Mass Effect X-3: "Until Our Last Breath" [OPEN/ACCEPTING]

[l nono l]

x x ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ☆ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀x x ↘ ↘ ｑ ｕ ａ ｒ ｉ ａ ｎ Ｅ Ｎ Ｇ Ｉ Ｎ Ｅ Ｅ Ｒ
( ⊳ ) xxx Karii'Lianah vas Amazon

( ⊳ ) xxx The Citadel; Docking Bay.

( ⊳ ) xxx Owyn Skipper.

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"You should be celebrating with the rest of the crew," she said in indignation, something that was unusual for the Quarian. "Not being forced to take on another mission," she glared at no one in particular, though it was obvious even through the thick visor. She had to force herself to stop complaining, it wasn't going to get anything accomplished and she knew that for a fact. These were orders from Admiral Hackett. She would never say no to anything Ysin'Mal would have told her to do, how could she (or any of the crew, really) except Skipper to say no? Her arms crossed over her small bust as they reached the elevator reached the Docking Bay. Despite her closed mouth at this point, she was still ranting inside her mind. It was one thing to force Skipper into another mission, but this was something he was having to do on his own. It was a terrible idea! He didn't even have the chance to cope with what had just happened merely hours before arriving to the Citadel before they were launching him out in the middle of their celebration to head off to Bahak System. As if going alone wasn't bad enough, they were shipping him off to a well known Batarian system. It was ridiculous! Skipper had remained quiet the majority of the walk from their hotel-room party to the Docking Bay, just patiently listening to Karii vent about the situation he had been placed in. Finally, the pair was standing beside the ramp to the USV Amazon.

The covert mission they were sending Skipper on wasn't something that anyone should have been volunteered for. It was infuriating to think about. The rescue mission he was being forced on sounded more like a suicide mission. The details she had managed to over hear during the commotion of the party were few and ambiguous. Surely he was going to get a more thorough report while on the Amazon in the privacy of the vidcom room. All she could really hear was something about recovering an Alliance Scientist that had been captured for terrorism. Honestly, she had no idea what that had to do with Skipper. If the human was a terrorist, she was a terrorist. Then again, this was Batarian Space they were talking about. Batarians weren't exactly known for their unbiased opinions and rational thought processes. It was a good thing Hackett had contacted Skipper as early as he had, the Captain wasn't even been able to throw back a drink. But that didn't matter now..

They were outside of the Amazon now and she had realized that there was nothing she could say or do to convince him to come back to the room with the rest of the crew. She frowned, "... Its not fair," was all she was able to mutter. Owyn looked upon her with a shrug. "Well, this one's pretty important. They wanna make sure it gets done, Karii." She nodded, "I know.." she looked away and her arms slipped away to rest on her hips. "Just.. Come back fast. I still have a lot of questions about that Krogan statue." "When I get back, you and me can go to Tuchanka and ask them about it personally," Karii couldn't help but smile and nod, "I look forward to it, Captain." Nothing more but a simple wave was given from Skipper as he stepped onto the Amazon. The hatches closed with a hiss. Engines roared to life simultaneously as the frigate began to lurch backwards. Her hood fluttered with the backdraft as it turned, only to coast off into the distance. Her head tilted gently to the side before she turned on her heels to return to the crew's Celebratory Party in the rented hotel room.



ooc;; [10/7/12 4:40:43 PM] Steve: After Casi posts, you guys be patient. My post after hers will be the final post of MEX-3.
Just a reminder that Steve is the only post to follow this one. <3

[Captain Teeb]

Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of HELL
And I won't back down

╔════════════════════


Two days passed...

An armoured Owyn Skipper ran through some doors and immediately shut them behind him. The sounds of gunfire rattled them and the Captain was left alone in the room with a console; thankfully said room was the one he wanted. Above the console was a massive timer counting down slowly. He knew what those timers meant: How long it would be until the Reapers arrive through the Alpha Relay in full force. He approached the console, prepared to push the button and send the asteroid flying straight into it. His finger approached the button but soon a voice came over comms: Admiral Faust "Owyn! Don't push that button!" What? Don't push it? But he was specifically sent here to push it. Owyn paused, waiting for more. "If you push that button then thousands of batarians die. We've run the simulations. When a relay gets destroyed it takes the entire system with it!"

********.

Owyn's mind began racing. He looked up at the timer. Ten minutes until the Reapers arrived. No. he had to push the button. If he didn't then every race including the batarians would die out. It was... a necessary sacrifice. Owyn didn't like it, not one bit, but it had to be done. He reached for the button again, but was stopped by the sound of a familiar, chilling voice. "You don't want to do that, Captain." Owyn turned around. There, standing in blue pixels, was a hologram of The Illusive Man himself.vOwyn squared up "And why the Hell not?" The Illusive Man spoke up again, confident, cocksure. "Perhaps it would be best..." another drag on his smoke. "-that we leave that answer to your friend."

"S-Skipper...?" the voice was shaky, nervous. It was Karii. Yet her voice sounded... different. The reverberation in her voice was gone, leaving it sounding softer and more pure. Her words were followed with a light cough. The respirator was gone. "Karii!?" Owyn yelled out. he turned to the Illusive Man. "Where the Hell is her suit?!" tje Illusive Man took a drag on his cigarette. "Gone. The least of her worries if you decide to push that button." the Illusive Man prodded his smoking hand accusingly at Skipper. There was a short pause. Owyn didn't know what to do so, he just asked aloud "Karii? Are you okay?"

Hearing the Illusive Man's words caused her brow to furrow. Her transluscent eyes fixated on the pixelation that was Owyn. She wasn't sure if he could see her; it was probably better off that he couldn't. Her lavander lips pulled with a forced smile. She knew what was going to happen. She nodded, causing her choppy, black hair to fall into her face, "Don't worry about me," she bit onto her bottom lip. "Finish what you went there to do," her hands balled tightly. This was part of being a soldier... right? The Illusive Man squared up to Owyn again, speaking as if nothing had happened. "Touching." The Illusive Man was waiting for Owyn to crumble, to break, to give up. Owyn shook his head slowly and spoke out to the ceiling. "Karii, I'm... I'm so sorry." before turning around and pushing the button. The Illusive Man whipped out a pistol; model and make didn't matter. It fired off a single shot. The sound made Owyn flinch. That... that was it then. He lingered at the console a moment before standing and turning around, slowly walking towards the door from whence he'd came. When he passed The Illusive Man, Owyn stopped as he spoke. "You've made a very powerful enemy today, Captain." there was a slight pause. Owyn uttered a few simple words to The Illusive Man.

"I'm going to ******** kill you."

The hologram disappeared. Owyn opened the door to find himself greeted by a huge number of indoctrinated humans; victims of the Reaper artefact that inhabited this place. Owyn didn't know much about it, nor care. When he got back to his ship he was going to be court-martialed and stripped of his rank again. He drew his rifle. Right now... it was time to take out some rage.

════════════════════╝

☾ Captain Skipper ☽ is...
[datcap'n]At : Bahak System [Project Base]
[datcap'n]With : None
[datcap'n]Doing : Leaving
[datcap'n]Feeling : s**t

[Captain Teeb]

"What do you think happened up there, sir?" came the shy, timid words of a mere private as he clutched to his rifle, shaking, as if there were to be another attack at any moment. Next to him stood an almost unbelievably tall man, elegant, his armour flung to the ground next to him in a crumpled heap, gun and all. He stood out, gazing into the sky as they cleared to reveal a bright and glorious sunrise. It was London, England, and the battle against the Reapers had been finished. The tall man, pipe in hand, exhaled a thick cloud of smoke as his eyes lazily wandered to the marine next to him. "Drop the rifle, son. It's over." the marine's eyes widen as if that were the first time he'd heard it. Moments later, the gun was placed carefully on the ground. A deep inhale of air was taken by the tall man. "I don't know, lad." a bristle of air ruffled the mouth of his moustache, unmoved by the horrendous battle that had just taken place. "And I don't suppose anyone ever will."

There was a long moment of pause, and the marine shakily piped up again. "Is he...?" the marine trailed off, leaving his towering superior to take the lead. "Yes, I suppose he is. I doubt even Owyn Skipper could survive that." the marine's head dropped, solemn, as if a family member had been lost. "But fret not, son. This is what he would've wanted."

"Admiral Faust...?"

"He was tired, lad." murmured Faust in response as he took a puff from his pipe. "Tired of war, tired of death, tired of his lot in life. But most of all he was tired of just watching it." There was another moment of silence, the marine awaiting Admiral Faust's next words as if he were a prophet. "But he never stopped. None of them did. They were always out in the field, on that ship, never stopping nomatter what, or who, they lost. They were in it until the job was done." Admiral Faust continued to gaze up into the sky, his eyes absorbing the sun as if it were his first time seeing it in many, many years."And now they've put an end to it, to the greatest menace any life present or future could imagine. He'd be happy to have the ultimate rest. Many will regret the passing of Owyn Skipper, in fact all will."

"All but those who truly knew him. Those who saw him change as the battles grew on, watched his eyes grow more slanted and bagged as he witnessed terror after terror. Every yell of battle getting more and more tired. They shan't regret his passing, they shall celebrate it. And what it represents." the marine's eyes dropped to the ground, and the longest moment of silence between the two rang out as if it were the loudest sound in existence. The wind bristled through the green, bloodied grass beneath their feet as the sun gave it's morning dew a glorious sheen. Admiral Faust let down a grumped growl. "That bloody ship..." the marine looked to the Admiral, bewildered.

"It was stressful, sometimes. Knowing that even when the Fleet, the Council, even I, thought something was one way, the crew of that damned ship were always right. And we were always wrong." Admiral Faust looked around behind him, looking again at the very reason he'd chosen to stand here: the broken hull of the SSV Amazon lay in that field. The scratched, dull paint of it's name still barely readable. The Admiral walked over to it, running his hand along it's length as he talked. "This hull's seen more death and endured more pain than any ship in any fleet in our Galaxy. It's suffered, and it's crew suffered with it." Faust stopped and looked at the blast doors to the ship, wondering how many times someone had deployed from it only to never come back through it again. "They were heroes indeed, but it came with a price on more occasions than I expect the survivors will ever want to tell anyone." Faust trailed off for a moment, thinking before speaking. "And I pray that there will never have to be such heroes ever again."

The marine came to Faust's side once more, his disposition noticeably calmer, almost curious. "Sir? What happens now?" Faust's eyebrow rose, turning from his trance to look at the marine. "What happens now?" "Now?" Faust asked, a moment passing before his grimace turned into a bright smile. "Now we rebuild, son. Now we ensure that all their work, all their sacrifice, yields a brighter and better day." the marine smiled, nodded, and then ran off. Faust assumed he had somewhere to report to. Hell, so did he. Hackett would be losing his hair over Faust not having checked in yet. But Faust stayed a while longer, his hand placed lightly on the Amazon's outer hull, his closed eyes opening from their mourning to a bright gleam as he whispered to the ship as if it were a living being, as if he were talking to everyone who served on that ship, be they alive or dead.

"Shepard had nothing on you, lads."