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[Kel Riever]

Iole glanced not without concern towards Naleena, realizing she was the first member of the team seen with the irregular logo placement.  "Well....you know...."

That wasn't any sort of real answer.  But Iole wasn't about to get into it.  She figured Naleena would put it all together when she saw the rest of the team, and had no doubt she'd be able to trace back where the idea had come from.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"In any event, I like it," Naleena said. "I always felt there was something lacking in the presentation. Our mission represents all Council races. This gives a Council identification to the team."

 

(would write more but I have a dental appt. you may reply)

[Kel Riever]

"Sure.  It was about the identification..." Iole could barely contain herself.  "Hey, how about those traps.  We should get started practicing on those."

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Glad to see you could join us, Iole. If the Captain is fine with your outfit, I will not object..." Essul said, his own sporting the symbol of the council on his sleeves and right breast, and no other symbols besides it.

 

"This holographic simulation is a replica of the tunnel system you will be using to enter the facility. It has been armed with a series of traps, simulating the placement of standard Batarian Special Intervention Unit security patterns. There are two trip-laser modules on the lower area here..." He said as he motioned to the small emitter devices facing one another, 4 in total, that formed an X-shape to them.

 

"There are also Motion Detectors above, designed to be triggered should they sense any movement within their field of view. And finally, pressure detection plates, thin and easily missed, which will trigger the alarms if the weight resting on them is altered..." He said, looking to the three of them with a grim look.

 

"If the alarm is triggered, an electrical shock will be coursed through the body. If this were a proper BSIU training exercise, stun-harpoons would be used to leave a more lasting scar to remember this by. And in the real world? You can expect whatever payload is released upon the alarms triggering to be lethal..."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"This will be very slow going. Lasers are one thing. I was constantly misting ahead of me to reveal those," Naleena commented. "But IR motion detectors? We'll need to use passive thermal sensors. If I were rigging a security system, I would put the IR motion detectors directly above the pressure plates. This would make it virtually impossible to disarm one without triggering the other.

 

"And if anyone complains about the electric shock, you can blame me. Our other choice was a flash bang. I thought we could get through more trials with an electrical shock than being flash banged every few minutes. Now do either of you have any ideas of how to get through the system? And are you familiar with these types of devices? If not we should start at a work bench and practice disarming them there before going through the simulation."

[Cknarf]

"I was trained to kick the ass of just about every species in the galaxy, batarians, especially." Johnny started. "Uh... nothing personal, sir." He raised his hands a little, hoping that didn't sound too off.  There was no getting around the facts, though.

 

"Unfortunately, that was about all we were taught.  I didn't have a lot of hands on with anything aside from batarian small arms, so I'd like to take a look at each device separately, if you don't mind.

[Kel Riever]

"I'm good to go," Iole said, "And need to get started on this sim. "

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"I'll make an assumption here that the Batarians have upgraded their security from a couple of years ago," Naleena said. "VERA, while we're on approach for refueling, see if you can get into Alliance databases and search for Batarian security systems. Use my Spectre clearance. This will at least give us 2177 configurations for Johnny to look over. This is probably what Alliance espionage agents use for training. I'm sure Essul added updated tech."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The Medusa

 

As the Medusa prepared to make the relay transit, Yeoman Maiana followed Dahlia into her quarters and helped her into her commando armor.

 

"I really don't think this is necessary, and this Disciple? My Claymore was modified by Aria, and it is a superior weapon," Dahlia said. "It doesn't simply take down enemy shields so I can kill them with my biotics. It actually kills the enemy! It's something I learned having to face people like Krogan. Maybe the Asari military could learn something?"

 

"You're not making my job any easier," Maiana replied, paused, then sighed. "Just go along with this charade. We just have to convince the Batarians that you're a member of the Asari military attached to the Council."

 

Dahila fastened the buckles on the armor. "I don't know why Naleena couldn't have sent a non-com over to do this. But wait. Yes, I know why. She just wanted to get under my skin," she said and turned to Maiana. "Okay, I'll go along with this, and we'll do this perfectly. Tell me what to do."

 

Maiana went over how to hold the Disciple, how to stand, how to move, and how to act. She went over everything and had Dahlia practice until she had it down. Dahlia had a smug look on her face when she was done with the exercise.

 

"I guess I'll get used to the armor," she said. "And you can tune the barriers to my biotics so that it's actually useful in case the Batarians try something. And thank Naleena for the armor. I'm keeping it as payment." She leaned over to Maiana and laughed.

[Kel Riever]

Iole

"OW!" 

The electric shock was only the second time of the thirty-seven disarms Iole had performed.  Of course, that was two times too many as far as she was concerned, and she scrutinized every error she had made.

"I have determined in my grand galactic wisdom of almost two centuries," Iole sarcastically said, "That the Hegemony is a bunch of cruel, murderous sphincters.  VERA, when did you introduce poison needles into the bomb disarming process?"

"Some of the simulated explosives are models of actual known Hegemony devices.  Some are anticipated models.  The one with the needle was actual."

Iole sighed.  "Essul, really, that's just spiteful...never mind.  Years of war, etcetera, etcetera....just going to have to get every single thing right the first time.  That's always been the way with disarming.  Really, when I lose a few limbs or am dead, I hope you all remember to say, 'Thank you,' at my funeral."

Keith

"So!.....uh, is there anything you might...want me to do?" Keith was still hanging around the Lieutenant and the Captain.  He really felt like a fifth wheel, but he also really liked being around people who looked important, and who looked like they knew what they were doing and...well...were also attractive.  Keith hadn't seen Morgan around recently, and this was his first sighting of Jess in a bit.  Nor, in fact, had he seen some of the crew.  Not that he couldn't entertain himself, but even Keith knew he had a lot of energy and not a lot of places to spend it.  Shooting his gun had been fun.  Even working with basic things it didn't take skill to do.  But...well...spinning an old fashioned wrench was a good workout, though even Keith needed a break from the monotony.

"I worked for the Port Authority, back in New York...on Earth.  Um.  We were always keeping an eye out for trouble.  And that also means sometimes I knew how to get past those eyes...not that I would because I was on the side of the law...I mean, hey, everybody has a boss, right?  But, if my boss was a gangster, and you know, I was evil, with a capital E...hell, ALL CAPS.  Well then, you know...I'd know...and could tell you." 
 

[Cknarf]

Johnny had only managed to disable half the number of devices as Iole, but he had yet to fail. The extra time he took to study the tech was working in his favor. Or maybe he was just lucky. Either way, he was having a good time with the whole thing.

 

Murderous sphincter was the cause of his eventual downfall. The term prompted a faint chuckle from the marine, breaking his focus juuuust enough for him to make a mistake.

 

*zap*

 

"Damn." He withdrew his hand, and shook it a little.  Pushing his glasses back up, he got back to work.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena lit a cigarette and headed straight for the sim. "Now you'll see how a real professional works."

 

The smoke showed the lasers. "Really? Essul, you have to do better than this," she said and began to disarm the laser trip mines. "And tricky. VERA, show this to Johnny and Iole."

 

"Should they not experience this on their own first?" VERA asked.

 

"Probably, but this is brilliant," Naleena replied and continued to work. "Unlike the Salarian systems that work with such simplicity, there's a sequence to these. Get the sequence wrong and it's as the human expression goes 'adios muchachos.' I won't tell you what the sequence is, just that there is one, so look for it."

 

Naleena worked on it for a few minutes, and eventually got through the laser trap. "Well that one is done, but don't rush. The Batarians, if they're anything like the Salarians will lure you into a false sense of security, and you'll be dead with the next one. Keep your eyes peeled. Now modern tech might be tripped by active scans so you can't count on your omni-tools here.

 

"I did museum jobs where the alarm companies had rigged multiple layers of security, pressure plates, lasers, and motion sensors. The thing about them is that they're all connected to a central location within the building for rapid response of the security team," Naleena rambled. "Now, with a simple snatch and go, I could just disable the entire system with a localized EMP, but that takes out our instruments as well, and it alerts security. Whereas a few sensors going off line won't be noticed.... usually. Security officers are donut eaters as a rule. It takes something big to get their attention.

 

"Where was I? Yes, each component being connected receives power, thus will emit a small amount of heat above the background, so I'd go to passive thermal," she said as she moved further down the tunnel. "And what do we have here? A motion detector. I must disarm that, but this is tricky because in order to get it the pressure plate needs to be disarmed, but if I disarm the pressure plate, the motion detector will sense me. Fortunately this is a directional motion sensor.

 

"My guess is that the Batarians are feeling pretty smug with this system, but then they've only dealt with those amateurs from STG, TPI, AIA and SASA," Naleena said and took out her gun, and rigged a weight bearing arrow in the barrel with a special cartridge and fired it into the ceiling and winched her way up with her feet braced against the wall. This gave her an angle to disarm the motion sensor without being detected. Feeling smug she lowered herself and went to work on the pressure plate, and nearly had it disarmed.

 

The alarm went off and she got zapped.

 

"Ow! What in the Void?!" she shouted.

 

"You are dead, Boss." VERA said and cackled. It was the first time she ever laughed.

 

"VERA!"

 

"Amateurs from STG, TPI, AIA and SASA? Boss, you missed the sequence," VERA said. "They required the final wires to be cut simultaneously. It was a two person job."

 

"Then why not just trigger after one was disarmed?" Naleena asked with confusion.

 

"Apparently the Batarians like to lure their victims into a false sense of security."

 

"Sadistic bastards," Naleena said. "No offense, Essul."

[Cainhurst Crow]

"None taken. It's exactly as VERA said. And yourself..." Essul said, holding a hand over his mouth to hide the bemused grin on his face. Quickly wiping it off his face as he walked forward to Naleena, "That trick with the motion censor was clever. In fact, I don't think any in the hegemony thought to scale a wall to do so...." He said as he pointed to the plate.

 

"But even if you had disarmed the plate..." He said to her, letting her in one the hegemony's secret with its pressure techniques, "There is another plate, placed directly in front, and besides it. Designed to catch any disarmers off guard...." He said as he walked up to the plate, whose shock charge had to be reset anyway, something he'd had to do a lot of.

 

"The sequence for those is easy though..." Essul said as he looked between the two, "Just remember to take a big step over them, once you disarm the main plate..."

[Kel Riever]

Morgan

Sometimes, that poker face of Morgan's really came in handy.

Like when he was tired and was on the bridge.  From the events that he'd gone through yesterday, which really didn't need any mention...because a person had to be there...

The regular crew wasn't on the bridge yet, and that was fine.  Not because they couldn't be at a moments notice, but Morgan was picking up the slack for whoever he could out of a favor to them.  Besides, the person he was talking to on the com only needed one person to talk to.

Sometimes, that poker face came in really, really handy...

"Merchant vessel?" A batarian woman named Lomala said, her face showing her distrust on the video screen. "With an asari liason on board?"

"A diplomatic attaché.  Lieutenant Commander Irira Muranis.  Isn't that a good thing?"

Lomala looked even more distrustful, "Since when was having a member of the Council in Batarian space a good thing?"

Morgan leaned over the viewscreen on the station he was using.  It was next to Alias and he had opted for it over sitting in the captain's chair.  "Look, we're here to sell merchandise, move product.  You're the person we got word through our sources was interested...."

"A bunch of free traders, who I've done business with before.  What does that mean?"

"It means you're going to do business with them again.  And you're going to think about it because you're dry as hell...."

"Alcohol is desired, but hardly a reason to open my door to you..."

"...in technology too."

The batarian paused.  She leaned in herself then.  "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?  I'd like you to come walk through one of our defense perimeters here and listen to you say that again."

Morgan's face became hard.  "I mean, what you're wearing on your wrist isn't worth the contents of your pet varren's bowels.  You have people using hand-me-down Blue Wire I's.  Yes, I understand that's not you, but I bet it only gets as good as a Cipher, not even a top end Cipher, for you.  I bet a V at best.  Tell me I'm wrong.

"You're wrong."  Lomala did not exactly have a look of victory on her face.  "A Cipher VII.  We only have three."  Then her face became hard.  "But you aren't the only merchant vessel in space and I'm not dumping Hegemony money for inflated prices!  Our tools work, and we've worked with them.  So you better be prepared for us to look at your tools, and negotiate!"

Negotiation by intimidation didn't exactly surprise Morgan as the opening hand played by Lomala.  Still, he'd gotten what he needed.  "I think you'll change your tune when you get a look on replacing some of those Blue Wire's as favors for those most loyal to you.  And for your inner club, the people who run things from the top like you?  I'm sure the Armali Nexus tools we have on boards will intrigue you.  How safe is the data on your tool now?" That was pushing it a bit, Morgan thought.  "I bet you'll find the price you pay well worth it."

Lomala pulled away from the screen a bit.  "Not bad, human.  We'll talk.  I'm sending you coordinates and two meeting times.  Pick one.  And have omni-tools we can examine with you."
 

[Cknarf]

Thessia

 

"F***." Quintus pulled back, as Adir tended to the wound above his left eye. "Take it easy, will ya?"

 

"Perhaps you are the one who should be taking it easy." Adir leaned in a little closer for a better look. "How did this even happen?"

 

"I fell." Quintus replied almost immediately.

 

"What, out of a window? Keelah..." Adir shook his head. "I'll be back with some ice for the swelling. Keep an eye on him, will you?"

 

Frank nodded.

 

"So. What really happened?" He asked after Adir had left.

 

"I told ya. I fell."

 

Frank just gave him one of those looks like really?

 

"Alright. But you can't tell nobody." The turian eventually broke. "Okay. So, I was tryna score--"

 

"Big surprise there."

 

"Not really, but whatever. Aaaanyways, this chick was purple. And I mean waaaay purple. Like... this!" Quintus held up one of the pillows, which were a deep, dark purple color.

 

"No sh*t?"

 

"Yeah. I ain't ever seen a girl like that, so naturally, bangin' her became priority number one."

 

Frank shook his head.

 

"We got to talkin' a bit. Guess she had some kinda skin condition or somethin', I dunno..."

 

"And then you said something rude to set her off, right?"

 

"Nah, man. At least I don't think I was bein' offensive... Pissed her girl off though, that's for damn sure."

 

"Ah. I see. So she's the one who beat your ass?"

 

"Exactly."

 

"Ha. You got beat up by a girrrrrrl." Frank teased, even though nearly every woman he had ever known on a first name basis could kick his ass with relative ease.

 

"That, I did." Quintus nodded. "But this wasn't a regular asari, bro. We stood almost eye-to-eye, she was so tall. She had these incredibly broad shoulders, like... like... I don't even know, man. Arms like this yo!" He used his hands to show the diameter of her biceps. He might have been exaggerating a little.

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

Sanves

 

"You two should go some time." Daliax said, watching some highlights from a recent fight on her ridiculously large tv. "I can get you free tickets. Spectre authority." She chuckled.

 

"Professional fighter Axana "Battle Ax" Ahnos has landed herself in hot water yet again, after video of an altercation between herself and an unidentified patron at a popular Thessian nightclub has surfaced on the extranet.  The fight, which happened approximately two days ago, was captured from various angles by numerous bystanders."

 

"I'd hardly call it a fight. Let's take a look!"

 

Marius watched as the shaky omni-video began to play on TV. Much to his surprise, it showed his own brother getting an epic beatdown from a rather burly asari.

 

Daliax absolutely lost it. Her laughter, bordering on maniacal, eventually turned to a cough. That didn't stop her from continuing.

"You left him on Thessia? Ha! Dumb ass!" She punched Marius in the arm. "Oh here it goes again! POW!"

 

"It really has been great seeing you, Dax." Marius stood, as did Kira. "As always, it's been a pleasure doing business with you."

 

"Whatever, kiss-ass." Daliax waved him off, not taking her eyes from the screen. "Go get that idiot brother of ours."

 

"Would you like me to bring him by? I'm sure he wouldn't mind staying with you for a few months..."

 

"Get the f*** out of my house." Daliax chuckled. "And don't come back without a 920."

 

As Marius walked out, he could hear his sister shouting commands to her home's VI.

 

"Stop! Rewind thirty seconds. Play back at half speed!"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The Janiri exited FTL in the first system plotted along the way to the Vular system with stealth systems engaged. VERA did some passive scans of the system and found nothing but Alliance patrol ships in the area, and disengaged stealth drives. The course plotted was to an Alliance refueling station after discharging drives in the upper atmosphere of a large gas giant.

 

The Alliance outpost was small and usually only saw Alliance cutters. An Asari built destroyer flying Council colors was a treat. Naleena left the ship to fill out the requisite authorizations for the fuel purchase, and the senior officer on the station of course wanted a tour of the ship. The commander stood average height with light brown hair and blue eyes, and he was quite bored managing a fuel station that saw little traffic, and managing the uninhabited system, well except for a pre-space flight civilization on the second planet that was a restricted no-contact zone.

 

"Commander Timoshenko, you realize there areas of the ship where I cannot take you. They are classified," Naleena said.

 

"But Spectre, you must understand that we're about to go out of our minds here," Timoshenko replied. "I'm stationed here for six  weeks, then I get to go home for a week, then come back for another six weeks. We have four cutters patrolling the system in case the batarians try something, but that's about it. And you know we're not supposed to go down to that planet."

 

"But you have."

 

"Well..."

 

"Find anything interesting?"

 

"Let's just say that the species isn't anything that either of us would find attractive," he replied. "They are biotic, however."

 

"And you found this out how?"

 

"Let's just say that we resemble 'devils' in their holy books," Timochenko frowned. "We didn't leave on the best of terms."

 

"And so you reinforced the perception of 'devils'."

 

"I'm afraid so."

 

"And of course this is well documented, right."

 

Timochenko looked shocked. "Of course not! We never officially went there. We think they got that impression from the probe the Alliance fired onto the planet that contained contact information about our species. It must have crashed into a village and killed people, otherwise how would they have an image of humans?"

 

"That's a good point. So what do they look like?"

 

"They're green with tentacle heads...."

 

Naleena folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "With tentacle heads?"

 

Timochenko became embarrassed. "Not like yours. Yours are neat and...."

 

"Keep digging."

 

"Yours are neat and in a crest. Theirs are long and flop all over the place," Timochenko said, and then tapped his omni-tool. "Here, I show you."

 

"You took a picture?" Naleena raised an eyebrow again.

 

"Of course, it's in my private directory," he said. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

 

Naleena shook her head. "Okay, for this, I'll give you the tour myself."

 

Timochenko hit the last entry of his password.

 

Spoiler

 

Naleena's eyes opened wide. "You're right. That is one ugly motherf***er. Come on. Let's take that tour."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

OOC - *bump* so that this doesn't get buried. - we're waiting on the action from the Medusa on Erszbat selling the omni-tools

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

During the tour Timochenko continued to talk. "This ship is very impressive, Spectre. Very comfortable," he said. "And these seats. Leather. Real leather. You sure you don't have room for another crew member?"

 

Naleena shook her head. "Not at this time. Cigarette?" she asked as she took one out of her case.

 

"Thanks, don't mind if I do," he said. "You know if I had a ship like yours I might do something about a little problem."

 

"What sort of problem?"

 

"You remember I told you how we were treated like devils by the inhabitants of the planet?" he asked.

 

Naleena stopped and nodded then showed him into the portside observation lounge.

 

"Well, there have been rumors among my crew, unproven of course, that there are a some private human hunters. Very rich. Who go there and hunt the natives of the planet for sport."

 

Naleena looked at him with disbelief. "Aren't the big game reserves enough?"

 

"No," Timochenko said shaking his head. "See the big game doesn't fight back and try to encircle them. They go in with their tactical cloaks and sniper rifles and pick off one or two at a time. They wear powered body armor for extra strength. And rumor has it that they take trophies."

 

Naleena shuddered. "That's sick! Have you reported this to your superiors?"

 

"Of course, but they want proof." Timochenko replied. "Until I actually catch one, there is no proof. I can't do anything because I don't have the manpower or resources, and the Alliance won't spare anymore. If I investigate, the Batarians could get something through. But you... you have a fancy ship and team. You could investigate this. Maybe catch one of the hunters and bring him back. Then maybe the Alliance will listen. And you're not human. Maybe you could get the indigenous people to help. Although I doubt it. They aren't very trusting."

 

Naleena thought about it a for a moment. "Let me get my team together."

 

"And one last thing."

 

"What?"

 

"The planet. It is very hot."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena tapped the terminal. “VERA, summon the team to the conference room. We have a mission.”

 

"I will get on that," VERA replied.

 

VERA alerted all members of the team: Arian, Anika, the Commandos, Essul, Irina, Johnny, and Vayne. Faed was still not cleared for return to duty.

 

Meanwhile, Naleena escorted Commander Timoshenko to the conference room. “I’ll introduce you, and briefly explain what is going on and let you explain the details. Provide us whatever evidence, even rumors that you can. I can have VERA link to the computer system on the station.”

 

“VERA? Is she your XO?”

 

“No. Our VI,” Naleena said. “And like I told you, pretty much everything you see on this ship is classified at the highest level. Revealing information about the ship will be considered treason.”

 

Timoshenko raised his brows and let out a sigh. “Okay. I understand.”

[Cainhurst Crow]

"We all the way to batarian space already?" Vayne asked as he entered the conference room, curious as to what this mission was all about, given the one they'd been briefed to do earlier.

 

"No. It's too soon for that..." Essul said with a worried expression as he entered shortly behind the krogan, looking around to see if Naleena or Vera were there to answer his question, "What's happened? Have we been compromised?" He asked.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

“We’re at the first refueling station, an Alliance outpost in the system 4157 Maenali,” Naleena replied. “This is Commander Vladmir Timoshenko of the Alliance Navy. He has requested our assistance. We’ll explain when the rest get here.”

[Cainhurst Crow]

((Collab with Myself and Kel Riever))

Lorek - Jalnor

 

The detention building on Jalnor was a rather plain looking square center, a basic area with a fenced perimeter and a few gated routes inside, as well as a landing platform above it. Police Commissioner Yudas stood along with a number of guards as the Blade Wolf, the frigate carrying the batarian external affairs officer who would be coming to investigate.

 

He nervously stood at attention in the slow downpour, the mass effect fields doing well to keep the place dry as the frigate touched down, its ramp lowering to greet the arriving occupants.

 

Machaera walked out on the ramp, his coat blowing in the cold breeze and his face obscured by a simple bandada like piece of cloth, obscuring his lower face as he had his hood up. Yudas though could see his eyes, the red optics which sent a shiver through his spine. External affairs tended to hire individuals of a certain reputation.

 

If not for this job, a lot of them would probably have been criminals. Yudas tried not to think about it as he looked to the others approaching, A human by the look of it, who made many of the guards nervous as some reached for their weapons. A rather offputting looking turian who walked along with the others, and another hooded individual, who from the green skin yudas could guess was a drell.

 

"Commissioner Yudas..." Machaera said as he approaching the aging and bloated man, "I trust you know who I am."

 

"Captain Fayyar. External forces, right?" Yudas asked, handing the datapad to Machaera as he gave a salute, "It's a surprising honor to have you visit us, Captain."

 

"I'm sure it is. But by now, you know why I'm here..." Machaera said as he looked through the datapad. The Weyland-Yutani explosion had made the news all over. It didn't take much to put two and two together.

 

The off-putting turian was tall, and wore what was once the proud suit of an Armiger.  It had been a bold, metallic orange long ago, but had clearly been weathered, worn, marked and scuffed to now appear only an abused shadow of its former glory.  Tyrius was the turian, of course, and he paid little attention to those being met, or so it seemed, instead lifting his head as if to scent the surroundings and keep his eyes out for unseen trouble.  In the dreary storm, he seemed to sway every once in a while in the direction of the wind, his unsteady stance only adding to his queer demeanor.

Following the three, it was evident another had arrived.  Falling Leaf appeared slight in her close fitting, dark brown armor.  Her confidence and discipline was in sharp contrast to Tyrius, and though she gave off no outward threat, she likewise did not seem to fear those she was in the company of.

 

Machaera looked over the datapad as footage of the assault played out, a human engaging security forces, and an asari committing sabotage within, no real identifying features able to be descerned by the video. As he tried to access more information, his access was blocked suddenly.

 

"How much information have you seen on this, Commissioner?" Machaera asked as he looked towards Yudas, handing the datapad over to one of his men as they took it into the ship.

 

"None outside of the video. I don't have further clearance...." Yudas answered as he watched the man moving up the ramps, "That datapad is police evidence. I'm going to need it back."

 

"Don't worry about it, Commissioner. It's all part of the investigation. Now then, let us see these prisoners of yours..." Machaera said with a neutral expression on his face, his voice not betraying much as Yudas and his officers escorted Machaera and his squad inside.

 

"The asari arrested were part of a known dissident cell called the Esan Resistance. The presence of an asari during the attacks prompted us to taking the entire movement into our custody. Right now, we have at least 65 asari who are part of the group in holding. None of them have been made to stand trial yet while we work on getting charges brought up." Yudas explained as they made their way into the detention center, dull walls and interiors broken up by windows into the courtyard the holding cells were connected to.

 

"There's no connection between the Asari and this attack. Surely you must know that at least..." Machaera said, unimpressed by the hull as they approached a red line marked along the walls, warning of dangers beyond this point.

 

"Yes, we know. But the public demanded we do something. Arresting the asari kept the public calm, and kept a potential race war from breaking out over this." He wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief as he approached thick reinforced doors.

 

"This is our maximum security wing. It houses the more powerful biotics of the group, their leaders as well. I was told you wished to interrogate them?" Yudas asked with confusion. If he wanted to talk to them, why did he just say they were innocent? What was this all about?

 

"Something like that...open the doors." Machaera said as he looked through the transparent glass into the hexagon shaped room, each cell possessing a clear door as well with a single asari inside it, separated by thick steel reinforcements. On the ground level was an asari who seemed bulkier then most, sitting in the middle of her cell in a meditative pose, and despite not having eyes, appeared to be staring directly at him. Machaera raised a brow as he looked to Yudas.

 

"That eyeless one over there...she doesn't appear to be like the others." Many of the asari were mixes of purples or dark blues, a few violets from here or there. She however was pale blue, and while the others paced or stayed on the seats of thier cells, or banged on the reinforced durable plastic doors, she simply sat there.

 

"That one? Ezkra K'Seni, a drifter incarcerated for traveling with false permits. She's dangerous, a bounty hunter already guilty of a 10 kill count...." Yudas replied, tensed as he spoke.

 

"Her targets? Were they batarain?" Machaera asked as he looked back to her.

 

"No sir...she was hunting down other Asari..." Yudas admitted as Machaera showed his first emotions since that trip. Smilling beneath the badana like mask he wore.

 

"How interesting..." Machaera flexed both his hands in anticipation, knowing he was going to enjoy this bit of probing.

 

At that point, Tyrius also seemed to take an interest in the asari.  "I gather she is well-versed in the act of preying." He doubted Yudas would understand his use of the homonym, but he trusted Machaera would.

"Is having a high kill count deserving of incarceration if the killing was done under authority?" Falling Leaf boldly speculated. Even more boldly, she stepped up to the clear door. "Where I come from, we prefer to call people like this experts, and they are rewarded, not imprisoned." Briefly, she paused, tilting her head in curiosity.  "Unless they don't uphold their agreements, but she doesn't seem like a problem to me."

Falling Leaf wore her helmet, but she clearly turned to stare directly at Yudas, "Though perhaps she makes some nervous around here.  Are false paper such a crime when considering the...consequences?"

 

"We've been recently attacked by people who left no trail behind, ghosts essentially. Anyone who even comes close to deceiving planet security is already committing a felony in these times..." Yudas said with a shake of his head, "But on top of that, she wasn't hired by us. She came here to this planet to hunt down two asari from off world, blew both their brains out by the time we caught her. I don't mind that she murdered a couple of squid heads, but the laws the laws, and people can't just go out killing others in our space under contract from someone else...an example had to be made..." He said sternly.

 

"Seems like a waste of talent to me. I know I'd go nuts having to go through proper channels all the time just to do my job..." Yron said as he kept his hands behind his head, rolling his eyes in boredom at the conversation.

 

"Regardless, I will be speaking to her, and the other incarcerated asari..." Machaera said as the doors began to open, "After all, I think my proposition to them will be most interesting..."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Kite's Nest - Near the mass relay - Security Checkpoint

 

Lomala received the meeting time Morgan selected. She and a couple members of a lower ranking security team members boarded a large shuttle and flew to the set of coordinates she sent Morgan and waited. The transaction couldn't take place under view of Batarian security cameras or be recorded. This had to be handled discretely, and these security guards were already on Lomala's private payroll, receiving cushy assignments in exchange for keeping their mouths shut.

[Redbelle]

Anika stepped up to the door of the Jeniri's conference room. Mr Bojangles had been fed. Her Typhoon given it's daily lubrication after she'd trawled through the Asari Huntress database once more.......

 

........

 

Asari had a lot of huntresses over the course of their civilisation, which finding one, made more difficult by the thousand year long life span and looking for those inactive and active, was more difficult.

 

It had to wait though. She'd been summoned and it sounded like she'd be seeing action. She'd left her armour with her Armature as she entered the room and spotted Naleena, Essul and Vayne.... and someone she didn't recognise as she stepped in.

 

"I got the call. Is this about the future or now"?

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Irina trotted down the hall in her BDU pants, boots, and tank, and banged on the Commandos' door. "Hey Jen! Just got a call from VERA. Boss wants to see us. We got a mission."

 

"Yeah, yeah!" Ereba shouted as she rolled out of her rack. "We heard! We'll be right there."

 

"Just don't take too long. It sounded urgent," she replied and walked toward the elevator and banged on Arian's door. "Meeting in the conference room."

 

****

 

"Hey, Goldie. Just wonderin'. Now that her hair isn't bright red anymore, do we still call her 'Red?'" Ereba asked.

 

Iole looked over at Jenus who nodded.

 

"Red! Red!"

 

"There's your answer."

 

****

 

Urdnot Grag had brought up coffee and donuts. When everyone had finished filing in, getting their coffee, which was damned good, Naleena started the meeting.

 

She stood. "Good morning. You're probably wondering if we're in Batarian space already. We're not. VERA, display system 4157 Maenali. We stopped here for refueling. There are four planets in the system. This is Commander Timoshenko. He's in charge of this system and has requested our assistance with a problem on the second planet, Yaut. Apparently we're going on a manhunt. Commander?" she said and sat.

 

The light brown haired Naval Commander stood and looked at the assortment of people around the room. He had served in the Alliance relief effort at Elysium when he was first commissioned, but hadn't left Alliance space and now found himself assigned to a backwater system on the fringes bordering the Batarian systems. He resented the fact that he wasn't given the resources he felt were necessary to do an adequate job to patrol the system, yet the Alliance held him responsible for everything that happened there. And with tensions building between the Batarians and the Systems Alliance he was even more surprised his position hadn't been beefed up. Apparently it had to do with the fact that there was no mass relay in the system. No one would think of anyone invading the old fashioned way anymore.

 

He cleared his throat and took a sip of coffee and turned to the group. "Greetings and welcome to 4157 Maenali: my home away from home. I know all of you are busy so I'll get straight to the point. The second planet in the system, Yaut, is an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere garden world. It has a late neolithic, early bronze age civilization. Basically they've recently begun agricultural practices: primitives if you will.

 

"We discovered them when we landed on the planet, and our survey team met with them and were immediately attacked. Apparently we're 'devils' in their holy lore. Later I learned that there are rumors among some of our pilots that while they are on patrol, they have seen shuttle craft entering the system and heading toward Yaut. One of my pilots tagged one of these shuttles and we traced the origin to a group of hunters: very wealthy hunters who go on safaris and take trophies.

 

"Yaut, because of its primitive civilization is a Red Zone, or no-contact zone. We're to leave them alone and let them develop on their own. The Yautja, what we call them, are tall blue-greenish people with tentacles on their heads and mandibles. They've only had outside contact with humans as far as we know. I snapped a photo of one:

 

 

"We believe these hunters might be visiting the planet and hunting them. Apparently the big game reserves aren't enough. See, big game doesn't fight back or use tactics. Don't take them lightly. They're well equipped with powered battle armor and tactical cloaks."

 

Timoshenko looked at the Asari. "You guys might have better luck than we did. They might even think you're gods or something like that with your blue skin and tentacle heads and all." Sh*t, did I really say that? "No offense. I really didn't mean anything...."

 

Naleena put her hand to her face.

 

"You might want to quit while you're behind," Ereba said.

 

Timoshenko sat back down in his chair and tried not to be seen.

 

Naleena stood and sighed. "In any event, this has to be stopped. Our mission is to capture or kill the hunters and leave not harm the inhabitants. If we have to interact with the Yautja it will be non-hostile if possible. Anything we should know about the planet, VERA?"

 

"The gravitational force is just slightly higher than Earth standard, or about 1 Asari standard gravity. Atmospheric pressure is 1 standard atmosphere. Atmospheric composition O₂ 18%; CO₂ 1%; N₂ 80%; Ar 1%. WARNING: intense exertion may cause fatigue. Supplemental O₂ recommended. Average Ambient temperature: 30^oC." VERA said.

 

"Any questions?" Naleena asked.