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[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The elevator door opened to Huerta Memorial and the dark figure exited. She'd been drinking but biotics burn through alcohol quickly. She overheard another Asari speaking with her therapist near the window behind the reception desk. The Asari was talking about an encounter with creatures with four glowing yellow eyes. Naleena paused and listened. Duellos. She's describing Collectors on Duellos. A PTSD case, obviously. Naleena could help, but she couldn't make the galaxy forget the horrible things. They needed to remember.

 

She approached the desk. "I'm here to see Lt. Mira T'riel."

 

The receptionist looked up at her. "And you are?"

 

"Her commanding officer, Naleena T'sarius. I'm a Spectre."

 

"Her room is on the right through the second set of doors, but she already has three visitors."

 

"Thank you." Naleena replied and proceeded toward Mira's room. She stopped at the gift kiosk along the way. Ah, she might like this. "The Writings of Matriarch Dilinaga" - a collection of lost 3000 year old manuscripts from the first Asari deep space explorations. I think she'll prefer digital copy. No pages to turn. And let's see how  about an ocular omni-tool interface with finger sensors. That will arrive later.

 

Naleena took the data pad, then paused, and sat in the lobby deciding to wait for her other visitors to leave.

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Yeah, but really think about what ya saying here..." Vayne began as he shock his head, "I mean, your basically telling them to peel you like a potato, and stick some plasiticy crap on you like a sushi wrap." He said, remembering some of the human cuisine he'd sampled about a decade ago in his analogy. Honestly, sushi was good, but he'd never felt like it'd be wise to become like sushi.

 

"It's just...unnatural." Vayne said as he looked to her, tapping his missing, eye, "Kinda a big thing for me. Or that might just be my krogan blood. Fear of doctors is kinda a common thing for my kind." He said with a laugh as he looked to Irina, his eye glancing towards the crowd behind them as his smile dropped a bit on his face, turning around to keep walking forward as he kept his pace with Irina.

 

"Say...you ever feel like your being followed?" Vayne asked her, as behind them, about a good 20 or so paces behind, was a shaved head with a small scar on his face, walking with another human and a turian flanking either side of em. "Cause the guy missing his hair behind us, was at the Ariake Battle Sims, watching me...and than he was at Armax, staring at me with his two buddies..." He said to her softly, fists tightening as he hoped she caught his drift.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Jenus, Tallis and Iole left. They saw Naleena waiting in the lobby and waved on their way to the elevator.

 

Naleena entered Mira's room and sat next to her bed. "You look like you're doing better despite missing an arm."

 

"Having my friends of 30 years visit really helps," Mira said, her eyes welled with tears. "I'm going to miss them."

 

"We'll all miss you, Mira, and I brought you something to read on your trip." Naleena said and handed her a data pad.

 

"The Writings of Matriarch Dilinaga. These should be quite interesting. Thank you."

 

"And one more thing. I know you'll be without an arm for a while, so you know this ocular omni-tool interface? I ordered one for you. You'll see a hard-light keypad and just use the fingers of your good hand on it and it'll respond. The voucher is in your account. Take it to any vendor on Thessia."

 

"Thessia? You know where I'm going?" Mira asked.

 

"Of course I do. And keep in touch. Anything you need, let me know." Naleena said. "I should let you rest. Be well and go with peace."

 

"Thank you."

 

Naleena nodded and left.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Irina spoke quietly, but not in a whisper. "How far back is he?"

[Cainhurst Crow]

"22 Paces..." Vayne said as he kept walking forward, whispering to match irinas tone, "He's got 2 others on either side of em. 24 paces behind..." He said, looking for a route they could go down that could help give me the edge, "I ain't got my guns on me."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"You know me, Vayne." Irina said but her shotgun was under her coat. "Don't leave home without it. There's an alley about 20 paces ahead, and I think there's a side entrance to a bar down there. Let's go down it. I can take one or two of them out."

[Cainhurst Crow]

"I see it..." Vayne said as he saw the alley Irina was talking about. "Soon as we turn down it, we kept the back facing us. I may not have my gun, but I still got my omnitool." He said as they approached their target. "2...1...now." He said as he turned down the alleyway quickly. From behind, the shaved head man snarled as he reached into his jacket, pulling out an executioner pistol. The turian drew a Carnifex, and the other human drew a Predator pistol. They ran forward, the shaved headed man leading the way as he turned the corner and aimed his gun down the alleyway, not expect what he'd run right into.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Irina pulled her double barrel turned around, and fired one barrel hitting the shaved headed man in the chest, leaving a hole the size of a coffee mug for the entry wound. The impact stopped him dead in his tracks and he fell to the ground dead. The other two were staring at Irina and smoke was coming out of one of the barrels.

 

"The question is which one of you fvckfaces wants the other one?" Irina shouted.

[Cainhurst Crow]

The human looked at the dead human before he leveled his gun towards Irina, "You ******!" He yelled as vayne aimed his omnitool towards the man, and pressed down with his palm. A salvo of blades shot forth and shred through the human, spinning him round as he fell face first down dead from the ballisitc blades.

 

The turian threw his carnifex to the ground, holding his hands up as he looked between the two, "We-, this wasn't-, We were paid to kill em. They said they'd kill us if we didn't!" The turian said shakily as vayne glared at the turian, walking towards him.

 

"Who did?" He asked as he kept his omnitool materialized, the turian taking a step back, "If-If I tell ya, I'm a dead man!" He yelled out.

 

"Your a dead man if you don't..." Vayne said as he looked the man in the eye, the turian shakily falling to his knees before the two. From this angle, both could see a tattoo on the turians neck, hidden slightly by his outfits collar. A skull, with a fist for a mouth, in red ink. The symbol for the blood pack.

[Cknarf]

Frank’s face rested in his palms, as he rode in the back of a skycar bound for Tayseri ward.

 

For the most part, he’d managed to keep the severity of his issues hidden from the others, the conversation with Molly being the most he’d revealed to anyone.  He considered seeing the Janiri’s on board counselor, but ultimately decided against it, out of fear that she would deem him unfit for duty, and boot him off the ship. He’d much rather stay on a top-of-the-line council vessel, than go back to sweating his ass off at the comm stations.

 

I need to see Adir…

 

“You have arrived at your destination.”

 

Frank looked up, as the skycar’s canopy opened.

 

“You may now exit the vehicle.”

 

He climbed out of the car, and began walking in the direction of cafe.

 

It had been some time since he’d last gotten a message from Adir, or any of his old crew, for that matter. Frank was a bit worried. Marius’ last message didn’t make him feel any better.  As he neared the cafe, Frank noticed something on the walkway in front of the building. At first, it appeared to be trash, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be some sort of makeshift memorial.

 

The f***?

 

The building’s glass had been replaced with C-SEC omni-windows, and the door sealed shut. Frank peered inside, but couldn’t make out much through the orange glow of the replacements.

 

“Huh.”

 

He took a closer look at the memorial.  Among the trinkets, and dead flowers, was a datapad. He picked it up, and wiped away the dust. Upon activation, a slideshow began to play.

 

Gone, but not forgotten.

 

One by one, photographs of the dead were displayed. The first was an asari that Frank recognized from his last visit. The next seven were quarian. Among them, was the waitress he had met before.

 

Aliza’Darra

 

Frank’s heart began to pound, as the list continued.

 

Come on… end already!

 

After nine more photos, bringing the total to seventeen, the screen finally went blank. Frank breathed a sigh of relief, upon learning Adir wasn’t among the dead. He set the datapad back down, and briefly closed his eyes. After muttering something in Khelish, he continued down the street to Adir’s worksite.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

“Not right now, I’ve got too much to do. Come back later.” A young human tech waved him off.

 

“I’m looking for Adir’Razt. Is he working today?”

 

“Not this s*** again…” The tech grumbled. “No, he’s not here today. And I doubt he will be here tomorrow, or the next day, or anytime after that.”

 

“Do you know where I can find him?”

 

“Well, usually around this time, he’d be down at that damned cafe… I haven’t seen him since it happened.” The tech looked back. “It’s bad enough that I lost two of my guys, but with Adir gone too? Nothing gets done around here. I don’t even see why I bother anymore...”

 

“I saw the memorial. What happened, exactly?”

 

The tech stopped working, and turned around.

 

“You mean you don’t know?”

 

Frank shook his head.

 

“Well… “ The tech scratched his head. “Search Taste on Tayseri Massacre on the net. You’ll find answers there. I’d rather not talk about it.” He returned to his work, without saying anything else.

 

Frank left the worksite, and opened his omni-tool as he did so. He started an extranet search.

 

21 dead after shooting on Tayseri

 

Early yesterday morning, four gunmen posing as C-SEC entered a small cafe on Tayseri Ward, and opened fire, killing seventeen patrons, most of which were quarian...

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Previously:

 

“Stay with me, Aliza....” Adir’s hands were red with blood, as he pushed firmly on the wound. The waitress had taken a shot in the stomach.

 

“A-Adir…”

 

“Hold on.” Adir peeked out from his cover.

 

“No! Please!”

 

Another quarian had been dragged out from under a table.

 

“I have--” He was silenced by a single shot to the head.

 

“Keelah…” Adir took cover again. “We’re getting out of here, Aliza. Come on.” Blood poured from the wound as he pulled his hands away, and moved to pick her up.

 

“L-leave me. The inf-fection will...”

 

“Nonsense. I’ve seen worse.” Adir lied. “We’re--”

 

The crunching of glass caused caused Adir to look up. He was now staring directly down the barrel of a shotgun. He closed his eyes…

 

There was a grunt, and a thud, followed by the sound of a tactical cloak disengaging.

 

“We got here as fast as we could.”

 

Adir opened his eyes to a familiar face.

 

“Marius?”

 

The turian retrieved his knife from the gunman’s eye socket, and withdrew a small pistol from a compartment in his armor.

 

“It’s been awhile, old man.”

 

A second gunman groaned, after slamming against the back wall. Marius turned, and fired two consecutive shots into his skull.

 

“Thanks, dear.” Marius said over comms.

 

“Don’t mention it, love.”

 

“Kira’s here, too.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Security footage from within the cafe shows an unknown pair entering the establishment, and dispatching three of the four gunmen, all while rescuing an unidentified quarian in the process...

 

“Adir…”

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Kira sent another flying with her biotics, as she made her way to Adir’s position.

 

“Time to go, boys. Quickly, before C-SEC arrives.” Kira urged, as her aura dissipated.

 

“Marius, help me--” Adir looked down at Aliza, still in his arms. He shook her a little.

 

“We need to move.” Marius gestured towards the back door with his head.

 

Adir set Aliza’s lifeless body down gently. “Let’s go.”

 

“Quintus?” Marius tried to raise his brother over comms, as they burst into the alley “Useless...”

 

“Look up, my brother.”

 

Quintus set the skycar down in front of them, and opened the canopy. Everyone piled in.

 

“What’s the big rush? I was about to score, you a**hole.” Quintus looked back. “Adir? Ha! Good to see you! What have you been up-- well, f*** me! What the f*** happened?” He noticed the blood covering Adir’s suit.

 

“Just drive.” Marius snapped. “Get us back to the ship. We’re leaving.”

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frank closed the article, and immediately attempted to make a call.

[Kel Riever]

...on the Medusa

Babe had brought Yori first to where she had left her tools, explaining some of the basic layout of the ship she thought deserved mention.  To herself, Babe laughed since she wasn't very experienced with the vessel herself, but she knew the kind and had been going through some deck plans for the class in her spare time when she'd come aboard.  Of course, not everything was exactly where it was supposed to be.

"The Captain's clearly made some modifications so I'm still figuring them all out," Babe said to Yori as she walked aft and below on the Medusa using stairways instead of the elevator.  "Then there were the people aboard this ship before it was recaptured.  It was bad, from what I was told Yori.  I don't even want to give you the stories I heard."

Down below, in the bottom level of the ship near lower engineering, Babe searched around for a hatch. She found it in the floor of an alcove.  "We're going into a lower turret 'Bubble', well, housing.  The gun is hidden from the outside and deployed when needed.  So we're technically going under the bottom of the primary hull."  Babe put down the box of tools she'd been hauling around and out of the box, she pulled two thick, black working gloves. She had to remove her bracers as the gloves pulled up over the elbow and past.  The gloves were a good fit, and protective as they were, let Babe have full dexterity with her arms, hands and fingers.  Opening the hatch took some work as it was on a purely manual spinwheel.  She flexed as she put her arms into it.  "Okay, so that needs to be fixed.

"They were out of their minds, whoever they were, doing things like this...disconnecting the electric mechanisms that got this hatch open, and disabling the normal linking between guns.  But that doesn't mean they weren't linked."  Babe pulled the hatch up to reveal a ladder, which she started climbing down.  "Hand me that tool box in a moment, okay?  Anyway, they were linked to fire from the bridge, but with certain commands.  The ship put up this...barrage...to fend off attackers.  Yes, instead of using the GARDIAN system...or I should say with it.  Just pure block shavings into space.  I think it was to show Captain Stone how much of her ship was out of her control...you know to sort of get to her..."  Babe hit the floor beneath.  "Okay, please hand me the tool box now."

Yori could see Babe in a one-person wide hall that did leave room for standing with its depth.  It was lined with panels, many of which had been haphazardly painted matte black, and some had splattered fluourescane paint on them.  A few of the panels were loose and wiring was spooled out as if played with by a deranged child.  "This is a mess," Babe remarked disappointedly.  She pulled out a scraper from the toolbox and went at some of the paint glommed up around a bolt keeping one of the panels in place.  "I figured I'd start here because this is the best gun we've got firing aft outside of the GARDIAN system.  The ship's better having its firepower in each direction under our control, and we're light on the aft until this is fixed.  I'm not debating your piloting skills.  I'd just rather you and me have...options."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The human looked at the dead human before he leveled his gun towards Irina, "You ******!" He yelled as vayne aimed his omnitool towards the man, and pressed down with his palm. A salvo of blades shot forth and shred through the human, spinning him round as he fell face first down dead from the ballisitc blades.

 

The turian threw his carnifex to the ground, holding his hands up as he looked between the two, "We-, this wasn't-, We were paid to kill em. They said they'd kill us if we didn't!" The turian said shakily as vayne glared at the turian, walking towards him.

 

"Who did?" He asked as he kept his omnitool materialized, the turian taking a step back, "If-If I tell ya, I'm a dead man!" He yelled out.

 

"Your a dead man if you don't..." Vayne said as he looked the man in the eye, the turian shakily falling to his knees before the two. From this angle, both could see a tattoo on the turians neck, hidden slightly by his outfits collar. A skull, with a fist for a mouth, in red ink. The symbol for the blood pack.

 

Irina walked up to him and shoved the shotgun at the juncture of his mandibles and neck. "If I were you I'd start talking before C-sec gets here."

 

The turian spoke nervously. "They'll arrest you, too."

 

"Oh, I don't think so," Irina replied shoving the gun even more firmly. "See my first call is to my boss, a Spectre, and trust me you do not want her to interrogate you."

[The Red Shadow]

Yori nodded agreeing with Babe. "the whole point of GUARDIAN system is to shootdown something quick and precise with out missing, but the entire flaw is that Where ever the turrets are firing it would take them too long to swivel behind and take out what's coming up behind." She looked down watching babe work

"If you like I can order parts and even new turret pieces from the Alliance, I was given orders to make their supplies available for The ship"

[Kel Riever]

"I...," Babe started, then the chunk of paint she was working at flipped off, "...I think we have several items in cargo that the Captain ordered, but I haven't gotten around to a full inventory yet."  She picked up an autowrench and went at the bolt, now bare metal, to losen it and consequently a panel.  "But I bet we can always use something.  Money...that's the Captain too...you know, requesting the funds.  We should do that."  There was a scrape and Babe mumbled under her breath.  "Hey, if it isn't too much trouble, come on down, I can use the extra set of hands.  And you can help me test this thing when I'm done."

[The Red Shadow]

"Sure! But you might want to scoot over a tad, I dont want to bump into you" Yori maneuvered her self over the Hole and began to climb down While Igniting her Omnitool to give some extra light. Once down there she began to take a look around and see where she should start first. "Anywhere you would want me to Start first Babe?" 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The Turian ground his mandibles as if he were waiting for back up.

 

Irina got on her communicator to Naleena. “Boss, this is Irina. Are you available?”

 

“I’m just leaving Huerta Memorial. Why?” Naleena said while she was exiting toward the taxi stand outside.

 

“We have a situation here on the Strip. Vayne and I were attacked by some thugs.”

 

“Bloodpack!” Vayne said.

 

“Bloodpack. They’d been following him and us for a while,” Irina said. “Two are dead, and I have the third one at gun point and he’s not being very cooperative. It’s like he’s waiting for reinforcements. C-sec is mysteriously absent.”

 

“I’m locking onto your signal with my omni-tool,” Naleena replied as she got into a car. “I’ll be there in a ten minutes. Out.”

 

The Turian kept trying to glance back.

 

“Oh ****, Vayne. There’s more!"

 

People started running in the street as a dozen lightly armored mercs arrived and approached. Irina saw them, slammed the Turian across the face with the butt of her shotgun, then used him as a shield and dragged him into the side entrance of the club. Vayne had picked the pistols off the ground and followed her inside. Patrons and club workers ran screaming into the street. Vayne and Irina took up a defensive position.

[Kel Riever]

...on the Medusa

Babe had moved over to the gun seat, which was old-fashioned to the point of being secured alongside the weapon itself, moving with the cannon when it tracked.  It was the end of the narrow passageway they were in, and there was even a portal peering out into space. in front of the seat.  She wasn't in it, however, but moving underneath it.  Babe was on her back, and propped her boots up wherever she could catch a hold with her heels.  She had to arch and stretch her back to get her head and arms underneath the gun chair.

"Um, yeah, I need to run a two-way coupling cable from that panel I opened back there.  The toolbox I brought has a coil of it in there.  If you could start feeding it through the panel, it'll pass behind the bulkhead and come up over here by me, following the build in wire channel...channel as in valley or path.  Anyway, if you could feed me that cable, you'd be a dear."

[The Red Shadow]

She nodded and began doing the task feeding the cable down "are you seeing it?" She was wiggling it for it to not get stuck

[Cainhurst Crow]

Vayne took stock of the two guns he'd picked up, looking between the Executioner pistol, Predator, and Carnifex. There was a half wall separating the dance floor from the upper level of the bar, and providing a conveniently chest-level wall for Irina and Vayne to use, as he tossed her the Carnifex pistol.

 

"Here, case you run out of bullets." He said as Irina opened her shotgun, keeping her one still live round from flying out as she loaded the next shot in.

 

"Thanks..." She said as she reloaded her other barrel, closing the shotgun and keeping the gun nearby, "You good with that tiny thing?" She asked as she motioned to his gun.

 

"Executioner. Powerful, but one shot. I'm used to this type of weapon." Vayne said as he got ready, having dealt with using the Bakara Shotgun enough to know how to use that type of weapon.

 

From the side entrance, the sound of footsteps and scuffling was heard, before two oddly shaped drones flew through the doors, red in color and appearing to have 2 fin like formations on their constructs. Vayne took aim and fired, hitting one of the drones as it fizzled and suddenly burst out with an electrical pulse. Vayne looked in surprise at the drone as the other began to fly quickly, heading for his position like a rocket before it too was shot down, Irina taking it out with her shotgun.

 

"Disruptor drones. These bastards got a lot of good gear for just bloodpack." Irina said with a growl, recognizing the type of drone used as suddenly a slim figure in red armor ran forward, Irina's eyes snapping towards it as she aimed and fired, blasting a fist sized hole through the vorcha's head as he went sailing forward, slamming and skidding on his own inertia. "Really wish I had some grenades right about now." She said as she cracked open her shotgun, just as two more men, vorcha as well, cam skittering out through the entrance, the doorway and tight hallway leading into the club acting as a bottleneck.

 

"I got em!" Yelled vayne as he aimed his guns, firing the Executioner and hitting the vorcha through the knee, sending it crashing down with a wail as he fired at the other vorcha, 2 shots dropping its shields as he shot three more times through the chest, than shooting twice at the downed vorchas head. He reloaded the predator, aiming for the entrance-way as he fired a few shots periodically, hoping to keep them at bay as Irina finished loading her shotgun.

 

As the predator pistol over-heated, vayne shoved the executioner pistol hard against his thigh, putting enough pressure to shove it forward and eject the spent clip, wincing as he did so again with the predator pistol. There was a silence, a few tense seconds of no noise, before three humans came out in front of them, firing submachine guns towards them as they ran for some of the tables left in the clubs dining area, turning them over for cover as Irina smirked, firing her shotgun and hitting one merc through the neck, the rounds travelling to the one running behind him and sending that one sprawling to the ground from the shrapnel of bone and metal. Vayne fired the executioner pistol hitting through the table and hearing a scream as the merc fell to the ground wounded.

 

"See? This sure as hell beats fighting virtual enemies." Vayne said with a smirk as Irina saw another merc running out, a turian this time as she aimed for him, "VR's don't hurt when they shoot though, Vayne!" She yelled as she took aim, before a sudden blinding pain exploded in her leg. Irina spun around with wide eyes, seeing another turian coming out of a tactical cloak, holding a sniper rifle they were in the process of reloading. Irina gritted her teeth and aimed her shotgun, firing it as the round tore into the armored turians chest, sending blood splattering out and hititng another cloaked figure.

 

"On our Ass!!!" She shouted, half in alert and half in pain as vayne spun around, seeing the floating bits of gore as he ran forward and charged at the figure. Vayne slammed into the merc hard, hearing a crunch as the human decloaked and went flying, slamming into a glass display and shattering it as they went limp.

 

Vayne turned around as the last of two mercs from the other side took their positions behind their cover, snarling as he felt a rage boiling up in him. No one touched his krant and got away with it. He bent down and picked up the turians corpse, running forward as the mercs began to open fire one after, their smg rounds tearing into their armored comrades body as vayne crashed into their table cover, sending it and them scattering away. Vayne gave a yell as he activated his flamer, spraying out a jet of fire at the nearest merc as he picked up a table, leveling it like a shield as the others screamed in panic, firing towards the krogan as he ran out of flammable fuel.

 

Irian grimaced as she held her leg, her shotgun at her side, the carnifex pistol having fallen behind her, as a third figure came into the club. In walked a batarian, from the front entrance of the club, a Graal Spike Thrower in his hands as he walked silently towards the krogan, as he slammed down the table hard on one of the mercs, bending the tables singular leg as the merc was beaten senseless before he threw it towards the last merc, sending him to the ground as vayne stalked towards him. Vayne didn't hear the man as he walked towards the entrance to the dining area, charging his shot as he aimed for vayne. He hadn't noticed Irina, or seemed to not care, and that was a mistake that would cost him.

 

"Four eyed son of a ******..." Irina cursed as she picked up the Carnifex, aiming it towards the batarians head as time seemed to slow around her. She fired, first shot slamming hard into the batarians shields as the shot kept from hitting his head. The next shot came right as he was turning to look towards her, his shields dropping as his eyes went wide, mouth opening to yell. Third shot, tore through the side of his face, and shattered his jaw. The batarian jerked his arm towards the side as he fired the spike thrower, missing wide as the forth shot tore into one of his eyes, sending him reeling back as he started to go limp. The next two shots were chest shots, but they dropped him all the same, just as vayne turned around to see the man drop.

 

"Irina!" He yelled as he ran forward towards her, his hands covered in blood and small splatters dotting his clothes as he looked down to her bleeding leg, "How bad?" He asked as he bent down, putting pressure on her leg as well to kept it stable.

 

"I'll live, but damn if it doesn't hurt..." Irina said through gritted teeth as she looked down towards the wound. Now would have been a wonderful time to have some armored skin, especially in the back. She kept that part from going out loud though, as she reached up to vaynes sleeve, a small tear in it as he looked down and noticed a graze wound. She ripped the sleeve off, using it to tie a turnikit as she radioed in.

 

"Naleena. We just got ambushed, and I got a damn bullet in my leg. Tell me your here soon..." She said, hoping she'd be here soon with some nice medigel to give her and her aching leg.

[Cknarf]

“Come on… come on… yes!” Frank thrust a fist in the air. All those hours working on Ontarom might have just paid off. “From a goddamn omni-tool of all things!”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attican Traverse, Unknown system, Present day.

 

Vepr II Cargo Bay

 

“Got a call comin’ in, bro.” Quintus’ voice came over the Vepr’s PA system.

 

“What do you mean we’ve got a call coming in? You told me we were out of range!” Marius looked up from the shotgun he was working on.

 

“We are! At least I thought we were…”

 

Marius brought a hand to his forehead “So all this time, we’ve been pissing around out in the middle of f***ing nowhere, For how long now? Orbiting… whatever the f*** this s***hole, backwater, uncharted f***ing rock is called, and now you’re gonna tell me--”.

 

“Please keep it down, love.”

 

“Yes, dear.” Marius sighed.

 

“Thank you.” Kira returned to her meditation.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

Frank paced back and forth, while waiting for an answer. The fact that he was able to maintain a connection this long was nothing short of a miracle.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

Vepr II Cockpit

 

“Soooooo you want me to take this, or not?” Quintus asked.

 

“Who’s it from?”

 

“Looks liiiiiiike… Adir’Razt?” Quintus replied a little confused.  He looked to the quarian in the co-pilot’s seat. “You messin’ with me, old man?”

 

“It’s Frank Eli.” Adir sat forward in his seat.

 

“Huh?”

 

“He’s calling from my old omni-tool.”

 

“Is that even possible?” Marius asked.

 

“I don’t know. Perhaps--”

 

“Guys, he’s not gonna wait all day.” Quintus interrupted.

 

“I’m taking it.” Adir reached for the flashing button on the controls.

 

“Adir, wait!”

 

Adir’s finger hovered above the button.

 

“What?”

 

“I know you want to talk to him, and so do the rest of us, but you know we can’t take that risk.”

 

“What does it matter? If he was able to reach us… you have to at least let me listen.”

 

“Adir…”

 

Adir pulled his hand away from the button, but continued to watch the flashing light.

 

“We know he’s okay. That’s good enough.”

 

“Not for me…” The light went dark. “Dammit!”  Adir slammed a fist down on the armrest, and threw himself back in the seat.

 

“Call’s gone, guys…”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“F***!” Frank punched the wall of a nearby building in frustration. “AWWWWWWW F***!” He clutched his hand. A little bit of red was now visible under his bandages.

 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The Club on the Strip Pt 2

 

Naleena only had her SIG P226 with her, and there wasn’t time to go back to the ship. She had plenty of ammunition. Full armor on the Strip? That would attract too much attention.

 

The taxi stand was about 50 yards away from her and she hailed a car. She heard Irina’s plea over her comm.

 

“I’m waiting for a taxi! I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Naleena replied feeling exasperated.

 

The five minutes until it arrived seemed like an eternity. She lit a cigarette while she was waiting. Finally one stopped in front of her. The door opened and she got inside. Irina’s tracking signal displayed on her omni-tool, and she input that nav point into the taxi’s computer. The car began its leisurely journey to the Strip. Naleena input her Spectre code to override and take manual control, and gunned it approaching 500 kph. She saw her exit approaching and slowed.

 

Where is C-sec?

 

She parked the car and got out. There was disorder in the street and the sound of gunfire off in the distance. She followed it. She got on her communicator to C-sec.

 

“We’re sorry. The emergency call system is down. Please try again later.”

 

“That’s not good,” she said to herself as the sound of the gunfire grew louder.

 

She walked briskly through the crowded street. And when she neared the location she drew her gun. She hit her tactical cloak and entered the building.

 

Vayne and Irina were trapped behind the bar. Irina looked like she was seriously injured, but was still fighting. There were four mercs. Two humans, and two Turian, and it appeared that a Drell was their leader. Naleena moved behind one of the human mercs and snapped his neck, and then fired her SIG at the Turian six feet away hitting him in the head, the hollow point splattering his brains against the wall.

 

The Drell turned and opened up with his Tempest in a suppressing burst on Naleena’s position. Then he cloaked. Naleena cloaked and ran to the other Turian merc.

 

Vayne saw the Turian’s head whip to one side as his neck snapped and he slumped to the floor. Naleena appeared again as her cloak disengaged. The Drell fired again, and Naleena dove to the floor behind the acrylic railing. Both the Drell and Naleena cloaked again and it was obvious who Naleena’s next target was.

 

Naleena waited, holstered her gun, and saw a shimmering outline and sprinted toward it, grappling the Drell, and knocking his weapon out of his hand. Outnumbered, the human merc fled.

 

Vayne attended to Irina while Naleena attended to the Drell who ignored Vayne and Irina.

 

She felt the rise of an old familiar feeling. She hated it. She welcomed it.

 

“You used my friends to bait me into coming,” Naleena said as she circled the Drell. “Well, I’m here.”

 

The Drell threw a warp on her and staggered her momentarily. Naleena was glowing blue from the field as she felt her natural biotic barrier weaken. She tried to take cover, but the Drell charged and detonated the warp sending Naleena flying into the wall behind her where she fell to the floor with the wind partially knocked out of her.

 

This is one tough son of a ******.

 

“Is that all you’ve got?” she taunted, stood up and hit him with a dark channel.

 

The Drell felt his own barrier weakening. He threw another warp at Naleena but this time she was ready and dodged it. So he charged again, and was met by a perfectly timed punch powered by a throw, detonating and knocking him against a support post next to the buffet.

 

The Drell shook his head and grabbed a pair of chef’s knives and attacked Naleena with them. Naleena dodged them and countered with a leg sweep that the Drell expertly avoided. Naleena rolled back and flipped to her feet, and activated her barrier. The Drell threw the knives, but Naleena deflected them with her forearms.

 

The Drell ran toward her, flipped, then jumped in the air and spun around kicking at her. He connected, hitting her in the chest with one and in the face with the other sending her back into another support post. Naleena touched her face and saw purple blood on her fingers. The Drell taunted her with his hand for her to attack.

 

Enough!

 

Naleena charged toward him. He dodged her. She hit him with another dark channel and that slowed him again. And she flipped toward him, wrapping her thighs around his head, then gave him a double shot with both hands at two key points on the Drell skull.

 

The Drell screamed in pain. She jumped down, and he put his hands to his head. She leaped forward in the air and kicked him knocking him against the wall, then charged up a warp and landed it on him with a thunderous detonation. He slumped to the floor.

 

The Drell saw what he imagined to be demonic figure approach him as if in slow motion, silhouetted by the lights inside the club, her black coat trailing behind her, each footstep echoing in his head. Naleena reached down, grabbed him with her left hand, and slammed him against the wall. Her eyes went black, and she put her right hand on his forehead. The Drell screamed in agony.

 

The Drell’s mind was like a filing cabinet filled with images, sounds, smells, everything exactly as they happened. She searched, and the Drell tried to hide, and the more he tried to hide the more pain he felt. Naleena eventually found what she was looking for; she took it and broke the meld. The Drell died, and she let him fall to the floor.

 

Naleena was breathing very hard and was bent over with her hands on her knees. If the fight had gone on any longer she wouldn’t have made it. This fight and what she just learned reminded her of what she was and what she lost on Omega. It was back now.

 

She’d regained her focus, stood tall, and turned to face Vayne and Irina. “My name is Naleena T’sarius. I’m a Council Spectre. In the end, it’s about accepting who you really are. I am not the good guy.”

 

Naleena walked over to Irina and gave her a dose of Medi-gel. "We'll have to get you back to my car. Emergency channels for some reason are down in this area. That leg looks bad. Vayne, give me a hand with her."

 

On the way back to the car, Naleena went deep in thought. Your past has a way of sneaking up on you. You'll hear broken echoes of it everywhere. You'll get mad at everyone for reminding you about it, even if it's all in your head.

[Kel Riever]

As Vayne, Irina and Naleena were making their way back to the skycar, a group of bystanders were staring at them. 

But Vayne and Naleena noticed a second set of bystanders staring in the direction they were headed, their eyes wide in horror.  Less than a second later, both of them and Irina heard a peeling yell of panic.

Their eyes caught the human merc that had run off careening through the air at an unnatural speed, as if being yanked by an invisible chain.  The end of his trajectory landed him flat into a smooth surfaced wall with bone crunching fury.  He slid down the five or so meters above the floor where he landed, unmoving, in a heap.  It was then that their eyes caught three other figures facing them.  All were asari, in front of a skycar that was blocking the way to Naleena’s vehicle.

Naleena recognized them immediately.  The two on the flanks were Serrice Guard, in uniform.

The central figure was Xanthe Remi, in her evergreen justicar armor.

Xanthe, her aura blue with her biotic release, locked her eyes onto Naleena.  The white diamond facial marking in the center of her forehead seeming like it would leap out with its own blazing energy.  She strode forward with the Serrice Guard following her, unconcerned for the state of Naleena’s wounded team member.

“Finding you with the emergency systems down was a challenge, T’Sarius,” Xanthe pronounced, “But thankfully, your Spectre override code let me track your vehicle.  I can't say I am terribly surprised to find you surrounded by trouble.  One of my guard will see your subordinate is taken care of.  You are to come with me immediately on order of The Council.”

[Cainhurst Crow]

"What?" Vayne asked as he looked towards Xanthe, than towards naleena, than towards Xanthe again. This asari, and her team of asari, apparently had business with the boss. More yet, they had apparently felt a need to block their path to the hospital. And after the encounter Vayne had earlier, he didn't quite trust a group of folks turning up out of the blue making demands.

 

He growled a bit, his grip on Irina tightening as he glanced between the three with his good eye, before glancing down to the bloodpack merc Xanthe had taken care of. He relaxed, if only a bit, as he had his eye settle on the white faced asari, "Her name is Irina..." He said through a low growl, "And your subordinate better get us, to the hospital. Quickly." Vayne said, knowing what took priority to him. He took one last look towards Naleena, as if looking for her approval before he took Irina and helped escort her with the guard under close watch.

[Kel Riever]

Xanthe peered at the asari on her right, which was all that was needed to get her jumping into action.

"Right away, Spectre!"  The Serrice Guard, went over to check on Irina and apply medical care immediately, while calling for help directly to the nearest hospital.

To the Serrice Guard on her left, Xanthe ordered, "Get me that crumpled criminal at the wall behind us.  If he's still alive, I want him treated, then taken to C-Sec where he is to await me for questioning."

A nod, then the other Guard ran back to get the prisoner.

"Now, are you going to come along peacefully, Naleena, or do I have to worry about you causing more trouble?"

[Kel Riever]

...on the Medusa

Morgan exited the elevator and headed towards the bridge.  When he got there, he saw Dahlia in the Captain's chair as the ship was close to its destination.  "Well...anything interesting happen while I was gone...is that tea?"  Morgan asked in surprise as he saw Sherie, with a trolley, serving tea to each of the crew members on the bridge.

...and elsewhere on the Medusa

"I think I've got it!"  Babe, in her eagerness, had jammed one arm deep into the recess beneath the gun chair.  She braced against the bottom of the chair with her other hand, and stuck out her tongue to the side of her mouth.  Her legs wiggled free of where they were braced.  "Yep! I got it!"

Babe tried to pull her hand out and sighed.  "I also think I might have gotten stuck."