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[Kel Riever]

...aboard the Kurinth, in the brig

Xanthe stood outside the prisoner's cell, where the one prisoner aboard the Kurinth had been strapped down to their bunk after a fit of rage during the delivery of her meal.  The Commando delivering the meal had been injured, but nothing critical, but it had taken her and two other Commandos to sedate the prisoner and tie her down to her bunk.  The difficulty on one hand was not a surprise, given the prisoner had once been a Cabal.  On the other, the display of strength and determination on the captive's part had taken the guard by surprise, particularly since the prisoner was without biotic amp or weapon.  Xanthe watched for signs the prisoner would return to her prior state of rage as the sedation had mostly worn off, but there was none.  The ex-Cabal turian lay quietly, her eyes open, staring around her cell.

There were two other asari with Xanthe.  One was a member of the dozen Serrice Guard brought onboard after the Kurinth's last stop at Thessia, named Kheres.  The other went by the call sign Ice Queen, a fighter pilot who had served with Xanthe on Duellos, and was now head of her small craft operations on the Kurinth.

Ice Queen turned her back to the prisoner and whispered to Xanthe.  "I do not approve of this, Spectre.  It is clearly against Council regulation, the Republics rules of warfare, and is against what we stand for.  I do not fear our enemies.  I fear the decline of our purpose!  Even if you have license given to you to conduct affairs in whatever way you deem necessary.  Just because you have that license does not mean you should use it!"

Xanthe looked at her long time companion, and saw Kheres remain quiet, off to the side, but Xanthe knew what the Guard was thinking.

"You do not have to be here," Xanthe said to Ice Queen, "I absolve you of this."

"Xanthe..."

"No more!"  Xanthe felt discomfort in her own self, but she had made her decision already.  "Now, go."

With one last look of regret, Ice Queen saluted and left.

Once Ice Queen was gone, Kheres said to Xanthe, "With all due respect, Spectre, she does have a point, though you know I do not agree with it.  Do you have any doubts before we proceed?"

"Of course," Xanthe sighed.  "What sane person wouldn't?  But I have determined we must go through with what you recommend.  Talk no more of it.  Open the cell and we will proceed."

As Xanthe and Kheres entered, the turian stirred.  There was a nervous laugh from her, then an uncomfortable calm.  She stared up at them and said, "That's the nice asari I can tell who has gone.   You two are peaceful, but I see behind the faces.  I see that you know of the storm, and have turned to face it, though you cannot survive it."

"I need the information," Xanthe said, a coldness in her tone, "And I have tried other ways, but you have not cooperated.  And now I have no other choice.  It has been a difficult decision, for me.  Unfortunately for you, that leaves the choice to you about how this goes."

"We both know that I will test to see if what you threaten is real," the turian said, "And that you will test if what I say is true."

Xanthe glanced at Kheres, who pushed her onto the bunk to sit over the turian, and took her wrist between her thumb and forefinger.

"You're name is Jeineroa, a mercenary bandit purportedly, employed previously by Hal Bolag whom had your trust.  But he is not who you really work for, correct?"

"Incor..."

Kheres shifted her fingers and the turian immediately strained against her ties.  Spittle flew from her mouth.  Then Kheres relaxed her grip.

"She is good," Jeineroa panted. She made a whimpering sound.  "Correct, Hal Bolag is not my true employer." 

"Your true employer wanted him dead before he could talk," Xanthe accused, "And so you managed to poison him the moment you knew we were coming.  That's why we weren't able to save him."

"Correct," Jeineroa offered without resistance.

Kheres raised a brow at Xanthe.

"And if you had your way," Xanthe proposed, "You would have gotten yourself killed in the battle with us.  But you failed to do that because we were effective enough to wound you without slaying you."

"How do you know I wanted to die?!"

There was a twist, and a snap, and the smallest of the turian's talons lay backwards limply at an angle it should never be at.  Jeineroa cried out.

Xanthe shook inside herself, though she showed nothing.  Kheres had told her about the off the books training she had with her unit, things that were never supposed to be used, but that they knew.  Xanthe's heart sank, but she toughened herself against her feelings, set on getting what she needed to bring the growing threat of the Terminus Systems to a close.  Too many lives were at stake, and something had to happen now, or it would never happen.

In a distressed voice, Jeineroa said, "I didn't want to die.  I thought you would save me, somehow.  But now I do want to die, because I see you are in the same web.  You will be next, though.  You will be eaten soon..."

Unconsciously rubbing the white diamond marking at the center of her forehead, Xanthe said calmly, "Who's web am I in?"

Kheres undid the strap tying the turian's nearest arm down.  Jeineroa tried to pull it back once it was loose, but Kheres held the wrist like a vise in her grip, and raised it up for leverage.  The broken talon hung loosely in the air.

"I don't need Hal Bolag now,"Xanthe threatened, "I have you, Jeineroa.  And you have everything I need to know.  Now, who do you work for, and who's web am I in?"

Jeineroa looked with fear at Kheres, then at Xanthe.  "You bring us closer to death," Jeineroa rasped.

Kheres grabbed the turian's arms with both her hands and twisted vigorously.  Xanthe was shocked to see whatever technique had been used, did little outwardly, but Jeineroa shrieked, and there was the sound of popping, of wetness, and of shattering.  It seemed like the turian's arm went rigid, buckled in a chain reaction from wrist to elbow, and then went slack as if there was nothing inside it any longer for support.

"No! NO!"

Kheres reached again for the upper arm while the lower arm fell like it was a bag.  She took the arm and wrenched at the elbow.  This time the cracking, wet, splintering sounds were louder, and Xanthe watched as the entire arm went flaccid.  Jeineroa's back arched, she strained against her bonds, and her eyes rolled upwards.  But she didn't lose consciousness.

"THE QUEEN!"  Jeineroa screamed.  "The Empress!  Iyana!...."  She began to sob.

Finally, there was connection.  Xanthe thought of the two horrible twists to the arm, but felt she had to press further.  "Where is Iyana?"

"Everywhere," Jeineroa cried out in despair. "Everywhere that matters to you!"

Xanthe nodded to Kheres, but instead of proceeding with her torture, Kheres peered up at Xanthe and said, "Beyond this point, she will not be of value this session.  She must be treated medically, and then we may continue.  I suggest we take a pause."

Agreeing with a nod, Xanthe had Kheres make sure to secure Jeineroa to her bunk again, then join her outside the cell.  By that point, the turian did pass out again.

"What did you do to her arm?" Xanthe asked.

Kheres flexed her jaw muscle, then answered, "It is an ancient technique, wherein the bone inside the arm is twisted with such torque, that it shatters and splinters internally, all the way up its length, in essence exploding within the limb."  Kheres then stared at Xanthe who had, even for her, gone pale.  "But I sense that your deeper question is how did I do that.  And to that I say don't ask questions that you don't want the answer to."







 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Janiri

 

Everyone returned from their business in Nos Astra, and the Janiri left port for its destination in the Kite’s Nest Cluster along with the Medusa. The trip to the relay would take only a few hours at standard in system sub-light speeds.

 

Naleena had heard some rumblings about discord on her team, and she wasn’t happy about it. Apparently Jenus wasn’t the only one who wasn’t happy with the appointment of Essul to XO, but she needed an XO. Without an XO, she was buried in busy work. She needed the time to for mission planning, and her Asari nature couldn’t deal with the intense schedule. Downtime was needed, too. Shorter-lived races could handle the work load better. She’d been thinking perhaps she would have been better off hiring a Salarian to do all the bookwork, as distasteful as that would have been.

 

But she liked Essul. He deserved the promotion, and the team would adapt. Mira would have taken it in stride and have handled the Commandos. But Mira wasn’t here. And now VERA was respecting the privacy of crew members? Yes she was still monitoring communications for any strange activity that she’d report, but other than that she was respecting their privacy.

 

Naleena sat in the chair in her quarters watching the fish swim. She poured a drink and lit a cigarette, then lowered the screen.

 

“VERA, display the City of Marzeh and the underground facility,” she said. “And tell Essul that I need to see him in my quarters. Tell him to think about any Batarian security measures in and around a facility like this on his way here.”

 

“As you wish, your highness,” VERA replied.

 

Naleena leaned back in her chair and swirled the ice and liquor in the tumbler while she studied the map. She took a deep drag from her cigarette and pointed at the map with the fingers holding it.

[Cknarf]

Spoiler

Thessia, Shortly after Janiri’s departure from Serrice.

 

"Kira and I have business with an old friend on Sanves.  Someone we can trust. Unfortunately, I must leave the rest of you behind. It will only be for a few days, one week at the absolute maximum.” Marius fiddled with his omni-tool.

 

“So, I have made a reservation for a couple rooms at a nearby hotel for the three of you, under your name, of course.  It's not exactly a five-star establishment, but it should suffice. If you're anything like my dear brother, I doubt you'll be spending much time there anyway."

 

Frank looked at the image of the hotel on his omni-tool. It looked pretty snazzy to him, but then again, he used to live in a dumpsters, so just about anything that was a step up from Super 8  He considered extra fancy.

 

"I have also transferred an additional 20,000 credits to your account, on top of the 20,000 from the Citadel deal. You can thank Kira for that, as she insisted that your actions, ‘diversionary tactics’ as she called them, were essential to the job’s success. Whether that is true, I have not yet decided. Still, there is no doubt that the outcome would have been far worse if Quintus had attended in your place…”

 

Frank just shrugged.

 

“Which brings me to the next item. Quintus, as you know, tends to get in rather serious trouble while on his own. It seems as though I’ve spent my entire life watching out for him, which I suppose is my duty as his older brother. He makes it very difficult at times. The fact that I have managed to keep him alive this long is nothing short of a miracle… So, I need a favor...”

 

“You want me to babysit?” Frank raised an eyebrow, speaking for the first time since boarding.

 

“Precisely.”

 

“Why me? Why not Adir?”

 

“Because he’ll actually listen to you.” Marius stepped out of the doorway, and into the room. He pulled the chair from the table, and took a seat. “You two have very similar personalities... Self-destructive tendencies, extremely profane vocabularies, absolutely childish senses of humor…” He counted on his talons.

 

Frank was offended at first, but there was no arguing with the facts.

 

“So? What’s that got to do with anything?”

 

“What I’m trying to say is, you are capable of understanding and communicating with him on a level that neither Adir nor myself could. He sees you not as a superior, but as an equal. A friend. Use it to your advantage.”

 

“Uh…”

 

“Unlike Quintus, you are capable of making good decisions when necessary. I trust you can keep him under control, by making such decisions. I am confident that he will follow your lead.”

 

“So that's really how your brain works, huh? Sh*t, man, you need to lighten up.”

 

Marius chuckled.

 

“Think you can handle it?” He asked, just as Quintus slid into view, Risky Business style. He was dressed in all-black semi-formal wear, and of course, wielding a guitar.

 

“Eliiiiiiiii! You ready?”

 

“You know it.” Frank smiled, as he slid off the bed, and headed for the door. He looked back at Marius and gave an affirmative nod as he stepped out.

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

Thessia, Present time. Hotel Calis, room 2809.

 

“...has been ruled out as a suspect, after being found dead in an elevator by service technicians earlier this evening. Milgrom PD is continuing--”

 

“Ugh.” Frank changed the channel.

 

“--xt event brings us to Nevos, for the 432nd annual Astella Grand Prix. Held of course, at the infamous Astella circuit, where fan-favorite Tara Ro was tragically killed just nine short years ago...”

 

The door flung open, and a heavily intoxicated Quintus shuffled in, with an equally drunk asari wrapped around him.

 

Aaaand there’s number three...

 

They crashed onto the other bed, as if Frank wasn’t even there. He just stood up, and headed out to the balcony. He looked into the upcoming Astella Grand Prix, which was still quite a ways off.

 

“Nah.” He said aloud, and closed his omni-tool. He leaned against the railing, and thought for a bit, before opening it back up. He began to type a message, but kept deleting everything he managed to write down. He eventually decided on a photograph, instead. Facing his back to the railing, he snapped a photo of himself.

 

“Ugh. Can't send her that one...” Frank was still looking less than healthy. He deleted the photo. This time, he just took one of the city lights. Satisfied, he hit send.

 

After another few minutes, a bag came out of his inside pocket. Gone were the pills, Frank had disposed of those right off the bat. The white powder as well. All that remained was a small amount of red sand…

 

Frank finished that off, and made a call.

 

“Taetrus? Yeah. I need somethin'.” He rubbed at his nose. “Nope. I don’t want any more of that sh*t ever again. Just sand. Thessia. Alright. Let me know.”

[Redbelle]

Dogger eyed the young..... he couldn't think of him man.

 

This was rediculous.... Then again, if this kid was on the level, then he wasn't the one Jess had been engaging the services of all these years. Just his kid. Which made it worse. It hadn't taken much to drag the story out of him. His old man was incarcerated, he'd apparently been passing on some of the family skill to his son and now the son was using those skills to ditch school, forge travel documents and had travelled across the galaxy to meet up with the Medusa to carry out the transaction Jess had setup whereby Dragonrise was going to crack open Batarian security and give them an advantage of some form or another.

 

Dragonrise...... Dogger couldn't help but think how rediculous the name sounded then remembered his Captain's online handle was Nectarshare..... was busy opening up the crates of Omnitools that had been bought and was rifling through the hardware, examing the implantable devices and pulling chips from random ones to exam them on his Omnitool before putting them back. Dragonrise turned to Dogger.

 

"Urgh.... Not bad. Not great but for what you've got, the cost to hardware capacity is pretty high. Manufacturers don't know their hardware though. These babies can be overclocked easy..... urgh and the expansion capacity means upgrading is a cinch. Those other's.... urgh their top line. Can't get much better though there is better. I can crack the security though. Root everything, make them take any software".

 

"We need them to act like Trojans". Dogger said bluntly. "Jess must have told the real Dragonrise".

 

"I'm all the Dragonrise you gonna get old man. I got this! Urgh... just a shame to lose all this tech. You could take a few apart and pimp your tool with the extra parts.....".

 

"Trojans"? Dogger prompted.

 

"Huh.... Yeah those..... Wel, if that' sthe case then I gotta root em all. Network them to a server so I can do full dumps. Start with one though. Make sure it works. What do you want though? Destroy a server? Randomise mail profiles? Get bank account details"?

 

Dogger rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We're..... working on the finer details".

 

"Well I gotta know old man"!

 

"Just start writing something that can get through Batarian local net security. I'll get you the particular's".

 

Dragonrise shrugged. "Your money old man and I'm on the clock. Your time your burning...... Urgh.... So where's your network? Where can I plug in"?

 

"Ship doesn't have a central network". Dogger told him. The expression on Dragonrise's face was totally worth it.

[Kel Riever]

...aboard the Kurinth

Xanthe Remi was debating whether to update the Council with her standard report, or after she'd gotten that location out of the prisoner.  What she had to do to get the information did not sit well with her, and the image of that arm being twisted by Kheres ran through her mind again and again.  A younger Remi would never have considered such a thing.  Or maybe she would have with less thought about the consequences than Xanthe as she was now.  It no longer mattered, however, as Xanthe had done what was expressly forbidden by the laws of the Republics, and that was because first, she was a Spectre.  And second, because of what was on the line.  Xanthe opened her message and began typing:

To:  The Council
From:  Spectre Xanthe Remi

Since I have been at work in the Terminus Systems, in total, I have been responsible for discovering and putting an end to 97 smuggling operations involving advanced weaponry.  Three of those operations included armor, and one included starfighters.  At the same time, I have evidence that at least four sitting planetary or interplanetary bandit lords have lost their power, while others grow at their expense.  The use of mercenaries in the Systems has increased an estimated 33%.  And the most frightening rumor of which I am still investigating involves the supposed discovery and transfer of a nuclear weapon.

I have warned in the past of the threat coming from the Systems, and while I am aware that focus is often placed upon the Hegemony, or other, great acting regimes in this part of the galaxy, this time I believe the danger stems from another force.  The shifts that have occurred are all too convenient.  I have been searching for a common thread, a unifying cause, the source of what has the Systems in turmoil.  Today, I have a name that points me in the direction of that source, or at least on the path I must travel to find the source.

It is the name of a wanted criminal:  Iyana.  Reports have been more extensively compiled by Spectre T'Sarius on the individual.  There is no proof as of yet, simply a lead I will follow, but from what is known about the individual, it should be clear that this is a person whose access to power should be of high concern.  If I am correct, and am able to bring to a close this series of problems in the Systems, then the better for us all.  But I cannot help feel that time is of the essence, and if I am unable to accomplish my mission, the next solution will involve sending a fleet rather than a Spectre.

Wish me success.  All is one.

With a sigh, Xanthe sent off the message to the Council.  After a rest, her first priority would be getting Iyana's location out of Jeineroa with Kheres' 'technique'.  But at the moment, Xanthe was exhauseted.  She lay down in her bed, still fully clothed.  Xanthe sent a com to her assistant that she was not to be disturbed except in case of emergency, turned off all the lights and audio in her quarters, and passed into a deep slumber.
 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Janiri - Naleena & Essul - JB & SJ

 

Essul had just wrapped up his work when the message came through to him from VERA.

 

“Essul, Naleena wishes to discuss this upcoming mission in her quarters. She also requested you to think of any security measures that may be in place at this facility...” VERA said as she materialized next to his desk, making him jump a bit at her sudden presence.

 

“Oh...yes, of course. Is there anything else?” Essul asked with a raised brow, standing as VERA took a drag of her cigarette.

 

“No, not at the moment,” She said as she blew out the holographic smoke, “Apparently the boss wasn’t pleased with the group mission planning and is going over the detailed infiltration plans.”

 

With that she disappeared from his sight, Essul leaving to make his way towards Naleena's quarters. As he took the elevator to the correct floor, he mulled over in his head the type of security measures that could be expected of a black ops sight.

 

He stepped out and made his way to Naleena's quarters, giving a curt knock on the door to let her know he'd arrived.

 

“Enter,” Naleena said and when she saw it was Essul she stood and walked over to the liquor cabinet. “Please, take a seat on the couch. Drink?”

 

“Camalan Spiced Gin if you have it, otherwise a dry gin will do,” Essul replied as he took his seat where he had a good view of the map.

 

“I’ll have Jess pick up a few bottles while we’re there. I have what is supposed to be a very good dry gin from Earth,” Naleena poured him two fingers over ice and handed it to him.

 

She sat, swirled her glass, and took another sip of her ambrosia. “I’ve been looking at this map. Gaining access to this facility undetected will be problematic. It isn’t just the people, it’s the possible surveillance. A secret project like this will most likely be patrolled by drones,” she said, and pointed to a sewer access. “The Shadow Broker provided files that indicate the facility is dumping their waste into this canyon, here, about 100 meters from the top of the plateau and 50 meters from the river. The main entrance to the facility above ground is via this road from the city. Then there is ventilation to the facility located directly above it here. What is most interesting is that it is disguised as a fusion plant, and actually does provide its excess power to the City of Marzeh. That means there are utility tunnels from the power plant going underground directly to the plant. Yet, the Batarian military is handling security. That is unusual.

 

“Do you have any suggestions as to the best way of gaining entrance?”

 

Essul was silent as he looked over the map, frowning as he saw the level of detail the broker had. He nodded at the drink and drank half of it there, face cringing slightly at the burn. “Impressive work...however, if what you believe is in this facility, is truly there, security in most of these areas may be too hard to bypass...” He said as he looked over the map.

 

“You're right to worry about drones. But we also need to worry about snipers, or potentially cloaked patrols. It was a common practice for high-security areas to employ a small team of cloaked soldiers, 8 at most. They'd patrol an area, and trigger the alarm if they spotted something wrong, before engaging the target...” Essul explained as he looked to the roofs.

 

“Then there are the traps. Pressure sensors, designed to trip and release a freezing bomb if lucky. If not, they'll release a mix of fragmentation grenades and poisonous gas. Kill everything around it and set off the alarms. They'd be at the access points where normal patrols would be difficult...however...there is a work around...” Essul said as he looked to the waste tunnels.

 

“The actual access point between the waste tunnel and facility would most likely be rigged with censors. But not throughout the entire length of a tunnel that size. If we make our way through it, we could use them to find our way into a less secured location. One of the utilities tunnels perhaps...if we do this right, we'd bypass the traps and alarms, and end up right behind their lines.”

 

Naleena studied the map a bit and zoomed on the waste tunnel. “So you’re saying this would be our initial point of access? What kind of sensors? I would assume laser trip sensors probably with explosives. Thoughts?

 

“Then you’re saying we find a point of egress to a utility tunnel from there. I’m sure there will be access from one of them to the storm drain system to clear dead animals.”

 

“Trip and motion sensors on the roof of the tunnel. They're able to be damaged without tripping it, but they're hard to spot if you're not careful.” Essul answers as he nods his head.

“Just what I was thinking. We may need to dispatch guards at the front of the tunnel. But they won't be in the utility tunnels, and only at the end of the tunnel.”

 

“I've seen these before during my less than honorable activities,” Naleena said and finished her drink. “We'll have time to get the team ready for this. Johnny, Iole and I will handle the sensors. Would you get with Septerax, get some out of our training supplies and set them up for practice in the training sim bay? Rig them like BSIU does. And when they're ready, inform Commander Selani that I've requested Iole to train in sensor disarming for the mission; then ask Jenus to send Iole for practice. I'll get Johnny and meet the two of you there.”

 

“I can set them up. I can set the payloads for flash or shock, depending on how much stakes you want to put in this training...” Essul said as he thought of the setup, a basic rectangle was all one needed to know what angles to set up the sensors. Meanwhile, he polished off the gin, giving a nod of his head to Naleena in thanks for the drink offered.

 

“Shock will be sufficient,” Naleena replied. “It will allow us the most repetitions.”

 

The two stood and Essul left her quarters to take care of the task.

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Anything else you'll need?" Septerax asked with a raised brow as he handed over the motion sensors and trip lasers to essul.

 

"Nothing yet. They have the shock payloads?" Essul asked as he looked them over, nodding at the models. They were close enough to work.

 

"It's not the first time I've helped rig up something like this. Tell me if you'll need anything else for this mission..." He said, essul giving him a nod as he left for the training room.

 

One trip to the sim bay later, and Essul had a layout of the Tunnel produced, setting up the motion sensors above, and the trip lasers below. One pointed at the other to form an X shaped pattern of sensory triggering, a basic rectangle.

 

"Thank you for helping me get the schematics layed out here VERA. Now then...I need some pressure sensors generated...here..." He said as he pointed to just below the trip lasers generator, "And right behind it there..." He said, pointing to a space just a few inches ahead of the sensors, cleared of their path. "T'Sauris wanted me to set up these BSIU style...well, she's going to get her wish..."

 

"It's done..." VERA said as the altered schematics flashed red with the newly placed pressure detection, "I've designed them to trigger the sims alarms when walked on. I hope you will inform the boss of this addition."

 

"I'll tell all of them before they get started. Now then, time to get them together..." Essul said as he got on him omnitool, accessing his coms as he contacted Selani. "Selani, It's Essul. Captain T'sauris has requested a infiltration exercise for Iole. She's also wishes Jenus be informed first, so she can pass the order down to Iole herself..." He explained, not sure why they needed to go through this, if he were contacted all of their superiors to relay this information. "It's in regards to this upcoming mission.."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Talsale System - 30 minutes prior to relay transit - Janiri

 

Naleena had been thinking about how best to get to the Vular system. VERA had pointed out that regardless of precautions taken that the Janiri would be detected entering Kite’s Nest via the Mass Relay. There would be a delay in engaging the stealth drives when coming out of relay transit. However, the Medusa would need to enter the system to get clearance to sell their wares on Erszbat.

 

“So what do you suggest?” Naleena asked.

 

VERA stood on her terminal in her office pointing at the galaxy map. “I recommend that the Janiri travel to the Artemis Tau cluster in Alliance Space. It is 72 light years from the Vular System. Travel to Erszbat will take 6 days and I have plotted several systems along the way where we can discharge our drives. Three of them have refueling stations. The last has a gas giant that is high in He³ which we can skim and refine aboard the ship for the final jump.”

 

“Jess will need time to find buyers for the omni-tools, and it will take a few days for them to make their way into the proper hands,” Naleena replied. “This might work out for the best. Good catch. You probably saved the ship and crew. The Batarians can be a bit paranoid about security in their systems especially with tensions so high with the Alliance. I’ll alert Commander Selani and the Medusa.

 

“Open a channel to the Medusa, please.”

 

“You ask so nicely, boss.”

 

The relay was in the Tasale System grew nearer. Naleena notified Commander Selani to set a course for the Artemis Tau Cluster, then spoke with the Medusa Comm Officer.

 

Aelias picked up a hail from the Janiri. “This is the K&Q Merchant Vessel Medusa.”

 

“This is Specter T’sarius of the Janiri. Would you put me through to Captain Stone,” she said. “It is important that I speak with her right away. If she is not available, let me speak with your First Mate. There has been a change of plans. It doesn’t affect the Medusa. It affects our arrival.”

[Cknarf]

Sanves, 40 Miles outside of Etheai.

 

“Don’t you think we should call first, dear?” Kira asked, as the Kodiak hurtled towards its destination.

 

“No. I want it to be a surprise.”

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

 

Daliax woke to flashing lights, and blaring alarms. She was beginning to think that maybe installing them in her private quarters wasn’t the best idea.  With a sigh, she sat up, and climbed out of bed.

 

“All units, be advised, we have an unidentified craft heading for the main compound.”

 

“You let it by you?”

 

“It’s stealth, sir, we couldn’t see it on the sensors.”

 

“You have eyes, don’t you? Ma’am, we have a situation.”

 

“So it would seem...” Daliax calmly walked over to her closet and retrieved her beloved Krysae, a gift from her brother.

 

“A shuttle has set down on the front lawn. Alliance markings.”

 

“Alliance? That’s odd…” She shouldered the rifle, and used her remaining eye to look through the scope. Synthetic talons made a small adjustment.

 

“We have it surrounded. How would you like us to proceed?

 

“Where about on the front lawn are they?” Daliax asked, as she carefully descended the stairs. Her slightly out of spec cybernetics made it somewhat of a challenge.

 

I’m installing a lift.

 

“In the… garden, ma’am.”

 

“Of course it is. How are my flowers?”

 

“Uh... well...”

 

“Destroy them.”

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

“Perhaps we should have called first.” Marius said, over the sounds of mass accelerator fire pinging off of the shuttle’s hull.

[Kel Riever]

Morgan was in the middle of ship duties and took a break from them when he was alerted to the message coming in from the Janiri.  He was out in a passageway when he answered the call, "Yes, Alias, put the Spectre through."  There was a brief pause before Morgan saw he was connected. "Naleena, it's Morgan.  Go ahead, what do you need?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Morgan, there's been a change of plans. It affects us more than you," Naleena said. "VERA just informed me that we would be detected by Batarian sensors as soon as we dropped out of relay transit during the lag period before our stealth drive kicked in. That  would  not be good. So we're going to go to the Artemis Tau Cluster and travel in that way. It'll take us approximately six days on the outside to reach Erszbat. You, however, need to handle trade permits with the Batarians in the Kite's Nest Cluster without the ping of a Council ship in the area.

 

"This will also give you time to make contacts and sell your wares on Erszbat, and give time for the goods to get into the hands of the proper authorities."

[Redbelle]

"Heya luv! You on the horn to someone? What's the ten four"?

 

Jess appeared, trailing behind Morgan, her hands behind her head with a big Cheshire grin on her face as she stopped by and leaned up against Morgan, putting an elbow on his shoulder as she leaned in towards the open comm.

 

"This is Jess. That the Janiri? What's the occasion"?

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Hi, Jess," Naleena said and repeated what she'd just told Morgan. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to hang around during our operation. Probably best to sell your goods and get out while you can through the relay unless you want to go system jumping with us back to Artemis Tau. Do that and it could inflame the situation with the Alliance more than it already is. That is unless you have trade along the way with one of the more primitive planets en route, and most are pre-intelligent life."

[Redbelle]

Jess nodded as she listened, then added. "I was planning on relaying to the system. Acting all prim and proper but luv.... there's a slight snag. Two actually. The first is that Batarians really don't like humans. Really.... Really.... Don't much like us. Now I'm going to keep us on our ship as much as I can since it represents sovereign ground of humanities soil. but if they want to raise a problem with us, we need someone aboard who represents the council. Or Asari. I'm talking a fleet officer. Someone who, if the Batarians want to cause us problems will be essentially firing on a representative of a council race. Aelias doesn't count unless we want to break her cover that she's on our ship. You got anyone on the Janiri who can travel with us? Call her an observer. Someone to make sure that all dealings are done fair and square".

 

"The other thing"? Jess sighed and pressed on. "Dogger informs me that we've taken aboard the hacker I said could do the job of breaking some trojans into the Batarian system. He's ready to go ahead with the programming, but he's insisting on getting access to actual Batarian code. High level code. The kind they use typically for military. He needs to hide his program in the code and make it work..... He's also asking..... What do you need it to do"? Jess folded her arms and kricked her neck. "It's been awhile luv. You got a plan of action? I've asked that this code disrupt comms to delay any alerts that may pop up. I can get it timed so that it'll kick in at the time you arrive if you can keep to the time table. Anything else I need to ask for and can VERA look it over when it's ready..... Not that I doubt my hacker but.... He's not exactly who I thought he was".

[Cknarf]

Sanves

 

“All units, hold you fire!” Daliax commanded, stepping down the stairs leading from the front door to the lawn. The gunfire stopped. “What part of destroy didn’t you understand?”

 

“We were in the process, ma’am.”

 

“You’re not getting through a ‘47-A with a damned Phaeston.” She gave a firm shove, pushing the head of her security detail aside.

 

“You need something with a little more…” Daliax made a circular motion with her talon, as she thought of the right word. “Oomph.” Her eye narrowed.

 

As she raised her rifle, the shuttle’s door began to open.  She pulled away from the scope, but kept her weapon at the ready. As an unfamiliar asari stepped out, she took aim, and squeezed the trigger. Her round impacted a small sphere of biotic energy that surrounded her target, and fell harmlessly to the ground. The guards around the shuttle raised their weapons, and took aim.

 

“It’s good to see you too, sis.” Marius said stepping out with his hands raised in a submissive gesture.

 

“Stand down, boys.” Daliax waved her men off, and handed off her rifle to one of the passing guards.

 

Marius patted Kira on the back, and she lowered her defenses.

 

“You really should have called first.” Daliax approached with open arms, and embraced her sibling. “I’m happy to see you’re still in one piece.” She said, as she squeezed.

 

Kira cleared her throat.

 

“Right, sorry.” Marius turned slightly. “Dax, this is Kira, she’s--”

 

“The only person in the galaxy with enough patience to put up with both you, and baby brother at the same time.” Daliax finished, extending a hand in greeting. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

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

 

“Such a beautiful home, you have…” Kira stopped before a large picture window that overlooked the backyard.  The well-manicured lawn stretched out nearly one hundred meters to a towering perimeter wall, and beyond that was seemingly endless forest.

 

“Yeah, one of the perks of being with Special Tactics is the retirement package.” Daliax crossed her arms, and stopped next to Kira. “Get shot, stabbed, and blown up enough times, and they set you up real nice.”

 

“You were a Spectre?”

 

Daliax nodded. “Well, technically, I’m still active, but I don’t see much action anymore. Can’t get around like I used to, you know?” She looked down at her legs. The left one was synthetic from the knee down,  and the other was slightly worse off.  “Every once in awhile I’ll get a call, when they have something a little less… demanding.” She sighed.

 

"Have you considered upgrading your cybernetics?"

"Spirts, no. Then I'd actually have to do some real work again!" Daliax chuckled, before walking on.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena got a sly look on her face. "Jess, get on the QEC, and don't ask any questions."

 

VERA set up the connection from Naleena's quarters. Naleena sat in her chair, lit a cigarette and poured a drink. "VERA how long would it take you to draw up transfer of ownership papers and make the Medusa an Asari Merchant Vessel? And these have to pass tight security checks."

 

"I could have those drawn up in a matter of minutes," VERA said.

 

Jess appeared on the QEC, and saw Naleena seated in her chair.

 

"Jess, I have a proposition for you. I would like to buy the Medusa on a temporary basis," Naleena said. "It will become an Asari Merchant Vessel under command of Lieutenant Commander Irira Muranis, Selani's second in command. She'll be there in name only and to cover you for the Batarian authorities. I'll send over an Asari uniform for Dahlia. The ship will have a Spectre ownership. You'll be covered. When the mission is over, VERA will transfer ownership back to you. If you approve of this arrangement. Let's drop to normal space and handle it before we hit the relay."

[Redbelle]

Jess blinked as she looked over at Morgan. Already he could see a stubborness crossing her features as she heard the idea of selling her ship.

 

"Luv..... I can't sell the Medusa. It's not mine to sell. It belongs to the K&Q and if they hear I released it to anyone..... Regardless, We don't need it flying the Asari flag. It just needs joint flags. If it' s just us then the Asari government has no stake in the fate of this ship. If a senior fleet officer is present then the safety of that officer becomes a concern and the protection of the ship they are travelling on falls under the sort of thing the council can act on".

 

The look Jess was shooting to Morgan was plain. The idea of losing her ship, even for a few days was obviously anathema to her. After all the things she'd gone through and the lengths she'd gone reclaiming and rebuilding the ship and it's crew...... Jess turned back to the comm. "Sorry luv. If K&Q find out I sold the ship and command, and committed that to paper then I'd be discharged and sent to whatever Gulag K&Q have. And if they didn't have one they'd build one just for me. Sending an observer covers us. One who our Friend and Foe software can transmit as being on board and who we can call in to present to the Batarians. Someone whose on their radar would be better. If not then someone they can check the record for".

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena swirled her drink and took a drag from her cigarette and exhaled. "Jess, we're friends. I assure you that the actual 'transaction' would go no further than VERA," she said and she really did use air quotes. "You forget I'm used to doing business in a shady manner. The IFF code would be sent to your comm officer. All of this would be under the table, just between friends. And if anything went wrong, I'd come get you. You have my word. Honor among thieves and assassins."

 

She sighed and gestured with the hand holding the cigarette. "But if you insist on a senior officer, I'm sure that Lt. Commander Muranis can handle the helm over here since she does that during the evening shift anyway, and I'll send Commander Selani over to you. You'll still need proper IFF codes for you to be operating with Council's good graces and all that varren sh*t. And I still think an Asari Navy uniform and docs for Dahlia would make things look a little more official, don't you? She'll be Selani's assistant. The Asari don't send just one. You know how it is. Say hello to Ensign Dahlia Taniri for me, and tell her to act military. I know she can do it."

[Kel Riever]

Morgan thought he understood the problem, and he turned to Jess over his shoulder, talking quietly but really just loud enough for Naleena to hear as well.  "I understand.  There's a simple way to arrange this.  It's better if we call it a contract.  You're being hired.  There's no command anyone has over the ship but you is how it should be arranged.  But we'll have a liason on board, and be conducting official business of our employer, which is the Council, for the length of the agreement, and the terms mutually set.  No need to actually transfer ownership of anything.  It's simply a job, albeit a very important one, with Council and Spectre blessing, and with representatives on board.  Does that sound like a solution?"

Turning to Naleena, "And that makes sense from your end to, doesn't it?  No transfer of actual command, that can cause a problem.  We're...civilian contractors.  Or whatever you'd like to call it."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

VERA spoke up. "Considering the status of Batarian relations at this time a diplomatic attache would be advised," she said. "Someone of Lt. Commander Muranis' rank would do. I do not advise making papers for Dahlia in case the Batarians actually check with Asari authorities. I would suggest sending Yeoman Maiana with her."

 

A logo showing a bird similar to Morgan's zapping its prey with biotics with its talons outstretched appeared on VERA's screen with Asari lettering above and below. VERA continued. "I might also suggest using Sandaris Industries as the contract company, Boss. You have left it idle too long and it might be dropped from the list of licensed financial organizations by the Galactic Stock Exchange, thus denying you an avenue through which to launder money and hide money from governments to dodge taxes."

 

"VERA!" Naleena scolded. "This sounds like a fair arrangement to me. I'll have VERA draw up the necessary documents, and I'll allow you to launder your income through Sandaris Industries this time. Fair enough?"

[Redbelle]

"Sounds good on this end. Unless there's anything else, we'll be setting out once Muranis and Maiana are aboard. I'd ask for a commando but I think you'll need them more on your end". Jess checked her comm and noted to Aelias to pass word of the new arrivals. "Now about the coding. Do you have anything else you wanted added"?

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"I'll let VERA handle the details. The first time I had her handle this task for me, she discovered several things I'd overlooked that could have gotten me caught over the years," Naleena said and glanced over at the smug looking AI. "I was lucky. She'll send the IFF coding and digitally signed documents to you comm officer. All you have to do is add your digital signature to them and it's all legal. I'll send over a suit of Commando armor and a Disciple for Dahlia, now Corporal Taniri. The Batarians will never know the difference."

 

Naleena swung over a keyboard and began typing. "Her docs are semi-official. I'm temporarily attaching her to the SPECTRES Auxiliary, pending approval of the Council. The request will never reach the Council, however. And I'm firing off a copy to my boss Yalson Sao as we speak. Normally they won't check the 'guard'. This is in case they do. She works for him. He'll vouch for her. Besides my company is located on Illium so this will look good. Oh, one last small detail. My name is Carina Y'syanos, CEO of Sandaris Industries."

 

"Now, let's go to normal space so we can get this done, shall we?" Naleena said and picked up her drink and downed it.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The ships dropped out of FTL. Naleena sent Lt. Cmdr. Muranis and Yeoman Maiana over to the Medusa in the shuttle along with a suit of Commando armor and Disciple for Dahlia and her service documents as well. She sent the copies to Yalson Sao as promised. VERA handled the transactions and forwarded the documents to the Medusa and the server where Sandaris Industries was located. The contract was now legal and binding according to galactic law so if the Batarians decided to check they would be satisfied with them. When the shuttle returned to the Janiri. Both ships resumed their courses: the Medusa to Kite's Nest, and the Janiri to the Artemis Tau Cluster.

 

With that done, Naleena contacted Johnny to prepare for some test runs of disarming the sensors that Essul was rigging.

[Kel Riever]

The Medusa

As the shuttle from the Janiri touched down, and the air cycled in the hanger, there were a couple of crew who seemed to be getting familiar with the ship out and taking care of logistics.  The two asari looked around for someone to greet them, but it wasn't anyone official that spoke to them first.  It was someone...very...unofficial looking.  The human was certainly fit, but wore a casual shirt that had cartoon characters on it?  The most unorthodox set of above the knee shorts seen by the asari in quite some time, comfortable socks and...sandals.

"Hey!" Keith shouted at the two asari.  "I haven't seen...well I haven't gotten out mu....Well I figured if people were coming over from that awesome Spectre ship, I should see who it was!  Especially if they were hot asari!" 

Keith turned a bit red, but absolutely grinned to cover up his embarrassment.  It was the fastest way to make it disappear anyway.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Lt. Cmdr Muranis had an air of authority about her that  went along with career military life. She had the etheric appearance that was common among Asari of matron age, and white facial markings indicating. Yeoman Maiana, however was a maiden and smiled at Keith. Muranis glanced at her and she knew the look meant to act professional.

 

Muranis addressed Keith. "I was expecting to be greeted by someone of rank among the crew. Could you tell them we have arrived?"