Unité, ici la tour de la Citadelle, vous êtes libre de partir. Bonne chance.
La réponse de la Citadelle est venue avec Rayne retourner une bascule vers le haut. Le moteur s'est mis en marche, faisant basculer légèrement le navire vers l'avant. Les fermoir d'atterrissage qui maintenaient le navire à quai étaient enlevés et Rayne déplaçait lentement une poignée vers le bas, laissant flotter l'Unité lorsque les pinces d'amarrage tombaient. Elle s'est davantage attachée à s'assurer que le navire n'a pas décroché et s'est écrasé pour faire une remarque sur la violation manifeste du protocole personnel, mais il a été ajouté à la liste. Juste sous 'Décollage réussi'.
Lorsque la dernière pince a été levée, Rayne a posé les deux mains sur l'accélérateur de direction et les a poussés vers elle. L'Unité a dévié vers l'arrière, s'éloignant du quai. Rayne s'en alla lent et facile, s'assurant que rien n'était entré en contact avec le navire, qu'elle s'éloignait de la piste d'atterrissage. C'était la partie facile. À l'école de pilotage, les élèves ont eu plus de difficultés à atterrir et à s'amarrer qu'à décoller. Elle n'a jamais compris pourquoi, l'atterrissage était facile aussi. C'était des manœuvres à haut conflit qui étaient la partie difficile, mais les simulateurs n'en avaient pas beaucoup. L'essai par le feu s'est avéré être un outil d'apprentissage bien meilleur.
Avec l'unité libre de la zone d'atterrissage, Rayne tourna l'accélérateur, le navire tournant à droite, son front pointant maintenant hors de la Citadelle et vers l'espace. Avec une poussée de l'accélérateur vers l'avant, l'Unité était éteinte, ses propulseurs mettant dans le travail et éclairant le chemin derrière eux. « Teague », la voix du commandant sonnait dans sa communication, « Chart a course for the Caleston Rift. Système de Talava."
Le Rift de Caleston était situé dans les Terminus Systems. C'était logique. Aller dans une zone d'espace à l'extérieur du contrôle de la Citadelle. Bien qu'avec la menace des Reapers, quels secteurs étaient même sous le contrôle de la Citadelle? L'entrée de Rayne se coordonne alors que l'Unité s'approche du relais de masse voisin, le noyau de chaîne s'enclenche déjà. « Vous aviez une règle, un fantassin, » dit Rayne à l'intrus turois alors qu'elle volait vers le Relais, son regard toujours enfermé mort devant, concentré et clair, « Une règle simple. Mais tu as décidé d'être mignon et de faire une blague. Ce n'est pas le meilleur début de notre relation de travail."
L'Unité s'est arrêtée le long du Relais et, dans un éclatement soudain, ils ont été abattus vers l'avant, se baladant vers les Terminus Systems. Au milieu de leur chaîne, Rayne se retourna dans sa chaise et, dans un mouvement, se leva et gifla sa paume ouverte sur la joue droite du Turian, ou ce qu'elle représente était l'équivalent turian. Slapper un Turian n'était pas comme gifler un humain. Pas aussi doux. Mais le geste était le même. "Vous aviez votre avertissement. Mon pont est hors limites pour vous types grogneurs. Je n'ai pas besoin que tu me distrais ou quoi que ce soit que tu fasses."
L'Unité est sortie de distorsion dans le Rift de Caleston. Rayne est revenue à son siège et a repris les commandes une fois de plus. Ils étaient bien en route pour le système Talava. Et elle ne s'était pas encore écrasée. Pour l'instant, si bien.
Name: Rayne 'Songbird' Teague (That's Rayne pronounced Ray-Knee)
Appearance: An average height of 5'5" with a lean figure that certainly does the uniform proud, at least to the drunk sleazebags at the clubs on the Citadel. Rayne, despite looking like a twig with a trace amount of meat, adheres to physical standards, fudged slightly due to how rare she is in ground combat situations. What muscles are there are evident in her arms, showing taut musculature focused around the biceps. Her hair, cornsilk blonde in color, is cut short, in the common human vernacular she sports a pixy cut. Ostensibly it's to keep hair from her eyes, but in truth she just got tired of ponytails and longer hair. Her eyes are a steel blue and the most common expression on her lips is pursed. A hat is always placed atop her head when in the pilot's seat. It used to be an Alliance standard hat complete with emblem, before she was flying for a non-military specific organization. Her skin is tanned but still clearly pale otherwise. Though hidden by the uniform pants, there's a tattoo of a nightingale on her right thigh.
Race: Human
Age: 28
Biotic ability: None whatsoever
Biography: Rayne (pronounced as 'Rain' by her parents because her parents didn't know that no one names their children after weather, hence 'Ray-Knee') was an Earthborn, born in Cardiff though she didn't stay grounded for long. Her mother was in the Alliance Navy, serving aboard a frigate as a medical specialist. Her father had served before an injury left him without his right leg. He chose not to get it replaced, considering it a sign of a job well done. Plus the retirement benefits didn't hurt. He was stationed at an Alliance facility in the United Kingdom, as a comm specialist. It was her mother that drew Rayne to the world of ships. As a child she would often watch Alliance ships fly overhead or dock at the nearby facility. If she was feeling particularly bold, she would even attempt to enter the facility to watch the docking up close. Her mother caved and took Rayne onboard provided she stay confined to the crew deck.
Her love of ships and ship design drove her to enlist in flight school for the Alliance. She had scraped by on the physical portion of the enlistment, only her slightly above average ability with a pistol carried her through. That and a recommendation from her parents. Which was probably the worst kept secret in flight school. Her fellow potential pilots often mocked her for being a daddy's girl or equally as idiotic names. Yes, her parents helped her get accepted into the pilot's program, but that was the extent of their aid. Everything that happened in training was Rayne on her own.
Though not the top of her class, Rayne showed incredible potential and extensive knowledge of the workings of most class of ship within the Alliance Navy. She graduated and was assigned to the bridge crew of an Alliance vessel. It wasn't the position she wanted, that being helmsman, but she was still happy to have been chosen at all. Sitting on the bridge, Rayne got a first-hand look at the galaxy from the best seat around, both the good and the bad aspects. The worst of it happened a few years into her service. The Battle of the Citadel? She was aboard one of the ships involved in taking down Sovereign and the geth. She was terrified at what she saw. So terrified that it had a negative impact on her ability to perform the job. Fortunately, she wasn't at the helm, or else another Alliance ship would have been destroyed in that battle.
In the years following the Battle, Rayne was both promoted and demoted in one fell swoop. She was promoted to helmsman, but demoted to piloting an Alliance shuttle. It wasn't the helm of a frigate, but at least she had full control. What started as a job transporting admirals and other important figures became something much more important. Rayne began flying evacuation missions, flying a shuttle into combat areas to evacuate small squads, often Alliance black ops troops whose mission went sideways. It was in these assignments that her nickname was earned. To combat the fear she felt flying into hot landing zones, Rayne sang. Old human songs mostly, but they brought her comfort, and brought comfort to the soldiers who were picked up by her.
It was her record of flying under hostile skies that drew the attention of the Unity backers. That she was selected over more experienced pilots is a testament to her potential. Or in the Consortium's faith in her.
Personality: Rayne is confident, though incredibly nervous all at the same time. She knows she's got the knowledge and the ability, but she's constantly doubting herself and in danger of cracking under self imposed pressure. Though she runs the bridge with the appropriate level of authority to ensure her flight crew is doing what they should be doing even before it needs to be done, she considers every member in the bridge her family, because it's on their shoulders to make sure the soldiers on board get to and from their missions safely. To that end, though she'll converse with other members of any given ship she's aboard, she'll never go out of her way to befriend or interact with them. If she could, she'd take her meals on the bridge and sleep there as well. Her cold shoulder to anyone not in the bridge with her has had the unfortunate side effect of making her seem like an anti-social hardass to others. Which, while not true, serves her purposes well. That means less interruptions mid-flight.
Position: Pilot. Helmsman. Whichever sounds better. As far as Rayne's qualifications, most of them are outlined in her service record (the biography), but apart from flying in the Battle of the Citadel, Rayne has proven herself an able pilot under extreme situations. She has not once failed to complete an evacuation mission, though it is important to note that completion doesn't always mean a full evacuation.
Other: - Rayne treats her nickname as a badge of honor. As such, people she trusts also get appropriate bird themed nicknames. This is typically isolated to members of the flight crew, since she has to trust them or else things go badly.
-Though from Cardiff, her accent is not strong. It's noticeable, but she's understandable in her speech, even if it comes out quickly.
-Despite flying in high danger missions, Rayne is still terrified of flying around Reapers, having seen first hand what one is capable of. Her fears haven't yet caused her to lose focus, but on the same hand she hasn't exactly had to fly many missions involving Reapers. Well, she hadn't.
Code: The emotion known as fear.