Chapter 15 - Rage and Rogue VIs

A/N - I used the cutscenes to determine the relative power levels of the incandescent state, so blame Bioware for giving me the idea. However, there are drawbacks, so don't expect everyone to go incandescent for every single opponent. That would be silly.

Also, with this chapter, 100k+ total words, making this my first story, on FF at least, to get that far. Another important milestone to celebrate.

"The Emperor protects!" - Space Marines after a squad of 9 survives 15 wounds (enough to kill the squad and half another again), with only three casualties. To the Warp with 4+ armor saves on 'basic' faction troops.

Also, next week the current poll will close, so get your votes in now!

Joannis' head snapped up at the sound of a scream of rage, and an explosion. Then there had been an alarm, and after another moment, just long enough to make her wonder what Arlas had done to activate the purge defenses, as well as how she would report his death, when a second explosion resounded through the chamber. The aisle at the very back of the room suddenly blasted its contents to the other side, like someone had flung an impossibly powerful shockwave through it, and Arlas walked out into the center aisle. She heard Jaclyn swear softly, and both suddenly understood why he kept saying biotics seemed so limited to him.

Both of the twins were familiar with the biotic state called incandescent, where one literally manifested their biotic potential as an aura around them, significantly heightening a person's abilities at the cost of completely exhausting them after only one or two biotic abilities, or even killing them. The asari had several stories of their people performing legendary feats under such a state, including one who had deflected a falling cruiser with just her own biotics, though the strain of the feat had immediately killed her as her brain hemorrhaged every blood vessel in it. Many believed the stories were at best exaggerations, if not outright fabrications. Both knew the state existed, having done it themselves, and that it was brought on by either extreme emotions, anger being the most common, or by extreme stress, which increased the likelihood of the incandescent state killing the biotic. What the incandescent state could not do was alter reality by itself, it needed to be focused and then discharged.

Arlas was literally surrounded by energy, not the normal white blue of an incandescent human biotic or the deeper blue of an asari biotic, but a painful white 'not-light' that burned the eyes, like looking directly into the heart of a blazing star. The aura also wasn't roughly spherical, instead it looked more like undulating tendrils or tentacles, idly waving in an imaginary breeze. But what caused her twin's oath was the fact that anything that the tendrils touch deformed and melted, like under a plasma cutter, but only the things directly touched, or more accurately, encased.

Joannis shook off her shock, and realized Arlas was nearly to them, and was focused only on the turian leader, and while she normally she could barely guess his mood, his current one was clearly one of rage. That was almost as shocking as him being incandescent, considering the crew still had a running bet about whether he felt or just simulated emotions, but she forced herself in front of him, blocking him from getting to Tonn Actus. "Arlas, stop! We need him alive."

The Eldar didn't even pause, instead gesturing widely, causing several of the incandescent tendrils to collapse together, forming a single broad surface which knocked several shelving units over. Realizing he wasn't going to stop and that he was consumed by his incandescence, she did the only thing she could think of that wouldn't risk turning that incandescent state on her.

She hit him with a stasis. Arlas immediately froze, and the glowing incandescent aura collapsed, causing her to sigh in relief, before turning to her twin. "Jaclyn, get Tonn topside with everyone else, now."

Wrex glanced at her before snorting, watching her carefully. "And I take it you plan to stay here and try to calm him down? Count me in, would be a hell of a fight, if it came down to it. And you could use the help."

Jaclyn gave Wrex a glare, before yanking the turian smuggler upright. "Come on, you three as well. Into the elevator. Icivia, you too."

The turian spectre helped guard the prisoners as Jaclyn sent her a glare, promising vengeance on both her and the Eldar if something happened and she wasn't there for it. Jaclyn simply shrugged one shoulder, not turning away from the Eldar, who had been in stasis for nearly twenty seconds at this point, and Joannis' record for a stasis was half a minute. She relaxed a bit as the elevator began groaning its way to the top. Now she just had to deal with the enraged Eldar.

Arlas managed to get ahold of his rage as the turian leader vanished, replacing it with confusion even as he absently noted that several others had vanished as well, and the Lioness was in a different position. He quickly ran through the possibilities in his head. It wasn't cloaking, these races were in their infancy with that technology, and they had no skill with teleportation technology, other than using biotics to 'quickly' move where they had line of effect.

He blinked, before righting himself, and looking around at the devastation that had been an orderly warehouse a few moments before. The shelves to his left were knocked over, he was standing on a scorch mark, and several shelves behind him on both sides had collapsed, the crates showing signs of being partially melted. Wrex was now behind him in one of the aisles, chuckling slightly with his arms crossed in front of him, clearly not holding a weapon, and Joannis, sorry, Lioness was in front of him. She still hadn't quite earned the right to have him use her name yet.

He sighed, before turning back to the human. "Where is the turian?"

Jaclyn simply gave him a raised eyebrow, carefully keeping her hands behind her. That detail showed she was still taking his previous advice about interacting with Eldar serious. "Are you in control, or do you need another time out in a stasis bubble?"

Or maybe she really was that worried about his rage. "Is there a noticable difference in how I am acting? Yes? Then yes, I am in full control again. Now, where. Is. The. Turian?"

Joannis glared at his less than respectful answer. "I think we have a disconnect here. I am the captain of the vessel that you are travelling on. So far, I have been exceedingly tolerant of your antics, but you just seriously fucked up a crime scene. Now, you are going to tell me what you found, and maybe I will be helpful. Or you can go around me, and I can have you left here in the system. Which will it be, Pathfinder?"

Arlas paused, looking down at the tiny mon-keigh, and took a long moment, for an Eldar, to answer. While to the mon-keigh, it seemed he answered quickly, in reality he was examining his past actions, and realizing that possibly, just maybe, he had been indulging in his arrogance a bit much. So he simply nodded slightly, conceding the dominance spat to the human. Though if any of his kin found out about it, he would deny it, and then gut the mon-keigh that told them. "I found a suit of my people's armor in the room. The helmet is shattered, and more importantly, the…"

He paused, realizing that the spirit stone was likely something that could be used against the Eldar, and changed his answer, slowly enough for the two listening, as well as a quarian listening through a comm channel, unbeknownst to all three of them, to notice. "There is something else missing, something I swore to protect even if it killed me. But it is missing from that armor, and combined with the state of the helmet…"

He paused again. "If he somehow managed to kill an Eldar, especially one of that path, I will eat my tabard. I suspect he found it, and might have sold that… missing armor part to someone."

This pause was longer, before the Eldar pulled his helmet and attached it to his hip before pulling out his braid, and redoing it. He was having to stand still and think, and that always made him twitchy, so he used his hands to hide that. "My people have murdered planets to get a single one of those parts back, and if they come back and find your people hindered my recovery of it… They will react as if you actively helped him. Regardless of whatever else you do. We are… very protective of said piece."

It was a partial truth, as no Eldar was ever without their spirit stone, in armor or not, and while most armors had several similar crystals, each Eldar only carried one spirit stone, or at most two, unless they were using filled stones to amplify their psyker powers. Arlas' carried his in a small armored pouch on the inside of his lower back armor, a place very unlikely to be deliberately hit. Breaking a spirit stone was difficult, and usually happened when the Eldar was hit with anti-tank weapons, but many believed in not taking chances with their souls. The alternative was getting their soul raped, tortured, and finally consumed for eternity by 'She Who Thirsts.'

Joannis stared in surprise, apparently not expecting him to just bare his throat to her. "If it is so important, why is it so identifiable? Tali said the defenses activated seconds after you entered that room."

He shook his head. "I have already said too much. You are just going to have to trust me when I say that it would be immediately obvious to any Eldar that saw the armor that the piece is missing. Also, there is the obvious question of where the rest of warrior is, where is their squad, and how did they get here? My people aren't native to your universe, apparently, and the armor isn't worn by warriors known to go alone like myself. The turian has a lot to answer for, and the sooner he answers, the sooner I know what happened to them."

Joannis nodded absently, hopefully understanding why he had reacted as he had, even if she had been slightly misled. She glanced toward the back of the warehouse. "Are you bringing the armor with us?"

He frowned, before nodding. "Yes, aspect warrior armor is always recovered if possible. I can store it in my lander, though depending on what we discover after interrogating the pirate, I might need some storage space on the ship. If everything goes to the warp, I can destroy the replaceable pieces, and just recover the important parts."

Another nod. "Can I take a look at it?"

Arlas paused, before nodding with extreme reluctance. "Yes though do not touch it, you will cause the biolocks to activate, and I would feel bad if you accidentally got killed while everyone thought you were talking me down. If you could tell who ever is with the turian to start asking questions, preferably while holding big guns, I would be grateful."

The Eldar turned, and headed back to the important vault. As Joannis and Wrex followed, Wrex spoke up. "So, still thinking about that swordsmanship tournament?"

Arlas rolled his eyes, and put his helmet back on, taking care to tuck his hair in properly. "No, why would I?"

"So the asari don't slander you and your people on it? They have done it before."

Joannis snorted. "Did it to us humans, calling us 'too barbaric for refined swordsmanship, fit only for hack and slash,' the first year because we weren't informed in time. Needless to say, a LOT of noted asari swordswomen got beat for that comment in the next tournament. Humans didn't make the quarterfinals, but none of the asari did either that year."

Arlas groaned, suddenly realized he was backed into yet another corner. "Even if I wanted to enter, I refuse to do it on someone else's sponsorship. The Eldar are beholden to no one. And I refuse to give the appearance of it."

Wrex laughed. "Good for you. Keep that attitude, and a lot of krogan might like you."

Arlas gave Wrex a glare. "Don't you have armor to collect?"

The burly krogan gave a bored shrug. "It isn't THAT important. I just promised on my grandfather's grave to retrieve it. It isn't going anywhere, and I am in no hurry to go home. All I am going to do is throw it in my locker, and let it sit there. It is an old piece of shit, I certainly am not going to use it."

Arlas gave Wrex a confused look. "But you said it was a relic."

Wrex's reply was accompanied by an indifferent shrug. "Means it is obsolete."

Arlas sighed, as he turned the corner, and headed for the room. He stopped at the edge, and gestured inside. "I can see it from here, and you might find some of the other things in there more important."

He glanced at the armor inside, before wincing slightly. The armor set belonged to a Shadow Spectre aspect warrior of his craftworld, as evidenced by the colors, which meant the Lost Host had been here at some point. But the damage to the armor was… extensive. The helmet was on a nearby table, or rather the two dozen or so fragments that were once the helmet. The arching back plate, which had once protected the head of the warrior from sudden movements and attacks at unusual angles, had snapped off. Both of the shoulder vents for the twin propulsion jet mounts on the back were completely crushed, and the miniature anti-gravity engines were also flattened somewhat.

The breastplate of the armor was cracked in half, and the mount where the spirit stone should have been, over the left breast of the warrior, was empty, though the psyker energies from it still lingered, which had been what he had sensed while approaching the vault. The armor that had covered the abdomen was simply gone, though most of the arm and leg plates seemed intact, except for a single boot that was crushed. The weapon of the Shadow Spectres, a prism rifle that was designed to destroy enemy tanks, was bent halfway down the barrel, and the back half had been cut open, dumping some of the innards on the table, but most of the rifle's insides had simply melted. Even worse, he could feel that the wraith seed, which was what the armor was grown from, in the back of the chest plate was damaged, though he thought it might be salvageable.

He didn't think his inspection of the armor's damage had taken long, but Joannis spoke, having had enough time to talk to her twin. "Jaclyn said the leader started singing like a canary after getting out of sight of you. On condition of you staying the hell away from him, he is willing to give us everything, including who sold him the armor. He said he got it in that condition, and simply put it on the stand, from a local bandit warlord, named Darius, though you don't use his title at your own peril, according to Tonn. He also unlocked his databases, which gave us some new information on Saren, which will be useful. So if you see something on the inventory Tali is putting together that you need, go ahead and grab it.

"Arlas, we will hit the bandit lord as soon as we can, but it's a good ways from here. It might be some time."

A week later, Arlas was in armor, standing behind the pilot, listening to the crew behind him in the CiC. He stared out at the viewpoint, and tried to keep his anger from showing. Last he had heard about their destination was that they were still heading to deal with that bandit warlord, and the Twins had gotten a communication from their leader, one Admiral Hackett, about the leader, making the mission an official human mission. Something about the bandit lord being a rogue agent, and needing to be… pacified. He had been with these humans long enough to realize they meant 'retired,' killed and then buried, but it amused him that they had been so circumspect about it since he had been in the room.

Now, however, he knew where they were, an old record from before the Fall had shown this system, and the humans had defended it with zealous, religious, and righteous fury. It was the stellar system of Terra, cradle of humanity, and most certainly not the system where a bandit lord could reside. That he was the first Eldar to see this particular version of Terra would normally have excited him as a ranger, tempting him to slip his lander off the ship to go looking around, see what he could experience. But right now, he was contemplating how many people he might have to kill to get the aspect warrior's spirit stone back, as well as how long he, and he knew from examining the armor the warrior had been a rare male of his craftworld, had been held. If one of the bandits had pried it from the armor after his death, and then attached it to jewelry, they likely would have been driven mad by the Eldar soul's thoughts if they were even slightly susceptible to psyker suggestions.

So instead of venting verbally, he turned from the bridge, and headed back to the briefing room, where everyone on the specialist team were already going over the mission. He entered the briefing room, before crossing his arms. "Twins, when was I to be informed you altered course?"

The angry Twin immediately snarled back, "When convenient, and why do you care? We will get to your thief when we get there."

Arlas pulled his helmet off, slapped it against his thigh to bond it there, and stalked forward, stopping just in front of her, barely out of arm's reach, before slashing his hand across his chest, repeating the same gesture she had given him barely more than two weeks previously that had nearly made him attack her. The sudden flash of rage in Lynx's eyes told him she recognized exactly what he had done. "Because you never asked the most important question. I told you we are not from this universe, and that I am sent ahead of my craftworld. So why is there a warrior in my colors, from a warrior shrine I recognize, HERE?"

His question silenced the angry Twin, and he stepped back, turning to the soft Twin. "We sent a force through a few millennia ago. A few hundred thousand warriors and a few dozen ships. They were to explore what was on the other side, and report back if possible. That they left an Eldar behind is… concerning. So yes, I am extremely 'concerned' as to where this Darius found him. And then you fail to inform me, the expert on what to expect from Eldar and fully expecting a rescue or recovery mission, that we are diverting to visit Terra. So yes, I am extremely unhappy. But I am familiar enough with you to trust this is important. So please, impress me."

He stared at both Twins, before placing his helmet back on his head, and returning to his usual space on the wall, and waited. After a moment, the Twins shared a look, before starting. "Alright, since the last member got here before we got too far, and isn't going to start a fight, once again from the top. Our main military training facility on Luna has had its VI malfunction, and stop responding to outside controls during a training exercise. We lost twenty one marines to the base defenses, and another sixty six injured, before Command realized what was happening, realized they couldn't shut off the VI, and ordered a full retreat of the two marines platoons.

"Since then, they have sent two teams of M5s in, with no results, both teams pulling out, heavily injured, but no dead, and a team of N5s, same result though less injured. The archived VI code has already been checked by both local experts, and by a pair of salarians and a quarian hired by local programming companies for malfunctions and other flaws, and they couldn't find any.

"Which means this is possibly a crime scene, and Command doesn't believe that the base requires an orbital bombardment to correct. The VI is on a contained and closed system, so while it can't 'get out' of the base, we also can't use external electronic warfare to try and take it down."

She paused, turning back to a display behind her, showing a single structure with three smaller ones surrounding it, a tunnel from each smaller building linking them to the main one. "This is Lunar Training Facility Five, which is our target. The VI is housed in the main center building, but has backup computers in the outer structures that need to be taken out as well. The outer three structures are based off the three most common colonial outposts, and we have already fought through similar bases. The inner structure is a standard Council base layout, though some of the walls can be manually shifted to ensure the trainees are actually following procedures. The biggest problem is the underground hangar beneath the middle structure, as it contains a heavy fabricator, capable of repairing mechs, and in theory making new ones. At max capacity the base contains four Grizzly tanks, one hundred Loki mechs, two hundred flier drones, and ten YMIR heavy assault mechs. It also was used as a testing grounds of the new Maelstrom mechs, but all twelve of those were removed for a full systems check two days before the base went rogue.

"Reviewing the after action reports of the three previous attempts to retake the base, my sister and I have concluded that only one YMIR mech, forty to fifty Loki mechs, less than sixty scouting drones, and all four Grizzly tanks remain, though the VI had not used the tanks in the previous attempts to get to it. However, just because it has not used the Grizzlies before doesn't mean it can't use them, so Arlas will be bringing the melty gun."

Jaclyn changed the view from an overhead map to one with markers, showing their planned assault. "Our path will be to first bring in the mako to distract the base's turrets, which it has two on each smaller building and six on the main base, allowing Arlas to use his lander to strafe the turrets, removing them from the engagement. At that point, the Normandy will take overwatch position with its GUARDIAN lasers, and Arlas will join us for the offensive. While we wait for the Normandy, we will be clearing the outer hubs, and if we somehow clear all three before the Normandy shows up, Joker is picking up the tab for the specialist team the next time we are on the Citadel."

The pilot was clearly listening, as he immediately protested the threat, while most of the mon-keigh laughed at the joke at the pilot's expense. Arlas did not join in, taking deep breaths and performing the calming meditations available to all warlocks, even if they rarely did anything for him; he had always burned hot when angry, hence the nicknames the craftworld had given him, the Fool or Fickle Chance-Dancer. Thankfully, the Twins quickly got the meeting back on track. "That is the basis for the attack, but for this one we will not be going into details for each particular building, as the VI could manipulate the surroundings. Not quickly enough to cut us off, there are multiple, redundant physical safeties in place that can't be cut or disabled to prevent injuries, but it can significantly alter the building's layout. See to your equipment, and be in the hangar in thirty minutes. Squad dismissed. Arlas, remain, we need to talk."

Arlas watched everyone else leave the room, before tilting his helmeted head to one side slightly, indicating he was paying attention. Joannis gestured for Jaclyn to head out, and once they were alone, she spoke. "I realize that you are upset, but if you ever speak to me like that in public again, especially about command decisions, I will politely drop your ass off at the citadel, and have your ship removed from my hangar. If you do need to talk to me like that again, request a meeting. Are we clear?"

Arlas simply nodded curtly, before heading to the lander. As he walked to the elevator, he contacted Yol'Pvera. *Ready the scatter-laser turrets, we will be needing them. You will be on low overwatch, and have to deal with machine clumps. They have turrets and tanks, so stay mobile.*

His pilot sent back her understanding, informing him the ground team was already gathering in the hangar. Arlas sighed, before rolling his head, trying to relax, his anger still burning through him even as he waited on the elevator.

An hour later, the last passenger climbed into the lander, the Twins and Icivia were in the mako and already dropped on the moon, to begin their long approach of the base. Arlas had been asked to wait until they were closer to the base, before launching and approaching the base for a strafing run. As they approached the base, the scatter laser turrets concealed in the nose of the craft deployed, one on either side of the pulsar's barrel. Despite deploying the laser turrets, Arlas elected to arm the pulse lasers, as Yol'Pvera brought the lander in at several hundred kilometers per hour, staying exactly thirty meters above the ground to minimize the chance of the defenses spotting them.

Arlas ignored several people making noises of terror in the troop bay, and one krogan clearly having the time of his life as he watched the door, showing just how close they were to the ground. As they flew over the base, Arlas fired the pair of twin linked pulse lasers in sequence, as Yol'Pvera fired the turrets, getting off four shots and hitting three of the turrets, the last shot grazing the target turret, leaving a gouge and making it spark, but it was still firing at the Twin's Mako as it circled the base, returning fire.

Arlas felt craft shift, and braced for Yol'Pvera's maneuver. And she quickly proved why she had been a fighter pilot, flipping the lander over and around in a tight barrel roll, leveling out at ten meters above the ground, less than half the wingspan of the lander. This time he could hear the troops in the back scream briefly in terror, the krogan laughing even louder, and felt a flicker of irritation from Yol'Pvera, as Arlas fired the pulse lasers and the scatter lasers, destroying the remaining turrets as they tried to target the lander. *What are those children whining about? We had plenty of room for that maneuver.*

Arlas rolled his eyes, and reached out with his mind, sending his thought to the group as Yol'Pvera brought the lander in to drop off the troops. *All troops, prepare to disembark.*

As the lander got to half a meter, Arlas dropped the ramp. *Deploy, deploy.*

It took sixty embarrassing seconds for the last mon-keigh to exit, and Arlas reached out with his mind to include the three Spectres. *That was absolutely terrible and an embarrassment to watch. When we finish this mission, I will be training you people on how to properly deploy from a lander. That should have taken ten seconds, not sixty.*

Liara, or Dusk as he now called her, called him on his omnitool. "We are not Eldar, and half of us are not military."

*Eldar civilians would have been done in five seconds, and aspect warriors would have taken two and two thirds of a second!*

Jaclyn cut in on the conversation. "Save it for the debrief Arlas. Everyone else, form up near the Mako, we are hitting each outer building, then the big one. Kaidan will be in charge of the Mako, Wrex on the big gun in case the VI tries to reinforce whatever defenses are inside each external building. Arlas, get your lander to one hundred meters, you are on overwatch. Once the Normandy shows up, you land and join us, as will Kaidan and Wrex."

Arlas let Yol'Pvera put the lander in a holding pattern, circling the base at the requested altitude, while Arlas kept his focus on the sensors and weapons. Not that he was expecting an attack, but inattentive Eldar had a strange tendency to quickly become dead ones. He watched the group move into the first exterior building, and about seven minutes later they exited, having found nothing defending the building, according to what he heard on the squad channel.

The squad descended into the second exterior building, and Arlas listened as, yet again, they encountered no opposition inside the outer building. Before they finished 'disabling' the servers for the VI in the second outer building, the Normandy showed up and took over overwatch. Arlas disconnected from the ship, and stepped out of the lander as Yol'Pvera dropped the bay hatch, before she quickly ascended back into the sky, this time going into a wider search pattern, while the Normandy stayed near the base. Arlas met the group coming out, and fell in. *Shall I scout the next building ahead of the group?*

It was a testament of the group becoming used to him that no one jumped. The Twins shared a look, before Joannis shook her head. "No need, the VI seems to be saving all its mechs for the main building, probably in the hangar we have to transverse to get to the main server room."

Arlas' foresense immediately and suddenly screamed a warning at him, making him flinch. He noticed Gemling, Dusk, and Wrex all staring at him, but dismissed their scrutiny. *Twins, just because the VI has not moved its mech to be encountered before doesn't mean it hasn't moved them at all.*

For a moment, he thought he had convinced them, but then Jaclyn whirled about, rage making her say things she normally would have held back. "What did Jo just say to you before we left the ship?"

Arlas took a reflexive step back, but before he could defend himself, Joannis turned to him. "Apparently you weren't listening, so you are done, unless you have something to back this questioning?"

He considered her question for a moment, before simply casting his mind out, grabbing everyone within range as he lacked the skill to only grab the Twins, and showed them his memories of the past minute, in about two seconds. Specifically of the massive spike of dread and foreboding that he experienced. Once done, he let go of their minds. *That is why. Otherwise I would agree with your assessment.*

Before Lynx could explode again, Joannis spoke. "Can all Eldar get this danger spikes? And how accurate is it?"

*All warriors learn to use the basic forms, the Farseers and most warlocks learn to actually see events. As for accuracy, the foresense is enough that one group of Eldar only use it, and almost no armor, while we rangers live and die by it. So yes, I have learned to listen to it very carefully.*

The Twins shared a look, causing another minor surge of psyker energy that he now just ignored rather than let drive him toward madness, before the female turian spoke. She had gotten even more annoying over the weeks, but at least was being smarter about it, so she wasn't just mon-keigh. "And how many Eldar can accurately see the future?"

Arlas took his time answering the question, but the Twins were apparently deep in the non-verbal argument, so he answered. *With perfect accuracy? No one, it is like trying to track a specific drop of water in the ocean. But if you can get a vague idea where something is going, and how decisions are made along the way affect the outcome…*

He trailed off, and then shrugged, not really answering her question. He had tried to underplay the ability, hopefully making it sound like the Farseers' relied on experience and only used their divining to supplement their leadership, instead of using their divining to earn experience. Thankfully, the Twins finally finished their nonverbal debate, and turned back to the group. "How often do you get these senses, and why didn't you mention them sooner?"

He gave a shrug. *Only when something disastrous is going to occur. So I might get six on one night for one mission, then none for several years. And as for not mentioning them, I didn't think about it. Eldar are fickle, capricious xenos, and know more than they should. I simply failed to acknowledge the fact you don't already know that.*

The Twins nodded, Jaclyn speaking first. "Fine, sorry for snapping. This week has been hell on my nerves."

That made Arlas raise an eyebrow, idly wondering what he was missing. He usually kept himself away from the mon-keigh, except for Wrex, who was amusing to verbally spar with, and Tali, who was amusing to prank. Luckily, Joannis took up the conversation before he wasted too much time wondering about what he was missing. "So here is the plan. Arlas cloaks, we open the elevator, toss in a bunch of Icivia's disposable turrets as Arlas sneaks in, then send the elevator down. The turrets will provide a distraction if something is down there, and Arlas sneaks in. If nothing is there, then we all get to taunt the Eldar for being the 'I got a bad feeling' guy."

That got a laugh from the mon-keigh, but Arlas was now wondering what he was being labeled as. He was still wondering as he activated his cloak, turned off the omnitool and got into the elevator, getting into one of the corners to avoid catching a bullet, while Icivia put her four turrets in the center of the elevator, spread out a little to avoid one explosion taking them all out.

The ride was mercifully short, and as the elevator opened, he watched the turrets twitch, moving back and forth, but nothing fired in at them. He slipped out of the elevator, and looked around. There were crates everywhere, and not the metal ones either, they were flimsy looking wood and plastic ones. Oddly enough, he noticed they had been piled to block the views of one side of the 'outpost.' He frowned at it, comparing it to the map of facility, and noticed that the side blocked was the side toward the main base, before dismissing it as an oddity. The crates were piled into rows, with three clear columns through it, one on each side, and another right up the middle. He shrugged, and reported what he found to the twins, not bothering to use his omnitool. *Destroyable crates in rows, three columns to advance down, left, right and middle. One room side blocked off, toward center building. Advancing near blocking wall.*

He was on the side of the room near the wall of crates, when suddenly his omnitool turned on and buzzed, informing him someone was calling him, as his danger sense suddenly seemed to tear at his mind. He reached down, yanking at the physical piece of the omnitool, a thin band that wrapped around his wrist, as he heard dozens of machines suddenly start clanking in front and to his side. Even as he finally pulled it off, he could hear weapons firing, crates shattering, and a mechanical voice speaking even as bullets hit and shattered the crates near him, "Excuse me, citizen, you aren't supposed to be here. Can I help you?"

Joannis looked around the group, idly amused at the collection of species not seen before outside ne'er-do-wells, mercenary groups, and heroes in the entertainment industry. She had a krogan battlemaster debating with a quarian protege engineer about whether pistols or assault rifles were better backup weapons, while a turian spectre and temporarily reassigned governmental security officer were discussing the pros and cons of various weapons mods off to one side. A human Systems Alliance marine was quietly cursing as she helped the other System Alliance human, this time a biotic sentinel, get his kinetic barrier to stop 'flittering,' an apparently esoteric term meaning 'varying output.' Her twin and her were the most powerful human biotics ever officially recorded by the Systems Alliance, and could give asari matriarchs a run for their biotic titles, and they were giving an asari xenoarchaeologist tips for strengthening her biotic barrier and calming her nerves. And every one of them were waiting for the only known example of the Eldar race to finish scouting, based on a 'bad feeling' he had had.

Joannis was simply passing the time with her idle musings and helping Liara, but her sister was monitoring the main building and the remaining outer building, ensuring the group didn't get ambushed. Never mind the two ships above them, both capable of leveling the base if their crew so desired.

However, it was Tali that first noticed that something changed, suddenly glancing down at her omnitool, right before Arlas sent his initial report of the internal situation in, making most of the group jump in surprise. Even after two months with him, it was still somewhat jarring to have someone else's thoughts suddenly intruding into your own, though they were starting to get used to it enough to not jump. It was only jarring when he wasn't nearby. *Destroyable crates in rows, three columns to advance down, left, right and middle. One room side blocked off, toward center building. Advancing near blocking wall.*

Tali however was tapping away quickly at her omnitool, muttering something under her breath, before suddenly speaking. "Everyone, check your omnitool and suit feeds are set to outbound only. Something is trying to get into our comms."

Everyone immediately ensured their equipment was set to the indicated feed, ensuring that it would only send signals, rather than accept them. Tali had suggested it before getting out of the lander, to ensure the VI didn't try anything unpleasant by hacking their equipment, then making the suits release their seals, turn off their kinetic barriers, or any number of other unpleasant things. After everyone confirmed they had, Tali shrugged. "Sorry commanders, but something was KEELAH!"

Everyone connected to the squad channel suddenly heard Arlas' omnitool do a hard ping of its location, followed very closely by both Tali and Liara jerking their heads back in shock as the Eldar's omnitool signal died. Liara spoke first, as she had been trained to act as the squad medic. "Commanders, my tool is reporting Arlas just flatlined, before it went offline."

"Commanders, his omnitool is not responding at all, not even passive systems."

Joannis didn't even glance at her twin. "Team Heavy, front of the elevator, Team Light will be right behind you, clear us a space."

Team Heavy was the hardest hitting and most durable of the group, including Wrex, Ashley, Kaidan, Jaclyn, and to round out the group they had attached Garrus, to give them some ranged punch. Team Light was herself, Liara, Tali, and then they added Icivia to give them some form of durability, and in theory Arlas was also on it, though they still had little idea how well he fought in an open battle. They had seen him several times in hit and run battles, but he didn't have proper kinetic barriers, despite him having some kind of equivalent, and also had no idea how to rate his armor. Now, however, they needed to get down there, see how bad the situation was.

As everyone stepped into the elevator, Joannis linked with Liara, putting a bubble shield up around the group. This building lacked an 'entry' room, so any troops would exit the elevator under fire during training. In retrospect, that made it perfect to ambush people, especially if someone was unable to retreat to the elevator. Once everyone was in, Jaclyn punched the large button to take them down, and everyone got ready. Barriers were overcharged, extra barriers added, armor plates were locked to give better damage reduction, omni-plating and shields were activated, and disposable turrets and drones were prepared to be spent.

The elevator opened, and the first thing everyone saw was that the room was full of crates, some intact and useable as cover for a moment, but the majority of the room was full of pieces of destroyed crates. About halfway into the room, several destroyed machines lay on the ground, but of more concern were the various mechs turning toward the group. Joannis looked over what she could see, a single YMIR, maybe two score flier drones, and a dozen and a half Loki mechs, before snapping out orders as the mechs turned toward the elevator. "Kaidan, Wrex, Tali, left side. Jaclyn, Icivia, Garrus, right side. Everyone else, with me, right up the middle. Stick to cover, now move."

The new groups quickly split off, moving in their respective directions as every fired at the mechs that were starting to fire back. Joannis and Liara quickly moved forward, taking cover at a still intact crate, while Ashley took cover behind a crate on the other side from them. Ashley began firing her sniper rifle, picking off the fliers as they scattered, and then switched to her assault rifle. A glance at the young asari showed she wasn't panicking, so Jaclyn pulled out her sub-machine gun, and let Liara handle the bubble shield. Both women began stripping the YMIR of its shield, recognizing it as the biggest threat.

The middle team had to relocate twice as the YMIR fired on and destroyed their cover, as the other two teams took care of the flier drones and the Loki mechs, but they finally stripped off the heavy shield as the last Loki mech exploded. Wrex's team got to a flanking position on the YMIR, and Kaidan made a report. "Got a lot of damage to the base, and a number of destroyed mechs, can't tell how many. Can say it had at least two more YMIRs, and a Grizzly."

Joannis swore, guessing that Arlas must have triggered the ambush while trying to warn them. She couldn't think of any other reason to activate his omnitool down here, though why he didn't just use his telepathy was something she would ask him if he survived. "Understood Kaidan, keep hitting that YMIR."

Joannis hit the heavy mech with a singularity, the unstable field slowly stripping its armor, and the gravity field making it difficult for the mech to properly track targets. Her twin, however, hit the unstable singularity with a warp, causing the field to violently detonate, shredding the mech. After a second, Joannis looked around. "Status?"

Jaclyn called out for her group. "Clear here."

Wrex's group suddenly started firing again, but before anyone could ask what was happening, the firing stopped, and then Wrex spoke. "Dead and done, just the way I like 'em. Pity they are metal. … Anyone else hungry?"

Joannis sighed at Wrex's antics. "Team Heavy, meet near the door to the hangar, current plan is to enter that way. Team Light, split into pairs, Tali with me. Find Arlas, or what's left of him. If he is dead, I want a body to prove it."

After a moment, Joannis got to the center section, and looked around before whistling softly to herself. As Kaidan had reported, this area was destroyed. She saw two sections of the floor were melted, one that cut the remains of a Grizzly tank in half, while the other melted section had the blasted remains of half a YMIR mech, and looked to have a couple Loki parts nearby. The last YMIR was scattered in tiny pieces around a blast mark, indicating Arlas might have blasted the YMIR's head off, causing it to overload and then detonate with amazing force. That weakness was the reason the System Alliance was making a new heavy mech, but the project had recently changed hands, after the last builder was sued for corruption and filed for bankruptcy. The new company, Jormangund, was flying through the design and testing phase, but it looked to be a year before the new heavy mech was ready for front line testing.

Bringing her attention back to the present, she turned as Tali called her name again. Seeing she had the commander's attention, Tali pointed at something, sticking out from under the half melted YMIR. "I think that might be… part of Arlas."

A quick glance showed a dark gray gauntlet with red flourishes, and a black undersuit, and Joannis felt her stomach drop. Though her stomach did settle when she spotted some alarmingly bright red blood splattered on the far side of the mech, not enough for a severed limb. She biotically lifted the remains of the YMIR, and then flung it aside, before cursing and activating her comm. "Everyone but Ashley and Wrex, find Arlas, now. We got a left arm from the mid bicep down, let's find the rest before he bleeds out."

She gave the blood splatter another look, frowning at the tiny amount, while everyone else began looking around the room. "Stay in pairs people, we might have missed a mech, and I don't need more injured. Garrus, stay with Ashley and Wrex."

Joannis finished speaking, and paused, realizing that leaving a krogan, a turian, and a Williams to guard an entrance that enemies might use could possibly backfire, literally. After a second, she dismissed the thought, trusting Ashley to be professional at very least. Garrus wouldn't start anything, and Wrex would only do whatever amused him, so he would stop before he went too far. She joined Icivia, as Jaclyn and Kaidan took one area, and Tali and Liara headed to the back of the training bunker, to disable the servers.

After a moment of looking, Kaidan reported in from near the severed limb. "Found his pistol, want us to collect it?"

Joannis didn't even pause to think. "No, leave it where it is, he said they were equipped with biolocks, and I have no intention of discovering how effective they are."

Icivia, ever the predictable Council skeptic assigned to her ship, scoffed. "Surely you don't expect him to be that paranoid?"

The human simple stared at the remains of a Grizzly tank, the middle half of the vehicle literally vaporized, leaving the front and back pieces lying forlornly on the ground. After a moment, Icivia nodded. "Fair point. Then I probably shouldn't touch his melty gun?"

The human's head snapped around so fast she actually made her neck ache, and she carefully rubbed her neck through her armor as she stared at the abandoned fusion gun, half buried under a crate with a fair sized splash of blood surrounding it, not far from where they had found his severed arm. "If he is abandoning his equipment, especially his most powerful ones, he must have been in even worse straits than I thought. He came in with his sword and long rifle as well, right?"

Icivia nodded, though Joannis couldn't help but notice she was staring at the fusion gun. "Come on, Icivia, let's go find the-"

"Keelah! Server room, Arlas is hurt bad."

A/N - Sorry for the ending, but no matter how I wrote it, I felt nothing I tried did justice to the idea of an injured, dazed Eldar surrounded by mon-keigh. So instead I will turn to my backup writer, your own imagination. Enjoy. :D

And again, the current poll closes next chapter, so vote now. I already am planning a few more Warhammer40k characters, but this poll is for more than that.