The slaver guards waited in the open room, eyeing the Batarian entourage, walking with their weapons plain to see. It was a dick measuring contest, Kishock vs. Firestorm, Blade Armor vs Avenger. One of the slavers patrolled slowly at the groups flank while Desmond and the Batarian emissary haggled. Desmond gave him a look, a short nod and gesture. He was impatient and wanted to know where their prize product had gotten to. The Slaver nodded back and turned around, heading toward the slave fitting room, but as he started toward the door, something unusual caught his eye. He paused, looked right, down the corridor to the access way. He stared for a moment at wall panel that had been removed and set against the wall. He gave a glance around the room at the Batarians and other guards. He couldn't speak up now, but he didn't remember the panel being there previously. He headed toward the access door, stopping and examining the exposed machinery that the panel had covered. He tried to key the door, but it didn't respond. He stood for a moment, perplexed. He tried the door one more, and again, nothing.<br/><br/>He turned, a quickness in his steps now as he headed toward the fitting room.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>The guard in the security checkpoint stared at his screens, not sure what exactly he was looking at. Something was feeding from the data lines, a new connection. He reached slowly for the comms channel to the Desmond, but the sound of the door opening behind him made him turn. He recoiled slightly, seeing the Asari that had arrived not long ago right behind him.<br/><br/><span style="color: olive">What the fuck - where the fuck is </span>He started seeing the pistol his face contorting and gasping in a breath as he dove for his weapon - too late. He jerked violently as Milenya fired, putting a hole in his head and spraying the console with gore. The armored corpse slumped in the chair.<br/><br/>The console read 'Alert,' indicating that there was a system breach in the maintenance access, a new unauthorized connection had been detected. Milenya now had access to every camera and lock in the base, though the information and images on the screen were obscure behind the red spray which slowly trickled down. She could see the images of the hegemony men meeting with Desmond, the exterior shots of the drop ship and gunships.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>The guard looking for the girls opened fitting room door and peered into the darkness. For a moment he only saw indistinct park shoved against the wall. It was until a moment later when he recognized the shapes that he understood.<span style="color: darkgreen">Shit!</span><br/><br/><br/>***<br/>Sorv lined up the shot, and readied another thermal clip. He exhaled slowly until his lungs were empty. He felt the beat of his heart each thump sending waves of pressure through his arteries, he counted. And between beats, he pulled the trigger. The round tore through the air, the report of the shot loud, a great cracking burst. The shot caught one of the gunship's flanks, the kinetic barrier sparking in a corona of blue around the impact. The guard on the roof near the gunship jolted as the barriers flared, muscle memory reacting as it had been trained to. He raised his weapon. The gunship snapped around, saw a guard with his weapon aimed where it had just been hit. The guard had looked away, was looking for the origin of the shot. When he looked back he could only scream<span style="color: red">Wai-!</span>Before the twin cannons opened fire, ripping through his shields like tissue paper and turning his armor into confetti and shrapnel as it ripped him into a ribbons.<br/><br/>Sorv reloaded his Mantis a fraction of a second later, fired a second shot at the array antenna near its base. The shot connected, penetrated, snapping circuits and severing wires.<br/><br/><span style="color: darkorange">Darion, go go go!</span>Sorv yelled, the channel's disruption suddenly ending.<br/><br/>The second gunship was moving, taking aim at the other guards. Another was eviscerated before the confusion was replaced by combat instinct. Rockets fired at the gunships and the Mako on the ground opened fire. The landing pad became a chaotic blur of explosions and gunfire.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Inside the access tunnel The array's feed suddenly went black, error messages appearing on Kala's omni-tool. Hardware malfunction, check connection.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Demond's bartering with the emissary was cut off when suddenly there was  a dull series of booms outside, the sound of gunfire. The group inside all looked at one another for a moment, confused. Firas too wasn't sure what was happening. Suddenly over Desmond's comms a voice yelled,<span style="color: olive">Its a fucking double cross!</span><br/><br/>Demond's look mirrored that of the emissary as both men read the situation as an act of aggression against them and turn to rage. In a fraction of a second, as the emissary was reacting, Desmond's hand dropped to his hip, grabbed his pistol and rotated it up in a quick draw, fire a rapid succession of shots into the emissary.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Inside the access corridor there was a sudden barrage of noise, explosions, gunfire just beyond the door. Ashana looked at the door in a moment of confusion that didn't last long. She grabbed Kala and pulled her down, catching her and setting her on the ground.<span style="color: darkorchid">Time's up.</span>She said.<br/><br/>Shira aimed at the door and began cursing in Quarian.<br/><br/><span style="color: darkorchid">Shira I hope your a damn good shot because my biotics are suppressed. I can't do anything here.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: indigo">"We have to get out of here. If that airlock behind us is damaged and starts leaking we're dead. Kala watch those feeds, when we're got an opening, we're taking it."</span>Shira ordered.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>