Mortarion — Roleplayer Guild

The Giftening Part 4

@Rtron-@Mortarion

Serena smiled cheerfully at Khosin as he made his way up the ramp, leaning against the wall with his gift in her hand. ”Khosin! I’ve been looking for you all day, trying to give you this.” She shook his gift lightly. How are you?

Khosin was surprised by Serena’s presence in the ramp of the ship as he made his way up, smiling back at her. It didn’t took him long to reach the spot where Serena was leaning against the wall but before he could ask her what she was doing there she was already speaking to him “Been better, been worse.” He said to her, smiling softly as he eyed the gift in Serena’s hands “And, uh, sorry for not leaving a note saying I had to go away for a while, might have saved you a little time.” He apologized to Serena “Maybe we could move to the kitchen or somewhere else and you could tell me what’s in the package?” 

”That seems to just sum up about our normal day to day life doesn’t it?” Serena replied smiling warmly. She gestured to have Khosin take the lead, and followed him into the kitchen. ”It’s fine Khosin. I figure whatever was so important you risked Elysium to do was more important than me bugging you about a gift.”

She slid the package over to him, nervousness washing over her. ”I saw how you liked to read, and that your collection of books was a bit bare. But I didn’t know what books you preferred, so I just got a massive collection. If you don’t like it I can take it back and get something you do like.”

Khosin chuckled at Serena’s words “Yeah, true enough.” He said to her, nodding slightly when she gestured for him to take the lead towards the kitchen. “Yeah, trust me, I’d rather not have gone into Elysium.” He said when she mentioned that it was fine and that she understood that it was important if he risked going into Elysium. 

He looked as Serena slid the package over to him, the look of nervousness that appeared on her face not going unnoticed by him. He listened as she spoke, mentioning that she had seen how he liked to read alongside the fact that his collection of books was a bit bare, and let her finish before interjecting “Serena, relax.” He said as he took the package into his hands, smiling towards her “I do like the gift, like you said I do like to read so I am rather happy with it.”  He said while opening the package, nostalgia washing over him as a wistful look crossed over his face as he took out the book from the package “Must have been a decade or so since the last time I got a book, or a gift at all.” He said softly, looking at the cover of the book as he put it down before turning to look at Serena “Uh, sorry about that.” He said when he realized that he had spoken out loud “Just feeling a bit nostalgic is all.”.

Serena waved a hand, grinning mischievously at him. ”It’s fine Khosin. I know about being nostalgic. I’m going to make up for it. This is just the first of many gifts.” She winked at him. ”It’s a holobook. Just open it and request the book you want to read, or just start from the beginning. There’s thousands in there. Matriarch Shialla was very thorough in her quest to compile 990 years of books.”
She paused for a moment, drumming her fingers. ”What did you do before this crew Khosin? Everyone else I found out. Tanya was Alliance military, Haze operated in Omega, Dex was a spy, Tonka worked as an engineer, Drono, Vellios, Iosif, and I were all freelance mercs. What’d you do? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I’m just curious.”

Khosin chuckled softly at Serena’s words “Alright, alright, thank you Serena.” He said, smiling pleasantly as he once more picked the holobook and casually looked at the list of books that Matriarch Shialla had compiled, whistling in surprise when Serena mentioned that the Asari Matriarch had compiled near a thousand years worth of books “Damn, don't think I'll be looking for new books for a while then.” He said, grinning slightly as he settled down the holobook yet again.

“Hmmmm, well, like Tanya I first started with military service. More specifically I worked for the Hegemony’s Internal Forces, dealing with revolts or the rare pirate attack within Hegemony space itself.” He said “It wasn't good work, nor a just cause, and I am glad that I am far away from that life now. Apart from that not much else to say.” He said, tapping the temple of his skull as he thought “Hmmm, well, there’s one small other thing, I was part of the Suns for a while then I was a freelance merc like you.” He finished, waiting for Serena’s reply.

Serena nodded in gentle understanding. ”I used to run with an ex-Hegemony Special forces. He told me a lot, so I have a better understanding of how shitty it was and is in batarian space than most humans.” She smiled wistfully, thinking back to her time on the Hellstorm. Shaking her head, she gave a dramatic sigh. ”Another former Blue Suns. Great. Please tell me you’re not like Kasy and Haze and don’t actually have a brutal vendetta you’re trying to wage against them. We have enough problems that we don’t need to go trying to even the score against a much larger and more successful merc group.”

Khosin was surprised when Serena told him that she used to run with an ex-Hegemony Special forces “Yeah, I know it's difficult to see it from the outside, you mostly see the slavers and the psycho’s the Hegemony sends outside but it's just as shitty for us Batarians inside of it.” He said with a low sigh although eh couldn't help but laugh slightly at what Serena said next “No, no, don't worry. I mean, I am not exactly on good terms with the organization but I have no vendetta or anything against the, hell I still have a few friends inside of the Suns.” He said shaking his head slightly, a small grin on his face “So don't worry, I won't go berserker or anything if I see a member of the Suns.” He joked, letting out a small chuckle “Though, I do have a question for you, how did you end up working with an ex-member of the Hegemony’s Special forces, you don't see many Batarian freelancer mercenaries since most tend to join the Suns after all.”

Serena grinned in relief. ”Oh thank God. Kasy wanted to blow up the entire mine because it could’ve possibly hurt the Blue Suns and Haze is all to willing to put bullets in them. We don’t need another one of you.” At his next question Serena frowned and patted herself, looking for something. 

Where is it...shit I think I left it in the hangar. It’ll be faster just to explain it, and the video is directed at people like Tanya and Iosif anyways. Serena’s eyes went to the heavens as she began remembering her old crewmate, a half smirk on her face as she talked fondly about him.  

His name was Bramis Crannek. Old, about sixty maybe? He never gave a straight answer. He was a doctor before the Skyllian Verge was colonized by us. After we did that and everything went to shit, he lost his wife and two of his kids. In order to save the last son he had, he joined the Hegemony military, his intelligence and knowledge of various species anatomy making him an immediate Special Forces candidate and sparing him the mental conditioning most recruits went through.

Served on Mindoir and the Blitz, where he lost his upper right eye, and only managed to be spared Torfan by luck. His son wasn’t so fortunate. Joined the Hegemony without his father’s knowledge, and was at Torfan. After he found out that his son was dead, Bramis didn’t have any reason to stay with the Hegemony, and he certainly didn’t want to join the brutal monsters that fled to the Blue Suns, so he went on his own.

I found him getting the shit beat out of him by some Alliance soldiers on shore leave, and got them off of him. He joined the crew I was in at the time in return, serving as both our doctor and our intelligence officer. Terrible bedside manner. Made Tonka seem warm and loving. Our ship got shot to hell while we were on a mission, killing our captain and pilot in the process, and we managed to limp it to a port on autopilot. Everyone went their separate ways, and I haven’t seen him since. That was about oh...three, four years ago? Hard to tell after a while.  Serena smiled at Khosin. 

”So that’s why I didn’t give you the side-eye of hatred most humans do, though Iosif and Tanya have only seen the worst of batarians. They have an excuse. She shrugged. ”They haven’t tried to kill you or start a fight, so it’s a lot better than  most humans though.

Khosin couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at Serena’s reaction when he told her that he wasn’t like Kasy or Haze, however when she frowned at his question Khosin couldn’t help but imitate Serena “Did I offend her somehow?” He questioned himself inwardly as Serena patted herself in search of something. 

He remained silent as Serena began speaking to him, listening intently as she explained to him how she had met her old batarian crewmate. However when she mentioned that Bramis had been on both the Mindoir Raid and the Blitz each of Khosin’s four eyes widened in surprise, both at with the ease at which Serena had admitted the fact and that she didn’t seem to hold the old Batarian in less regard due to the terrible events in which he had participated. “Maybe...maybe I could tell her that I was in Mindoir too? She already knew someone that had been part of the raid, and who was present on the Blitz, maybe she’d understand….” He thought to himself, debating whether or not to tell Serena. In the end he decided against it, remembering the promise he had made to Dex about not telling anyone else that he had been part of the Mindoir raid “Probably for the best, maybe someone else would have overheard, and there is no way to tell how they'd react.” He thought to himself, still recalling the way that Dex had reacted when he had accidentally mentioned Mindoir during that conversation after the mission on Virmire.

“Thank you Serena, I must admit when you told me you had met someone from the Hegemony’s Special forces I didn’t expect him to be someone who had been at both Mindoir and the Blitz.” He said to her “It’s a pity that you lost track of the man, it’d have been nice to meet him.” He said, shaking his head slightly “You know, his story reminds me a bit of myself. I too joined the Hegemony’s forces to help my family.” He said with a sad smile, letting out a soft sigh as he dredged up the painful memories “We, meaning my family that is, lost it all when the Alliance began colonizing the Skyllian Verge.” He explained, a hint of bitterness in his voice “So I can understand the decision that Barmis made in joining the Hegemony’s military.” He said as he let out a low, mirthless, chuckle “Incredible what family can drive us to do, eh? Joining the Special forces of the Hegemony is no easy task let me tell you.”   

”He was a very blunt, gruff, and rougher than a krogan’s hide. But he was loyal to his friends. You might have liked him as easily as hated him.  Serena smiled at Khosin, listening quietly as he elaborated on his reasons for joining the Hegemony’s military. ”Yeah. You’d do anything for family. Even if it hurt them.”

”Listen, Khosin. If you ever need to talk, about anything, I’m willing to listen. You might want to talk to someone who isn’t a human, for obvious reasons, but if you can’t find anyone else I’ll be there.” She grinned and winked at him. ”And I won’t even charge you a chess match for it.

Khosin nodded at Serena’s words, smiling slightly when she told him that -should he need to talk- she was willing to listen to him “Thank you Serena, it means a lot.” He said quietly, letting out a soft chuckle when she mentioned that she wouldn’t even charge him a chess match for it “I’ll hold you to that.” He said while grinning towards her. “Now, if you excuse me, I’m feeling rather tired so would like to retire to my bunk. But thanks Serena, both for the holobook and for the chat.” He said with a smile as he stood up, picking up the package in which the holobook rested, and made made his way back towards his room.
Mortarion Member

Status

Recent Statuses

Bio

Most Recent Posts
