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[Redbelle]

Jess looked at Eteon, to Anika, back to Eteon.

 

She took a step away and held her arm out to point at Anika and said quickly.

 

"She did it".

[Redbelle]

Anika gawked. "Captain"!

 

"Well you did"!

 

"You don't have to tell 'her'"!

 

Jess arched an eyebrow at the inflection. "Well, seeing as everythings fixed and the rooms taking shape......". She turned her gaze towards Eteon with a sly look. "I can't help noticing that one of us overdressed for the human custom of warding the room against bad spirits".

 

"Custom"? Anika asked, clearly puzzled.

 

Jes nodded, her face a mask of seriousness. "It involves beating each other with pillows till the feather's fly. How about it girl"? She said to the armoured Eteon. "Help us out"?

[Kel Riever]

Morgan left Torgeir’s knowing time was against him.  If he were lucky, he could retrieve the information and have it in hand when Iyana caught up with him.  Morgan contemplated where a young quarian might go if he wasn’t headed straight to the docks.  He determined it all depended if Arrin felt he was in trouble or not.  The problem was, as soon as the Blue Suns found out they hadn’t finished their job, they’d be searching again.  Eventually, the Blood Pack would figure it out, too.  Both had more people to pursue than Morgan did.

 

Arrin had to sleep, eat and entertain himself somewhere.  The other mercs would come to the same conclusion, but Morgan might still have a jump on them.  The quarian’s apartment might offer clues, but it would be the first place the mercs would go.  To try and figure out where Arrin lived would waste precious time.  If the quarian was smart enough to take the data, he was smart enough to know someone would eventually be on his trail, and he wouldn’t spend much time at the one place that was easiest to find him.  Arrin would be trying to figure out how to get off Omega, and then hiding where he wouldn’t stand out…likely with other quarians.  With the docks covered as well as they could be, Morgan decided to look on his omni-tool for places in the district popular with the nomadic species.  Used ship equipment resellers, bars and restaurants with dextro based consumables, tech entertainment lounges…it still came down to luck.  Morgan headed to the closest watering hole that seemed popular with quarians.

 

Half way to the bar, Morgan’s omni-tool alerted him with an incoming message.  He activated the display to read it.  The message was from Torgeir:

 

Morgan-

 

No news yet on Arrin, but one of my hires is a regular.  He’s smart kid, and thought of something that is a long shot.  Still, if this quarian has a head on his shoulders, it might pan out.  Give me a place I can have him meet you and I’ll send him.  His name is Oleb, and he’s a salarian too, so as you said, you should like him.

 

Morgan smirked.  He was willing to try anything, so Morgan passed along the name of the bar he was heading to.  It would be a good place for him to blend in as well.

[Ledgend1221]

John looked around, trying to find his bearings. He wasn't really sure what shanty town he was in, they all looked the same. The stench, unfortunately, varied from awful to horrible. It was one you never really get accustomed to. He didn't let it bother him too much, kept his mind focused on other, important things. 

 

He glanced around at everyone he could see quickly. Nobody stood out. He was reasonably sure he would be safe walking in the open. Eclipse were dealing with some Turian that kept screwing them over. It seemed to have them preoccupied on Omega. Blue suns and Bloodpack too. He walked through the street, trying to avoid attention. Trying was the keyword, he knew he stuck out big time. He was focused on getting to his next contact, planning his route. But his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Close footsteps. He turned his head slightly to his left, only catching a tiny glimpse of a poorly-looking Batarian walking close to him.

 

"****** off." John said calmly, now looking straight ahead.

 

He was listening to the sound of the footsteps. They remained unchanged.

 

"I said ****** off. I won't say it again a third time."

 

He drew his gun and held it low, making sure it could be seen by the Batarian. The sound of footsteps slowed and dwindled until they could not be heard anymore. It was a basic rule of survival on Omega. Anyone close to you is going to mug you or worse. It was one of the things that scared John the most about the place. Most of them had nothing to lose. And it's the ones with nothing to lose that will risk anything. Still, he never let that fear show in any way. Another rule of survival on Omega.

 

John made his way through the lower sections of Omega for an hour or two at least. He was cautious still. No way to know who was sizing him up. No point in dying a reckless man he kept saying to himself. His caution paid off in the end. He made it to his destination at last. He looked around to make sure it was the right place. "Lower Afterlife". Not even a bouncer at the door. He made his way into the darkly-lit room, becoming annoyed at the music already. Just another thing he had to shrug off. He looked towards the bar, hoping to get a drink. He couldn't see any human bartenders, so he settled for his own bottle of water. He found a seat that was somewhat out of the way and sat down. He took his gearbag off and laid it on the floor beside him. 

 

"Why are all these mysterious contacts interested in arriving late?" He thought to himself.

[Terca]

"I am almost certain you made that up on the spot." Eteon replied dryly, crossing her arms and resting them under the 'hump' in the front of her reddish armor. "Cultural differences mean that sometimes we hear about practices that are odd but only the Krogan indulge in senseless destruction of property." She stated the fact like it was law and completely obvious to anyone who was there to listen. She paused for a moment. Then again, humans also have a game where they beat caricatures of their animals to death to extricate synthesized food. She didn't think that in 30 years you could explain that particular fetishization of bloodletting.

 

"Also," She motioned to her armor. "This stuff is a pain to take off in the first place. Unless you guys wanted to help..." She rolled her shoulders and maintained a slightly pensive look in her eyes.

[Terca]

The Audron disconnected from the tethers that connected it to the Nos Astra Spaceport and pulled up vertically swiftly, the eezo core on the ship inverting the gravitational force so that everyone on the ship felt lighter for a few seconds as the acceleration stopped and the ship had changed orientation so that it was facing at an odd angle in the upper atmosphere of Illium. Just barely outside the 'Safe Limit' for FTL travel there was five seconds of pause before the ship's comm system activated ship-wide.

 

"Beginning lateral FTL Jump. For safety please hold on to the nearest rail or remain seated. Force will be applied from the port direction."

[Redbelle]

Jess looked at Anika. "Two against one...... We could do it". Anika folded her arms and hmphed as she turned flopped down into the corner couch. Jess gave gave her a quizzical look before turning to Eteon. "Sorry luv...... After everything we've had to do to straighten this place out..... maybe we should relax and unwind for a bit.

 

At that moment, the ships intercom came on and Jess felt the tell tale shudder of the ship's Mass Effect field shifting. They were underway. Moments later another announcement and Jess walked forward to take Eteons arm.

 

"You heard the man. Have a seat". She said, sitting down on the couch parallel to Anika. She patted the seat.

[Terca]

Eteon accepted and seated herself on the couch as there was a set of three beeps. "I can almost guarantee that we will never get used to this." She stated as she glanced to Jess and Anika. "You'd be surprised how different it is having FTL Act-"

 

Before she could finish her sentence there was a rather solid feeling of force as an odd sensation. Directly from the left and at a 30 degree angle above the parallel to the floor there was a pulling sensation. It started in the furthest part of their body from the wall of the room and made its way to the other side of their body before the entire ship was in the FTL bubble. Normally from the front it was a sharp tug, but with two different eezo cores it made the sensation last much longer. When the entire ship was in FTL (and traveling not to the front but slightly to the side) it only took a couple of seconds before they dropped right back out just outside Naxell's safe orbit.

 

Angular FTL made the Audron much more maneuverable when fighting in space and without having to consider a long-cannon along the spine it could move between FTL and offense much more smoothly. The coordination of two ME drives made things... Interesting at times though. When they dropped out of FTL Eteon shook her head and her hands to get the sensation out of her body. She mumbled something under her breath about a brain being stretched out.

 

As the ship drifted into the outer atmosphere of Naxell a massive static burst was emmitted into the atmosphere to pick up the static from the short jump. There was a pause and then a much more normal 'straight' FTL jump was made to the relay. Compared to the lateral jump this one was relatively forceless.

[Redbelle]

Jess's eye's were wide open as she blinked, before squeezing her eye's shut and pinching the bridge of her nose. "That...... was....... different",  Looking over at Anika Jess was surprised to see that she didn't seem to be exhibiting any effect from the unually jump.

 

"What"? She asked.

 

"You felt that.... right".

 

"Yes..... but..... it's not unlike what I felt sometimes in training".

 

Jess made a 'huh' sound before looking over at Eteon. "Anika comes from an...... interesting background, to say the least. She was trained as a personal security agent.....".

 

"And the less said about that to her the better. Captain".

 

Jess turned again to Anika. What has gotten into her? She wondered. Standing up she grabbed a gown off the back of the chair. "Anika, I need to talk to Eteon in private".

 

Anika gave a disapproving look, but got up and walked towards the bedroom. The doors slid shut and Jess slipped jer arms through the gown before tying it closed. "Sorry about her. As far as I can tell she's never really been around other species till she left the complex I found her at. Aside from an Asari apparently. I'm still getting the story out of her".

[Terca]

Eteon watched the other human leave the room, nodding her head at what Anika was saying. She made a humming noise and turned her attention back to Jess. "She's going to have a problem then on this ship. You and one other are the only humans on the ship. As probable as it is that she would like to follow you around just as she has at some point she is going to have to talk to a Turian." Tilting her head to the side and letting out a short yawn-like noise she rotated so she was looking more fully at Jess.

 

"It has been hundreds of years since the last time a species has come in contact with the Council so hardly anyone remembers the times of entrenched species-ism. Batarians more than anyone have their superiority complexes and there is not a sapient species alive that doesn't know of how... Unsavory their position is in the Galaxy." The female Turian shook her head. :She'll have to learn, sooner than later."

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

It was mid-morning. The Asari was still in her bed and her communicator had been beeping for the past fifteen minutes. She'd pulled her pillow over her head to ignore it, and then she screamed and let out a biotic blast that knocked everything around in her tiny apartment. Still her communicator kept beeping, but it was now on the other side of the room.

 

"I'll never do that again. Never again. Too much hallex. Too much party." She groaned like she'd done at least a hundred times before, and then she crawled out of bed and onto the floor over the debris to the communicator.

 

"What?"

 

"Where the hell are you?" the Batarian said, "Aria is not happy with your constant disregard for rules."

 

"**** you, Anto! Doesn't she say she has one rule? Well I'm not ****** with her, and I get the job done. Isn't that enough?" 

 

"Listen, Dahlia, I've been covering for you for a long time, but it's starting to catch up," Anto sighed. "I can't keep this up. It'll cost me."

 

Dahlia had struggled to her feet and staggered into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and fell over. "****! I feel like ****! My head feels like it's going to ****** explode!"

 

"Make some sonegara tea. You have some don't you?"

 

Dahlia groaned again. "Of course I do. I was trying to get the concentrate a minute ago. Give me an hour. I'll be there."

 

In the background.... "Where the hell is Dahlia!"

 

"****! You heard her. You've got ten minutes. Be here," Anto disconnected.

[Redbelle]

Jess gave a grin full of teeth. "Learning's why she's here sweetie. To much time spent where she was being fed, who knows what about the galaxy. She'll open up one day. Till then, she needs to be around other races...... other than the Asari".

 

Jess perched on the arm rest of the couch and leaned in. "And between you and me, I think she's jealous that you keep coming to find me every so often. Really luv. I appreciate that we had a bit of a disaster in here. But I spent enough years on a ship to learn how to patch it, wire it, refit everything from a thruster assembly to the chicken soup machine....... And now we have an ice box I was planning to take round to Naleena's so she can chill her drinks". She leaned back. "Cause...... After all the work we've done in here, we could use freshening up. Do Turian ships have shower rooms? I'm sure Anika'll perk back up once she's gotten cleaned up".

[Kel Riever]

If it wasn’t for the larger presence of quarians and turians, Morgan sat in a bar he would have just chalked up to being one more nameless dive on Omega.  He was down to two hundred credits after buying two drinks and playing several games of quasar.  The turian bartender sent him a third drink for free, since he had more than paid for it in losses.

 

Morgan was near the front, sideways to the bar.  It wasn’t ideal for protection, but he needed to see who was coming and going.  Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long before he saw a salarian trying to talk a bouncer into letting him enter.  The salarian wore a mostly evergreen colored outfit, and his skin was a deep red, catching the light with its sheen.  Morgan tossed back the third drink and went over.

 

“I’m eight years old.  Do you know what that even means?”  The salarian was speaking quickly in a high-pitched voice to the turian bouncer.  “That’s forty-two turian years, mister!”

 

“Right…more like sixteen.”  The bouncer said, clearly holding back his amusement. “I know how old you are.  It’s my job.  And you are too young for this place.  Get yourself in trouble elsewhere, kid.  These are serious customers.”

 

“Oleb,” Morgan called out as he approached.  The salarian snapped his head towards Morgan, and then the turian turned as well.

 

“See?  He knows me,” the salarian youth protested.  “Everything is copasetic.  Come on, Morgan.  Let’s go get a drin…hey!”

 

Morgan grabbed OIeb’s arm and didn’t slow down, forcing the salarian to walk with him.  “Sorry about that,” Morgan said to the bouncer, over his shoulder. “I’ll take care of this.”

 

“Come on.  Can’t a kid get a drink?” Oleb continued his protest, but had no ability to resist.

 

“Don’t waste my time.”  Morgan was stifled his own mirth. “I’m not here to oversee your rites of passage.”  He stopped ten meters away in an alcove where they wouldn’t be overheard.  “Torgeir said you could help me.”

 

“Yes.  Sure.  Business, then pleasure.”  Oleb willfully ignored the roll of Morgan’s eyes.  “Okay, I have my hobbies.  Technical, mostly.  I like intercepting transmissions.  Around here, you can get very entertained and very educated with that kind of thing.  Maybe in trouble, but I’m good….okay, anyway, when Torgeir told me he needed a hire to watch someone and told me the details, I started thinking about something I was working on myself.

 

“Well, this quarian you are looking for, he’s technical too.  And he’s maybe trying to do what I do…listening in for trouble.  Especially if he wants to get away.  Especially if someone might be looking for him, like you.  He might be scanning unencrypted communications, of which there are plenty, around him.

 

“Scanning, though, puts you on the grid, so to speak.  In other words, if he’s scanning, then he can be tracked.  Now, there are a few people like me who do this for a hobby, but not many, and a lot less which don’t have a need.  You’re talking only a handful of people at a time if your search area is narrow enough.  And if you can give me a place this quarian came from, I think we could figure out the likely candidates and trace them back to their source.  The tracking program can be run right off my omni-tool.”

 

Morgan studied Oleb’s expression.  His large dark eyes were overly enthusiastic.  “This isn’t playtime, kid.  There are dangerous people after this quarian.  The last anyone’s heard of him was at the office of a money lender named Wuldar.”

 

“Hey, this is Omega! I can handle myself,” Oleb bragged.  “They’ll never see me coming, which is the salarian way.”  Again, ignorant of Morgan’s eye roll, which was even more emphasized the second time, Oleb blathered on. “Okay, quarians habs, within reasonable range of that office.  Let me see here.  He can’t have gone far…”  Oleb began working on his omni-tool.  He mumbled to himself for a few minutes, working the interface rapidly.  “Aha!  You’re in luck today.  I see one scanner at work in that district.  And it is in an apartment area. Oooh.”

 

“So?”  Morgan’s curiosity grew at Oleb’s seeming surprise.  “What did you find?”

 

“Oh, this is real slum territory.  I mean low rent, even for people like us…um, I mean me!  Eh, ahem, well, I know this place.  And while there’s more than one quarian living in the area, I know one who does work for people like Wuldar…small, tiny, loan shark types.  I mean, well, I know of one quarian.  Well, I’ve heard of him.  Okay, maybe I only heard about this guy in a chat room.  But us young techies are a tightly knit community!”

 

“Let’s see the address, Oleb.”

 

Oleb transferred the information to Morgan’s omni-tool.  The salarian fidgeted while Morgan use a map to search for the quickest path to the apartment.  When Morgan looked up, Oleb said in a leading manner, “And, ah, what do you plan to do if the signal moves?”

 

Morgan sighed.  “Get in contact with you, you can tell me where he is again.”

 

“Ah,” the salarian said, bridling with excitement, “you know I could come with you.  I mean, you could fall behind if they’re moving quickly.”

 

Grumbling, Morgan turned his omni-tool off.  “You’ve got plenty of gumption, and with a high dose of stupidity running around that head of yours.  You’re right though.”  Morgan grimaced.  “That doesn’t mean you can take care of yourself.  You’re going to come, but when I tell you, you’re going to stay put, or leave if you need to.  You better listen too, and not cause trouble, because if you do, I’ll shoot you before anyone else gets the chance.”

 

“Yes, sir!  How about we get a drink for the road…ow!”

 

Morgan grabbed Oleb again and started walking briskly.  “Let’s go.”

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena left her quarters and entered the lavatory that bore the image of a female Turian. Everything was fine. There were showers, and the sinks were large enough for hand-washing linen and delicates. She was not about to have her expensive sheets irradiated. She would be able to string a clothes line in the lavatory for drip drying. With that she was satisfied for the moment. Linen changes may be less frequent than she had grown accustomed. 

 

With that she entered the shower to clean off the crud from the last mission. The excessive warmth of the Turian ship would mean more frequent bathing and the wearing of very lightweight clothing that could be quite revealing around the ship. It reminded her of tropical Sanves during mid-day. She decided shorts and a low cut sleeveless silk top would be appropriate. 

[Terca]

Eteon considered that for a moment before nodding. There are a lot of other aliens to become acquainted with. She mused to herself. She stood from her seat and nodded. "We don't keep a lot of water on the ship  but there is enough for showering and washing dishes as well as consumption. I heard some complaint about irradiating sheets and such but that's one of the more efficient ways of saving water, especially when systems are damaged. Rest assured, you'll be able to bathe though." She walked from the couch and towards the door. "I've other people to get settled on the ship, try to not have another snow fight alright?" With that she slipped out of the room and into the hall.

[Redbelle]

Jess watched Eteon leave. Then turned her head around to regard the closed door of the bedroom and it's occupant. She felt a boiling fury inside and she blew out a long breath to try and keep it under control.

 

Getting up, she paced over and the door slid open. Anika was lying on the bed and she rose off when she saw Jess enter.

 

"Captain.....". She began.

 

Jess didn't let her finish the sentence as she stepped in front of and slapped her across her cheek as hard as she could.

 

Anika's head snapped around and her hand came up where the stinging blow had landed. She looked more confused than angry as Jess grabbed her arms and shoved her back till she was lying on the bed.

 

"You self centred..... Narcissist! Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet but your surrounded by Turians...... And you just let your views known to the one person who had a reason to look on you with favour. She's got you pegged as a specist. She'll report back to her senior's that I've got a specist bodyguard and wonder if maybe I'm the same way. You let me down....... And you let yourself down......and why! Because I flirt with Eteon"?

 

Anika looked up at her. "How can you...... it's not supposed to be like this. We're not supposed to be here. We shouldn't have come aboard the Audron. We should have stayed on the Medusa and stayed hidden away from everyone". She took a breath. "And sue me! I tried Jess. But looking at them...... they just look wrong! They sound wrong! Why do you want me to like something that makes me feel so..... so unclean"?

 

"Because I want you as my first officer".

 

Anika found herself flapping her mouth with no words coming out, till finally she uttered. "What"?

 

"I want you to replace Luscious as my first officer. You can't hide behind me guarding me all your life. You need to see the galaxy and find out what it has to offer you".

 

"But....Oda.....".

 

"Oda's in it till he's made his money. Then he's retiring. Heading back to spend his life with his family".

 

Anika stumbled for words. "I don't......".

 

Jess let her wrists go and she moved them to frame Anika's face. "Luv....... When I was Rasguls..... My captains bodyguard. I made a serious mistake. I loved him. And he knew it. And he loved me. So insead of taking me with him to protect him from harm..... he started leaving me behind on risky deals. That caught up with him and the next thing I know his body is being spaced out of an airlock and the rest of the crew are just standing there while the bastards who did it flew away".

 

"So the last thing I want is for you to love me. I don't want you looking at me like I'm a prize. I'm not the finest example of what humanity has to offer. But I like to think I've learnt enough to know that in our business, feeling's are something we have to control, our they'll destroy us, in some way".

 

"So luv. I want you to stop using me as a cage to keep you from experiencing the galaxy. Take the promotion. When we're off the Audron, become my first. We can't keep up this bodyguard, captain thing going on between us forever. And if we tried, I know that one day you'd wake up and realise that I was the thing that stopped you from being who you are meant to be".

 

Anika sniffed. "And what if what I was meant to be didn't matter".

 

"It does matter luv".

 

"You don't know".

 

"know what"?

 

"That place you took me from. They had plans for me. They did things to me and trained me how to think and move. How can I help being who I am when it was drilled into me when I was young"?

 

Jess looked into Anika's eye's and saw truth. She sat up and lifted herself off her as Anika sat up and used one hand to rub her eyes.

 

"I'm sorry I embarressed you captain. But...... I look at you carrying on with her..... And I feel, deep down here". She thumped her chest. "That it's not....natural".

 

"Luv...... You've no idea how unnatural I can get with the right alien".

 

"Captain"?

 

Jess swung herself around so she was kneeling. "It's not about the similarities..... It's the differences. Then seeing things we still recognise in something so different. You just aren't looking hard enough luv. Maybe because that Asari huntress trained you your used to them....... But I think what your really saying is your scared of what your not familier with. And when I took you, you found yourself in a galaxy you didn't understand becaue you'd never been a part of it". Jess shrugged. "Well..... I'm a captain who flies from one end of the galaxy to the other and see's all manner of things you could never imagine in your wildest dreams. And if you want to stay by my side...... get used to it".

 

Rising off the bed Jess reached into one of the open bags and pulled out some towels. "Now grab the soap luv. Apparently they do have showers. And we've still got a date with Naleena, provided we scrub up before our destination".

 

Anika rose. "Are you mad at me"?

 

"Like a hatter luv. But I also know, in your own way, you meant well". Jess grinned. "C'mon. We'll talk about this some more later. Right now I want to wash every square inch of that body of yours".

 

Anika's blushed. "That's.... um".

 

"Well luv.... can't let you go thinking I've only an eye for Turians now can I".

[Terca]

As the Audron approached the Tasale relay and was shot off Eteon decided she would check on three more of the new teammates that were on the shop. According to ship logs there were two Asari and a Human male that had come on board aside from Jess and Anika. She wasn't sure which of them would actually be available but a quick scan of her omni-tool told her that the Asari at least was in the lockers and probably unavailable. That left the Human and the other Asari.

 

Anika... She might be a problem... If the woman was too hair-triggered around all Aliens that would be a catastrophe in the making, especially if there was some sort of accident. It could have just been that she was jumpy being on a Council ship after spending time 'privateering' but things needed to be smooth in combat situations. Having someone constantly hyper vigilant was only going to run people down.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Naleena emerged refreshed and a bit hungry. The air/heat dry the Turians used after showering was harsh. I'll need to purchase thick towels on Omega. She picked up some of her food supplies in a small sack and took them to the food preparation area of the wardroom. 

 

"Can I get you anything? Nutrient paste? Water?" the mess sergeant asked.

 

Naleena made a face. "You're joking, right? I'll take the water, but I don't plan to eat nutrient paste. Granted you can survive on it, but I have my own ingredients, thank you, Sergeant ...."

 

"Tirik. It's not that bad, really. We live on it when we're on Asari vessels," Tirik replied.

 

"Perhaps you should insist on real food, or bring your own supply. Nutrient paste is for emergencies out in the field. Even there I usually hunt," Naleena said, "But I can understand the few planets have the proper protein molecule isomer."

 

"Indeed."

 

"May I have some water and use your microwave?"

 

"Of course...."

 

"Naleena."

 

"Of course, Naleena."

 

Naleena added water to her meal and cooked it in the microwave. "We have five l-DNA team members at the moment. There may be more. The Captain may want to make allowances for us. You should make the suggestion to him as a way of staving off any potential discontent. It might help you advance."

 

"I'll take that under advisement." Tirik brought his hand to his mandible. "Thank you."

 

She took her meal to a table for two, and ate.

[Gabi_MuadDiB]

"A'right Vayne, I actually happen to know where this hangar is... Long time abanoned, it was used to ship the ore from the mines, now is a smuggling dock... " They where walking down an alley that was to crouded for their taste. They turned and tooked and even smaller one and darker one... There was a Varren eating some trash on a corner "F*** off, you little S***!" Vayne throw a kick to the Vermin that ran moaning in a high pitch voice. "I had been around there couple of times, is always packed with smugglers and mercs, but there are a couple of ways to get in unnoticed and there is always a lot of perfectly funtional scrap parts of tech"

 

After around 10 minutes of walkings they where approaching the hangar site. "I'm not resiving any transmition" Vayne checked is eardrop-soft for merc chat, but everything was extrangely silent... "They are probably jamming comunications" They sudenly reached the end of the Alley, at the other side of the crossing street that alley meeted was the hangar door... "Look there! Blue Suns!"... there was a whole Blue Suns platoon with a couple of Loki Mechs and one big Ymir guarding the entrance... "I guess we shouldn't try the front door... don't ya agree Vayne?"... Arrin said while hiding in the corner of the Alley....

 

"You said you knew a back door entrance Quarian?"

 

"Yeah, to the right there is a broken ventilation shaft... besides the big air conduct pipes.... come take a look"

 

"OK, I see it Twig... but first, there is no way I can fit in there, and second, there is no way to get there unseen... Genius"

 

"Allright, if I remember well, there was an old service door at the right side of the building and I think even your gracious and slick body would fit in, the problem is that the lock can only be overrided from inside... soooo... I would have to get in first and then open the door for you... greeeeaaaaat... The question is how I do I get to the shaft?..." He started measuring his odds 'running isn't an option, I would be shooted with enought fire power to take down a A-61 Mantis Gunship... and all out combat, even with my Krogan friend is totally stupid against the whole platoon and the mechs... mmm... the mechs'

 

"Allright Krogan, pay attention... I need you to run as fast has I can to the back door, if there is some guards out you'll have to take them down... when you have them kill knock the door softly 3 times and I'll open from inside, ok?"

 

"Now the Twig is giving me orders! Ok, it sounds fair enought... and how do you plan to get in? If I may ask?"

 

"Wash and learn Krogan!" Arrin started typing in his Omnitool, entered the local network, and saw a couple hundres of devices conected, used a cloak program to go unnoticed on the net and started searching for the droids, he found the two Loki Mechs...'Anyway the Ymir would take a longer time to hack' if he acces their consoles, he could control the mechs... in theory, but he hadn't hacked any Hahne-Kedar system before... anyway, it was just another VI 'Should be easy... ok... overriding access system... entering targeting console... changing friend or foe signature.... aaaaand....' Sudenly the two Lokis activated and raiced their weapons "Hostiles armed forces in front... please disarm..." the mechs said with a monotone digital voice while targeting the Blue Suns... "Ahh... Sir... something is wrong with the bots!" The whole platoon unholstered their guns and turned their back to the Alley facing the two Lokis... "Agrasive actions will be taken in 3... 2... 1..." The droids sayed, while the mercs realized they weren't friendly anymore... "Shoot'em down boys!!!" The leader gave the order.

 

"Now!" Arrin executed the self destruction protocol of the droids as soon as the firefight started... while the shots where flying in all directions and some of the Mercs where getting impacts in their biotic-shields the two droids started to overheat and make strange noices... and then they exploted... It wasn' that strong, but it was loud and really flash, letting the mercs blinded and half deaf for a moment while also jamming the Ymir targetting system for some time, Arrin seized the oportunity and ran as fast as he could to the shaft... He slided straight to the it without stopping, the blue suns didn't noticed him with all the chaos going around, but now they where aware that someome was trying to attack them... Arrin was in, still pantong for the race...  'That should distract them' He felt the adrenaline runnig through him, that was crazy... but fun though... just like in the games, he was proud of himself.

[Kel Riever]

Aside from the conversation at the bar, Morgan was happy to find that Oleb knew to keep his mouth shut when necessary.  The two had gone to the residential district that Arrin’s apartment was located in.  It was as the salarian had described, a place of squalor.  Before they arrived at the apartment, however, Morgan spotted a quarian in a black, grey and dark suit, walking with a seven foot tall krogan wearing hulking, red metallic armor. 

 

“The scanning is coming from the krogan’s omni-tool,” Oleb whispered.  “That has to be Arrin.  Maybe I can talk this through with them.”

 

Morgan yanked Oleb back and around the corner.  He looked the young salarian in the eyes.  “No.  We follow them, discretely.”  Oleb nodded and rubbed his arm after Morgan let go.  “Sorry about that,” Morgan offered, then peered around to watch the quarian and krogan.

 

“It’s okay,” Oleb responded.  “I’m tough.”

 

Unconsciously, Morgan reached back and gave a couple of pats on Oleb’s shoulder.  “You’re young.  I’m making sure you see your ninth birthday.”  Arrin and the krogan passed briefly out of sight behind a delivery truck. “They don’t seem to have noticed us.  Walk next to me and do your best to look natural.  Don’t stare right at them.”  Morgan strode ahead and motioned to Oleb, who did his best to control his enthusiasm.

 

Shadowing Arrin through the district took some time, but went well as far as Morgan could tell.  He had no idea how the quarian got the krogan to help him, but the krogan was clearly experienced.  It didn’t please Morgan to think about fighting with the armored warrior, and started to think of appealing to reason.  Arrin headed into an old neighborhood, down a number of narrow alleys.

 

“There’s an old mining hangar around here,” Oleb mentioned under his breath.  “At least that is what is on the map.  It’s supposed to be shut down.”

 

“Maybe this quarian is smarter than I thought,” Morgan muttered.  There was no chance one of Torgeir’s hire would be watching a place like a shut down hanger.  He rounded a bend and saw the quarian and krogan had come to a halt.  Morgan pulled back and put a finger to his lips.  Oleb seemed to understand the human gesture.  Morgan peered around to watch and listen in.

 

He saw the main entrance to the hangar beyond Arrin.  It was guarded by more Blue Suns than any one person could handle.

 

Maybe this quarian isn’t as smart as I thought, Morgan regretted.

 

The quarian and krogan sounded like they were bickering a bit.  Morgan saw Arrin turn his omni-tool on and begin working.  It wasn’t long before the two LOKI mechs standing with the Blue Suns guards started acting strangely.  Distraction, Morgan mentally approved. 

 

Morgan wasn’t expecting what came next.  The mechs leveled their weapons and then the Blue Suns opened fire.  From Morgan’s angle, it looked like the Suns somehow blew up the two LOKI in blinding flashes.  In the midst of the chaos, Morgan was able to catch a glimpse of the quarian running across the hall to a vent shaft.

 

“Son of a…,” Morgan started to swear.  He pulled his Kovalyov assault rifle from the harness on his back and pointed to Oleb.  “The last thing I need is that quarian dead before I can talk to him.  Stay here and stay out of sight!”  Morgan activated his tech armor, aimed towards the Blue Suns and moved forward.

[Cainhurst Crow]

"this isn't a smart plan, quarian..." Vayne said as he saw the mechs level their weapons at the suns, thanks to the hacking job. It would make a good distraction, but it'd put the blue suns on high alert. The mechs then detonated, and the guards at the front went into a full panic as they began to open fire at one another in panic. 'Must be some of the fresher recruits. Would explain why they got door duty...' he thought as he saw arrin slip into the vents thanks to the confusion.

 

"Guess its my turn to move then..." Vayne thought as he got out of the cover he was using and began to circle the mines docking area, heading towards the door arrin had talked about with his omnitool. He accessed his omnitool as he got into his suits functions, activating the ezeo packets stored in his suits system as he felt himself getting lighter. He reduced his mass, enough so that he went from what some would consider a slow thudding to a quick sprint, enjoying the feeling of being lighter. This suits mass adjustment did wonders to take the years off at times, though he kept an eye on the gauge to check his radiation levels, too much and he'd start to be in real trouble.

 

As vayne got closer to the entrance, he saw how the ground seemed to be sloping up, meaning that this back entrance was probably also going to be on an upper level of some kind. Vayne came to a halt just as he rounded a corner, noticing the entrance was right down the alleyway turn. Vayne reached down for a grenade just in case, also reaching behind his back for his chakram launcher. It had been payment for a job he did for some weapon manufacturing out on illium having some patent issues, and vayne wondered how it would fair now that it was getting its first field test. He held down the trigger as the gun began to fabricate its explosive disk, and waiting a moment, vayne dashed out from cover and tossed his inferno grenade in a long aerial arc before leveling his rifle towards the door, looking for hostiles.

 

As it so happened, three blue sun mercs were standing at the door at the time, looking at vayne as they each made a move to draw their weapons. Vayne fired at the middle guard, the charged disk sailing through the air and right through the mercs head, imbedding in  the door as a second later, it detonated, creating a small explosion from the door that while not enough to damage it, was enough to startled the two mercs, who turned to look at their dead comrade. Which was a rather unwise move, given the inferno grenade was landing right behind their now turned back at that moment. The fiery explosive detonated, and the blue suns could only scream in panic, then pain, and then fall silent as the fire cooked them alive, melting their armor and destroyed whatever shielding they had used. Vayne held his chakram launcher at the ready as he deactivated the eezo boost in his armor, returning to his normal mass and shurgging his shoulder as he readjusted to the weight again.

 

Vayne walked over to the door, stepping over the dead bodies and nudging one of them from out of the doorway onto the side as he gave three soft taps with his knuckle, waiting for a response.

[Redbelle]

Jess finished toweling Anika's hair and slung the wet cloth onto the coffee table. Anika was seated on the edge of their couch with Jess kneeling behind her as she picked up the hairbrush and started combing out her long, lustrious hair.

 

As it turned out, a shower had been the best thing all round for both of them. Both had been able to lose themselves for moments that woud probably be the talk of the ship once more...... We really have to stop doing that. Jess thought to herself, thinking of all the problems and rumours their arrival had caused. Tomorrow...... maybe.

 

Anika felt far less tense as Jess combed out her hair.

 

Oh well, it had been nice while it had lasted.

 

"I want you to make friends with Eteon". Jess said as she finished. Immediately, she felt a little tension creep back into her. Her bare shoulders hunching forward.

 

"I'd rather just get the job we're here to do done". Anika replied.

 

Jess raised herself on her knees and slipping her hands under Anika's jawline she gently pulled anika's head back till they were looking at each other. "Don't disappoint me luv. We're going to Omega. You need this. Whatever they did to you at that complex..... you need to leave it behind. Don't carry it with you".

 

Anika shifted her head and Jess's hands slipped off. "Do you want to know what they did to me in there"?

 

Jess shifted around. The towel wrapped around her clinging tightly as she grasped the knot in one hand. "I'm listening".

 

"It was setup by a man. Someone called Henry Lawson. He wanted to play with genetics. I don't know why. Something about wanting to test bed techniques for someone else". She stopped and stared off into the distance. "The scientist's didn't have it figured out at the start. They were trying anything to see what worked. One of them showed me my original DNA profile once. He wasn't supposed to but he wanted to show me what I would have been if they hadn't have treated me". Anika looked up. "Apparently I'm supposed to be a Brunette. They took that out and replaced it with blonde. I should be average height. Nothing special. They wanted to test the height gene's so they took me and other's in the program and changed that too. Some were above average, some were under. Some were left as control groups".

 

Jess's brow furrowed as she listened. "Why didn't you say anything before"?

 

"I wanted to leave it behind before. I mean.... I'm one of the lucky ones. The one that didn't reject the conditioning. Or have a scientist screw up and develop abnormailities. But it could still happen. And lately, I wonder if all those changes made me.....".

 

Jess waited, then when she didn't seem to want to go on, prompted. "Made you"?

 

"Different....... Shaped....... Like, I'm clay that's been fired and lost the ability to change". She looked up. "I want to change. But..... I can't explain it".

 

"Try".

 

"I feel...... resentment. Suspicion. I see these no humans eyeing me and I wonder what's going in their heads. I can't read them because I never grew up with the galactic community. And then my training takes over and I start looking for ways they can hurt me. And I go into automatic. Looking for ways to counter. And all the time I'm trying not to let those feelings dictate the best defense strategy".

 

"Which is"?

 

"Attack first. Those of us in the complex that got past the beginning stages and had the desired attributes? We were taken away and given special training. The ones that made it were moulded to fit into a role. Because I'm tall and strong, they decided I should be a personal security operative. I was going to guard this Lawson man who made me into this". She held up her hands. Her long delicate fingers extending and contracting. "The huntress who trained me encouraged me to leave. So I managed to get into the comm system and send a message off world".

 

Jess's lip curled into a smile. "Ten million credits for the safe return of this woman". She shook her head. "Gotta give it to you luv. That was a doozy of an escape plan. I had to skip past a few other pirates and privateers to get to you first".

 

Anika smiled. "Well..... my teacher alwasys said greed was a good motivator".

 

"True words luv. To bad you didn't have ten million credits".

 

"When are you going to let that go"?

 

Jess made a show of looking up, deep in thought. "Never"? She hazarded. "Never's good for me. Don't look so glum luv. That kind of thinking made me take you with me".

 

"Technically, you kidnapped me".

 

"Hmmmmm. I'm so bad".

 

"The worst".

 

Jess looked right at Anika. "You still worried about them coming after you"?

 

"I'm property to them".

 

"Your Anika to me. And if you let them. You can be Anika to anyone outside this room. If you let them see the person I see every day".

 

"Easier said than done, captain".

 

"Gonna apoligise to Eteon"?

 

"I'll....... see to it".

 

"Ata girl". Jess rose from the couch. "Now pick out something nice. We're going to see who else is out there to see".

 

"Captain......". Anika's tone caught Jess's attention. "Aren't we forgetting something"?

 

"Something"?

 

"Your checkup"?

 

Jess's shoulders slumped in response. "C'mon luv..... I'm fine".

 

"Let's keep it that way". Anika reached under the couch and withdrew a case which she placed on the coffee table as Jess sat down next to her. "Turn".

 

Jess turned away as Anika opened the case and withdrew a device with a readout and a long data port cable. Setting the device down she brushed a hand over Jess back above the towel and found what looked like a scar close to the shoulder blade. Setting her thumb to the side she pried the skin apart revealing a small gap which she pushed the data jack into.

 

Jess endured as she waited for Anika to pick up the device. "You ready"?

 

"Just get it done luv".

 

Anika activated the device and the vision in Jess's right eye went dark and her right arm, from the shoulder down, slumped as if she had relaxed it. Jess waited and soon her silver eye blinked back to life and diagnotic data that Anika was seeing scrolled in front of her.

 

Jess grunted. "I hate this part".

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Aria sat on her couch waiting for Dahlia. She had a job for her, and she was growing very impatient. Dahlia drank her tea and injected a stim. She took a deep breath and got dressed: ripped top, leather vest, and leather pants. She strapped her pistol to her leg and holstered her shotgun to her back. She finally walked into Afterlife.

 

"That's twenty-five minutes, Dahlia!" Anto chastized, "I told you ten minutes. You don't keep Aria waiting."

 

"**** off!"

 

"You'll be fucked off if you don't watch it. Aria has a job for you. Come on."

 

The two of them walked up the stairs. Anto gave Dahlia a shove as they approached Aria.

 

"Well, well. It seems her highness has finally decided to grace us with her presence. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Aria slapped a biotic field around her and half crushed her to the floor.

 

A burning sensation rose up Dahlia's spine and entered her head. She tried to scream but couldn't find her voice. Every single muscle in her body tightened. Then Aria released her. Dahlia was on her hands and knees breathing heavily, catching her breath.

 

"You try my patience. It really is a shame. You have talent, but you show such little respect for your betters," Aria said, "The only reason I don't put you back on one of  those poles is because you have spirit. But you need to learn your place. When I say I need you for a job you don't keep me waiting. Is that understood?"

 

Dahlia looked down at the floor and mumbled. "Yes, Aria."

 

"Look at me!"

 

"Yes, Aria," She looked up.

 

"Get up. I've heard some rumors, and they're very sketchy. You can sneak around this station better than anyone. Someone is testing me by putting a hit on Patriarch," Aria said, "Find out if that rumor is true, and let me know. Even better if you can find out who it is."

 

"Yes, Aria."

 

"Well, don't just stand here."

 

Dahlia ran off down the stairs. Aria turned to Anto and smiled, and then went back to conducting her business.

[Gabi_MuadDiB]

Arrin was crawling his way in the ventilation shaft, when he hear the explotions outside the door 'That must be Vayne' he was almost at the exit of the shaft that almost directly in front of the door... Then he heard the knocks... "What was that?" there was a Turian Merc guarding the door inside. Arrin wasn't expecting that... he had to think fast. The Turian was starting to open the intercom system in his Omni-tool, probably to inform his superiors about the little explotions at the left, they where order to be extra carefull after the insident in the front door... Arrin took his Paladin, Aimed point blank to the left feet of the Turian, shot him and blew his feet away, the Merc didn't had is shields up, cause he didn't felt any threat in this lonely corridor... When the felt with a scream he saw the Quarian at the shaft... and soon has he made eye contact Arrin shooted him in beetween the eyes... his head blew aways sendig gray matter all over the door... it was the first time he shooted someone 'Bosh'tet, I just  blew his head!!! Oh ancestor I just blew his head!!!!' He had a panic attack... the adrenaline had made him react, but now he started to realize what he had done 'He is death!!! men!!! death... oK, OK... clam down... open the door and feel guilty later! Vayne have to come in' in less 5 seconds he made the door open...

[ParkBom]

"It is no problem!" the doctor replied, a lively tone lacing her words with vitality as she examined the VI right back, cocking her head as her cobalt eyes traced its mechanical frame. Every so often, her gaze would focus on a single part of COLE, studying it with her eyes opened wide. "A very interesting companion you have, here. It is too bad it is an ally. I was wishing to take it apart and analyze it, to learn more of VIs and how they work." Elara commented, almost disappointed with her lips slightly puckered towards her left. "Still, there is much I can learn from working with it, on the field as well as off." she concluded, turning to the human.

 

"You are headed towards the medical bay?" she asked, commando leathers most likely hiding her position on the Turian ship. Her casual wear was much more typical of the science types, covering as much skin as possible with thick protection, just in case the scientists themselves were working with hazardous materials. Though, the doctor noted how the temperature of the Turian ship was higher than her preferred working environment. No doubt, this was something she would have to get used to. As such, her clothing would have to adapt to the situation as well. It was a good thing she packed vacation clothes, namely few summery dresses of different colors. 

 

"If you are..." the Asari began, a grin creeping back onto her face. "...you're just in time for your checkup!" 

 

As the ship was sent off into FTL, she opted to not grab onto the railing which was a little out of her reach, instead steadying herself with a biotic field whilst continuing to speak. "Don't worry. Other than a few needles that the Turians insist on giving to their new shipmates as well as a little blood, it should be rather painless. Just a scan from my omni-tool, checking for any abnormalities, infections, cybernetics, that sort of thing." Elara explained, the doors to the elevator opening as she did so. Walking out, the Asari motioned for the man to follow her, walking in the direction of the medical bay.

 

As she stepped inside her gleaming white office, the doors shut behind her, effectively locking Kanae and his mechanized friend outside. "Sorry! I will just be about a minute!"

 

In that minute, the Asari shed her leather armor, the commando leathers stuck to her like a second skin. Making a note to get a larger sized suit of armor, Elara used her biotics to quickly tidy up the messy area, things being thrown into the back storage room with surprising precision. While her offensive biotics needed work as did her power and handling over heavier beings, it was something Elara did daily with her biotics, using them to aid her in everyday tasks such as cleaning. 

 

Within about fifty-four seconds, the doors to the med-lab opened once more, a green light replacing the red lock. "Come in, now!" she stated, quickly typing out a message to the communications officer for the lines of the other specialists. They all needed this checkup, whether they wanted it or not. As the good doctor she was, Elara was going to deliver it to them, whether they accept it willingly or go with it kicking and screaming. She had a responsibility, as head doctor so as such, those under her care were going to be protected at all costs.