[I]The Commons, Borealis on route to the Omega System Mass Relay…[/I]

[color=cyan]”Alright, boys and girls the results are in: We’re off to Virmire after we dump off Nasshole’Dor and Kassy’s favorite asari in the whole galaxy on Elysium, where we’re getting a chance to see if there’s something useful in the piles of shit the raiders during the Blitz left behind. All in all, it’ll be a good day, and assuming the engines don’t crap out, it’ll take us about 5 standard days to get to Elysium to meet our client and get the rundown on what to expect. The other contracts we were offered are still on the table, and a few people, including yours truly, still have favours that they’d like to see scratched off, including yours truly.”[/color] Tanya said, bringing a hand to her chest as she read off of a datapad. 

The crew was gathered in the common area, most having to stand around due to the lack of seating, including Tonka, whom people were starting to question if he ever sat for anything but necessity. The krogan stood off to the side, arms crossed. While Tanya had the floor, all eyes were on her. She’d simply been the one to organize the crew votes. [color=cyan]”After we scratch Virmire off of our list of naughty deeds, we’ll have enough credits that we can take it easy for a little while and see about getting Drono to a specialist. Hang in there, pal. We can’t have our token drell sicker than a quarian after prom night.”[/color] she said, flicking between pages. Grinning, she looked at everyone enthusiastically. 

[color=cyan]”So, being a business and all, I asked all of you guys to send me names for our little group of heroes for hire, and here…[/color] she said, holding up a small bowl with folded pieces of paper in it, [color=cyan]”Are the submissions. If you hate the name, you have only yourselves to blame. Without further ado, let’s see what we’re going to write on our business cards…[/color] she said, plunging her hand into the bowl and visibly shaking her hand around without looking at it before withdrawing a slip of paper. Tossing the bowl haphazardly behind her where it landed with a clang and paper fluttered across the floor like the world’s most boring butterflies. Opening the parchment with a flourish, Tanya read the name. [color=cyan]”And so, crew of our noble Jallopy, I henceforth dub you the ‘Jury-Riggers’. I’m going to guess that was Serena’s submission, because it about sums up how she puts things together that invariably explode spectacularly in her face.”[/color] she said, winking impishly at the younger woman. Seeing that she was at the end of the list, she concluded. [color=cyan]”Alright Riggers, class is dismissed, go about your regular shit, except for Vellios, who drew dishes duty for the night. Tonka volunteered to make us all a special meal in celebration of our first successful mission, so quake in fear for that to come to pass. Well, that’s it. Fuck off.”[/color] she said, breaking up the meeting by grabbing a beer from the makeshift bar counter and wandering off to the hanger, reading something off of her datapad.

[I]Five days later, Illyria, Elysium…[/I]

The Jury-Riggers were relieved of their prisoners shortly after landing in the capital’s spaceport, handing off both the Twin Star captain and the Blue Sun agent in one fell swoop. The planet was coequally known as “the alpine paradise”, thanks largely to the planet’s climate and lesser tilt than Earth, which made seasons more stable and the temperature range usually in the plus or minus ten degrees range for most of the year in the major cities. Captain Chad Donnelly, a man in his late 50s with short slicked back grey hair, a full but trimmed beard, and piercing blue eyes and a pale complexion that made the man look like a ghost. Wearing a full set of private security contractor fatigues  with a circular badge on his arm with a mailed fist with an eye superimposed on it with the initials EIST across the bottom, the man certainly had the bearing of an experienced veteran. Greeting each of the Riggers in turn with a firm handshake, he lead them to a spacious ground transport with surprisingly luxurious interiors. Donnelly explained that the vehicles typically were used to carry around VIPs and dignitaries, so the usual spartan military accommodations simply did not suffice.  

On the seats in front of each crew member was a touch screen that was loaded with the mission dossier, including the identified area of operation, as well as details of known organizations and individuals who frequented the meeting site, along with known and suspected hardware. A lot of it was standard mercenary wares, along with older military weaponry and vehicles, and worryingly, some formidable anti-aircraft batteries and gun emplacements to repel any hostile ground forces. It was immediately clear to anyone who wasn’t two feet deep in crazy that an assault would be suicidal. They’d have to be crafty.

After a forty minute drive, the group was taken to a para-military compound where a lot of the planetary defense forces for the city were stationed, and after passing through a pair of checkpoints and taken through the town-like base, they were brought into a yard surrounded by automated guard towers and 3-meter high fences with rows upon rows of equipment. Captain Donnelly waited until the group gathered around.

“Welcome to Hacate Base, ladies and gentlemen. As you’ve noticed, this yard is filled with just about any hardware short of starships, terrestrial naval vessels, heavy armour and NCB weaponry you could possibly hope to get your hands on, it’s basically a raider’s toolbox for how to be the pain the ass. Your operation is small, so I can’t imagine you’ll have much use for a full-sized gunship, but there’s some small drop ships and shuttles of mainly turian and batarian make, we have crates of munitions and weapons stored in that warehouse off to the Southwest, a few armoured personnel carriers, a few utility vehicles, some logistics transports, entrenchment and field gear, a few towed cannons, some anti-air missile batteries, and so on so forth. I’ll be able to authorize the release of enough gear to outfit a platoon, and even that was pulling legs considering a lot of my superiors consider people in your profession to be pretty much the same as the bastards who attacked Elysium. Obviously I don’t share the sentiment or we wouldn’t be here having this conversation.” He said, leading them down rows of vehicles, including a few Tomkahs, the large krogan-made infantry fighting vehicles, and M29 Grizzly tanks. 

“Other than the few recon images we’ve managed to obtain, I’m afraid I don’t have much intel to offer you guys. One thing I’m going to request from you is some of you go undercover into the encampment to act like smugglers and arms dealers. We have crates of inexpensive Elkoss Combine and Haliat Armoury weaponry and armour that have been embedded with tracking technology that updates locations over the extranet whenever they pass into a wireless hotspot. We want to know where these weapons are heading, who’s buying them, and then plot the best course to taking the bastards down with teams like your own when the time comes.” Donnelly grinned, gesturing immediately West. “There’s a canteen over immediately that way past the gate you came in, just make sure you enter and leave as a group and don’t wander the base. I received word that some of your outfit are injured and could use some medical attention, just let us know and we’ll have the staff at base look you over if you require. If it’s something more serious than a quick fix or a temporary one, you’re better off going to a better equipped hospital. If you have any questions or concerns, you can find me in munitions warehouse, I need to attend to last minute preparation for those weapon crates.” He said. With a nod, the security contractor departed, leaving the Jury-Riggers to their devices.

[I]GM Note: This is going to be a very quick stop for the game, so post if you need to, but please feel free to use the OOC to start ballparking ideas for the mission, ask me questions about it and any information you would like to know, what equipment your characters would vote for, and how you think we should execute this. Before long, I’ll have another post sending us off to Virmire, hopefully with a plan and some extra toys in tow.[/I]