Exigency: The Old Guard

Epril is unaware of the attempt to disable her implants. She and Wilhelm trade more blows... and she comes off worse. It's clear that she's starting to flag, physically and mentally.

Epril looks to the control terminal and frowns. She's realised that the remote device has been inactive for a while, and correctly deduces that her team's hacker must be otherwise engaged.

The drones' AI seems capable of taking the initiative and responding to new events... except the one at the head of the formation, which for some reason completely fails to respond to the tram hurtling backwards. Military-grade or not it's well out of its weight class: caught between the tram and a support pillar, the drone gets snapped in half, both pieces staying airborne for a split-second before spiralling off in separate directions.

Noting the chaos that Pudge has wreaked, typos notwithstanding, the sniper switches back to her rifle and fires at him. The power setting is low (perhaps she's still heeding Epril's orders) and the tram's improvised armour blocks the worst of it, but Pudge isn't unscathed this time.

Having completely failed to re-assume control of her drones, Loren resorts to her backup plan. She takes up her SMG and prepares to join the fight in person.

Meanwhile her comrade-in-digital-arms has just been picked up and slammed into the cold hard surface of the walkway.

"You could throw him off," Reave suggests to Serana, indicating the drop. "If he breaks his neck he can hardly bring the cannon back online."

The hacker lands heavily. From this far up it's hard to tell if that nasty cracking noise is the sound of broken bone or smashed equipment.

Reave approves. "He won't be tapping into the cannon's controls. And he has a better chance of survival than if you'd cut his head off," she adds, as if concerned that Serana was now regretting her actions.

The Hellfire cannon streaks across the chamber. The sniper's spotter drone, sensing its master's peril, throws itself in front of her. The plasma blasts pop the mech in a burst of flame, squashing it like the bug it resembles so much.

---

Epril looks at Wilhelm. Then she looks at her communicator, and notes the lack of activity. She nods.

"Tell Serana I'm sorry."

And points her sword at her own neck...

"Oh, I don't think there's any need for that, Epril."

A click, and a wave of energy washes over the control centre, spreading out to the far edges of the chamber. The remote access unit spits sparks and goes dim. Despite their distance from the epicentre, Serana staggers, Pudge flinches. The tram, however, keeps on going. It's too old to be affected by a scrambler. The two surviving drones plummet out of the air. Lyra finds her damaged armour has become even more unresponsive, if that's even possible.

Wilhelm has no implants. His vibro-scythe stutters for a moment but he's otherwise completely untouched.

Epril bore the brunt. Her arm has locked in place, the blade's tip an inch from her throat. Her whole body has frozen. Only her eyes manage to move, shifting to look at the man walking towards her. The man who, somehow, she and Wilhelm had only just noticed.

It's... Moller? The tall, thin, sombre man who'd been part of Graves-Burton's expedition into the vault. The tall, thin, sombre man who activated the phase gate and, not to put too fine a point at it, died at the hands of Valon.

He's dressed all in grey, as are his two companions, who step out of the shadow as if they've always been there. Their hoods are up and their hands are hidden in the sleeves of their robes. Lyra looks completely baffled by their presence, stepping back as if suddenly confronted by demons.

"Valon will have left the planet by now," Moller continues. "So your fight is over, certainly, but neither is there any need to end it with such a meaningless gesture." He holds something up: the device that unleashed the scrambler field. It resembles a baton, or perhaps a sceptre. "And of course you failed to reactivate the cannon in time, so now I don't have to be stingy with this artifact."

Reave sends a broadcast out to Pudge and includes Serana: Let's head to the control centre. I don't like this at all: I can't pick up Wilhelm and Epril's minds anymore.

Moller looks from Wilhelm to the others as they step in. "Oh good, you're all here." He appraises the group. "That will save time.

"What I wanted, Falstaff, was to stop Valon getting off-world. But now new plans are necessary. Plans you may all yet prove integral to.

"I represent certain interests within the Distant Order. While we all wish to minimise the impact of psionics on society, my... backers focus on preventing the emergence of pre-Schism psi. Specifically people like Valon. Or artifacts like this," he adds, indicating his sceptre.

"I have been observing you for some time. And I do believe you're the kind of people my backers are looking for, should you be interested in work."