Chapter Eighteen – Prison Break
Aria launched a shockwave at the approaching guards, knocking them off their feet and sending them skidding away across the floor. More had piled in through the doors to the hall, easily enough to apprehend everyone in the room if necessary but Aria wasn't fazed. A hard snarl had set on her face and biotic energy rippled across her body, until Tevos grabbed her firmly by both arms.
"Don't fight them," she commanded, making Aria glare at her in surprise.
"Are you insane? You'd rather get arrested?" they both ducked instinctively as a loud crack deafened them, followed by a biotic explosion that seemed to warp the air. Tevos frowned harshly.
"There will be a diplomatic solution to this, Aria. It's better if we don't resist."
"Have you heard yourself?" Aria demanded, directing a sharp attack behind the matriarch as a turian guard made to grab her, "When the HTA decides they want something, they don't bother negotiating, they just take it!"
"We can't fight them! They're too powerful! They will never run out of guards to send in here!"
"I will not end up in a cell!"
Tevos tightened her grip, shaking Aria so severely it surprised her slightly. Nearby Shepard and Liara were drawing the attention of the guards with coordinated biotic attacks, distracting them long enough for Tevos to glare at her.
"What are you going to do?" she challenged, "Fight your way out and go on the run again? Alone?"
"If I have to," Aria snarled but Tevos' silken eyes had turned to steel and she clearly wasn't backing down. Her stubbornness was something Aria never ceased to underestimate, it was such a shame she only ever employed it in idiotic ploys like this one, "you can't negotiate your way out of everything!"
"And you can't fight your way out of everything, certainly not on your own. I don't know why you're so desperate to get into asari space, Aria, but you have a much better chance of getting there with me."
"Even from inside an HTA detention centre?"
"We have to stay together," Tevos stated, dodging the question with the skill of a politician. Aria knew there was no time for debate and she hesitated only a second longer before growling irritably and shoving Tevos away from her.
By now the room had descended into anarchy and it was clear no one in it was going to avoid being arrested. A young human guard made a grab for Aria and she punched him so hard he fell to the floor unconscious, the blow had been more for the sake of stress relief than self-preservation and she soon found herself being pounced on by a whole group of guards who were determined to take her down.
Seeing the warning flash in Tevos' eyes, she reluctantly let herself be apprehended, though not without inflicting several injuries on her attackers – some of them hopefully permanent.
It took a while for Tevos' orders to be heard over the fighting but when her voice finally carried through the chaos, her people did as she said and allowed themselves to be taken by the guards, though few looked happy about it.
"I'm assuming we have a plan," Shepard muttered as she was shoved along beside Aria, Liara had been grabbed and pulled further back down the line and Shepard was scanning the crowd for her. Aria looked expectantly at Tevos, who cleared her throat before answering.
"Not exactly."
Shepard stared at her and sighed, "Wonderful."
…
Life inside the HTA detention centre was one of monotonous routine, each day indistinguishable from the last. The exact same meals were served at the exact same times. Lights came on at six o'clock in the morning and went off at ten o'clock at night, all without fail.
There was no recreation, no fresh air or exercise and strictly no socialising. Prisoners never left their cells, never received visitors and never got to leave. It would have been enough to drive most people mad.
But Adarna was not most people. She was nearly seven-hundred years old. She had served the matriarchs when the asari people had ruled the galaxy. She knew the virtue of patience, and that if one waited long enough, opportunity would always arise. Even in a place such as this.
So for months she had waited, enduring the boredom with grace and dignity and without a word of complaint.
She had meditated, receding into the depths of her own mind for hours at a time. She also watched, observing and memorising everything that went on around her – not that there was much to see.
Her cell was large enough only for her and contained only a narrow bench that served as a bed, seat and occasionally a table. A small bathroom cubical was located behind a sliding door and that was all. She hadn't left the cell in months and she was sure that probably broke several laws about humane conditions. She was also sure that the HTA felt no need to abide by any laws they didn't want to.
She was separated from the world by a shimmering, blue energy barrier. Beyond it was a small room with a console where a security was always seated and then a solid metal door that led out into a corridor she had only ever caught the briefest glimpses of.
The only slight variety in the days came from whoever happened to be on duty. There were four guards who were assigned to her cell, working twelve hour shifts at a time and Adarna had quickly worked out the rota they were on.
There was Alya, a surprisingly cheerful human who would often hum to herself while she worked at the console but generally ignored Adarna's existence. Matt was another human who looked permanently weary and would always ask how she was feeling every couple of hours but otherwise stayed silent. Every now and then he would take a break from his work, stretch then pull a picture out from his pocket and sigh heavily as he studied it before returning his attention to the console.
Talik was a battle-scarred old turian who took sly swigs from a hipflask as he worked and would spend a good deal of his time just staring at her through the energy barrier, usually with a mixture of distain and disinterest. Apart from the occasional grunt, she had never heard him speak.
Then there was Sia. Sia was an asari, it was odd to see one working for the HTA but not unheard of. She was about Adarna's age, perhaps a little older and Adarna got the sense she had been a commando. She carried that kind of confidence and experience, along with the weary air of someone who had lost their place in the galaxy.
Adarna frequently wondered why she hadn't joined the project and how she had ended up with the HTA instead. But Sia was excellent at avoiding personal questions and Adarna had never got any answers. That being said, she was more open to conversation than any of the others, often abandoning her work for hours at a time to chat idly about Thessia and the old days. She never let her guard down though and ensured the conversations never strayed into anything that Adarna could find useful.
Still, she enjoyed the distraction.
One of the advantages of living under such a dull routine was that the slightest discrepancy was easily spotted. This particular day, Sia was on duty though she was nearing the end of her shift. They had talked for a while about one of the old cities back on Thessia but now she was working silently.
The sound of the door sliding open drew the attention of both her and Adarna and Adarna frowned as she saw Alya enter. She was due to take over from Sia but not for at least another half-an-hour and nothing ever happened early or late around here.
Alya looked serious – also a rarity – as she crossed the room and leaned in close to Sia, muttering something that Adarna couldn't hear. The asari gave nod and Alya left, as she did Adarna noticed there was only one guard standing outside the door where there would normally be two, like one of them had been called away to something more important.
Forty minutes later, Sia was still on duty. Something bleeped up on her comm panel and she paused to read it, then seemed to sigh to herself quietly before returning to her work.
"Something wrong?" Adarna asked innocently, her curiosity was more than piqued by now. Sia looked up and studied her for a moment, then she smiled.
"Nothing to worry about," she stated. Adarna knew better than to try to get any more out of her but she didn't miss the sound of running guards outside the door, or the distant shouts that sounded distinctly like there was a riot going on.
…
The project members were proving to be difficult for the HTA guards to handle. Jules was almost proud of them. Even though Tevos had ordered them to come quietly they were still making their feelings known, mostly though yelled insults and the occasional head-butt from Grunt.
Everyone who had been in the training hall had been arrested and dragged down to the nearest HTA detention centre. Damon had disappeared – probably to somewhere quiet and safe – and left the detention centre's Chief to deal with the angry horde.
"Fucking hell!" had been his reaction when he had seen them all packed into the main holding cell, clearly spoiling for a fight, "Split them up and put them in cells for fuck's sake!"
"Sir!" one of his guards had called, "We don't have enough free cells to hold them all!"
"Then lock them up in groups, they're going to have to get cosy!"
So Jules had been grabbed and dragged away down a corridor and through one of the many identical metal doors, beyond which was a small room housing only a console and a single cell. She had been shoved unceremoniously into the cell, followed shortly by Aria and Tevos before a blue energy barrier was erected, locking the three of them in.
Aria had punched it, burning the skin off the back of her knuckles, not that she seemed to care. The turian guard assigned to watch them had chuckled, claiming that nothing could get through that energy barrier. Had he seen what Aria had done to a similar barrier two hundred years ago while taking Omega back from Cerberus, he might not have been so cocky. Jules felt no need to enlighten him.
Now Aria was pacing like a caged lion, rage simmering behind her eyes as she kept them firmly on the turian, probably dreaming up the most imaginative ways to kill him.
"Well done, Tevos," she muttered darkly as she strode restlessly back and forth, "now we're stuck in here with no plan to get out."
Tevos was silent, as she had been since leaving the headquarters. The matriarch had eased herself down onto the bench and was sitting with her hands clasped loosely in front of her and her head lowered, staring blankly at the floor.
Jules had watched her keeping her composure as they had been shoved and bundled from secure trucks into the building, surrounded by noise and chaos. Now, however, that control seemed to be draining from her. Her breathing was bordering on shaky and her hands were visibly trembling.
"You okay?" Jules asked. Tevos shot her a surprised glance and swallowed.
"Yes," she replied, though her voice sounded hollow, haunted. During the aftermath of the war Tevos had been like this, only much worse. It had ultimately led to her breakdown. Jules couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever fully recovered from it.
"It'll be okay," Jules decided, sitting swiftly next to the asari in a show of support, "we'll find a way out."
Tevos made a noise that sounded vaguely like a laugh, "How?"
"Don't know yet," Jules admitted, "but I bet I know who'll have a plan."
…
Liara leaned against the wall of the cell and did her best to look casual as she got a proper look at the layout of the small room beyond. Though the more she thought about it, perhaps looking casual when you had just been arrested was more likely to raise suspicions than if she had looked nervous and shifty.
As it happened, nervous and shifty didn't come naturally to her so she settled on glaring angrily at the single human guard who was sitting at the console beyond the energy barrier. He was ignoring her. She wondered how much backup he had waiting beyond that door. From the reaction of the prison warden, this place probably wasn't equipped to deal with such a sudden influx of prisoners so perhaps the numbers would be on their side.
Getting out wasn't the problem though, she had already theorised three separate ways she could shut down the energy field, after that it was a straight up fight. But there was no point escaping until they had a plan of where to go next. It wasn't like they could run back to the headquarters.
She sighed, chewing absently on the corner of her mouth as Grunt sidled up beside her.
"Any ideas?" he asked in a low voice.
"Not presently."
Over on the bench, Ereba was seated with her knees drawn up under her chin, staring glumly at the floor. Grunt sighed and slumped down next to her and Liara sat on his other side, for a time the three of them said nothing.
"Hey," Grunt muttered suddenly, "what if we pretend one of us is dying?"
Ereba's frown mirrored Liara's as they both turned to look at him, "What?"
"You know," he shrugged, "one of you starts screaming, the guard runs in, we take him hostage."
They continued to stare at him until Ereba snorted and shook her head, "You watch too many vids."
"Hmph," Grunt shifted indignantly, "it could work."
"Escaping isn't our only problem," Liara said, "we can't do anything without knowing what the others are planning. We need a way of contacting them."
…
Barbet moved idly from one side of the cell to the other, aware of the guard's eyes following his every move. Behind him, Maia was seated quietly on the bench staring impassively at the floor and he could only guess what ideas were being forged inside that ancient mind of hers – if any.
Egret was cross-legged on the floor beside her while Kyla sat at the other end of the bench, arms folded, one leg slung over the other and a challenging scowl across her brow as she stared the guard down, daring him to make eye contact.
"Any ideas, kid?" Barbet muttered as he stopped pacing and eased himself down beside her.
"Not yet, old man," she replied coldly, "but don't worry, I've broken out of plenty of cells in my time."
Barbet smirked slightly, "I can believe it."
He became aware of whispering from the other side of the cell and looked over to see that Egret was now sitting on the bench, leaning in to Maia's side and talking quickly. The matriarch's gaze shifted up to the walls and her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"What is it?" he hissed. For a moment they paused to look at him, then, with a quick glance at the guard, Egret moved round Maia to sit beside him.
"The circuits that power the energy field must be inside the walls," she explained, "a strong enough biotic attack could warp the metal and cut off the power, disabling the field."
"Well, well," Kyla muttered, "there's a scheming mind underneath that pretty little face, who'd have thought?"
Egret huffed and glared at her.
"The cell was built with biotics in mind, however," Maia cut in calmly, "this metal is tripled reinforced, it would take an incredibly strong attack to warp it."
"Mm, don't look at me," Kyla shrugged, "I can barely knock over a teapot."
Barbet ignored her, keeping his eyes on Maia, "Can you do it?"
"Not at will. To summon that kind of concentration would take days of meditation, possibly even months."
…
Alya was back, muttering urgently to Sia as the asari listened calmly. Adarna strained her hearing, just managing to catch the words 'Tevos' and 'Shepard' before Sia hushed her, clearly more aware of how perceptive Adarna had become than the girl was.
Sia whispered something back that Adarna couldn't make out and then shooed the girl away. As the door closed, Sia looked visibly uncomfortable.
"He's finally done it then?" Adarna asked out loud, disturbing the uneasy quiet, "Damon's shut down the project?"
It was only a guess, but a reasonable one. And – from Sia's reaction – an accurate one.
"I knew he would eventually. He spent so long trying to make us give up, force would be his only option in the end. Tevos was too blind to see it. Considering all she's lived through, it's remarkable how naïve she's become. Clinging on to the vain hope that everything will be alright in the end. She completely lost her nerve after the war, you know. She's a shadow of what she used to be."
Sia remained silent, as she always did when Adarna was straying too close to forbidden topics of conversation.
"Still," Adarna continued, "I can't fault her everything. She did put the project together, even if it's a complete shambles, at least they will make it to the Athena Nebula."
Sia paused, eyes narrowed softly as she looked up through the energy field, "Will they?" she asked carefully.
Adarna smiled, "They will if I have anything to do with it."
…
Jules found herself seated between Aria and Tevos and neither of them were being very chatty. Aria was glaring at the energy field as though looks alone would be enough to destroy it while Tevos had her eyes closed and her forehead resting on clasped hands.
Jules, meanwhile, was formulating a plan.
"The ships," she muttered thoughtfully, as much to herself as any of them.
Aria looked at her with a sharp jerk of her head, "What about them?"
"Are they ready to fly? I mean, are they fully stocked?"
Aria leaned forward a little to look at Tevos, it took a moment for the matriarch to realise they were waiting for her to answer and when she did it was with a weary shrug, "Only with the basics: rations, medical supplies, that sort of thing."
Jules leaned back, well aware of Aria was watching her. She decided to stay quiet and judge how long Aria's patience would hold out. Not very long was the answer.
"Spit it out, Shepard? What are you thinking?"
She waited a second longer – just because she could – and then smiled softly, "How far away is the docking port from here? Two blocks? Damon hasn't had time to ground the ships yet, apart from some final maintenance checks they should be ready to go. All we have to do is reach them."
"Steal our own ships? Hmph," Aria sniffed, "I almost remember why I used to like you, Shepard. But where exactly are you planning for us to go?"
"The Athena Nebula," Jules stated, "once we're there we're beyond the HTA's reach. All we have to do is get through the mass relay."
"And how are we going to do that? The HTA monitors all travel. They've got the biggest fleet in the fucking galaxy and we have no guns. Remind me whose genius idea that was," she muttered darkly.
"But the ships are equipped with cloaks aren't they?" Jules argued, "They can't stop us if they can't see us."
Aria narrowed her eyes for a moment, a flicker of optimism passing through them before she smirked and shook her head, "The HTA must be able to detect us through the cloak, they'd never have let us install it otherwise."
"They don't know about it," Tevos said bluntly, making them both look at her in surprise. She was still staring at the floor, her face weary with resignation. It took a moment for her to glance up and elaborate.
"I couldn't have installed weapons without them noticing, it would have been too obvious. The cloaking system was developed by some contacts of mine in secret, the HTA don't even know it exists."
Aria snorted and shook her head, "It's worrying how often you impress me."
"Then perhaps you should stop underestimating me," Tevos retorted, there was an impatient sharpness to her tone that Jules had rarely heard.
"It's alright, stay calm," she said softly, "we can do this, we just need to get out of here first."
…
Sia had felt the ripple of biotics through the air. Adarna watched as she paused and frowned. She was already on edge, her suspicions piqued by Adarna's cryptic words before. It had been a deliberate ploy. If she was too busy wondering what Adarna was plotting, she might not notice what she was actually doing.
Forming a singularity inside a triple-enforced metal wall was trickier than one might imagine, she was sure the exertion was showing on her face but she didn't let her concentration waver as she focussed on her task, unleashing the steady flow of power that she had been building for months.
Sia was on her feet now, looking frantically about the room as she felt the energy increasing. Her eyes fell on Adarna and sharpened harshly as she marched towards the energy field.
"What are you-"
The question was cut off by the groan of metal as the wall began crumple and buckle, Sia's gaze widened suddenly but before she could react the wall shattered. Metal splintered and exploded outwards accompanied by the sparks of electronics as the wiring within was ripped apart. The energy field flickered and died and with an involuntary scream, Adarna poured her last ounce of energy into the singularity, letting it dissipate in an explosion that blew the rest of the wall apart and sent metal shards splintering across the room.
She felt one graze across her cheek; another hit her in the shoulder but she paid it no mind as she stood. Sia was on the ground, dazed and covered in cuts but alive. Adarna wasn't a killer – not really – but when she had worked closely with the Matriarchs she had been privy to secrets that had made her a target so she had been taught to defend herself. She also knew that against an ex-commando she wasn't going to get many opportunities.
So it was without hesitation that she strode over to the half-conscious asari, plucked the gun that was holstered inside her jacket and aimed for her head. Sia was barely awake when the bullet tore through her face, exploding in a mass of violet blood and exposing shredded fragments of skull and brain.
Adarna turned away from the distasteful sight, blanking it from her mind as she crossed swiftly to the console. Being able to map a person's finger strokes across a console when you couldn't see the interface itself was a skill akin to lip-reading. Adarna had spent many hours watching the guards when they sat down and keyed in their access codes and it was with relative confidence that she typed in a string of numbers.
The codes were accepted and with the smallest of smiles, Adarna gained access to the mainframe, and with it the security systems.
…
Jules' reactions must have been slow compared to Aria's. By the time she had fully registered the energy field flickering out of existence, Aria was already on her feet and striding through the open cell towards the guard with an expression that promised pain.
…
In the next cell along, Kyla and Barbet charged their guard together, incapacitating him quickly while Egret made for the console.
…
Liara was the first to react in her cell, as the energy field shut off, she quickly captured the guard in a singularity. But it was Grunt who then charged at him, crushing back against the wall and wrestling him into unconsciousness.
While he was busy, Liara quickly rounded the console. It seemed that even in the HTA, security systems weren't as advanced as they had been before the war and she hacked into the system in seconds.
"It looks like all the energy fields have been taken offline," she said out loud as she scanned the interface.
"By who?" Ereba asked.
"I don't know. Hold on, I'm opening a comm link to all the other cells. Jules, can you hear me?" theoretically every other prisoner in the building could hear her but if they all responded it would just get confusing.
"Liara?" Jules' voice came back over the comm, "What's going on?"
Before she could reply an alarm started blearing throughout the prison and the sound of running guards could be heard in the corridor outside. Liara sighed.
"Trouble."
…
"What's new?" Jules muttered as the same alarm and the same footsteps reached her own ears. She turned towards the door, ready to fight. Before she got the chance there was the heavy clunk of metal and the door seemed to lock in place. Before she could question it, Egret's voice came across the comm link.
"I've initiated a lockdown," she explained hurriedly, "it won't keep them out for long but-"
"Wait," she was cut off by Liara, "I've scrambled the override codes, should give us a few more minutes."
"Good," Jules took a moment to breath. Behind the door she could hear the guards shouting to each other in confusion as they tried to work out what the hell had happened. She was quite keen to find that out herself.
"So," she started, "who's getting a promotion for taking those energy fields down… anyone?" she was met with silence, until Liara spoke up again.
"The command was sent from cell 614."
"And who's in there?"
"Hold on, I'm just… Goddess. Jules you're not going to believe this."
"Why? Is it so hard to imagine?"
They froze at the sound of Adarna's voice, calm and delicate as usual. For a moment no one spoke. Jules saw Tevos and Aria's eyes lock as though in a silent debate that she wasn't privy to. It was Adarna who broke the silence.
"Don't worry," she sighed impatiently, "I wasn't expecting thanks, and before you start trying to second guess me, I should remind you that we have very little time."
Tevos didn't seem like she was in a hurry though, despite the sounds of the guards banging on the door outside. She was looking pensively down at the comm panel as though she were staring Adarna down through it. Delicately she licked her lips and then spoke.
"What do you want?" she asked carefully. She got a scornful scoff in reply.
"I want the project to go ahead. I want the HTA exposed for what they really are. And I want Thessia back in the hands of the asari. Just because I didn't agree with the way you were running things that doesn't mean I wanted the project shut down."
"You had a very dramatic reaction for a simple disagreement," Tevos stated.
"I'll admit things didn't go to plan. But the past is the past and right now we have more pressing matters to deal with. I promise you don't want to spend several months locked up here."
"I suppose you expect us to take you with us now?"
The question hung there for a while, though the silence was frequently broken by the sounds of the guards outside as they tried repeatedly to get in. Jules ground her teeth, they didn't have time for this.
"Does what I expect matter?" Adarna replied at last, "I've opened your cells, you're all free to do as you wish."
…
Liara listened to the exchange with increasing irritation as numerous escape plans swirled in her head, each one being dismissed before they really took shape. It seemed that one way or the other this was going to come down to a fight, and a bloody one at that.
"Liara," Egret's voice came across the comm, on a different channel to the one everyone could hear, "can you hear me?"
Liara frowned, shut off the audio to the other channel and replied, "Yes, what's wrong?"
"Er, aside from the obvious?" Egret asked sceptically and Liara resisted a smile, Egret hadn't been around Jules long enough for this to be business as usual yet, "I've had an idea," she continued, "I've been looking at the facility's security systems, they have an army of mechs, all deactivated but ready to come online in the event of an emergency."
"People are still using mechs these days?" Liara questioned, "I remember them being very unreliable before the war, I don't think we encountered any that weren't malfunctioning and trying to kill us."
"Hmph," Grunt grunted from the other side of the room, "there were the ones that were programmed to kill us, they never seemed to malfunction."
"Unless we wanted them to," Liara flashed him a smile, "Egret, how hard would it be to hack into the mechs' systems?"
"Well, I can't do it. But, if half the stories about you are true then you have more experience than me at this sort of thing."
Liara nodded, "Leave it with me."
…
"How do we know we can trust you?" Tevos asked, after several minutes of fruitless arguing.
"What are you suggesting?" Adarna replied, "That I'm an HTA agent and all this is an elaborate trick?"
"Maybe not but you always have an agenda."
"Everyone has an agenda, yours is to get to Thessia and I am helping you do it."
"She's got a point, Tevos," Jules hissed from over by the door. She was pressed up against the metal, trying to gauge how many guards were on the other side by the sounds they were making as they tried to get in, "and I don't want to rush you, but we really don't have time for this!"
"Listen to her, Tevos," Adarna chimed, "she's the only one speaking sense."
"I'm flattered you think so highly of me," Jules retorted, before turning her attention to Tevos instead, "if we're going to stand a chance of getting out of here then we need to make a break for it, now."
"It's suicide, we're outnumbered three-to-one."
Jules was fairly certain that was a random number Tevos had just picked from the air, but she wasn't far wrong. The odds weren't good.
"I've faced worse odds and we don't have a choice."
"Our people aren't even armed!"
"Don't worry about that, I've arranged some backup," they all stopped at Liara's voice, and turned to stare at the comm panel she had spoken through.
"What do you mean?" Jules asked.
"Just trust me, we won't be outnumbered for long."
Jules looked first at Tevos, who seemed to be slowly coming to terms with the knowledge that she was about to be thrust into a firefight, then at Aria, who was staring daggers at the door and already looked ready to kill someone. A heavy thud from the other side of that door made the decision for them.
"We're out of time," Jules declared, "we do this now."
…
Egret pushed back her chair and stood. Kyla and Barbet had positioned themselves either side of the door and Kyla was cracking her knuckles. Maia was further back, concealed in the open cell and ready to pounce. She beckoned Egret over, biotic energy glowing behind her eyes.
"Ready?" she asked softly as Egret moved beside her. Egret cast her a glance and then nodded.
"I'm going to open all the doors simultaneously," Adarna told them over the comm.
"All of them?" Kyla queried, "Aren't there like, actual criminals in some of these cells?"
"Yes, but you'll need all the distractions you can get."
"So we're going to let murderers and psychopaths out on the streets?"
"And probably some tax dodgers," Adarna quipped sharply, "it can't be helped."
"I'm going to override their security systems," Liara cut in, "in ten seconds every door in this facility will be open, we'll have a clear run to the exit. Once we're there we make for the docking port. Get ready."
…
Liara stood as she spoke and jogged over to the door that was about to open. Grunt was waiting there, a cocky grin on his lips as Ereba stood behind him, looking slightly more apprehensive.
"How are you in a fight?" Liara asked her.
She visibly swallowed but steeled herself, "I'll be alright, just take down anyone who aims at me."
Liara nodded once, "I'll do my best."
…
The doors opened and a startled prison guard got the fright of his life as he stumbled through the sudden gap, only to be physically grabbed by Aria and flung backwards into his friends. Jules watched on, feeling somewhat redundant as Aria continued her onslaught.
Tevos was lingering behind her, the matriarch was hardly defenceless but it was clear that she was well out of her comfort zone and Jules preferred to try and keep her out of the firing line. A clunky, familiar sound reached Jules' ears, the mechanical sound of artificial joints moving in unison and she found herself frowning. It was followed swiftly by a barrage of gunfire as Aria suddenly dived back into the room and took cover behind the wall.
"That sounded like-"
"Mechs," Aria agreed, "but they're not aiming at us."
Jules couldn't supress a grin, "Liara, I knew she'd think of something."
…
"The mechs are distracting them!" Barbet yelled from the doorway, "We should make a run for it!"
"Are you insane?" Kyla demanded, "I don't know what blind moron aligned their targeting scanners but the way they're shooting we'll be lucky not to get caught in the crossfire!"
"Stop complaining and do as you're told!" the batarian ordered, "Maia and Egret will cover us."
Before Egret could get a say in the matter, Maia had moved swiftly forwards, leaving her with little option but to follow. It soon became apparent that 'making a run for it' wasn't really possible anyway. The corridor outside was too small for a proper firefight, mechs were piling in from one end while the prisoners spilled out from the cells, trapping the guards between them in a crush that was as dangerous as any fight. Noise and chaos ruled and the guards seemed as eager to escape as the prisoners were.
"This was such a bad idea," Kyla yelled, though she clearly didn't disapprove, in fact she was practically grinning with glee, her dark eyes twinkling as she ducked a hail of bullets, laughing as she did so.
She was enjoying herself so much that she didn't even notice the turian guard who lunged at her through the doorway with a combat knife in his hand.
Egret reacted instinctively, pulling Kyla behind her and hitting the turian with a biotic pull that smashed him straight up into the ceiling. The impact snapped his neck and the crunch of bones was audible before he fell back to the floor in a broken and lifeless heap.
"Wow," Kyla chuckled, her head appearing at Egret's shoulder, "you don't know your own strength."
Egret rounded on her, blood and adrenaline pulsing through her as they fuelled a sudden and unexpected rage, surprising Egret more than anyone.
"This isn't a fucking joke!" she yelled, well aware that both the words and the tone sounded utterly wrong from her mouth, "He could have killed you!"
She watched Kyla's eyes widen in bewilderment and regretted the outburst almost immediately but before anything else could be said, Barbet was between them.
"Enough!" he ordered, "We need to move. Kyla, go in front, and keep your eyes open this time!"
…
This was Liara's definition of hell. A small space crammed full of people. Claustrophobic. Loud. Chaotic. If it wasn't for the fact that she had a gun in her hand – wrestled from an unfortunate prison guard – and half of the people present were trying to kill her, she would have been well out of her comfort zone.
As it was, her fighting instinct had kicked in and drowned out the nightmare around her. She kept Ereba close behind her as she searched for a path through the crowd, the other asari's rapid breathing was threatening to become panicked but she had kept her head so far.
"We'll be out of here soon," Liara promised her, not that she entirely believed it herself. She heard Jules' voice carry over the noise and looked over to see she was beckoning everyone towards her further down the corridor. Between them, however, a crush of guards and mechs blocked the way. As much as she had programmed the mechs to attack the guards rather than the prisoners, the sheer number of people seemed to be confusing their systems as they fired their weapons somewhat blindly into the crowd.
"GRUNT!" Liara yelled, "We need to clear a path!"
Though she couldn't see him, the krogan yelled back to her from behind, "Leave it to me!"
A split second later a blur of colour charged past with a roar that drowned out the noise, scattering the horde and sending people and metal limbs flying.
"Typical krogan problem solving," Liara heard Ereba mutter.
"C'mon," she replied, "let's move."
…
Grunt smashed his way through the crowd, staggering to a halt in front of Jules just as she was wrestling a rifle off a one-armed mech. She beheaded the machine with bioticly charged punch and then turned to nod at Grunt appreciatively.
"Good work."
He chuckled deeply.
Liara emerged in his wake, shielding Ereba as best she could as she fired a few random shots at the guards behind her.
"We've cleared the way to the exit!" Jules yelled to them, taking Ereba's arm and urging her past, "Go on, run!" Ereba did as she was told while Liara lingered.
"Where's Tevos?" she asked, eyes sharp as she scanned the mounting chaos. Luckily the fight between the guards and the mechs seemed to be taking priority over all else and more of the artificial fighters were emerging through the open doors.
"Aria's taken her, they should be at the exit."
"Shepard!" she looked over at Barbet's voice, the batarian was standing with Egret, Kyla and Maia as the four of them formed a defensive line to protect the unarmed project members as they fled, "We need to move! Now!"
"Wait!" Liara said, "How do we know we've got everyone!"
Jules looked at her, around them gunfire and smoke filled the air, "We don't," she admitted, "but this is an everyone-for-themselves kind of situation. We need to go."
Liara's hesitation was momentary before her face hardened and she nodded swiftly.
Barbet and the squad covered them as they ran, Jules could hear him shouting orders to the others, Egret's attacks were strong enough to shake the walls and seemed to leave only a few for Kyla and Barbet to pick off.
They barged into the entrance area to find all the doors being guarded by the other squads and the reception staff on the floor with guns to their heads. Tevos was standing in the middle, pacing nervously and steeling herself at every distant gunshot. Aria meanwhile seemed to be the one in charge and when Jules emerged the asari beelined for her.
"About fucking time, I was close to leaving without you."
"Do we have everyone?" Jules asked, scanning the full entrance area and trying to estimate how many had made it through.
"We have enough," Aria retorted, "so let's move."
…
The journey through the streets was easier than Jules might have expected. It wasn't like the HTA could do much to pursue them through the traffic and the pedestrians. Of course it didn't take long for the news cameras to find them, but by then they were already at the docking port.
There wasn't much in the way of security and the few guards who did greet them were so bewildered by the two hundred or so people suddenly demanding entry that they did little to stop them. One look at the now armed squad members was enough to make the docking port staff compliant and they were soon piling into the landing pads.
"Everyone try and get on the right ship!" Jules yelled as she stood at the entrance and ushered them all past her, "We spent long enough selecting you all!"
Liara dashed past with most of Jules' crew following her while Grunt loudly directed his crew to the right ship. Tevos had been at the head of the group and was already aboard the Athame; the last few stranglers passed with Aria bringing up the rear, swaggering casually with a rifle resting on her shoulder as she showed no more exertion than if she'd been out for a relaxing stroll.
"That's all of them," she reported lazily, "let's go."
But Jules hesitated, frowning past her even though she knew no one else was coming.
"What do you think happened to Adarna?" she asked suddenly. Aria frowned at her as though the question was irrelevant.
"Who cares? We need to go."
…
By the time Damon arrived at the detention centre, the fun was all over. The entrance doors were wide open – along with all the other doors – and the security systems were offline. He stepped over the body of a dead guard and sighed at the sight that greeted him.
Bits of broken mech were scattered about the corridors along with blood smears of varying colours and ugly, black bullet holes. The guard who greeted him was nervous and sickeningly apologetic as he shakily handed him a cobbled together estimate of how many prisoners had escaped and how many guards had been killed. He had cast a disgusted glance at the figures before tossing the datapad back to him and moving on without a word.
Some of the prisoners had been apprehended and were now being held at gunpoint by flustered guards who frankly didn't look fit to be wielding weapons. Damon did well to hide his distain, that his own staff could be so utterly incompetent was, frankly, embarrassing.
No one seemed to have the courage to offer to escort him as he made his way through the facility, encountering more mess and chaos around every corner.
So he walked alone, fists clenched, jaw set hard enough to be painful but it took his mind off how he was going to explain this to the rest of the HTA's board of directors.
He found the cell he was looking for and stopped dead in the open doorway.
Adarna sat silently in a metal chair, four armed guards surrounding her. The asari guard she had killed lay not far away. No one had made any attempt to move or cover her.
Adarna's eyes flickered up to meet his as he entered and for a moment they merely stared at each other. He felt no anger from her, no judgement or triumph. Merely calm, as though she somehow believed she was still in control.
His gaze shifted to the wall where a gaping hole exposed the warped and twisted metal and the circuits she had cut through still fizzed and sparked.
"I must admit," he said smoothly, fixing his eyes back on the asari, "I'm impressed."
Adarna cocked her head, "It shows how little knowledge and regard you have for my people if a little biotic prowess impresses you so easily."
Damon smiled to keep himself from laughing, "Ah yes, the great asari goddesses who once ruled the galaxy," he paused, deliberately, "times have moved on."
"Live long enough, Damon, and you'll learn that things never move on, they simply go in cycles. Every piece of progress you achieve will one day be undone, every decision you make will one day be meaningless."
"What a depressing reality you face."
"It's the same as your reality, you just don't see it as clearly."
Damon set his jaw once again. Taking with an asari was like driving in circles – as pointless as it was frustrating.
"I should thank you," he stated to change the subject, "for exposing a weakness in our prison design. I promise you we'll learn from it. Of course now that we know how dangerous you are, we'll have to secure you somewhere else. Somewhere less hospitable."
Adarna smiled innocently, "Less hospitable than here?"
She didn't seem worried. She should have been worried. Damon made sure she realised that as he let his face fall darkly.
"Much."
He took pleasure in the shudder that seemed to pass through her and the way she steeled herself to try and hide it, "Send me wherever you wish," she said, boldly, "Tevos and the others will already be beyond your reach, you can't stop them from reaching Thessia."
"Really?" Damon challenged, "They have four ships, we have the biggest fleet in the galaxy. We'll see who comes off better."
…
Jules hovered by Ereba's shoulder, gazing out at the mass relay through the cockpit. The ships' cloaking systems had got them off Earth and out of the Sol System, leaving the confused HTA ships still searching for them in Earth's orbit.
The first mass relay jump had caused them no problems but the relay that led to the Athena Nebula was guarded by a small fleet of HTA ships and – by all accounts – never travelled through.
"Can they see us?" Jules asked quietly as she silently counted vessels hanging motionless before them, completely surrounding the ancient relay like bees swarming a hive.
"No," Ereba replied, "but once the relay fires up, I think they'll cotton on pretty quickly to where we are," a bleep at her console drew Ereba's attention and she read something on the display, "Tevos is ordering us to move forward," she announced.
Jules nodded, exhaling slowly before stating: "Take us in."