Esone bared his teeth in a reckless smirk, sliding into a tense half-crouch. He could feel a trickle of blood weaving it's way down his left arm, fed by a deep gash that snaked along the side of his neck and forked to descend down both his forearm and shoulder blade. A pair of successive strikes from one of Harbinger's blades had pierced his brass exoskeleton in that place, and the wounds were now making their presence known. Malfeas' rage could allow him to ignore the deleterious effects, but only by wounding himself further. Esone decided to err on the side of caution for once, letting the pain remain. The Lieutenant prayed that the Geth's tactical software wouldn't have time to isolate that little chink in his fighting style.<br/><span style="color: #000000">You don't much get the concept of 'Murphy's Law', do you? Oh, this is going to end well.</span><br/><br/>"You got it boss. Throw on some Maynard Ferguson would you?"<br/><span style="color: #000000">Oooo! Put on Boom Boom, the Big Head Todd version!</span><br/><br/>"--That will not be necessary Esone-Lieutenant.--" Legion's voice crackled over the comm once more "--Exalted Combat Platform Unit 042 has agreed to cease hostilities, as your goals currently coincide. Combat need not become a part of this meeting.--"<br/><br/>"O~f course it has." Esone muttered, slumping dejectedly. "I got all excited for nothing."<br/><span style="color: #000000">Do you <span style="font-style: italic">want</span> to fight or don't you? Make up your mind!</span><br/><br/>"--However, Unit 042 would like to inform you that it has been combating the Collector forces here for some time. While the majority of the Geth forces have been eliminated, Unit 042 has been gouging a sizable chunk in the Collector legions. Unfortunately, because the Essence expenditures of Del Pilar-Commander and Esone-Lieutenant registered as a more imminent threat, Unit 042 disengaged in the middle of a larger conflict. As such, there are currently a horde of drones massing a few hundred meters ahead. This unit would recommend preparing for battle.--"<br/><br/>"WILL YOU MAKE UP YOUR MIND?"<br/><span style="color: #000000">Heh heh.<br/><br/>...<br/><br/>Wait. Couple hundred meters? We should have heard that. Pop the plugs, let's hear that Hateful, Wretched Noise.</span><br/><br/>Esone scowled. They were that close to another group of enemies, and he had had no idea. This called for more extreme measures. Quickly the Lieutenant popped out his ear plugs. They were made of blue jade, unobtrusive and crafted to look like comm beads. Immediately waves of sound washed over him, almost painful in scope. His Adjorani charms included an extreme sensitivity to sound, so much so that he could read a letter being written solely through the pen strokes or use Del Pilar's leisurely heartbeat as a metronome. Aside from the inherit impediments of being assaulted constantly by sound, the charm drove him to silence the sources of any sound louder than a whisper. The ear plugs curbed that aggressive tendency and eliminated the handicap, but denied him the enhanced hearing.<br/><br/>Now he could hear everything, including the rising, chittering song of the Collector horde swarming up the tunnels ahead of them. The drumming of a thousand feet, the thrumming of a thousand weapons priming.<br/><br/>Esone began to mutter to himself, giving in just a little to the insanity of his patrons, and the bored voice of his coadjutor.<br/>"They're moving. Comming up from the depths, thousands of feet marching to the beat. And they're armed."<br/><span style="color: #000000">What was that? Armed? What do you mean armed? Armed with what?</span><br/><br/>"Err, bad breath, colorful language, feather duster... what do you think they're gonna be armed with? Guns, you tit!"<br/><span style="color: #000000">Alright, alright, keep a lid on it. <br/>...Damn though. That's a lot of enemies. Well, murder <span style="font-style: italic">is</span> meat, so at least we aren't going to be hungry for a good long while. Morphing time?</span><br/><br/>"Morphing time."<br/><br/>Esone took a deep breath and step forward, shuddering as his form began to buck from within. The Infernal spread his arms wide, his banner flaring to it's full, terrible radiance. For a moment he basked within the glow of a great jade lion forged of Liger's light, until in the blink of an eye the phantasm collapsed into his flesh. The effect was a brief, blinding cataclysm of emerald flame that gouged deep ravines into the deck about him. When the flames cleared, the Lieutenant stood changed.<br/><br/>Emerald flames poured forth from his eyes once more, feeding the half-unveiled anima banner that enshrouded him. His grinning maw now bristled with an overabundance of brass shark teeth, each serrated fang shot through with molten veins. From his back skeletal wings of verdant flame stretched and snapped, dancing with the arrowhead-tipped prehensile tail that lashed about his legs. Each elbow sported a razor spur, and short, sharp horns curled above his brow. Soft pale flesh had been reimagined by some mad sculptor in black granite and bio-luminescent veins, yet somehow wept a thick white fog that was slowly beginning to flood the passage.<br/><br/>"BY RAGE I AM RECAST!" Esone roared, whipping past Unit 042 like a bat out of hell. Flickers of green flames and white wisps of fog hung in his wake. He didn't wait for his companions; either they would follow or they would find something better to do. Besides, his transformation had probably made the Geth... edgy.<br/><br/>Halfway down the passageway gunshots began to ring out. Only now did Esone realize that he had neglected to refresh his brass exoskeleton. Even with stone skin, he was taking Collector gun discharges with no visible armor. Or weapons.<br/><br/>"Ah! They f***ing shot me!"<br/><span style="color: #000000">Well, f***ing shoot 'em back!<br/>...<br/>Oh.<br/>Right.</span>