21: The Governor

A short while before the shooting had started outside the main gate, Kanen'Jaslek had found himself brought into the Governor's residence. From the lobby, he was taken upstairs to the Governor's very office. The estate as a whole was large and lavishly decorated, a beacon of wealth on a world stricken with poverty and crime. A blatant reminder of the kind of corruption that was so common here, and part of the reason Kanen had left the Governor's employ to begin with.

The windows in the office had their curtains partially drawn. The glass itself was no doubt reinforced, with bulky metal shutters in place over it that could be slammed down with the push of a button. The Governor's residence was modified to turn itself into a fortress upon a direct attack, a necessary precaution for any politician on Anhur. As for the office itself, the carpeted floor was soft under Kanen's booted feet and the walls about him were panelled over with elaborately carved wooden cladding, the designs upon them indicating a batarian origin. This room had no doubt been part of the mansion's original construction. The flag for the colonial government of Anhur was draped across one wall, whilst a large glazed wooden desk served as the Governor's personal workstation. A globe of Earth was situated nearby, an antique by the look of it judging from its overall design and the names printed upon some of the nations displayed upon it.

Governor Johan Van Rensberg was a man of sixty-eight years, tall and slim with a mostly bald head and a heavily lined face. He wore a navy-blue business suit and he was seated at his terminal whilst Kanen was brought in, busilyy tapping away at the holographic interface. He hardly even looked up as the quarian was brought in, seemingly too focussed upon the work he did at his terminal. Rensberg continued working even as Kanen stopped a few paces before his desk, the quarian now feeling a sense of familiarity as he regarded the man and his office. Little had changed in both regards since he had been here last, save for there being a few more lines on Rensberg's face than when he had last met the man in person.

'I was surprised to hear that you had arrived,' Rensberg said, and he finally looked up at Kanen. His features were firm, betraying little outright emotion save for perhaps some small level of curiosity, judging from the way one eyebrow quirked slightly. 'I did not expect you to come here again. You made your feelings quite clear the last time we saw each other.'

Kanen offered the human a shrug. The two guards who had brought him into the room had moved off to his flanks, putting some space between them and himself. Of course, they were still well within reach of him, and if he were to try anything it would likely not end well for him.

'You must be aware of what's going on out there,' Kanen told him. 'People want blood. They want Salak Vok.'

'Is that what you came all this way to say?' Rensberg's eyes narrowed further. 'I know what the people want. However, what they want and what is best for this planet are sometimes two very different things.'

'You have him, then?'

Rensberg did not reply. He steepled his fingers under his chin before he emitted a long, weary sigh. Kanen had seen this gesture before from him, and it usually came about when there was some matter at hand that was giving him a great deal of inner conflict and outright indecision.

'You've been on this planet long enough to know the game, Kanen. There are millions of humans living here, along with millions of batarians. Sure, there is a smattering of the other races mixed in, but by and large this world is divided down a very clear racial, or rather species-based line. The peace must be kept between these two peoples, and sometimes that involves doing things that one side may not agree with.'

'You have Salak Vok here, don't you?'

'You've been watching the news, I see.' Rensberg leaned back in his chair. 'Salak Vok is considered a hero to the batarian people here.'

'He's a criminal. He and his followers slaughtered thousands of innocents during the Rebellions.'

'And many human officers did much the same against the batarians in that same conflict,' Rensberg countered. 'Neither side has clean hands in this matter. The Anhur Rebellions were a bloody affair and are best left in the past. Dredging it up to make a new problem out of it is unwise, given the situation on this planet.'

Kanen could feel his impatience mounting. He needed solid confirmation Salak Vok was here. After that, there was a chance Booker and his people would make their move. So far, he had heard little from them since he had been brought into the Governor's residence. No doubt Booker intended to allow the quarian some space to work the situation how best he saw fit, and Kanen silently thanked the operative for that. Having that man talk into his ear now could very well prove distracting and dangerous.

'You told Chief Taft that you had information,' the Governor said. 'He wished to deal with you himself but knowing him that may very well have ended in your death. Regardless of our past disagreements, Kanen, I still regard you in high esteem. You served your post well and saved my life more than once. It's a shame you had to leave in the manner you did.'

'I left, Governor, because I was tired of the corruption, of the backroom politics.'

'The same happens everywhere, Kanen. Even in your Migrant Fleet.'

'And I'm no longer with the Fleet now, am I?'

A brief silence fell between them. Kanen regarded Rensberg carefully, trying to get a better read on the man. As an experienced politician, Rensberg was very good at concealing what he really felt. Even when Kanen had worked for him, he had often had difficulty determining the Governor's true thoughts no matter how much he might have scrutinised the man. Now was no different, and in a way the playing field was level here. After all, the Governor could hardly see much of the quarian's face, although Kanen's voice was normally a giveaway of just what he was feeling at the time.

'There's a situation on Anhur,' Kanen said. He wondered how much he could say without getting in trouble with Booker. 'You must have some idea about what's happened by now. A man like you wouldn't be out of the loop for long when it comes to what's happening on your doorstep.'

'You'll have to be more specific than that, Kanen,' the Governor said. 'I have a lot on my plate, as you can no doubt imagine. A man in my position does not get much rest.'

'You must have known about the Cerberus facility on your doorstep?'

The Governor's face hardly changed. Kanen got the impression that he had known, if only as a gut feeling, and so pushed the matter further:

'You also know about the turian spec ops team that got killed after they raided the place?'

'What's your point, Kanen?' The Governor's voice had audibly soured. 'I know of these things, but evidently so do you. It would appear your intel is as good as mine.'

'Salak Vok was involved. If you have him here, you ought to question him about all this. He's likely lying to you about his involvement.'

Now this seemed to give the Governor pause. Kanen smirked behind his faceplate, aware that he might have found just the avenue he needed to get the Governor on his side. He wondered about Booker and the team, and whether they were on their way in or not.

'I have Salak Vok here because I need to keep the peace,' the Governor said.

'He was snatched up by an off-world black op. No one would have known who took him. You didn't have to get involved.'

Now Governor Rensberg shifted where he sat, looking only slightly uncomfortable as he did so. Kanen frowned, and he felt the disgust welling up within him.

'He's paying you off, isn't he?' The quarian asked, unable to keep the outrage he felt from spilling into his voice. He should not have been surprised, he had suspected as much, but now that it was obvious he could not keep his anger down. The dishonesty was one thing he could not stand, and he was reminded of the Admiralty Board back home on the Migrant Fleet and the petty politicking and shady backroom talks that had seen him exiled.

'It's not like that, Kanen,' Rensberg stated, and he straightened up in his seat as if to compose himself. 'I said I need to keep the peace. I also need to encourage cooperation between the species on this world. If we were ever to face an outside threat, then we would need a united front.'

'And what outside threats are you worried about, Governor?'

'This is the Terminus Systems, Kanen. There are all manner of dangers out there. I won't have a repeat of the Blitz here.'

There had to be more to this, or so Kanen sensed. However, before he could push the matter further, he heard what sounded to be distant, muffled and sharp cracks from somewhere far outside. He looked up, as did Rensberg and the soldiers in the office. Heads turned, eyes darted around, and a deepening worry set in across all those within the office.

Rensberg activated his communicator, which was little more than a small earpiece at one ear.

'Yes, this is the Governor. What the hell is going on out there?' Since the protests had started, there had been some shouting, with car horns being sounded off again and again, but so far it had been distant and easily ignored. Now, however, he could hardly ignore what were clearly gunshots coming from somewhere nearby.

Rensberg listened to the individual at the other end of the line. Kanen could not hear it, although he could hear more shots now, and judging from the way Rensberg winced then it was obvious he could hear them all the more so through his communicator.

'I want a full security alert,' Rensberg ordered. 'Lock this place down.'

Suddenly, Kanen's helmet filled with the sound of Booker's voice:

'All right, Kanen, that's it: we're going in. Stay where you are.' The instructions were short and succinct, and Kanen looked about the room as if expecting to see the strike team come barrelling inside. Of course, they were not close enough to the Governor's residence to do just that so quickly, but he had a feeling it would not be very long before they did make their presence known.

'Where's Salak Vok?' Kanen asked, setting his attention firmly upon Rensberg. The man looked up at him, and his ageing features scrunched up in irritation.

'That is none of your concern, Kanen.'

'Yes, it is, as a matter of fact.' Kanen was unarmed, and had he not been he would have pulled his gun then and aimed it at the old man. Instead, he took a step towards the Governor's desk, only to have the two soldiers at either flank rush forwards with their weapons raised. More gunshots erupted from somewhere distant. It sounded like an outright shooting war had started out there. Someone in that protest must have sparked it, likely with a few errant gunshots in the wrong direction.

'If you don't hand over Salak Vok, you're going to get killed.' This revelation made the Governor's mostly neutral face adopt a wide-eyed grimace, one mixed with a significant level of doubt. 'I mean it. I won't do it, I'm not here to kill you and I don't intend on dying here. But there are others out there, on their way in. All that shooting you hear could be them right now, and no amount of mercenaries or rent-a-cops are going to be able to stop them.'

He could not keep his rising satisfaction out of his voice. Seeing Governor Rensberg squirm gave Kanen some decent measure of enjoyment, perhaps one of the few good things to come out of this whole mess.

'Guards, take this man away.' Rensberg motioned to the two soldiers standing either side of the quarian. 'Lock him downstairs. I'd like to speak to him later, when things aren't quite so urgent.'

Kanen waited for the guards to close in further. As soon as they did, he activated one of the many modifications embedded into his suit, specifically a potent electrical charge that arced down one armoured forearm as he struck the man on his left. The shock was enough to make the guard cry out, power surging across him in a manner not unlike that of a powerful taser. He dropped his gun, spasmed and writhed where he stood as the current flowed through him and then, with an amusing abruptness, dropped to the floor with all the grace of a sack of potatoes.

As this first man went down, Kanen pulled the rifle from the guard's hands and thrust the barrel into the stomach of the second soldier. He did so hard enough to make the man stumble a few steps, before Kanen swung the weapon around and brought it about in a wide arc that saw the butt-end of it connect with the soldier's visor.

The visor shattered in dozens of pieces and the soldier fell backwards, slivers of the material cutting into his face and eyes. Kanen put a hand to the soldier's back and threw him forwards and downwards, ensuring that he struck the Governor's desk face-first. He ended up on the floor, groaning, all while Governor Rensberg watched on with widened eyes and mounting horror. Kanen knew he had only seconds before more soldiers rushed in, so he vaulted over the desk and landed just behind the Governor's chair.

More guards rushed in, their weapons raised. Kanen put an arm around the Governor, before he lifted him out of his seat and held him up at his front, using him as a shield to dissuade the troopers who had just stormed into the room. Kanen kept the barrel of the submachine gun he had taken from the injured soldier firmly pressed against the Governor's back. The old man did not struggle, far too taken aback by what had just happened and far too terrified for his life to try any stunts against the quarian. The Governor was a politician first and foremost, he was no fighter and as expected, he began to practically quake in his boots when he saw the weapons trained in his direction.

'Don't shoot, damn it!' The Governor shouted, panic seeping into his voice. 'Damn it all, hold your fire!'

The soldiers, outfitted in the typical blue armour of the CED, wore helmets that concealed their faces, so there was no telling what they might have been thinking. None of them started shooting, so for Kanen that was a good thing, and he instead gave the armed troopers a hardened glance that, in his case, likely meant little to them seeing as how most of his face was concealed under his own mask.

'Nobody move or the Governor gets it,' Kanen barked, putting as much threat into his voice as he could. He then leaned in towards the Governor's ear, putting his voice a little lower but keeping the same level of menace: 'Take me to Salak Vok, or I start shooting off bits of you.'

'You won't get far, Kanen,' the old man said, his voice wavering. 'There are hundreds of soldiers in this compound. They'll cut you down.'

'And they'll cut you down with me, you old bastard.' Kanen pulled the Governor a little closer, keeping one hand about his submachine gun that he now shifted such that it was aiming at the soldiers. 'Get back and put your weapons down, slowly. No games.'

The soldiers looked to each other, uncertainty apparent between them. The Governor saw fit to clarify the quarian's instructions then:

'For God's sake, do as he says.' Kanen could not help but smile. The old man was practically shaking with fear. It had been a long time since anyone had got this close to killing him, and no doubt he was rethinking his security measures for whatever future he may have had left.

The soldiers, with obvious reluctance, began to lower their weapons. They backed away, slowly, each placing their weapons upon the floor before they raised their hands. Kanen moved around the Governor's desk, pulling him along and being sure to keep the old statesman in front of him. Kanen knew his chances were not good, even with the Governor as a shield. Eventually, someone would get a shot on him, or someone may simply give the order to fire Governor-be-damned. There were plenty of other people in this administration vying for the top job, so to have the Governor become "collateral damage" would prove convenient for some.

'Where's the batarian?' Kanen growled into his ear. The soldiers ahead of them were backing out of the room now. Outside, gunfire continued to sound from somewhere distant, sporadic volleys from various weapons that suggested a larger scale battle was taking place. The protest had turned violent, no doubt, and Kanen could only thank the ancestors that such a distraction had taken place.

Slowly, he dragged the Governor out into the hallway with him. The soldiers before them had cleared some space, but as Kanen emerged from the office someone from further down the hall fired a rifle. The shot made him duck, and the bullet struck the doorway to his left. The old man was screaming now, panic filling his voice:

'Don't shoot, don't shoot for God's sake! You're going to kill me, you damned idiots!'

Kanen fired a volley from the Tempest-model submachine gun he had in hand, and the soldier down the hall who had fired the shot went down with several rounds tearing through him. An uneasy silence fell upon the corridor as soon as the soldier hit the floor, with the others all looking on with what Kanen detected was a mix of contempt and frustration.

'Everybody back, get back!' Kanen barked, and he waggled the submachine gun in the direction of the more stubborn troopers who remained in the corridor ahead. 'You get one mistake, and you just used it. I'll kill the old man, and I'll smile while I do it.'

'I should have known better than to trust a suit rat,' the Governor stated, venom in his tone. Kanen nudged him along, taking them to the landing over the stairs at the main lobby of the residence. He prodded the submachine gun's barrel into the old man's lower back.

'You brought this on yourself, you corrupt son of a bitch,' Kanen said, his voice low enough so that only the Governor could hear it. 'Now, where's the batarian?'

'The east wing,' the Governor answered, sounding a little strained now that he could feel the barrel poking his back. 'He was in the dining room there, but…' He trailed off then, and Kanen pressed the barrel a little harder into his back.

'But what?' The soldiers further ahead were starting down the stairs now, slowly, and Kanen turned such that the Governor was between him and them as he moved along the landing. It appeared that most of the other guards on hand had run off to respond to the situation outside, which again worked for Kanen. Anything that cleared a path to the batarian was a good thing.

'He'll be under guard,' the Governor added.

'And the east wing?'

'Through the corridor ahead.'

'With the emergency, where will Vok be taken?'

The Governor did not reply straight away. Kanen put the gun to the back of his neck then, the cold metal now pressing firmly against the exposed skin there. It was all the encouragement the old man needed to reply.

'To his quarters. They're not far from the dining room.'

'How many guards?'

'Two outside his room.'

Kanen nodded his head in acknowledgment. As they entered the next corridor, he made sure to close the doors behind him. As soon as they slid closed, he shot out the control panel by them, sparks flying. It would slow down any pursuers, and already he could hear the soldiers from outside running for the door. They began pounding on it as he started down the corridor with the Governor ahead of him.

'Kanen, this is Booker. What's your status?' It came as some surprise when he heard the operative's voice cut in through his helmet's comms. Kanen had almost forgotten that he was being observed and tracked. Hearing the man's voice brought some small measure of reassurance. At least in here, he was not completely alone.

'I've got the Governor,' Kanen replied. 'And we're going to Vok now.'

'Understood. The strike team is moving in on a shuttle. They'll be at the Governor's residence in half a minute.'

'Who are you talking to?' The Governor asked. Kanen did not reply, there was no need to. He simply nudged the old man to encourage him to keep walking. Ahead, the corridor ran for some ways, lined with the odd door but otherwise the place was quiet.

'How far is it?' Kanen asked the old man.

'Not far, not far,' the Governor answered, shaking his head quickly. 'You realise that by doing this, by going after Vok you will be disturbing the peace on this planet? It's been in a fragile state ever since the Rebellions ended. Do you really want to risk starting that war again?'

Kanen sighed. He did not need to hear this now. There was more at stake here, an entire conspiracy that went well beyond Anhur.

'What's the old human saying, Governor?' Kanen asked him. 'I believe it goes, "if you want to make an omelette, you have to break a few eggs". Consider what I'm doing the first of many eggs being broken, you understand?'

'You'll pay for this,' the Governor declared, his previously fearful tone having been replaced with something much more confident. 'By God, you're going to pay for what you're doing here.'

'Yeah, yeah, I get it. Big consequences and all that.' They came to a T-intersection in the corridor. He tugged upon the back of the Governor's collar, bringing him to a halt. 'Now, which way, your Governorship?'

Amongst the chaos of the firefight that had broken out at the compound gates, Lyssa found it surprisingly easy to slip into the depths of the compound whilst dressed as a trooper of the CED. The armour was a little tight in places, not quite a perfect fit, but nonetheless the disguise worked wonders and she soon found herself at one of the side entrances to the Governor's residence. There was only one guard on duty here, and he gave the disguised Lyssa a quick once-over, no doubt wondering why a lowly Corporal had decided to come running back here despite the trouble being in the opposite direction. Cast in the shadow provided by the trees and bushes in the garden beds that flanked the entrance, Lyssa came to a stop before the solitary guard.

'Sorry Corporal, but the residence is locked down until the emergency is over.'

'I was called back. You'll have to check with the Captain.' Lyssa was just winging it now, and she sensed some uncertainty with the guard, but otherwise he took the bait and began to make a call on his helmet's comms. As soon as he was distracted, Lyssa pounced, spinning the assault rifle she held about before she struck the back of the soldier's neck, hard. It was at that point where there was a small gap between the helmet and the armour about the neck, where the exposed under suit was prominent. As such, the blow sent the guard stumbling, and Lyssa followed it up with another swing that brought the butt-end of the Vindicator rifle down onto his lower back. This blow sent the guard onto the ground face-first, and it was here that Lyssa jumped upon his back and aimed the barrel of the rifle only inches from the back of his head. Her finger floated about the trigger, and she considered putting a bullet in him then. Of course, this opponent was little more than a soldier simply doing his job and killing him in cold blood hardly seemed right. So, Lyssa instead took her gun in both hands and brought it down upon the back of the man's helmet, again and again and again. Each blow sent him face-first into the pavement, and the visor there cracked after the second strike before it shattered altogether on the third.

The trick to tackling an armoured opponent in hand-to-hand was quick, overwhelming force applied to the weak points. This included the neck, and it also included the visor. Lyssa struck the stunned soldier in the back of the neck again, and in his currently dazed state this was enough to put him out of action. Sure, he would wake up in a little while with a pounding headache, but by that time Lyssa would be far away and this guard would be of no concern to her.

She stormed through the side entrance, rifle raised. The corridor beyond was somewhat drab, more of a maintenance entrance than anything a statesman might use. The walls were painted a pale blue, a paintjob that was flaking in parts. As she moved in, relieved that no further guards were present in the immediate stretch of corridor, she heard Chas' voice break in once again:

'All right Lyssa, just keep going straight on. You'll come to a stairwell used by the residence staff. Go up one floor, then take a left.'

'You see any guards on the cameras?' Lyssa moved with a confidence, brought on by the fact that she had her own drell hacker guardian angel keeping an eye on her through the building's many cameras. If there was anyone in her path, he would let her know.

'Not just yet. Looks like most of the guards on duty have moved to respond to the diversion you set off at the front gates.' She detected a hint of disapproval in the drell's voice, but otherwise Chas knew better than to question her methods. He was intimidated by her, this much she knew. And the thought always brought a smile to her face.

In comparison, Sevarn was hardly one to be intimidated by her or anyone else. That was something she found she liked about the turian; that is, just how stoic he could be despite everything that was going on. A lot of turians were like that, or so she had come to understand over the years. She had never seen any one of their kind panic about anything. Granted, she had not met many turians until recently.

Lyssa passed a few storerooms and some staff quarters before she came upon the stairwell that Chas had referred to. She kept her rifle up and ready, working her way up the stairs at a steady pace, head on a swivel. As she neared the door at the next floor, the drell's voice cut in once again:

'All right, there are two of them in the corridor outside. They don't know you're there; they look distracted.'

Lyssa paused by the door, rifle lowered slightly.

'Are they moving on?' She asked, her voice low.

'Looks like it. Just give it a moment…' Chas trailed off, and she could imagine his large black eyes watching the surveillance feed intently. 'Yeah, they're moving off. There's been another emergency within the residence. I've tuned into their radio chatter. Sounds like someone's got the Governor at gunpoint.'

'Really?' Lyssa could not help but quirk her brow upon hearing this. It seemed there was a lot more going on around here than she had expected.

'I'll try and get a bead on that through the cameras, but right now my focus is on you. Once you're in the corridor, take a left. Go on straight, and you'll pass through a common room.'

'Eyes on me, huh? I'm flattered, Chas.' Lyssa tapped the panel by the door, causing it to slide open. She stepped through and into a carpeted, white-painted corridor adorned with potted plants and framed paintings that looked like they belonged in an antique store. Quickly, she started down the corridor. As Chas had stated, there was a small common room just ahead, with very comfortable looking fabric-lined couches and armchairs situated in a lounge setting. Lyssa could not help but take a brief moment to absorb the luxury present. The Governor and his lackeys certainly spared no expense where their living conditions were concerned, whilst a great portion of the Anhur population struggled in poverty.

'Typical politicians,' Lyssa muttered, as she moved on. 'Always happy to spend the working man's money.'

'Keep going, you'll pass by a dining room. Vok has been moved to a set of living quarters further on from there.' Chas had his eyes on the camera feeds, and Lyssa moved with firm intent through the next stretch of hallway. She peeked into each room she passed by, although most were empty. Bathrooms, storerooms, vacant bedrooms; the emergency outside had seen most of the non-combat personnel head for whatever predetermined shelter they had in place. Lyssa came upon the dining room as described, noticing immediately that the table was still adorned with numerous plates upon which a selection of food had been spread. Some of it had been half-eaten, and those dining had evidently cleared off in a hurry. The thought that Vok had been brought here by the Anhur government and wined and dined filled Lyssa with a mounting anger, and she picked up her pace now that she knew she was close.

'There are two guards outside the batarian's room,' Chas stated, his voice suddenly filled with a crackling, static quality. Lyssa frowned, realising immediately that his signal was breaking up. 'They're just around—' And with that, his voice cut out completely. Lyssa paused, partway down a corridor, frowning at the abrupt quiet within her helmet.

'Chas?' She waited a moment but got no reply. 'Shit.' With the comms down and the inside of the helmet feeling a little stifling, she reached for the release at the neck with one hand and pulled it away. She tossed the helmet aside, relieved to be free of its confines. She still had her earpiece in, so if the drell did get through again she would still be able to hear him.

She moved onwards, rounding a corner. There were, as Chas had described before being cut off, two guards standing outside a set of old-fashioned wooden double doors at the end of the corridor. Lyssa had her rifle up and her finger on the trigger before either of them could react, cutting them both down under a hail of fire. Bullets tore into the door and the surrounding walls, blasting chunks out of the timber and plaster, splinters of wood flying and plaster dust exploding forth. Blood smeared as one soldier slumped down the wall, riddled with fresh holes.

Lyssa charged on ahead, and she let fly with another volley at the lock present at the centre of the double doors. The whole thing exploded into a dozen pieces, a spout of sparks erupting forth as the lock gave way. Without pause, she let fly with a kick that saw both doors fling open, revealing the spacious bedroom beyond and the somewhat panicked batarian standing within.

His four eyes widened when he saw the woman who entered, recognizing her straight away. Lyssa might have offered him a smirk, only for her to hear a shout from behind her that drew her attention away from the batarian. Looking back to the doorway, she saw what appeared to be a quarian in a heavily customised environment suit. He held in front of him a much older human male in an expensive tailored suit. Lyssa reacted on impulse, swinging her rifle about and opening fire, the noise of the rapid shots near deafening within the confines of the living quarters. Several bloody eruptions occurred across the old man's stomach and chest, and he emitted a pained gasp before he fell limp in the quarian's grip. The quarian threw the old man aside and dived behind the wall by the doorway, Lyssa's hail of fire tearing up the wall after him.

A gunshot rang out from behind her, causing the kinetic barriers on her borrowed set of armour to flare. She spun around, laying her sights upon Salak Vok who now sported a bulky Carnifex-model pistol. He fired again, but this shot went wide as Lyssa threw herself forwards, coming up in a somersault before a small, glass-topped coffee table. Vok bolted for cover behind the bed, throwing himself to the ground as Lyssa's rifle fire tore into the wall and the mattress and its sheets behind him. She reminded herself, as she took her finger off of the rifle's trigger, that she intended to question Vok. Killing him would prove counterproductive here, as much as she wanted to do it.

'Come on out, you four-eyed bastard!' She shouted, and she stood up and set her sights upon where she had seen Vok land behind the bed. As she took a step forwards, the windows across the room shattered, shards of glass showering across the carpet. Two men in black sets of armour, one with a helmet on and another without, came barrelling inside off of rappel lines that connected to some unseen point higher up outside. Lyssa frowned, surprised to see this latest set of visitors. They were not outfitted the same as the local CED troops, so whoever they were they were likely to be even less friendly than the Anhur authorities.

As these two barged in, the skylight in the ceiling above shattered and another one of them came rappelling down, submachine gun in hand. Lyssa backed away, realising then that she was only seconds away from being overwhelmed. She could not see Vok; the coward was likely hiding under the bed whilst these latest aggressors poured in. And there were several of them, she saw, with the apparent lead being a stern looking thirty-something human man with blonde hair. He was some distance ahead of her now, submachine gun pointed her way. His compatriots spilled into the room, and the whole place was full of them within seconds.

'Drop the gun!' The man in charge shouted. Lyssa looked about the room, to the new arrivals and to the many guns now trained in her direction.

'Who the hell are you?' Lyssa did not lower her rifle, despite the poor odds. She heard footsteps from behind her, and she turned just enough to see that the quarian had appeared again. He had a gun raised and pointed at her, but the man in charge barked at him then:

'Stand down, Kanen.' The operative narrowed his eyes towards Lyssa. 'I recognize this one. We've had our eye on you for a while, Lyssa Raine.'

'You know me?'

'A little.' He motioned to the subordinates at his rear. Two of them marched over to where Salak Vok was cowering, grabbing him by his arms and pulling him onto his feet. Lyssa was relieved to see they did not treat him gently, forcing his hands behind his back before they slapped some handcuffs about his wrists.

'You're a person of interest,' the officer added. Lyssa was not sure whether she should relax here. 'Come with us. We have some questions we'd like to ask you.'

'I'm sure you do…' Lyssa rolled her eyes. There was not a chance in hell she would simply let herself be taken away by a bunch of black ops types, especially not after everything that had happened. It was clear to her that she could trust no one, save perhaps Sevarn. And even then, his loyalties would likely go to the Turian Hierarchy before any human.

She figured she should have seen the stun round come her way. Or rather, it may have been some form of omni-tool applied overload burst, and it struck the back of her armour from where the quarian was standing. Pain wracked her body as the potent arcs of energy tore through her, locking up the joints in her armour and causing her to unceremoniously flop onto the floor like a fish pulled from the water. As she fell, at least two of the intruders came running up to her, weapons trained her way in case she somehow broke free from her spasming, writhing state. As it stood, all Lyssa could manage was an angered snarl as the pair took hold of her as soon as the shock subsided, rolling her onto her stomach before they pulled her arms behind her back.

They handcuffed her as if she was some common criminal. She turned her head, her body still aching from the shock it had received. She saw the quarian standing a few metres away, watching her through that faceplate of his, expression hidden save for the more visible gleam of his eyes. Was that a hint of smugness in his gaze? Lyssa would have loved to smash that faceplate in to wipe the self-satisfied look off of his features, but unfortunately she was hardly in any state to do so. Instead, she found herself being escorted outside, with Salak Vok being towed along in much the same way. She exchanged glances with the batarian, noticing a hint of smugness from even him. Hovering nearby, over the rear yard of the Governor's residence was a shuttle, and its engines whined quietly as the group approached.

Lyssa could only wonder how Chas was doing, or better yet, what Sevarn might have been up to at this very moment. She doubted the turian had simply stood back and watched everything go wrong, unlike Chas who would have been more than happy to stay far away from the actual trouble.

'Shit.'

Sevarn could do little more than stop where he was, at the edges of the city's public square. The place was full of panicked people and littered with the dead and wounded. Civilians, most human, some batarian, lay scattered and bloodied and moaning. The chaos was centred about the gates of the government compound, and by now what appeared to be a sheer wall of police and soldiers had those gates blocked off, as well as every other entrance to the walled compound. As Sevarn tried to shove his way through the throng of people, he sighted three panicked, terrified humans carrying between them a woman soaked in blood. From somewhere up ahead, automatic weapons fire rattled, the noise echoing across the square, bouncing about in such a way that it gave the impression there were many more shots being fired.

A gunship soared overhead, engines whining. Sevarn could see no practical way into the compound. To get any closer was to only increase his likelihood of getting shot, so for now he hung back, trying to get a proper line of sight on what lay beyond those gates. This was easier said than done, given the swirling clouds of smoke and tear gas that now filled parts of the public square. As he pressed towards a parked car, someone slammed into him, hard enough to make him stumble. The angered human man who had pounced on the nearest alien attempted to tackle him to the ground, but Sevarn struck out with a sharp blow that caught the young male in the back of the neck. He fell flat onto the pavement underfoot, landing face-first with his nose copping the brunt of the impact. After that, the human barely moved. Those around him hardly paid the scuffle much attention, far too concerned with their own safety and that of any loved ones caught in the chaos.

There was no way in to get to Lyssa, this much was obvious. Sevarn scrambled atop the parked car in an effort to get a look over the crowd, but as soon as he was visible above the scores of panicked citizens someone, somewhere started shooting at him. Their aim was wide, and he figured this was deliberate, but the message was clear: get down and get away. He jumped off of the car and started hurrying back the way he had come, ambulance sirens wailing from close by.

'Sevarn, you there?' Chas' voice chimed in through his communicator, and Sevarn could only narrow his eyes at the intrusion.

'Yeah, what is it?' He felt that the less he spoke to Chas, the better off he would feel. There was something about that drell that rubbed him the wrong way, this underlying sense that the alien could not be trusted. That, and there was that annoying and nagging sense of jealousy which Sevarn could not quell.

'I've lost contact with Lyssa. Someone's jamming the comms inside the compound.'

'Could it be the CED?'

'Maybe, but it's unlikely. They wouldn't jam their own comms. It's probably someone else.'

'Who else could it be?' Sevarn looked about the street ahead of him now, which had gradually started filling with ambulances.

'You're asking me? I'm getting nothing on the feeds. Even they're being blocked. Whoever they are, they must have some very advanced resources, more than anything the local authorities have at their disposal.'

Sevarn ducked into a nearby laneway that ran between two sets of narrow townhouses. He was not the only one to seek shelter here, as there were several disgruntled or otherwise worried looking humans in here. Most eyed him with caution, but otherwise none came over to bother him. Few would challenge a turian to a stand-up fight, no matter how upset they may have been feeling at the time.

A cold breeze wafted through the lane. Sevarn shivered, thinking he would do well to get off of Anhur before the winter months truly set in. Turians did not do so well in the cold.

'You have any eyes on Lyssa at all?' Sevarn asked. He continued down the lane, aware that he looked very much out-of-place here, being the only turian in the neighbourhood.

'I'm trying,' Chas said. There followed a brief pause, and Sevarn could imagine the drell was busy hacking into more cameras around the compound, trying to find any that were in proper working order. 'Hold on, I'm seeing something here. A shuttle, and it's not CED.'

'A shuttle? Can you find out who it is?'

'I'm not getting anything on a registry lookup. Whoever owns it could have paid extra to make that information private.' Chas sighed over the line, his own frustration building at the thought of having lost track of Lyssa. Sevarn suspected this was less because he was worried about the woman, and more because he had a very high opinion of his own technical skills. To be bested by some third party would likely put a severe crimp in his pride.

'That's it.' Chas' voice filled with what Sevarn surmised was triumph.

'What is it?'

'I've got eyes on Lyssa, about five minutes ago from a camera at the far end of the compound. The picture's hazy, but it's her. And she's being pulled into that very shuttle.'

Sevarn could only frown when he heard this. Who were these people and why had they taken her?

'Their jamming was good, but I'm better.' Chas sounded far too proud of himself. Sevarn did his best to ignore this more annoying tone of his.

'Can you trace that shuttle?'

'Already on it. You just keep underestimating me, don't you Sev?'

'Just find Lyssa. If anything happens to her, I will hold you personally responsible.' Sevarn made sure to inject just the right amount of menace into his voice then, which he hoped was clear over the line. Judging from Chas' prolonged silence, it seemed to have worked.