Approaching Susskind Station brought a sense of dread to all of them.  A research station guarded by 30 ships, most of which were Quarian with the odd Human in the middle.  But the more noticeable visitors were of Turian design, clearly on the outer fringes and having not docked quite so neatly as the other ships.  The smouldering remnants of a blast-opened dock or two made clear of that detail, the large cylindrical station simply floating unaware of the chaos within.
The Centurion Eagle made its own landing at an empty dock on the other side of the station, hiding away from sight in case of any guards left upon the turian ships.  Luckily no one seemed to be guarding the docks themselves as they made their way in, with Areh hacking through the docking bay autolock through a dummy signal he had just in case.  Once the ship landed perfectly in, they made their way out onto the station, fully suited up in their armour.
James had his red engineer armour with purple pack-colouring, Lirem had his orange wide-collar sentinel armour whilst Norem sported the same in green, Jax had the bulk-stripped false-gold colouring that glimmed faintly off his large hide, whilst Areh had his usual green and brown suit, nothing more, nothing less.  Already they could hear the sounds of screams and gunfire coming through from beyond the doors, the dock they were in being relatively untouched, far and away from the chaos and destruction.
	"Alright," said Lirem, "here's what we'll do, we'll walk forwards together just to scope out the area, then we'll split into teams of me and James, then Jax and Areh, and Norem on his own.  We keep in communication at all times and anyone that comes firing that's not a quarian, is dead on sight.  Got it?"
	"Got it," said the crew.
	"What's the ETA on the Migrant Fleet arriving?"
	"Not soon enough," said Areh, "they'll try to raise the station and once they hear nothing from them they'll know something's up, so at the very least I'd say about five hours if they're in the system at all.  And I know for a fact that they aren't."
	"Alright, we can at least try and hold the fort for these guys so let's do it."
	"WAIT what about me?!"
Leiah came up from behind them in her usual sky-blue suit, her arms shaking but her head still focused, staring intently at them.  FG had to ask:
	"You're coming too?"
	"Course I'm coming, what the hell?!  My father's here in danger, I led you here, I told you about this damn place and I've even been here before!"
	"Well, we kinda assumed that you wouldn't wanna-"
	"NO!  I am going with you and there is NOTHING you can do to stop me, got it?!"

The crew looked at each other before realising they had no reason to tell her not to.  Eventually Lirem said:
	"Alright, sorry, it makes sense that you'd go with us since you're the only one that's been here.  You remember this place well?"
	"It's been a while but I know it, I know the major travel areas and some ventilations we might need if we wanna bypass stuff."
	"Perfect," said Areh, "I can pass through them and see if I can't mess around with the system a little."
	"It's not as big as you think, most of the outer areas are just service passages for observation of solar events, the main thoroughfare's where it's all going to be."
	"So why was your dad at this station?" asked FG.
	"He...he does jobs on other places, he's part of an elite mechanic squad that handle modular engineering."
	"Your mom never mentioned that."
	"It's kinda secret, alright?  We don't want people knowing, things tend to get really bad for our fleet if stuff gets...leaked."
	"But this is just ship engineering, what's so secret about that?"
	"I-I DON'T KNOW, but the point is he's in there and my dad might be hurt or something and I'm not gonna lose him because of some STUPID BOSH'TETS!"
She was shaking with both fear and anger, sighing heavily as she palmed her face into both hands whilst James wrapped an arm around her sky-blue shoulders.  She focused to calm down as he patted her shoulder, watching her before asking:
	"Is this place a quarian station?"
	"Not really," said Areh, "it's human originally but we quarians tend to pass through this system a lot so we like to use it."
	"I was wondering why it all looked different, place kinda reminds me of Horizon with all the white walls."
	"Alright guys focus," said Lirem, "the longer we wait the more lives might be in danger so let's think.  Firstly we have no idea who's in here but we got a good guess it might be turians.  Secondly, we need a good layout of the place so Leiah you need to help us through this.  Third, we have no idea why this place got attacked, so what are the most likely places they'd be looking?"
	"This place is all technology," said Leiah, "they'd probably want to steal some tech or something but, I dunno what they'd pick to steal."
	"Any guards here?"
	"Not many, like maybe private security and some from the Migrant Fleet but I don't know how well they're doing...keelah..."
	"What's your dad look like?"
	"His...his name is Samor'Dahlael, and he...he has this sort of dark-purple suit, that's the best I can tell you."
	"Alright, so we have a main objective and that's to take care of any intruders as well as find Samor'Dahlael.  Norem, you scout ahead and up into the shadows.  Leiah, you and James come with me as our main offence that way we'll draw fire.  Jax, you and Areh check for any vents or consoles to mess with."
	"W-wait!" asked Leiah.  "Let me go with Areh, if he's going through the vents I know what to do, I can guide him through.  Plus...I know about the consoles here, I can hack through them a little easier than him."
	"...that okay with you Areh?"
	"Sounds good," said the quarian, "I don't know what coding they use here so I'd rather have Leiah handle it as well as navigating.  Vents are real easy to get lost in if you don't know your way."
	"And I can handle both of 'em," said the krogan, "just in case we run into trouble."
	"Alright then," said Lirem.  "James you stick with me, the rest of you, you know all your places.  Leiah, keep in contact with us at all times too so we know what to do if we get lost.  Everyone got your weapons ready?"
The singular raising of rifles, pistols and shotgun was affirmative, as Lirem stepped out forwards with his rifle on point, heading towards the large exit doors from the docking bay.
	"Let's roll."

The moment they opened the doors, chaos came through.  A veritable haven of discord itself, the halls of Susskind Station were now ruined with fire and blood.  Screams echoed out all over the place as gunshots followed, remnants of bodies and consoles gutted through.  The place was normally rather homely, with well-grown plants and white circular designs on an emphasis of natural outlook, with living modules in all directions as well as the various labs.  Now it looked like a war zone, contained in space with no exit beyond the docks.
Smoke cluttered the oxygenated air as they made their way forwards, gun barrels pointing all directions as they spotted every corridor, every corner they could take.  The main thoroughfare was nothing but a crossroads, a few dead quarians slumped up against the sides holding guns near the large garden of the central hall, cut four ways into quarters.  The exits to the other docks were to their left, were clearly more chaos had come forth and the last survivors that had managed to outrace the sweeping storm of invaders had found a place to bleed.
All except one or two, cowering behind a rock in the gardens as they were heard by Lirem, murmuring to Leiah to help bring them out of hiding.
	"Hello?!" she cried out.  "Anyone there?!"
	"G-GO AWAY!" shouted one civilian.  "JUST PLEASE, GO AWAY WE'RE NOT ARMED, WE DON'T WANNA FIGHT PLEASE!"
	"WAIT wait it's okay, we're not intruders, we're just here to save you!"
	"S-S-SAVE US!?  No one's coming to save us and you know it, NO ONE!"
	"Really we are look!  My name is Leiah'Dahlael nar Guuha, my father is Samor'Dahlael vas Guuha, I came to find him!"
	"Y-y-you...you what?!  You wanna find-"
	"Wait!" said the other hiding, "did you say Samor'Dahlael?!"
	"Yeah!" shouted Leiah.  "That's my dad!"
	"...he mentioned about you a few times...wait...I remember you."
One person emerged from behind a rock in the garden, a male human researcher in white clothes and a bald white head whom Leiah immediately recognised.
	"Heeeeeey it's um...youuuuu!  Oy what was it, Darren?"
	"Yeah!" said Darren.  "Hey Jerry it's okay they're friends!"
	"R-really?"
The other person known as Jerry stood up to reveal himself as a man of Indian descent, short black hair and looking rather fidgety beyond all reason.
	"B-b-but two of them are turians, what if-"
	"Relax, Leiah's here, they must be friends.  What are you doing here?"
	"Dad was calling me," replied Leiah, "his message got cut off right when the attack happened, what's going on?!"
	"You actually came!?  ...oh god, listen Leiah, you have to leave.  This place is not safe."
	"No!  My dad's in there and I'm not gonna let him get hurt, I got friends to help me!"
	"And who are they exactly?"
	"Mercenary squad Wolf Three-Nine-Five," replied Lirem, "we got a plea signal from miss Leiah here and we've arrived to help."
	"Oh thank god...least someone's coming to help."
	"What about the distress signal?!" asked Leiah.  "Didn't anyone send one out?!"

	"No," said Jerry, "the turians that came in shot the whole thing up, blasted our communications before we had a chance to spot 'em.  We've been trying to survive for two days now while they clear the place out, grabbing all the tech they could."
	"What exactly happened here?" asked Norem.
	"Some terrorist group I dunno, had some name I can't remember...they ran in firing on everyone and anyone that tried to fight back got either killed or beaten.  The ones that didn't got taken hostage or left alone, that's how we managed to escape."
	"What about these quarians over here?"
	"They tried to fight back," said Darren, "the turians took their ammo and just walked away while we hid...that happened like two hours ago."
	"What about my father?!" asked Leiah.  "Where is he?!"
	"Last I heard he was leading the rest of his project up to the best hiding place, somewhere they could hold out."
	"Where's that?!"
	"The console testing area, on the other side of the station.  If you head straight through on here you'll find it eventually, just go one straight line.  But these guys set up barricades and such just in case any of us tried to fight them...dammit what were they called again?"
	"Facinus?" asked Norem.
	"YEAH, THASSIT!  That's what they called themselves!"
	"Dammit...looks like we're making ourselves an adversary.  Where's the nearest barricade?"
	"Near Living Module C," said Jerry, "they got the stairs all locked out with one single barricade they piled up, the leader was...some scary dude, like real different from the rest of them."
	"Why's that?"
	"He had a...cape, like flowing in the wind like some kind of demon, had a helmet on and this propulsion on him."
	"Wait, propulsion pack?!" asked Lirem.  "...shit...that can mean one of two things."
	"What?" asked James.
	"Either they got some tech of their own or this guy's a former army specialist.  Either way, you two go out to the dock and hide on our ship, do NOT touch anything, you just hide out there and wait."
	"O-okay," said Darren, "just, please, be careful and...thank you."
The two scientists ran off towards the docking bay as the Sole Calibrators turned back towards the station, heading further on in towards the first potential enemy.  The larger interior of Susskind Station was even worse than the entrance, fires breaking out still in some controlled parts with even more bodies evidently dead or unconscious.  Leiah checked every single one in case of someone she knew, the large hallway reminding one of a public square in some futuristic academy.
Norem took a route around from them heading up towards the left, climbing up onto a higher level and running sleekly across the balcony, the rest of them staying close together.  Jax stayed ahead of the group, ready to use himself as a shield whilst Areh and Leiah kept scanning for any possible vents they could use.  Every body they had found was only dead by the gun in their hand and a bloody hole, cracked masks and ripped suits indicating their sudden fate.  Yet those merely unconscious were always unarmed oddly, despite having the faintest bruises.

James certainly felt the powerhouse of learning that the station wanted to represent, with various roads leading towards living modules and lab areas for all sorts of research.  Solar extrapolation, hydroponics, the console testing area which still laid dead on ahead and the center for Quarian logistics due to the frequent use of this station by the spacefaring race.  Stairways lead them up towards a higher road, before soon seeing a food court area that was well-guarded with enemies.  Turians in the same sort of armour of the ones back on Epho.
	"There they are," said Lirem murmuring, "they're not expecting us so we need to do this quick, Norem you there?"
	"I see them," said Norem, "they're pretty well-armed, about ten of them."
	"Do they have any hostages?"
	"No."
	"Then it's open season, just pick anyone you like."
They waited for the sniper's shot to ring clear across the place, cracking one turian dead as his cheek suddenly exploded with blue blood, falling as his friends suddenly cried out:
	"SNIPER!"
The group immediately began pointing their guns to where the shot had been, completely distracted from the front stairs where the rest of the crew were.  Lirem opened fire as did James, gunning down at least two of them before Leiah hurled one of her grenades.  The resounding EMP shock sent half of them into disarray, screaming and firing back through the pain suddenly upon them as Norem shot out another one, right before Lirem used an overloading blast.
The long-range electric shock combined with the EMP of the arc grenade caused a catastrophic burst of electricity, killing at least three of them as their shields immediately began failing.  Despite their own armour, they were now much more vulnerable, and became easily picked off by the rest of the Sole Calibrators, despite James catching a few shots in his chest that his armour and shields softened up.
	"Everyone alright?" asked Lirem.
	"I'm good," said Norem, "they never even saw me."
	"I got hit a few," said FG, "but not bad.  Tell you what these fucking shields are awesome to have."
	"It does help certainly," said Lirem, "alright keep on moving, we don't know if anyone got alerted yet but we're gonna show 'em what they're messing with.  Let's move!"
Pushing on ahead, they kept their guns pointed at all directions in case of any reinforcements, which soon came in the form of a small squadron of five turians from the stairs above.  This put them almost in a bad spot and completely exposed until Areh shot out his Noise Stream, shrieking towards the enemy omni-tools and deafening their senses temporarily.  They stood no chance against five guns suddenly pointed on them regardless of experience, as well as one krogan who suddenly barrelled into one and crush-stomped the turian's chest, blood shooting out on both sides.
	"Urgh," said James, "like a blueberry donut."
	"Hhhhehehhhh," chuckled Jax, "less tasty though."
	"THERE THEY ARE!" cried one voice ahead.
	"KILL 'EM, DON'T LET 'EM GET THROUGH!"
	"BIETAN JARRAI!"

Another wave soon came as shots came firing down from the hallway, forcing the crew to duck out behind the stairs cowering.  Jax however cared less about being shot and aimed his shotgun readily for a Carnage shot, the hot-propelled phosphorescence blasting two of the seven turians ahead into charred broken corpses.  Norem took out another in the head, but he was soon under fire from a very expectant guard that had their own sniper to counteract.  Lirem kept his assault rifle well-aimed and tried to throw off the sniper, peppering him from a distance.
The suppressing fire worked well enough to refocus back to them, with James wounding one guy in the arm before diving into the foliage that ran along the road.  None of the turians saw him, and despite having no cover were he ever spotted, he shot out a blast of fire straight towards one of their faces to scar them badly, following up with a half-clip of ammo to kill two of them from the side.  The last one was taken care of by Norem, the sniper who tried to stop him.
Soon they found themselves at the central nexus of the station, which they already could see was the most heavily-guarded and chock-filled with enemies.  Six hiding behind the central reception area, seven more guarding one exit towards the east and five more over by the west.  The north was especially well-covered with a few heavy-weapons specialists sporting rocket launchers just to be sure.  Norem was unable to reach this area by normal means, forcing him to come back to the main group as they ducked near the door entrance, talking amongst themselves softly.
	"Shit that's way too many," said Lirem.
	"Totally," said Krungut, "even I can't take on that many.  Whutta we do?"
	"We need to find a way around, maybe we can all get in the ducts if we can find any."
	"I think there might be," said Leiah, "I kind of remember this area because I always tried to not get seen by reception...kinda like being a spy."
	"How old were you?" asked FG.
	"About...fifteen?"
	"Wow did you get like banned after they found you?"
	"Nope...long as I never touched anything they couldn't tell me off for being anything other than a stupid kid.  That and they never found me INSIDE the vents so..."
	"There's no security in them?" asked Norem.
	"Not the ones I went through, some of them are but I know which ones to avoid."
	"Can you take us to the console testing area through them?"
	"I can get you close to them, down here!"
She hopped down the multi-levelled garden areas on the side of the main pathway, swiftly pushing through the harmless foliage before finding a ventilation shaft, hidden beneath a large plant.  She carefully began to undo the grate as they kept watch for enemies, the krogan pointing out an observation.

	"You know I can't come with you right, cuz I'm way too big."
	"Which is exactly why you're our diversion," said Lirem, "you stay here and guard the exit, keep it clear for us."
	"Alright...hey, you guys notice anything funny with those unconscious dudes?"
	"What you mean?"
	"Those bruises...kinda weird aren't they?"
	"I don't get what you mean."
	"Nothing, probably just...I'll stay here an' hold the fort."
	"I'll stay here too," said Norem, "we can't all go in like this plus being a sniper has a disadvantage while in close quarters."
	"Alright then," said Lirem, "you and Jax hang here and cover our exit."
	"Aaaaaand done."
Leiah said this with satisfaction as the grating fell off, carefully placing it to one side quietly.  She went first without hesitating, with Areh following up and Lirem coming through before James took up the rear.  Jax only murmured:
	"Be careful li'l buddy, don't do anythin' stupid alright?"
	"I'll be fine," said Areh, "just keep this place nice and quiet, okay?"
	"Heh...won't be quiet with me around."
With the four crew members now crawling through the vents, claustrophobia tried to take their hold on them.  Leiah wasn't bothered, the tight ventilation shafts allowing enough room for her to wiggle through, which admittedly offered quite the sight for her friends behind her.  James however looked at all three of them with a smirk, as they followed Leiah on a direct path she had apparently memorised, not even hesitating for one second on where she had to go.  After five minutes of endless crawling, they soon stopped as Leiah reached an end point of the vent shaft.
	"There's a deep drop here," said Leiah, "I'll need to go down and see which way we have to go next."
	"How you gonna get down?" asked Areh.
	"Well if somebody had a rope that'd make things easier, or cable maybe...but I think I can push myself against the walls and slide down easier."
	"Wait wait!" said FG.  "Maybe I can make one with the nanos, hold on."
The spark of blue emerged from far back in the tunnel, shimmering as he tried to form some sort of rope from his hands, the nanos building up with a simple material of interwoven fabric.  The rope he recognised oddly from his time in Kanto, which in turn made him think farther back to the last time he had been up in ventilation.  He was only thankful that the space pirates in this galaxy were a lot less rapey, or at least as far as he knew.  Once he was finished, he brought out a sizeable rope of good length, passing it up towards Leiah.
	"This good enough?"
	"That's great thanks!" she said.  "Wow you sure are useful, wonder what else you can make?"
	"Heh, won't know until I try, my nanos are kind of weird on what they can or can't do."
	"Maybe after all this I can find out," replied Areh, "run a few tests, see what your limits are if you want."
	"Uhhhh...maybe, we'll see let's just focus on this for now."

They all agreed as Leiah wrapped the rope around her waist, giving Areh the rest as he passed it back along until all three were holding it.  She slowly began to turn halfway and slip her feet off of the ventilation drop, the strength of three males keeping her from not falling as she was gently dropped lower and lower, her commands calling out to them.
	"A little more...little bit...liiittle bit more-okay stop!  Stop, I think...YES, I got it, I found the way through!"
	"Awesome," said Lirem, "now how do we get down?"
	"That...Iiiii am not sure."
	"How did you even do this by yourself?" asked James.
	"I stole cable sometimes for a little exploring, you know."
	"And how did you even get down without anyone holding it for ya?"
	"Um...I think I-OH yeah I wrapped the end of the cable around one of the gratings back there and act like a support."
	"Now why didn't we think of that earlier?" replied Lirem.  "James you're furthest back, go wrap it around that grate back there."
	"Got it."
James crawled backwards until he found a suitable grate, wrapping the rope around it tightly as Leiah unwound it from her waist, waiting for the rest to follow.  Areh was incredibly nervous, seeing the vent drop for the first time into a rather deep darkened shaft that understandably brought out an even greater feel of claustrophobia.
	"O-o-ohhhh keelah."
	"Don't worry Areh it's fine!" said Leiah.  "Just hold onto the rope and go down."
	"Is the rope secure?!"
	"Yes!" said FG.
	"You sure, how good are you at knots?!"
	"Trust me, I can tie someone up with anything, bedsheets, ropes...intestines-"
	"Wait what?!"
	"NOTHING I'm kidding just, off you go!"
	"A-a-alright...alright...hhhhhoo boy..."
The quarian Areh nervously grabbed onto the rope and slid his way down halfway, whimpering as he clutched on dearly for life with panic fraying in his fingers.  The feeling of nothing but darkness underneath his feet was heartstopping to say the least, grabbing on tight enough to make his knuckles pop out as he turned towards Leiah, peeking out from another vent with her hands out.  The quarian male readily pushed himself off the wall and straight into the ventilation shaft, given enough room by Leiah who grabbed him immediately to pull him right in.
Lirem came next, not as nervous but still wary of the deep drop as he neatly rappelled down towards Leiah.  Areh was in front this time, who admittedly was nervous about pulling in his larger friend due to not being particularly strong.  But thankfully Lirem was strong enough himself to push straight into the vent, shoving his way through with little problem as they waited for James to come last.  The raptor was having rather mixed feelings about this, as he slowly made his way down.  At the very least he had his nanowind to help him should he ever lose his grip.

It wasn't as bad as he expected despite getting no purchase with his claws, smoothly climbing down until he saw Lirem from the shaft they were heading next to.  He leapt over with one push from the wall as the turian grabbed him heftily, pulling his arms in hard as they all managed to make it through.  Leiah pushed onwards, taking them further north towards their main destination.
It didn't take them long to reach the main console testing area, the gratings they would pass showing various other labs and home modules that had been added to the station over time.  Always they would see other turian soldiers, small pockets of resistance fighting back against their intruders with cautious exchange of shots.  But the main invaders were winning clearly, and they felt they had less time than before to find Samor'Dahlael before they soon found the area itself.
A wide circular room with various discarded mechs piled up around the corners, almost like an operating theater minus the balcony up above with computers largely dominating one platform.  The section was raised, a pulpit almost where one could see the fruition of their work, consoles lined up both upon and behind it on the wall where a team of quarians were now hiding themselves.  In the centre of this room was a turian squadron, one of whom was far more imposing than the rest of them by his voice alone.  A noble imperial voice that spoke of ancient battles and learned breeding.
	"I do not care what motivations you have, all I ask for is the console."
	"I don't care how many times you ask," said one quarian, "you're not taking it!  Why would a terrorist organisation want such a thing other than killing?!"
	"Th-that's my dad!" whispered Leiah.  "H-he's still alive!?"
	"We have asked before politely," said the turian, "and you refused rather brusquely.  Now we must take it by force.  Look around you, all of those dead are now on your hands by your own ignorance.  I gave you the opportunity to do this peacefully Dr. Dahlael, and I will not leave until I have obtained the console.  Now surrender so we may avoid this bloodshed."
	"I will not give you the damn console, never!  Not when I can still breathe!"
	"I disagree...unless you try to shoot me."
The quarians behind the console were not particularly well-armed, perhaps one or two having pistols as one tried to stand and shoot with a scream of desperation.  Before he could even fire one shot, the turian who spoke had swiftly unholstered his pistol, and fired with one shot dead to the forehead.  The quarian gurgled with a cracked mask and slumped against the computer.  Leiah's father was still crouched behind the console, feeling less confident than before as he tried going for the pistol that his friend had dropped, the turian replying:
	"You can either be a civilian or an armed soldier.  And I never leave a soldier standing."

The moment the turian walked forwards they could see him at last.  A well-armoured dark-beige with a crimson red cloak tattered upon his back, burnt edges nestled between two small thrusters of his propulsion pack.  The raptor slowly pulled out his gun and tried to aim through the vents.
	"What are you doing?!" whispered Lirem.
	"Taking out the commander," murmured James.
	"You can't just shoot someone without seeing the whole room what if they fire on us!?"
	"You know how many are in the room?"
	"Must be like four of them."
	"Make a plan, cuz we're not getting in any other way."
	"...alright, Leiah, the moment James shoots him, drop a grenade down and stun the rest of 'em, we'll slam through the grate and start firing on every turian in the place, got it?"
	"Got it," said the group.
	"Okay...take the shot James."
	"Wait...Leiah, give me a grenade, I'll drop it the moment I shoot."
	"O-okay."
She softly handed a grenade to him in one hand.  The raptor focused as he squeezed the trigger slowly, rubbing the gun barrel against the grating as he did his absolute best to stop shaking his fingers.  The gun softly began to quiver, his nerves trying to steady as the gun slightly tapped against the grating slat.  It was a small sound that almost no one could hear, but the tiniest ping was heard by one person.  One who turned slowly up towards them and dodged the moment he saw a gun glinting towards him.  In the next few seconds they had no idea what had happened.
All James could remember was a gunshot before falling, the grate suddenly giving way as he fell hard onto the floor and his gun went bouncing off from his grip.  The turian he had aimed for had dodged expertly in that moment, the flared burners of his propulsion pack allowing him greater agility as he saw his potential assassin.  The grate had a small cable hooked onto it before it went straight back to the turian's wrist, cracking his knuckles slightly as James now had four guns aimed at him, trapped on the floor whilst his friends remained hiding from the vents.
	"I thought this place had better ventilation," said the well-spoken turian, "but it appears even in space one can still find vermin."
	"Nnngh..."
	"Don't get up.  Who are you?"
The raptor kept still on the floor as he tried to look up, the turian now standing before him having a dark brown face and one red continuous line from cheek to cheek, dipping at the nose like an elongated Y.
	"I don't have to tell you," said FG.  "Not to a fucking terrorist."
	"Hmph...that word again.  What is that human saying, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter?"
	"What fucking freedom do you fight for trying to kill scientists who can't fight back?"
	"Can't?  Tell that to the one who not more than two minutes ago tried to bravely defend his colleagues, and were he given a chance to fire would have done so amicably.  I can hardly call them defenceless, that's the beauty of firepower.  It renders one able to become a threat to others...whether they are experienced or not."
	"The fuck are you from, Oxford?  I think you're a little lost pal, the fundraising party's over that way."
	"Hm hm hm..."
	"You the commander of this fuckfest?"
	"Yes."

The turian commander stroked his chin calmly, looking to one side with a smirk of indifference.  James realised he had one of his hands still full underneath him.
	"I am the commander of this...fuck fest, as you so eloquently call it."
	"Sir," said one of the turians, "I recognise him, that guy on Illium."
	"Really?"
	"Yeah...she mentioned him."
	"...James Campbell."
	"H-huh?!"
	"That's your name isn't it?  James Campbell?  A lone operative are we?"
	"Yeah, a lone operative of justice."
	"Hah!  Ahhhh the whimsy of youth, to think they have all the answers they need in their heart.  An oddly human name too, for one of your stature whatever may that be."
	"My name's none of your business!"
	"Oh but it is, considering you were the one that greatly hindered our plans on Illium.  I must say you are quite the pursuer, our mutual friend was most rightly indignant of your interference.  She has, suffice to say, made a sworn oath to kill you the moment she ever saw you again."
	"Heh...I make a lot of people feel that way about me.  Hopefully not you."
	"And why is that?"
	"Because you'll be DEAD!"
Suddenly blasting a gust of wind from all around him, he threw the grenade he had kept in his left hand straight towards the group of turians before rushing towards the commander.  With the four guards suddenly in a state of static shock, the raptor slammed his fists straight into the commander's face or at least tried to.  But the turian simply countered back with an elbow in front of his face to guard before cracking it over James' face, shoving forwards to knock him back.  His jaw hurt, but he rushed forwards again to try and uppercut with a gutblow.
The turian brought up his knee and blocked the uppercut before it had the chance, shutting down its momentum and leaving James' head exposed for a hammerfist from above.  The raptor swiftly dodged the moment he was blocked, screaming as he swung a roundhouse kick fiercely across the commander's left side of the head only to find his left arm blocking it like stone.  The leg stopped in mid-air leaving James off-balance for the turian to spin around and slam his right fist straight into the raptor's maw, crunching against the snout.
James stumbled back with blood exploding from his nostrils, shrieking as he went full-on offensive before bodytackling him.  Wrapping his arms around the turian's waist, he bullrushed him down and had him underneath, pummelling him with his fists violently and getting two hits in before the commander threw his arms up, shielding himself with his wrists.  The moment James slowed down in hesitation, the turian smacked both of his fists by the back of his hands right across the raptor's chin, stunning him briefly enough to grab him by the neck and roll him off.
With FG suddenly underneath, the turian grabbed one of FG's arms before pummelling with the other, preventing him from fully protecting himself as he slammed his fist repeatedly into the raptor's eye.  But the raptor had enough tricks to force him away with a sudden shot of fire across the turian's face, a spark of nanos crackling alight and forcing him off FG.  He swiftly got up to bullrush the briefly-stunned turian and headlock him hard, remembering a move he had once seen.  But James was not so skilled in being a wrestler as others he knew.

His attempt to judo-throw the commander with the Sandstorm Snapmare move was thwarted by his opponent, the turian latching his legs around FG's and forcing him to fall with the extra weight.  The commander fell onto the back of James' knees forcing him to cry out in pain, his head grabbed swiftly before being slammed brutally first into the cold metal floor.  Blood smeared underneath as his face dripped more heavily, the raptor grabbing behind him and setting his claws alight with a violent flame.
The turian backed off from this sudden pain, grunting as he watched FG get up once again.  He was dogged and panting heavily from his wounds but still determined to fight.  The turian terrorist however was far more able, taunting FG with a beckoning hand as they went into a full fistfight.  The raptor tried to control his swings despite his tiredness, his hooks and jabs a little more practiced than an average slugger.  But every jab was smacked away by his palm, every hook was blocked by his shoulder and elbow, his uppercuts countered by a hammerfist to his arms.
Even his flaming uppercut despite his roaring scream was countered back, a hammerfist to his upper right arm shutting it down and causing his nanos to twitch slightly and delay their fire blast.  Right before the turian commander punched straight into the raptor's abdomen and forced him to cough air from his lungs harshly.  One punch was enough to disable him.  The second in the form of a brutal knee right to his gut rendered him incapable of moving from where he now laid, coughing on the floor and exhausted completely of all energy.
The commander simply wiped the blood off his mouth with a swift thumb to his lips before looking towards his guards.   The guards had recovered but did not fire a single shot throughout the whole encounter, waiting for orders dutifully.
He walked towards the quarians hiding behind the console and swiftly disarmed Samor'Dahlael of his weapon, cracking his elbow across the face to knock him one way as the others cowered weakly.
	"DADDY!"
Leiah cried out as she came firing down from the vents, the guards shooting upwards upon realising others were there as one EMP grenade was returned back to them.  Lodging neatly into the ventilation, the sounds of desperate scrabbling followed by screams of panic came before the sudden shocking explosion, crackling throughout as Leiah shrieked from being burned electrically.  One quarian however heard this and cried:
	"LEIAH!  NOOO!"
The commander did not flinch as Samor tried to grab for him, punching him straight in the jaw to knock him out once more as he input the commands onto the console they had been guarding, watching it open to reveal another more complex console.  Various buttons and levers as well as one very special antennae that hummed with an oscillating tremor, like a badly-tuned theremin.  What was even more strange was that it was removable, the console being lifted up like a silver tray as he walked slowly away, before putting it into a specially-hardlined case almost resembling a suitcase.

	"We are done here," said the turian.  "Set the timer and wake everyone you pass, then we shall leave."
	"Yes sir," said one soldier.  "What about him?"
	"Leave Mr. Campbell like the rest.  He fought well, let him lick his wounds to fight another day...as well as whatever friends he had up in high places.  Now go, bietan jarrai."
	"Bietan Jarrai!"
The guards chanted this with arms crossed in salute like a T-shaped cross, but another voice roared out from behind.
	"WAIT!"
James struggled to stand once more, his wounded body faltering with one bent knee with a hand behind his back, feeling for his other weapon.  He was snarling fierce, trying to suck back his second wind whilst roaring:
	"WHO ARE YOU?!"
	"...my name does not concern you."
The turian simply swept his cloak to the east as he turned towards him, blackened by fire with ragged burnt tips frayed upon the edge.
	"What concerns you now is that you escape this station."
	"Wh-what?!"
	"The moment I leave, this place shall explode in two hours.  That will be enough time for the remaining survivors and you to escape.  Your fate now lies in your own hands."
	"YOU'RE JUST GONNA BLOW UP A FUCKING STATION!?  YOU FUCKING TERRORIST THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"
	"That may be what you brand me as but you are wrong.  I am not a terrorist..."
He turned away from the raptor, his back covered by the robe.
	"I am simply a vandal."
	"BULLSHIT!"
	"Look around you.  Everyone who has died before me has died with a gun in their hand.  Never have I murdered, only a terrorist would commit murder.  If one so fires upon me or my allies then I will kill them for they are not civilians, but armed soldiers.  But if they so choose to fight me unarmed, such as you...then I will not kill them.  Only incapacitate them.  So if you reach for your gun right now at this very moment-"
The turian turned fast towards FG all of a sudden with a gun in his right hand, pointing straight towards the raptor's head while he was just about to reach back for his own submachine gun.
	"Then you are no longer a civilian...but an armed soldier.  Unlike a terrorist, I will not kill a civilian...but I have killed many soldiers before you, young whelp.  Now answer me this.  Are you a soldier here and now, or are you a civilian?"
The raptor struggled to not flinch, hand twitching towards his gun as he tried to think what to do.  He did not want to surrender, he refused to lie down and give in to prove his enemy was right.  But he also knew that if he tried to reach for his gun he'd be dead in an instant.  Like always, he chose a third option.  He ran screaming towards the turian commander with a blast of wind charging up from his nanos, his last spurt of energy as a blinding headache now grew, his fist winding up behind him for a final blow.
But the commander simply responded by the unthinkable.  He did the exact same thing, turning on his propulsion pack to suddenly rush forwards in turn, faster than FG and with the added surprise on the raptor's face showing clearly the upper hand.  The upper hand of the commander that came crushing down on FG's head in one brutal bursting slam to the floor, the raptor skidding across and past him on his side with a huge welting bruise on his left eye.  He could barely even open it, swollen purple as he heaved desperately without any energy left to move.

The Facinus commander simply hovered down and turned off his pack, motioning to his guards as they left swiftly from the console testing area.  The last thing James would see before briefly blacking out, was the turian's red cloak billowing behind him, the mark of scarred burns showing faintly beneath.  After what felt like hours later, he was woken up hastily by the voice of a woman he knew.  His mind however briefly confused him.
	"James...wake up James."
	"Hhh-wha?"
	"Wake up James!  Wake up!"
	"Wha-"
	"JAMES WAKE UP!"
Leiah's voice came shrieking through his head, eyes snapping open apart from the swollen left.  The quarian in blue laid over him fearfully, the lights of the laboratory piercing his vision painfully.
	"A-aagh...the fuck-what happen?"
	"We have to get out of here, the place is set to blow!"
	"Wh-wha-"
	"IT'S GONNA BLOW UP, GET UP DAMMIT!"
He swiftly got onto his feet while stumbling, panic rising in his heart as he looked around him desperately, seeing the room was more or less the same he left before grabbing his gun off the floor.
	"Wh-where are the others?!"
	"Lirem took dad and the others to the docking area, we're trying to get everyone off the ship!"
	"Wha-can we even do this!?!  How much time we have?!?"
	"An hour, now get moving!"
The two began stumbling forwards towards the docking bay, running all the way back or trying to at the very least.  James was rather bruised all over from being brutally beaten, whilst Leiah had electric burns running through her legs that rather crippled her ability to run faster.  The place was starting to crumble all around them, an alarm constantly blaring off with screaming intensity like a dying bird.  The fire alarm was what went off, as sprinklers began pouring with rain to soak both of them completely.  The plants would have to enjoy their last moments in paradise.
On the way back there were even less bodies than there had been before, presumably thanks to the unconscious ones waking up in time to escape.  But the raptor was still concerned for any others that might remain, asking:
	"Is that really everyone?!"
	"I-I don't know," said Leiah, "I just went back for you, you didn't wake up and I just kept trying to wake you, I tried to wake you James!  I tried to-"
	"It's fine it's fine...you woke me up, that's good now come on."
	"AGH my leg!"
	"Sh-shit..."
She suddenly cramped up with a fierce pain through her left leg, slowing down even more as they tried to hobble their way to the exit.  The raptor was holding her up by the shoulder whilst she did the same, the quarian wincing as she tried to put less pressure on her more wounded foot.  It took them at the very least a full 40 minutes to walk back towards the docking bay, all while the station was desperately trying to hold itself up despite its eventual destruction.  The sounds of explosions came distant from beyond their hearing, rumbling through the hull.
As they passed the area of the first barricade, Jax was waiting and ran desperately towards them, clutching the two tight.
	"COME ON WE GOTTA MOVE!"
	"Y-you-where's everyone?!" cried Leiah.
	"At the ship now come on I'll carry you!"
	"James, he-"
	"I'LL CARRY YOU!"
He grabbed both raptor and quarian in each arm and hurried down the stairs, bullrushing with two wounded allies over each shoulder like they weighed nothing to him.  It took him less than two minutes to reach the Centurion Eagle, crying out to them:
	"START THE ENGINE, WE'RE GETTIN' OUTTA HERE!"
The krogan piled up into the cargo hold with feet stomping on metal ramp, which closed up behind them as the ship flied its way out of the docking bay, leaving the station behind.  Every other ship had already left before them, the raptor able to look out the window the last of Susskind Station.  The last anyone would see as explosions piled up of each other, silently burning away in space as shards of metal went drifting off into space, before the most tremendous light came.  A brightening star-shaped glimmer before the entire station was obliterated without a whisper.
James could do nothing more but rest and wait for recovery, his body wounded far more than his ego would be.  In his last moments before sleep took him fully, he could only wonder like everyone else on board what the true intentions of Facinus were.