"It's a never ending source of irritation and gainful employment". Jess deadpanned. "When we're done I need to try and crack that girl. She's way to pent up. Spending all her time on the Medusa's all well and good, but she need to get out some...... What do you think luv"? Want to escort two lovely ladies to your meeting"?
The idea of Babe messing with Amy's emotion's was appealing as Jess imagined how out of sort's she'd be before realizing that using Babe that way for a lark was beneath her.
For once Morgan couldn't hide his surprise. "Really? I don't mind one bit, but you caught me a bit. I thought you might believe she wasn't ready for any such thing."
After the words popped out of his mouth, Morgan pondered it a bit more. "On the other hand, if you think that the trip might do Babe good, I think it could work out. We'd better travel directly by skycar, though. I don't foresee having Babe wander out in the open on the Citadel as promising. Maybe we can ensure that she isn't around a host of people at once. The invitation seemed relatively private. I don't imagine Amy having a large entourage..."
Morgan moved his head a bit away from Jess, then glanced back to her and nodded. "Babe's going to leave an impression, I'm sure. There's something I like about this. Risky on one hand, and on the other, it could be perfect..."
Anika practically skipped as she emerged from the lift to Naleena's quarters. Which later, in hindsight, she was thankful no one was around to witness. Tapping a control sh efound her access still remained and the doors opened letting her step inside. She leaned to one side and the heavy Typhoon made contact with the decking with a clunk as she straightened. Her white jumpsuit unfolding along with her tall frame.
Anika grinned as she looked about the cabin and spotted her lover. "Naaaaally? I'm Hooooome"!
Kira
Kira appeared in the doorway with a neatly folded set of fresh sheets. She smiled at the sight of the armored up commando who was lost in her omni-tool. Walking past, she placed the sheets on the table, and began removing the old ones from the bed.
"Is everything alright, dear?" Kira asked, glancing up from her work.
------------------------------------------------------
Frank
Frank stood at one of the many workbenches in the cargo bay, and was disassembling one of the twin sidearms that he had found earlier.
"Yeah. I know the ones."
"What can you tell me about them?"
"Not a whole lot, bro. I know they're from an Earth based company by the name of Jormangund. I haven't really had the chance to look into 'em. The guns, I mean. Jormangund is known for makin' some good sh*t. We've got some of their armor down there, actually."
"Yeah, I'm wearing it now."
"Pretty slick, huh?"
"For sure. This asymmetrical shoulder plate is gonna take a little getting used to, though."
"Ugh. I hate those. Just chuck it and find another piece of whatever and replace it."
Anika practically skipped as she emerged from the lift to Naleena's quarters. Which later, in hindsight, she was thankful no one was around to witness. Tapping a control sh efound her access still remained and the doors opened letting her step inside. She leaned to one side and the heavy Typhoon made contact with the decking with a clunk as she straightened. Her white jumpsuit unfolding along with her tall frame.
Anika grinned as she looked about the cabin and spotted her lover. "Naaaaally? I'm Hooooome"!
Naleena heard the thump of the typhoon on the floor, crushed her cigarette, and set her drink on the table. She turned and smiled and leaped up into Anika's arms, wrapping her legs around her.
"Goddess, I've missed you!"
Anika's arm's reached down as Naleena wrapped herself around her. "Singing to the choir". She mummered as her lips sought Naleena's. The first few steps carrying her up against the bulkhead of her quarters ended as Anika pressed Naleena into it and bounced her up in her arms to find a better purchase. At last the need to breath forced them apart and Anika rested her forehead against her lover's and smiled. "You are hard to pin down, what with all the council work. You shipping out again soon? Or have we got time to relax"?
Jess grinned. "Great! Babe's coming. HEY BABE"! Jess yelled out across the loading bay. "Forget the jacket! We're heading out! Largo? Can you get her jacket? Bottom gun! Blue! Can't miss it"!
Vayne looked towards the women getting into the car, getting onto his coms with Vera, "Vera. Can you confirm the signals coming from that skycar? With certainty?" He asked, eye narrowing as he watched her enter the car. The reports had said a possible woman weilding a sword had been part of the strange attacks. He wasn't about to take any chances.
"If his omnitools there, then this might turn ugly. You be ready to quick draw..." He said as he looked to Irina, "And you make sure those biotics are on, defense or stunning, whichever your better at..." He said as he looked to Jenus.
Iole
Iole was so lost in the message from Naleena, she hadn't noticed Kira until she asked her question. When she looked up at the matriarch, she certainly gave away any doubts about her concern with her face. Kira had read her like a text message. Iole scrunched up one side of her mouth and explained.
"It's a message from the Spectre who our unit got assigned to. I always liked her but I guess it's very business like in the end and, well, you know I did do something I wasn't supposed to." Iole didn't look comfortable. "I guess she's giving me as much leeway as she can, and then, well, if I don't get back in about two Thessian days, my case is going to be handed over to the Republics military."
Iole's shoulders sagged. "Not everything can be a dream, right? I get here, and it feels instantly like home, the place I want to be. But it isn't like magic. I'm going to pay a big price for this. In the end, I could face some real time, if I ever get caught. It means being on the run for good. That's tough for me. I never imagined myself this way, even if I feel like I did what I needed to. It's just so...heavy, is the only way I can describe this message. Sort of like, 'I want to help you but at a certain point I can't' kind of message."
Jenus
Not exactly one for subtlety, Jenus said. "I'm not scared of the lady. Maybe she's got someone in that car with her. A car with tinted windows is a bit odd, but it's probably her sons or something like that. It's Arian we're talking about here, he can handle himself, trust me, we went at it. Let's talk to her, I wouldn't be surprised if she just caves and lets us know what we need."
Jenus checked her gear, but to make sure her Claymore (that replaced her Disciple) was neatly collapsed and everything was tucked away nicely. With a confident stride, Jenus broke away from Vayne and Irina, approaching the skycar directly. Her intent was simply to get up to the window on the skycar, knock on it, and talk to the lady who was probably just out for a break. A simple, "Hello, may I ask you a few questions," with a wave of Spectre authority might do just fine. And she was a Commando after all.
Morgan (and Babe)
Jess didn't know what was being discussed by Miss Dila, Mister Chris, Largo and Babe when she called out, but she did hear the collective "AW!...." that went up from Dila and Chris. Largo grunted a reply in the affirmative and went heading off to get the jacket, while Babe made a quick apology and came back over to Jess and Morgan, a bit confused.
When she got close enough, Babe asked in her alluring voice, "You're heading out, meaning you need something like a report, right? Everything should be in order. I promise I won't go outside the ship without a tie..."
"No," Morgan interrupted, "The Captain means that we includes you, and to get yourself into the skycar I called us that will be here in a minute."
Even with her leather thigh high boots, white and red stripped tight cotton pants, white crop top and incredible body to absolutely distract, Babe's blue eyes, wide in surprise, were her most prominent feature at that moment. She said nothing as she, Jess and Morgan exited the ship for the automated skycar that came in for a landing. The pilot's seat was, of course, for Jess, but when Babe moved to get in the back, Morgan waived his hand for her to wait.
"Sit next to the Captain."
Babe seemed confused again. Morgan got himself into the back seat behind the front passenger and then motioned for Babe to get in. She hesitated at first, then clambered in. Largo showed up just then, Babe's denim jacket in his hands.
"Take the tool belt, Largo," Morgan said as the large man handed Babe her jacket. Babe unfastened the belt she was using to repair the ship, in turn, giving it to Largo. She adjusted the low slung belt she had left and Morgan noted Babe had no armament. "You want to go without a gun?" Morgan asked her.
"I've never really needed one," Babe replied as if stating a fact rather than a point of view. "Besides, you two are with me."
Jess clapped her hands together loudly. "Great! It's on! Let's head on over. For the record luv's K&Q have an understanding on the Citadel. We're licensed to carry in public. Sidearms mainly. If you need something bigger, not that you ought to need a big gun. But if you decide to pull an Anika.... Be discreet. That license can be revoked and the last thing I need is my ship screwing over the whole company. Scarlett would never let me here the end of it".
After regaining control of the sky car, after she took her hands off the controls for a moment, Jess strong armed her way through the traffic resulting in a few swerving cars that quickly fell behind them as Jess unerringly followed the sky car's way point system. In short order they'd arrived at the roof of Terra Firma and hovered for a moment as the systems identified Morgan and his passenger's before it unlocked the roof as a touchdown zone to the sky car's computer systems. Jess simply waited. Arms folded and tutting as she eye'd the panel where the sky cars permission control box sat. Her finger's flexed as if she longed to open it..... But in the end she simply sat back and fidgeted making small talk about anything other than the upcoming meeting.
Finally the permissions were authorized and the sky car was allowed to descend. Jess took them in a graceful spiral descent that sent both TerF's and the sky car's way-point system into a flurry of warnings before Jess set them down with hardly a bump on the landing struts and popped the canopy. "Next stop, Medusa. We'll go in, let whoever wants to say their peace say it then see if they have any business we can snap up. Play nice all. We're not meeting the usual bar rats and dirt bags. We're as close to the political equivalent but I'd rather impress them and leave without any hard feelings".
"Right," Morgan said, wondering if the identification systems had picked up his alter ego. He didn't know but he was positive he'd find out the moment he was greeted. He'd also nearly forgotten that extreme maneuvers were not only something he had gotten acclimated to in the military and with Jess in general, and was reminded that not everyone had. "Easy there!"
Babe stepped out, thrilled with the dramatic entrance, but unaware of the affect it had on her as she stepped out and pitched to the side in her heels. Morgan caught her by the elbow before she went keeling over. She put a hand to her head and said, "Sorry," to both Jess and Morgan.
"It's fine. Just make sure you've got your legs back."
Straitening for a moment, Babe put herself in order. "I believe I'm fine now." She pulled her golden hair back in a glorious gesture, beaming her blue eyes, and catching the light perfectly on her skin. "Shall we?"
At that point a set of roof top doors opened and a man emerged. His suit was clean and pristine in that way that suggested it was fresh out the wardrobe and played counter to his face that was a mass of black and blue bruises.
"Hello. My name is Nigel and I've been asked to escort.....". At that point Jess stepped out the sky car and as she was closing the cabin Nigel saw her and his face went white. "Oh no, no, no, NONONONONO"!!! Nigel backpedaled rapidly his arms flailing about as he spun on his heel and turned to flee back where he had come just as Jess turned to see the back of him disappear bac inside the building.
"What's his malfunction"? She asked cocking her head and nodding at the doors. "Well, I guess it's this way". Jess stepped up to the doors and they obediantly slid open as she stepped through. Immediately she found herself in a wide open space floor. A walkway ran around the walls that connected to stair's that ran down each floor. At the far back of the building, away from where Jess and her companions stood, were a series of windowed offices. Some where blacked out as privacy screens were active. Other stood empty an could be seen inside.
A gaggle of worker's were looking away from where Jess, Morgan and babe emerged and as they did they turned and looked at them. "Hey? Did something happen outside? That guy Nigel. He just ran past us looking like he'd seen death incarnate".
Jess shrugged. "Sorry luv's. Just me and.....". But it was to late. the workers clocked Babe and all eye's turned, locked on and jaws dropped in unison. "..... Yeeeeah..... I guess when your ready.... Amy Babylon? My friend has an appointment".
One of the worker's turned his head slightly to talk to Jess but his attention remained rapt on Babe. "Yeah.... yeah that's..... nice.... Whose your friend? I can..... check..... and..... things".
Kira
“The things we do for love.” Kira sighed, tossing the balled up sheets into the box of crap that Iole had packed. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it sliding out into the corridor. Quietly, she began fitting the new sheets.
“You are lucky to have been given two days.” Kira finally spoke up, while smoothing out the final wrinkle, and taking a seat. She appeared a bit anxious herself. “That’s two more than I was given.” She looked up to Iole, a faint hint of sadness in both expression and voice.
=================================
Quintus
“Hey, Eli?”
“Yo.”
“You think you can grab somethin’ for me while you’re down there?”
“Sure, man. What do you need?”
“In the back of hold one, there’s a case. It’s kinda like a… reddish brown color. Batarian markings. Bring it up to the cockpit when you’re finished, will ya?”
“Yeah.”
“‘preciate it. Oh, and one more thing. You can’t let Marius see ya with it. Thanks, bro!”
Anika let Naleena slip out of her arms as she led the way to the couch. Anika, falling in behind her, slid onto the seat and reclined as Naleena brought out a bottle that she poured from into two glasses. Handing one to Anika she took a sip and the warmth she felt was nothing as Naleena slipped down onto the seat and leaned back into her. Anika rested a hand over Naleena's stomach and felt the warmth of her's rest atop hers. Heaving a long sigh Anika felt herself relaxing into the moment and nuzzled Naleena's temple.
"I'm glad we got to spend more time together. Seems the galaxy has so much happening lately it's likely we'll be busy again soon. You with council work. Me with.... whatever you talk Jess into".
Morgan made a slight, pretend cough and said, "I meant to have a conversation about this on the ride over. Well, trial by fire...the kind the Doors made songs about."
That was a blast from ancient times. Well, the classics did last.
Babe blushed a very subtle pink in her cheeks, which only added to her quality. She cast an embarrassed glance to Jess and Morgan, as if she wondered if bringing her along was a good idea herself. Morgan nodded to Babe, reassuring her with his presence. The blush disappeared, and Babe seemed to regain her composure.
Then Babe, who was a bit behind Jess and Morgan, as if she already anticipated needing to be shielded by them, did something she hadn't before. She placed her own hand on Morgan's shoulder, as if to steady herself on him, this time for emotional, instead of physical, support.
Zakera Ward
The door of the car was still open and the woman quickly sat on the driver's seat to place the bratwurst carefully between the two front seats, before reached out for her silenced pistol that was lying with the rest of her gear on the front passenger seat. But she suddenly had a much better plan in case these three strangers would become a problem. Instead of the gun, she grabbed a flashbang and placed her sword next to the driver's seat so that she could easily draw it if necessary.
"Now would be a great moment to wake up...", she muttered to the unconscious turian in the back of the skycar.
Then she emerged from behind the door and gave the approaching asari a questioning smile while she secretly began to ready herself for a confrontation. "What can I do for you?", the woman asked innocently.
(Psst... "silencers" do not make things silent.)
Irina received a ping from VERA as she approached the skycar behind Jenus wearing little more than a tee shirt and leather pants and leather racer bike jacket, "Arian is about 3 meters from you."
Irina motioned to Vayne that Arian was in the vehicle, and approached the skycar next to Jenus.
Anika let Naleena slip out of her arms as she led the way to the couch. Anika, falling in behind her, slid onto the seat and reclined as Naleena brought out a bottle that she poured from into two glasses. Handing one to Anika she took a sip and the warmth she felt was nothing as Naleena slipped down onto the seat and leaned back into her. Anika rested a hand over Naleena's stomach and felt the warmth of her's rest atop hers. Heaving a long sigh Anika felt herself relaxing into the moment and nuzzled Naleena's temple.
"I'm glad we got to spend more time together. Seems the galaxy has so much happening lately it's likely we'll be busy again soon. You with council work. Me with.... whatever you talk Jess into".
"I'm glad you're here. It's been rough the past few weeks," Naleena said as she rested her head on Anika's bosom (are they pillows?). "Wait... are you headed back to the Medusa?" she sat up and looked at Anika at the words ... whatever you talk Jess into.
Anika chuckled. "Not right now. Not unless you get called away. Or Jess calls to tell me she needs rescue from TerF. I doubt she'll do that". She added seeing the look Naleena gave her. "Though.... I guess that's the elephant in the room isn't it. I work for the Medusa. You work for the Janiri. I have a contract to work through. You can't exactly drop Spectre status and come ship with me. I want to spend more time with you. Really. But I've had time to think about some of the things I've been through lately and......".
Anika stopped suddenly and gave Naleena a strange look. "Nally, when you went down to that planet and ran across trouble.... how bad did it get? Really? What was going through your mind when you found the resistance was greater than the team you were leading"?
Jess leaned into Morgan. "What conversation"? She whispered.
Babe reflexively removed her hand as Jess leaned in.
Morgan whispered back to Jess, "Too late to have it now."
Answering the worker, though being careful not to mention his name quite yet, Morgan said, "I was asked by Nigel to speak with Ms. Babylon. She had wanted to see me after the incident at the plaza where she spoke. I'm not entirely sure why but I suppose that's the topic of the meeting. Is she here?"
The Severn Family
"Anika is awesome! You think she'll marry me?"
Jen looked at Keith. He smelled like vaporized alloy. Keith probably thought he smelled like victory.
"Is marriage your penultimate expression of love, Keith?" Jen asked.
"No. Not really. I just don't want anyone else to have her."
Clearly laughing at, and not with, her brother, Jen said, "Rumor has it you're too late."
Keith looked broken hearted. Sort of. It was mostly an act. Maybe a little hurt. "Really? Of course she is, no chance for a geek like me. How do you know so much that's not in your reading material?"
"Because I ask things," Jen said. She was in her cabin when Keith walked in. Jen opted for a small one, preferring the enclosure of the space around her. It made her feel safe. Belly down on her bed, Jen was flipping through a datapad with basic information for newcomers. It looked like it had been somewhat compiled by Dogger. And then there was a whole section from Sherie. As she read, she was getting her dose of treatment from the kit she'd brought along; tubes and wires ran from the kit to her suit, notably one clear tube was processing her blood. "And I don't think being a geek is so much the problem here. Anyway, if you don't ask, all you have to do is listen. People around here have been talking about her too since they've seen her. Most don't seem familiar with her, even though she seems to know Morgan well and the Captain incredibly well. It was Miss Priss I overheard explaining Anika to Mister Chris, in some passing conversation. And then there was talk about some other ship."
"You mean besides this awesome ship? Because, really, what is better than the Medusa?"
"The Janiri, though I don't think it's a competition like that." Jen was now lost in her own reverie as she pulled her face from staring at the datapad. "I want to find out more about it. We've been travelling with it and there's a Spectre on board. In fact, the Spectre that's the reason you're out of luck with your glamazon."
"Wait, are you telling me Ms. Marvel's main is a Spectre?"
"That's the rumor."
Keith looked concerned for a bit, and then said, "He's got no chance. Look at me!" He flexed his bicep, which was an irony of fitness against his chubby face.
Jen humored her brother. " 'She' because asari refer to themselves mostly in the feminine. But, sure, Keith, I bet you're one smooth line away from sweeping Anika off her feet, now that you're, you know, taking firearm lessons from her."
"See, that's why you're great, sis. I had my doubts, but now that you've reassured me, I know I can't lose."
Palpable silence.
"Where's mom, by the way?" Keith asked.
"I hear she's making in roads with the day to day work of the ship. It's mom so the first thing after the kitchen she offered was the laundry."
Iole
"Really?" Iole asked Kira. "I mean, can you tell me about it? Or whatever you can about it? I don't...I've never done anything like this before."
There wasn't much Iole could go on than trust in Frank and his trust in those he knew. Iole felt so out of place in a way, like she'd basically ended up in Frank's house, if Frank lives with all the people he cared about, the house flew through space, and his family ran a successful business of weapon smuggling.
"You can imagine, I bet, a little of what I'm going through. I read that message and my stomach did at least three flips."
Jenus
Confidence exuded from the Commando. Jenus approached the woman in the skycar, not too close, but let her body language do a lot of the talking as she put her hands on her hips.
"Ma'am, I'm with the Republics Commando unit and working at the behest of a Spectre. Earlier today there was trouble reported in this vicinity and we have reason to believe a turian companion of ours has gone missing around here. Have you noticed anything unusual in this area within the past several hours?"
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