6315 réponses à ce sujet

[Kel Riever]

Faed saw Frank peeping out of his cabin door, looking like he had a night of Ba'aguhluh¹.  The quarian fidgited with his fingers, wondering if he had made a mistake.

"Ah, Naleena said something about you needing to head out to Caleston for some gear.  I'd like to accompany you.  I need to obtain some hardware.  Hopefully on this ship's tab or it might be some trouble.  So.....so if you need to hydrate before we go, I perfectly understand."

¹ Keelesh for basically a night of drinking and puking, the second of which can get to be rather disgusting for a quarian.

[Cknarf]

"Yeah... I need to get Stuff. And things. Material objects, or somethin'. I forget." Frank stretched and rubbed his eye. "I'll be right with you." He disappeared back into his room, closing the door behind him.

Hydrate? More like Dehydrate.

Frank got suited back up, and did his usual mirror routine.

Lookin' fine, as always.

He grabbed his helmet from the table and put it on, before stepping out.  Faed was standing in the same spot, lookin' awkward as sh*t.

"Twinsieeeees! Haaaaa." Frank gestured at his helmet with both thumbs. "Let's go, Slick." He headed for the elevator.

[Kel Riever]

With a bit of spring in his step, Faed followed Frank.  He found the human interesting, if not in a world of his own.  Something Faed could relate to.

"Where first?"  Faed wondered where they were headed.  He didn't get the sense that either of them knew much about Caleston, but at least Faed knew some tech hotspots.  "I need to get some hardware myself, and a place I can open this interface that won't bother me while I work."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"I wanted to surprise you". Anika said, as she slipped her hands down her back to hold her against her. "Personally I think Jess set me up and invented a reason for me to come over. Co-ordination between ships she said.... But never mind that. Your here, I'm here....". Anika rested her forehead against Naleena's. "....I think you need time off from work. Too much commanding can be bad for you you know. You free for the next hour"?

 

Naleena looked deep into her eyes, and then hit VERA's intercom. "VERA, hold my calls."

 

There was no response. VERA's visage was nowhere to be seen.

 

"VERA? VERA?"

 

Two flashes on VERA's panel let Naleena know VERA heard her.

 

"I guess VERA is giving us some privacy." Naleena hopped down out of the embrace and went to her wet bar, took out a couple of tumblers, and poured a couple fingers of Nevosian Ambrosia in each. "This is from my private reserve, and from Nevos. It is perfectly safe for human physiology. You may experience a mild euphoria. Mere alcohol doesn't do much for powerful biotics, but the herbal extract in this is enough to have about the same effect on an Asari as a fine Cognac on a human. I think you'll like the flavor as well. Unlike most Asari drinks, it isn't too sweet."

 

She handed Anika the tumbler. "To you, Anika. I missed you." And she rested her head on Anika's shoulder.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Dahlia had contacted the vendors on Caleston and arranged for the parts to be delivered to the Medusa. She met the delivery people on the loading dock.

 

"Careful!" She shouted and snagged one of the crates in stasis when it fell off the forklift. "Now get into position to grab it when the field wears off. The materials in those crates aren't made anymore, and they're expensive. Drop anymore of them and I'll beat you with your spine!"

 

"Easy, this doesn't have to get ugly," the delivery person responded.

 

"Then don't be in such a hurry," she said and turned to one of the crew, "Carson, take that crate to the bridge. Elam, take that crate to Engineering. Bishop, take this crate to Life Support. These other crates go to cargo bay 4 and secure them. They're our spare parts - label them. Follow the arrows that the first mate put on the walls if you don't know your way around the ship."

 

"Yes, Ma'am." they replied.

 

No one was going to give Jess' Navigation Officer any trouble. She was aboard a pirate ship. She was in her element. This felt like Aria's except she had more responsibility: the responsibility she felt she was ready to have, and she wasn't going to let Jess down.

 

She tapped her communicator. "Jess, Morgan, I've received the electronics we need for the ship and they're being delivered to Engineering and Life Support. I also took the liberty to buy spares and I had them labeled and secured in Cargo Bay 4. I apologize if this cost more than you intended, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. They don't make this stuff anymore, and having spare parts on board is a good idea. I'm on my way back to the bridge and will have the boards installed within the hour."

[Redbelle]

Jess was looking over a sheet of figures when the call came in. She looked up the costs. Saw what they were. Sighed. Hit her comm. "No, you did it right luv. Some of these things we need to run systems. Doesn't do us much good to save the creds and find we're stuck in some backwater system because the parts we needed broke down. I'll be up on the bridge in an hour. Have the nav systems ready. And then, we go hunting ourselves a comet".

 

She ran her eye's over the cargo container's and smiled. The worker's had been flat out sealing holes and preparing ramscoop's that would feed into each one. Relatively minor work considering the equipment to  do the conversion was still aboard and untouched from her cutter days.

 

Jess then ran her eye's over to the news sheet and looked over the headline. 'Shepard - Hero or Traitor?' The news networks were playing catchup and were throwing mud everywhere to see what would generate the most interest to sell to the masses as 'news'. Jess turned away from it. It seemed that their assignment had ended. But Jess couldn't shake the sense that things were not calm as of yet. The Aspirant's.... The collector based human conversions that had been processed were still loose. The destruction of the collector base hadn't shut them down it seemed. Likewise the enemies they'd made. Iyana being at the foremost of her thoughts. Jess had released the footage and interviews painting Iyana as the infamous pirate Captain Silver...... It was hard letting go of that identity. More so in that she was handing it over to someone she depised. But it had done the trick. Now news agencies had Iyana's face plastered over the entire galactic news network. Burning Iyana's face into the minds of all those who saw her as they attributed the atrocities she'd done to her, her crew and her ship to memory.

 

Most of all though, Jess worried about the Pirate Lord. The Kings and Queens had been quiet. To quiet on the matter that her ship had been taken. Wheels weer in motion. She could feel and she didn't know what they were going to do.

 

That in and of itself, scared her.

[Cknarf]

"Whoa man, slow down." Frank put a hand up, while entering the elevator. "We haven't even made it off the ship yet." He laughed. He thumbed the button for the shuttle bay.

"This is what I had in mind. We made a stop on Illium a while back, and picked up this skycar.  It's a custom job, all black, and super clean. Damn thing even has retractable wheels. Wheels, man. Wheels!"  Frank gestured excitedly with his hands. "Oh, and the best part?" He paused. "Drop top." 

"Anyways, I was thinkin' we pull it out, and cruise on some chicks." Frank nodded. "Sound good?" He asked, looking at the quarian for confirmation.

Bet this dude's got mad game.

Frank glanced at Faed's fiddling hands.

Eh, probably not. Nothing I can't fix, though.

"Or, we can go where you wanna go, it doesn't matter.  I recently found out that I've been getting paid for my service, like, PAID, so I'm up for anything. These credits are burnin' a hole."

The elevator doors opened to the shuttle bay.

 

[Kel Riever]

Faed was wondering what kind of wheels Frank was talking about.  Did he mean turbines?  Rotators?  It was clear the human was very excited. 

When Frank walked over to the 'Sky car' with actual wheels that would travel across the ground, Faed got confused.

"This is some sort of primitive APC?  It looks environmentally unstable, not that it matters in a dome."

Faed saw Frank looking at it lovingly.

"Well," Faed said, turning his head sideways, "I can't say I disapprove.  I bet it has pistons, doesn't it?"

With a crouch and a peek at the undercarriage from below, Faed snorted a laugh.  "It has pistons!"

[Cknarf]

"Crazy, right? And to think just two hundred years ago, humans were driving machines like this everyday." Frank opened his omni-tool, and displayed a photo of a 1966 GTO Convertible. "I can send you a link later, if you want."

This is as close as I'm gonna get.

He climbed into the driver's seat, and for the first time ever, wrapped his hands around a steering wheel. "Awwwww man." His hand trembled, as he reached for the shift-knob.

Clutch. Brake. Accelerator.

 

He thought, touching his toes to each pedal. Although he'd only ever worked on skycars, he had done a little research on the old machines of Earth, especially pre-1980s American cars.

Frank held the clutch in, and turned the key. An actual key. Made of metal. The car came to life, prompting Frank to let out some sort of excited grunt. He reached over, and pushed open the passenger door. He gestured for Faed to enter.

 

[Kel Riever]

Faed got in, albeit a bit awkwardly.  He had to figure out how to move the seat back to make a bit of extra room for his legs.  In the process, he got a good look at the interior.  It was clearly a modern creation, but the car's apparent attention to detail was inspiring.

"What happened?  How come things like this aren't built anymore?"  Faed honestly wondered where humans had deviated from their love for machines.  At least the kind of love this vehicle showed.  He clambered into his seat.  There was a curious little button in the center console, between what was the gear shift lever and an archaic number display with a red line meter.  Instinctively, he pushed the button in.  It stayed with a click.

[TheMajonese]

The moment Arian had stepped into his quarters he knew that he wouldn't like them. The room was much bigger than he had expected and there was something about it that he made him feel very uncomfortable. Maybe it was the bright light or the unnatural tidiness. He was still on a spaceship but these quarters had more luxury than his apartment on Omega. It's still better than this rathole on Caleston, he thought.

 

He looked around and rolled his eyes when he beheld the bed. While the room itself was way too spacious, the bed was hardly long enough for him to fit in. 

 

The first thing he did was to get rid of his dirty and partly broken armor, he then took on some of the clothes that the quartermaster, Septerax, had given to him. Not wearing any armor, Arian almost felt naked despite the fact that these clothes were actually quite tight. Septerax had noted that he didn't have anything in Arian's size on the Janiri. It could be worse and Arian wasn't going to complain about it. He planned to get some clothes and new armor soon but for now he had other things on his mind.

 

With a sigh he sat down on the edge of the bed and covered his face with his hands. It was still hard for him to tell whether he was dreaming or if this was really happening. The last few hours had been a mess, his sudden changes of mood and the inability to think straight hadn't made thinks any better. The crew of the Janiri probably didn't think much of him as a person but he didn't care about it. Naleena had taken him for his skills, not for his personality. 

 

Arian was still wondering why he had accepted the spectre's offer in the first place. It took him some time to find out what his own intentions were. He wasn't interested in saving human colonies or taking on Cerberus or the collectors, after all he didn't join the mission to do anything good.

 

The only reason for him to join was the chance of being distracted from his own self-pity and the unbearable memories. Whether or not the mission was going to be dangerous didn't concern him. Dying during a battle was a better death than rotting in some storage room on Caleston.

 

Arian laid back und tried to relax a bit. Being aware of his own motivation brought some order to his scattered thoughts but he didn't feel much better. Despite being exhausted and in need of some rest, he couldn't fall asleep. It took more than an hour for the last thought of his mind to become silent.

 

As always, his sleep was disturbed and full of nightmares.

[Cknarf]

Frank's eyebrow raised at the constant clicking sound, and flashing arrows on the gauges.  He pressed the red button, causing them to stop. 

 

"At some point in the 20th century, cars transformed from unique, and exciting machines, constructed with pride and quality materials, to the boring, and souless appliances that they are today." He shook his head in disappointment. "Leather interiors were replaced by synthetic imitations. Wood and Steel, both traded for cheap polymer..."

 

Frank sighed.

 

"Now I'm depressed." He chuckled, before lightly punching Faed's arm. "Thanks, Slick." 

 

Frank shifted into first, and pulled his foot off the clutch.  The car jerked forward violently, and the engine stopped.

 

"F***."

[Terca]

"Frank, you should know by now that the universe has more convoluted plans for you than things going according to plan." The resident Cabal said as she moved away from an open box. It was surprisingly discreet, one of those old metal-sided things which looked like it could contain a few tins of cookies. Or plutonium rods. It was neither of course just some recently-arrived pieces for her armor which had needed some actual patching done as opposed to simply covering holes with similar material. Even more important? Venom. That stuff was not easy to come by but the requisitions officer had come through for her. Now she had enough to poison the drinking supply of a mid-class garden planet with enough yuck to revert it to a pile of lifeless goop. Well, not that much.

 

She sealed the container again just in case it tipped and put it under her arm before approaching the stalled vehicle. "Hey." She saluted to the Quarian with two fingers before leaning onto the side of the car with her forearms, looking through the driver's side window. "The name's Eteon, I've known Frank since the Audron so I might advise against trusting his flight capabilities. He did quite literally fall from the sky in a wreck."

 

Have I seen him before? She thought, but she was damn sure that the guy was one of the most flashy quarians she had seen in terms of color scheme. She'd remember that. Probably.

[Cknarf]

"Hey! That was 100% due to mechanical failure." Frank crossed his arms. "A lesser pilot would have died."

[Cainhurst Crow]

Vayne shock his head as he traveled towards the lounge area, still taking in the broadcast and all the fresh faces they were getting aboard the ship. It was surprising to say the least, getting recovered after his long R&R, and discovering that suddenly the world had gone on without you. Last time vayne had taken a rest, the collectors had been one of the main focuses of the mission, and now they were gone, and cerberus was in charge of taking care of them.

 

"Cerberus...Kalros's ******." He said, disappointment evident in his voice as he looked for a nice place to take a seat, and watch some vids, clear his head of this mixed bag of news. "Why not just give the tech to Clan Talyth as well, let them build a bunch of dreadnoughts out of it..." He said to himself, sarcasm clear as day as he rolled his eyes, "Or maybe just bring back the Rachni and give them the base. Sure it'll end the same way for the galaxy." he muttered before sighing, kicking his foot lazily on the ground as he did so.

 

"Of all the people shepard helped, why'd it have to be them?"

[Cainhurst Crow]

-ESSUL's QUARTERS-

 

Essul sat at his terminal, looking at the small camera as he waited for the signal to finally reach the comms buoy. He'd sent a simple message earlier to vera, letting her know he was going to send a vid call back to hegemonic space and letting her know he'd be recording the contents of the meeting for her to use, if she was busy with other things.

 

Essul had not been out of his quarters for a while, not since he'd left the medbay. He needed to do something, something that had been eating him for a while now.

 

He needed to see his commanding officer, to look him in the eyes and talk to him. Even if it was only this one last time.

 

The vid screen popped open as it said the connection was made, and after a few tense seconds, the image of Captain Ghurkas became visible, sitting behind his desk with the sun shinning outside his office, a scenic outlook at the Hegemonic Command Centers gardens framed by his plain looking office window, a nice view earned by higher ranking officers to help make them feel more at home.

 

"Sergent Ran'perah..." He said in a dry and somewhat gravelly voice, his years reflected in the pitch and tone despite his somewhat ageless appearance, the wonders of modern cosmetics and health sciences had their limits after all, "I hope you have a good reason for using a vid call. And that you took the appropriate steps to secure this line." there was no warmth in his voice, as usual; just a formal tone you'd expect from two strangers as he stared at the image of essul in his darkened room, the contrast evident.

 

"Yes sir. This line and this location are both secure. With your permission, I'd like to move forward with this conversation." Essul stated as well, his tone also formal and reserved as he gave a salute to his commanding officer. It was standard to ask permission before speaking to someone of higher social status, though the overly long formal addressed served another purpose.

 

It helped to count down the initial 30 seconds of hegemonic surveillance before they moved on to other calls. And after a held silence had helped pass the time, both let out sighs of reliefs, Ghurkas sliding into his chair a bit.

 

"By the gods, it never gets any more bearable..." Ghurkas said, his tone warming only slightly as a gave a tilt to the right to essul, essul himself returning the favor immediately, "So...how are you holding up?"

 

"I am, sir." Essul answered plainly, back still straight as he addressed his officer, serious as he was when he first called up, "I came to inform you of my involvement on a recent mission. I feel it prudent I communicate the details to you, as well as making a formal request."

 

"This is about the Caleston incident, isn't it?" Ghurkas said, eyes shining a bit as he picked at the details like a hawk, staying a step ahead of his subordinate as he shock his head, "The entire thing was a mess. Batarian extremists taking over a facility, threatening batarian lives, and for what? All they did was make the situation worse. Now, more batarians could be targeted for retribution..." He said as he looked essul in the eyes, a small smile creeping on his lips, "Fortunate then, that a batarian stepped forward to stop these fools. Even taking down the leader with a well placed Harpoon, from what I hear."

 

Essul was silent as he heard this, blood turning ice cold in his veins as he kept his calm and collected facade up, "Yes sir. I was glad I was able to help, though I apologize for doing so without first getting your authorization. I wanted to explain myself, if an inquiry was needed..." He said, waiting for the right moment to ask what he wanted to ask.

 

"Your actions made for quite the morale boost within our space. Some are even calling you a hero, standing up to the destructive foreign elements of our species for the good of the whole." Ghurkas said with a dismissive shaking of his head and a wave, "A bit too turian for my tastes, but whatever works these days."

 

Essul blinked in surprise, "What do you mean sir?" he asked plainly, honestly not liking where this was going.

 

"What's not to understand. Your actions helped to show batarians what it meant to be citizens of the hegemony. The story was spun a bit, as per usual with the IDD of course," Ghurkas said, referring to the Information Dissemination Department, "As far as people here are concerned, a lone batarian agent stopped a group of humans and batarians from blowing up a mining operation. Coming off of the heels of the Bahak Tragedy, it helped to calm the populace immensely." he said as he gave another bow to the right ot essul.

 

"It's against protocol, but I'm damn proud of what you did. You took a bad situation, and you made ti work for your people. As a good solider should."

 

Essul had to fight the urge to laugh, fight back a vile retort and keep his teeth from gritting at the words. Of all the things he'd wanted to hear, these were not the ones he wanted. This was not the reaction he wanted. Anger, distrust, cold indifference; these were what he had braced himself for. The praise, it just cut into him, more then any real knife could.

 

"I...am proud I could help the hegemony save face." Essul said as he bowed to the screen, swallowing his pride as he showed respect to the man lying to his face, "With that...I have another request...." He said as he looked up from his bow and into Ghurkas eyes, "I want to request a extended stay upon the councils mission."

 

At this Ghurkas blinked in surprise, seemingly caught off guard, "Stay on mission? Essul, the mission is over. Shepard has stopped the collectors, and he's made herself officially an enemy to all non-human life in the galaxy." Ghurkas said as he scowled at the name shepard, like he'd suddenly eaten a sour patch of atmosphere, "The council has let down every citizen of the galaxy by trusting her. We need you back here, Essul. I need you back here in my ranks."

 

Essul knew this was coming, and he found himself nodding along with his superior as he took shepards name through the mud. She deserved worse then that, much worse. She'd taken down one monster, and given the means to create another to the very people who would do so, but that didn't change the fact that Ghurkas was wrong.

 

"This mission goes beyond the collectors sir. There were others behind the creation of the collectors, who helped to outfit and supply them these many years. They are still a threat, and need to be dealt with." Essul said, looking defiantly in his commanders eyes, clearly determined to fight him on this decision, "As someone whose helped the hegemony on this diplomatic mission as is..." Essul said as a felt himself growing angrier by the second, "I request my stay here be extended, until the duration of the mission. Perhaps we will even be able to apprehend shepard for trail, if we are fortunate enough." he said, more venom in that last reply then essul had even intended.

 

"Watch yourself, Ran'perah. Your treading on dangerous grounds now." Ghurkas said, returning essuls glare back to him, like two hot pokers boring into his soul, "You've been given a long leash up till now. But the mission is done. Good will has been established, and the collectors have been neutralized. And in them being neutralized, a new threat the council will most likely not address has risen." Ghurkas said as he slowly rose out of his seat, the camera following him up as he stood, his angle blocking out the sun behind him and castign him in heavy shadows.

 

"Can you imagine the bloodshed an organization like Cerberus will unleash upon the galaxy with their new assets? How long until they come at batarian space with their new weapons of mass destruction?" As he spoke, his tone grew more threatening and cold, clearly not pleased by essuls defiance, "We need everyone here, including you, to secure our boarders and squash any attempt by cerberus to destroy our way of life." He said, slamming his fist down on the table and causing the camera to shake somewhat, staring essul right in the eyes, all 4 burning with a fiery passion.

 

"Would you really risk batarian lives on a dream? A lie you are telling yourself, that somehow you have purpose on that vessel any longer?" Ghurkas asked bitterly, standing straight as he looked down upon essul, no longer friendly with him at all, "The mission is over, Essul. Whether you want it to be or not. Request a leave off that ship the next chance you get, and return to batarian space when you are able." He said as he closed his eyes, looking and sounding more like a parent scolding a disappointing child, "There is much work to do, and you have embarrassed yourself in front of me enough."

 

Essul looked down as the torrent came, not able to hide his disgust at the words coming out of his superiors mouth. Essul had never defied orders, or showed an inkling to do so, but he'd heard of those who had, and the legendary mocking and cutting words Ghurkas was known to use when it happened. But now essul could hold it back no longer, and the words left his mouth before he realized it.

 

"A lie, is it? Well, if I am lying to myself, then tell me?" Essul found himself asking, looking up into Ghurkas eyes as he spoke the fated words, "What does the word Keter mean to you?"

 

Ghurkas eyes shot open as he stared at essul, looking at him with a look essul hadn't seen on the senior officer in his entire life, and a look that sent a cold, hard chill throughout essuls body.

 

Fear. Ghurkas looked to essul with a great fear in his eyes, his mouth going slack for a moment before he caught himself, staring at disbelief at what he'd heard.

 

"....Alright Essul...you can stay out of Batarian space...." He said, the words coming forth like a deathly whisper, slumping back into his seat. He leaned forward and kept his forehead in his plams, looking up to essul with regret on his face, and sorrow in his eyes, "Do you have any idea what you've done? What you've brought upon yourself?" there was no emotion in ghurkas voice as he spoke, nothing but a cold detachment as the senior officer wrote his subordinate off, cutting and storing away the emotions he had for him slowly, as he did with all those he'd witness die in the battlefield.

 

"I do..." Essul said simply, the words more confident and certain then ever as kept his eyes locked with ghurkas. He'd had enough, enough of hiding, and enough of the lies. It was time for some truth, consequences be damned.

 

"....Third pouch to the right on your armors belt has a hidden transmitter. And there's a tracker in your left forearm, just below the elbow..." Ghurkas said as he looked into the camera, looking pale and sickly as he spoke, "Theres also the software in your ship, but you know how to disable it...There's no turning back now, you know? They'll have heard what you said in this call. I can't stop that..."

 

"I know, Sir..." Essul said, sturggling to keep himself together as he sat stern, eyes focused on not crying and jaw clenched to keep from quivering. His arms were behind his back, and a small trail of blood leaked from his left forearm, right below his elbow, onto the flow slowly, "I...thank you. Despite the lies...despite everything...it was an honor serving under you."

 

"........." Ghurkas was silent as he stared at essul, before he finally let out a defeated sigh, "You...could have been one of the best of us, essul...I'm sorry...all these years, all my efforts...and you still became a disappointment..." He said finally, no malice in his voice as he spoke, "Don't contact me again, essul. And whatever happens...don't come back."

 

With that, the video ended. A black screen filled the terminal, a connection error sign disguising the truth of the matter. Ghurkas terminal had been bombed, but not before he'd heard the mans last words.

 

Essul sat there in silence for a few minutes before the first tear slid down his face, then another, and essul slid forward. His head pressed into his desk as he silently let out the pain that call had had, and the weight of his actions crashing down upon him at last. He'd probably witnessed the last moments of the man he'd respected, the man he considered a father he'd never truly had. The man who even to the end had looked out for essuls interest, and now was dead because of it.

 

On essuls terminal, as the vid screen finally closed, was a single tab open, showing the image of a batarian in front of what looked like a mugshot. The same batarian who had led the hostage takers of Caleston, the one essul had shot himself. Along side the picture was information.

 

Name: Gadatz, Juran (Commander)

Sex: Male

Weight: 257 lbs

Height: 6'3

Division: Special Intervention Unit

Status: Active

Commanding officer: Ghurkas, Shvern (Captain)

[Cknarf]

"Aaaaanyways. Eteon, this is Slick. He was one of the hostages from 410." Frank leaned towards the door, and whispered. "He's a bit shy."

"We were actually about to head into town to get some stuff. Care to join us?" Frank adjusted the rearview, instinctively checking himself out, despite the helmet.  He gave himself a wink through the visor.

"There's room for one more." Frank looked into the car's tiny backseat. He turned his attention back to the 6'9" turian. "Huh."

Right.

"One second."

Frank pulled at a lever on the side of the seat, causing it to lean forward.  He then reached down between his legs, and pulled the bar that allowed the seat to slide back and forth.  He slid the seat up as far as it could go.  His legs were a little scrunched, and his chest was nearly touching the steering wheel.

"There!" He smiled under his helmet. "It's more comfortable than it looks." He totally lied.

"You comin' or what?"

[Kel Riever]

"Hold on," Faed interjected with a sigh.  He got out of his side and offered the front passenger seat to the turian Cabal.  "I can get in the back."

Faed nodded to the turian.  "Pardon my manners.  I'm Faed'Vells nar Ketsa, just came onboard."  He waved awkwardly then climbed into the back seat of the vehicle.  It wasn't nearly as much fun as the front, but he didn't worry.  Maybe the vehicle, which seemed environmentally unsound, had the benefit of a removable top.

[Kel Riever]

Previously...( http://forum.bioware...res/?p=17553695 )

Aboard the Khukuri, somewhere in the Terminus Systems

The Khukuri flew by the wreckage of the colony freighter it had torn apart with its weapons just minutes before.  Callous to the lives of the crew lost on the vessel, the Khukuri’s captain sent an automated hail to the home of the freighter on the planet below.  When contact was made, it was not the captain who would converse with the planet-side colony, however.  It was a white haired, blue eyed woman with delicate, porcelain skin.

The asari who spoke to the woman was clearly distraught, speaking in the batarian that was the lingua franca of the Terminus Systems.  “We are a peaceful colony.  You murdered innocent people aboard that vessel!”

“Some would say there are no innocents who dwell in the Terminus Systems,” Iyana replied.  “I tend to disagree.  There are those who are innocent, as well as naïve.”

“We are owned by the Pyrena Corporation.  They will know of what has happened and you will face the consequences for what you’ve done.  And if you have any thoughts of landing and coming for us, we will defend ourselves.  You will get nothing from us but your own deaths.”

Iyana batted her eyelashes once.  “Are we talking about the same Pyrena Corporation that abandoned vorcha on Namakli?”

The asari flinched, despite her attempt to keep her composure.

“The same Pyrena Corporation who seems late to deliver your precious supplies,” Iyana went on. “Which is why the freighter we destroyed was privately owned, by you or perhaps you cut a deal for  those supplies from one of the local bandit lords?”

“The ship was unarmed…”

“This brings me to the point of defending yourselves.  With what, may I ask? Since we’ve been keen to observe your colony in the past.  Will you use those hunting rifles meant for holding off the native scavengers to fight a group of highly trained mercenaries?  Backed by an atmosphere capable frigate?”

Her voice breaking, the asari said, “You’ll simply come down here and kill us all.  Or worse.””

“You can die slowly, if you wish.  Or I can let forth our mercenaries to come pillage your precarious dwelling.  But I do recommend that since you are at my mercy, you surrender so that your colony may live.”

With a gulp, the asari asked, “What do you want?”

“I want you to welcome us graciously when we arrive,” Iyana answered with a glint in her baby blue eyes.  “And when we do, as the leader of your people, you will bow before me.”

[Terca]

"I... Sure." Chuckling to herself she walked around to the opposite side of the vehicle and slid into the front seat. He's a good pilot, it's just easy to rib him a bit. Pulling the belt over her waist she felt around the sides of the seat for some sort of method of moving it back a bit. The eternal curse of being tall meant her head as brushing the roof but the Quarian taking the back seat gave her room for her legs once she slid the seat way back. She was almost literally in the rear seats by the time she was comfortable.

 

"Well, I'm comfortable but you two look like if we stop too quickly your knees will get well acquainted with your hearts." The Turian motioned to the steering wheel with a talon. "Or the wheel."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Vayne shock his head as he traveled towards the lounge area, still taking in the broadcast and all the fresh faces they were getting aboard the ship. It was surprising to say the least, getting recovered after his long R&R, and discovering that suddenly the world had gone on without you. Last time vayne had taken a rest, the collectors had been one of the main focuses of the mission, and now they were gone, and cerberus was in charge of taking care of them.

 

"Cerberus...Kalros's ******." He said, disappointment evident in his voice as he looked for a nice place to take a seat, and watch some vids, clear his head of this mixed bag of news. "Why not just give the tech to Clan Talyth as well, let them build a bunch of dreadnoughts out of it..." He said to himself, sarcasm clear as day as he rolled his eyes, "Or maybe just bring back the Rachni and give them the base. Sure it'll end the same way for the galaxy." he muttered before sighing, kicking his foot lazily on the ground as he did so.

 

"Of all the people shepard helped, why'd it have to be them?"

 

Irina turned to Vayne. "Well, you know the story, right? Her ship got blown up in the Omega Cluster, where was that VERA?"

 

"The exact location would put it in a decaying orbit of Alchera," VERA replied, "The reports documenting the recovery of Commander Shepard's body are sketchy. They say the body survived atmospheric entry. That is highly improbable. The highest probability is that Commander Shepard is a clone programmed with a set of modified memories of the real Commander Shepard. Jane Shepard's record with Cerberus as a Spectre in 2183 was that she eliminated a number of Cerberus operations and reported them as atrocities. It is not logical for her to suddenly be pro-Cerberus without memory tampering."

 

Irina scoffed. "I agree something's not right, VERA. What if the reports were wrong, she survived in space and was rescued by Cerberus? Then they brainwashed her for two years?"

"That is a non-zero probability," VERA replied, "What is illogical is why an organization would reanimate an avowed enemy, and why that enemy would voluntarily work for them."

 

"What do you think, Vayne?" Irina asked.

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Seems a bit strange, doesn't it? All this mystery over what happened to shepard and how she's working for cerberus..." Vayne said as he gave a nod, having spent his time mulling over more then one online discussion board about the subject. Hell, back when it happened, nobody could get enough of the info. "Personally, I always wondered who it was who blew her up in the first place? Could have a lot to do with it, in my opinion." he said.

 

"Clone, not clone, either way I believe her to a point. Look at us for example, We got asari commandos, turian special forces, a couple of rag tag vagabounds, a crazy human krogan krant..." He said giving a knowing smile and wink to Irina, "A pirate, an ex shadow broker agent, an old beat up fossil," he said pointing to himself, "and a batarian of all things, all working together casue we all wanted to stop the collectors, and the reapers."
 

"Crazy as **** alliances seem pretty common, far as smashing those bug faced freaks are concerned." Vayne reasoned with a small chuckle, his mirth dying a bit when he remembered who he was talking about, "Still, working with em is one thing. But giving them all that tech? My moneys on some sort of hostage situation we don't know about. Maybe one of her krants got taken by cerberus, and they wanted the base as collateral." He said, clearly showing that all the r&r and vids had had an effect on him, that and it'd happened to him as well once, long time ago.

[Kel Riever]

Morgan had Sherie look over what he was thinking for outfitting the crew’s cabins on the Medusa and she seemed mostly to approve, with a few changes here and there.  Jess would have to ‘sign off’ on the list, but when the cabins were set, Morgan hoped it would improve spirits.  He’d also have to run it by Jess because she likely had her own personal items to add to the list.

Sherie also seemed agreeable to handling the meals.  Morgan offered her crew to help her out, but she said she’d get back to him.  He wasn’t sure if that was because she wasn’t sure how many people she’d need or that she didn’t want anyone in her kitchen while she worked.

Morgan also made it a point to adding some basic clothes to the list.  He was getting tired of his orange maintenance suit. 

With a bit more energy in his stride, Morgan headed back to see what else would be needed.  Tarus was nestled comfortably on his shoulder.

[Cknarf]

"Eh, we'll probably be fine." Frank shrugged.  He glanced back at Faed in the rearview. "That didn't take long, did it?" He laughed, while undoing the latches for the roof. 

 

"Drop taaahhhhhp!" Frank pressed the button to retract the roof.  It quietly raised, and folded flush into the back of the car.

 

Neat.

 

"Let's try this again." Frank started the car.  Reving it up a bit, he slowly backed off the clutch, and the car eased forward.  With a chirp of the tires, they rolled out of the shuttle bay.

 

"Where to, Slick?" He asked, while roughly shifting into second. He'd get the hang of it eventually.

[Kel Riever]

"Your stop first, " Faed answered. "Then Deng's electronics."