"F**k me"? Jess said, unable to keep a wry smile off her lips. "You horn dog. Even with three bullet's just taken out of you... you still have a one track mind".
"She's torn up plenty. But she'll fly true". Jess told him. "She's got unfinished business to clear away before she can take her rest to recover full. Till then she needs her friends to come back and help her on her way".
Essul sat at the terminal in his quarters, dressed in his casual armor as he sealed his armor in its transport case, setting the case to clean his armor and remove the damned ash that still clung to it in micro-amounts. Not poisonous in its current concentration, but it'd still mess with his tactical cloak if he deployed it.
The batarian worked, typing a incident report as he made a duplicate of his suits video feed, saving it in his report along with the written recounting. There were key details omitted of course, the ship belonging to a human privateer, changed instead to a merchant vessel whose transported content could have contained leads on the disappearances, as well as removing audio of the names spoken. He worked to fill in the gaps in the report, his cameras having been damaged from the sonic attack and subsequent near physical result. This was the part with the most lies, where he reported that the mission to retake the vessel had yielded containment pods used by the collectors, and they would be working on tracking their origin.
Essul rubbed his eyes as he sent the report of events back to hegemony command, as he was required to do after any operation. As he sat there silently, he got on and typed more, not to the hegemony, but instead to two people he didn't feel like running into again. They were short, but by the end of it essul felt his eyes getting heavy from exhaustion, not having eaten since the mission began and was now feeling it in the safety of the ship.
Essul reached and picked up his combat knife from the table, brushing aside the empty injector gun that lay next to it was he stood and strapped the knife to his belt. He left for the mess hall, looking to get himself something good to help replenish his energy. Before he left however, he was sure to send out his messages.
========================================================
--------
To: Eli_Frank
Subject: Stop.
Frank Eli.
You fall asleep too often. Please stop doing so. I do not want to carry you back to your room again.
- Sgt. Ran'perah.
--------------
To: Sevren_Morgan
Subject: Apologies
I hope you are feeling better. I am sorry for what happened on mission. It was a foolish mistake, one that could have cost more. I will try to make it up to you.
- Sgt. Ran'perah.
--------
========================================================
Essul walked into the main wardroom in something of a daze, seeking out whatever had a lot of calories as he walked past the others in the room and made a b-line for the food section. He stood there, looking slowly between food items, unsure of what to get as he decided rather unthinkingly to pick up the tray of yellow unknown substance with what smelled like some form of meat. He got himself a cup of coffee as well, thankful that the ship carried such a luxury item as human caffeine, something only sold in the bazaars of camala for batarians living in hegemonic space to get. He'd tried it once while stationed there, and he'd fallen in love almost immediately.
Essul picked up the sugar shaped like 3 dimensional cubes, dropping one after another in until he'd put 5 cubes into his coffee, pouring the tiniest few drops of cream possible into it as he walked towards a vacant table and sat, drinking the cup of hot goodness quickly and almost guzzling half of it down before stopping to take a breath, before he tried some of the yellow U.S. He chewed and paused a moment before taking another fork full and shoving it in his mouth, finding whatever it was to be pretty damn delicious. His eyes wandered to the meat product, odd cylindrical shaped packets of meat tightly packed together and cooked. He cut one in half and took a bite, closing his eyes after a moment as he tasted how flavorful it was.
Human cuisine. No wonder the hegemony banned it so long ago.
"I'm sure her capitan has plenty of those." Morgan tried to read Jess' expression. "And speaking of, how is that captian?"...
"She's torn up plenty. But she'll fly true". Jess told him. "She's got unfinished business to clear away before she can take her rest to recover full. Till then she needs her friends to come back and help her on her way".
"Concerned....". Jess replied. "Lots of balls in the air to juggle and the one I thought was untouchable keeps looking the most shakey. What you whispered to me, after Iyana got away. Luv, I am who I am. Whoeveer you think I am, or was, that's not me. But a lot of people who I've had bad runs ins with won't make the distinction. Some people will just burn anything remotely associated with a privateer...... Do I need to be worried"?
Rolling his head to the side table near his bed, Morgan spotted his omni-tool. The device had been left, unlike the rest of his armor, for its data and utility, common practice to keep patients entertained. Morgan lifted his left arm (not as aggravated as his right by movement) without as much effort as he thought it would take, took the omni-tool glove, and let it rest on his chest. Then he activated it, and punched a series of keys.
A video displayed, with a picture of a woman in her early sixties standing in a relatively clean apartment with a television feed in the background. “That’s my mother,” Morgan pointed out. Then he used the omni-tool to zoom in on the television feed in the background, displaying a newscast. Prominent in the foreground of the newscast was a reporter, with her name displayed across the bottom.
“My mother loves Amy. She turns her on all the time. Amy doesn't look exactly the same, but there's enough similarity.” Morgan looked lost in a memory momentarily. “I haven’t seen my mother in years but I still can’t forget how much of a fan she is, and Amy gets viewed in her home every time my mother can afford to watch her.”
Morgan then looked up, swallowing again to clear his dry throat. “Do you remember when you first found out about your crew? And you went back to your cabin on the Audron. You were upset. I was there. Eteon showed up, and you were talking to her about getting data scrubbed. You were insistent, and something about the way you talked got my curiosity.
“Maybe I spend too much time thinking about connections,” Morgan confessed. “I had to. It’s what I did as an agent and also to keep me alive. But your protest, or insistence, or whatever it was about how you wanted that data scrubbed, led me to thinking, and wondering.
“That horror, Iyana, said something too. I don’t think she’s onto you, but in that com with her that you had us overhear, she mocked your surname. She’s sure it isn’t yours and in her meticulous, compulsive ways, I know Iyana pays too much attention to things like names. At least I know she would have dragged up whatever she could have on the name ‘Stone’ and probably having found nothing, she started suspecting.”
Morgan turned off the omni-tool and took a pause to recover before going on. “I was as sure as I could be, but when I was there, dying, I thought I might never get the chance to say anything again. So I said what was important, and what I wanted you to know.”
A tightness overtook Morgan’s throat and he quieted somewhat. “Every day I worry, Jess, about my mother, my childish brother, and my sister who should be a brilliant neurosurgeon one day. Iyana knows who they are, and where they are. Maybe they’re gone, Jess. If I had to guess, probably. You saw the kind of things Iyana does to people. You know how important it is to keep certain secrets. And I’m all out of secrets to keep safe.”
Morgan sighed. “Jess, you make me talk more than I ever have to anyone.”
Anika held Naleena on her lap. She had never seen Naleena look so vulnerable. She wanted to know, but perhaps it was best that she didn't. Naleena was exhausted, but she brought her left hand up to her face and tapped on it.
"VERA, download everyone's suitcam feed, and piece together a video with audio for a post-mission debriefing," Naleena ordered.
"Not everyone is aboard the Janiri, Boss." VERA replied.
"I know, VERA. Please do that when they're within range. We need to review what happened, and how she was able to react so quickly to us. I will not be beaten by her again," Naleena said, "And put me through to the kitchen. I would like two dinner plates brought up with whatever is on the menu for tonight."
"So you two lovebirds are going to have an intimate meal?"
"I think we earned it," Naleena replied.
Anika smiled. "I should check in with Jess and let her know."
"Of course."
Naleena and Anika finished their meal, and they showered. She then ordered Commander Selani to prepare the Janiri and Medusa for relay transit to Caleston. She knew Jess really didn’t have much of a choice about it since Janiri crew was operating her ship. Dahlia told Morgan she had to return to the Janiri, wished him an uneventful recovery, squeezed his hand and left. All shuttles were aboard. It would take four hours to reach the Mass Relay from Vem Osca, and once having made relay transit, another 8 hours to reach Caleston. Naleena and Anika took the opportunity to sleep. VERA assembled the video.
When they were four hours away from Caleston, the Janiri received a message from Caleston.
“This is Caleston Control, we have you tagged as the Janiri, state your business.”
“Caleston Control, this is Commander Selani of the CSV Janiri. We are a Council Ship in need of repair and need clearance to land at the Alliance Military Shipyard,” she replied, “We have another ship with us: the Medusa. She is flying with us under the authority of Spectre Naleena T’sarius. She is in need of repair as well. Her captain will be paying for the repairs to the Medusa.”
“Negative on the second vessel. Only Council and Alliance vessels may use the shipyard.”
The Commander contacted Naleena, and Naleena was on her com. “This is Spectre Naleena T’sarius. Authorization Code alpha 1 9 4 tango 5 echo Charlie 3 0 – 3 4 romeo. The Medusa is currently under my command. My crew is on board. It is part of my task force, and it is in need of repairs. This makes it a Council ship.”
“I will need to clear this with my superior.”
“You do that,” Naleena replied.
A few minutes passed. “Permission granted. Proceed to bays 34 and 38.”
“Acknowledged. Selani out.”
Naleena put on her clean armor and coat, went to her terminal. VERA had a message waiting that the mission video was ready. Naleena sent out a message to the team and Mira’s fire team that there was going to be a mission debriefing in two hours in the conference room: Jess could take a shuttle from the Medusa if she wasn’t already aboard. It was evident that Morgan would miss this unless the doctor allowed him to attend. He might be on his feet and walking around, and be able to give some useful insight, she hoped. In any event, VERA had probably analyzed the video and had every single mistake noted. Then Naleena and Anika went to the main wardroom for breakfast, and she ordered an urn coffee and the drink of Eteon’s preference for the conference room.
Vayne was on his feet again. He was still sore where the blade had been, but due to the treatment of Dr. Tolus, and the nano-probes he used to get the medi-gel exactly where it needed to go, he was recovering very well.
Naleena saw Dahlia and went to have a word with her.
“Dahlia, good work on the mission,” Naleena said.
“Thanks. I’ve been with Morgan, and he’s doing a lot better now,” Dahlia replied.
“The doctor said if it wasn’t for you he probably would have died,” Naleena said.
Dahlia knew what Naleena wanted. “But that’s not why you’re talking to me.”
Naleena paused for a moment, and smiled. “Then you know why. Just clear it with someone next time. That’s all I ask. I’ll see you at the debriefing.”
Then Naleena and Anika went to the conference room to set up for the debriefing.
Aboard the Khukuri, last known location: Vem Osca.
Iyana lay naked on the bed of her outer chamber aboard the Khukuri. For once, she was not pouring through the mountains of data she most often did in her work for The Shadow Broker. Xhuan had assisted her up to her cabin without any of the other crew witnessing, and helped treat her wounds. Three rounds passing cleanly through Iyana’s body, topped off with a biotic explosion, was a risky maneuver, even for someone who perfectly assessed the plan and pulled it off.
If Iyana didn’t say so herself.
For Iyana, the medigel would heal everything cleanly. She doubted the same for Morgan, and predicted he would die soon if he hadn’t already. While Iyana gloated over her accomplishment, she reached over to a curved side table where a computer, a data cube and a mask lay. The mask Iyana picked up and examined, imagining the face of its owner behind it as she peered into its eyes.
“Such an Ibisian scene: both their faces were formal masks, their posture correct, pain kept inside where it cut deeper.”
An alert sounded from the computer. It indicated Iyana had an incoming priority message.
Iyana turned the mask around in her hands and placed it back upon the table, leaned up against the clock so it faced her. She rose, slowing herself as she felt her wounds and lingering to experience their sensation, then stood to put on a comfortable, sheer, short cut, violet robe. When she was finished, she turned to stare at the back wall to the outer chamber and concentrated.
In a flash, she had moved from her outer chamber to her inner chamber.
Within was another bed, able to fit only one, with sophisticated equipment attached to it. Several cabinets were fastened to the walls, and there was a divider, hiding all of it from a Quantum Entanglement Communicator. Most notable about the inner chamber was that there were no doors.
Iyana stepped around the divider and activated the QEC. An image of Jrudek appeared, and Iyana immediately noted his non-standard attire.
“My superior,” Jrudek greeted and tilted his head to the left.
“I see you haven’t died. So what does The Lord have to say?”
“He wishes to inform you he accepts your request to meet as you wish, but he warns that he does not take kindly to those who disrupt his organization. He declares that he will give you a chance to set things right, but if you cannot he says he will crush you. The context for this statement was that it would be an incentive to earn his forgiveness.”
“Apparently, everybody wishes to talk down to me these days.”
Jrudek grunted in acquiescence. “I have done my best to convey a different way for them to hold the relationship.”
“Please, Jrudek, of that I have no doubt.” Iyana moved a loose strand of hair back into place with a finger. “Sometimes I have to place a proper perspective myself.”
“The terms he demanded were as such,” Jrudek said, and then went through all that was asked of Iyana to make reparations. “Lord Tarballs has futher ordered that I remain on his ship to be your spokesperson, stating that my return would be sometime later.”
“How positively medieval!” Iyana grinned. “Maybe we do have some common ground. I do hate opening with a submissive messenger, but you are to be congratulated, Jrudek. You have accomplished what I most wanted. Despite this Lord being a bit too bold with putting his hand in the cookie jar.”
“My superior?”
Iyana laughed. “It is a human phrase. What I mean is this Lord makes high demands. But the people in important positions often do. Now if you would, run along and say that I will contact him soon, when I am available. Tell him, also, that I wish to speak of events concerning the Medusa but that I will not do so until I visit him in person. And Jrudek?”
“Yes?”
“Inform Lord Tarballs, though I am sure he has this communication monitored, that he may want to set aside some private time for our meeting, after whatever ostentatious presentation he wishes to arrange when we first see each other. Now, off with you. I must contact the Broker.”
“As you wish.”
Iyana ended the communication. She took another moment to straighten out her robe and fuss with her hair before she used the QEC to reach out to the only entity she took orders from.
Quite used to a relatively quick response from The Shadow Broker, Iyana frowned when the QEC wasn’t activated on the other end within a few minutes. She wondered at what the delay could be, but at least twice before, The Shadow Broker had taken longer to pick her up, on the order of ten or fifteen minutes wait. When that time came and went, Iyana scowled. She inadvertently began looking to see if there was some malfunction she could spot, though she knew there were none.
At the moment Iyana was about to turn and leave, the QEC was linked at the other end. As was standard procedure for the broker, there was no image presented, and the voice was disguised. But what took Iyana by surprised was the simply automated message that played back to her.
“This is the Shadow Broker. The situation is under control. We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading hardware. It disrupted communications momentarily. However, we are now back online. Resume standard procedures. I want a status report on all operations within the next solar day. Shadow Broker out.”
Iyana stared at the QEC after the message had played. She then moved back to the other side of the divider, and teleported back to her outer chamber. Her nostrils flared and she grabbed the computer on the table by her bedside and opened a com line to Xhuan on the bridge. “Xhuan, have someone else take the bridge. There are some tasks I want you to do immediately. Meet me in my quarters.”
"Glad your finding your voice again luv. It's good to talk, isn't it". Jess said looking down and reaching out to place a hand over the one that held the omni-tool. "Look Morgan.... I don't know what's going to happen. I only know that there are things that will happen if I don't stand and stop them from happening. I have no regret's about stopping Iyana that day she was meeting with you. I couldn't have known she'd do what she did to my people because if I did you can be sure I'd have stopped her then too". She looked at the tool. "I guess looking out for people becomes second nature after awhile when your looking out for them daily. So.... you going to tell me about this family of yours? What happened to them"?
Morgan felt the warmth in Jess’ hand as it touched his. “What happened to my family? I don’t know…”
Dahlia came in to the med bay at that point to inform Morgan and Jess pulled her hand away. The young asari came around the screen to let Morgan know she had to return to the Janiri, and wish him the best. As Dahlia left, Jobe took the opportunity to come over and check on Morgan.
“You’re crazy if you don’t give her the chance to come with us,” Morgan said to Jess. “I mean crazier than you usually are.”
Jobe chuckled. “Captain’s got her process, even if this old man disagrees sometimes. She’s got a good eye, and I’ve only ever seen her make one mistake.” His voice softened as he peered at Jess. “And there ain’t no blaming her for giving even that mistake a chance.”
There was a bit of quiet while Jobe finished up and moved away again. “You got some stamina, man,” Jobe said on his way out. “You two can keep talkin’, but no heavy liftin’.”
After Jobe was out of earshot, Morgan remarked, “Talk more?” He winked at Jess and brought up some personal pictures on his omni-tool.
“That’s my sister, Jen. Well, really she’s my stepsister. Her father took off when he knew my mom was pregnant. She’s ten years younger than me and the baby in the family. Born with Gaucher’s disease, it’s genetic and half a century ago she’d be dead by the time she was two. Still, her treatment regimen is daily and costs six figures a year. That’s where my funds go first.” Morgan gave a slight laugh. “Jen’s strong. She wants to be a neurosurgeon of all things, and work for the Alliance. Says they have the top research facilities. Mom wants her to keep studying in New York, but that’s only because my Mom doesn’t want to see her go. Who knows, maybe she was accepted already. Jen’s smart enough that anyone will take her.”
Morgan flipped pictures. “There’s my brother, Keith. Blood brother. He’s three years up from Jen and seven below me. He’s got such a thick skull but I love him. Keith works customs at the Port Authority, the important stuff actually. Trustworthy, if a bit naïve. But Keith loves comics more than anything. X-Men, the Hulk…I can’t believe those heroes are still around after all this time. But he can tell you all about them, and why they’re still around, and anything you’d want to know. He tends to give you a hard time if he likes you.”
A nostalgia overcame Morgan momentarily as he flipped to the last picture he showed Jess, of a man and a boy. “That’s my father. I must be six years old in this picture, a year before he was killed in the First Contact War. Same year he died, Mom had Keith. It was hard, and Mom and I never got along much until I left. Really, I don’t know if we still do, but we’re adults about it now. And I think it is just that we both miss Dad. To her credit, she raised all three of us. Tough as nails, but she had to be with Dad gone….”
Briefly, Morgan paused. “You get the picture. Not the picture perfect upbringing, but who has that, right? We made it, though. At least this far. At least until I did what I thought I had to so Jen could get what she needed.
“That’s how they put the leash on me, Jess.” Morgan pushed the omni-tool aside, his worn expression returning. “The Alliance wasn’t paying enough and what we could get from social programs couldn’t cover the kind of expenses Jen’s treatment racked up. I had to take what was offered when a Shadow Broker agent contacted me. It seemed like it would work out, and I should have known better but I was desperate. Jen got her treatment, but it was over for me. The collar was on.
“I sent all that money from the Collector ship to them. Every last credit. I knew if the funds weren’t an issue anymore, that the Shadow Broker would lose control over me. And I needed to send enough money in a way that would cause the Broker too many problems to go after the family. Of course, all that changed because I didn’t count on living and I didn’t count on what would happen.
Morgan shook his head slightly. “If they’re dead, I don’t know if I could ever forgive myself. It’s hard enough to not shoulder the blame for what’s happened so far to them, to your people, and to you, Jess. You understand?”
Jess was quiet for moment. Then..... "I got a job opening for a first mate. Salaries six figures and year plus bonuses. I need someone who can keep an eye on me and bring me to one side when I mess up. Someone who can support me, the ship and crew. Someone who I can trust to keep things together when I'm away and hold the can if I don't come back. First mate's duties are simple. Be the go between for the crew and her captain and keep the ship in top condition...... Oda was good at that. Low in gut's, he was to gentle......". Jess paused.
"I won't lie, the jobs going to be a lot of paperwork and filing at the start. Coupled with extreme bouts of drinking which Doc won't let you near while you healing up. If your interested, or if you think of anyone who could help me run this ship send that name by".
Jess straightened by his bedside. "I understand wanting to protect someone Morgan. The question is, how far does that go for you? Colonies are still going dark. Iyana's out there ready and willing to hurt us for who knows what reason? And to round it off it seems like we have someone working against the group from the inside.....".
"I don't just let anyone gain access to my ship luv..... but I need to know one thing and I need to know it, and believe it, one hundred percent. Is there anything in your past that could be used to comprimise your dedication to this ship if I make a formal offer out of the first mate position"?
“When I first met you, Jess, I think I didn’t understand what it was about you and the Medusa. To most, there’s the ship and then there are people, two entirely separate things. But it isn’t that way for you, is it? My sister, Jen, what she studies isn’t simply a career. Even if it’s a terrible analogy, for Keith, his comics aren’t ‘just books’. These loves they have aren’t only part of themselves, it’s who they are.
“I don’t remember when I had anything like that, Jess. At least it’s been so long I don’t remember. But I understand what you are asking and why now, and I would never put the Medusa in jeopardy, first mate or not. I’d die first, like I’d die for my family. You couldn’t threaten my sister to get me to hurt my brother or my mother. You couldn’t threaten any of them to get me to hurt this ship. I wouldn’t hurt one family member because another was threatened.”
Morgan reached out to hold Jess’ hand, and though his body ached, he held it firmly. “I would never save anyone by hurting you, Jess, and that means all that you are. If for nothing more than you saved me. Of course, in your case, there is much more.”
...
Frank stood, and stretched a bit, before grabbing his helmet and heading for the showers.
--------------------------------
"That's the last time I shoot at one of those little f*ckers." Frank grumbled, fiercely scrubbing at his armor with a wire brush. Dull spots were left in the finish as bits of volus were scrubbed away.
"Not right now, I'm kind of busy."
Frank looked up.
"Ugh. You again? Did you really follow me here? What do you want? These?" He picked up the dog tags from the corner of the shower and chucked them. "There. Now p*ss off."
After Iole’s last flight over from the Medusa, she began to feel a bit of the fatigue from the mission. She wasn’t involved in any of the fighting, but being on high alert status at all times, plus flying the Scythe with precision, took its toll. And when she landed, she still needed to leave the shuttle in proper standby condition, until Naleena was sure she wouldn’t need it again.
The Spectre had given Iole clearance to catch up on some downtime when she was called. Iole moved through the Janiri, first to the room where she bunked with her team, then to the lounge where she tried to relax, but her mind was still very active. Instead, Iole thought if she could catch the shower, it might do the trick.
So Iole went and got her bathroom gear from the bunk, and by that time, she really was thinking to herself quite a bit. Her course was on autopilot as she walked, and she heard someone talking when she got to the showers. The first order of business was to get out of her Commando leathers and hang them on a hook. The second was to get under some relaxing warm water under the nearest shower head.
Iole didn’t pay much attention to the person talking to themselves a bit farther down. They sounded like they didn’t want to be bothered so she didn’t even spare a glance as she put herself under a soothing rain and wash herself down. Iole started humming to herself, a habit she’d had since she could remember.
"God, I hope this smell goes away."
Frank rinsed his armor off again, before sniffing it one more time.
I'll have to get something more 'industrial' from Septerax.
He shrugged, before turning the shower off. He could still hear running water, and faint humming farther down. He listened closer.
Female? Oh god, I've been using the wrong showers this whole time! I need to get out of here!
Frank reached for a towel that wasn't there. In his rush for the shower, he had forgotten to grab one. He gathered his armor, stacking it in a pile with his helmet on top. He peeked out of his stall, before stepping out, carrying his gear in a way that provided him some cover.
Halfway there...
He tried picking up the pace, as he neared the exit, only to lose his footing. His gear scattered as he fell.
"Sh*t."
Frank watched in horror, as his helmet rolled under the occupied stall.
Iole felt something bump into her foot. She had just lathered up with soap and peeked with one eye to see what had happened. A helmet lay on the floor that was fairly familiar looking, so she reached down and picked it up.
The word ‘Beans’ was etched above the visor.
With a smile, Iole pushed open the stall door with the helmet in one hand and called out, “Frank! You dropped something, again.” Iole turned her head one way and then the other before spotting Frank. “There you are.”
Frank was looking at Iole in nothing but her birthday suit and soap lather, offering him his helmet.
Jess gave Morgan a solemn stare. "Morgan, I'm offering you the position of First Mate aboard the Medusa. The workload will be light seeing as your injured. Mainly you'll be working from a desk and telling other people what needs doing. And I'm sorry. But since your not familiar with the ship I'll be having the post split between two. I've got an old hand who was the second officer from way back coming to us. He'll meet us at our rendezvous. Ditto any others I've reached out to. This will mainly be a crash course in ship functions and basic command opportunity for you so it's good to see your talking more because you'll likely never stop from here on".
Jess took a breath. "The other good news is these old timers are as pro as they come. They've forgotten more than you or I know. They're coming out of retirement to help me and the old lady so give them respect. But don't ever let them think your not my choice of first officer. Some of these guys like to play games and I'm sure being into retirement some are thinking what have they got to lose playing up to the captain whose younger than they are".
Moving along the bed Jess sighed. "We're due a conference I think. As soon as we get where we need to be. We'll be getting the team back together on one ship. Doc wont' let you move though so we'll set up some conferencing remote here so you can feed in what you know. Now if you'll excuse me... I need to find a camera and a place to setup. If Naleena's taken on board what I said earlier I think she'll be putting together what something I need for our retaliation against Iyana".
Frank quickly diverted his eyes, while scrambling for a piece of armor to cover himself.
"I-I'm sorry, I thought this... this was uh... I thought..." His face couldn't have been more red. He reached out for his helmet, and placed it on his head. "Thanks...".
She is surprisingly cool with this.
"I uh... should probably go..." Frank gathered his things and stood up. He headed for the exit, doing his best to cover his rear. "Actually..." He turned back around, still looking away. "I don't suppose you'd have a towel?"
“A towel?” Iole scanned. “Oh, they’re over here.”
When Iole turned, she ended up showing Frank every last part of her athletic, commando trained body, in all its eye-popping glory. Her back was covered with the same gold-like flecking that adorned her face. There was a built in, waterproof cabinet on the wall nearby, and every suppel muscle of hers seemed to lightly flex as she move towards it. Iole pulled a towel from it, snapped it open, and tossed it to Frank. For a moment, Iole looked confused as she saw Frank trying to cover up. Then her eyes opened in embarrassment as she grasped what had happened.
“Oh…right…gender specific showers.”
Iole bit her lip. She didn’t exactly know what to do, making a motion to cover up momentarily, then realizing it really didn’t matter any more. So Iole raised a brow while biting her lip a bit more and shrugged. “Sorry?”
...Now if you'll excuse me... I need to find a camera and a place to setup. If Naleena's taken on board what I said earlier I think she'll be putting together what something I need for our retaliation against Iyana".
Morgan nodded. “I really don’t know how much use I’m going to be on a conference call, but sure.
“Jess, about the job, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I mean, if you have doubts about me, I can take it. Just tell me, all right? And...tell me what you want, all right? Don’t do it now if you’ve got to go, but always tell me.”
Frank did his best not to stare, but for a young man, it wasn't exactly easy. He took advantage of his helmet's polarized visor.
"No no, you're... It's fine." He wrapped the towel tightly around himself.
Knowing that he was in the right place provided him with some comfort. Still, the whole situation was incredibly awkward for him.
"Well I'm gonna let you uh... rinse off, now." He scooped up his gear. "I've gotta get back to my quarters and... well, do stuff. I guess." He shrugged. "Nice seeing you commando."
((Woo hoo, post 1000.))
Jess lifted her chin. "Frankly luv if I let my doubt's rule me I'd never get anything done. Are you a man to do the job? Perhaps. Are you THE man for the job. Time will tell. I want to believe in you and so I'm offering you something important to me. Screw up and your out. Do good and you stay. Those are the rules that everyone whose crewed this ship have been measured against. Me included. If you can't handle that then don't take the job. If you think you can? Say yes".
Jess's eye's bored into Morgan's. "And if you know what's got Iyana so up in arms about me, now's the time to tell.... What? She angry I poached her favourite agent or something? She must have a real thing against headhunters".
Morgan searched Jess as best he could. "Let's take it that we trust each other enough, all right? If you want to say later on that I'm not your man, then fine. But from here on in, you won't hear it from me. Put me on, let's get it done. And if I had the strength right now, I'd show you how serious I am.
"Now as far as Iyana's concerned, I'm not holding anything back, but I know you got to her now. I haven't seen her react to anyone like she's reacting to you. But she did set us up to kill each other. I got lucky, somehow. I was about to pull that trigger too, and I stopped myself. It was something she told me back when...'Control is paramount'. And she said something else when she spoke to you through that communicator about the future being for people who think before they act. It didn't get much past that because by then I'd been shot.
"So...why? I'm sure she wants me dead as a rogue agent. I'm sure she wants you dead for what you did. But maybe she does want something else we haven't figured out yet. You know I put in that dossier that I've thought a long time about how that woman could have ended up the way she was, and I haven't been able to figure it out. Maybe she needs something that she can't get if you're around." Morgan got introspective for a moment. "Or me."
Morgan sighed with the exertion of the conversation. He'd never really thought about why it was so important for him to be dead, and it even seemed like a good idea back on Omega.
Jess raised an eyebrow. "Save your strength for getting well again luv. Then you can back up those words. As for Iyana..... I'm not going after her which is in itself a problem. She'll have time to regroup and plot her next step and I only have an inkling as to what that'll be. But we're not working to take her down. The job is the collectors and we're way behind on schedule as to doing something about them. We've got two ships now though so we ought to be able to pick up the pace some..... maybe.... I don't know. We'll see how things stand at the meeting".
Jess reached forward and knocked a fist gently into Morgan's shoulder. "You know, I usually slap the new bloods. Harks back to the days of when knights were given a blow across the face. The last strike received that will go without repercussion..... Guess you took a good one when I hit my head though..... There will be repercussions for Iyana Morgan. That I promise".
After eating and shooting the breeze with Jenus, Irina went back to her quarters and did a little repair work on her armor. Her armor was something almost sacred to her. She didn’t trust anyone else with it after she discharged from the military, and after going walkabout on Duellos several times she had to learn how to make repairs on her own. She was saddened that the ecosystem on that region of the planet was destroyed because it had been coming back, and it had been her hunting ground. But that was the fault of the Collectors, and she knew that there really was only one way to make that area safe again. Besides, she thought, the region would come back. The Asari didn’t use any dirty bombs. Seeds from other regions would blow into the area and would take root. It was the animal life that suffered most.
While attaching new leather to the hole in her armor, she thought about the Medusa and how much that crew of Jess’ suffered. Even though she hadn't cared much for Jess in the past, she was softening to her after that mission. I wanted to talk to her after the mission. It was rough. I was expecting it to be tough but nothing like that. Vayne and I nearly died in that one fight. And Eteon. She had it really bad. I heard Morgan nearly died as well. This was one tough mission, and it’s a good thing the boss is having a debriefing – something Kyle used have our lieutenants do after missions. There, that should do it. Looks good as new. Now onto my shotgun.
She disassembled her shotgun on her table and cleaned and oiled it. A well maintained weapon takes care of you, she was taught. While this wasn’t that important with the modern weapons that used mass effect fields to fire ammunition, it was extremely important with the older style weapons using powder rounds. Once she was finished with that she retired for the night.
Her sleep was fitful with dreams of Torfan mixed with the Medusa. The sight of the mutant eating the man who is now in med-bay brought up the torture of the prisoners on Torfan in her dreams. She found herself in the underground tunnels. The lighting was dim. The Batarians had set trip wires and proximity mines at points along the way.
“Sloane! Look out!” Sergeant Price shouted.
Irina hit the deck as Batarian gunners opened fire on her position. She saw a place with better cover and crawled toward it. Price covered her. Half way to it she heard a beeping. Proximity mine. She froze. The Batarians were about 20 meters to her left down another tunnel that looked heavily fortified. What was down there?
Which direction? Which direction? Then she heard a second. They had thrown sticky mines. There was only one way out. Rolling toward the Batarians out of cover.
“Price, I’m in trouble. The f*ckers threw sticky mines. I can’t move. Get Bowman up here with the cyclone and lay down some heavy fire on those bastards,” Irina said over her com.
“Copy that.” Price said, and contacted Bowman.
Corporal Bowman arrived with the Cyclone, a mini-gun, a predecessor to the Typhoon, and let loose along with Price on the Batarian position. Irina rolled out and tossed an incendiary about ten meters behind the Batarian position. The white phosphorus detonated and stuck to the walls of the tunnel along with anyone in there and turned the place into an inferno. Irina ran and rolled back to Price’s position to avoid the heat blast of 5000 F.
After the heat subsided, Irina led her team into the newly vacated tunnel. Further down there were prison cells where slaves were being held and being broken using neural implants. They were mostly human and Asari with some Turian slaves. The Batarians had removed the biotic amps from the any biotics. This was a dangerous procedure and it left some partially crippled. Irina saw the savagery and was ready to press on with her fire team when the word came down that the Batarians had surrendered.
She awoke in a puddle of sweat.
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