He crouched behind the bar amid broken glass, not so much as blinking as the shots rained down on his cover, ricocheting inches above his head. His omni-tool was combating some foreign program that had managed to partially embed itself in its systems, trying to shut it down. The source was the same as the counter hack from whatever orbital assistance Vega was receiving. He lifted his gun and aimed out, firing at pair of shots as he had been doing every so often to keep Vega's security off of him. They weren't carrying anything substantial enough to force him from cover - not when they had been walking around a dignitary party. Even so, he was running out of time.<br/><br/>Ashana remained half huddled behind her table next to the downed security guard. The gunfire was making it hard for her to think, and the racket of the security force over the comms. She only half heard Darion's voice as he elaborated a plan to her. What was this assassin doing here? He was smart enough to break through their entire defense without them even knowing, had managed to access secured data, then had all but dismantled their efforts to stop him so far - so what was he doing here? He was cornered, he was cut off.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Alright!</span>Firas shouted, ducking back behind cover.<span style="color: Blue">Ashana, throw me his gun!</span>He moved quickly, looking down at her from the same balcony level as Darion. He motioned to the weapon the fallen security man was using.<span style="color: Blue">Darion will need a replacement!</span>Human though he may have been, Darion had had a good idea, worth a shot anyway.<br/><br/>Ashana didn't move, she just looked down at the floor, her eyes darting about as she thought. The only thing was that window, that big glass window, but what could that help him?<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Ashana!</span>Firas shouted.<br/><br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrchid">No, no! Wait!</span>She yelled back, frustrated and angry at their interruptions.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">Why the hell would he corner himself?!</span><br/><br/>Then, from behind the bar with all the guns pointed at it, a small metallic disk went sailing toward the window. Its straight line trajectory suggested element zero assisted travel. When it hit the window it latched on, as single red light on it began blinking, rapidly increasing in speed. The assassin loaded a fresh thermal clip into his gun and grabbed hold of the bar's railing.<br/><br/>Malcolm looked out from behind his point of cover, and noticed the device.<span style="color: Red">What the hell?</span>He muttered, not knowing what to make of it.<br/><br/>Firas broke his angry stare at Ashana to the the window, his mandibles flexed in surprise as his mind quickly discerned its identity. It was a grenade, an older model with variable load capacity.<span style="color: Blue">Its a -</span>but there was no time for him to finish his words.<br/><br/>The bomb detonated, its high explosive yield sent a loud reverberating thunder through the atrium, making Ashana and many of the others startle in surprise. But, the blast was nothing compared to what followed immediately after. The explosion's force blew out the tall 3 story glass wall, opening the pressurized tower to the high altitude. The thousands of shards of glass were picked up by the sudden pressure change that blasted through the atrium with startling force, becoming a torrential whirlwind of glass.<br/><br/>The table Ashana had been behind was shoved sideways by the wind, and many of the other security guards were so caught off guard by the sudden instability of the environment that they were left exposed, trying to get away from the onslaught of glass. Not a moment later they were falling. Firas, fell sideways from the blast, and shielded his face. The assassin stood from behind the bar, using the rail and his mag-lock boots to keep himself steady while he opened fire, the barrel of his gun moving from target to target in rapid succession.<br/><br/>Ashana scrambled across the floor for more cover as the comms erupted with shouts of pain and surprise. Malcolm tried to steady himself and return fire on their assailant, but he wasn't fast enough. Ashana looked across to him just as his shields depleted, followed by a brilliant ray of light left behind by the bullet ripped through his throat, spattering his blood on the floor behind him as he fell. Ashana stared in shock and horror as they were picked apart.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Cantenelli's had been watching the feed with mild amusement at their successful trapping of the target. He was pleased with the rapid response Kala and Sorv had provided. It had changed the stakes of the fight, dramatically, and suddenly, and the surprise had won the fight. But when the screaming started he looked on at the images being displayed along side the tower schematic in bewilderment.<br/><br/><span style="color: Navy">What the hell just happened?</span>Taseer asked, looking at the images in confusion. Their feeds from the cameras had been jolted by the blast, giving them only limited angles of view.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Ground crew, report!</span>Cantenelli ordered.<br/><br/>Then the amber glow of the console Kala sat at turned red, errors and warnings suddenly filling the screen, alarms sounding from the cyber warfare suite. The source of the tower hack had traced the connection to the ship, and deployed a litany of virus'.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>He fired two more shots, then his omni-tool buzzed in confirmation that the payload had been sent. He broke from the bar, walking across the floor, still firing. The security team was neutralized. He approached a door, the locks releasing as his omni-tool reacquired the door systems while the counter hack was distracted.<br/><br/>Ashana looked out from behind her cover as he moved. She saw his goal, the door, the escape. She moved, sprinting from behind her cover, running over the dead and injured bodies of the security officers. Her strong legs carried her, swiftly stepping over as many shards of fallen glass as she could. She had to close in on him, get inside his reach, disarm him. He was good with a gun, so she had to remove it.<br/><br/>The security door lifted open and he was through, he struck a key on his omni-tool and it was closing again.<br/><br/>Firas got up just in time to see Ashana nearing the door at a dead sprint. His mandibles flexed in panic.<span style="color: Blue">Ashana, no STOP!</span>He shouted, but it fell on deaf ears.<br/><br/>The door slid down, and Ashana dropped sliding beneath it before stopping herself on the other side. She looked ahead, but he was ahead of her, making a turn.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">Now you're mine.</span>She muttered, a cruel grin crossing her lips.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Ashana do not engage! Ashana!</span>Firas shouted over the comms. She removed the small earpiece and dropped it on the ground, then sprang to her feet and sprinted after the target.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">DAMNIT!</span>Firas shouted in anger. He didn't wait, he knew she wasn't listening. He threw his rifle over the balcony's edge and climbed over the railing, dropping down onto a planter that was would at least spare him a few feet of the fall. The broad leafed plant which was already damaged enough with bullet hole and gashes from glass crumpled under the Turian's weight.<br/><br/>He felt a sharp pain as his legs protested the sudden impact, and he rolled off the planter, pushing himself to his feet. He grabbed his rifle and ran for the door. He threw his shoulder against it in vain anger, then hit it with the butt of his rifle.<span style="color: Blue">Get this damn door open!</span>He shouted to the Acheron.<br/><br/>She was going to get herself killed, and he knew it. Whoever this was, whatever he stole, it was out of their league. He had training on a level Firas had never experienced before, and she was running straight into his jaws.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Ashana rounded the corner. He had his back to her, his eyes down on his omni-tool as he walked. And there it was, the gun in his right hand.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrchid">Hey, asshole!</span>She shouted.<br/><br/>He turned, lifting his gun, the look of complete surprise on his face plain to see. But before he could react the biotic field hit him,throwing him off his feet, sideways into the glass wall of the walkway along the tower's edge. The gravity change made him fumble, his weapon leaving his fingers.<br/><br/>Ashana gave him no time to breath, she charged. The distance was short, unlike in the warehouse. She knew she could clear and still have enough energy left to end him. The biotic energy around her flared and she catapulted forward, but he was faster than she was. Before she was there, he was moving, sidestepping. As she left the biotic charge's field, she felt a burst of pain as his wrist glanced of the side of her head. She stumbled, shocked.<br/><br/>Then a pain in her side as he landed a body shot. She didn't let him have another, she turned, firing a biotic burst from her palm deflecting his next punch aimed at her sternum. She followed through, her features contorted with anger, driving her palm toward his face for another biotic assisted strike, but he caught her wrist, driving the strike aside. Then, before she had time to react, he drove a solid strike to her face. She could only react quick enough to turn her face aside, his blow landing across her cheek, but it did little to dull the pain and daze that followed. She stumbled back, blinking up at him. She had only enough time to raise an arm and muster a biotic barrier and his next strike came, drawn back and strong. The barrier rebounded the blow, and she followed it with a raised kick for his head, but he ducked, sweeping his own kick out for the foot planting her to the floor. She fell, extending her arms to brace herself as the floor rushed toward her. Her hands caught the ground, but already she felt a burst of pain in the side of her face as his fist connected yet again. She shouted in pain, she couldn't stop herself.<br/><br/>She saw the kick coming for her midsection a moment too late, the barrier she erected too slow to stop the blow. It knocked the wind from her and she hit the glass wall  before landing solidly on the ground. She pushed herself up, mustering what strength she had left to throw something at him - anything, but she was too slow. She saw the foot coming around, low, for her head, across her jaw, but she didn't feel it.<br/><br/><br/><br/><span style="color: Indigo">Look at me.</span>Aria said, reclining with her legs crossed, the holographic pillar behind her displaying the giant digital Asari dancer hooking her leg around a pole as she danced.<br/><br/>Ashana turned her head, displaying the bruises in the light, but she didn't look at Aria. She couldn't bring herself to. She was ashamed. Aria just stared wordlessly for a moment, then looked to the Batarian beside Ashana.<br/><br/><span style="color: Indigo">And the one who hit her?</span><br/><br/><span style="color: DarkRed">We roughed him up. Scared him. Made your point.</span>He said.<br/><br/>Aria looked back at Ashana, looking her up and down. Her shirt was torn open, and her arm was scraped raw.<br/><br/><span style="color: Indigo">Well?</span>She asked. Ashana looked at her for only a split second before she looked back down.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrchid">I...</span>But she couldn't respond. Aria continued staring at her in that uncompromising way.<br/><br/><span style="color: Indigo">Ashana, look around. Do you know what I see?</span>Ashana kept her head down, looking around Afterlife from the high perch of Aria's throne. The club was packed like it always was, Asari dancing everywhere in various states of undress.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Her eyes only half registered the footfalls, the boots drifting across her vision toward the dark shape on the ground a short distance away.<br/><br/><br/><br/><span style="color: Indigo">I see meat.</span>She answered coolly.<span style="color: Indigo">And that's what they see too. As long as you're down there, that's what you are to them. You've been here most of you're life.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrchid">I like it here...</span>She half whispered.<br/><br/><span style="color: Indigo">You're a valuable girl, Ashana. The customers like you. They like your ass, and they like that you know what to do with it. But look down there. There's no future there.</span>She continued.<span style="color: Indigo">You could be more than this, Ashana. And one day, I hope you're smart enough to figure that out.</span><br/><br/><br/><br/>He reached down, lifting the pistol, then aimed it at her. Her vision was blurred, her mind wandering, seeing faces, places she'd known. But her eyes focused for just long enough to look back at him, to look into those eyes behind the barrel of the gun. Those Human eyes.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>