Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Mega Birb
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Mega Birb Blessed Birb

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Following the drunken escapades of the night before, Sicaria and Rykarn had managed to find themselves to a hotel and rented a room. Somewhere along the line, the two had both passed out on the single bed, naked and sweaty from nasty things that had happened due to a combination of Sicaria's libido and the alcohol in both of their systems. The following morning, the Turian was the first of the pair to wake up.

Having fallen asleep on her stomach, she awoke with her mandible pressed firmly against a pillow. She took a moment to open her eyes, pupils constricted to the extreme as she felt the dull throb of a familiar migraine coming. With a defeated groan, she surrendered to the impending headache that usually came with hangovers, wincing visibly as it hit her. It was definitely worse than getting shot, but she was a rogue soldier, it was something she was used to by now. Even with the tunnel vision specifically affecting her right eye, she pushed herself up and slipped her legs up under her chest, letting the limbs slide over the side of the bed before sitting up properly. Almost like she was trying to shake off the drinks from last night, she shook her head a couple times, regretting the action immediately as she felt her brain practically rattling around inside her skull.

She planted both feet on the ground and stood up on shaky legs, taking a few experimental steps before stumbling over to the bathroom. It took her a little while to get there, given she could barely walk, but she made it and started up the shower the second she got there, turning the faucet far in a counterclockwise direction. In the meantime, she took the chance to check her omni-tool, an action she regretted very quickly as she saw dozens of messages and missed calls from the same person. With a moment of thought, she inhaled deeply before pressing the button to call her back.

It rang for a solid few seconds before the voice of Vetia Indarian answered. ”...Hello?” There was a level of annoyance in her voice that made it clear she had been awoken by the call.

”Hey Vetia, I got all your messages, just wanted to che-”

”SICARIA! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! For Spirit’s sake, you can’t just disappear after a fight like that!”

”Hey, I’m sorry babe, I was distracted with the afterparty.”

”Afterparty? Oh for the love of… who’d you fuck this time and how drunk were you?”

”One of the Krogan on the team, his name’s Rykarn. And I have probably the worst hangover I’ve had since Saren went rogue.”

”Wait, you fucked a Krogan? Sicaria, I… I’m not sure I’m okay with that. You know my mom was killed by Bloodpack mercs.”

”Vetia, he’s a nice guy, and he isn’t related to any gangs. Stop worrying about it.”

”Sicaria you aren’t seeing the point here, he could’ve killed you on the spot! You know how Krogans feel about Turians! You could be dead right now, it’s a big deal!”

”I also could’ve been killed in the tunnels, a husk nicked my arm pretty bad, it could’ve been my neck or chest. But I’m alive, you’re blowing this out of proportion, babe.”

”Don’t call me babe, anymore. You’ve crossed the line, Sicaria. I was okay with everything else, hell I enjoyed most of it, but a Krogan’s the limit! Goodbye, Velinian. Have a nice life!” With that, the call was dropped, leaving a shocked Sicaria on the other end with a new emptiness gnawing at her.

Like she was autopilot at this point, she went through a routine of morning activities, from showering, to recovering her armor and weapons and heading out. Her training had taken over, stone-cold outside but a hurricane of emotions inside, becoming something so unlike her normal self, becoming a typical Turian. Before she knew it, she found herself walking away from the hotel and towards the rendezvous point, which was one of the many old and converted police stations of London. Scotland Yard or something like that, she couldn’t remember the exact name at the moment, but the location wasn’t an issue.

She pushed all other thoughts to the side as she climbed the stairs, rifle drawn as she approached the site where everyone else had been gathering. Quite frankly, the only ones that would probably notice something being off with her would be Ja’Far, Rykarn, Phalanx, and maybe one of the Spectres if they knew her profile well. She offered little besides a wave to everyone before she stood off to the side, leaning on a conveniently placed crate and staying oddly silent.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Leos Klien
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Leos Klien A gun to kill the past.

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Alria, Giles, Tiberius and Ethan


After getting patched up Tiberius managed to get away from the group if medics that seemingly jumped him when he had arrived with Rayes and the scientists, rolling his left shoulder trying to relieve the tight feeling that remained he walked slowly around looking for his helmet that he had set down before being taken away, stepping over towards a grouping of long crates he moved a few of them around as he began his search, it was important to him that he got the footage from the video camera attached to it so he could send it off to the Specters. "Where did I place that thing" he muttered almost annoyed at the fact that he misplaced it.

Alria continued to sit and help out Giles how she could, but also to try and drown out the sounds of Ethan... Though before long she heard the sounds of another Turian. Glad to have another distraction she looked to see the source and found a... well a ridiculously tall Turian man that she fought alongside briefly back in the tunnels. He didn't seem to be in the best of shapes but he was standing and moving about which was good.

That was when she heard him talk about putting something somewhere and that in turn made her glance around... then come to a realisation. Looking down she saw a large Turian shaped helmet that she was using for a seat. Glancing around perhaps a bit embarrassed she quickly sat up and moved the helmet from the crate it was placed on and hoisted it up. "Is this what you're looking for?" She asked out to the wandering Turian hoping that he didn't see how she was using his helmet...

Hearing a females voice Tiberius stood back up and looked around before spotting the female Turian, seeing her with his helmet he could help but sigh with relief as a light smile formed on his face as he walked over to her, looking down at her he nodded politely "Yes actually, Thank you" he said then gently took the helmet from her and clipping it to the left backside of his waist, pressing a few buttons on his omni-tool he began to download the footage from the camera. [color=Dodgerblue]"I don't believe we have meet, I'm Tiberius Adarian, who might you be?" he asked before sitting down on a nearby create trying to get eye level with her but to no avail.

Alria watched him as he took the helmet and spoke down to her. Not in the sense that he was talking bad to her, but that he was literally so tall that he had to look down just to see her. It was... something. But it didn't really bother her, just made her a tad curious as to why he was so damn tall! But maybe one shouldn't question such things. "I don't think we have actually. Alria, Alria Vicrinus." She said, nodding to the fellow Turian as he took his seat... still looking up at him. "I'm another part of the team but I went ahead to help a little bit. Just to let you know. So... uh... Wanna get a drink? We were just about to head out for some."

Alria had been extremely kind with how she had treated Giles, his wounds and dressings were all done very well, and overall he didn't feel as if he was going to die anytime soon- which was quite the relief.
Drinks were on the horizon, which was comforting to know as well; although the company of that human was not.

A small piece of time had passed before one of the other Turian's came into view; clearly distracted by something - although Giles wasn't exactly interested in what he was doing and was focusing more on how freakishly tall he was it was then he realised this was the Biotic support they had on the assault team; Tiberius or something his name was, a very common Turian name, although still one that resonated strength.

The Turian took a seat nearby Giles and introduced himself; Alria replied shortly after handing him his helmet which now determined what he was lost for earlier.
It was at this moment that Giles chimed in "Hello Tiberius, feeling alright after that mission? It certainly got hectic for the assault team... And yes, Alria is correct in that we are getting drinks - I know a decent place about 10 minutes from here, it has Turian stock as well."

"Nice to meet you Alria, I wouldn't mind getting a drink" he said before the Drell spoke up, turning his attention to the male he nodded "Hectic sound about right, but I could be better and it looks like you've seen better days as well if I do say so myself" Tiberius said before grabbing ahold of his left shoulder and rolling it once more "Sometimes I hate medical personnel" he muttered then switched his gaze between the two and stood, looking around he quickly made sure he had everything before they headed out, raising his arm he brought his omni-tool up and quickly typed up two encrypted messages and sent them before turning his attention to the pair.

Ethan kept pace with the group, deciding (probably wisely) to keep his mouth shut. Trying to talk to people today had left him with nothing but trouble, if this Turian was any indication. If he tried to talk to any of the others, he guessed that the same thing would happen.
Typical. Why were people so emotional? They were soldiers, emotions shouldn't come into anything.

Oh, wonderful. Another one. Ethan looked at him for a moment, wondering if he was wearing stilts before nodding slowly at him. He didn't want to talk unless he absolutely had to.

Alria nodded to Tiberius' response, glad to hear that he would be joining up with them. After all a party is always better with more people. Though as for where that party would be and what would happen there would require Giles to give up the location of this unknown bar. "So Giles. I think it's about time we set out to the bar! I'm raring to have a bit of fun after That big 'old mess."

From there Alria stood up, stretching her legs and arm to get some of the ache out before turning back to face Giles saying, "I'm done all I can with your bandages so there's no time like the present! Come on!" She chimed up cheerily holding a hand out for Giles to take and use to stand up.

It appeared that they as a group would be partaking in the drinks, two Turians, a Drell and a Human- quite the combination.
As kind as she had been this past hour Alria stood and offered a hand to aid Giles' standing, as well as proclaiming that she could really go for that drink, the feeling was likely mutually felt amongst the small group.

"I couldn't agree more Alria..."
Giles grasped Alrias outstretched hand firmly, using it to aid his standing and after a few grunts he like the rest of them now stood.
He'd feel better after a good nights rest, and some decent alcohol in his system.
"The place is only about a 10 minutes walk, it's called the "Imperial Crown" sort of an old fashioned place; old human anyway - it's fairly quiet and we can kick back and drink to a success on our first mission together."

Releasing Alrias hand, he gave her a warm smile as his thanks and a signature that for the time being he could make the way unaided, and the group headed down a street that seemed to be hybridised mix of old architecture and new, stone and metal melded together seamlessly despite all the damage from the Reaper wars still being evident in places.
Soon a nice warm place awaited them where they could have a good drink in an hospitable atmosphere; Giles was no fool, he would not drink anywhere were the humans had a sentiment against Alien races- something that was becoming increasingly common in the streets of London.

The group walked in relative silence to their drinking hole, the silence was not strained nor was it awkward, it was held in contemplation of todays events, maybe some of them here would use the drinks to escape what had happened, Giles did not know as of yet.
Eventually they arrived to their destination; the building was a large 3 storey complex, although only the second and first floors were used for the pub.
The building was constructed from stone, although much of the upper half had been reconstructed with metal, scorch marks and pock holes from gunfire marred the ancient stonework- not entirely unfamiliar sight on the old building work.

"Well, here we are - I'll grab the drinks preferably with a bit of assistance, two of you go grab a good seat."

Giles pushed on the hard reinforced doors and let them all in.
The decor was what would be best described as "old fashioned" to humans, obviously that's a bit harder to discern for aliens, but much of the set out was a polished dark wood, the floor laid with a red carpet and there were numerous chairs dotted around many tables through the place; as well as booths attached to the adjacent walls, for more comfort and better privacy.
There were also special seating areas for Krogan; since their tremendous size and weight would shatter the chairs here.

This place was not unfamiliar to the sight of aliens, many of its customers were alien as were its regulars.
A few people recognised Giles and either gave a small nod or just continued their drinks conversations.
The 4 of them looked liked they had walked out of the Reaper wars, but no questions were asked as Giles approached the bar.

Alria chimed up first, walking over to Giles and joining his side. "I'll help with the drinks! Just to make sure we get enough of course!" Her tone cheery and almost... jovial. Regardless of her chipper tone she started to guide Giles to the bar,"You seem to know a bunch of people here. I think that means you'll be doing the talking. You know... To get us a few extras?" She implied quiet heavily to him, even going so far as to nudge his arm and start stepping a little close to him. If maybe to whisper her nefarious words at a bit more of a hushed tone.

From there she walked up to the bar, sticking to Giles like glue, curious of his response to the barkeep and what could be done to secure some party juice. And of course pretended to be a little... elighted already so to maybe make a play at disarming any onlookers.

Upon stepping into the bar behind the majority of the group Tiberius stopped and watched Giles and Alria head off to go get the drinks, peering around the bar itself he looked for a good place to sit, "Well Human lets look for a table" he said as he continued to look around before spotting a large round booth in the corner of the room he nudged Ethan lightly then motioned towards the booth before he started to make his way towards it "Lets sit over there, it's spacious for everyone".

As he made his way slowly across the room he couldn't help but notice that some of the other patrons staring at him in silence, while others watched and muttered to one another. Once at the booth he climbed inside as moved to the center, being here in one of these establishments was strange for him, mostly because he would usually never be caught in one on the first place, but it was also a new feeling for him. glancing over at the human male that had accompanied his little group he quietly studied him before he noticed he had a notification on his omni-tool, bringing it up it read that his messages had been received and his video was ready to be reviewed.

It didn't take him long to review it, he had it in quick motion mode, but upon seeing the footage at the end, he looked at Alria and his eyes immediately narrowed before he looked back down and cut out all the unnecessary parts before sending the footage to both the spectres, lowering the omni-tool he leaned back against the booth and attempted to relax "So Human what brings you here, do you have any idea why they chose you?" he asked Ethan in a low deep tone of voice that almost demanded the attention for an answer.

Ethan kept his mouth shut as he approached the bar, walking behind the others so he wouldn't be noticed. Completely ignoring their conversation, he sat at the bar, a few seats away from the others so he wouldn't have to talk to them if he didn't want to.

Giles gave a small glance as Tiberius and Ethan left to acquire seats for the small group, Alria had opted to held him get the drinks - a bit excited at the prospect as well; it's almost as if she were a different person when they walked into here, although this side of her was slightly more uplifting that had to be said.
Clearly she was looking forward to the drinks, and that he felt mutually on.

As Giles made it to the bar the Human who owned the establishment stood there with a smile on his face, he was a rather round man, his face was bright red in the cheeks and at the tip of his nose where it left off and began to form a rather well groomed moustache, the only hair he had on his head.
Overall was a very cheerful man, if not one with a slight dark streak - he was someone you'd love as a friend and fear as an enemy.
Every person in the Merc band of his learned that very quickly.

"Giles! It's a pleasure to see you again! Anyone who helped save and rebuild Earth is welcome here!" He gave that last statement quite the shout out around the room, of which many raised their glasses or responded with cheers - it was a message more than a compliment, with growing difficulties between Humans and Aliens, it was easy to forget that without them Earth would not be here anymore.

Turning back to the pair he rested his palms on the bar and asked 'So. What can I get you and your companion? Didn't peg you as someone who fancied Turians."
Giles saw this coming from a mile off, it didn't help that Alria was latched to him like a Pyjack in the jaws of a Varren, it appeared the mere prospect of alcohol had made her slightly... excitable.
"She's a new teammate, I've left the Heroic Outcasts for the time being for this one; pay isn't as good but it certainly doesn't lack for excitement, I'm here with a few of them to celebrate our first mission together."

The barkeep donned a wide grin before laughing "I see! Well Miss Turian, you've got quite the ally here, especially when the artist begins painting, I've heard many a tale of extraordinary things from that one; anyway onto business, what will you be drinking tonight? Name your poison; consider it on the house for tonight - I have a feeling this will be the last time you and I see each other for quite some time, Giles."

Giles didn't really want talk of the Artist to arise, nobody knew of it yet barring maybe the Spectres. But it was no harm done, they'd learn of him eventually, better soon rather than later.
Not only that but this cheeky bastard was too perceptive for his own good, he knew that this would very well be the last time he drinks here in years, if not ever again - work with the Spectres would quite likely claim his life, but for drinks to be free? That was something that Giles never expected this human to say, did he know something that Giles didn't or was it merely a hunch?
Setting aside those thoughts for now, the time for a much needed drink was here, the medi-gel was starting to wear off so it didn't come too soon either.
" I'll have the usual, what do you want Alria?"

Alria kept up her act faithfully to the point where some may even doubt the validity of Gile's statement of her being a teammate. In fact due to her chosen state and young appearance some may even say she appeared as a drunken college student. Still to better sink in the guise she did stick to him like glue, though the real reason as to why may only be known to her and her devious mind. However, it may of sunk a bit when the barkeep spoke of what Giles was to work with. And all this about artists? Nonsense and the like, "I don't much care for artists, and art, and stuff, but I don't mind him. Just needs to show he can take a drink without swimming in it!" She called out cheerily.

From there she slipped past Giles to address the prospect of free drinks and merely shimmed up by saying, "I want something sweet... So give me what ya got." More using it as another proper piece, but also to get a drink that goes down easy. "And we can't forget about our friend! Give me something else... something a really, really big guy would like."

The bartender gave a rancourus burst of laughter at Alria's statement over swimming.
"Are you sure you want to leave the Heroic outcasts Giles?! She'd fit right in with them lot! Hahaha!"
Giving his eye a wipe he spoke again "Well Miss, you don't worry about Giles, he can handle his drinks well, his time spent with those Mercs of his have really helped him in terms of drinking from what I've heard, quite the lightweight a few years ago he was." He gave a vulpine grin towards Gilvert before addressing Alria's choice of drink.

"Something sweet huh? Yeah I've got something that'll suit you just fine... lemme try and find it."
After digging behind the bar for a bit he pulled up a bright green bottle, it was about half empty and once Giles spied the name of it he knew what it was, think of mixing together a rosé and a brandy but adding a sort of cream type substance in it, it was an odd blend of sweet and slightly tart tastes that also packed a bit of a punch.
It was very easy to forget you were drinking something strong, given how smooth and sweet it was.
"Here we are, "Veltori Liquer" or something like that, my Turian is shit..." He poured out a liberal amount into a wine glass, figuring that's the best place this type of drink would belong in.
"And something a big guy would like? He's not a Krogan is he?" He cut himself off before turning around and opening up a cooler behind him, with a swift motion he quickly popped off the bottle cap from a glass bottle and placed it before Giles - it wasn't anything as strong as Alria just got given, but he always enjoyed a cool beer after a mission before going onto the harder stuff - the humans knew how to make alcohol.

As Giles picked up his cool bottle he said "No, he's just a Turian... just one of the biggest I've ever seen."

"I see, hmmmm... Wait! I've got something that will bring him down to earth with all us little guys." Another few seconds of rifling later brought forward a small glass of a very dark liquid.
"It's basically turian whiskey, but you know I wouldn't clean my toilet with this stuff, it'd melt through the ceramic - just tell him not to down it otherwise he'll lose the feeling in his legs."

Brilliant Gilvert thought, now he'd have to explain why Tiberius was dead after tonight, if this man was gunna have his way - he always pulled out the stops when Giles or his mercs got here, it would appear he's going to continue to regardless of his company.
"By the way we've got a human with us, just give him something normal, nothing like galactic engine cleaner."

In a blink of an eye another bottle cap flew into the air as he tossed another beer at Giles. "Here he can join you on the weak stuff." once again flashing a taunting smile towards him.

Alria took her drink and brought it over to her control, though before taking even her first drink she listened to what the barkeep and Giles had to say. Though without the conversation really involving her it was a passive reaction from her training. "Well I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go and fulfil my duty!" She confidently called out, taking Tiberius' drink in her free hand and taking a hearty sip of her own drink tasting the sweet beverage before walking off to head to the table that was chosen by Tiberius.

Ethan was starting to realise how strange he looked, sitting at the bar without ordering anything. The others appeared to be having a good time, and he was beginning to realise that maybe he should do something too.Talking to them now might not be a good idea, especially with that mean Turian, but maybe he could order something, and they would talk to him over a mutual ordering of...things. Ironically, as he was thinking of this, he realised that there was a large turian standing right next to him. At their question, he looked rather puzzled.

"Well..." he started. He wasn't too used to people asking like this. "I have a pretty good idea why I was chosen, yes. I'm considered one of the most destructive biotics alive, apparently." he said with a completely innocent look on his face.

"Why did they invite you? Did they need someone to arm wrestle Ymir Mechs?"

Tiberius couldn't help but smile just a little at the humans remark, crossing his arms he shook his head, "Doubt it, I was most likely invited because I'm a highly skilled Cabal, special forces type, but other than that there is nothing that really sets me apart from most Cabal other then my shear size" he said then took another look around the bar before glancing down at his Omni-tool for a brief moment.

Looking back up he watched as Giles and Alria talked with the barkeeper before he slowly passed them out drinks, he couldn't quite hear what they were saying or if they were talking about anyone in specific. It was long before he noticed Alria grab two drinks then make her way towards the table he was at "Bringing me a surprise drink, interesting I guess" he called out to her.

Alria made her route to the table and took a seat; away from Ethan, and passed Tiberius his drink, "Well sometimes surprises are the best things in life. Don't be a square you aren't paying for it so bottoms up!" With that she kicked her legs under the table and had another sip of her drink.

One thing was certain, as usual Giles was now ordering something stronger to go with his light drink, as is the way whenever a challenge is issued by the bartender.
It wasn't anything to harsh, just a rum like drink that was brewed back on Khaje, something he was very fond of.
Grabbing the drinks, he moved on towards the table that Tiberius had acquired, where Alria was now sat.
Ethan was sat a bit of a distance away but close enough to be involved in any conversation that occurred; clearly he and Alria weren't going to get on well in close proximity so it may be for the better,
Setting his drinks down and sliding a beer towards Ethan he raised his bottle and ordained a toast.
" Well for all intents and purposes that was a job well done today, I must say that I'm looking forward to working with you all further - to our success and for the lives that were lost today!" Gilvert proclaimed, they could not forget the casualties that were incurred by their success regardless of how necessary they were.

That was about when Giles made his way on over and joined them, sitting next to her, kind of. The seats weren't really close so it wasn't particularly next to, but at least he put a body between her and Ethan. Then once he spoke about honouring dead and living she raised her glass in cheers, not a stranger to wish the lost well on their way to paradise.

Ethan nodded without any interest at all to the tall Turian, before turning back and wondering if this place had ice cream. It should, right? Reapers didn't destroy all the freezers. At least, he didn't think so. They wouldn't be drawn to cold temperatures, that would be useless for all the various killing stuff they did.

"I wonder if I could learn to build freezers..." he mused aloud, without any context for anyone else with his words. He briefly noticed someone sit between him and the pissed-off Turian, but he honestly didn't care. They probably didn't have anything interesting to say. SO it was a surprise to look up, and realise someone had put a drink in front of him. He heard the Drell say something, but still didn't notice. He did lift his drink halfheartedly though, seeing as that was what everyone else seemed to be doing. Goodness knew why.

Finally, he got bored of waiting, and ordered some ice cream. When it arrived, he looked at the bottle by his hand, shrugged, and began to pour the bottle's contents into the bowl.

Tiberius look between the three of them and picked up his glass and raised it to his face and smelled it, at first it made his nose tingle and reminded him of detonated element zero, upon hearing the toast he raised his glass higher and clinked his glass against everyone elses. Normally Tiberius didn't drink but someone else was paying and he had been offered so why pass it up "Lets remain unstoppable and intangible" he said then took sip, almost immediately his throat burned as he visibly recoiled "Spirits that's strong!" he said then shook his head.

With the toast celebrated Giles took a good swig of his cold beer. "Ahhhh that was refreshing..."
Giles was brought out of his mental refreshment by Tiberius almost choking on his drink, the barkeep wasn't lying that stuff was strong, but he couldn't help but smile at Tiberius recoiling.
It was then that Giles remembered that just before the toast Ethan had made a rather odd comment, probably forgot he was speaking out loud, as well as that he seemed... distracted.
The human poured his beer into a bowl of ice cream he had just ordered... Humans... are odd.
"I don't think they need officers in the Alliance military learning how to build freezers, Ethan." Giles said with a half smile.
Giles took another swig of his beer before turning towards Alria. "So what did you do before getting dragged here by the Spectres?"
Whilst he spoke to Alria, the question was directed and meant for everyone around the table, it's time he started learning a bit more about his comrades.

Alria took a hearty swig of her drink after cheers and upon setting it back down was already starting to feel teh effects of her drinks. Just a few sips and she was here? Well what was the point in drinking if you didn't get messed up. At Giles question though she chimed up, "I uh... Well I was a part of the Hastatim. Went around being well... awesome and a bit mean but all for a good cause. Then of course the Reaper War happened and we all kinda lost our real jobs." From there she looked down and swirled her drink a little bit staring into it idly. "Well uh... anyway. After that I kinda went about my business. Helping where I could and handling things as they came up." At that stage she kind of appeared to drift back a bit from her pensive state. "But enough about me. What about you Tiberius? How was how past before coming over to here?"

Tiberius sat there quietly listening and sipping his drink carefully, his eyes where shifted towards the ceiling, his drink was setting in steadily but seemed to not bother him to much for the time being as he turned his attention to Alria when she asked him a question, "Well there are things I can't tell you then other's I wont simply because I still don't know any of you very well, but what I can tell you is I got to travel just about everywhere, But after the reaper war I continued to travel about and help out where I could as I waited to be called back into service, and well now I guess I have my chance. My past was lonely for the most part." he said then took another sip of his drink but this time it was a much longer sip before he placed his head on the table."So what did you do before you joined, and who might you be little human?" he said then sat up briefly and looked over at Ethan then took another long sip before placing his head back down onto the table.

Ethan's new meal seemed to work surprisingly well, all things considered. Did food always taste better after a fight? Or was it after near death, in particular? Ethan wasn't sure, in all honesty. Maybe he should ask someone about that. Who was the doctor here again...

The large Turian spoke to him again, and this time, Ethan was far enough out of his own little world to notice. Oddly enough, it seemed to be a question similar to the last one. Did he not get enough detail for his liking? How nosy.

"I told you before." he said, trying, and surprisingly succeeding in hiding the irritation in his voice. "I'm a biotic. A very destructive one. I was born on Benning, turns out i was exposed to some Element Zero my mum and dad were smuggling. They got themselves shot by some guys they were working for, who came for me, so I killed them." He couldn't help but smile a little. "...it was fun. Joined the military, trained under Ascension, spent the next few years tearing up Cerberus. Then I got invited here after a brute broke my arms. Still, I managed to get him back." He said, all in the same tone he would use to comment about someone's hat.
He sat back and put his spoon in his mouth, before realising that he hadn't actually put any ice cream on it yet.
"Oh, and my name is Ethan Sartiel."

Reducing his drink to mere rattle in the bottom of the bottle Giles spoke lastly on everyone's previous occupation.
"I've been running with a mercenary group for the past 20 years now, they're called the Heroic Outcasts, well that's their new name so you may or may not have heard of them before, If you ever went to the Traverse though then you probably have. Before that I was an assassin for the Khajen government, it didn't last long though.

Alria took heed of everyone's stories, but couldn't help but look to Giles when Ethan spoke with a face that said it all, 'is this guy for real?' Though despite her obvious scepticism, she kept quiet. "Well then! What a big bag of misfits we've become huh! Or were uh... brought into. Whatever. You know what I mean" She started to ramble out. her social grace starting to erode away with the continued consumption of her drink, which she took another sip of. About half finished on her first and already mixing her vowels.

"Ya know what! I think I like you guys. I mean a little. I don't like you a bunch." she bashfully and awkwardly confessed pointing to Ethan... and spilling a little of her drink. "And you want that whole big, 'I'm so mysterious and dark' but I see through it... you need a hug." She... awkwardly confessed about Tiberius. "But that's ok! Because now we're weird together!" She finished before quiet literally finishing the last third of her drink in one very long gulp. Setting the glass down on the counter she gave a unceremonious and unladylike burp before looking between them all through blurring eyes. But hey who'd expect anything less after a total lightweight downs a glass of a loaded mixed drink with such a high alcohol content hidden behind the sweet taste of fruit and sugar. "I need another drink Giles!"

Giles witnessed Alrias disbelief and only regarded her with a halfhearted shrug, the human was self-centred and egotistical not uncommon of biotics who let that power go to their head.
Alria seemed to be enjoying herself, although he did find it amusing that she had said earlier that she hoped Giles could swim when she herself was in the process of drowning.
Already demanding another drink so soon,after downing that rather strong liquor.
Giles took a sip of his Khaje rum, it was smooth and left a warm soothing sensation all the way down to his stomach where it sat comfortably.
" Do I look like a Volus to you? That bars' open get your own drink, assuming you can walk in a straight line to the bar." Giles said teasingly.

Alria looked over at Giles and heard his response through her fuzzy senses. "No you're not a Volus, but you know the bartender! You are friends with him and I'm not just yet. So come on! Another please!" Her words were cheery as always and that wasn't changed by her inebriated state, though it was clear she was feeling something.

Upon hearing Alrias comment that he needed a hug Tiberius immediately sat up, his eyes narrowed as he looked at her, the look on his face saying 'Don't you dare'. Downing the little liquid that remained in his glass he quietly stared at the empty glass afterwards as he contemplated on getting another, flipping the glass upside down he placed it on the table "Thank you... for the drink Giles" he muttered as he mood seemed to change, "I... I need some air" he said as he shifted out of the booth and started for the door, reaching down onto one of his pouches he began to shuffle around for his cigarettes but would not remove them until he was outside.

Once he was out of the pub he moved over away from the entrance slightly and leaned up against the wall, removing a cigarette lighter that he kept in the box with his cigarettes he lite one up and took a slow drag before blowing the smoke up into the air, he couldn't quite remember the last time he had a drink, but if he could he was probably trying do drown out some pain or a bad memory. He was hoping that this would be different but it wasn't it only seemed to trigger something he kept deep down inside as his mind began to wander.

All to soon he seemed to be pulled back as he light pulsed on the side of his omni-tool, raising it up he read the message he had received, the rest of his equipment was in transit from the Citadel and to an apartment that he had been borrowing here in London. Lowering his arm he took another slow drag from his cigarette and quietly gazed up into the sky before closing his eyes and listening to the faint chatter from inside the pub.

Ethan's eyes narrowed slightly at Alria's comment, although his face still showed no emotion whatsoever. Instead, he just stared, still spooning ice cream into his mouth. After a short time, he spoke.
"Its alright. I don't think I like you very much either. You seem to get irritated over the most trivial things."
He finished his ice cream and...whatever was in that bottle, spooning the remains of the latter into his mouth very carefully. He then looked at the others again, pausing only to flick some of his hair out of his eyes.
"So. Now what? Are you all planning to become intoxicated?"

Well at least one person out of the three were actually in the mood for drinks.
Alria, as quickly inebriated as she was, was attempting to have fun, and if Giles needed to keep her a supply of drinks so this time was actually enjoyable - then so be it.
The Turian thanked Giles for the drink and made his way outside, he hadn't left properly he must have been getting some fresh air - can't handle his strong stuff.
And then there was Ethan who poured his drink over Ice-cream... why was he almost the sanest one of the group?
It worried him, truly - and only a drink would calm those waters.
Downing his rum, which instead of the subtle and soothing warmth that it normally gave it's consumer, it instead gave a sharp burn on the way down, it was fleeting and began to make Giles' head swim a little bit.
"Come on then you." Giving Alria a tug on the collar of her armour.
"Lets get another drink since it's just us two who actually wants to drink something.

Alria heard Ethan's words and pointed a loaded finger in his direction, letting her mouth open to catch a breath so she could let him have it. Yet before she could utter a single word she felt the tug on her armoured collar and on pure instinct and reaction she turned her finger into a bolt of lightning that lashed out to grab Giles' wrist. Contortion her body she spun up, away from the table, and positioned herself behind Giles, wrenching his arm behind his back. However before she applied any pressure, she relaxed and realised what was going on. So with her senses back she decided to make the best of the situation and while keeping his arm behind his back she slid her arm through his and let go, hooking her arm on his like they were going to prom.

"I think that's a good idea. Glad you're game to try and keep up with me!" She confidently and wrongly boasted considering she was clearly losing this drinking contest.

Ethan had finished his ice cream, and was about to ask for seconds when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Drell tug the Turian on the collar. Instantly, she grabbed the Drell's wrist and wrenched his arm behind his back. It was reflex, but in his oddly relaxed state, Ethan didn't quite realise that and his arm instantly began to flare with biotic power, ready to create a push field or two in an instant. However, as he did this, he realised the Turian had let the Drell go, and he slowly dissipated the energy building up in his hand.
"...good grief."

Tiberius was just about to finish his cigarette when he peered inside the pub, he had the urge to join them but he seemed to fall back on what he had always been forced to do. Taking the last drag he then tossed the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it before bringing up his omni-tool and reading where he was to be meeting the rest of the team, sighing lightly he turned and headed off towards the police station as he exchanged messages with a fellow cabal via omni-tool.

Alria seemed to be more in-tune with her military training than Giles had initially thought, considering that despite already being slightly drunk she could swiftly react and almost dislocate his injured shoulder - but almost as if realising half way she turned the arm lock into something that you;d see best friends or couples do.
After giving her a quizzical look - and her returning of a look that just said "What" as if Giles had seen something odd he just shook his head and went a long with it.
"Yeah, I don't know how I'll keep up with a seasoned drinker such as yourself Alria, but try I will."

Together the pair made their way back to the bar, of which the barkeep was already waiting for them.
"Back for round two I see? What will it be then?" In his cheery and verbose voice, always seemed to have a large smile attached to his moustached face did this man.

Alria kept close to Giles and of course had to enjoy the fact that he had admitted he was both wrong and losing this contest and of course with the offering of a second drink she took charge and brought Giles to the bar, offering him up to do the talking for the most part as she said, "I want another one of whatever you gave me the last time!" Her request known she let her eyes glance over to Giles, before heading back to the bartender, then back to Giles, and then the bartender. Continuing this trend indefinitely.

The bartender began pouring out another one of the unusually strong as it was sweet, drinks and then gave a raised eyebrow towards Giles in awaiting his choice.
" I'll have the same again as well please barkeep."
As the bartender began fulfilling their orders Giles turned to Alria asking. "You looking forward to working with these guys? Anyone, barring the obvious culprits, you think could be trouble, or good fun?"
As he finished his question the drinks were ready and placed before the pair.
"Just give me a holler if you want another round you two; gotta deal with my other patrons now."

Alria let go of Giles' arm to reach out for her drink, taking it in hand and liberally drinking from it now that her tongue has been numbed and her palate awakened. Only have clearing a third of her drink did she speak up, "I dunno. I mean yeah I'm looking forward to working with you guys, but I don't know about you." She started confessing her general lack of an opinion which was rather odd given how liberal she was only moments ago. "In fact I don't even know everybodies names. I mean like... m~-maybe like four of y~-you." The last bit of her talk being slurred heavily at random syllables as the large part of her drink suddenly hit her.

Even then as she stood looking at Giles she was drinking more of her fruity beverage and it was showing at more and more both in her words and the fact that her eyes were starting to dart.

Alria was clearly showing signs of failing to handle her drink - although Giles to was becoming a bit worse for wear, it's been a while since he had this much Khajen rum...
" Yeah... not sure who everyone is yet, it's gunna be a right job to work with some of them... I better not get stuck with that mech/human hybrid or whatever the hell it is next time..."
Reducing his glass to just under half way mark, it really started to lay out its effects on him, the ability to focus was becoming difficult, slowly but surely.
After giving one of the scales on his head a scratch he briefly checked his omni-tool to see that he had a new email.
It was from his merc band and it appeared they had decided to leave Earth and return to Omega because, quote "it was boring as shit and we need to kill something" with Giles indisposed and for the time being no longer a part of their crew they had decided to leave.
Giving a small sigh he gave another sip to his rum.

Alria nodded at Giles words agreeing with most of what he was saying and for the parts she didn't agree was due to a lack of knowledge based on a difference of opinion. Regardless as she continued to down her drink at an almost ill advised pace she spoke up again, "So w-what about you? D-do you th~-think we're going to have cool th-things? I mean times?" Her words progressively getting more and more slurred.

Though before waiting for an answer she looked down at her Omni-Tool and upon it's activation she spoke again, "Ah crap. W-we're supposed to be at at the m-meeting point in... uh while. Come on we can take m~-my ride."

Alria, in her drunkenness made a good point - when Giles looked at his omni-tool he didn't even think about the time - as it turns out; they just over half a day to get stuff sorted and get there.
Perhaps leaving it here was the correct decision.
"Crap you're right, don't wanna miss that- and I've got shit to do tomorrow as well...
Downing the rest of his drink Giles awaited for Alria to do the same.

Alria nodded in agreement of Giles' agreement and seeing him take charge of his beverage made her look down and very carefully examine her own. Taking in a million calculations at once and coming to a singular conclusion. She could finish her drink in one go... maybe.

Taking the glass firmly in hand she swung it high and while it took a very hearty gulps, she finished the last two-thirds successfully, shivering and cringing at the end though.

From there she was sorted and ready to go, especially givendors the fact that she had maybe 5 minutes before it struck her. Walking out of the bar to take charge and with glass still in her hand she left the pub and summoned up her omni-tool, staring intently at the screen for more moments than necessary before she confidently started pushing buttons.

After a few moments had passed another roar was added to the sounds of flying ships as a rather unique and clearly special ship came into view. It sure wasn't a normal design and after what Alria did to it it was even less recognisable. With it's long forward rudders that were almost as long as the decently sized fighter. The white and black painting a sharp image with it's tinted accents providing a nice contrast. The large engines clearly made larger yet alight and the sleek shape cut with many drag vents and torque jets to boost performance even still.

Alria, smiling with a shit eating grin looked at the ship before walking towards it in a rather curvy line. Meanwhile the ship itself landed and while still running let the landing gear extend to make sure it was firmly in a landing spot that was just barely big enough for the craft to land. Upon her reaching the flank of the ship she pushed a few more buttons on her omni-tool and a hatch slide to the side, locking and hissing it's pneumatic call at each stage of it opening before a door big enough for a Krogan was made known. At the same time a small platform was lowered down and made a hanging platform that lowered to the ground on actuators. In fact, for anybody who new about ships it would be clear that this was a type of door and lift commonly used for loading ammo and small cargo in, yet it was missing most of the straps, hooks, and pin that most cargo lifts had.

Alria stepped onto it and looked back to Giles, "Come on in! Th-there's n~-not much room but that's~ ok!" she called back to him, obviously getting significantly drunker as her drink was hitting her like a runaway train. From there she let herself up into the room on her ship, slipping from view and entering into what should have been an ordinance bay, but was now her little home. It was cramped and filled with personal effects that made the already small room feel even more cramped, but there was enough room to move around. Her bed was neatly made and clearly only meant for one with a small dresser pushed up to the foot of it. All around at head height or just above it were metal shelves that carried a few nick-nacks as well as weapon mounting racks where she started to put her weapons on, each seemingly having it's own place. For her personal effects she had posters lining the wall by her bed with another shelf built by the bed that held an alarm clock, a few glasses, a few pictures of her with various other Turians and her and many different ages ranging from child to current age, and

Once her weapons were all put back into place she started to make her way to a small closet that once opened and the doors tucked back into the frame she started to remove her armour, fitting it into the made spaces of the equipment locker. Rather messily and slowly stripping down while stumbling and falling into the locker several times, causing the gear to rattle and clank around as she stripped to her skin suit that acted as her second to last layer of clothing.

Alrias ship was pretty impressive; heavily modified and clearly well invested in that was for certain - when she beckoned him inside he reluctantly followed.
She... wasn't actually planning to fly this... was she?
It was obvious it got here via an auto-pilot of some sort, but still the thought of it being controlled by the very drunk Alria did not really instil confidence.
As the pair ascended into her ship from what was some sort of re-purposed lift it was becoming more evident just how drunk he himself was - downing that rum wasn't good for his wits that's for damn sure.
Once inside the ship Giles commented -"It's a very nice ship, a bit cosy but I suppose its designed for one person - it must have set you back a bit paying for something as heavily modified as this?"
Not that he was judging of course; the large cylindrical weapon on his back was something he had invested extremely heavily in - in fact, it probably cost more than this ship the amount he has sunk into it over the years.

The room that they appeared in when the lift had finished it's journey seemed to be Alrias bedroom - although it really was quite cramped as well as littered with personal effects, given that this ship seemed to be a fighter class of some sort, it was actually quite surprising she managed to get away with as much as she had in terms of making it her home, of sorts.
Giles was about to say something before Alria started to remove her armour; almost as if she had forgotten Giles was standing in the same room as her - giving what could only be the Drell equivalent of a blush and turned on his heels towards the wall until she was done.
The mental note he had given himself was a tickbox list of things he didn't anticipate happening to him in one day - it was becoming quite absurd as to the length of it now.

Alria continued faithfully in her task of undressing, still bumping into things as she went until her task was finally complete and she was left with her under armour skin suit to cloth her. Swaying around and holding onto the side of the locker she saw Giles through fuzzy eyes and said cheerily, "There you are!" Seemingly to forget about him for a moment.

Following that event she started to walk over to him and her bed, putting her hands on his shoulders and turning him around, almost falling on him in the process. "Wh-why are you l-looking at the W~-all? That's~ Weird. You~'re weird." She mumbled out before falling to the side to land on her bed, bouncing slightly as she settled on the mattress.

The call of "There you are!" in the similar way a mother does to her child was the confirmation Giles got that she was finished dressing, at least he hoped so, turning around and seeing a naked drunk Turian would just be the "cherry on top" of the cluster-fuck cake that was today.
Thankfully that wasn't the case, instead he just got a triad of drunken "You're weirds" Giles responded with a small sigh of relief "It was a rather lovely wall, I couldn't help myself"
Giles slid down the wall a bit until he sat at the base of it, watching as Alria fell back on her bed.
"You're a real lightweight, you know that? Giles said jokingly.

Alria rolled over onto her side, putting her back to Giles as he spoke and barely hearing his words which would probably help answer why she said, "You're a... light way. Go to bed." Not exactly making much sense as she pulled up her omni-tool almost normally and soberly, pressing a few button on it to close the door behind them with a metallic hiss as the entire ship started to shake and rumble.

As the engines began to spool up and ignite the ship vibrated more and more until it went still followed by a gentle pull upwards. The ship was taking off and as it did the mass effect fields inside the cabin kept everything relatively still, which would explain how all of her things weren't scattered all around by now. Though even with a gentle tug it was clear to tell that the ship was just orbiting.

"I... I-I uh... I'm drunk." Was all she managed to say before she closed her eyes and almost instantly fell asleep, drifting off into unconsciousness.

The only response Giles got to his joke was her saying essentially the same thing to him; figures.
After watching her mess around with her omni-tool for a while the ship kick started into life after the door closed. Giles just sighed and said to himself "Oh I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs Somner, I'm afraid Gilvert died by drunk Turian, despite surviving the Reaper war..." a scenario that he could do well without, but when Alria admitted the fact that she had more alcohol content in her blood than actual blood she went unconscious.

Giles himself had managed to recuperate slightly gathering a bit more of his senses but inevitably he ached all over, and some shut eye - hopefully one that he actually awakes from would be nice.
Taking his sniper from his back he rested it on his chest crossing his arms around it like it was a doll or something of that sort.
"G'night Widow... tomorrow is gunna be a shit show.
And with that he easily slipped into a dreamless sleep.




When Giles awoke the next morning he was relieved that: One - he actually awoke at all and Two- his head wasn't splitting from a hangover; always a hit and miss with that Khaje'n rum.
As for Alria however, that would be a different story.
A quick check on his omni-tool showed that they had 4 hours to show up to the meeting, which was pretty good, he had a few things that needed doing.

Using his Widow as a stick he jabbed Alria a few times in the ribs "Come on lightweight, get up."
It felt good to do this, in his merc days he was always on the receiving end of the "wake-up boot".

Alria hadn't moved at all in her sleep, to drunk and tired to do so and once the butt of a sniper rifle was shoved into her chest she moaned and mumbled something before swatting at the weapon. With a few more pushes though she got the message and before long she said, "Knock it off... I'm getting up..." Though there was a lie in that statement as she just rolled over at first. Still though after a few moments she opened her eyes to see the rough light beating down on her poor brain and the following pain helped to wake her up.

Groaning quiet a bit she rolled back over and sat up, gently moving the sleep from her eyes as she look around her room to see Giles sitting against the wall, looking back at her, "What's up?" Was her only response.

Giles gave her a smile as a way of Good morning before saying "We have about 4 hours before we need to get to the pick up point, assuming you have the mental capability to fly your ship, I was hoping you could drop me off in a few places, I need to get my medication and some other things sorted - it shouldn't take long."

Alria listened to him but winced as he talked. It was like he was shouting the whole time as her head rang with the sins of last night. Regardless, she got his point and nodded not wanting to talk to much, "I'm good. Just do me a favour and message me the locations."

From there she stood up from her bed and stretched, feeling the ache in her bones as she did before heading off towards the small door on the far side of the room, pushing a button to open it and crawling inside to reach the cockpit and the pilot's seat. Upon taking her place at the helm and turning off the autopilot, she took full control and started to fly like it was just another day in the office.

With Giles' coordinates in her flight computer she took him to the two stops that he had listed. Landing nearby and staying on board the craft so as to help save some time. Thankfully they had plenty and the peace gave her time to fight back the headache and hangover that plagued her. Then by the end of his stops she barely had a ring in her ears.

With Giles' errands done she only had one last place to stop at, the meeting point. Heading over to the location given to her by her new Spectre friends she found a nice spot to set the ship down, partly in view of the already assembled crew.

From there she opened up the side door for Giles' to head out ahead of her as she went back into her room to start slowly dawning her armour. It was faster than taking it off last night, but she still took her time to try and not bring back the headache.

Yet with a little bit of time she was ready to go and go she did, stepping off the ship and heading up to join the others in attendance, giving a gentle wave to them all to avoid speaking... and hurting her healing head more.

With his tasks completed, at least in part, as he needed to talk with the Spectres about signing some forms to allow him to receive shipments of the things he needs to the ship they would be using - of course Giles was under the assumption that the crew would be using a Cruiser type vessel to accommodate the everyone here.
Giles and Alria had made it to the meeting spot slightly ahead of time, and a number of people were already waiting there.
It was early morning and the sun was listing lazily in the sky, hanging low and keeping the outdoors fairly cool, tot he point were there was a slight nip in the air.
Giles offered a general greeting to everyone, and offering Ja'Far a nod out of respect; he was quite fond of the Batarian.
Everyone was remaining quiet, not much being said or at least no conversation was being broached when he had arrived, anticipation to get this new job started Giles guessed - he was looking forward to it.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by WardenCelestine
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WardenCelestine Warden of the Kaldorei Empire upon Azeroth.

Member Seen 9 days ago

A collaboration post between BlackSam and Andromedai


A soft, gentle chime would come from Aviza's data-pad, repeating itself three times as its screen quickly illuminated once more. "The time is currently [02:00] - You have been awake for three days with little rest, sleep is highly recommended." The electronic voice of Aviza's simple V.I. known as Nikoli, which was built into her data-pad, broke her train of thought. Glancing down at her data-pad, it indeed did say that the time was [02:00] She had been so lost in thought while wandering the streets that she had completely failed to notice the heavy fatigue that was setting in.

"If you continue for two blocks down the street you are currently on, you will find a hotel on the left side of the road. From what information I can gather about it, there should be a room suitable to your needs available for the night." Aviza kept quiet for the time being, following the advice Nikoli had given her, hoping that his information would prove correct, not that it had ever been anything but. After a few short moments, Aviza found herself standing in front of the large ultra-modern hotel, opening its front doors and stepping inside. She was almost immediately called upon from a well taken care of and polished human male that stood behind a wood and marble counter to her left.

"Evening ma'am, I take it you will be rooming with us tonight?" the man turned to a computer monitor to his right and waited for Aviza to respond.

"If you can accommodate a Turian, then yes." She stepped forward and leaned lightly against the countertop, watching the human enter information into the computer.

"I just need your name and a payment source, then I will give you the card to your room." Aviza nodded her head and handed the man a credit chip.

"The name is Aviza Norea, now if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to get some much needed rest." The human quickly checked over the information and nodded his head before handing Aviza a card to room [T4278] which was quickly taken from the man’s hand.

After leaving the hotel lobby, Aviza found an elevator and made her way to the fifth floor where her room was. Inserting the card into the door, it quickly opened to a large comfortable room where she would have no trouble sleeping. Shutting the door behind her and locking it, Aviza removed the weapons from her armor an tossed herself onto the top of the bed, letting her body relax. Reaching for the remote next to her, she turned on the television and found something mindless to watch before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep. For a while, she was allowed to rest, though this did not last long, for her data-pad on her armor started to chime once more, though much louder than before. Groaning, Aviza lifted her left arm above her face and pressed down against the data-pads screen that was built into it. Suddenly, live video footage of her friend Solares would appear on the screen.

"Sorry Aviza, did I wake you up? I can't tell what time it is up here." Aviza would yawn with a shrug,

"It's alright, I hope you are doing ok up there? What was the meeting about?" Solares glanced around her then seemed to lean forward at whatever screen she was standing in front of.

"Everything up here is good for the most part, just random daily events that I seem to have to take care of every now and then. Ah, I almost forgot to ask, did you ever hear back from that Turian? What is his name, Aegon Partinax."

Aviza shook her head, "No, not yet, I will try again in a couple days if I don't hear back from him soon."

Solares seemed bothered about this and was in deep thought for a moment, bringing her right hand up below her chin. "Wasn’t there another person helping him lead the team? Wait, there is, I remember now, his name is Jake Anderson, a human like myself. Try forwarding him the message and explain what has happened so far. I have a feeling you will get approved to join the team if you try sending a message to him as well."

Aviza nodded her head once more, sitting up upon the bed and moving to the side of it to look out the window next to her. "Alright I will do that, thank you for the advice."

Solares nodded her head back at Aviza then spoke once more, "Oh crap, I have to go now, let me know how everything turns out Aviza!" With that, the video was cut.

Reaching to her Data-Pad, Aviza was about to send the same message she had sent to Aegon, when Nikoli quickly spoke up with good news. "I have already sent the message for you Aviza, you should try and get some more rest but be ready to move out at a moment's notice." That sounded like a good idea to her, so Aviza laid back against the bed once more and closed her eyes.

[Staff Lieutenant Jake Anderson]

The blaring alarm of Anderson's omni-tool dragged him rudely back into the world of the living. He groaned in annoyance, half hoping that if he just ignored the damn thing then it would stop. His bedroom was still in pitch black, and that meant that it wasn't even dawn yet. No way he was getting up yet, especially considering the head he had on him. He still didn't know what he'd been drinking at Aegon's the night before, but whatever it was, it left a man with the kind of hangover that convinces you that, yes, Hell must be a real place, and apparently it operated a winery.

Try as he might though, he just couldn't block out that damn chiming. He swore long and inventively, realising that he wasn't getting back to sleep until he dealt with whatever this was. Somebody better be dead, or at the very least arrested.

"Lights." He grunted, the automatic fixtures instantly throwing the room into sharp relief. Far too sharp for his hangover, as the damn things near blinded him, eliciting a hiss of protest from the addled N7. "Dimmer!" came his command.

[Aviza Norea]

Within seconds, or at least that is what it felt like, the message came back from Jake Anderson, apparently he had used his pull to swiftly and quite impressively get her application approved to join the team. Aviza almost fell out of the bed while grabbing onto the weapons next to her. In the blink of an eye, she was out the door to her hotel room and heading downstairs to meet with the rest of her team.

While sprinting through the lobby, the same male human from before stopped her and asked where she was headed. Aviza made her way over to him and dropped off the card she had been given and informed him that she no longer needed the room, but would still accept the charges due to the fact she had used the room for a short while. The human nodded his head and handed her back the small credit chip that still had quite a few credits upon it.

Once outside of the hotel, Aviza interacted with her data-pad and used it to get into contact with Jake Anderson via voice chat. When the line was connected, she introduced herself the best she could via the chat and informed him that she was on her way to the meeting point. “Good morning Mr. Anderson, this is Aviza Norea, the Turian that you recently helped get approved to join yours and Partinax's team. I will arrive at the meeting point shortly to board the shuttle and to introduce myself to everyone else. Please ensure the shuttle will not depart without me, I have a distance to yet travel but I should arrive in time. I also wanted to thank you for helping me with my acceptance into said team, I know I will be a valued member who will earn my place amongst the rest though my actions."

[Staff Lieutenant Jake Anderson]

"Is somebody dead?" Came Jake's bleary reply, his voice equal parts raspy, as if he'd been shouting a lot recently, and sluggish, not surprising considering the time.

[Aviza Norea]

There would be a short moment of uncomfortable silence before Aviza would speak once more, though this time in a less cheery voice. "Uh... no, not to my knowledge? I realize that it is most likely very early where you are currently at and that I may have abruptly woken you. I would like to apologize for that but I was under the assumption that you would be awake and either at or heading to the meeting point." Aviza glanced down at her data-pad to check the time once more, it was [03:00] apparently, she had gotten some sleep, though not nearly enough that she needed.

There was no reply, Aviza took this as a sign for her to end the call and continue on her way to the meeting point, walking quickly through the early morning streets of London.

After a few moments of what felt like an hour of power walking, Aviza closed in on her destination, Nikoli suddenly informed her that there would most likely be others waiting at the meeting point as well. The V.I. was correct, there were others at the meeting point, and from the looks of it, the team was made up quite a collection of colorful individuals.

Walking up to the group, Aviza gave them a slight wave of her right hand then crossed her arms over her chest. "You all must be Spectre Aegon Partinax and Staff Lieutenant Jake Anderson's team, am I correct?" asked Aviza from behind the helmet that hid the features of her face. Of course she was, they were at the meeting point, who else would they be? "I am Aviza Norea, a combat medic with Havoc training as well as knowledge in engineering. I am the newest addition to the team and will be working closely with each and every one of you. Now, are either Partinax or Anderson currently present?" At this time, she did her best to ignore the forklift crew.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by PrivateVentures
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PrivateVentures Purveyor of the Finest Exoskeletons

Member Seen 5 yrs ago

Ellis decided that now would be the best time for something he'd been putting off, cold dread seeping into his heart every time he thought about it. "NERO, prepare a message. For my brother."

"Recording."

"Deactivate external speakers."

"Muted."

"Jeb. It's been a while. Ummm... How's work? Oh, that's idiotic. Jeb, you have every right to be ashamed of me. You have every right to hate me for what I became and who I followed and what I believed in. I- I think I may have been wrong. About it all. I met people. Non human people. They've shown me kindness and courage. I never saw that before. Not like this. Pity, yes. Respect in their fear, yes. But never like this. An Asari woman bought me drinks last night. I went to nightclubs with her and her friends. I never had friends before. Not like this. I joined up with an Alliance force, a team of peacekeepers. They're headed up by a Turian. He is... forgiving, to say the least. I didn't deserve to be a part of this. Hell, I thought it was the opposite. The message was so secretive, I was certain it related to an assassination or some kind of terrorism, or, fuck, I don't even know.

Tell him about the Krogan.

There's two Krogans on the team, too. They are nothing like I was always told. They are kind, they are understanding, and above it all, they have a sort of... wisdom that I cannot ignore.

Tell him about the husks. The Cerberus mech. The battle.

I... I wanted to impress them. I ended up throwing myself into more trouble than I could handle. We fought Husks yesterday, Jeb. I fought Husks. I'd never seen them like that. They were so... aggressive. I'd never seen them much outside of the holding tanks we kept in the labs. I never realized how... terrifying and endless and hopeless and unstoppable they were." Tears welled up, stinging his eyes, to be absorbed into the aerogel that held his body afloat. "We sent them to civilian settlements, Jeb. We indoctrinated children. We killed innocent people just because we had the power. Now I understand. Now I've seen our works thrown back against me." Ellis leaned against the banister in front of the station steps, to the world, a silent mass of black metal with a white kneecap and arm, a panda bear of sorts. Inside, he sobbed to the recording. "We were monsters, Jeb we were monsters... All I ever wanted was a normal life back. I just wanted my chance back. I never wanted this. I NEVER WANTED THIS, JEB. YOU HAVE TO KNOW! YOU HAVE TO! Fuck... I don't know why- I just... Please forgive me, Jeb. You're my brother. I miss you." His choking sobs subsided, and he regained his composure, slowly but surely. "End recording. Send message."

"Transmit successful. Receipt successful."

A Turian woman approached, arms crossed and a look on her face like she was vaguely disgusted at what she'd found, asking about Partinax and Anderson, identifying herself as a medic. "NERO, reactivate external audio output. Volume at twelve percent." Then he addressed the newcomer. "They aren't here, yet. They should be soon." He said, plainly, if a bit curt.

He turned toward the forklift, and gently, tenderly, lifted Vella from her friend's lap. He carried up the steps, and into the station, to wait at the landing pad with her for the rest of the team, wizard hat and cape flowing in the breeze.

Better wash your carapace when you're done.

Ellis did not respond.

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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Silver Fox
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Silver Fox Kitsune

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Meeting Point




Setting Ja'Far down to wake up as the synthetic lifeform handed the batarian a water bottle to assist in recovering, Phalanx turned its head to notice some of the newly arriving teammates. It saw Sicaria arrive, although her actions to be less energetic compared to last night. Although it made the estimation that it was perhaps just do to the after effects of consuming vast amounts of alcohol. Walking closer to the female turian, the synthetic platform offered the second water bottle it had in its possession. Light blue eye flickering as it scanned the organic, pausing for but a moment before speaking.

"I hope you are well Sicaria Velinian." Phalanx said in its robotic monotone voice. "Recommending another shower as remaining seminal fluid within the groin area of the body." it said in a blunt manner with no hesitation. Turning its head to the others as they arrived, it waved in return of the other female turian known as Alria greeting. Soon enough, a third female turian and greeted the crew.

Moving closer to the new organic, the Geth did a scan, logging her into its databanks and started to take notes. "Greetings Aviza Norea. System 42009874563001 reporting. Call Sign, Phalanx. Classified, Infiltrator. Pleasant to make acquaintances and further achieve answers. As Ellis Taevon has reported, Spectres Aegon Partinax and Jake Anderson have not arrived as of this time." it greeted.
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by MrDidact
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MrDidact The Watcher on the Wall

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U N D E R W O R L D
K A T A B A S I S: E P I L O G U E

Collab with:@MrDidact and @BlackSam3091



Aegon Partinax & Staff Lieutenant Jake Anderson

Tiberius Towers - Aegon's Apartment

Jake pulled at his dress shirts collar, trying to work some slack into the garment, then realised how that was just defeating the purpose of wearing one of these monkey suits. He was really more of a hoodie and trackies man, but he got the impression that a pair of classic Adidas weren’t gonna cut it for a no doubt classy dinner at Aegon’s. Showing that iron soldiers will he managed to stop himself from fidgeting – though couldn’t resist the sudden impulse of undoing the top button on his breast coat, just for the devilment of it – and rang the doorbell.

Aegon answered the door and nodded at Jake. It was the first-time Jake had seen the Turian out of his armor and in civilian clothing. He nodded at Jake and stepped back to let him enter the apartment, "Thank you for coming, the family is excited to meet you." The large penthouse apartment was tastefully furnished. The wood panelled walls glistened with a golden shine under the recessed lighting. Most of the walls bore holos of family memories or paintings that ranged from scenic vistas to famous battle scenes. One wall was covered in intricate calligraphy that was inscribed by different hands. A large player piano was automatically playing a soft Cipritine melody. The furniture was genuine leather and the wooden floor was covered by a shatha-skin rug. The animal had been at least the size of a siberian tiger, Aegon gestured to the rug as he walked Jake into the apartment, "Dad and I stalked it for nearly a week. Killed four people before we tracked it down. I took the shot."

Jake didn’t know what he had expected from Aegon’s home, but this wasn’t it. He’d heard that the Spectre was actually quite a committed family man, but before now he hadn’t been able to picture the hardened veteran as anything other than that: A top level black-ops agent, with a cool as ice demeanour and a renegade’s familiarity with hyper-violence. Here, amongst all these family photos and portraits, it almost seemed like Aegon might just be two different men. One the soldier, the other the husband and father. Jake wondered how the Turian made the duality work. The two roles didn’t exactly go hand in hand. Dad had certainly never gotten the hang of it. His eyes lingered a moment upon the shatha-skin, thinking to himself that it was probably the most likely thing he had expected to find here. Impressive trophies from hunts long concluded. That seemed more Aegon’s speed.

"He's barely in the door and you're already talking about shooting things? You've got a one-track mind Egg." Visenya appeared in a dress and wrapped her arm around her husband. She had the same dark grey carapace and amber eyes as her father, with swirling white face paint. Her form was lithe and tall, but the dress didn't conceal the fact that she was halfway through her pregnancy. Aegon chuckled while Visenya moved to shake Jake's hand, "Good to see you Jake, I hope my husband hasn't been too much of a bore."

Jake beamed a smile at Aegon’s wife. He’d only met her a few times before, and never for long, but he liked her. She was much easier to get along with than her more highly strung husband, and her sense of humour was far more developed – read: existent. He accepted her hand, and gave it a gentle shake, before pulling her in for a hug. It might have surprised her, he wasn’t sure, but he was willing to bet that it surprised Aegon. After a moment he let go, jerking his head towards his partner. “Who, Egg? Boring? One thing I’ve found out these last couple months since I’ve met him, it’s that my life will probably never be boring again.” After all today’s excitement, he’d gladly pay for boring.

Visenya had returned the hug as genuinely as she could with her condition, and if Jake was quick and attentive enough he would have noticed Aegon quirking a brow plate in surprise before quickly playing it off and calling over his shoulder.

"Kids, come say hi to Daddy's friend." There was movement from the second floor and two small Turian children, both of them silver-grey with bright blue eyes came running down, a big furry nathak loping down the stairs after them. The wolf-like creature might have been intimidating if not for its rapidly wagging tail.

Both children introduced themselves, the boy was Maegor and the girl was Rhaena, and shook Jake's hand firmly and energetically. The Nathak sniffed Jake and panted. The beast was nearly the size of a pony. Jake eyed it suspiciously, before Visenya said, "Don't worry about Kolo, he's a complete goofball. Runt of the litter, totally failed training before I convinced Egg to take him in. Scratch his ears and he's your best friend." With only the merest hint of trepidation, the N7 dutifully complied. Within moments the big hound-thing had rolled over onto its back, begging for tummy tickles. Jake roughhoused with Kolo for a few moments, rubbing it’s belly and cooing nonsense at him, grinning like a dumb kid, then remembered where he was and who he was with, and leapt back to his feet as quick as a flash, coughing in embarrassment and doing his damndest to pretended that nothing out of the ordinary had happened while Aegon spoke up.

Aegon for his part, preserved Jake's dignity by ignoring the incident, though the children had picked up the slack where Jake left off,
"My niece and nephew would have shown up, but they had a big match in the Armax Arena, you'll meet them on the ship." Another set of footsteps could be heard approaching from near the balcony and the famous General Partinax appeared. He was middle-aged but his face paint was bright and his mandibles and fringe were immaculately buffed. The old soldier was still tall, and was even more solidly-built than his son. He walked with his head held high, his posture perfect, walking as if he was a commander inspecting his unit's formations. Aegon gestured to his father and turned to Jake, "My father, General Aerion Partinax. Father, Lieutenant Jake Anderson."

Jake had snapped out a crisp and respectful salute almost before Aegon had even finished introducing his father. The General waited on Jake before returning the gesture and shaking his hand. The old soldiers grip was like a vice. "I knew your father. Good man. Good soldier. My unit almost pinned down his back at Relay 314, but they slipped the net. After that was all over, we had the opportunity to cross-train and and run some joint operations. If he had been a Turian, he might have been a Primarch. The galaxy lost one of its finest soldiers. But any son of Anderson's is welcome here."

“Thank you sir. It’s a real honour to meet you.” Jake replied. And it was. No soldier worth his salt, whether he was Turian, human, Krogan, anyone, didn’t know who General Aerion Partinax was. The man was a living legend. Stories of his duel with Kihilix Tanus had reached almost Homeric proportions, and the accounts of his extended campaign against the Turian separatists upon Taetrus had become compulsive reading for all N7 candidates, if only to familiarize themselves with Turian Hierarchy tactics. There was also that sandwich that Gonzo’s had named after him, but Jake wasn’t sure if that achievement would rank quite as highly for the career military man. Truth was, the ‘Partinax’ was actually quite dry, and would really have benefited from the addition of some honey mustard. Jake didn’t think now was the time to mention that. “Dad would have been real flattered to hear that sir, though he never mentioned facing you. I’d love to hear about it sometime.”

Partinax smiled slightly and his eyes gained a nostalgic gleam, "He didn't? Well it was near Shanxi, after-"

Visenya gently nudged her father-in-law with a laugh, "Dad, we invited him for dinner. We don't want the food to get cold, right?"

The General laughed as well and nodded in acquiescence, "You're right of course dear. In fact, the tale would be even better after some drinks."

Aegon gestured to the table, which displayed a wide variety of home-cooked dishes. Jake would have recognized a filet mignon accompanied by lobster macaroni and decadently buttered mashed potatoes, on a place setting next to Aegon and Visenya. Visenya took Jake's arm and escorted him to his place, "I looked all over for a good levo-cut of meat. Had to deal with that jackass at the Zakera Ward Cafe to get this, but I hope you like it." The family sat down at the table, with General Partinax at the head and a serving mech came to Jake's shoulder, "Would you like something to drink sir? Mrs. Partinax purchased a variety of levo-amino beverages for this occasion." The N7 pulled the mech closer and whispered into its auditory receiver that he was typically a ‘half and half’ type of guy, so he’d be more than willing to accept a recommendation. Within moments the mech had filled a glass with a dark-plumb coloured liquid. Jake took an experimental sip, and failed to recognise the drink. It didn’t taste like a wine, but he wasn’t sure what else it could be. It was quite delicious though, so it would do.

Aegon poured some Valluvian Gold into his glass before nodding to his children and telling them it was alright to begin eating. Maegor after taking a bite of fish asked Jake a rapid-fire barrage of questions, "Is it true you're N7, like Commander Shepard? And that your dad was a Councillor? Did you ever meet the Commander? What's the training to be an N7 like?"

Visenya laughed, "Maegor let Jake answer one question before you ask him a whole quiz's worth. It's not polite." Jake joined Maegor’s mother in laughing at the boy’s enthusiasm. This was Aegon’s kid? No way. He was way too cute. He obviously took after his mother in that regard.

[color=bluesteel]“Don’t worry about offending me Maegor, I got thick skin. You ask all the questions you want, and I’ll do my best to answer.”[/color] He offered the boy a smile, both pronging some of the lobster macaroni, and popping it into his mouth. The taste was amazing. So much better than the nutrient pastes that he was used to that it didn’t even bear mentioning.

[color=bluesteel]“Now let’s see … Yes, I am an N7, just like Commander Shepard, though I’ve never met him. He graduated from the Villa, the place where N7’s go to do their initial training, a few years before I did. I did listen to him give a speech once though, from a distance. That was pretty damn cool. My dad knew him though. In fact, they were really close.” [/color] Closer than dad and I ever were to each other anyway, he thought with only the merest hint of resentment, though he was quick to bottle that up, before it put a damper on the night.

[color=bluesteel]“And yeah, the old man was a Councillor, for a little while at least. The politicians’ life was never for him though, and he gave it up quick. He was a soldier, through and through. Some men just aren’t built for a quiet life. Your dad and grandpa are proof of that.”

“Now, N7 training? Well, you gotta be tough to do it. Real tough. Like the toughest in school tough. But I hear from your daddy that you’re that tough, so who knows, maybe you’ll be finding out what it’s like someday yourself?”[/color] Jake grinned while cutting himself off a piece of filet mignon. Jesus, it was heavenly. How did a Turian learn to cook earth dishes so well? She can’t even taste them! He chewed in silent contentment for a moment.

Maegor and Rhaena had hung on to every word and Maegor smiled after Jake finished, "That's so COOL! Mom took us to the Armax Arena one time when the Commander was competing. He was AWESOME! And if you're N7 too, you have to be great too! You should fight in the arena sometime. You and Dad would be invincible." Maegor beamed with pride after the compliment, "Thanks! Dad teaches us how to shoot and he's been giving us martial arts lessons. I can't be an N7 but as soon as I get into boot camp, I'm going to be in Blackwatch and then I'm going to be a Spectre, just like him."

Rhaena retorted, "They won't let you get into Blackwatch. You'll be too young then. Even Dad didn't get in till he was older."

Maegor and Rhaena were on the verge of a petty sibling argument when Aegon intervened, "That's enough of that kids. No arguing over dinner. Now Maegor, it'll be hard but if you apply yourself, you can do it. I tried for Havoc training in boot and I served there before Blackwatch selected me later. But you can try for a special training track for enlistment to Blackwatch in boot camp too. And you can get special training for the Spectres at the same time. If that's what you want, it's completely within reach. As long as you put in the effort."

The General raised his glass in acknowledgement, his pride evident, "Of course he will. He's a Partinax. He's a warrior down to his DNA. Anything either of you kids try for, you can do it."

Maegor asked another question to Jake, "Who do you think's better N7s or Blackwatch? It's a huge argument at school."

Aegon chuckled as he dug into his own steak, "Well, you can certainly guess my thoughts on the matter. Though those Asari Huntresses are no joke either."

After some fun debate on who produced the best Special Forces operators, Visenya noted Jake's obvious pleasure with the food, smiling with evident satisfaction, "Surprised a Turian can cook good levo huh? I had some great teachers, lots of Asari and Human spies who were surprisingly talented." Visenya proceeded to tell some stories about the agents she had met during her clandestine career, though she of course avoided any sensitive details and focused on amusing vignettes. Eventually she began talking about how she and Aegon had met during his days at Blackwatch as she had been his units' intelligence liaison. Aegon for his part refrained from speaking much, but the Spectre had a smile on his face and kept reaching over to grasp Visenya's hand as his wife recounted their stories.

The children were particularly delighted whenever Visenya revealed a rare moment of comedy for their father, such as the time Aegon had completely forgot their anniversary. Visenya had been particularly peeved and Aegon frantically made up for it by paying the company pilots to skywrite a message while the unit ran a exercise. He had even thrown the exercise and gotten himself caught by the mock search team because he had gathered a bouquet of local flowers for her. Finally Aegon purloined a mining laser and carved a diamond from a local deposit before proposing to Visenya, who of course accepted.

Aegon laughed, "The Captain had dressed me down in front of the whole company for those incidents, and I got my first write-up. But it was completely worth it."

The memory made both of them smile and Aegon leaned in to kiss Visenya while the kids screwed their faces in mock disgust.

Rhaena piped up, "I want to be a secret agent like Mom, and then I want to be a politician like our other grandfather. I think it's so cool that your dad was a Councillor too Jake. I want to help people like he did and how my grandfather does."

Visenya smiled at that, "It's not all fast cars and exotic beaches being a spy, Rhaena but you certainly can do it. As for government, well I'm not sure Grandpa Adrien even likes his own job that much."

The General shook his head with a smile, "A Partinax politician? That would be something. But I reckon you'll do a better job than most of those barefaces at the top tiers. Adrien excluded. Which reminds me, Adrien was with me back at 314. We were both junior officers fresh out of training when the whole thing blew up. If you had told me that the dumb kid I knew back then would become the Primarch, I would have laughed in your face. But anyway, we were flown into Shanxi after the beginning of the occupation and a few weeks later, your father led one of the advance units. I remember it all." The General launched into a long, bombastic story of the encounter with Anderson's unit in a pitched battle. The General got more and more animated, the more he drank, gesticulating and almost shouting as he recalled the battle sans the gory details. David Anderson and Aerion Partinax had even clashed on the battlefield, catching each other alone while the fight raged. They had soon both disarmed each other and were down to knives and soon it was down to fists and talons. They had fought until they were both ready to collapse, until Anderson finally managed to kick Partinax away and grab his rifle and force Partinax into cover before bolting and falling back with his own squad before Turian reinforcements boxed them in. The General recalled the whole ordeal with a smile and the children were enthralled.

At the end the General laughed and composed himself for a moment before raising his glass, "A toast. To Admiral David Anderson. A fine man, an even finer soldier. The best our galaxy has to offer." Aegon raised his wine in agreement while Visenya raised a glass of juice and the kids raised glasses of milk. They all clinked their glasses together, the Turians uttering a Cipritine proclamation of respect and drank to the memory of David Anderson.

Eventually, after the main course, came desert which was pie a la mode for the Partinax family, while Anderson got a levo version to himself. Visenya after finishing her pie, patted her stomach, "Mm. It might have been a bad idea to eat so much. Now it feels like there's two of them in there. I'm going to sit on the patio and get some air. Kids, you're excused but remember it's a school night, bed in two hours."

Maegor and Rhaena both begged their mother to let them stay up longer to talk to Jake but Visenya was firm and the children both withdrew from the dinner table and hopped on the couch to boot up a holo game, Kolo following dutifully. The General stepped from his seat and said, "It's time for me to get some rack time. I'm not as young as I used to be and I have a full agenda tomorrow. Thank you for coming Anderson, I hope we get to do this again soon." The General and Jake traded another round of salutes and hand shakes before the old soldier went back up the stairs, practically marching up the steps.

Aegon and Jake were left alone at the table while the mech cleared the dishes. Aegon poured himself another glass and reached for a bottle of wine, offering some to Jake, "I hope you enjoyed the dinner. And now that it's just us, would you like a tour of the penthouse? Or should we hit the strip, get some stiffer drinks?
Or I can call you a cab home. We do have a long day tomorrow."

Eventually it was decided that the pair would drink at the house's bar, with one of Aegon's mechs serving them. Jake had enjoyed his time with the Partinax family immensely and the ice had started to break between the two Turians as they drank, trading small talk. Soon Jake stood up to leave, a cab on the way to take him home and the pair parted with a firm handshake.


Rendezvous Point

The two Spectres arrived in full armor and weapons strapped to their hardsuits. Aegon's head was uncovered and the team could see his glare. Jake coughed and said, "Thank you for getting here on time everybody. The shuttles will take us to the shi-" Aegon stepped forward, unharnessing his canteen and dumping the ice cold water on the asari's head before dragging the rudely awoken asari up by the lapels, before he jammed a finger into Vella's chest, "You just couldn't resist could you? You and your whole god-damned sorority of absent-minded huntress knockoffs just had to go on a practical rampage. Do you know the shitstorm you just caused? We practically have a fullblown diplomatic incident on our hands!" To underscore his point, several Scotland Yard constables were seen escorting a group of rambunctious asari into the station. One of them saw Vella and opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it once he saw Aegon snarling.

"Do you know how many favors I had to call in to keep you out of lockup for that little stunt you pulled? How many lawsuits the Asari Republic is facing now? Your friends in there are now a point of contention as the Republic and the Alliance have a pissing match over extradition and the possibility of a court martial. The goddamned embassies and courts on the Citadel now have to get involved to sort this mess out and don't even get me started on all the protest material that Terra Firma just received. You also borderline kidnapped Ellis and made him into an accomplice. You fucked up Vella, and if I didn't have any use for your talents I would have given you right over to the authorities so they could drum you out of the military entirely." Aegon got in Vella's face, gripping the asari by the collar of her shirt and growling at her, "This is your last incident. I've given you two chances already. A third time, and I will personally make sure that you are dishonorably discharged. Maybe even thrown in a cell, depending on how big you fuck up again. You're a soldier. Start acting like it." Aegon stomped off in a huff and Jake rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, let's get on the shuttles then. We're headed to the Citadel."

Spectre Offices - Private Dock

Aegon led the team to the exclusive docking bay for Spectre-owned spacecraft. Most of the dock was empty, the majority of the Spectres being away on some priority mission or covert assignment. Jondom Bau's Silent Step, an understated Union light frigate with no distinguishing colors or emblems was the closest moored vessel, and the team caught a passing glance of Salarians loading supplies onto the ship as they moved to Katabasis' compartment. At the door to their mooring, Aegon visibly grimaced, his hand tightening next to his holstered pistol for a moment before Aegon restrained himself. Seven figures were standing at the door, all of them save one, in full combat armor with helmets masking their features.

A female Alliance officer with an Admiral's bars stood in the middle of the group with her hands crossed behind her back, and her men all stood at attention with weapons strapped to their mag-harnesses. Most of them were broad-shouldered males save for one lithe and slender female soldier with a sword strapped on her back while the man at the Admiral's side had a cybernetic arm. All the soldiers had an N7 badge on their chests.

Aegon subtly gestured to Anderson to follow him as the pair walked up to the Alliance personnel. Aegon stood casually before the group, his hand nonchalantly grasping the sheath of the sword strapped to his as he closed with the officer. Jake refrained from reaching for any of his weapons, though the tension he was feeling was apparent by furrows upon his brow, and the tightness of his clenched fists. The Admiral wore the infamous black uniform of N7-grade officers, complete with light armor and patrol cap. A large scar ran down one cheek and a Phalanx pistol was strapped to her thigh. Her eyes were green but obviously cybernetically enhanced, and her golden blonde hair was tied into a bun, revealing her high, sharp cheekbones. She was of a height with Jake, and solidly built, with a physique borne of a life of combat. Though Aegon looked down on the Admiral she stared back levelly without a hint of being intimidated.

Aegon spoke up, not deigning to salute the Admiral. Not so Jake, though the jerkiness of his salute displayed his rising anxiety. The Admiral barely nodded in recognition at the human Spectre before returning her attention to the Turian. "Admiral Zander, I wasn't expecting to see you here, especially considering that this docking bay is restricted to Spectres and their support personnel. "

Admiral Elli Zander was the head of the Alliance Navy Special Operations Command, and the former captain of the Normandy SR-1 while it was still in development, before her issues with Turian politicking had seen her removed from the ship, to be replaced by David Anderson. She had been promoted in the wake of valorous action when the Alliance came to the Council's rescue during the Sovereign attack and was promoted even further when she helped organize the N7 Strike Teams during the war.

Aegon had seen her on a few occasions, and they had traded a conversation or two, but this was the first time they had met without there being a gaggle of Hierarchy and Alliance officers around. Their conversations had always been brief and terse, though Aegon had always sensed an underlying hostility in the woman and had to verbally clash with her a few times. Jake on the other hand knew her quite well, as he had worked under her during his time with the N7 Spec-Ops. He couldn’t say he liked her all that much, and was confident that the feeling was mutual. She’d always given him the shittest, most dangerous assignments and missions. Sometimes, when he'd been feeling generous, he fancied that might have been because she trusted him to see them through. Other times he was convinced it was because she was trying to get him killed. The woman was as tough old boot leather, so contrary that she floated up-stream, and hated Turian’s – or most other aliens – with a passion. Her being here didn’t spell good tidings in their future.

Zander ignored Aegon's slight and replied coolly, "It's nice to see you too Partinax. I know, it's against the rules for us to be here, but since when have you Spectres ever cared about rules?"

Aegon snorted, "Fair enough. What brings you here? You're too early to christen our voyage if that's what you came for."

Zander smirked and crossed her arms, "I'm sorry to say but I didn't bring any champagne. I'm here to talk."

"If you want to schedule a meeting you can contact my yeoman and she will see if she can pencil you in somewhere. Now if you excuse us, we'll be on our way."

The Admiral didn't budge at all, "It's about your classified task force. I want to be read in."

“Oh, bloody hell …” Anderson muttered. He did not like how these cards were falling. Both the Aegon and Zander ignored him, though the Admiral might have glanced at him in annoyance.

Aegon scoffed, "It's not only classified Admiral, it's not your concern. This is Spectre business."

Zander scowled and straightened up, "That's a barefaced lie and you know it Partinax. You've been transferring military personnel for your task force, in addition to wanted fugitives. That biotic Sartiel? And Fortia? They're both special ops and they're both under my purview as head of ANSOC. Bad enough I already lost Anderson to you Spectres. Any transfers should have gone through my office. Not to mention the fact that you requisitioned Vega and his unit without my authorization."

Aegon shrugged, "Normally, I would have gone to you. But I have full leeway from the Citadel Council in acquiring my operatives and utilizing military resources; and my transfer and requisition requests were directly sent to and approved by Hackett. If you have a problem with that, take it up with him. I don't have time to play bureaucratic games and I won't apologize for it."

"The least you could have done was inform me."

The Turian shook his head, "Not possible. Too much risk for a leak when those requests passed through your office."

Admiral Zander grimaced, "I don't like what you're implying Turian."

"I'm not implying anything Admiral. I'm telling you that this operation is highly classified and that the circle of those who are knowledgeable about the specifics is being purposefully kept small to prevent breaches of security. Less than a dozen people outside of my task force know anything of import. And if you want to change that, put in a request to your boss. But I am under no obligation to provide any information to you."

Jake groaned audibly. A diplomat, Aegon was not. Zander was difficult to deal with at the best of times, but when she thought her authority was being challenged, she could get downright nasty. The one tiny silver lining to the biblically proportioned stormcloud was that chances where good that Jake was about to discover the answer to that age-old question: What happens when an unstoppable force collides with an immovable object. His best, and most immediate, guess was that it was going to end with him having a titanic headache.

Zander almost growled, "I'm not some butter bar you can browbeat into submission Partinax. I can freeze your requests if you're not willing to work with me."

Aegon crossed his arms and said, "Then I won't be sending requests, I'll be sending orders.” At this moment Jake closed his eyes and began to rub the bridge of his nose, muttering expletives, none too quietly any longer. Death to his partner’s plight, Aegon continued on gamely. "Orders that you will have to follow because I am a duly appointed representative of the Citadel Council and you are not. Don't play games with me Admiral, it won't be fun for you. Now, let us get on our way and I'll forget this whole thing even happened."

Zander got in his face, hands curling into fists as her squad's hands drifted near their weapons. Katabasis reached for theirs as well, but nobody had drawn, each of the groups taking their cues from their leaders. Zander was a head shorter than Aegon but she stared right up at the Turian with no fear, "You think you're hot shit Partinax. You think your Spectre status and the fact that you're buddy-buddy with the Council gives you the right to do whatever you want. Even blow up a tenement building. But I've got friends too. And I will not let some cuttlebone spook and his gang of psychopaths –”

“Hello pot, my names kettle. You’re black.”

“run roughshod over human territory without some goddamn oversight. I will be taking this up with Hackett and I will be seeing you later, Partinax."

"I'm sure I will. But unless you're going to be a colleague, I have no intention of listening. I don't answer to you Admiral,
I don't even answer to Hackett. Go ahead and waste your time if you want, but you will not be wasting mine. I have work to do."


He was about to move forward, whether the Admiral stepped aside or not, but then Zander spoke up, "Work huh? By that do you mean killing kids?"

Aegon glowered at her, "Casualties of war, Admiral. I highly doubt you don't have any children on your conscience."

"At least I have one. I bet you had a good night's sleep while that kid's family mourned. You put on a tough face, talking about how losses are inevitable. It's easy to say that when you don't stand to lose anything. I wonder how you'd feel if something happened to those children of yours?"

Zander barely got to finish the sentence when Aegon's hand blurred into movement and his sword hovered right on the Admiral's skin, the mono-molecular metal pressing closely to the woman's jugular. A simple twitch and it would be curtains for the Admiral. At the same time, he drew his pistol and aimed it at the augmented soldier, who drew and aimed his assault rifle as soon as the blade came out. Zander had been a bit slower on the draw, and her pistol came in front of Aegon's forehead a second after the sword pressed to her neck. Now both teams drew their weapons, and Aegon heard the clink of weapons being unsheathed as each side lined up shots. One of the N7s glowed with a biotic aura while another brandished an omni-tool and the rest leveled their guns, all of them aiming at Jake and the rest of the team.

"You can threaten me, Zander. But nobody threatens my family."

Zander sneered, "You wouldn't dare, Partinax."

"Oh no? I'm the psychopath on a rampage remember?"

"Kill me and you're dead Partinax."

"You'll be too busy choking on your own blood to fire off a shot. And from this range, my pistol will drill that asshole back there right between the eyes. And your team may be N7s but my team has them outnumbered. No matter what I win."

"You fucking lunatic, you're willing to face a goddamn court over this? They'll strip your status!"

"I'll tell them a bigoted, renegade Admiral threatened my family and threatened to impede my mission. Hackett might get mad at me but who are they going to believe? The decorated Turian commander or someone with your record? They'll probably pin another damn medal on my chest."

Zander snarled, unwilling to back down and Aegon stared right back at her. Jake stepped in, waving his arms, "Hey enough of that. Aegon stand down."

Aegon shook his head, "No can do Anderson. She threatened my family."

"She didn't mean that as a threat Aegon. She's just frustrated with what's going on and she's been extremely terrible of communicating that sentiment in a constructive way. But that's no goddamn reason to start a fight."

Seeing Aegon still holding his sword to her neck, Jake said, "Admiral apologize to Aegon." Zander glared at Jake
who glared right back at her until Zander sighed and dropped her pistol, "Partinax. I was out of line."

A long moment passed then Aegon sheathed his sword. The N7 team holstered their weapons and Aegon shoved past Zander, leading the team to the airlock of the ship. The N7s dispersed and regrouped around Zander as Jake looked back, "You got lucky Admiral. You better hope you don't see Aegon again."

Zander grimaced, "Oh I will Lieutenant. Count on it."



Aegon led the team into the ship compartment, gamely trying to suppress an almost homicidal rage. His mind conjured terrifying possibilities and concocted even more terrible retribution. Fear and anger fought to overwhelm him but Aegon did not allow the team to see it outside of clenched fists and a rigid posture. After several moments of deep breathing, he finally felt his heart begin to calm once more. Zander was all talk. She wouldn't try anything, even she wouldn't do anything so insane. But if she tried to interfere again, Aegon was going to take it to the Council.

Aegon paused by the railing, beyond which the compartment was shrouded in darkness. He turned to the team and said, "For the foreseeable future, this will be home." Aegon gestured to the control booth overlooking the compartment and the lights slowly came on; revealing the HSV Kharon. She was beautiful, of a similar design to the famous Normandy with the same elegantly curved exterior and sleek thrusters. However there were a few differences. She was half again as large as even the Normandy SR-2, placing her in the heavy frigate class; and swirling white paint covered her black superstructure, a Turian clan marking writ for a whole ship.

The sight made even Aegon smile, "Well, no sense staying here. Let me give you the tour." Aegon walked to the exterior airlock, the door scanning the Spectre before admitting the team. The airlock was just large enough for the team to squeeze in all at once, though not comfortably. Thankfully the decon laser quickly swept over them and the door into the ship's interior opened shortly.

Aegon assumed a parade march-like posture and walked confidently with his arms behind his back, just like his father might have. The ship had the same general layout as the most famous Normandy-class ship, but with some extra room. Aegon led the team to the cockpit where two crew members where working on consoles.

The helmsman was tapping away at the controls, all four of his arms working in tandem. He was Nardaki, a simian race who were one of the Turians longtime clients. His body was covered in soft golden hair and when he turned to face the team, they saw sea-foam eyes with pupils similar to an Asari or Humans.

Aegon introduced the pilot, "Flight Lieutenant Kano Tovuss. One of the best pilots in the Hierarchy." The pilot smiled standing to salute with two of the hands before saying, "You're going to make me blush boss. Looking forward to working with you all." The co-pilot was a Turian who looked the team over and nodded silently.

Aegon moved on, showing the team around the CIC with it's galaxy map and a contingent of crew, the majority of whom were turian but there were also several volus. The yeoman was a peppy female Turian named Calixta Oraka, who was barely out of boot camp, while the navigator was a more taciturn male lieutenant by the name of Thoros Spartarus. The comms officer was a male specialist named Kasto Coronati who politely greeted the group. All three of them were highly qualified but happened to be related to prominent Turian officials. It was clear that the ship was meant to be the pride of the Hierarchy fleet.

Around the CIC, several grim Turian guards stood with weapons holstered on mag-slings. Most of them were scarred or tattooed, and a large number had the hastatim badge proudly displayed on their chests while others were obviously former C-Sec and some had the look of former Blue Suns or Talons. All of them were hardened fighters and watched the team intently but neutrally. They all stood at attention and saluted smartly as Aegon passed.

Aegon stood outside a door that read research lab and led the team in. Inside they found a very large laboratory with an enormous amount of equipment for both biochemical testing and technical engineering. A female quarian in a red and white envirosuit tapped away on a terminal while a male salarian tapped away on a terminal. Aegon coughed and both of the scientists looked up, "Dr. Nola'Xen vas Qwib Qwib and Dr. Tenno Kala. Our biochemical and tech experts, respectively. If anyone needs a good upgrade, this is the place to be." Nola'Xen practically jumped when she see Phalanx and came closer, "My, you are magnificent. Charmed to meet you." Nola shook Phalanx's hands before turning to her colleague, "What do you think doctor?" Tenno nodded vigorously, "Indeed? Remarkable. If you'd consent I'd like to run some tests. And... my word!" Tenno got a good look at Ellis and immediately started scanning him with an omni-tool, "This technology is incredible. A marvel. Somewhat unwieldy and a bit of an eyesore, but conceptually speaking..." Nola sidled up to the Krogan, "Both of you are simply marvelous. I'd absolutely love to study how..." Aegon held up a hand, "We'll leave you to your work doctors, no doubt there will plenty of opportunities to get to know my squad." The doctors seemed a little disappointed but nodded and let Aegon and the team exit.

Aegon led them through a hall where a conference table stood next to a viewport, obviously a place where dignitaries and luminaries would be received. An asari sat at a desk, shuffling through reports and Aegon said, "Dessia T'Lorro. Veteran of the Republic Diplomacy corps and the Citadel Embassy staff, as well as the holder of a masters of intergalactic law. She'll be our legal consultant and our political smooth-talker, to make sure you stay out of trouble and avoid stepping on toes. Even though Jake and I have Spectre status, it pays to know what kind of hassle we might be causing." The asari matron didn't rise and said, "A few of you are already making my job far more difficult than it has to be, I would appreciate it if certain people acted more discreetly." She glared at Vella and Ellis and Aegon chose this moment to say goodbye and withdraw.

Aegon turned to Vella, "That reminds me. You're on dogsbody duty now Vella. The ship's crew spin a wheel, and whatever it lands on, you'll be helping that person for the day. Maybe you'll start to learn some responsibility."

A few other guards stood in front of a door and a scanner cleared all of the team before admitting them into a large chamber, with several terminals and a holographic display table. An officer with a cybernetic mandible ambled over saluting Aegon, "Dontos Ravarian, my chief of security. In this war room, we'll coordinate our missions. The QECs here also have a direct line to the Citadel and every government capital." The security officer, who was even taller than Aegon nodded at the crew and said, "Pleasure to have your team aboard. As for security, I ask that you all respect common sense regulations. If you keep the peace, then we'll get along just fine. If not, well, you'll answer to me." Aegon nodded and led them to a hooded individual. It was a female salarian who smiled at the team and Aegon said, "Any fans of CNS will recognize Galda Valern."

Galda with her congenial news anchor smile laughed, "News anchor by day, and intelligence broker by night. I'll be your intelligence specialist. I have contacts all over the galaxy both legitimate and less so. If any of you need some intel, come see me." Aegon nodded to Galda took the team out of the war room, back into the CIC and to the elevator, which managed to accommodate the group and lowered the team to the crew deck.

Aegon turned to the crew quarters and opened the room to reveal a large barracks with enough bunk beds to house both the crew and the squad, "This will be where the majority of you will sleep, while Anderson and myself have private quarters. You Krogan will have your own private rooms, since we know you're the territorial sort; and the quarians will have their own clean room, all of these on the engineering deck." Aegon led them through the mess hall to the kitchen where a large elcor stood with an apron around his wide torso, "This is Kalozi, former living tank but he's a genius cook, both levo and dextro. He'll keep you all fed."

The Elcor nodded, "Flattered: Thank you, Aegon. Withdrawn, yet welcoming: I look forward to working with all of you. Helpfully: Dinner is in a few hours." Aegon pointed out the XO quarters were Jake would be staying and moved on to the medbay. Inside a hanar stood next to a seated female drell. Aegon spoke up, "Our ship's doctor, Koriandr and his compacted vassal Lyora Hanzos, who is also our CQC instructor." The drell stood and smiled to the team, "Glad to meet you all. I'm just here for Koriandr, but if anyone wants any hand-to-hand lessons, I am always game. Sometimes the boys like to organize sparring matches, you're always free to put your name in and there might even be some money involved." She winked at the team while Koriandr said, "This one is pleased to make your acquaintance, however it hopes it will not have to see much of you in the future."

Aegon took the team to the gunnery room where a small group of Turians were calibrating the guns, overseen by a doughty volus, who turned and said, "Ah... these must be the new arrivals... if any of you like to play cards... I am a dabbler myself." Aegon laughed, "Erod Farn. Former gunnery chief on the Kwunu, now he's come to work with us. Tread carefully if you want to play cards with him though."

Aegon then led the team to the starboard observation deck which was filled with bookshelves and calming art pieces and plants. Soft tranquil nature sounds played in the background. A few crew-members were reading, talking softly, meditating, playing chess, or staring out into space. An Asari in a shimmering gown leafed through a volume before closing it, and standing with a smile to hug Aegon who returned it with a bemused grin, "Konare T'Pavi. She's trained with the temple of Athame and every major religious group in the galaxy. University of Armali graduate with a masters in psychology, and she spent some time under the Consort. If you ever need any personal or spiritual consultation, she's who you will see. You have mandatory weekly sessions Ellis. You too Giles." The Asari smiled radiantly at the team, "No matter what may come up, if you want to talk about it, I will be happy to listen. And everything is completely confidential of course. Not even Egg here will know. And if you ever need some quiet alone time, this is what this room is for." Aegon smiled and led the team to the port observation deck.

This room was the complete opposite of the other observation deck. A holovision set was propped in one corner playing a clawball game while a VR booth sat in another, and an inactive disco ball looked down over several chairs and couches. A partitioned room had a poker table while a foosball table and a ping-pong table were also nearby. Several off-duty crew-men were lounging around, a few arm-wrestling. A bar was at one wall and a young Turian stood behind the bar with his arms crossed, obviously spacing out while a female of an age with him talking his ear off. Aegon said, "My niece Valanna, she's our unit historian. Any esoteric cultural or historical knowledge you want tracked down, see her. The surly one is my nephew Konan. He'll attend all of your booze-related needs as long as you're off duty." Valanna smiled and nodded at the team, while Konan barely jerked his head in acknowledgement.

Aegon smiled at Valanna and sighed at Konan as they walked away and into the elevator for a trip to the engineering deck. Aegon pointed out several cargo rooms that would serve as private quarters for crew members with special needs. Aegon marched them to the engineering bay where several turians and volus consulted datapads and terminals while the drive core and fusion plant softly hummed. Aegon introduced the crew to the engineering chief, Octavio Tatum, who was involved in the creation of the IES stealth system. He proceeded to give a moderately lengthy lecture on how their drive core was state of the art and would run without the need for discharging static build-up while still allowing for stealth running but Aegon politely interjected and took the team on their way.

Another elevator ride took them down to the cargo bay which was abuzz with activity. Several turians were sparring or exercising, and Aegon took the team to see a tall, lanky individual who looked like a Salarian but with a more bulbous cranium that lacked the horns and brighter, lighter eyes, and webbed fingers. He was Lysenthi, part of a Salarian subspecies who scorned Union space out of historical rivalry between the two races. Aegon introduced him, "Relli Yonn. Former smuggler, current procurement specialist. Anything you want, he can get." The Lysenthi smirked, "For the right price of course. I take credits, goods, and favors."

Aegon then took the team to a corner of the cargobay where several minifacturers stood next to racks and racks of guns and a dizzying array of combat equipment. A female turian clasped her hands and bowed to the team as Aegon said, "Erinna Nero. Our armory officer, come see her if you want anything made, upgraded, or customized." Erinna nodded, "As long as you have the materials, I will do my best to serve."

A large rover stood by with a team of turian mechanics lounging in front of it. Aegon explained that the Aegis infantry fighting vehicle could be customized and outfitted for practically every kind of operation, it could even have a large cannon attached for it to be turned into a tank. There were also several hover speeders that would be used for scouting. Finally, Aegon took the team to a row of small spacecraft. They were sleek and new, all with a snarling Vorcha skull painted on the exterior.

A Vorcha came forward, shaking hands with Aegon and hugging Jake as Aegon said, "Falka, of the Void Devils. She and her team are all veterans of the Reaper War. Those spacecraft back there are multi-purpose. They can be outfitted for close air support, bombing missions, troop shuttling, they can even be retrofitted into fighter craft. These guys will be some of your best friends in the days to come." Falka smiled toothily, before screeching, "Greetings. With team and me flying, you'll get where going every time."

Aegon nodded, "And there is one last introduction to be made. Talos, say hello."

"Hello, Task Force Katabasis." A small hovering sphere floated from a compartment in the bulkhead and settled in the air next to Aegon then an ethereal holographic shape manifested over it. Its form was bright and indistinct, like some mythical spirit.

Aegon continued, "This is Talos. He's the ship's shackled AI. He'll be running our cyberwarfare suites and the automated drone systems and provide all of the tactical analysis and logistical support of a combat VI. With him, we'll have an edge in our fight. His AI core will be accessible to only myself and Jake but you may all converse with him at your leisure."

Talos shimmered as he spoke, "It will be my pleasure to work with you all. I hope to get to know you all better in the days to come."

Aegon turned to the team, "That concludes this tour. If you ever want to speak, talk to Calixta and she'll inform me. If I have time you can drop by my quarters on the top deck. Besides that, you have free reign of the ship. Get settled in, this will be our home and our operating base for quite some time."
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Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Rithy
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Rithy

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"You just couldn't resist could... "

"It's too early, mom. Give me five more minutes."

"Do you know the shitstorm you just caused? We practically have... "

"Alright, alright. I'm on my way, I'm on my way, just... "

"Do you know how many favors I had to call in to keep you out of lockup for that little stunt you pulled?"

"I'm up, I'm up, I'm... mom?"

As the blurred, hazy darkness finally receded, and Vella could finally begin to make out vague shapes and features in front of her; she realized that it was, in fact, not the face of mom that came into view. Rather, it was the face of a particularly pissed off Aegon, mandibles flaring. Granted, with Aegon, it was actually hard to tell; as the Turian was always pissed off. For all she knew, he could be praising her at the moment, in his own special way.

No, that probably wasn't it. She could see people around. She doubted Aegon was the kind of person who'd ever let anyone catch him being nice.

" ...'re a soldier. Start acting like it... "

Aegon then stomped off, as Vella was left staring through the air, bleary eyed. It puzzled the Asari why she was also suddenly moving forward, despite not doing anything to make her. And that ornamental fountain with the neat, holographic lights flickering to the sideline was approaching her rather fast.

"Hooold on for a moment, inanimate objects shouldn't be able to move!?"

That was, until she realized she was falling!

*SPLASH!*"

Consciousness suddenly hit her like a wall of ice as the Asari, after having been held up by an angry Aegon while he was shouting at her, suddenly fell headfirst right down into the nearby fountain! After some garbled curses and wild flailing of arms, the Asari pulled herself out of the fountain with a deep gasp!

"Gaaaaaahhhhhhh! Thank you, I needed that!"

The cold shower had dealt with the worst of the immediate effects of the alcohol, and the world around her was finally becoming clearer. Wiping some water off her face, she threw everyone around a friendly nod, mainly because it was just now that she had become fully aware of them, and reached into her dufflebag to produce a much needed energy drink as she followed after the rest of the group, trying make sense of Aegon's angry babble.

*

The showdown with Zandar and her goons had been... awkward.

Mainly because Vella had been armed with nothing other than a half empty energy drink, her plastic and barely covering outfit that left little to the imagination leaving her looking woefully out of place amidst all the other heavily armored mooks around her. Her weapons and armor were still in the bag, including her Missile Launcher, with the exception of her omni tool and a light shield unit.

However, given how many miscellaneous crates and items laid around the dock, Vella felt confident she didn't really need a weapon. She could probably turn dock into a bumper-car arena from hell if it came to it. Not to mention that she was pretty sure she could find some way to weaponize the can in her hand.

Granted, the main reason she wasn't worried was because Aegon at point looked so angry, Vella began to wonder if mere bullets could ever put him down - at least not until he had killed every living thing in the vicinity.

The showdown did end peacefully however, and together with the drink, had helped Vella recover almost all of her senses at that point; enough for her to fully be able to appreciate their new vessel once shown to it!

"Whoaah!"

Being an Asari, Vella was quite used to serve on rather sleek and elegant looking ships. However, that did not take that much away from the experience, especially with the ship's close similarities to that of the renowned Commander human spectre's own! Which, in and of itself promised only one thing; adventures to the furthest, most distant places on the galaxy, few regulations(other than Aegon), and a journey in and of itself!

"This is everything I ever hoped for!"

Vella failed miserably at containing a huge smile as they toured the ship, being shown from place to place. The amount of Turians on the ship did surprise her, and also acted as a warning that this adventure might be a bit more "by the book" than she had originally hoped for, but it was only a small detriment.

When meeting their legal representative, Dessia T'Lorro, Vella couldn't help but lean in to the side and ask.

"You're working in the law department? I suppose you don't know Kerlah V'Blaad?"

Vella asked, half-only waiting for a response before being dragged away with the rest of the tour group. Kerlah V'Blaad was quite the infamous personality within most courts and bureaucracies, both in Asari space and beyond. A matriarch, fully practiced in law, who had spent most of her younger life in the Vella's division, the Lance of Light. Even though she was now a full judicial practitioner, she had never left her old identity behind. She was also the reason The Lance of Light hadn't lost 40% or more of its personnel to dishonorable discharges, as Kerlah was known to assault any judicial matter with the same fury and intensity as she had faced combat actions in the Lance of Light, and it was said that few could ever weaponize pencils, datapads and lawbooks in the way that she could! She relished the chaos of a good court or intergalactic incident, and it was said she had gotten multiple trials or charges dropped, simply because either side did not want to deal with neither Kerlah's judicial nightmare, nor the inevitable migraines that followed from dealing with her for any prolonged periods of times! In a way, she had gained as much infamy as the Division she was used to protect, and a small boogeyman status in the legal community.

Although Vella couldn't be sure, she could have sworn she saw Dessia wince painfully at the mention of Karlah, before she went with the rest of the group.

*

At the end of the tour, Vella would look thoroughly amazed, though most of her interest had gone to the vehicle and spacecraft bay. She was a little unsure about leaving a Vorcha within 500ft of a military vehicle that was supposed to see any real action, though she reasoned that if the alliance consisted of people like Zander, a Vorcha was perhaps not such a bad choice after all.

As the cue was given for them to begin to settle in, however, it was a moment where Vella could not help stop her curiosity, as she looked over at Phalanx.

"Soooo... " She began, giving the Geth an odd, long look as she tilted her head quizzically.
"How does will a Geth interface with the ship?" She asked with honest curiosity, then glanced over at Talos.

"And will our two A.I.s get along? ... we aren't going to experience any sudden merging or singularity like event, are we?"

Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Deos Morran
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Deos Morran I am the Adorable!

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Alria Vicrinus
Location: New Scotland Yard Leading to the HSV Kharon


Alria listned and lurked in silence still nursing her hangover when Phalanx made a rather uh... open comment about Sicaria and her crotch being... contaminated? Probably not the right word but it worked for her sake. Despite the lack of a proper word for it though, she blushed at the mention of Sicaria's dilemma for her as it was kind of gross. Not only to be caught for it but to also be in it. Though before things could get really, really awkward their Spectre bosses showed up to kick things off and get everybody on board the shuttles for the Citadel. Well mostly everybody anyway. Alria stayed behind and went back into her personal ship, slinking through the small hallway that connected her room to the cockpit. Taking her time settling into her favorite seat in the house before manually turning on the engine, spooling up the engines, and with her hands firmly on the control sticks she lifted off. Taking to the skies and then the stars as her speed ship bolted like a shooting star through space with the Citadel in sight.

Following the Spectre's shuttled she piggybacked on their clearance to gain access to the shuttle bay, really she'd have to get some code, or licenses, or whatever it is they have that gets them into that bay. Anyway, once inside she broke off of the shuttles to head for the HSV Kharon and it's cargo bay, transmitting to Kano directly to request access. "I'm back! Mind opening up the hatch for me!" Then with access granted she guided her fighter into the bay, setting down near the rear of the bay so to stay out of everybody's way. After all, she was still a guest aboard this ship.

Once landed and with her ship powering down she unbuckled her pilot's harness before stepping out through the side door of her craft. This wasn't her first time on board the Kharon and while she was still a bit of the new girl in town she at least knew the faces around. Knowing that she was ahead of the group and wanting to eventually meet up with them Alria waited in the cargo bay for a little bit before heading over to Relli, nodding politely to him and striking up idle conversation to help pass the time.

When the group finally showed up, she stood up and gave a wave in greetings to everybody. "About time you guys made it!" She chimed in with her usual cheery tone. Bidding farewell to Relli she joined the group for their last few stops around the cargo bay, saying hi to Falka and of course Talos before being dismissed to settle in and relax. The second part sounding like a really, really good idea given her last mission and the rather eventful and drunken night she spent just a few hours ago. "Well I don't know about you guys but I'm mostly settled. Still though it could use a bit of work and if you need me I'll be in my ship!" She cheerily said before walking off towards her fighter, opening the door and stepping inside to go out of view. Behind her the door closed, the the step ramp remained down showing that the door was unlocked should anybody care to visit.

Once inside her ship she went about stripping down, hanging up her armor and putting her weapons back in their specific racks to she could enjoy the freedom of not wearing a bunch of metal and plasteel layers. Though once she got her chest peice off she paused to fire up the speaker system she had rigged up in her room, starting to fill her ship and a small space around her ship with pop culture music.
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Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by PrivateVentures
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PrivateVentures Purveyor of the Finest Exoskeletons

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Ellis considered speaking up while Vella was reprimanded, and even had the words ready. I went willingly, sir. I regret the damage but not the event. But he didn't. And he chided himself for it incessantly.

Look at you. You coward. Thought you could be her friend. Thought you could be something more. And here you sit, like a child, watching your 'friend' scolded for your mistakes. You were the cause of most of the damage. You realize that, don't you? You do. You must-

Shut up. Just stop. Please.

PLEASE? PLEASE? PLEASE? Look at you. Still the same sniveling child, crying over lost limbs in a glass box. Look at you. You're still the same. You never changed. You never will-

STOP! STOP! NO MORE!

AND WHAT WILL YOU DO IF WE DON'T?

SILENCE!

The voices had nothing more to say. The damage was done. Ellis was uncertain of whether his demons' silence was due to his own assertiveness or the sudden distraction of the opening docking-bay doors. He watched aliens loading crates onto a small, nondescript ship, their long fingers gripping the heavy boxes delicately, yet clearly firmly, working in unspoken unity. As they continued, Partinax stopped. Before the door stood six figures, in full Alliance battle gear, weapons drawn, behind a woman who was clearly their leader. They bore the N7 uniform. Ellis' first instinct was to whip the Mattock from his back and start firing. He reminded himself that these were his allies now, despite how things may appear.

Just do it. No one looks happy to see them here.

Shut up.

You're like a damaged audio log. 'Shut up, shut up', have you anything else to say?

Ellis did not respond. He was quickly discovering how well silence worked against the voices. Katabasis paused, while Partinax and Anderson approached the troops. NERO identified the leading woman as an Admiral, marked by an orange "ADM-N7" in Ellis' AR screen. She wore a Phalanx pistol, an unusual armament for Alliance troops, especially considering its Cerberus origins. He made note of this, as well as the tense posture of his direct superiors. Partinax stared her down with impunity. The Turian spoke first.
"Admiral Zander, I wasn't expecting to see you here, especially considering that this docking bay is restricted to Spectres and their support personnel. " She responded,

"It's nice to see you too Partinax. I know, it's against the rules for us to be here, but since when have you Spectres ever cared about rules?" Despite the denotation of their words, Ellis sensed great hostility between the two, and made a request of NERO. He whispered,

"NERO, mute me. Analyze their body language." NERO's voice came in slightly garbled and distorted, a product of damage to Ellis' suit.

"Both targets appear to be mildly to moderately agitated, operative." Ellis smirked.

"Tactical assessment?"

"Recommend immediate neutralization." He scoffed at that.

"Not an option."

"Recommend you remain passive, operative."

"Acknowledged." The pissing contest between the two continued, growing in tension with every retort. Ellis had to admit admiration for Partinax' strength of will, and even more so for his willingness to address a colleague with such force.
Suddenly, the Admiral stepped up, her soldiers reacting instantly, hands on their guns. Ellis acted instinctively, gripping the handle of his rifle, feeling the satisfying click-click-clack of his rifle extending. The matte black coating blended in beautifully with his armor, concealing it fairly well even from behind. He kept it behind his back, hidden from the new opponents, partly afraid to cause another problem, partly to conceal his intent. Then, the apparent Admiral said the magic words:

"I wonder how you'd feel if something happened to those children of yours?" In a split second, a sword sang as it sliced through the air to rest just above the woman's neck. Weapons were drawn. Ellis was ready, bringing his rifle to bear with his right hand, leveling it soundly at a soldier with a cybernetic arm, the only enemy he saw as even close to his equal. NERO, sensing combat approaching, began the overclock process. He would have glowed with a dark aura as his biotics fired up, if not for the suit concealing his body. A trained eye could have seen the signs, had they known where to look. His shell seemed to expand as the light around him warped ever so slightly.

Kill him. Kill him now.

Not yet.

KILL HIM NOW!

NOT YET!

The Admiral looked appalled, saying, "You fucking lunatic, you're willing to face a goddamn court over this? They'll strip your status!"

She could be talking to us.

She could be talking to me

Same thing.

It's not. It absolutely is not.

Anderson stepped forward, an arbiter in all respect. And, contrary to Ellis' expectations, the Admiral apologized. Part of him wished she hadn't, and another part scolded him for wishing that, recognizing the extreme loss of life and opportunity this would have presented. Partinax pushed aside the woman, and Ellis followed closely, reholstering his rifle. He gave a silent middle finger with his white hand as he stomped up the ramp into an enormous ship's airlock.

The ship was large, shiny, and clearly new. She was elegant, a queen among serfs, and with the Turian decoration and black and white paint job, she could have been anything from a warship to a stealth bomber. The door scanned Partinax' body briefly, before opening with a slight hiss. Ellis squeezed into the airlock, unknowingly pressing some of his squadmates into the walls. The room was small, unbearably so, and Ellis' body took up an awful lot of space. Decontamination protocol began, and after thirty to forty-five seconds that felt like thirty to forty-five years, the interior door slid open, revealing a beautiful network of innards, all glowing lights, and shiny panels and even here and there, accents of real Earth wood. He followed closely behind, as his commanding Spectre led the team to the helm. The next hour was a blur of faces and names, of which Ellis remembered few, save a Dr. Tenno Kala, who seemed thrilled at the prospect of getting his long fingers into Ellis' carapace, even going so far as to give him a long, deep scan, complimenting the technology. Though he referred to Ellis as 'unwieldy' and 'an eyesore', Ellis felt appreciated. He made a mental note to put together a list of request and calibrations and even modifications to his body.

The second person he actually paid attention to was an asari, older than Vella, but with the same piercing stare, as though she saw something in you that you yourself could not. She glared at Ellis, implying that his and Vella's recent shore leave was an inconvenience of the highest sort. Thankfully, Partinax led them away quickly.

Another Asari stood out in Ellis' mind, one Konare T'Pavi, a psychologist.

She's gonna have a field day with you.

You mean 'us'.

OHO! SO IT'S 'US' NOW?

Ellis fought the urge to argue back, reminding himself that it was of no use. He was glad no one could see his duress. Partinax turned to look at him, seemingly, to look him right in the eye, when he said, "If you ever need any personal or spiritual consultation, she's who you will see. You have mandatory weekly sessions Ellis." Ellis nodded, then remembered that Partinax couldn't see him.
"NERO, external audio up sixteen percent. Yes sir. I understand." He felt like a child who had just been introduced to a Catholic cathedral for the first time, the same sense of wonder and confusion and even subconscious horror at realizing what he'd gotten into. The Asari smiled when she spoke. It was a genuine smile, the sort of smile that comes from having a clean soul.
"No matter what may come up, if you want to talk about it, I will be happy to listen. And everything is completely confidential of course."

Ellis bowed as best he could, as his top-heavy body would not allow him to bend far without falling over. "Thank you, ma'am."

She's gonna do a number on you sick fuckers.

Us? You're the sick one. Who was it that felt the need to talk to himself as soon as he heard the word "psychologist"?

Ah, shut up. I'm tired of you.

AND WHAT IF WE DON'T WANT TO-

QUIET!

Partinax led them to an elevator. They squeezed inside, riding it all the way down into the cargo bay. Turians wrestled and lifted weights, one running on a weird inclined treadmill, as their leader led them to a strange big-headed Salarian with oddly amphibian hands, presumably, amphibian feet as well. Partinax introduced him as Relli Yonn, a procurement specialist. Ellis spoke, forgetting that everyone could hear him. "NERO, make a list. We need videlicet, old-fashioned amphetamine boosters, two new Talons, and- Uh, mute me. And a Carnifex. Maybe also a Falcon. Maybe not. Just make note. Dammit, I said the bad things first."

"Confirmed."

The rest of the tour was a blur to Ellis' already overwhelmed and still hungover brain. He made a mental note to request one of the storage spaces in the cargo bay as his private quarters, hoping that the armory could fashion some sort of maintenance dock for his suit. And he hoped, above all, that they could do it quickly. Despite it still being relatively early in the day, he was exhausted, and desired nothing more than to sleep, fearing that he would soon collapse from sheer information overload. "NERO, please tell me you were recording all of that for future reference."

"It has all been recorded for future reference."

"Really?"

"Negative, operative."

"You son of a bitch, NERO."

Partinax turned to address the team, after displaying an impressive AI, one that NERO would no doubt find kinship with. "That concludes this tour. If you ever want to speak, talk to Calixta and she'll inform me. If I have time you can drop by my quarters on the top deck. Besides that, you have free reign of the ship. Get settled in, this will be our home and our operating base for quite some time."

Ellis had only one question: "NERO, external audio volume up, twelve percent. Which one was Calixta again? And... If anyone needs me, I'll be in Storage."

Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Mega Birb
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Mega Birb Blessed Birb

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Up until the tour, Sicaria had essentially been in her own world, spacing while emotionlessly reacting to the stimuli around her. For example, when a firefight almost broke out between Katabasis and Zander's team, she had drawn her Phaeston in the blur and dropped down to one knee, haven taken aim at the human with the cybernetic arm. But beyond that, she remembered very little of the encounter. And for most of the tour, she had stayed unusually silent, drifting towards the back of the crowd for her own reasons. The one exception was when she lagged behind when they passed through the War Room, stopping beside the hooded Salarian named Galda and mumbling something in a broken voice. "I-I'll be back in a little bit... I have something I could use your help with... name whatever price." Her hands clenched into fists as she continued on, picking up the pace to catch back up with the group.

Following the introduction to the small team of Vorcha that would serve as their shuttle pilots, everyone dispersed, leaving the female Turian in the hanger with little to do. She had no where to go, no luggage to unpack, and no real motivation to go far and simply lie down in whatever bunk she claimed. She could go have a chat with Galda and get the information she needed, talk with Aegon about getting her name cleared, or go find someone to talk to. And lone behold, the girl that made her nose bleed earlier was disappearing into her own ship, shouting about how she was free if anyone needed her. Well, a good a time as any.

Taking her time, Sicaria strolled up to the entrance to the fighter and went to knock on the door. Though, as she went to knock, it flew open on its own accord, exposing Alria in her state of undress. The other Turian stood stunned, unsure of how to react to the situation. 'Shit shit shit, what do I do? WHAT DO I DO!? Apologize? Run away!? Aw fuck I think she's turning around.' Trapped in her thoughts, she stood totally frozen in the doorway, a trickle of hot blood running from her nose down to her upper lip. Meanwhile, her eyes darted around the room in a desperate attempt to avoid looking at the half-naked Turian in front of her.
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Silver Fox
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Silver Fox Kitsune

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HSV Kharon




It had been a interesting journey to say the least. The Spectre's arrived with Spectre Aegon Partinax once more reprimanding the asari Vella "Calisto" Calixten Ophelia for her actions. Although the asari still seemed to be slightly in a daze. During the confrontation with Admiral Zander, Phalanx didn't touch its gun, however its omni-tool was glowing and aimed to launch a inferno into the group should anything occur. Its eye watching them, scanning and recording the event within its databanks. Thankfully, the conflict settled with the assistance of Spectre Jake Anderson and the crew moved on to tour the ship referred as HSV Kharon. A well crafted ship, and it had a efficient crew to take care of it. With each crewmate that was introduced, Phalanx scanned and constructed data for them, adding some notes. Dr. Nola'Xen vas Qwib Qwib and Dr. Tenno Kala were interesting to meet.

"This unit looks foreword to working together." It responded, returning the gesture of shaking hands, being a bit more gentle about it. Another Creator, female this time. She seemed the more interested sort instead of the hostile Creators. The salarian's comment of tests caused its metallic flaps opened all the way in alert but relaxed as they moved on to meet more crewmates.

The next member on the ship that caused Phalanx the most interest was the ship's resident AI called Talos. As expected, there were no other Geth on this ship, so the AI Talos was the closest Phalanx could relate in a way. It was mildly surprising to see another one in a organic ship however they have proven to be useful during Shepard's cause. Talos was quite a younger AI in comparison to the Phalanx program, but it should be a interesting experience to see how this AI reacts.

As they were dismissed, Phalanx turned its head as Vella spoke to the Geth platform in a questioning manner. Either curious, or possibly worried about the Geth's capabilities. "I am able to interface with a ship, and serve a similar position as Talos. However I would not be shackled. However I would either need Talos or Commander permission to enter, or hack into the systems. Hacking would show some difficulty as this ship's systems have capable defenses alongside the AI Talos and the most successful way to bypass Talos is to enter through the core." it explained, turning its head slightly as Alria left for her own ship then turned back to look at the asari comrade.

"We have similar goals in assisting in the mission. My services is not needed in assisting interfacing with the ship and more on the field. Doubtful that Talos and I will have hostile confrontation." It finished before looking to Ellis as he questioned who the yeoman was.

"Yeoman Calixta Oraka is the turian residing in the CIC." The synthetic answered, watching as some more crewmembers dispersed to handle their own situation. It didn't have anything to settle with, nor did it really require a bed and room. It pondered if it should look in engineering or speak with the crew.
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by WardenCelestine
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WardenCelestine Warden of the Kaldorei Empire upon Azeroth.

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Quick Introductions and getting settled.

A post between Mrdidact and Andromedai.


[Andromedai]

“Biochemical testing and technical engineering is handled by Dr. Nola’Xen vas Qwib Qwib and Dr. Tenno Kala. Medical is handled by Koriandr and Lyora Hanzos. Side note, Lyora is also the ships CQC instructor.” As the squad walked through the ship's interior, Aviza took detailed notes on everyone around her, typing the information into her data-pad. The tour of the ship's interior didn’t take too long, and before she knew it, Aegon had dismissed all of them to do as they pleased. Aviza took this opportunity to return to the front of the ship and introduce herself to the Quarian and Salarian partners inside of the research laboratory.

Standing in the doorway that lead into the research laboratory, Aviza lightly knocked upon the metal doorframe, attempting to grab the attention of the two as they worked tirelessly behind softly glowing monitors. "Pardon me, Dr. Nola'Xen and Dr. Tenno, was it?" Aviza would take a step forward with a gentle wave of her left hand at the two. "I am glad I was able to catch the two of you before we departed. I am unsure if Aegon or Jake have informed you but I Will be joining the two of you with your work, mostly in the technical field though.” After glancing around the room for a short moment, Aviza would then continue speaking. “You two have quite the setup here, a lot of advanced equipment I am looking forward to working with.”

[MrDidact]

Tenno looked up from his monitor, smiling at Aviza and coming to shake her hand as Dr. Nola nodded and did the same. Tenno nodding, said, "No, neither of the Spectres mentioned it. I assumed he recruited mostly grunts for his team but it's always a pleasure to meet a colleague. What's your area of expertise, miss? Where did you train? I'm a Narra University alum myself and Nola here worked with the Xen clan almost her whole life."

[Andromedai]

“The feeling is mutual, Dr. Tenno. I was a late addition to the team, so it doesn’t surprise me that neither of them said anything about me.” Said Aviza with a smile of her own, taking a moment to shake both of their hands in a firm handshake that helped the two of them get a better understanding of her personality. “I received most of my engineering and medical training from the years I spent attending the officer’s academy known as Solas, upon my homeworld of Palavan. As for my area of expertise, I would say FTL drives, alongside general engineering. If you need help with anything, just point me in it's direction and I will get to work. Ah, I also received training in zero-g repairs, so if something would happen to the gravity stabilizers or exterior of the ship, I am more than capable of fixing it. For most of my life, I have worked lone wolf, but I have lead a number or squads and have worked with teams before."

[MrDidact]

Nola bobbed her head in acknowledgement, "We're more in the research and study sector than more hands-on applications but it's good to know that we have more qualified experts on the team. I'm surprised you managed to pick up very much of FTL theory. Especially while having to train for the Hierarchy. I don't think we'll need assistance very often but if you need to make use of facilities, simply send us a note and we'll try to make ourselves available. I think it might be useful for you to talk to Octavio in Engineering. I expect you'll have some interesting conversations. And I suppose, it would be useful to have a general technician for maintenance. Each of the teams might have use for you for different technical functions."

Tenno continued, "Indeed. Is there anything else you wished to discuss?"

[Andromedai]

Aviza would chuckle softly, "I wouldn't say expert, but I do what I can." With a nod of her head in thanks and acknowledgement, Aviza would then continue. "Alright, that sounds great, just send me a message if you two ever need any help. Thank you for the offer as well, I will be sure to send a message your way if I need any assistance or if I need to use any of the equipment here. As for now, I will take my leave and go visit Octavio in engineering, take care and nice meeting both of you.” With that, Aviza turned on her left heel and left the research laboratory.

After a few moments of walking through the ship, Aviza easily found her way to the the engineering bay, not taking the time to get anyones attention. Walking over to the head Engineer known as Octavio, Aviza would speak. "I have to admit, I like seeing all these other Turians onboard." she said in a softer tone. Crossing her arms over her chest, she glanced around the engineering bay like she had done in the research and study sector, which wasn't as comfortable to her than the engineering bay. She was unsure if that was because of the other Turians or the familiar equipment that surrounded her. "I hope I am not Interrupting anything?" asked Aviza, before reaching out to shake Octavio's hand. "I am Aviza Norea, fellow engineer, I am guessing you are Octavio?"

[MrDidact]

The older Turian looked up from his datapad and smiled as he returned the gesture, "That I am. Chief Engineering Officer Tatum at your service. Nice to meet you Aviza. You look a bit too tough to be an engineer, you must be a frontline specialist. I'm afraid down here looking at core readings is not nearly as exciting as throwing smart grenades and mines at people." He laughed and briefly conferred with an ensign before turning back, "What can I do for you today?"

[Andromedai]

"I actually get that a lot more than you would expect, people see my armor and weapons and are surprised to hear that I spend quite a bit of time as a frontline medic or working with engineers such as yourself. I’ll be honest, it’s not as much fun as tossing grenades or helping bind wounds on the field of battle but I enjoy it none the less, there’s great satisfaction in keeping the ships FTL drive up and running. Which reminds me of why I came down here, I wanted to introduce myself to everyone I will be working with. You see, I have training in general engineering, as well as some training in zero-g atmosphere, though my expertise in said field falls under FTL drives and making sure they keep functioning, alongside working on them when they do not.”

[MrDidact]

Octavio smiled, "Really? A soldier and a tech? Aegon did good in finding you. Well it so happens that my team is pretty solid but it never hurts to have qualified hands on deck. I was on the first research and development team for these IES stealth systems, and I had some contacts in that Andromeda Initiative. I got some design specs for their drives as well. As such, this drive is one of a kind, in the Milky Way at least. Even the Normandy doesn't have it yet. You want to brush up on some specs, I actually published a paper. You can read up on it in the Hierarchy Academic database, Valanna will be more than willing to help. As for you, well my team is mostly busy working here but we could use someone who can help us coordinate repairs and routine maintenance on the other decks. And if we need someone to do space walks, I think you're probably the most qualified. How's that all sound?"

[Andromedai]

"That sounds fantastic, just tell me what you want done, then I will start swiftly and to the letter. As for the paper you published, I will take a look at it later, once I get settled in and find a bunk to call my own. I will want to take a closer look at this IES stealth system and take some notes on it if I am allowed to, getting a better understanding of how it works and the such will be beneficial for all of us." Aviza would pause for a moment and type something into her data-pad then glance back up at Octavio. "I am sorry I have to cut this chat short, but I still need to stop by the medical bay, find a place to sleep, have a word with the head chef and then have a word with Spectre Aegon. It was nice meeting you Octavio, I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again soon." with that, Aviza turned and left.

Rolling her shoulders lightly, Aviza walked though the ship once more, though this time she was heading for the medical bay to introduce herself. "This is more like it." said Aviza under her breath as she stepped into the medical bay, observing all around her, not fully taking note to the others in the room that would be most likely wondering who she was. After a quick tour of the room and checking over all the equipment very closely, Aviza take a seat next to the Drell, grabbing onto a monitor of her own and plugged her data-pad into it, watching as line of information were quickly downloaded into it. The data-she was after was information about each member of the squad, doing this meant she wouldn't have to take time scanning each of them and would speed things up for her. While glancing down at her data pad then at the monitor in front of her, Aviza would introduce herself to the two doctors.

"My apologies for taking a seat and starting work unannounced but this is important information I need immediately." there was a pause while Aviza raised an "eyebrow" of sorts at some of the information she was gathering. "Anyway, I am Aviza Norea, I have been trained as an advanced combat medic, I will be working along side both of you quite often and I looking forward to it. I'm currently downloading information on each member of the squad so I do not have to take the time to scan each and every one of them, then have to shift through all the data at a later date. This will save me a lot of time and will allow me to not only properly but also swiftly treat injuries." As soon as Aviza finished speaking, she would pull a spare keyboard up to her and quickly start typing her own information into it, adding it to the database. During this whole exchange, she did not make make any eye contact with either of the doctors.

[MrDidact]

The whole time Lyora and Koriandr had been trading somewhat bewildered glances, though in Koridandr's case, he glowed in irritation rather than having a visible expression. Lyora coughed, "Oh I'm not a doctor. I'm Koriandr's.... valet, I suppose you'd say. My family has been compacted to his for quite some time. He just needs some company from time to time."

The hanar came forth and paused the downloading of information on Aviza's terminal, "Yes and Lyora is as much company as this one prefers. It does not care who you are, this one is in charge of the medical bay and it does not brook such rude behavior. Aegon hasn't informed it of any personnel transfers and this one does not require any. The medical records of each and every member of the crew is highly confidential and it did not clear for you to access it. Perhaps if the individual asked politely it might have. But this one is quite unsatisfied with the other's behavior so far. Perhaps things are done differently wherever you were assigned before, but there is a certain level of professionalism that this one prefers to maintain. One does not simply barge in unannounced and access sensitive information without so much as a by your leave."

[Andromedai]

"Stupid jellyfish." thought Aviza to herself, before she spoke. "My apologies once again, as I am sure you can understand that I take this very seriously. Without this information, I can not effectively treat anyone on this ship or part of the squad, though I can understand the... frustration and irritation of my arrival. So let us try again, I am Aviza Norea, combat medic and medical assistant if the need may arise." Aviza had stood up and offered to shake the hand like appendage of the hanar. "To be honest, I have never met a Hanar doctor before, so this is new to me." In the back of her head, Aviza wanted to say other things but had kept herself from doing so, for the time being at least. "Trust me, I know all about professionalism and I do maintain it, though I was under the assumption that the medical team knew of my presence." Aviza motioned to the advanced medical badge upon her armor, next to the badge that said she was an officer and had received havoc training.

"If you would like me to, I can contact Aegon and have him inform you that I am indeed a medic, though at a later time since he seems to be agitated, due to what happened outside of the ship." Aviza would wait for a reply.

[MrDidact]

Lyora was silent and looked at Koriandr who seemed to pulse slowly before coming forward and accepting the hand, wrapping his tentacle over the limb before withdrawing, "This one is Koriandr, former Primacy Military surgeon and medical expert. For obvious reasons, it can hardly follow the squad into active combat situations but this one may have need of a first responder. This one however was not informed that the other would be arriving. Your records have just barely been transferred to the ship, so it is not a surprise that this one would be uninformed of the other's possible role. It will let bygones be bygones as the humans say, but it would also prefer that the other seek official endorsement from Partinax. Once given, this one will transfer the relevant data to the other. Does this satisfy you?"

[Andromedai]

"As long as Spectre Partinax gives me permission to use all of the equipment and have access to all the medical data for the squad members, I shall be satisfied. Due to the fact that both of us being medical experts, we should work well together and should be able to understand the importance of knowing who and what you are working with. This is merely my opinion though, from a medical point of view." Aviza shrugged with a soft smile. "For now, I shall stop the download and wait untill Spectre Aegon gives the two of us the all clear." Pressing a button on her data-pad, she canceled the download and deleted the data she had gathered, which was quite a bit. "You have quite the setup here by the way, lots of advanced equipment for delicate procedures, let us hope we won't have need for any of that. Though after being a medic for as long as I have been, one thing is sure, there are always wounds and injuries to be taken care of."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I will go gently speak with Spectre Partinax about getting permission, then I will return after I receive an answer." Aviza stepped out of the room and let the door behind her shut close before pressing a button upon her data-pad, contacting Spectre Partinax. "My apologies for pestering you Partinax, I have the feeling you rather not be disturbed right now but I was hoping to ask you for your permission to have full access to the medical bay and the medical data stored within for the preservation and health of everyone on this ship. Koriandr does not seem comfortable without permission from you, and without it, I cannot do my job to its fullest."

[MrDidact]

Aegon answered the comm after a few moments, speaking tersely, "Very well Norea. You have my official sanction. I'm sending Koriandr the notification. But you will maintain patient confidentiality if you want to keep that access. Partinax out."

[Andromedai]

"Thank you Spectre Partinax, I will speak with you later, hopefully at dinner." Aviza shut the channel down and turned around to walk back into the medical bay, to inform the two of the good news. "I was just informed that I have full permission to use the equipment and access to all the medical data." For a short moment, she would play the message back so everyone inside the medical bay could hear what Partinax had said. "Now I will finish the download for all the data, and then retreat to the barracks for some rest and relaxation, three days with very little sleep is now starting to wear on me." Sitting back down at the table, she finished the download of the data then did as she said, retreating to the barracks where she found a suitable bed that had enough room for her belongings and supplies. After hooking the weapons onto the magnetic slots on the wall next to her, Aviza laid down upon her bunk and pulled the privacy door on the outside of it shut. Turning off the interior lights and the screen in front of her, she quickly fell asleep, still in full armor.

(I imagine the beds to look something like this.)
Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by PrivateVentures
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PrivateVentures Purveyor of the Finest Exoskeletons

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Ellis stomped back to the elevator. The cool voice of Talos, the ship's shackled AI, sounded in the small space, echoing ever so slightly, asking for his destination.

"Cargo bay."

The doors closed and sealed, and with a quiet hum, dropped at imperceptible speed, the doors sliding open once more, revealing a wide space, housing a massive rover, exercising Turians, storage crates of weapons, ammunition, materials, and other cargo. Ellis ignored the stares as he meandered his way to one of the storage closets lining the space. It was a long walk, and he was watched the whole way.

I wonder if any of them recognize you.

Look at the way they're glaring.


One of the Turians gave him a slight snarl as he passed.

He remembers you, at least.

Ellis ignored the man and continued on, to wait at the door while it scanned his biometrics, before sliding open, revealing a space just large enough to be comfortable for someone of Ellis' size. He squeezed through the tight doorframe, and sat firmly onto a wide, metal container. The label bore only a single, enigmatic word: "TOOLS". The top gave in just a bit under his enormous weight, and Ellis felt comfortable here, even more so when the door closed, concealing the harsh lights of the cargo bay, to be replaced by dim shop lights. A metal desk sat in the corner, stray mechanical odds and ends littering its surface. Ellis paid them no mind, promising to clean the place up when he awoke.

"NERO, initiate 'Good Night' protocol." His suit powered down, his viewscreen darkening. Ellis, exhausted from the night before, collapsed against the gel that encased him. It was soft. It was warm. And here, he was alone.

Ellis slept.

Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Dervish
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Dervish Let's get volatile

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3 hours after waking up to a complimentary room call from the hotel’s front desk, Rykarn was at the rendezvous coordinates, a location confirmed by the presence of many others in the team already there. It at least confirmed one thing; they all got the same information, so the Spectres weren’t deliberately misleading people. The krogan wondered if any would elect to not show, but so far, it seemed like everyone was on board with this assignment. Perhaps it was the allure of working with Spectres and the prestige that came with it, or the danger. Maybe it was because some people had nowhere else to go. For Rykarn, it was simple; wherever krogan went, exciting things were sure to happen. It sure as shit beat rebuilding a city brick by brick and sticking with the same damn routine day in and day out. It was satisfying for a while, but had the Spectres not come along with the proposal when they did, there was a chance Rykarn would have finished out the month and returned to Anhur to look for work.

His eyes found Sicaria, the turian he’d spent the night with last night, and the lively enthusiasm she’d had since digging out the bodies at the apartment complex seemed to have left her, she was visibly stiff and guarded, and not just as a physical reaction to the aftermath of their stress-relief. When he woke up, she was gone, leaving the krogan with the bill to pay, including damages incurred by their indiscretion. Still, the continental breakfast was adequate and the staff wasn’t keen on being confrontational with a krogan, especially one that readily agreed to incur the costs without a fuss. Out quite a few credits but happier for it, he’d wondered what crawled up the turian’s ass after he did. It didn’t help that the damned Geth was more inquisitive than a landfill-dwelling Pyjak and incapable of tact. Rykarn didn’t particularly care if the connection was made between Sicaria and himself; it was meaningless fun without any of those irritable emotional connections. Why other races put such emotional and sentimental weight into sex was beyond him. For a krogan, it was no different than eating a good meal that didn’t taste like stringy shit or getting in a good fight. If the others knew how many breeding partners a male krogan went through, especially now the genophage had been cured, would probably be incomprehensible.

Reminds me. I need to go back home and do my duty. he thought, standing with the others with his arms crossed, his expression betraying nothing of his thoughts, which were verging on realizing that he missed the clawball finals last night when Partinax appeared, zeroing in on Vella and unleashing vitriol that Rykarn doubted the asari was entirely aware of what was being said. Either it was deliberate defiance or her mental faculties were lacking, either way the turian Spectre made it abundantly clear that she was walking on thin ice that she was periodically smashing with a hammer. That early morning wake-up routine out of the way, the Katabasis team was lead to the waiting shuttles to head up towards the Citadel, which even in the morning sky was still visible with those with keen enough eyes.

~ ~ ~

The Spectre section of the Citadel was somewhere Rykarn had never been to for obvious reasons, despite his previous work with Phrixus’ squad. He tried to not look too obvious looking around after they docked, although the group of N7 operatives standing as a greeting party certainly was worthy of attention. Humanity’s best; Rykarn heard enough tales about them to know that they were more than a match for even hardened krogan veterans. In short, they were not to be underestimated and worthy of respect. This Zander woman clearly had a nasty history with Partinax, whom Rykarn quietly approved of his stalwart refusal to budge in the face of her trying to pull rank, political leverage, whatever non-combative trick she had that her bars afforded. Like waves on a rock, however, it was clear the turian wasn’t going to budge and her efforts were meaningless.

And with one careless remark, the already tense situation exploded into a standoff. As the weapons came out, Rykarn immediately had his Striker in hand; the large weapon and its explosive rounds were authoritative in their own right and in close quarters, it would be outright devastating. No one questioned whether or not krogan cared about collateral damage; it was one of the few advantages of being of a universally marginalized and feared species. No one was going to call your bluff when the threat of excessive force and violence was on the table. If it wasn’t for Anderson’s intervention it was very likely that the team was about to cut their teeth against N7 operatives and find out what they were really made of. Rykarn respected Anderson’s approach to most situations; he was a natural leader and mediator, and his presence had more than once in the past 24 hours had made the difference between a peaceful resolution or a bloodbath. He knew when to use restraint, when to show mercy, and when to disregard it… although, time would tell if that particular bit of luck would last.

With the standoff rapidly eroding, Rykarn slotted the rifle back to his back and grunted, ”Hmph. That’s no fun.” he said, staring down the nearest N7 as he stood down.

Soon, the team was filtered into a large hanger that was shrouded in darkness, only to have the lights procedurally illuminate the ship that Partinax seemed so proud of. Rykarn shot him a bemused glance, he never figured the rigid turian had a flare for theatrics. It was a beautiful ship, one of the sleeker looking frigates the krogan had seen, and it was sizable enough to hold a substantial crew, as he would soon discover. When everyone was crammed into the airlock for the decontamination procedure, Rykarn’s mind wandered to Sicaria’s predicament with Phalanx and let out a mirthful, ”Hah!”, the singular bellowed laugh devoid of context as ionized light scrubbed each of the aliens crammed into the space. If she needed decontamination from the night before, she was in the right place.

The tour around the ship was a whirlwind of names and faces that were going to take days, if not weeks, to fully wrap Rykarn’s head around. He simply resorted to compartmentalizing the crew by general descriptors and roles. Mutant Pyjak, pilot. Quarian, biochem specialist. Talk to the salarian for equipment if you have to. Asari, legal. Lady salarian, gossip queen. Elcor… cook. The krogan reflected, staring at the elcor and trying to figure out exactly the logistics of an alien of that size and lack of dexterity trying to do something like crack and fry eggs.

It was easy to notice that most of the crew were turians, some of them even looking a little rougher than the spit and polish military types you usually got, some even gave off mercenary vibes. Rykarn decided this was likely because Partinax relied primarily on his own kind and if it came down to it, he’d side with them rather than the hired guns they picked up. There was also something to be said about turians being creatures of familiarity and comfort; perhaps it was superstition or bias, but this was a turian ship with a few bones thrown here and there to other species, and it would run exactly as Partinax expected it to. No surprises, no change in doctrine. A routine. The asari psychiatrist was also predictable; it was hard to find that roll filled by anyone else. People had this innate trust of aliens that could get inside your head and be physically attractive and delicate looking to any alien. Their entire physiology depended on reproducing with aliens outside of their species, so the compassion and intuition to other species and their quirks was almost inbred at this point in galactic history. Hearing the announcement that a few of the crew were mandated to have regular appointments made Rykarn suppress a smirk. At least the Specter acknowledged that a few of the team were unstable elements, and seeing them brought to mandatory lessons was almost like seeing a school kid get exiled to detention.

The vorcha was an unpleasant surprise. Seeing it hug Anderson and shake Partinax’s hand caused Rykarn’s face to contort in barely restrained disgust. Years upon years of conditioning vorcha to be cannon fodder came flooding back; he imagined himself grabbing the vorcha by the neck, slamming it into the deck and squeezing until it was within an inch of its life so it didn’t forget its place in the pecking order. Vorcha were barely sentient beasts that were adapted to killing and thriving in impossible environments. It was disappointing that so many were starting to keep them as pets, pretending that the foul little imps were even friends. The fact the team would have to rely on the vorcha was less than appealing of a thought. Rykarn let out a suppressed and irritated huff as he turned away from the vorcha, reminding himself that that period of his life was behind him and he was following a new battle master now. You didn’t step out of line for your feelings on matters unless it was absolutely urgent, and unless he saw a lapse of judgement on either of the Specters, he had to trust they knew what they were doing. Besides, Rykarn was professional. He’d dealt with worse situations before.

When the team was dismissed, Rykarn found a crewmember who directed him to his makeshift quarters on the cargo deck. Accounting for his large size, weight, and bulk compared to other aliens, the solution was a few crates bolted together with a large mattress on top, overly thick wool blankets tucked in military style. A storage locker for his gear was present, and a small foot locker at the end of the crates for personal effects. It was very much like any military or mercenary set up he’d ever seen. It would be somewhere he’d spend little time due to it being a confined space, and Rykarn was not a fan of those. He’d have to requisition some plants and pictures for his quarters to give it more of an open and natural feel, he decided. Slipping his guns away, Rykarn left his quarters and began to pace the ship, as if patrolling his new territory. Finding his way unbarred to the CIC, he stood to the side of the yeoman, Calixta, giving her a respectful distance so she didn’t feel crowded. ”Excuse me, yeoman. When you have a minute, schedule me to speak with Partinax. I like to get to know the bosses before getting too deep into things.”
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Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Mega Birb
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Mega Birb Blessed Birb

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Alria & Sicaria
Collab between @Deos Morran & @Mega Birb


Alria was indeed in a state of undress in fact one may even call it naked as she was found only in her underwear as she hind end shook wildly. As the song played out so to did she in her crazy and unstructured dance. This was just "shaking your butt to the bass" at this point and only when she spun around as a part of one of her moves did she see Sicaria standing in the door like stump.

With a large and aloof smile on her face, she ran over to Sicaria grabbing her hand and pulling her into the ship saying, "Come on! We're about to hit the good part!" Once Sicaria was brought into the party of one Alria let go as she started to sway her hips again, clapping her hands above her head to the rhythm of the song. Whenever they called some handclaps, she gave her own to the song.

"Wait, what!?" With blood running down her face, the older of the two was pulled into the fighter without protest, her body moving of its own accord while her mind degraded to nothing but bewilderment. Before she knew it, she found herself making a sad attempt at dancing in a style similar to Commander Shepard himself. As awkward as her movements were, she got a good look at Alria without her helmet for the first time, and she could actually feel the heat rising to her face.

Soon enough, as the song played, the woman's face became a pretty shade of blue with the exception of her facial tattoos and her movements were progressively becoming more flustered, only adding to her inability to dance.

"Come on! You got more than that!" Alria called out over the probably too loud music, stopping her almost naked dance as she grabbed Sicaria's hands and this time when the song called for handclaps she made Sicaraia clap to the beat, still swaying her hips widely and prancing around, trying to bring some life into the prude before her. "Just let go! Don't give a damn and dance with whatever feels natural!" She continued to say.

In response, Sicaria took a deep breath and took the younger Turian's advice, taking up more of the confined space and starting to move about almost senselessly. Her steps were perfectly on beat though, yet there wasn't much rhyme or reason to anything else. For all intents, she was basically flailing about and trying not to hit anything. "Like this?" She shouted over the music.

"Yeah!" Alria shouted back over the tunes, letting go of Sicaria to pick back up her own dancing, yet before things could really get going again the song ended, leaving them to deal with silence that came between songs. Yet before the next song in her playlist started Alria wandered over to her speaker system and hit pause.

Turning back around to Sicaria she said, "You have a lot to learn young one. One day I'll get you dancing right." From there she went to her closet and pulled out a dark grey hoodie, slipping it over her head and covering her upper body before fetching a set of loose grey pants to cover her lower half, "So what brings you over here? Got something for me?" She inquired.

As embarrassing as it was, Sicaria had kept dancing for a solid five seconds after the music had ended, having become totally lost in the noise. When she stopped, she looked genuinely confused for a second before she wiped the blood from her nose. "Well, not quite. Is it alright if I sit? I need to talk about something, and... well, I don't have anyone else to turn to here." A second later, her omni-tool flashed to life and she tapped a few buttons, the universal translator within it disabling in case anyone decided to snoop.

Alria had quiet the large smile on her face up until Sicaria started talking. This sounded serious and the last thing she wanted was for Sicaria to think she was smiling at her misfortune. Instead she nodded and pointed to her bed saying, "Yeah uh... Take on a seat on my bed. What's on your mind?" Curious to see what the matter was as she finished up dressing herself before taking a seat next to her on her bed.

"Okay, so..." she began, taking a seat beside the other Turian. "I know it's a domestic thing and I shouldn't have to bother you with it, but..." she cut herself off, unable to find the words or the will to continue the line of dialog. Instead, she slumps back on the bed and covered her face with her hands. "Ugh, feel like I'm gonna throw up..." she mumbled, letting her hands slide off her face and rest above her. The woman's normally sharp, yellow eyes looked dull at a glance, conveying a feeling of defeat.

"Look, I don't care what it is. The point is that it's bothering you and that's the part we need to worry about. Come on now. Tell me what's on your mind." She said, falling back much as Sicaria had to be on level ground with her, looking to her side to see the flustered Turian slowly sink deeper into her sadness. In fact she almost recognized that look. It was a feeling of loss and that was something she understood... well kind of, "I know it's hard to loss something you care about, but keeping it bottled up isn't going to help you. Give me something to work with, otherwise I'm just going to turn back on my music and make you dance more." She said, trying to make Sicaria smile at least a little.

It worked, one of Sicaria's mandibles got pulled back in a smirk at the threat. "Beating me down already? Alright, fine." She took a breath and stared up at the ceiling, a small amount of the life coming back to her eyes. "I made a mistake I thought my girlfriend would be okay with, it was the kind of thing we did all the time, and she dumped me this morning because of it..." she admitted, voice dying out at the end, though it sounded more like she was reminiscing than regretting. Like someone that had lost passion in their life.

"I feel... empty, I guess. We'd been together for so long, and now..? I-It's gone..." She sniffed as tears started to well in her eyes, mandibles closing up tight.

Alria watched Sicaria get sadder and sadder until she actually started crying. Reaching over she patted Sicaria's torso, "Come on now. It's ok. I don't think I can say anything to help, but whatever you did... You have to ask yourself. Was it really so bad? Is this really your fault or is this really her fault?" She spoke out, wanting to try and help her through this event. "You seem like a good person. So is this really your fault?"

"It... it's my fault," Sicaria groaned, covering her face and reflecting internally for a moment before she rolled onto her side, facing away from Alria. "We had an... open relationship, and I took it too far..." She sniffed again and pulled her knees up to her chest, armor restricting the movement somewhat.

Alria moved up closer to Sicaria, laying her hand on her shoulder to try and shake her a little bit, "Hey enough about that. I don't know much about open relationships, but to me the word open means open. You can't add rules to something like that or spring them on people out of the blue. How were you supposed to know right?" She started, rubbing Sicaria's shoulder to try and get her to open up. "I'm not good at this ok. Just... what do I need to do to help you and make you happy again?"

With a light sigh, the girl looked back at Alria as much as her neck would let her. "Could we go out some time before we have to take off? I need to do some shopping, can't live in my armor. Don't know how Vakarian could do that." The tears in her eyes slowly started to dry up, though her voice remained little more than a croak. "Though I'm not sure if happy me's a possibility, can't just forget three years of my life." Her grip on her knees loosened a bit.

Alria nodded, rocking her shoulder again to reassure her, "Yeah we can go. I don't think we're leaving for bit longer so let's go and get you something nice." She said, leaning up on the bed before sitting up and grabbing a few things as well as finish her outfit so she could head out on the town. "If you have anything you want to grab get it now."

"I've got everything I brought with me." She rolled off of the bed and stood up, though took her weapons off of her mag-holsters and set them down. "C-Sec's not a fan of weapons anymore." With that, she started to move for the ship's door.

"Yeah I wish they'd at least let me have my sidearm, but they are so annoying about that now. Anyway, let get going." She commented following Sicaria out of her ship and back into the Kharon's cargo bay. Behind her she locked up her ship more on reflex than anything before walking through the bay with Sicaria, making for the exit to go back to the Citadel. "Any place you want to hit up first?"

Sicaria followed close behind Alria, almost like a lost dog. The soldier in her took over and any signs of what had transpired in the ship disappeared, aside from slightly redened eyes. As they went, she turned her translator back on. "No idea, I've never been on the Presidium before. Doubt I could even afford much here..." Her voice trailed off as she passed through the airlock, giving a passing wave to Kano as they went.

"Not like I need much, though. Just a few outfits to rotate through."

Alria gave a wave to Kano as well as she left for the Citadel with Sicaria, "Well I know a little bit about the place and I know some kick ass stores. In fact this one has some great clothes and a pretty good price! Come on! I even know the way from here." She cheerily chimed up, looking to change Sicaria's outlook to a more happy one.

Then with that bit done and sorted she took charge and forged a path into the depths of the Citadel Commons, looking for a very specific place that she had just managed to find! Drellicious!, a pop culture and graphic tee clothing store. If you wanted shit with chibi aliens, Blasto fan shirts, and custom made apperal that took the shape of anything! Want a Normandy SR2 backpack! They have it here! Alria knew Sicaria would find something here, she just knew it!

"Come on! We aren't getting any younger standing around here!" Alria called out, charging into the store without a look back.

"Alria, wait up!" Spirits, that girl was fast! The older of the two was forced to give chase and simultaniously skim through any of the selection that had been near the entrance, which resulted in a few missed opportunities. However, she soon caught up and set a hand on the girl's shoulder to reign her in a little. "I'm not nearly as quick as you, y'know." She caught her breath and started to look around at whatever clothing was available, though she immediately picked up one of the Blasto shirts. The XL tag on it implied what it would be used for in the future.

After a few more glances at the stock, Sicaria opened her mouth. "Anything here you could see me in? Everything kinda has to go with purple and gray." At a loss, she scratched the back of her neck.

Alria recoiled at teh hand on her shoulder almost being drawn back into Sicaria's chest as she was in her zone. "Girl... I could see you in all of this. This isn't about 'style' or 'fashion' this is about looking good! Here!" She called back to her, grabbing a Blasto VI fan shirt and tossing it at Sicaria. Then using the shirt as cover she ran off into the store, grabbing and looking at a few things herself, including a bobble Pyjack ear set that she slipped on her head, letting them bounce around as she skipped around the store.

Sicaria simply let herself get hit with the shirt, lacking the energy to chase after her again.

Next on her list was a "Don't Fear The Reaper" propaganda shirt that depicted a Reaper getting stomped on by a cartoon Shepard almost like it was a big bug. Holding it up she poked her head around a shelf to show it off to Sicaria, "Spirits I NEED this! What do you think!"

She turned her head to look over at the apparent goofball holding up a propaganda shirt. "I think I'm surprised those are still selling... grab me one. Medium." She turned back to a rack full of hoodies, looking for one that would match either her tattoos or carapace, preferably both. A moment later, she dug out a pale blue on with some black markings across the back. "Hey, can I get an opinion on this? Too flashy?"

Alria looked up from another shelf now wearing some 'sassy Krogan' glasses that depicted a chibi Krogan giving some serious sas in each lens. Still with her Pyjack Ears on. "Too flashy... That's hardly flashy enough! Here try this!" Alria called out tossing Sicaria a "Blasto Babe" T-shirt that had fader curves in the front to make it seem like the wearer was rocking an unrealisticlly hot body. "Still though, that other shirt brings out your eyes. I say keep it!" Then just as quickly as she appeared she vanished to go and find more stupid props.

At the compliment, Sicaria blushed lightly. It had been a long time since she had gotten anything of the sort, though she let it fade away just as quickly as it had come. Her companion in this store was starting to act like an idiot, and she kind of had to curb the behavior sooner or later. "Alria, calm down. And put the ears back." She folded the fader shirt back up and slipped it into a rack somewhere before grabbing two less interesting shirts, one of which was white and the other black.

She changed sections now, looking for pants or undergarnments, whichever came first. Lone behold, it was the undergarnments. She wasn't looking for anything fancy, so she simply grabbed a package of them at random before continuing.

Alria heard Sicaria's words and appeared from behind another shelf now wearing the Pyjack ears, the Sassy Krogan glasses, and some cheap plastic bead necklesses around her neck. Speaking up to say, "Spirits you're no fun!" Adding a heavy joking tone to show that she was just playing.

Regardless she did put everything back as it was nearing check out time from their first stop and she had to buy a few shirts. Though before she went to the register she found Sicaria handing over her medium 'Don't Fear The Reaper' shirt, and joining her in looking at underwear. Most of which had designs and decals on them, same the ones Sicaria grabbed with were just so bland. It actually made Alria groan out loud.

Taking the underwear pack Sicaria had and putting it back she grabbed a different set that depicted a heart on the rear end, "Live a little... Trust me. These are better." She said before leaving Sicaria to wrap up her shopping in peace.

The older Turian stared down at the package for a long second, taking in the details of the contents of the plastic bag. Somewhat lacy, decals on some, overall scandelous... was she hinting at something? Either way, they were more appealing...

One more round through the store would merit a black pair of jeans fitted to Turians and a few pairs of sweats covered in various decals. Moments later, she came out of the store with two bags in hand and eyes bouncing around the crowd in an attempt to find the girl that had gone to the store with her. It didn't help that she was a Turian of barely average height looking for one of shorter stature. "Hey Alria! Where'd you go!?" she called out.

Alria waited in line for a bit having already seen Sicaria leave the store. Good news it didn't take much longer for her to check out and meet back up. "Easy on the yelling. I'm right here. What's up?" She posed to Sicaria before starting to walk off, assuming Sicaria found follow. In her mind they had at least two stops left to make.

Realizing her mistake, Sicaria stood with her mandibles splayed in the equivalent of a shrug. "Just looking for you, was all. Also, were you trying to imply something with that underwear?" She might've been jumping the gun a bit, but it could've been fruitful to ask. She still followed after the younger Turian through the crowd, not knowing where they were going.

Alria nodded when Sicaria posed her question, "Heall yeah I was. You were picking out normal people clothing. You need to loosen up and live some life! And if that life comes in the shape of heart underwear than so be it!" The confidence in her voice was almost palpable, but even then she walked on guiding them to their next stop, Arturius Tailoring. Now this was a class act shop. Everything was stupid fancy, like going to a formal ball in a castle fancy. The way Alria saw it. Sicaria would need something she could wear on a hot date. Especially now that she was single. "Come on, you need a dress." She stated matter of factly before heading inside to the STUPID formal and snobby store.

"Alria, I'm not really a fancy dress kinda girl, if you catch my drift." Either way, she followed the girl in while wondering exactly how much of this high-end fabric she could realistically afford. She had to admit though, some of the gowns and such in here were very nice, while not exactly her speed.

Alria had barely made enterance into the fancy and snobby place before Sicaria stopped and spoke her peice, "Oh come on! Everybody needs a dress! Even if you dont' wear it even once a month, you still NEED one!" She said, trying to convince Sicaria that this was a right thing to do.

She stopped and shook her head, swapping her two bags to one hand. "I'm not the one to wear a dress, period... unless it's made a very specific way. Beyond that, I haven't worn one since my grandfather's funeral, six years ago." She explained, still letting her eyes dart around and look at the clothes on display. "Also, I think everything here is pretty far outside my price range. Not exactly keen on spending all my creds on a dress I'll wear twice."

Alria pouted and crossed her arms, but at teh end of the day Sicaria had a few points. Everything in here was STUPIDLY priced and it didn't help that she didn't and wasn't going to wear her dress that much. Well and the end of the day it didn't really need to be done just yet, "Ok fine, you win. Let's go get something to eat then, I'm half starved over here." She said in mock defeat before heading out of the suit-shop and towards the food court at a very leisurely pace, glancing around at all the other stores on the way, taking note of places she'd have to hit up later.

Before long they made it to the food court to which they had quiet the selection of different styles to choose from. Each culture bringing various different cuisines for all to try. Of course they'd need to find a Dextro-Friendly place, but that shouldn't be to hard, "Well since this is your big date, what sounds good to you?" Alria posed, passing the choice off to Sicaria.

The food court had quite the variety, small shops from almost every race set up around a large cafeteria-style room. Her eyes locked onto two places in particular, side-by-side, one staffed by Turians and the other by Quarians. "Hmm... we could get something from Aephus, place has great food and nostalgia. But I've always liked Quarian qui-" she cut herself off for the second time as she realized something that could be deemed important.

"Wait, did you just call this a date?" She looked over at the younger Turian, her face once again turning that attractive shade of blue.

Alria quirked on eye at Sicaria and her curious turn of emotion... as well as skin tone... "Yeah! Think about it. If you were a a guy wouldn't you say that this would be very close to a date? I would! Anyway, let's not worry about that... I'm feeling foreign today so I vote Quarian!" She chimed out to say, already starting to walk off towards the Quarian place, though in her mind she couldn't help but think on how Sicaria reacted to her little joke. She did say that she just broke up with her GIRLFRIEND after all... Maybe she... no... maybe?

Reaching the counter Alria ordered up a quick meal, taking it to her tray and then to one of the many unoccupied tables that littered the center of the food court. Taking a seat and sampling a few of the vittles before digging in.

Sicaria approached the counter and ordered something similar to the other girl, coming back and sitting down across from her. She sat in silence for a long moment and picked at her meal slowly, mulling over the events of the day. Soon enough, though, she spoke up. "Alria, I just wanna say... thanks for taking me out. It means a lot, that you'd go out of your way to do something like this. For someone you've just met, no less." She scratched the back of her neck in the awkward pause that followed, unreasonably nervous about the response.

Alria was busy mowing and chowing down on her food when Sicaria came over which may have added to the awkward silence, but when she spoke Alria took a pause in her meal. It was nice to hear that, but really it wasn't needed, "It's the least I could do. You seem like a nice person and that's worth the time!" Her cheery tone holding strong, but there was something else in her voice this time. "And uh... I'm glad to take a friend out shopping! I mean it's what friends do right?" She chimed up happy as always.

Sicaria paused again as she listened to her compatriot, eyes dulling again as the emphasis made things clear. "Erm... yeah, that's what friends do... I guess." She laughed uncomfortably in the aftermath and kept picking at her food, though it was somewhat obvious she didn't have much of an appetite. She propped her left arm up on the table and rested her cheek on it, looking down at the meal before her.

Alria had already stopped eating so she could talk to Sicaria but when she saw how visibly unhappy she was Alria couldn't help but ask, "Is something wrong? You were having fun just a minute ago. Was it something I said?" She innocently asked, concerned that Sicaria was starting to spiral back down into the sad place and of course that was the last thing Alria wanted.

She sighed and pushed her food around in its box with her fork for a moment before answering. "It's not what you said... it's... oh who am I kidding?" She asked no one in particular, shaking her head and letting her left hand drop onto the table. "It was what you said, but not on its own. I'm just not used to being alone... and I expected someone to fill that spot immediately." She dropped her head on the table and let both arms slip underneath it, legs following suit to end up under Alria's chair.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be bothering you with this crap..." she mumbled.

"No, no, no, no. Don't say that I'm here to hear you out. I guess I'm just confused. You know I'm here for you right?" Alria asked back quick as she could without interrupting Sicaria. It was almost painful to see her like this, but what's more for Alria was how confusing it was. What's all this about someone filling spots right away and what-not. She couldn't be talking about finding another so quickly could she?

The older female picked her head up and looked blankly across the table. "You don't need to be, I'm probably too much of a mess for you to fix, anyway." She showed no signs of stopping the self-abusive way she was speaking, the tone hinting that she was actually trying to push her away at this point. Her head dropped back onto the table.

Alria shook her head adamantly, "Stop that! You're not a mess, much less one that can't be fixed up. All this beating yourself up isn't helping at all! Now repeat after me. 'I'm awesome.' That's it. Just say that." Alria confidently and almost blinding said, running off the first thing that came to her mind. Beyond that though she reached out and grabbed Sicaria's outstretched hands, pulling them in to let her know that Alria wasn't going to let go on this matter.

She took her hands and squeezed them half-heartedly, conveying a significant number of emotions all at once. Distress, fear, but sorrow most prominently. "Don't know how it'll help, but..." she sighed, then took another breath before speaking again. "...I'm awesome," she mumbled, barely audible to even someone that would be right next to her.

Alria gripped Sicaria's hands tighter than she did, giving them a playful tug before saying, "Louder dammit! I only saw your lips move that time. I want to hear you say it!" Her stature and posture moving to sit up straight before leaning over the table to get closer to her, hopefully moving some of her blind confidence telepathically to Sicaria.

Sicaria looked up in response, seeming to perk up a little bit. "Fine..." she grumbled, then cleared her throat. "I'm awesome." She was louder this time, though still quieter and less motivated than she probably should've been. It was still progress, though. She gave Alria's hands a tigher squeeze in response, fixing her posture and leaning in slightly.

"You're getting there but all I heard was imma ma ma ma. Speak words woman!" She continued to say berate/motivate towards Sicaria wanting to get that confidence to say silly things in public up. After all... step-by-step. "Now say it one more time and use your big girl voice!"

A certain playfulness was coming back to her, coming so far as to slip her hands out of Alria's and up her arms, cold steel of the gauntlets shifting up the fabric of her hoodie. She was out of her seat at this point, half-standing and leaning far forwards. In what was the closest thing she could get to screaming without actually doing so, she responded. "I'm fucking awesome!"

The older Turian stared into the eyes of the younger one, a wide grin on her face. Her heart started to race as well, though she hadn't necessarily connected the two things.

Alria was a tad stunned to see Sicaria's reaction to that and the full on commitment that even she wasn't fully ready to do. Awkwardly looking around to see a bunch of people staring she looked back to Sicaria and gave her a thumbs up with an awkward smile. "Yeah you are! Not come on let's eat up and get back to the ship. I'd hate to go through all this crap only to get left behind because our new bosses decided to take off early." She finished up, attacking her food like it was her last meal to finish quickly.

Sicaria let go of the other Turian before looking down at her food, appetite still not returning after the new motivation she had been given. She splayed her mandibles in a shrug before dropping the fork into the box, closing it up immediately afterwards and picking it up with one hand. In the other hand was her shopping bags. "Yeah, that would suck." She couldn't help but watch the girl scarf down the rest of her food, stifling a laugh with her free hand.

Once finished with her food and the tray and garbage returned to their proper places she grabbed her bag before starting to make her way towards the hanger where the Kharon was docked. Thankfully they hadn't spent too much time out and about and the chances of it still being there were guarenteed.

On the way back, with her heart still pounding a mile a minute, did something she would probably regret later on. She swapped her possessions to her left hand and, with something she couldn't quite figure out clouding her judgement, she slipped her right hand into Alria's free left one. And lightly held on, in case things didn't go the way she had planned.

Alria was busy pacing her way along and swayign her hands idly by, at leat until Sicaria made a move for it and grabbed on gently. At first her reactions kicked in and she flinched and recoiled slightly, yet not enough to escape her grip. From there her pace slowed as she looked over to see Sicaria's grip, "Is something wrong?" She asked, thinking that this was a reaction to being afraid or not wanting to lose Alria in a crowd, which was VERY uncharacteristic in Alria's mind.

When she flinched at the movement, a streak of doubt running through her mind, though she decided to stick to her stupid plan anyway and deal with what came afterwards. "Well, not really wrong, persay..." She gave her hand a light squeeze for some level of reassurance before continuing. "Just, erm... wanna make sure I don't lose you in a crowd again." She coughed slightly as her mouth went dry.

"Spirits and you called me weird!" Alria said back in joke, shaking her arm a bit to wiggle Sicaria's before letting go and trying to pull away. Figuring it was all some big joke made by Sicaria. Then with her hand back as her own she continued on towards the Kharon's bay, picking up her pace and saying back to Sicaria, "Come on! It's not much further now!" Almost challenging her to a race, but avoiding it due to their bags.

Just as Alria had said the Kharon wasn't more than 5 minutes away and with the two Turians back on board, Alria went about her way to seek out the hangar, read to put her bag on her ship and store the shirts in her wardrobe.

Bidding farewell, Sicaria left Alria just as the returned back to the ship. She certainly felt better after the whole ordeal, though for how long was a good question. She still had a few questions running through her head, though, the primary one being directly related to the younger Turian's sexuality... though it could wait.

In the meantime, she went throught the ship to the crew quarters and found herself a bunk about one that was currently closed off, and set herself to unpacking her new property. The food would be left at the base of the ladder for now. She made it a point, though, to strip out of her armor and change into the black jeans, white shirt, and blue hoodie she had purchased.

And yes, this included the heart underwear.

Alria bid Sicaria in the same fashion as she had, wishing her well and some sweet dreams as they had a very long adventure ahead of them. Then with that taken care of she set about her room, putting away her novelty shirts and of course her bobble Pyjack ears getting a special place in her wardrobe with the rest of her funny and weird items.

Then with that done, a bit of relaxation sounded to be the best and relax she did, taking off her hoodie and pants before falling back onto her bed, grabbing a good book, and reading her time away in the comfort of her incredbly soft bed.
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Rithy
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Rithy

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"That.... should be enough to assuage my current worries about an impending techno-apocalypse on this ship." Vella finally answered after a short pause, giving the towering Geth a quick nod and a grin, yet, couldn't quite hide a bit of uncertainty in her own expression.

Phalanx was an odd deal!

First and foremost, it was a synthetic machine through and through, with no visible facial features; nay; no face at all for Vella to read! That in and of itself was enough to put Vella immediately off balance, and left the Asari always unsure of what to say next. Granted, although it was a machine, some of its moving parts might be partly interpret as vague social features, like the way her optic moved and the plates around Phalanx's lamplight neck shifted and moved, granted the movesets themselves seemed simple and often very one sided, as if observing the gestures of a... child!
And secondly, Vella had never spoken to a true AI. Sure, she had 'spoken' to synthetic VIs, but never had an ongoing interaction with an actual, real, self-aware and thinking A.I!

How was she supposed to hold a conversation or find common ground with something that was in all reality just a cold machine with a brain consisting of a bunch of numbers?!

"I'm going to need a shower." Vella said as her mind retreated from the difficult question of what it meant to talk to a computer, let alone what it meant to be self-aware, and instead towards her own body and attire which she smelled was in need of a nice cleanup after what had been a night out.

However, the Asari would stop mid-step as she caught a glance back at Phalanx, whom seemed to be standing there idly by as the crewmates around it went their own ways. A rather awkward standing pose, the way someone stood when they had completely and utterly no idea what they were supposed to or could be doing!

"Say, uh, Phalanx." Vella stopped, turning around to look back up Phalanx, now with a smile on her face.
"Are you a fan of drones & weapon tech in general?"

She asked with a cheerful voice as she pointed back towards her original destination.

"I need to build some new drones after my old ones kind'a... blew up... "

Awkward side glance...

"Say... wanna join me?!"

Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by PrivateVentures
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Ellis dreamed. He dreamed of great golden spires and flaming sunsets, broken by the cold violet light of dawn in cataclysmic bursts of divine illumination. He stood on a precipice of incalculable height, watching red flashes and blue lights below, the remnants of a war now over. A cloudburst of orange light stung his eyes. Above him rose a white ship, hard and angular, orange streaks painted over its hull. Ellis stared, jaw agape, while it rained lightning down to the ground. Screams met his ears. A burning cigarette fell impossibly slowly in front of his face, embers floating and fading and floating and fading...

Ellis awoke. He was alone, still sitting on a large toolbox. The dim lights of the storage compartment gave him just enough to see by. The workbench nearby, likely steel, was covered in bolts and screws and wires and broken tools. A Predator pistol grip. The barrel of a Mantis rifle. This had been someone's workroom, though the thin layer of dust on everything told him it hadn't been used in at least a week or two. "NERO, how long has it been? Since I fell asleep."

"One hour, thirty-six minutes, operative." A good nap.

Ellis stood, and stretched his back. He was still tired, but there was work to be done. First thing's first. Time to see the shrink.

She's gonna call security on you the minute you start talking.

Shut up. Technically, I am part of security.

Only thing secure about you is that suit.

You're one to talk.

We have our own issues, sure, but we don't talk to ourselves.

And what are you doing right now?

Talking to you.


Ellis ignored this last remark and opened the door, revealing a cargo bay that was almost empty.

You scared them all away.

This is an active ship. They're probably just working.

You're not.


He continued on his way to the elevator, requesting the CIC. As the elevator vibrated its way up, Ellis was overcome by a thought: What if she does think I'm a threat? Will they kick me out?

Probably.

Not talking to you.

Who, then?

Just shut up.

You're a child.


Ellis ignored this, and made his way to the starboard observation deck, noticing that everyone around him gave him a wide berth. He wondered if they were afraid of him because it was him, or for his appearance. He couldn't decide.

The Observation Deck looked out into the wide void. T'Pavi sat in a comfortable armchair, watching the space outside, sipping on a cup of some hot beverage. She swiveled her chair around as Ellis entered, a small smile on her lips. "Hello, Mr. Taevon." Ellis winced involuntarily.

"Ellis, please." She nodded. For some reason, she made him extremely uneasy. He wondered if she knew what he was thinking.

"Ellis. Please, have a seat. Have you come for solitude?" He shook his head inside his suit, and sat down on a soft-looking sofa, sinking deep into the cushions.

They're gonna have to replace those every time you come in, you fat fucker.

If I'm fat, you're fat.
The voices had no retort.

"I have mandatory sessions. I thought it would be best to get this week's over with, to focus on other matters." Her smile drooped slightly, and her eyes widened in curiosity. She activated her omni-tool briefly, then deactivated it again.

"You speak very formally. Are you uncomfortable?"

"Not... Uncomfortable. I have no experience with this. A week ago, I saw Asari as self-righteous, manipulative, borderline demons." She shifted in her chair, and set her cup on an endtable.

"You were prejudiced."

"I was Cerberus." He said, with the faintest touch of old pride. Her smile was gone, but her face held no hostility.

"A human supremacist."

"A bigot." She leaned forward, somehow meeting his eyes through his one-way visor.

"You admit this. I assume you've seen combat? Fought against non-human species?"

"I've killed Krogan, Asari, Salarian, Batarian. I was not chosen for the invasion of Sur'kesh. If I had been, I would list Yahg among those, according to the reports."

"You seem almost proud of your... Accomplishments." Ellis squirmed inside his suit.

"Not proud of them, but they were difficult odds to overcome. I am proud that I still remain." She leaned back in her chair, and nodded slightly.

"Ellis, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself? Your childhood. Why don't we start with that?" Ellis thought for a moment and took a deep breath, striving to make his summary as brief as possible.

"I was crippled as a child. My father's doing. He himself was a bigot, though he was never skilled enough in any way to be recruited by someone as powerful as the Illusive Man. My brother cared for me. I learned of my biotic capability when I was young. I used it to interact with a world that had forgotten me. I enlisted in Cerberus a few years ago, just before the Reaper War. They needed a lot of soldiers." She nodded, eyes still locked on his.

CAN SHE SEE ME?

"Your brother. Tell me about him."

"Not much to tell. He's C-Sec. He's a good cop. Makes folks proud to have him."

"You're jealous?"

"No. He has no creativity. No spirit."

"Was Cerberus proud to have you?" He thought back. You're quite a monster, Taevon. We're lucky to have you.

"I thought they were. I thought they had human interests in mind. But they fed the Reapers. They let the Collectors take people, just to see what would happen. They betrayed me. I betrayed me."

"Ellis, they betrayed humanity. You didn't know, did you?"

"No." She held her hands, palm up, as if to say, Well, there it is. "Ellis, I think your problem is this: I think you blame yourself for the things you did while you were enlisted. You were disillusioned, Ellis. You didn't realize-"

Ellis slammed his white hand down on the old oak coffee table, hard enough to leave a dent.

"I KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING!" The doctor jumped, startled. "I SAW THE INDOCTRINATION FIRSTHAND! I WATCHED FREE WILL STOLEN FROM COLLEAGUES AND SQUADMATES ALIKE! I saw it all. And I didn't fight it." He breathed heavily, in and out, in and out. "All I could do was damage my own implants. All I tried to do was save myself." He had to hand it to her, she regained composure quickly.

"You blame yourself for what happened to them?" He pressed his hands over his visor, to stop that penetrating stare.

"I could've died fighting. And that would've been a worthy cause." She paused, for what seemed like hours.

Finally, she spoke. "Do you lose your temper a lot?"

What a rude question-

"No. I used to use it. I used to be in combat every day. Killing alien after alien, it was good stress relief. I was fighting for something. Yesterday is the first time I've fought in a month. I was going crazy. But we fought Husks. When I try to remember the battle, I see faces of people I knew. On the Husks. I know it wasn't them. But I see them anyway."

"Ellis, I think you may have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-"

"No shit, lady." He added quickly, "Sorry."

She shook her head. "Not a problem, Ellis. This is a place where you can feel free to be yourself. Don't hold yourself back. Not here." She activated her omni-tool, and recorded something on a calendar of sorts. "Ellis, I'd like to see you more often than just once a week. I think we can work through most, if not all of your problems. And, mostly, I think you need someone to talk to."

"You won't mention this to anyone?"

"Doctor-patient privilege, Ellis. No one will ever know what you say in here. Besides, the door's been locked since you came in." She reactivated her omni-tool, unlocking the door. He stood, turned to leave, then hesitated.

"Doctor?"

"Yes, Ellis?"

"Thank you for listening."

"My pleasure."

He was tired again, and so made his way back down to his claimed storage closet, feeling just a few pounds lighter.

Hidden 7 yrs ago Post by Silver Fox
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Silver Fox Kitsune

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HSV Kharon




Phalanx tilted its head a little at Vella seemingly unsure statement before excusing herself for a shower, a form of cleaning the organic body of unwanted bacteria and grime. "May the shower processing go well." It bid farewell to the asari, turning its flashlight head to examine as quite a few of the others started to part ways. Either to speak with someone or to return into sleep mode for a bit. For a moment, it tried to calculate its next move. It could attempt to socialize with someone, yet its attempts would not prove useful for others whom are currently busy with some form of task. Perhaps it could try speaking with Talos? Yet a young created AI wasn't something Phalanx was wishing to gain information from. It's a different perspective but perhaps not of right now. Maybe it could just make some calibrations and diagnosis of the ship? Examine the engineering?

Or perhaps it should attempt to reassure all the organics on the ship that it was actually friendly by socializing? Mhmm... perhaps it should attempt to act a little more organic. The only organic it knew their habits well was its Creator. Whom was quite a bit more chipper and energetic. It might come off as intimidating and odd if a tall synthetic lifeform acted this way instead of a tiny Creator.

As it calculated its options, it paused them momentarily as it whipped its lightly blue glowing eye toward Vella as she spoke up once more, pausing in her venture to her destination. Posing a question.

"Drones make useful in scouting out possible scouting points, facilities, spying and possible dangers. Geth tend to favor using Geth Hoppers or Hunters to perform these tasks. However I understand the advantages of having drones. Both drones and weapon tech capabilities have been studied by Geth in order to make full use of their capabilities. I hold knowledge of both, having to calibrate with the other programs that once resided in this platform during the Morning War and the Reaper War." It answered. It didn't particularly answer if it 'enjoyed' it, but it knew it. Knowledge was knowledge. And it was useful knowledge.

At her last question, it took a few more seconds to calibrate a answer compared to most of its just about immediate answers.

"Join you in the showers or assisting in building more drones and weapon tech? Either way, I am willing to lend assistance when I can." It whirred.
Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by WardenCelestine
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WardenCelestine Warden of the Kaldorei Empire upon Azeroth.

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[Colab post between Leos Klien and Andromedai.]


Giles was surprised at just how much his comrades had been getting up to in their spare time, within 24 hours the Asari - Vella had successfully managed to breakdown relations between humanity and the asari a bit further - it was actually impressive just how inept someone could be especially given that she was been assigned to a Spectre group; her time here would be incredibly short if she did something like that again.

Things didn't really improve either, when the standoff between a N7 operative and the Spectres occurred, or which Giles merely stood behind the Krogan for the event of it, pointless being shot over an argument of who has the bigger balls.

No shots were fired however, despite that this would remain a problem down the line, just one of many that was quickly becoming an extensive list.

The tour of their new home proved that the Spectres were serious about this, they seemed to have someone for everything, of course Giles had to participate in mandatory weekly sessions for counselling.... Something that wasn't needed nor would it help, the Artist appeared whenever he felt like it, or without rhyme or reason - Giles didn't know, he merely dealt with it as best he could; some Asari he's never met before will not answer the problem he has had for over 30 years.

But if it will keep Aegon from bursting a blood vessel again, it would probably be for the best, the only condition he will impose upon Aegon is making sure he never had to share the room with that tin can Ellis, otherwise everything would be fine.

The tour ended after about 10 minutes, and Giles knew he would have to do a few things and talk with a few of them to get his affairs set in order, but for the time being, inspecting his sleeping quarters would have to suffice.

The room was fairly large, it could easily accommodate the group whom would be using this for their rest as well as room to actually walk about and do things without it feeling as if it's cramped - an unusual element, but a welcome one for a ship to have for it's crew.
Giles would have to get used to not having a great deal of room in comparison to what he has had for the past year, but it wouldn't take long.

On the way to his bunk, or at least the one he will claim for himself Giles almost tripped over a large piece of metal that was discarded on the floor, a breast plate of someone's armour.... Giles cursed as he picked it up "Blast it, who does this belong to?"

[Andromedai]

The sudden and abrupt sound of something metal hitting the outside of Aviza's sleeping pod was an unwelcomed annoyance, rudely awakening her from her much needed sleep. For a moment, Aviza tried to ignore what had just happened and closed her eyes once more, repositioning herself to be more comfortable. A few moments would pass by as Aviza tried to let herself relax, but it appeared sleep was now out of the question.

With a sigh of Irritation, the Turian sat up upon her bed and reached to a small control panel to her left, turning on the pods interior lights. After stretching, Aviza opened the privacy door upon her sleeping pod and swung her legs out of it so that they were now placed firmly upon the metallic floor of the ship below her.

Her head hung forward and her hands were placed over her face while a mild headache slowly subsided. In a moment, she would lower her hands down to her lap and sit up straight before turning her gaze, still somewhat dazed, at the Drell that now stood in front of her, holding a breast plate in his hands.

There was a moment of silence before Aviza would speak, but when she did, she spoke in an emotionless tone. "That breastplate looks as if it was made to fit a Turian, so I am guessing it's not yours." Aviza would take the piece of armor from the Drell before inspecting it, "Something hit the door to my sleeping pod, this must have been it. I do hope you were not the one that did such a thing?" Her eyes would quickly meet with his.

Noise behind her brought her attention to the sleeping pod above her own. Another female Turian had decided to bunk above her, the rest was very obvious. "Watch where you store your equipment, take better care of it and it will take better care of you." Aviza tossed the armor into the sleeping pod above her, making sure it wouldn't hit anyone when she did so.

Turning back to the Drell, Aviza was quick to apologize, "My apologies, apparently you were not the one who had awoken me." After a quick shrug, Aviza would speak once more. "You are the only other Drell I know of on the ship besides Lyora, so you must be Giles, correct? I am Aviza Norea, never had the chance to properly introduce myself to everyone before the two Spectres showed up.”

[Leos Klien]

After a moment of holding it, his question was answered, another Turian - one that Giles had not seen before, took ahold of the armour and tossed it inside of the bed-pod above her, turning back to Giles she apologised and introduced herself.
" Another female Turian I see, we seem to have attracted quite a few of you, alas that can't be said of my own race... anyway, I am Gilvert Somner, aka Giles, the resident explosive expert, and on occasion psychopath, but don't let that part worry you." Giles stated jokingly

Giles moved to the bed that was to left of Aviza's and dropped a bag on the neatly tucked sheets. Reaching into the bag, he removed a set of general clothing, some comfortable grey "joggers" as humans called them and a plain blue t-shirt, human clothing would work well enough until he managed to either repair his combat suit or requisition a replacement.

Giles continued his conversation as he changed, revealing multiple dressings and bandages from yesterday's mission, something else he would have to change/remove. " So Aviza, what brings you to the Spectres squad, is there anything in particular that you're good at?

[Andromedai]

Aviza quickly entered her medical state of mind when she saw the multiple dressings and bandages that covered up parts of Giles's body. "You are injured? How long have you had those dressings and bandages upon your injuries? Can you tell me what kind of injuries you currentlly suffer from? The more information you can give me, the better I can treat you." Aviza would clasp her hands together and wait for a reply.

[Leos Klien]

Giles was momentarily taken aback at Aviza's response, but it obviously made clear that she was a medic of some sort - probably more experienced than Alria who performed the dressings.

Giles answered by covering them with his shirt "Small wounds, akin to shrapnel - but all the debris was removed from them and none of the wounds are oozing or infected - don't worry yourself, I've had a military grade talon embedded in my shoulder blade before, this is nothing but a few scratches."

[Andromedai]

Aviza would nod her head in understanding and acknowledgement,"Alright, take proper care of them and ensure they do not become infected, or you will be in medical bay, most likely very ill."

Aviza would then stand upon her feet and continue to talk, "You asked me if I am particularly good at anything, I would say yes. I am trained in advanced first aid and medical treatment, advanced Engineering, and I have years of Havoc training. How about you? what are your areas of expertise?"

[Leos Klien]

Giles gave a nod at hearing Aviza's reply, leaning against his "pod" he replied. "The lucky job of making sure we don't die in the field huh? That's going to be fun, given your job I assume you've been briefed about the Artist? And as I said earlier, I'm the explosives expert, if you want something big reduced to a fraction of it's size, then you'll want me there."

[Andromedai]

"Demolition expert huh? I think we will get along well, as long as you don't blow yourself up by making a mistake." Aviza smirked slightly at this comment, adding that she too, had training in working with explosives. "My acceptance into the team was last moment, so I was not informed about this so called Artist, is that you by chance?" Aviza was now pacing back and forth across the large room, keeping her eyes on the Drell the whole time.

[Leos Klien]

Giles grimaced slightly before replying "Yes, in a way, the Artist is almost another entity that appears randomly, he's psychopathic and extremely dangerous - I never have any memory of when he appears but from what I have heard is that he can typically determine between friend and foe, which doesn't always mean allies are safe near him however - when he appears in combat the best thing to do is act as if nothing has changed, as difficult as that may seem, and if he tries to kill one of the team, its best to incapacitate him, obviously I'd prefer not to die on behalf of the other half of me. Outside of combat, it's best to make sure he's nowhere near any explosives and weapons in general, once that's ensured I hear he makes for an interesting conversationalist. Doctors would call me mad, therapists, disturbed, and most people believe that I am nothing but a danger to and a liability to those around me, but I deal with it as best I can, 30 years and I've yet to actually kill a comrade in arms.

[Andromedai]

The smirk upon Aviza's face would quickly fade away into a look of concern. "Mad and disturbed do not correctly describe what is happening to you. This is a class A example of schizophrenia, maybe even dissociative identity disorder. I mean no offense by what I am about to say but having someone with either of the mental disorders I just listed, is not suitable for the line of work you are currently employed in. Since my words will mean little to the Spectres at this time, I very highly recommend that you take some kind of powerful psycho suppressant untill a real treatment can begin. I will check the equipment in the medical bay and investigate further into this with Dr. Nola’Xen vas Qwib Qwib and Dr. Tenno Kala. On a side note, were you the one who gave this alternate personality a name or did someone else? It is quite possible that this artist gave itself its own name." Did the rest of the team know about this so called Artist? if not, they had the right to know.

[Leos Klien]

Giles wasn't exactly surprised at the response he got, but still it wasn't the one he wanted to hear, shifting his position slightly Giles responded. "Terms like that mean nothing, "schizophrenia" "identity disorder", terms given by people who don't understand what they're faced with, the mind is not something you can just slap some terms and labels on and think you know it's inner workings, the Artist is there and my own medication typically does well to stave him off for extended periods of time, but nothing will make him go away, we are the same, he is me and I am him, no doctor can cure who you are; I deal with him and that is sufficient. And no. I didn't name him, the galaxy is his canvas, and he holds the only brush that fill it's colourless void, that's the way he perceives things, he's never called himself the Artist, but it's a term that fits him well enough given his methods and how he regards his perverted sense of reality."

[Andromedai]

The comments that came from Giles about Aviza and her fellow doctors not understanding psychological disorders and the inner workings of the mind left her feeling unamused and slightly irritated. "You refer to these terms as if they are meaningless and those that use them are uneducated and clueless to what is actually going on. With all due respect and no offense intended, you are incorrect with your statement. There have been countless studies through many species over many centuries that scientifically proves that we are correct, over and over again."

"Keep in mind that I am not here to argue with you about such topics but I find it disrespectful to disregard all the information that people have spent their whole lives to gather as meaningless and incorrect. I respect you enough to not go further into details or to question as to why you think such things as being false. All I ask for now is some understanding and cooperation. Please remember that I am here to help you in anyway I can."

Aviza sighed, she was going to have to have a talk with both of the Spectres about Giles and his mental wellbeing, as well as how it could, and most likely would, affect the whole crew. "Don't worry Giles, I will take care of all of this for you and ensure you are in top, peak condition, both mentally and physically. I have been working in this field for most of my life and have been taught by some of the best in the galaxy." She would then lightly pat the Drell on his left shoulder reassuringly.

[Leos Klien]

Giles supposed that someone saying that everything they've spent their life on is nothing but a lie and/or meaningless would probably offend them. Either way she didn't seem to take it to heart and hold it over him, which was nice, she seemed to have only good intentions and to want to help Giles.

Odd, no one has ever wanted to help his condition, he has just merely lived with it, and his mercenary squad and Aria his boss just put up with it, his skills made the extra baggage worth it. The feeling of someone actually caring for his wellbeing was alien to him, first Alria, and now Aviza - he would have to get used to this.

" I didn't mean to offend, it's simply how I have always perceived it, there's not much in the way for mental health aid in a place like Omega or when you're a mercenary, I suppose it's just how I have handled it over these years. I've already talked to Aegon about it, he's still processing what to do about it - but it's safe to assume I think that I will be staying on the team, at least for now - in terms of "help" I've never had anything of the sort in terms of the Artist, so it's hard to say what will happen.

Aviza gave a pat on his shoulder, in a reassuring way. "Thanks anyway Aviza, but don't lose any sleep over me, I can handle myself, and in part I can handle the Artist.

[Andromedai]

"Think nothing of it, I understand where you are coming from and your reasoning. I am glad to hear that you spoke to Aegon about this though, helps put me slightly more at ease when it comes to this who Artist thing." Aviza would then cross her arms over her chest, turning her head to peer out of the living quarters before returning her gaze to Giles. "I am going to take my leave and make myself some hot tea in the mess hall. If you need anything, you know where to find me." With those final words, she turned and left the living quarters.

On her way through the interior of the ship, she managed to catch sight of the Geth known as Phalanx and the Asari known as Vella, standing further down the metallic hallway, conversing with each other. "Good morning to both of you, pardon me for a moment." Aviza would walk between the two of them managing to hear Phalanx say something about joining the Asari in the showers or helping her with building more drones and weapon tech. She felt like commenting but kept her mouth shut and kept walking towards the kitchen.

Once she had arrived, she would use her data-pad to tap into the ship's speakers inside of the mess hall / kitchen and play one of her own personal favorite songs over them. The process of making the tea was quite simple, all she needed to do was add hot water into a mug that had a type of dexo-protein tea bag inside of it, then wait for it to steep. While she waited, she tapped her left foot upon the ground below her, in beat with the music.

Hidden 7 yrs ago 7 yrs ago Post by Rithy
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Rithy

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"Join you in the showers or assisting in building more drones and weapon tech? Either way, I am willing to lend assistance when I can."

"Eeeeeehhhhh... it might be best if you only join me for the drone building part!" Vella answered after a short, awkward pause with Phalanx; as mental images of Phalanx and her in the shower, ending in every other way except well; usually with Phalanx in question short-circuiting and electrocuting Vella in the process!

"That would be bad... !"

"Good morning to both of you, pardon me for a moment."

The comment would immediately throw Vella off guard as Aviza came by to greet them good morning. The Asari's face, currently stuck in a 'what-the-heck 'facial expression, would shift over to gaze at Aviza as she walked away, before centering on Phalanx once more.

"It's not morning until at least a couple of hours... !"

...

"Still! Back to the Drone part! Come with me, and I'll show you to my room!" Vella said after grabbing onto Phalanx's hand, almost trying to pull the 7ft tall robot with her; which ended up with her tugging at Phalanx for a moment before the machine followed after her.

*

A few moments later, a freshly washed and still slightly wet and dripping Vella came out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her, and walked over to the center of the room where she had basically left Phalanx in front of a small table filled to the brim with random pieces of electronics, micro-turrets, miniature anti-grav engines and explosive charges strewn haphazardly across the table. Most of the occasional plating was soft, curved chrome plates, typical of Asari engineering and construction in general.

"I go nowhere without a small set of spare parts." Vella took the moment to answer any possible question that might be hanging in the air before she sat down at the workbench next to Phalanx, before starting to pick up some of the pieces and giving them a thoughtful look.

"Which is rather handy, as I lost both my drones during our last little encounter. I need to build some new ones, yet I haven't decided on a design yet." Vella explained, before tilting her head and giving Phalanx a funny look.
"I personally was thinking of making a heavier turret drone. Maybe not include a suicide charge this time so I don't have to replace them that often. Although... I do wonder if you had any suggestions as to a new design!"

Vella said, her tone betraying a sense of enthusiasm and curiosity as she looked back over at Phalanx, and then motioned towards the the workbench and tools in front of her, as well as the parts strewn about the bench!
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