[Citadel/Nimbus] A Party On The Rocks (closed)

Arina followed Rahilan’s lead, her gun in her hand. Oh Goddess, this was terrible. This was the same shit as on Niacal, just in snow and ice this time.

“I didn’t hear anything yet. Maybe they use their own frequency? If they are pirates the must have that kind of equipment, I think?” She really had no idea what she was talking about and she had not even an idea who the ‘others’ were.

“Yeah, couldn’t we just use the house intercom now? I mean, wasn't that your plan on the roof or something?”
Arina was nervous and her voice sounded like it while she was covering the area with her pistol. Which probably didn't do much but look like something. Maybe she would miss it anyway should there come enemies from behind... well, either where they just had hidden, which was idiotic or from the white plain area leading to the rocky ridge that hid the glacier from their view. That one was easier to cover. Which was why they didn't take that route.... she dropped the gun and tried to stop looking stupid like from an action vid.

"What's inside, can we go inside?"

Changing the flight path on your own discretion was a thing you shouldn’t do, the patrol network was carefully calculated. Nonetheless Captain Ruuita was game when Captain Jena called. Knowing her from academy days, she didn’t ask for much detail but understood the informal nature of the question if TDF -578 could 'do a little detour.'

Ruuita sold it as 'random readiness exercise' to her crew and the log. It was okay to break the routine from time to time with drills after all.

So now she, the helmsasari and her ranging officer where looking at a disturbing picture: Thin cloud layers were moving over an aerial view of a wrecked shuttle, buried half in snow right in the middle of a long glacier, only a couple of klicks from the mining facility.

The asari captain put a hand on the back of the operator.
“Fuckity-doo. Now what is that. Patch me through to Sunda… Captian Jena directly and on a secure line. Ship in com lockdown, proceed in our orbit and no word about this to anyone else until I say so.”
The ranging officer had a very concerned look on her face when she replied a simple “Yes, Ma’am”

“Only static on the receiver. I think this whole intercom thing is not working.” Now that they were all together, Freh was talking offline again.
This was a stupid setting. The corridor was without any cover, only a tiny bit of wall protruding near its very end where the doors were. It was a perfect setup for a trap. At least that was what Freh’ya would set up there.

“Rahi, if anyone goes in there first, it’s going to be me.” And let’s hope they don’t have heavy artillery in there. Also, what if the door would close behind her? Singling them out in such a trap would be a good tactic.

Then the drone want out and dropped to the floor with a clonk, having almost reached the end of the corridor. Superb… “Rahi what was that? Did you get any readings?”

Maybe she should indeed try a more direct approach now. Whoever was in there was watching them and probably listening. They could not sit outside forever; they had to make a decision now, in or out.

She reached around the corner through the door, but keeping one foot outside and pinched the intercom terminal on the wall.
“Hello, anyone, this is Republican task force Sala T’Era. We come on behalf of Matriarch T’Veda, please identify yourself! We will assume hostile opposition if you do not reply.” She wasn’t sure if mentioning the matriarch’s name was good decision but she was running out of options….

“If we go in there, it has to be all of us and very fast anyway. How is everyone feeling, shields and barriers up and ready for a bit of a sprint?” Too bad they had no flash grenades, they would be handy now.

She would decide on their next step based on Rahi’s results from the drone.

"Acknowledged," Rahi said. She wasn't entirely happy, but it was Freh'ya's call. Perhaps she was right too. Rahi knew she was more expendable here - the team would survive her loss more easily than Freh'ya's - but the commando was more likely to not be lost, keeping their strength at full. In space, she imagined she would be deferred to; down here, Freh'ya spoke for them both.

"Drone down!" she frowned. "Two contacts prior to loss - thermal, obscured, probably in cover. Likely used an overload. No room for drones to spread out, we can't get a look in there if they keep doing that. Um, side doors locked, but I'm not seeing deadlocks. I could open them, but we'd be exposed to fire."

They had to be pirates, didn't they? Even having taken out the drone they'd know their position was already spotted, what would Republican troops have to lose from identifying themselves now? But the Nimbus had been on its own for a long time, preyed upon with no help coming.

"Ma'am," she suggested privately to Freh'ya, "the gun drone's engine is hardened, it'll survive an overload or two before it dies. If we send it in first, really rush it through at top speed, they'll have to cover it - at least one gun not facing us if we follow it, maybe both if it panics them for a couple of seconds. I can't say the guns will still fire after an overload, but it was always going to serve as a distraction, not a target shooter."

She looked again at the relayed view down the corridor, keeping the drones back to ensure they didn't stray into overload range themselves.

"Ma'am," she added quietly, "if they stay silent now, do we proceed on the basis they're hostile?" It was unprofessional of her to ask, but she couldn't help herself. At least the Reapers and their husks were obvious; this was like those stories of indoctrinated allies, how could you know who you were shooting at?

Temria kept quiet during their deliberations but made a point of listening. It'd be important for both Arina and herself to understand exactly what it is the huntresses expected of them, but she visibly bristled at Rahilan's question.

"Is it... is it possible we can capture them alive?"

It was an awkward question, one the civilian side of her wouldn't let go of. And in the instant it took for that cold us-or-them symmetry to reassert itself in her mind it dawned on her that she really did want to know.

"It's risky, I know, but... do you think you could do it?"

Freh’ya frowned. Going in there was nasty and might turn out to be a real mess, a perfect trap in there. Maybe the roof and a distraction… yeah, better.

“I guess we have to assume that, Rahi, we have done what we could, I don’t know what else to do. We do have to proceed somehow and we have to know what’s going on here.” There was no other option as long as nobody else came for help. Sunda was days if not weeks away on foot, impossible.

“Okay, bring up that drone, get it ready, but don’t do anything just yet.” She lowered her voice and gestured, pointing to herself and up the roof. She made the silent commando sign for ‘diversion’ nodding towards the drone. Communication on various levels. She couldn’t run all silent with an unfamiliar group and civilians, but have one ace up their sleeves was at least something. “Just in case.”

At least they now knew there were at least two defenders inside. The question by Temria made her think, maybe there was another option, a more direct approach using mainly biotics. The doctor - Temria had made an impression on the commando. Spot on use of biotics when it was needed.
“I only care about the Matriarch and her associates. I won’t take any chances with anyone else. Shit, it is hard enough telling friend from foe as it is! But generally, yes, I’d like to have someone left for questioning. You’re good with stasis, Temria. Come over here and have a look inside." She waved the doctor to her position next to the entrance. "When I go in there it will be fast. I'd need you to come after me, creating stasis bubbles once the two in there show their position, can you do that? It could really help. How’s your arm, could you keep up with me in there?”

She looked at Rahi, knowing the young pilot would trade her life if she asked her to. But she would not have that.
“Rahi, you’re the drone keeper, nobody else can do that. you're the ace up our sleeve, covering my ass with all you got. I want you to stick with Arina, this is important.” She tried to make a reassuring face.

Freh’ya really wondered what was going on inside the building now. The longer they hung around in this spot, the more vulnerable they got.

Arina was following the discussion and saw the signs Freh’ya was making only understanding half of it. She felt a bit useless, but being honest with herself, she was the least qualified for any offensive move anyway. She inched closer to Rahilan, when Freh’ya advised the pilot to stick with her.

“I am okay, Rahi, if you need me to do anything, I’am up for it. Do you need any assistance with the drones?” She had very limited experience with drones, mostly different models, but the basic interfaces were the same if they were official republican edition.
“I am familiar with steering them or assigning tasks, if you need a second set of controls.”

Hushed and stressed voices… they can’t be heared outside the door but if a fly would sit on a wall in the central elevator and staircase room, it could.

“I can’t stand this anymore, I really can’t”

“stop wetting yourself, you heard the madam, and you hear who they are here for. The Matriach’s live depends on us now!”

“But they are republican, look a the signals, do you even listen? What if we kill commandos?”

“Why would there be commandos? Coming from the mountains? How logical is that? Those are pirates who try to capture the big prize. I only saw three of them, they are no many, we can do it! Their drones are also shit!”

“I-… I can’t do that, why do we shoot at them without even knowing what they are, why are we hiding inside and what the fuck is Madam even up to upstairs? She could already be gone with the aircar for all I know!”

“You… you! That’s treason, you bitch! The madam is protecting the Matriarch, you know she can’t be alone!”

“Do I? When was the last time you even saw her? Half a year ago? She never comes downstairs anymore, all we see is Madam! I fucking hate this place! I hate being locked away out here and do nothing but cook and stand guard at the Madam’s order…. I am an acolyte of Lady T’Veda, not Madam Trynessia and so are you!”

“You’re losing it! I am not having this! Now pull yourself together you pyjak!” A gun barrel points.

“You are seriously aiming at me now? Who’s loosing it now, dumb bitch?”

“On your post Tinay! Or I’ll call the Madam.”

“Yeah, do that, then I’ll call Lady T’Veda!” Tenay rose from her position behind the office desk, her rifle aimed at the corridor. “I am going to contact them, see for myself and you won’t prevent this.”

“Get the fuck down, Tinay, please.” Nin sounded desperate now, despite still aiming at her comrade. “Please get down and stick to the plan, please, I don’t want to die, they are slavers, Tinay!... shit!” Nin lowered her gun, closely observing the corridor and the white square that was the outer door.

“We will see that.” She sprinted to the open door, hiding behind one side, then slowly and cautiously looking around the corner. Then she yelled, not using any com:

“HEY! YOU OUT THERE! PROVE YOU ARE REPUBLICAN. I WANT TO SEE ONE OF YOU OVER HERE! UNARMED AND ALONE. NO FUNNY MOVES. YOU ARE ALL STANDING ON HIGH EXPLOSIVE CHARGES.”

"Thank you Ma'am," Rahi said to Arina. "I'll be covering you," she gave Freh'ya an affirmative nod, "so we'll be close together. If you could keep watch on the tac drones, that would be brilliant. They're smart for their size, but nothing like a real sapient brain. I'll handle the big one. Just watch for dropouts, if they use any more overloads. Things will probably be too busy for them to be playing with their omni-tools a lot, so if we lose coverage, move up another drone to fill in the gap. We shouldn't lose too many, although worst case, we've still got our personal sensors as backup. Thank you."

She froze when she heard the voice call out - her heart leaping into her throat with anxiety/relief at the thought that perhaps they wouldn't have to find out who was who post mortem after all, then dropping like a stone into her stomach at the words 'explosive charges'.

"Yakshi iska!" she swore under her breath, rapidly running scans. The drones should have detected anything like that... but these people had had plenty of time to lay their defences carefully. The cargo pad wasn't the obvious entrance point - was it a bluff?

"Ma'am," she whispered to Freh'ya, "I read no charges. But I can't say what might be hidden, type Kera explosives could be laid under the surface without us being able to pick them up, if they were wired up right." She gulped, and resisted the urge to ask for instructions - the situation had changed, Freh'ya didn't need a mere pilot reminding her that a new decision needed to be made. Unarmed... Even a commando would be at too great a disadvantage, if she made that concession.

Better me than her, Rahi reflected, not exactly relishing the prospect, but seeing no alternative. If they sent someone in, as asked, that would be leaving Arina and Temria with one defender - it had to be the better one.

"H-hold on!" Temria threw her back against the wall, the though that the floor might have been boobytrapped hadn't even occurred to to her. Would they really do that? Plant explosives on an externally facing door frame?

Oh Goddess oh Goddess oh Goddess...

Rahi was stepping up, taking action, checking for explosives, oh Goddess, explosives! Temria started to say something, but choked on it. She looked to Arina, then to Freh'ya, was no one talking?

"My..." She hesitated, clearing her throat and calling out along the hallway so that the stranger at the other end could make no mistake, "My name is Temria Aujury. I'm a doctor. Listen... neither of us want this to go out of control. We'll have someone with you shortly, weapons down, barriers up." She looked at Rahi, earnest as she was, "Can you identify yourself for me, miss?"

The voice seemed so unreal, echoing in the hallways and in the silence that had been covering everything until now. The wind and some minor shooting things. Their own voices, full of doubt or decisiveness.

Arina flinched a bit.It took her a few seconds to get the message about the explosives, Rahi’s comment and scan did nothing to calm her though, her pulse was racing and her heard was throbbing more than ever.

Technically, this was still her mission, but she had only proven to be the most expendable crewmember along the way. She should take this on, hers was the way of the word after all…

Then Temria replied to the call. Taking the right of the elder and Arina was to bow to that. In fact, thinking about it – what little clear thinking was possible, it was more like a feeling rising in her mind – the doctor would be a good emissary too. A doctor and a matron at that probably was the least offending person. The voice from inside had decided asari ring to it after all.

They had never discussed it really but there had been a lot of forces trapped in Nimbus and some alien of questionable reputation to begin with.

The diplomat put a hand on Temria’s shoulder to reassure her.
“You want to go? I… I mean, you know, this will work out after all!”

“I WON’T IDENTIFY SHIT! YOU COME OVER HERE NOW SO I CAN SEE YOU! NO GUNS OR FUNNY STUFF, HEAR ME?!”

The voice had a shrill nervous tone to it.

Freh’ya tensed at the mention of explosives. Tides, a trap already how could she be so careless. Of course the would have been mines laid out around all possible entrances. She had suspected the corridor itself but she should have also expected the pad to be booby trapped.

She looked at Rahi, guessing the pilot’s thoughts. She nodded at the explanation about the explosives. “Hmmm, true or not, they haven’t been set off while they could, for whatever that means.”

Temria reacted faster than her, replying instantly.

She raised a finger and made eye contact with everyone before leaning over, looking back into the corridor but she could only make out shadows. That was unexpected but eventually some reaction! Nobody lobbing grenades their way was a good thing, wasn't it?

The doc as emissary wasn’t that bad of an idea.

“Yeah, you want to go, doc? You’re as qualified as anyone here, Ma’am.” The title kind of emphasized that the doctor was a respectable matron as well. Freh’ya was sure the would be dealing with asari here after all.
“We’ll have your back, I promise that. I won’t let that door close behind you.” She put a booted foot across the step.

Rahi opened her mouth to protest - then closed it again, as her brain caught up with her. She hadn't even considered that anyone besides herself or Freh'ya might risk themselves going in, and it went against the current to stand by and let either of their charges walk into very real danger... but there were other lives to consider. The defenders, if they were loyal - their own, and Arina and Temria in any case, if the fighting went badly and she and Freh'ya couldn't protect them. It was entirely possible walking down that corridor would prove less dangerous, in the end, than taking the hard way and fighting it out.

"Goddess walk with you," she offered in a whisper.

Temria nodded, her expression a mask of diplomatic serenity broken here and there by a worried twitch that would play at the corners of her mouth at the worst of times. "Yes. I will go." she replied to the others, her voice trembling but gaining confidence all the while. Without hesitation she moved to disengage the firearm from its locked position on her arm, holstering it finally and removing it to hand it over to Arina.

"They'll want me to contact the rest of you. Eventually... one way or the other." Nodding to Freh'ya, she adjusted her left arm so she could lift it freely, though it protested fiercely. "When I do. I will use the term 'ubiquitous' to let you know I'm not being coerced."

"That said, keep an ear open. I'll mention a matriarch at some point, Benezia will mean there are four or more active guns on-site, Aunitha for three, Kallis for two or less." She tilted her head deferentially to Rahi, "So listen very closely for as long as you can."

Finally, she let her hand run along Arina's scalp, but said nothing further, except to flare up her barrier again (as best as she could muster) and announce herself. "I'm stepping into the corridor. Hold your fire!"

She told herself this would work, or at the very least it was the right thing to do. But in the instant she stepped out across the threshold, her arms raised at right angles at either side of her head, it felt hollow.

Please work.

Arina took the weapon Temria was handing her and attached it to her right hip.

“The Goddess will be with you”. The touch by Temria felt really soothing. Arina was sure, this would go well, she wouldn’t be able to do it any better than the matron doctor. But she felt bad for not being able to help Temria more, watching as she entered the corridor, announcing herself.

The position she tried to hold looked very uncomfortable with the arm in the brace! What would the reaction be to see an injured asari approach them? Her senses told her the speaker was young and very nervous, not certain about her position and not sure about backup. Overall, the two short should sounded as if the speaker had to step over some red line to do what she was doing. So much for diplomatic negotiating analysis. She’d find out soon enough, listening to what was going on inside, not able to see much from her position.

She had an idea since Rahi had given her shared control over some of the drones’ systems. They were still open on her omnitool, she just activated the cam feed of the one sitting on the floor directly in front of the entrance. Going enhanced vision…. Combined with a thermal overlay, cut the frame a bit to look over Freh’ya’s leg

Now she had an acceptable feed with enough contrast to see individual figures. She showed Rahi what she just had done.

Tinay held her rifle ready to her chest as she peeked around the doorframe to see the figure approach. Why was she holding her arms in such a weird way, was that a brace? She signaled Nin to take more cover, only the helmet of her mate was protruding behind the reception desk. A sniper rifle was aiming at the corridor though.

“Okay, I see you, come over here, let’s talk.” The voice was clam but tense as she signaled Temria to get into the lobby itself so she could see.

The Lobby was a multi story atrium leading upwards into the tower structure. Soft light was coming in from the milk glass roof. Two large elevators were in one corner, a wide stair zigzagged upwards to at least level three on the other side. There were a few sofas and chairs as well as a large reception desk. A couple of deactivated info screens could be seen on the walls. Everything seemed pretty clean but septic, as if not in use. Which was exactly the case, since the facility was out of operation for a long time.

The figure greeting Temria was obviously an asari, not taller than the doctor. The light grey combat suit with a full face helmet probably made her look bulkier than she really was. She held an asari type assault rifle but wasn’t really aiming at the doctor. A close observer might have seen her finger at the trigger though. She kept away from the doorframe, staying out of sight of the rest of the group, behind the corner, she was facing temria now.

“Who exactly are you and why should we believe you?” she asked Temria eventually.

Ubiquitous, Aunitha, Kallis, what? Freh’ya wasn’t sure she had sorted it all correctly and she asked herself where the doctor could come up with a secret language out of nowhere just like that! But then: Temria was a doctor. They tended to talk crypto-language all the time anyway!
She tried to concentrate to make the words stick and for the first time today realized that the lack of sleep wasn’t helping. Her body was reacting properly but thought processes seemed to slowly freeze down.

“Keep the com open, Temria.” She whispered to the doctor, before she crossed the step into the building. A bit of snow was by now accumulating in the entrance area, moving a bit in the wind, painting white twirls on the dark floor.

Freh’ya positioned herself so she could block the door, sitting right on the doorstep, putting one boot on one side and pressing her back to the other. Now she watched and listened to what would happen.

"Understood," Rahi nodded to Temria's choice of codes. "Ubiquitous. Benezia, Aunitha, Kallis." It was similar to the protocols for naval signals - she wondered if the doctor had picked it up during her times onboard vessels, or if it was just an inspiration of the moment.

The pilot watched her go, then turned her attention to Arina's omni-tool screen, studying the display.

"Fine work ma'am," she said quietly, smiling - privately, feeling more than a little ashamed of her earlier thoughts of their group as herself and Freh'ya, with the other two as come-along civilians. Like a ship's crew, each had their specialities, moving up to take action or stepping aside to clear the field as and when the situation demanded.

She focused her attention on the sensor feed, enhancing it as far as she could - the drones were too small to carry powerful VI processors, but her omni-tool and the backpack hangar between them offered more power, tailored to this kind of work. She concentrated on audio, tapping into Arina's thermal enhanced feed to match sounds to sources, and screen out as much background as possible without losing anything vital. If Temria's effort failed - or if this was all just some kind of trap to begin with - the first sign would be her comms being jammed, and their ability to hear and see into that room might well be what decided if the doctor ever walked out of it again.

Oh Temria, how do you get yourself in these sorts of messes?

The matron chastised herself as she hesitantly took a step forward, as if the soles of her boots had been filled with lead. Biting her lower lip to keep it from trembling, the next step came easier, and the next after that... Though each step was a conscious decision she had to fight herself for; the steadier the gap grew between herself and the others and the more hopeless a prospect turning to flee became, the easier it was to do.

You're walking right into their sights. Marching straight down the barrel. Oh, your instructors would just die.

Temria came to a halt at last just past the precipice of the door frame into the lobby. Her right are was sore from being held in the awkward position but it it didn't remotely compare to the left, which protested the same in its charming 'don't you wish you'd just cut me off?' sort of way. She took them both in stride as she tried to subtly get a feel for the space she'd entered, and keep an eye out for personnel besides the one that had greeted her, as expected, by the door.

Just the one... maybe?

She turned her head slowly to respond to the other asari, doing her best to keep the movements slow and nonthreatening, her expression as neutral as possible until she realized with embarrassment that her face was still covered.

"My name is Dr. Temria Aujury." She reiterated with no sign of protest, "I am a general practitioner at the Kithoi Central District Health Institute on the Citadel, twice served medical service operator to the Republic fleet. I was recalled back to service by the Republics due to my knowledge on Nemruna's Degeneration."

Her right hand twitched, and she had to fight herself as she almost brought her arm down to open her omni-tool! "Of course. I have the digitally signed credentials on my device... You could contact fleet assets as well, if you please, to do the same."

"... Preferably the latter, actually..."