Iysis's eyes contract at the familiar sound of gunshots and drops the medigel she was carrying as she throws out her hands. A biotic blast emits from her body and expands encircling everyone in what seems to look like a blue bubble. Her eyes look over everyone, confirming their safety before dropping her hands slowly back to her side, the bubble still intact as her body glows. Lennata tilts her head up looking at the bubble and gives an impressed expression,
"Biotic Sphere..." she muses to herself.
She then looks at the human in a new sense of respect, who was busy gathering up the medigel to rush to Scarab's side. Lennata then returns her focus to where the sound of the shot came from and reached back to rub her temple,
"But just my luck. A Drell a doctor, and now this," she mutters under her breath, before looking at Lewa.
"Who ever took the shot is not one of yours right?" she questions, her slender fingers rolling out in the direction of the gunshot.
She had dealt with his strange memory slip but if this was his doing as well... well she just wasn't going to put up with that.
Lewa's instincts had already kicked in. His eyes catch the glint of the scope in the distance.
"There! Come on!" His legs began pumping as he sprints off after the hit man.
Lennata frowns at the already shrinking image of Lewa as he darts off,
"H-Hey! I asked you a question!" defeated, she groans at the increasingly bad luck she's been receiving and runs after him.
"Goddess, help me," she jokes to herself flatly.
Lewa looks back over his shoulder at the irritated hunter and smile, "Questions later, running now."
He spies the sniper perched in the roof of the adjacent building. The would-be assassin quickly slings his rifle over his shoulder before taking off across the rooftop. Lewa slows momentarily, memory racing as he plots out possible routes. He vaguely hears Lennata approach and turns to her.
"Keep him running straight ahead. I've got an idea."
Before the drell can take off again, Lennata seizes his upper arm.
"Why should I take orders from you?"
Lewa gives her a wry smile.
"You got a perfect blueprint of Omega in your head? No? Then swallow your pride and do what I say….please."
Lennata throws off her grip and clenches her teeth, clearly unhappy. He was right though, she hadn't been on Omega long enough to know every nook and crevice of this place. Without another word she follows after the escaping sniper.
-Back at the Clinic-
As she catches Lewa and Lennata run off to find the mystery sniper, Iysis releases the biotic sphere feeling no need to continue to hold it because the sniper was most likely distracted by the two. She leans down and with skilled hands her body, like Lewa's had before, seemed to run on auto-pilot. She pulls off the shattered, now useless, chest piece quite easily due to the extensive damage done to it.
"You'll be alright Scarab," she speaks as she tries to relax him, her voice carrying soothingly.
She grabs one of her vambraces, and pressing down on either side in a certain spot, the vambrace and glove comes off with ease. She repeats the same with the other. The wound was deep and she had neither time nor equipment to sanitize so she was going to use her bare hands, which were as clean as they could have been for this situation. She dipped her fingers in the healing salve and began to work it into the wound, the area the clear liquid touched hissed as it began to do its purpose. The wound was about a whole hands length in, as her hands became coated with the familiar warmth of blood. Her fingers worked delicately against the rubbery soft tissue as the gel mended the other parts together. The hole in diameter was no larger than the base of a coffee mug, the flesh around the entrance, tattered and discolored, explaining that the skin was already dying.
Scarab's mind is a haze. He looks up at the determined expression on the girl's face. He can't process why she would work so hard to help him after everything that's happened that day. He opens his mouth to speak and finds it hard to breathe.
"Why?" all he can manage to get out.
Her eyes meet his for a split second with a worn smile,
"Because life is life, no matter the vessel that carries it."
She returns her focus on the wound before continuing, "What you do with that life is your decision, but I'm giving you back that chance to control it once more, for yourself."
She turns back and dips her fingers again, the medigel already turning red from the use of it by delicate red fingers.
Unbeknownst to either of them they are being observed by one final person. Scars litter the side of the salarian's face. He quietly watches the proceedings through the scope of his custom Black Widow. He speaks into his headset.
"Okay boss, Scarab's down. What should I do about the medic?"
A slight delay before a deep voice sounds in his ear.
"Black Bishop takes White Pawn". Talon Reks smiles with glee, "Music to my ears boss."
He activates the laser sight and lines him his shot, grinning madly as he does. Down on the ground, Scarab notices the glimmer of red shining through the dark. His mind takes a split second to realize what he's seeing. Mustering the last remnants of his strength he shoves Iysis as hard as he can. The shot rings out barreling through Scarab's chest, but missing Iysis completely. He splutters as his lungs begin to fill with blood. A chuckle rises in his throat.
Iysis feels herself hit the cool concrete floor, her head spinning as she tries to sit upright, her hands kept close to her to try and keep them from touching the ground. Her vision blurs as she makes out Scarab. "Scarab?" she mutters confused, shaking her head to stop her mind from spinning, which causes one of the two red ribbons in her hair to fall free to the ground without her notice.
"Scarab?" she calls out a little louder. As her vision returns to her she is able to make out muffled gurgles, like someone gargling water. She sits back on her knees and presses back up to stand, walking over to him. Blood bubbles forth from his mouth spilling over his chin.
"Scarab!" she drops down and pulls him back to lean on her not understanding what happened.
Her eyes return to the wound and she notices another puncture different from the other wounds. Alarmed she expands another biotic sphere, and her mind returns briefly to Lewa and Lennata, worry tapping at the back of her mind.
"Scarab I need to lay you down" she already began to try to set him down to slow the regurgitation, but feels a hand on her upper arm causing her to pause.
Scarab smiles weakly. "Don't…..I need…..*cough*…the info….." He struggles to activate his omni-tool. The glowing red omni-tool springs to life as he transfers a file to Iysis's.
"Give this…..*cough*….to her." Blood trickles down the side of his mouth.
"Why did you save me?" Iysis asked, her eyes glossing over as if she would cry any second now.
He chuckles, "Your words…..guess you were right. It was my choice….*cough*…..to save you…All life…...sac…..red...Iy….sis..."
She feels his breaths slow to a minimal and then stops completely as the life in her hands ebbs away. She slowly returns his body to the ground and sits back looking over him. She sets her hands in her lap, the blood on her upper wrist already beginning to cake, and nods quietly.
"Yes, all life is sacred."
-The Chase-
Lewa takes off cutting through a narrow alleyway to get a quick boost up into the rafters, leaping from surface to surface. He spies the glint of the overhead lights reflecting off the sniper's helmet. A flash of blue signals that Lennata is hot on his heels. Lewa surveys the situation, plotting his plan of attack. Leaping high into the air, he sends a volley of biotic pulls raining down onto the would-be sniper. The sniper dodges most of the spheres, but the final one strikes his lower leg pulling it out from under him. As he hits the ground, he pulls a long serrated knife from his boot and hurls it with all his might at the oncoming Lennata.
Lennata skids to a halt as the blade rotates like a pinwheel towards her. She tilts her shoulders back to evade the blade but as it passes her she raises her hand up, following the spin and twists her body around. The action catches the blades momentum by the hilt and completely changes the trajectory, spinning on her finger, and launches right back to its owner as her arm guides it.
'Nice move. Too bad I had to be your opponent though.' she thought to herself, watching the blade.
The sniper dodges with experience, and his blade holsters itself halfway into a metal pillar about a couple of feet behind him. His helmet kept still in the direction of the blade, as if observing it, before slowly returning back in the direction of Lennata. Lennata places her hands on her hips and smirked, her eyes aflame with new vigor.
Realizing that he is seriously outclassed, the sniper runs from the asari with something akin to fear in his movements. However he gets only twelve steps before Lewa appears from the right, sweeping the snipers legs out from under him and delivering a sharp elbow, driving the helmet hard into the ground. Lewa smiles as he pins the sniper's shoulders to the ground and holds the helmet flat against the stone floor. He looks over at Lennata with a new resolve showing in those black eyes. Grinning, he removes a coil of wire from his belt. In three swift movements, the sniper sits trussed up like a piece of meat.
Lennata walks over, her boots clicking against the ground, and stops in front of the sniper. "Well that was more trouble than it needed to be."
She tilts her head and looks at Lewa,
"Not bad by the way"
Lewa gives her an appreciative smile, "So what do you want me to do with him?"
Lennata sighs and rubs her temple
. "Bring him with us. We can find out why he was trying to kill Scarab after we get the info I came here for."
She takes one more look at the sniper before turning to walk back, leaving Lewa to the sniper, not wanting to deal with him at the moment. A headache begins replacing her energy she had earlier and causes her to curse under her breath.
"He better be ready to talk now."
Lewa looks at the sniper and chuckles, "Guess you're coming with us."
He reaches down and slings the sniper over his shoulder and follows after Lennata. Lennata takes her time as she retraces her steps back towards the clinic, checking every now and then on Lewa behind her. As they reach and enter into the clinic Lennata notices a new biotic sphere, and reaches out to touch it. A few seconds later the firm surface, as if recognizing a familiar presence, warps beneath her fingertips and her hand passes through gently, followed by her body.
"Scarab better be ready to talk now, I don't care if he's sleeping or rest-" she freezes in her walking motion.
Iysis sat still with the batarians body in front of her. She had placed his arms over his chest and the blood and wounds on his body had been thoroughly cleaned. His eyes were open but he remained still, his chest not moving. Iysis quietly rises up to her feet and turns around, her eyes towards the ground, and her hands held together, wiped clean of Scarab's blood. The pressure is too much for Lennata.
"What the hell happened!" she shouts angrily, Iysis doesn't even flinch.
"I left trusting your words, and I'm pretty sure I left him alive and breathing."
She throws out one of her hands towards Scarab's lifeless body, but Iysis remains silent, which further increases Lennata's agitation.
"Why won't you answer me!"
Iysis's eyes snap upward. "I did everything I could. While you two left I was here, tending to him….He gave his life for my own."
Lennata gave a huff. "What are you talking about?"
Iysis tosses something gold in front of Lennata and it clinks to the floor, rolls in a half circle, and touches the tip of her left boot.
Her eyes study the bullet, "Sniper round..." she speaks in disbelief and looks up at Iysis who by now is looking off to her side, not wanting to speak anymore.
Lennata hears the heavy drop of a body hitting the floor and clenches her fists.
Lewa stares at the scene in disbelief. He rushes over to Iysis and places his hands on her shoulders.
"Are you alright?" She nods silently.
Lennata storms over to the sniper.
"I need answers now! Time to lose the helmet!"
She rips the helmet off the dazed sniper revealing the battered, scarred face of a human. She notes the tattoo on his right temple, unclear as to its meaning. His black spiky hair drenched with sweat, a trickle of blood leaks from his nose. His eyes blink in the sudden change in light before focusing on the asari. His eyes narrow.
"What?"
"Tell me who else was working with you?"
"Go to hell"
Lennata glares, "Not what I wanted to hear." She pulls out her pistol and places the barrel against the sniper's forehead
He disregards the pistol to his forehead and looks away. Lennata growls and raises up her arm to hit him with the side of the gun but hesitates and instead brings it back down to her side.
Iysis walks up besides Lennata, who gives her a glance, "What now?" she mutters.
Iysis looks to her , her eyes gentle, noticing the hesitation Lennata had made.
"Why did you hesitate?"
Lennata shifted uncomfortably, "What is this about," she answered.
Iysis smiled and looked up, "I have the information."
Lennata looked at Iysis
"You do?" she pipped, then coughed, slightly embaressed, "Err, I mean how did you get the information, how do you even know what information I need?"
Iysis giggled, causing further embarrassment for Lennata. Iysis wrapped her arms around herself,
"It took an Asari bounty hunter, and a master drell assassin but a truly kind hearted batartian told me a little secret a certain Asari needed." I
ysis's eyes turned and met Lennata's. Lennata, not knowing how to respond, felt a strange tinge run through her. It wasn't an unkind feeling; it was just ... foreign to her. She watched as Iysis turned to walk away.
"Wait a second I need that information!" Lennata called out after.
Iysis stopped and turned back. "
Then take me with you."
Lennata was taken aback, "What?" she asked dumbfounded.
"The information Scarab gave me... I know I wasn't supposed to but I glanced through it, and the information from what I gathered wasn't meant for eyes like ours."
Lennata folded her arms over her chest and laughed,
"No way medic, I am not babysitting you."
Iysis's brows furrowed at the intentional miss of her name and then returned her expression to it's normal peaceful state.
"Well I guess then your just going to have to walk back to whom ever empty handed."
She mimicked Lennata's stance, "and all that work you did would have been for nothing."
Lennata's brow raised as this new side of Iysis appeared before her.
"So you're going to bribe me with MY own bounty."
"Pretty much."
Lennata was at a loss, but didn't mind it; in fact she was quite intrigued.
"Fine."
Iysis relaxed her pose and walked away victorious, and began gathering up remaining supplies into an open container. Lennata's eyes were drawn to a red ribbon on the floor and she knelt down to pick it up gently in her hand, noticing it to be one of Iysis's ribbons. A smirk touched her lips as she stood back up, running her thumb over the dirtied red silk.
'Biotic Sphere, extremely talented medic, and now extortionist... I wonder what else she's hiding'
Lennata wondered as she looked back to Iysis who had just finished refitting her vambraces and gloves.