Operation: Fuck Cerberus

"Ryori, with you bein' all relaxed and crap on that ship, I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't even lift your leg up to my knee anymore." Her eyes narrowed at him, and he'd know that at some point he was going to pay for that comment. "Just because you beat me once in a wrestling match years ago doesn't make you safe, you know." She smirked back at him.

When he started hinting that he already had plans to come see her soon, her smile widened. "So glad you can find time to fit me into your schedule, my liege," she teased dryly. Despite her sarcasm, it would be clear that he'd just made her day. Possibly her week. "I'll make sure to hide a few of the whiskey bottles before Castien gets his hands on them."

The muffled sounds in the background boomed lightly in her speakers and she tilted her head a bit. It was an awful lot of noise for a few kids. "I wasn't aware someone could make that much fuss in water," she remarked off-handedly. Truthfully, Ryori didn't think anything of it. If anything, she seemed amused. Her smirk returned. "Maybe it's not kids. Maybe someone figured out about your 'legitimate business' dealings at the colony and they're razing hell and high water to track you down and put you in the slammer."

It certainly wouldn't be the first time, as much as she joked.

"I put up with him the same way I put up with you," she retorted, smirking. "Trust me, Castien is nothing after dealing with you..." Her smirk grew into a grin. The smirk faded into a small frown when he opened the door. She thought she heard screaming, but she couldn't be sure. The sound was coming in fuzzy. Still, he wasn't acting like anything was amiss. Even thought her gut was telling her something was off, she stayed quiet. Clearly nothing was wrong, or Nox would be getting the hell out of dodge.

As he fussed with the comm link, which had started getting a lot of interference, Ryori took a drink out of her glass of water. As she was leaning forward to set the cup back down, around the time that he finally got it working again, she saw a figure standing clearly behind him. The logo on the person's armor was unmistakable. Cerberus.

"Look out!" she cried, her body suddenly on full alert as she sat up and leaned as close to the vidcomm as she could get like her proximity to it would help him in some way. She heard shots being fired, and then his image was blurred out. The sound was replaced by static. "Nox?!" she called, hoping that there was still a link and knowing there wasn't. "NOX!" She screamed his name, but it was pointless. The call had been cut.

It took only a second for Ryori to throw herself off the couch. "Edgar!" she snapped.

The circular dark blue light of Ravenwing's V.I. popped up on a disc on her desk. White tendrils of light rippled from the white core of the hologram as he spoke. "Yes, colonel?"

"Edgar, you trace that call! You trace it right now and give me its location! Patch me through to Verisya!"

"Understood, colonel. Beginning tracing procedures now."

It didn't take long before her pilot's soft voice trickled through the speaker system in her room. "Colonel?" The woman sounded confused. Presumably, Edgar had mentioned Ryori was in a state.

"Cerberus just attacked a colony on Arvuna. Get this stupid hulking hover craft over there this instant! I want us there yesterday, Nalvirr." She wasn't screaming, or frantic. No... but she was angry. Ryori did not have pleasant memories of Cerberus. In fact, she hated the organization more than any other thing in the galaxy. For someone like Verisya, who had been serving with Ryori for quite some time, it was easy to pick up that the colonel was furious.

"Setting coordinates now, ma'am." There was a slight pause. "What's going on, colonel?" she finally asked, making it clear she realized something bigger was going on.

"Noxu is there," was the short reply, as she started pulling out her guns and weaponry, laying them out neatly before her. It was all the woman needed to hear to understand.

"Coordinates set. Edgar says he's almost done with the trace. ETA is set for three hours."

Without a word, Ryori ended the call. She stopped, bracing herself against her desk. Her body was trembling from a strong mixture of fear and rage. Cerberus was going to regret this. She would make sure of it. Please don't die, she begged him silently, praying to any gods who might be listening for his safety. She didn't know why they were there, but at the moment that wasn't important. Cerberus was going to regret attacking Arvuna, or even stepping foot anywhere near Nox. It took her several minutes to calm herself enough to feel that she could talk and keep her voice level. When Ryori felt under control, she punched the button that would patch her to the entire ship.

"Listen up, people," she said, pausing for a moment to give people time to stop whatever conversations they were having or work they were doing. "As of now, I've set an emergency course to Arvuna. Cerberus is attacking a colony there as we speak. ETA is three hours. By that time, I want ground forces suited up and ready to break skulls. Get the landing shuttles prepped and your gear in order. I want my crewmen to check the Ravenwing and make sure she's battle prepped to keep Cerberus from leaving the surface. Priority one is preventing as many casualties as we can and getting the civilians out alive. Cerberus has a history of keeping hostages. If they do that here, we'll play their game but not by their rules. Priority two is deep-throating our fists down Cerberus's proverbial jugular. Nobody threatens our people, not even other humans. We're going to show them exactly what the Alliance does to terrorists. Operation: Fuck Cerberus is underway."

She didn't need to leave her room to know that everyone immediately snapped into action the moment her comm cut off. It was going to be a very long three hours. Too long. There was nothing more she could do, and Ryori knew she needed to distract herself. Sitting down at her desk, she started writing up an encrypted message to her admiral to let him know what had happened and where they were going...

It didn't take long for her to hear from him again. She was nearly done with her message to Admiral Isso when her personal frequency buzzed and she heard Noxu's voice coming in and out of the speakers. "Noxu!" Ryori exclaimed, abandoning the message and leaning over the comm. She could only make out bits and pieces of what he said, but caught important words like "Cerberus", "kidnapping", and "ass over here". She also heard enough to understand that he was going to try and work on taking out a few of the troopers.

She nodded, using the time that he was talking to trace his exact location and calm herself. The void filled her mind. Calm... she needed to be calm. Noxu would not benefit from her letting herself get in over her head and make a stupid mistake. In her clear military voice, she told him, "Understood. We are already en-route, ETA is three hours. Hold out as long as you can. If you can't find a way to stop or stall them, try to plant a tracer. If you die, I will kill you, do you understand me? You tell them for me that if they so much as touch you or any of your crew I will personally rip their spines out through their necks and use what's left of their bodies to fertilize the lawn I don't have."

Yep. Ryori was not happy in the slightest. It was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for Cerberus if they didn't do their mission and get out before she got there. The woman was more than adept and experienced at raining down hell with the right motivation, and nothing would ever be able to motivator her like the possibility of losing Nox. Even through the static, he'd be able to hear the simmering venom in her voice. She was in a dangerous mood.

Shortly after that, the link cut out again. Ryori swore. She needed to do something other than sit on her ass and wait to get to Arvuna. Chances were that the comm frequency was getting blocked out by Cerberus, which meant Nox was going to be having trouble contacting anyone at all. For the moment ignoring the letter she was writing to Abel, she opened up her comm again and tried patching herself through to the Ratchet. She didn't know if he was anywhere near his ship, or his crew, nor did she know if their communications were getting botched, but it was worth a shot. Especially if he was unable to get through to his own people.

Patching herself to his ship's emergency frequency, Ryori began talking in the hopes that someone over there might pick up and hear her. "Calling XS Ratchet, this is code name Raven on the SSV Ravenwing. Do you copy? Are any of you there? I need a status update!" If she could get in touch with someone in his crew, that might get him some help sooner. For all she knew, his ship was docked some place that wasn't aware of an attack yet. "Come on, one of you pick up, damnit!"

If it weren't for the fact that the Quarian had decided to go on an impromptu, never ending rant, (something that was usually Ryori's shtick), the Alliance officer wouldn't even have noticed the alien was in a bad mood. Ryori was usually not too quick on the draw with such things, even with people she liked. It was kind of hard to miss this time, though. Regardless, it wasn't the time to care. The Quarian was aware of the Cerberus attack, and of course Nox had given her orders to keep the ship locked down and protect it at all costs. She almost rolled her eyes, but the seriousness kept her from doing so.

"Well, Bel, that vacation has been cut short. You can stick it to the rest of them by saving their asses and putting them in your debt. I need you to try and get in touch with the crew, find out where they are, and get them in action. I was talking to Nox when Cerberus attacked, and they were right behind him. He got in touch with me again shortly after, but the call keeps dropping out. He's in a bad spot. Cerberus must be interfering with the signals out there, and if that's the case then he's not going to be able to get in touch with you to give you orders. Those bastards are kidnapping people, and they were right on his tail. As far as I know he's okay, but I don't know how long that will last."

Reaching up her right arm, Ryori pulled up her omni-tool, its orange light casting a pale glow on her face. She punched a few keys on it, connecting it to Bel's omni-frequency. "I'm sending you the coordinates to where he last was, and the frequency code he was last on. The connection was shit before it finally cut us off, so I couldn't hear everything he said, but I know he was going to try and stick it to Cerberus somehow. My instructions to him were to try and stall or stop their shuttles until I can get there, or to at least try and plant a tracer on them, but I don't know how much of the message he got." With the information sent, she turned her attention back fully to the comm and waited for Bel'Vesa to confirm that she'd gotten all the information on her omni-tool.

"I know I'm not your captain, but on the off chance that something has happened to him and he can't get in touch, I have instructions for the crew." Bel would know by now that likely the only person who was allowed to give Nox's crew orders would be Ryori, and only in a situation like this where Nox's own life was in danger. Bel and Ryori had, surprisingly, always gotten along fairly well, so she hoped that the Quarian would be understanding and cooperative. "Try to get a hold of Nox first. If he doesn't answer, then he's either completely blocked off from communication or he's been taken. In that case, your instructions are to keep Cerberus on that planet. Do whatever it takes, but don't risk any civilian lives. As twisted as they are, Cerberus has a code. They won't kill humans outright. They'll be collecting them somewhere. If worse comes to worse and you can't stop them, then make sure we can follow them. I'm enroute, but I was in the Horsehead Nebula when they attacked, so I'm still another two and a half hours out. Find the rest of the crew and get them moving. Check in with me every half hour, and notify me immediately if something comes up. I will have this frequency open if you run into something and need help."

If Bel stopped checking in with Ryori, then she would know something had happened to her. In the meantime, feedback from the Quarian would keep her apprised of the situation and keep her from going too crazy or feeling useless. Ryori couldn't do much from as far away as she was, but she could provide instructions if they got stuck. If worse came to worse, Ryori knew that Bel'Vesa would work her Quarian magic and get the ship out of lock down and make use of its speed and guns. She waited to see if the Quarian had any other questions or information for her. If not, then Ryori would let her get to work.

Finishing up her message to Abel, she sent that off and went back to her prepping.

She listened in on the comm as a few of them checked in, but only a few. Only half the crew was present. Wonderful. She recognized each voice. The last made her give a wry smirk. "Thanks ever so, Verine," Ryori quipped back at the turian. "I can always count on you to pull my boy's ass out of the line of fire when he insists on presenting it as a target." Knowing that Verine was one of the ones still around made Ryori feel better. Out of all of Nox's crew, Verine was arguably the one Ryori got along with the best. With Verine on the ground calling the shots, she had little doubt that progress would be made.

"Leave me some operatives to play with. I'm going to want to punch something when I get there."

And none of them would want to be near her while she was in that kind of a mood. Most of them had seen Ryori fight, though not all. And for the rest, Ryori knew Nox had been telling stories about her. Many of those stories she suspected were greatly elaborated, but she'd never really been around at the right times to say otherwise. With their instructions in place to get in touch with her every half hour or as situations came up, Ryori ended the call and left them to it. There was no need for her to keep and open line for Cerberus to find, track and trace.

Opening up a secured panel on the wall, she took our her armor and inspected it carefully. Everything seemed to be as much in order as her weapons. She was very meticulous about keeping her equipment clean. It was too soon to put it on yet, but once she was sure that she did not have to make any repairs or fiddle with her guns, she left the room to go distract herself for a bit. Making her way down to the shuttle bay, she snatched a tool box and joined the mechanics in checking the shuttle engines, making sure everything was up to par.

She'd been down there for some time when Castien found her. "Chienne, we really must stop meeting like this."

"We wouldn't if you'd stop trying to find me when you know I'm in a mood."

"Ah, but then who would come to distract you from your own mind? There are only three I know of who are capable of stopping you from fussing: Your beloved, Admiral Isso, and myself. Seeing as how neither of the other two are here, it is up to me."

Ryori only grunted in response. She hadn't even come up from under the shuttle to address him. Castien always came around to pester her when she was in a mood. "Did you fini-"

"Yes, mother dearest, I took care of my assignments. I didn't come to play until after my chores were done." He grinned, not that she could see it.

"One of these days I'm going to rip out that insolent tongue of yours and use it to garnish a meal."

"Ouch." He feigned a mixture of fear and offense. "I really need to start listening to Verisya when she tells me you're in a dangerous mood."

Ryori grunted again, sticking a hand out from under the shuttle with her palm up. "If you're going to stand there and insist on bothering me, then hand me that socket wrench." He did as he was told, and soon Ryori felt the weight of the tool in her hand. She set to work tightening a few bolts that were coming loose.

It took a few moments before Castien spoke up again. When he did, his tone was more soft and serious. "He'll be alright, chienne. He's not a soldier like we are, but he's not that easy to take down regardless. Tougher people than Cerberus have tried." She sighed and paused for a moment, closing her eyes and regulating her breath.

"I know," she told him quietly, going back to work a bit more calmly. "Just... I know exactly how crafty Cerberus can be. They're nothing to scoff at. I just don't like not being there when he needs me."

"He doesn't need you. Not yet. He can hold his own for a couple hours. We'll get there and he and his crew will be turning Cerberus around in circles. You'll see." Neither of them said anything for a bit until Edgar hopped on the comm to inform Ryori it was time for her to put on her armor and rally up the troops. Sliding out from under the shuttle, she dropped the tools back in the box and made to leave. On her way out, she stopped next to Castien and clapped him firmly on the shoulder.

"Thanks."

He simply gave her a crooked smile. Then, they both left to make their final preparations.

Her men were gathered before her, armed and ready. Ryori herself had on her blue armor, the black raven emblem shining bright and proud on her chest piece and pauldrons. She was armed to the teeth. The instant she walked in the room, all casual chatter stopped. Everyone knew better than to dally when Ryori was in full blown bitch mode. Finding a spot where she could see them all clearly, she set her helmet down on a table and gave them the run down.

"Cerberus still doesn't know we're coming. We have the element of surprise, and we're going to use it. A heavy weight battle cruiser is going to draw a lot of attention, and when hostages are involved that's the last thing we want. I want to hit them hard and clean, without giving them a chance to use hostages against us. My ground-side sources have been able to keep Cerberus grounded. I'm told they're bunkered up in one central location. So, here's what I want. Edgar, pull up the map."

"Yes, Colonel." Just as the V.I.'s voice cut off, a blue holographic map appeared on the wall behind Ryori. It was big enough that everyone could see it, an aerial view of the bunker that Verine had given her the coordinates to. Pressing a button on her omni-tool, the map zoomed out so they could see the bunker within its surroundings. The parts of Arvuna that weren't submerged in water or frozen in ice were, ironically, tropical. The foliage around the bunker was thick and foreboding, the type that would be simultaneously wonderful for cover and a bitch to wade through.

"We're going to get in our shuttles and get planet-side well outside of the colony. Each shuttle will have a different LZ, spread out around the bunker. I want your teams to converge to the following points: Beta on the east, Gamma the west, and Delta to the north." As she called out the squad names, a dot blipped on the map indicating where they would be landing and how far they were supposed to travel. "Send your scouts ahead of you. Scouts, as soon as you get close enough to see the base, back track and meet up with your squads. Until you hear my instructions, I want you to keep out of sight and lay low. I will be landing with Alpha squad to the south, where the crew of the frigate Ratchet will be waiting for us. They've been buying time for our arrival and keeping Cerberus grounded."

The map updated to show where she intended on meeting Noxu's crew. If all went according to plan -- which it rarely did -- they would have the bunker flanked on all sides by the time they got set up. She had many other additional instructions, which she went over carefully so everyone would be on the same page for her plan of attack. "We will be landing outside the colony shields to decrease our chances of detection, so make sure your armor is entirely suited up. There's a lot of radiation exposure on this moon, and the creepy crawlies are loaded with venom. As long as you're in your armor, you should be fine. Make your way inside the colony and stay put until you hear further orders from me. Unless you're informing me that you've made it to your first checkpoint, I want complete and utter radio silence."

Snatching up her helmet, the map disappeared from behind her and she starting walking toward her shuttle. Recognizing their dismissal, the men scramble to get to their own vehicles.

---

Finally, she was ground side. Her blood was racing at the anticipation of the battle to come. They'd been moving for some time, eventually making their way inside the shielding. One by one, the other squads checked in with her. Her own scout had gone ahead to track Noxu's crew to the rendezvous point, leaving the occasional trail sign to indicate which way he had gone. Soon enough, he back tracked to them and lead them to Verine and the others. Giving her squad the signal to fan out and keep watch, Ryori approached the crew of the Ratchet and greeted them.

"Why am I not surprised that he was the only one who was caught?" She asked dryly, smirking beneath her visor. Humor was her way of deflecting from the fact that she was worried for his safety. Not all of his crew would see that, but some knew her well enough to do so. "Glad to see you guys in once piece, at least. We brought a couple extra canteens with us if you need water, and some rations too. Nothing fancy, but if you guys have been holed up for a while it should give you some extra stamina." With the crane of her head, she indicated which members of her crew had the extra supplies so that they could go get those items if they needed them.

Then she addressed Verine, and whichever of Noxu's crew had stayed. "I've got three squads on each of the other sides of the bunker, ready to move on my orders, as well as a couple shuttles on stand by in case Cerberus tries to make an aerial escape. If Bel is still hovering their way, we can probably tell her to stand down. Nox is already going to be angry enough at the current dents in his ship." Understatement of the decade. "What do you have for me?" If Verine had managed to get any knowledge on Cerberus's movements inside the base, or if they had scouts set up anywhere, any information like that, now would be the time for her to come forward with it.

Ryori's only response to Verine's salute was to idly flap a hand at the woman. It wasn't that Ryori hated such formalities, she just thought they were a waste of time and energy. Listening to the Turian's report, she nodded her acknowledgment. "I had them bring a few, just in case. Couldn't carry too much extra, though. If need be they can hang back and work sentry details. My men are fresh, so relieving them shouldn't be an issue." Ryori knew Verine well enough to not suggest that she hang back too. The former Palaven soldier was like Ryori in the sense that an order to take it easy and let others do the work would only be met with disregard. It was a trait she greatly respected in the woman, and one of the reasons why Ryori got along with her so well.

She let Verine make the call on what to do with Cilin and Terith. While the Turian went to gather some supplies, Ryori called over Castien and confirmed the game plan with him. When Verine returned, they filled her in. Clearing a space on the ground, Castien had used a stick to draw a rectangle in the dirt. "Delta squad is set up here," he told Verine, marking an X on the north side of the building. "The squad's first wave will be to set up a wall of smoke here to allow the initial rush of soldiers the chance to breach the perimeter without being easily tracked." Using the stick, he scratched a line in the ground to indicate where the smoke would be set.

"Based off the figures you were feeding us, we guestimate there's roughly forty Cerberus ops in there. More than enough to keep a bunch of scared, untrained civilians in line, but we imagine they weren't banking on an Alliance cruiser showing up." That bit was said less smugly, and more factually. Alliance rarely, if ever, patrolled the Attican Traverse. Cerberus would have no reason to assume that Alliance would show up so quickly, and normally they'd be correct. "Still, we're looking at caution here. We're expecting them to use the hostages against us. Essentially, what we're going to do is force them to do so and control the situation without their knowing it."

Marking two more spots on either side of the building, he continued. "Simultaneously, Beta and Gamma currently have their sides flanked. When Delta makes their move, Beta and Gamma will press forward. We outfitted them with a couple of techies. They're going to press forward enough to set up some turrets on the base's flanks while Cerberus is distracted with the wave from the front. The techs and a few soldiers will remain back to act as sentries and feed reports. The rest of those squads will press forward and meet us on the south side."

Ryori took over at this point, retrieving the stick from Castien who handed it over wordlessly. Squatting next to the makeshift map, she add to what he'd already drawn. "Attacking them on both sides should be sufficient enough to draw their numbers thin. They will need to leave some with the hostages, and then split what is left between the two sides of the building. In the meantime, I intend on taking a small squad with me in through the side. Our job will be to get inside without drawing attention and get to the civilians. Chances are high that the Cerberus leaders will be outside fighting, rather then babysitting. If we can get in, take out the Cerberus soldiers on the inside and arm the civilians with their guns, then it will help us getting out."

She turned to Verine. "I don't want any more than three soldiers with me. I will let you come if you want on this detail, otherwise I know you'll cause plenty damage in the main fight." When Verine decided where she wanted to be, and it had been determined whether the other two would fight or be sentries, Ryori double checked to make sure everything was in place and made the call. It didn't take longer than a minute or so before the sounds of gunfire could be heard in the distance.

Meanwhile, Ryori and her small unit worked their way to the side, keeping a wide berth from the building for now...

Ryori chuckled at Verine's comment. "Please. Even I wouldn't get that ship. You know he's going to be buried in it." She wasn't in any way offended by any of the Turian's offhand comments. Actually, they were calming her down and honing her focus. With Verine on her small detail, Ryori snatched two more of her men before leaving Castien in charge. Then, she picked up her SMG and gave the signal to move out.

It didn't take long to get into position. By the time they were on the east perimeter of the bunker, the battle was raging on the north and south sides. Raising her arm above her helmet, she instructed them to take cover in the area. Another series of hand gestures prompted one of her men to pull out his sniper rifle and survey the windows on the bunker. Tapping into her comm, she instructed her sentries to report. Each of them did so in turn, informing her that most of the Cerberus operatives had taken covered positions inside the building to shoot at the Alliance. The only other movement they'd seen in the building was on upper floors.

"Verine," she called quietly, getting the Turian's attention. Ryori pointed toward one of the dark windows on the bottom floor. "That's our entry point. I need you to get it open as quietly as possible. We'll keep you covered." Given Verine's military history, and current "business" employment, she trusted her to get them inside without drawing too much attention.

Her sniper signaled her, and pointed toward the building. There was a security camera. Sliding her hand across her throat as the order to "kill" it, the sniper lined up his shot and busted the hardware. She waited a moment to see if anyone would pass through the building to investigate the sound. When no one came, she flagged them to press forward. When they got to the building, the three of them set up around Verine, covering each of her sides so that she could focus on the window. So far, no one was shooting at them -- usually a good sign that they hadn't been spotted yet. But with Cerberus being attacked on two fronts, that was to be expected. The real difficulties would start once they were inside.

Better warn them I'm coming, she silently thought to Nox.

"Damnit," she said, taking cover behind a wall. Ryori had wanted to avoid active gunfire up here. Once they knew the base had been infiltrated, they would spare reinforcements to come take out the immediate threat. They were probably moving the hostages around in the room now, too. She swore again, this time in Turian.

Taking a moment to aim the barrel of her SMG down the hallway, she let off a series of bullets that damaged a man's shields enough to break through, though he wasn't dead yet. Ducking back behind the wall for cover as they shot back, Ryori looked around. "Verine," she told the Turian, "Fortify a spot here and keep them busy. Get your backs against a wall. If they haven't called for reinforcements yet they will soon. You two, say with her. She's in charge." The other two soldiers signaled their understanding. Steeling herself and waiting for a break between volleys, Ryori dove out of cover and rolled across the floor down an adjacent hallway. A couple beeps in her helmet indicated that a couple bullets had made home with her shield, but had not broken through.

Making her way forward, she stopped at the place she had spotted: a grate covering a ventilation shaft up near the ceiling. The halls were narrow. Putting the gun away, she put one foot up against a wall, and her other foot against the opposite wall, and scaled up until she could reach the grate. Using her omnitool, she started unlocking the grate. Her legs were shaking from the effort of holding herself up. It took a couple seconds, but soon the grate was loose. Pulling it off, she slipped it inside the opening and set it down. Then, she felt around the edge and got a good grip. Pushing herself forward with one of her legs, she used her arms to pull herself into the shaft before turning around and putting the grate loosely back in place. "Raven to Ace," she whispered into her comm, her breath heavy but controlled. "I'm in the air ducts. Shots loosed on our LZ. Verine and squad pinned under fire, fine for now but expecting enemy reinforcements. Try to get them some help. I'm going to sneak forward. Will be radio silent."

When she received the expected "affirm", Ryori continued forward with her communicator turned off. The vent was big enough that she could move without being too hindered, but it certainly wasn't a large space. If she lifted her head too far she would hit it against the ceiling. She had to take care to be quiet, too. Thankfully, all the gunfire around the building would help cover up any sounds she did make. It didn't take long for her to find the grate that lead to the room with all the hostages. She just followed the clearest sound of the shouting voices as Cerberus soldiers gave orders and tried to set themselves up in the room. Looking through the grate and taking a moment to collect herself, she surveyed the room and its occupants.

There were three Cerberus soldiers, two between the civilians and the door, and one by a man that was tied to a chair. She peered closer through her visor at the man in the chair. Frowning, she realized it was Noxu. He was beaten and bruised, and covered in blood -- and grinning like an idiot. Even as she watched, the soldier next to him threw a backhand at his face for some kind of snarky comment that Ryori hadn't quite caught. Her eyes narrowed. You die last, she thought at the Cerberus agent with a level of contempt that only a sociopath would understand.

Reaching slowly down to her side, Ryori palmed her tiny suppression pistol. It didn't carry a lot of bullets, but it packed an ungodly punch and was difficult to track with the silencer. Slipping the barrel quietly between the grates, she shot twice at the window in the room until it shattered. Immediately, the soldiers burst into movement and the civilians cowered against one another in fear. Their screaming allowed her some liberty to adjust herself without being noticed while the soldiers trained their focus on the window, suspecting an attack from the outside. Taking aim again, she shot off another two bullets and buried them in one of the operatives, who dropped to the floor. If he wasn't dead, he was incapacitated for now.

The soldiers were frantic trying to figure out where the shots were coming from. Suspecting the civilians, they turned toward them and demanded to know which of them had a gun. It wouldn't take long for them to figure out that the cowed people weren't doing a thing but crying and trembling. Once they were assured none of them were armed, they would start looking around for other options for how their soldier had been shot in the back. Pulling the pistol out of the grate, she silently used her omnitool to loosen the grate so that she could pop it open at a moment's notice.

Nox had the best seat to see everything happen. It was possible his keen smuggler eyes -- despite currently being swollen and puffy -- might have notice what was going on. Hopefully he had the wherewithal to not accidentally give her location away.

What... in the world... was Nox doing?

If there hadn't been a grate blocking her, he'd have seen a look of pure bewilderment on her face as she watched him toss his head to and fro trying to signal her to do... something. He managed to turn his chair around, and her eyes flicked back and forth watching him and the remaining soldiers. Finally, she was able to read his lips as he mouthed for her to shoot at the ropes that bound him.

Well, at least he seemed to have faith that she could shoot the ropes off without hitting him. It was going to be difficult to do through the grate. The slats were angled downward, which helped, but aiming for a rope around his wrists wasn't exactly the same as hitting the broad face of a window. There was space to fit the barrel, but not enough to grant much maneuverability, and she needed to act fast before the civilians got hurt. After attempting to aim through the grate, she knew she wasn't going to be able to do it safely. Not like this.

Fuck it.

Bracing her hands on the ducts on either side of her, Ryori leaned back and curled her knees to her chest. When one of the soldiers shifted to the right spot in front of her, she kicked the grate off the wall, pegging the Cerberus operative with it hard enough to knock him over. Moving quickly, she dove out of the tunnel and rolled across the floor away from Noxu. Bracing herself, she took a crucial moment to aim at the bindings on his wrist and took her shot. The ropes unraveled. Hoping she hadn't hit him, she moved to a desk and flipped it over, taking cover behind it. Her armor shielding was low. The time she'd taken to free Nox had allowed Cerberus plenty of time to take a few shots at her, which she'd relied on her armor to absorb. It had done its job, but it wouldn't take much more.

"Raven to Goliath!" she yelled into her comm. "I'm taking fire. The civilians are with me. Get someone up here! Look for the broken window!" As she spoke, she holstered the pistol and pulled her SMG back out. I hope the civilians were smart enough to stay low, she thought before coming up from her cover to take aim at a Cerberus lackey. She fire off a couple rounds, which was absorbed by the guy's armor, before ducking back down. A couple more rounds should break his shielding, but there wouldn't be much time before they got smart and started using the people as protection. Hopefully Nox would be able to get his hands on a weapon. They just needed to draw this out long enough for her back up to arrive.

She felt him grab her pistol and was mildly surprised that he didn't try to cop a feel while he was at it. Progress? Nah, probably just too terrified about saving his own hide to think about sex, for once. "Is that even a question?" she asked him with only mild indignation when he questioned if her pistol had any ammo in it. "And if you have to ask for clarification, then I'm clearly not blood lusting, yet."

Yet.

Her helmet covered the incredulous look she gave him. "I am not letting you lob a grenade in a room full of civilians!" Ryori informed him. "It would kill everyone here, including us." It was time to start using some biotic powers. Stasis would have been ideal, if it wouldn't risk hurting the innocent people huddling on the floor. The rest of her powers only affected single targets. "Where's your stuff?" When he pointed it out, Ryori nodded in acknowledgement.

"Just a sec."

Her armor wasn't completely done repairing her shields, but it would have to do. Kneeling high enough to see over the table, she picked the first Cerberus agent she saw and reached out toward him with her right hand. Her gauntlet began to glow with the eerie, purple-blue color that was trademark of a biotic. Once she knew she had him, Ryori clenched her fingers into a fist. The man wriggled as though he'd been grabbed by some kind of invisible force. Reaching back her fist slowly as though she were about to punch him from across the room, Ryori slammed her hand across the front of her body and threw him. The operative launched across the room and collided quite violently into the metal crate that Nox believed to hold his gear. The lid to the crate shot off, and the operative's body remained motionless.

Without warning, Ryori stood to her feet and launched herself across the table. Erupting with blue biotic light around her body, she charged forward at a velocity that was definitely not normal and ran a straight line through the remaining agents, knocking them back. It would buy them some time, but only as long as it took for them to recover. They were all focusing on Ryori now, but her shields were nearly gone.

"Arg!" Ryori grunted loudly as she felt a bullet graze her shoulder. Nevermind. Shields gone. Bloodlust: engaged. Approaching the man who'd first managed to regain his bearings enough to shoot at her, Ryori took her assault rifle like a baseball bat and slugged him across the face with all her might, hitting him hard enough to crack the visor on his helmet.

"Filthy Cerberus son of a bitch..!"