Ashana stood, waiting along side Firas and Darion. She was uneasy with the trooper in white staring at them, watching them. Whoever they were they looked military. She hadn't seen anything as heavy as their armor on Omega, except in the hands of the occasional warlord visiting Aria. The man was holding a shotgun that she didn't recognize. It was white and black, its wide mouthed barrel practically just a tube, and that same symbol on the back of the gun. From the wary look Firas had when he looked at the armored man, Ashana suspected he was familiar with this group.<br/><br/>She heard gunfire, a barrage and breaking glass, then smaller bursts that sounded like return fire, then a pause, then more gunfire. It sounded like the assassin wasn't going down without a fight. Then there was a long silence.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">What's Cerberus doing here...?</span>Firas whispered to them, glancing at Darion.<br/><br/><i>Cerberus</i>. Ashana had heard of these men after all. Stories had come in from Omega the last few years of a pro-human organization of the same name. Para-military. From the stories, they weren't fond of anything but themselves.<br/><br/>The trooper turned his head suddenly, like he was listening to something, and bolted, running for the nearest shuttle. The engines from the shuttle roared to life, and the trooper threw his gun inside and grabbed hold of a very large assault cannon mounted on an arm to the shuttle, which he aimed out the side. The shuttle took off, rapidly gaining altitude. It jetted out of sight over the complex, leaving one shuttle still at the entrance.<br/><br/>Ashana looked at Darion and Firas, an eyebrow raised.<span style="color: DarkOrchid">What was -</span>She stopped as she hear large caliber gunfire in the distance. She took several steps back looking up at the edge of the multi-plex's roof.<br/><br/>A minute later a dark shape, streaked through the night sky above them, the blue halo of engines burning behind it. Following behind it were five more shapes, dashes of light flying from them toward the dark shape. It was easy to guess that they were the Kodiaks pursuing and firing on another craft. But they couldn't hope to keep up. Their target was out of their range in moments, gaining altitude fast.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Acheron, he's in a ship, breaking atmo! Say again, he's leaving the planet!</span>Firas said into his comms, watching.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Cantenelli watched the scans spread out over the city, the fast moving craft being identified immediately<span style="color: Blue">Understood, ground. We're are moving to intercept.</span><br/><br/>Taseer looked at Kala, grinning.<span style="color: Navy">Time for fun.</span><br/><br/>Cantenelli stood, speaking with an authority and confidence born from years of star ship command.<span style="color: Blue">Mickey, disengage thermal dampeners. Bring us in at 42 degrees downward thrust. Get us low. Parallel us to his course and pursue if needed. Mr. Falkris, if you please.</span><br/><br/>The Turian nodded, moving to a console further along in the CIC, sitting down. Consoles all along the walls came alive, displaying readouts of ship thermals, power management, trajectory, long and short range scans as the Acheron's combat systems came online. Deep in the heart of the ship a low hum began as the engines engaged.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Taseer, on systems. Reroute necessary functions to secure pathways.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: Navy">Sir.</span>She saluted and mounted another of the CIC's consoles.<br/><br/>The central display showed the ship's trajectory pattern and a predicted trajectory for the target craft as it was leaving the planet's atmosphere.<br/><br/><span style="color: Cyan">Intercept in 34 seconds!</span>Mickey yelled from the cockpit.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Mr. Falkris, we need him alive. </span><br/><br/><span style="color: Red">Understood.</span>The Turian acknowledged, inputting commands to the ship's weapon's guidance, altering trajectories, inputting approach patterns and adjusting power flow to the weapons.<span style="color: Red">One sixth power, single round. 10 degrees aft.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Aye.</span>Cantenelli nodded, crossing his arms behind his back as he watched the display.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>The assassin wiped the blood from his forehead, watching the instruments in his craft. He didn't need to see the data he had taken from Vega. Not anymore. He knew exactly where it would lead him. He knew exactly who had tried to smuggle the device off the planet. Cerberus' presence could mean nothing else.<br/><br/>His ship sounded an alarm as it detected a rapidly approaching war-bird class vessel. He looked at the readout. It wasn't Cerberus, in fact it looked Turian. But its intercept course meant that this ship was the likely the origin of the unknown counter hack. The ship was the thorn that had been in his side since the tower. He looked at the charge on his FTL drive, still preparing. He needed more time.<br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/><span style="color: Red">Target in range, solution ready. Preparing... to...</span>Falkris faltered as the enemy ship began changing course. Turning directly into them.<br/><br/>Cantenelli froze, mouth parting, staring at the display which now showed the ship coming straight for them. Slowly a sullen smirk crossed his lips. They couldn't fire. The ship was so small that by turning into them, by presenting them only the front of his ship, any shot they took would cut straight through critical systems, destroying the ship or killings its pilot - who they needed alive. The assassin was playing a game of chicken with them, gambling on their need to take him alive, and they blinked.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Clever.</span>Was all he said as the enemy ship's FTL drive charged, and in a warped streak of space, he was gone.<br/><br/>Cantenelli leaned forward and braced himself on the railing of the central display which now shone only stars.<span style="color: Red">Target... no longer in contact range.</span>The Turian first officer said, sitting back in the console's chair.<br/><br/>Cantenelli nodded slightly.<span style="color: Blue">Mickey bring us out of combat alert, and put us back under the radar. I don't want that cruiser finding us if it decides to come looking for him.</span><br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Ashana and Firas watched the night sky, searching vainly for some sign of the fate of the human that had eluded them.<span style="color: Blue">Acheron, what happened?</span>Firas tried. No response. He waited a few moments.<span style="color: Blue">Acheron respond. What happened?</span>For a moment they were left again with only silence, then a rustling sounded, and a voice followed.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">He's gone.</span>Cantenelli answered with a sigh.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Damnit!</span>Firas shouted and slammed his rifle against a skycar's hood.<br/><br/>Ashana shook her head, watching the stars. It occurred to her for a brief moment that she was looking upon the night sky from the surface of a planet. Something she had never in her life done before. It was a small comfort to her. Too small for the defeat they suffered.<br/><br/>She turned as the sound of footsteps met their ears. The woman who had jumped from the shuttle emerged from the shopping complex looking a great deal more disheveled than when she entered it. She pushed the loose strands of hair off her face then put her hands on her hips, taking a long, deep breath and looked up at the night sky.<span style="color: RoyalBlue">Shit.</span>She muttered under her breath, her eyes dancing  between stars as she processed what had just happened. She was completely oblivious to the three standing not far away, watching her.<br/><br/>She scowled suddenly and reached into her ear, yanking out the comms transmitter and throwing it on the ground. Ashana could just barely hear a husky male voice on the other end yelling something.  Amid the frustration, Ashana noted a subtle hint of fear in her eyes.<br/><br/>A second, much louder set of footsteps echoed from the building, and a armored figure emerged. His armor was not unlike that of the other Cerberus troopers they had seen, but it was bulkier, the plates thicker. Along its broad shoulders were black and red stripes, and the visor, rather than the golden hues of the other troopers, was a deep red. The trooper grabbed his helmet and roughly pulled it off his head. Beneath was the time warn face of a veteran of many battles. Streaks of gray ran through his dark brown hair, and his face was pock marked and lined with scars.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkRed">What the hell was that?!</span>He yelled at the woman. She looked down, tapping her foot on the ground, anger mounting. He walked right up to her, staring at the back of her head. The woman took a breath, trying to keep herself calm, to not bite back with anger.<span style="color: DarkRed">We had a NO KILL order. No. Kill!</span><br/><br/>She turned looking at him.<span style="color: RoyalBlue">This is my operation, Raeneck.</span>She answered as coolly as she could manage, though the barely bridled anger burned in her eyes.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkRed">They're <i>my</i> soldiers!</span>He said, gesturing aggressively to himself.<span style="color: DarkRed">And now 5 of them are dead!</span>He stared at her, fuming.<br/><br/>She stared back, trembling with anger.<span style="color: RoyalBlue">The situation changed.</span>She answered.<br/><br/>He stared at her unblinking for a moment then snarled and turned away, taking a few steps before stopping and letting himself calm down. The woman stared after him, waiting.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkRed">Was that... </span>he started, taking a breath before turning back around to look at her,<span style="color: DarkRed">who I think it was?</span><br/><br/>The woman broke eye contact and the jaw tightened ever so slightly. Then she looked back at him, and nodded slightly.<span style="color: RoyalBlue">Yes.</span><br/><br/><span style="color: DarkRed">Shit.</span>The big man muttered, turning and looking back toward the city, and seeing Ashana Firas and Darion. He stopped and frowned, looking at them only now realizing they had been there all along. The woman followed his gaze to them.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkRed">You're what's left of the security team?</span>He asked. Ashana let someone else answer. The man nodded at the confirmation.<span style="color: DarkRed">You're god damn lucky to be alive. It doesn't sound like the rest of you were.</span><br/><br/>The rush of skycar engines made Ashana and Firas turn around. Another car was setting down. It was sleek black, expensive. Vega emerged from it, standing up and just staring in horror at the two Cerberus operatives.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">No...</span>He started, walking toward them.<span style="color: Blue">No, no no no! You can't be here! You CAN'T GET INVOLVED!</span>He screamed as he ran up to them.<span style="color: Blue">HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!</span>He continued screaming frantically, his hands shaking.<br/><br/>The woman rolled her eyes.<span style="color: RoyalBlue">Shut up, Vega. Our involvement became mandatory the moment your team failed to prevent him from escaping with the data.</span>She looked down on him.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">You've ruined me... by being here, by being any where near any of this! You've fucking ruined me! No one will do business with me!</span>He yelled. The woman rolled her eyes again and half turned away from him.<br/><br/><span style="color: Blue">Don't you get it? Or has it not quite hit that stupid brain of yours?</span>He seethed at her, taking an aggressive step forward.<span style="color: Blue">No business now! No contracts! No more restricted information on Turian weapons! No more fucking military specs! No more fucking -</span><br/><br/>She rushed him, grabbing him by his coat. The nodes on her body glowed a faint blue and a biotic field enveloped him, allowing her to lift him off the ground.<span style="color: RoyalBlue">I said...</span>she pulled his face close to hers, letting the anger in her eyes pierce him,<span style="color: RoyalBlue">shut... the <i>fuck</i>... up.</span><br/><br/>And suddenly it made sense to her. Ashana felt a knot in her stomach as she realized the obviousness of it. Vega's success wasn't through work, or intelligence, or tact. He had been selling information on the prototype weapons contracts he had been manufacturing for the various military organizations he had worked with. He had sold them straight to Cerberus.<br/><br/>The biotic field dissipated and the woman dropped him. He hit the ground, falling on his ass. She turned and headed for the shuttle.<br/><br/><span style="color: DarkRed">Shit, Vega.</span>The big man that the woman had called Raeneck, said, walking up to Vega. He looked down at him, chuckling lightly.<span style="color: DarkRed">Think of it like a promotion. Now you get to work for us a bit more literally. I'm sure the Skunk Works would love to have you, upstanding fellow like you. And hey, at least your Atlas is coming along!</span>He mocked him. Raeneck shook his head and looked at Ashana, Firas, and Darion and said,<span style="color: DarkRed">Good luck with the job search,</span>then joined the woman in heading to the shuttle.<br/><br/>Vega stared up at him coldly, not standing, his once clean suit in disarray. Ashana looked down at him, seeing the man for what he was, crumpled up on the ground like some discarded piece of garbage. The glamorous bullshit gone, the smirks and confident remarks stripped away.<br/><br/>Firas had half a mind to shoot him where he sat. He fingered the side of his gun as he played with the idea in his head. But he wasn't even worth the bullet.<span style="color: Blue">Humans.</span>Firas muttered to himself.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>