[center][h3][b][u]Collab Post between McHaggis and DJAtomika[/u][/b][/h3][/center]

[indent]A sneak attack from behind? Just like how his old black ops unit worked, right in his element. He expected to be leading the team at Nik's suggestion after this much needed break. He kept silent, not wanting to aggravate anything else since he had nothing to say.

Hazan caught Nik's puzzled look and shrugged in return. Obviously none of them had expected the killer Batarian's aide to be a Hanar. Space jellyfish didn't usually fare well in violent endeavours, but then again Jek was apparently "a businessman", so to speak, and he was apparently under dressed as well. The Hanar bade them to follow it as Jek retired somewhere else, probably to his hideout in some dingy corner of the neighbourhood. With a weary sigh, he followed right behind Nik, keeping with the group as he held his rifle down low.

Through the twists and turns of the rusted, brown Omega streets, Hazan kept silent. Fighting was tough work, of course, and he was tired. This promise of rest at the end of the brown steel road was a god send.

Just a bit further.

Eventually they made it to the club, a pulsating place that exuded a more relaxed vibe than the bloodshed and carnage that they'd stepped out of.

Jek's. Such an original name.

He folded up his rifle and stowed his weapons on his back, rolling his shoulders a little as he followed his team inward. Through the whole, initial meeting, he didn't pay much attention, the adrenaline rushes from earlier finally wearing off as his tiredness caught up with him. When they were finally dismissed and led to their dingy rooms, he was relieved.

Rest beckoned.[hr]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8_C1AOGf_g[/youtube]
Twilight. The mystery hour.

He couldn't sleep. Not that the room was bad, but he was too...jittery to rest. The lone hour of nap time he'd caught had refreshed him somewhat, but he still was on edge. This whole apartment complex was a deathtrap. And Jek's Revenants used this as a barracks? One coordinated explosives strike or back door operation could end the whole thing if they weren't careful.

Then again, the Crimson Fists weren't exactly well coordinated. It didn't leave him with much pessimism for the next phase of the operation, but hey, since when did plans go according to how they were made, anyway? In his experiences both here and during First Contact, he'd learned that the hard way. Many times.

He sighed and pulled his foldable datapad from his back plating. The room, though tiny, fit his needs almost perfectly for now. His own apartment back near Afterlife was about just as small. His armour sat in neat rows leaned up against the wall, and he was clad in a simple shirt and pants, no shoes. The floor was safe from the stuff he'd grown used to in other places; nails, broken metal, shards of glass, that sorta thing. Weapons stowed, not of use here anyway, but he kept the bracer on his left arm on. His omnitool glowed a faint orange in the dim light of the room, casting long shadows over the wall behind him.

As he unfolded his datapad, it beeped softly into life and began syncing with his omnitool. The wrist computer provided his pad with a secure, encrypted line to Citadel netspace from within Omega, so he could check his emails and ANN and other things without attracting the attention of the intelligence agent he knew his parents had sent to find him. The asshole, another turian fresh out of scout school, was acting as a private investigator of sorts. He'd picked up on the tail a few months after he'd first settled on Omega. Whispered rumours of a C-Sec investigator from the Citadel had reached his ears long before he'd even seen the man. In this dingy, run down station, words traveled far, and it wasn't long before he'd seen the agent. Young, fresh-faced and anxious to finish his assignment to get some cookie points from his superiors. Typical.

Evasion was easy enough. Throw down enough false trails and you'll eventually make a network of rumours that run in a circle. Still, didn't hurt to be careful. He'd not seen the agent in years.

As the pad finished its sync, he tapped on the email icon and waited as that refreshed itself, downloading what little mail he had into his inbox.

It would take a while.

He yawned and stretched, standing up in the little room. He needed more space. He needed to get outside.

With a slight tap of his toe he pushed open his room door and stepped outside, turning left to head down the corridor. He knew there was a makeshift sitting area there, next to a window that overlooked some of Omega. Who he met there surprised him a little.

Daro was sitting on the floor at the end of the hallway, leg bouncing up and down with nervous energy. At the very least she seemed like she'd cleaned up: her envirosuit was no longer discoloured from the various chemicals of Omega (though it was certainly a rather mundane shade of brown) and she wasn't trekking blood everywhere anymore. The outer robe was back to white rather than a colourful painting of blue and orange and red.

The lurid glow of her omnitool lit up the dark hallway and the faint outline of letters could be seen reflected in her mask. Daro's fingers tapped against the ground rather than the keypad before she sighed exasperatedly. [color=cf9a9a][b]"Keelah."[/b][/color] Drawing her knees to her chest, she deleted all but the first two lines.

A low beep from the pistol by her side – or more accurately the combat sensor mod attached – and she swivelled around, albeit not before scrambling to shut off her emails and up to her feet. [color=cf9a9a][b]"Hazan! It's a - a lovely night, isn't it?"[/b][/color]

"Y-yeah, it is. Finally, a night without bullets whizzing over our heads, huh?"

He said, ambling slowly towards her. She seemed in a tizzy about something, but he didn't mind.

Hazan took a seat next to her, the datapad in his hand blinking slightly. New emails awaited his viewing, but he saved that for later.

[color=cf9a9a][b]"Usually it's [i]towards[/i] our heads. The mercs on Omega can be pretty accurate,"[/b][/color] Daro said, still a pitchy note of subsiding alarm in her voice. She slid back down against the wall. [color=cf9a9a][b]"What's up, anyway? Would've thought everyone would be dead to the world by now."[/b][/color] 

He sighed and shrugged, leaning back as he closed his datapad for a while.

"Can't sleep. Got a case of the jitters. Just can't help but feel that...something's gonna go wrong tomorrow."

The Quarian rested her head back against the wall. [color=cf9a9a][b]"Well, it's too late to go back to petty criminals and low-life thugs at this point. We're working with people like [i]Jek[/i] now."[/b][/color] Her distaste for the Batarian who'd made it quite plain what he liked to do in his free-time was evident. [color=cf9a9a][b]"And if Jek is the good guy... How much worse is Qiyrloc?"[/b][/color]

"Jek...Jek, Jek, Jek. I swear, if we weren't fighting for him, we'd be fighting him for Qiyrloc. That Batarian's a psychopath, thinks he's all classy and stuff, psh."

Hazan shook his head in exasperation and sighed, leaning back in his chair as he stared out the window. Gazing out at the low buildings, rusting walls and the darkness of the station, it reminded him of nights he'd spent when he'd first arrived here, in a wreck of an escape pod in the lower wards.

He shook the memory from his mind and returned his gaze to Daro.

"Qiyrloc...well let's just say, the stuff that that Krogan's done would've gotten him a very violent hearing on Tuchanka. By a thresher maw. Judge, jury and executioner. He's horrible. First thing I heard of him when I came here was that he'd just finished some sort of...labour exploitation or some such. Horrible guy, deserves to die."

[color=cf9a9a][b]"Forced prostitution, don't forget that. Some of the first humans I treated were escapees from that life – I've seen the effect he has on Omega."[/b][/color] She inclined her head in acknowledgement, but her eyes dropped to her hands as the artificial glow of her mask proved. [color=cf9a9a][b]"It just... [i]sucks[/i] that we need the help of terrible people like Jek to take out other terrible people. Maybe one day we'll even be terrible people ourselves."[/b][/color] Daro shrugged and reopened the draft of the message on her omnitool, if only to stare at the colours.

[i]To whom it may concern,
I regret to inform you of–[/i]

[color=cf9a9a][b]"So much for celebrating."[/b][/color]

"Yeah...so much for celebrating, huh. But hey, I don't think a lady as nice as you are would become a horrid person like Jek. I wouldn't want to have a reason to hunt...someone that didn't deserve it."

He smiled a little and leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he gently twirled his datastick around in his hand.

"Besides, this mission's gonna take a day or two, at most. After that, we're done. Hopefully Nik doesn't have another job already lined up for us after this one's done."

Daro giggled quietly, pressing a hand up to her envirosuit's mask as if forgetting of its existence for a moment. [color=cf9a9a][b]"High praise. I'll [i]try[/i] to keep my morality intact. Still... I've already [i]stolen[/i] something. I think that makes me pretty bad."[/b][/color]

[color=cf9a9a][b]"And knowing Nik? He probably does. He's a bit of a workaholic. I just hope it's something that we can feel good about doing rather than this. Maybe... one that takes place entirely within Afterlife. At the bar."[/b][/color]

"Hehe...with a drink in both hands?"

Hazan chuckled and smiled, idly opening his datapad to check his emails. Only one pinged at him. A reply from V.

He'd read it later.

An awkward silence followed. He rubbed the back of his head with a hand and chuckled sheepishly.

"So, uh..."

[color=cf9a9a][b]"Um, well..."[/b][/color]

Daro rubbed at the back of her neck anxiously. [color=cf9a9a][b]"W-Want to do anything? Take our minds off of imminent death?"[/b][/color]

"S-sure. Might as well...while away the time, huh. Wanna take a walk?"

[color=cf9a9a][b]"Yeah. That sounds good, actually."[/b][/color] She let out another muted, nervous giggle, clambering to her feet a little clumsily. [color=cf9a9a][b]"Right. Let's try not to get shot, yes?"[/b][/color]

"Don't worry, I think all the bad guys are asleep."

He smiled as he stood too, stowing his datastick within a pocket of his pants.

It felt surreal, this. Having time to relax when, just hours previously, they'd been in the thick of the action, explosions going off everywhere, blood and death surrounding them. Relaxing yet...weird, at the same time.

The apartment building itself was mostly quiet. The club was nearby, though the music was muted, lending the whole place a seedy, downtown kinda feel to the whole place. Down the hall was the rest of the team's rooms, and a stairwell that led both upstairs and downstairs.

Hazan turned to Daro and smiled.

"So, where to?"

Daro hummed in contemplation and it buzzed through the translator, decorated by white noise. [color=cf9a9a][b]"I'm indecisive, asking me is the [i]worst[/i] idea,"[/b][/color] she told him, before rubbing at the metal jawline of her mask. [color=cf9a9a][b]"And trying to avoid saying 'the club' in an effort to avoid seeming like a drunk is difficult – but I didn't see anything else around here. Maybe... the roof?"[/b][/color]

She led them towards the stairwell, closing her omnitool completely and silencing her combat scanner. Her footsteps echoed up them, metal clanging against metal in a cacophonous sound that blocked out the muted tune slipping through the cracks from the nightclub. Before they even reached the top landing, the glare of a password-protected door assaulted them, amber light blinking on and off.

[color=cf9a9a][b]"Ah, it's locked."[/b][/color] But Daro was an engineer, and she wasn't all that bothered by the prospect of something 'off-limits'. A thin layer of dust covered the upper plate of it, showing that it hadn't been used in years, it seems. The electronics behind the cover, once unscrewed, were some of the oldest she had ever seen, possibly never having been replaced since the building was made.

Deft fingers picked through the wires and clips, nudging nothing and disabling the alarm first in a flurry of movement. From then on, it took only a few well placed snips with her omnitool and a quick rewiring for it to flash green. The door clicked invitingly and Daro pushed on it, revealling the lightless roof and the impressive view of the sector it awarded them.

[color=cf9a9a][b]"How's that? Reminds me of the time a friend and I went space-walking on the roof of the Konesh. Trespassing – always a blast."[/b][/color] She moved to the side, holding the door open to allow Hazan to pass.

"Not bad. Are you sure you're a doctor, and not some black ops operative, Dar?"

He smiled and nodded his thanks as he followed her up and out onto the roof of the apartment.

The view wasn't stellar, but then again they were on a floating station in the middle of space. A mere Turian and Quarian in a [b]huge[/b] station. That view, of the lights that outlined the buildings in their once-glossy squalor, the view of the more built up areas of Omega, and the darker sections that were abandoned, it was impressive in its own right. The Citadel couldn't match this, the view of poverty juxtaposed against the money that built Afterlife and the well-to-do sections of the station.

He sighed and smiled, stretching as he enjoyed what fresh air there was up here, walking forward to approach one of the many railings overlooking the neighbourhood. He leaned his elbows and forearms on it and gazed out over the sprawl.

"It's so...peaceful. Serene. Y'know, if you looked past the slums, the crime that's sleeping under our feet, the dirt 'n the grime, you could forget that you're on Omega. It's quite surreal."

Daro smiled, hopping up onto the ledge to dangle her legs over the streets below. [color=cf9a9a][b]"I prefer [i]this[/i] to the Citadel,"[/b][/color] she said, waving a hand absently to encompass all the lights and smoke and life on display to them. [color=cf9a9a][b]"Not that I've been there. Maybe the Flotilla? Yeah, I like Omega more than the Flotilla."[/b][/color]

[color=cf9a9a][b]"It's kind of beautiful..."[/b][/color] She sighed wistfully.

"Yeah, it is. Being here, meeting ya'll, well, I think it's better than any stuffy job I'd be forced to take in the Citadel. Can't imagine myself working at C-Sec, the rules and stuff would drive me crazy!"

Hazan glanced absently at Daro as she hopped up onto the leg to sit on it, her legs dangling over the side as she appreciated the view, and smiled inwardly. Dear little Dar...of all the places, it had to be Omega that he found a real, true friend, even if she was cooped up in an envirosuit 99% of the time. Such a sweetheart, it always felt like she belonged somewhere else. Somewhere...safer, kinder, less unforgiving than this Spirits damned hellhole. He turned so he was facing her, leaning on his elbow as he rested his right hand on the railing.

"Say, Dar, what's it like on the Flotilla? I've heard lotsa stories, but...never really heard firsthand from a Quarian."

[color=cf9a9a][b]"It's – different, I suppose,"[/b][/color] she said after a few moments contemplation, staring out at nothing in particular. [color=cf9a9a][b]"You could ask five hundred of my people and all of them would have different answers. Though I suppose for some things – the noise, the business of it all – I suppose that's universal."[/b][/color]

Daro crossed her arms, rubbing at her shoulders as if it were cold, and her envirosuit didn't have some form of climate control in it. [color=cf9a9a][b]"The Konesh was the only real ship I ever knew, before it [i]exploded[/i]. Cute, a bit clunky... A repurposed Batarian Cruiser. No matter where your bunk was on it, you could hear the engine in the walls, in the floors... It made this weird [i]put-putt[/i] every hour, and it drove the engineers wild trying to work out what was causing it.

"But as for life on the Flotilla; there was a little bit of favouritism involved. I'm the captain's kid so I only had to share quarters with four of my cousins rather than ten."[/b][/color] Her following chuckle was almost nostalgic, but she pressed down on her arms again, warding away ill thoughts. [color=cf9a9a][b]"I wanted to join [i]The Moreh[/i] after my Pilgrimage. Doctor Daro'Shuris vas Moreh, working on scientific breakthroughs related to, well..."[/b][/color] She waved a hand up and down at her envirosuit, shrugging afterwards. [color=cf9a9a][b]"Probably won't go back, though."[/b][/color]

"Yeah, I wouldn't think so. But hey, you would've made a pretty good ship doctor. You're already damn good here, so I wouldn't be surprised if you went back to being onboard a ship."

He smiled and returned his gaze to the city sprawl that laid ahead of him.

"Y'know, I could never imagine having to live on a ship for most of my life. It would get...stuffy 'n boring really fast. We Turians, well, compared to you guys our life is hell. Not confined aboard a ship for most our lives, but just imagine having to undergo military training at [b]fifteen[/b] and then spending the rest of your life in service to a gun of some form or another. C-Sec, Turian Navy, you name it."

Hazan chuckled and shook his head in exasperation.

"Or, y'know, end up a mercenary, like me. I can't escape my upbringings as easily as everyone else, it's part of our race."

He looked up at her and smiled.

"And I would've gotten real tired of it real fast. I like having something to do, y'know? Keeps the mind busy."

He sighed softly, mostly to himself, and gently twirled his datastick around in his hand. After a while of silence, he spoke again.

"Dar, you've been in this team quite a while, yet I've never seen you really ask around on where everyone else has come from. Aren't you the least bit curious? Wait, let me guess: Nik and Raya scare you?"

[color=cf9a9a][b]"Nik and Raya don't 'scare' me,"[/b][/color] Daro said with a scoff, peering down at the ant-like dots of nightclub patrons stumbling through the streets. [color=cf9a9a][b]"I just... I don't need to know where someone comes from to like them, even [i]trust[/i] them, or to fix them up when their limbs are blown off or... whatever. Everyone has a reason for being on Omega, so I've learned, and not all of them are palatable ones."[/b][/color]

She laughed nervously again, readjusting her hood closer in a fidgety gesture.

[color=cf9a9a][b]"See, I don't need to ask the details to reckon that you and Nik and Raya are all good people."[/b][/color] 

And then she looked back to Hazan, head tilted to the side in curiosity. [color=cf9a9a][b]"I can't say I'm not interested, though. Do you miss it? Home, I mean."[/b][/color]

"Palaven?"

He turned his back to the view, leaning against the rail as he thought about it.

"Well, can't really say I do, but...yeah, I guess I do."

He sighed and ran a hand across his head crests.

"Life back there was comfortable, y'know, luxuries and whatnot. Here, it's a shithole through 'n through, not much in the way of actual [b]comfort[/b]. But...here I have real friends. Like Nik, Raya."

He turned his head to glance at her.

"Like you. Back home...what friends I did have were fleeting, and after the war we all went our separate ways."

He hadn't told anyone his story, not even the team, as close to them as he was. This was his first time sharing how he'd come here, but when the first words were out of his mouth, they kept coming until he was finished.

"I was to become employed in my parents' private security company, but by that point I'd had enough of that stuffy life so I made excuses to stay in the military. It's how I ended up here. Signed myself onto a merchant ship heading into the Terminus System as part of a guard detail, then when pirates attacked, I found an escape pod and crashed here."

He sighed. An outcast. A Ghost. That's what he was. He ran a hand across his head again, shaking his head a little in resignation. 

"It's all screwy, ain't it. This life. I don't think I could go back even if I wanted to. Done too much here to go back."

[color=cf9a9a][b]"If it makes you feel any better, I'm glad you're here with us,"[/b][/color] Daro said, swinging back over to solid ground. [color=cf9a9a][b]"We're doing good work, you know? Helping people. There's probably no better opportunity anywhere in the galaxy to do that."[/b][/color]

The Quarian rubbed the back of her neck again in embarrasment, staring down at her feet intently – or so her mask suggested. [color=cf9a9a][b]"Plus, I'd probably be dead three times over already if you weren't here. So make that very, very, [i]very[/i] glad."[/b][/color]

"Yeah...thanks."

He smiled. If Turians could blush, he didn't want to know what was that little warm feeling tickling his face and chest. He felt better, much better.

Reaching out, he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tentatively at first, and gave her dainty frame a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks, Dar. For everything."

He sighed softly and withdrew his arm, turning away from her so she couldn't see how embarrassed he was at the gesture. Eventually, though, he stood, rolling his shoulders a little and turning to face her.

"Well, I guess we better get off this roof, just in case one of our team spots us and puts two 'n two together. 'Sides, it's getting late- I mean, early, or something. Might be nice to get some rest before our mission starts, right?"

That said, he ambled to the door and opened it, holding it open for her to go through, returning the little gesture she'd done for him just a while earlier.

Meanwhile, downstairs, there was some noise. Someone, probably friendly, was awake as well, and would no doubt spot the two as they exited the roof.

[color=cf9a9a][b]"Y-Yeah, we should,"[/b][/color] Daro said, followed by another giggle laced with embarrassment as they returned downstairs.

[/indent]


[hider=Correspondence to <encrypted address>, dated 23/7/2160, timestamp 22:24:34]
[indent]Dear H,

Hey, H. Been a while. I've been fine, shame we can't talk face to face right now, I gathered as much from your email. You're on a mission, and pray tell when you'll actually tell me what your missions are about these days.

Yeah, the article really turned some heads in C-Sec. Humans manning a merc group? Sounds ridiculous, right?

Y'know I never guessed that Omega could be quiet. All I've heard about it is mercenaries, murder and crime rampant every single day. Horrible place from what I've heard and read. Then again, that's probably what you get for being out in the Terminus Systems. No law or justice system out there, just your guns and your wits. You better take care of yourself, H. Who knows what might happen out there.

Yeah, yeah! Mrs V's got a boy! You do not know how happy I was when I first got the news. It was like all the universe got lit up by fireworks when she told me. And yeah, he's gonna be C-Sec, just like daddy. He ain't out yet, but when he is, I'll make sure I'll take time off work to be the best dad I can be.

I'm sorry to hear that, H. Losing men is never fun, especially if they're men you've been running missions with for a while.

Ardan Parvius...yeah, I remember him. That refinery job was a damn fine piece of work, if I do say so myself. What's someone like him doing in Omega? I think the Fleet's looking for him and he's needed back on Palaven, last I heard. Something about wanting him to be head of their demolitions training school. Basic's been hurting without someone of his caliber around. You tell him that he's sorely missed back home. Maybe it'll change his mind about the whole lawless mercenary thing. Like what you're doing.

Yeah, C-Sec's been great. I've been here for my seventh year running now, and being a senior investigator here does have its perks. I rarely get to step out of the Citadel though, they rely on me too much for the big cases nowadays. Don't see why they keep choosing me though. And yeah, the Citadel's pretty comfortable compared to Omega. You're right on all counts, though don't get me started on the bureaucracy, and how unbearably stuffy it is here. Some days I just wish we'd have a real mission to go on to get the blood pumping again, y'know?

Other than that, things have been real peaceful here, nothing else to really note.

I think I might start looking up names for my boy when he comes into the world.

You think something that starts with a G would be good? Get back to me on that.


Best wishes, 
V[/indent][/hider]