[i]Nos Parnello[/i]

Arleya T’kana was on cleanup duty today. One of the many affiliates that regularly sold information to Mr. Zhar had decided to cut him out of this particular sale. Neither Zhar or Arleya knew why, but it didn’t matter. A point had to be made. This time it was her turn to pay the man a visit, and so she now found herself walking up to an obscure little bar in the deserted streets of one of the few still reasonably pleasant areas of Nos Parnello. She had a heavy pistol in hand, but this wasn’t really a combat operation so she had only worn a fairly unassuming outfit that she didn’t mind getting blood on.

Pushing the door open, it took only a moment to take stock of the room. The bar was almost empty - only her target and his two bodyguards were present, all human as well as a lonesome salarian bartender. With one hand she raised her pistol, and with the other made a lifting motion - the somatic trigger for one of her Biotic abilities. With a surge of blue light and the sound of the laws of physics being broken, the three humans were lifted from the air to float helplessly. Smoothly tracking the rising forms with her pistol, she fired one quick shot into each of the bodyguards chests even as she kept advancing. The gun was loaded with expensive Proton rounds that rendered most lighter shielding irrelevant while still providing sufficient force to kill.

From the corner of her eye she noticed the bartender had retrieved a gun from under the bar and was beginning to aim it. Another smooth re-aiming of her own weapon, with only a glance to check the target, and two rounds had passed through his unarmoured chest and splattered green blood all over the wall behind. Her target, a human by the name of Wilson, was clawing at the air in a vain attempt to escape her biotic field and flee. She found the sight rather amusing and would’ve laughed at his misfortune if she wasn’t so eager to get back to Nos Astra. Instead she just raised the pistol and shot him in the knee before releasing the biotic field to let him fall heavily to the ground. He screamed in pain, but she ignored it. She wasn’t about to waste good medi-gel on this man. She holstered the gun and dragged the poor man up onto a seat and tying his hands behind him before taking one herself. One thing she and Zhar had in common was their preference for civility wherever possible.

She casually used her biotics to pull a bottle of Volus alcohol from the shelf behind the bar and into her hand. While Wilson was still groaning with pain, she poured a glass and sipped it. It was terrible. She grimaced as she swallowed it and quickly put the cup down. The sound of the glass on the table must’ve pulled Wilson to his senses, as he managed a pained “I haven’t done anything!” Typical Wilson. He may be good at acquiring information but he was always a bit of a coward. “Yes mister Wilson, this visit is all about what you haven’t done.” Arleya said condescendingly, leaning back in her chair. He put on a bewildered look. “What you haven’t done, is sell Mr. Zhar the information he asked for.” His face took on, somehow, an even greater degree of terror than before. “I was going to I swear!” He managed through gritted teeth. “Perhaps, but you’re missing the point. You were seen trying to sell the information to someone else first. The patron of the Lonely Spacer wasn’t it? Thought you might make a stop on the way and get a bit of extra cash? Not your smartest move Wilson.” He remained silent and shook his head. She didn’t bother speaking more. Instead she picked up the glass and poured the terrible alcohol onto the mans wounded knee. Another half scream, half groan of pain escaped him.

“I certainly hope this is a good piece of information Wilson. It’d really be a shame to have wasted my time.” She said to encourage a response. “Alright alright!” he finally gave in. “I’ll tell what I know!” Arleya just looked at him with an expectant expression. “The major groups after the artifact are Riptide, The Red Phoenix and The Legion… Jason Daxx has taken an interest too… There were a few smaller ones like Bretin’s raiders, but they didn’t make it. Please… Thats all I know…”

Arleya was rather disappointed that she had made the trip for such a paltry piece of intel. Also disappointed that Wilson had given it up so easy and then proceeded to beg. “Are we done?” He said pathetically. Arleya stood up from her chair and said “Yes, we’re done.” He seemed to relax then, believing himself out of danger. Evidently his idea of ‘being done’ was different to hers. His loss. She quickly raised her gun again and shot him four times in the chest before promptly turning on her heel and leaving the bar.

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[i]Zhar Tower, several hours later…[/i]

Khel Zhar was standing before a large holo-projected screen on which all the current information about the Prothean Artifact and the factions hunting it was displayed. He was presently deciding who to provide support for in the opening moves of the grand game. The Alliance with Halios was a long term play, they were a far more passive force than some of the factions that had become involved. They’d come in use once the more militant groups had exhausted themselves against each other.right now though, Zhar planned to back one of those groups, just enough to give them the edge. He would feed them with intel that might make them more predictable, though with the groups involved, predictability would be an unfortunately rather rare commodity.

Riptide was a respectable organisation, with just the right mix of morals and effectiveness. Unfortunately, they were also his rivals. Not to mention two out of three of their governing trio were short lived and unpredictable, not versed in the subtleties of the game. They might be a viable ally if things got bad, and he’d try to avoid making them an enemy as Nadene, in his opinion was a skilled leader and had the potential to become a truly dangerous threat to him.

The Legion seemed fairly solid in modern times, and its leader was a respectable Asari. The only problem with them was that Tevura had a tendency to hold grudges and end them only with extremely drastic action. Zhar was leaning towards choosing to help them, though he would have to be careful to avoid irritating Tevura until he had some solid blackmail against her.

The Red Phoenix was never really an option for Zhar. They were too concerned with territory in his opinion, not to mention he just plain didn’t like either of the people that lead the group.

From there he went on to the other major concern.

“The council won’t be leaving this alone. They will send a Spectre, the only question is who…” Zhar gazed at the very short list of known Spectres for a moment or two. “It almost certainly won’t be Saren… Best Spectre he may be, but collateral damage is not on the agenda here I think. Tela might get involved, but she still doesn’t fit this task perfectly…” From behind him Arleya’s voice joined in the speculation. “Seyena T’rana, the newest Asari Spectre, might be a choice. She is quite in favour right now from what I hear.” Zhar touched her name in the list, bringing up what little intel they had managed to gather on her. “Possibly, but her fondness of law and rules might get in the way so far into the Terminus. No matter, I’m sure we will find out soon enough. In the mean time, I need you to set our agents in motion to find out as much as you can about Tevura. I shall be busy negotiating with her.”