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Post by Maelstrom on Mar 10, 2014 16:19:35 GMT -6
"I see you don't waste time where its TRULY important," Cruendi'has said to Maelstrom.
Under his helmet, Maelstrom gritted his teeth. If his biotics were not so depleted, and if the batarian had not gone to such lengths to cover him, the comment would have landed him on his ass. But Maelstrom was tired. And he did not want to fight his shipmates. Well, at least at the moment. But he was not the sort to just let a comment pass.
"The Vengeance is on it's way in case she needs evac to our med-bay. Everyone, I would assume, has medi-gel with them. What is someone without med training going to accomplish by crowding the doctors?" Maelstrom asked curtly. Kneeling over one of the fallen Collectors and picking up an intact submachine gun, he said, "What I can do is make sure that I grab a share of the spoils for her while she's out. I doubt anyone would be thoughtful enough to do that for me. Think she'd like this?" He shoved the gun into the sack. Another like it, and they would make a good set. Or maybe he would get her an assault rifle to complement it. It would all depend on what was available and undamaged.
Going back to his task, beginning to remove a set of relatively-intact organic-looking armor from one of the nearby corpses, he said, "I've always made a point of knowing where I'm of use and where I'm not. If you want to do something for her, you can worry over her to no effect so everyone can see how much you care. Or maybe instead see if any of these bastards had a sniper rifle. Your choice."
Pausing for a second and looking back at the batarian, he said, "A lot of people here today fought alongside me today. You were one of the few who truly had my back. I don't forget that sort of thing."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2014 16:57:50 GMT -6
The dig site was chaos, lights from the explosions, the power attacks emanating from the strange beast, the teams yelling on the comm at eachother. In a burst of biotics, followed by an fast ball of fire, sensors for River’s and Eric’s suits started blinking rapidly, warnings and falling stats flashing across the glass on the doctor’s helmet.
Without a prompt, the Drell was flying down the ridge towards the dig site, her Black Widow sliding nicely back into place. Her feet light as she ran across the hard packed dirt of the moon.
"DOC...?! I NEED HELP - RIVER'S DOWN!"
"Adrenalin spiked, Endorphin level is higher than it should be, probably will go into shock soon, need to get her somewhere stable..Iskra…We need you...Now"
The world slowed as the dark shadow slid next down to River’s limp body, Lysander’s armor was smoking but was not the more serious injured. A vial twirled in the young doctor’s hand, her readings in the dark glass becoming less and less accurate as the young girl’s armor started to shut down. The needle sunk into Rivers neck, Bisoprolol flooding into the blood stream…the erratic heart beat almost immediately began to slow. Another needle sliding back into the girl’s neck, this time filled with medigel, it was all Iskra was sure would dull the pain but not give her a negative reaction when mixed with the Bisoprolol.
The lack of atmosphere was a challenge she was not going to overcome, even with all the leap forwards that have happened in the last few years. Placing her hands over the girl’s body, the Drell took in a deep breath and focused hard on River. She could feel the power flowing out of her into the body under her, Their soul’s connecting for a brief second as Iskra felt the heart and breath freeze, River becoming a living statue as the stasis took over.
Iskra turned to look up at Eric, “Do you require assistance?”
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Post by Eric Lysander on Mar 10, 2014 23:12:18 GMT -6
Eric gripped River's gloved hand tight within his own. "If you can hear me, River, stay with us. Help's on the way!"
Meldom again was the first to respond. Stealthy, dependable Meldom. Eric held out River in his arms allowing the salarian to run scans. His prognosis worried Eric, who seemed unaware he was swaying slightly while holding his young partner. As if rocking a sleeping baby.
"Adrenalin spiked, Endorphin level is higher than it should be, probably will go into shock soon, need to get her somewhere stable..Iskra…We need you...Now"
"... stay with me, kid..."
Iskra arrived and immediately set to work on River. Eric set her limp form on the ground and allowed the team's doctor some space, though he still held on to River's hand. Iskra applied two injections to the young mercenary's neck to stabilize her condition. Then she held her hands just above River's chest and concentrated, a blue biotic glow enveloping her hands as a stasis field was generated. After the field took hold, Iskra looked to Eric.
“Do you require assistance?” she asked in a calm, professional tone.
Eric was too preoccupied to look up, still gripping and massaging River's hand. "I'm fine... just make sure she pulls through..."
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Post by Shala'Bekk vas Neema on Mar 11, 2014 2:44:00 GMT -6
Shala finally arrived, out of breath from sprinting far longer than she thought possible. Looks like I'm more capable than I thought, especially when my crewmates are in danger...
"Keelah!" she cried out as she saw Iskra tending to River. Eric Lysander was right next to her, holding the girl's hand, while the salarian hovered nearby, scanning with his omnitool.
She had heard the talk over the communicators, but to actually see her...
No way a Cerberus agent would do this, she thought.
She dropped to her knees and whispered, "Ancestors, I pray for this human girl who nobly sacrificed herself for my crewmates. Please, if it is within your power, guide her back to these familiar shores."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2014 5:56:00 GMT -6
“I have done all I can do for now until we arrive on the Valiant.” Iskra responded coolly. “I need you to snap out of this and seriously gage yourself now. Being concerned when I don’t know your true condition is a good way to end up dying from exposure when we leave you here to search the dig site.”
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Post by Eric Lysander on Mar 11, 2014 7:30:49 GMT -6
Eric was still for a moment. Then he ever so gently laid River's hand down before he switched on his omnitool, resetting his armor to standard combat configuration. Suit diagnostics showed the suits seals still held, light damage to assorted servos and joints. He crooked his arms, twisting his neck and torso, grunting in discomfort. He was unsure if it was physical injury or just damaged servos putting up resistance. He looked to Iskra with his hands up in literal surrender to her scrutiny.
"Okay, Doc... go 'head 'n check under the hood... it's not the first time I caught a blast..."
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Post by Murchadh on Mar 11, 2014 15:34:43 GMT -6
"DOC...?! I NEED HELP - RIVER'S DOWN!"
The words hit Murchadh like a punch in the gut. He'd been trying to get a clear shot at the thing and the fact he couldn't was now starting to feel really bad that he hadn't found a shot. " Is she alrecht?" He called into the comms as his mech as he carefully piloted his mech closer to the scene. From the comms everything seemed okay , but he still didn't feel any better.
" Doc thur has life support nanites built intae th' cockpit. woods she be safer in thaur?" Murchadh said as the mech's cokpit slid open giving out a slight hiss as it atmosphere dispersed into the void.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2014 15:56:42 GMT -6
Iskra stood, sliding her hands on either side of the man’s helmet and slowly moving his head. Her skilled fingers barely felt the muscles move under all the armor but this was all she could work with. “Tell me if any of this hurts.”
She continues to work through his joints, watching for surface damage as she worked.
" Doc thur has life support nanites built intae th' cockpit. woods she be safer in thaur?"
Iskra didn’t look from her slow workings with Eric, “I have her in Stasis, unless there is a full med bay inside your mech, it would be safer to take her out once I reach the Valiant’
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Post by Eric Lysander on Mar 12, 2014 7:48:35 GMT -6
Iskra had Eric stand up. He did so, slowly, and she performed a full examination of his motor responses and movements, beginning with his head and neck.
The bulldog helmet's safety features did their work; no injuries were found.
Iskra then moved to his chest and arms. Eric had wrapped himself into a protective ball around River when his grenade went off. Despite the extreme tension of that hold, they were unscathed.
While she addressed Murdach's offer of housing River within his mech's cockpit, Iskra worked down to his lower back.
"Mmmgph," Eric moaned "...aagh... yeah... think I caught the brunt of it there..."
She checked his left leg. "Ooof... probably landed square on it... adrenaline's a wonderful anasthetic while it's there, huh?" He switched on his omnitool to take another read of his suits systems. "Damn... my barriers are off balance... guess Shala can help with that... so how does it look, Doc?"
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2014 17:21:51 GMT -6
Iskra took the time to examine the spots he pointed out more carefully, wanting to be sure nothing more serious hid behind the small pangs he just now started to feel. Standing, she inserted the medigel needle in his neck, feeling him tense at her surprise attack.
“Nothing ice and a few days of taking it easy won’t fix. You’re clear to stay as we go back but come to me if the pain persists.”
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Post by Eric Lysander on Mar 13, 2014 20:33:54 GMT -6
The instant he uttered his question, a needle similar to what was administered to River was suddenly stuck into the side of his own neck.
"Daaah! Jeez..."
“Nothing ice and a few days of taking it easy won’t fix," said Iskra with no change in her tone. "You’re clear to stay as we go back but come to me if the pain persists.” Once the medigel was injected she withdrew the syringe.
Eric's hand promptly covered the entry point. "Little heads up, next time? If this is payback for spookin' you at the Citadel, I'm sorry!" Then he added "...thanks..."
Maelstrom made an announcement over the comms. "The Vengeance is on her way, people. ETA, three minutes. Setting down just outside the ruins, between the dig site and command post."
Eric knelt back down. "Hey, Doc? Can I help you get River squared away on board?"
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2014 1:36:56 GMT -6
Iskra knelt back to River’s side, folding her hands on her lap. “If you wish.”
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Post by Eric Lysander on Mar 14, 2014 10:41:07 GMT -6
Another mercenary came over and sat on the opposite side of River, taking her hand.
The quarian Shala.
Eric noted a slight twitch in her body as her head hung low, her comms switched off. Clearly she was crying. At River’s head was Iskra, seemingly more composed but for the tightened fists in her lap. Eric shuddered in silent, nervous laughter to hold back his own despair, just becoming aware of another irony: any other time he would have considered being in the company of three women a blessing and a prelude to a memorable evening, regardless of how the night turned out. But to be surrounded by beauty in the grips of despair. One flower wilting, threatened by death…
I hope you’re enjoying this, Eric cursed to some unseen deity he believed was watching the proceedings.
Maelstrom’s voice cut through the malaise. "You know, Vengeance is less than two minutes away. We're about to the point of making a decision, though. If we send River up in her with a couple of our people, by the time the ship makes it to the Valiant and back, considering pressurization, depressurization, and unloading time, we're looking at ten minutes, at least. That's with fewer feet on the ground here. If something should come back... Might be better just to call down the Valiant too. She's capable of landing, right?"
Eric drew in a breath and opened a channel.
“Sounds risky,” he replied “If the Collector ship’s on it’s way, that’s too many eggs in one basket. Valiant’s our best chance of getting outta this system and it’ll be their biggest target… unless you don’t mind us all being crammed into your ride for the six day haul back to the Citadel. If you’re worried about counterattack I say we lock this place down, make sure it can’t get retaken. We still have some of the drones, the turret… and a potential hostage…”
Eric turned his attention to the team financier. “Mr. Bridges… if I were you, I’d get on the horn to Ambassador Udina. Tell him that if he still wants his share of the prize he’s gonna hafta supply a bit more hardware to safeguard it. A few extra ships in orbit, establish a more definite Alliance presence. Should be enough to discourage a direct reprisal. ‘Member Horizon – they only had marginal defenses and these things like picking off strays. Then you can dig away and auction off at your leisure. We can keep your claim secure ‘til then.”
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