Commander Elana Selani's Story

Over the com, "This is Captain Theryrus Siethis, formerly of the Turian Hierarchy. It is good to hear from a the Salarian Union, even if it is from a former officer. Please proceed to these coordinates. Do you require assistance of any kind?" With that the captain sent coordinates for the portside airlock along with docking procedures.

At this time Commander Elana Selani walked into the Main Hall. "Krogan, you are from clan Urdnot? Your with me. Sister Asari..." nodded at Valarirae, "Lieutenant, on me." Then she left the room and headed to the airlock. Upon arrival at the airlock the crew snapped to attention, "As you were. Techs, mechanics bow side, medical stern side. Security both sides. The two of you flanking behind me." Without a moments pause the crew moved as ordered.

Neeha nudged Roran, at a whisper "Come on for now you can standby me as part of my team. At less till we can get you officially assigned some were. By the way I've been looking over your file. Looks good. You were on the fleet to help fix weapons, but your good at fixing many things. Were would you like to be placed?"

"It depends. Im good in a variety of locations. There wouldnt happen to be any Element Zero Drive cores around here would there be?" Roran whispered back at her "I can calculate anything though. So if you ever need me else where...." Roran said as he looked at Neeha

As the ship docks most of the techs, mechanics and medical staff leave. Only Commander Elana Selani, Chief Neeha'Shiro, Dr. Valova, Roran, Gemli, and Val remain by the airlock.

Over the Com to Irgol, "I will have my first officer along with a medical team greet you. Sorry standard procedure to check anyone coming onboard. And if you don't mind some of my mechanics would like to take a look at your ship."

Neeha still whispering, "If allowed, you want to join me on the inbound ship?"

Over the com, "All fighters stay alert, long range scans picking up a lot of unknown contacts in FTL. Will keep you advised."

"Of Course. I'd never miss a chance to study another ship." Roran whispered back to Neeha "I might be able to decipher those FTL readings as well. Identify what types of ships they are"

The Krogan nodded and followed, eager for a good fight if they decided to choose the unwise action of being their enemy. As they moved, Blake Harrows came into play. He joined up with the Commander and the others, still a little sore. Gemli was a bit impressed. "I was under the impression you might be too sore to move for a little longer after that sparring session".

"Luckily for me, I anticipated the pain. That said, we are going to have to work on your definition of sparring later" Blake told him, before catching up so he was walking alongside the Commander. "Ready for work, ma'am. That said, we need to talk, either now or later. I made a breakthrough on the Blackfile".

The Blackfile as he called it was his father's datadrive, encrypted so heavily even someone who knew him in great detail would take time in decrypting it. The thing had layers upon layers of encryption, and it required multiple keys in the right order to get through. His father had shared everything he knew about encryption with Blake, including a number of advanced encryption algorythms that sometimes took him days to explain it all in detail.

And this was the first breakthough Blake had gotten so far. Each part of the file used different encryption algorythms and keys, so one solution would not work again.

CDR Elana looked at Blake, speaking softly and some what quietly to him well maintaining her calm professional opperince, "Look kid, your cute, smart and its important. But lets talk about this after we deal with our new guest." at the Krogan, "And Urdnot, be nice to the kid, or me and you will have to spare."

Over the com to all fighters, "Contacts have stopped just out of system. All fighters stay on full alert incase they enter." To Jacoopi and his squad, "Form up on the inbound neutral ship. Protect it, at less till we can deal with it."

Chief Neeha to Roran, "Lets go take a look at what they have. Who knows what toys they have just laying around." then procceded to board the Salarian ship.

Commander Elana to Blake, "Hey kid lets check out our new friends here first then I will help you with our other project." gave the kid a quick smile, she had grown to like having him around. She unofficially adopted him even if he didn't know it. Turning to Val and Gemli, "You two, come with me. I have a feeling this is going to get interesting." With that she walked onto the other ship.

Dr. Valova nodded to the group and departed towards the med bay.

As Othesat's shuttle leaves, the six Turian Frigates moved to the front of the fleet to form a defensive wall aided by all non-gunship squads. As this happened the Quarian Cruisers fell back behind the dreadnaught and other cruisers. The two Alamo and Geneva Class Frigates moved to cover the rear, while the Berlin Class Cruiser along with the Turian Cruiser move to cover the flanks. With the Turians on the starboard and the Berlin on the port.

As Roran Followed her onto the ship, he looked around "Reminds me of The Neema during the war..." There was much similarities.The walls were falling apart, the crew was in, some what decent condition. "Maybe they need more help then we think..."

"Hey, he is the one that asked" Gemli mentioned. And while it was true that Blake had asked him, Gemli did have another reason. Blake was no expert on psychology, but he was a Krogan and he knew bloodrage. And Blake was raging on the inside. Did Gemli go tough on him? Yes, but other Krogan might go further if they did not reject him. Gemli would make it hard enough for Blake so he did not go looking elsewhere, but would also hold enough back to keep the kid from getting any serious injuries.

The Asari's challange though interested him. "You know that isn't exactly something I wouldn't mind" he mentioned with a smile.

Blake nodded at the Commander's words, and began to work on his Omni Tool. "Alright. Hold on though, let me set up a comm line though. And here..." Blake then deployed a drone. "In case there is hostiles aboard, I can try and hack into any needed systems from here so long as the drone stays alive, so you can focus on other things should it come to that. And please, be safe".

The last part of what he said held a different message though. Please don't make me lose anyone else...

The commander looked at Blake, "Sorry kid but you coming with. And don't worry, I'll have the lieutenant look after you. As for me, I'll be fine. Just an other routine mission. Now come we got work to do." Looking at Gemli and Val, "Lieutenant, I want you glued to the kid, he doesn't make a move without you knowing about it. now everyone on to the ship. The quicker we get this done the better." Without waiting she finishes boarding the trade ship.

Over the coms to Jacoopi's squad, "Listen up. I want all gunships to provide escort for our shuttles. Once the fighting really gets going, I want you to provide close support to what every ship your near. Be careful, gunships aren't the best for this type of fight and we don't have the supplies to replace any. So if it start getting to bad I want you to land and help the crew in what ever way you can. Eagle squad escort shuttle xray-590." (Othesat's shuttle)

As Neeha made her way to the cargo bay, "I hear you. I was on the Shellen during the war. And if they need our help then Im glad to have some one with me. Especally another Quarian, nothing against the others but they just don't understand ships and fleet life like we do." With that she starts looking at the different booths.

"Especialy-" He cut him self off, he didnt want to sound racist in front of someone. "Nevermind...It is nice to have another Quarian with me on the ship. It seems they managed to situate themselves in mechanical positions better then most other creatures during battle. Im sure the only reason the Geth didnt wipe us out when we tried to take back Rannoch, is because there were Quarians like you who actualy understood the diagnostics of an element Zero engine, and knew how to Keep a constant flow and prevent overloads." Roran said as he finished and looked back at her "I have a feeling i just sounded like an Incredible loser..."

"Wh....okay, I am in" Blake said, surprised. This would be his first mission or op or whatever, and he was a bit excited. Still. He could not let it show. He went by the Asari. "I guess we are a team them".

He looked at the ship scans. "Okay, so, if we can avoid using my last name while on the ship, that would be good. Because these are Salarians, which means a good chance of STG. The more information we give them, the more tehy can use it against us, either in a fight, or bargaining with us. Especially if they want information".

Gemli smiled. "Got it Commander. And hey, if they try and take information, I can extract what I can from their brains". He laughed a little at that point. "Dont worry, I wont smash any skulls in. Not without being provoked anyways".

Val nodded at the commander then turned to Blake, "I guess so little one. You ready to play. And don't worry kid I wont let you get hurt... to much."

Neeha tries to hold back a laugh, "No, not a completely. And thank you, but we couldn't have done it alone, we needed people like you to help us." Stopping at a few booths, when ever she sees something she wants she adds it to a list on her omi-tool.

Just then the commander gets a video message on her omi-tool from the captain, "Commander, the enemy around 60 fighters has moved into system and are closing fast. Looks like they're leading about 50 boarding craft. That ship your on is to vanrable get it out of her and to the rearguad. Im sending our gunships to escort you. Activating emergency override to unhook you from the Bailey. Once their safe get back here on the double. Over and out." With that the Salarin ship unhooks and is genteelly pushed off. Elana runs up to the Irgol, "Captain move us to these coordinates and dock with the frigate. That way we can off load our people then we can get you and you crew out of here."

Jacoopi's sensors pickup the fighters in a wide 'V' formation and as soon as they are in range of the fleets fighters and frigates they open fire. Over the coms from Commander Dakira, "Gunships get that ship safely to the rear."

Roran looked at Neeha "Thank you, ive been scanning those signals." Roran looked down at his omni-tools "I think i know-" As he felt the ship become unattached "I knew it. We need to get to Irgol, or this ship will become toast!" He said as he looked up towards the bridge "I hope we can make it in time."

Blake nodded. "Lets just hope whatever issue this ship has does not include a leaky fuel tank near a source of fire" he mentioned.

As the various messages and what not went off, Blake monitored the situation. Mostly, it was just crosschecking and formations at this point. He noticed that, according to a group of reports, a few specific fighters were headed straight for them.

"So" Blake mentioned as he turned towards Val, and employed his kinetic barriers. "Anyone else think this might be one big trap? Mysterious ship to lure us in combined with a sudden enemy appearance?"

"Nah, I just think its our luck" Gemli mentioned. "Everyone knows the goodguys always have the worst of luck".

Blake wondered if he had a red cape hidden somewhere.

Two of Jacoopi's rounds find their mark, while an other tracks its target, and the fourth is shot down. The missile fired at him misses but recovers and takes out one of his squad mates.

Two of the Turian Frigates are boarded well a third is taken out by a damaged boarding craft that kamikazed into the frigates engines. One of the two surviving frigates got swarmed and was forced to pull back to the rearguard. Half of the fight fighters and most the boarding craft break off from the fight and head towards the dreadnought. The Alamo and Geneva Class Frigates, being faster, more maneuverable and better suited for anti-fighter, speed into position to add the dreadnought. As the frigates repositioned the York class Cruisers moved as fast as they could straight for the approaching crafts, to act as a wall and to try and scare the boarding craft.

The shuttle at this point starts evasive maneuvers and awaits safe harbor on the injured frigate, since the ship it was heading for the front.

Neeha nods at Roran, "Your right." and heads to Irgol to see what she can do.

Val turns her shields on and flashes her biotics then winks at Blake, "Well then they are in for a surprise if it is."

The commander runs to the bridge to get a better look at whats going on.

As everything starts to happen Captain Irgol gets to the bridge of his ship. Hearing what the Captain of the Bailey has to say he starts to bark orders to his crew. As he is doing so he hears Commander Elana talking, he nods to her then goes back to barking out commands to his crew. Though both the ship and her crew are old you would not know it in the way they all moved as one as their captain delivers his orders.
Upon hearing Roran yapping at him "This is my ship, and my bridge you will address me as Captain or I will have you locked in the brig until I change my mind." Irgol was trained to be a military Captain, thus he will not stand for any breach in protocol well he still holds command of his ship. "As a Quarian I figured you would know better. Also as a Quarian, one would think, you would be willing to fight to the last to try and save your fleet. No we will not jump to FTL, not until we have done all we can."
Looking at his crew one last time Irgol takes a deep breath. "Ready main cannons, make ready all missiles, arm mines and counter measures. Our orders are to get to that frigate. She is hurt bad, so we will do what we can to keep her safe as long as possible. If the guns ships buy us enough time then we will dock long enough for the Fleet crew to get off."
Irgol has a way of taking control of a room, even in his twilight years his hands and voice are steady and strong. Tapping the ships intercom "All hands prepare to be boarded. We do not know who we are up agenst or where this attacking fleet came from. But we are Salairins we will not roll over and die, we will fight for our ship and her new friends." With that he turns the com off and a cheer can be heard coming from the rest of the crew as they all get ready for what they know is going to be a long day.
The ship starts making its way to the damaged frigate as quickly as it can. The cargo ship had a few weapons modifications on it, her crew had taken a few parts from their Salairin war ship before they sold it, seeing the gunships in combat the cargo ship opens fire to try and thin the attacking ships out.

Kearan sat in the dark and the dank of the ruined ship, his eyes sunken and dark, his skin an unhealthy grey colour from malnutrition, his mind flitting in and out of conciousness in the dark of the ship. He was the last, the last one left, out of a crew of 800, he was the only one left standing. Or sitting rather. Then again, there had certainly been less crew alive on the ship when this whole mess began. Only about 250 crew members survived the crippling of the pirate ship Anubis, and it was of those surviving few that Kearan was the last of. Power had been simple, the reactor was still functional, it was just the engines that had been trashed by the Cerberus cruiser, not that they hadn't given as good as they got. Life support was functional on those decks not blown open into the vacuum of space, and although initially to conserve power they had switched off the artificial gravity, as their numbers dwindled, it was switched back on. Nobody expected to survive the ordeal, and it was at least nice to have your feet on the ground, and not have shit gliding through the air. The few Salarians on board were the first to go, their hyper metabolisms succumbing to the strict food rationing set in place. They were bagged and ejected out the airlock. That decision was soon regretted. Food supplies ran out quickly even with tight rationing, and it wasn't long before starvation and hunger took their natural course. What little Command structure was left on the ship quickly broke down as the crew began to split into warring factions. Most of the humans did no fare well in the ensuing conflict. Assaulted by a combined force of the Batarians and Krogan, they were decimated and most scrambled into hiding, Kearan amongst them. The Quarians were the next to go, their life suits giving them a unique advantage in the area, but lacking medical and technical supplies meant that even small wounds laid them low. They also refused to do what the other parties accepted. Eating the dead. With food rations all but non-existent at this point, the Krogan/Batarian alliance and the Asari/Turian group began to attack one another over not just space and control, but in order to gather food. Kearan was not exempt from the situation, unlike others, he simply adapted early. Stray turian scouts and batarian hunters met their end on the tip of Kearans combat knife, their bodies dragged away to the dark corners of the ship Kearan survived in. What remaining human crew were left he soon hunted down. Easier targets than the powerful krogan or biotic Asari. As the two opposing sides ground themselves down and dwindled in numbers, even the fractious alliances began to erode, and soon it became every man for himself. Eventually, it became just one man and himself. Kearan killed them. Every last one, kept their corpses cold in the medical bay, rationing himself. That was when the real struggle began. It had been different knowing that there were at least other living beings on the ship, but being the only living soul for thousands of lightyears was... straining for the mind. Soon the voices came, tormenting him for the crimes he had committed to stay alive, in time, eve they left him. All that remained was the silence, and it had been silent for a long time.

Kearan had run out of "food" over a fortnight ago.

He didn't think he would last much longer, the pain in his stomach had left, but now it was gone, he almost missed it.

He had sat in silence for so long, that the hiss of an opening airlock was so alien he almost didn't notice it. Had he missed someone? Was there another survivor who had eluded him? No, no surely not... Who...

He tried to stand but his legs failed him and he slumped back down to the floor. He tried to cry out, but his voice wouldn't come, all that came was a hoarse whisper. They wouldn't find him, he was in his hiding place, the place he had used to elude the rest of the crew in the early days of the wreck. They would come through, scavenge, and leave. He would die here. Alone in the dark, with not even the voices to keep him company...

The gun.

He wasnt even sure where the thought came from, or if it was even him that thought it, but it was right. His hand slipped down to the pistol at his hip. Carnifex model with extended barrel and ultralight materials. He was glad for the lightness as he struggled to raise the weapon away from his body. He squeezed, the trigger depressing with a slight click just before the mass effect accelerator blasted the bullet down the hall, ricocheting around the hall with a deafing rattle and ping of noise, echoing throughout the hollow ship, But Kearan heard nothing, his mind having already succumbed to darkness.

"Yes...Captain." he said as he curled his hand into a fist, trying not to turn on the captain "What can we do to help? I can calibrate weapons, but im not exactly the best aim. I wont be effective to help fend of our intruders. Well, unless its deck guns, or modifications to make them deadlier. Sir." he said after the captain finished his speech and his head followed him as he paced around

Although he silently doubted the captains commands in his head. He lived on a freighter that was on the brink of overload, with a bunch of old salarians that for he knows, could have cabin fever... "Were all dead..." he very silently whispered to himself.

As the Salarians board the frigate they are meet by a hurt Vorcha guard leaning against the opposite wall. "Turn back. Ship broken, engines broken, most crew dead, no hope. Engines not ours, all going to die." Just then Volus tech emerged from a maintenance hatch, "We were boarded some how and they waited till we fell back to strike. They took what was left of engineering. With so much damage the crew is having a problem keeping the ship together and trying to retake engineering isn't going well. I recommend you if you have men to spare great other wise leave now. We picked up a ship in need, cant tell which frigate it is but it is better off then we are. Help them we got our ship." With that the Volus reenters the hatch, and the Vorcha starts down the whats left of the hall towards engineering.

Commander Elana and chief Neeha followed the Salarians.

As Gemli takes out drones, a Geth runs into the room well typing on its omi-tool, and yells out, "Hold your fire! The system activated when you landed with out authorization. One moment." just as he finishes deactivating the system four shot come through the door hitting the geth in the back. As it falls to the ground it yells out. "RUN! WAVE OFF! SHIP LOST!" It types a few things in to its Omni-tool and as it hits the last button it lays flat on the deck, motionless and its light slowly fades out. A second later everyone there receives coordinates of what looks like a powered down frigate.

Val runs you to Blake and Gemli, activating her Biotic Protector to cover the three of them. "Fall back, we are not here to retake her. That geth sent us coordinates of an other ship. I would rather try and help the other ship then try and clear this entire ship with just the three of us. Now fall back to the shuttle." She covers Blake regardless of what his next move is.

Jacoopi picks up a faint signal coming in slowly from off the fleets six o'clock. His ships VI reads it as a frigate class ship that's gone dark.

Othesat makes it to the med bay to a find a horrific scene. Crew laying all over the place in mixed conditions, with medics running from person to person in an attempt to help everyone they can. One of the human medics walks over to her, "Let me take a look... Ok... you seem fine nothing critical. You can stay and help or report back to your station." With a nod he ran off to help a hurt Turian with third degree burns all over his body.