6315 réponses à ce sujet

[Terca]

The Turian followed Jess to the modified crate and sat herself down, waving off the offer. "I am wired enough as it is, caffeine will not make this easier for anyone. I'll simply be reduced to a giggling wreck." She leaned forward slightly and rested her elbows on her knees. She was already mightily amused and she'd be forced to click her mandibles soon. She thought for a moment and then reconsidered. "Actually, a coffee would be fine. Should you try 'mixing' you'll be left with a half-naked Turian woman who is rolling across the cargo bay faster than a pyjak up a tree in Tuchanka and laughing like a Varren pup." She let out a short chuckle. "That's a threat."

 

She met Jess' eyes and then blinked once. "As for the business portion, I assume you have heard of human disappearances in the Terminus? By that I mean thousands of your kind disappearing overnight. The official task has not been handed down from the Council however Androkan is apparently rather certain about the mission."

[siphernin]

“Agent Drop, a detection in the current drag net has flagged a Council status vessel within the area.  Course of action?”

 

Kanae levied the options in his mind.  The message from his CO said that the Spectre was coming, but never mentioned how it was coming, or who it was.  He finished wrapping his wound so that the blood wouldn’t continue to drip.  He tapped his gun against his leg thoughtfully.  “Ping them.  Don’t tell them anything, but give them a bogus detour message.  Let’s see how they react.”

 

“Affirmative.”

 

“And Cole.”

 

“Agent Drop?”

 

“Make sure to scramble both our locations this time.  We don’t need them on to us just yet.  Not until we know if they are really these Spectre blokes.”

[Redbelle]

At hearing the news, Jess hesitated. Then took a sip. "Yeah..... I heard. Actually not so much heard as the rumour mill is flying as to what's going on out there". Setting the cup down she leaned forward, resting her forearms on her knees. "Look luv, I get around alot of places and hear alot of things. So do the people in my circle. And if you want to know the score then just know that cargo ships have gone to colonies and found them deserted. Everyone, just...... gone. No traces. If I had to choose a word for how they were taken....."?

 

Jess reached out for a mug and poured a cup of dextro coffee for Eteon. ".....Well, clinical would probably just about cover it".

 

Setting the cup down in front of Eteon Jess leaned back. "I'm not happy about it. Aside from the moral aspect.... those colonies needed people like me and my crew to keep them going with supplies. It's cutting into profits of every trader who used to think a colony was a safe five year investment before they got sufficient. Easy hauls, payments on delivery. That means the crew get's paid, the ships fuel bills get paid. Wear and tear on the equipment can be patched. The bad colonies who can't pay get dropped and left to the Alliance to sort out. The good ones...... They become investment opportunites. Every successful colony remember's who supplied it and that means first dibs on future contracts when the colony starts growing".

 

Jess picked up her mug again and blew over the surface to cool the hot liquid. "Fact is though luv..... most of those peple out there only have safety in that colony information on new setups isn't traded to just anyone. New setups are full of supplies that anyone could just swoop in and pickup. Secreacy is safety. So colonies aren't announced unless their promoters do the hard invest and set it all up before the first boot arrives on world".

 

Jess looked over at Eteon. "Yet the rumour mills all say the same. Only the people are disappearing. Not the equipment or supplies...... Somethings up out there. Glad to hear your looking into it".

 

Jess sighed and sat back. "Sorry, that kind of ruined the mood. Though hearing what you sound like laughing? Maybe a mixer or two is in order".

[Gabi_MuadDiB]

Arrin was sitted on the couch in the back office of the smallest Volus loannig business in Omega while playing is favorite game in working hours,  that was not a thing his contractor liked much from him.

Allright, third playthrought, I did it all now... Men! can´t wait for the next game! This franchise rocks!

"Arrin! You good for nothing Quarian rat, are you playing video games again?!" Someone screamed from outside of the room. The voice was bass toned that and sounded like someone with asma.

"No, I'm not Wuldar and I'm almost done" His boss for the day wasn't happy about how long was it taking to fix the software of his book keeping program, but yet Arrin was really good at programing and charged less than any other software engineer. He was also really curious, but that Wuldar didn't knew...

For the ancestors! How many times can someone fall to the same trick?
Was the fourth time this month that Wuldar hired him to fix the exact same problem.  Actually Arrin was the cause of the problem all along How retarded can this Volus be?

Now he was just making time for the lunch hour to come, so he could get some extra credits to lunch, he already had the patch to take down the trojan that himself had planted... The Volus didn´t suspected that Arrin was stealing a 0.001 % credits from every client payment he recieved since the first time he was commissioned for the  job (when there was actually a real problem with the software), and planed to do so until he could make the money to leave for another planet. Anyway, is not like someone noticed one less cent, and to notice was even harder when the software didn't showed the real numbers.

Anyway, guess I still have sometime to see how much money I took this time from our fat friend... hehehe Has he started hacking the private accounts and archives to check the Volus bussiness income for the week, he saw a number that let him in shock!

WHAT DA F***! 5000 CREDITS FOR ONE TRANSACTION? HOW IS THAT POSIBLE he felt a cold running through his back and knew right away that that painment couldn't be related to the business. In that moment Wuldar came into the office so he didn't had the time to read the details. He downloaded the archives to his Omni-tool and closed the Wuldar´s accounting system. "Don't even think that I'm paying your lunch again scumbag, if you are not done already you can get the f*** out of here and forget about getting paid at all" screamed the Volus "Alright, alright! it´s done! I hope you don't mess it up again Wuldar, cause I'm planning to go out of this damned planet tomorrow... I just don't know where I´ll go yet" I probably shouldn't had said that!

After they checked that the software was working properly again he left in a haste... "You didn't check the payment dumb a** Quarian, don't came later saying your are missing money!" but he didn't had time to stick to business formalities, at that point he knew he had to go and go fast...

Can't believe it! That last payment was of 5000000 credits!, da hell I'm off this planet right now!

He hasted straight to the space port, the leaving couldn't wait for tomorrow, he forgot about the little possessions he had on the s*** hole apartment he was living... that transaction was not from someone that owed money to Wuldar, the message that came with it said "The info was right, here is the the payment we agreed... say thanks to the Shadow Broker" while running Arrin keep investigating the archives with his Omni-tool an traced the original attachment that the Volus had sended to the client, he couldn't open it cause it was cyphered... Well that can wait for later, now I have to leave, and fast the fear he was feeling gived him shivers, Arrin look at the bright side men! this is information is worthy of millions, you can make some good money from it! at the same time he knew for sure that if someone noticed what he had done, he would be soon death... When he was already in the spaceport he suddenly remembered S*** my dad's gift! I can't leave dad's gift

[Terca]

Eteon nodded as she sipped the coffee and made note of everything the Pirate had to say. Looks like the Council was right to tell us to get in contact with this woman. She set down the drink and crossed her arms across her stomach. "I do not know what the Spectre does and he spent quite a while as a Council operative before returning to the Armiger, a rather odd decision to make. For whatever reason he isn't supplying is own ideas, he's only listening to other's theories." She waved a hand to the side in a snapping motion. And you'd expect a Spectre to know things we don't, is the obvious conclusion. He knows the objective and he's not even been told. Something is odd. "There are of course many of those... Poisoning, toxins... I think I heard someone talking about biotics near the arms lockers."

 

She raised her hand palm-up and made a shrugging motion. "The fact they are in the Terminus and far from Arcturus means that despite being rather speedy and leaving no trace they are unable to deal with larger populations... Or at least are trying to remain at the edges of the Traverse as ghosts. No slavers are as effective, and no batarians would be cowed by the edge of the Traverse." She dropped her hand again. "And that is where your expertise comes into play. The council has eyes on the space just outside its own however there is no network like a pirate's, especially yours. Information will be caught by your contacts long before even the STG catch wind. The ironic part about word-of-mouth."

[Redbelle]

Jess felt a lopsided smile come on. "Okay luv. We've talked enough about what you need and what I have. Now's the part where we haggle".

 

Putting down her cup she leaned forward once more. "It's like this. This ship is important. It's crew are important. To me. I can't be apart from it to long because..... well, these type of folks aren't exactly renowed for their common sense if you get my drift. Part of my job is taking on those people who screwed up one to many times and left their career's in the gutter. Most of those on this ship were those looking for that one last chance to get back on track. The ones who can't hack it? They go. The ones who can? They stay. It sounds like a good system but the problem with this way of working is that these people tend to do the devils work when I'm not around giving them direction".

 

Pausing, Jess drew a breath. "What I'm saying is that I think I can help, but my time is precious. My crew needs me and I'm obligated to them the same way your captain is to you and yours. If I'm not pulling in the contracts and making them money, they walk away from me and I'm without a ship. Which means my stock and trade in terms of my usefulness to you get's cut".

 

"Ship's like this one, the captain's voted in, you see? All they want is work and pay. If that stops coming in, they mutiny and a new captain is voted for. And since no one can do my job half as well as I can for them, it's my responsibility keep them working".

 

"Bottom line. I want these snatch and grabbings stopped. Their bad for business. If you need me to give you contacts....... that'll be difficult. Best I can do is go out with you for awhile, see where we head to. Try and convince people I know that helping this endevour is in their best long and short term interest. But once that's done with, I head back to my ship.

 

Jess leaned back. "Other than that, I'll want to bring Anika with me. We'll bring what we need. Standard advisory fee and no one taps my comms or tries to snoop on us. Understand, if this get's out that I'm helping a Spectre I'm burned. You saw the precautions taken with you coming aboard? Everyone of us is like that. It's a habit that's kept me and my ship from going down on more than one occasion".

 

She gave a brief snort. "And it's not pirating really. It's more..... privateering. People like me get hired out to do jobs others can't. The line between a Spectre and what we do is blurred when you think about it. We do what it takes to keep our contractors happy. The only difference is that since we don't have council sponsered 'get out of jail free' cards we have to be more careful in how we go about our business. Even if it's unpleasent business". She drew herself up. "If that's agreeable to you then I figure I can wrap things up here in a few hours and come down to your ship. I even have some goods and equipment aboard that might help you of your interested...... and if your willing to purchase".

 

She gave Eteon a sly look as she leaned back. "And if your satisfied with our business, if you have time..... maybe we could conclude the negotiations and see what there is to do aboard.... for pleasure"?

[Terca]

A few seconds passed and Eteon was mentally scanning all that had been said. It was all decent enough reasoning and meaning for Babylon to want to get back to the ship, and it put a reasonable limitation on the amount of time that could be spent with the Audron. She pondered options and how long to make sure the woman remained with them...

 

"It is likely that after leaving the Citadel we will arrive at Omega in order to look into activity there. It is the heart of the Terminus, for better or for worse, and if anyone was to plan such a large abduction they would need the support of individuals that would need the shady corners." And with luck your contacts will have at least some idea of what's going on there. "That should mean that we should be able to come into a dialogue with some of your people more easily. If something has happened there, your people should know." She raised a hand and tapped a mandible twice as if she were pondering options when her choice had already been made. "I do think your fee is worth the value of your knowledge." She set down her mug and glanced up to Jess before making an mused humming sound.

 

"And while I'm sure there are many ways for a pirate to rock a ship outside of setting sail, I think that your second from before would be willing to rain on your parade at a moment's notice." She pointedly picked up her mug again and drained the liquid. "Also, giggles."

[Redbelle]

Jess gave an elaborate sigh. "Can't blame a girl for trying". She said. "Give me a couple of hours and I can come over. And since this is the beginning of a new business relationship, let me add something to the pot. Free of charge".

 

"We're carrying two Manned Insertion Pods. A deal went bad and the buyer pulled out. There basically small short range pods with life support made of ceramic rather than metal. High absorbtion and very low sensor bounce since they aren't much bigger than a person sat down. And handy for if your in a standoff and need someone to board the other ship without the other noticing. I figure if you find whoever is doing this they'll be savvy enough to try and keep you from reporting back what you know. So getting the drop on them may...... be critical".

 

"I've got one 2 man MIP and one 1 man with extra storage. I can fly them over and drop them off when I come over".

[Cainhurst Crow]

Vayne walked out from afterlife's entrance as he breathed in the recycled air of the space station, the stale smell and wafting aromas from various food shops and slums reminding him of an old home that had long since extinguished. He glanced around, left eye scanning the area as he began to casually walk away from the nightclub and out into the busy corridor intersections of the station. His target would be close at hand, they always were to keep the vermin out of sight and the undesirables off the streets, the queens palace couldn't have riff raff cluttering the front of it, now could it? Not when it was so close to where the spaceports were.
 
'Where are you? Bound to be here somewhere...' Vayne thought to himself with a frown, looking until he saw who he was looking for off in the distance, 'Ah ha, there you are.' Vayne began to approach the turian off in the distance, spotting the assault rifle he held in his hand and the fact he hadn't moved in some time. All easy tells that he'd been put on sentry duty to watch for omega's number one pest, 'Now then. Lets see what those little guys have been up to.'
 
As Vayne approached the turian, he glanced towards the larger alien, raising a brow as he gripped his assault rifle tighter, holding it up to his chest. "There something I can help you with pal?" he asked, suspicion in his voice as well as annoyance. Clearly he didn't like being out here, and seeing a red armored krogan coming towards you put a lot of people on edge, that he could relate with. It wasn't like Aria's place on top was as secure as she made it seem, and there was always someone looking to score a hit or two.
 
Vayne smiled as he held up his hands in front of him, away from his guns, as he approached, giving a chuckle, "Relax friend. I ain't here to cause trouble. I'm looking for some information is all." he informed, wanting to make sure his intentions were clear.
 
"Information? Do I look like a broker to you?" The turian asked as he tilted his head, eyes narrowing as he looked vayne once over, trying to size up the older krogan.
 
"That depends, are you?" He asked with a grin and another throaty chuckle, looking to the right as if checking for any passers by and giving the turian a good look at his scared up face, a bit of intimidation theater of the mind to show he wasn't a man who fucked around, "You look like a guy sick of having to watch out for vorcha causing you problems, am I right?" He asked as he looked back to the turian, catching him right in the eyes having been staring at his scars.
 
"Y-yeah, and? Who wouldn't be sick of this crap? Those damn pest keep breeding faster then we kill, and they never stop being a nuisance." The turian said as he began to hold his head straighter, feeling more comfortable.
 
"and they're damn crafty too. Can't forget about that..." Vayne said as he continued to look the turian in the eye, as he motioned with his hand, "I heard they even tried to pull a power play recently. Personally, I'd blame he blood pack. Breed 'em too smart and too tough for their own damn good."
 
"Tell me about it. The job was already hard enough, now I gotta worry if i'll get an angry krogan coming after me when I shoot one trying to sneak into afterlife." The turian joked, trying to return the smile as well, "I hear there might be too many of them for blood pack to control anymore, if this keeps up. They've been asked to keep them reigned in, but they never seem to listen to aria until her boys have their guns shoved right in their faces."
 
"A bunch of krogan not wanting to listen to an asari telling them to keep their boys from going forth and multiplying? Perish the thought..." Vayne said as his face dropped a moment, staring intently at the turian before giving a big laugh, "Relax, I'm joking. Blood pack can barely keep control of their varren, and you think they can control those vorcah? Nah, we're lucky they aren't overwhelming things right now. Matter of fact, hows about you tell me a good spot to find a few. I'll help you weed our your infestation problem a bit."
 
"You'll...what? Whatever, If you're up for it then I can point you in the right direction." The turian said as he looked around before leaning in to whisper to vayne, "We've been getting reports of vorcha in the eastern corridor and near the space port. They're an violent bunch and we're suppose to go take care of them soon. If you want, you can take a crack at it and I can see what I can do about a reward. Who knows? Do a good enough job, there might even be a spot for you on this detail." The turian said with a smile, glad to see  another enthuist when it came to killing vorcha.
 
"Much abliged, sir." Vayne said as he gave a nod, turning around to head to the space port as his face dropped back into the frown. His jaw hurt from all that smiling, and he'd be glad to get a lead on where the blood pack had slinked off to. After their failed little stunt with killing the patriarch, he could understand why they might not want to show their face around here. Vayne headed to the space port, figuring he could have an easier time waiting for one of them to try and rob a tourist or something before he captured him for questioning.

[Gabi_MuadDiB]

Arrin was now running again, this time out of the spaceport.

 

 ‘S*** dude, how can you forget that!? You should be carrying it with you all the time anyway; sure you are in need of it right now!’ The M-77 Paladin that his father gifted him was something that always reminded him of his family and the Migrant fleet. He always had it clean and functional and took religious care of it. Until now he never had a real need of it. ‘I still remember how I always wanted to play with it and pretend to be a  Quarian marine… hehehe… and also how many times dad told me that it wasn’t a toy… Poor old men, I always found the gun didn’t matter where he hid it...’  That memory had him smiling and helped him relax a bit.

 

As he was turning in a corner to make his way East to the slums where his apartment was he ran to a group of three armed Vorchas… “Hey! Ya there! what’s da rush?” as he stared at the pack of searing red eyed vermins wearing Bloodpack’s armor he knew that was the last thing he needed…  ‘All right, all right, calm down and play it cool’  The Vorchas where now looking at him with increased interest, Arrin knew what they wanted, it wasn’t the first time this happened to him in Omega and if he stayed anymore than planned it would surely not be the last, they wanted to mug him.

 

”None fellas, just going home, I need to use the bathroom, if you know what I mean…”

 

“Hey, come on, slow down… You look like you have some credits to spare, right?”

 

“Na guys…  I’m a poor Quarian rat, ain’t have no credits for myself”

 

The only thing he had of value was his Omni-tool, and he had there the info he got from Wuldar and the credits for his trip out of Omega... He couldn’t afford to lose it so he made a bold movement… ‘Is now or never!’ “Yo! What’s that there behind ya’ll!?” He screamed at the Vorchas that looked behind and got distracted for one second… He seized the oportunity turning around and running as fast has he could.

 

“He cheated on us, take him down!!!” he heard the screams behind mixed with the clapping of running feet against the metallic floor… when he turned at the corner he slammed hard against something big  ‘F**!!!... I guess I have the best of lucks today!’  He looked up from the floor and saw a Krogan wearing a bulky red armor…

[Terca]

"I appreciate the show of kindness." Eteon said with mock formality as she set her glass down on the table and stood. I can't blame you for trying, especially when it's this amusing. She stepped away from the table and rolled her shoulders before turning back to look at Jess. "We have two shuttles which we use, standard-issue. More than noticeable. The Audron is effectively a rather large gunship so it is more maneuverable in space but it does lack in boarding ability still. The Turian mindset in ships is that you only board if you absolutely have to since most the time you simply bring more firepower than you need to incapacitate everything full-stop without a shot fired." She shook her head. "But we're only on ship. Fancy flying will only do so much, and the MIPs could be rather useful."

 

"So, should I wait here for you to be ready or return to the ship ahead of you? Either option is fine, I can always return more quickly if you will need some time. The Commander isn't there right now as he's on a mission however when he returns you can meet him directly if you so wish. I do hope I haven't been a disappointment..." She used a faux bashful tone but quickly chuckled to show she was in fact joking.

[Redbelle]

Jess smiled. "Far from it luv. Turns out this has been quite an informative meeting for us. I mean, Turian reputation and all...... I was expecting someone all rules and regulations with a redwood sticking out his backside". She stood up and shrugged. "Let's just say that if everyone aboard ship is like you then I expect this'll go smoothly".

 

"Still.....". She went on. "Probably best you head back and let the boss know what's happening. Two hours to settle affairs here, maybe half hour to fly the MIPS over. You probably have duties and a report to file". Jess chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Just tell your lads to open your hanger door. Two, three hours..... You'll have some new arrivals". She added as an afterthought. "Hope the accomodation is good over there. Never actually been on a Turian ship before. You hear stories about how stiff the beds are and the like".

 

Her face went serious. "Seriously though luv. This could ruin my reputation if folks think I'm hob nobbing with Spectres and the council. So if you have to talk about me in reports, do me a favour and refer to the hired help as Captain Silver. If word get's out, Silver is easier to deflect off of than yours truely". She offered her hand. "You though? You can call me Jess".

[Terca]

"Well then Jess it has been my pleasure to do business with you." The Turian bowed her head to the Pirate queen before beginning to walk back in the direction of her shuttle backwards to continue facing Silver. "I'll speak with the person handling the Database to make sure that the name is Silver and you aren't implicated. As for the beds... We aren't what you humans call 'spartan' all the time, but when you see the beds you'll think I'm a liar."

 

She shook her head and turned mid-stride on her foot before raising her omni-tool and beginning to send off a message to the Audron.

 

Cmnd,

 

Silver has accepted the proposal, pay request as compensation. Will provide MIPs for ship boarding. Refer to client as 'Captain Silver' in documentation, redact real name. When I arrive leave the cargo bay open so that she can place her craft inside.

 

That's all to report for now,

 

Eteon.

 

She was amused enough by finding this new person she actually formally wrote the report, which was short and not full of everything learned but she thought it could wait. When she arrived at the shuttle the pilot wordlessly took off when the door closed and exited the larger ship.

[Redbelle]

Jess waited till the doors were closed and the shuttle gone before she turned and kicked one of the crates that had been sitting quietly off to one side.

 

"Alright you lot! Parties over"!

 

Around her five crates opened and part of her crew emerged wearing exposure suits, carrying rifles.

 

"She seemed nice". One of the rifle carrying women chimed.

 

"She works for a Spectre". One of the men rebutted. "Captain, you can't seriously be thinking......".

 

Jess gave a throaty growl. "What is this? A committee? Stow those rifles and get back to work. You....."! She pointed to one of the men. "Get the MIP's out and prep em for departure". She brushed past the people and moved towards the spinal walkway. "And let's just be glad we didn't have to dump the atmosphere out the door. Air's a premium when you can't scoop it out of atmosphere".

 

As she left the cargo bay and began the long walk back up the Medusa's spine, back to her quarters, she mused about Eteon. Plenty of her crew shared characteristics of what she had seen. Slow to respect authority, Seemingly incapable of conducting themselves in the manner befitting the organisation they were once attached to.

 

Where the military machine tended to break those people or spit them out, Jess welcomed them with open arms. Who knew. Eteon might one day come knocking on her door if the solar winds blew her in the Medusa's direction.

 

Getting ahead of yourself luv. She thought to herself.

 

Eteon's future was not her primary concern. That would be her own and her crews. And while she didn't necessarily trust that things were as they appeared, she also had a sense that told her the colonies going dark were the primary focus of the Audron.

 

Okay Luv. Tell Anika. Grab what you need. Give the crew their orders. Then head over.

 

She was nervous. She had to admit. She headed for her cabin.

[Cainhurst Crow]

Vayne blinked in surprise as he felt something bump into him from behind, eye narrowing as he turned around quick as a flash, one hand on his scimitar while the other aimed itself towards his back, an omnibow forming as the guiding laser aligned to see nothing. He looked down to see a quarian staring back at him, leveling his omnibow to aim for his environmentally sealed face.

 

"And what do we have here?" He asked curiously before hearing footsteps coming towards him. He glanced up to see a bunch of vorcha running towards where he guessed the quarian had come from, glancing down at the quarian as he untrained his bow from his head. "Well, well. Seems you helped save me some time." he chuckled as he glanced up at the armed and armored vorcha, seeing about three of them coming towards the two as the scampered to a halt, training their weapons on him and the quarian.

 

"Step away Krogan. Puny suit rat is ours." The lead vorcha snarled, holding the shuriken submachine gun as his red eyes seemed to dart back and fourth. The other two behind him stood at the ready, one armed with a punisher smg, the other with a blood pack pistol, vayne fixing his eyes on that one as he assessed the group, hand still behind his back, holding his shotgun at the ready. These were blood pack vorcha, meaning they'd be stronger, faster, and smarter then most other ones, though hopefully also more prone to being reasoned with.

 

"The quarian?" Vayne asked as he glanced between the three, his omnibow disappearing as he worked on loading a different program discretely. "Whatever problem you three have with him, you can wait. I'm interested in meeting your new boss. I'm an old pal of Garms come to pay my respect to the old regime." He said as he kept his back facing the quarian, motioning with his hand resting near his shotgun for him to move towards the wall nearby. "I got credits, if that's what it'll take. All you have to do is take me to where your guys new headquarters are." He said, hoping his name drop of their old leader might prompt some sort of response from them.

 

"Garm is dead, you no get to see our new leader. You no get to see anyone alive again!" Their leader barked as he and his friends trained their weapons on the krogan, "Kill them both! Take their credits and everything they have!"

 

Vayne let out a sigh as he aimed his wrist towards the group, his omnitool fabricating the flamethrower module as a jet of flaming liquid shot out towards the three vorcha, making them back up as vayne drew his scimitar from its magnetic holster, the gun unfolding into its ready mode as the krogan began to charge, holding his arm in front as the jet of fire made the vorcha back off, more concerned with not getting burned then firing back. Finally his flamer ran out of fuel, but he was already in a full run, aimed for the merc with the blood pack pistol as the three finally realized the fire had stopped coming towards them. Vayne had reared his shotgun holding hand back while he had been charging, and throwing his full weight behind it, shotgun whipped the vorcha, sending him flying back as blood and dislodged teeth flew from his face, leaving a trail as he soared a good 10 feet back before tumbling and skidding to a stop. The other two aimed for Vayne, firing quickly as vayne activated his fortification program just in time.

 

Their bullets peppered his now reinforced shields, taking it down to near critical by the time he brought his scimitar into his two hands and aimed for the two vorcha. They were standing shoulder to shoulder with one another, and vayne fired as quickly as possible, managing to get three shots into the vorcha on the right, two blast knocking the wind out of it as the hammerhead rounds slammed into their abdomen, breaking the shields and leaving a nasty bit of kinetic blow back, the third shot however tore into its chest like hot pellets through butter, sending the vorcha falling back as its vital organs were ripped apart. Vayne quickly fired two more shots as his shields failed, dropping as his now exposed armor took the shurikens many rounds, denting and sparking all the while with vayne only mildly twitching from the shots, none making it through his armor just yet. The two shots had also been aimed at the vorcha's chest, dropping its sheilds and doubling it over as well, and vayne took that time to aim a well placed shot at the vorcha's leg, blowing apart its digitigrade leg to bits as he vorcha crumpled to the ground, howling in pain as it clutched its now severed stump.

 

Vayne walked over and stepped on its shuriken, sliding it away towards where the quarian stood as he rested a massive foot on the vorca, making sure it was held in place as he glanced towards where the young quarian was, checking if he was okay.

 

"Damn you Krogan...Damn you suit rat! You both dead! Blood Pack or Blue Suns, both of you are dead!" The vorcha cursed as it struggled to life vaynes foot from its chest, vayne glancing down with a raised brow, leaning down to look the vorcha eye to eye.

 

"And why is that, vorcha?" Vayne asked, curious as to why the vorcha would care about some quarian, or why he would bring up the blue suns at all. Whatever the suns were up to, it seemed the other gangs were privy on being in the loop.
 

[siphernin]

Cole's slightly womanly mechanical voice makes attempt to contact Alliance classified shuttle as it enters a certain area.

 

"Attention, Council vessel.  Attention, Council vessel.  This message comes to serve as a warning. The immediate area has been classified a hot zone.  It is advised that Council inhabitants turn back as to not get involved in ongoing fire fights.  Illium enforcement cannot guarantee your safety if you seek to proceed further.  If you press further, you may and can be held under the jurisdiction of Illium's interplanetary law.  I repeat, you may and can be held under the jurisdiction of Illium's interplanetary law.  You have thus been served warning."

 

The transition ends abruptly.  Cole spares the processing strength to keep track of the Alliance shuttle within the Illium traffic systems.

[Terca]

"Androkan." Called the pilot of the shuttle into the area where the three were staying. "A transmission has warned us that the region we are passing near is a hot zone. The closest area to here on my nav is Baladrum's safe house."

 

Deidrus glanced up from the floor of the shuttle and made a clicking noise before replying, "Interesting. Send me the extranet signature so I can reply." A short moment passed before Deidrus opened his omni-tool and replied. "This is Spectre Androkan, this shuttle is contingent upon my vessel and I am operating under council authority. A location near here is of interest to my employers and if there is a situation on the ground we can be moved to assist."

 

Whether the subject would reply was beyond Deidrus as a random message from the exnet could be anything from a ghost message bounced as it was looking for the intended client or it could be a spoof designed to keep prying eyes away. That would be up to the operator to decide, and their proximity to Baladrum's safehouse made it worth replying to on its own.

[siphernin]

Intercepting, recording, and deleting the  message before Illium enforment could collect it, Cole relayed the message to its owner.  "Spectre Androkan, eh?  What do you think Cole?"  

 

"Voice recognition seems to match sample taken by Alliance spyware in Council network.  There is a seventy-two percent chance that the voiced Spectre is whom he says he is."

 

Kanae set a device against a wall and turned it a quarter to arm it.  "Patch me in to their frequency.  Keep this location scrambled."

 

"Confirmed," Cole spoke as it bounced its transmission signal off several hundred location around Nos Astros.  "Please wait a moment.  ... ... ... Proceed."

 

"A Spectre, eh?  You're a long way from Council space," Kanae started suspiciously with his voice change mod on to give him an almost Asari voice.  "Out here in the Terminus systems, your Council authority only amounts to how well you shoot and how well you can avoid being shot.  So I wonder what assignment could bring you out here into a hot zone."

[Terca]

"A candid interest in a certain arms dealer's security." Deidrus replied keeping his tone unchanged. He questioned whether the person on the other end was part of the IDF or NAPD or simply a merc doing security work. Eclipse... That would be interesting. "My mission has put me in the path of a particular assassin and to complete it I need to find Baladrum... It is apparent that his safehouse is nearby though, the hot zone would not happen to be the building itself, would it?"

 

If he is there, we drop in anyways. With the shuttle we could get close barring there being anti-air emplacements. It would certainly cut down in time and would make exfil easier... Well, for him anyways. The ODPS was designed to have a verticality advantage but he didn't know if his allies would be so easily disposed to jumping the distance. Just another test. He decided.

[Kel Riever]

Morgan waited for his contact, leaning against a wall, with a busy corridor to his left and a balcony that overlooked the descending spires of Omega on his right.  He had to shift his location from his initial meeting point, as it reeked of something relieving itself.  Hopefully his contact was resourceful enough to figure it out.  Morgan had run into the type that couldn’t be bothered to look ten meters away.

 

It didn’t take long for a woman matching the description Morgan received to approach him.  She wore a set of engineer coveralls, and would have been attractive if she didn’t look so haggard.  When she spied Morgan, she forced a smile.  “There you are,” she greeted like an old friend.

 

“Nice to see you, Lena,” Morgan replied, just as uncomfortable with putting up the friendly image.  It wasn’t his nature.  He had no doubt that ‘Lena’ was not the woman’s real name, but the rest of her seemed to offer no threat.  In all likelihood, Lena was one of a long list of civilians who owed something to The Shadow Broker, or were desperate enough to seek employment with such an entity.  All the romantic notions of wealthy, suave agents couldn’t be farther from reality for most of the people who transferred information as Morgan and Lena did.  Most were the type not worth sparing a second glance at.  Or maybe in Morgan’s case, the type most wouldn’t want to be around.

 

Lena gave Morgan a peck on the cheek and pretended to affectionately take his hand.  When she did, she passed a thumbnail sized drive into his palm.  It wasn’t the smoothest of handoffs, but the benefit of meeting on Omega is that no one would pay attention to a common transfer between two people.  Curiosity could bring trouble, and the amount of illegal contraband swapping hands at any given moment was hard for anyone to keep track of.  The two made small talk for a few minutes, and Morgan was about to come up with an excuse to move on, when Lena spoke.  “I’ve got to be on a shuttle in five hours.  Until then, I’ve got time to kill.  This isn’t the safest place for people like me to wander alone, if you know what I mean.

 

Morgan looked into Lena’s eyes.  They looked as tired and hopeless as he felt.  He knew that what lay ahead meant nothing; a brief respite between two people with nowhere to go.

 

“Okay, Lena.”

 

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

 

 

The encounter was clumsy, explosive, unsatisfying and short.  Morgan and Lena collapsed afterward on the cheaply made bed of the cramped rental cabin.  In typical fashion for a dive motel on Omega, vacancy had been provided with an hourly fee option.  Lena, exhausted in all likelihood before she had even met Morgan, dozed off in a heavy slumber.  Morgan lay awake next to her for a while, staring at the ceiling and bare walls, before he made sure the alarm was set for her and rolled out of the bed.  In all the time it took him to suit up in his armor and gear, Lena didn’t wake.  Morgan used his omni-tool to import the data from the tiny drive she had given him.  He then crushed the drive between his thumb and forefinger, and tossed it into the incinerator.  Morgan went to the door without sparing a glance back.

 

Like most low-end cabins, the one Morgan and Lena had rented exited straight into the Omega hallways.  Morgan made sure the door was locked behind him, before heading off.  He had only taken a few steps when he noticed a vorcha in the corridor staring at him with fearful eyes.  The creature's hand was extended, palm up, in begging fashion.

 

In a flash, Morgan had pulled out his Phalanx heavy pistol, placing the laser-targeting dot on the vorcha’s forehead.  “You take me for that much of a sucker?  Why don’t you scout another victim for your gang.” 

 

“I no mess with smart human,” the vorcha hissed, and then ran off.

 

Morgan watched the vorcha until it had passed out of sight.  He sighed and put away the Phalanx.  After double-checking to make sure the door of the cabin was locked, Morgan walked down the halls of Omega, among the lowlifes he fit in with.

[siphernin]

"Candid, eh?  Usually people only have five reasons two see an arms dealer.  Three if its to see a black market arms dealer of Baladrum's status.  And if you're looking for an assassin, that gives up one.  Still, Spectre or not, this isn't Council space, and I could definitely have you run in for trespassing into an active crime scene."  There was an active pause in the speech as Kanae mulled mulled over his options.  "Though I reckon that the NAPD could use the guns of someone as skilled as a Spectre to "move" things along."

 

Kanae looked down below at the turrets still aimlessly firing into the port.  Shot were being volleyed both ways as the mercs angled up at the windows where the 'shooters' were taking refuge.  

 

"So tell you what, Spectre.  The NAPD got a call in almost two hours ago from a club called Ber'ah.  Apparently, some a**hole thought it'd be fun to put some explosions at the entrance.  Cracked it open as easy as a salarian egghead.  Rumor has it that your man, Baladrum was doing some recruiting for a hunt.  He didn't much like the hunt coming to him and now he's got some kind of fire fight going on at a closed down space port ten kilometers due north east.  Maybe your assassin figured he'd start work early, or maybe someone else has an issue with your batarian.  Either way, I'm not much of a fan of explosions going off in my district.  Too much paperwork.  So, you help clear the way for us, and I'll consider putting in a commendation for aiding the NAPD to my superiors.  Sound good to you?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena (quietly to Vera): "Vera, trace the incoming signal, and be quiet. The voice doesn't sound quite like Asari dialect."

 

"I'll do my best." Vera replied.

[Gabi_MuadDiB]

“By the Ancestors! I thought you were with them damned Vorchas!!!” Arrin said while standing up from the floor, now starting to recover from the adrenaline rush. Trying to outrun armed pursuers was somethign that always stressed him... well that always streesed everyone. He took a look at the corpses and realized that the Krogan was not to be crossed ‘All right, it seems he doesn’t wants to kill me… but he could be after me as well… Men! If I would had known all the s*** I would get into I’ll had never tacked that damned data, bosh’tet Wuldar!!!’ He looked at the Krogan and besides been scared of him he was also grateful, He knew that without him he would be another corpse in the streets of Omega known to no one, looted and throwed in the incinerators without anyone to mourn him ‘yeah, let’s give him my name… anyway if he is after me I don’t have much of a chance to scape, right…?’ “My Name is Arrin’Uda nar Rayya and I’m really grateful for your help Sir” Arrin bowed his head with a thankful gesture...

[Terca]

The Spectre tilted his head to the side slightly before responding. "I'll see what I can do." He replied before cutting off the transmission. "Pilot, change course to the spaceport. If the assassin has already started to put the squeeze on Baladrum it's probably as the Officer said. Checking the port would save time." There was a wave of a hand visible from the open door of the cockpit that showed the man understood and there was a short sensation of pressure as the shuttle banked to the side and changed course for the north.

 

"It looks like Addle has gone ahead without us. Not an unforeseen event... We'll be entering into a combat zone right off the shuttle so I recommend you get ready now." He advised the occupants, though he was fairly sure they would do so on their own. He himself checked his Paladin and switched the safety off while doing the same with the Mattock. He would have checked the ODPS but as the others in the ship were unarmored (well, not protected against heat) he decided against it. He'd rely on the ability of the ship's armormaster.

[siphernin]

The turian ended the call and accepted the terms which made Kanae smirk.  He had half expected a Spectre to be more suspicious than the way he sounded.  All the same, he could not deny the turn of luck.  If the IDF or the NAPD did show up before their time, he was sure the Spectre could either talk hiw way out of things or shoot his way out of things.  Either way would be a decent test of the kind of man or woman that was attempting to steal him from his status quo life.

 

"Cole," Kanae spoke up in his dialect.  "Keep the turrets on the mercs, but ease them off the newcomers.  Send them the coordinates to the port using those old NAPD codes.  They should still work."

 

"Acknowledged.  Warning, threat of foreign program attempting to chase down unit's run time."

 

Kanae paused for a moment, "Are they close?"

 

"Host program is potentially searching through false hub nods.  Engaging Cyber-Warfare Protocols.  Creating more nods.  Will keep Agent updated on status."

 

"See that you do, Cole.  I don't much like surprises."