8: The Farm

The first rays of dawn swept across the open plains and steppes of rural Anhur, the sky above taking on a deep, orange-tinged blue as the system's young sun began to rise. It provided some small measure of relief for Lyssa Raine, who had spent the better part of the early hours after midnight trudging through the countryside with a disgruntled turian Cabalist in tow. It was a tiring walk, and she sensed the turian's overall energy levels plummet over the course of it. She did not feed him, unwilling to risk offering even the smallest boost to his biotic abilities. She offered him water and nothing else, otherwise she simply pulled him along like a uncooperative dog on a leash. He said little, even in her attempts to make conversation.

'Where are you from?' She asked him at one point, as they pushed through some especially thick underbrush by a forest trail. The turian, Sevarn Valus, looked up at her but said nothing. She fixed him with an annoyed grimace.

'I'm just trying to make conversation,' she stated. 'You from Palaven? Or somewhere else? How many colonies do you guys have, anyway?'

Again, no reply. Lyssa frowned, before she gave the rope leash an especially sharp tug that sent the turian stumbling forwards. He landed on his knees, his facial features narrowing into a scowl. She looked down at him and shook her head.

'Answer the question,' she said, injecting her voice with a small layer of menace. The turian, emitting a sigh, slowly rose to his feet. He was still a little unsteady, a result of his injuries and his lack of food. Still, he was strong, there was no denying that. He started after her as Lyssa resumed the walk, and this time he spoke with that dulcet, dual-flanged voice of his.

'Messinus,' he said.

'Never heard of it.'

'You wouldn't know it.' From the way he spoke, Lyssa figured he did not feel much for his home at all. 'It's an agricultural backwater. I spend most of my time on Palaven.' There followed a brief pause, before he added: 'Why do you ask? Why do you even care, human?'

'I'm curious,' she told him. The trail ahead opened up somewhat, no longer clogged with prickly underbrush. 'And that's all it is. Curiosity. Thing is, the people we're going to meet won't be asking you the easy questions.'

Sevarn huffed and Lyssa quirked a brow.

'What is it?' She asked him.

'Why don't you just get it over and kill me?' He looked to her again, right in her eyes. His own blue ones were filled with a mix of resignation and dismay. 'My team's dead. If I go back home, it'll be as a failure.'

'I suppose you turians are prideful enough that getting beaten by a bunch of batarian rebels must really hurt,' Lyssa remarked. 'But I'm not going to kill you. I mean, what would be the point? You're under my power, for one. I'm not just going to execute you, that's not how I do things. Not normally, anyway.'

'Not normally?' Sevarn's frown deepened. 'What do you mean?'

'I mean that you haven't pissed me off enough for that,' she countered, and she stopped in order to better turn around and look him right in the eye. 'If you'd been batarian, for instance, I'd have put a bullet in you as soon as I had you dead-to-rights.'

'You don't like their kind?'

'It's a deep-seated dislike. They killed my parents a long time ago.'

'Is that why you work for Cerberus?'

'Partly.' She gave the turian a small smile. 'Why? You don't like what we do?'

'You're terrorists.'

She rolled her eyes upon hearing that. She turned back around and resumed walking, tugging her turian captive after her. Sevarn, however, was not content to let the matter be.

'Do you know what kind of things that organization has done? Experiments on people, not just on other species but on humans as well?'

'You have to break a few eggs to make an omelette. Why?'

'Doesn't that bother you?'

She turned to him again, and this time her scowl made him stop in his tracks. Under the morning light, a cool breeze wafted through the surrounding woodland and somewhere distant, an alien bird gave a rollicking, chirruping call.

'You're one to talk, turian. Your team launched an attack on a human installation on a Terminus Systems world. That in itself would warrant a diplomatic incident with Anhur's government, but I suppose your people don't give a shit about that.' She shook her head slowly when she saw Sevarn's somewhat uncertain expression. 'Your people are using you covert ops types to undermine Cerberus operations, just as my people do the same to yours and others. It's a secret war and it happens off the record way out here, on planets like this one where the Citadel authorities can't touch us. You can't go on acting like you're on the moral high ground when you're just as guilty as I am. We both had our orders, we just happened to be on opposing sides.'

'But the experiments…'

'Your people don't conduct experiments?' Lyssa gave a derisive huff. 'It ever occur to you that most of your medical knowledge probably derived from unethical experiments? Let's be realistic here, real progress doesn't get made unless someone's willing to do some dirty, questionable stuff. So don't try and lecture me, Lieutenant.' With that, she turned around and started back along the trail. Sevarn said nothing more, his expression somewhat more morose than before. Lyssa liked to think she had convinced him to drop the subject, yet now the quiet of their forest trek was beginning to nag at her. Aside from the crunch of their booted feet on the path underfoot, the rustle of the bushes and branches about them and the occasional birdsong, there was little other noise to be heard. For all they knew, there could be batarian rebels creeping up on them right now. All the more reason to keep vigilant, or so Lyssa reckoned.

They found a working car come mid-morning, a simple four-wheeled model with some juice left in its batteries. Anhur, being the crime-infested colony it was, saw a lot of stolen vehicles that would, in turn, either find their way to a chop shop or be abandoned for whatever reason. Someone had dumped this one in a ditch, and judging from how filthy it was and the weeds springing up about the wheels it had been here for some time. Nonetheless, the wonders of 22nd century technology had saw to it that the power cells in that ramshackle old sedan were still in some degree of working order. A simple hack with the turian's omni-tool had started it up, and she had then bundled the turian into the trunk, being reminded of some old gangster vid as she did so. Never in her life had she considered abducting someone and sticking them in the trunk of a car, yet here she was essentially doing just that.

The turian, Sevarn, looked at her with obvious contempt as she forced him into the trunk. He was too tall for it, leaving him in a semi-foetal position.

'Sorry, spikes.' She looked down at him and gave him a wry smile. 'Shouldn't be too long in there.' She plucked her water bottle from the pouch at her waist within which it had been stuffed, popping off the lid and gulping down at least half the contents before she threw it in with him. 'Go on, don't want you dehydrated. You gotta be in good shape for my friends. I imagine they have all kinds of questions to ask you.'

Sevarn said nothing, he just kept glaring at her. She slammed the trunk closed before she made her way around the car and hopped into the driver's seat. With the sun rising and the remoteness of the region about them, she estimated they had about a twenty-minute drive ahead of them.

There was a risk to be had in keeping a biotic turian in the trunk, yet the damper she had stuck to him would have been doing a fine job of putting a lid on his biotic amp. Without that, he could do little more than tickle someone with his abilities. On that note, Lyssa had starved the young turian, and without the necessary calories to provide energy a biotic would be as good as useless.

She found she could relax a little, even cruise along the dirt road ahead. Of course, one could never truly relax here, not when there was always the possibility of running into bandits or rebels. Salak Vok's men had attacked the convoy, inadvertently freeing her but also pursuing her for a time. They would have killed her just as readily as they would her turian prisoner. She could not wait to get off of this sorry planet, that was for sure. Preferably for a place that was not full of people trying to kill her.

The farm was where the Director had told her it would be, a secluded two storey house in the middle of nowhere with wide open fields all around. There was a large barn a short distance from the house, little more than a timber-panelled shell that was in dire need of repair. Lyssa guided the car onto the gravel road that wound its way over to the house, and there she noticed at least two much more rugged vehicles parked ahead of the barn. They were both of the all-terrain variety, four-wheeled with heightened suspension and tinted windows. Simple rovers with rear double doors. No doubt they belonged to the people who had been sent here to collect her and her captive. Seeing them, Lyssa felt some relief. Finally, a way out of this mess of a situation had presented itself.

As she brought the car over, the doors on each of the vehicles swung open. From each emerged four individuals, providing eight in total, all kitted out in armour that appeared somewhat bulkier than anything she had seen used in the facility. All wore helmets, complete with black visors that kept their faces from view, with red slits upon them denoting the rough positioning of their eyes. One of the figures was shorter and slimmer, wearing a set of armour that was much sleeker and agile in appearance. This one even came with a black armoured flap at the rear, and the helmet itself was a deep black in turn that showed nothing of the face of the one under it. As Lyssa neared the group, she could see quite clearly that the one in the fancier armour was a woman. Overall, they were kitted out like no Cerberus team she had ever seen before.

Right away, her relief dissipated. Something about all of this felt off. Coming to a halt a short distance ahead of the group, Lyssa took a moment to ponder her newfound wariness. This had to be some elite operations team, no doubt dispatched in response to the attack on the facility. She could very well have been that attack's sole survivor, which would be enough to draw them to her. She expected a great many questions to follow when she was brought back in, a thought that made the appearance of this team all the more worrisome. Cerberus had its heart in the right place, but there was no denying their methods could be a little extreme. Even her own, which had got her in trouble during her days as an Alliance Marine. At least with Cerberus, she had far more leeway to do things as she saw fit.

She switched off the vehicle's engine. Her pistol, or rather the heavy model she had picked up off of the dead turian Major, was still attached to her thigh via a magnetic lock. She watched the waiting group through the car's windshield. The woman in the fancy armour had her visor-concealed gaze firmly locked upon Lyssa. The others, troopers of some variety, had spread out. No one had weapons drawn. In fact, the whole group appeared very much relaxed.

Lyssa sighed and opened the driver's side door. She climbed out of the car and gave the leader of the team ahead a little wave. Stepping around to the rear of the car, she popped the trunk to find her turian passenger as similarly annoyed as he had been when she had thrown him inside. She helped him out of the trunk, before she gave him a light shove in the direction of the Cerberus assault team. Lyssa kept a few steps at his rear, coaxing him along if he slowed down a little too much for her liking.

'Nice day, isn't it?' Lyssa stopped several metres from the leader of the team. The team leader tilted her head slightly, but otherwise said nothing. 'So, what's the plan? You guys taking me back in? I'm itching to get off of this shithole planet.'

Again, no response. Lyssa narrowed her eyes. She saw the turian bristle, and despite his weary demeanour she got the impression that even he found the whole setup suspicious. Cast in the midday light, the sky scattered with clouds and the air about them carrying with it a wintry chill, Lyssa was starting to get the distinct impression that this was no simple recovery team. Nonetheless, she stood her ground.

'I got a prisoner,' she told the group, motioning to Lieutenant Sevarn Valus. He gave her a sideways glance, very clearly discontented with his current predicament. Taking a step forwards, she gave him a sharp kick in the back of one knee. Following this with a hard shove, she pushed him down to his knees.

'Careful, though; he's a biotic. I've starved him and slapped a damper on him, but you can never be sure with these guys.' Again, no reply was forthcoming. Lyssa watched as the team leader stepped forwards, and as she did so the omni-tool she wore activated. From the holographic overlay was projected a real-time feed of the Director himself, tinged a light blue and partially transparent, coming in at life-size as it established itself in the space a few metres ahead of the team leader.

The Director was in his usual expensive attire. He had a cigar in hand, and as his hologram asserted itself he took a hearty puff upon it. Lines of interference crisscrossed the image, causing it to waver here and there, but otherwise the picture was as clear as such a connection could possibly get.

The Director regarded Lyssa through narrowed eyes, and she thought she detected a hint of suspicion within them.

'Sir.' Lyssa stood to attention upon seeing him. The Director allowed the cigar to simmer where he clutched it between two fingers, smoke wafting from the burning tip.

'Security Chief Raine, you made it.' The Director did not sound pleased, nor displeased. Rather, it was a simple statement of fact. Lyssa had not been expecting a pat on the back, anyway. 'You are a survivor, Raine. Your records make that quite clear.'

'We were attacked, sir.' Lyssa found she did not like the Director's current demeanour whatsoever. It was hardly inviting, rather cold and somewhat detached. Even annoyed, as if his calling in was a significant inconvenience for him.

'I know what happened,' the Director said, his voice coming in a little sharper than Lyssa had been expecting. His gaze drifted to the turian prisoner, who was on his knees a short distance ahead of the hologram. 'You brought a live one. Good. We might get some use out of him, I suppose.' He did not sound all too convinced of this.

'I can give you a full report, sir. When I'm debriefed.'

'Yes, yes, I'm sure you can.' The Director seemed to look somewhere off-camera then, as if listening to someone else who was in the room with him. Giving this unseen other a nod in the affirmative, he returned his attention to Lyssa. 'I wish I had some good news, Chief Raine. But from our initial survey of the situation, the facility on Anhur has been destroyed. You are the sole survivor. And your turian friend appears to be the sole survivor of the team that attacked the facility.'

'They caught us by surprise, Director. Someone on the inside must have helped them.' She recalled the person who had jumped her in the mainframe room, the one using the tactical cloak. Of course, she was not about to mention how she had been bested by this infiltrator here and now. She would have preferred to keep up the impression that she had been flawless at her job for as long as possible.

'That was our initial conclusion as well,' the Director replied. 'In fact, that is partly why I decided to call in like this. You see, Chief Raine, we've already sifted through the mess at the facility. We even retrieved some security records of the attack. And from what we can discern, it would seem that you ventured into the mainframe a short time before the secondary power went offline. You did not emerge from there until well after the turian team had entered the facility.'

'I was jumped, sir.' So, it looked like she would have to tell all here and now. She did not enjoy doing it, but it would be necessary if she was to cover her own ass. 'Someone with a tactical cloak.'

'Is that so?' The Director remained unconvinced. 'We uncovered an intrusion into the mainframe at about the time you went in there. Some sensitive information was accessed and copied. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?'

Lyssa froze. The implication was clear, and she knew then why an entire Cerberus assault team had been sent to collect her. They thought she was the one on the inside, the one who had paved the way for the turian team to attack. Or, at the very least, she had accessed information that she was simply not cleared to do so. That in itself was serious. Compound this with the destruction of the facility and her being the sole survivor, it was not a good look at all.

'You think I had something to do with what happened?' Lyssa spoke carefully, her voice even, with neither the anger she felt nor the mounting anxiety threatening to take hold within her finding its way into her tones. 'I've been loyal to the organization. I've never put a foot wrong.'

'It's a terrible look, isn't it?' The Director stated, and he voiced this as more of a suggestion than anything else. 'The sole survivor of the attack, save for the turian you've got on a leash here. Tell me, who wants that data you copied? The Alliance? The Hierarchy? The Citadel Council?'

Lyssa frowned. She took a few steps forwards, stopping at Sevarn's rear.

'If I was working for anyone else, would I have brought him along?' She squatted by the downbeat turian, giving him a playful pat on the shoulder. At the same time, her other hand found the small damping device she had strapped to his lower back. She pulled it away, dropping it to the grass. Standing up, she put her foot upon it and crushed it under her boot, all done in a manner that looked as natural as anything else. With a tug, she loosened the ropes keeping his hands behind his back. This whole idea could backfire in her face, but right now she needed every edge she could get.

'I mean, he's a biotic. You should be careful when you take him in. Who knows, he might pop a shockwave when you least expect it.' God, she hoped the turian was getting the hint. She was likely expecting too much, seeing as how he was in a generally sorry state, but at the moment he was her best chance to get out of this.

'Stop wasting time, Raine.' The Director's voice audibly soured.

'You're setting me up,' Lyssa spat, and from the way the Director's face scrunched up she got the impression she was on the right track. 'There's more going on here and I'm the convenient patsy, am I right? I bet I was supposed to die in there like everybody else.' She paused, briefly, as another thought occurred to her then: 'Was the ambush by the batarians a setup as well? All too exterminate the turian team? I always knew you higher-ups in the organization were shady, but this is truly something else.'

'You always were a clever woman, Chief Raine.'

'What can I say, I read a lot of books.' Lyssa took a few steps back. She had a gun in her waist holster, but reaching for it now would be a mistake. The troopers and their female leader were all watching her closely, yet none had drawn weapons yet. She expected that could change very quickly.

The Director turned his head to look at the assault team's leader.

'You know what to do, team leader.' With that, the hologram disappeared. Lyssa stood her ground, watching the team leader and her subordinates. They were going to kill her, all as part of some scheme the Director had concocted. She had always found something to be off about that man, yet she had looked past that gut instinct and instead been distracted by the heathy pay packet and decent working conditions. Well, she was never going to ignore her gut instincts ever again.

The troopers were readying their assault rifles and submachine guns. There were a few models in there she thought she recognized, such as the Harrier and the Hornet. The team leader, however, pulled something else from where it had been magnetically attached to her back: it was little more than a hilt, yet with a flick a sizeable blade extended from it. A sword, Lyssa realised, which to her seemed to be a mighty unusual choice of weapon in the 22nd century.

'Shit,' she muttered. She was outnumbered and outgunned. And the damn turian in front of her had barely moved. His head was down, his breathing heavy, laboured even. She thought about giving him a kick to spur him on like some stubborn horse. She need not have worried, however, for Lieutenant Sevarn Valus had simply been gathering his strength since he had seen the Cerberus team emerge from their vehicles. Deep down, he had expected something like this to happen, and for his captor to be the intended victim of this betrayal did not surprise him in the slightest.

He was on his feet then, emitting a shout that was both parts agony and frustration, his first real outburst since he had survived the ambush and fallen in with Lyssa. Biotic energy swirled off of him, and he flung out an arm in order to best concentrate that surge, guiding it before him in a powerful wave of sheer concussive force. This blue rush of energy struck the assault team head-on, and it sent all of them stumbling and falling backwards several feet, with even the team leader being caught off-guard. She attempted to catch herself by digging her heels into the dirt, but it was not enough when faced with this kind of outburst. She fell backwards, landing hard on her ass, still clasping her sword but in little state to use it. A cloud of dust kicked up from the shockwave, patches of grass swaying.

Sevarn collapsed onto all fours as soon as it was done. Lyssa did not need anything further from him, as the opportunity had been granted. She pulled her pistol and opened fire. This model kicked hard in her grasp but was otherwise controllable if one paced their shots, and so she put a round into one of the troopers who was in the process of standing back up. The bullet tore through the armour at his chest, blood spilling forth. The trooper fell into a heap.

Lyssa rushed forwards and grabbed Sevarn by the forearm, helping him back upon his feet. If he had been in a poor state before, that outburst of biotic energy had drained him almost completely. Blue blood trickled from his nostrils and he wavered on his feet, teetering on simply falling over. She shoved him back towards the car, all while she resumed firing with the heavy pistol.

Another trooper went down, before the others were up. They scattered, rifles barking and submachine guns spraying fire her way. The rear window on the parked car shattered. Lyssa ducked and fired again, this time putting a round through the faceplate of one of the Cerberus troopers. There was a rush of blood through the broken mix of reinforced glass and polymers before the trooper simply landed spread-eagled and on his back in the dirt.

The team leader rushed forwards then, and Lyssa shifted her aim. She let fly with a pair of shots that were absorbed by whatever form of barrier this woman was utilising, before she cartwheeled to one side with all the finesse of an expert gymnast. Lyssa was briefly taken off-guard at the unexpected show of athleticism, only to watch as something fired from the woman's right hand. It was some kind of in-built gun, and the bolt of energy that burst forth missed Lyssa by mere inches.

She had outstayed her welcome. Reacting on impulse, Lyssa fired off a shot that struck the team leader in that very hand. Part of it was blasted away in a mess of blood and bone fragments, and she heard a pained yelp escape the woman's throat, tinged with an electronic edge through the helmet she wore. The few seconds she spent stumbling and cradling her ruined hand were enough for Lyssa to shift her aim.

She laid down further fire, taking another of the troopers out of the equation. The team leader seemed to gather herself and pressed in quickly, sword clasped in her one good hand, and suddenly Lyssa found herself backstepping quickly. Her rear-end struck the front of the parked car as the team leader lunged for her, the sword slashing dangerously close. Lyssa allowed herself to fall backwards upon the hood of the car, before she simply rolled to one side and avoided the downwards thrust of the blade that went straight through the sheet metal of the hood itself. White smoke hissed from the engine as the blade was pulled free, and the faceless female attacker turned her head to follow the quickly backpedalling Lyssa. She slashed the blade her way again, missing Lyssa's arm by about an inch as she went rolling off of the car and landed in the dirt.

She brought up the pistol again, firing a shot that sent the team leader stumbling. Whether or not it had penetrated the woman's barriers, she could not be sure. Nonetheless, it offered her the chance to get on her feet again. The other troopers let fly with a volley from their respective weapons, bullets whizzing by Lyssa as she moved into a crouch and darted around the parked car. The front tyres burst within seconds of each other, hit by stray rounds (or perhaps intentionally targeted). The turian, Sevarn, was slumped here, trying to stem the blood that trickled from his nose.

'Come on, we're running for it.' Lyssa pulled on the turian's arm, coaxing him back upon his feet. Sure, the turian had been her enemy until recently, but he had done her a good turn with that shockwave and so she was not going to simply leave him behind. She would try to help him out, although she would be a little pragmatic about it. If he could not move on his own accord, she was hardly going to carry him across her shoulders.

The remaining windows on the car shattered. The Cerberus troopers still standing were spreading out further, attempting to move in on the flanks of both Lyssa and Sevarn. Their team leader stalked around one side of the car, spinning her sword about in one hand as she did so. As she came about the rear, Sevarn threw himself upon her, pushing aside the sword and sending it falling from her grasp. Lyssa tried to get a bead on the team leader, yet the turian was on top of her, and despite her exhaustion he was trying very hard to get through her armour.

More weapons fire rung out. Lyssa ducked and blasted another of the troopers. The rest seemed to pause, unwilling to risk hitting their own team leader. As for Sevarn, he found the release on the woman's helmet and pulled it away. Lyssa saw him do a doubletake at what he saw, and she could not help but take a look for herself.

The woman had to be young, barely in her twenties. She was pale, deathly so, and her eyes glowed an unnatural blue in colour. Dark hair had been cut short, and glowing blue veins seemed to extend from her eyes and spread down her cheeks and across her forehead. She practically snarled at Sevarn, yet he pulled her up and propped her in front of him. Blood still gushed from her mutilated hand, and even amongst that mess Lyssa thought she could see the same glowing blue tones.

Lyssa got the right idea and moved close to Sevarn's other side. She had her gun up, training it upon the four troopers spread out ahead.

'Weapons down,' she barked, and the troopers seemed to exchange glances. One of them stepped forwards, seemingly defiant.

'Bullshit,' he remarked, his voice carrying with it a muffled electronic edge through his helmet. He looked to his compatriots. 'Nobody do what she says. She can't take us all down.'

Lyssa fired, putting a bullet through the trooper's face. He crumpled to the ground, blood spilling out of the fresh hole put through his helmet.

'Maybe not, but I'll get an "A" for effort.' She waggled the gun at the others. 'Weapons down. Now.'

The other troopers did so reluctantly, putting down their respective rifles and submachine guns. The team leader squirmed in Sevarn's grip, but the turian was strong despite his weakened state.

'We're leaving,' Lyssa declared. 'We're getting in one of your rovers and we're leaving.' The vehicle in question had its doors open, and she could only assume that the means to start the engine had been left inside. 'Don't get in our way.'

Lyssa and Sevarn slowly edged their way towards one of the parked vehicles. Sevarn kept the team leader in front of him, one hand clasping her wrists, the other held tight against her neck. Lyssa climbed into the rear, scrambling to the driver's position. A quick check revealed that the locks were not engaged, and even if they had been she figured her omni-tool could make short work of them.

Sevarn remained just outside the vehicle's rear, keeping the wounded team leader held tight against him. Lyssa plucked up a pouch from where it had been left strewn about the passenger section amongst other pieces of equipment and weaponry, pleased to see at least three fragmentation grenades were still attached to it. She emerged from the rover then, gun raised, levelling it towards the four troopers outside. In her other hand, she held the pouch.

'Lieutenant, let her go,' she told the turian. He glanced at her, uncertainty clear on his features. She offered him a reassuring smile.

'Go on,' she added. 'We don't need another mouth to feed.'

Sevarn relented, giving the team leader a hard shove that sent her falling into the dirt ahead. Lyssa stowed her pistol for the moment, freeing her other hand such that she could arm one of the grenades in the pouch. She threw it towards the other rover, sending the troopers scattering in a panic.

'Let's go,' she said, turning back around and climbing into the vehicle. Sevarn hurried after her, and as soon as he was inside Lyssa hit the switch by the door, closing them. Outside, the grenades detonated with a deafening thump, causing the entire vehicle to rattle. The other rover went up in a column of fire and smoke, smouldering pieces of its chassis raining down all over the farmyard. The troopers and their team leader were no longer visible amongst the haze of smoke, yet their fates hardly concerned Lyssa. What concerned her most in that moment was just where she was going to go, and what might be done about her newfound turian helper.

He settled into one of the backseats, eyes still searching through the rear window in an attempt to discern the enemy. Lyssa took the driver's seat and started the engine, kicking the vehicle into gear and sending it racing forth. Wheels skidded in the dirt and chewed shallow trenches in their wake, chunks of mud flying every which way. Lyssa hardly even looked back, she simply worked the wheel hard and directed the car towards the dirt road that had led them into the farm in the first place. Behind them, the second car burned, smoke pluming high over the fields all around, a beacon to any rebels in the region that something worth checking out was right here. Any Cerberus goon left standing back there would be in trouble if they stuck around. The thought was enough to bring a smirk out of Lyssa, despite the pounding of her heart and the realisation that her life had been completely upended. If Cerberus was after her, then where could she possibly run that would be safe?

They hit the main road a minute later. She heard movement behind her, and when she felt the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against the side of her head she found she was not surprised at all. The turian was leaning between the front seats, pistol in hand. He had likely picked it up from the equipment stored in the rear of the car. She could feel his hot breath at her neck and when he spoke, the discordant dual tones of his voice were much clearer.

'Keep driving,' he told her.

'Oh no, I was going to stop and let that assault team catch up,' Lyssa remarked, keeping her eyes fixed on the road. She barely paid the pistol any real attention. She was hardly surprised by the fact that her turian captive had pulled a gun on her. In all honesty, she had expected him to make a move much earlier.

'You know, the gun isn't really necessary.' Lyssa kept the car at a steady speed, the road rough and poorly maintained. Potholes were all over, some of them filled with water from the recent rainfall.

'I mean, I thought we were becoming friends,' she added. 'You know, I help you out, you help me out. We make a good team.'

'Is that your honest opinion?' His husky voice sounded strained. The poor sod was exhausted, and had he not been so determined to mess with her he might have passed out on the backseat then and there. 'Your people killed mine.'

'And my own people just tried to kill me. And you as well, in case you hadn't noticed.' She narrowed her eyes. She caught a glimpse of Sevarn's face in the rear-view mirror. Even the gleam to his facial plates seemed to have dulled, as if the very life had been sucked out of them. What he needed, Lyssa surmised, was a good night's sleep.

'You will take me to my team's rendezvous point,' he told her. He voiced it as a direct order. Lyssa's frown deepened, for she was not at all keen on taking orders from an alien. Nonetheless, the situation had changed. If anything, she might need the help of this turian and his superiors if she was going to get off of Anhur alive.

'I'll take you, sure,' Lyssa replied. She sensed that he was surprised by her abrupt and affirmative response. Now she smirked, turning the car around a bend that took them about the base of a stout, forested hill.

'I just don't want to end up in some turian prison,' she added quickly. 'You can get back to your people and then we'll go our separate ways. That is, unless your people would be willing to help me out. Say, with a ticket off of this planet?' Of course, she had no idea where she might go. She hardly wanted to risk going to her sister's place on Elysium; all that would do was lead the trouble straight to her, and she did not wish to get her sister killed. Nonetheless, if Cerberus was really out to get her, they may make a go for her sister as a means of getting to her. The possibility was one that lingered over her like a dark, dreary cloud. If those bastards even hurt a hair on Jeanette's head…

'Tell me where this rendezvous is,' Lyssa said, setting her thoughts back upon the journey ahead. 'And get that gun out of my face. It's starting to piss me off.'

With some reluctance, Sevarn lowered the gun. He looked through the front windshield, to the woodland that flanked the highway and the hills beyond it all. And then he set his attention on the eyes of the woman driving the car, visible in the rear-view mirror. She chanced him a quick glance via that mirror, and Sevarn realised that for better or for worse, his odds of staying alive were greater if he stuck with this Cerberus operative. His luck so far had been atrocious, although he figured he could prescribe his success at evading this latest brush with death to an improved turn in his luck overall. One that could very well be attributed to this woman, one he found to have a smart mouth on her but a set of sharp wits that had saved them back there with that Cerberus assault team. In all honesty, he probably would not have been able to bring himself to shoot her, not here and not now. Most of all, he was hardly going to shoot her after what had just happened at that farm.

'We might consider an official truce?' Lyssa suggested. 'At least until we're back with our own people. Does that sound reasonable?'

She had a point there. No use trying to kill each other now when there were others out to get them. First the batarians, now Cerberus; this whole operation had fallen completely out of control and that was after a lot of good people had died. Sevarn rubbed his aching head, the exhaustion threatening to get the better of him. He needed to rest and he needed to eat. On that latter point, he doubted there were any dextro-based rations stored in the back of a Cerberus vehicle.

'Look, I think you know we're better off sticking together. We get off of Anhur and go our own ways.' Lyssa took a chance there, pulling the car over and leaving it idling in "park". She turned her head to face him directly, her expression firm.

'If your people can help, then by all means tell me where to find them,' she told him. 'At this point, I'm willing to take any kind of help I can get.'

Sevarn met her gaze and did not reply straight away. Looking at her, he thought she looked confident, yet it was perhaps more of a façade, one to disguise the increasing unease and mounting anxiety she felt. After all, her own people had just tried to kill her. How much worse could things get?

'All right.' Sevarn leaned back in his seat. 'The coordinates are on my omni-tool. At some point, I'd like that thing back.'