[h3][center]Old Enemies, New Partners[/center][/h3]

[@DrRtron] & [@KaiserElectric]


Urd walked into the engineering bay as he talked into his omni-tool, making notes as he surveyed the engineering bay. He had to duck to fit through the doorway as even with it being retrofitted  the ship was not designed for someone of his size. His faithful drone, Ruzad, floated dutifully behind him. The small engine rumbled like a pleased Varren as it hovered along. As per usual, he was in his armor with his hammer on his back and his claymore at his side. Not that he really expected trouble on this ship, of course, but old habits die hard.

“The Weiro is, as with all Quarian ships, functional. Her armor and shields are weaker than I would prefer, but not everything can be of solid Krogan make. She will do, especially for the long periods of time we will all be in the ship. Her greatest strength will be her versatility once we upgrade her. If CSEC gives us the funds to upgrade her. The Geth left a lot of room for building her up.  Note: Do a more thorough examination of the ship at a later date and put in requests of upgrades to the ship as a whole."

“The vehicle situation is less functional. We’re stuck with two Alliance Makos and four Kodiaks. And while I’m sure the humans pride themselves on the [i]economy[/i] of their vehicles, I am far less assured. The Mako is notoriously difficult to drive, possesses a sub-par cannon, and its armor on the best models is merely adequate, and I doubt CSEC gave us the best model. The Kodiaks are more acceptable, but not as good as Krogan Threshers. Reminder: Renew request for Krogan Tomkah to be added to the vehicle bay so the squad on the ground can have actual fire support and mobile cover. Put in requests for Krogan Threshers so interplanetary travel is more secure. In the meantime, begin upgrading and improving armor on Mako as best you can. Also, renew request for Varrens and Kakliosaurs.” 

The engineering bay was a much better sight. Everything was as tip top as a ship designed for nearly endless periods of sustained life aboard should be. With the added modifications and retrofitting from the Geth it was and even better set up. “Engineering bay is in much better condition. The Geth only improved on the old Quarian designs. Aside from age, I can see no concerns. That may change as I begin to get reports back from my scans. For now, notes ending.”

He brought down his omni-tool and walked over to the nearest console to begin a basic system scan and report, gesturing idly to the armored drone behind him. “Ruzad, fly to the higher levels and start scanning for any weaknesses in the structures or flaws that I should be aware of.” The drone beeped in reply and began to fly to various parts of the engineering bay and begin scanning for any irregularities, as Urd idly patted the Varren plushie attached to his side, waiting for the reports to come back.

Ruzad traveled up alongside the power conduits, passing the rarely-used upper balcony where a Scorpion pistol was left sitting alongside a neatly folded uniform jacket and a radio set playing a thumping techno-pop tune, barely audible from below thanks to the deep rumble of the engine core.

“He had an angel’s face, a fighter’s grace, and an ace hidden up his sleeve-”

The drone swung towards the source of the noise, a set of legs dangling from one of the rafters, which was tapping in time to the beat of the song.

“-but never mind cos love is blind, and she needed to believe-”

Moving cautiously to avoid detection, Ruzad floated upwards to get a clearer vantage point, finding a figure in a black and gold uniform slacks and a white crop top deep in the innards of a power conduit.

“His touch could fill! He held her safe from...oh by the sands what is this, do they WANT someone to shut the power down mid-jump?” The figure roughly pulled a bundle of wires out by a heavy plug, a static discharge illuminating the amber scales and dark eyes of the Drell doing the impromptu electrical work.

“Note to self, don’t trust the Geth to secure vulnerable areas of this ship,” Osino Kael reported to herself, despite lacking any sort of recording device. “This is abysmal, I’ve found at least three major vulnerabilities in the power relays today, to say nothing of the conduit shutoffs.”

The Drell paused mid-thought, then turned slightly to face the drone observing her. “Well I don’t mean YOU, you seem perfectly competent...if a little bulky.” Extracting a thick rope of wiring from the conduit, Osino slid backwards off the rafter, grabbing onto the edge with one hand before she fell and dropped safely down to the upper drive generator, securely plugging the wires in with a shower of electrical sparks. “Messy but it’ll do,” she said, wiping her brow before looking back at the drone. “You know, you seem familiar, have I infiltrated into your coding before?”

With a shrug, Osino stepped onto the power conduit leading over the lower balcony, not noticing the Krogan waiting patiently for the droid’s scans to complete, since she only had eyes for the sugary beverage that she left sitting behind him earlier. Crouching down over the pipe, her body glowed with biotic energy as she slipped around the tube and stood upside down underneath it. Reaching for her drink, she didn’t quite notice the metal component she stuffed loosely into her pocket slipping out.

Focused on the scans before him and the issues that were being reported, Urd missed Ruzad’s warning beeps about the unexpected Drell in the upper balcony. He began recording notes in his omni-tool again, scowling at the console. “Ancestors preserve me, the Geth are terrible at securing weaknesses in this system. There’s at least three issues in the-” He suddenly stopped, his brows furrowed in confusion as one of the issues disappeared. “What in the Void? End notes.” The omni-tool shut off once more as the Krogan scratched the side of his plate and tapped on the console a few more times to ensure it just wasn’t a glitch going through. 

The issue was genuinely fixed, at least for now, which was concerning. Ships didn’t fix themselves, so that could only mean something was going wrong. After all, he was the only engineer CSEC had brought on. They didn’t need any others. He brought up his omni-tool once more. “Ruzad, get me those scans as fast as you can. Something weird is going on with this ship, and I’d like to figure it out before we explode or something. I’d survive, of course, but the rest of the crew would be pretty put out.”

A loud clunk from behind him immediately sent a panic through Urd’s body. Flashbacks to ambushes from the tubes raced through his head as he whipped around, Claymore out and aimed at the sound behind him. He wasn’t going to be caught off guard again, he wasn’t going to be taken again, he had to alert the crew there was an invasion already the tankies had figured out where they were and… The stream of thoughts came to a slow halt as Urd stared at the Drell standing on the bottom side of the tube, hand stretched out towards a drink he hadn’t noticed before. She glowed with biotic energy that apparently glued her to her unorthodox positioning. 

It was a familiar glow.

It was a familiar alien.

“Oh, didn’t know anyone else was here,” Osino remarked, somewhat distracted as she tried to figure out the logistics of drinking upside down. Urd’s eyes narrowed in recognition and then widened as the voice kickstarted his memory of where he had seen the amber colored woman before. The same frustration surged back as he saw her face, remembering the last blow she had gotten in before fleeing.

“It’s YOU!” He roared, taking his already usually unnecessarily high tone of voice a few levels higher. He pointed a finger at her, accusingly. 

“I…steady rhythm of machinery, stale air choked with smog, slaver struggling against the restraints,” Osino recited, her eyes darting around as her surprise gave way to a particularly strong memory recall.

“You’re that slippery little pyjak whose crew kidnapped my client on Chalkhos! You cost me three thousand credits!” Urd shouted, not aware of the Drell recalling a specific memory. Truth be told, he wasn’t even aware of what species she was. Just a very irritating and painful opponent.

“Heated shrapnel scatters along the wall, electricity dances around the rusted red hammer... ”

“You knocked out my tooth with that cheap shot at the end! It took weeks to grow back!” Continued shouting, bulldozing over the recited memories.

“Glass shatters as the hammer strikes the ribs, metallic taste in the mouth, sharp breath as the second strike misses by inches...”

“And here you are, stowed away and getting ready to steal something else! Maybe [i]someone[/i] else! You won’t get away this time you little shit! Get down from there!” He yelled again, pointing to the floor in front of him a series of short jabs.

“Fingers scrape against the latch, descent into the dark vent, I...wait, stowaway?” Osino said, blinking as she snapped out of her recall. Ruzad floated down quickly from the upper balcony, tracking the drell’s movements and making Urd’s demand incredibly clear. “I think we may be having a misunderstanding…” Osino went on, trying to defuse the situation with a light chuckle. “Heh, okay maybe more on your part, but-”

Chucking her drink in Urd’s direction, she swung around the conduit and sprung off, stepping off of Ruzad on the way up before vanishing into the rafters.

Urd smacked the drink out of the way with his Claymore, scattering the drink across the floor. Ruzad beeped in alarm, swinging around to try and trace where Osino had disappeared to with no luck. The Krogan scanned the upper rafters with his shotgun, growling in irritation as he remembered how difficult she was to pin down. “Get back down here and show yourself, you coward!” He roared into the now seemingly empty room. No reply came.

“Fine! I’ll find you then! One way, or another!” Focused on finding the Drell, Urd didn't hear the doors open.