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[Cknarf]

Frank was looking over the scans he had made of Sao's pistol, when he heard the boom. He moved to the window for a better look.

"So... what was the point of that again?"  He knew there was going to be explosions, but nothing of that magnitude.  "I hope nobody was hurt too bad." He shook his head, as smoke rose from the building.

What a mess.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Iole leaned toward Eteon. "Let's just say we got the job done and leave it at that. Virus and cyber attack? I don't know how to do that sh*t. Anyone else here know how? I didn't think so."

 

The skyvan pulled up to the safe house and parked. The teams got out.

 

"Does anyone remember the pass phrase?" Iole asked, "There's some stupid pass phrase."

 

"The duck quacks at midnight or some stupid **** like that." Dahlia said.

 

"Okay, you try then," Iole said.

 

Dahlia walked up to the door and knocked. Mira answered. "What?"

 

"The duck quacks at midnight."

 

"That hardly seems fair."

 

"Alright let's go." Dahlia said and the door opened.

 

Mira, Jenus, Tallis, and Naleena's team were inside. Naleena was sitting in her leather chair having a drink and smoking a cigarette she just lit. The television was on and she was watching the news. The coverage was switching between the bomb threat which was being defused, and the scene at the police station. Outside the police station she could see ... in handcuffs ... Jess, Irina, and Anika. She knew what happened there. That was not unforeseen. But seeing them on television? That was unexpected. She was making a copy of this, too. She saw Avan being evacuated by ambulance. That, too, was unexpected. Fortunately they had his face blurred. He would have a police guard at the hospital. Then the scene switched back to the Nova Dawn building. The police were frantically moving everyone back. The vehicle exploded, and the Nova Dawn building collapsed.

 

Naleena knew the teams had entered, and they were talking. She motioned with her right hand for them to be quiet, and she did not make eye contact. Yet she continued to watch and listen to the events unfold on the television, sip her brandy, and smoke her cigarette in complete silence. Finally she crushed her cigarette, and turned off the television, and turned to the teams that just arrived.

 

"I just watched a team member being evacuated to the hospital in police custody. Three team members in plain view on television. And the Nos Astras Fire Department going into the Police Precinct Building to inspect it for a fire." Naleena said. "And... now the Nova Dawn building? On the bright side I don't think any evidence survived that."

 

Dahlia tried to speak.

 

Naleena made another hand motion that silenced her. "I know about the microdroids, and that was a complication. I want one word. Yes or No. Team gold. Did you complete your task?"

 

"Yes." Eteon said.

 

"Team blue?"

 

"Yes." Essul said.

 

"Then tell me, how the hell did a fire alarm get set off, and a team member get shot?" Naleena shouted. "Only the bomb threat was supposed to be breaking news. Not the police station! And certainly not the destruction of the Nova Dawn Building. I'm trying to live to be 1000. You guys are going to cut that to 600 at this rate."

 

"It was the gas grenades!" Dahlia said.

"I triggered the alarm in the server." Iole said at the exact same time.

 

"One at a time!" Naleena shouted, "Dahlia?"

 

"Avan used gas grenades to take out two guards in the basement," Dahlia explained, "Immediately afterward were being sprayed with foam and an alarm. Then an officer called and I figured I'd better pick up. I answered 'evidence.' and said that one of the officers... I use the name on her uniform, was messing around with her lighter near the alarm system. She seemed to buy it, but I don't think she did. What the f*ck else was I supposed to do? If I didn't answer they would have sent officers to investigate anyway."

 

Naleena couldn't really fault Dahlia. "Iole?"

 

"Well I got the data erased, but then you asked me to do some sort of cyber attack or virus? What the f*ck do you think I am? Some kind of computer wizard? So I figured that you just wanted some kind of diversion to keep the police occupied. What would do that? A fire alarm. So I triggered one in the server." Iole said.

 

"And you didn't think to warn the other team in the building, or your own team?" Naleena said, "Commandos use communicators don't they?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"Shut up. You didn't think to say, 'hey, Fred, I don't know how to do a viral attack, do you think a fire alarm would be okay?' I'm pretty sure Fred would have said 'No, just leave it.' That's what team leaders are for. Or maybe with the microdroids in the ducts he would have said 'Wait, John, we need to set off a fire alarm to facilitate our escape. Let me know when you're ready.' You know, basic stuff like coordination. Not having this thing turn into a charlie foxtrot that got Avan shot. Do you know what I have to do, now?"

 

Iole felt really bad, and was dragging around.

 

"Hey, look at me." Naleena said (paragon interrupt). "Iole. Look at me. We'll get through this. That was my fault about the cyber attack. I'm so used to depending on VERA for those things, and she wasn't available. I should have known better. We were short one tech. Just next time if you're not sure what to do, communicate. That's all I ask. Are we good?"

 

Iole smiled again. "Yeah, boss. We're good."

 

She took a breath. "It's okay guys, we got through it. This was a complicated job, a difficult job, and it was covering up my past. We got through it. It's messy, but we got through it. I'll get Avan out of the hospital, and give him a Spectre pardon. Sao is probably laughing his Salarian ass off watching this. I just hope he doesn't connect the car bomb with the police station. That would be very bad. Oh, our part of the mission went fine."

[Cknarf]

That's not the only thing Sao doesn't need to figure out. He thought, as he smiled to himself

Frank, still standing at the window, brought up the photo he had scanned.  He cropped out Sao.

There.

He closed his omni-tool, before taking a seat on one of the couches.

 

[Terca]

"Then what else are we going to do while on-planet?" Eteon asked from her position, as always, leaning against a wall. Though in this case it was a couch since the wall was a bit farther away from the group than she normally liked. "No criticism, just wondering. I'm a bit uneasy with spending much time here, though that could be post-mission jitters."

[Cknarf]

"Hopefully nothing." Frank laughed. "The longer I stick around, the more likely I am to be injured or incarcerated.  So far, everything's been great, just waiting for my luck to run out."  He shook his head.

I need to get back to the Janiri...

"Although, there is this bar you might like..." He shrugged. "The crowd isn't the friendliest, and the drinks are absolutely terrible, but I had myself a great time, nonetheless." Frank gave it two thumbs up.

[Terca]

"Are we talking hostile patronage bad?" Eteon asked, fiddling with talons. "Or terrible bar bad? If it's the first one then at least we can have some fun. I haven't been to a sh*tty tavern since I left Turian space. Where is it?"

 

Wait, hold on. She looked to Naleena. "But only if there's time, of course."

[Kel Riever]

"I'll go," Iole said to Frank.

 

"No," Mira ordered, "Everyone on the team is staying here until we're boarded on the shuttle and heading back to the Janiri."

[Cknarf]

"Definitely hostile and terrible."  Frank nodded.  "You'd probably fit in a little better than I did, that's for sure." He winced after the words came out of his mouth.

Nice, Frank.

"It's a little ways off the main strip, pretty easy to find."

"I'll go." Iole spoke up.

Alright! Backup.  

"No," Mira ordered, "Everyone on the team is staying here until we're boarded on the shuttle and heading back to the Janiri."

"Wait, do you mean all of the team, or just your team?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"I was thinking maybe we could blow up the Drakon Trade Center," Dahlia cracked, "Jenus could blow up another car in the parking structure."

 

Naleena shot her a look that if it could kill her head would be on a platter.

 

Dahlia cowered. "Sorry."

 

"Everything on Illium is recorded somewhere. This house is clean, and shielded. The commandos are under Mira's directive," Naleena said, "The rest of you, I'd highly recommend that you lay low and stay out of trouble. Given your history on the Citadel of all places, where I had to bail nearly the entire team out of jail, or at least it seemed that way. I think the most I'd do is go back to the hotel. There's a shower here you can use. I don't think my team will need to use it, but teams gold and blue should clean up before leaving. Don't leave the bathroom a mess.

 

"The hotel has a good restaurant, lounge and some entertainment. It's only until Synthetic Insights is finished with their work. Just stay out of trouble. That is an order."

[Cknarf]

"Got it, boss." Frank nodded. "Maybe next time, then?" He looked to Eteon and Iole.

[Terca]

Eteon shrugged. "It's no great loss. There are a great number of terrible places to get a drink in the galaxy. We can always find another one." Though, when might be a different creature than 'if'. Regardless, Eteon didn't mind much. She could enjoy a quiet drink in a lounge more than one in a rowdy bar anyways, it was just the tourist trap of wanting to see things they really shouldn't that interested Eteon. But she had some measure of self-restraint.

 

"I need to wash up but carapace is hardly the easiest to clean with this... Stuff." Dramatizing her particular issue she scratched along a groove in her neck and when she withdrew her claw the whitish-yellowish foam was easy to see on the end. "I'll go last. I'm in no rush."

[Cknarf]

"It's even worse when it's baked on, and mixed with sand." Frank said, referring to the foam. "After the walk back to the Audron, it was on there pretty good. Hell, I'm still finding it." He picked at the crease in his armored forearm, revealing some pink dust. "At least yours it isn't pink." He shrugged.

[Terca]

"At least." Eteon admitted. "But it's not in your skin." She countered. "She looked at her claws and splayed her fingers. "Common misconception number 1 of Turian Anatomy. The Claws are useful for piercing, but mostly used for pinning and climbing since skinned animals on Palaven have thick hide. Most the time they're used for hygienic purposes since our carapaces have irregular edges to them."

 

A pause. "Like helping clean out dirt." For whatever reason she felt like giving an example. "But enough about Turian grooming practices."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"Thank the Goddess most of the foam was caught by the balaclava otherwise it would take forever to clean out of my crest," Dahlia said, "We have similar problems in that department, Eteon."

[Cknarf]

"You know, human fingers have many uses as well..." Frank removed a glove, and stuck out his index finger. "Now I don't know if turians get boogers, but humans sure do, and boy, do these help." He wiggled his finger.

"What about you Dahlia? Do asari get boogers?"

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"TMI, Frank."

[Terca]

Eteon chuckled a bit before patting the back of her head after where her crest ended just above the brow. "Most females of the species have it easy since the brow and jaw aren't terrible to clean. Turians with longer crests, even females, have trouble because the flanges are completely immobile and never grow back if broken." She held her hands about 30cm apart and arched her fingers as if twine joined the two hands. "They have to use something like... There's a turian word for it which is impossible to translate to non-Asari dialects, like a piece of cloth that can slot between the ridges." She paused for a moment, thinking. "Like 'floss' I think, the human string used for cleaning teeth, but broader."

 

From Eteon's perspective, frank's word 'booger' made no sense. In her home language on Palaven around 98.8% of words matched up more or less. For better or for worse 'booger' fell into the 'abstract description' category and was explained to her as 'nasal droppings'. She tried to hide her expression of apprehension, which worked more or less since Turian faces weren't very expressive, what with the hard face.

[Cknarf]

"So asari do get boogers." Frank smiled. 

Aww man I wonder if they're blue?

Miraculously, Frank was able to stop himself from vocalizing that question.

[favoritehookeronthecitadel]

"Ugh..."
 

Avan woke up in a hospital bed in a room that didn't look familiar. It must have been near Nos Astra. A female asari officer was standing in front of him. "Good, you're finally awake. I had to keep some of the other offices from forcibly waking you. That wouldn't have been pretty."

 

"Certainly not as much as you are."

 

The asari rolled her eyes. "My name is Shanalea T'Por. Charming me won't make this situation any easier for you. There's some police in this district that want blood after that entire...spectacle. Friends of mine are very angry. So you're lucky you have me interrogating you. No matter how much of a loser or twisted lunatic you are, I'm a professional about these matters."

 

The asari paused with a knowing glare and gave Avan a second to process what she was saying.

 

"Now, I can only do so much to keep the rest of the police away from you, so it's best that you tell me everything right now. And since there were no deaths, I'll see that you won't get a life sentencing. Maybe even get you into a decent prison of your choice. But you have seconds to tell me everything, or that's a forgotten fantasy."

 

"Forgive me for acting inappropriate...I'm still half-conscious." Avan smiled as he leaned on his pillow.

 

"Well you better perk up. This is now, Mr. Rezal. Yes, 'Bob', we know who you are. A very infamous bounty hunter. And whatever your group was looking for, I presume they found it. You have to tell me what that is. You have to tell me about the mission. Who's in charge, who was on each team, what went wrong, what went right, everyone's names, and not any code names either. The names of everyone that was involved in this mission, even indirectly, no matter how minor. Where have you all been, where they are going to be, and where they are right now."

 

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Mrs?"

 

"Officer T'Por."

 

"Mrs Goodcop...um-"

 

"Dammit!" T'Por banged her first on a nearby desk. "You are going to tell me everything, now Mr. Rezal! You don't want this to get any worst! This isn't Omega."

 

"If it was, a group of vorcha would probably be eating your face right now." Avan scanned the arari from head down. "And maybe that's not the only thing." He grinned.

 

T'Por smiled and shook her head. "You're the one setting your funeral. Go ahead." She walked out.

 

Avan relaxed in his bed. 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"You know I'd like to have one mission where everything goes smoothly and we don't end up losing something of value." Vayne said sarcastically to himself as he watched the others discuss their hygine. He'd been in the nice and climate controlled car, and so about the only thing he had to complain about was the shortness of his wait, and the calmness of the drive back. "I remember back when those happened. They were great..." he said with a small sigh.

 

 

Essul wordlessly left the group as he walked calmly to the showers, his armor boots lightly thudding against the floor as he stepped into the bathroom area and stepped into the shower. He activated the hottest setting for the water and stood under it as the jet of steamy water fell upon his armored enviromentally sealed suit, washing over the foam coated ceramic alloy as the goop broke apart with relative ease, sliding off of his grey black armor. He simply stood under it for a solid minute before he turned off the water, stepping out as he cracked his neck and rubbing his boots on the small cloth mat to dry them off, bringing up his omnitool as he stepped out of the bathroom.

 

His armor clean, albiet wet, essul activated a small slot to appear on the underside of his helmet, and reached into one of his pockets to extra a small vial. He reached up into the slot and drew out an empty vial, inserted the new vile it into the helmet, and closed the slot up. He shuddered a bit as he felt his medication enter his bloodstream, his dosage starting to wear off from the long party and his biotic exertion, and he seemed to relax a bit more as he felt the syrium dull his headache and the tingling running up his spine.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

After everyone showered and got dressed the group headed back to the hotel. They looked normal and were behaving normally like a group of tourists. Naleena left them in the lobby. The sun was coming up. She was tired, but she took a car to the hospital on the corner of 7th and Main: the one nearest the police station where in all likelihood Avan Rezal was taken.

 

She checked at the admissions desk.

 

"Can I help you?" the young asari receptionist asked.

 

"I'm looking for Avan Rezal. Is he a patient here?" Naleena asked.

 

"You're not family. I'm sorry, I can't say one way or another." the receptionist said.

 

Naleena displayed her Spectre ID.

 

"I'm sorry. Yes, he's being held on the third floor by the Nos Astras Police while he recovers from his wounds." she said.

 

"Thank you." Naleena left and walked to the stairwell. She decided to take the stairs up for some reason. Elevators are too easy. Stairs are good exercise.

 

Two officers were seated outside a room and one was standing, and on her communicator. Naleena approached. The important looking officer stepped in front of her. "I'm sorry, this room is off limits. Official police investigation. I'm Lt. T'por, Nos Astras Police Dept."

 

Naleena flashed her ID. "Who is in the room?"

 

"A bounty hunter by the name off Avan Rezal," she said, "He's under arrest for numerous crimes, the latest involved assaulting two police officers and theft of police evidence."

 

"Your case is closed. I need him for a mission. Council business," Naleena said.

 

"But... you can't just..." Lt. T'por said,

 

"I just did."

 

"But I need to talk to him about the rest of the case and who else was involved."

 

"That's not my problem. He has a Spectre pardon. Go home and get some rest." Naleena said.

 

T'por shook her head and stomped off with her other officers.

 

Naleena entered the room. She pulled out a pen, removed the cap and it emitted a jamming signal. "Good morning, Avan. We have five minutes to talk. From the look on T'por's face you didn't tell her anything. How's your shoulder?"

 

"It's been better. Thanks for getting rid of them." Avan said, "Did everything else go alright?"

 

Naleena nodded. "When can you be moved? I'd like to have you transferred to the Janiri as soon as possible. It'll remove any likelihood of any questioning as a 'witness' if you know what I mean. The police can be very persistent."

 

"Probably a good idea." Avan agreed.

 

"I'll make arrangements, then." Naleena said. "We'll talk later."

 

Naleena closed her pen, left Avan's room and went to the nurse's desk. She flashed her Spectre ID. "Is Mr. Rezal able to be moved?"

 

"His condition is stable if that's what you're asking Spectre." the nurse said, "And yes, he could be moved."

 

"I want Mr. Rezal transferred to this Asari Military base, and into the CSV Janiri's Med-Bay ASAP. Council authority." Naleena said.

 

"Yes, Ma'am." the nurse said, and she made the calls to the appropriate staff in the hospital.

Modifié par sH0tgUn jUliA, 01 septembre 2014 - 07:33 .

[Cknarf]

Frank returned to room 1009, to drop off his equipment.  He checked his messages.

----------------------
Recipient: Frank Eli
From: Kira T'sae
Subject: Our favorite turian

Marius finally came to see me.  He was a bit cold at first, but after I got him in the private rooms, he warmed right up. It was strange, we just talked the whole time.  I got the day off tomorrow, and we're spending the day together. I'm very excited.  Thanks for talking to him, I knew my little Frank Eli would come through. 

--Kira
------------------------

Frank smiled. He sent a few messages of his own.

----------------------
Recipient: Marius Gavian
From: Frank Eli
Subject: Pistol ID

Marius, I came across a strange pistol, and I was wondering if you could tell me something about it.  Attached are some scans of the exterior. Appears to be of salarian manufacture.

-- Frank

*message sent*

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

Recipient: JANIRI CREW--ALL
From: Frank Eli
Subject: 'Entertainment'

I'm going to see if I can't make this headache worse.  You can find me at the bar.

--Frank

*message sent*

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

Frank took a seat at the end of the bar.  He waved the asari bartender over.

"You got bourbon?"

She nodded.

"Let me get a double. Neat."

 

[Terca]

Back in her room Eteon was putting on a new tunic she had bought from one of the stores on the various strips of Nos Astra. It was white and black, comfortable for turian dress, and to her liking. She kept her book with her when she looked out her window to the layers of Illium below, the city upon city woven together like the great strands of a spider's nest. Of course spider's weren't exactly what came to her mind. It was more of a semi-aquatic bovine creature which was able to create a form of silk from it's chest-based udders. Completely harmless, and rather easy to tame even if the third eyes were unsettling.

 

She saw Frank's message and thought about heading down to the bar if only to get something to snack on. She didn't have her personal funds since she was no longer on the Audron, and her accounts were temporarily frozen. It was defense against deserters, a more practical rule during the unification wars but these days there were few people barefaced enough to actually desert a ship. The fact she had left the Audron, on good terms at that, did not mean that she was going to be exempt from the rules. Until then, she had her military stipend during shore leave, which did not specify its terms of payment based on the ship she was on. It was enough, comfortable for most Turians on ground or station for a day or so, but since she wasn't sure how long it would take for SI to finish their business she would prefer to stretch her credit, as it were.

 

I'll go, I just won't drink anything. If the Janiri would cover the stuff most bars called food (even if they used the name 'lounge') she'd make use of it. Probably try and find some exotic Asari fruit she had heard of that were absurdly nutritious for Biotics. The only problem was that she'd need to look for the more pricy dextro-approved modified variants. Expensive, but something she could definitely charging for if she was going to be going without Turian high-density supplements. She hadn't been using her biotics too much recently, but she didn't want to be running on empty when she needed to use them.

 

She moved from the window and walked to the door. It'll be nice to relax. She thought to herself, though it was almost joking since she had done none of that since she had first set foot on the Audron weeks ago.

[Cknarf]

Frank swirled the whiskey in his glass, and took a whiff.  He took a sip, and let it rest in his mouth for a moment, before swallowing it.

It's nice to have a real drink for a change. That batarian sh*t was getting old.

"Miss?" 

"What else can I get you?"

"I'm expecting some people." Frank brought up his account info on his omni-tool. "I'd like to set up a tab."

[Redbelle]

Jess reclined on the holding cell matress looking up at the ceiling. "Bored". She called out to the cell next to her.

 

"Same". Came Anika's reply. "There's always the breakout option".

 

"That would boomerang back on the team". Jess grumbled. "And for the record Irina.... Not pressing charges. I just want out of here ASAP".

 

Jess heard a string of profanities coming from the neighbouring cell being muttered under her breath and Jess smiled. As many times as she'd been locked up in the past, the waiting was always the worst to endure. At least this time she had company. Her mind wandered back to the call she'd placed with her one comm call......