6315 odpowiedzi w tym temacie

[ParkBom]

"Of course! I was simply maximizing efficiency, perhaps at the cost of aesthetic value. But for this mission, is there an estimated count of enemies we will be facing? This Baladrum, if we are preparing for his escape, no doubt has guards with him. I may change my choice in assault rifle, if that's the case. I'm prepared for a mid-ranged combat scenario, not exactly close ranged."

Whilst she seemed to be handling the role of eccentric, perhaps somewhat naive, scientist well, her commando instincts had not died due to disuse. Dulled? Definitely. Still, a piece of the action was what Elara wished for. This prospect, of chasing down this Batarian, excited her as a new toy would a small child. 

"And are civilians going to be there? I may switch out my pistol as well, given that the shots fired from the Acolyte explode with a wider radius than most guns. It could end up with unneeded civilian deaths, something I am sure we wish to avoid, lest we be swamped with paperwork. Or do Spectres avoid paperwork for civilian casualties? They are above the law so that would be understandable, though, quite unfair. I loathe the forms which are necessary to fill out if there were civilian casualties, at least within the Asari commandos. A waste of time, if you ask me."

[Terca]

After listening to the Asari speak Deidrus raised a hand to quiet her. He could just be short of patience just before the mission, or the Asari could be a rambler. The latter would not be fun over comms... That is, unless her observational skills sometimes ran into the stream of consciousness which might be of some use.

 

"Civilians will probably be few. Baladrum knows that Lt. Addle is en route. He's been surrounding himself with bodyguards and expendables simply to put more meat between him and the assassin. The Acolyte will probably not be too dangerous a weapon in this situation, if I remember correctly, in this situation. If we need to make our way out of Ber'ah on poor terms it will be useful to deal with the group more swiftly." He finished answering then took a breath. "As for enemy count depending on the amount of subtlety we will only need to deal with Baladrum's men near the end... At best a couple dozen mercs. At worst, thirty-odd-plus well trained mercenaries."

[siphernin]

Kanae counted the seconds as he watched the blood pool around his feet.  He picked up the merc’s extra clip, slapped into his SMG, and took out the salarian’s trigger.

 

“One.”  He pressed it as the gunfire whizzed by over him.  The cloak crackled as he camouflaged again. 

 

The mercs got to the exits of the cargo port only to be greeted with a hail of superconducting toroids.  Metal shattered on impact and ricocheted off shattering corpses, arching electricity to anyone foolhardy to be in its path without a kinetic barrier up.  Baladrum had paid for a meat shield.  Kanae just paid for a better knife. 

 

The last of the troupes neck snapped surprisingly human-like.  He’d glanced at batarian physiology just enough to know how they worked and how different they were from humans.  It always surprised him how close other species were to human, though it was the differences that he liked more.  He walked down the hall, checking his health.  Ten bodyguards down in four floors and only one wound in his bicep.  He flexed the arm to gauge its functionality.  It was times like this that he really was glad that he had CIP.  Otherwise he’d probably be writhing from the pain right now.  He took out a small application of medi-gel and applied it sparingly.  He’d deal with the wound later, for now he just needed to stop the bleeding.

 

Reaching the lifts, he pried open the doors, looking both ways.  Floor eighty- five.  Moving just inside the doors to find his aim, he spotted the ladder embedded in the wall.  It was a short jump and a painful splat if he missed.  Backing away from the doors some, he pressed two fingers to his ears, “Cole, start the fireworks.”

 

“Affirmative.”  Almost on cue, the mech started scanning for life signs adjacent to windows and letting the Harpoon do what it was intended for.

 

“Here we go,” he said as he flung himself to the side of the lift doors, falling nearly a floor before catching the rung of the ladder.  His heart dropped back into place as he started his descent.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena walked away from the Spectre for a moment and tapped on her omni-tool then spoke in a soft voice. "Vera, wake up."

 

The shuttle's AI came online. "Shiara? Or are you using a different name by now? I heard the news reports."

 

"Vera, don't be funny. I need you to bring the shuttle to my location."

 

"You're on a Turian gunship? You want me to pretend I'm a VI again, don't you? Alright, sweetie, just this last time. And say please."

 

"Okay, please bring the shuttle here. I'm going to be playing with my omni-tool making it look like I'm remote piloting the shuttle. You know I'm protecting you."

 

"I'll be there in a jif, hon."

 

Deidrus turned to Naleena. "Who were you talking to?"

 

"My shuttle's VI. It's voice activated. It will be docking with the ship shortly," Naleena replied. Then she turned to the doctor. "I have the close combat covered. Your biotics should take care of what your weapons don't."

[ParkBom]

"Of course. I may be a scientist but in my... wow, I'm nearly 400!" the scientist gave a childish grin before blinking and continuing. "But in my four centuries, I've learned quite a few tricks on how to stay alive. Well, that as well as my time with the Asari commandos. You won't have to worry about my well-being in combat." Elara assured the two with a more confident smirk than seen before, her omni-tool lighting up to connect with the other two specialists. Given that her omni-tool had been off for such a long time, the reactivation and reinstallation period hadn't allowed her to open a communication line with neither Deidrus nor this Naleena. In combat, it would be necessary for a constant communication between them. Goddess forbid they split the trio up, it would be up to said communication to keep them alive.

"However, now that I'm thinking about it, mid-range might be best. If our target is on the move and trying to escape, no doubt the club will not be our only venue for combat. If he gets far enough, we'll need the accuracy for mid and possibly long range."

Satisfied with her choice in weaponry, now, the Asari placed her left hand on her hip, her right lit up with her omni-tool still. Now, she was looking at the dossiers of the other two. While Deidrus never seemed to have anything noteworthy on his medical record, Naleena's was... rather blank. Had she even completed any tests before entering this ship? Either way, both were going to have to come for checkups. With that in mind, the doctor began looking at a few news articles and reviews of the club. 

"It seems that this club has some nice Asari honey mead. That's too bad we're not going for pleasure." she remarked with a sigh. "When are we departing? It would seem time is of the essence."

[Terca]

"Androkan, Team One is ready." The voice of the XO played over the comms for the CIC. "They can be called on at a moment's notice."

 

"Immediately." Deidrus replied to Elara. His face remained mostly blank as he filed away the Asari's age for reference later, he was certain that the woman had to be under three centuries. No matter, you can't judge a Sapient like you can a Varren by its teeth. "Should we need the backup or there be much more resistance than first anticipated the Audron will drop off Team One to assist. We do that at the risk of irritating the IDF however." He then looked to Naleena. "We'll be taking the Shuttle, that is unless your ship has a particular advantage."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The A.S.V. Vera made a Bioware instant teleport to the Aurdron, and docked with the ship (precedent has already been set in game). 

 

"Deidrus, you still haven't told us your plan. Are we simply going to improvise this entire operation?" Naleena chastised, "I prefer to have a semblance of a plan. Being a Spectre may give you the authority to swagger into a place like this with a team. You think civilians will be few. Would doing that not endanger them? If I were Baladrum I might have a lot of civilians mixed in with the mercs knowing you would care about them. If that's the case this needs to be handled delicately otherwise there could be a lot of collateral damage.

 

"My shuttle has a cloak and a mounted turret. I can park it in the alleyway behind the club. They will not be aware of its presence. Vera can take out Baladrum should he try to escape. Don't worry about civilians. She has excellent facial recognition and targeting software. She does not miss. All I need to do is scan Baladrum's file into my omni-tool and send it to her."

[Terca]

"The issue with planning at this point is that Addle is the deciding factor. If we simply kill Baladrum while he is within Ber'ah Addle will become available once he is certain the Batarian is dead, however doing so puts is rather uncomfortably in the path of fire for a rather large slew of privately contracted mercenaries, something I would rather not have happen. As for civilians, I cannot guarantee that he will or will not have civilians with him however it would be a poor decision on his part to take in random people off the street when any one of them could be the man who wants to put a bullet between his four eyes."  Deidrus explained to Naleena, resisting the urge to raise a brow plate at her statement. "The only 'civilians' there are going to be bought women working the club. I imagine those will be relatively easy to see for two commandos."

 

The challenge was effectively set. "If you can place Vera in the space without it being detected I have no issue with that plan. I am uncertain about whether or not the man would use a predictable escape route. It is likely he will take an odd route and try to make his way to a safehouse near the other side of the city. More easily defended, less personnel."

 

"Effectively, go to Ber'ah and watch for Addle who I imagine will take the shot from a shady corner. When the heat is on him we can more easily keep track of Baladrum without there being too much scrutiny on us which should let us get follow him more readily. If we're lucky the man will just take the extra security, if not we deal with whatever security he has left."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"I'm not talking about taking in random people from the street. I'm talking about regular paying clientele for the club. They are civilians, are they not? What kind of club is this anyway? How many exits are there from the club?

 

"You could have done this a lot more discretely, and not turned this into a major operation. My guess is that he was selling weapons from a room within the club, and that's how you found him. At that point someone, like me, could have gone in with a partner to make a purchase and taken him. It would have cost my "bring in alive" rate. But then someone gave him a tip, and he's waiting for us. Two teams for a single Batarian? Really?"

 

Naleena tapped her omni-tool and stepped away from the group. "Vera, make a withdrawal of 100,000 CR and keep them in your local account. Then hack into local databases and change my identification to Alana Deniri; include the IDF and Nos Astra Police databases."

 

"You used that alias 100 years ago."

 

"I know, but not on this world if I recall. Naleena needs to go away."

 

"Understood, Alana. Alana, really."

 

"Oh, and, Vera, one last thing. Would you please pull up the building schematics for the club Ber'ah? I would like to see any way that our quarry could escape. Thank you."

 

"I will do my best, Alana. You aren't going to change my name, I hope?"

 

"No, Vera, that's not going to happen."

 

Naleena turned to the doctor and spoke in a low voice. "In a few moments your database should show an Alana Deniri aboard this vessel. Do not correct it. A person in my profession... go new places, be different people, you understand?"

Użytkownik sH0tgUn jUliA edytował ten post 30 marzec 2014 - 02:43

[Terca]

Would it be rude of me to say the second team is there in case things don't turn out to be so simply? Deidrus thought to himself, though he did not let the thoughts show on his face aside from a light clicking of his mandibles. He was sure they were competent, he was more worried about the things he did not know about the enemy and the people he was working with. It was more of an insurance policy in case they turned out to hate each other but... Never mind that now.

 

"I doubt that the Batarian would sell the weapons personally simply based on the type of armaments he pushes." The Turian shook his head, skeptical. He knew that Naleena would not drop it and decided to go along with it. If it turned out to be that simple there was no loss, if it did not there is always gunning your way out. "You are free to attempt to get rid of Baladrum through that if you so wish. If you require assistance Elana and myself will be near."

[Redbelle]

The Medusa slid through space as the navigator, on the bridge, announced. “Approaching Illium shipping lanes”.

 

Jess nodded. Clad now in her customary green garb, that left her arms bare while revealing the intricate series of tattoos up her left that spilled out over her neck...... She checked their vectors. “Standard approach. We're traders. So lets play the trading game. We're inbred, barely literate sons of w****es who just want to offload, get drunk, take on another shipment and be on our way”.

 

The Navigator grinned as he turned back to his station. “You know, I passed my grade 3 written English on this tub”.

 

“Pity you didn't pass it before you got that tattoo luv”. Jess fired back as she slowly paced the bridge. Looking over at the navigator, she sighed. They'd talked about this so many times. “Maybe this planet you'll finally fix it so it spells my name right”.

 

“Tess is a good name”.

 

“And when you meet a Tess, I'm sure she'll be very flattered”.

 

Anika cleared her throat from where she stood behind her Captain. “In fairness captain. If he had been sober....”.

 

“I was not drunk”! Came the indignant reply. Everybody on the bridge grunted in amusement.

 

“..... If he had been sober...... I'm sure he would have written down your name correctly for the inker”.

 

“Entering standard shipping lane. And I wrote it down perfectly. It was the inker who was high as a skunk”.

 

Anika blinked. “What's a skunk”?

 

Jess shook her head and decided to reign thing in. “Okay luv's, enough for now. We're working. How long before we can start to get an idea on where this Audron is”?

 

A head turned from the sensor station. “Nothing showing. Maybe their around the other side of the planet”?

 

“Or maybe we're early.... or maybe we're late. Or maybe this whole thing is a joke and someone's going to pop out from behind the curtain with poppers and funny hats, yelling surprise”! Jess turned her head and looked out the forward view port. Without the armoured shields up she could see a small dot starboard side that was their destination.

 

She turned around. “Well, if we got extra time we may as well prepare for our guests”.

 

“You want to meet them here”? Anika asked, surprised.

 

“Home court advantage luv. I think we'll set up in the cargo bay. How does everyone feel about pulling another Mistress Manoeuvre”?

 

Everyone on the bridge immediately groaned.

 

“What”? Jess grumped. “It always gets the best results”.

 

“My back hasn't healed from the last time”! Came a voice off to her left.

 

“It's demeaning to my sense of masculine pride”! Came another voice off to her right.

 

Anika silently stepped up to her. “Captain, while it would be a good thing to control the circumstances of our initial meeting, at least, until we find out what is going on...... I'd prefer it if we came up with another plan. The...... Mistress Manoeuvre puts you at direct risk”.

 

“That's what you think luv. After all.....”. Jess's hand went behind her back to her belt pouch. Their was the sound of the fastener being undone, then Jess brought forth a mask made of brilliant reflective metal that she moved to half cover her own. “...... No one's actually seen the face of Captain Silver”. She smiled. “Have they”.

 

Anika managed to keep an impassive face as Jess outlined the plan. When she was done, she walked off to the right, walloped one of those who had spoken up as she barked that he wasn't being paid to bring his pride to work, then entered the lift and descended to the cargo bay to organise her surprise for their visitors.

 

Anika looked down at her hands. The silver mask held, that Jess had thrust into them.

 

I'm not getting paid enough for this.

[Terca]

"Sergeant."

 

Eteon cracked open her eyes and made an irritated noise as she slipped off her bunk and saluted the woman who had addressed her, the leader of her unit, Team 2. "What a pleasant surprise, being woken up at 0300 hours Citadel-time." She drawled as she dropped the salute and lightly glared at her superior officer. It didn't have any heat, she was more just pointing out she was tired and the wakeup call was unwanted. "I'm off-shift, unless there's something worth eating I'm not feeling the artificial sunshine just yet." The second section of the crew quarters was still dimmed for a semblance of night-time, though that would change in five hours when the second group went on-shift. Three crew divisions rotated in a stagger approximately every eight hours, though there was some slight variance.

 

"Commander Androkan has selected you to meet with one of the potential members o the crew. Popular vote nominated you for interaction." The older but smaller turian informed Eteon as she turned and motioned for the Sergeant to follow, which she did. "You're looking at pulling in a pirate queen. Our main leverage over her is that her family is not well protected and she's managed to gain herself a lot of enemies in building an empire. We need you to put the pressure on, see if she is willing to cooperate. If worse comes to worst, threaten her directly." She picked up a datapad from a Private that was waiting at the end of the hall and passed it back to Eteon who blinked a few times trying to chase sleep from her mind. "She should not require too much convincing. In theory."

 

"Oh, Terra Firma. That's going to be nice. Their platform alone doesn't lend itself to enemies..." Eteon said sarcastically while rolling her eyes. "I'll go play with her. I think that this might be a bit too much of a crotch-shot though..." She yawned and wandered off to look for her armor while fiddling with her omni-tool. There couldn't be that many people with the last name Babylon, right? It didn't sound like most human names she had heard.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena paused momentarily then vanished. Literally. She took the maintenance chute to the crew deck. That was a dare to enter the club alone. He knows more than he's telling us. This operation stinks. Damned Turians bludgeon their way into everything. I'd better get used to it. No finesse on this. Better bring the Black Widow. If he wants Baladrum alive he can take him. I will provide support. I want to see what this Spectre can do.

 

She put her SIG 229 and one Carnifex back in the bag. She took out her Black Widow and Kassa Locust. The scope of the operation just changed. She cloaked again, left her quarters. A Turian entered the elevator and she followed him in. He was headed for the CIC. The door opened on the elevator in the CIC, and the Turian stepped out and returned to his station. Naleena followed silently.

[Terca]

Deidrus let a long breath of air force its way out his mouth between his two barely parted 'lips' after Naleena had left. Why do I feel as if this is going to happen in the future? He shook off the feeling. He knew that unsavory decisions would come his way at some point and he would be unpopular. It was the way Spectre work tended to shake down, you did what was necessary in order to get the job done. Even in his work with the Armiger he had to make calls that were unpopular. Did he want to tell Naleena that there would be dancers in there not totally unlike her friend who had died earlier that same day? Should he have? Should he have told her that lives like that would be on the line?

 

In the end though, he did not, and that's what mattered he supposed.

[siphernin]

“Agent Drop,” Cole’s cryptic voice broke through Kanae’s battle sleep.

 

He pulled his omni-blade from the back of a turian in blue sun armor, holding its carapace up about its neck and using it as a shield until his barrier regenerated.  “What?!  Kind of busy, Cole,” he snapped in a hush tone.

 

“Message from Alliance command has been received by this unit.  Given transmission status marked urgent, it was believed that message should be relayed.

 

His barrier glimmered as it reasserted itself, deflecting the thermal pellets away.  The area around Kanae’s person began to blue shift, warping his own vision as almost half a second later, he found himself face to face with another blue sun, human this time.  The force of his fist with the newton force of his biotic charge behind it reverberated through the woman’s body before sending her off her feet through a pane glass window, luckily for her, still inside the building.  A splay of thermal pellets deflected off the strengthened barrier as the blue shift from his charge still dissipated.  The last merc found himself similar to the first.  The red tint of the silicon carbide blade against his shimmering tech armor wavered as the mini-fabricator tapered off.  Still the blue sun had enough strength to lift his arm.  He was rewarded with a bullet to the head to end his suffering.  And another simply because of the SMG hairpin trigger, or so was the excuse.

“I’m clear,” Kanae said making his way to the female merc. 

 

“Playing.”  The voice was scrambled as all encoded Alliance messages were until his passcodes were inputted.  A more familiar voice spoke over the com, “Staff Lieutenant.  A Council Spectre has come to ask of you.  All signs point to your personal presence required by this Spectre.  It would seem the turian would desire to meet with you as soon as possible as he has inquired about the mission you are presently on.  I cannot press enough how much the Alliance would not wish to be tied to this present mission.  In turn, you know what to do, officer.  See it done.”  “End transmission, Agent Drop.”

 

Two quick shots placed into the chest of the formerly unconscious woman and Kanae callously holstered his weapon.  He checked his vital, clear at that time save for the two earlier wounds.  “Alright.  Damn those old bastard.  Don't I have enough incentive on my hands…”  The tech on his armor made a quiet crackle, letting him know his tactical cloak was ready.  “Cole, keep an eye out for this –Spectre-.  If you see him, let me know.”

 

“Confirmed.”

 

“Two more floors,” he reminded himself as he found the duct.  He could feel this day was going to be like every other Galactic Monday.

[Cainhurst Crow]

On the massive asteroid mine and space station of omega, there were few sights one could really say was out of place on the nearly lawless and massively anarchic corner of the galaxy. The terminus system already being considered a chaotic place compared to the ever orderly council spaces, omega seemed to look at the bar set by the rest of the systems, and decided cranking that chaos up to 11 would be the wisest course of action. There was but one rule of the station, and was simply to not **** with aria, the ruler of this beautifully ruthless station. The Land of Opportunity, as the krogan called it, was a haphazardly built station, with settlements and extensions often having been built one atop the other, with no structure or guidance for the building plan, it was akin to a strange bug from earth Vayne once read about that made massive tunnels in the dirt, but without a queen to guide them. For vayne, omega lived up to its name as a place to make a lot of credits in a short amount of time, if you had the quad to do it, and the guns to keep from being killed over it. Most of his work centered around this station, be it helping to set up deals between council space dwellers and terminus natives, hunting someone down who was wanted in council space, keeping someone safe who was wanted in council space, helping people from terminus space get work in council space, there was always someone who wanted something done, and were willing to pay him to get it.

 

Today was an unusual day however, and one Vayne could say he hadn't expected to see coming. He'd gotten a call earlier that week, a simple request by someone looking to find their missing girl who had gone to omega. Simple job, a dime a dozen really, people went missing on omega all the time due to how lax everything was. The big three security providers in the terminus, who normally spent millions to billions in credits trying to spin a nice face on their dirty work across the galaxy to gain peoples trust, never needed to hide their true colors on omega. He wasn't surprised to hear that their girl had gone missing there, and that her last call said she the blue suns would be offering her protection. People who didn't come to omega's side of the galaxy were used to dealing with the more up and up blue suns, who worked for credits in a professional manner. He wouldn't have been surprised if the recent suns decided they'd rob her, rape her, and sell her as a slave, especially given the greedy little batarian snot they had leading them. Everything was normal until he heard the last bit of information she had, the mention of a particularly strange gathering being hosted for humans on the space station, that intrigued him. A human centric event on a space station like omega, wasn't normal. Most turians on the station would have stopped anything like that from even being advertised, given their racism towards the new comers. And if she was going to this big gathering, the suns were the last group vayne would suspect of being even remotely involved in security, their ranks being filled with ex-military turians, a lot with ties to the first contact wars, and batarian scum and ex-military with a lot of fresh wounds from torfan.

 

Whatever was going on in omega sounded big, and bad, and a lot like a set up for something vayne could make a few credits on if he turned in the folks running this thing for their bounties. It had taken a few days, but now here Vayne was, on omega looking worse then normal. He caught up on some local news first and foremost, of course that being after he paid his due to the queen of terminus space, there would be no ****** with a certain purple asari on his watch. His usual source for information was as chatty as always, and the two of them shared a few drinks while reminiscing about the good old days, about how his source was the biggest and baddest krogan this side of the galactic map before he lost everything in a dual and had to take the name patriarch. Betrayal from within was something Vayne could understand all too well, but eventually he got the info he needed. A lot of people had been busy on omega, since he'd been here last time. Super plagues that didn't target humans, the big three working together to take down a single merc team, serial killers, power plays, and even some talk about a dead man coming up to meet aria. It was a lot of intrigue, to be sure, but a lot of stuff that also didn't help his dilemma, as nobody he talked to had known about this human only meeting that supposedly went down.

 

Vayne thought for a few moments, pondering his next course of action as he pawed over the news. The big three were in dissary, blue suns included, which meant he most likely wouldn't just find them at their usual spots, not when eclipse and blood pack could be gunning for them over this archangel thing. The eclipse most likely wouldn't work with him, at least nothing beyond trying to shoot at him. He needed to fall back on more familiar ground, work with those he knew would at least humor a request to talk.

 

He needed to find a man about some vorchas.

[ParkBom]

"This is quite the operation for a simple recruitment. Hmm... it's a good thing I've stocked up on medigel. Hopefully we won't need any! Either way, shall we get going? I've never had a chance to study how the Batarian body reacts to harmful stimuli. Should this mission go badly and our target is killed, I'd like to take him back to the ship. That way, if we get any Batarian crew members in the future, I'll be able to help them more. Oh, and to also give me something to do. This ship is quite boring, as it should be, being that this is a Turian military ship. Still, that's no excuse for leaving the scientist with nothing to do. What is the reasoning for even bringing me along? I have no details about our main mission or why we're recruiting specialists. Bah, that's for the superiors to know, hmm? Eh, as long as I get to work peacefully and off of Illium for a change, I'm happy! I'll meet you on the shuttle?"

Throughout her long-winded babble, the Asari brought up several holographic charts from her omni-tool. The first was of the mission location, the club and a basic map. After came the Batarian body, which while detailed from information from the holonet, lacked her own personal notes, save a few in odd locations. Lastly, while speaking of the ship itself, Elara brought up a ship layout map in which she was given, when she first boarded. Her med-lab was highlighted with a blue color, the rest of the map a faint orange hue. Shutting off her omni-tool, without waiting for an answer to her question, the doctor turned around and began to head for the elevator that would take her to the armory, where the shuttle was kept. 

[Terca]

I'm going to spend some time with Sparatus when we return to the Citadel explaining to him that there are reasons Spectres are briefed before a mission starts. He shook his head and pressed a finger between his eyes in a slightly exasperated fashion. It was an empty mental threat because he would not show direct insubordination  to a member of the Hierarchy with a much higher rank, but he would make his ire known the way he always did, being unnecessarily dry. He then pondered his current crewmembers, odd traits and all and questioned what had possessed the Council to-

 

He shook off the line of thought and sighed. He'd make the best of the situation. Checking to make sure his weapons were still attached and he hadn't forgotten one of them in the odd back and forth he followed after Elara. He caught up with her by the time they reached the elevator and when the door opened stepped into it with her. "There will be research to be carried out. Something or someone has managed to make just short of one million humans disappear from a human colony in the Terminus. Whoever is using technology that can pull that kind of vanishing act has something you'd like to take apart and poke around in, right? That should keep you entertained. Until then, I wouldn't mind hearing your professional opinion on how you could tansport a million humans without the Alliance knowing from right on their doorstep."

[Redbelle]

Jess was walking away from the main cargo loading bay. The Medusa's design, engine, bridge and living quarters all crammed together at the back with a spine running forward on which cargo containers were clamped down. The cargo loading bay was a flared section at the front of the spine. The Medusa was not built for planet landings. For that they needed whatever hauling firm they could contract to move their cargo.

 

The walk along the spine was always long. It gave her time to think. Mostly, she was thinking about what was to come. So wrapped up in thought that she almost did not notice the figure coming towards her.

 

The figure staggered and Jess looked up, her eye's narrowing in the dim light of the walkway.

 

“Luscious”?

 

Luscious Kennedy hauled himself upright as she said his name and jabbed a finger in her general direction. “There you are”.

 

Jess raised an eyebrow as she approached him. The stench hit her her before she stopped to stand in his path.

 

“What are you playing at”? He rasped as Jess cocked her head to the side. “We're not supposed to be here. Why are we at Ilium”?

 

Jess waited, then prompted. “.....Why are we at Illiuuuuum.......”?

 

Luscious face darkened. “......Captain”. He said sarcastically.

 

Jess sniffed the air. “Has my first mate been drinking”?

 

Luscious scoffed and turned away, not noticing that in doing so his jacket shifted allowing the bottle in his pocket to make itself more presentable through the fabric.

 

Jess persisted. “Has my first mate been drinking..... hours after I told the crew to lay off the booze.... Right after I informed everyone of our change of course”?

 

Luscious turned back to her. “I didn't get the message. I'm supposed to be kept informed better than the crew. You should have told me what you were doing”.

 

“And how would I do that..... if I came by your quarter's and found you flat out drunk, and passed out”?

 

The slight widening of his eye's and his bristling stance told her she was probably more right than she wanted to be. She sighed.

 

“Okay..... if it had been one of the crew.... anyone but you..... Let's get this over with”.

 

Jess's fist shot up and out catching the taller man in the nose, snapping his head back and causing him to fall back a few steps. Jess followed his retreat back and ploughed another fist into his gut, doubling him over as Jess caught him by shoulder, preventing him from falling.

 

She pushed him back against the side of the walkway, near one of the inspection airlocks and he half stood, half lay with a hand wrapped around his middle while the other tried to stem the blood coming out of this nose.

 

“You idiot”. Jess hissed. Reaching forward and taking the bottle out of his pocket. “You stiff necked, blind sighted...... Why are you making me do this”?

 

Luscious head tilted up, rage in his eyes. “It's my ship”.

 

“Was...... your ship. Your brother never left instruction for it to pass onto you. That left it to the vote. And I won”.

 

“You tricked me”.

 

“I slept with you. And when I challenged you to a death fight the next morning, you showed everyone what a coward you were when you refused. What makes you think the crew would respect a man whose not prepared to fight for them!”

 

Luscious staggered upright, still holding his nose while his other hand steadied himself on the bulkhead. “This is my ship! It was Dad's! He left it to my brother! He'd have wanted me to have it”!

 

Jess glared up at him. “Your not half the man either of them were on their worst day. Get down to the Doc. Get fixed up. Then report to your cabin. Your sitting this one out”.

 

“You don't decide that.....”.

 

Jess held up her hand and pointed it right between his eyes. “Don't..... Push..... Me...... Because I swear. My respect for your brother, will not save you if you keep pushing”.

 

Luscious made to speak and Jess fisted her hand in the air and squeezed making her knuckles crack. Luscious mouth snapped shut but did nothing for his hate filled eyes. He slopped off holding his ribs.

 

Jess watched him leave and then let out a long, breath to relieve the tension within. She hit her comm.

 

“Jobe”?

 

The oldest member of her crew replied after a few moments. “What is it”?

 

“Luscious is on his way to medical. Treat him then send him to his quarters. Get Stron into manhandle him if he acts up but see that he stays put”.

 

“Little s**t finally crossed the line”?

 

Jess took a breath before saying. “Watch it Doc. He's still the first mate. He gets the respect that goes with the job”.

 

“Except from the Captain with a mean right hook”. Jobe replied. “Don't worry, I'll look after him. I've looked after his family for three generations. To bad he looks like he'll be the last one I'll ever treat”.

 

Jess didn't know what to say, and signed off before contacting the Second Mate. “Oda”?

 

“Here Cap'n”.

 

“Luscious is drunk again”.

 

A pause. “Again”?

 

“Your taking on his responsibilities. Drop a few bottles outside Luscious cabin. If we're lucky he'll drink himself into a stupor”.

 

“Understood Cap'n”.

 

Jess signed off feeling a little better. Oda was responsible, dependable, a little low on imagination but all round a solid member of her crew.

 

That just left the Audron to take care of. She walked off towards the bridge.

[Terca]

The arms lockers in the cargo bay were some of the more open spaces on the ship, which was understandable for a Turian vessel. At any one time the 100+ man crew could be called to arms, and as all of them had served in the Turian military all knew how to fire a gun and do well in a firefight. They general staff wasn't too impressive, that's what Team One and Team Two were for. Armigers and those just under them that could be sent in, their numbers around two dozen depending on who was selected. Because of that force there was always the chance that they would be needed, and to that end the weapons lockers were designed to be well spaced and the corridors between them wide enough that five Turians could stand lengthwise. One grabbing gear, one putting on gear, a tight lane for people to get by the two, and then another pair on the opposite side.

 

But that was only in rather extreme circumstances, under only very strenuous circumstances would all of the people be put into action like that, and Eteon stood mostly on her own in the locker corridors though Team One was lounging around in case they needed to be called for backup. The female Turian tended to ignore that group, but she had respect for them. She might at times be considered more 'Salarian' in her sometimes manipulative and opportunistic nature but there was still the very Turian understanding of rank in her mind. Armigers commanded respect, and she would give it, if only in her mind.

 

When she had her armor on (some of the lightest standard-issue armor available to a Turian) she hesitated in grabbing her Carnifex. She knew this was a diplomatic mission more than anything and she had been chosen for a reason. Unlike some others she varied a bit from the 'overwhelming force' commonly applied by Turians and was comfortable in enemy territory. Meeting with pirates... At worst they will smell odd.

[ParkBom]

"Ooooh, a mystery? I do love me a good mystery novel, from time to time. Never had I the chance to take part in one, though. This will be fun, to say the least."

A hand on her chin as she began to think, by the time the elevator reached the lower levels of the ship, the doctor cleared her throat before speaking. "Before I answer, these colonies that are missing its colonists... Were there any oddities found there? Destruction? Remnants of attacks on the people? Disruptions in communications or mechs? AI or VI involvement? Any information you have could be helpful, both in helping me sound like less of an idiot while answering as well as allowing me to come to a better conclusion."

As she finished her request, the elevator doors slid open with a hiss. Stepping out, the Asari started the walk to the shuttle, blue eyes glancing around the armory that functioned as a shuttle bay.

[Terca]

"We will get a full briefing on what the Humans have found when we arrive at the Citadel. The Alliance will have more details. All I know is that there is no noticeable trace of tampering. They have managed to keep rumors under control so I imagine the action was taken at the ground-level and comms were completely shut down. To shut down an entire planetary communications system... a digital attack is the only option which seems viable to me..." Deidrus shrugged and decided to explain something quickly before continuing. He motioned to their right to the rows of three rows of corridors that were evenly spaced. The sides of the corridors had smooth metal lockers inset to the 'walls'. "Those are the armory corridors. Choose a locker and claim it, soon preferably. Nobody will touch your things unless you want someone to clean your weapons."

 

He paused and rolled his neck for a moment. "And beyond that on the colonies... They are strictly human. Maybe one or two other races but with the ratio I'd say it would be an accident for another sentient to be taken in by whatever group is doing this."

[ParkBom]

"Hm... It would be wonderful if the Council could shed more light on this matter. Quite the enigma. However, if there was no physical signs of tampering to get rid of the humans... Perhaps radiation? Or a toxic gas? Either way, both could be used to weaken the population silently before swooping in and quickly retrieving them. Though, toxic gas would seem more likely. Oooh, or biotics. A massive stasis field, controlled by many biotics, could hold an entire community hostage and unable to retaliate. To achieve such a level of biotic power and control would be a monumental task."

Waving off this train of thought with her hand, the doctor glanced at the lockers. "Hopefully, the Alliance should have more details but a locker? Goddess, you should have told me beforehand! My other weapons and regular clothing are in the med-bay. I'll move them here when we return, I suppose?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena saw that nothing was happening in the CIC. It didn’t appear that any further briefing was coming from the Spectre. The doctor had taken the elevator to the shuttle bay. Vera had already docked with the Audron. She was curious to see what was happening elsewhere. The shuttle bay was where the action seemed to be happening. Naleena, still cloaked, took the maintenance chute to the shuttle bay. When she landed, there was a brief disruption of her cloak, but it re-established itself quickly. This was normal for the web suit embedded in her leathers. She turned it off and exited the chute.

 

She approached the doctor. “I notice you're ready for combat, Doctor. But why are you on this part of the mission? This seems to be odd, doesn’t it? I took the Spectre’s invitation to me to enter the club as a dare. This tells me his intel is not the best. I also noticed you looking at the building plans. Shall we take a look at them and see if we can get through this without getting killed? Also what is your biotic rating?”

[Terca]

Biotics sounds... Outlandish. "For that amount of biotics you would need to uproot an entire Asari colony, and as to my knowledge there has been no such event in recent history." Or ever for that matter. The Asari had always been rather stable, at least as far as he had heard. They weren't ones for radical change. "A toxin..." More plausible but distribution would be problematic. He had never heard of such a compound but that did not mean it did not exist in some Salarian research laboratory or other such place. He was not an expert though, he could neither claim it realistic nor outlandish.

 

His musing was stopped by Naleena appearing and he had to suppress rolling his eyes. He would have to get used to this, it would seem. It would seem subtlety was not going to work. "The Doctor is on the team for the same reason you are, because there is a need to evaluate you two. Both of you have combat experience and I want to see how you are first-hand."