This logfile is imported from aitelogs2 and may contain errors or wrong timestamps.
#CollectorShip – January 8, 2018
Nadia accepts the strange weapon, taking a moment to realize that's what it is, before nodding, hurrying after Oxaris. The descending Collectors open fire as they start to near the doorway, and she turns to fire back, backpedaling as she sends bursts of gunfire at their attackers.
Oxaris makes it into the tunnel as shots start to strike the trench floor around her. The tunnel winds left out of view.
Zaylus nods, holding his gaze on the eclipse merc for a moment longer before breaking into a stride towards the pile. "First we find all our people. We're not going anywhere until we do." He growls pointedly toward the stranger, stooping down to recover his beaten Carnifex from the pile. He appears relieved to find it, and quickly affixes it opposite the collector SMG.
Ilyna is still watching the winding hallway going down, anxiously waiting for an all clear signal from the team below. Most of all, she was waiting for news about Li, because she hasn't received Oxaris' status report.
The bulky metal doors both south and east of Jattic, Ehanis and Makk suddenly shut without warning, a metallic sound ringing out before the frontline team is surrounded by silence.
Ilyna would hear sounds from somewhere down the tunnel, perhaps in the chamber beyond it. Footsteps, and wings.
Wrench has crawled back into her pod, curled into a ball on her side and covering her ears with her hands, eyes closed hard.
Ehanis remains behind her cover, listening for any signs of Collector approach. She looks up at Jattic as he moves closer, but says nothing. Ehanis is still catching her breath. The doors shutting makes her spring to action, however, and she stands up. "Fuck, they closed the doors," she shouts into comms. "Both of them." It doesn't take long before she adds, "Is Ten awake?"
Xiu is breathing unevenly after throwing up on the floor, her gaze darting around frantically. "Wha-... wha-..."
Nathan is indeed awake and currently grunting in frustration as he finds a stranger in this pod. He fiddles around, finds the release catch, the moves onto the next pod, pearing insode for any sign of Leah or Jason. "Come on, come on... where are you?"
Ilyna frowns, and leans back into cover. "Movement!" she shouts from the top of her lungs. The warning was worth losing her potential concealment. She readies her biotics to respond to the first hostile to show itself.
Oxaris continues to sprint, Li cradled protectively at her chest as she skids to a stop at the corner of the tunnel, peering around it to quickly scope it out. Should it prove itself to be clear, she would look at Nadia and bark for her to, "Move!" Before storming down the tunnel.
Nathan would find Leah in the next pod he looks into. Halisi meanwhile lets another HMEC-uniformed man out of a different pod, sparing no time before moving on.
HMECForeman has started to come to, still coughing violently and wheezing as he sits up in his pod, struggling to get his bearings. "Gah... what is this?" he asks with a hoarse voice.
Nadia 's shields take several shots before she turns around and runs after Oxaris, no longer holding off the Collectors. The tunnel is indeed clear, but it turns right soon, the turn continuing for quite a while.
Jessica remains still for a few moments longer, silently willing her body to work. After a few short, contemplative nods to herself, she pushes away from the pod. Her good eye scans about the hectic room, trying to get a grasp for what's going on. Unfamiliar face. Unfamiliar face. Distant gunfire. But then she spots a few members of her team. Nathan. Halisi. Zaylus. A few crewmembers from the Jack. She winces as another round of
bile creeps at the back of her throat, but she chokes it back. With renewed conviction, she stomps over to the massive pile of weaponry. It takes her a moment to sift through the belongings, attaching each of her lost items as she comes across them. Combat knife. Katana. Home made explosive devices. Grenades. Predator. But that's when it catches her eye. Like a shining beacon of light. A grin crosses her lips as she
attaches the gold plated sidearm to her thigh opposite the Predator. As she hears Ilyna's voice from above, her gaze snaps up and she quickens her pace. Fuck it. She swipes the Falcon grenade launcher as well, folding it onto her back before slapping around a few stray helmets until she finds her own.
Jattic leans out, firing a few more suppressive shots down the hallway. Just then, the doors begin to slide shut, causing him to shoot a look of confusion Ehanis' way. "We're locked in!" he adds to Ehanis' assessment. "They may be attempting an attack from another direction. Ready yourselves!"
AllianceMarine looks around at the others, getting a bearing on the situation. While still waking up fully he seems alert enough. "What's the situation? I'm-... I'm ready to help."
Oxaris continues to run, her footsteps no longer the quiet and graceful tinks that they once more, but thundering echoes off the walls. She doesn't look back, doesn't pause. She just keeps one foot in front of the other, panting as she pushes her body to the limit. But she was Legion, a Ghost. Her limit was high and even when reached, she knew she could push beyond it for a while longer. "Keep close," she calls back,
following the turn as her jet flaps open and close, readying themselves for another round of use. "Jattic, I'm pushing on the waypoint to your location! We're in a tunnel now!"
Elena looks over at the marine after finishing her talk with the civilian abductees. "We're busting out of here. We've got a ship, just gotta reach it."
Heavy wingbeats sound somewhere to the north, perhaps from the massive chamber beyond the opening where the hexagon platform was parked.
EclipseBiotic looks to the north as she hears the sounds, clenching and unclenching her fists, rolling her shoulders.
Nathan presses his hands to the glass, smiling in relief as he kneels down and opens the pod. "Leah...". Jattic and Ehanis' voice rings in his ears and that overwhelming sense of duty presses on his mind. As much as he wants to help her out, to make sure she is safe and unharmed, he knew that it would be meaningless if they were just caught or killed. When it opens, he would reach in to sit her up out of the gel. "Hey.
I'll, uh, be back shortly," is all he offers lamely before turning and running off in the direction of Jattic and Ehanis. "Jattic! I still have a breaching charge, I can bust us out of here."
Zaylus stands up from the pile and looks sharply from person to person, reacting to each call on the comms with personal alarm but ultimately having no power to help, he sighs defeatedly and stomps around the mostly opened pods. He points directly at the alliance marine, grasping him on the shoulder to get his full attention. "There's gonna be a fight. Get some gear and get ready." He
directs, pointing at the pile. He doesn't wait for a response, moving onto the HMECForeman and reaching into his pod to help him out. "This is a rescue. Get up and get ready to move, if you've ever held a gun before, go get one." He points again at the pile, already moving onto the next confused face, until he has no more time to help.
HMECSecurityOfficer is fairly quick to come too, but his confusion is palpable. Zaylus' words offer some measure of context, and after moving to make sure the foreman is doing alright he hastily heads for the weapons pile, recovering a carbine and a pistol.
Halisi moves on to get Niklos out of his pod, once again not lingering. Instead she moves on to the final pod. Jason. She opens it up, lingering for a while after seeing that there are no more sealed pods in the chamber. She preps a light stim injection, keeping it readied as she tries to get his attention. "Jason..."
Niklos crawls out of his pod with a grunt, doubling over as he coughs up yellow gel. He stands up with a heavy breath, wiping his mouth. "Nadia...?" he calls out as his gaze searches the chamber. "Nadia!"
Leah's eyes flutter to life once the strange device has opened, though she doesn't move right away. Not until Nathan moves to assist her. That's when a sudden-and-violent surge of yellow fluid erupts from her mouth, her natural reaction to lean to the side and spew all over the floor. A dry heave follows as her hand shoots up to her mouth. As if pulled from a deep, dream-filled sleep, she tries to focus on Nathan through the
messy bangs that hang in her face, brow furrowed as the details slowly drift back to her in a fog. "...Nate?" she groans, unable to hear any of the chatter going on. It's just a mad cluster of confusion. People speaking. Moving. As Nathan speaks, she shakes her head, grunting as she struggles to pull herself free from the pod. Her eagerness to follow gets the better of her, however, and it's only a step or two later that
her legs give out and she drops to a knee. Palms planted against the ground, she remains in place as she struggles for breath.
Makk stomps into the pod chamber after the doors close, looking around until he spots Wrench. His relief is obvious as he moves over to the pod. "Hey... time to get up ya little pyjak. We're getting out of here. It's gonna be fine." When she doesn't respond, just breathing shallow breaths, he gently scoops her out of the pod. She struggles, reaching out towards the pod and flailing her limbs. "Hey. Hey!" he calls out,
putting her down on her feet and kneeling down with a grunt of effort. He pulls her into a hug and the struggling stops. "It's gonna be okay, kid. They won't get ya. Not as long as I'm here." He pulls back, heavy alien hands on her shoulders. "Understand?" he asks, meeting her gaze. She offers a small nod in response, swallowing as she pushes back her fear.
Ehanis moves out into view as Nathan runs down the hallway, smiling behind her helmet at the glimmer of hope he and his explosives bring. She gestures to her right; east. "That's the way we came," she says, then turns slightly to gesture south, "but it looks like that's the shortest way out." It's not the first time Ehanis has been in a musty haphazard maze, she's lived on one for decades.
Jason shoots upright, gauntleted hand grasping onto the side of the pod as, he much like those before him, coughs the yellow fluid free. He doesn't focus on Halisi right away. His eyes open and close as he attempts to fight off the confusion caused by the sudden awakening. "Fuck...." he groans, tightly closing his eyes with a muttered: "...Where's the snooze button?" It's not long, however, before his bearings come back to him and
he begins his clumsy climb from the pod. "...How bad is it?" he asks Halisi, his gaze shifting about the room. It settles on Nathan. On the Cain in his arms. "...That bad, huh?" he concludes hoarsely.
Jattic's gaze remains fixed on the closed doors as Oxaris' voice chimes over comms. "They are attempting to trap us in, Oxaris. I cannot guarantee the path back is clear, move with caution!" he offers before quickly shifting gears to focus on Nathan's comment. "They may not be expecting that. But we must determine which direction Oxaris will be approaching from. I will ensure her path is clear while you deal with this." he
offers as he tosses the alien rifle aside and brings up his omni-tool, quickening his pace back towards the chamber as he attempts to get a general read on where Oxaris is. "Zaylus, what is the status on our people? Have you found everyone?" he growls into comms.
Oxaris reaches the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately the end of the tunnel is a closed door. Nadia soon joins her, out of breath from trying to keep up with the turian. She puts her hands on her knees, panting as she tries to catch her breath.
Oxaris skids to a stop, chest heaving yet she remains upright, composed. "I've come to a locked door. I think it's the one in the room with the empty pods." She looks at the door for a moment and then turns to Nadia, holding Li out to her. "Take her."
Halisi glances over her shoulder at Nathan before looking down at Jason. "We'll find a way." she says. "We-..." her eyes go wide as she realizes something. "Li... where's Li?!" she calls out to anyone nearby, uncermoniously injecting Jason with the stim, before starting to walk rapidly around the chamber in search of any leftover pods.
Nathan carries the Cain as one would a treasured possession, barely contained glee at wielding one of the most potent portable weapons known in the galaxy. If he could skip right now, he would. He comes to Ehanis and looks towards the locations gestured, nodding to her and then Jattic. "Alright, so we wait for a readout on O-" Hearing her over comms, he blinks and looks at them, rolling his shoulders. "So which way is
EclipseBiotic looks around the chamber at the others, standing with one foot on the Minagen container she pulled out of the equipment pile. "Any of you biotics?!" she calls out loudly. "Get the hell over here and we'll make these fuckers pay!"
Zaylus has approached Xiu to give her the same pep talk he's been giving all the collected, grasping her arm to make sure he has her attention. "Stay calm, we're going to move soon. Ever held a weapon?" He asks quickly, holding up a hand to her as he listens to Jattic's voice on the comms. He takes a second to scan the chamber, finally noticing Halisi and over Jason's pod. He sighs in
Xiu grimaces uncomfortably. "S-... sort of." she says, recalling her first encounter with Redrock. She moves over to the pile as she notices others by it, retrieving one of the Type 179 handguns, not looking particularly certain about what she's doing.
Jason's lungs pull in a deep breath as the stim courses through his veins. The sudden shock to his system causes a moment of lightheadedness, but Halisi's words add to his already-mounting panic. A few more deep breaths follow as he gives a roll of his shoulders. It doesn't take long for the stims to do their magic, however. Which is a blessing, considering the sounds from the chamber beyond imply he's got work to do. He takes a
few steps away from his pod, looking around at the massive grouping of groggy and confused people all around before his gaze comes to rest on the pile of weapons. "Alright people!" he announces with a sweeping gaze, "I know you're all probably confused... Exhausted... And ready to go-the-fuck home. I don't care if you've served, went hunting, or played a round of Code of Honor six years ago! If you've got even the
slightest idea how a weapon works, grab yourself a gun. If it's ugly and it isn't my batarian bestie over here-..." he gestures to Jattic as he stomps back into the chamber, a lopsided smirk tugging at his lips at seeing another of his own alright, "...Then you put a round in it." And with that, he stomps towards the pile himself and begins to retrieve his gear. His gaze briefly moves to Jessica and the Falcon on her back.
Jessica locks her helmet into place and her HUD beams to life. As systems begin to come online and targets are painted with IFF tags, she glances upwards, focusing on Ilyna's tag. "What is going on up there?!" she calls out, but her attention is pulled back to Jason and, as he speaks up, her brow rises and her hand reaches back to pull the Falcon free. "Ohhhhh! Is grenade launcher!" she says excitedly before giving a single,
Jason stares at Jessica for a moment. With a deep sigh, he shakes his head and snaps his helmet on. "Just-.... make sure the dangerous end is pointed away from any of you before you pull the trigger." he mutters, well aware that they don't exactly have time for any of this right now.
Nadia reluctantly takes Li in her arms as the unconcious girl is shoved off to her. Her expression looks more like she's holding a timed explosive, or perhaps a venomous animal. She's still holding her SMG as well, awkwardly juggling the girl and the weapon as she looks back the way they came. Footsteps are sounding.
Oxaris' HUD marker appears in the same direction as the room of empty pods. It appears her estimate is at least somewhat accurate.
Ehanis looks to the door to her right. "Empty pods? The room just after we found Ilyna?" she asks over comms to make sure, but starts walking towards the door regardless.
Oxaris turns away, facing towards the way they came. "We're pinned and we have a small force of Collectors moving in on our position," she announces over comms. "Li is in the hands of the other survivor. Get here and open this door... I'm going to buy some time." She looks to Nadia, nodding once to her. "When that door opens, you run to the others. You'll have a better chance of survival with them." With that, the
Oxaris doesn't have to move far before spotting a trio of Collectors moving in up ahead, two with rifles and one with an SMG. They're coming towards her, on alert, but don't seem to have spotted her between the cloak and the dimness of the tunnel.
Leah swallows hard, her mind still stuck somewhere between asleep and awake. But Jason's words seem to cause her to snap back. She plants a heavy, armored boot against the floor and forces herself back upright, sluggishly following Jason over to the gear. She sifts through the pile, silently locking her helmet into place. But something seems to occur to her, washing away a bit more of her haze as her pace begins to pick up,
seeming almost frantic for a the moment- even shoving aside her own Mattock with little interest- until she spots it. Her Carnifex. She lifts the pistol up, her thumb gliding over the engraving on the handle for a moment before she holsters it back in place. It's not until that's taken care of that she retrieves her Predator and Mattock. 'Any of you biotics'. The question causes Leah to turn towards the woman. She takes a
moment, a blue glow enveloping her as she tests to make sure nothing was done to restrict her biotics. As her systems begin running their checks and everything starts to come online on her HUD, she focuses on the small, vibration-like sensation that courses through her body, indicating that her curse hasn't gone anywhere. Of course it hasn't. It's always there. Her gift. "I am." she says, moving to join the woman.
Jattic gives Jason only the briefest of nods as he examines his omni-tool. "That appears to be the case, Ehanis." he announces, lowering his arm as he, too, moves on to gather his weaponry among the hectic mess of the chamber. "Show Nathan which door to blow. As soon as I have retrieved my equipment, we're moving to assist Oxaris."
Ilyna ignores the shouting below until someone finally addresses her warning. Halisi's calling for Li is one exception, though, and her heart sinks. If she wasn't with the others, what chances do they have of finding her. No, she can't think like that. She needs to focus, to give the others time to get out. So they can help her find Li. "Collectors coming this way!" she shouts before immediately turning back to
Footsteps thump in the downward tunnel Ilyna is watching. A lot of them. Coming closer. Closer. It's not Collectors that round the corner, storming up toward her however. It's a more familiar sight. Humans, or, what was once humans, their skin gray and their bodies emaciated. Blue-glowing cybernetics cover their bodies, and their hollowed-out eyes. Their howls reverberate throughout the confines of the tunnel as they come charging
at her, at least a dozen in number, arms outstretched as they stumble and clamber over each other. Mindless husks filled with blind aggression.
Jason turns his Revenant over in his hands, ensuring a thermal clip is still seated. As he hears Oxaris' voice, a mix of relief and panic sets in. Relief that Li is in good hands. Panic that they seem to be in danger. But, hell, given the situation, who isn't in danger right now? They'll figure it out. They always do. "Li is with Oxaris!" he calls out over the chatter, ensuring to speak through his external comms to be heard by
EclipseBiotic nods, reaching down and unscrewing the vent on the container while flashing Leah a grin. Red gas spills out in a cloud around both of them. "Deep breath!" she calls out before doing just that, inhaling plenty of the thick gas, a shiver running through her body as she jumps back to her feet, ripples of biotic energy enveloping her as she cracks her neck, boucing slightly in place. "Hahaha... TIME TO DIE FUCKERS!"
Leah would feel a sudden, exhilarating rush of power, as if anything is possible. She would find her biotics come more easily than ever, and that their strength is greatly enhanced. She'd also feel an intense burning sensation in her lungs.
Ilyna raises her eyebrows at the familiar sight, almost freezing up for a second. She glances at the ledge, considering jumping out to get the others. "It's not collectors!" she shouts. She moves up to stand in the open, a barrier forming around her. "It's those creatures!" It was an admittedly stupid move to barrier up, but the time the spend banging on her barrier is time the others can prepare. And she hopes
Oxaris continues full sprint towards the point drone, the Emerald Ghost appearing as she reaches up to grasp the wrist. She move to wrap her arm around its own, twist and rip the SMG from it. Using her weight and momentum, she moves to wrench it to the floor and pin it beneath her knee, keeping its arm poised to the point of breaking, yet unable to move beneath with her crushing it. Her arm would snap up and fire two,
precise shots at the other Collector's domes, double tapping each before she turns the SMG down to her pinned drone, and fire two shots into its head. The motion would take all of four seconds before she is up, taking an assault rifle and aiming it up the corridor. Breath. Breath. Breath.
The husk soon collide against Ilyna's barrier, clawing, howling and throwing their weight against it. Soon all of them are pressing either against the barrier or against each other. More are piling on from behind, filling up the tunnel. Their empty faces and glowing cybernetic eyes stare at Ilyna through the biotic shimmer.
Nathan hops from foot to foot, nodding as he pulls his breaching charge from his belt and slapping it against the door. He taps a trio of buttons and the device beeps once in confirmation. "Charge set! Say the word and we'll get moving," he says over comms. "Which I would recommend is in the next sixty seconds!"
Silence fills the tunnel after the trio of Collectors are efficently dispatched. But more footsteps are sounding. Some light, but one pair heavy. Slow. And a pained, guttural growl.
Oxaris feels herself tense, mind wandering back to the twisted biotic artillery she encountered on the platforms. She switches to internal comms, warning, "Be advised, they have a form of biotic artillery. A creature with a cannon for an arm. Very powerful." She cloaks again and this time cautiously moves forward, clinging to the wall and shadows and only stopping once the next wave comes into view so she can gain a
Again three Collectors are moving, in a wedge formation. The one at the lead has an SMG, the others, rifles. They've adapted to the pace of the lumbering creature behind them. The twisted pile of human corpses is hobbling along, its movements uneven and twisted, and its biotic cannon dragging behind against the floor.
Oxaris watches them, her HUD marking each hostile for her in a clear outline. The drones won't be an issue, but that lumbering beast will be harder to take down. She fears a direct hit from that cannon would leave her as a stain across the ground and the advantage of speed means little in such a confined space. Overload does little against it... but that bulbous sac on its back looks particularly vulnerable. She snaps
her gun up and decloaks, snapping off a burst at each of the rifle toting collectors to drop them to the ground lifeless. Her gun then swings to the SMG drone, but instead fires a shot into each kneecap to have it fall before the abomination. There she poises herself, watching for the reaction and the form of attack the creature uses.
The first rifle-toting Collector drops quickly, but after that her plan hits a snatch. The SMG-wielding one deploys a round shield of hexagonal yellow cells in the tunnel, which absorb the rest of the shots. Its SMG barrel pokes through as it returns fire at Oxaris, the shots hitting her shields hard as they are wrapped in biotic energy. Behind the Collector Guardian, the Scion howls raising its heavy cannon with great effort and
blasting off a shot at the ceiling above the turian. The whole tunnel shakes and small bits of debris ping against her armor.
Oxaris curses faintly as her shields drop quickly under the barrage. Adapt. Adapt. Adapt. She ducks back, using the curve of the tunnel as cover, looking up to gauge just how frail the ceiling is after that strike from the Scion and, if looking particularly fragile, just how bad would it collapse if coaxed enough.
Leah glances about the chamber, the Eclipse mercenary's words filling her with unease. Lots of people. Ilyna's sudden shout only adds fuel to the fire that they need to act, her gaze snapping up to the balcony she was previously unaware of. 'Whether it's a gift or a curse comes down to how you use it.' The words echoed in her mind as she looked back to the psychopath at her side. With a deep breath, she closes her eyes, the
burning in her lungs soon overwhelmed by the soft vibration coursing through her body that rapidly picks up in intensity.
Jason's gaze snaps up as Ilyna calls out. His gaze frantically shoots to Leah, gesturing upwards with a gauntleted hand. "Get me up there! Now!" he barks, unwilling to leave his friend without backup.
Leah has to silently will herself to calm down as her biotics seem to fire off on all cylinders. Jason's order causes her to snap his way. A brief flash of blue expels from her, effortlessly lifting Jason to the balcony before she, too, sprints towards the balcony. A second flash of blue signals her own upward launch and, with the grace of a dancer, she sails through the air. She touches down light as a feather but stops in
place as the enemy comes into view. "No..." she says in barely a whisper, visions of Di Yu flooding right back to her. But the pressing situation pulls her right back.
Jattic growls as he finishes collecting his gear, his gaze shooting upward as the others are pushed to action. No matter. They will handle it. "Blow it!" he responds to Nathan, locking his helmet into place as he hurries to join them by the tunnel. "Ilyna is under attack on the balcony. Get that door open and we will come up right behind them!"
Jason lands with far less grace than Leah, but immediately shoulders his Revenant, his finger inching towards the trigger as he takes in the sight of a literal swarm of these empty creatures pressing against Ilyna's barrier. His chest tightens and he finds himself struggling to draw air into his lungs. But he's a soldier. Fight now. Drink later. That's how you handle it. He gives a few, distant nods, trying to psych himself up as
he assesses the situation. As the first husk begins to filter around the pillar, he snaps his Revenant to it, squeezing the trigger. "We've got contact! We've got a lot! Of fucking! Contact!" he shouts over comms.
It's hard to judge the integrity of the alien structure, but it appears to be holding strong for now. The Collectors can be heard moving up ahead.
The husks, overwhelming in number, are starting to find their way around the pillars. The first goes down to Jason's shots, but more are slipping around. The bulk of the horde are still pressed up against Ilyna's barrier however. One of the frontmost ones lets out a metallic howl, its body convulsing and its cybernetics glowing bright as it expels a burst of electrical energy, impacting both the barrier and other nearby husks.
Nathan nods sharply, the stim burning in his veins and providing a strange sense of eagerness to the coming fight as he interchanges the Cain for his rifle. Not much room on his back and the weight will have him laying down for at least a few days in well deserved agony. But that can wait. He knows what this. The same feeling he always gets when the stim pulses in his mind. Rage. Anger, but controlled. They took him
and his friends. They were going to kill them at some point down the line. They stole men, women and children. And they needed to pay. The Falcon's needed to- "Fire in the hole!" He thumbs the detonator and the charge detonates. Upon the door opening, the walking array of weapons takes point.
With a sudden thump a trio of Collectors land where the hexagon platform was once parked, at the northern end of the room. Two rifle-wielding drones and a captain, with particle beam in hand. The captain immediately takes to the air again, a yellow lance shooting out and scorching a line across the room. The oldest of the colonists is caught completely unware. He doesn't even have time to scream as his head is disintegrated, body
dropping lifelessly to the floor as the smell of charred flesh fills the air. The Alliance marine barely avoids the same fate, his shields all that save him as he ducks down behind a pod.
Ilyna is still standing strong, her will greatly helped by the others joining her on the balcony. "There's too-," she is interrupted by the electrical arc hitting her barrier, which causes it to distort heavily before the asari manages to regain control of it.
Oxaris sucks in a deep breath and swings around, aiming directly at the guardian first. She fires a burst and, if the foe goes down, switches to the other rifle wielding Collector to grant it the same fate. A quick meeting with the reaper. The Scion, however, she has no plan for initially as she merely fires a burst at it too to serve as deterrent, ducking back around the corner to avoid another blast of its cannon.
EclipseBiotic lets out a warcry, charging right at the two drones still on the ground. They're violentely tossed aside by a burst of biotic energy as she materializes between them, immediately aiming an enhanced punch at the left, its carapace cracking and its head being jolted back as it collapses.
ColonistMother cries out in horror, shielding her son. A futile gesture should the Collector actually open fire on them, of course.
The Guardian stands up to Oxaris' attack, unfortunately. It appears to have a personal barrier, unlike the normal drones. Both Collectors return fire as they continue to approach.
Zaylus intends to move to join the others after Nathan's detonation, but the sudden arrival of the trio turns him back on his heels. "Fuck!" He snaps, relfextively grabbing his Carnifex and sighting up at the Captain. This luckily puts the rowdy eclipse merc out of his line of fire, and he crouches behind the nearest pod for cover as he takes shots at the flying collector.
Oxaris swears audibly now and backs up, slowly giving ground to the advance. "Damnit... they're almost on top of Li," she barks down into comms. She primes up her overload and ducks around, tucking the rifle toward her and firing it one handed to suppress them as she releases the tech power at the Guardian. Should it buy her the precious few seconds she craves, she spins around and jets down the corridor, back towards
the locked door. As she approaches it, she activates her omni-tool and presses it to it, trying to see if she can quickly hack the door whilst keeping the rifle pressed to her and aimed down the tunnel.
The door to the east is violently blown open, metal bending outwards and shards flying into the chamber beyond. As the dust clears Nathan would find himself face-to-face with a literal horde of husks. At least a dozen lie motionless on the floor, knocked down by the explosion and shredded with shrapnel. A great many cybernetic eyes slowly turn to look at the well-armed human, howls and hisses sounding from the reanimated dead. A
large portion of the horde diverts from there efforts to get up the tunnel toward Ilyna, starting to first walk and stumble, then run at Nathan.
The overload makes short work of the Guardian's barrier, and causes it to stagger, a few shots hitting its side. As Oxaris jets back to the door and tries to interface with it she would find what she connects to to be entirely incomprehensible. Hacking is not looking promising. Nadia looks to the turian. "What the hell's going on?!" she calls out.
Makk pushes Wrench behind him with a growl, standing up and aiming his Graal at the flying Collector, but his shot goes wild.
Ehanis raises her brows as she sees what's on the other side of that door. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she shouts while opening fire at them with her Predator pistol. "A lot of fucking contact over here too," she says over comms, sounding panicked. She has still not entered the chamber.
Oxaris snarls in panic. She draws her fist back, not responding to Nadia as her omni-blade flicks out, burning brightly in the dim light of the corridor. She then thrusts it at the door, right where she would assume a magnetic lock would be and simply tries to cleave a way through the door to force it open. She can't hack it in the time she has. So she has to make do. And if that doesn't work...
Leah snaps up her Mattock as she takes a position beside Ilyna opposite of Jason, taking aim as the husks begin to file around the pillar on her side. She squeezes off a steady burst of shots, aiming for the center of mass of any husks brave enough to round the pillar. Her biotics flare up with a bright, blue glow as she readies herself for the inevitability of the creatures eventually closing the gap. For now, more gunfire!
Jason winces as Ilyna's barrier flickers and the chamber fills with the staccatto of sustained Revenant gunfire as the husks funnel around the pillar. "Just-... Take your time, Jattic! Not like we've got an army charging us!" he shouts into comms.
Jessica briefly seems to be considering joining Jattic (Gross) but, much like Zaylus, her intentions are cut short as the trio of Collectors drop down from above. "Shit..." she grunts, her gaze moving about the room. Her first instinct is to shoulder the Falcon. Blow these fuckers to kingdom come. But, just in her peripheral vision she spots the mother shielding her son. No... Not the place for explosives. This fact frustrates her,
causing a grown that wouldn't be out of line coming from Jattic. But, nonetheless, she quickly replaces the Falcon with her shotgun and levels it onto the hovering Collector before squeezing off a hastey round as she attempts to find cover.
Jattic turns away from the blast as the door is violently forced open before moving into position with Ehanis and Nathan. "We're going as quickly as we-..." he begins to respond to Jason, but the sight beyond the door halts him in place. Fear creeps into his expression- thankfully hidden behind his dark visor. But it's a passing phase, soon replaced by the deep, seething hatred. With a bellowing roar, he shoulders his Vindicator
Nathan feels fear grip his heart, mixing with the burning fury of the cocktail in his system. They're real. The monsters. He understands the warnings, the fear... and he snarls, levelling his Argus and switching the weapon to full auto, a function that is rarely used with this type of rifle. But in the close confines and the mass of bodies before him... who cares? He lets the rifle bark its chorus of death and his own
The Collector Captain's shields are eaten away by gunfire from Zaylus, Jessica and the HMEC security officer. Bullets start to impact its body, but another lance shoots out, incinerating several stasis pods and catching the arm of the young colonist woman as she tries to return fire, her shots coming nowhere close to hitting. SHe cries out in pain, collapsing on the floor and cradling the scorched remains of her arm. Elena,
meanwhile, has joined Nathan and the others in the doorway. Her eyes go wide upon seeing the mass of husks in the chamber beyond, but she's quick to raise her SMG. "Come on, you assholes! Come on!" she shouts as she opens fire with her Hurricane. Bursts at first, as she was trained to, but she soon realizes there's no missing, and a barrage off full-auto fire comes next. Many husks are cut down by the combined fire of the four
people in the doorway, but there are many, many more. On the bright side, they appear to have diverted any more of the horde from rushing upstairs to the balcony. Up there, meanwhile, more husks continue to slip around the barrier, only to get cut down. Leah's rifle offers significantly less stopping power than the Revenant however, and it's not long before they're charging at her, the nearest jumping at her while clawing wildly.
EclipseBiotic makes short work of the remaining drone, finishing it with a curbstomp just as another group of three Collectors fly into the room, and she immediately finds herself locked into melee with one of them while the other two spread out to different corners and start opening up with their assault rifles at those still in the chamber.
Ehanis takes a deep breath before picking a target in the middle of the room. She salvages most of her barrier's energy and channels it into a warp targeting it, followed by the quickest throw she can muster to set it off. Ehanis plants a hand against her knee as she catches her breath. That short break was not enough to recover from the earlier warp spree.
Leah's gunfire pauses as the husk leaps at her and her hand snaps up. The blue, all encompassing glow around her flares up and, as if she had just hit the pause button on the remote, the husk is held in place. She jerks her hand back before punching forward, slinging the creature right back in the direction it came in hope of knocking a few others down as well to buy her enough time to catch up with her Mattock.
Jason's Revenant continues it's unending stream of metal shards. He can't keep it up forever. Eventually, his thermal clip will need to be replaced. But for now, he bites down and keeps on the trigger, putting down the creatures as soon as they clamber over their fallen allies. "They're still coming and I'm running hot!" he warns.
Nathan holds down the trigger, his armour compensating for the recoil as best as it can, but he'll still be carrying a hell of a bruise if he gets out of here. His gun clicks dry and he slaps a fresh clip in, levels the rifle and fires another burst into the swarm. He rips off one of his frags and underarms it into the hoard, detonating it as soon as it disappears under the ocean of bodies before resuming fire with his
Jessica racks her shotgun as she finds cover beside one of the many pods, but it's not long before there's little safety in the room as the reinforcements begin to spread out. As a round pings off of her shields, she ducks instinctively before laying right back into the captain with another Katana blast. "Just... fucking die you-... Gah... Baby-eating shits!" she growls. Okay, so maybe the stories her brother used to tell her to
Zaylus ducks down hard as another lance of energy appears, turning away from the captain until the bright attack has ceased. He doesn't get a chance to return to firing at his target before a fresh set of collectors appear and he takes some rifle fire to his shields. He pivots and leans heavily against the pod as he fires on the new enemy.
Ilyna is prepared this time when she notices the build-up before the electric arc, and she strengthtens her barrier in anticipation. There's still some distortion when it hits, but it's much less severe. "Hurry!"
In the middle chamber, a warp field envelops a husk in the middle of the room. A moment later throw bolt hammers down on it from above, the two fields interacting violently and sending an explosive burst of biotic energy in all directions, disintegrating the targeted husk and catapulting others out of the way and even into the air in an, under less dire circumstances, almost comical display. Shortly after Nathan's frag grenade
detonates, taking out a clump of husks directly and sending shrapnel in every direction at the rest of the horde. Unfortunately it seems to have little effect against them. A few go down to lucky hits, but most of those struck by shrapnel keep coming, albeit impaired. Limping, hobbling, crawling, they keep coming. Their fellow monsters simple tramble those that cannot keep up, charging at the team. Many more are cut down. Again and
On the balcony, the biotically propelled husk is killed instantly by the impact of the strike, its limp body slowing the others as it strikes them, but they are still coming. On Jason's side the pile of bodies has grown such that the remaining husks are struggling to climb over it, and more are funneling to the other side instead. Ilyna would be able to see that the husks in the downward tunnel have thinned out considerably since
In the pod chamber, the injured captain takes a shotgun blast to the side and tumbles to the ground as its wings give in. Zaylus manages to nail one of the new arrivals in the head, the dead drone slumping in the corner of the room. The Eclipse biotic lets out a cry as she digs her fingers into the one she is fighting, her body flaring up with biotic energy and a sickening crunch sounding as she quite literally tears the Collector
apart. The last drone meanwhile takes cover behind a pod as the Alliance marine opens up on it. The captain is on its knees, bleeding profusely, but still moving. It seems about to collapse when it is suddenly raptured into the air, its carapace cracking as a yellow glow eminates brigthly from with in, filling its eyes as well as it spasms in place for a moment. "I WILL DIRECT THIS PERSONALLY." Its voice booms throughout the
Ilyna keeps the barrier up, watching for any signs of more electric surges. She notices the thinning horde, which offers some relief that the other two's shooting is actually helping.. "Their numbers are shrinking," she reports. Jason's shooting is keeping her from hearing what's going on in the chamber below, but she hopes Halisi and Ehanis are safe; wherever they are.
Jattic continues to pour rounds into the wall of bodies. He turns away as the chain of explosions go off, giving a shake of his head to try and clear the ringing. As he squeezes the trigger f his Vindicator, the rifle emits a loud click With little time to fiddle with thermal clips as the horde continues ot push, he's quick to stow the rifle onto his back, the weapon automatically folding up as it detects the magnetic holster.
Fists already clenched, he plants a heavy boot against the midsection of the first husk to approach, pushing it back with a hard kick to buy his gauntlets time to encompass his forearms. Another thunderous roar sounds out as he surges forward on Nathan's command, plowing a heavy gauntlet into a husk. This is a fight for their life. A second roar accompanies a backhand aimed to make room for the trio as he pushes forward,
a lumbering weapon all on his own with his sharp, angled armor. A third deep, guttural roar sounds out as he slams his thick, armored helmet into another husk.
Oxaris' door does not open. Perhaps Collector doors follow different conventions. Prying would yield no result but a short-circuited omni-blade.
Ehanis looks up at her work, laughing to herself at the effectiveness of it, even if it was insignificant compared to the numbers they were fighting. Feeling a rush of adrenaline, she slips into the room, immediately moving rightward, and tries to move around the horde by going behind the pillar.
Nathan finds his rifle clicking empty again. This time, however, he stows it and replaces it with his newly acquired grenade launcher... rifle... thing. He takes a moment to weigh it in his hands and then level it at a section away from Jattic. He fires one to test the weapon.
Zaylus pulls back out of sight after tagging one of the collectors, looking down to see the wounded captain in time to witness the dramatic takeover. One hand snaps up to his head as the words boom inside his mind, and he fumbles to charge the next thermal clip in anticipation of fighting that thing.
Oxaris doesn't try to pry it. She can't risk her last resort weapons. She turns back to the tunnel, inhaling a lungful of filtered air. "You protect that girl," she says to Nadia, stepping back towards the incoming foes, "with your life." She takes off at a sprint, dropping the rifle and pulling out the SMG. She cloaks, fading into etheralness once more as she charges towards the enemy. Towards what is likely her last
fight. All she can do is buy time for Nadia and Li to be rescued and that is all that counts right now. She jutters her movement as she approaches, making it difficult to actually pinpoint where she is even as a shimmer. Her first target would be the Guardian. She would close and decloak when she is right in front of it, aiming to eviscerate it with a newly formed blade on her wrist, dragging the searing
fabrication from groin to brain. Should her reckless attack prove fruitful in piercing through its defences, her SMG would swing at the rifle wielding foe and unleash a burst into its face, before she jets back and away from the Scion, staying light on her feet to try and dance around as much of its attacks as possible. The creature televises its attacks with its lumbering movements, so she watches for that
Jason refocuses his efforts, aiming to assist Leah with his remaining rounds. The familiar echo in his head causes a stutter in his gunfire as he glances back over the railing. Unfortunately, given his predicament, there's little he can do to help. "You just wait your turn you ugly fucker!" he calls out, his voice barely audible over the gunfire and explosions all around them. Unfortunately, he's only able to cut down a couple
more creatures- those closest to Leah- before his weapon runs dry. With a practiced discipline, he leans onto his backleg as he pops his thermal clip out and works on seating a new one.
Leah is afforded a few precious seconds as Jason mows down the husks immediately threatening her. The next one takes the last remaining rounds from her rifle, but more are coming. She drops the Mattock to the ground, her biotic glow deepening as she spins around the next creature to approach her, grabbing at the back its head and using a surge of biotic energy to slam its head into the ground. Swiftly kicking off of the wall
beside her to get a quick height boost, she aims a spinning back kick into the chest of her next attacker, hoping to push it back into others to once again clog up the pillar's bottleneck.
Jessica grits her teeth as the voice- much like on the ship- drowns out her thoughts and, for the moment, she huddles against her cover.
A holo-interface quickly flickers to life as Nathan hefts the prototype weapon. It's an ugly, boxy thing of unclear function. The interface reads: Ama-Lur Equipment Chakram Launcher. Heat Levels: Nominal. Omni-Gel Levels: Full. Ammunition Select: Fragmentation. Inferno. Snowblind. Fragmentation appears to be selected by default. As Nathan presses the trigger he would find the launcher starting to spin up as it fabricates a
grenade disk. Upon his releasing the trigger the disk shoots off, punching into the midsection of a husk before detonating a moment latter, tearing it to pieces and sending shrapnel in all directions, taking out several nearby husks but also impacting Nathan and Elena's shields. Many husks start swarming Jattic as he moves into melee, but they are easily dispatched in close quarters, not nearly as dangerous as the infected
encountered on Di Yu as they seem to lack biotic abilities, or the snaking mouth tubes. Elena reloads and moves up after Jattic, trying to thin the numbers around him with her SMG. Ehanis, meanwhile, finds herself face to face with a trio of husks, one of them glowing a strange red instead of blue, as she starts moving around the pillar. The red husk jumps her with a howl, the glow of its cybernetics quickly intensifying.
Leah's biotic acrobatics take out one husk before sending the other flying into those that are still coming, slowing them while Jason is reloading, but they are coming faster. Several more slip through, one jumping at Jason and two at Leah, while a fourth moves around to come up on Ilyna from behind.
Ehanis ducks and leaps forward to escape the creature jumping at her, recovering her sprint towards the opposite door without much effort. "Not today," she shouts. This was her mess, and the best way to fix it would be to catch up with the turian's team and help them. She's been quiet lately, so they must be in trouble, ...or maybe she's doing her thing without giving her team crucial information again. The
The possessed Collector returns to the floor, strange, yellow biotic energy starting to envelop it. The Alliance marine opens fire while backing away, and both the HMEC Security officer and Xiu follows suit, the latter popping up from behind a pod to shoot her pistol. Lucy joins in, firing off a blast with her shotgun even as her hands shake. "You monsters! You goddamn monsters! Just die!" she cries out. None of the shots seem to
have much effect, aside from grabbing its attention. "THESE ATTACKS ARE POINTLESS." A bolt of biotic energy surges at Lucy, demolishing her shields and sending her flying across the room, ending up near the doorway, motionless. Biotics envelop it again as it yanks Zaylus out of cover violently. The remaining drone pops out of cover to shoot the turian, only for Halisi, who has snuck around the edge of the chamber, to freeze it in
place. The buzzing of many, many lighter wings can be just barely heard beneath the chaos of combat, getting closer...
Ilyna feels the impact against the barrier behind her, and strengthens it before the creature can manage to punch a hole in it. It does make the barrier more strenous to keep up, but she can't give up.
Both Collectors drop to Oxaris' stealthed attack, the Guardian lying eviscerated on the floor, and the drone getting a faceful of bullets. The scion lifts it cannon somewhat belatedly, firing off a wave of successive biotic explosions that fill the tunnel, booming loudly as they shake it.
Nathan blinks and lets out a whoop of excitement, despite the shrapnel striking his shields. "Now that's a weapon!" He, however, decides not to fire blindly into the fight with his team so close. And thus, he awkwardly stows it away on his back with the magnitude of other weapons. He throws himself into the fight with his pistol and knife, following closely behind Ehanis to cover her six and to blast and cut down the
Nadia is left holding Li and her SMG, standing alone by the doorway as she listens to the sounds of combat up ahead. She feels weak, her knees threatening to give up. "Come on..." she whispers to herself.
Zaylus lets out a stifled cry as he's viciously yanked from his hiding spot, tumbling over himself as he impacts the ground and another pod. His gun skitters across the floor, landing out of his reach as he struggles to reorient. Not-so blissfully unaware of how narrowly the doctor has saved him, he slowly turns himself over in an attempt to reach for and reclaim his weapon, grunting
Oxaris jets back around the corner, although her shields drop as the impact catches her just on the edge. She snarls and digs her feet into the ground, sprinting forward as she stows the SMG and both blades are now drawn. 'Stimulant pack, administered.' Her shields immediately jump back, her senses heightened and her system bolstered by the sudden surge of the stimulants. A temporary boon, but a welcome one. She throws
zig-zags at the Scion, jumping at the wall and pushing off of it to put herself in the air as she brings her blade down to try and cut through the cannon. As she lands, she throws herself forward to slice through its leg and try and bring it to one knee. She would turn and her thrusters bring her into the air, just shy of touching the ceiling. Her omni-blade suddenly warps violently as it charges the heavy
attack into it and she would blaze down to slam the lengthened blade into the Scion in a burst of scorching fabrication.
Jason manages to seat his thermal clip just in time to get his gun up and wedge it between him and the husk jumping at him to create a little space. "Ilyna! On your six!" he calls out.
Leah weaves to avoid the two approaching husks' grasps and goes low, spinning to deliver a biotically-infused sweep to the legs of the first husk and using her continued rotational momentum to transition into a spinning high kick, aimed at the head of the second husk. Her hand shoots to the Carnifex at her thigh, jerking it free from its holster to plant a quick round in the sweeped husk's head. Jason's shout causes her to turn
back towards Ilyna, sighting in on the husk attacking their only hope of survival and squeezing the trigger.
Jattic continues to punch, rip, and tear through the horde of creatures in glorious melee combat. "Go!" is all he manages. Each enforcement-gauntlet-powered strike is heavy, like an anvil. But despite how it looks, or his unwillingness to admit it, he's tiring.
Jessica forces herself up, her gaze moving about the room. She once again begins to shoulder her Katana, but quickly reconsiders as the empowered Collector begins to target those among her. "Fuck this!" she grunts as she tosses the shotgun aside haphazardly and reaches back for the Falcon. As she presses the stock to her shoulder, it begins to interface with her armor, options popping up across her HUD. It's all just noise to
her, however. Squeeze trigger. Go boom. That's all the instructions she needs. "Hey fuckface!" she calls out as she sights in on the Collector, her HUD helping her to compensate and correct her otherwise-poor aim due to the lack of depth perception and begins to squeeze the trigger.
Zaylus curls his talons around his weapon with a swipe of effort, holding it tight as he crawls his way around the pod, getting back into something of a defensive position. He breathes hard and leans heavily against the cover, straightening up enough to see over the top of it. As he's ensuring the thermal clip has been charged properly, he notices Jessica's intentions with the captain
Nathan's gunfire hits the abomination in the head, causing it to explode violently and take out the husks near it. Lucky break. Most of what's left off the horde is swarming Jattic. They're jumping at him even as he keeps caving their skulls in. Clawing, shredding their own flesh as they tear at his spiked armor. Elena has joined him in melee combat after expending her clip. She does her best to keep the batarian's back clear,
using her omni-buzzsaw to cut into the creatures that are rapidly surrounding the two of them. Ehanis, meanwhile, faces virtually no resistance, having slipped by the distracted husks, her only pursuers blown apart by the exploding abomination. She quickly finds herself in the corridor leading to the pod room.
Ehanis doesn't stop her run to look before entering the tunnel, headed for the pod room. She is aware that Nathan is following, but she does not aknowledge it. Her attention is solely on the pod room ahead, not even glancing into the hallway going south.
The possessed captain gestures with its hand and a singularity suddenly appears behind Jason and Leah just as the latter takes out a trio of husks, including the one behind Ilyna. The Avatar charges up another biotic attack, its attention turning to the mother still holding her child, but a series of grenades strike it, peeling away cracked carapace and destabilizing the failing body as its attention changes yet again, to Jessica.
A bolt of biotic energy flies at her, chewing up her shields and tossing her violently into the far wall. "THE FORCES OF THE UNIVERSE BEND TO ME!" The colonist mother takes the opportunity to flee into better cover, and the Alliance marine opens fire with little effect. Another biotic bolt goes at the HMEC Foreman, but the security officer places himself in front of its path. Both of them are knocked over violently as it strikes.
The buzzing is getting louder. The Eclipse biotic now sends a warp field toward the possessed Collector, causing it to turn toward her as more of its unstable form is shredded and eaten away, the glow intensifying.
Oxaris jets back around the corner, although her shields drop as the impact catches her just on the edge. She snarls and digs her feet into the ground, sprinting forward as she stows the SMG and both blades are now drawn. 'Stimulant pack, administered.' Her senses heightened and her system bolstered by the sudden surge of the stimulants. A temporary boon, but a welcome one. She throws zig-zags at the Scion, jumping at
the wall and pushing off of it to put herself in the air as she brings her blade down to try and cut through the cannon. As she lands, she throws herself forward to slice through its leg and try and bring it to one knee. She would turn and her thrusters bring her into the air, just shy of touching the ceiling. Her omni-blade suddenly warps violently as it charges the heavy attack into it and she would blaze down
Another biotic blast flies past Oxaris as she darts through the tunnel at the scion. The omni-blade fails to cut through the cannon, causing only a shallow slice, put the next attack is far more successful. The leg is severed and the heavy creature drops to a knee, using its cannon to support itself as the turian surges into the air, coming down hard with an omni-tool enhanced strike that explodes the biotic blister atop the scion,
causing it to howl in pain and grab her mid-air with its ordinary arm, slamming her against the floor hard.
Ilyna sighs. "I know," she says at Jason's callout. "There's nothing I can do about it." She holds her barrier up, waiting for Jason and Leah to finish with the creatures so they can finally find Li.
Nathan follows after Ehanis, panting as he looks behind at the melee. "Kick ass!" He calls out to Jattic before following Ehanis.
Oxaris grunts as she is caught just before touch down and is slammed into the ground, feeling her body quake under the impact and her insides rattling about her rib cage. There is only so much that the blocker can do. She gasps for air and finds herself staring up at the Scion for a split second. "Fuck you," she breathes as she brings her blade around to cleave through the arm holding her down, then throwing herself
forward to push the blade through the front of its face. She would twist the blade, mangling the face to a putrid mess of flesh and machine, before ripping the blade out and bringing one last slice down toward its neck to separate head from perverted body.
The scion collapses on top off Oxaris as its arm is cut off, and its face is then obliterated, murky grayish blood and blue liquid coating her armor and faceplate as the heavy, misshapen creature lies motionless atop her.
Oxaris groans and deactivates her blades, not wanting to accidentally mutilate herself after all of that. She shimmies a little, wedging her hands for the best amount of support to push and wiggle her way out from underneath it. Her heart thunders in her chest, a jackhammer against her ribcage before she eventually pulls her way free (with a little help from a quick burst of a few of her jets.) She pulls the SMG from
her belt and levels it up the tunnel, expecting a small force of Collectors to be waiting there with guns raised at her.
Jessica's finger twitches over the finger. "Fuck!" BAM! "Off!" BAM! "YOU!" BAM! When her finger hovers over the trigger for a fourth shot, her eye goes wide as a bolt of energy comes her way, sending her crashing into the wall with a thud. As she tumbles to the floor, she loses a grip on her weapon and begins struggling to push herself to her feet, pain surging through every bone in her body.
Jason is easily pulled into the singularity along with his new cybernetic-covered friend. Been a while since he found himself in one of these. Not long enough, unfortunately. Now forced to struggle against the husk without the assistance of gravity, he relenquishes hold on his Revenant, attempting to hold the husk at bay with one hand as he frantically scrambles to yank the blade free from the sheathe across his chestplate.
Leah however, is not quite so easily pulled into the singularity field. As soon as she spots it, she digs the heel of her boot into the ground, expelling a powerful biotic blast as she launches herself away from it and- unfortunately- right into the pack of husks ahead that are filtering around the pillar. But she goes in swinging, leg bent to deliver a flying knee into the leader of the pack.
Jattic grunts loudly with each swing. As one of the husks grasps onto his shoulder pauldron, the spiked surface rips and tears at its cybernetically-infused skin. He reaches back, grasping the creature around the head and jerking him forward as he strikes out with at another with his free hand. His breathing is deepening and each swing of his arms feels heavier than the last.
Nathan too manages to slip past as the husks converge on Jattic and Elena, both of them struggling to hold off what's left of the horde. Elena has unsheathed her combat knife, plunging it into the skull of a nearby husk while using her omni-saw to cut the arm off another and shove it back. The numbers are thinning, but it's not over yet. In the pod chamber, the last few balcony husks are surrounding Ilyna, clawing at her shield.
Another electrical discharge. One is kicked away by Leah however, going flying from the biotic attack. The husk that got caught in the singularity claws at Jason at arm's length, its hand scraping across his visor as it howls. Below, the possessed Captain sends a biotic bolt at the Eclipse biotic, but she brings up a barrier to absorb it, staggering but remaining upright. The marine, meanwhile, fires off one last burst before
sidestepping over to Jessica as he reloads. "Hey! You good?!" he calls out, taking cover behind a nearby pod.
Zaylus braces hard against the cover as the captain is stripped apart, yet still persists. He raises his gun up to fire after Jessica is knocked away, by the fire put on it from others doesn't inspire confidence in his Carnifex's ability to finish the job. He grits his teeth as more are sent flying by its arcing attacks. Once its attention is on the eclipse merc, he clasps his pistol
back to his hip and settles on the balls of his feet. "Fuck it." He growls to himself, pushing off his cover and running a shallow bend toward the fallen Jessica. He throws himself down and scrambles for her Falcon. The turian would love to hand it right back to her, having little experience in heavy weapons, but it doesn't seem to him like she's ready for another go. He presses the
stock to his shoulder as she had done, and hopes the damn thing hasn't broken in the fall as he frantically squeezes the trigger.
The possessed Captain is about to attack the Eclipse merc again when another barrage of micro-grenades strike it from behind, Boom. Boom. Boom. With the last explosion the glow barely contained within intensifies, and the body of the Collector seems to collapse in on itself in a brilliant flash of light. "WE ARE NOT FINISHED!" echoes throughout the room despite the apparent, violent, destruction of the creature.
Jessica shoves the marine aside, still trying to shake loose the cobwebs and recover from the air being knocked out of her. "Gah-..." she groans, reaching back to her hip and the bruise that's sure to follow, "...I am fine!" She manages to get to her feet just in time for the fabulous light show. With a pair of middle fingers raised, she spits in the general direction of the Collector. "Yeah! Suck a dick you fuck!" she shouts
before turning her aggression to Zaylus on the ground beside her. One hand now on her pained hip, she narrows her eyes from behind her visor. "You take my booms!" she accuses, reaching out to snatch the Falcon away. It's almost a 'thank you'. Not quite, but almost. "Stupid fuck is dead." she announces over comms, "I am needing more things to shoot."
Jason tumbles through the air, locked in a grapple with the cybernetic creature. His prosthetic has little problem keeping a single husk at bay, granting him the time he needs to slip the large blade free from its holster and jab it into the creatures head. Once the posessed Collector's singularity field dissipates, Jason goes crashing to the ground with an "Ooomph!" That part always sucks. Scurrying back to his knees, he slips
the blade back into its holster and scrambles to his Revenant. "Well-..." he begins in a pant as he hears Jessica, "...Have I got news for you... Get over here!"
Jessica furrows her brow as she glances briefly up to the ledge Jason disappeared up to with Leah. "How? I am not a biotic freak like the cheerleader!" she says before resting her gaze back on the turian at her feet. With a sigh, she extends a hand towards him. He did quite possibly save their lives. Not that she'd ever admit that aloud.
Jattic roars loudly as he slams another husk to the ground, his movement slowing with each enemy he dispatches. "This way!" he growls over comms. "We need-..." his words are cut short as another husk slams into him, replaced with a howling roar as he reduces the creature's head to something resembling a popped water balloon. "....Assistance!"
Leah holds her pistol in close to her body to keep it from getting knocked around by any attacking husks. Jessica's jab doesn't get a reaction out of her. There's no time for hurt feelings right now. She squeezes off whatever shots she can manage in the close quarters.