Ghost Town

Syn: “I would leave her alone, if I were you. You’re making it worse.”

*Jade continues to shake, slightly more violently.*

Ryder: “Just let her ride it out, Quill.”


*Linox opens his Omni-Tool and starts looking over the data.*

Linox: “This is good. Will help in remedying the situation. Will need to discuss with Noctis, right away.”


*Parkins rubs his arm.*

Parkins: “I am not.”

*Striker looks past them when he starts to see the group from the apartments arriving.*

Striker: “What is this bull—“

*He stops when he sees Krast.*

Krast: “Shut your trap, Striker, they’re with me.”

Quill nods and lets go after laying her down gently.

"I thought your kind were incapable of strong attraction" Gazelle comments.

"Shut. Up." Quill turns like seven shades of red.

Mortal looks over at Ryder, "Looks like in addition to babysitting duty, we're going to have to arrange a few play dates. Don't they just look cute together?"

--

"It is just Noct," Dura said, "Noctis is some archaic Human word for Night."

--

"Uh huh, I'm sure," Illy said, looking at Parkins with a knowing smile.

"Hey, they're here," Zell said.

Noct looked at Striker and Parkins, then at Krast, "Old friends of yours?"

Ryder: "No."

*Syn bolts up as Jade starts to shake more and starts glowing in the purple aura of a biotic.*

Syn: "Uh-oh."

*She ducks under the desk she had been laying on.*


Linox: "Hm...like it better the other way. Oh well. Noct, then. Hopefully, we can meet with the other team soon as well. Will require all the help we can get."

*Linox shuts down his Omni-Tool and looks down at the 'war-torn' streets below.*


Krast: "You can say that. They're part of my security force that was stationed at this checkpoint."

*Krast pushes Striker aside so that the civilians can get through.*

Krast: "Where the hell were you two? Didn't notice the monsters running around?"

Striker: "We saw a sea of monkeys between us and everything else. It was just safer to stay here."

Krast: "Heh, Humans."

Mortal chuckled, "Well, I tried Quill--" During her little quip she actually took the time to look over and saw Jade about to... do whatever. "Quill, look out!" When she saw Syn dive under a desk she thought things were about to get bad, and as the phrase 'unconscious, autistic, biotic bomb' went off in her head she agreed. She rushed to grab Sab, and pulled her behind a wall, just waiting for something bad to happen.

--

"I guess Noctis isn't a bad name..." Dura said, "Maybe I'll name my kid that... if I have a kid... Maybe a cat." Dura shrugged at the thought and opened up a link to Noct, "The Doc, and I got what we came for. Where are you? Alright, we'll be right over." Dura headed off towards the checkpoint.

--

Illy frowned, "What is up with Humans getting a bad name today..."

Quill tries to wake Jade up before shit got really bad but probably fails and so he runs like hell.

Gazelle hit the deck.

*Ryder bolts away from Jade a little too late and, as expected, she goes off. A powerful bubble of biotic energy explodes around Jade, breaking everything glass in the lobby and flinging things against the walls, including Ryder. Syn covers her face as the glass from the desk falls on top of her. When the blast finishes, Jade is out cold, Ryder slowly gets back to his feet, clutching his side, and Syn stays hidden where she is.*

Ryder: "What the hell was that? Nobody told me she is a damn time bomb!"


Krast: "Sorry, no offense. Just, if I had a force made up of Krogan, this fight would have been very different."

*Krast shoves some debris away, clearing a landing area for the car. Linox bolts out and makes a run for the safety of the security building.*

Linox: "We can't get out of this nightmare quick enough. I think I will retire after this. Shuttle rides, monsters, people. This is insane!"

Krast: "Guess the Salarian is a little shaken."

"I don't blame him," Dura said, "Our exit was a few freeze frames short of an action vid." After a brief pause she added, "Could have used a rock song too, but that is neither here nor there."

Noct looked over to Linox, "I understand you're a bit shaken, but I need you to tell me what you've found out."

--

Sab, was literally clinging to Mortal's arm. One second she was dreaming, the next she was being tossed around, and then shit blew up. It was a lot to take in. Mortal bent down, and looked Sab in the eyes, "Hey, I know you're scared, but it is all over now. Can I have my arm back?"

Sab looked at her octopus like grip on Mortal's arm, then instantly let go, blushing slightly, "Right... right."

Mortal stood up and walked out, "Let me get a headcount, is everyone alright?!"

"Just... stellar" Gazelle says as he kicks a desk off his person and flips up.

Quill drops the biotic shield he erected around himself and goes to check on Jade."I'm fine. Just fine."

*Jade doesn’t respond, but is still breathing.*

Ryder: “Now I know why they say to avoid working with biotics.”

*Syn pops her head out and looks around. Then she jumps on top of the desk and climbs up to the next floor.*

Syn: “Stop talking. We can’t stay here.”

*She points to the shutters, now bent and bringing in fresh air from the outside.*


*Krast doesn’t get the joke and just herds everyone inside. Once they are, he closes the shutters and locks down the system.*

Krast: “Should keep them out. Hell, if we’re quiet enough, we may even go unnoticed.”

*Linox opens his Omni-Tool and starts combing over the data.*

Linox: “They found a secret room inside the ruins. Filled with fossils mostly, of these creatures. Files indicate from skeletal structure that they were capable of verbal communication, as Dura and I learned. This is a very intelligent species. Could have easily been a ruling species, like yours or my own, during their time.”

"Biotics are controlled through the mind," Mortal said, "If you're mentally unstable biotics are nothing but a liability." Mortal folded her arms, "I knew my misgivings about her were right. She didn't seem... all there."

Sab looked over at Syn, "Wait, what is wrong?"

"That stunt probably just alerted everything we were hiding out from to our location," Mortal explained.

--

"Maybe... Kind of had a temper on them though. Usually doesn't help a species out in the long run," Dura said. She then shot a look over at Krast, "No offense."

"So, how did they go from being fossils to flesh and blood?" Noct asked.

*Krast shrugs it off.*

Krast: "Probably just pissed due to the circumstances."

Linox: "It doesn't say... They mention a door or wall. There was something on the otherside, but they couldn't get through. Military grade explosives couldn't make a crack."

"You're one to talk about instability Mortal" Quill quips.

"Can it shemale, let's move before the shadow things find us."

Mortal smiled, she liked this Gazelle guy a bit more, "Agreed, we need to get mobile, now."

--

"Alright, I want you to send a copy of this to my omni-tool," Noct said, "I'll get in contact with the other group, they should know what we've found out as well." She opens a link with Ryder, "Ryder, are you there?"

*Linox transfers copies of the files over to Noct and heads over to a security console that he starts messing with.*


Ryder: “No arguments here.”

*Ryder carries Jade towards the door before he realizes it’s still sealed.*

Ryder: “Syn, how do we get out?”

Syn: “Well, we could open up the dent in the window shutters, or we could try our luck finding a way up in the building. Either way, I don’t like our odds.”

*Ryder’s Omni-Tool goes off with Noct’s voice and he hands Jade over to Gazelle.*

Ryder: “Hold her. Noct, I’m here. We haven’t made any progress finding the Council members. How’s things on your end?”

"Oh hell no. I'm not being the center of another biotic storm, you carry her shemale" Gazelle passes Jade off to Quill.

"Rude" Quill says rather bluntly as he takes Jade.

"A little more productive I'd wager," Noct said, "We have some information on that mine. I'm sending you the files now." She sent the files, and waited for Ryder to give them a once over.

--

Dura walked over with Linox, "What are you up to now?"

Linox: "Checkpoint should have security systems on standby. If I can get them reactivated, we could stand a better chance if we get attacked."

Striker: "We rerouted the power for the defenses to emergency systems. Figured if we could keep our heads down, we wouldn't need them."


*Ryder looks over the files briefly.*

Ryder: "Well, unless I didn't understand my classes on fossils, that's not what we're fighting. There's nothing about how to stop them."

Syn: "Could do it the old-fashioned way."

"I was noticing that there was no mention of those shadow things," Noct said, "But I wouldn't rule them being related out of the question."

Dura nodded, "Well, with as many people as there are now it is no longer a matter of trying to keep quiet. You're going to need to protect yourselves."

"Well there are the emergency shuttles I told Syn about. We could get off this rock" Gazelle brings up.

*Ryder looks over the data for the shadow things.*

Ryder: "No, those things drain power or something, that's why the Zermic lost power and why there's none down here."


*Linox catches the conversation and links his Omni-Tool to it.*

Linox: "Actually, power can be rebooted manually, as it has been done here. Shouldn't take long to fix shuttles."

"That sounds like good news," Dura said, though mostly to herself.

"So, what's the plan?" Noct asked, "Do you still want us in that mine, or what?"

Quill and Gazelle wait for Ryder's orders.

*As Ryder's thinking, he turns and notices everyone watching him.*

Ryder: "What the hell are you all doing? We can't go anywhere unless we find a way out."

*Syn scoffs at his tone, then points at Mortal, Gazelle, and Sab.*

Syn: "You all can come with me. We'll see if there is a way upstairs. The shemale can watch the girl, and maybe see about getting out down here, though I doubt it."

*She laughs a bit at her own mocking of Gazelle's tone towards Quill.*


Ryder: "Our orders are to stop these things. I have to take my team into the mine, but at this point, I wouldn't blame you mercs for wanting to make for the shuttles. If you value your lives over money, that is."

Linox: "My contract is a little more military than, I'm sure, yours are. I'll have to head to the mines with Ryder's team."

*Linox goes back to his work on the security terminal.*

Mortal smiled, "Aw, cute, you give orders as if--"

Sab pushed by her, heading for the staircase, "Now isn't the time for any of this. She wants to take the lead, just let her." Mortal shrugged, and began heading upstairs as well.

--

Noct takes a second to look over all of the colonists, "No, we're seeing this through to the end."