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[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena

 

Thoughts may be surface. I must try a scan before he dies.

 

"Iyana, where is she?" Naleena said, her eyes blackened as her aura burst into blue while she probed Jrudek's thoughts.

 

Pain! Get beyond it. What's in here?

[Redbelle]

Jess's eye's didn't come away from Jrudek's as she again gestured with the cube. "Dang what he did! Were did he.... get this! Where??? I know it came off my ship! Who had it? Why did they take it? Why send it back at all"?

 

Jess's voice was getting higher in pitch and she caught herself with her finger tightening on Sinbad's trigger. She forced her finger to relax and glared down at Jrudek. "Tell me what you know and I promise.... we'll get you help. That's all I want. Promise to tell me and I'll get people down to help you..... Was it Iyana? Did she take it? Did she try and open it"? Jess's tone was dead serious now as her chest rose and fell. Her whole body looked tense, as if she was readying herself to either shoot Jrudek where he lay or flee from him.

 

"Tell me now. Did. Anyone. Open it"!

[TheMajonese]

"Wait...what?" Arian turned around. Dumbfounded and with open mouth, he stared at the turian's back until the stranger moved out of his sight. The words needed a while to reach his mind and even then, they made no sense to Arian. At least not yet. He still stood there for a few seconds, at least that was what he believed. In reality, he waited for almost two minutes, before he shook his head and continued to walk down the street. 

 

"I should really stop drinking...", he muttered to himself.

 

 

 

The grey turian passed by without noticing the woman that waited above his head. She was sitting on a large construct that was build above the street and was used for a large screen that showed an advertisement for a sushi restaurant. Sitting directly on top of it, she was nearly impossible to spot. The usual field of view of most people was oriented towards the ground, hardly anyone would look up if there wasn't a solid reason to do so.

 

While she watched the unknown turian, she had one hand over her shoulder at the sword's hilt, ready for anything. When the turian was gone, she continued her waiting until the signal of her transmitter began to move again. Cautious not to be seen by anyone, she followed the tall and obviously drunk turian, using building fronts and housetops to remain undetected.

 

 

 

This part of the citadel looked less like the highly advanced station that was the political and economic center of the galactic community, it instead reminded Arian of Omega. The street he was walking on was as dirty as the countless buildings, the lighting was surprisingly dim and except for the crazy turian and the human, Arian hadn't seen anyone around here.

 

He already knew that this was the wrong direction but he still just continued to move straightforward, a decision that was due to the alcohol. The thought of turning around and walking down this street a second time felt unbearable.

 

"HELP!"

 

Arian needed a moment to react to the shout that seemed to come out of a alleway to his right. He hesitated a bit, but then he heard another shout: "HELP! PLEASE!" It sounded like the male voice of a human and that man seemed to be in trouble. With a frustrated sigh, Arian tried to grab his Typhoon from his back. He needed several attempts until he finally held the gun in his hands. In his state, Arian wouldn't be able to fire it but just the look of it could be enough to scare away some thugs. More stumbling than walking, Arian moved into the alleway.

 

It was too narrow for any car and was meant for walkers only. He could hardly see anything in it, it was unusually dark. What the turian didn't noticed was, that the lamps above him that should illuminate the area were broken as if someone had shot them with a gun. "Anyone here?", he asked carefully and even though he didn't put much force into these words, his voice was almost as loud as the shouts earlier.

 

There was a movement in front of him and Arian stopped, his gun held in front of him. A shadow was approaching him but he couldn't identify it because of the darkness. Arian was so focused on that person in front of him that he completely overheard the slow and quiet steps that were moving in from behind. 

[Redbelle]

Jess grit her teeth. "Damn it". Before bringing up her comm and laid in a call to the operator. "I need C-Sec and a medical team to my location. We've got a man down. Spectre did it so if you could put a firecracker under this that would be good. Pretty sure this much blood on the floor is a bad thing".

 

Jess closed her comm before the operator could ask any questions and handed Tallis Sinbad. "Keep him covered. If he moves.... shoot". That done Jess slid down to where he lay and tore off a strip of his clothes under his armor and put pressure on one of his wounds. Keeping one hand down on him she looked up at Naleena. "Check him for weapons. Your not going to fight me on this are you luv"? She asked Jrudek. "Cause not. Me and you have a conversation to be having. Can't do that in the morgue. Talk like why you? Why get sent and then do all this? No one else? Cause not. That witch doesn't know the value of life unless she's got her talons sunk into it. Well.... your not going to be seeing her for a long time so why not keep me company for awhile while we wait for the meds to arrive eh"?

 

As she spoke, with her free hand she tore off another strip and clumsily balled and pressed it onto another wound. "Three Naleena? Three? Really? Two wasn't enough? I don't have a spare hand you know. I get beating someone down but overki.....". She bit off the end of her words as she remembered Jrudek could still hear her.

[Cknarf]

"I mean have you ever considered wearing it?" Frank clarified. "Now I know ya'll commandos are all about the leather, but wouldn't you rather wear something that's a little more, I dunno, bullet resistant?" He stopped before a randomly selected weapon case, all black with a subdued Systems Alliance insignia. 

 

"The reason I ask is because there's a sh*t ton of armor in hold five."

 

Frank opened the case, revealing what looked to be a variant of the M-96 Mattock. It was finished in a dark, matte gray paint, with red highlights. It had a longer barrel with a much heavier profile than the standard M-96, and was fitted with a 1-6x variable scope. Gently, Frank pried it from the foam that surrounded it for a better look. He ran a thumb over the serial number, that read XM01. The 'XM' designation told him it was an experimental Alliance weapon, and the '01' that followed likely signified that is was the first of few that were produced.

 

"Also, I think plate armor is hella sexy." Frank briefly glanced up from the rifle and smiled. "I think I found what I was lookin' for." He placed the weapon back into its place, and closed the lid.

[Cainhurst Crow]

As Essul ran through the darkened tunnels, he had no time to worry about whether his presence alerted anyone or not, nor about stealth. In essul's mind, the stealth route was a no go at this point. Even with a tactical cloak, the distance meant that he had to run to get to Naleena and Jess, and more pressingly, quickly engage any of Iyana's men.

 

They'd tried stealth when facing her on the Medusa, and all of it had amounted ot nothing but a trap. This time, Essul decided the head on approach was best. As he ran, he rounded a corner, and tripped over something behind him as he went stumbling down. He heard a yelp behind him, turning around to see that the something he tripped over had been someone, crawling on the ground.

 

"Dammit..." Essul mutted to himself, getting up quickly as he took the argus rifle in one hand, walking quickly back to the human as he reached down and scooped him up under his arm, "You picked a bad time to be here..." He said as he continued his run out of the tunnels, spotting an exit a few meters later as he ran through, coming out in some back alley street as he looked around, dropping the human.

 

"You'll thank me for being alive later..." Essul said simply as he continued his run, eyes darting back and forth as he searched for wherever it was Naleena and Jess could be, a block later screams sounding out as they spotted yet another armed and armored gunmen running through the streets, and ran for the hills the opposite way, a few passing the recently carried, dropped, and kicked nigel's line of sight.

[Redbelle]

Nigel curled up into a ball where he'd been dropped and placed both hands over his ears as he rocked himself back and forth as he recited. "I'll get a promotion, I'll get a promotion, I'll get a promotion...".

[Kel Riever]

"Yes! Yes," Tallis replied to Jess as she held Sinbad aimed down at Jrudek.  Jess was over the batarian and in front of him, while Naleena bent above his head.  Morgan gave both room, and kept an eye out other places.

Jrudek couldn't speak, not coherently.  He hissed a feeble word, filled with spit and blood as he entered the meld with Naleena by force.  It was hard to make out, until Jess realized the word was, "Giiiivvvvvvve!"

Down into Jrudek's mind, Naleena travelled.  It was like a vortex, or a whirlpool in this case that drowned her.  The immediate sensations were excrutiating!  Rending, tearing, things ripping apart from the inside!  Ruptures, fissures, a heart bursting apart.  More, unspeakable things to feel, to experience, and then they were blocked out.  Those looking at Naleena from the outside saw Jrudek's pain appear on Naleena's face.  Through her thoughts, she warned Jrudek that she would get his information, and fighting would only make it more painful.  And in response, Jrudek decided to fight anyway.  As if he wanted to fight!  As if he didn't care that she would get his information anyway.

It was a poison, something Naleena had never experienced, that caused what was happening.  It was the poison closing the door to Jrudek's life that caused her to dangerously race to get her information.  But it was influenced, by Jrudek's fight, by the agony, and by what was foremost in Jrudek's mind.  The question Jess had, that Jrudek heard had something to do with it, but so did what was more important to Jruded and the events that had happened to him last.

The battle was influenced by the time Jrudek had left, and yet as a paradox, did not occur in time at all.  Naleena felt as if a knife was stuck inside her ribs, and forced its way out with a serrated edge.  Jrudek, she felt, had an odd respect for her, for the people who he faced, for Morgan.  There was a memory that he had, serving with Morgan aboard the bridge of a ship...it was the Khukuri. Someone else was there, an asari with hawk like facial markings.  Xhuan.  He loved her, but not in a normal way.  They had slept together but that was a carnal experience.  It was the love of warriors who thrived in brutality, who respected power, who worked singularly for a purpose, a greater purpose than either of them or both united.  The love of being able to die for that purpose.  He wanted to be with her but knew he could not, and that somehow she would understand.

Naleena tried to get Iyana's location, but then the question Jess asked sent Jrudek a different direction.  Jess was wrong about Iyana, Iyana was giving her back the datacube.  Had Iyana opened it?  Most certainly.  And yet she returned it as well.  "Tell her I'm keeping the mask," Iyana said to Jrudek, a message for Jess.  But something was different about Iyana now.  She was glittering in silver, beautiful and goddess like, a vision to be feared only if misunderstood.  Then the thoughts turned again, this time to something recent.

There was the C-Sec plant, an officer Lang, who Jrudek had met.  He had arranged for an informant to be killed...no the informant!  The one who had worked with Molly Hagen. Who knew Morgan and who Morgan knew as Lena.  But that wasn't her real name.  Her reall name was Jill Lodge, a single mother of two, a Shadow Broker courier.  She had blown the cover on Morgan, and that's how Molly had found him.  But Molly hadn't known about Lang inside of C-Sec.   Lang had arranged her assassination, hiring a turian he had never met...someone called Broken Fang.  Lang had also helped Jrudek find the Medusa, so Jrudek could give the datacube back....

Jrudek was passing.

The last delve, the last dive into his memory for what Naleena needed.  Iyana!  Where is Iyana! The answer came back first:  Everywhere!  Then it came back:  A thought before the mind, guiding you...Then Iyana was there, first a business woman in a violet dress, then the woman in violet armor, and then finally someone gleaming in silvery light, shining like a knight, no an angel, no, a Queen!  Terrible and great, she walked amongst predators, beasts and the downfallen.  There was a place of fertile land that she would rise from, it was...the Terminus Systems...but that was too vague.  She had gone somewhere else and returned.  Jrudek did not know the other location and the second place made Jrudek-Naleena confused.  There were guards, the color red, and a...

Something exploded inside Jrudek and Naleena pulled herself from the eye of the vortex just barely in time.

When Naleena broke the meld, she clutched the sides of her head.  Geometric shapes swirled and floated in her vision.  It felt like an ice pick had been driven into her head, or what she imagined one felt like, as she'd witnessed the experience first hand on another.  Naleena shifted to the side so that when she vomited, she didn't hit anyone else.  Then she got to her feet, squinting at the little light there was, hearing sounds around her like they were drums pressed against her temples.

Essul had arrived at that point, from the same dark corridors as Morgan had travelled.  Anika arrived then too, from behind Jess. 

Jrudek was no longer there, though.  He died, with his four eyes opened towards Jess.

[Redbelle]

"Hey! HEY! Dammit Jrudek. Don't you dare die on me"! Jess could feel his breath coming in shorter and shorter gasps as Naleena suddenly recoiled from him, holding her head and squeezing her eye's shut as if in agony. "Jrudek"!

 

Jrudek didn't move. His eye's though remained fixed on hers as his chest heaved one last time and settled. "Luv? Jrudek?..... I'm sorry". Jess felt him still and looking down at her hands, she withdrew them from his chest. Blood clung to them that she looked at. Pulling out a cloth she wiped them as best she could but found she could not it all off. Giving up she tossed the cloth down. It landed next to the cube that she scooped up and gazed at it.

 

She'd thought she'd lost it.

 

Heck, she had lost it.

 

And now it was being returned?

 

The manner of it's return wasn't surprising. But for now that wasn't a concern for Jess.

 

Iyana had opened it. She knew it's contents. Even Jess had never opened this cube. She'd never had to. Her Captain had sealed it. Told her the password to open it then insisted that she never did. It was a door that if she had to open, she'd have failed him, he'd told her.

 

Reaching up with both hands she took the cube and gave it a slight twist. The cube's projection port lit up and there he was. Standing a few inches high but larger than life to her eyes.

 

"Back so soon? You got something you want to say to me darlin"?

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena

 

Naleena with her left hand to her forehead and her pistol still in her right squinted her eyes and staggered toward the light at the end of the corridor toward the Janiri. The aura pressed in on her and narrowed her field of vision. She heard Jess and knew Morgan was nearby. C-sec officers had arrived at the scene.

 

"Someone help me back to the ship," she said.

 

Tallis ran over and slipped her arm around Naleena who leaned on her shoulder steadying the light vertigo.

 

The C-sec Officer Lang¹ arrived on the scene first. "Hold on, Ma'am. I'll have a med team take you to Huerta. Then I have some questions."

 

"Of course you do, but I can receive treatment straightaway on my ship," Naleena said. "I'm a Spectre. I'll cooperate with C-sec on a need to know basis."

 

"As you wish," Lang replied "What about him?"

 

"Clean that up before it starts to stink," she said as Tallis helped her walk to med-bay.

 

****

 

Dr. Tolus examined Naleena and checked her eyes. "A bit photosensitive, are we?"

 

"It's a migraine, Doctor. Just give me the shots," Naleena said.

 

"Has this ever happened before during a meld?"

 

"No." Naleena answered.

 

"Have you melded with Batarians before?"

 

"Yes, Doc, is this really necessary?"

 

"Afraid  so. Lay down on table."

 

Naleena sighed but cooperated. The scanner showed an image of Naleena's brain activity.

 

"Hmm. Image shows activity of classic migraine. Otherwise everything is normal."

 

"That's what I've been telling you. Now just give me the goddess forsaken shots," Naleena demanded.

 

The doctor gave her an injection of 6 mg sumatriptan succinate which still after 200 years was one of the most effective treatments for an acute migraine.

 

Naleena started to feel relief within minutes.

 

"If it isn't completely gone within an hour, come back for a second injection," the doctor said. "No smoking or drinking for the next two hours."

 

Naleena nodded. Anything to be rid of that thing.

 

"Would like to examine corpse to see what is different about this Batarian," Dr. Tolus said.

 

"It's pretty simple. He took a very strong poison. Apparently he didn't want any way of being taken alive, and he didn't want his mind probed," Naleena said. "I've never run into a situation like this before. I could have broken the meld, but I wanted the information. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."

 

"You should rest."

 

"I need to get back to work. If the headache returns I'll be back."

 

****

 

Naleena had been gone perhaps 30 minutes. She returned to the scene. Jess, Morgan and Anika were still there. Essul was also there. Medical techs were treating civilians.

 

¹ This is not Officer Eddie Lang. Eddie Lang is the only heavyset human in the entire ME universe. I won't let it be the fat guy. This is his evil 2nd cousin William Lang.

[Kel Riever]

Naleena might not have thought much of it, but she notice Tallis was following her closely, having met her as soon as Naleena went to the dock again, and walking just behind her the whole way back to the scene.  She looked unusually anxious.

But back at the scene, when Jess pulled the datacube out and activated it, Morgan stared at the image of the man in the hologram.  He bent down next to Jess, put a hand on her shoulder, and asked, "Who is that?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena walked over to Jess and Morgan. "We need to talk, but not here. I suggest my ship."

 

Tallis appeared very anxious and was really making a pain of herself near Naleena.

 

Finally Naleena turned to face Tallis. "Yes, Tallis, what is it?"

[TheMajonese]

Citadel Wards - Arian (<- I start to like these headlines, they help keeping things clear)

 

The only light came from a lamp on the other side of the street and it hardly illuminated anything of the alleway. But still, there was enough light for Arian to tell that the person in front of him was neither Aaron, nor the weird turian from earlier, nor anyone else he had ever seen. It was a very thin human with short, blonde hair. He was a lot shorter than Arian and seemed quite young. He was wearing a simple, dark outfit and Arian could see the pistol attached to his hip. As he approached Arian he had to tilt his head back. There was a strange tension in his face when he stared at the tall turian and something in his eyes made Arian feel very uncomfortable.

 

Suddenly the human stepped backwards, raising his voice. "It's him! Kill hi-uughh...!"

 

Due to the alcohol, the realization that something was very wrong came too late for Arian, but at the same time it came a lot faster than the human in front of him seemed to expect. Arian didn't even try to use his gun, he just dropped the Typhoon and instead of trying to land a precise strike, he launched himself at the human who was taken completely by surprise and had no time to dodge. The second Arian collided with him, he heard a gunshot from behind, then a bullet entered his neck and penetrated it.

 

With all his weight, Arian landed on the human, there was a cracking sound, followed by a loud scream. The momentum of his attack carried his body even further and when he hit the ground, he pressed both his hands on the side of his neck. At the same time, Arian tried to get back on his feet but the shock following the injury and the alcohol made it impossible. Helpless, he laid on his back, watching how a second human with a pistol in his hand was about to move toward him.

 

From his position, Arian also saw a shadow moving at the edge of one of the rooftops above. It swung itself off the roof and then grabbed the ledge to reduce the falling distance, before dropping several meters into the alleway. Upon hitting the floor it performed a roll and, out of that movement, drew a giant sword from its back, the blade alone had the lenghth of a short human. It held the sword with both hands close to its right hip, but despite the weight of the weapon, the tip of the blade didn't touch the floor, instead it hovered a few centimeters above it.

 

The form was wearing a black armor with light plating that covered all of its body except for the head, the face was hidden behind a mask. His point of view didn't allow Arian to see what kind of mask the person was wearing. At first he thought that it was another attacker but there suddenly was fear on the face of the other human who still had his gun pointed at Arian. The man now turned to the new arrival and fired several shots into the darkness, while steadily moving backward.

 

The stranger with the black armor did a quick step to the side and then started to run. For some reason the bullets fired from the pistol had no effect on the stranger. Arian didn't know if the shots just didn't hit their target or if they were blocked by either the armor or shields.

 

The tip of the sword's blade was still very close to the floor when the stranger ran toward the man with the pistol, whose eyes were widely opened in terror. Then, just three meters in front of the man, the mysterious attacker turned around his own axis. Halfway during the rotation, he lifted the sword over his shoulder, then he lowered his upper body a bit. With a screeching sound the blade scraped the metal ground, before it moved upward again and hit the man who didn't even got time to scream. 

 

The weapon entered his body on the left side, just above the pelvis, easily made its way through flesh and bones and eventually exited the man's body over his right shoulder. The two body halves fell to the ground, blood and guts began to run out of them and formed a disgusting pool. When the sword left the body, the wielder used the momentum of his attack to finish a second rotation, then he stood still.

 

But Arian didn't know what happened after that. The injury and the blood loss, paired with the alcohol were too much for him. When he passed out, he heard the voice of a woman but he couldn't understand her words.

[Cainhurst Crow]

((He's not Eddie Lang. He's Eddie Lang's 1920's Crooked Chicago Cop Cousin, Big-Booper-Billy Lang ))

 

Essul had holstered his gun, staring at Jrudek's dead body as he breathed a heavy sigh of relief, then a chastising hiss his own way. He was slow. Far too slow, and if things hadn't gone in their favor, Jess and Naleena could have both wound up dead. He looked towards Talis as she helped escort Naleena away, glad the commando had managed to get here before him.

 

As he returned his attention to Jrudek, he frowned as he noticing something on the mans neck. Essul bent down as he moved to the batairans collar, pulling it back as he saw the discoloring tissue running along the mans body, veins bursted as he raised a brow. His eyes went to the batairans free hand, seeing it clenched tightly and now frozen in a permanent death-grip, essul frowning deeply.

 

"It can't be..." Essul said as he moved up to Jrudek's eyes, reaching up to peel back the upper and lower eyelids to check his theory. Discolored and bruised looking, clear signs of internal trauma taking place. Essul gave a shake of his head as he checked the teeth, seeing the damage clear as day and not even needing a good look to tell how much pressure had been put in place. He shook his head as he looked to Jrudek's storage, searching his pockets as he stopped, pulling out the familiar objects.

 

 Di-Isolyn Neuropovayzene. Multiple injection-pens worth of the stuff, all kept in a safe shatter-proof container. Essuls hand was shaking as he held it, a look of intense anger on his face as he gritted his teeth, "This is...this is...." He said, anger evident as he threw down the container hard, a crack going up the carbon-plastic casing from the impact.

 

"We need this mans blood analyzed. Anything that bonds to the nervous systems sensory pathways..." Essul said as he looked to the c-sec officer, "Get this mans armor scanned as well. Every part of it for any unknown substances. I...The spectre will want a full readout on this assassin..." He said as he noticed lang's nervousness, "DO IT!" He bellowed, snapping the man out as he gave a hurried, "r-right..." and got to work, essul glaring at him the whole time as he watched the man get to documenting the crime scene.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena turned to Essul. "Thanks, and stay with this, will you? Dr. Tolus wants a full report from forensics. Make sure they cover everything," Naleena said and tapped on her omni-tool sending a message to Essul. "If they give you any sh*t, and they might given that you're Batarian, give them this authorization number."

 

Then she turned her attention back to Tallis.

[Kel Riever]

Iole

"Nothing is really holding me back from wearing whatever I want anymore," Iole answered, thinking it through.  "I have some biotic ability, and when I'm with the team, the important point was synergy, even if I wasn't the greatest biotic ever.  That's gone, so, I suppose I'm not stuck with the leathers, even if I do like the colors."

Iole followed Frank closely.  "Why don't you show me what you had in mind?"

Tallis

"Iole left.  Iole left."

Tallis looked away from Naleena, unable to hold her gaze directly.  She didn't want to tell Naleena now, but she had to.  The heavy sadness was evident on the young asari's face, and what she lacked in words, she could communicate with her expression.

"Gone.  Gone."

Tallis straightened her fingers on one hand, and held them together.  She made an ascending motion with the hand then, as if a ship lifting into orbit.  Tallis lowered her hand again and stared down at the ground.
 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena gently put her hands on Tallis' shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Iole left as in went AWOL?"

 

Tallis' eyes showed deep sadness and she nodded.

 

Naleena shook her head in disbelief. "I thought things were straightened out. Do you have any idea why she would leave?"

[Redbelle]

Jess stared at the man from her past and she allowed herself a sad smile before taking a deep breath. She stood. Holding the cube up for all to see.

 

"Morgan, Naleena, Anika, Tallis..... Meet Rasgul. Former Captain of the Medusa. He was my captain". Se looked down at the cube and shut it down. "It's..... complicated. But yeah. We need to go. I need a long range comm. I need to speak with some people..... But first....".

 

Jess squared the cube away in a pouch and then knelt and rummaged through Jrudek's pockets, looking for anything that might tell her where he'd come from, who he'd talked to.

 

Damn it! Why the cube? Why did they have to find the cube? And the password.... Iyana had found the password? Of all the people in the galaxy she hadn't expected her to......

 

......Timelines. The was a time when Iyana, on the Medusa, had found the cube, and had unlimited access to Luscious?

 

Damn damn damn.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena put her hand on Jess' while she was rummaging through Jrudek's pockets. "We need to talk. Let's go to the ship... Now." she said. She saw the cracked container that Essul threw on the floor and picked it up. Di-Isolyn Neuropovayzene. The label said. This was a suicide mission for him to deliver the cube and a message.

[Cknarf]

"I'm more of a light armor kind of guy myself." Frank started, as if she had never noticed. He pulled open a few cases containing armor "Although, that set of Predator heavy that I had was nice too... climate controlled and all that."  There was something magical about having dry balls on a planet where dry balls are impossible.

 

 

"I dunno. It really comes down to personal preference, I guess." Frank began digging through cases on the other side, looking for a set of his own. "And they have just about any color you want down here, you know." He glanced back over his shoulder. "Mix and match plates if you have to. Marius probably won't mind."

[Kel Riever]

"Marius won't mind, huh?"  Iole cast a distrustful expression at Frank, but she began rummaging through the cases.  "Maybe he'll consider it a smart investment if we do ever need to get in a fight.  Or if we avoid one because somehow in here is a suit of articulated Titan armor with power exoskeleton."

Was there even such a thing?  Iole didn't know.  But she did get much happier as she pulled out a set of gauntlets.

"Serrice Council, expensive, but not good for me..."

There was a larger case that Iole pulled from the bottom. 

"Hahne-Kedar?  Well, that's  good news!  Let's see what's happening with this."

Iole opened the case and there was a brand new suit of the armor, customizable for fitting, only missing a helmet.

"Not my colors, but we can..."  Iole paused as she came to a realization.  "I'm going to miss a high tech fabricator.  Will have to settle for a basic paint applicator.  It'll be fine.  Don't want to go all 'high brow' on you there.  Now...."

Iole looked around, then looked at Frank.  She didn't know if he was thinking what she was thinking.

[Cknarf]

Quintus

 

Quintus sat quietly in the pilot's seat, as he guided the Vepr towards the Boltzmann system. There was still an occasional sniffle, as he worked. Maybe he was still recovering from his brother's verbal assault? No. It still hurt, but he was more than used to Marius' vitriol by now. It was that damned human movie, bringing back some memories from his glory days. Long repressed memories that were far less than glorious.

 

Tapping at his omni-tool, Quintus displayed a photo on the monitor in front of him.

 

It depicted a young Quintus, standing in front of his fighter, in full flight gear.  Under one arm was a helmet, and the other, a second turian that he held close. Close like a friend. A best friend, even. Or maybe... maybe it was something more. A lover, perhaps?

 

Quintus held them back for as long as he could. There was no stopping them this time. With the flick of a wrist, the door separating the lounge and cockpit locked tight. Burying his face in his palms, he let it out. All of it.

[Kel Riever]

Morgan

Morgan was intrigued by the man, and by the reverence it seemed Jess referred to him.  There was so much going on, and as he heard Tallis answer Nallena, he was certain there was even more he was unaware of.

"Yes, Frank.  Yes, Frank," the magenta suited Commando answered, then didn't want to say anymore. 

Then Morgan had to take a last look at Jrudek.  He couldn't separate from his mind the brutal things the batarian did at the behest of Iyana, but he did understand Jrudek.  To send Jrudek was to send one of Iyana's most important leaders, not to mention his ability to pilot a craft.  What had caused her to do that?  Here he lay, dead, pushing himself into a situation where he knew he was outgunned.  It wasn't that Morgan didn't think Jrudek would avoid that, but the important part was that Iyana knew he would, and sent him to do it.  Or said something to him that clicked in Jrudek's mind to trigger him to do it.

Morgan couldn't help but grumble.  He looked up at the suggestion of moving.  "The ship, I take it, you mean the Janiri?  Yes, I want to know what you saw with Jrudek." Reaching down, Morgan was sure to remove Jrudek's Omni-tool.  Aside from possible data that could be critical, Morgan checked the inserted chips for one in particular, and found what he was looking for.  It was a 'Mockingbird' chip, the same kind of chip Morgan had that let him move through security without so much as a glance sent his direction.  They couldn't be fabricated, and a high end Shadow Broker agent's favorite as they prevented tracking as well.  Mockingbird chips were prized possessions in any criminal organization, and awarded to those of importance.  It would come in handy.

"I'll message Dahlia on the way back that we'll be a bit delayed.  Also to see if the Medusa needs anything while we're out and for an update.  Shall we get going?"

The officer who arrived on the scene seemed to watch Morgan closely as he removed the Omni-tool.  "I might need that for the investigation."

Morgan tilted his head towards Naleena.  "Spectre's authority.  You can have it when we're done."

The C-Sec officer nodded, clearly not comfortable with the idea.
 

[Cknarf]

Frank raised an eyebrow, and shrugged a little bit, because he totally didn't know what she was thinking. Unless she was thinking what he was thinking, and he didn't know that's what she was thinking. It's hard to tell with chicks.

 

 But what he did know was that he had just found a bad ass set of light armor that was so not his color. Near the case was a much smaller case, sporting the same logo.

 

 

 

 

"You sayin' you wanna paint some stuff? 'Cause I'm pretty sure we have the means to do so. And I can tell you right now, this red ain't workin' for me." He pulled open the smaller case. "I..." The sight of the twin revolvers left him speechless for a moment.

 

"Dibs." He quickly slammed the case shut, because sharing is for losers.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena and group

 

"So Frank left, too? And Iole left with him?" Naleena said the reality hitting her after everything.

 

Tallis nodded.

 

Naleena released her, anger seething underneath, but Tallis could read it. "And you've been waiting all this time to tell me?"

 

Tallis nodded.

 

"Thank you," Naleena said. She turned to Morgan. "Yes, the Janiri. I know the conference room is secure, and VERA can analyze that omni-tool. Jess, you can use my QEC if you want."

 

The group began to head back to the Janiri.

 

On the way back to the ship Naleena showed Morgan the container of Di-Isolyn Neuropovayzene. "Morgan, look what Essul found. I'm not a chemist. Do you know what this is?"