The first sensation to return was the heavy thump of a syringe punching through Rare Earth. From the burning point above his heart, Czevak's needle sent a torrent of sweet, icy relief in the form of Exalt-grade medigel. Esone's back arched, the fluid coursing through his system with prodigious speed, bones and viscera knitting haphazardly back together. As the intense pressure within his veins reached his head, the Lieutenant momentarily slipped into unconsciousness. A sharp slap brought him back around, bleary eyes coming to focus on Dr. Czevak's harried face. His senses were still badly impaired - while some rudimentary vision had returned to his left eye, but the world still looked like a 1920's silent film, complete with the silence. Movement had returned at least, the Lieutenant struggling into a sitting position as Czevak thrust his helmet into his hands. She spoke, obviously yelling to be heard over the din of combat, and grimaced when Esone gestured dejectedly at his ear. In a fluid motion the doctor yanked her patient to his feet and twisted his head to where she pointed.<br/><br/>Bau was locked in combat with a small platoon and the soldier who had used the Cain on Esone, the offending weapon thrown to the lip of the station's platform. Bau danced frantically from side to side, gracefully weaving amidst a gaggle of human shields that had obviously never heard of the conservation of ninjutsu. Only, it wasn't the Sidereal's attacks that were felling the mooks. Hell, half the time it looked more like the Salarian was just trying to run away from a swift, blurring shadow that weaved across the battled. The few shots he shot off went towards the Cain trooper, who stood unarmed, unmoving, and pinwheeling her arms madly. It took Esone a minute to fully comprehend the situation - Bau, with his guns and Fate manipulation, was in a deadlock with someone who was wielding a kite.<br/><br/>Czevak gave Esone no time to gawp at the spectacle, however. Somehow managing to get a grip on his buzz-cut hair, she pulled his head around to face her.<br/>HELP HIM.<br/>Her yell didn't need sound to carry; the sheer emphasis she put into each word made reading her lips a breeze. Weakly Esone nodded, stumbling forward with his combat knife drawn. the six inches of steel weren't as reassuring as Metallica would have been, but considering the effort it was taking just to move in the ruin that was Rare Earth, Esone was quite sure that his attunements had all been severed. Mundane was the watchword of the day.<br/><br/>Stumbling, barely still on his feet, the Lieutenant charged Cain-trooper for all he was worth. To his surprise, his shoulder-check actually connected, pulling the green-armored woman down in a tangle of razor-edged Starmetal cord. Cain-trooper's wide visor turned towards him, as if considering an interesting specimen beneath a lab microscope, and with a casual jerk of the neck head butted the Infernal off of her. There was a flicker of light -pale, as far as Esone could tell while colorblind- and the trooper stood over him with the kite wire wrapped taut between her hands. The garrote pressed slowly into Esone's exposed neck, drawing a gurgle and a silent curse that Esone had been too stupid to replace his helmet.<br/><br/>As the acrid iron taste of human blood began to fill Esone's mouth, Cain-trooper's head suddenly jerked up. Just in time to catch the full brunt of Bau's knee in her face, as it happened. The Salarian flipped, using the momentum of his impact to perform a spinning kick that in turn threw Cain-trooper several feet straight up. The Sidereal's gun-hand blurred, a flurry of shots hammering into his foe and sending her crashing like a fallen star down on the other side of the compound. All the while, the battle-kite trailed it's master, flapping jovially as it marked her descent in a glittering arc.<br/><br/>Bau helped Esone back to his feet, one hand pressed over the crimson grin that marked his throat. Mooks were down, smoke was rising from several nearby buildings, and 042 was in the process of deconstructing a defense turret in the most brutal method possible. Aside from the lack of voices in his head, and the dislocation of his exaltation, all was right with Esone's world. At least, until The explosion rocked the platform, and the first sound to grace Esone's ears again broke through the world.<br/><br/>"Thundercats! Hoooooo!" Esone didn't even need to see the blinding radiance to know that his commander had gone hammy again.