6315 réponses à ce sujet

[Kel Riever]

Keith

The Medusa was really cool.  If not really strange.

Keith, of course, had decided he pretty much liked it and didn't really care.  Especially when he got to shoot his own gun, like it was supposed to.  And he hadn't even lost his finger firing it, because he had actually listened to Ms. Marvel.

Anika.  Whatever.

That's when Keith, who'd been wandering around the forward bays and where people were generally doing the cargo work around the Medusa, saw his shooting mentor come aboard.

"Hey!  Anika!"

Keith gave a dorky wave over.  He was about to go on about that he'd spent every thermal clip she'd given him and where did he get more?  When he saw a salarian come onboard from the same entrance to the ship.  At first Keith thought he was talking to himself.  Then he realized the salarian was talking into his com to....some sort of assistant?

"Yes, I am here at the Medusa," the salarian said rapidly, like he was trying to jam a bunch of words into as small a space as possible.  He wore a suit of mostly black,with a bit of white trim, and anyone could tell the material was expensive, whatever it was made of.  He was also snapping his fingers behind himself.  "You are to keep things running.  This is important, I am told, but the lady knew her business.  So you keep it all together while I tend to things."

Then another person came on.  Keith hadn't seen many volus in person, though he'd heard there was one that was part of the crew, and he'd certainly never seen one wearing fuchsia.  Yet one followed, along, tugging some cabinet that floated on a grav skid.  It was a nice cabinet too, made of some other wordly, finished wood with brass like handles and knobs.  The volus looked around curiously while the salarian went on.

"Yes, Babe was her name.  Just put in on the books as that, I'm not going to be rude and press for more. She was very kind, and the order was paid for.  Now who I'm looking for is Amy Babylon.  Oh, so you have heard of her.  Well, I hadn't, and I suppose that's because those ridiculous politics never interested me.  Other than how many of them have become my clients!"  The salarian chuckled. "Yes, we are to set her up.  I don't think Babe approved very much of her wardrobe.  Well, that's what I do!  So..."

Finally, the salarian noticed there was a world around him.  He gave a once over of his surroundings, made a bit of a distasteful curve of his mouth, shrugged his shoulders, and asked one of the crew where he should go to find 'Babe'.  There was a conversation by com sent from the crewman, then the salarian was off, heading with his assistant towards the aft of the ship where the crew quarters were.

As Keith watched him go, he was a little dumbfounded.  But one look at his gun again, and he was very sure he was exactly where he needed to be. 
 

[Redbelle]

Anika seemed caught up in her own thoughts as she boarded the Medusa. So much so she didn't catch Keith's welcome until he raised his voice.

 

Keith?

 

Oh, that was right. Morgan's brother.... The one who'd latched....

 

Well dammit.

 

"Good morning Keith". Anika said smoothly. "I hope you've kept practicing. Excuse me would you? I have to see the Captain".

 

With that she stepped past him to the back of the hanger towards the spine and headed for the bridge where the doors opened. Jess's chair was occupied.... Just not with Jess.

 

"Dahlia....". Anika listened as Dahlia told her about Duncan. "Well, it's not surprising. Duncan never struck me as being able to handle responsibility. I know where he's bunked. I'll head down".

 

With that, Anika headed down to where the cabins were and knocked on the door.

 

"It's not the end of the day"! Came a muffled voice inside.

 

"Duncan! It's Anika"!

 

"It's not my fault"!

 

"Thats.... Good to know. I'm looking for Jess"!

 

"She's not here"!

 

"Dahlia said she was"!

 

"Well she's not"!

 

Anika felt her cool starting to slip. "Well then where is she"?

 

"I don't.... Just comm her"!

 

Leaning back from the door, Anika brought up her comm, tapped a connection into Jess.

 

"Anika to Jess....".

 

"Jess here. That you Anika? Grud it's been awhile. Lemme guess. Naleena".

 

"Captain, I need to talk to you".

 

"Go on".

 

"In person".

 

"I'm in the hanger".

 

"I came in from the hanger"!

 

"I'm a level down in maintenance. Kolme's setup down here".

 

"Why are you.... Never mind. I'm coming to you. Stay right there! Don't go anywhere"!

 

"Wow luv, so commanding. Is that the voice Naleena likes to hear"?

 

"I...... Anika out...". Stabbing a finger down on the disconnect, Anika began the long trip, back to the spine.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Dahlia sat thinking. This ship is insane. Too much activity. So many things happening so quickly. Too much chaos. Arrrgh! I need a hobby doing something slow to keep from going insane.

 

She picked up the phone. "Morgan, do you have a moment? It's important. I'm on the bridge, but we can talk over the phone line."

[Kel Riever]

Morgan had been waiting.  Miss Priss came back first, humming. She gave Morgan a knowing smile and headed up to the Medusa.  She hid it well but Morgan detected that she might even be slightly more tired than before from the general lack of spring in her step that she usually had.

Five minutes later, the Harbormaster came along.

"Ah, this one deems it unnecessary to pursue further enforcement against the Medusa's actions.  With the mutual understanding that this neither happen again, nor is there any mention of what occurred to anyone."

Morgan gave a simple nod and after the hanar floated off, drifting slightly out of balance, Morgan headed up the gangway to the ship.

Dahlia's message came in at that point. Morgan picked it up by com.  "Yes, D-light.  What's on your mind?"

[Cainhurst Crow]

Taken by surprise, Arian spun around and immediately regretted it as a sharp pain in his neck caused him to clench his teeth. I will certainly stop drinking...

 

He wasn't really happy to see Essul in his heavy armor behind him. The batarian was part of Naleena's team and he even saved Arian's life on Caleston but he was still batarian. And he just had to sneak up from behind like that.

 

Since he wasn't really good at lying and making up stories, Arian decided to tell the truth. At least a part of it. "I woke up in some apartment. I was alone, so I left...but I have no idea where I am now or how to get back to the ship."

 

"You got out by yourself?" Essul asked curiously, noticing the turian was in pain and assuming it was some injury from his kidnapper. As he thought of that however, his eyes narrowed. How could arian have gotten his omnitool back if he was kidnapped. And this person, this mysterious swordswoman who had escaped; how did he managed to escape her apartment, injured as he was apparently.

 

'Could he have been bait this whole time?' Essul wondered as he reached out to rest a hand on the turians shoulder, looking him square in his eyes.

 

"Arain...this is an important question I'm going to ask you..." He said as he stared into the mans eyes, his dark gray own like 4 drills boring into arains as he studied all that he could see of the turians body language, "Is it safe to discuss what happened to you? Are you certain you haven't been followed or bugged?" He asked, wanting to make absolutely sure this was not some sort of clever trap or ruse.

[TheMajonese]

"What is that supposed to mean?", Arian asked with a snarl and looked down at the batarian. Sh*t, how much did I actually miss? He had no idea what time it was and how much had happened after he passed out in that alleway. 

 

"I have no idea what this is about but can't we just go back to the ship?" He almost added I had enough for today! but that wouldn't match his version of this story in which he had no idea of what was going on at all, so he just continued to glare at Essul.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Janiri – Armory Ereba and Iole (SJ and Kel)

 

Ereba had just finished running through a combat sim and was all sweaty. She was none too happy either, and was at the bench stripping down her M-98 Widow. Something was wrong with the firing mechanism, and she'd been “killed” a few times because of it.

 

“Goddess damned piece of sh*t!” she grumbled in her gravelly voice, and then saw Iole wandering around.

 

“Hey, Goldie, where the f*ck have you been? I heard you went AWOL. Spectre is real pissed from what I hear, but don't look at me. I didn't say nothing, but since you're down here, you know anything about these things?” Ereba asked. “Take a look, and then you can tell me where in the void you've been?”

 

Iole was literally just walking past the open door to the sim, and at the mention of her name, took a couple of steps backwards and looked in, somewhat amused, at a frustrated Ereba.  Of course, she said nothing, not even at the loud mention of her going missing, and said calmly, “You're having a problem with that Widow?”

Small arms, the maintenance thereof, was just one of Iole's things.  She stepped in towards Ereba and examined the disassembled weapon on the bench.  Some people were better at firing certain guns; Ereba, for example, could out-shoot Iole on any range with distance and a sniper rifle.  But Iole just liked the thought of what guns did, and as a consequence, liked to keep them working.  She tried not to let on too much about it, to avoid having to constantly decline handling every small problem that came up on her team with the firearms.

But this was a problem, Iole could tell.

“Well, let's talk Widows.”  Iole was scanning each piece closely.  She pulled a bright lamp in closely to help her out.  ”This is the highest velocity rifle I know in use.  In one shot, I don't know a hand held weapon that can do more.  So, I'm going to say you're a little mad at it, and the problem that it isn't a piece of sh*t.  And since you know what you're doing, we just have to have a little patience taking a once over of this....hmmn.”

Iole lifted herself up with the barrel in her hands, and looked down it with the light directly at the other end.  ”This is the ideal length of a barrel for force.  You make it longer, and you lose the efficiency.  It's basically a rail piston, right?  You're accelerating a projectile down this entire length until it comes screaming out the other side at the velocity you need to punch a hole in, well, anything preferably.  No stress fractures....”  Iole closed one eye and looked in.  ”I'm going to say your barrel is shot out.  So, the answer is...get a new one made with the Janiri's fabricator.  Then put it back together again.”

Iole rest her rear against the edge of the table and looked at Ereba, fiddling with the long barrel.  ”Nothing is wrong with the rest of it, power, circuitry.  You'd have noticed other things.  Could be a software glitch but I doubt it if your gun is still going strong every time you pull the trigger, but it's missing the mark.  Let's try it this way and if there's still a problem, keep looking.  As far as that other bit, sure....I'll tell you.  I just don't need you telling everyone you run into about it.  In fact, I'm pretty sure blowing Jenus off about it is a good clue she has no idea what I did.”

There was a sigh, and a sagging of the shoulders.  ”It's just...I got swept up and not for bad reasons.  I want to be with Frank, and as patient as people who live a thousand years might seem to be, caring about someone who doesn't live nearly as long puts a whole different outlook on things.  If you were with someone, Ereba, who wouldn't be around before you were even a Matron, and you wanted to be with them for the rest of...”  Iole stopped and looked away.  She didn't want to say it, thinking she'd just sound stupid and naive.  ”The point is, every year matters for Frank, far more than it does for you and me.  Every day matters more.  So if I was with him for a day, a two, a year....maybe it was worth it, I thought.  Maybe...maybe I could handle whatever bad came after it.”

 

Ereba put the tools down with her grimy hands.and spoke softly. “Yeah, Goldie, I know,” she said. “Shay and I... well, we're gonna be bonded, but she's off with Artemis Platoon on Sanves, and they pulled me to fill in for one of your mates. Mira, I think her name is. Thing is that I've got to stay in until I make first sergeant. I gave her my word I'd be good. But with my mouth that could take a while.”

 

Ereba tapped her omni-tool and pulled up a picture of an Asari. “Take a look. That's Shay. Beauty isn't she?” Ereba said and her eyes welled. “And don't give me none of this pureblood crap. It was only 2000 years ago when we discovered space flight that we started mating with other species, I think some matriarch decided it would be a way for us to gain better understanding of other them after they discovered it was possible. Besides, I love her. Goddess I miss her,” she looked at the picture again.

 

“For what it's worth, you did the right thing coming back. Prison isn't fun. My dad told me about one of his clan members who ended up in a prison once and he was never right afterward. Turned him into a real mean varren. He's Krogan, but still,” Ereba said. “I know being away hurts right now. If it's meant to be, he'll wait for you. Just... don't forget to write. You know how we Asari are about stuff.”

 

Iole was walking with Ereba to the fabricator in the weapons maintenance area on the same deck.  ”Oh, so tough Ereba's got a soft spot for her girlfriend back at her other unit,” Iole teased and nudged Ereba.  ”Don't worry, I won't let it slip out.”

When they got to the fabricator, there weren't many people in the same room.  The Commando twins were performing some maintenance, and chatting between each other, but were out of ear shot if voices were kept down.  Iole started programming instructions on the fabricator to produce a new barrel, while she spoke under her breath to Ereba.

“You won't here any of that garbage rhetoric about same species asari love coming from me, Ereba.  One lesson I learned about myself, and I'm telling you this as a Commando, is that I couldn't care much about the law anymore.”  Iole leaned in to check the beginning of the barrel production through the protective glass, and also got closer to Ereba.  ”I would have done it, if Frank wouldn't pass so much of his lifespan waiting.”

Grimacing, Iole went on.  ”I know why we send asari away for decades; because thick crests believe we wouldn't learn anything if we didn't pay consequences that scaled out appropriately.  But let me ask you, when was the last time it took you ten years to learn what a human learns in a year?  Did it take you ten years to learn how to shoot that gun?  And here we are, a bunch of asari who are supposed to have kids with other kinds.  Our laws are two thousand years old, and nobody has thought to get them up to date with what is fair and right if we're spending our lives with people who aren't asari or krogan or robots.”

The fabricator ejected the new barrel.  Iole started inspecting it.  ”I came back for Frank, not for me.  Prison could have been bad, sure.  But I would have lived through it.  What I wouldn't have lived for is getting caught and watching Frank age, expecting him to spend what would equate to us as centuries waiting.  Would that have been fair to him?  If it wasn't for that fact, and a matriarch who set me straight about it, I'm telling you, Ereba...”

Iole leaned in with her golden eyes looking at her teammate, whispering just so softly.

“I got a taste of what it's like on the bad side, and I liked it!”

 

Ereba gave her an impish look. “You did, huh? A lot of girls like bad boys, especially if you've been living your life always doing the right thing,” she said and paused. “Aw, to the void! Enjoy it, but don't do anything stupid.”

 

As they walked back to the bench and started reassembling the rifle with the new barrel. “You know I first learned to shoot when I was a little girl,” Ereba said. “That's no sh*t. My mom is a career commando, and she and my dad used to get into arguments, and of course Dad would get in the varren house. Most Krogan would go out drinking after a row with the missus, but not him. He'd want some peace and quiet, so he'd just say 'come on Ereba' and stomp out of the house and we go fishing. That was when I was about five. Mom knew we were bringing back dinner, so I think she started provoking him.

 

“Then when I was about 12, I remember coming home and telling my mom 'Mommy, I shot Dad's pistol and hit three bottles!' Was she ever p*ssed. But the damage had already been done. I'd learned to shoot, and I liked it. Mom wouldn't let Dad take me with him anymore after that. Said it was too dangerous,” Ereba said and attached the counterweight to the barrel. “He was never the same after that. He got depressed after a row. We'd wait until she went on six month maneuvers with her unit, and Dad would teach me the Krogan ways. I learned to shoot and hunt. Took me to his homeworld, Tuchanka, to visit my grandparents... they fought in the Krogan rebellions.

 

“I got into it with a young Krogan and headbutted him. My grandparents saw that and wanted to put me through the right of passage, but Dad stepped up and said 'no.' I was mad at him, but then we watched one and I was glad he did,” she put the tools down and turned to look Iole in the eyes. “That rite is a real meat grinder. You know they have to survive a thresher maw for a few minutes? Some don't make it. They have to go through it to become a full clan member.

 

Ereba aligned the sights with a laser aligning tool. “We told my mom and thought she'd be mad about it, but she wasn't. She said, 'Ereba, I know you like shooting and you want to be part of something strong, but I don't want you joining and learning skills with a second-rate merc band. Why don't you become a Commando?' And so here I am. I saved up my own money for this rifle because the standard issue Athena Mk I is crap. You have to wait for a team to take down a barrier first. But this thing shoots right through it,” Ereba smiled and slapped Iole on the butt. “Let's try out this thing. VERA, test target.”

 

VERA put up some targets. Ereba fired a couple rounds. “You were right, Goldie. It was the barrel. It's firing like it did when it was new. Thanks.”

 

Iole nodded, waved and  left the armory, but before she was completely out the door Ereba looked up from the bench at her.

 

“Hey, Goldie!” she shouted. “You know if you ever want to…, you know… have a couple drinks and talk about stuff, hit me up.”

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Dahlia's message came in at that point. Morgan picked it up by com.  "Yes, D-light.  What's on your mind?"

 

"Morgan, I've been thinking," Dahlia started. "The activity level on this ship has a tendency to drive a species like Asari insane. I need balance in my life. Something quiet. Something slow. Is there a place on the ship I can grow a small garden and not have it disturbed by others? I know the ship has cargo bays and we're not using all of them."

[Kel Riever]

Morgan passed a salarian and a volus towing a finished wood cabinet on a grav skid.  He was confirming the clearance as he heard Dahlia.

"A garden?"  Morgan furrowed his brow, not because he had a concern about greenery, but because he felt like Dahlia was stressed out.  Which, for some reason, was stressing him out.  "Give me a sec, let me think about where..."

Anika passed Morgan in the spine, heading to the fore.  He didn't even realize she'd come aft.  She looked frustrated.  Morgan though he gave her a 'Hello' but wasn't so sure as he was focused on Dahlia.  

"All right, we'll find a place, D.  Let me just...here...we haven't been using...you know what?  Forget the cargo areas.  There's a cabin that hasn't been used yet. Probably because this ship used to carry a lot more people.  And it looks like it was converted from something else prior...point is it has a bit more space and would need a lot more work putting back as a cabin.  Maybe we could start there."

We?

"I'll get you started.  There has to be something to get it all going from the Citadel while we're here.  Better order it fast, though, because I'm sure we're heading out soon.  This station has to have every little bit of information about how to keep something green growing in a non-natural environment.  Look, I'm not great with growing things, and I have some things to take care of later..." Morgan suddenly got a blip on his omni-tool text from Babe that was linked to Jess asking about a meeting with Amy.  There wast that too.  "..let's just go ahead and get going.  I'll have Dogger send the order, and we'll get the cabin cleared, the hardware set up."

A greenhouse on the ship was actually not a bad idea, Morgan thought.  Though it would be small and with the primary purpose of keeping Dahlia busy doing something than sit in a chair or nav all the time.  Thinking like this was one of the reasons Morgan liked her.

That little bird found Morgan again.  Tarus had apparently gotten away from his sister and needed his own company, so he perched himself on Morgan and came along for the ride.
 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"What is that supposed to mean?", Arian asked with a snarl and looked down at the batarian. Sh*t, how much did I actually miss? He had no idea what time it was and how much had happened after he passed out in that alleway. 

 

"I have no idea what this is about but can't we just go back to the ship?" He almost added I had enough for today! but that wouldn't match his version of this story in which he had no idea of what was going on at all, so he just continued to glare at Essul.

 

Essul stared at Arian in silence before he simply sighed, taking a step away from him. "You were kidnapped, or so I heard. Naleena, Jenus, Irina, Kavadar, and Anika, along with a detachement from C-sec, went to look for you. Your kidnapper disabled your omnitool last I heard, and evaded all their efforts to aprehend her. I...failed to stop her. I arrived too late to even be of help..." he said, his grip tightening on Arains shoulder a second before he let him go, shaking his head.

 

"The fact you are here, now, and unharmed...that itself is good news." Essul said as he ignored the glare, "I will accompany you to the ship. Whenever you feel like saying what happened...you may talk to Naleena about it, I suppose. I doubt you'd wish to discuss it with me..." He said, not glaring, but his voice going cold as he said it.

 

"I won't tell her anything...that is something I will entrust to you, and you alone..." He said as he motioned Arain to follow along. Ready to escort him back to the Janiri.

[Redbelle]

The forward section of the Medusa, known as the hanger, was a labyrinth of many levels. Literal levels. For such a big ship, leaving the space as head room made little sense and so a series of floor's had been installed that connected from the middle level, where shuttles and goods were received and sorted, down through the maintenance and shuttle storage level to the storage levels.

 

Jess had made the trip down to maintenance, forgoing the cargo lift to take the stairs. On arriving she found the place had been rearranged. The shuttles still lay parked and strapped down, but now next to them lay a long line of Armature's that Anika had liberated. They were powered down and compartment's open with cables snaking into them connected to readouts. At the end, she saw three Armatures that had been singled out from the other's. All three looked similar to others except for the modular equipment mount's Jess had insisted on and the colors they were now painted in. One was a dark blue. The other, blood red. While the last one was pure white. She quickly noticed that the main weapon on all three had beenn removed, though the leg's had been intensely modified. Now the leg's held a fold out wheel system.  Jess could see the beneift. On even ground the wheel was far superior in fast, mobile transport. Whereas the fold out nature would allow it to tuck back in so it could use it's legs.

 

Design wise, the system seemed to have been built robust, but as interesting as it was, it wasn't why Jess was here. Moving further in however revealed more changes as the self same fabricator's she'd seen in Kolme's workshop on the Citadel had apparetnyl been assembled and was hard at work pumping out parts.

 

That was when she saw a while suit of armor and for a moment, Jess thought Anika's suit, still up in her cabin, had been taken and moved down here. On second inspection however, she saw there were differences.

 

Whereas Anika's destroyer armor was a standard human design, this one was sleeker. hard angles giving way to contoured edges making the armour look less like a piece of technical engineering and more like an organic bioengineered monster. The hard points remained, but in addition to them were extra tabs that when Jess looked around, saw a cluster of zero G pouches and heat sink holders whose ends matched the tabs. The armor itself was in what looked like a cabinet, only the front and back was open. Around it though, small arms lay tucked in and a cluster of piece's that matched the armor lay in racks inside. Blinking, Jess looked again, setting her sights on what she recognised as a destroyer shoulder mounted missle system.

 

Anika had been pestering her for one of those since they'd met.

 

Looking to the armor's shoulder, she saw another hardpoint attachment when she saw movement behind a crate and she turned to see Kolme walk out from behind a stack, gloves on with an oily rag scrubbing something off them.

 

"Aaah. Captain. Admiring the suit? I must say it is some of my best work yet.... Though in the case of your bodyguard I must say that I do not wholly approve of what I fear it will be used for. Regardless I appreciate you taking me in your care so I rather consider this as payment for my being aboard. I do trust Ms Anika will show restraint in it's use? Especically since I've taken her armor's initial design and added a suite of other, less lethal options for her to indulge in".

 

Jess's brow furrowed. "Anika? New armor? First I've heard of it".

 

"Ah. Well then let's see. It seems Ms Anika recently went on a mission with the Spectre and found herelf outside of her element in that it was a rapid response action. Naturally, suiting up was out of the question, but on arriving a series of other challenges presented themselves that her armor was built to address but was unable to meet as it was onboard the Medusa. Transportation and fast fitting is the cost of the protection it offers, naturally but, with an alternative approach to the design I've manged to come up with a suit and a means of getting into and out of it that can be done in no time at all".

 

Jess held up her hands. Or tried to. One arm came up, while her mechanical one stuttered and trembled causing her to look down at it in frustration. "Damn".

 

"Great creator Captain Stone, what have you done to my arm"?

 

"I...... got it trapped in something".

 

Kolme tilted his head in confusion. "Well that shouldn't be a problem. I built that arm to be robust. Adding a significant margin of tolerance for anything that might damage it". Gesturing to a nearby workbench he turned and began plucking tools from a tray. "Well, lay the arm on the table and pop it open. Let's see what the problem is".

[Redbelle]

Jess sat on a stool as she pulled back the cloak that hid her arm as she set it down on the table. Willing it open, the hidden seams cracked open, making what was once a flesh and blood looking arm into a series of flesh toned panels. Some of the panels slid back as they were meant to but others caught on others as misaligned paths intersected others. The wrist, that was supposed to come out and swing downwards, was totally seized and the strain of the little electrical motor's that powered the transformation could be heard whirring furiously as they strained to move the stubborn appendage.

 

"That's enough". Kolme said as he reached out and took Jess's hand and wrist in both of his and pulled. The greater force worked and Jess's hand popped out on it's fitting's and slid, very slowly, down to it's resting position. Kolme tutted, then went to work opening every other panel fully until every one was fully open. When it was, Kolme took a step backwards as he saw what was inside.

 

"Captain Stone. Do my eye's deceive me or have you actually installed one of those slaver harpoon projectile launcher's in the arm that I made for you"?

 

Jess gave a sheepish grin. "You'd be surprised how handy it comes in. Saved my life on more than one occasion".

 

"You said you wanted the space for a tool attachment".

 

"Guns are tools Kolme. Sometimes work needs the right tool for the job. I don't go out looking for fights but sometimes fights come no matter if you want them. A hidden weapon's a good option to have when your out of good options".

 

Kolme made a noise in the back of his throat as he leaned back in. "Structural failure. Not to bad but.... Obviously you got pinned by something that overcome the tolerance of the design..... Hydraulic door"?

 

"Nope".

 

"Pinned under heavy falling objects"?

 

"Not that".

 

"Hmmm, sustained pressure indicator's. Not sudden shock. Crushing damage. Like... what do you call them? Boa Constrictor's? Something that was unrelenting in the application of force.... What do you have aboard this ship that could possibly damage work"?

 

Jess told him, and under his helmet, Jess could imagine the internal temperature of his suit rising till Kolme broke out into a sweat.

 

"Really Captain Stone"!

 

"Don't say I don't put out few my people Kolme. I seem to remember that C-Sec are still looking for you. They finally put up charges you know. Conspiracy".

 

"And yet Yeli was the one at fault. Not me"!

 

"New's says they want to hold you for questioning".

 

Kolme twitched. "That.... Captain Stone, my people are badly enough thought of that.... I can't let them. Not even.... I'm not a terrorist"!

 

"You and I and the crew know that luv. But the Citadel would take you to trial as the only one in the whole giddy event who can take accountability for a bunch of weaponised Armature's being built aboard the Citadel without anyone knowing. And you think they'll believe you when you say you didn't know you were building them"?

 

"But I didn't. Yeli was using my forge's out of hours while I was out to fabricate the parts and then buying more goo to cover the usage of the fabricators"!

 

"You don't log run times"?

 

"I didn't think I needed to. I was supposed to be the only one who used them. Yeli, I thought, was to dense to understand their functions".

 

"Fooled you, didn't she".

 

Instead of answering, Kolme simply looked down and took out an inspection probe. Prodding it around he sighed. "It's junk now. You can probably get some use out of it.... But it'll never be as good as it once was without replacing all the failed parts and by then you'd be better off just having a new arm made".

 

Jess looked down at the opened arm and felt a pang of regret. "You sure you can't just.... fix it up? It doesn't have to be now. I can keep coming down here".

 

"Captain, the repair's are not something I can do while your arm is still attached. I don't have to remind you that this work is not modular. Your entire arm up to the shoulder joint is one piece of work. The mechanisms in your bicep, as well as giving you all the motion you would normally have power the forearm and wrist. It's not teh upper arm that's the problem. It's the bent connector's between that need to be re-fabricated and replaced.....". He poked at her hand and tilted his head as new results came in. "What's this... I recognize an electro static charge model but this other..... Captain Stone"!

 

"Babe enjoyed it". Jess offered back.

 

"Between a harpoon gun, a shock module and creator knows what other modifications you've made since I gave this to you it's a wonder your the one that came off the worst". Kolme grumbled. "I need to remove this".

 

"The modules"?

 

"The arm". Kolme said matter of factually. "There's no point having it on if it can't do the job. I'll begin designing a new one right away but I'll need this one down here to reference the work that went into it".

 

"You want to.... take my arm"? Jess said, a worried tone in her voice. "Can't I keep it on till the next ones.... Can't you do scans? Take reference's, work off those"?

 

"I am an artist Captain. I won't ask that you treat my work better than before. I'm a firm believer in the machine fitting around the lifestyle of the person using it. I'm happy my work has stood the test of time till now but obviously times have changed".

 

"We can agree on that". Jess grunted, her mind slipping back to recent history.

 

"I'll make a new arm for you. And with my forge's and better understanding of the technology involved I'm certain I can make it better than before. But I need to remove the arm".

 

"Is there any other way....."?

 

"No Captain. I'm sorry. If your unwilling I can close up what you have now and you can keep using it. But I can tell you the stresses it's been under have caused it's life span to be significantly shortened. Depending on use, I give it a couple of weeks to a month. But you will see less and less performance from it until it finally becomes dead weight. If you'd rather wait until then....".

 

"No..... No we'll.... We can do this now".

 

Kolme nodded and moved to his tool tray where he picked up a sharp looking tool. "I'll start by cutting the outer epidural to expose the mechanisms in the shoulder's ball joint. From there I'll disconnect the relays, the ball housing, and then remove the whole thing entirely. I'll switch off the sensory net so you won't feel a thing. As a fellow engineer I'm sure you'd like to witness the proceedings. You were unconscious the time when I assembled this to you".

 

Jess felt a lump in her throat as she looked down at the open and exposed forearm. Losing that was bad enough, but the whole arm was...... "Just... get it done". She ground out.

[Redbelle]

Anika came in with all the subtly of a charging rhino. "Captain! I need to talk. I know what your going to say but just hear me out and....". Whatever she'd been about to say died in her throat when she saw Jess, leaning with her good arm on a table as Kolme stood off to her side, holding what Anika presumed was Jess's right arm as where an arm had once been, was now just an exposed arrangement of flesh and metal that had been weaved together and was usually hidden from view by the flash like epidermis.

 

Anika looked on, open mouthed until she finally found her words. "What.... the hell..... happened"?!

[TheMajonese]

Zakera Ward

 

Arian's answer was a grunt. Something about the batarian's behavior was odd, as if he was expecting Arian to know something that he certainly did not. Did Quinn kill someone? She said she blew up her car...and then? What else did she do? There were many things he wanted to ask like what had happened during the last couple of hours but Arian knew that this could wait until they were back on the ship. 

 

On the way to one of the traffic hubs on Zakera from where they could take a skycar back to the docks, every single step meant more pain. Arian realized that despite the medi-gel and Quinn's improvised help, his injury was still not to be underestimated. Now that he thought about it, he probably would never again have such luck.

 

When they arrived at the docking area and moved towards the C-Sec checkpoint, Arian suddenly stopped and turned to Essul. "Wait a second...you said C-Sec was involved as well?" There was no doubt that they would recognize him as the missed turian as soon as he stepped through the scanners. He already saw himself being interrogated by the Citadel Security and being asked questions about Quinn. Something he couldn't use right now.

 

"Can't Naleena just...I don't know...use her spectre authority to get us through?"

[Kel Riever]

Babe (newly attired )

Babe was actually rushing through her job for once.  She didn't really think much of it but she felt like she had things to drive her now.  There was the ship, a sort of...well, she needed to try and remember more of what happened now.  But the prospect didn't cause her the kind of fear that it had.  A sort of glow had been fired, tiny, but the idea of discovering some of the things she needed to were elating.  Scary as well, but elating.  If Babe had hurt someone, or more than someone, she wanted to know.  She needed to, and she felt a strange desire to come clean, even if she didn't know exactly what coming clean even meant.  Miss Priss, she'd have to talk with her, maybe with her and Jess and Morgan.  To put more of the pieces together.

Clank!

Such a satisfying sound.  The cannon rolled back smoothly on its tracks, then forward again, to latch into place.  Babe was tired in one sense, and yet she was emotionally driven.  It felt like a good workout that came back a few days later, to show how much had been accomplished in every move of her body.  The maintenance on the cannon was finished, nothing more to do as she had set it up well in the first place.  Just some proper lubrication, equipment calibration and general celebration...

Babe stopped as she thought of that last word.  She really had never celebrated anything that she could remember.

Neither did Babe start jumping up and down for no reason, suddenly freed of her bonds.  Instead, it was profoundly curious to her.  As in, why did she not get simply outwardly excited about the things she enjoyed, even the things that thrilled her completely?  It wasn't as if she didn't love certain things.  It was that she didn't want to show it.

And Babe had a sense of why.  Of those reactions she got, that she pretty much shut herself down around.  Because of the problems they caused.

What problems? Babe asked herself, and she was right back having a problem remembering certain things. 

The thoughts were waived away by the illumination of a green register light that signaled everything was A-Okay with the cannon.  Babe headed off.  She wanted to get her work done so she could get around with the Captain again, and in particular check in with Amy.  Her little pet project.

~ ~ ~ ~

The salarian cosmetologist and tailor, along with his assistant, who he constantly talked to as if he were on the phone, were rather surprised that the person they were to see did not open their cabin door immediately.  Usually, they were greeted with anticipation, perhaps with cool formality, but always with anticipation. 

"Well, they simply must not know who we are.  That will change."

When the cabin door opened, the human woman on the other side of it looked like she was determined to do her best to keep them out.

The salarian cleared his throat.  "Good day.  I presume you are Miss Amy Babylon.  I am Mannovai Kloklo Bon Zsaosu Lourn Beelo Piff, master cosmotolegist and fashion artist.  This is my assistant, and this..." He gracefully motioned to the cabinet.  "...is for you, courtesy of Babe.  Won't you please let us in so that we may tend to your needs?"

[Redbelle]

Amy glared at the duo from where she paced. A cigarette caught between her finger's that was burned down to the stump. "Fashion? Your a..... I'm sorry, I hear my name but you must have the wrong Babylon. I was told to expect someone.... Look never mind. I need a suit. A comb. A link to communication's and a coffee. The crazy lady is nice in a 'my first stalker' kind of way but....".

 

At that moment a flash of Babe crossed her mind. Her words floating on the edge of her mind.

 

Play the game.... or you won't get anything.

 

"Mr..... Biff? I'm sorry but there must be a mistake. No offense to your..... fashion, but I have to appear in front of my people and appeal to them on every level. If I turn up in a dress that looks like a fish suit and all my people hear that I'm wearing clothes made by a Salarian TerF will lose 40 points in the polls. We can't risk that kind of loss when we're barely breaking even and besides.... your not on the approved stylist list. We have those.... In TerF. We have people whose work we trust and we make them exclusive and if your not on the list then..... WAIT"!

 

Amy stepped forward and lurched her face into Piff's, then reached down abruptly and grabbed his hand. Bringing it up and looking for it for a moment before her hands snapped open, letting Piff's fall from her grasp. "That woman Babe. She said you'd be doing my nails. How can you do nails, Mr Kiff? You don't HAVE any finger nails"!

[Kel Riever]

"That's Piff.  Calling me Piff will do quite fine, Miss Babylon."

Piff looked quite displeasured.

Then he looked at his volus assistant, who stared up at him.  If the goggles on the volus' suit could have blinked, they would have.

"All right, Miss Babylon.  Let me explain a few things to you.  First off, let go of my hand.  Thank you.  Secondly, you, wherever you come from, Terra Firma...wherever...you are my client, and I will take care of you.  I do not care what you tell anyone.  You can pretend I have hair, and breathe through two holes in front of my face if you want to.  But I will be perfectly honest with you, and I am not attempting to be rude, when I say that you have no decent human cosmetologists on the Citadel at my level.  None.  If you want to fly back to Paris, perhaps.  In the meantime, if you want the best makeover for humans, to be seen and appreciated by humans, you are going to have to accept that it is I who will be the one who gives it to you."

There might have been a tisking sound from Piff, but it was subtle if it was even there at all.  "Now, I did not want to say this part, because I have a deep respect for those who use my services, but Babe informed me that you might be a bit...resistant...to your care.  I am not here to argue with you, Miss Babylon.  But if you do not let me take care of your needs, in the way I, as a professional, a professional in demand may I add, then I will leave.  However, I then will be required to inform Babe, who assured me that she would then handle you directly.  Is that what you wish me to do?  Or may we get to work?"

[Redbelle]

The only response was a twitch in Amy's brow as her jaw trembled. Then she turned. Sat down on the end of her bunk. Crossed her arms tightly across her chest..... and pouted.

 

"Fine. Consent..... But if anyone ever hears about this..... They'll never find the bodies".

[Kel Riever]

"Madame," Piff said to Amy, as if he'd dealt with this attitude a few times before, even if the reasons were different, "Confidentiality is part of our service."

Piff and his assistance entered with their cabinet and went to work.

In the span of this story, the author will decline to go into the details of exactly how good a service Piff and his assistant provided to Amy Babylon, but suffice it to say that it was top notch, the best, first-string, and generally in a class all by itself.  You just wouldn't know until you had it, and then clamor for more, as everything else experienced up to that point could not compare.  When they were done, Amy had the most beautiful nails she'd ever seen decorating her hands and feet, a killer dress that she at least had some say in the matter about (with accompanying gorgeous shoes), and was completely refreshed with a full body massage, concentrating on her extremities, that made her want to sing.

It was probably the best part of her day.

Maybe barring this one other thing that happened.

Mister Piff and his assistant left after that with their gear.  They sent a message to Babe, and were off the Medusa onto their next client.

[Redbelle]

Down in the hanger's maintenance level Jess looked at Anika's whose face was a strange mask of concern and resolve as she stared at Kolme who held the remains of her disassembled arm in his clutches. Several tubes in it leaking some fluid onto the decking.

 

No one spoke.

 

Then Jess chimed in. "Let's face it luv, you've caught me doing worse".

 

"What's he doing? Jess...."!

 

"Arm got busted. Kolme's making me a new one.... I see you put an order in too".

 

"That arm doesn't just break. I've been checking your augments since I met you....".

 

"Not lately". Jess growled as she pulled her cloak around her missing arm. Even covered, it was obvious the way the cloak lay that she was missing something. Anika meanwhile heard the tone in Jess's voice and her eye's narrowed.

 

"What's 'not lately' supposed to mean"?

 

"Nothing".

 

"Jess....."!

 

"How's the Janiri"?

 

Anika blinked. "Fine".

 

"And how's being on the Janiri compare to being on the Medusa"?

 

"It's.... what's that....? This has nothing to do with....".

 

"Seen your new armor"? Jess said abruptly changing the subject.

 

"What new...."? Anika turned then and saw the new white armor in it's frame and her eye's widened and she took a step froward. "Is that.... Is this mine....? Is this for me"?

 

"Certainly it is". Kolme said as over by another table he placed the remains of the arm in a tray. "No one else is as tall as you. Now I need to go over a few things with you but I kept the operation simple. And of course I need to ship out the other frames. Plus I have a newly configured Armature for you I think you will find fixes several of your fast response issues".

 

"Giving away my Armature's Kolme? I don't remember saying you could do that".

 

Anika turned to Jess, the same tone was in Jess's voice. One she'd never heard before..... She didn't like it. "Don't take losing your arm out on someone whose building you a new one".

 

"How about someone whose not around as much as she used too"?

 

"I was with Naleena".

 

"Naleena.... Funny. I remember you had a job once. Protecting someone.... You used to be around a lot. They had fun. Now your rarely around".

 

"I was doing what you said... What you told me I should do".

 

"Which was"?

 

"Get a life"!

 

"But not by throwing away your old one"!

 

Kolme looked between the two of them. Then took a step backwards. "I'll.... be.... over there". He said as he quickly disappeared in amongst the stacks of crates at the back of his workshop. Alone, Jess and Anika glared at each other.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Essul looked to Arian with a raised brow, standing still a few moments as he simply stared at the turian. He then got out his omnitool, coming the Janiri as he contacted the ship.

 

"Vera. This is Essul. I've located Arian and am trying to make my way back to the Janiri. It's nothing immediate, but I'd like this to not raise too much attention from C-sec about getting us past the checkpoints. Can you get a clearance ready on Naleena's Authority?" Essul asked as he awaited a reply, looking back to Arian as they stood near the docks.

 

"You're neck seems to be troubling you...is it serious?" He asked, softening his tone a bit as he looked to his fellow crewmate with a flicker of concern.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Naleena is on the ship. I'll patch you through." VERA replied.

 

"Yes?"

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Naleena. I've located Arain and we're at the docks entrance. There's a c-sec checkpoint, and as much as I and he enjoy our time in c-secs interrogation rooms, I don't believe it'd be best to go through them now..." Essul said, conveying his message as he was patched through, "He claims no memory of who abducted him or where they may be. And he seems to be injured, how much so remains unclear..." He said flatly.

 

"Any chance we can bypass c-sec screening and get back on the ship?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"It's complicated right now. I trust you. That's not the issue. What you're proposing would work anywhere but on the Citadel. Here, humans are in charge of security. I'll be right over," Naleena replied. "Arian is a person of interest as far as C-sec is concerned, and I need to ask Arian a couple questions, too."

[Kel Riever]

Babe

A Noreima Mark IV Transfer Switch...now where am I going to get one of those?  Babe asked herself.  She was looking at the last cannon, and the set automated firing that it had been directed to do had cause a burnout.  It could be repaired with microtools, or re-fabricated, but the gun was offline and it would be better if a replacement could be found, then have the original repaired and stored as a backup.  

"Kolme!"  Babe exclaimed.  She's seen him wandering around, and knew his aptitude exceeded anyone on the ship that she was aware of.  He tended to disappear into a strange part of the Medusa but that was something Babe could relate to.  It was high time Babe got a look anyway, as far as she was concerned, and this was as good a time as any to do it, so Babe headed down to Kolme, to try to get her replacement switch...