Ivea took a deep breath as he stood within the massive lobby of the New Dawn Pharmaceuticals corporate building.
He looked to his right where Sam stood with a straight and confident stance.
She wore a black dress that fell down to her feet and her hair was tied up in the usual tight bun.
She glanced over at Ivea and nodded toward the front desk.
He breathed deeply once more and nodded to himself as he began walking towards it.
He couldn't exactly dress up but he shined his visor just for this.
As the two walked through the lobby they attracted more than a few stares from patrons scattered around the room.
They also attracted the attention of the security guards standing in front of the hallway which was behind the front desk.
As they arrived at the front desk Ivea cleared his throat causing the woman to look up.
"Yes?" She asked with a very cautious tone.
"Erm, we have an appointment." Ivea replied with a nod as he stood rigidly.
The woman raised a single eyebrow and looked him up and down.
Ivea knew what she was doing, she was reading his body language.
Looking for the smallest hint of weakness.
However, being a Quarian Ivea knew just how to fool someone using body language.
He remained stiff but not too stiff, with his head held high giving an aura of superiority.
"Name?" She asked seemingly satisfied.
"Perro vas Qwib Qwib." Ivea replied with a nod filled with faked pride.
The woman was silent a moment as she looked through and found his name he put into their systems.
She gave a single nod.
"Take the elevator in the hall behind me to the top floor."
Ivea gave a nod and walked proudly around the desk to the hall which had two elevators on the left and right.
He pushed the button and waited a moment before entering the door which opened before him.
The moment the doors closed he released a long withheld breath and slumped down.
Sam giggled and pushed the button for their destination.
Ivea stared at the window which was straight ahead when walking in.
Before them was a breathtaking view of Earth.
Sam moved beside Ivea with a smile.
"Welcome to Earth, it's the pride and joy of humanity." She announced with a small smile.
Ivea looked over and chuckled.
"It sounds like you'd prefer a colony world compared to all this." Sam gave a small, sad nod.
Ivea chuckled and looked back out.
"I've finally seen your home world. Maybe someday you can see mine." Ivea said with a smile.
Sam looked over at him with a smirk.
"Taking me to meet the parents hm? That's a big step." Immediately Ivea's face began to burn.
"I...My parents are dead I'm afraid." He quietly whispered looking down.
Sam looked over and placed her left hand on the right side of his helmet turning his head to face hers.
"Hey...mine too." She said with a small smile.
Her version of a joke?
He sighed quietly to himself and chuckled.
Suddenly the elevator stopped and dinged as the doors opened.
Ivea froze as before them was a squad of five men in combat gear and assault rifles aimed right at them.
In a split second Sam pushed him to the side away from the open door as she moved into cover on the other side.
"Looks like the jig is up!" Sam screamed over the roar of gun fire as she pulled the bottom of her dress up to grab her pistol strapped to her thigh.
Ivea blinked rapidly as his brain finally caught up to all that was happening.
He quickly brought up his omni-tool and began going into their systems to get the elevator moving again.
He hissed in irritation as he continued to type furiously into into it.
"Whenever you're ready Ivea!" Sam yelled as she blindly shot her pistol from behind her cover.
One of the guards grunted in pain as a shot tore through his shields and struck his shoulder.
"T...They locked everything down! I've never seen this kind of security before! The codes are changing so fast it's almost like they have an AI!" Ivea yelled back as he blinked rapidly trying every conceivable method.
Sam growled as she loaded her last thermal clip and laid her head back against the wall.
Ivea slammed his omni-tool against the wall as he screamed in anger.
"Bosh'tet!" He screamed as he brought out his pistol and loaded it.
Sam looked over as he looked back.
She was depending on him.
If he failed now they would both die.
He couldn't let that happen.
He couldn't let her die.
He took a deep breath as he brought his omni-tool back up and directed all power in his suit to his shields.
Sam frowned in confusion as Ivea stood up and took one last breath of air before diverting power from his suit's filtration system to his shields.
He could feel the heat from his shield's battery as it was overloading.
This is such a bad idea.
He opened slowly began to exhale as he stepped out from his cover and brought his pistol up aiming at the nearest guard's head.
He squeezed the trigger as his pistol jumped and the shot tore through the guard's shield and went through his skull.
Ivea began to reload his pistol as shots slammed into his shields causing him to stumble back.
He winced as he brought his pistol up again aiming at the next.
He squeezed the trigger and took another life.
He began reloading once more as a warning flashed across his visor warning him of low shields.
He ignored it as he took aim at the third man.
Another life taken by him.
The two men left reloaded quickly with fear in their eyes as they fired once more on Ivea's shields.
Ivea began feeling weak from lack of oxygen but slowly and shakily raised his pistol up toward one of the guard's.
He slowly squeezed the trigger as his pistol kicked harder than Ivea could handle and flew out of his hand and landed on the floor.
The guard fell to the floor with a hole in his skull.
The last guard grunted as he struggled to aim his rifle at Ivea from his shoulder wound that Sam gave him.
Ivea slowly blinked as his shields failed and a shot ripped right through his side causing him to stumble back against the window with a grunt.
"Goddamn it!" Sam screamed as she jumped out of cover and fired four shots at the guard lowering his shields and ending his life.
Sam ran over to Ivea who stood against the glass gasping as air hissed into his suit.
"Ivea!" She yelled as he blinked rapidly and applied medi-gel over the wound in his right side.
"I...I'm here." He gasped as he held his right hand over his right side groaning.
"You idiot! What was that?!" Sam yelled as she dropped her pistol and moved his hand away from the wound, examining it.
"I...I reverted power...from all systems...to shields." Ivea gasped as he finally got her back into his lungs.
"Even...Even life support." He winced as Sam applied a little more medi-gel.
"Here you didn't apply enough. That was stupid Ivea. You never throw yourself into gunfire. You always stay in cover or you'll get yourself killed." She locked eyes with him and sternly lectured him.
Ivea stared back at her.
"You didn't have anymore ammo." Ivea countered.
"That doesn't matter. You should've stayed behind cover and picked them off one by one. Power up your shields and shoot them from behind cover." Ivea looked down with his face burning.
"Sorry I...I just wanted to protect you..." Ivea weakly replied as he looked down.
Sam sighed and shook her head.
"I'm a big girl Ivea, I don't need protection. I need a soldier who's there to watch my back, not someone who throws themselves into gunfire." Sam replied with a smile.
Ivea slowly nodded and looked up at her.
"I'm sorry ma'am I'll try and remember that." Sam chuckled and nodded.
"Good we might make a soldier out of you yet. Now let's find some steps so we can get to the head honchos office." Sam ordered as she turned and began picking up some clips from the fallen guards.
"H...Honcho?" Ivea stammered in confusion.
He heard Sam quietly chuckle.
"Never mind let's get going."
. . . .
The door slid open before Ivea and Sam as they walked in with pistols raised.
Inside was a wide open room with a single desk straight ahead and a giant window behind it.
Seated at the desk was an older man with short brown hair with streaks of white showing.
"Excuse me I've been having some problems with a terminal on Binthu." Sam called out as the Man behind the desk raised a single eyebrow.
"So...you've broken into a pharmaceuticals company, killed the security force, and broken into my office to say you've had problems with a computer?" Ivea peeked over at Sam who had a frown.
"He has a point." Ivea whispered.
Sam ignored him and slowly walked forward.
"What do you know about Cerberus?" Sam demanded as she kept her pistol aimed at the Man's head.
He frowned as he stared at her.
"They're a terrorist group that-" A shot screamed past his head only inches away.
"Don't bullshit me!" Sam screamed as the Man growled.
"Even if I did know something I wouldn't tell someone who keeps the company of a suit rat." The man spat not even looking over at Ivea.
Sam's eyes narrowed as she gripped her pistol tighter.
She walked around the desk and pressed her pistol against he side of his head.
"Listen you piece of filth. The only thing I hate more than big cities is racists. Considering we've got both here I'd be more than happy to at least eliminate one of them."
The Man narrowed his eyes as he looked up at her without moving his head.
Kill me if you want, you'll never get past our system's security." Sam looked over at Ivea who was typing furiously on his omni-tool.
He looked over at the two.
"They definitely have an AI, there's no VI that learns like this." The Man smiled triumphantly as he opened his mouth.
"However," Ivea continued. "I am a Quarian, it took a little time but I've got everything we could need." The Man's eyes went wide as he looked up to Sam.
"Even if you try you cannot stop us! Cerberus cannot fail!" He yelled as Sam frowned.
"I have half a mind to kill you but-" She was cut off by a loud gasp from Ivea.
She looked over and saw him frozen in place staring outside the window.
Sam slowly turned and froze.
A massive white and yellow frigate was breaking through the clouds and sitting a short distance from the building.
Ivea and Sam sat in place with wide eyes.
Suddenly a wave of missiles and shots was fired and flying straight at the building.
Ivea looked over at Sam who was still for a moment then aimed her pistol at the window.
"JUMP!" She screamed as she opened fire and jumped through the broken glass.
"SAM!" Ivea screamed as he jumped after her.
He saw her falling below him guiding herself into the line of traffic.
She's going to land on an air car?!
Ivea adjusted his course so he sped up and went beside her.
"GET READY!" She screamed.
He traced her eyes and saw the car she was aiming for.
"KEELAH SE'LAI!" Ivea screamed as he braced for impact.
They slammed on the car causing it to drop a few feet and the driver to scream.
Sam screamed in pain as she grabbed her knee which was dislocated.
Ivea's suit absorbed the impact but he grunted in pain from the wound he still had in his side.
Sam applied some Medi-gel then opened the car manually and jumped in with Ivea.
The driver looked at them with wide eyes as Sam pushed him into the back seat.
"Sorry." She growled as she gunned it away from the building.
The wave of missiles and shots slammed into the building cutting it in half and causing it to fall onto itself, effectively flattening it as Sam, Ivea, and the paralyzed driver drove off towards the spaceport.