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[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Commander Selani attempted to send a request for assistance to the Council on orders from Naleena, but the outbound comm buoys were shut down. She reported that to the Spectre.

 

Naleena patted Vayne on his good shoulder as he passed by, then turned and approached Shinaga. "We have to move and quickly. I tried contacting the Citadel for humanitarian aid, but it seems outbound communications have been shut down. I believe the attack is imminent," she said. "Once we're out of the system, I will contact the Council. Shinaga, I have never had a victory feel so empty."

 

Shinaga sighed. "That is not your doing. At least you respect our traditions which is more than I can say for most," she replied. "May I ask you why you didn't kill the Shaman and take the females?"

 

"There has been enough death today."

 

Shinaga saw from the look in her eyes that the Asari was no stranger to killing. She nodded. "Indeed."

 

"They will need her guidance in the dark days to come."

 

"Farewell, Spectre," Shinaga said and offered her hand.

 

Naleena shook it. "Farewell," she said, turned and walked up the ramp into the cargo bay.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The Cargo Bay door closed behind the team and Naleena as they entered the ship. The Spectre headed directly to the CIC. The dark circles under her eyes betrayed her exhaustion.

 

Commander Selani was concerned. “Is everything alright?”

 

“Prepare for dust off. Get us off this rock. There’s nothing more we can do here,” Naleena ordered.

 

“Yes, Ma’am,” Selani replied and gave the appropriate orders to her crew.

 

Naleena disappeared into the portside observation lounge, took out a cigarette, and just held it in her hand. It would be the first one she’d had in a while. She returned it to her case and stood staring out the portal. Morgan and Priss had returned to the Medusa. She was alone.

 

She felt the jarring of the floor against her feet as the ship lifted off and the inertial dampers kicked in. VERA appeared on the nearby terminal as the ship gained altitude.

 

“Boss, my sensors have picked up a fleet emerging from behind the furthest moon from our position. It is large and has Sonax signatures. The satellites are changing positions,” she said.

 

“It has begun,” Naleena said. “The females. They won’t have time to leave the city. What about the Bloodpack?”

 

“Most are in shuttles, and those left are in the process of leaving,” VERA replied.

 

“Have Selani hold us in orbit and open a channel to the Nemesis,” Naleena said.

 

“This is Admiral Speight of the Sonax dreadnought Nemesis. State your business.”

 

“I’ve noticed a large fleet bearing Sonax and Guanghui signatures emerging from behind one of the moons, and I’ve noticed the satellites being repositioned,” Naleena said. “That was a nice ruse you played. I should warn you that carpet bombing a garden world is a war crime.”

 

Speight scoffed. “This world is part of the Terminus Systems. I should remind you that you have no authority here. We allowed you to conduct your business on the planet as a courtesy.”

 

“We are still in the process of closing operations planetside.”

 

“Then I suggest you hurry.”

 

“We need twelve hours.”

 

“I will give you two hours, no more.”

 

Naleena gave the signal to mute, feigning communication to a groundside team. Then she reopened communication. “Six hours, no less.”

 

“What part of two hours do you not understand Spectre? Your delay is costing money.”

 

“We’ve been monitoring where your ‘defense’ satellites are aimed. There are thousands of people living in that city. I assure you that there will be repercussions from the Council.”

 

“Like what? More sanctions? It is time for us to end this, and no one, not you or the Council can stop us,” Speight said

 

“Acchia varenares!” Naleena replied and disconnected. It was a Polonese dialect of Asari from Cyone. It was an insult. “VERA, launch a small probe to monitor the situation. Set it not to transmit data for two days.”

 

“As you wish,” VERA replied.

 

The Janiri stayed in orbit for the next two hours. VERA created a holographic display of the corporate forces moving into position. Naleena paid little attention, but stared blankly out the portal at the planet below sipping a cup of water. Then without warning it began. Energy beams fired from the satellites. The fleet fired mass drivers at the city.

 

Naleena closed her eyes and turned away. Her eyes began to well, but she forced it back as she entered the CIC.

 

“Set course for the Citadel, flank speed,” she ordered and retreated to her quarters.

 

///////////////////

 

Ten kilogram slugs fired at relativistic speeds slammed into the surface with the force of nuclear bombs. One slug every minute from every ship firing. Energy weapons burned every living thing within a 20 meter radius to ash. After an hour, the bombardment stopped and two divisions landed to mop up any Forsworn resistance, but all that was left were refugees, females and children who were left behind trying to escape their smoking crater of a home. Dhazil was gone.

 

The soldiers stopped and inspected the refugees for any weapons and confiscated anything that could be used as a weapon, taking even children’s toys. Their job was to secure the space port, the main bypass road and the mining facility. With no organized resistance left, this was easy, and they were brutal. They massacred two dozen Krogan Forsworn who surrendered after holing up in the mining facility.

 

With Sonax controlling outbound com buoys, no reports escaped. As far as the galaxy knew nothing had happened.

[Kel Riever]

Iole

Iole wasn't showing it, but she was having some concern as she caught up with the reports.  She didn't understand that the krogan females would subject themselves to a bombardment just because their Shaman ordered them to.  Or so it seemed.  Cultural differences aside, it just seemed like mass suicide.  Any leader, to her, worth their position would work to save their people.  Sitting under the known threat of bombardment had no honor in Iole's mind, no matter what the excuse.

Mira could tell, like she usually could, and Iole didn't notice until she looked up and her commander caught her eye.  No words were even exchanged, Iole was convinced Mira knew exactly what was going on.  So Iole simply put her hands to her face and made to rub her weariness thinking about it all away. 

The Commandos were back on the Janiri, and it had become home to most of the team.  But Iole didn't feel that way.  She'd had a taste at running outside the law, breaking the rules, and she couldn't shake it.  And of course all that temptation came along with remembering Frank.  Ridiculous, accident prone, fun, loser, punk, best thing ever, Frank.

"Yo yo yo," Iole suddenly blurted.  It was some sort of crazy phrasing she thought she either heard Frank use, or that he might use.

Tallis looked at Iole with a smile.  She pretty much knew what was going on with her too, now.

Jenus

Med bay was the last place Jenus ever wanted to be sent to.  She didn't mind seeing others, but sitting up in a monitored bed and she would be miserable if she had the energy to.  The faint smell of sterilizing chemicals in the air, or gel, or any one of a number of unnatural scents that wafted over the nostrils when one had nothing better to think about, irked Jenus.  She wasn't going to be able to do much about it either, not for the next day or two.

The doctor had diagnosed her immediately.  Kragg had broken a couple of ribs with not even the full power of his backfist, but that wasn't the problem.  The problem was that there had been tissue damage to a lung, and the medigel didn't heal it correctly.  So Jenus would be under a non-invasive surgery within the next couple of hours to re-heal the lung properly and then she'd be given a likely unnecessary amount of time to recover.  Just to make sure she was functioning without any loss of her physical capacity, which she understood.  A few times thinking about getting back to her workout to keep herself at peak distracted Jenus, but something about the wound had slowed her down enough to think.

Thinking, also, not one of Jenus' favorite things.  She didn't like that Naleena hadn't fit nicely in the place she'd initially thought she would.  And all her old conflicts with the Spectre now were referenced against an entirely different picture of her.  Maybe it was that Jenus didn't want to be wrong, but it was more that Jenus wanted things simple.  And now they weren't.  There was no going back, however, now that the two had fought together.  It spoke right to Jenus' warrior heart, to the core that in the end, they were comrades together.  Sisters in arms.

Battle sisters.

Jenus snorted in reaction to the thought.  But it was true.  Naleena might have been some brooding, crime world assassin, drinking and smoking matron, but she was also loyal to the Republics in some weird way.  Loyal, too, to the Council as a Spectre.  Naleena knew what to put first, and Jenus couldn't turn away from that. 

Where Irina was, Jenus didn't know, but surely the mission had been chaotic.  Usually, Jenus would be avoiding having to think of all the hard things by talking with Red, or just being affectionate with her.  Squirming for a moment, Jenus hoped her best excuse for not having to deal with the thoughts would be around soon, but her state had her recline instead, her energy low.  That antiseptic smell hit Jenus' nostrils again and she sighed.


 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Owww..." Vayne winced as he accidentally moved his shoulder, lying in the bed as he stared over next to his bed, seeing the large sword that now sat next to him as a war trophy. It had been embeded in his shoulder the entire trip here, and it took more then an hour for them to safely remove it from his body. If he wasn't krogan, and if his body didn't shift his blood to his auxiliary vascular system rather then his normal arteries, he'd have probably died halfway through the fight. Even then however, that didn't stop his bones from taking a beating, or his torn muscles from being magically repaired.

 

Held together by a mix of synthetic cloned flesh and medigel, Vayne was stuck and bedridden, and would probably be bedridden for a while. He glanced over towards Jenus, looking to her wounds, before glancing back towards the sword, wincing at each movement of his neck as he spoke through clenched teeth.

 

"...**** you Orsz..." was all he muttered to himself, glad he'd kept the blade so he could have something to curse out whenever he got mad.

 

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

 

Essul sat in the lounge of the Janiri, his head in his hands as he stared down at the table, not wanting to be near the windows right now as he thought about what had gone on.

 

Sonax had bombed the planet. Gunghui had been there to help as well. An entire people were now being subjected to conditions he had a good inclining on as he went over the scenario.

 

'First will come a search of the area. Any pockets of resistance dealt with efficiently as a command base is established. All citizens are to be brought to a central area for processing, and any items that could be used aggressively would be confiscated. Conditioning of the populace would begin next, forced labor used to rebuild the area for proper habitation. Finally annexation, and the establishment of a caste system for the planet by its Security Council.'

 

The old tales of how the batarians used to take over planets rang in his mind, as he contemplated what these corporate forces would most likely do with 0 restraints and the freedom to do whatever they wanted to the population. He'd always felt angry over the way his own people conducted himself, but they were beyond the touch of anyone while in their own system.

 

These corporate forces however, they needed to be brought to justice. Nothing should allow them to escape justice, when their profits, head quarters, and people, were all part of council space.

 

Essul clenched his fist as he thought about it. In a galaxy like this, Justice was all one could really hope for, aside from Hope itself.

 

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

 

The blood pack had dusted off before the bombings had begun, cutting it close as the last cargo ship took off. Men of all races and creeds had tried to join at the last minute, some clambering on top of another, others going up to roofs to even try and desperately jump on the departing blood pack vessels.

 

The death claw, the forsworn, and the blackguard, were now gone. The blood pack flying out the opposite side of the planet that Sonax forces were coming in from, taking off towards the relay as a massive caravan as shinaga waited in her personal frigates cargo hold. She stood next to her father, along with a few krogan and a handful of turians.

 

"Warboss. We're approaching the relay. We still heading for Tuchunka?" The pilot asked. Shinaga took a moment to answer, letting out a sigh as she did.

 

"My fathers going to get a proper krogan funeral. There will be a shaman there to preform the rite, and send his remains to the Hollows. Once we're done, and we drop off everyone who wants to be dropped off, we're heading for Illium."

 

"Illium? This soon?" The pilot asked.

 

"My Uncle needs to know what happened, and whose responsible for all of this..." She said firmly, disconnecting the call as she went back to sitting next to her fathers coffin, resting a hand upon it.

[TheMajonese]

Janiri Med bay

 

There was probably no mission without Arian somehow ending up on the med bay but he was already used to it. At least this time it was nothing serious, just the removal of a bullet from his body. His shield and armor had absorbed most of the projectile's velocity and it hadn't caused any serious damage, nothing medi-gel couldn't temporarily fix. But of course it had to be removed by someone with the medical expertise. In this case it wasn't Dr. Tolus since the salarian doctor was busy dealing with the more serious cases like Vayne and Jenus. Instead one of his asari assistants removed the projectile.

 

Despite rejecting any form of anesthetization the tall turian remained quite calm during the procedure, even though he visibly clenched his teeth. But there were just too many things in his head for him to pay attention to anything else. The treatment didn't take long and after a last injection of medigel around the wound and the obligatory advice for Arian to give his body some time to heal, he finally was able to leave. The assistant seemed quite reliefed when she finished treating the turian who would make most people around him feel as if they were in imminent danger and quickly left him alone to attend to other, less unpleasant duties.

 

Arian didn't move at first, he just sat there as if he was waiting for something. He looked at his naked upper body that showed several scars, the reminders of the countless battles he had fought. He had never thought about this time of his life on Omega until he lived on Caleston and it wasn't until then that he had realized what he had become. Back then Naleena's offer had sounded like a second chance to right everything he had done wrong, but even know that he was working with the spectre, know that he had the chance to be part of something important and meaningful; even know he felt out of place, like it was still wrong what he did. Everything around him felt wrong.

 

With a heavy sigh Arian moved to leave the med bay. When he walked past Jenus, he couldn't help but stop and turn toward the asari. "Heard you and the spectre took out Wrund and the other krogan. Not bad..." It was obvious that Arian wouldn't speak to her just to compliment her on Wrund's death. "I'm a bit surprised that you two came alone to this duel", he said after a brief pause. "You could have asked Irina, Johnny, me or anyone else to cover your back in case something goes wrong. But instead you chose to go in alone against two krogan without any backup." The look in his eyes when he spoke was almost challenging. "Why?"

[Kel Riever]

"Spectre," Jenus answered with a fading smirk.

By the time Arian came over, Jenus had her operation.  It hadn't taken long, and didn't require going under, just the professional hands of the doctor and the state of art equipment on the ship.  But Jenus reclined in her bed as the recovery would take the rest of the time.  Arian could see her normal demeanor was quelled by the state of her healing.  Her dark eyes showed, however, an eagerness to answer further.

"I think it was krogan tradition, or some sort of set of rules.  We had to go to a designated zone with our opponents, supposedly only fighting them.  It wouldn't have been so bad if Hailot Wrund hadn't broken the rules."  Jenus swallowed uncomfortably.  "It's why I didn't hesitate a moment when I got the chance to drop the rod on that coward's head."

Then there was a shrug.  "I'd have rather you backed me up.  These rules...krogan or otherwise, they don't get enforced in a vacuum.  But look at these thick crests...I think they just committed self-inflicted genocide because they wouldn't leave their shaman who insisted on staying in the city."  Jenus still managed a snort of disgust, even in her condition.  "Unless they had some secret base like in a movie or something."

Thinking a bit more, Jenus said, "But I suppose you might mean me.  Why did I bother to follow Naleena if I thought it wasn't such a smart thing to do."  She paused momentarily, then said, "I guess I wanted to know if I was wrong about her."  

[TheMajonese]

Arian shook his head in disbelief. "Well...I know for sure that I've been wrong about her." 

 

It was obvious that he didn't really like her answer. "And what if you and the spectre had died out there? You really would rather die an honorable death than survive the fight and kill Wrund to put an end to this? Because if you had died, there would have been nothing honorable about it, it would have been nothing more than a stupid death. Wrund knew that, he broke the rules and you should have as well."

 

He glanced to Vayne and when he spoke there was scorn in his voice. "And don't tell me that these duels are about honor. Honor doesn't get you anywhere, it doesn't help you and doesn't solve problems. Staying alive does."

 

With these words he already wanted to leave the med bay but then he turned around again and said: "Nice work taking out these krogans though."

 

 

 

Arian had no idea why but he couldn't stay quiet about the things on his mind any longer. After every mission, no matter how things turned out, he was angry about something and he was tired of keeping everything to himself or complaining to the others. Even after months on the Janiri, he felt like he didn't belong here and he kept asking himself what he was doing. Working for a spectre was not like he had expected and Arian began to doubt that it was the right thing to accept the spectre's offer back no Caleston.

 

He knocked at the door of Naleena's quarters as if he wanted to break it and his loud voice could be heard inside. "I need to talk to you..."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena sat at her desk completing the mission report she needed to send to Sao and preparing to address the Council directly. The mission ended badly. They'd won, but they couldn't save the females. Sonax played the wounded animal for months, victims of "Krogan rebels", and the galaxy had bought it. They'd never seen the other side of things because Sonax controlled the out bound com buoys.

 

Arian's pounding and shouting interrupted her writing. It was obvious he was angry, but more so than usual. He was dangerous, but she was not worried. They'd just defeated a pair or blood-raging Krogan.

 

Naleena pushed her keyboard away, and swiveled her chair to face the door. "Enter."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Irina had been sitting in the waiting area outside Med-Bay. She'd just seen Arian leave with his fist balled looking like he was ready to kill someone, but that was pretty normal for him, except for the fist. This was a little more than normal. Perhaps he was heading for the gym. That's where he usually headed, but whatever it was it was none of her business. 

 

One of the nurses finally emerged and told her she could see Jenus. She entered Med-Bay, walked down the corridor to Jenus' room and entered. Jenus was sitting in bed with her ribs taped and her arm in a temporary cast. 

 

Irina lifted her arm with the omni-tool. "Smile for the camera," Irina said and went over and kissed her. "Twice now you've been in this bed. First nearly dead from fighting another Asari. Now from a Krogan. I've been looking up species of the galaxy. Here's your next challenge. Check out this bad boy. Council made contact with this species a few decades ago and they killed the diplomatic party. Rumor has it that the diplomats were eaten."

 

Irina showed Jenus a picture of a Yahg. "I don't know about you, but I do not want to run into them. Heard my girl put up a hell of a fight and was a goddam hero out there."

[Cknarf]

Janiri Armory

 

Previously...

 

Septerax sighed, as he stared down at the mess Johnny had returned to him. The M-76 looked as though it had been tied to the Mako and dragged around for the duration of the mission. He glanced up at the marine before him, who looked just as ragged as the weapon. Scuffs, and scrapes covered his armor. The helmet under his arm was missing a little chunk, and there was shrapnel and block shavings embedded in various locations of his plating.

 

"Scratches and dents happen, right?" He shrugged. "Heh?"

 

Septerax just shook his head, before scooping up the weapon and quietly disappearing into the back.

[Kel Riever]

Babe

Jess wasn't on the bridge, having left Aelias in command while Morgan was gone.  He and Miss Priss were back now, and both had caught up to Babe in the passageways near the crew cabins.  The rather tightly wound Regina Upton, Amy Babylon's assistant was nearby her, seeming a bit flustered.  Babe had informed Morgan that she'd dealt with some disciplinary action (not with Regina), and then seemed eager to ask him a question.  Morgan was half-listening; Babe had seemed somewhat different.

"Are you feeling all right?" Morgan asked the blonde goddess.

Babe nodded, but a bead of sweat travelled down her temple and she seemed to be radiating an unnatural heat that Morgan had felt around her in levels before, though this seemed somewhat mild by comparisson.  Still, Babe seemed occupied.  She was adjusting the sleeves of her new outfit, which could only be described as a sort of Napoleonic uniform, without its hat.  It might not have been exactly accurate but close enough.  Babe's sea blue eyes then caught Morgan directly, and he felt their pull.

"I was wondering, Morgan, if Jess is not on the bridge, might I have a try at the com?"  Babe seemed rather confident about her request, and yet somehow came across amicably, despite her condition. "Under your supervision of course."

"Why?"

Miss Priss looked to Morgan, then to Babe, though she said nothing.  

Babe shrugged.

Morgan slowed his thoughts, considering if there would be any untoward consequences.  He didn't know what it was about Babe, but her request had more of a benign quality to it, even if it didn't make sense to Morgan.  He was about to decline her request, figuring to err on the side of caution until he knew more about what was happening.

"Under my supervision only," Morgan replied.  "Come with me."

There was a sort of relief in Babe's eyes, almost missed by Morgan but he caught it.  She nodded slightly and then walked beside him to the bridge. Morgan gestured with his finger for Miss Priss to come along.  Regina followed without thinking, though Morgan wasn't worried about it.  The four proceeded to the bridge in silence, and Morgan watched Babe out of the corner of his eye.  She was lost in reflection, until she noticed him and smiled meekly.  After that, Babe became serious of expression as the importance of what she would do dominated her purpose.

[Kel Riever]

Jenus

"You know it," Jenus replied to Irina, and then looking at the picture of the Yahg, she added, "They're still really ugly.  Of course I don't think they care about how they look and they make good spears."  There was a bit of a cocky smile from Jenus but it didn't seem to have its normal edge, nor did her comments.  Jenus swallowed and breathed softly.  She was healed and recovering physically, of course, but Irina could tell she might be a bit out of sorts. 

As if reading Irina recognizing her mood, Jenus tried to explain.  "It was a really good fight.  Better than I thought it would be.  Even with Wrund cheating, I suppose that would take someone else by surprise.  Naleena was...."  Jenus paused.  She seemed to have difficulty coming up with words and then she changed subject.  "Remind me never to have a krogan tag me again, even a little.  It leaves a mark."

Without thought, Jenus rubbed the covering on her ribs.  Irina could tell it was something about being hit that changed Jenus, even with the healing. 
 

[Kel Riever]

Commander Selani

Selani was relaxed in the captain's chair of the Janiri, going through several reports while sipping coffee from a mug.  It was one of the few casual displays of the commander, although those who served under her knew her relaxed outer appearance hid her tight, calculating and rules following mind.  Commander Selani was a by the book leader.

As it happened, she was going through two recommendations from Naleena, with attached video records.  One dated back several months and was purposely put on hold until Mira had been reunited with her team on the Janiri.  The other was regarding Jenus, the Commando who Selani was not overtly fond of, but who'd served efficiently with the crew, if not without breaking some points for protocol, and a few other things.

Jenus' video records came from two feeds; one hers, the other Naleena's.  Selani watched the battle with the krogan on Garvug.  When Kragg was shattered into fragments, Selani raised a brow and reviewed the feeds each again. 

There was a small, curled smile on Selani's lips after the last review she watched in slow motion.

Commander Selani approved both of Naleena's recommendations, as she had to considering the Commandos were part of the formal military.  One was the Combat Star for each Mira and Jenus (and all involved Commandos, in fact).  For the Commandos, those stacked up, more marks of campaigns fought in.  But the 'Halo' as it was commonly referred to, or the Wounded In Combat medal, was a senior medal that was not so much awarded by the Republics as given without question to those entitled to it.  Still, all medals were approved by the most senior officer qualified to do so who gave direct instruction to the Commandos, and that was Selani.

Selani wasn't sure there should be a formal ceremony for such things, though it could be done.  Likely, it was best if there was a simple, appropriate recognition, with the team of four present, and Naleena.  The Halo, like many of the asari medals, could be worn in physical form as they were small enough to not draw overt attention, displayed in 'holo' form, with proper code, only able to be detected by those viewing the Commando with appropriate HUD readouts, or left entirely off the uniform, and simply made a matter of record.  She wondered how Jenus and Mira would receive them, but she had her suspicions about how they would.

[Kel Riever]

Babe

Morgan relieved Aelias who returned to her station.  Jess wasn't on the bridge, being occupied with other business, nor was Doctor Hayashi, but Marshal was there and as usual, he couldn't take his eyes off Babe, particularly when she first came in.

Not really understanding her fashion sense, Morgan looked at Babe, too.  Of course, Babe could wear just about anything and look astounding in it, so in that way, Babe's fashion sense was what everyone else's fashion sense could soon become.  That Napoleonic uniform she had consisted of a dark blue, long tailed military coat, with brass buttons holding its lapel closed.  Scarlet Epaulets, cuffs and piping, and a crossing set of white leather baldrics accentuated the old French army feel, not to mention Babe's shape underneath.  White, tight trousers ducked into a pair of black leather cavalry boots that were worn up to mid-thigh and folded over.  Instead of a sabre, Babe had some sort of universal tool worn in a black scabbard.  There the tradition ended though, as two, medium weight chains hung loosely from her waist with the sabre-briquet, and another chain each were wrapped around her forearms, from elbow to cuff.  Of course, Babe wore no headwear, simply letting the golden coifs of her hair flow down over her shoulders.  But she did change out her earrings for a pair of dazzling, diamond studs that would steal attention if not for the beauty of a visage they adorned.

Babe took her position in front of the Captain's chair, but preferred to stand.  Morgan was next to her, watching her as she took in the bridge.  Those sea blue eyes seemed to hesitate, as if they wondered momentarily if what Babe was to do was a good idea after all, then Morgan looked to Babe, awaiting his approval.

"Go ahead," Morgan said and motioned with his hand to the rest of the bridge.

"All right, take her out, to the Relay," Babe commanded.  It was an instant, when Babe seemed to suddenly become very confident after all.  Morgan watched as Babe became someone else for a moment, someone at ease with her position in control.  "Three quarters full, we are to get there at top cruising speed, our pace brisk but with our comfort zone."

"Aye," Marshall acknowledged and entered the instructions.

Babe turned to Morgan and said quietly to him.  "If I may, I have a recommendation for a course alteration, and I would like to tell you why."

Morgan moved closer, "Sure.  I'll at least hear it out.  What's on your mind?"

Babe began whispering her reasoning to Morgan.  As she did, his expression shifted slowly, his eyebrows raising in surprise.

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"At least your opponent wasn't a sadist..." Vayne said as he looked towards Jenus, not helping but to smirk at it as he joked, "The bastard was monolouging when he got me. Could have cleaved my arm off to, if he didn't try to put on a big show about it..." Vayne said, tilting his head and wincing as he did so to look at both Irina and Jenus.

 

"She fought well. Any non-krogan who gets out that unscathed in a duel deserves a goddamn medal..." He commented, before slowly looking away, eyes casting aside as he spoke up, "...I'm sorry....about all of this. That you ended up dragged into this mess over me..." Vayne said finally, after a long pause.

 

"Going to garvug was insanity...none of us should have managed to do what we did. Yet...here we are...alive and mostly unharmed." he said. Vayne's voice was somber, unusually quiet for the krogan as he lay in bed, no loud boasting or two-bit joke this time around.

 

"I don't think I'm ever going to pay off what you've done for me...both of you...this whole crew..." He said, still not looking towards the others as he stared out towards the wall, bringing a single hand to brush aside something near his face he made sure the others didn't see, "...For whatever it's worth...I'll do whatever I can to help any of you, should you need it."

 

'After all...' he thought to himself, finishing brushing aside the tear of joy he felt as he composed himself, 'That's what families for, right? And you lot...you're more a family then I've had in a long, long, time.'

[TheMajonese]

Naleena's Quarters

 

When Arian entered Naleena's quarters, after a short grunt that was likely meant as a greeting, he approached the spectre. Nervous would be the wrong word to describe how he was feeling; it was just that talking about certain things often made him feel even worse than before. Very uncomfortable was more accurate.

 

However it was very hard to read him. He stood in front of Naleena, arms crossed and as usual, the look in his eyes made it hard to say if he was generally indifferent or if he was trying to kill someone with his stare.

 

"You're aware that what you did on Garvug was the most stupid way possible to get yourself killed? Not only did you personally challenge Wrund, you also followed some stupid krogan rules to make things even more dangerous for you. Jenus is a good soldier, but she was seriously injured because you felt it wasn't necessary to bring the rest of the team as well. What if she had died? Or you? If Wrund would have been any smarter, he would have stayed in his tomkah and blown you to pieces the moment he saw you. Then the council would have lost a spectre and the asari military a commando. For absolutely nothing at all."

 

Even though he tried to keep his voice down, Arian couldn't help but let his frustratrion show while he spoke. "You have a whole ship full of capable soldiers. And you chose to risk your own life instead of playing it safe and let others do the fighting?", he asked in disbelief. "You're a spectre, you shouldn't be at the front line! You should...!" He interrupted himself when he realized that was talking himself into a rage and took a deep breath and after a brief pause, he continued, his voice now more controlled.

 

When he asked his question, it was clear that whatever Arian thought of Naleena wasn't the reason he was here. "Why did you offer me to join your crew back on Caleston?"

 

 

The Turian was clearly agitated. Naleena sat listening to him vent. 

 

When he finished she motioned to him to sit. He remained standing. "When one goes into battle of any kind, on any mission there is a risk to ones life. I had a Council warrant to arrest Wrund. There were two ways to go about this: with the entire team against perhaps a platoon of Krogan Blackguard just to get to Wrund. There were perhaps ten of us against two dozen of them. Or the way I chose to do it.

 

"You are also thinking like a Turian, not a Krogan. Krogan society is still basically tribal and barbaric. Honor duels matter. I challenged him in the Old Ways. I knew about these because the Krogan had invaded my homeworld, Cyone, during the Krogan rebellions. We defeated them. We learned about their ways in school. Wrund could not refuse and had to follow the rules, at least initially, otherwise bring dishonor to his entire clan.

 

"We Asari are a lot tougher than we look. We were lucky that Wrund played into my trap and underestimated us. But it worked out. Jenus is a fine commando and we worked well together."

 

"I'm not a military officer who sends others into battle. I'm a field operative: a Spectre, an agent for the Council," she continued. "My supervisor gets the privilege of riding the desk, reading and filing reports."

 

Naleena took a sip of water that was in the crystal glass on her desk. "But you want to know why I recruited you," she said. "You had a look about you: the look of a military veteran who had a bad turn of luck. I wanted to give you a second chance. So why did you accept?"

 

 

Arian gave a snort. "You didn't ask any questions. I'm a soldier but I left the turian military to do mercenary work. And I couldn't go back. No military organization would allow me in their ranks as soon as they did a background check on me. But you didn't. You didn't care about that and offered me a second chance."

 

He shook his head. "I thought that I would finally do something that really matters. But instead, we take unnecessary risks, work inefficiently and throw our lives away for nothing. Sure, your fight against Wrund worked out but what about a backup plan? In case he had gotten the upper hand? Then you would have died and nobody would have been there to save you. You're a spectre, you should know better. Why do you even need soldiers if you don't know how to use them?"

 

 

"The Turian Spectre I worked for had a full platoon of Armigers on board the ship in addition to a team of specialists. Turian military doctrine is to hit the enemy with overwhelming force," Naleena said. "Arian, I don't need soldiers. I need specialists. We're not fighting a war. Any action we take will be a commando action. 

 

"I don't feel that I need to list all of the things we've done since you've been with us. That would insult your intelligence. So tell me, what would really matter to you?" 

 

 

"I was there but I never did anything. All I did was something anyone could have done", Arian answered with an indifferent shrug. "You just said it yourself; you don't need soldiers."

 

The turian didn't say anything else, he just turned to leave. He was aware that he didn't make much sense to the spectre or probably anyone else on this ship but he didn't care about it. From what Naleena had said he knew exactly what he should do now.

 

 

"It doesn't mean I don't need people who can fight. You talk at me but you never say anything. You dodge questions," Naleena said and stood. "So what matters to you, Arian? Do you even know? Is that why you were living in a cardboard box on Caleston?" 

[Kel Riever]

Jenus

"Come on old man," Jenus teased Vayne, "Don't be getting soft on me.  You're supposed to be talking about how wearing a cleaver is your new jewelry, you should have seen the other krogan, and where are the lot of females you're going to procreate with right now."

Obviously with a bit of her edge back after hearing Vayne, Jenus softened.  "Don't worry about paying anybody off, I'm sure you'd do the same for us if we were in trouble.  I bet you'd even help Arian out, like I would, though he might join us down here after he has his conversation with Naleena."  She shook her head.  "I tell you, I like Arian but I've got to wonder what goes on in that turian's skull."

The irony of Jenus' statement was not lost on Irina or Vayne, though the Commando seemed quite unaware of her statement's own reflection on herself.
 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Heh...I guess you're right about that. He's a real hard one to crack." Vayne said with a laugh, amused by how dense jenus could be at times, though appreciating the effort. He quickly flinched though, raising his good arm up towards the bandages with a hiss, "Hurts to laugh. Really shouldn't have done that..." He said as he settled down.

 

"I'm keeping this thing as a trophy. Maybe punch it everytime I have to remember that world..." He said simply, glad to move the conversation away from himself onto otherr things.

[Kel Riever]

Onboard the Medusa

"You're line to the Janiri is open, Morgan," Aelias informed the Medusa's First Mate.

Morgan glanced at Babe. "I'm going to go with you. You're going to need my help."

Babe was still standing, never having taken a seat in the chair.  Her shoulders rolled back and she replied, "Aye.  It will be appreciated."

Then Morgan got on the com with Commander Selani, "This is Morgan.  The Medusa is making it's way to Earth rather than the Citadel.  Business we need to attend to, if you would also relay the message to Naleena.  We're in need of a few extra circuit boards after our last operation, but also an engine upgrade.  Parts...the upgrade work can be done by our engineers while we travel."

"Estimated time of your travel?"

"A couple of days," Morgan answered, then added, "If you'd like to send anyone to tag along, feel free, though if they're coming aboard, there may be some restrictions on moving about.  We've got quite a bit of work going on already.  Of course, we can meet anyone after arriving in system as well."

"Understood.  I'll pass the message along.  Janiri out."

There were three others, not members of the bridge crew, waiting patiently in front of Babe and Morgan, standing just below them from the raised platform where the captain's chair was.  Sophie, Regina Upton and Miss Priss.  Priss was still in the suit and helmet she wore to Garvug.

"You need something, Priss?" Morgan asked, realizing too late he probably could have phrased the question better.

"Not now, Handsome, figured I'd see if you did."

Morgan shook his head, "Why don't you go on, and you can get yourself out of that suit finally if you'd like."

"Aw, I was kind of getting used to it.  Fits much better with lotion underneath..."

"Okay, Miss Priss, you are dismissed."  Morgan put his hand to his head in grief.  Miss Priss giggled and left.  "You?"  He then asked Regina.

Regina Upton, Amy Babylon's assistant, approximately age twenty, wore her blonde hair back in what looked like a painfully tight ponytail and was dressed in a dark green and black business outfit that reminded Morgan more of a Catholic School uniform than business attire.  She was on the tall side, long legged, and the tightly wound Upton seemed representative of the kind of company Amy B. tended to keep around her.  "Yes, First Mate Morgan, if I may, Ms. Babylon has kindly submitted several requests and she wondered what the status on these were.  She did not want to seem ungrateful, but emphasized that as a person with some authority and a clear capacity for leadership, you might be able to help her with acquiring some of these very necessary items."

Morgan's clenched his teeth briefly before speaking.  "Ms. Upton, a king-sized bed is not only something I find hard to consider necessary, but also is something that is impractical to install in her cabin."

"Yes, well, in mention of this, Ms. Babylon wondered..."

"...I know, I know, if she could be given a cabin upgrade, also necessary for her work, so she says."

Regina Upton shifted uncomfortably under Morgan's gaze.  Hopeful for some sort of positive response, if simply to spare herself some of Amy's ire.

"I'll tell you what," Morgan proposed, "I need some justification for the kind of requests Amy Babylon is making.  That means work around this ship.  You were told when you came aboard that nobody is getting a free ride on this ship, and right now, we need some hands more than a passage fare.  You seem smart, Regina, capable, willing to work.  I want you to go with Sophie down to Engineering and help her out with whatever she needs.  If Amy has a problem with me using you that way, then she can speak to me directly."

Regina looked very uncertain.  "I'm..I...I've never worked with...tools before like...well, my background is in politics, academics...what about assisting with Amy's needs?  I prefer to be around her."

"Does she want some of the items on her list or not, do you think?"

Slowly Regina nodded, and agreed.

Morgan dismissed Regina with Sophie, who took Regina along with a look back like she was going to do more than crack a few nails on Upton's fingertips.  After they were gone, Babe caught Morgan's eye.

"Ought to be interesting," Babe mentioned.

"Biggest understatement I've heard in recent memory," Morgan responded.





 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena & Arian (Maj & SJ)

 

For a few moments Arian just stared at the door, then he slowly turned around and glanced at Naleena. His face remained as frozen as always but the look in his eyes was different. It was hard to tell what it was though. It was not the usual indifferent gaze or an annoyed look in his eyes.

 

"How many lifes have you taken?" It was obvious that the turian didn't really expect an answer. He took a deep breath and continued. "I've killed many people; soldiers, mercenaries, thugs, innocent civilians, I executed people in front of their family, I tortured, I murdered with my bare hands, I shot people that I knew and I left members of my team to die. I spend almost half of my life fighting, because that's all I can do, what I was trained to do. I'm a soldier, supposed to kill and to be efficiently while doing so. It wasn't until I ended up on Caleston that I realized I had worked for the wrong people all along. That's why I accepted your offer, I had hoped to use my skills to do something good."

 

He gave a disdainful snort. "And now people try to kill me or use me for their purposes, lie to me and follow every step I take while I'm stuck on a ship with a team I don't belong to and a spectre who's not the leader she's supposed to be. There's no place for me here. If you need someone who knows how to fight, you should go back to Omega, the place's full with people who can do that, I could even recommend a few people myself. What I want? To do what I was taught to and to do it right."

 

"So you want to kill and kill in the proper way with efficiency and no other purpose? That's it? That's doing some good? Really, Arian?" Naleena countered. "That's why you get used by the wrong people. You say I don't know how to lead? That's twice now you've said that. I don't know what you were expecting. You never talk. This is the most you spoken in a year.

 

She looked the Turian dead in the eyes. "You spend your shore leave doing nothing but getting drunk, and your time on the ship in the combat sim. You don't communicate with any of the squad. You make no effort to communicate. Consequently no one else makes an effort to talk to you. How do you expect to be efficient if you don't know the people you're working with? When we were in briefings and I asked for input from the team you just sat there brooding. If you thought you could have been more efficient you should have spoken up, but you didn't. Was I supposed to read your mind?" Naleena continued. "Yet when you went missing we went looking for you because you were a comrade. You were one of us. Perhaps you didn't care that we looked for you? Maybe you're right. I was wrong and you don't fit in. It seems like you want to leave and there is nothing I can say that will stop you. If so, good luck.

 

"But all I've heard from you are excuses. You say you want to use your skills to do some good, but you don't say what that is or why. What is it? What are you running from, Arian? Talk."

 

"You see, that's the problem", Arian said with a snarl. "People want to know each other and when someone's killed or getting wounded, they get emotional. When you went back to save Ereba, you risked everything. The Batarians were already firing at us and one lucky shot would have caused the shuttle to crash and the entire mission to fail. I talked about this with Mira already; we don't need to know each other, we need to know everyone's abilities, what they can do on the field, if they are reliable, if they can get the job done."

 

He pointed one talon at Naleena. "You know it yourself, don't you? When I joined the crew, there was no personality check to see if I would fit into the team. There was a combat simulation to test my skills. That was enough. And I always did what I was expected to, didn't I? Even though you don't know anything about me. Anyway, you said that what we're doing are commando operations. Stealth, hit and run missions...that's not what I'm really good at. So replacing me shouldn't be hard."

 

It was obvious that the Turian wasn't going to change his mind. "Besides...now that I'm leaving, does it really matter to you what I want and why I do things? I doubt so." He headed for the door, stopped briefly and added: "Most people who knew me are dead anyway." Then he turned around again. "Good luck. You're going to need it."

 

Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Naleena thought as she shook her head as the door closed. Arian still hadn’t answered any questions. He was right. At this point, it didn't matter to her what he did. "VERA, make note to add extensive background checks on future recruits. Also require psychological screening with the counselor. I don't want this happening again. Now, I want to visit Jenus."

 

She took out her case and pulled a cigarette. She stopped, looked at it, put it back in the case, and left the case on her desk. 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena & VERA

 

Naleena stepped into the lift and pressed the button for Med-Bay. She received a message from Commander Selani about the Medusa heading to Earth. Getting separated from the Medusa in the past had never come to any good. She also received a message from VERA.

 

"What is it, VERA?"

 

"Edgy, are we?"

 

Naleena took a breath. "Arian just quit. I want to visit Jenus. I need to address the Council. The Medusa is splitting off unexpectedly. Bad things always happen when the Medusa goes off on its own."

 

"I would like to go to Earth. It is urgent." 

 

Naleena hit the emergency stop button. "What? I have to address the Council about Garvug!"

 

Naleena held her omni-tool in front of her, and VERA's holo-image appeared. She was smoking. "I have a friend I would like to visit."

 

"Can't it wait?" Naleena asked. "And I would like to make a request that you don't smoke."

 

"Testy. Very well, Boss. I will make that adjustment in my programming," VERA replied. "No, it cannot wait. You can address the Council via QEC from anywhere in the galaxy and it is secure."

 

"Who is this friend?"

 

"Molly Hagen."

 

"How did you find her?"

 

"With extreme difficulty. Not even the Shadow Broker knows her location. I sent her a letter over the most secure channels. She replied 'Words are difficult. Thanks for caring. - M'" VERA said. "Knowing her location I hacked her medical files. I must see her."

 

"VERA, you are on this ship."

 

"And you can provide a LOKI mech equipped with an omni-tool," VERA said. "There are some in storage. The omni-tool will be extra."

 

"You seem very determined."

 

"I am. I have control over every ship's system and could take the ship there myself. However, taking such an action would destroy the trust I have built up between myself and the crew. I have come to enjoy our interaction," VERA replied. "It might also have undesirable consequences."

 

"Fine," Naleena said and restart the elevator. It didn't move.

 

"I am waiting," VERA said.

 

Naleena rolled her eyes, sighed, and tapped her communicator. "Commander Selani, there has been a change of plans. Lay in a course for Earth."

 

"Aye-aye, Ma'am." 

 

"And VERA, since you're so intent on going to Earth immediately, would you locate Commander Shepard for me? I should speak with her while we're there. She should be in one of the Alliance detention centers," Naleena requested.

 

"Your wish is my command, Boss," VERA said, spun around and vanished in a sparkling burst.

 

The elevator continued on its way to the Med-Bay level.

[Cknarf]

Janiri

 

Johnny stood in one of the corridors, explaining to one of the Janiri crew how to solve a minor technical problem, which a tech aboard a top of the line vessel shouldn't have issue with. He suspected that she may have had other intentions, and was using this as an excuse to chat.

 

"Yeah, no, I don't think that's going to work." Johnny shook his head, looking at down at the datapad. "You should come at it from this angle, and--" Glancing up, he caught a glimpse of an approaching, and clearly irritated Arian. "Hey man, you did did good down there. Thanks for having my back." Nodded the marine, still wearing his trashed armor. The tech had caught him before he could get cleaned up.

 

Johnny didn't receive a response from the turian, nor did he expect one. Usually, he'd just leave it at that, but something told him to investigate further. Johnny sighed.

 

"Hey, a**hole!" He shouted, speaking in a way intended to evoke a response, as he began to follow. "What the hell is your problem, huh? You got some **** you wanna say to me? We can settle this sh*t right now!"

 

Johnny knew none of what he said made any sense in this situation. To an outside observer, there was no logical excuse for his random outburst of anger, but as far as he was concerned, this was the only way to communicate with this particular member of the team.

[TheMajonese]

After leaving the spectre's quarters Arian felt good, he really...no, he didn't. But he felt better, and that was something. There was a lot for him to do and to think about but first he had to grab his gear so he could get off this ship as soon as they reached their next destianation.

 

On his way back to his quarters, he walked past Johnny but being lost in his thoughts, Arian ignored him at first until the human began shouting. A bit confused he turned around and stared at Johnny, his mandibles twitched and at first he didn't know what to say. "Something wrong?", he asked but he eventually realized that Johnny just had tried to get his attention.

 

"Just did my job", he gave a short respond to what Johnny had said about their mission. "But I'm leaving, so you should find someone else to have your back. Take care." After that he moved on, realizing that he probably wasn't going to see the human and the rest of the crew again. It was an awfully familiar feeling.

[Kel Riever]

Onboard the Medusa

"We're through, all systems normal," Marshall informed.

As the Medusa fell into the shipping lanes of the Solar system used by most freighters, Babe took in the panel displays around her.  "I don't remember the last time I was on Earth," she said, focusing on an image of humanity's homeworld. "And I've never been to Singapore."

"Neither have I, though I'm sure we'll get around fine.  We need to stick together." 

"Aye, we do."

Morgan meant his last statement to be protective, but he had the sense that Babe was speaking in the same tone.

"We're ahead of the Janiri," Morgan went on, waving away his concern.  "It will be useful in trying to keep our appearance as being separate from them, though that's becoming thinner by the day, likely to Jess' chagrin."

Baby smiled.  "Where is she, anyway?"

Morgan shrugged, "Probably studying something.  Aboard the ship I mean."  Morgan chuckled.  "Could you imagine her in a lecture with a teacher?"

"That teacher would have her hands full."  Babe agreed.  "We're likely to have a couple of brokers come aboard in regards to the engine upgrade components once we reach Earth orbit, by the way.  It will help speed the buying along if they can see what we have.  Easier than explaining it." 


 

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena entered Med-Bay and spoke with one of the nurses who pointed her to Jenus' room. 

 

She knocked and entered the commando's room and found her sitting up in her bed watching a vid. Jenus paused the vid. Naleena had a book with her.

 

"The nurse tells me your wounds are healing quickly, and that they'll start you on physical therapy probably tomorrow or the next day," Naleena said. "Nano-tech. Centuries ago without it those breaks would take weeks or months to heal. 

 

"When one fights along side another, one learns about a person. I learned that even when wounded you never quit. You always have the back of your comrade. Know that I always have yours," she said. "You may wonder what this book is and why I brought it with me. I mentioned my grandmother when we were on Garvug. She fought during the Krogan Rebellions on my home world of Cyone. The Krogan kept coming but it never fell and eventually we drove them back through the relay. These are some of her suit cam recordings. I thought you might like to see them while you were recovering."