[center][h1][color=0054a6]Zenn'Valin vas Konesh[/color][/h1][/center]
[hr]

A lone quarian stood in front of the Meliá Resort. Unmoving he stared up in admiration at the 200 year old building. Under any other circumstance it would have been nothing to gawk at. There were more impressive and older structures all over the galaxy, not to mention in other cities on Earth, that would have made this one insignificant. But after the invasion nearly all of them were destroyed or at least horribly damaged. But this resort? Untouched. That alone made this a rare sight to behold. In its presence one could almost pretend none of it happened. That the reapers never came. 

The quarian continued to gaze upon the building he would be residing in until his trance was broken by the approach of a well dressed human woman.

“Excuse me.” She said as she lightly tapped on the quarian’s shoulder. “Are you Zenn’Valin?”

Zenn jumped slightly, startled for a moment having not been aware of her presence. But almost immediately regained his composure before speaking.

“That I am.” Zenn replied. He crossed his arms and let out a small chuckle. “Heh. I see my reputation precedes me. I wasn’t aware I was known in Havana, but I guess fighting the reapers comes with that kind of notoriety.”

The woman awkwardly scratched the back of her neck before clarifying. “Uh, no. You’re just the only quarian we’ve seen around here in months and we have a room booked in your name.” She cleared her throat and pulled up her omni-tool. The screen displayed Zenn’s info and a room number confirming his reservation.

“Oh…” Zenn softly let out. His arms slumped to the side as he quickly broke eye contact with the woman “Yeah that- Makes a lot more sense…” 

Maybe he had been too distracted in admiring the building, or maybe he was still jet lagged after the shuttle ride from London, but he only now realized the person standing in front of him was a hotel clerk. She must have come out to greet him when the staff noticed he wasn’t coming inside.

“Anyway,” Zenn said in an attempt to move forward from his embarrassment. “I was told my room was a sanitized suite of some sort?”

“Yes, sir!” The clerk cheerily chirped. She pressed a few buttons on her omni-tool changing the image to a layout of the room with several details highlighted. “Our specialized sanitation suite includes all the amenities of our standard rooms along with state of the art air filtration systems and a decontamination field in the entryway so that you and any guests can enter without risk of compromising the area.”

“Wow!” Zenn said through a laugh. “You really pulled out all the stops here.” The quarian placed his hands on his hip and continued in a more confident voice. “The SRN must have been very impressed with my resume if they’re willing to go in for all that just for me. I’ll just have to make sure I live up to their expectations.”

The clerk’s smile vanished as Zenn spoke. She clenched her free hand into a fist and pulled it close to her lips before a quiet “Um…” slipped out.

Zenn dropped his head and let out a long sigh. “Let me guess. They made all the arrangements in my name including the bill?”

“200 credits” The clerk sheepishly answered.

“Keelah.” Zenn cursed, placing an open palm on his visor and shaking his head. “Septis always told me never take a job unless you’ve memorized the contact. Oh well. It’s a good thing I’m not in it for the credits.” He pulled up his omni-tool and transferred the credits without further question. He didn’t like it, but it was on him for not paying more attention to the details. It was just lucky that he had enough to cover the cost.

Once the payment had been completed, the clerk returned to her gleeful demeanor. “Thank you very much! I promise you'll find your stay here more than worth the price! Now right this way and I'll show you to your room."

The clerk led Zenn through the front doors, but before they crossed the lobby, his omni-tool began to indicate he had received a message. Zenn signaled for the clerk to stop while he looked over the instructions he had been given.

"Sorry, but it looks like I've been requested in the cigar lounge. I should be able to find my room on my own. Thanks anyway."

Unphased, the clerk simply smiled and nodded. "My pleasure! Would you like me to at least have someone take your belongings to your room so you don't have to carry them around?"

Zenn glanced around the lobby to see what she might have been referring to. He didn't have any bags or even a suitcase. All he had was on his person. Unless she was talking about his weapons. 

“All I really have are my guns." He explained with a shrug. "Do you feel comfortable having your staff carrying guns through your establishment?”

Without batting an eye the clerk responded. “Sir, our mayor is a Krogan.”

“Fair point.” Zenn said, handing his sniper and pistol over without hesitation.

The clerk took the weapons and carefully tucked them into her arms before sending Zenn off with a cheerful “Please enjoy your stay!”

[hr]

It didn’t take long to find the cigar lounge. The resort had directions posted at every turn that led Zenn directly where he needed to go. He stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath. This would be his first time doing freelance work since his pilgrimage. These days were supposed to be behind him. But at least this time it was different. He wasn’t doing this just to make ends meet. This was his choice. He was here to make a difference. To help rebuild and restore order to the Sol system. Time to shine!

His internal peptalk concluded, Zenn entered the lounge just in time to see the SRN contact light up a cigar for what looked like the first time in her life. A fact made even more evident by her nearly choking to death after a single puff. Was she trying to act tough? If so she wasn’t doing herself any favors.

“Careful. I hear those things will kill you.” Zenn stated as he stepped towards Lizbeth. “Though I’ve heard the same of mercenary work, and it hasn’t gotten me yet.”

He figured a joke would help break the tension, and hopefully put the poor girl’s nerves at ease. Afterall, there was nothing she needed to be worried about. Of course, Zenn had worked with this type of crowd a lot in his youth. He was accustomed to being around people tougher than hull plating and ready to kill at a moments notice. This scientist, however? Probably not so much. 

He grabbed her hand and gave it a light but firm shake. "Zenn'Valin vas Konesh. At your service.”

Releasing her hand, he took a seat on the far left side of the couch directly across from Lizbeth and waited for the remaining members to arrive. Once everyone was gathered they spent the next little while going over all the details of available missions. While Zenn was a bit disappointed they didn’t have turian brandy or really anything dextro offered to drink, it was for the best seeing as he’d want to have a clear head for any of the tasks. Once all options had been presented, he quickly spoke up.

“You can leave the distress signal to me. Reconnaissance is my speciality. I could probably investigate the area and be back without the locals ever knowing I was there. And if I’m caught. Well,” Zenn placed his arms behind his head and leaned back in his seat. “I think I can handle a bunch of thugs with guns. Still, if anyone else wants to come, I'd never say no to backup.”

"That being said, if you'd rather someone else look into the signal I could locate and retrieve the shuttle." He suggested with a shrug. "Grabbing an abandoned vehicle before impound doesn’t sound very challenging, but it would be a better than going to a party. I probably couldn’t even eat or drink anything they served anyway."