[h2]In The Middle of some Calibrations 
[color=dodgerblue]Hazan[/color] and [color=39b54a]Tonka[/color]
Maximillian's Gun Range[/h2]

Bang!

"Just a little down and to the right."

Hazan adjusted the controls on the sight of his sniper rifle and lined up the crosshairs with the virtual target downrange. With the naked eye, the little blue holographic square was nothing more than a dot bigger than a coin. But in his sight, it filled the reticle. Several holes in the target circle made a messy constellation in the hologram. With a slow pull on the trigger, he loosed another round from his rifle that shot through the target and pinged into the sand pit behind it.

[color=dodgerblue]"Hmph."[/color]

"A little more to the left."

[color=dodgerblue]"It was just adjusted to the right. Ugh, spirits...stupid rifle."[/color]

Hazan sighed and stood from his prone position. With a weary grunt he stretched out the kinks in his back as he left his rifle on the floor.

[color=dodgerblue]"Fine, fuck it. I'm taking a break. This stupid thing can wait to be calibrated."[/color]

The range master, a middle aged human with some scruff on his chin and no hair on his head, nodded.

"Alright sir. Just call me when you're ready to finish up here."

He walked off, leaving the gray turian standing there with a finicky rifle and frustration building in his head.

Tonka arrived a few moments later, wearing a surprising bit of formal wear, a well-tailored but functional grey and green suit. It was certainly more rugged than what most other species would wear, and could in some cases be mistaken for casual-wear if one weren't familiar with krogan in a formal setting, which would likely qualify most people. In an ungloved hand Tonka carried a large leather briefcase, the contents of which could only be guessed at.

The krogan found Hazan a few moments later, and he ignored the stares from the other patrons at the rudamentary gun range. [color=39b54a]"You messaged for me to meet you?"[/color] he asked, looking around. [color=39b54a]"Can't say I've spent much time at one of these places. Too much time shooting at things that wouldn't mind shooting back."[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]"Hey Tonka, yeah I did. I kinda need your expertise in sniper rifles."[/color]

He bent down to pick up the Mantis that laid at his feet. With the barrel still pointing down range, he showed it to the big krogan.

[color=dodgerblue]"This thing. Old relic from my past. Thought I'd bring it out for a few test fires to see if it still works. But the sight's all sorts of screwed up, and no matter how much I tweak the distance and leveling calibrations, it doesn't shoot straight."[/color]

The krogan headed towards the bench, setting his case on the table and opening it. Another set of clothes was neatly folded, along with some kind of score card and a pen, a bag of jerky, a ticket stub and a small tool pouch. He removed the pouch, pulled out a few screw drivers and some kind of diagnostic machine, and he began to disassemble the rifle, first collapsing it, removing the power core, the ammunition block, and with an almost bored expression began laying the parts out across the table as he took them out. [color=39b54a]"My guess is it's either not shaving rounds properly, or the targeting software had a bit of a hickup. When's the last time you cleaned it?"[/color] he asked.

[color=dodgerblue]"Yesterday evening. I took it all apart and cleaned it spic and span. I haven't used this thing in...maybe two or three years. Been cleaning it regularly, but given my rep... I just haven't used it."[/color]

Hazan sat on a nearby chair and watched the krogan disassemble the rifle like it was a chore. He gathered that the big guy had done this with his own rifle too many times to count. He could say the same with his Mantis. He gestured with a talon to Tonka's clothes and chuckled.

[color=dodgerblue]"What's with the get-up, Tonka? You going to a garage later?"[/color]

[color=39b54a]"Opera, actually. Then there's a golf course. Then the supermarket. What part about my appearance made you think garage?"[/color] Tonka asked, glancing up. [color=39b54a]"And what's the point in owning a gun you never use? This thing could have been shooting people all that time and you left it collecting dust. Disappointing."[/color] he said, holding up the receiver to look through the powered-up optics, which were connected to the machine he brought out. Hitting a few buttons, he continued his part inspection. 

Hazan shrugged and chuckled.

[color=dodgerblue]"I dunno, feels a little... Rugged? Rugged, that's the word. Bit too rugged for an opera. But hey I don't know anything about krogan culture."[/color]

He sat back as the krogan worked on his rifle.

[color=dodgerblue]"And yeah, well... I guess it's a keepsake? I just can't bear letting go of this bit of my past. Kinda reminds me of who I used to be before the Borealis. Who I knew and who I cared for. It's like a memory, for me."[/color]

[color=39b54a]"When you weigh two hundred kilos and have all sorts of stress points that you squishier aliens don't have to worry about, you build stuff to last. Besides, krogan design philosophy is that you should be ready for a fight even looking your best. The tissue paper you aliens get away with wouldn't last an hour on my frame."[/color] Tonka replied, snapping a few of the components back into place. [color=39b54a]"I really never understood the point of sentimental value. Why carry on to a bunch of crap from your past? When you live as long as I have, I'd have filled like five storage units of garbage I'd never look at again. Everything I own is on the ship, just the way I like it."[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]"I dunno. Guess it's because I've got some old debts that need clearing with that thing. Old, old debts. Like, y'know, stuff that you had to leave behind that came back to bite you in the ass. And now you gotta deal with it. That sorta thing."[/color]

[color=39b54a]"Seems like most of the people on the [I]Borealis[/I] have some sort of baggage. So, who wants you dead?"[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]"Eh, my old career. I was a wanted turian on Omega, so like half the station's bounty hunters were out for my head. Well earned though, when you do enough contracts on your own to get a bounty on you. Mostly the Suns though, ever since I took one of their gunships on a drunken joyride. That was my own fault, hehe. But since then the bounties have snowballed. The Borealis was my escape, in my stupid hope that if I left the station, I'd leave everything behind."[/color]

The krogan was just about done reassembling the rifle and thinking without comment for a few moments. [color=39b54a]"What you're saying is basically if any of those bounty hunters catch up to you, the entire crew is in danger. Am I getting that right?"[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]"Basically. But I've got a plan to clear my name. Unfortunately it involves going back to Omega. I've got the address of the assholes who put a bounty on me. Gonna sneak in and quietly wipe my name off their lists. All of them. I talked with Dex and Vellios about this, they suggested the stealthy hacking approach. We figured that if we went in quietly, we'd get away with it without attracting attention, and more danger, in the process."[/color]

Tonka stared at Hazan, unblinking. [color=39b54a]"Probably would be a lot easier to just pay an information broker to erase your identity and give you a new one. Personally, any time I made an enemy, I dealt with it one at a time rather than letting it snowball, as you put it. Krogan aren't really keen on putting things off. Kill the people who want to kill you before they get the chance. Doesn't get much simplier. So how exactly are you planning on accessing all these so-called lists? You miss one, you miss them all."[/color] he said, snapping the last of the pieces together and activating the rifle. Stepping out to the firing line, Tonka made a few minute adjustments to the optical assembly and took a series of slow shots at the 100m mark, bringing the rifle back to the bench to work on it some more. [color=39b54a]"Still hitting a bit to the right. definitely something going on in the optics itself. Rifle's shooting consistently."[/color]

[color=dodgerblue]"Maybe it's because I've been using the optic as a viewfinder... Hmmh. And Dex was thinking that if the bounty board people held all their information on a central server bank, we hack that."[/color]

Hazan shrugged and sighed.

"Honestly it feels like the more I talk to you, the more I'm regretting leaving my business unfinished before I left Omega. Maybe I should've hunted down those fuckers first..."

Something cracked where Tonka's fingers were. He glanced up at Hazan and back down to it. [color=39b54a]"You didn't hear that."[/color] he said, taking a comically undersized screwdriver for his hand and working on taking apart the optics. [color=39b54a]"From the way you make it sound, you had entirely too much business and nothing resembling a deathwish. Dex knows that shit better than just about anyone, given her illustrious history digging up dirty laundry, but if anyone made a personal copy of that list, wiping it wouldn't take care of the problem."[/color] he said, thinking on it a moment. A large panel came free, exposing the wiring and circuit boards. 

[color=39b54a]"So, you need a plan. What if you had Dex hack into one of the pyjaks who want you dead's personal accounts, send a message out to all interested parties that he paid an info broker a hefty sum for your whereabouts and lure as many as you can into one place. Set off a bomb, kill a bunch of them, and if a few survive, they'll always remember that going after you killed a bunch of them. Even if they don't call off the hunt or just get more pissed, they're going to be a lot more nervous about doing it."[/color] Tonka pointed out. 

[color=dodgerblue]"Hmm... That sounds good. More like my style. Sends a pretty clear message. I like this plan more than hacking the little shits' servers."[/color] Hazan chuckled to himself as he accessed his omnitool to browse the extranet.

[color=39b54a]"I hope you bought your own Extranet access packets, because that shit isn't cheap."[/color] the krogan observed, methodically going through the connections. [color=39b54a]"You're also going to have to convince people to help you with that, and to make it worth their while. I shouldn't have to remind you we all barely know each other still. Hard to inspire loyalty without waving a big enough pay cheque."[/color]

Hazan nodded, still browsing the extranet on unrelated topics. [color=dodgerblue]"I know, Tonka. I'm just banking on the success of our next few missions to rack up enough dough for my own wallet to "convince" a few of us to help me."[/color]

He chuckled softly and closed his omnitool, sitting back on his bench.

[color=dodgerblue]"Truth be told...this is kinda the best crew I've run with so far. You guys...are pretty cool. Not like my other crews, who I've never felt safe around."[/color]

[color=39b54a]"Here, try this."[/color] Tonka replied, tossing the rifle over to Hazan carelessly. [color=39b54a]"If this lot are your barometer for 'best crew', I'd hate to hear what outfits you used to run with. I specifically signed on here because I wanted to see how bad it could it with people with no idea what the hell they're doing."[/color] the krogan grinned. [color=39b54a]"Last mission exceeded expectations."[/color]

Hazan caught the rifle in both hands and nodded. He dropped to a knee, snapped the safety off the rifle and pulled the trigger on the holo-target down range. The rifle barked and a hole appeared in the target just shy of the center, exactly where he'd been aiming. Hazan grinned and clicked the safety back on and chuckled.

[color=dodgerblue]"Perfect. Just the way it's always been. You're really good at this, Tonka."[/color]

The krogan shrugged non-committally. [color=39b54a]"After a couple hundred years, I'd better be good at something. You can make it up to me later if you want. Or not, I don't really care."[/color] Tonka replied, packing up his briefcase and checking his omnitool. [color=39b54a]"I'm heading back to the ship, we're dusting off in a few hours and I'd rather figure out if there's last minute shit we need done before we're booted out of the port. You coming?"[/color] he asked.

[color=dodgerblue]"Yup. I don't have anything to do either, so I figure I might as well get our charts in order before we leave. See you there. And yeah, I'll figure out a way to make it up to you, Tonka. Thanks."[/color]