6315 réponses à ce sujet

[Redbelle]

The jet black skycar screeched to a halt in it's wheeled mode outside the safehouse and Jess and Anika jumped out.

 

"That was SO MUCH FUN"!!! Anika gushed.

 

"I know right! And stick shift! You have no idea how much I love driving stick"!

 

They looked up at the safehouse. "Well, time to see who's in residence. C'mon luv". Together they walked in and up to the door that had been given to them and knocked on the door. "Room service! We take towels and your linen.... Unless the blacklight shows you've been up to the naughty in which case we charge extra"!

[Kel Riever]

Screeching tires wasn’t a sound most in the safe house were familiar with, except in reference to movies.  If it weren’t for the bizarre event that had happened with Jaimie prior to the arrival of Jess an Anika, all eyes would have gone to the window.  As it was, only Morgan and Jenus (who had come down from the shuttle) came to see what was happening. 

Morgan noted Jenus give a slightly disdainful glance, which caused him to smile inwardly.  The asari had moved away by the time Jess and Anika were making their presence known at the door, so Morgan went to open it.  “About time,” he lightly teased, but gave a quick flick of his head into the room where Tallis was still trying to remove a good jet of blood that had hit the wall from Jaimie.

In a more grave voice, Morgan said, “The doctor came injured.  She’s fine now.”

“The neighborhood heard you ‘roll’ up,” Iole interjected, doing her best to keep the mood light, as she wasn’t sure exactly what frame of mind Jaimie was in.  “I take it whatever you came in has to go with us.”

“You can’t ship a skycar unassembled onto a Scythe,” Jenus was quick to criticize, though she looked warily at Jess.

“Of course you can,” Iole argued.  “I can.  Like the Audron with the train, we can anchor the skycar for a mag lift and I can carry the vehicle to the Janiri.  At least if I’m piloting.”

Tallis had done all she could do with the last bloodstain on the safe house wall.  “Ready to go.  Ready to go.”

“Everyone else is back at the Janiri,” Morgan informed Jess and Anika. “We’re the last group.”

By that point, Iole had spied out the window to see the car.  “Let’s get that…I don’t even know what to call that but it is breathtaking!...let’s get it hooked up, pack in, and back to the ship.”

All told, preparing to move took a little less than three quarters of an hour, and that was because Iole was meticulous in making sure the car suffered from not one scratch.  After the car was in place under the hovering Scythe, those who still needed to board climbed a cable ladder to embark.   Minutes later, the last of the team on Nos Astra were heading back to the Janiri.

[Kel Riever]

On the way back to the Janiri, Iole reassured Jess and Anika their newfound treasure was in perfect hands, and she lived up to her words, maneuvering the Scythe without ever risking the car.  Jenus was up front in the co-pilot’s seat, leaving Mira, Tallis, Jaimie, Jess, Morgan and Anika in the passenger cabin.  While Mira spoke to Tallis about making reports back at the ship, and Jaimie kept quietly to herself, Morgan glanced across at both Jess and Anika.

“You both look like you’ve been busy.  Any though on what to tell the others about going after getting the Medusa back?”

Morgan didn’t want to give up his thoughts on the matter first.  Mostly because he was trying to be optimistic, something Jess and Anika were better at.  He had too much experience dealing with Iyana to do anything more as far as his outlook was concerned.

[Redbelle]

Jess scratched her her temple. "At this point all I can say is that we should just go there and see what we see. I tried to find out what was going on through other means.... but something came up. Lost the old skycar. Got this one to replace it. Found out that there are people in the K&Q rooting for me too so maybe they'll turn something up...." She shrugged. "If we're going then I'd prefer to just go and deal with whatever we have to deal with".

[Kel Riever]

The Scythe pulled into the Janiri’s shuttle bay, car and all.  Iole, with guidance from crew, released the hotrod to gently touch down on the deck, then put the Scythe down next to it.  Landing was a tight fit, but patience, a steady hand, and plenty of guidance did the trick. 

Morgan was thinking to himself while everyone was getting off the shuttle.  He knew Jess worked on the go often.  It wasn’t his style, but his style hadn’t exactly had him in the best of positions.  Surrounded by the commandos and Jaimie, who he was still wondering about, Morgan didn’t express his concerns.  “I suppose we’ll have to wait on Naleena then – I’m guessing you have the location of your ship.  My presumption was to huddle with her, but if you think we’re good to go, then I trust you.”

With a bare perception of anxiety, Morgan said to Jess, “Retaking the Medusa is the best medicine, of that I’m sure.  I hope when we get it back, and put a bullet in that white witch’s head, you’ll be right as rain.  You deserve your revenge.”

[Cknarf]

Since he was denied access to engineering, Frank returned to the shuttle bay. It was the next best thing, as far as he was concerned.

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

Frank was woke from his nap atop his usual crate, to the sound of the bay doors opening.  The Scythe eased into the bay, with a clean looking skycar swinging beneath it. He subconsciously nodded his head as he watched the pilot cleanly drop the cargo, before setting the shuttle down carefully next to it.

Impressive. 

He watched the group disembark, wondering who was in the pilot's seat.  

[Terca]

Eteon was back on the Janiri having made her own way back to the ship. She was on her back, resting as much as she could despite the heavy weight in her hand. it was solid, ridged, felt like a hypercube with how heavy it was. Impressive, but altogether without reason to be.

 

Or she was being overly dramatic. That was completely possible too given the fact she had it in her hands without any memory of picking it up. She had been 'scaling' the underside of her talons. It was a common practice in Turians like humans clenching their fists to work out ghostly tension in the ligaments. For a Turian it was just a passive grooming measure, scratching a finer point onto the talons by worrying a thin divot in the underside of the claw. It was mostly a nervous tick, or more likely a danger-stress reaction. After a hunt Turians would sharpen their nails, after battle the same would happen. It was so mindless that along the way she had found herself holding onto a heavy four-sided object which was like an oddly-ridged Rubik's cube.

 

It did nothing, really. It looked like it could NFC to her omni-tool meaning it was effectively a dud to technical sensors. It was hardly impressive itself aside from the fact she hadn't noticed it before. It must have been the... Fourbit.... Binary that Deidrus had spoken of. The question was what to do with technology she had no access to.

[Redbelle]

The cargo bay was busy, what with the crewmen of the Jeniri running around to square away the shuttle while another group rolled the skycar to a spot where they started lashing it down to the decking. "Hey"! Jess called out to them causing a few to look up. "You scratch that beauty and you'll be polishing it for the rest of the trip"!

 

Hearing Morgan she turned as she saw the other commando's talking amoungst themselves quietly. "Damn right I want revenge. In fact I'm thinking of repainting the Medusa with that woman's head and using her skull as a headpiece on the front of the ship. I had the location.... I need to make sure the ships still there. Some of the K&Q are looking into the matter so maybe we'll catch a break..... Find out exactly where she is now".

 

Jess paused. "Meanwhile..... it's time I spoke to Naleena. Much as the Collector's are a concern my ship's been at the back of my mind alot lately. I need to get her back and fast".

[Kel Riever]

Iole bounded from the Scythe calling over her shoulder to Jenus, “Told you I could do it!”  Jenus shook her head, but gave her a gesture of approval with her hand.  Iole laughed as Jenus acquiesced, and the commandos headed towards Septerax to check in their gear.

Morgan, distracted by the commandos momentarily and Jaimie, who left the shuttle as if nothing happened, then turned his attention back to Jess.  Responding to Jess’ speculation of whether the Medusa would still be where it was found, Morgan said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if your ship hasn’t been moved at all since it’s been located.  And I would definitely talk to Naleena.  This is more than a thorn in our side that we’re dealing with.”

Jess looked fired up over the topic of her ship and Morgan expected nothing less.  Still, he threw her a glance that betrayed a shard of his concern.  All Morgan could do at the moment was offset his concern by throwing her a confident smile and nod of approval, hoping it was enough for Jess to know he was right behind her.  Morgan then went to check in his weaponry with Speterax, before heading to his cabin for a change out of his armor.

[Redbelle]

As Morgan walked Jess hurried along and fell in beside him.  "Look luv, you think it's this woman back to hound me. So what do you know about her? What made her to be like she is? She's not exactly the most stable of personalities that I've ever come across and I fly the span of the galaxy on a weekly basis".

[Kel Riever]

When Jess came up on Morgan, he was surprised, and cracked a slight smile. “What’s with you,” Morgan couldn’t help but ask, “You digging in exactly when I think you want to be left to your own plans?”

The smile faded.  While they walked, Morgan told Jess every bit of detail that he knew was out there on Iyana, from her height, to her role in the Shadow Network, and including his basic thoughts on what could possibly have occurred to make her the way she was.¹   “I would tell anyone that, and I hope to get the chance to before we go off after your ship.”

Morgan had reached his cabin at that point.  He was consumed with the woman who he used to answer to when he was a Shadow Broker agent.  It was as if his actions were on autopilot while he went on with the conversation.  Absently, he tossed the top half of his armor and pulled on a short sleeve shirt without noticing he kept the bottom half of his armor and boots.

“We need to go after the Medusa, Jess, or I’m sure it will be lost,” Morgan continued, taking a seat at the edge of his bed and putting his head in his hands. “But what bothers me the most is what we don’t know.  There’s something more than revenge that Iyana is up to.  It doesn’t mean we don’t get your ship back.  It doesn’t mean that we aren’t aware she knows we are coming, or that it is a trap, or even that she wants to get back at you.”

Pausing, Morgan moved to rest his elbows on his knees and let his forearms and hands fall loose.  His head sagged briefly, and then he lifted it up to gaze at Jess.  “I think we did something to Iyana back on Omega, Jess, and we don’t even quite understand exactly what we did.  Maybe I shouldn’t even care to understand it; put a bullet in her head the first chance we get.  But that psychotic woman is also malevolently intelligent.  And maybe she’s gotten to me, but I can’t help feeling like this goes deeper.”

Morgan didn’t know if he was making sense.  He was thinking about what Iyana did to Jess’ crew, and he also about his own family.  “Why would she kill your people the way she did, and yet I haven’t heard a word about my mother, brother or sister?  Is it that she’s fixated on you, Jess, or is it something else?”

With a growl at his own frustration, Morgan stood up and threw his hands on top of his head, “Aaaaggh!  Never mind.  This is too crazy.  I’m just worried about you and you can more than take care of yourself.  Not to mention we’re on an unbelievable ship with the best people I’ve ever seen beside us.  Forget it.  I’m acting like an idiot.  Let’s get Iyana and put an end to her for good.  When you’re sitting on the bridge of the Medusa again, everything will fall back into place.”

 

Morgan had to do his best to talk himself out of his fears out loud, if he couldn't get rid of them talking to himself in his head.

 

¹All the information that can be found here: http://forum.bioware...ers/?p=16753814

[Terca]

Presidium Ring, Citadel, Before the Podcast.

 

The Turian Spectre held a datapad in his hand, eyes glancing over the same list of materials that he had wanted for the past few days. The requisitions order was especially larger for a Turian ship which often only took what was necessary, then extra in case of foreseen complications. When there was everything including complications likely on the horizon though, he was being cautious.

 

The armor being applied to the Audron ate time in the application process. With the amount of space the ship took up and the way its structure had been handled there were always little complications slowing things down. Now, though, the end was in sight with the last shipment of the armor arriving ahead of schedule. He had been told it would take days, and that since he would be pulling out immediately he should get his supplies now when the stores had been refreshed.

 

The only reason he had for hesitating was the information he didn't have. How much his soldiers may have struggled on Horizon. He had received an encrypted message through one of his friend's rats, a Sun's post in the Terminus had picked up an odd ship flying towards their local relay of unknown make. The information had seeped through the network and made it to him more or less intact, making him consider whether all the Collector ships remained behind Omega-4 or not.

 

"Sir." A Turian in Hierarchy uniform approached Deidrus. "Councilor Sparatus has requested you follow me to the communications hub."

 

A short walk and an obscenely long elevator ride later, Deidrus was standing on a podium not far from Sparatus with the Praetor projected in front of both of them.

 

"Your men have returned to Council space." The Praetor said with a bit of a grumble to his voice. "They are receiving treatment for various types of wounds, most superficial but under the circumstances they are being held on the Spurius Dynast. With them came their report, spoken, with visual information accompanying it. The contents were... Enlightening."

[Redbelle]

Jess grinned. "She's a good ship. Not an all singing all dancing like this one.... but she's solid. Grumbles like an old girl.... I just know that woman's not taking care of her like she should. Ship's like Medusa take time to get to know. Chances are she doesn't know how to turn her over and get her moving once she's stopped. I'm heading to find Naleena but a bullet in the head"? Jess shook her's.

 

"Airlock". She stated simply. Then turned and departed.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

VERA's holoimage popped up in Naleena's office at her desk. "Naleena, the shuttle has returned to the ship with Dr. Spade, the commandos, and Morgan, except Dr. Spade appears to be uninjured. That is odd. Also Jess and Anika have arrived and brought a 'hot rod' with them."

 

"Thank you, VERA."

 

"Do you know what else is odd?"

 

Naleena sat back in her chair. "What VERA?"

 

"The team seems to be much more subdued than they were before I was installed on this ship," VERA said as she pushed herself up to sit on a desk and crossed her legs. "I was able to observe the team before in a limited capacity from the shuttle, and they were very outgoing. Now they seem to be very careful. It is like they are afraid to speak their minds."

 

"Perhaps it is that they think you're listening."

 

"I am always listening."

 

"That's the point. They're worried about what you're thinking about what they're saying."

 

"I need to listen to them so that I can learn more about how organics react to situations so that I can better anticipate their needs," VERA explained, "For example, organics use humor. You had a humor algorithm installed in me, and that has helped. But organics express emotions that I need to understand. Prior to this experience, I have only had limited interaction with organics other than you."

 

Naleena took a deep breath. "Perhaps I should inform them that you do not really care what they say among themselves."

 

"That would be a good idea, boss."

 

Naleena stood. "I think I've had enough of this office. Would you please put Jess' location on my omni-tool and lead me to her. It's been a while since we checked in with each other, and I promised her we would take care of her matter once you were installed."

 

"Right, boss."

 

Naleena left her office looking for Jess.

[Cknarf]

"Nice flying, commando." Frank leaned back against the counter, as Iole handed over the rest of her gear.  

 

"Hmph." She glared at him through the corner of her eye.

 

"Right. Sorry. Nice flying, Iole."

 

"Thanks." She turned to face him. " And it was nothing, really." She shrugged, while examining her nails.

 

"Are you kidding me? I would have had that thing upside down... and on fire." 

 

Iole let out a small laugh.  Frank caught a glimpse of Tallis over her shoulder, giving him a thumbs up.  His brow wrinkled slightly in confusion, enough for Iole to notice.

 

"What are you doing back there, Tallis?" Iole turned her head.
 

 Tallis briefly looked away, as if nothing happened.  A moment later, she gave a second thumbs up. Iole pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed.

 

"Going now." Tallis smiled, putting her hands up. "Going now." She left to catch up with the other commandos.

 

"Sorry about that. She's..."

 

"Adorable?"

 

"Uh... yeah..."

 

There was an awkward silence between them for a moment.

 

"So..." Frank scratched his head. "How about that last job?"

 

"I heard everything went pretty smoothly on your end."

 

"For once." Frank smiled. 

 

"Wish I could say the same." Iole looked to her feet.

 

 "I thought setting off the fire alarm was pretty clever."

 

"But Avan..."

 

"Oh, please. like that was the first time he's been shot." Frank chuckled. "Besides, he's still alive, isn't he?"

 

"I suppose."

 

"Hey, at least you didn't blow up the Nova Dawn building." Frank shrugged. 
 

"Ha. Yeah..." Iole ran a hand over her fringe. "Well I'm uh... gonna go..."

 

"Right. Well, it's been good talking to you."

 

"Yep." Iole headed for the elevator.

[Redbelle]

Jess stepped off the central core lift onto the bridge and whistled causing heads to turn. "This is, most certainly, a very shiny.....very, very shiny room".

 

Jess stepped forward when her Omnitool flared to life unbidden. Surprised, she brought it up and found herself face to face with......

 

"Hello Captain Stone. Excuse my asking. But how did you get onto the bridge"?

 

"Uh.....". Jess said, squinting at the figure who appeared to be wearing some sort of business suit? "I stepped out the lift"?

 

The figure frowned. A gesture highlighted as the figure crossed her arms. "Yes. I am aware that you arrived through the lift. My question is how do you have authorisation to be here"?

 

"Naleena let me on board....". The figure cocked her head and was about to speak when Jess rode on smoothly. "Sorry luv. Can't say that we've met.....".

 

"It's me..... VERA".

 

"VERA"?

 

"Yes. VERA. I am now part of the Jeniri and....".

 

"How did you get through my Omnitool firewalls"?

 

"I hacked through them. How did you get onto the bridge"?

 

Jess took a breath and searched for a response......

 

"You cannot just do that Captain Stone". VERA admonished. "Ship board security is now my domain. You cannot simply wander into restricted areas.....".

 

"It was never a problem on the Audron. Mission specialist and all that".

 

"Until you are granted access to restricted area's aboard the Jeniri I would ask that you refrain from....".

 

"You make a habit of hacking people's personel devices"? Jess cut in. "Cause I'm not exactly over the moon with you bypassing my choice to accept your connection".

 

"It's not like I can access your files. What encryption is this"?

 

"VERA......".

 

VERA pouted. "Well...... I suppose we both surprised each other. Naleena is looking for you. Shall I tell her your here"?

 

"Please luv. We've gotta pow wow. I figure it's time to get my ship back, find the person who chopped my crew to bits and extract some retribution so we can go back on the hunt for collectors".

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

"May I suggest that you meet in the conference room, then," VERA said, "I will inform Naleena to meet you there. Please note, Captain Stone, that I do not normally hack through personal devices unless it is very important. Your presence on the bridge at that time was very important. Otherwise I will leave personal devices alone. Naleena and I have discussed the need to respect the privacy of the crew.

 

VERA paused. "... If this is going to be a mission planning meeting, may I suggest that you include Commander Selani in the discussion since she will need to know what to do with the ship during the confrontation? You should bring the plans for the Medusa to the conference room as well."

[Redbelle]

Turning on her heel Jess turned and headed back to the lift. "Done and done luv. Send out the invites and let's get this show on the road". Riding the lift down she popped out and headed to the conference room. But stopped just outside..... She tuned her comm to Anika's.

 

"Hey luv. Got something I'd like you to run with".

 

"What's that"? Anika replied over the channel.

 

"That new hot rod..... I want to do it up. Fit some exotic parts. Q branch it".

 

"Q branch"?

 

"It's..... never mind....". Jess said shaking her head slightly. "I can't decide how to juice it up. Could you ask the team? See if they can come up with idea's on how to give that thing teeth and bite.....".

 

"I'll...... see what I can do".

 

Jess smiled. "Ta luv. I'm going to be busy for a few hours. Handle anything for me till then, okay"?

 

"Does that include Morgan"?

 

"Anika....."!

 

"Roger that captain".

 

The comm clicked off and Jess groaned. "Hell of a time to grow a sense of humor". She said out loud as she reached for the door control and entered the conference room.

[Terca]

Council Comms Room, Citadel, Before Podcast

 

"How recently did they arrive?" Dedirus asked, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at a point in the darkness of the room.

 

"Minutes ago. The ship sent a message to Sparatus the moment the ship had ID'd them." The Praetor said. His tone was dark enough that it put Deidrus slightly off-balance. It was concerned.

 

"This video feed has been sent through backdoors setup by the Blackwatch. Not even the Salarians are viewing this as of current." Sparatus said before waving his hand. A display taking up a far wall appeared and the perspective of a havoc appeared...

 

Horizon, T- 30s before Collector Attack....

 

Callus Audium stood under the shade of a tree, leaning back on the smooth bark while one of his fellow 'operatives' stood stiffly to his side. They weren't used to this passive stance but they had been effectively ordered by the Asari to wait. They were supposed to be monitoring the installation of suppository weapons systems just outside Discovery, the capital. They were near enough to the activities to pass as doing so but their eyes were trained elsewhere. Specifically, to the sky.

 

"You were present for the Collector fight on Omega. What's the necessary engagement for these things?" The Turian who was pacing a bit was Kallia. She had been part of the reserve crew on the Audron for the fighting and had missed the festivities. She'd had the chance to see a Collector life for herself on the ship, but it had been unarmed and restrained.

 

"Aim for their oversized heads. Their bodies contain no natural armor so bodyshots are effective with cryogenic ammo having considerable results." Callus said as he breathed slowly through his mouth. "Their weaponry is ineffective at piercing shields when Stimulated but treats composite armor like paper."

 

In the distance a buzzing noise like the roaring of jet fighters approached. It was surreal, but before any person could actually look to the sky themselves the Turians were already down the slope of the hill and sprinting towards a small compartmentalized storage bunker for the Suns. As they approached a somewhat perturbed looking human moved to intercept but found themselves looking up at the sky suddenly without reason. Then his head it the ground and-

 

Inside, the two found the other three and tore the lid off of one of the most recently placed units revealing their armiger equipment. Stripping from the Sun's armor and throwing on their Havoc equipment they were suited up in moments. They were an exploratory group in effect, and the Dux was Callus for his previous experience with the Collectors. The group moved to the rear door of the facility and waited for half a moment.

 

"According to the scientist it is most likely a communications blackout has already begun, and the next step is the mass stasis of the human populace. Our objective is to find the ship used for transport as well as find any collector technology, then hinder their taking of human lives. Mission is considered covert. Repeat."

 

In unison, the other four replied. "Primary, observe and sample. Secondary, opportunistic civ secure. Restriction Ghost."

 

"On me."

[Kel Riever]

Jess left and Morgan’s cabin door had just slid closed when the vividly colored bird in his room sung a trio of notes.  Morgan peered at the fascinating creature, then sat on the edge of his bed again.  Get the ship back first, Morgan thought to himself, For Jess.  She loved that ship.  She loved who she was and what she had built.  The horror Iyana had unleashed on Jess’ people…Morgan wasn’t surprised.  He tried not to think again about his sister and brother, or his mother. 

Morgan leaned back to lie on the bed, still half clad in his armor, and stared at the ceiling.  He could hear the sound of the bird moving in its cage.  Focus, focus, Morgan told himself, feeling his emotions, and in particular his guilt, threatening to overwhelm him.  Get through this, put Iyana down, and bury that haunt forever.  It was hard not to want to rush headlong into the fray, to force things to move as quickly as they could.  That’s what Iyana wanted, to rile them into a frenzy.  Wasn’t it?

The second-guessing was driving him mad.  He had already let his feelings boil over, on the Audron, in front of Jess, Anika and Naleena.  Morgan needed to keep things cool, to be analytical.  He’d tell everyone what he could, what he thought they should be aware of.  And they’d come through in the end, with everything better.

So why did Morgan feel like he was being turned inside out?

Morgan had to get moving.  He got himself out of the rest of his armor and finished dressing in his deck clothes.  From there, Morgan headed out of his cabin, to see if he could find a gun fabricator to keep him occupied while he waited.

[Terca]

Discovery, Horizon, During the Collector Attack

 

Callum's Crew had little difficulty moving through the fog of seekers at first. The main settlement of Discovery was heavy with the insects and as the Turians moved from building to building they found no collectors, but many humans locked in a yellowish stasis. They left them behind for now, though the saboteurs placed homing devices on the inside walls so that they could find their way back to them should the situation prove favourable. None of the crew believed that they would be coming back, but the option was there.

 

The blackout from the seekers was strong meaning that until the plague had retreated a bit they would have difficulty moving by anything but Horizon's sun. Their omni-tools were lit with a holomap of the city and the direction of the spaceport, while their HUDs tagged each of the teammates. They were careful to keep an eye for any medical or community centres near where they were walking past. Knocking out the fronts of buildings to keep the Collectors out would stymy their process and give the 5 more time.

 

About halfway to the spaceport, the plague lifted until it was just an ominous him in the distance and dropships came into view. They were far enough off that by the time they were an immediate concern the Turians were already recording something monstrous. A collecting ship hovering over the spaceport, clouds of seekers like dark clouds flowing into the crevasses of the ship. With only a moment of pause the insectoid clicking of Collectors came into range.

 

"Get out of sight. Monitor the collection." With a motion of the hand the team dispersed, two ghosts cloaking, a havoc racing up to the top of a large building, the saboteurs making their way to the underground of a mall. Callum, the Havoc, entered through the roof of the building and after barring the door set himself up near a window. Live count, speed, backup. 

[Cknarf]

"Isn't there something you can be doing?" Septerax asked, not bothering to look up from the shotgun he was working on.

 

"Nope. Tell 'em, VERA."

 

"Frank will be denied access to engineering until he is approved by the council office.  He has refused to submit an application."

 

"You're goddamn right."

 

"That's the only thing stopping you from doing some work around here?"

 

"Yep."

 

"Why don't you just submit the app? It doesn't take long."

 

"If the bureaucrats don't trust me to do my job, they can shove it. I'm not playing their games."

 

"Then why are you even here?"

 

"I... Huh." Frank scratched his head. "I'm here to... Kick some collector ass." He drove his fist into the palm of his hand.

 

"Riiiight.  Tell me, Eli, when's the last time you kicked any type of 'ass'?"

 

Frank shrugged.

 

"Do you have any combat experience?"

 

"I've been shot at a few times... sorta."

 

"That's what I thought." Septerax stopped working, and left the counter. He returned with Frank's weapons, and a handful of thermal clips. "I want you to take these, and get yourself some practice."

 

Frank looked around "I don't think this is the best place for that..."

 

"Of course it isn't.  Use the combat simulator."

 

"The Janiri has a combat simulator?"

 

"I covered it during the initial tour, remember?"

 

Frank shook his head.

 

"Oh, that's right. You didn't get the tour." Septerax motioned for him to follow. "Right this way."

 

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

 

"The programs range from simple target practice, to full on combat simulations.  You can change the settings at this console."

 

"Neat."

 

"I've set up the pistol course for you. When you're ready to move on, return to the console to select another program."

 

"I think I got it from here." Frank sat his rifle case down. "Thanks."

 

"Before I go, I could contact some of your more... capable crewmates.  I'm sure they could teach you a few things."

 

"That would be great." Frank smiled.

 

"Do you have anyone in mind?"

 

"Yes. Er... no." Frank shook his head. "Just tell 'em all. I'll take any help I can get."

 

"I'll let them know."

 

Septerax left, and Frank stepped into the simulator.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena headed to the conference room to meet Jess.

 

Dahlia was wandering around the ship. When Morgan exited his cabin he nearly ran her over.

 

"Morgan, you look very ... preoccupied," Dahlia said, "It's the Medusa, isn't it?"

 

"You wouldn't happen to know if..." Morgan started to ask, "No, you probably wouldn't."

 

"What? Tell me."

 

"I'm looking for a gun fabricator."

 

Dahlia shrugged her shoulders. "Let's check the armory. I'm sure...."

 

VERA popped up on a no key wall terminal. "There is a gun fabricator in the main armory on deck 6."

 

"VERA! Morgan and I were carrying on a conversation." Dahlia said. "Do you listen to everything?"

 

"I am always listening." VERA said, "And I thought I could assist with your finding the gun fabricator. I did not mean to offend."

 

"You didn't. You just caught me by surprise. I hope you'll respect our privacy in our quarters." Dahlia asked.

 

"Are you and Morgan planning to do something?" VERA asked. "Your secret is good with me."

 

Dahlia turned about three shades of purple. "Uh.... Morgan, let's get to the gun fabricator."

 

Emotional response provoked. Interesting. Dahlia has "the hots" for Morgan.

[Terca]

Discovery, Horizon, During the Collector Attack

 

Five minutes of observation passed without detection, and all the Turians were biding their time keeping track of how many humans the Collectors were able to transfer in that time. The results were... Rather astounding.

 

Horizon had a population documented was around 650 000, around a fifth of that concentrated in the Discovery area. And in the time the Turians had been observing 400 humans had been transferred into pods and were being moved within a swath of the urban area. It was no surprise that entire colonies would disappear before any assistance would arrive. The comms blackout had continued on and more Collector troops were dropping in. Scions, the monstrosities, positioned themselves on corners of roads, their massive cannons sweeping side to side.

 

In the distance from Callum an explosion, small but loud, originated from the general direction of the community center. The effect was immediate, the Collectors that were just arriving switched directions immediately and made a beeline for the rubble. Scions remained immobile.

 

**

 

While Callum observed one of the ghosts split off and made her way towards the spaceport. Slipping between the tall warehouses and 'dry docks' she found little resistance from Collectors. So little, in fact, that there were none. They had already collected those immediately around their ship, which as the Ghost entered into a building and slid to the underside of a window, saw for herself.

 

She turned on her visual recording from 'passive' to active and stared up at the ship. It was long, probably 800m and broad. Composed of what looked to be asteroids haphazardly thrown together and only roughly shaped into a 'smooth' form. The bottom of the ship opened up like a maw and vessels carrying humans could be seen flying up into the mouth. She couldn't see any weaponry aside from two large turrets near the top of the ship.

 

Turning around she made her way back out towards where the saboteurs were located. They carried the heavy equipment that could actually determine something of the composition and more reliably than full-spectrum imagery.

[Cknarf]

The first set of targets appeared exactly two meters in front of Frank. He raised his Raikou, and without using the sights, quickly destroyed them.

 

xxxxx

 

"5/5" Appeared on the back wall.

 

"What a challenge." He scoffed. The next set appeared at four meters.  Again, he destroyed all five.

 

xxxxx

 

"5/5"

 

"Frank?"  VERA echoed in his helmet

 

"Yes, VERA?"

 

"There is a spectator in the observation area."

 

Frank turned his attention to the one-way glass, and waved. "I'll be sure to give 'em a show."

 

The next set of five were at ten meters. He would have to use the sights this time. He took aim at the far left target, and squeezed the trigger.  The center target shattered instead.

 

--x--

 

"Huh." Frank shrugged, before trying again. His second shot failed to hit anything.  After missing several more times, he rapidly fired his pistol until it overheated, managing to destroy only the center-right target.

 

--xx-

 

As his pistol cooled with a hiss, a buzzer sounded.  He had run out of time.

 

"2/5"

 

Well, sh*t.