The door went green and Firas moved, sprinting madly along side Darion after Ashana. For a brief moment he was back in the warehouse, firing on eclipse mercs with Sorv and her. Then in a blaze and purple blaze she was gone. He saw her laying on the ground, shrapnel cuts across her body, laying there not moving. But this wasn't the warehouse, and they were outrunning a slow mech.<br/><br/>They rounded the corner, Firas charging past Darion, throwing his shoulder against the glass wall opposite Darion's position at the corner. He saw her there, broken, bloodied. He couldn't tell if she was alive and it didn't matter. Firas shouted and squeezed the trigger. He fired. He fired everything.<br/><br/>The assassin heard them just before they rounded the corner, but they were moving so fast that it didn't matter. He had no time to turn and fire back. All he could do was turn his head before his shields erupted. He started to turn, the blaze of blue all around him became near disorienting. His omni-tool screamed warnings at him. He had to run. He managed only a few side long steps, propelling him forward before his shields were out. He felt a round catch his wrist and deflect cracking the armor,  and another pang off the side of his gun, jerking it in his grip painfully.<br/><br/>Then the barrage came center mass, he instinctively ducked his head, tried to reduce his profile. A round landed squarely on the right middle ribcage of his armor. The advanced meshes prevented penetration, but the armor cracked and deformed, pushing the broken edge into his side.<br/><br/>In his fury Firas didn't bother aiming, he just fired at the man. some rounds going wide, others high. But like Darion, plenty connected. The semi-automatic fire rate limited the damage, but nothing could escape a barrage like that unscathed.<br/><br/>He had his back to them when the bullet buckled the back left of his body armor, and penetrated into his side, then shortly after another broke off a piece of his right shoulder plate and continued into his body. He stumbled and dropped, catching himself on his left hand before hurling himself sideways around a corner into an office.<br/><br/>Firas looked out from behind his gun as the man disappeared. He snarled, and ran after him. It didn't matter how much skill this man had, he was injured now, he was torn flesh.<span style="color: Blue">Check her!</span>He yelled, his fury no longer contained, as he sprinted past Ashana. He wanted blood.<br/><br/>Firas rounded the corner the man had disappeared through, and saw the office, an adjoining door inside open. He loaded a fresh thermal clip into his rifle and continued, letting his weapon lead.<br/><br/>Ashana's eyes were glazed over as Darion approached, her face bruising, while blood trailed down her face from her nose and split lip. She looked at him, seeing a Turian face she hadn't seen in a decade.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">Gavin...?</span>She asked, her speech imprecise, confused.<br/><br/>She blinked at Darion, her daze from the kick to her head slowly waring off. His face changed from a Turian to a blurry Human, slowly coming into focus. A Human she recognized, someone she knew recently. Very recently. She blinked.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">Darion?</span>Her mind solidified, and she suddenly wished it hadn't as the pain came rushing in. She groaned and lifted an arm to her side.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrchid">He was faster...</span>She said, wincing.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">I couldn't...</span>She clenched her jaw and took a deep breath, looking Darion in the face.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">Where is he?</span><br/><br/>She looked off in the direction Firas and the assassin had gone. She nodded.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">I can stand.</span>She said, and tried to lift herself. Pushing off the wall she had been slumped against. She felt her ankle where he had swept her jolt painfully, suddenly having pressure on it, and she stumbled, planting her hand firmly on Darion to keep herself upright. She steadied herself for a moment.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkOrchid">Come on.</span>She said, trying to bury the pain. Trying to bury the defeat. She had to follow, she couldn't let herself stop; never.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>The assassin rounded a corner and raised his omni-tool to lock down the doors, but he was a moment too late to see the warning about the security grid overloading. Every door's interface flashed suddenly, and sparked, a system wide overload cutting into the hub's central relay. The assassin didn't have time to check, to figure out what happened. It didn't matter. All that mattered was the doors were opening, all of them opening. The overload had triggered the fail safes. He couldn't stop them from chasing him now. It was a race.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Firas followed him, crossing through doors and running down halls. The sudden overload gave him only the briefest moment of pause. All of the doors were opening. Whether it was from the Acheron or the assasin, it didn't matter. Firas' way was made clear. He rounded a corner and saw a short flight of stairs down into a commons, and at the far end, an elevator - and there he was a hand on his side standing inside. Firas fired, but it was too late. The elevator doors closed, the round deflecting off the rounded surface of the bullet resistant glass, leaving spiderwebs between his gun and the Human face. Firas stopped firing and stared at the man as the elevator started, and he stared back, his Human eyes unflinching, cold.<br/><br/>Firas lowered his weapon slowly and just stared at the man. He hadn't seen him before, not really. Only an arm or turning silhouette. But there he was; his hazel-green eyes, his short cut brown hair, his tanned skin, the long dark coat he wore over his armor. Firas couldn't see much of his armor, or his armament beneath the coat, and he suspected that was the point. But what he did see of the armor was impressive. It was midnight black, the light from the elevator and commons glistened off it, the semi-translucent surface showing the carbon bi-weave that composed the plates beneath. No wonder more of their rounds didn't penetrate. The armor looked state of the art. At the edge of the jacket, on his right breast, Firas could see the edge of some red insignia, the rest of it obscured by the jacket.<br/><br/>But he was Human, nothing more.<br/><br/>As the elevator descended and the two lost sight of one another, Firas lifted his omni-tool.<span style="color: Blue">Acheron, he's going down in an elevator. We need directions.</span><br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Beruut moved quickly from the space he had been occupying on the fringes of the CIC as soon as Kala's omni-tool had overloaded. He kneeled down beside her and gingerly looked at her arm. He quickly lifted a syringe from the case on his waist and injected it into her arm above the burn.<br/><br/><span style="color: YellowGreen">First and second degree. We'll need to keep it from blistering.</span>He gripped her arm hard above the burn as he pulled another syringe from his bag and with no warning jammed it into her arm at the burn. His face remained stoic regardless of her protests or cries.<span style="color: YellowGreen">That will reduce blood flow. Captain I need to take her to the infirmary.</span><br/><br/>Cantenelli nodded.<span style="color: Blue">We'll send a feed down to you.</span>He said as Beruut lifted her from the console seat and helped her to the elevator.<span style="color: Blue">And Kala.</span>He looked at her. Beruut paused, letting her look back. Cantenelli half smiled and nodded to her.<span style="color: Blue">Good work.</span><br/><br/>Beruut helped her into the elevator and ordered it down to the CIC.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Acheron, he's going down in an elevator. We need directions.</span>Firas' voice came over the comms.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Acheron to ground, understood. Standby. </span>Cantenelli said and started examining  the three dimensional schematic before him, but Falkris was one step ahead.<br/><br/><span style="color: Red">Left in the commons. Take the hall on the second right. Follow it till it joins an adjacent hall. Go right and you'll be at the employee service elevator. He ordered the elevator down to ground level. Pursue and apprehend with extreme prejudice.</span><br/><br/>Cantenelli watched at the indicators for Firas and Darion moved, converging on the directed location.<span style="color: Blue">Sorv... </span>Cantenelli looked at him.<span style="color: Blue">Do you think you can get us camera feeds on the entrance?</span><br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>The elevator descended, and the man allowed himself a deep breath, settling the gun he held against the side of the little vertical transport. He looked down at his side. The bullet had gone clean through a parting in the plates where the armor was weaker. The medi-gel lattice that ran along all modern armor had been broken and was slowly oozing over the wound, providing a temporary field dressing to prevent bleed out and administer anesthetic. He was grateful for that with his shoulder. He tested it, but could only manage half its normal range of motion before the pain became too strong. The security staff had died easy enough, but the three die hards were proving more difficult to remove.<br/><br/>He stood and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and holding it, letting the relative silence and calm of the elevator reset his nerves. He released his breath slowly then opened his eyes. The elevator chimed that he was nearing his destination and he readied himself.<br/><br/>The door opened and he was out. The entrance hall had only a few of the party guests left inside. Most were outside, waiting for their allotted vehicles to gather them. There was a guard posted at the elevator. He looked over as it opened. His pupils dilated and he scrambled to lift his gun as the assassin exited, but his hand was already moving.<br/><br/>He grabbed the man by the throat, the speed of his arm too slow to trigger the guard's barriers. His fingers and thumb dug in, and the guard, suddenly in extreme pain grabbed his wrist, dropping his gun to try and pry the fingers from his throat, but the barrel of the assassin's pistol was against his forehead, inside of his shields, making it unable to stop the bullet that punched a hole in his skull and sprayed the back of his head on the wall behind.<br/><br/>The party guests inside the hall screamed as the assassin walked down the rounded stairs. The receptionist, dressed in evening wear could only stare is shock and horror as he walked out, guests either unable to move in fear, or quickly getting out of his way.<br/><br/>He exited out into the cool air of the night, and the well lit greenery that ran the length of the walkway to the vehicle pad. Many of the guests were talking, concerned with Vega's sudden absence and the explosion that they had heard earlier. The gunshots the assassin fired into the air woke them from their chatter. Some screamed and shouted, dispersing from the human's path while others fell to the ground in cover.<br/><br/>An aged Turian, dressed in black with blue accents stood at the vehicle pad, his own vehicle having just arrived. He spun as he heard the shots, looking back for only a moment before snarling and reaching into the skycar and drawing the long ceremonial blade from its backseat. He held it just behind himself to hide it as the gunman approached. But the Turian's expression changed as the Human neared and he realized he recognized him.<br/><br/>The Human suddenly stopped his approach as he made eye contact with the Turian. For a moment neither moved, they only looked at each other, shocked. The Turian broke his eyes from the Human and looked behind him at the tower, relaxing his grip on the blade he held. Two security guards and an Asari were emerging from the doorway. He looked back at the Human who held his gaze, then stepped aside. The Human didn't hesitate. He got in the skycar and started the takeoff sequence, quickly getting himself in the air. The Turian watched him from below, curiously watching the vehicle depart.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Cantenelli stared at the feed from the camera, as shocked as the Turian on it had been but a moment before. He watched him take the blade from the car, turn to engage the man then... he just stopped and stepped aside. Cantenelli looked at Falkris, bewildered, confused. The look on the Turian first officer's face was no different.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Sorv, pull up the guest list, find that Turian.</span>Cantenelli more asked than ordered. He linked the guest list information to the main display from his console and watched as the faces and names scrolls up until,<span style="color: Blue">There!</span>The faces stopped.<br/><br/><span style="color: Red">Turanas Ravan.</span>Falkris said the name aloud. Below the name was only one word:<br/><br/>Council.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Ashana had managed to get herself to a slow run as they pursued the assassin into the open air. He was getting into a skycar, and was soon after taking off. A few shots rang out as Firas and Darion opened fire on the vehicle, but it was useless. It was already speeding away, out of their range. But there was a second skycar on the pad the Asari who had been climbing in next to her driver, unmoving.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Lets go!</span>Firas shouted, running to the vehicle.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">We're commandeering your vehicle.</span>He said as they got close, reaching in and grabbing the driver, pulling her out of the car. The grab shook her from her apathy and she yelled in protest, but her dignitary fare was being removed as well.<span style="color: Blue">Get in!</span>He yelled at Darion and Ashana.<br/><br/>Ashana quickly moved to get into the back, but paused as out of the corner of her eye she saw the Turian standing on the pad, blade in hand. He was watching the assassin's vehicle with an unusual expression... curiosity. There was no fear in him. No fear at all. Ashana stared at him, his gaze shifting to her with only a half turn of his head.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Get in!</span>Firas reiterated.<br/><br/>Ashana looked back into the car and got in, Darion already sitting beside Firas, gun ready. The skycar took off, and Ashana braced herself against the G-forces. It didn't occur to her that she was sitting with a skirt torn off half way up her thigh as she braced herself, giving a half view between her legs.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Hang on.</span>He said, and threw the throttle forward, pushing him back into his seat. The Human's skycar was making a straight line for the city a few dozen miles away, which at their speeds would take them a matter of minutes to reach, but Firas wasn't going to let this prey out of his sight.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>