Thessia
Thirty minutes went by. The CIC was a hub of tense but brisk efficiency. The status plot was updated as fast as the reports came in. Beside Zelenia, Pesair relayed her orders as quickly as she gave them. The area she was designated to cover was the military industrial zone that comprised of armor, weapons, ammunition and hardware industries. Essentially and literally the heart of the military. Should the zone suffered significant damage, it would set back the retake Thessia campaign. The facilities were well fortified but by no means invincible. The TI were pushing very hard. If they succeeded in reaching the facilities, they would be destroyed.
Most of the academy commandos were assigned to that sector, the veteran companies were deployed to push back the advancing TI streaming through the holes they had punched in the perimeter. The recruits were covering the rest of the perimeter yet unbreached. With neither Nyrine or Sanar around, Gallia had taken command of the freshest recruits. Assigning the human to command only emphasized the gaps in the ranks. The Systems Alliance did not object to the assignment of their officers in the conflict but Zelenia wasn't happy. More than ever, she cursed the Assembly for their procrastination.
As she kept herself abreast of the development on the battlefields, she felt there was something not right but couldn't pinpoint what it was. Instinct and experience told her she had to find it and soon. Ignoring the flood of reports blossoming on the main plot, she looked at the displays with a sweeping gaze that didn't actually see anything. Her inner conscious would trigger a recognition once she find it. The visuals on the city changed every ten seconds. Something prompted her to halt the third sweep.
She frowned at a group of ten skycars heading towards the commercial sector. Air traffic in the city ceased several minutes ago, stragglers had been forced down by traffic control once general alert had gone out. Those ten skycars were out of place. Extremely out of place. It could only mean one thing. As she reached out for the comm line to the civil services command centre, the skycars set down. She pulled up the visual from the spy eye for that area and watched several soldiers dressed in grimy hardsuits emerged.
"Get me Prime Xi stat," she rapped out.
As Pesair hastened to do so, Zelenia was horrified to see there were still civilians in the area. The civil authorities were supposed to ensure every civilian was evacuated. Where were they? Why hadn't they cleared the commercial sector? Anger flared as she watched the civilians went down. The implications of the TI's presence worried her deeply. How did they get pass the inner defenses? To get to the commercial sector, they had to have flown through all the defenses embedded in buildings and streets. There was no sign of any damage to the skycars which meant they were identified as friendlies by the defense system.
"Prime Xi is on the line, Izharia," said Pesair.
"Prime Xi, I've an urgent request," Zelenia said quickly. "How many geth troopers can you deploy in the city?"
"Izhario Vantios, diplo...," the geth prime began to say.
"Let me rephrase that," she interrupted tensely. "In light of the current situation, diplomatic stipulation restricting geth movements within the city is null. I take full responsibility," she ignored her assistant's shocked gasp beside her. "I have reason to believe the TI have infiltrated into the city using skycars primed with local beacons. Source, sympathisers."
The geth prime paused. "Probability is high." It examined the readouts at its end. "Our scans show several local vehicles still in operation. We can deploy the complement of one dropship but will not be able to cover every group."
"Local enforcement troops will intercept the stragglers." She tried not to wince as she thought of the city police. How capable were they against the TI? It didn't matter. Unlike the civilians, they were armed and stood a better chance. "They will work in conjunction. Thank you," she added as the geth prime signed off.
Without pause, she switched to the channel for city control and enforcement departments. Her suspicion increased when she was handed from one official to another, none of whom seemed capable of handling her request. Such disorder boded ill. When the division chief herself finally took the call, her antipathy must have communicated across to her for she was quick to accept the orders to change beacon frequency for non-military vehicles and to deploy whatever squads she had to intercept other groups of TI incursion. That done, Zelenia contacted Supreme Commandant T'Annor.
As her immediate subordinate, she should have informed T'Annor at once to discuss her suspicion and what steps they should take. Given the situation, she opted to act immediately than to wait for approval. Having worked with T'Annor, she had a good idea which way her superior would go. This was borne out when T'Annor accepted her report and decisions. Harbouring the same misgivings on the city cops, T'Annor decided to send in a few squads to reinforce the local forces to ferret out the infiltrators.
They needed more squads to deal with the infiltration. The problem was the breached sectors were still hotly contested. There was hardly any reinforcements unless they pulled in volunteer civilians. Given the developments, they were not sure whom they could trust. As it was, there was only one recourse for Zelenia.
Cekric Three Perimeter
No rest for the wicked.
"Do not use your damn glowies till you see the white of their eyes!" Gallia shouted as she ran half-crouched behind the barrier, a sharp eye on the recruits taking cover behind it.
Loaded with boxes of thermal clips, she tossed them at the feet of the recruits. Her assistant followed, similarly burdened. The cacophony of whining shrills, screams and explosions around her from the assault rifles, gun turrets, rockets, vehicular engines almost drowned out her words. It was a all too familiar din that cut through the helmet buffers. It brought back memories of the Reaper War except that there was none of that bone chilling thrum through the air and ground. Nor was there the dark dread of looming alien metal.
"Conserve your strength! I don't want any heroics!"
She thumped a recruit on the top of her helmet when she ventured to rise higher to see better. Scenic appreciation was for the foolish in a hot zone.
"Your noodle's gonna drop fast enough if they reach you, focus and fire on your targets!"
A chorus answered her over the comlink as she drew near the observation post, her aching arms blessedly empty. The soldier at the observation post moved aside when she climbed up. She ducked when hot plasma shots splashed against the shielding. Muttering imprecations under her breath, Gallia took stock of the situation as she peered through the field viewer, ignoring the heavy thunder of nearby turrets and the thud of assault rifles.
It was even worst than the assault on the spaceport weeks ago. Then, it was in swells. This was a tsunami. The only thing keeping the TI back was the murderous hail of fire the defenders were pouring down. Wrecked skycars burned hot below. Part of the barrier was almost caved in by the wreckage. The result of suicidal dives of the TI. Most were shot down but two had manged to impact against the wall at the same point, creating cracks. Most of the TI fire and missiles were presently concentrated at this point in an attempt to breach it.
There was also a considerable mound of TI corpses piled there. Without the reinforcement of the recruits, the TI could just climb over the pile and over run the defenses if they could get to the barrier. Clearing out the corpses was impossible. The only way to do that was to use rockets and blast them to pieces. Or pour incendiary fuels over and light it. She shuddered at the thought of the resultant gory mess and resolved not to carry it out unless circumstances called for it.
As long as the clips keep coming, we can keep the pressure on them. I hope.
Overhead, there were few enemy gunships. Something she was thankful for. When she had arrived with the recruits, it was as if the sky was blackened with swarms of angry insects. Fiery infernos had flared when enemy skycars and gunships were shot down. Some had even managed to overfly the barrier but were downed by rocket troopers and Gardian turrets. To come with that many, the TI in the nearest zone had to have thrown everything they had.
She did not think they had seen the end of it. The asari had a planetful of them. The TI outnumbered them a hundred to one. If they were to come all at once, both reclaimed cities would not last an hour. Sometimes she wondered that they hadn't done so in the last five years. Kelice and Sharzis were practically sitting ducks so what were they waiting for? It was a mystery she often discussed with Pulchia and Nervia.
Wonder if that old hag has anything to do with it. Or maybe half of them are already warped out of mind, the rest are just busy barking up against one another to band up.
She hadn't spoken of the old matriarch to any one. Not when that commando, Hiaras, told her the old one was a lever to get the Assembly to do the right thing. How was the commando or her mentor supposed to accomplish such a thing, she had no idea. She didn't know her but she agreed to keep silent since Sanar asked that she not speak of the incident. Sanar she trust. Or rather she trust her gut feeling about the lieutenant. No matter. It wasn't her business. Right now, she had a brood of chicks to look after.
So far, none of the recruits had taken a serious hit. She meant to keep it that way. Her helmet comlink pinged, pitched high. A sound she both anticipated and dreaded. No, no, surely none of the brass would start thinking of sending in greenies to do something stupid. Dialling sound buffer to the maximum, she hunkered down behind the shielding to listen. Before long, she popped up again, much relieved. Clapping her assistant who was crouched nearby on the shoulder to get her attention, she delivered new orders as she considered who she should bring on her new assignment.
Toggling the unit comlink, she contacted the individuals she had in mind. It took several minutes before the squad she called up assembled. After leaving more instructions to her assistant, she set off with the squad for one of the shuttles waiting to remove the injured at the evac stations. Here, she ran into a different line of fire; reporters and their vid drones. Ignoring the questions flung her way, Gallia jogged through them, the squad right on her heels.
She went to have a word with the surprised pilot as the squad buckled in. Within seconds, they were on their way. Braced behind the pilot in the cockpit, she called up the city grid on her omni-tool. The TI skycars were highlighted. Unless the TI were planning to go on a tour of the shops, restaurants, amphitheatre, gardens, festival plazas and all the little nooks and corners of the commercial sector, there was only one place they would head to.
If they were searching for a particular target she suspected they were after. The problem was no one was expecting the incoming parties. Zelenia would have sent out a warning but no doubt it was already too late. That was, if the Izharia's suspicion was correct. She was inclined to believe Zelenia. Well, hey, obviously, she had centuries of experience to her own meagre bits of several years. How to hold a candle to that?
The pilot set them down outside a restaurant, less than a block away from the medical centre and returned to her post at the front line once they disembarked. The squad huddled around Gallia, listening attentively as she briefed them. Meeting each soldier's eyes as she spoke, she gauged their mood. Anticipation of course. For once, they were on the offensive and they were eager. They would get their first taste of the hunt. That worried her. They were all too likely to commit the hundred and one mistakes when they caught the scent. If, she corrected mentally. If the TI intruders were not scooped up by the geth and city cops. She reminded them once more of their training, feeling like a nagging robot.
"Omni-tools to active scan. Set chronos on my mark. Mark." She tabbed her own omni-tool and stood up. "Eyes too, people. Tech isn't everything. Move out."
The street where they were set down was empty. They split up, covering opposite sides of the street as they made their way past shops and restaurants. Nothing was seen other than hastily abandoned meals and goods that lay exposed. As it should be. As they approached the end of the street, Gallia halted the group, eyeing several skycars that were parked haphazardly nearby with doors open. They looked more dingy than usual, inside and out. Faded and more bust up. The skycars the TI had driven in.
Around the corner was the gardens. Beyond that, the large plaza that fronted the medical centre. After a glance round the corner, she signaled the group to move up. Keeping to the cover of trees and bushes, they darted through the gardens. That was when they stumbled over the bodies on the garden path.
It was a mix lot. Asari, humans, salarians, volus and a pair of turians. Though the rest said nothing, she could feel their anger for it was obvious they were gunned down in the back, likely when they were running away. What turned up the fury was that there were two younglings dead as well. Dead kids were a familiar sight. Hell, she had seen plenty of them during the Reaper War. Dying an even uglier death than these before her now. Husks weren't exactly clean killers but to say was she was inured to the barbarity of the act, that would take an eternity.
"Stay focus, people," she said grimly. "Eyes peel."
Zelenia was damn right. I'd bet I'm really really not going to like the entrance.
At the perimeter of the gardens, they halted again to scrutinise the other end of the plaza. Skycars and ambulances crammed the drive way to the main entrance of the medical centre but not a single soul was in sight. One of the soldiers reported broken windows at the upper floors, reinforcing Gallia's suspicion that the TI had already reached their target. They wouldn't be going anywhere just yet. She knew exactly where their target was and she wasn't on Thessia.
Just as she was debating a flanking advance, a faint thud and rustle behind her had her rolling sideways, assault rifle out. The squad quickly turned about, weapons at the ready but nothing could be seen. Frowning, she got up cautiously, examining the air. Was that shimmering? Her fingers tensed when the air seemed to change.
"Corporal Gallia?"
"Well shit, that flashlight of yours could use a shiny!" she snapped at the geth trooper, lowering the rifle. She had been that damn close to pressing the trigger.
"Apologies. We were scouting nearby when we picked up your suit beacon frequency," the geth trooper said. "We have determined that more than a squad of TI have infiltrated the medical centre and progressed to the upper levels. We will infiltrate from the back entrance while you take the front."
She turned to look at the building across the plaza. Half-crazed the TI might be but she'd bet a month's pay that they weren't stupid. "Do you know if they left sentries at the lobby?"
"There are three at the entrance, one near the lifts. We detect no jamming signal." The flaps of the geth trooper's optic sensors wavered in a circle. "Sending you their positions."
She noted the positions of the sentries. It was doubtful they would remain stationary.
"We will maintain contact on zeta channel." Without waiting for her reply, the geth trooper engaged its cloak and vanished. The quick thuds indicated it had taken off at a run.
She motioned to the others.
"Ailia, Raezio," she said to two of her squad who specialised in infiltration, "get across the plaza to that lobby. I don't care what you see on the way there. Keep your head. Your job is to confirm and maintain an eye on their positions. I don't have to remind you not to jiggle in the hot zone?"
She glared at the two whose performance had been on the average. If they could rein in that stupid tendency to jump the gun, they would go far. "Slow and easy, got that? One dumb move and it's not just you, others are gonna suffer. This is not a game."
The two nodded solemnly. There was none of that eager elation she had seen in their eyes during training, only earnestness. Satisfied, she jerked her head in the direction of the plaza. Without further ado, they vanished. Snapping her fingers, Gallia sent the rest back to watch the perimeter and took up a spot opposite the entrance of the medical centre. While they waited, she brought up the floor plan of the medical centre. How would the TI advance through each floor? Would they stay together or split up into smaller groups? How much resistance would they meet? Given that the security guards were armed only with pistols, how long could they hold out?
Her helmet comlink buzzed. "Delta 4 to Delta 1," said Ailia.
"Delta 1. Go."
"Confirmed target positions. One at lift doors, one at reception counter, one at the entrance. They have clear line of sight to plaza."
Gallia's display of the ground floor plan lit up with three red dots and two green. Those two buttheads were mere metres away from their respective targets. Lovely. If they were spotted, their asses might get cooked.
"Load outs?"
"Rifles, pistols, grenades."
"Delta6 to Delta1," said Reazios. "Sentry at lift is armed with rocket launchers, unknown package on reception counter."
That didn't sound good. "Confirm target three is in the clear," said Gallia.
The clarification came. Telling the two to hold, Gallia signalled the rest to advance on the double but to keep out of sight of the entrance. Fortunately, the gardens flanked the plaza and ran right up close to the front entrance of the medical centre. Gallia made sure the others stayed under cover as they approached as close as they dared. Crouched low, they inched nearer to the jumble of skycars and ambulances. At that distance, they could clearly see the carnage.
"Focus, people," Gallia muttered as her eyes roamed over the bloody mangled corpses, scattered medkits, overturned trolleys and trays. Incoming medical cases were usually taken to the emergency bays. If these people were here, that meant the casualty load must have been overwhelming that they had been directed to use the front entrance.
"Delta 4 and 6, are the three still holding positions?"
She checked her omni-tool. The three red dots flashed in affirmation. She assigned targets to the infiltrators. Directly in front of the TI standing at the entrance was an overturned skycar. Lying prone, Gallia inched forward very carefully past the jumble of vehicles until she was behind the skycar. She checked her rifle and toggled her comlink.
"Take them out in fifteen."
She watched the chronos and rolled out from behind the skycar on the mark. She heard a shout but she had already acquired her target. The TI went down. Both Ailia and Reazios signalled their targets were down too. Getting to her feet, she moved up the rest of the squad and went into the lobby. At the reception counter, she found the package. Suspecting it might be a bomb, she did a low level scan, wary of triggering any sensitive sensor. No alarm was triggered. She did a double take at the image on her omni-tool. Moments later, the package was opened and she was viewing the contents herself.
"What the-?" her eyes met those of Ailia's who looked as befuddled. "They plan to hold a fancy dress party or something?" She tossed down the robes. She was expecting mines or something that equate a big bang, not clothes. Talk about warped minds. Or not. Perhaps the robes were meant for that old matriarch.
"We're time wasting, up the stairs to the research wing. Reazios, take point."
"Shouldn't we check out the rest of this level, sir?" Ailia queried in puzzlement.
"I've an idea where they're heading, six floors up, the labs."
Gallia didn't bother to explain, it would take too long. Besides, the robes only confirmed her suspicion. It was scrappy, but she couldn't help it. Her Alliance CO would tear the strips off her if he knew how she was carrying out this operation but the complex was too large and she had only a small team of nine. To cover every floor would take too long. By the time they scoured every microbe, all they would turn up would be corpses. She could safely argue later, if queried, that the geth would have checked each floor as they advanced. On that thought, she checked her omni-tool and found the geth had updated the status of every floor.
Opening a channel to command, she sent in their update before switching over to the zeta channel to check with the geth. They were up on the third floor. There was no TI where they were but they could hear sporadic gunfire from the upper levels, incidentally, the section she was planning to head to. That decided her. The TI would congregate on the fifth and sixth floor. They only had to watch out for stragglers.
"Eyes peel for strays." She waved to the squad to proceed up the stairs, bringing up the rear herself.
At the next floor, a check at either end of the corridor revealed more bodies but no TI. Most of the security cameras appeared intact. They continued up to the next level, hearing distant sounds of shooting. Another check along the corridor again failed to reveal their foes so they ascended to the next level and the next till they arrived at the sixth level. They crept along the corridor. Gallia knew she was right. The research level had the most number of security scanners and these were shot out. A hiss of caution from Reazios who had gone down the corridor on the right froze them. Before she could ask for an update, a shot was heard. It sounded too close for comfort.
"Report."
"Delta 6. All clear."
All clear? What the fuck? Cautiously, Gallia made her way down the corridor and found herself in a large reception lounge. She sent the others to cover the main corridor and exits before making her way to Reazios who was crouched behind a sofa, speaking softly to someone. That someone turned out to be a young asari nurse, upper body drenched in blood. The body of a TI soldier lay nearby.
"Damn it, why didn't you get some medigel on her?!" Gallia rasped, hurriedly reaching for the medkit on her belt.
"No, not her fault. It's too late-," the wounded asari reached out weakly to stop her before dropping her arm.
"Look, there's-," Gallia began to say. The blood had come from an injury on her shoulder. A flesh wound. If the blood loss was stemmed, she would survive.
"Not like this, not what she has taken-," the nurse said brokenly. "...thank you." The last words she directed to Reazios before she closed her eyes and ceased breathing.
"What?!" Gallia reached out in disbelief but Reazios stopped her.
"She's gone. Medigel will not help, it may heal the body but not-," Reazios bit her lip. "I'm sorry, sir but the TI was doing the forbidden to her. I cannot wait."
"What the-."
There it was again. Forbidden. It was a subject she had brought up with Sanar after the incident at Armali but the lieutenant dodged the question. Neither were Pulchia and Nervia any more helpful. Both had clammed up and looked angry and ashamed. Definitely a touchy and restricted topic. Taboo even. She tried a search on the xtranet and turned up a blank.
"What the fuck is this forbidden whatever I keep hearing about?"
"You don't know, sir?"
"Would I be asking if I knew?!" Gallia tried not to snap.
"I'm sorry I brought it up sir."
"Don't tell me you're sorry. Explain!"
"I can't. Sir," Reazios said apologetically, meeting her frustrated glare unflinchingly.
"Of all the-."
Knowing better than to press her under such circumstances, Gallia jerked her head in the direction of the main corridor leading into the other wing. With a look of relief on her face, Reazios moved off. Following several paces behind, Gallia gestured to the rest to do the same. If none of the younger asari were willing to spill the beans, she would buttonhole one of the older ones.
Yeah, and how'd you shake it out of Zelenia, huh?
The sound of gunfire was louder when they reached the wide open doors that led to the next wing. From the decals on the wall, there were several different departments and lab facilities. The chances of more TI troops scattered around was high. Splitting up the squad into threes, she sent them to check the row of rooms on the right. She kept Ailia and Reazios with her.
"Slow and easy. Nobody shoots until I say so. Of course, don't just wait if you see them sending one your way," she murmured into the comlink as she moved with her team farther in.
Now and then, she bent to check the sprawled and twisted bodies, medical staff and security guards, that lay scattered here and there. She had hoped there would be some alive but the TI were too thorough. Damn them. It looked like they searched the bodies too. Probably looking for information. A soft vibration over the comlink. The other teams had spotted TI soldiers.
"How many? What're they doing?"
"Three at the tech labs, downloading data."
"Delta 7 to Delta 1. I've two at the cafeteria, packing up the food."
Crap. She hoped none of the bits about the Prothean scrambler was sitting in the computer terminals. Information about the device was not released to the public and known only among researchers, the top brass and selected few officers. If the TI knew about it, all hell would break lose. The assault they were getting now would seem like a love tap. Three and two, that made five.
"Get a bead on them and take them down. With that much gunfire going off nearby, their pals are not going to notice."
She crossed her fingers. Muffled rifle shots went off behind the walls. Then, confirmation the targets were down. That made a total of eight, including those on the ground floor. How many left? Her comlink vibrated again.
"Zeta to Delta 1. We have linked up with the survivors at the lab holding cells. Confirmed six targets taken down on the way up."
That made fourteen. "How many at the lab?" Gallia asked.
"We see more than two dozen."
"Evacuate the survivors. We're going to take them out from our side."
"In progress. Survivors are proceeding down the stairwell."
Her tension eased. So far, so good. She had lost no one in the squad yet. Of course the TI infiltrators weren't expecting anyone to discover their presence in the city so soon. They probably thought they could get to their target fast enough and escaped before any troops show up. Too bad things weren't going right for them.
With the geth adding their firepower from the other side of the labs, they could wrap up the intruders neatly. Ordering the other teams to close in on the labs, she waved her team forward. They reached the doors that led to the laboratory holding cells. The sound of gunfire was thunderous. Gallia wondered if the TI realised that the people throwing fire back at them were geth. Reazios went through and reported a small group of TI soldiers bunched up at the entrance.
"Eight of them. The rest are in the lab."
"They can't get anywhere with the geth at the other end."
Gallia crept forward with Ailia and soon reached Reazios's position. Her map displayed the eight TI soldiers. All at one spot. Utter stupidity. The positions of the geth was also lit, including the other Delta teams. They were adjacent to the gaggle. She wouldn't need them. A grenade would clear out that bunch.
She had the Delta teams backed away. Once they were at a safe distance and behind cover, she pulled a grenade from her belt. A word of warning to the geth, a quick look round the corner as she pressed down on the pin. She pitched the grenade down the corridor at the bunch before ducking back out of sight. She doubted they even knew she was there, they were busy firing into the lab. The explosion that went off was shockingly loud. One that would alert those within that they were surrounded.
Gallia grabbed hold of Reazios when she made to proceed. "I didn't say to move, soldier."
She peered round the corner again and heard the soft swish of something thrown. They retreated hastily. A grenade went off. Followed by three more. Gallia crept back to the corner when there were no more explosions.
"I guess they're mad," she murmured. A hail of fire peppered the door of the room the Delta teams were in. "Very mad."
"Zeta to Delta 1. They're distracted, moving in."
"DT two and three, hold positions," Gallia ordered.
She looked at her team, gestured for grenades. When they had them ready, she held up her fingers, counting down silently as more gunfire went off. At five, she charged round the corner with them and took up positions at the door, ignoring the broken bloody parts they were almost standing on. It was easy to spot the TI, hunkered down behind overturned desks and consoles. Easy targets with them facing the other way to counter incoming fire from the geth. They threw the grenades and fired their rifles. It was all over within two minutes.
"The holding cells are not breached," the geth trooper who came up to Gallia said as she investigated the lab cells, worried that some of the TI that the researchers were holding had been released. A few were empty but those that were occupied, their residents were apparently not too happy, judging by their furious pounding on the windows.
"We were too fast for them to do anything. I tally the number we downed at 38."
"Conclude there may be more," the geth trooper nodded. "We are deploying around the perimeter. Our dropships will arrive to provide backup. We will conduct floor by floor searches. The assault on Kelice is abating," it added.
"It is?"
Gallia clapped a hand to her helemt, realising she had been tardy in one respect; failure to update command. Zelenia must be climbing the walls by now. She knew she was right when Zelenia hinted of her disapproval. Ah well, at least she accomplished what she set out to do. Most of it.
With the TI forces withdrawing, there was no urgent need for the squad to return to the company. Zelenia issued orders that they were to help in clearing out the complex. Relieved, Gallia had the squad assembled and went back down to the ground floor where they found the survivors milling anxiously about, watched over by a few geth troopers. These were mostly lab techs and security guards who had fought back against the intruders. Several were nursing injuries. Since they were yet to be cleared, she had half the squad escort them to the gardens across the plaza. The better to get them away from the scene of the carnage at the entrance. The gardens provided some cover if there were more TI around.
As she was about to order the rest to follow her, she spotted an asari examining the clothes in the package. Now why was she so interested in them? Telling the rest to wait, she loped over to her. A matriarch, she realised when she saw the slightly faded markings.
"I'm sorry, but those are evidence," she said once she reached the matriarch.
"My apologies," the other said, carefully dropping the robes back into the box.
"Do they mean something?" Gallia asked curiously.
"Perhaps. I'm Telienos, thank you for saving the lives of my staff."
"Telienos?" Her luck without having to run up and down inquiring about her. It was her lucky day. Of sorts. "Izharia Vantios was inquiring after you."
"Ahh, yes she would." Telienos nodded. "You will be clearing out the complex with the geth." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Yes, I don't think we got all of them."
"I understand. I will wait with my staff?"
"I sent them across to the gardens-." Gallia turned to point. Just as she did so, she spotted the wounded TI soldier on her knees at the lifts, the rocket launcher in her hands. Instinct took over. She dove for Telienos.