stiletto I pistol. Pressing a few buttons he activated his shields.

A few minutes later he made it to the shuttle bay and leaned against Echo squads shuttle.

 

[Goodknight Song]

Seeing the commander leaning against the transport Kali decided it could be the best time for her to ask questions, seeing as that once they were on the ground there would most likely be no time. She had already gone over the commander's public records, his family's careers in the Alliance, the situation on Torfan involving the Braterians and how'd he been wounded saving one of his own, so Kali wanted to know what this sort of man was thinking. She'd killed a number of humans already but had very little interaction one on one civilly, reading about them only got one so far..as it did looking at them through cross sights.

Approaching she waited for him to take notice of her, not wanting him to perceive Kali as sneaking upon him, before speaking, "Commander Peirce? We haven't been properly introduced, I'm Kali'sora. I was hoping you would..would you be willing to give any details of what we can expect on the ground? There's little knowledge of actual help on record..none that I could find in any case. We're to secure a lab but what kind is it actually? Forgive me if I am presenting myself as being paranoid, I simply wish to know as much as possible of the situation. I'd hate to use an explosive and set off a munitions lab or some sort."

 

[Jagson]

Ty opened his eyes and saw the female Quaran. His lips lifted giving the masked alien a smile. "It's Tyrus or Ty when we're not mission no need to be formal. It's nice to properly meet you." He thought of what she said before speaking. "From what I know it's a research lab. Prothean ruins were discovered around there maybe three years ago. As for why Eden Prime is under attack I don't have the foggiest idea. My best guess this is a Batarian raiding party. And everyone is over reacting."

 

[Goodknight Song]

"I see, comman..I mean, Tyrus, then please, call me Kali.", she replied correcting herself at the end, humans could be rather blunt it seemed..or at the very least this one was, "Protheans, you say? Forgive me, Tyrus, as I will be blunt but also do not wish to be seen as being in subordinate. There is a saying of my people, I will not waste time phrasing it, but a rough translation of it is, 99 blind men following 1 fool makes 100 fools. My line of work has brought me into the darkest of unknown space, where I've encountered many a mystery, but even I have heard very little of the Protheans. If evidence of them has been found on Eden Prime then this attack being a Bartarian raiding party is very unlikely. As the commander of our squad it would be negligent of me not to tell you this and to not voice my opinion that there is much we are not being told."

 

[Becker]

A dig site on Eden Prime? It's the first time Vorge has heard of this development, what point was there in hiding treasure on a agri-world? Even more confusing to him was the complete lack of information concerning the identity of the attackers. It would've been obvious to tell if they were pirates or mercenaries by the inclusion of lack of insignias and intentions.

"There's more to this..." The Krogan's gaze drifted towards Domhnaill as the Major's face turned a slightly whiter shade upon hearing of the attack. Why Eden Prime? Why the reaction force? Experience told him that Vorge wouldn't get the answers straight from the Brass' mouth and audibly clicked his tongue in a disgruntled gesture in the direction of Captain Lopez and Commander Picard.

"I don't know I only work here." The uninspiring reply from Lt Cmdr. Peirce about the situation further convinced the Krogan that there was much more going on behind the scenes than they'd let on.

"Perhaps you should know.. or are you just not going to tell us the truth?" Behind his helmet, Vorge glared at his CO. with a considerable amount of blood-rage building up in his veins. It's one thing to deceive a dissatisfied Krogan, it's another to do so within arms reach. The old Vorge would've torn with way through all of the officers around him for a single straight answer but those days were behind him and other than snorting at Peirce to voice his displeasure, the Krogan chose to leave the matter for now.

"Guess we'll find out.. planetside."

A slight chuckle left his throat as Vorge turned to leave the conference room however he paused and gestured towards the heavily armoured Elcor to folow with him out towards the CIC.

"We both know we're not going to get anything straight from these 'council kissers'.." Perhaps wisdom of another outsider could clue Vorge into discovering the real reason why such a force has been sent to Eden Prime, rumours around the ship of a Spectre aboard the Normandy and the combined muscle of Krogan and Elcor were strange odds to see together. Despite the constant flow of anger within his veins, Vorge forced himself to walk at a slower rate to ensure his companion could keep up. Heading towards one of the side elevators, a glare towards the humans around it ensured the two outsiders would be alone as it decended towards the armoury.

"Spectres, joint forces and two brand new ships of the lines attending a agri-world attack? Seems like overkill to me."

Vorge glanced back and forth between the closed elevator doors and the Elcor.

"There's something else going on - something the Brass won't admit.."

The doors eventually opened to the armoury and the Krogan walked ahead, turning around and gesturing to the awaiting shuttle.

"Us bigs guys are being sent into the grinder once again."

Vorge was used to being blasé about the dangers of a planetside drop into the unknown, his years as a merc and a marine taught him that the journey is often the most dangerous part of the mission. Can't shoot back inside a shuttle and you're entirely dependent on the pilot to get you there in one piece.

Once again the Krogan made note that the Quarian and Humans were getting along quite well, perhaps this was a ploy in his opinion as back in the old days of the Blood-pack legion Quarians were used often as saboteurs and assassins. Their vast knowledge of technology was commendable if flawed, their own creations turned against them. Vorge felt it was quite foolish to die by such things, like a forger being slain by his own blades or crashing your own design of shuttle.

The Krogan shook his head of the absurd idea and gathered the rest of his equipment from the armoury before joining back up with Echo squad by the shuttle.

 

[PlusUltra]

As the Elcor stood there, their head would slowly turn to scan each new arrival along with ensuring each RFID was added to their VI's whitelist, it would not do well for the defence units to identify them as aggressors in a firefight after all. Giving what could pass for a nod, Burta to the Commander before turning to leave the way they came to the bay and eventually into the tight confines of the drop ship. This was not before they made a stop at their locker to arm up naturally, extracting the large cannons with a hand and allowing the mag connectors to lock each in place atop the back of the worn armour, they now far more resembled the moniker of a living tank before the duel turrets compacted down to allow them to squeeze into the shuttle.

As they suited up, they could not help but overhear the ongoing conversations of their crewmates "Reluctantly, Batarians are known to take anything not bolted down, and then come back with Mag Debolter if time. Anything Prothean is highly valuable so should loose lips have let such a find slip it is not impossible they would attempt to claim such a prize guarded by minimal resistance on top of Agricultural Slaves." pausing for several moments they tilt their head before continuing "Accusing and revelatory, If not, Something valuable enough that it would be kept highly confidential but still demand an otherwise excessive response, such as Spectres and two full ships of joint forces, the extent of the value this dictates narrows it down, to the point i would not be surprised if there is also Salarian STG involved if so that would confirm what is down there, but expand those who would want access to such."

 

[Goodknight Song]

Kali pondered the elcor's words, there were valid points throughout and Kali was not fool enough to disregard such logic lightly. Nodding towards Burta she spoke, "You're reasoning is sound, squadmate Nosoric..or do you prefer Volus Dancer Tingles? I have taken the moniker of Kali'sora vas Iwo Jima."

Turning her mask towards the commander once more Kali gestured towards Burta, "Our elcor squadmate has made a valid argument, Tyrus, though I am with the thought of this being something worth hiding. A spectre and two command ships are suspicious..if not excessive."

Kali shifted her stance as she waited for a response, her skintight environmental suit made not a sound even at such close proximity, and seemed quite small standing beside the human male and elcor. The grip of her Scorpion heavy Pistol a matte black, a small totem of some kind hanging off it, stuck out from her thigh holster, and the only features visible through the mask being two faint almond shaped eyes.

 

[Jagson]

He ponders this as he looks at them. "Unfortunately if there is something big going on. Command doesn't want us knowing about it." He said. "Many things are considered classified for non senior staff. Which non of us are." He bit is right thumb as he thought. "Maybe the dig site found something and a covert Asari Comando unit is taking out possible witnesses. Are could be the Hanar wanting to keep things their "gods" had to themselves." He chuckled. "Point is speculation won't get us anywhere. Once we discover what's going on than we deal the hate and figure out why."

 

[PlusUltra]

Turning to Kali for a moment, Burta responds to their small introduction "Mirthfully, The Extranet allows for many alternate designations, though it is understandable my agile gait would garner confusion."

They slowly move to get into position inside the shuttle as Ty speaks up as well, turning to give them a short acknowledgement "Elementary, There are important differences between Speculation and Deduction, just as there are between bottom-up and top-down approaches to any problem-solving. Commands often limit information to maintain security and confidentiality, this however can result in complications on those carrying out tasks that could rely on this. Therefore information gathering should not be limited to only a singular official source"

 

[Goodknight Song]

Kali watched the elcor settle into the transport before speaking, "Tyrus, I believe squadmate Nosoric is only offering their own insight to the situation..which  is sound, but I understand your own position, commander. So while I hope our speculation will prove for naught, I still must strenuously advise for you to consider keeping an open mind. Doing otherwise may bring about...dire consequences. Until then, Tyrus, I've preperations to attend to, please excuse me."

With that she gave a nod before walking off to complete her physical warm-ups and mental exercises.

 

[RikuXIII]

[Ryn'Mavir]
Ryn listened to the briefing in silence. An attack on The Alliance's star colony? Bold move. While he agreed with conversation he overheard that Batarians were the most likely culprits, something felt off. What was the play? For a little bit there, he had been afraid there would just be some standard survey or anti-pirate activity for Iwo Jima. But this had some potential for intrigue. All the better for his mission. Plus, it could provide an opportunity for some fun.
Without a word, Ryn left the conference room for the armory. From his locker, he pulled and checked his Sidewinder custom pistol before putting it on his hip. A small electromagnet on his coats lining allowed him to pin it back to allow free access to his pistol. Next was his M-37 Falcon, a mini-grenade launcher. He didn't actually use it much, but on occasion its more "to whom it may concern" style of destruction was needed. Sticking the assault rifle to his back, the Outrider headed for the Hanger Bay.

[Attyka T'Faun & Ryn'Mavir]
As Echo team assembled by the shuttle, Attyka was already in the pilot seat prepping the engines.
"If everyone can get to their assigned seating" She called to Echo Team, "we can get this bus going."
Ryn'Mavir jogged up, giving Peirce a casual salute.
"Figured Echo team could use a hand." He said as he kept moving past the Lt Commander. "Don't worry. You won't even know I'm there."
As he past through Echo Squad, he gave a salute and greeting to Burta and Ganar. They were as big as big guns got. It might be worth this whole trip to see them crush some Batarians. Scooting into the shuttle, he grabbed a seat near the cockpit.
"No extra juicy bits." Ryn said in jest to Attyka, eliciting a eye roll form the pilot.
As Ryn got comfortable, he gave Kali'sora a thumbs up.
"How are you feeling, esan?"

 

[Goodknight Song]

Kali wasted no time before slipping into the transport and into position, her agility allowing it to seem as if a moving shadow was twisting into the seat. She gave the other quarian a double check at his gesture and words, obviously unused to such, "I am ready for death if it seeks me out, hasan."

Unsure if that was what he meant to know or not, it was what her superiors usually wanted from her and her former squadmates, Kali tried her best not to draw anymore attention from the others until planetfall. Bringing up the interface on her omni-tool, the additional mechanical fingers on her right hand engaging to supplement Kali's natural quarian three digits, and the nine  fingers were a blur.

 

[Jagson]

"Can use all the help we can get specialist." Peirce said to the consultant before getting into the shuttle. His seat was nearest cock pit. First in first out if they end up in a fiery explosion than atleast he'd make sure everyone else got out before he died.

He looked to the asari shuttle pilot. "Take us out LT" He said giving the Asari a smile.

"Team Echo to Team Alpha On the way ETA 5 minutes to touch down." He said into his direct direct comand channel

"Alpha here." Commander Picard said. "We're two minutes from...." A large explosion fills Pierce's comms. "We're going down. Ground artillery coming from...." His eyes widen before opening the comms to his group


"Synthetic.... oh god what are those... blue... human.... Geth?" Pierce could hear gun fire. " Gomez and Johnson are gone Anders is wounded..... We need renforments....." The last thing he heard was continual gun fire before the comms went silent

The alarms peirced the the shuttle deck. "All hands... all hands Bravo team report to the shuttle bay." Captain Lopez said through the comms.

"Echo your mission hasn't change secure the lab." Lopez said in Peirce's comm.

"Blue humans?" He said to no one. "Geth." He looked at his Quaran comrades.

 

[Goodknight Song]

"As we only spoke of earlier, Tyrus, I can only speculate, the servants of the people, if it  is truly the geth, most likely are here for whatever has been found at the dig site, as you may have already surmised.", offered Kali at the commander's look, "It seems the precautions taken by the Alliance authority has only served to hamper us and no one else. As I feel  we are the only ones unaware of the events unfolding."

She was not upset with the commander and hoped Tyrus would not think so, Kali was mostly frustrated with the lack of information, such situations usually only ended one way..and it was not one Kali looked forward to. While death was acceptable..failure was not, she would need to be ready to do what was needed.

 

[CuChulainn]

At the work station she had found Natalia used her biometric ID to log in. With a brief delay the workstation transitioned from generic ship status readouts to the onboard medical system. Within a few seconds the life sign monitors of each ground team member flashed up. The first few moments of the operation were quiet. Teams got ready and launched from the shuttle bay.

Then, from nowhere, the chaos began. On her left hand screen the vitals of Gomez and Johnson flatlined and flashed red. Anders went into a critical state. As the captain activated the Bravo team a new column of vitals appeared on her left.

Natalia panicked and froze. “What the hell was going on?”. After a minute of shellshock, a heavy, surreal haze hanging over her, she found the button to message Major O’Domhnaill.

===

Daragh was already on the way back to the med bay when the ping came through. “Oh jesus” he muttered to himself. His walk turned to a full sprint, running down corridors passed crew members. Down a flight of stairs and towards the med bay.

Inside he brought up the main wall monitor, and activated the medical emergency procedures. The lighting inside the med bay turned from white to a calmer blue hue. All of the monitoring equipment on each of the 6 beds flickered to life and the room was filled with a low hum.

Daragh opened the crew roster and immediately alerted the medical personnel from the second shift to report to the med bay. On the desk in front of him his ear piece vibrated and he picked it up and put it on.

“Alright Nat, what’s going on?”

There was a brief moment of silence before the lieutenant responded.

“We’ve got two K.I.A already chief, I..I don’t know.. how.. It..” She trailed off, speechless.

“Hey Kid. I need your focus right now ok, you can do this. Take a deep breath. I’m bringing the life sign readouts on screen down here now but I need you to keep me in the loop. I’ve got to prep for triage down in the hangar bay.”

“Yes sir. I’ve got this” she said.

Daragh wasn’t overly convinced by her tone but he had faith in her. The first actual, non simulated, combat was tough on anyone. He remembered his own time at the Skyllian Blitz. Hearing the reports from the ground teams, it was harrowing.

Before he got lost in his thoughts the second shift medical team arrived, looking tired. Obviously half way through their sleep.

“Alright you two, I need you to get down to the hangar bay. Start getting an area ready to triage any incoming casualties. We’ve got six beds up here and at least 3 casualties already.”

The two saluted and scampered off.

Although he was a Major in the Alliance his command was largely limited in scope to the medical personnel on board. He would still report to the commander of the ship, regardless of their rank. However, in a situation like this he had the power to requisition crew on board the ship that were not essential to the current, ongoing operation. In this case, anyone currently assigned to things like cleaning and cooking, or any tasks not vital to the ships operation. At the command station he began to request such personnel report to the hangar bay.

With that done, he himself headed down.