Freedom (Open)

[Isaac Maxwell]

After being rescued in the shuttle and patched up Isaac was informed about the Okinawa’s destruction high in orbit. Isaac was stuck here on Earth now with all the other resistance members. Now Isaac was duty bound to help these people see through everything; even if that meant he would make the ultimate sacrifice. It has been a couple of days since the shuttle crash and the people here had kindly given Isaac a small room in the refugee camp like everyone else had. Isaac managed to get hold of an M8 Avenger rifle it would come in handy when husks decided to attack.

The camp wasn’t much to look at up it seemed to Isaac that this was all the people of London had left and they weren’t going to allow some alien creature take that away from him. Yawning Isaac stepped out of his room and walked down to what seemed to be like a dining hall, he was still wearing the same cloths that he had on since he left Melbourne. Isaac carried his weapon with him; he didn’t want anything to happen but he wanted to make sure that he was at least defended if an attack occurred here. Isaac continue walking; he wanted to explore this place some more.

Isaac soon discovered an empty table; he sighed as he sat down. Placing his avenger on the table he laid his head on his arms. Isaac was confused about everything that was going on he didn’t know what he should be doing since they didn’t have a strong military force here. Isaac remained the same position for a few more moments wondering what he should be doing; though he had hoped that he could at least take the fight to the reapers.

[Kiria Winters]

The scratches up and down her back had been healed, thankfully, leaving her to struggle and wash the blood of off her light armor. That had been a nice time suck, even if it left her hands scrubbed raw. And so now Kiria listlessly wandered the halls, unsure of what to do or where to go. She was bored taking apart her own gun in her room; they hadn't even let her near the armory(breaking in was always an option, but that would cause so much unwanted drama). The lack of options left her with no clear destination and a manic sort of energy building in her fingers telling her to do something.

Her wandering took her to the makeshift dining hall, where people seemed to group into huddling clumps. They mumbled with their eyes cast downward and the oppressive reaper filled air outside almost didn't seem as bad compared to the absolute lack of hope in here. A shudder ran down Kiria's spine. She didn't want to be here, not if it would remind her of their situation and make her even more upset.

She was moving to leave when she saw a man sitting alone, seemingly the only one to do that. Her eyebrows raised curiously and she walked over to him. He was in the universal position of 'do not disturb; I am very obviously upset or tired', but Kiria couldn't help herself from walking even closer to his table when she realized he was the soldier from the shuttle crash. A vision of him bleeding and faint passed before her eyes then she plopped herself down in the seat opposite him.

"You patched up alright? I was one of the people that got you from the crash, dunno if you even remember any of that... you're N7 though, yeah? Unless you stole the armor, but either way you had to have seen the Alliance armory pretty well, and N7's are the ones that get the Crusaders, have you ever worked with one? I think the recoil is a bit crazy, but it does pack a punch..." she trailed off, frowning a little at herself. She'd been doing a lot of senseless babbling since she ran into this group, and attributed it to the fact that she didn't have to watch what she said. In the circles she had run in, too much information about yourself was more power to everyone else. The people here, though, were constantly wrapped up in it all and she doubted anyone had the time or energy to analyze the things she said.

[Isaac Maxwell]

Isaac continued to lay his head on his arms, a lot has happened to Earth but he hoped that everything would sort itself out in the long run. When the world turned to hell Isaac normally did this he’d hide his feelings till something happened though perhaps he shouldn’t do this. Isaac looked around the room for a moment, it seemed that everyone else had found their own place and so it was up to Isaac to find his own. Isaac wouldn’t feel like this for very long; the shock of the invasion had now sank in deeper than he thought it could go, he would be back to his old combat ready self in no time.

Isaac’s thoughts were snapped out of his mind when he heard a voice; a voice that was close by to him and he wondered who it was. Looking up from his position Isaac noticed a woman was talking to him the same woman that was with the group that helped him when his shuttle crashed a few days ago. Isaac smiled at her words; the doctor had patched him up nicely and he was thankful of that; however there were still some scars that needed to be healed. “Yes, the doctors here do excellent work though can’t say much about my flying abilities.” Isaac replied with a smile, he positioned himself up and leaned against the chair he was on.

Isaac continued to listen to the woman as she spoke to him, he nodded at her questions. “I do remember you from the group, though I didn’t get your name. Thank you for pulling me out of that wreck. I am N7 unless the training was just a memory planted in my mind.” Isaac explained joking. Isaac nodded again in the woman’s question about the crusader. “Yeah a couple of times I’ve used the crusader it’s a nice shotgun. If I recall right it was on Omega against a few Eclipse mercenaries. The crusader came in handy for close range.” Isaac explained further.

[Kiria Winters]

Kiria laughed lightly at his jokes, happy someone was making an effort to lighten the mood. Everyone she had spoken to thus far had been almost intolerably grave, except for the blonde girl from the crash site group. She was another case entirely.

While she was laughing, her mind was racing. She tried to remember if she'd heard of an incident involving N7s, Eclipse and Crusaders, wondering if she'd been in the loop of information on Omega at that point or not. In the end, she gave up trying to recall the incident, figuring it didn't matter much. She wouldn't have been directly involved anyway.

"'M Kiria" Her hair brushed the table as she leaned forward to offer her hand, "It was no problem, really. I actually ran into that 'squad' as they headed there and they brought me back here. So, thanks I guess, I wouldn't have been here if they weren't looking for you. Or your supplies, at least."


A smile brightened her face as she shifted to sit with her feet under her, her elbows leaning against the table, "Never know with the N7s, you all are so scary efficient you could be robots. Training must be crazy, even if it actually was just implanted in your head." she jokes back, nodding at his statement about the shotgun, "It's fun, definitely. Right now I'd just be happy to get my hands on an Eviscerator"

[Isaac Maxwell]

Isaac’s mood was changing; he was glad that he could actually have someone to talk to that wasn’t about the war with the reapers, he gathered that things will change but at least they will continue on. Isaac was glad that the group had found him if they hadn’t he wouldn’t probably be here right now. Isaac listened to the woman as she continued to speak to him; now introducing herself as Kiria. Smiling Isaac took the offered hand with his own to shake hers. “I’m Isaac.” Isaac explained as he too introduced himself to Kiria. Isaac was glad to have some company at least.

Isaac was still grateful for the rescue even if Kiria had found the group who had been searching for the shuttle. “I guess we helped each other out in the end. I was happy to see humans again at my current state I wouldn’t last against the husks even if I used my biotics.” Isaac explained; he’d probably break his bones if he used his charge power while he was wounded. Isaac laughed at Kiria’s response about the N7’s, he gathered that they must look like robot’s with their attitude’s and armour but they were as human as the next human. “I guess we do look like robots don’t we.” Isaac replied with a smile.

Isaac continued to listen as Kiria spoke to him about finding weapons. “It’s going to be hard find good weapons out there. I was lucky enough to get hold of an M8 Avenger. I would love to find some N7 equipment but I guess my armour and biotics will have to do for now till we can get some good gear in.” Isaac explained as he sat back more comfortably in his chair. “So what did you do before the invasion? If you don’t mind me asking?” Isaac asked now being a little bit curious.

[Kiria Winters]

"Those were the first people I had seen in a few days too, I thought I was hallucinating at first. You were beaten up pretty bad, looked dead on your feet. Or, not your feet when we first found you at least. It's lucky the Dr. was with us to do some quick fixes before we got you here."

A frown slipped onto her face, remembering his state and then her own run in with the husks, "The husks are awful, have you seen any of the others? The huge ones, or the ones with the smaller ones inside of them? And yeah," she perked up again at his comment about N7, "Just a bit, crazy discipline and intense badassery and all. If you ever wanna sneak out of HQ and look for weapons, I'd be totally in. Avengers aren't bad, being standard and all. You have to watch for jams though, and sometimes the trigger locks, which is really easy to keep from happening if you just..."

She trailed off again and paused at his question of her past, trying to think of a passable lie while still explaining her interest and knowledge of guns. Her mind cycled through all the things she did on Omega before smuggling, even those seemed vaguely suspicious and warranting of more questions. Unsure if she should stay vague or outright lie, a fairly weak answer ending up popping out.

"This and that. Fiddled with guns." Kiria struggled to change the topic, worried about Isaac's reaction to her dismal avoidance. "My aunt was Alliance, actually! She was Gunnery Chief on a few different ships in her run, taught me a lot."

[Isaac Maxwell]

Isaac continued to listen to Kiria as she spoke; he was glad that everything worked out in the end, life had a funny way of sorting everything out. “Yeah I was lucky that you guys had a doc. I flew that shuttle from the Sahara Desert. I’m amazed that I got that far to be quite honest.” Isaac explained, he wondered where Kiria was travelling from before she got to London. Isaac was glad that he had found help and not something that would kill him as there were worst things out there than husks to deal with and he was glad that none of them found his shuttle.

Isaac fell silent for a moment as Kiria continued to speak to him asking if he had dealt with any other versions of the hush, Isaac nodded in reply. “There was a Banshee that led the assault on Melbourne, where I was taking shore leave with a couple of friends. We fought the thing for a while before a crashing shuttle rammed into it. The banshee exploded and we were able to escape from it.” Isaac explained. “Other than that haven’t really seen much other than the husks. What about you? What have you seen?” Isaac asked now a little bit curious to see what Kiria had seen out there.

Isaac was also curious to know what was out in London that he would have to deal with; though whatever it was he would just have to face it like everyone else. “I would enjoy that whenever you want to ditch this place for a few hours I’m game. I’m hoping to find some better weapons out there as well and we’d be picking of the husks that are out there as well.” Isaac explained to Kiria. “Really? What was your aunt’s name? Perhaps I’ve served with her.” Isaac asked now understanding her knowledge of weapons. Isaac remained silent as he waited to hear what Kiria’s response would be.

[Kiria Winters]

Kiria raised an eyebrow(tried to, at least, she'd never been able to and doesn't know why she thought she could then) at his comment. "Sahara? What? Why'dya come over here? It's probably a lot safer in less populated areas..." Did he really fly all the way over to London with the Reapers in the skies shooting down everything they saw, and by himself too? She didn't even know if she could manage flying a shuttle in the first place.

Banshees? Kiria hadn't seen anything she would classify as a 'banshee', though she did remember hearing piercing screams from blocks away that could not have been humans at one point. A few moments of pondering what could have made such a noise and she decided it wasn't something she really wanted to see. Her lips pressed tight at his question before she let out a small sigh; it was depressing as all hell, but she couldn't get the image of the huge beast ripping apart her friends whenever someone mentioned Reaper-creatures other than husks. She started to answer his question, slowly.

"Big ones. Brutes, they've got this claw-thing, and armor and spikes," she made a sort of upward gesture with her hands and gave a shaky laugh, "And spidery ones, ravagers, that've got huge sacs filled with little babies that swarm at you. Those ones are a pain, more than the others, I mean. Pretty great a shuttle crashed into your banshee, though, must've looked awesome."

A smile returned to her face; Isaac had brightened her mood considerably with his promise to get back on the streets and find guns. She missed her favorite shotgun horribly. And all her others, of course, but she knew her old Eviscerator had been perfect for close-range husk battles.

"Perfect! I've been itching to get my hands on some firepower, feels safer, you know? I trust my biotics and all, but it's more comfortable to have both. Mariana Evans. She retired a few years back though, so I dunno if you'd have met her. How long have you been Alliance anyway?"

Kiria gave an inward sigh of relief as he asked about her aunt and not her. She still wasn't sure if she should be hiding her occupation, or just discreet about it. The world(galaxy? There'd been a suspicious lack of help of help arriving) had gone to hell, after all, but he was Alliance and however easy-going he might seem she doubted he'd be okay her admittedly sketchy employment. It's not like she thought he'd try and lock her up now, but if everyone managed to scrape through this he probably would want to then.

[Isaac Maxwell]

Isaac sighed a little when Kiria asked him about the Sahara and why he flew from there in the first place. “Well we flew from Melbourne but when we reached the Sahara Desert we came under attack from the reapers. They shot us down which killed everyone inside from the crash. There were some resistance members there that recued me and. I’ve got more lives than a cat it seems. They cave me another shuttle where I flew it to London.” Isaac explained. Isaac was waiting for someone or something to happen to get the upper hand on the reapers and he hoped that it was soon.

Isaac listened to Kiria as she continued to speak about her dealings with the different forms of husks; well he had his fair share of them he was lucky to not have to come face to face with the brutes or even those spider things that if you shoot them smaller things come out and swarm. Isaac heard the hesitation in her voice and it seemed to him that answering his question was as painful to her as it was to him. Everyone in this war had suffered by the hands of the reapers and Isaac wanted to end this, he hated living in fear that one day could mean your last.

Isaac laughed at Kiria’s response to the shuttle ramming into a banshee when she was attacking them, it was a pretty big break for them and they managed to find a shuttle to get away from the attack. “Those brutes and spider things seem to be as worse than the banshee. Yeah luck was in my corner that day.” Isaac explained. “I understand. Biotics are awesome but having that extra firepower handy in a tight situation works every time. I’d enjoy the company as well these days travelling alone could lead into something worse.” Isaac explained. Isaac then heard Kiria’s aunt’s name and he couldn’t recall her. “I can’t recall the name actually. I’ve been with the Alliance for about ten years. Enlisted when I was eighteen.” Isaac explained further.

[Kiria Winters]

Kiria bit her lip, wondering if upsetting Isaac was worth prodding him for more information about the resistance in other areas. She needed to know if there were others, how the rest of the world was and from there the galaxy. The lack of incoming transmissions from anywhere- transmissions picked up by the low-grade tech they had, that is- freaked her out more than she was willing to admit. They hadn't heard of any attacks other places before Earth was hit, so she was willing to make the jump that they were first.

"You really got shitty luck with shuttles, huh? I'm... sorry about your friends, it's awful being the only one to get out." She winced a little; her goal was to keep the conversation away from herself and if she kept accidently dropping hints about herself she doubted that would happen. It also sucked that she seemed to be making him sad just as much as he was laughing. She wondered if she should just stop bothering him and leave, but he didn't seem actually annoyed. Plus, she guessed, it would be a pretty big challenge to make anyone actually happy, considering the circumstances.

"What'd the banshee do? I know at one point I heard some freakish totally-not-human screaming, but I didn't get a look? Definitely, I don't ever wanna be on those streets alone again, but I seriously need to get out of here for at least an hour. Yeah, I didn't think you would. She's great, though, taught me a whole lot." she nods when he says he didn't know her aunt; she really hadn't expected him to. Her eyes widened a little and she leaned forward as he said how long he'd been Alliance, "Wow. You were so young. I'm older than you were and I can't even imagine getting enough guts to join."

She chose not to mention that any attempt to join anything government would probably end in background checks and her subsequent imprisonment. But it was an odd thought for her, doing something so binding so young. Of course, she couldn't say much considering what she had chosen to do upon turning sixteen- spur of the moment nonetheless- but that wasn't anything too permanent. She supposed joining Alliance young was kind of a normal thing, though, as opposed to her off-planet adventures.