Auxesia - Et Persecutus Est Filios Ignotis (To chase the unknown)

[A/)- The Inner Phalanx]

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Part I - To Chase The Unknown

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It had caught everyone by surprise. A structure, albeit heavily worn and lacking motion control, had drifted into orbit above Elgin, where the illusive and heavily modified Bullhead - The Eidolon Wraith, had taken up a holding pattern as Auxesian personnel conducted scouting and survey operations on the icy world below. An alert was sent out to every communicator from dispatch. Alarms flashed on the Wraith as people and drones alike sprung into action. Keeper Leviathan's voice transmitted over the various communicators and the ship's PA system.

"Attention all key personnel, assemble at airlocks two and four. A briefing will be given by Keeper Revenant in relation to the current alert."

The Andraste slowly moved alongside the Wraith at the designated airlocks and docked with the ship, expecting to take on passengers and equipment. Leviathan was stood on the CIC of the Andraste as people rushed around, setting up monitors and running detailed analysis of the object before them. A holographic display of the structure floated over a briefing table. He turned to face the command chair, where the uniformed Venator Sofie Spitz was seated.

"Venator Spitz, can you have your team ready once the sweep is completed?" The masked figure asked.

Spitz sighed from the command chair perched in the center of the bridge. Her eyes swept the room, scanning everything in a calm and decisive manner, yet with a frantic mood in her mind over what drifted directly in front of the commandeered Osiris. She turned to Leviathan slowly. "Yes, we can have men dispatched once we're able to get a slight idea of what's just appeared, and whether or not we will be vaporized when we get closer to it." The Venator responded.

Leviathan nodded in response, continuing to gaze at the holographic display of the structure over the briefing table. He tapped his armored finger against the metal. "Preliminary scans leave us with little detail. The material is standard but there's some kind of vacuum in the center that's giving off an unusual telemetry echo. Likely an atrium of some kind. Narrow hallways throughout the structure and four access points, all of which are sealed. No exterior defenses, no signs of life or responses to any dummy transmission signals." Leviathan noted out loud for Spitz and any other attending crew who were monitoring the situation. The hooded man leaned onto the table, eyeing the hologram through his mask. "I wonder... Can you bring up the file on Junction?" He asked, directing the question towards Sophie.

Spitz looked back at the hologram and to a screen near her chair. "I possibly could..." she snagged up a tablet connected to all the Andraste’s systems, a mini-mobile command unit. She typed through it for a few minutes before displaying it on the hologram at the center of the bridge.

Leviathan spun around to face the new hologram, yet remained leaning against the briefing table. He examined the displayed data on the infamous ancient wreck of Kansas. "Thank you. I'm going to run some comparisons. I think now would be a good time to go and greet our guests." Leviathan said as he crossed his arms.

Sofie nodded in response and collected her personal items from the command chair. "Sounds appropriate... I can leave the bridge personnel to run the rest of the scans." She noted.

Leviathan didn’t gesture any response. His attention was drawn to the holographically displayed structures around the CIC. "Very well. Once Keeper Revenant is on board we'll meet here to discuss the plan in full detail. Ready two technicians in evo suits for the op on your way down, since they'll be accompanying the teams over in case of any forms of technical resistance." Leviathan remained at the table, eyeing the Junction data carefully.

Sofie nods curtly. "I know just the two, I'll get them informed and meet up with Revenant." She stood from their command chair with a minor stretch.

Without averting his gaze from the display, Leviathan acknowledged her. "Alright. Keep up the good work, Venator."

Sofie nods again and makes her way off the bridge. On her way through the hallway, she peeks her head in an offshoot to the armory and spots the two technicians she wanted. After a brief talk they began jogging toward the armory as Spitz made her way towards the docking chamber. Upon getting close to the airlocks where everyone was gathering, she nodded to security and began to await the arrival of Keeper Sapphire Raven, assuming her usual 'official' stance with her hands behind her back.

Gathering outside of the airlock was a rather large group of armed and armored individuals, several combat model drones and a newly stacked tower of munition crates and small arms. Several familiar faces dotted the crowd from Davara squadron to Yancy Ganes, Creed Savitz and Venator Bennett, as well as a handful of high-ranking combat specialists. Bennett was organizing everyone into formations as they awaited the arrival of a few more. The various marines, technicians, scientists and officers all entered lines and stood at ease, awaiting the arrival of one of the figureheads of the organization.

Assuming this was a call for an Operation, Star Sentinel Tacitus had arrived at the air-locks fully geared up, side-arm magnetically fitted against his left thigh and sub-machine gun folded up and slotted into a small segment of armoring upon the back of his combat armor. He'd opted for his more versatile variant, fully optimized for direct confrontation. He entered formation with the rest of his siblings and squad mates. Aria, however, was missing from the line-up.

Raven had approached the crowd in her armored robe, wearing her infamous mask which concealed any chance at reading her expression or emotion outside of body language. Her posture was proud and almost intimidating. The anomaly of what might be within her arsenal hidden away in the black and blueish-purple ornate robes would be concerning were she not surrounded by friends, allies and subordinates. She approached the front of the group and looked back, staring at the lines of men, women and machine alike that stood silently, waiting to hear what she had to say. She raised her wrist-mounted console as a microphone to ensure everyone - both present and otherwise occupied, as she had opted to transmit the speech through the fleet's network - could hear.

She glared around momentarily, then exhaled softly. "This recent incursion of the main fleet is disturbing yet interesting. Fortunately, despite the sudden appearance of this entity, it had not collided with any of the capital vessels." She paused. "This is unacceptable. Effective immediately, teams will be set up to investigate this anomaly. Treat this with extreme caution. This task will involve a high chance of close quarter combat, perhaps even encounters of xenobiologic lifeforms. Get in. Disarm, arrest as necessary or destroy if unable. Find anything of value and report in." Raven glanced over the crowd once more, giving another pause to let her words sink in.

"The Inner Phalanx will vote upon the fate of this 'guest'. As for our sentries within space... Destroy or arrest any unauthorized vessels that approach Elgin. Rewards will be issued for securing and defending the site. Interrogation protocols are granted. Issue a minimum of one, a maximum of three, warnings for foreign ships to depart. This does not include our Allied Primary Fleet pilots, politely ask them to respect our privacy and to leave without any recorded data. You all have a duty to uphold, go forth and protect what is ours." Raven ended the transmission and turned to face the doors behind her.

The airlocks of the Andraste equalized their pressure with that of the Eidolon's interior and slowly opened. Drones and crew alike came onto the Eidolon to collect the pile of crates and weaponry that were set aside for use by the armory crew. They slowly began to move the cargo up a secondary ramp to avoid blocking the flow of traffic. Venator Spitz began to direct key personnel onto the vessel and towards the CIC for the full briefing and breakdown with Keeper Leviathan.

The real work was about to begin.

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[A/)- The Inner Phalanx]

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Part II - The Briefing

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The group that had gathered for the announcement had boarded the Andraste with haste. The higher-ups barked orders at lesser personnel, giving them directions and tasks. One or more people would rush off down an adjacent hallway after receiving their instructions during the walk. Tacitus raised his hand to his helmet and enabled his radio, setting the channel to that of their own frequency.

“Directive?” He muttered into the Davaran-specific tactical channel.

Marshall, one of the other ‘unique’ members of Davara Squadron, keyed his radio and responded. “Briefing with Keeper Leviathan. We'll likely be deployed to investigate the structure.”

“Solid copy. I'll form up on you.” With a light set of clicks and fluid motions of his hands, Tacitus removed the cube from his back and unfolded it into its proper form, keeping the S.M.G loaded and ready to fire if necessary.

As the crowd funneled into the CIC, the table displayed the structure holographic ally, with small tunnels being mapped. The center remained unscanned and was not visible. Leviathan was stood at the head of the table and waited for everyone to enter. He looked around slowly, watching for Raven. Once she and everyone else had taken up a spot around the table, Leviathan crossed his arms. "Settle in. We don't have much time so this will be brief." He announced.

The crowd fell silent and diverted their attention to the holographic display and masked figure. Leviathan typed into the console at the table, modifying the hologram of the structure. It displayed what lay just underneath the exterior of their target. Narrow hallways and small rooms dotted the structure in a linear manner. There were two fighter-sized access points, and two bridged airlocks, all of which displayed as sealed.

"The structure has four access points. One on each horizontal side. The two primary access points are inaccessible at this time, as in order to open them we'd need to use explosives or live fire, which would jeopardize the structural integrity of the object." Leviathan pointed to the holographic display, aiming an armored finger towards the hangars. A small red ‘X’ would flash over them to mark them as inaccessible.

"Instead we'll be making use of two small airlocks on either side. Two small teams will be deployed to sweep and investigate the structure. Each team will be accompanied by a technician from the Expeditionary force, provided by Venator Spitz. The primary team will be lead by Star Sentinel Tacitus. He'll be picking three others on top of the technician to accompany him. They'll be inserted at the West entrance closest to our current position." Leviathan paused to let the information sink in, eyeing around the table to ensure everyone was paying attention.

Tacitus took a slight step forward to ensure the other units knew where he was. He already had his choice team in mind. He subtly looked at his siblings from Davara, then returned his gaze to the briefing.

"Now it's important to note the structure is lacking in oxygen and gravity. Evo suits will be a must and oxygen will be limited, so ensure you mark entry points and paths in case you start to run low. If you do, double back and refill. The secondary team will be spearheaded by our own Keeper Revenant. Much like the primary team, she'll be picking three to accompany her and the technician. The secondary team will be inserted at the East airlock, which will require them to be shuttled over directly." Leviathan paused, switching the display to focus on the hallways. The hologram focused in on the narrow and undetailed passages that lined the structure’s interior.

"The structure is close-quarters and we can't detect any signs of life or defenses. Keeper Revenant had ERI perform a secondary scan, and the results were better, but mostly the same. The large vacuum in the middle remains unknown to us. Something is blocking our scan and we can't tell if it's simply an atrium or something else. It’s quite possibly a control center. The structure is practically locked tight. Technicians will be responsible for getting through the doors. If traditional means fail, each team will be provided with a trio of thermite charges for cutting and blasting through. Use them sparingly. Only as a last resort." Leviathan noted as he pointed out the airlock doors.

"For equipment, I recommend Sub-machine guns, swords and nothing larger than a carbine. Team leads, select and brief your squads and provide communication titles within the next two hours. Your equipment will be waiting for you in the ready room. Everyone else, you're on support roles until the structure is secure. Any questions?" Leviathan finished. He looked around the crowd as people shook their heads or responded softly in the negative.

Tacitus was multi-tasking. He coordinated the team rapidly in his head and issued out the call over their tactical network towards the end of the meeting.“Pike, Zero-g boots and your most effective blade for single target execution. Artemis, low cone of fire automatic shotgun, the one with a shortened and weighted barrel, extended mag. Marshall, the compact D.M.R.” He muttered into the radio. Tacitus was caught off guard as the briefing ended, and shook his head. "None."

"Keeper Revenant, anything to add?" Leviathan asked, directing the question towards Raven. The crowd diverted its attention to her.

Raven stood there, simply shaking their head, moving away from the console.

"Very well then. You all know what needs to be done. We'll start this operation in two hours time." Leviathan disabled the display. "Dismissed."

The crowd began to funnel out of the CIC as the selected Davarans moved to gather their equipment. Leviathan let out a quiet sigh and leaned back against the wall. Raven leaned against the wall, glaring at Leviathan quietly, judging him.

"You know, you probably should get a wheelchair." She approaches him briefly, "Save yourself the embarrassment, by adding more to the levels.”

Leviathan shook his head slightly. "Heh. Maybe. I-I just need a moment to sit down. How'd I do?" He asked.

She didn't comment, instead turning around to await his reaction, subtly testing him. She looked around the bridge quietly as everyone worked and rushed out.

"Y-yeah, the delivery could've gone better." Leviathan sighed out again. "Who're you picking for your team?"

"Hm? Oh. Here and there. I'll pick some fresh blood, they need the action. It's safe, it's good. I'll bring a techie from Zeta though.”
She turns around to face him. "You were good. Don't be too critical of yourself.”

"Venator Spitz has already provided the technicians. No need to bring one from Zeta since you'll be on hand, anyway." Leviathan noted.

Raven frowned slightly. "I'm not a technician, H-... Leviathan.” She caught herself, nearly calling him by name.

"Even so, there's one on hand already.” Leviathan noted. He remained leaning there, looking at Raven. The two seemed to get stuck in a gaze with each other. "Right. You should u-uh... Go get ready." He stood up straight and brushed off his robe.

"Yes but... in the case of us getting locked in a section…” Raven interjected. A sigh was heard from her mask. "I'll see you soon then. I suppose.” She said.

Leviathan glared at her again. "Come with me for a moment." He gestured for her to follow along as he headed to the right and for a door into the hallways, past all the crew currently working in the CIC.

"Mrh." She followed him out into the hall and into a small offshoot room, "What is it?"

Once they were both clear, he closed the door and took off his mask, then proceeded to hug her. "It'd be disruptive and distracting if people saw us being affectionate on the bridge."

Raven took off her mask, "Oh?" A small grin was seen. "Some time together for good luck? Mmm?" She asked.

"Read my mind." Hunt returned a smirk.

The two had ducked out of sight into a small access point no bigger than a maintenance closet. Whatever occurred had taken up over half of their preparation time as when they emerged they quickly rushed off to finish what they had yet to start doing. Leviathan made for the hangar to await the arrival of both teams and prepare a shuttle for transport, whilst Raven ran for the ready-room to prepare a squadron and collect her environmental suit.

Launch time was fast approaching.

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[A/)- The Inner Phalanx]

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Part III - Second Team

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The two teams had spent their prep time collecting equipment, medical supplies and other much needed necessities at their own discretion. Most of them, that is. The hangar of the Andraste had several flight deck workers preparing the bay to launch a heavily modified Camara to serve as a shuttle for the secondary team. Leviathan was overseeing the final minutes of preparation on the flight deck. He was patiently awaiting the arrival of the teams for one final check and talk before sending them over to the structure. He stood near a cargo loading area, hands behind his back as he glared through his mask at the dozen or so individuals examining the freighter and prepping oxygen tanks.

Marshall, Artemis and Pike arrived in their standard equipment, with the addition of an oxygen tank. Their suits were naturally air tight but not meant for extended operations in an environment lacking oxygen. They carefully checked over each other's gear, making sure their suits were sealed and weaponry wasn't jammed or improperly maintained. Pike carefully examined his sub-machine gun and chambered a round, ensuring it was ready for when the mission was on. He flipped on the safety and rolled his shoulder, still getting used to his prosthetic. Pike leaned against some crates and awaited the arrival of the others.

Venator Spitz walks out of the doors into the hangar bay of the Andraste. She begins her process by moving around each section of the hangar bay, checking over each process and team paramount to the success of the mission ahead. She truly hadn't been this nervous in running a mission for a while so headed over to the wall where the teams were gathered.

Spitz looked over every soldier and made sure they were in top shape for the mission, no negative factor would put this mission at risk. She came up to where Marshall, Artemis, and Pike were gathered within the pack, and recognizing most of them specifically, nodded when approaching them. "Good luck on your mission, everything looks to be shipshape and ready for the go-ahead, and hoping nothing goes wrong in between now and deployment."

Spitz scratches her neck nonchalantly but with a nervous tone to her body language. "One of the techs I selected backed out of the operation, we need him on the Andraste elsewhere, so we'll have a step-in."

Leviathan nodded and sighed. "I see. That might delay things unless someone steps up." He said, retaining his gaze over the hangar. "Perhaps Zeta Section might be willing to provide one."

Spitz nodded in response. "Already ahead of you. Imogen has stepped up."

Leviathan tilted his head in response. "Not necessarily her specialty. I'm curious to see how she'll perform."

"Well it’s not like we have a choice but to belay this expedition. It’s the first thing in a while I've had to help spearhead, since stepping back up to the Andraste’s chair... But everything is airtight and set to go right now. We just need to figure out what we're dealing with."

Leviathan looked around and crossed his arms. "Indeed. There shouldn't be any issues. She can accompany the secondary team."

"We'll have her ready for that, I''ll be... 'watching from above', so to speak." Spitz said with a small smile.

"You'll be doing more than that. I'll be returning to the Wraith to attend to some other duties during the operation. I'll be able to check in every now and then, but for the most part I'm leaving this in your hands."

Spitz changed her expression to one of nervousness with the newly placed responsibility on her shoulders. "It's an honor, sir. I'll do my best to keep myself from being rusty at this."

Leviathan chuckled. "You'll do fine. Keeper Revenant is on hand leading one of the teams. Make sure both teams work together and recognize them as your eyes. Each evo suit is equipped with a helmet camera that's linked to the Andraste. You can individually observe what each person sees if you need a more hands-on coordination approach."

Spitz nodded and gazed across the hangar, overlooking everything briefly. "Yes, the whole bridge will have everything monitored. We should do a good job of being able to keep everyone alive." she chuckled back warmly. "But it feels good to be back in the hot seat, on the front lines of our change."

Leviathan nodded. The datapad on his belt beeped out a notification, yet he neglected it for the time being. "This is our homefront. Whatever this thing is, it may be a danger to us all, or it may be a benefit. We risk the chance of completely losing contact with the teams the closer they get to the center of the structure. Our sensors, the Wraith's sensors, even the sensors on the science vessels couldn't breach whatever is there. If that happens, trust that they'll do okay. If contact is lost for more than six hours, deploy a force recovery team."

Spitz nods, snapping up. "We'll have everything on lockdown and forces on standby in all cases, we will get those men in and out safe.”

"Men and women. And drones. Quite a wide variety, really. Point is - You'll do fine. They'll do fine. The sooner this mystery is solved, the sooner we can return to establishing a more permanent presence here." The datapad reverberated out another noise. Leviathan nodded to what Spitz said and took the datapad out from underneath his robe, quickly reading the screen. "Keep up the good work. I'll... Be a minute." He walked to the side and spoke quietly into the datapad, out of earshot.

Spitz nodded, waving and walking off to inspect the rest of preparations around the hangar.

As the rest of the teams assembled, Imogen Jau slowly made her way into the hangar. It was her first time in an environmental hazard suit, and while it wasn't uncomfortable, it still took getting used to. Her SA-3 pistol was magnetically holstered at her left hip, Type 17 SMG at her right leg. The SMG seemed a little out of place on her, given her smaller frame. "Hey, all. Are we all set?" came the voice over the radio.

Making their way to the meet up point before deployment, Raven would approach the meet up in the hangar with their relevant gear. They grumble through the radio, "So, everyone's equipment in place? Emergency pack check. Oxygen tank check. Med-pack check, and most importantly, your little engineers pack. Screwdriver may save you one day. "

Imogen's eyes scanned down over her whole body, and she undid the magnetic latch on her engineer's pack to double-check that the important bits were inside. When satisfied, she resealed it and rapped at her helmet's visor with her knuckles. "Jau ready. O2 systems functional, equipment in place." She said.

A drone on four legs with an arm-mounted cannon reared up its head and flashed its purple eyes at the commander of its team in recognition of her implant and call over the radio. “Designation - Unit Number 392 “Aura”. Ready status: Green. All systems are ready to proceed with the operation.” It said over the radio in a gritty metallic voice. The other less-recognizable members of the team keyed in their radios to confirm their ready status.

Leviathan lowered his datapad following the call he quickly made and turned to examine the teams, making sure they were nearly ready. He approached Team two - Imogen in particular - and offered out a medium-sized folded object. "Are you familiar with these? There's two more present on the freighter that will be taking you all over." He announced to the team. "You'll be leaving before the Andraste tethers itself to the structure to stabilize it. It's a thermite charge. Simply unfold it against the object or obstruction, pull the safety lever until the red light comes on, step back and detonate with the detonator provided. Use these solely as a last resort."

Raven folded her arms in subtle anger at Leviathan, glaring at him. Something obviously had irritated her. "Afterall, we don't want any... damages to occur, now do we, Leviathan? Try to preserve the station, our priority is exploration and research.”

"Precisely. The charges lack a seriously harmful explosive charge, but keep in mind that these are still explosives. They can still injure and even kill you if you're on the wrong side of one." Leviathan looked towards Raven briefly, then back to the others. "Venator Spitz will be monitoring activity for the first portion of the operation. I'll be checking in then taking over after the first hour. Be sure to listen to Keeper Raven. When you're all set, just board the vessel and you'll be deployed shortly."

Imogen nodded along with Leviathan's explanation, and took the proffered charge, holding it under her arm for now. "All set here, sir."

"Good luck." Leviathan nodded to the team. "And may Eirene guide you." He bowed slightly and spun on his heel, proceeding to walk over to the freighter and speak to the pilot.

Raven sighed and turned to her team. "Let us be fruitful on our journey. Let's roll.”

The second team collected their equipment and made their way towards the freighter, eager to see what lay hidden in the mysterious structure.

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[A/)- The Inner Phalanx]

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Part IV - Nothing Ventured...

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As the second team had loaded onto the freighter, the pilot looked back at Raven with his helmet down. "I hope you're ready. You'll be dropped off just outside the airlock, and will need to grapple over. The magnetic latch on that side is unresponsive." He said, quickly beginning the start-up sequence of the freighter.

"I'm aware.” Raven noted to the pilot. She glances over to Leviathan briefly before the bay on the freighter closed.

The pilot nodded and resumed working at the flight controls. "Argus to control, second team is on board and ready to mobilize. Waiting on the green light to launch." The pilot said over the radio. Leviathan took a moment to look back before leaving the hangar. He gave a brief nod as the freighter sealed up.

Inside the freighter, Imogen stood up straight, holding onto a support beam as she looked around at her companions in the second team. What was she getting herself into, blasting her way with a bunch of people she'd known for only a few months into a mysterious, unresponsive tin can of a station, she wondered? Well, anything for the tribe.

The freighter engines flared up as the green light came in. It slowly lowered its way out of the Andraste's hangar and took off slowly around the structure. The station was visible from a few view ports along the side. "It's a lot bigger than I thought..." One of the team members noted nervously.

Raven was glaring at her equipment, stroking along the lines of her personal blade, "Good. More things, the merrier.”

The drone that was accompanying the team was folded into a standby position in the center of the seats. The pilot looked back. "Once the Andraste tethers the structure in place, I'll line up the bay with the airlock. The drone will go over first and guide your grappling hooks."

Raven nodded and looked to the center of the modified hold. "Right. Aura, what is your designated purpose?" She asked the drone.

The drone's head unfolded from its stand-by position. Its eyes flickered to life. "Designated role: support gunner. Primary arsenal: T129 Particle Repeater, modified for close-quarters engagements."

"Are you able to tap into systems?" Raven asked.

"Affirmative. Direct connection is required." Aura responded.

"Good, perfect.” Raven resumed checking her equipment.

The drone lowered its head again and deactivated itself. The pilot looked back. "Airlock in sight. It's in rough shape."

"How badly are we speaking?" Raven stood up and approached the front, glancing past the pilot in his chair to get a look at their destination.

The connecting bridge that would extend out to attach to vessels seemed bent out of place. Several panels were drifting outwards. Despite the obstacles, there was a clear spot directly in front of the airlock. "It's a good thing Aura is here to guide your hooks, otherwise you might not make it across."

"Perhaps. That airlock doesn't appear to be functioning, as expected.” Raven added.

The pilot nodded. "Low power throughout the facility it seems. There's probably something in there that'll fire everything up but we can't tell due to that anomaly in the middle. Our sensors on the Argus aren't strong enough to even pierce its hull at this range. You'd better get everyone ready. I'm going to line us up and wait for the Andraste's signal." The pilot looked back to the controls, quickly planning out their path and trajectory.

Meanwhile, back on the Andraste, the bridge crew was hard at work matching the momentum of the structure. The Battleship slowly lined up its airlock with the opposite entry-point to the one the second team was preparing to jump for. Its Libertonian engines fired every so often as its maneuvering thrusters did the same to compensate.

After several attempts to contact the structure's automated docking control, the undamaged airlock bridge extended outwards to meet the Osiris. Its magnetic latch system locked it in place. The Andraste - in addition to directly docking with the station - sent several drones to attach high-strength cables to the facility to hold it in place and match the movement of the Andraste. They ensured the cables were tight and holding, monitoring how the structure handled being held down by another object and for any breaks in the line.

On the opposite side of the airlock, the Andraste's crew and a small group of marines set up defensive barriers and waited for the arrival of the first team for the boarding process. They waited with their weapons ready, unsure if anything might be waiting on the other side.

Back on the freighter with the second team, the pilot slowed the vessel and banked left, aligning the bay door with the damaged airlock. "We're in position!" He called back.

Nodding, they turn around, ready to deal with the new issue, trying to motivate themselves to become eager. "Alright. Let's move out.”

The drone unfolded and gave an acknowledgment to Raven. It walked over to the bay door and waited. One of the other team members wearing a medical section emblem on his arm grabbed out a medium sized grappling gun and waited for their instructions.

The pilot looked back and gave a thumbs up. He pulled a lever, which closed an airlock between the cockpit of the freighter and modified cargo bay, separating the two. "Commencing depressurization process. Make sure your suits are ready."

"Right. Radio check, link appears to be established.” Raven secured her blade to her side.

"Affirmative." Aura answered. The ship began to vent its oxygen slowly, equalizing the interior pressure to avoid decompression. The bay doors slowly opened to reveal a proverbial minefield of debris obstructing their path into the mooring bridge. Aura quickly scanned the wreckage and looked around. "Course plotted. Attach grappling hooks to this unit."

Imogen grasped the support beam tightly, although the gravitational environment didn't require it, and looked 'down' through the bay doors, eyes scanning the slowly-drifting detritus. Instantly, her head jumped to guesstimating weights and velocities, and the Bretonian struggled to tear her mind away from the thought of a jagged hull panel tearing her apart. All she could do was sharply inhale, loud enough to surpass her mic’s noise cancellation, the sound of her single nervous breath jolting any mentally-idle squadmates back to reality.

"Here goes nothing, right?" The squadron medic said over the radio as he approached the idle drone and attached his grappling hook to its frame, ensuring it was secure.

Imogen nodded, grabbing another hook from its resting place, releasing her grip on the beam, stepping forward, and affixing the hook to the drone before stepping back against the wall until the procedure had been repeated by every other member of the squad.

The final squad mate - an armed scientist - cautiously approached the drone and attached his hook to its frame to follow in the other's footsteps. He cautiously moved back away from the bay door. Through the glass of his helmet he was visibly sweating.

After observing the teammates, Raven did the same and secured her line. In seconds, the drone fired up a set of rear-mounted thrusters and launched out into the void of space, navigating the obstacle course of debris with ease. It landed with a small trot outside the airlock and locked its legs to the floor magnetically. One by one, it’d reel everyone over safely.

Upon landing on the other side, Raven commented, "Statistically speaking, it is only a 3% chance of us encountering an active life form on this station. There's nothing from the scans."

As the drone reeled everyone across, they each detached their hooks. The drone approached what appeared to be a damaged access panel. It connected itself to a port and went idle. "Analyzing infrastructure. System corruption detected. Airlock currently powered down. Power signatures throughout facility fluctuating. Active defensive measures detected."

"Damn. Hopefully we can at least get in." Said Imogen, undoing the harness that kept her attached to the grappling hook. She enabled her mag-boots and waited, keeping a thermite charge at the ready in case it was needed.

"Not too worrying, they can be deactivated.” Raven assured the others.

"Negative. We cannot access the system. Several attempts to power down defensive systems have failed. Reserve power is being routed to the center of the facility." Aura added, continuing to probe the low-power console.

"Well, something in there obviously controls it, doesn't it?" Raven asked.

"Affirmed. All control and active consoles appear to be within the center of the facility. Detection fails at firewalls. Signal jammer detected.” Aura paused, rotating its head to face the door. "Rerouting lighting power to door control. Stand by to avoid live fire."

The console on the door flickered to life, revealing a red lock symbol. The lock fluttered and glitched, becoming slightly more pixelated every few seconds. It was obviously in rough shape. The screen turned yellow as a loading circle appeared. "Airlock commencing cycling process. No atmosphere detected within the facility."

"Airlock cycling sounds like our chance to get in to me." Said Jau.

"Affirmative. Opening airlock in five seconds." Aura responded.

The airlock console turned green as the door rapidly slid open. Drifting in the door were the skeletal remains of what might've been the former crew, all piled up after attempting to escape. A single bullet came whizzing out of the door silently as it had been fired from a ceiling mounted turret. A pair of them sat overlooking the airlock, rotating as if they were firing. There was no sound or projectiles coming their way.

The medic took cover and raised his rifle. "It's uh... It's clear? I think they're out of ammo." Said the medic.

Raising their shield, Raven carefully approached the entry way. "Hold up, I'll check it."

The turrets tracked Raven, rotating as if they were firing yet nothing was happening. The lights inside the hallway were off. The only visible indication of where the turrets were was their red alarm lights that blinked rapidly.

They kept carefully approaching the turret, hiding behind the shield. "Aura, think you look at that terminal over there? Try to see if you can get this disabled." Raven noted through the radio.

"Affirmative." The drone moved away from the access panel and into the halls, drifting slowly towards the specified console. It connected with the port and began to work. The turrets folded upwards into the ceiling, going silent. The lights in the halls turned back on. "Task completed."

"I guess they were out of ammo, eh." Imogen let out a brief, nervous chuckle before grabbing at the door panel and pulling herself towards it, magnetic-locking boots of her suit letting out a little 'click' that only she could hear as she stepped onto the hall. 'Calm yourself, Im, we're professionals. We'll get through this and be enriched for the experience,' she told herself as she looked down the hallway. For the life of her, it was hard to think of a more foreboding sight.

"I'll be spearhead, so don't get too worked up about getting hurt. Getting hurt is the least of your worries here, anyway.” Said Raven confidently.

"Caution is never truly unnecessary." Tacitus responded over the open radio channel with a small amount of static while remaining in formation with the rest of Davara on the other side of the station.

"Good. I was hoping someone would say that.” Raven replied.

"No additional defensive stations detected, however the /armory/ shows that several explosive devices are missing from inventory." Aura noted.

"Makes you think.” Raven lowers her shield briefly to relax their arm, glancing around the damaged hallway. Wiring and panels drifted in the Zero-G environment before them.

"No contacts or any visible dangers so far." Tacitus noted on the radio.

Raven approached the entry door to an adjacent hallway, noticing it was damaged, ripped open. Peering around with their shield raised, they investigated.

"Attempting to locate the command deck." Tacitus had given his nearby squad-mates a simple nod, affirming their current task.

Raven stopped, lowering her shield for a moment, grabbing out a small device, looking at it, "Right, so, according to this little scanner, there should be a few hallways ahead. It's handy to have a map. Command deck may be on the levels above." She noted.

The scientist step forward, drawing out his sidearm. "T-then let's not waste any time. I don't want to be over here too long. This place gives me the creeps."

"Stay cautious for any traps though. Tass, you and your group should go locate the main control center, we'll find out how to disable the security grid.” Raven instructed over the radio.

Imogen nodded in reply to her group's science officer, though probably nobody saw, and withdrew the SMG from its magnetic holster spot at her leg. "Any clues as to where we should start looking, Keeper?" She asked.

"Nope. Let's just get moving.” She responded, moving into the hallway with the rest of her team.

The sweep had begun. Both teams began to cautiously move through the hallways, unaware of what dangers - mediocre or otherwise - might await them past the signal jamming radius.

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[A/)- The Inner Phalanx]

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Part V - … Nothing Gained

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The second team slowly worked their way through the damaged halls of the mysterious station. Metal debris, loose wires and skeletal remains drifted freely in their path due to a lack of functioning gravity. Whatever atmosphere or oxygen that used to be present was vented a long time ago.

The scientist of the second team had never been in the field before. He wasn’t well-versed in protocol and had volunteered to investigate the architecture for the sake of satisfying his own curiosity. He followed behind Raven and the others nervously, sweating in fear of what might lay in the dark. The scientist took another step forward. There was an audible click as he stepped on a floor panel which sunk slightly into the ground. He froze up. "U-u-uh."

Raven continued walking forward with the others, raising the small scanner she was using to navigate. "According to this, ther-...” They spun around, looking back. "What are you doing?"

The scientist gulped. "P-pressure plate. Floor." He looked down at his foot in horror.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Wonderful. Enjoy your stay, we'll be back in a moment.” They turn around jokingly, intending to scare them.

"Pressure traps? Is this a space station or an RPG deathtrap?" Imogen joked with the squad.

Raven spun around with the scanner, checking on the scientist "Probably both."

"W-wait! Don't leave me here!" The scientist called out and stepped off the plate to try and follow. As he did, an even louder click took place. The walls to the left and right folded back to reveal a pair of automatic rifles on trigger points. They both fired off a small burst, just missing the scientist by inches.

Noticing trouble, Raven raised her left arm up to raise the shield again in reaction, angrily retorting as they jumped back, "You brainless dolt!"

"Yeesh, some people. Can't even take a joke, hm? You act out of emotion, I already hate you. Let us fix this error and move on.” She said boredly.

"W-w-well don't joke like that! Who knows what else is here!" The scientist replied.

"Oh. I probably should have mentioned I picked that one up on the scanner.” She said in an attempt to incite another emotional response.

Tacitus on the other end of the station was listening in on their radios. "And you kept quiet?” He asked, irritated.

Raven shrugged. "I wanted to see your reaction to this situation.” She said to the scientist.

"Let's just get moving." The medic walked past the two with Jau, shouldering his rifle and completely uninterested in the bickering.

"No. We aren't here for the idle musings of what someone's reaction might be. If you see a trap, report it." Tacitus said with a tone of anger and disappointment at the behavior of his leader.

"Oh well. Team two, let's move out. Keep in formation. Feel unsafe? Check suit sensors.” Raven said with a small frown of disappointment at the lack of reactions. "Team two, use this designated radio code." She ignored Tass, deciding to humor herself for the moment.

"Screw it. Keep moving, no time to waste over inefficiency." Tacitus moved onwards with his team on the other side of the station.

"Remember, find any administrative controls." Raven reminded her followers as they carried on through the hallway.

"I'll be sure to not report their ​locations for the sake of reactionary observation." Said Tacitus in an effort to aggravate the other team. To prevent another back and forth, he muted his radio.

"You do that then.” Raven replied in a snarky manner.

"Cease radio communications." Aura requested.

Raven chuckled to herself silently, then looked at her team. "You, scientist, take this scanner. Inform us of anything... interesting. Additionally, perhaps you can trace the wiring back from these traps? Any monitoring devices attached to them?" She offered the device out.

Imogen almost raised her wrist to wipe the sweat from her face, but remembered that her face would, obviously, be inaccessible because of the helmet. She just hoped her nose wouldn't start itching. 'I wonder if I might get a look at these things once we clean this place up a little bit,' she internally mused.

The scientist grab the scanner. "Right, uh... They all appear to be manually set though. Non-automated. Just someone playing pranks, only these pranks kill." He looked down at the scanner. "There's another pressure plate three feet ahead that connects to another wall-hidden trap. Oxide cutters on Cardamine it looks like. Rigged for high-intensity bursts of flame. Probably tapped out though.”

Raven raised their shield like a roman soldier once more, grabbing out their electro-blade. "Right. Any traces? Indication of direction? That scanner is also mapping out the geographical area as we go. If we get lost, we have that.”

"The..." He took a few steps forward, pointing to a left-side panel on the floor. "Panel here. The trap is on the left side."

"Crossway in the hallway, where do we go? Find the stairs? Go ahead, or?" Raven looked around the noticeably dark husk of the station, the condition was extremely poor, some cables were dangling from the ceiling.

Aura moved forward, standing next to Raven. "Destination likely in the center of the facility. Signal jammer active and makeshift Entry Denial Devices suggest possible hold-out scenario." They continued forward through the halls.

Raven raised their communicator, "Control, do you receive us?" She asked. On their end, there was nothing, something was blocking the signal, pure static. "Control?"

There was nothing but garbled static. The signal couldn't escape the structure.

"Looks like we can't get a call back to command, though my... implant, can connect to home.” Using their blade as a supporting source of light, they carefully continued along. "No droids so far.” They noticed an entrance to a room, as such, curiosity got the better of them, investigating it. They happened to notice some corpses, dead for a long time and decayed. The room appeared to be some kind of social area. "Remains." Raven walked over to them, kneeling down to investigate. "Death by depressurisation? Burns present.”

The medic approached to investigate, kneeling down and examining the skeletal remains before them. "Not depressurization, no."

"Could have been a result of internal fighting, or otherwise, hostile operatives.” Raven noted, interested in the history of what occurred.

"See the marks here?" He pointed to some small chips along the skeleton's ribcage. "These are puncture wounds from a stabbing."

Raven nodded and looked around. "Look over there." They pointed briefly, "Another one."

The medic stood and walked over to investigate, kneeling down again. "Hm... No injuries or visible damage." He paused for a moment and looked around the room for any signs of obstructed ventilation. "Suffocation?"

"These are definitely depressurization-related deaths." They glance around, "Even the wall is odd. Sabotage? System failure?" She moved around the room, analyzing and imagining what things might’ve looked like before whatever happened. "But yet, there are still traps, they must be fresh. I think someone has something hidden here."

"Possibly." The medic stood. "We should keep moving."

"It may also mean someone is still onboard. The traps don't correlate to the design, those weapons aren't of Libertonian or Bretonian nature In fact, I think this station is old. Those 'weapons' are younger than the station. We should warn the other group.” She said and moved towards the exit.

The scientist moved back into the hallway. "If we make a right up here there should be a large opening. The scanner isn't picking anything up beyond that. It isn't a range issue, either. We’re definitely being jammed."

Moving back to the hallway, Raven was glad that the lower gravity makes carrying objects easier. "Trying to contact the other squad.” She said. They raised their communicator, attempting to hail them. "Tass, come in.”

The connection was unstable the closer the got to the center. Static and feedback is all that could be heard.

The next few twists in the hallway had an equal number of miscellaneous traps, from tripwires to motion sensors made out of old terminals, to additional pressure plates. The second team approached a row of internal windows. Through the windows in a large room was a gigantic, spherical object with a number of terminals and scientific work stations dotting the floor around it.

The overlook point had a damaged walk-way that circled the object. One section seemed to have collapsed on the far right side of the massive room. In the lower area towards one of the scientific stations was an active console stood alone in front of the sphere. Next to it was a deployed signal jammer that was being fed power through a line connected to the terminal. Beside that was a sleeping bag and datapad, with no sign of the occupant.

"You know," She began to note, observing something, [b][color=#485583]"All of these traps are in a pattern, a part of me is beginning to think this is some game.”

"Maybe." The medic noted, looking through the worn glass into the room. "Those lights are still active, and you might be right about someone being here, but there's no atmosphere. Why bring a sleeping bag?"

Raven raised her blade, holding it straight, glaring at the warm emissions.

"No signs of anything." The medic stepped onto the walk-way. "There's a staircase that desce-" As he took another step forward, the floor gave way and the walkway collapsed down to the lower level, throwing the medic onto one of the science stations with a scream. He rolled off of it from the momentum and out of sight.

Not being too off edge that the medic just fell down the broken bridge, they began to think, wondering about the atmospherics. Raven knew that because of the low gravity that his fall wouldn't be much of a fall. They walked over to the edge of the broken walkway, glaring down, pointing their blade in that direction to give lightning, if not brief.

The medic stood up, brushing off his suit. There was a hairline crack in the glass of his helmet. "I'm alright. Fifteen or so foot drop, so it's fine."

"Check your equipment, paladin-guardian-whatever.” They continued to hold out their blade, glaring down at them.

"Templar." He noted. "Got a crack in my helmet. I'm losing oxygen but not fast enough for it to be an issue."

"Your emergency pack. Seal it.” Raven ordered.

"Already done. It's safe to drop down." The medic replied.

"Good.” Raven took a look around briefly, then proceeds to descend by climbing down the side then dropping off into the atrium-like area.

Aura simply leaped off the second deck and landed, using its maneuvering thrusters for zero-gravity movement to cushion its impact. "Gravity is low, but now present unlike the rest of the station. Containment field detected.”

The scientist attempted to lower himself down, falling backwards as he dropped with a small squeak.

The medic raised his weapon and approached the terminal. "Keeper, over here."

Raven briefly approached him, awaiting for him to inform her of any new discoveries.

He looked over the makeshift camp and picked up the datapad. "It's active. So is this terminal, which only has one control on it. Main power, maybe? The jammer is also here."

"Find the answers.” Raven glanced away, investigating the room momentarily.

"Check the terminal. I'll try to make sense out of this. It's mostly gibberish." Said the medic as he read the datapad's screen.

"Aura." Commands Raven, pointing to the terminal briefly as she investigated in another direction.

"Affirmative." The drone moved over as instructed. "Manual activation required. Lever present."

As Raven previously had to put away her weapon when originally descending, she whipped it out again, experimenting with something. They walked over to a wall, slowly pressing the blade against it, superheating the wall, sliding it down ever so slowly. She stops doing that, then turns around to look at everyone else, deactivating the blade.

The scientist approached the medic. "Let's see if I can decipher anything here. Imogen, care to help Aura?"

Jau nodded and approached the terminal and the drone cautiously. She placed her weapon back onto its magnetic holster for the time being and examined the screen.

Placing the blade back on the holder, Raven placed both of her hands at the side of her helmet.

"Keeper Raven, come over here. You should read this, too." The medic called out, raising the datapad.

"Look at this." She kept her hands in a grabbing posture on her helmet.

The medic looked up at her. His expression quickly changed. "Uh, ma'am there's no oxygen in this room."

"On the contrary. There's a containment field.” Raven put their hands down, pointing at the wall.

"I really advise against it, ma'am. The field might exist but atmospheric sensors still read zero. There's gravity, a small bit of it, but no oxygen. You'll suffocate." He insisted.

If Raven’s eyes could be seen, they would be rolling. They proceeded to another segment of the room, trying to locate something in specific.

Confused as to her wandering off, the team continued to work. "Keeper, come over here. We're wasting time." The scientist called out, hoping to get her attention.

Locating an entrance to another room, Raven proceeded with caution, scanning for any bit of danger. Visible on the floors were more skeletal remains, and some components for incomplete traps. She approached the backend of the room, noticing a device of interest in the center of the dark room.

"Keeper? Come over here already." The scientist called out again as she had left their sight. The medic looked in her previous direction as well to see if she was coming.

Raven investigated the device that emitted the containment field, which appeared active. It also seemed to have been tampered with recently, from investigating the input controls, but the dates were corrupted and unreadable. The device was held together by makeshift components and was seemingly running a custom script with no indication as to its purpose.

The medic sighed and walked over to the room, shining his light in it. "Hey boss. Get over here. I'm starting to run low on oxygen, we've got a time schedule to keep up."

Suddenly jumping to action, they almost smacked them with their blade, realising who it was, they retracted it, placing it away. "Incompetent. Did I not tell you to seal up the breach?"

"No, you didn't." He replied in a gruff manner.

"Yes. Yes I did. Emergency pack. Apply the fixture.” She pointed to his equipment and crossed her arms.

"I did, That doesn't stop a leak completely. It’s a temporary solution." The medic retorted.

"Evidently, you picked up the wrong pack." Raven shook her head in annoyance.

He pointed to the crack in his helmet. "I can either blind myself by trying to fix this on the go and possibly risk depressurizing my suit or I can let it slowly leak out over the course of the next two hours. I'd rather be able to see when we're surrounded by some weirdo's booby traps in a dark environment, thank you very much." He walked back out of the room. "Now come on, we've found something of interest."

"Nanite fixture. Your failures are your own.” They turn around to follow them out, "The field is active, but, alone is something I wouldn't describe this scenario."

The scientist pointed to the thirty-foot high sphere in the center of the room. "This object is hollow."

"Ooh, a mystery sphere. How mysterious." Raven sarcastically noted in disinterest.

"According to these logs, which are mostly corrupted by the way, the individual who set up the jammer was trying to open it and was counting down the days before the station's power supply ran out and the oxygen failed. They got paranoid and believed other people would come for her 'treasure' as she called it. The rest is garbled nonsense about weapons and research data with no specifics." The scientist explained. "Aura says there's oxygen and atmosphere inside but this scanner isn't picking up anything. We're going to pull the jammer and try to open it up." He said, nodding in Imogen’s direction.

"That could be our mystery friend.” Raven noted with a slight change in interest.

"Then I guess we'd better be ready. They might come out shooting." Said the medic, who looked to Imogen.

Imogen and positioned herself at the console and readied her sub-machine gun. She looked at the medic and nodded in response to their ready status. She grasped the lever and waited. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Raven raised their shield in preparation, holstering their blade out once more.

Jau nodded once Raven was ready and yanked the power cable to the jammer out from the base of the terminal. She quickly pulled the lever downwards.

The sphere seemed to vibrate slightly as a small portion of it began to rotate and open. Behind it, other sections did the same. It was obviously a very secure object. As it reached the last door, a significant amount of pressure escaped the room and vented into the main atrium. A body flopped outwards and rolled down the stairs, decrepit and partially decomposed. It was obviously a woman. Along the walls of the sphere and door were claw marks, as if someone was trying to scratch their way out.

Raven lowers her shield in annoyance, as she anticipated more action. "This is such a waste of time.”

The lights inside the dome flickered to life, revealing a set of large weaponry on racks, perfectly aligned inside. There were crates of other pieces of technology and various terminals. All of which were active, displaying significant amounts of data.

"I beg to differ..." The scientist noted, pointing into the vault. The weaponry was unfamiliar, experimental, and in pristine condition.

"We need to locate the reactor, prefe-" Raven glanced over again, "Right, as expected, stacks of the missing equipment misplaced somewhere.” They casually shrug, trying to make it seem cool. "Equipment for vessels, personal, research. Some kind of storage - so that means if you've opened it-...” Upon realisation, they quickly raised their shield, scanning the area for danger. "Security measures.”

There was a visible crate of artifacts stacked on the shelves, various other items and datapads. Personal weapons, portable shields and other equipment. There was, however, no sign of defenses or a reaction to their actions. The body that had flopped out was firmly gripping a note in her decrepit hand.

Declining to let her guard down, Raven nodded to the scientist. "You investigate this.”

The scientist gulped audibly and moved to the body, attempting to pry the note out of its hand. He succeeded with a grunt and unfolded it. "The vault is a trap. Take anything and you'll be locked in. The password worked. The password wo- It just repeats that last line a few times."

"Nothing is ever free." Said Raven, keeping her guard up.

"Guess our mystery guest learned that the hard way, huh?" The medic noted.

"Reason of death?" Raven queried.

"Starvation probably. Look at the claw marks on the door. She probably fell for it and got locked in herself." The scientist pointed into the vault. "So, how do we get in without getting locked in?"

"Find the key, duh.” Said Raven.

"The jammer is down, so maybe the other team might be able to find it." Imogen added.

"Perhaps.” Raven nodded, scanning the vault for any active defense measures.

"Perhaps we could find a way to damage the vault from outside, or otherwise cripple it before entering?" Jau suggested, eyeing the door.

The scientist approaches the door and begins to look at the various layers that had opened. "That's a lot of door." He said.

Suddenly, a light lit up from behind the group. A single laser bolt came firing through the crowd and impacted the scientist in the back. He dropped forward with a pained scream. A weak voice could be heard on the local channel. The voice of an old man. "Stay where you are!"

Raven quickly turned to face him as soon as she heard noise, still on her guard with the shield raised, blade at the ready. "Identify.”

There was a frail, tiny man in an old atmosphere suit holding up an antique laser pistol. "I'm asking the questions here, missy! How-How did you find this place?"

"Irrelevant, we are in control now." Raven’s voice became more robotic and aggressive. [b][color=#6f54c8]"Identify yourself.”

"You shut it, or I'll kill your other friends, too." He fired a shot at Raven's feet as a warning. As he did, the glass of his helmet seemed to flicker blue for a fraction of a second.

Simply lowering her bulky shield, they seemed unthreatened. "That would be highly illogical of you.”

"You-you're in my home! Get out! Don't touch my things!" The old man yelled.

Muttering through the team radio silently, "Scan for threat.” Raven intimidatingly approached him. [b][color=#6f54c8]"Do not initiate another lineage of mistakes.”

Aura reared its head. "No contacts detected in the immediate vicinity. Power fluctuations detected."

The man fired a shot between her legs. "Stay back or I'll finish off your friend!" The frail old man pointed his gun at the scientist, who was crawling slowly away from the vault, writhing in pain.

Raven jumped in between the scientist and the man, as her shield was tall enough to block the shots. They weren't amused by his attempts. "It appears you're giving me the easy option.”

"There's more than one of you, ya' know! I-I-I can shoot anyone in this room! Just try and stop me! Now stop moving!" The man threatened, flailing the pistol around.

She rushed into the man, still cowering behind the shield, swiping with her energy blade in an attempt to disarm the old man. "You know, point that thing around long enough, and somebody is going to get angry."

The blade happened to slice right through the man as if there was nothing there. In response, the man fired two bolts of energy at her shield and disappeared. The threat was new. It was unusual and unpredictable. One of their team members was injured, but how severely? The team held their ground in this stand-off. Feeling a very strong predatory instinct, Raven attempted to control the urge to hunt and kill, believing that the man may be useful.

Another flash of light appeared to the left of the team as a few additional shots into the crowd. The scientist took another hit in his right leg, screaming out in agony. "I warned you to stay-stay back!"

Imogen raised her SMG and pointed it at the holographic aggressor, eyes rapidly flickering between scanning for some sort of emitter and trying to keep an eye on the man and his blaster. This was not something she was prepared for.

Raven ran over to experiment with them, trying to disable them by slicing their arms off. She was unsuccessful. The blade sliced through again like he was a ghost. A small wave seemed to erupt, knocking her back a few feet and down. The old man fired a few bolts towards Imogen.

Imogen did her best to jump out of the way, one bolt barely grazing the side of her right shin, singing her suit. As she fell to the floor, she flicked the safety off and let a burst of four shots fly from her SMG at the hologram-man's blaster. The rounds passed through him as he flickered blue. He disappeared yet again.

Growling out a sigh, they stabilise their feeting. "Holographic garbage, as per normal. Outdated tech, though.”
She said, thinking quickly. Knowing where to go, they ran off to the room where the containment field emitter was.

The hologram-man re-appeared in front of the emitter as a final stand-off. "Stay out!" He swung his gun at Raven's head. She dodged it by ducking low, not even giving the hologram the time of her day, proceeding to slash at the emitter.

The emitter erupted, emitting a deafening amount of feedback. The old man flickered and vanished with a scream as the field shut down. Slightly stunned by the overwhelming amount of feedback, they remained there momentarily, seeing only white within their consciousness. She fell to the ground, stunned and incapacitated.

She remained there for some time.

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