December 12th. Gray skies as melting snow drips off the roof of the Redrock building. Inside, a flurry of hurried activity. The infirmary door is open, the medical bed folded out into the middle of the room for surgery, machines at the ready. Redrock's infirmary doesn't have the capabilities of the surgical suite in the clinic, but it's better than nothing to be sure. Several pieces of equipment have been hastily borrowed as Halisi rushed
#RedrockAgency – March 27, 2019
over to Redrock, bringing Holly with her, apparently deeming the young woman trustworthy, and needing someone to assist her. Ilyna has been given a basic rundown by a hurried Halisi as she barged into the Redrock building and started preparations, of course she didn't have all that much information to offer herself. Leah took a team on an unsanctioned mission against batarian slavers, and there's a shuttle coming in with multiple seriously
The hangar door slides open, letting in a wall of cold air with the familiar old shuttle as it sets down. The hangar door is already closing by the time the shuttle door begins to open up, Jasper already in sight.
Mendez is looking quite pale, head pressed back against the shuttle, one hand pressed against his shredded shoulder.
Ilyna hasn't had much of a chance to do anything about the information, making herself as useful as she can be in the hurry to prepare. She is disappointed with the lack of details from the doctor, and she's clearly stressed out about it. Ilyna agrees to keep it off the record until Jason and Vasquez' return, however, but not a minute longer. After hearing the shuttle's approach, she walks to the hangar to stand
Halisi and Holly are ready with a gurney when the shuttle touches down. "Give me a summary, quickly." she commands as soon as the door opens, already moving to perform a quick scan of Mendez, red omni-tool flaring to life. Holly is kneeling down to do the same to the unconcious batarian.
Ilyna runs over to the shuttle when it comes to a stop, but she's not in the way of anyone exiting the shuttle. Seeing the state of people within makes her hold back most of her questions. "Are you still in danger?" she asks. "I'll call more security here if so, but I need to know right now."
Jasper seems a bit panicked by the barrage of questions from Halisi and Ilyna, glancing back towards them as they rush the shuttle. "Uhh-... Buncha slaves freed by-..." he begins with a gesture towards the unfamiliar faces seated around the shuttle as he looks to Halisi. Ilyna's question causes him to snap to her. "Wha-... No! No, I don't-..." he furrows his brow, "I don't know!" he admits. "Look, I ain't got any more of
Mendez interrupts Jasper's panicked ramblings, calm and composed as usual, his monotone delivery only undercut by the pained strain behind his words. "We're in no danger." he explains, cutting the older man off. Of course it's only half the truth. Sure, he's in no danger. But the truth is he has no idea what Fasha's people might do when he doesn't return. But that's in the others' hands now. This is what Leah wanted. Minimal
Redrock involvement. "Slavers. They came for Tara. We killed them. These were the slaves they brought with them." He gestures about the shuttle's compartment towards the unfamiliar faces. His eyes shut briefly and he draws in a breath to compose himself when a sharp pain shoots across his shoulder before continuing. "Leah and Ten are working on getting the right people out here to help them, but they'll need to remain in
our care for a few days." He cocks his head to look to the approaching doctor, removing his hand from his shoulder so that she can get a look at it. It's a mess. He probably owes his life to little more than the mess of medigel over his shoulder that has kept him from bleeding out. The lacerations are deep, but manageable. The worst of it is the amount of blood that he's likely lost, hinted at by the loss of color in his
face. "They cut me up pretty good." he says, giving his professional assessment to the doctor. Emma is more than capable of explaining her own situation. "Him, too." he continues, giving a small nod towards the batarian Holly is kneeling over.
Jasper falls silent as Mendez speaks, a comforting hand remaining on the large man's undamaged shoulder as Halisi does her thing. His gaze turns from the doctor to Ilyna and he swallows, giving a small, apologetic shake of his head. "I jus' got a call that they needed a pickup..." he explains, seeming a little calmer now that Mendez has taken the reigns. "I didn't-... They told me that they were headin' to Linissa on some kinda
huntin' trip and-..." he sighs, reaching up with his other hand to rub at his eyes and shift his cap in discomfort.
Halisi offers little in the way of response to Jasper and Mendez' words, her gaze darting across the readout of Mendez' vitals after connecting to his armor. She situation is not of much concern to her at the current moment - she had been hoping for more details on their injuries, but she's getting the sense that they've had trouble determining much without a medic, and lets the diagnostics program do the heavy lifting in that
Holly looks up from the batarian. "He's lost a lot of blood, I'm not sure how much longer he has." she's quick to say, showing the readout to Halisi. The doctor is quick to nod and after a quick glance across the others the two of them lift the batarian onto the gurney, deeming the unconcious man more pressing.
Halisi looks over to Mendez. "We will be back for you in a moment, just stay with me." she says before her attention turns to Ilyna, speaking no less urgently. "Get ready to help lift him as soon as we come back."
Emma remains seated, watching the frenzied activity in patient silence. Her injuries are painful, but hardly life-threatening. She can wait.
Ilyna lets out a sigh after hearing their fragmented explanation, which leaves her barely knowing more than what Halisi told her. Ilyna tries to appear as composed and authorative as she can, but her expression betrays the stress this puts her under. She is ready to go over to the Gurney when Halisi and Holly pre-empts her, and instead gives a sharp nod and moves into the shuttle. "Halisi was told the slavers'
ship could be docked in port," she says. "I'll try to be descreet about it, but this building needs security day and night until Mercier and Tennhausen can arrange for them to be moved to safety." A biotic field envelops her as she prepares to move Mendez out of the shuttle.
Mendez gives the doctor a stern nod. "I don't plan on going anywhere, doc." he says plainly, his monotone attempt at humor most likely falling flat. He winces as he unbuckles his harness, the sudden change in pressure against his chestplate causing another sharp pang to shoot across his shoulder. "You do what you've gotta do, Ilyna." he responds to the asari as he draws in a strained breath and rests against his seat, head leaned
back. He's in far too bad of a state to particularly care about the details of the situation. His eyes rest on his boss, looking beaten and battered. He remains silent for a moment as Halisi and Holly wheel out the wounded batarian. "...We couldn't just wait for them to find Tara." he explains matter-of-factly. It's not a direct apology, but perhaps he's sensing a bit of that weight on Ilyna's shoulder. It feels a little
unfair that they waited until the others were out of town- until Ilyna was already juggling a wealth of responsibility- before doing this. But it had to be done. "Sooner or later this fight was going to find us. Leah didn't want it to become a problem for Redrock. So we took care of it before it could."
Jasper draws in a breath, giving Mendez a few pats on the shoulder. "Jus'-... Sit back. Save yer energy. The doc is gon' be back soon." he says, gaze turning to Ilyna.
Halisi and Holly wheel the batarian away down the corridor at a hurried pace, soon gone out of view. /emma looks over towards Ilyna and Mendez. She seems to consider speaking up, but perhaps due to her recent arrival in Redrock she decides against it, simply listening, paying close attention to the exchange despite the stabbing pain in her side.
The slaves sit and wait with various degrees of unease. The soldier is the calmest of the lot, having seemingly accepted whatever may come. All of his energy drained with the bloody fight and the death of all his fellow fighters. The girl is the uneasiest of the lot, her eyes not unlike Tara's as they dart between the people speaking, albeit less subdued in her expression. The adjunct is silent, gaze low. Perhaps just trying to avoid
Ilyna listens to Mendez speak, supressing every urge to interrupt him with a question. She didn't, and the answer came anyway. "Mercier knows how far Redrock goes to help our own, and so do you," she says. "We could have put together a bigger team, and-..." She shakes her head and closes her eyes for a brief moment. "Sullivan is right, I.... Sorry," Ilyna says. "The debrief can wait until Tennhausen and Mercier
Mendez merely watches Ilyna as she speaks, making no attempt to interrupt or correct her. How can he? She's right. Had they asked for help, Redrock would've provided it. But Leah has her reasons. Perhaps he doesn't even entirely agree with her reasons, but she certainly has them. And she's his best friend. So, whether or not he agrees, he wasn't exactly going to go behind her back and sell her out. Instead, he's bleeding half to
death in a shuttle. And there doesn't seem to be an ounce of regret behind his exhausted brown eyes. "They'll be back tomorrow." he says simply, opting to try and be helpful rather than concerning himself with defending their actions. His attention shifts to the others in the shuttle. To the slaves. To Emma.
Jasper merely lowers his gaze. He, too, isn't entirely innocent in this. He knew there was more going on than a simple trip. A deep sigh emanates from him. "S'pose I'll get ta work on roundin' up some food and drink fer our guests..." he says aloud, giving Mendez one last pat on the shoulder before retracting his hand and looking to Ilyna to make sure she doesn't need anything else from him.
Holly soon returns, wheeling the gurney on her own back to the hangar. Halisi must already be busy getting the unconcious batarian hooked up and performing a more extensive scan. She swallows as she approaches the shuttle, looking expectantly to Ilyna. "Are you-... can you lift him?" she asks. She's witnessed the asari personnel at the clinic performing similar manuevers when dealing with heavier patients in emergency situations,
but she's still fairly unaccustomed to biotics after a lifetime in an almost exclusively human settlement.
Ilyna nods to Mendez, but she doesn't say anything. She looks to Jasper, but while she has noticed his discomfort over this, she doesn't push the matter. "Good idea," she says. "Could you check on Li while you're up there? Make sure that she doesn't come down here." At Holly's question she nods and it is with immense focus that she envelops Mendez in the biotic field. "Please be still," Ilyna says and begins
carefully hovering him out of the shuttle. Even if he makes a move, the field will keep him oriented.
Jasper gives the asari a few small nods. "Course." he says, leaning over to collect Mendez' bag before moving over to Emma. He tentatively reaches out for her weapon case, hand hovering over it as he awaits her permission before just taking her things. Leaving unmonitored weapons around a group of people they know little about seems like a recipe for disaster. "I'll tuck it away in the armory fer ya?" he offers.
Mendez stiffens up as Ilyna begins to give him instructions and, for a moment, it seems like he might protest. But he's not in a position to turn away help at this point. With his undamaged arm, he rests a hand against the seat harness and sits up straight to make it easier for her. As the blue glow surrounds him, he lets out a few muttered words under his breath. The weightlessness doesn't seem to sit well with him and he closes
Holly gestures for Ilyna go grab the other end of the journey once Mendez is lowered onto it, hastily starting to wheel him out towards the infirmary.
Emma hesitates briefly, almost on reflex, before nodding despite her unease and doing her best to relax in her seat, although that proves difficult.
Ilyna hops out of the shuttle after dissolving the field, and joins Holly in pushing the gourney through the hallway. "I'm sorry, Mendez," she says, having noticed his unease. "I had to." She doesn't use her biotics when they reach the infirmiary, however, as the move to the hospital bed is minimal compared to on the shuttle.
Mendez shifts against the gurney a bit once he's lowered onto it. His eyes peel open once more when the weightlessness has dissipated and he grips the side of the gurney with his good hand. "Nothing to be sorry for." he grunts, sweeping his bit of vertigo under the rug.
Jasper gives the woman a nod as he grips the case by the handle. "Alright. Ya'll jus' settle in fer a few." he says, his gaze scanning across the unfamiliar faces as he turns about and backs up towards the shuttle door. "The doc is gonna look ya over and take care a' ya, then we'll get ya fed, alright?" he offers, able to muster up a bit of energy despite the stressful situation. He even manages a smile. It's not their fault
that they found themselves in the middle of this, after all. He can save his frustration and anger for a pair of familiar faces. A certain batarian and explosives expert are going to have a whole lot of explaining to do.
Mendez is rushed into the infirmary, where the unconcious batarian is lying on the medical bed, face down, his jumpsuit cut open. Keeping both patients in the same space is hardly ideal, but there's not much that can be done about that right now. Mendez remains on the gurney for the time being, chest and arm plating peeled away, but the undersuit is left in place for the time being so as to not disturb the precarious mess of shredded fibre
and medigel keeping his bleeding at bay. Bot patients are hooked up to monitoring equipment, as well as a hastily prepared IV cocktail in preparation of blood transfusions from Redrock's supply. Once it's been determined that it's safe to do so, Mendez is sedated. The door to the infirmary has remained closed since, as transfusion and surgery commences on both patients. It's hours later when Halisi emerges from the infirmary, hands freshly
scrubbed and protective coverings disposed of. She takes a deep breath, running a hand through her hair and looking up at the ceiling as it comes to rest on her neck. The stress is obvious in her face. She hadn't expected this today, and her work is far from over. So far both of the critical patients were stable despite the less than ideal circumstances, but that could change at any moment. Both of them had serious injuries and blood loss.
Of course, now Emma, and perhaps others, needs her attention. The doctor heads up towards the rec room in the hopes of updating the others and acquiring a cup of coffee and some calories to stave off exhaustion. Emma and the slaves have all been relocated to the rec room for food after it became apparent that it would be a long time before the doctor could check up on them.
Ilyna has remained in the rec room since, not wanting to leave Li on her own among the people present. She's kept her word so far and refrained from contacting Jason and Vasquez about the situation; it's a favor to them to let them enjoy their time off in peace for as long as possible. She has reached out to Atana who will show up soon, and Tankovich and Briggs for the night and morning if they accept on such
short notice. She used her personal omni-tool instead of an official channel to do so. When Halisi appears in the doorway, she stands up and looks at her expectantly. "How are they holding up?" she asks.
Jasper has spent the past few hours taking care of all of the busywork. Shuffling Li about to keep her from getting in the middle of everything. With Ilyna's permission, he took her with on a trip down to the Respite to pick up some pizza to give the others some time to figure everything out without having to worry about her. And, when you need to feed a bunch of people in a hurry, nothing works quite like pizza. There's a trio
of open pizza boxes sat out on the rec room table. One is cheese only, but the other two have a mishmash of local Aite toppings. The rec room screen is currently broadcasting the seemingly-unending around-the-clock coverage of the Collector's defeat. Jasper has stayed on top of keeping everyone supplied with food and drink (As well as a watchful eye over their guests along with Ilyna) as he awaits more permanent
security. Keeping himself busy has helped to keep his worries under control over having a friend still out there in the middle of nowhere with a hole in his chest. He's refilling water glasses when Halisi enters the rec room. He opens his mouth to speak, but Ilyna beats him to the question so he just falls silent and awaits an answer.
Halisi lets out a heavy sigh. "Both patients are stable for now." she says, starting to head over towards the kitchen and fill up a cup of coffee. "We have replaced the lost blood and patched up their wounds. They will need to be monitored to make sure there are no complications." She lifts the cup to her lips the rising steam doing a little to relax her. "I would have preferred to handle this at the clinic, but Leah seems to feel that
Emma has been sitting in the couch and watching the news reports, her attention entirely on the screen, pain forgotten, but when the doctor re-enters she looks over towards Halisi, listening to her report with a mostly neutral, although there's a hint of relief visible somewhere in there. She hasn't eaten, far too busy taking in the news.
Li hasn't given Jasper much trouble, although there's been a bit of curiosity since their return over the strangers. Still, pizza has proven an ample distraction.
Ilyna nods at Halisi's status. "Im glad to hear it," she says, crossing the room to the kitchen. "I suppose you'll be staying here tonight, then?" The asari is less stressed now that she has some overview of the situation, but not by much. Leah and Nathan are still out there doing something, and it's clear in the caution involved that the slavers aren't a solved problem.
Jasper allows a frown to show through before turning his attention back to the glass in his hand. He draws in a breath as he sets the glass down in front of one of the slaves. "Well, if there are any complications, then Leah is just gon' hafta get over it, cuz we're takin' 'em to the clinic." he says. Once the words leave his mouth, he looks to Ilyna apologetically, as if realizing that's not his call. "...Jus'-... my two
Halisi nods in agreement with Jasper, sipping her coffee a little. Her gaze wanders to the screen for a moment, watching the repeating news coverage. Ilyna's question doesn't quite seem to have registered at first, her focus drained from hours of surgery. Soon she realizes, however. "Yes. The administrator is not going to be very happy, but I'm needed here." she says. Her attention turns toward Emma. "I will be taking a look at you
Emma shakes her head dismissively. "The painkillers are doing their work. I will be fine until you are ready." she assures, before turning back to the news. The truth is that the coverage is doing more to distract from her pain than the medication.
Ilyna looks at Jasper as he talks, and she doesn't look like she's going to interrupt his order. She waits for Halisi to clarify the situation with Emma before speaking. "You can have the briefing room for the night then," she says before turning to Jasper. "Do we have enough beds for her, Nordström and our guests?" She then gives a nod. "And I agree with Sullivan, if there are any complication, they are going
Jasper seems relieved that both Ilyna and Halisi agree with his assessment. "We got a few cots downstairs. If there ain't enough I can make a quick run to pick up some supplies from the market." he offers. "Matter a' fact? I'll get workin' on that right now." He turns his attention to the group of people on the couch, both familiar and unfamiliar, "Anything else I can do fer ya'll 'fore I get goin'?" he asks.
Halisi goes to grab a slice of pizza, in need of some quick food to fuel her through the next hours.