"Do you have a visual?"

"Not yet," Jeongha responded to Yoonshik. It'd been ten minutes since the initial attack had begun, and Yoonshik had joined the trio in the cockpit, watching the monitors. At Hugo's orders, they'd sealed off their end of the bridge, and sure enough, moments later there came a commotion on the Alliance side. Yoonshik barked out to some other nameless crew members who had taken positions at other terminals, and various statuses were being tossed out faster than Inho could keep up.

The hell. This was not just a smuggler ship. This felt like a well oiled military machine.

"Hey, take a look at this," Jeongha switched some views, and a shot of outside the ships was present. There, already tethered to the Alliance ship, was a third, "It's the Red Raiders. They're getting ballsy attacking in this area."

"Which means more Alliance or, worse, Council ships will be here soon," Yoonshik grumbled irritably, "we gotta get clear of this now."

"Hyuk could do it," Daebak offered.

"The medic?" Daebak nodded at Inho's question.

"But that means getting him to the console, which means opening the door," Yoonshik muttered, and regarded the feed of the bridge. At that moment, the door from the Alliance side shuddered, and began to be forced open, "Bastards are trying to get to this side."

Inho was focusing on Hanjin. The other didn't appear to have his gear with him. Neither did anyone on the bridge except for the Alliance security. He cursed to himself. He shouldn't have let Hanjin go alone. Hanjin's expression was unreadable from this angle, but Hugo's however...

The captain of the Fringe looked up at the camera directly...and that's all it took.

"Hyuk, meet us at the bridge control," Yoonshik said into a communicator, "Daebak, Jeongha, come with me."

"Eh? Why me?" Jeongha looked genuinely surprised at his order.

"I need you to clear a path for us when we get in there."

"...," Jeongha punched a few controls, and was joining them, "I hope you have a plan B if I this up."

"Inho, you too. You were hired as a gun. Time to prove your worth."

Inho looked to the monitor one last time, and upon seeing the door begin to slide open, he joined the trio. Quickly, they entered what Inho now knew for certain was the armory. Yoonshik directed him to some black combat armor, and guns, while the others all immediately picked up their own. He watched Daebak grab an assault rifle and shot gun, while Yoonshik grabbed the same but included a pistol. Jeongha only grabbed a pistol, rather reluctantly.

"Might need something more than that."

"Believe me," Jeongha laughed while holstering it, "You do not want me in an actual fire fight for long. If this messes up, I'd probaly be better shooting myself otherwise I'll end up shooting one of you s!"

"Why would you shoot me?" Daebak, clearly missing the first part of that conversation, and despite the rather impressive gunnery he was holstering and the combat helmet, looked just like a confused puppy, "Did Hyuk tell you about the control panel? I didn't mean to spill the juice all over it..."

"Wait that was you?! I had to take apart the entire thing to get that out!"

"Cut the crap," Yoonshik barked, "we're moving out."

Gear ready, the now quartet were making haste to the bridge door. Hyuk was waiting for them, wearing armor as well, and working on his omni tool furiously. Despite being referred to as the 'medic', he was quite proficient with the omni-tool.

"I can't get a link out here. And I can hear the beginnings of commotion in there," he looked to the door worriedly, "I'll need to get in there."

"Get the door ready then."

Inho fell back a step. Even Jeongha who was giving the speech about how inept he was, stood ready and focused. Daebak's smile was also gone, shotgun already in his hands. Even Hyuk, looking wary, had his pistol and omni tool ready. The only one who looked relaxed was Yoonshik. And the casual way brought the gun up in front of him was all too telling.

"Wait for it," Yoonshik ordered. From the other side, Inho could hear the surprised shouts of who he assumed was the Alliance forces. He did not hear Hanjin or Hugo at all. There was a scraping sound, and the whirr of doors being forced open.

"Everyone?" Jeongha asked, taking a step ahead of Yoonshik.

"Everyone."

To his surprise, the telltale signs of biotics began to spring to life around Jeongha's hands. There was a shout from within the bridge, and then a loud crash. Yoonshik souted at Hyuk, and the medic finally opened the door.

A bullet whizzed by them, narrowly missing Inho's shoulder. Jeongha took two quick steps, not flinchine when another hail of bullets began to ring out, and the now violet light in his hands flared to life. Swinging them forward, the light shot out from in front of him with a loud BOOM, bursting at regular intervals in front of him. He could see Hugo, Hanjin, and some of the other crew knocked away by the shockwave, and a few unfortunate Alliance in the way thrown across the corridor. And that same shockwave hit the group of emerging pirates right on target.

Screams of surprise and pain followed as the effect was absolute, the room now devoid of standing individuals. Jeongha fell back behind Yoonshik, and just when Inho thought Yoonshik would go next, he felt another powerful surge near him. And a glance over showed Daebak engulfed in a similar biotic glow.

Daebak surged forward, his body phasing momentarily past them and clear to the end of the bridge. Just as one of the Krogans that had been on the opposing team was getting up, he was greeted by a full force charged slam from Daebak. The resulting shockwave was enough to send any of the smaller humans on the ground back down, and when the Krogan tried to rear back up, he was met by a shotgun to the face.

Inho hadn't even seen it. Yoonshik was in there now as well, pistol whipping one newcomer to the fight before turning and shooting another with his pistol in the chest as he raised an assualt rifle against them. He faded again, and an instant later was actually in the Alliance ship, behind three more pirates that had joined the fray. In quick succession, he grabbed one by the next, flipping him over and to the ground, swung out his leg to trip the next, and then shooting the final one between the eyes. As another was going to try for a back attack on Yoonshik, Daebak had already taken the of his shotgun and slammed it against the back of his head.

Inho literally didn't have to raise his gun once.

"Hyuk," Yoonshik called back, grabbing a dazed Alliance officer and pushing him through the door to the Alliance ship.

"Almost done," Hyuk was furiously working on his omni tool, already jacked into the control panel, "damnit. Looks like one of them damaged the controls."

"Get it closed quickly," it was Hugo who spoke, having gotten to his feet, and shaking his head while trying to regain his balance. His mask fell away, and for a moment Inho saw the ugly scar across the, now very clearly, young face of the captain. Hanjin groaned, and was struggling to get up as well. That was Inho's cue to rush in, and stsrt helping the crew of the Fringe to get back into the ship.

On the otherside, Daebak was literally throwing some of the Alliance crew back into their ship. Yoonshik stood on alert, looking left to right. A few moments later, and he cursed, ducking back into the bridge when a hail of bullets came at him.

"I'm on your side!" He shouted, "Stop shooting!"

"They probably have the situation on their end under control," Hugo was speaking again, "Hyuk, it's be nice if you could close these doors now."

"Almost...done!" Just as Daebak hurled the last dazed officer onto the ship, the doors to the Alliance vessel slammed shut and locked. The rest of the crew back on the Fringe, Hugo, Daebak, and Yoonshik were the last off the bridge. And then Hyuk shut the door.

"Yoonshik get us out of here," Hugo was walking past all of them, pulling his mask back on, "Hyuk get that bridge disengaged. We have to move before the Alliance ship asks questions. Daebak, get Jeongha to the infirmary."

Still holding up the dazed Hanjin, Inho realized Jeongha was not around. Or at least, he wasn't on his feet. Daebak kneeled next to the other man who was sitting with his back against the wall next to the bridge door. His eyes were closed, and combat helmet tossed away. He looked like he was in pain.

"It's okay. Daebak has you," Daebak said quietly to Jeongha. The larger man almost literally picked Jeongha up, but the pilot managed to get to his feet, and was ushered off by Daebak.

"What the hell just happened?" Hanjin mumbled, still shaking his head.

Inho just shook his head. Why the hell would THIS crew need more manpower?!

A couple hours later...

"That really hurt," Hanjin groaned as he sat up on his bunk, looking to Inho who had just roused him, "can't say it wasn't good timing though. Those bastards were coming in with guns drawn, ready to take out anyone on the bridge."

"They attacked the Alliance vessel just to get to this one," Inho muttered, taking a seat next to Hanjin, "but why? Just for the arms?"

"Who knows? Maybe they were desperate," the other officer looked pensive for a moment, "but that's pretty desperate to want to pick a fight with this crew and the Alliance vessel."

"...or maybe they had no choice. Seriously Hanjin, why are we even here? With members like Daebak and Yoonshik, hell even Jeongha and Hyuk, why even hire more guns?"

"And that doesn't even include the biotics I saw Hugo firing up before your lot came in like an enraged Elcor in a china shop."

", man," Inho rubbed his face in frustration, "what the hell have we been dragged into?"

"All those skills though," Hanjin finally added thoughtfully after a moment of consideration, "those are all great for close quarter combat. I mean, that giant is probably good in a larger firefight, but would the others be? We're formally trained for these situations Inho. It's clear Hugo is anticipating a bigger fight," Hanjin looked thoughtful again, "We need to get into the actual shipment. See what it is. Like you said: this crew is too well trained to be rag tag."

All very true. Inho got to his feet and made his way to exit.

"I'm going to get something to eat. Need anything?"

"Nah. But...hey, you learned their names pretty quickly. Do they seem to like you?"

"...damned if I know," Inho already didn't like where this conversation was going.

"Look," Hanjin ws next to him now, speaking lowly so only he and Inho could hear, "they trusted you enough to bring you into the fight. Hugo trusted me enough to let me join the negotiations. I'll try to get some information, but maybe you can get close enough to one of them to get us to those armaments. We'd only need a moment, and we could send the details back to C-Sec. This could be over before we even get to Noveria."

"And how do we get off the ship?" Inho was all for leaving this vessel as soon as possible. Remembering how easily Yoonshik dispatched the pirates, or how Daebak took out that Krogan in a few easy steps...

"We can arrange something. Maybe get them to stop off at another port before Noveria. I don't think us being here very long is going to end well for either of us. Because I know it: this is bigger than C-Sec, Bongpal, or anyone on the council thinks."

Nodding mutely, Inho left Hanjin to make his way to the mess hall. After the firefight, Yoonshik had been flying the ship while Hyuk and Jeongha went missing (probably the infirmary). Daebak was also nowhere to be found, and Hugo had holed himself up in his quarters. He did, however, tell Inho, "thanks for the aid." before leaving them. That felt...odd.

The ship was once again, quiet. Inho had to wonder how such a skeleton crew kept this ship moving.Oh wait, Jeongha had already told him. Give yourself the best system, and you would need minimal human effort. Speaking of which...had the pilot been hit in the firefight?

Inho paused by the infirmary, looked to the door, then to the corridor to the mess hall, and finally turned to enter the infimary.

"When do I get to leave here?"

"As soon as you get a solid night's sleep," Hyuk's exhasperated voice responded to Jeongha's irritated one, "Yoonshik refuses to let you fly until you at least do that."

"How the hell do I sleep with this ing headache though?"

"Jeongha," Inho was surprised by the third voice of Hugo, "you rest. You don't have to do everything Yoonshik tells you to do, especially when it comes to the biotics, but this time, you should," A long, overly dramatic sigh was the response, "that's more like it. Get some sleep."

"I'll go get you something for the headache," Inho almost felt like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar when both Hugo and Hyuk met him in the front office of the infirmary, "hey, Inho. You okay? Did you get injured in the fight afterall?"

"No, I'm fine. Just," he paused, trying to think of a good lie, before just saying the truth instead, "came to check on Jeongha. He looked bad after."

"He might be cranky because of the headache. He'll be better once he sleeps," Hyuk sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "but he'll like company. I'll be back soon." Hyuk left then, but Hugo remained, scrutinizing Inho a moment. The mask was back, but as usual, Inho felt as if the man (who he now had to assume was actually quite young) was watching his every move. That familiar crinkle at the corner of his eyes, signifying he was, probably, smiling, and Hugo was off. Why did it feel like he was just strip searched by customs just now?

Further into the infirmary, Jeongha was splayed out on one of the beds. He had one arm across his face, covering his eyes, and the other hand was clenching a fist and then releasing it after a moment. He didn't look injured at least.

"Hey," Inho's voice was suprisingly loud i nthe otherwise silent room.

"Shht!" Jeongha hushed him, "now is quiet time."

"Uh, okay then, I'll-"

"Oh . Inho. Sorry man," Jeongha uncovered his eyes, squinting at the light a moment, before sitting up in the bed, "Thought you were Hyuk. What's up dude?" He tried to smile but instead hissed and squeezed his eyes shut, using his hands to shield them from the offending light, "do me a favor? Can you turn of these ing lights?" Inho complied, reducing them until they were just dim enough for him to move without running into anything, "Thanks. Man these headaches ."

"Just a headache then?"

"...something like that. What's up? Just here to see my pretty face?"

"Ha, you keep telling yourself that," Jeongha mock pouted but eventually just laughed, and relaxed back against the bed, "You're alright though?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You're not injured?"

"From what-oh! The fight! Yeah, I'm fine. Just..." he paused, the smile faltering just ever so slightly, "...overdid it a bit. That's all. What about you? No injuries right? I've been the only in here, sans Daebak when he was trying to help Hyuk with my treatment, for a while now."' Inho shook his head no, so Jeongha continued, "by the way, you never finished telling me if you went to flight school too."

"Yeah. Back on Earth for a short time."

"No ? We might have been in the same class then! Did you even meet this old of a man with the bald head, who stressed it was 'of imperative interest' whenever he really wanted you to pay attention?"

"Hah, Instructor Davis," he responded a little too quickly, remembering the punishment he received for asking if he was ever not 'imperatively a '. Damnit Inho. He mentally cursed at his practically giving away his identity to the smuggler

"You DO know him! Small world! Well, he's the one who thought test flying a cruiser was a good idea for first years, so here I was-"

And despite himself, Inho laughed at the absurdity. Part of him, the C-Sec part, told him this was a very bad idea. If any of these people were at all suspicious, they could now dig up his personal information, and possibly link him back to C-Sec. But then the less rigid part told him there was no harm in socializing, even if it was a smuggler. Besides, the story really was outrageous. And it gave him a good laugh since he was fully aware of what incident Jeongha was referring to.

"But Hugo hired you as a gun, not a pilot. Did you quit the school?"

No, no, this was now getting a little too personal. Come on Inho, make up a lie even though you should have ten minutes ago in this conversation.

"I-"

"Hello!" Daebak's voice boomed, and Jeongha winced, beginning to rub his temples again, "Hyuk is busy, so he asked me to bring you this!"

"Please tell me it will knock me out, please tell me it will knock me out," Jeongha repeated. Soon the other man was joining them, making a comment on the lighting, before sitting on Jeongha's bed with a dramatic flop.

"Here! I give this to you!" Daebak presented a small syringe.

"...the you will," Jeongha cursed, sitting up very straight, "you get that away from me. Can't you just medigel it or give me a pill?"

"No. Hyuk says this is the fastest way. The engine needs work, but Daebak is too big to get to the back console. So Hyuk sent me to give this to you while he worked there with the other engineers! Said its better to put it on your arm in the shoulder, but anywhere would be okay. He even said your bottom would be ideal as-"

"You get away from me!"

"It will make you feel better!"

Inho braced himself when Jeongha leapt out of the bed, avoiding Daebak's attempt at grabbung him, and landed near where Inho had been sitting. He immediately crouched behind Inho, like a child hiding behind one parent from another. Daebak wasn't deterred however, and was after him. It was just like a pair of kids playing keep away, truly. And Inho was homebase. Around and around they went, Daebak insisting he could give him the shot, but Jeongha demanding the shot be handed over so he could get it himself. Truthfully it was making him dizzy. And he really wished he could escape at that moment.

"Inho save me!"

"Jeongha, you're being dumb. Just sit down and let him-"

"Would YOU let the giant teddy bear with the strength of a Krogan put a needle into YOUR arm, or for that matter?"

Fair enough.

"Okay, but stop hiding behind me it-WHOA! WHAT THE HELL?! DAEBAK PUT ME DOWN!" Inho felt himself get lifted up, and thrown over Daebak's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"See? You can't hide behind him. Now hold still-ow! HEY!" Jeongha had taken that moment to lunge at Daebak, and the two began a power struggle to get the syringe away from the other. They were struggling since Daebak only had one arm free while the other had to keep a hold on Inho.

"Daebak, put me down right-agh! Stop doing that Jeongha!" Everytime Jeongha made an attempt to get the needle, Daebak would jump back, and that would cause Inho to be jostled and bounced around, interrupting him everytime he tried to protest, or wiggle free. Finally Jeongha got a good hold on Daebak's arm, but to both his and Inho's amazement Daebak just lifted his other arm up fully, taking Jeongha off his feet to dangle while looking Daebak in the face.

"Ah...well. Let's just call it a draw, shall we?" Jeongha tried to reason. And at that, Inho let out a laugh. What was even happening right now? This was absurd.

"Ahem," someone cleared their throat, and the trio all looked to the source. Yoonshik was there, looking absolutely perplexed and annoyed at the same time, "I was going to see if you were feeling better...but I'll just be flying the ship. Daebak, Hyuk was looking for you." And he left.

Daebak dropped both of them, and hurried away, apologizing to them for leaving so soon. Inho spotted the syringe on the floor...

"What the actual hell. I mean, did he think I'd actually let Daebak put a needle in-OW!" Jeongha yiped painfully and jumped away from Inho, rubbing his arm where Inho had just injected him with the painkiller. Jeongha looked to him, to his arm, to the now empty syringe, and then made a over exagerated look for horror, "No...you traitor!"

"Was that so bad-oh! Hey!" He stepped forward to steady Jeongha who suddenly seemed unsteady on his feet, "You okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah...I think Hyuk put some...some...some funny stuff in here...yah..." Jeongha slurred, leaning forward until he was resting on Inho, "I feel...funky."

"Alright, alright, come on. Into bed," he urged Jeongha to follow him to the bed and got the pilot to lay back down in it. He immediately curled up, and gave Inho a thankful smile.

"Hey...thanks for keeping me company," he slurred between a yawn, "nice to have you aboard..." Jeongha trailed off before falling asleep. Inho went about making sure the lights were off, and was about to leave when Jeongha's voice came back softly, "...stupid not guns..." and then there was just his even breathing. Inho frowned, and leaned against a wall a moment regarding the pilot.

What were 'not guns'...?