Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Mass Effect universe. The N7s in this story were co created by myself and my friends. Please don't steal. But Fanart would be appreciated.
Admiral Steven Hackett brings the chilled glass of brandy to his lips and takes a small sip. He is about to look at the next portion of decoded message when his door beeps. The older officer stifles a growl as he darkens the screen and stands, moving to answer the disturbance. He presses the release and the door hisses open, revealing the cook's assistant with the evening meal. A small smile breaks out upon the admiral's face as he accepts the food. His people knew that he sometimes worked himself too hard and forgot to eat. It pleased him to see that they tried to take care of him as he led them from danger to danger. Hackett returns to his desk and sets the food down next to his computer. He takes another sip of his brandy and sits down in front of the computer, activating the screen.
Immediately, the next dossier comes up. Staff Lieutenant Reden Yan. Admiral Hackett lets out a short laugh as he gazes upon the face of the man selected. He was a powerhouse. Son of high ranking special operations operator, he came late into the military as he did a bit of soul searching. Once in, he showed his arrogance and tenacity for getting the job done. The former rubbed a few officers the wrong way, but the latter helped him achieve promotions, despite a few disciplinary issues that plagued him. Hackett recalled that Reden had put a senior officer through a wall because he tried to order him to do something menial. He had broken another's jaw for a petty insult towards his father. The admiral had the pleasure of overseeing that court martial personally. The intensity he had seen in the young man's eyes moved him to have the case dismissed. The video light blinks and Hackett activates it, curious as to what he would see.
~Tuchanka~
Sprax grumbles softly as he checks over his weapon. He was annoyed that he had been placed in the platoon with the human. The armored male stands about as tall as an average Krogan and wears a set of armor made of sharp angles and flat diamond like shapes. Primarily black, the armor is also colored with green detailing and red lights. The human seems to talk to himself as they stand there, waiting for the enemy. Sprax growls and stomps his way over to the other male, not caring that the platoon leader had ordered them to play nice with their newest addition. "Human, are you sure you are in the right place? Doesn't your kind prefer to fight from far away?" the young Krogan growls. For a few moments, the armored man does nothing to acknowledge Sprax's taunt. His head shifts slightly, but the visored face never turns to directly meet the Krogan. This raises the ire of Sprax and he takes another step forward. "Human! I am talking to you!" he snarls. The armored male continues to ignore him, but Sprax's shouts have gathered the attention of his brethren. The other Krogan mutter amongst themselves and watch with extreme interest. The Krogan soldier growls and places a single three fingered hand on the human's shoulder pauldron.
The reaction is instant. Sprax's eyes widen as his hand pushes past the point he was expecting, shifting his weight forward and putting him off balance. The human simultaneously grabs his wrist and turns, putting body against the Krogan's front. The alien soldier barely has time to yelp as his body is tossed over the human's shoulder. He hits the ground with a solid oomph and hears the rasp of a metal weapon being drawn before the tip of a knife is placed in a spot right below Sprax's frontal plate. The Krogan looks up in amazement and fear, holding his body completely still while staring at the N7 that was on the chest of the human soldier's breast plate. There is a soft crackle as the human's external speaker comes on. "Touch me again and I will rip the plate right off of your head," the N7 states. There is no aggression in his voice that Sprax could hear. There didn't seem to be any emotion at all except for boredom. The Krogan knew that the man was not merely making a threat, but a promise, and he could hear his brethren shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. A loud laugh comes from the back of the pack and the other Krogan part as the scarred Platoon leader strides up from the outside of the group.
"Well played human. You must have a quad to threaten a Krogan on his homeworld surrounded by his brothers with the removal of his plate," the elder Krogan says as he comes to a stop beside Sprax's unmoving form, "What is your name?" The human's visored face looks up, but doesn't remove the blade from where he had it nestled underneath the bony plate on Sprax's head. "Staff Lieutenant Reden Yan, an N7 from the Alliance. Part of the Destroyer Corps," the black and green armored human says simply. "I am Torlack, commander of the Tenth Scout Platoon of Clan Nakmor. I like your spirit and because of this, I will ask you this once, release Private Sprax. We have a common enemy waiting to tear us to shreds, no need to waste energy making it easier for them," Torlack says with a wide Krogan grin upon his face. Sprax watches as the human surveys the area. He doesn't feel the pressure let up from the knife just waiting to tear off the plate it was nestled beneath. Lieutenant Yan then shrugs his shoulders and pulls the blade free, standing up as he sheathes the blade.
The young Krogan soldier quickly gets up and dusts his body off. He throws a glare at the human and is met with a swift headbutt to the forehead. Torlack lets out another laugh as he slaps Sprax across the shoulders as he stumbles backwards. "Watch this human carefully Sprax. You could learn a thing or two from him about what it really means to have quads the size of a Reaper," the platoon leader says as he strides off to go see the rest of the troops. The younger Krogan soldier rubs the impact point as the human walks back to where he had been before the confrontation. He could hear others chuckling at the human's display, and found a smirk playing across his own face. The hum-no Lieutenant Yan had earned his respect. If he was this brutal with his allies, Sprax couldn't wait to see what he would do to the enemy. "Reapers inbound!" comes a call from far off. The air is filled with the sound of weapons being drawn and powered up. Sprax turns and grins, welcoming the oncoming battle. Out of the corner, a sudden glow catches his eye. He turns back to see what was making the glow.
The red light of Reden's armor had intensified ten fold. His visor now shines a golden color as he flexes his body. A low growl seems to rumble from the armor as the image of something seems to ripple across it. Sprax had never seen anything like this before. It was as if there was a beast living within the very circuits of the armor that the human wore. The firing had begun and the Krogan turns in time to blast a Cannibal into pieces. The armored human hulks past him and grasps a Marauder that was hiding behind cover. He lifts it up and over with one hand before crushing its skull with a stomp of his boot. Blue blood splatters everywhere as Reden presses against the wall and begins returning fire. Sprax feels his blood boil and he lets out a battle cry. "FOR TUCHANKA!" he declares before he rushes forward. As he moves forward, others join him. And to his right, much to his satisfaction, Reden charges with them.
~Fifth Fleet SSV Kilimanjaro Admiral's Quarters~
Admiral Hackett closes the video with a slight shake of his head. Of course the lieutenant would befriend the Krogan through violence. It was his way. Hackett was glad that the Alliance brass had seen fit to send him as an envoy, of sorts, to Tuchanka. He closes the video and moves on to the next dossier. First Lieutenant Rin Kusanagi. Hackett's rests his chin on his thumbs and presses his fingers over his mouth as he reads the profile. She was in the top percentile of her class when it came to infiltrator training. She grasped the cloaking technology as if it were second nature. She was naturally athletic and flexible, which allowed her to get into spaces that others wouldn't necessarily fit into. The only negatives that the admiral could see, was that she was a loner. She did not work well with others in the slightest. There were a few flags in her file where she went off mission and did not cooperate with the team she had been assigned to. The mission still had been completed, but her superiors felt it necessary to highlight her lone wolf activities. Hackett makes a mental note of it, but knew that it was too late for much of a change. The video icon blinks and the older officer clicks it.
~Illium~
Felli taps the camera to make sure it was functioning properly as she looks at herself in the mirror. She examines the form hugging azure and green body suit/armor that not only accented her blue skin but also her green eyes. She had been working side by side with the local Illium police force ever since arriving planetside after the fall of Thessia. She smiles at herself as she heads out of her room and to one of the nearby aircars. As she drives, the HUD displays the assignment she had today. Apparently there were several Cerberus troops seen on the ground, dealing with a local human contractor. The eyewitness who had reported this had disappeared soon after. Felli sighs as she directs her vehicle towards where the now deceased informant had identified the meeting taking place. She weaves her vehicle easily through the lanes of aerial traffic and down to the landing pad nearest to where the sighting had been reported. Her vehicle lands softly and the whine of the engines slowly fade away into nothing. She reaches back and grabs her trusted Mattock and Disciple. Once she is sure that they are properly attached, she seals up her vehicle.
As she takes a few steps towards the nearest door, she hears the whine of another air car descending from the sky. She spins around, bringing the assault rifle up to her shoulder. Had they already been tipped off to her coming? It was quite possible. Her body glows with biotic energy as she awaits the owner of the vehicle to park. The black aircar lands gently and opens up to reveal a magenta skinned asari. Almost immediately, Felli lowers her rifle and grins. "Well now, look who decided to show up for work," the azure asari teases as she places her weapon back behind her. "Yea yea, I got told while I was en route to the station. Not my fault I was a bit busy last night," the other asari replies as she checks her Acolyte and her Disciple. "Lured another young woman to your bed, Giata?" Felli asks as she turns back towards the doorway that she had been heading towards. "A young man actually. He had tanned skin and the prettiest green eyes," the magenta Asari replies. Felli looks over her friend slowly, she wore a light purple and orange jumpsuit that accented her skin and eyes, similar to how how Felli's own outfit did the same thing. "You ready?" she asks as she stands next to the door, her left hand glowing as she readies to blow the door open. Giata nods and primes her shotgun. "Always."
With a blast of biotic energy, the door is ripped from its hinges. The two Asari commandos slip silently into the dimly lit corridor. Their eyes scan the area as they move with fluid trained precision down the hall. Felli keeps the Mattock pressed into her shoulder as she continues moving forward, looking from side to side from time to time to make sure that she had missed nothing. She knew that Giata had her back. The two of them had been on hundreds of missions together throughout their lives and this was just another mark on the wall. The blue Asari comes to a stop against a wall and motions for Giata to take a flanking position on the other side of the door she was next to. The other Asari nods and presses her back to the wall, ready to go. Felli counts down on her fingers, but stops short of finishing. Her eyes narrow as she notices that the lock on the door was disengaged. She directs her partner's attention to it before pressing on the door. The portal slides loosely open. The two commandos narrow their eyes and ready their weapons as they move into the darkened area. The office hallway is darken as if the lights had been taken out. A few of the emergency lights glowed, but other than that there was no light or movement. Felli had an uneasy feeling about this, but still clicks on her flashlight.
The first thing her eyes come upon is the body of a dead Cerberus trooper. Crimson blood painted the lower half of his armored form as he sits against the wall. Felli kneels down to investigate the wound a bit closer. She hears Giata move into an overwatch position as she lightly prods the dead body. The blood had barely begun to dry, which means that the kill had happened recently. The only thing she found was a small incision in the enemy's torso. Whoever did this had used an incredibly sharp blade.
Was there another person that they had to worry about now? Felli did not like this one bit. The azure Asari stands and begins moving forward again. As she inhales, she notices the metallic tang of blood in the air. She looks back at Giata and nods to her. The magenta Asari nods back and tenses her body. They come to a stop to one of the rooms of the office and slowly push the door open to investigate. Another slaughter. Several troopers and a pair of centurions lay in pools of their own blood. When Felli moves closer to inspect the wounds, she sees a few gunshot wounds as well as small incisions. When this person had struck, the Cerberus troops had barely had time to react. Only one of the Centurions and a couple of the Troopers had their weapons in hand. Inspecting the armed Centurion shows Felli that his weapon had been cut cleanly in half.
"What the hell is going on?" the azure Asari thinks aloud as she stands up and moves towards the door. Giata eyes the cut weapon and whistles softly. "I've never seen damage like that before. But this just means we are going to have to be extra careful," she says as she follows Felli out. The pair head out into the hall and continue deeper into the office area. For the most part, the floor was quiet and devoid of any signs of life. Even so, the two Asari continue cautiously, weapons ready. Felli pauses slightly as she thinks she sees something flicker at the end of the hall. She taps Giata on the shoulder and points forward, her partner nods and the two of them move forward. As they reach the end, she shakes her head. "Perhaps you need a bit of release Felli," Giata teases as she lightly punches her friend in the arm. The blue Asari frowns briefly before laughing and nudging her magenta partner in the side in response.
A sudden scream brings the pair out of the friendly jabs. Felli pushes the emotions from her face as she begins running towards where she heard the sound come from. She could hear Giata hot on her heels and she urges her legs to go a bit faster. They come to an open office door. With weapons raised, they enter. Their eyes are first captured by the sight of a headless female body in white armor. With the absence of a head, Felli could only assume it had been vaporized by a high powered round. A little further into the room, they find another mutilated corpse. Left hand, right arm, and head all cut off cleanly and laying close to the body. Giata curses softly and that brings Felli's attention up to the desk. A human woman, more than likely in her thirties, sits in the chair behind it. Her eyes move around as mouth works but no air comes through. It is then Felli realizes that her throat had been slit, blood was covering the front of her torso. "What the fuck?! Felli over there!" Giata shouts as she points her flashlight to the right of the dying body. The blue Asari brings her rifle to point in the same space as the attacker decloak.
It was clear to see that the one they had in their sights was female. Her armor hugs her curves nicely. The armor was primarily black with crimson detailing. The few lights that were upon her body glow a soft royal blue as she turns towards them, a gray sniper rifle in her hand. A type of sniper rifle she had never seen before. The visor that covers her face was a pale fresh snow white and sends chills down Felli's spine. "Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air!" Giata shouts. The blue Asari merely continues to keep her sights on the woman before them. She doesn't move to comply. Instead, the assassin merely tilts her head slightly to the left. "Drop your fucking weapon and put your hands up! I'm not going to tell you again!" Giata shouts once more. This time, the assassin gently deposits the rifle on the desktop and raises her hands up to about head height. The two Asari close in on her carefully, making sure to keep their weapons on the woman's body at all times. Felli moves behind the woman and moves to grab her left hand, which is when everything goes south.
The woman's omnitool lights up and the Asari weapons begin beeping as they overheat, flashlights clicking off. Felli's eyes move down to inspect her weapon and the woman strikes. She spins gracefully to the right, knocking the rifle's muzzle from her to Giata, and kicks Felli solidly in the back, sending her stumbling into her partner. The blue Asari grunts as she hits her partner, who partially catches her. Unfortunately, both were off balance, so when Felli receives a second solid kick to the back, they topple to the ground. Felli and Giata recover quickly, clearing the overheating thermal clips and coming up with their weapons pointed towards where the woman had been standing. Their weapons aim at dark empty air instead of a body. Felli could barely see by the glow of the emergency lights. Neither say a word as they wait for anything to happen. Something falls off to the left and instinctively, both women turn and begin firing. The air is brightened by the muzzle flashes as the rounds tear through what had been an expensive couch. Felli realizes too late that it was a distraction. She hears Giata grunt softly as she turns back around. The blue Asari brings her rifle up towards the wavering air beside her partner. A blazing blade flares to life an instant before it cleaves through the front half of Felli's Mattock rifle. The Asari gathers biotic energy, but stops as the flaming blade comes back down to rest above her throat.
"You aren't designated as enemies, so I do not want to kill you, but if you persist in your violent actions, I will," the assassin says simply. From this angle, and by the light of her blade, Felli could see the N7 that was over her left breast. So that's who she was. "You are Alliance Special Forces," the Asari says as her green eyes move over to Giata, who now lay limply upon the ground beside her. "Yes I am. Do not worry about your friend, she is merely unconscious. As I said, you are not enemies, it would be pointless to end your lives," the woman replies, her tone as hard as steel. Felli nods, and holds her hands up. "So now what?" the Asari asks as she tries to think of her next move. "You should be safe here until you recover. I apologize, but I can't have you impeding me," the woman says. Before Felli can ask her what she means, her vision explodes into stars as a booted foot catches her in the side of the neck. As darkness takes her, she sees the cloak activate and hide the woman from sight once more.
~Fifth Fleet SSV Kilimanjaro Admiral's Quarters~
Admiral Hackett strokes his well kept beard as the video ends. Lieutenant Kusanagi was a prime Infiltrator, but her lone wolf attitude may be a bit detrimental to the team as a whole. Hopefully these next two will have the leadership ability to command this group. He accesses the next dossier and a small smile forms on his lips. Major Jackson Willis. One of the first N7 Vanguards to join the Slayer program. The new training turned the already powerful biotic into an even more effective weapon against the enemies of the Alliance. He had commanded several hundred missions, having his victories and defeats along the way. But he learned from his mistakes. He had earned the respect of his subordinates and superiors alike. He had even been the one to push Shepard into the N7 program. As Hackett reads on, he notices that Major Willis has connections to each of the other members already selected. Coincidence? The admiral did not think so. He scrolls down to the video and accesses it, curious as to what he was going to see.
~Noveria~
Lieutenant Joleesh quietly patrols one of the major stations in Port Hanshan. He was not really one for the cold weather, but it was his duty to protect this planet along with the others of the STG assigned here. Even with the Reapers gone, Cerberus was still out there, and this was one of the major hubs for cutting edge and bleeding edge technologies. It had been many months since last they attacked, but Joleesh was always on guard. There had been rumors of a strange armored male appearing at random throughout the station. Despite the best efforts of the Salarians on station, they had not been able to find much on this mysterious person. The thought of this irked Joleesh as well as greatly intrigued him. The lieutenant pauses during his rounds and calls for a routine check in, lowering his Vindicator assault rifle. One by one, all clears come in from across the board. The Salarian turns his head and looks out at the powerful storm that was surrounding them.
'It would be hard to see much anything coming in. The perfect time for an ambush or attack. But only if they had properly configured their ships to deal with the wind and temperatures as well as the frozen water that would stick to the hull and the ship's engines. It was Cerberus, so that was entirely possible. But would it not be wiser to wait till night? No, the guiding lights would give it away. But the lights could be turned off. Far too dangerous to fly in the dark of a Noverian snow storm. Pilot would have to be an expert and crazy.' These thoughts whirl around Joleesh's head as he resumes his patrol, greeting the few security personnel working with him today. As he speaks to one of his Turian compatriots, the skylight shatters.
Cerberus troopers drop down from the ceiling, their rifles coming to bear as they begin firing upon security personnel and civilians alike. "Get to cover and return fire!" Joleesh bellows as he sets up against one of the stone blocks and fires back at the incoming enemies. The other security personnel quickly fall in line and begin assisting as the scientists and business people scatter like cockroaches from the sun. The Salarian lieutenant looks across the sudden battlefield and smiles. With this few troops, it would be easy for them to repel the invaders. "Keep on them! Don't give them an inch!" Joleesh shouts as he inserts a new thermal clip and begins firing once more. His eyes are drawn from the recently downed target by a thin line of crimson slicing through the air.
For a moment it holds steady and a sniper shot rings out above the roar of automatic weapons fire. The Turian he had been conversing with only a few moments before, jerks back as his head is ventilated by the deadly round. "Ah SHIT! SNIPER! SNIPER GET DOWN!" shouts one of the humans as they try and drag the corpse away, to see if he could be saved. Joleesh already knew it was a futile gesture and begins trying to track the one that had killed his comrade. His large eyes spot the black form of the Nemesis skirting around near the back edge of the battle, probably shifting to get a better angle on them. Joleesh raises his rifle to drop her when a Centurion smoke grenade goes off, blinding him. He curses under his breath and swings his rifle back to catch the troop leader moving from cover to cover. He unloads quickly, tearing through shields and armor. As he guns the Centurion down, he hears a strange sound, unlike any he had heard before.
Was that a beam of light that he saw out of the corner of his vision? Maybe a tracer round of some sort. A quartet of these strange sounds go off before Joleesh moves to regroup with the others, the Cerberus forces thinned out substantially from their coordinated counterattack. "How many have we lost sergeant?" the Salarian asks as he kneels behind cover with them. "We have three KIA, one with major wounds, and two with minors," the sergeant replies quickly. "Good good. Let's mop up these remaining intruders and get to helping our wounded," the lieutenant says as he charges his weapon. "ATLAS!" Joleesh turns as the massive mech lands in the center of the courtyard, sending a shudder through the entire station. The Salarian curses lightly. They didn't have the weapons to quickly deal with that sort of weapon. "Get to cover! Stay low!" the Salarian shouts as the Atlas begins firing its main gun, tearing chunks out of the stone structure with every shot. How were they going to deal with this.
"Lieutenant Joleesh of STG. Bring down that thing's shields, and I'll do the rest," an unfamiliar voice calls over the squad com. "Who is this? How did you get this frequency?" the Salarian shouts back immediately. "No time. Bring down the shields and I'll bring down the Atlas," the unfamiliar voice replies. Joleesh growls in frustration as he comes out of cover to hit the Atlas with an Overload. The mech, that had been stomping towards the position of a few others, now turns its attention towards the Salarian and his group. Three shots slam into the stone they were hiding behind as it stomps ever closer. Joleesh pops up and hits it with another Overload, smiling as electricity arcs across its exterior. "The shield is down. You are clear to fire," the STG lieutenant calls out over the com.
Some security personnel begin taking shots with their assault rifles and pistols, drawing the ire of the mech. But then a strange sound fills the air. Joleesh watches as a beam of light cuts through the air and drills a hole through the cockpit canopy of the Atlas. The mech shudders and comes to a stop. The Salarian could hear a few appreciative whistles and nods in agreement. "That should be the last of them," another of the sergeants says across the squad com. "Indeed. Now let's go retrieve that mech," Joleesh replies. The Salarian stands up and watches as a group of five move towards the now dormant Atlas. As they reach it, a pair of beings drop through the gaping hole in the ceiling. Joleesh growls as their biotic lashes crackle to life before they quickly tear apart the men sent to retrieve the Atlas.
"Open fire open fire!" he shouts over the screams of the dying men. The remaining security personnel open up on the new Cerberus Dragoons. Their shots didn't seem to be affecting the advancing enemy units, one of which was focused on Joleesh. The Salarian fires rapidly as the Dragoon crouches, activating his biotic lashes. It looked as though he was going to leap. If the lieutenant timed it correctly, he could get out of the way, but timing was key. The Cerberus soldier leaps and makes it halfway across the distance between them before he disappears in a trail of biotic energy. Joleesh blinks and looks around.
His eyes move back to where the Dragoon jumped from and he finds the man on his back, with another standing over him. The male looked human from the silhouette. The armor looked black for the most part. The Salarian could see a few silver lines crisscrossing his body. The man pulls the sword free of the dead Dragoon and stands up straight, a strange blue purple rifle. The second Cerberus soldier turns suddenly to the new threat. The new soldier spins his sword around as he turns towards the remaining Dragoon. As he turns, Joleesh spots an N7 emblem on the right side of his chest. The Salarian's eyes widen as he understands now why it had been so hard for him to be found. Alliance Special Ops, high level, very dangerous as one Dragoon had already found out.
With a fierce crackle, the acid yellow lashes cut through the air towards the N7's torso. The Vanguard seemingly phases out of existence, the lashes passing through the air where he had been standing. The Dragoon grunts as the tip of the N7's blade emerges through the front of his chest. With a slight shift of his body, the biotic user turns and pushes the blade up through the top of the Cerberus soldier's head. The body drops to the ground as the human cleans the blood off of his blade. "Well that was fun," he mutters as he returns the sword to his back.
Joleesh turns back to his men, making sure everything is alright as he puts his rifle away. When he turns back, he notices that the N7 had vanished. The Salarian chuckles softly and shakes his head. The battle was won and the assistance of the human kept more of his men from dying. That was all that mattered. Now it was time to heal the wounded and fix that hole in the ceiling.
~Fifth Fleet SSV Kilimanjaro Admiral's Quarters~
As the video cuts, Admiral Hackett smiles and leans back into his chair. This was quite a team that had been gathered. They should be enough to deal with the mission that the admiral had planned for them. One of each of the specialties. The spread of rank seemed to be fitting and the skill level of those selected were exemplary. There would be a bit of headbutting, but that was to be expected when gathering any number of special operations operatives. Hopefully Major Willis will be up to the task. Hackett leans forward and picks up his glass of brandy. He was about to toast to the screen, when another dossier pops up. He raises an eyebrow before keying it. His hardened face spreads out in a wide smile as he reads the name and rank of the final N7 selected. Major Keidra C. Shepard. The one who took Torfan and pushed the Batarian incursion out of Citadel space. The daughter of Admiral Hannah Shepard. Although she has been somewhat of a loose cannon since being put in charge of the SSV Normandy, Hackett could not ignore the results she garnered. Stopping Saren Arterius, the Collectors, and even the Reapers. But even so, it was not without its losses. Ashley Williams, Thane Krios, Mordin Solus, and Bakara of clan Urdnot. She had kept friendly casualties to a minimum, but he was sure each loss weighed heavily upon her mind.
The admiral's eyes move down to the blinking video icon, but he did not need to click it. He knew enough about Shepard to know that she was still healing from the near death experience brought on by taking a Reaper beam head on. She was tough as nails and if the informant had selected her, she was combat worthy. His eyes move over the name of the one who had gathered the files, video, and coded the message. Kasumi Goto, truly a gem in the field of Intelligence, another one found by Shepard during her stint with Cerberus. It had all become quite the blessing in the disguise of a curse. He closes down the program and opens a new email. He then begins typing out the official orders to have the seven brought to SSV Kilimanjaro. He sends it and closes down his terminal. He turns to his food and smiles as he begins eating. Things were looking to become very interesting very soon.