Anika and Dahlia had never seen Morgan look perplexed.
It was a sight of irony in and of itself.
The officer with a bloody nose was looking fairly steamed. Whatever Morgan was thinking, he finally shook his head and went over to the man. "Here, let me."
"I don't need help from you," the bloody nosed officer said angrily, his authority and pride stomped worse that the foot planted in his face.
"Easy," Morgan said as he pulled out a couple of oval shaped gel tablets from a belt compartment. "This will help." The officer cautiously stepped back but Morgan simply stretched out the open palm of one hand while placing his other hand on the officer's shoulder.
There was a moment when the officer looked like he was about to choose to do things the hard way, and then in a moment, it seemed he changed his mind and took the tablets. "You swallow these?"
"No," Morgan consulted, "You shove them up each nostril. They'll disolve, stop the bleeding, and you'll heal faster. You'll still have to get your nose set by a doc."
For whatever reason, the officer acquiesced. "I don't know why I'm trusting you." He put the tablets up his nose and they worked immediately.
"Because I'm full of good advice. Such as, next time ask before reaching into a car and trying to pull out someone drunk in combat armor."
Two more black and whites showed up at the scene and four more officers got out.
Sgts. Brooks and Mumford got out of the first one, and Officer Tanus and Sgt. Lang got out of the second with their weapons drawn.
"I don't care who anyone is here. Everyone except the C-sec officers, hit the deck, hands behind your backs. Now!" Brooks ordered. "We'll sort out everything downtown."
"It's about time!" Puliski said. "Cuff 'em all. Load 'em in the back of the squad cars. We've got some interesting charges. Assaulting an officer for the one in the yellow and black armor. Multiple accessories to that. Resisting arrest. Reckless driving. And a possible DUI. Book 'em. You have the right to remain silent. I suggest you use that right. You have the right to an attorney......"
....."So that was when the Maurauder's blew the train track and the Asari commando's in the train lost their commanding officer. Well what was a captain to do but fly in and drop a volley on the Marauder shuttle's and whisk the plucky Asari to safety. One took a round to the thigh and....".
"Wait a minute". Esterban looked up. "Oh for crying out.... Look, it looks like they want to bring you in".
"If I ride with you I could finish telling you the story".
"Deal".
"Can I use your comm"?
"I don't....".
"It's this connection".
Jess showed him who she was connecting to and Esterban's eye's widened. "Thats.... I private number".
Jess's eye's sparkled with merriment. "And that's a yes".
"Oh so now we have rights?" Vayne asked in the back of the c-sec skycar, handcuffed and sitting as he rolled his eye, "What about the right to know by what charges you've been arrests for? Or the right of unarbitrary detainment? Or..."
Vayne listed nor and more rights in the back of thr skycar, and it was clear this a-a go I to be a long trip.
"Hey!" A collective cry of protest went up from the group being arrested.
Several minutes later, Jess, Anika, Morgan, Dahlia, Vayne and anyone else unwise enough to gather curiosity at the people being arrested, were hauled into C-Sec. It was chaos. There was frisking, confiscation of equipment, fingerprinting, and the booking...oh, the booking of charges. Assault, driving under the influence, resisting arrest, loitering and jaywalking. Officer Pulaskin made sure that everybody got a good look at him while he threw his weight around, figuratively and literally.
"Really," Morgan said to both Jess and Dahlia as they sat at the desks while waiting for all their personal information to be taken. "You had to sass off, Dahlia, and kick, Jess, some C-Sec officers on the Citadel? If you wanted to visit C-Sec, you could have just gone, ordered a hundred donuts, and delivered them yourself."
"You, wit te smart mout," one of the officers said, "Tat's anoter charge fer ya!'
"Of what?"
"Harrassment and conspiring!"
"Those aren't even legal charges. Besides, that's another two charges."
"Don't push yer luck, ya two-timing tief! I got a lot more tan tat if I want ta!"
Jess looked up and down the bench. "Well, at least the whole crew's here. Save's time of get everyone together for the next briefing". Stare's met her as she met them in befuddlement. "What"?
"I blame you for this". Anika said looking pointedly ahead.
"Hey you were driving".
"You kicked one in the face"! Dahlia exclaimed.
"After you mouthed off to him". Morgan pointed out. "I was innocent in all of this".
Vayne sat near the group, looking extremely sour as he growled."I managed to stay under radar this whole trip....and then you guys happened." Vayne said as he looks to morgan, dahlia, Anita, and jess.
"You and the apparently UNLAWFUL DETAINMENT AND SEIZURE BRIGADE! !!" Vayne yelled out Lou so everyone could hear.
"That's a disorderly conduct charges charges there buddy." One of the officers said.
"I'll show you disorderly when I sue this department for violating its treaties and duties." Vayne said as he leaned bwck angrily.
"Yeah, yeah, you go do that. Maybe find a girl and have so kids while your at whatever fantasy you got..." the officer said as he drew his sheath stick, "Now shut it before you get sent to lockdown."
Vayne winced at the insult, an actually hurt look crossing his face before his face contorted jnto an angry snarl, but at hearing hearing threat keep sitting silent, seething in anger.
Jess saw the look and leaned over. "Don't worry luv. This happens a lot in my line of work. It doesn't come out as anything more than a slap on the wrist. Then these guy's get taken upstair's and bawled out. I mean, all those officer's and resources in clear of the ground staff in a docking station? They recorded it. It's probably playing on the news and all they'll see is Tax payer's credit's going into an arrest where everyone went quietly. We're not the bad guy's here".
"My name is Valkara. That's all you need to know for now." Valkara sharply said back to the turian, closing the locker over and entering a safety code into it, she added "I knew you were a cabal, must be special to be a biotic amongst a military that employ mostly combat and tech into their warfare." Valkara walked over to Eteon while slightly swaying her hips "Its my duty to explain details of different missions and tasks. Oh... I almost forgot," Valkara turned her hood and slowly paced towards the door "you have a nice rack" She added before exiting.
"Hey, at least I apologized for calling him a fat racist ass hole," Dahlia said, "He called me a prostitute just because I'm Asari. It was in the heat of the moment. Then I cooperated. I knew I was headed downtown, but then Vayne showed up and scared them, and Jess kicked one in the nose. What the hell did everyone expect? Goddess, you'd even been run in on Omega!"
Irina checked in with C-sec, and she agreed to put her bike in storage at a monthly charge until the mission was over at which time she would obtain a license and registration for the bike or take it to a world where she would obtain one. She paid her fine as stipulated in the agreement and was told she had to wait four hours for the paperwork to clear the bureaucracy.
Irina sighed, "Alright, I guess it's better than spending a night in jail. You got any coffee, and perhaps a donut around here?"
"There's a vending machine over there for coffee," the clerk said, "Hey Sarge! Are there any donuts left? This nice lady here would like one."
Sergeant Dixon opened the box on his desk. "Yeah, there's a couple in here: a glazed and a jelly donut. They're from this morning, though. Help yourself."
"Thanks." Irina put her credit in the machine and a paper cup dropped and was filled with coffee and creamer. She walked over to the sergeant's desk and took the jelly donut. After eating the donut and drinking the coffee, she crumpled the cup in her hand and tossed it in the recycle bin.
"I'm going to wander around for a while, okay?" She asked.
Naleena contacted Captain Bailey on her omni-tool. "Bailey, this is Naleena. You've got one of mine, Frank Eli, in custody. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time doing what the thought was a good deed for the wrong person. Cut him loose."
Naleena's omni-tool kept beeping.... Anika, what could she want?
"Anika, this is Naleena. You gave me an emergency page. What's wrong?"
There was no reply. Anika's omni-tool beeped. Her wrists were cuffed behind her back and she couldn't activate her communicator. Naleena checked her omni-tool for Anika's location.
"Anika is in a C-sec squad car."
"Locate Captain Jess Stone."
"Captain Jess Stone is in a C-sec squad car."
Naleena sighed. "Locate Dahlia T'aniri"
"Dahlia T'aniri is in a C-sec squad car."
Naleena took a cigarette out of her case and lit it.
"Your a peach luv. Well seeing as we're not going anywhere, let's talk collector's. We've got the original's and the new breed. I can't begin to guess how their going to work together. Or even if they will..... What do you think luvs? Think the Aspirant's and Collector's working together will be a thing? Because the collector's seemed to be the more marshall force. The Aspirant's on the other hand. They had access to the weaponary from what we saw.... But they didn't use it.... Maybe their not ready yet? Like they need to be taught to use weapons. Or even see a weapon and know to use it. They just swarmed".
Morgan was looking around the precinct and he saw Frank Eli emerge from a side corridor. In the meantime, he commented on Jess' inquiry about the Collectors and Aspirants. "There's a horrifying thought; the Aspirants using weapons. I don't exactly know how they would work together. There isn't enough information, at least for me, about either. If I didn't have other concerns on my mind first, I'd probably start strategizing on how we could find out more.
"Not that I want to reopen a wound, but I'm pretty sure you know what I'm concerned about, Jess." Morgan looked over to Anika and Dahlia, then Vayne. With a cautionary glance at the krogan, he mentioned, "At some point, people should be briefed if we are going to try and get that ship of yours back."
Naleena was walking by the booking area of C-sec and heard some familiar voices. She looked through the narrow wire reinforced window of the door, saw practically her entire team sitting in there, and rested her head against the wall. She contacted Captain Bailey on her omni-tool.
Bailey had just returned from the new Dunkin’ Donuts that opened next to C-sec, and he was sitting at his desk having a cinnamon cake donut. He punched a button on his intercom. “What is it now, Naleena?”
“It seems like you have my entire team in booking at the moment. I’d like to have a word with them. I think we can clear up this matter and save C-sec a lot of paperwork. What were they brought in for?” Naleena asked.
“One, Asari, prostitution, and verbally assaulting an officer. She thought apologizing would get her out of it,” Bailey said, “Another, this time a human, kicked an officer in the nose. She also has a bloody nose, not caused by my officers. So assault and battery on an officer.”
“Tall and blonde? Or with bright red hair?”
“No. Doesn’t fit either description.”
“Jess.”
“Driving under the influence.”
“Bailey, let me talk to them and then it’s straight to outprocessing, okay?” Naleena asked.
“Well, that’s less I have to do. We’re busy enough. Get your crew out of here as soon as possible.” Bailey said, “I’ll set up a conference room for you. It’ll be in…. room…. 233.”
“Thanks.” Naleena waited.
Three officers entered the booking area, one of them a sergeant. “Alright, you’re being moved to room 233. Captain Bailey’s orders. Just stay in single file, keep your mouths shut, and there will be no trouble.” Sgt. Provenza said.
“What did we do now?” Dahlia asked.
“Didn’t I just say stay quiet? That means you, too.” Provenza reiterated, “No move along.”
The group moved down to the conference room and took seats around the conference table.
“What did they put us in here for?” Vayne asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe Bailey’s going to talk to us.” Dahlia said.
Naleena poured herself a cup of coffee in a paper cup, and entered the room. She stood in front of them and just stared. “Hooligans! All of you! I read the file. This was a routine traffic stop.”
Jess and Anika started to speak.
“Shut up!” Naleena shouted, “This was a routine traffic stop… license and registration. But let me guess, there was no license and registration. And then one of the officers made a remark, and you, Dahlia decided to get all defensive about it.”
“I apologized….”
“Shut up!” Naleena shouted. She took a breath, and shook her head.
“The first rule of being stopped by the police is this: be polite. Ask – ‘Is something wrong officer?’ That is the correct first response. Not telling the officer quote: You humans are all racist. End quote. And then calling him a fat racist ass hole! This was later followed up with a kick to the nose of another officer, from you Jess. And you Vayne don’t come in and start threatening them with your ‘higher authority’ that doesn’t hold squat on the Citadel.
“You don’t do these things especially when you know that security has been pretty much a lockdown since the Geth attack two years ago. Things are not like they used to be. Six squad cars for a routine traffic stop. This is insane. Save this kind of energy for our mission. Do you realize our entire team except for Eteon has been arrested?” Naleena asked.
“Where’s Irina?” Dahlia asked.
“I don’t know. She got a traffic violation, but she reported to C-sec to put her bike in storage. She got busted on a test run. She’s around here somewhere.” Naleena said. “Now I’ve had all of you released, but before you go, I had VERA search the archives and she found this informative video that I think we should watch.
“Now I’ve arranged public transit back to the Janiri for all of you. I am going to have a drink.”
Vayne had to bite his tongue so hard to keep from snapping back, he was surprised it hadn't come off. Him? Threatening? All he'd done was inform c-sec of their own prior treaties and commitments and offered to lend a hand in the spirit of law enforcement brotherhood.
'Some people are just so ungrateful...' Vayne thought as he kept silent and still.
Well...the knife was stuck, there was no other way around it.
Essul had given up on trying to pry open the box lid when he'd realized it was now magnetically sealed, meaning it could only open from the outside manually, since he couldn't open any electronic panels to get into the system. Worse still was his combat knife, stuck in the lid about halfway and now caught in the magnetic hold of the crate.
So essul had resorted to his previous tactic, attempting to hit the lid of the crate hard enough that he could maybe knock it off, though not with his biotics. Last thing he needed was to start burning what precious metabolic energy he had unnecessarily.
The two guards stood next to each other, a plate of doughnuts and some coffee set atop the crate they were guarding in the interview room. The pounding was almost rythemical, and the plate kept jolting a bit with each one, slowly coming to the edge.
One of the officer went over and pushed the plate back to the center of the box, picking a doughnut up as he walked back. All in all it was a pretty easy guarding job, and they couldn't see what gave torres so much trouble before.
"Ah." Eteon looked to the exit before looking back to her armor case. "The thing is standard issue..." She trailed off before looking back to the empty doorway. She doesn't seem to be the type interested in armaments for the right reasons. Then again there are no right reasons to be into arms. She made a clicking noise before closing her case with a data lock and a physical imprint key, standing, and making her way towards the doorway. Regardless of whether or not the lady was a bit odd she was the first one who had spoken up on the ship.
Stuffy Turian ships were a bit too rigid most the time but at least she knew how to deal with them. She was uncomfortable in an alien ship. She didn't have anything against them, it was just weird to her.
Valkara still waited on the return of Naleena, but it had been sometime since she had seen her.
"Naleena, I've sat down and had a little chat with that handsome doctor of yours and got some medication from him. I hope you don't mind but I read some of the dossiers of the people that were joking the crew and even had the pleasure to meet an attractive turian. What time will you be back." Valkara had typed on her omni-tool to spectre Naleena.
Decor. Decor. Now that Eteon wasn't looking for a place to put her stuff she got a chance to take in the ship's contents on the whole. There was something odd, even inappropriate about the inside of a military vessel being visually pleasing. It wasn't like the walls of the hallway had paintings or art, it was just aesthetically appealing. It had subtle curves, uninterrupted lines of color, and lacked many hard edges. It was in direct contrast with the Turian style. Say what you will about their dislike for the extraneous, they still managed to make things bluntly clear.
I wonder... Is it easier to come to a reserved Turian ship, or come to a pleasing Asari ship? She pondered this if only to normalize her own discomfort while she looked around the level for the hooded woman.
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