[IC] Mass Effect: Borealis

[DJAtomika]

As Dex walked back to her seat, Hazan gave her a glance. Judging from her expression, the exchange out in the hall hadn't gone well. With a shrug of his shoulders he shifted in his seat, lazily double checking their course on his terminal.

"If it's any consolation, our job on Omega should give us enough dough to make this bucket...slightly less of a bucket." 

He felt the ship shudder as it groaned into life under Dex's hands. The Borealis sputtered and then roared towards Thail, weaving deftly (as deftly as a bucket could) through a light asteroid field under Dex's guidance. While she prepared to break out of the planet's grav field, he set his omnitool to sleep mode. His job was pretty much over. For now.

“Alright gents, get ready for the break off. It’s feeling like it’ll be bumpy. Here we go!”

Hazan held onto his chair as the rust bucket shuddered its way out of Thail's gravitational field and rocketed straight for the mass relay. He was right, Thail's field was strong enough. Thankfully. The ship sailed its way to the mass relay as he watched out the front windows.

“Approaching Mass Relay, engaging mass effect core. Preparing for relay jump.”

"Here's hoping the bucket doesn't fall apart when we exist FTL!"

---

“This is Dexureta of the Borealis requesting permission to dock.”

Awoken from his nap by the jolt of the ship coming out of FTL next to the Omega Nebula relay, Hazan sat up in his seat while Dex radioed for landing confirmation to the station. With nothing else to do, he stood, stretched out the kinks in his back and got out of his chair.

"Alright fellas, since we're landing on this Spirits-forsaken station, I'm gonna go hit my bunk first and gear up. I'll see you guys in the hangar."

A hand gently gave Mirage's chair a pat.

"And if there's anyone you wanna say hello to down there, I can issue extended greetings. No sweat."

That said, he shut down his terminal and made his way off the bridge, heading for his bunk.

The two matte black cases that contained his kit laid on the floor just next to his bed. Without delay he popped them open and laid his essentials out on his bed. His shotgun, rifle and pistol laid dormant within their stowed, compact forms. The light armour he wore laid in the second case, nestled in grey packing foam. Lifting each piece from its compartment, he assembled his suit; fitting the bracers and gloves onto his arms, clipping the boots up tight, firmly latching his chest piece on.

The process took several minutes, during which an announcement by their friendly pilot blared over the intercom system, followed shortly after by the dull thump and hiss of the ship's landing gear touching down on a pad.

"Attention all crew, we have docked successfully at the horrifically dingy Afterlife District. To your left you can see some prostitute giving a batarian a blowjob in the alley, while off to the right you can see some gang members, looks like Blood Pack, shaking down a local for protection money. Please step lightly while exiting, you might just trip over a dead body."

Wonderful, he thought, it just had to be Afterlife. Only the biggest den of mercenaries and bounty hunters there was. Just my luck.

With that in mind, he pulled the attached hood on his suit up over his head, grabbed his guns and walked right out of his bunk. He made a beeline straight for the hangar, which was their meeting point, and grabbed a seat on a nearby crate.

All he had to do now was wait for the rest of the crew and then listen to whatever game plan the de facto captain came up with. Easy.

He hoped that he didn't get a bullet to the head immediately when the cargo bay doors opened. Word did travel far and fast, after all. He just hoped that it wasn't the case today.

[Hank]

The journey to the Omega system was reasonably smooth. Surprisingly so, actually. Mirage opened up a direct line of communications with the docking station they were aiming for as soon as the Borealis entered the system and patched Dex in, allowing her to ask for docking permission. After that, he busied himself with shoehorning his monitoring app into everyone's Omni-tools -- without asking permission, of course. Someone has to keep track of these idiots, he thought to himself as he opened up a holo-screen displaying the locations of the crew, who were currently scattered across the ship. This also allowed him to directly talk to them using the ship's comms system.

Hazan had already left the bridge and after the docking procedure was complete, so did Dex. Mirage hadn't said anything when Hazan offered to extend greetings to anyone stationside. He thought of Twitch and Astrovor, but he put them out of his mind almost immediately. He had a job to do. Judging by the crew's movement through the ship, most of them were getting ready or already gathering in the hangar; perfect timing.

Using the ship's intercomm and any personal comm-link he could patch himself into, Mirage cleared his throat and spoke up. "Alright children, gather round and listen up. My name is Mirage and I will be your tour guide today on the lovely garden-world known as Omega. Pay attention, because Mirage is good and Mirage is wise. Using my extensive deductive capabilities -- and by listening in on your conversations -- I've compiled a list of everything we need to do here. First off; parts. We all know this ship is a rustbucket. If you can tell the wrong end from the right end of a wrench, please take responsibility. We also need food. One of the other levo-based lifeforms on this vessel, please tag along." His voice, already raspy and distorted through the rebreather, sounded even more guttural and ominous over the ship's shitty speakers.

Checking his list, Mirage paused for a second before continuing. "We obviously also need fuel. Drono, you said something about weapon coolant? Whatever, it's on the list. Have fun. Also, in case any of you morons get shot, we need medical supplies. And last but not least, we need credits, which means we need work. Those of you with actual social skills, please apply. Check? Check. Now, since we're all adults, I'm going to assume you know how to work together; that goes for the humans too. Form groups and distribute the responsibilities. I was born and raised on Omega, so if you have any questions about where you need to go, whisper. Once you've formed the squads, let me know so I can assign you completely randomly generated call-signs. Mirage out."

Leaning back in his chair, Mirage chuckled to himself. It had been a while since he'd taken charge of an operation like this. It reminded him of his shadow war against the Blue Suns. Some things never change.

[Heat]

Valiss' eyes caught Alex as she entered the fold. Her words that identified herself as a biotic almost made the asari smirk. She was glad there were others with biotic talent onboard the ship. There was the other asari of course, but a human was more interesting in the biotic regard. Her race naturally were all natural born biotics, not all humans were. It must have been different for them within their own race's society.

"Asari commando skills. Biotics, firearms, martial arts. Nothing really that useful outside of killing, sadly." Valiss said to Duuka, a smirk on her pretty face as she spoke.

Valiss felt as the Borealis launched itself through the mass relay, indicating they were on schedule for Omega. She excused herself from the conversation, then moved out of the kitchen area, leaving the others behind as she wandered away. She hadn't decided what exactly she was going to do there, the other crewmen seemed to be using it as a place to fetch supplies. Maybe she would do more of the same. One thing was for certain, she was going to visit Afterlife.

As the pilot indicated over the intercom that they had successfully docked, Valiss stood at her storage locker. Slowly but with certainty she pulled out each of her weapons, with a quick glance at each one to insure they looked up to shape she slid them on the typical places on her armor. A blue hand grasped her helmet and clipped it to herself. The ex commando took a step away from the locker, certain that she was ready to deal with the vicious space station.

Her eyes caught sight of the interior of Omega as she walked. It almost reminded her of home, cramped full of people, though the station was much more of a mixing pot then the asari homeworld. Instead of nearly no crime, there seemed to be nothing but crime here. She would need to return home sometime, see how her mother was holding up. Valiss reached the hangar and leaned up against the wall next to Alex, giving a nod to the helmeted human.

[Fallenreaper]

Hanger-> Quarters-> Hanger again

“Well, I need something to do. Can’t say I’m as talented you two ladies. My most useful skills when it comes to engineering is mainly wielding and even that is limited.” Vellios stated, his tone cheeky but lacking sarcasm or pride over his limitations. He didn’t see the point in pretending he wasn’t useless at some aspects through he made up for it in other areas. As far as he was concerned, if he could make a living off his current skill set then that was good enough for him and no extra skills were needed. It didn’t go without saying it would make his life easier however.

The turian’s eyes lingered, mostly in habit, to admire Tanya’s curves. Despite her being human, he had to admit she had curves in all the right places when she bent down to examine her crate and slowly shifted his sight elsewhere. Mainly to the crates that needed to be moved before him. Since no one else was going to do it, he took it upon himself and shifted the first crate from the top and pulled it down. His fingers snapped open the lid to reveal several medi gels unused and packaged for what he assumed was the medical bay on the ship. A meager supply, Vellios knew with the number on board and likely trouble they were going to get into, there was little hope this supply would last more than a week. Even if they rationed a small amount to each member and somehow managed not to kill each other during the flight, the odds of them getting out of every fight unscratched would be a miracle. He, himself, would’ve used numerous medi gel if only to keep him on his feet and useful to the current crew.

A turian muscle being on bed rest half the time was more problematic and cost wasting than one that managed his own upkeep. That notion along was a sure fire way to get him a one way off this flying heap and into the gutter on some nearest planet colony. Sighing, Vellios snapped shut the lid then moved onto the next crate. He paused long enough to activate his omnitool. It casted a orange glow and bussed slightly, a screen from his last play log came up instantly causing him to flick it back down and pull up a connection to the ship’s logs. He scanned for the cargo listing to scan through, checking off the medi gel supplies as well as the crate’s amount.

He was sure someone was going to be disappointed.

It was most likely all the recent fund from any jobs they could salvage up might go for the parts and basic essentials, rather than medical supplies and luxuries for a while. Part of him worried there might not be a decent medic onboard and that spelt a disaster waiting to happen. With this many on board and little to no idea of what everyone’s skill set was, Vellios smirked at the mess Serena and him were currently in. While he was confident he would survive, his thoughts drifted to Serena’s chances for the moment causing him to wonder.

Looks like he was going to have to do some digging on his current teammates throughout this experience and possibly during their outing. At worse he would have to scrape up some useful medical downloads and gain some additional credits on Omega through some illegal fighting, the later sounding the most appealing. He wondered, idly, if any of the others were interested in joining as either contestants or observers. Through they might also try to stop him. Vellios’ mouth curved into a turian smile at the challenge and returned his mind to cataloguing the supplies for whoever was the knucklehead that deemed himself best to lead this misfit crew. A job, he didn’t envy taking himself really.

Setting his own belongings aside, he was almost done with the small amount of supplies, the Salarian likely going for cheapness rather than quality,

Vellios was still sorting through things- half way through everything-and adding to the list when the pilot’s voice came over the intercom. He paused then tilted his head up to listen, resting his eyes from the display on his omnitool, than absorbing the turian pilot’s humor.

"Attention all crew, we have docked successfully at the horrifically dingy Afterlife District. To your left you can see some prostitute giving a batarian a blowjob in the alley, while off to the right you can see some gang members, looks like Bloodpack, shaking down a local for protection money. Please step lightly while exiting, you might just trip over a dead body."

Chuckling, he used a single finger to push down his current list then turn off his omnitool. Slowly he leaned to the side and rose to his feet, feeling his carapace ache with each movement from his sitting position. He swear there was a soft crackling with each motion causing him to realise how long he been in it. Gently he stretched, working out the kinks for several moments letting his body adjust before he leaned over to retrieve his bags. Hauling them over his shoulder, Vellios then slinked off to likely what quarters weren’t occupied. He passed a few members heading to the hanger while suddenly his omnitool flickered to life and a voice, raspy and statically, came on over it.

"Alright children, gather round and listen up. My name is Mirage and I will be your tour guide today on the lovely garden-world known as Omega. Pay attention, because Mirage is good and Mirage is wise. Using my extensive deductive capabilities -- and by listening in on your conversations -- I've compiled a list of everything we need to do here.”

Vellios knew he shouldn’t have left his omnitool hooked up to the ship’s systems, his mind making a mental note to get better security for the future. He wasn’t exactly pleased someone had literally hacked his tool, allowing them to fiddle with his system and even cripple his combative capabilities. Being weaponless is the most dangerous thing in this world as he continued to listen with mild interest, his hand rested along the only remaining quarter’s doorway.

"First off; parts. We all know this ship is a rustbucket. If you can tell the wrong end from the right end of a wrench, please take responsibility. We also need food. One of the other levo-based lifeforms on this vessel, please tag along."

He checked that skill off his list. Despite his basics, he wasn’t the best choice for getting parts through he was likely to tag along with Serena and Tanya just to keep them out of trouble, the prior being a bit too innocent for his tastes to risk trusting her on her own. The voice paused a moment, seeming to recollect something and continued.

"We obviously also need fuel. Drono, you said something about weapon coolant? Whatever, it's on the list. Have fun.”

Nope...Vellios thought blandly, noting the unfamiliar name.

"Also, in case any of you morons get shot, we need medical supplies.”

Again, not his department. Yes, if needed he could be a makeshift medic as he knew the basic means to take down anything from a asari to a krogan, with lacking medical knowledge over the vocha, drell and less than perfect on human. Having him go on a supply run for both dextros and levos beings was a rather terrible idea since he could very well end up getting something useless and practically fatal to both races here on Omega. Over all a waste of credits if he ever saw one.

“And last but not least, we need credits, which means we need work. Those of you with actual social skills, please apply. Check?”

Social skills he was well tune with but unfortunately he wasn’t about to leave Serena alone. It was like leaving a FTL drive with a history of melting down and trusting it not to repeat itself, a fact he wasn’t about to do. No, someone else was going to have to deal with the work getting and he hoped they didn’t fuck it up. Little disappointed he was going to be stuck babysitting, Vellios edged into his room and got ready for the trip, his ears still listening to the machine like voice rambling onward. His body slid in sideways, maneuvering around the tight space, into the cramped quarters.

“Check. Now, since we're all adults, I'm going to assume you know how to work together; that goes for the humans too. Form groups and distribute the responsibilities. I was born and raised on Omega, so if you have any questions about where you need to go, whisper. Once you've formed the squads, let me know so I can assign you completely randomly generated call-signs. Mirage out.”

Vellios set his things down with a soft thump in the middle of the small, compacted room. Reaching back, he tugged the door close causing it to screech in pain then proceeded to unpack his armor. He chose the Survivor Armor due to its light weight and protection which would give him maximum mobility in the field through it wouldn’t be able to take heavy gun fire or biotics assaults. After donning the armor over his clothes, he then unloaded and put together his Scimitar, Assault Rifle and Sniper Rifle.

After placing them on his back, he let himself adjust to the familiar weight once more. He would be lying if he didn’t admit it felt good to be suited up once more. Vellios thumped the remaining bags on top of his bunk to be sorted later while he turned on heel and walked out of the door.

---

On entering the hangar, it seemed everyone was taking their sweet time arriving. Unfazed or worry about the time constriction, Vellios pulled up his display screen on his omnitool once more then scanned his programs to make sure everything was in working order. He was still edgy over the earlier hacking, sending his instincts into higher awareness, while he decided to test his boundaries. Something he had learned during his time back on the Haides and about the only useful skill besides how many ways there were to die, how to kill and less savvy skill sets. He snapped his screen down back into his omintool before he began.

“Well, folks it might be productive if we introduced ourselves, list our skills briefly and determine what we’re heading for so it makes getting into groups easier. Namely, as Mirage said, before we head out into Omega. ” Vellios inhaled then continued.

"I’ll start since I spoke up first. Name’s Vellios Malkai, specialty in muscle and hired gun. I have basics in hacking, wielding, medical skills, wide range of anatomy knowledge, and a few other baseline skills that I hope will help.” Vellios’ eyes panned the hangar, his figure casually walked into the center of the hangar so everyone could easily hear him. He figured he would start introductions then move onto his thoughts about how the groupings should work and such. Through with this group, someone else might take charge and alter everything. This didn’t bother him through it might create conflict with his agenda, which it wasn't like he couldn't adapt in the end. Even if he had to merely do what he wanted rather than stick with his group assignment.

“Who’s next? Or do I get to give everyone a nickname based on the first thing that pops into my mind?”

[Dervish]

“Listen up, gather around. Look what I found in the captain’s quarters.” Tonka said, setting down a device that was hooked up to a holoprojector in the middle of the hanger, where the team in various states of readiness looked on as a monochromatic blue popped up. The krogan hit a few more keys, explaining. “Some of you might recognize this equipment, it’s a recorder that can be used from anything from recording audio journals to displaying data, like so.” The hologram shifted to a pair of floating dossiers with batarian faces rotating on top of one another. The lower one was missing his upper-right eye and looked like he had burn scars on that side of his face. “Luzami probably kept this around to aid in his briefings and to keep his own thoughts in order, there’s a few different files I found on here two of which are contracts on Omega.”

Another key was struck, and a distinctly salarian voice filled the air, projecting from the recorder.

”The job is worth 17,000 credits to the Systems Alliance, and it should be a good place for the crew to cut their teeth, to borrow a rather delightful human saying. The Twin Star was identified during the Skyllian Blitz during the worst of the fighting on Elysium, being immediately noticeable for being an asari military vessel on the side of the batarian invaders.

How they came across the frigate remains unknown, but things trade hands in the black market all the time. It would be worth investigating if the ship is worth anything to the asari government and if they’d pay for its return, but that may prove to be a tall order to seize and deliver since we’ll be kicking over a hornet’s nest. We know that the main target, Kapan Nasa’kor is the captain of the Twin Star and is the mastermind behind the attacks, and his right hand man is only known by his alias “3-Eyed Zallak”. Both men are wanted by Elysium authorities to stand trial, and that is absolutely a priority. The rest of their crew is considered expendable, and we are uncertain of if Nasa’kor has a strong network of associates or even friends; so far there’s no indication that anyone would be particularly upset if his simply disappeared, and without any known connections to other pirate or slaving syndicates, Nasa’kor is easy credits, assuming the crew is competent enough to fight against violent and ruthless slavers who have combat experience.

With the dossiers I assembled from the interested parties, I don’t anticipate many issues. Go in, capture or kill Nasa’kor and Zallak, and bring them to Elysium. There’s a 5,000 credit bonus if we do it alive.”

The hologram changed to a schematic of what appeared to be an old fenced in work facility.

”The crew of the Twin Star is known to frequent a dive of an old worker camp from the earliest days of mining operations on Omega, and it’s been out of use for centuries. A three-story worker housing structure dominates the compound, the ground floor contains the foreman’s office, the cafeteria, a bar and restaurant, and a communal living area with the two upper floors containing 40 rooms a floor. Given the reported size of the Twin Star’s crew, most of those rooms are likely vacant, but expect at least somebody to be occupying them.

Next to the mine’s entrance is the operations center where the old mining operations were directed, including dispatching, administration, mobilization, and so on. It’s likely been converted to the officer’s quarters and office, so there might be some interesting intelligence and possibly our targets to be found in there.

The last of the outdoor structures is a large warehouse and workshop where the mining equipment and raw material was kept and serviced. It likely is being used to store whatever goods the Twin Star crew has obtained from their operations, and the handful of transports they use to get around the station and down the mineshaft are usually kept in here. This is also the building where power and utilities come into the compound, so it may be worthwhile sabotaging that to create confusion.

And finally, what they have been doing with the mine is a tightly guarded secret, and no amount of snooping can ascertain what they’re doing with the space, but it may or may not be worth investigating if we can obtain our targets and get out. Mines are not great places to find yourself if the enemy is expecting you, and ambushes are often fatal.

I will recommend the team split off and prioritize targets based on intel we gather. The Twin Star crew has boxed themselves into an area where the only escape can be cut off, and no one will be coming to their aid. It will be good to see if my finances are paying for anyone worthwhile, because I need to know I can trust these people when it comes time to do the real job.

“And that’s all there was.” Tonka said, standing tall and cracking his neck by applying pressure with his fist. “I say we keep this thing up in the cockpit where it can be kept secure and if anybody screws with it, there’s several sets of eyes who will know. As for the mission, easy enough. Slavers and pirates are used to picking fights with people who can’t defend themselves, so it puts their quads in a vice when someone with a bad attitude comes their way. Since we’re doing names,” he said, glaring at Duuka and Vellios before turning to the rest of the crew.

“Ravanor Tonka. Miner turned starship engineer turned mercenary. I know my way around an omni-tool and a sniper rifle, there isn’t much alive that I haven’t killed at some point because hunting people and the fauna’s about the same to me. I was also a scout for my clan, so I’m used to getting in and out of messes without causing a ruckus. I figure my best course of action is to start off on over watch, make sure nobody gets the drop on us, as well as keep an eye out for our targets. Easier to pick out fine details of a face through a scope. Once the outside’s secure, I volunteer to head down the mine and see if anything’s interesting in there. Probably worth checking out that administration building and see if it has some clues. Maybe they’re hording gold that’s protected by a thresher maw.” The krogan said dryly, crossing his arms and looking around at the assembled crowd.

Tanya caught Vellios leering at her in the undersuit for her armour, to which she replied with a rude gesture. The meeting took place in the middle of her gear preparation, which was a pain in the ass. “I’m Tanya, I fix shit that breaks and makes it better. Give me a few weeks, and I’ll have our vehicles and most of this ship fucking flawless. So, to answer Wheelie’s earlier sass, I’m one of the ones who knows what the fuck a wrench is. I know a limited amount of VI programming, just mainly modifying combat drones and turrets, so Serena seems to be the chief in the department of if we want the ship to start telling us how much we want to put it out of its misery.

“Likewise, Wheelie probably knows a hell of a lot more than I do about hacking and communications, so don’t ask me about networks, I’m mainly able to break into the more common systems if I can get localized and about to link in by hand. If someone doesn’t have top of the line encryption, you can bet I can and will flood their security feeds with a shitload of really bad porn.

“I’m an Alliance trained combat engineer, so if we need to break into somewhere or fix something in a hurry, I’m your girl. I’m also handy in a fight, so I can keep the nasty cunts off our backs if need be. Shithead’s been modified for rockets and flamethrowers and mood music, so we have some extra firepower in a pinch… I can also hotwire pretty much any form of personal transportation. That I learned back when I was one of the only trained mechanics back in Scott. You would not believe the number of assholes who misplace their keys.” She said, looking around at the group and feeling slightly better about the affairs of things. This was the first step of them actually coming together as a team, and the fact everyone involved seemed to know what the hell they were doing made it seem plausible they weren’t all about to walk into a death trap.

After everyone had finished introducing themselves and their skill sets, the crew finished individual preparations and began spreading off into their respective teams. It was agreed that the team would set out at the top of the hour, and their first order of business would be to secure transport to the site, which was about 7 kilometers and three sections away. Tanya volunteered to clear out the administration building in case there were encrypted files that needed to be lifted and to tap Mirage into the security systems. As Tanya began to fasten the last of her armour plating, she opened a channel to Mirage on her omni-tool. “Hey, Wheelie, see what you can find for a ride we can beg, borrow, or steal, because it’s going to be a hell of a long walk. What else do you need me to take care of when the show starts?” She asked.

Tonka was already armoured up and was busy slotting an omni-blade to the underbarrel mount of the M-55 Argus rifle that was his preferred go-to weapon for close-quarters encounters, which was going to be the order of the day if he had to head under into the mines. Designed for security and law enforcement, the M-55 kicked like a truck even in burst fire, but considering the close quarters of ship combat, it was an ideal weapon for repelling pirates and became almost as comfortable for the krogan as the Volkov sniper rifle he’d acquired after human smugglers brought crates of weapons to Tuchanka after breaking into the krogan DMZ. It was a battered thing, the finish well-worn and several hard gashes across the body gave it a harsh and aged profile. He imagined both would be well-used before the day was out. Satisfied with his preparation, he headed to the still-active holographic map and continued to study it, committing the various paths, structures, and potential flashpoints to memory.

[AeronFarron]

Alex pulled the helmet off of her head and set it on the ground between her feet. She waited quietly for more people to head for the hangar then smiled and nodded at the Asari that greeted her.

She leaned lazily against the wall behind her. A turian walked in and began to talk, though Alex took some time to look over the Turian and Asari. Man...Is this what some of the guys were talking about? Granted...Turians had kinda been a thing for a while. But why didn't ANYONE warn me that Asari could be so hot?! Not. Fair. At. All. How does the "blue" thing even work? How am I supposed to focus while knowing there is such a glooooorious ass in the crew?! Goddamn it all...OK, focus...hormonal biotic do NOT make exceptional killers.

Actually--

No, no. Not going there. After a time, she squirmed with her inner thoughts and thanked every deity she could think of that she wasn't a boy...She really didn't need to let the crew know of her lack of encounters by popping random boners.

She cleared her throat once Tanya and Tonka finished talking.

"My name is Alex. I'm an Alliance trained Biotic Vanguard and Medic. I was at both Mindoir and the Blitz and have spent the last few months as a bounty hunter for Batarian pirates. I'll be most useful gathering medical supplies for this particular party." She paused and rubbed the back of her neck, then spoke again. "I'm not good at letting enemies live. I have been known to be hired for messier work, so I have a strong stomach." She would let them draw their own conclusions. She could have meant any number of things, but the narrowing of her eyes and the tiny grin certainly might have helped her her meaning across.

[DJAtomika]

"Hazan. Mercenary, also the navigator. My expertise is getting up close and personal, navigating rough terrain and generally being annoying for them. I've worked solo for several years, kinda know the ins and outs. I'll be getting us some medical supplies later, I know a place in lower residential."

He smirked as he adjusted his armour for comfort. Many years of work had left the cushioning...to be desired. In the end they did need the credits. The pool that would go towards fuel, he'd definitely contribute.

"Never heard of these bastards though. Sounds like they deserve whatever's coming for 'em, mainly us."

Hazan idly chewed on his lower mandible as he watched the holo display. The facility that slowly spun around intrigued him, but a job was a job. A probably difficult job. One they had to plan for.

He stood from the crate he was sitting on and walked forward to the display, making a slow circle around it. The whole place had only one entrance, thankfully. Once they had their targets boxed in, it was only a matter of hunting them down. If they split into two teams, it would be the most effective, yes. The late captain Luzami had it nailed down.

"Well, obviously we can't let anyone out, right? You think you and your drone could handle that, Tanya?"

He continued strolling around the hologram, studying its layout and committing it to memory. He voiced his next question to the group.

"Do ya'll think having one of our Asari on each team would be good? Split the powerful biotics up, make sure none of the teams are too underpowered?"

[DearTrickster]

--Quarters > Hangar--

"Now, since we're all adults, I'm going to assume you know how to work together; that goes for the humans too. Form groups and distribute the responsibilities. I was born and raised on Omega, so if you have any questions about where you need to go, whisper. Once you've formed the squads, let me know so I can assign you completely randomly generated call-signs. Mirage out."

Dex was in the middle of pulling on her exosuit while Mirage spoke. She decided she would be the one to look for fuel, already having a few places in mind to price check. A few people to lean on if necessary.

She checked her omnitool ensuring only her comms were being hijacked by Mirage. For security she kept her personal information on a wireless server only accessible to her. Keeping personal files on her omnitool is just asking for them to be stolen.

Pulling out her armour pieces one by one, snapping them in place. When her limbs were covered she brought her head through the cowl piece. Shifting it into place with another few snaps of the attachments. When she was done her armour was clean but the shine had dulled considerably after a few years. It had deep green shades with black accents. The lights on her back where the mag plates sat glowed a white. Next she pulled out her Predator pistol clipping it to her hip then her Roskenov Viper and Scimitar to her back. She quickly repacked her crates then put her personal items away.

Exiting, she alone was in the halls she assumed most of the crew were already either ready to go or just about there when she was docking. She made her way to the hangar noticing the crew already waiting.

When she arrived she noted the three women who presumably were down here since they left Illium. Causing explosions, maybe fixing something, etcetera. Dex felt a twinge of regret for yelling at them over the comms. Just a twinge though.

Dex listened intently taking notes from the holo Tonka presented. The former captain's notes were invaluable for their first contract. She felt some reassurance, at least with a job lined up they could get some good credits on the go for their basics. She could hardly believe if this was the only contract Captain Luzami had, there must be more. Finding the recorder was a great boon.

She knew Haze as a member of the bridge, he already set forward a pretty good impression. He brought up an excellent suggestion.

"Do ya'll think having one of our Asari on each team would be good? Split the powerful biotics up, make sure none of the teams are too underpowered?"

"We have a pretty even amount of biotics on this ship, assumingly they'd be down for splitting up or sticking together." Dex walked in replying to Haze. "I'm pretty confident if anyone of us has been able to get by without biotics same would go if a team went without biotic help."

Tanya and Tonka finished their introductions along with Vellios, Alex, and Vallis. It was her turn to step forward to finally put a name to voice. She made brief eye contact with everyone as her eyes swept past them.

“Hey, the name’s Dex, I’m the lead pilot." Her arms folded over her belly, her sub vocals rumbling for attention, "I’ve piloted vessels as small as shuttles to cruisers. Civilian to military. The bulk of the Borealis isn’t anything I haven’t handled before. I’ve been trained by the Hierarchy, much like all turians born out of the colonies or on Palaven. While in the past ten years now I’ve been working as an infiltrator for one of Palaven’s top information brokers. I get in and get out without getting caught. I’ve spied on just about everybody in the galaxy,” She lifted her talon to emphasize her next point, “The only ones I don’t fuck around with are Spectres, STG and the Shadow Broker. They can out source me with a phone call. They also play for keeps. Other than that, everybody is free game.” She noticed a couple uneasy looks passed between the others, especially after Mirage hacked everyone’s omnitool, “You can relax though I haven’t gone rooting through anybody’s dirty laundry on the ship, and frankly I don’t care to. I only spy when I’m getting paid to...”

If Mirage has access to this it won’t be necessary but… I’m never one to go unprepared.

She stepped up to the recorder then waved her omnitool over it sending off the notes she made to her private server to refer to. "I'm not a suave secret agent fighting for the good of the galaxy. I don't care about criminal records nor do I care about military achievements." Letting a low soft sound roll out across her sub vocals, "I just want to make genuine connections."

When she straightened she looked at each in turn making her offer, “At any rate, I've always got a bone to pick with pirates. I'll help with taking down our targets. I can provide real time tactical advancements while watching your backs." Rolling her mechanical shoulder anyone standing nearby could hear the clinks of metal. "If they have any automated defenses, I can fuck 'em up."

[The Grey Warden]

"I love meeting new people; I think everyone has a story to tell. We should all listen sometimes."
— Kim Smith

Marco Castillo - Hanger

When Marco heard they were approaching the mass relay, he followed the others to the hanger as he quickly grabbed the datapad and started to walk. Then, he arrived at the hanger with the others as the announcement that they had docked successfully at the Afterlife District. As he was getting his gear on, Marco heard Mirage using the intercom to go over what they need before going off to space again. Anything from fuel to credits, Marco agreed on the list as he finished putting on his shoulder pad.

Soon enough, he grabbed his pistol and assault rifle and put them in their current spots behind him. Then, he reached for his shotgun inside the crate and felt it as he held onto it. He couldn't help, but to grin as he was holding the Katana Shotgun. Soon enough, the crew was introduced to each other for the first time since they left Ilium. Vellios introduced himself before being cut off by the only krogan onboard the ship as he set down a recorder and soon saw a pair of floating dossiers from the holoprojector.

The first dossier was about The Twin Star, a ship that was in Skyllian Blitz during the fighting on Elysium, and her captain Kapan Nasa’kor. The job was worth around 17,000 credits, 5,000 more if they bring the son-of-a-bitch alive to get the justice from the losses on Elysium. And the crew is located at Omega, inside one of the many old worker camps. The camp and the three-story worker housing is heavily guarded and there might be more than forty guys among with Kapan. Then, the recorder ended. After the recording ended, the krogan began to introduce himself to the rest of the crew then another human, Tanya, also introduced herself. Marco liked Tonka since they first met in the kitchen and as for Tanya, he didn't like her attitude; but, he could get used to it once they talk (if they ever do talk to each other).

Alex began to speak about the fact that she was in both Mindoir and the Blitz, then became a bounty hunter for Batarian pirates. After Alex spoke, the navigator greeted everyone and said that his name was Hazan. When it was time for Marco to speak, he cleared his throat and started his introduction. And finally, Dex introduced himself as the lead pilot.

"I am Marco Castillo, a soldier and cook of the Systems Alliance before I retired. I hope that we bring Kapan Nasa’kor alive and let Lady Justice give him what he deserves. I will use my abilities to their best for this mission and other missions like this." Marco finished as he quickly went to his crate to grab the Inferno Grenades and fast walk back to his original spot. He quickly remembered about the gathering of food and he needed someone to come with him to get the food. That was when he began to speak up again, "I also need a non-human to come with me to get food, I'd suggest one of the levo-based lifeforms to come with me, as Mirage suggested earlier."

Then, he waited for an answer from someone.

[Rtron]

Serena rolled her eyes as she noticed Vellios eyeing Tanya, chuckling as the other woman replied in her unique way. She finished collecting all the usable scrap and materials from Sal's corpse, lifting the destroyed droid with her biotics to her work table. As they went through the Mass Relay, Serena was already working on ripping out what wasn't fried, grumbling at her bot the entire time. "All you had to do was work, but noooooo, you haaaaad to blow up didn't you? Couldn't just cut me a break one little time and not explode...you piece of garbage..this ship probably runs better than you..."

Serena looked up as their pilot finally announced they had arrived, letting out a light laugh at the description of what was happening outside. Sounds pretty much like home. Just with more aliens. She thought, finally stepping over to strap on her light armor. She had become pretty good at getting armored quickly (being suddenly attacked as you were trying to defend the low paying innocent people you'd decided to help kinda made this skill a necessity) and so she was almost finished when her Omni-tool beeped a warning. "Hellooooo. Someone's sticking their nose where it doesn't belong." Serena said, partially to Vellios and partially to herself as she began to work on isolating whoever it was from getting too much access to her omni-tool.

Given that Mirage was speaking both from her Omni-tool and the ship's comm systems, it didn't take Serena much guessing to figure out who had been messing with her Omni-tool. She sent a brief VI message to him as he gave his speech. This hadn't been the firs time someone supposedly on her side had put something in her Omni-tool without her permission.

"Next time ask. I nearly sent a virus back to you."

Message sent she focused on everyone as they began to introduce themselves after Vellios. She paid particular interest to the explanation of the area they were going to hit here on Omega. Pirates, Batarians of course, holed up in a bottle neck. Serena could only muster a tiny bit of pity. The things Vellios is gonna do to them. Especially with such a lethal crew at his back..still murderous pirates though. She merely raised an eyebrow at Alex's tiny grin, unable to keep from smiling at the other human herself. Plenty of biotics to go around, Turians who can pilot a ship, a medic, a Krogan who Barat would have despised, and a few Asari to make a nice round mix. All we need is a Salarian and we could have a killer sitcom.

When the cook stopped introducing himself (Serena nodding in approval with his words of keeping their target alive) Serena stepped forward. "Serena Mathews. As Tanya so duly noted I'm more talented with VI's, Mechs and drones. I can program VI's, hack into various things, primarily mechs and VI's, I'm Alliance trained so I can help Tanya make this ship and the vehicles 'fucking flawless' and," She looked at their pilot (who she definitely would have to keep an eye on. People always say they don't go looking for dirty laundry but you never know...), recognizing her as the turian with the robot arm. "I can do maintence on robotics. So if you ever need repairs, upgrades, I'm your girl. Given my training I'm able to hold my own in a fight but Vellios is the one who does the most killing. I happen to agree with Marco. We get more money and justice is better than vengeance." She glanced over at Hazan.

"I'm a biotic, though a weak one. I can create barriers and lift things. Dex is right though. We have enough fire power to go around that I'm pretty sure we don't have to ration who gets the biotics. I also have Del," the combat drone beeped to announce it's presence, "who, while not packing quite the firepower Shithead is, can split into three with mini gatling guns too lay down lovely cover fire. Perfect for helping hold a bottleneck. Tanya, Shithead, Del, and I can take care of that. With Tonka on overwatch we should be able to keep anyone from escaping. I can even send a drone with Tonka to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble." She smiled. "Before we do all that though, I think we need to get our supplies. I'll be with Tanya since I too know what the fuck a wrench is. Vellios, when he's not killing people, is surprisingly charming and I suggest him for anything that requires bartering, like getting more contracts."

[Heat]

Valiss had listened closely to the recordings. It was the former captain of the vessel, it almost made her smile hearing the salarian's voice. They were doing a dead man's work, hopefully they would avoid joining him in that regard. The words 'asari military vessel' had drawn her attention, it made her sick that one of her people's creations was now used by hardened criminal scum.

Slavers were the icing on the kick, they deserved death. She had dealt with their filth before, would make her glad to rid the galaxy of more of them. Though the bonus of bringing the targets in alive was too nice to ignore, they would not escape justice either way. 5,000 credits were too much to turn down, added on to the promised payment, they would be able to buy some nice things for their ship.

As the hologram changed, so did the asari's thoughts. The rundown of it reminded her of her military days, a proper plan was never to be disregarded. They all seemed to be talented people, as long as they didn't make any mistakes then the credits were already in the bag. She listened to the others introduce themselves, making note to actually remember their individual names. When it was her turn she spoke up.

"For those of you that I haven't already met, my name is Valiss T'daios, former asari military commando. I've had decades of training and experience, know various forms of martial arts and can kill in more way than one. I'm most effective with guerilla tactics. Ambushes, infiltration, concentrated quick strikes, the like. Tactics that would apply for our current mission." Valiss said, a cocky smirk on her face as she realized this mission was right up her alley. "I'm a natural biotic, trained extensively in that field. I can throw enemies all around the battlefield and ruin their days."

"I say we go right on with the mission, those scum deserve immediate justice, we map out a plan, storm them, claim the bonuses and spend the prize money wisely." The ex-commando added with an intensified look on her face.

[Hank]

Mirage listened to the salarian's device with interest, using the crew's Omni-tools as an omnidirectional microphone to tap into their conversation. Looks like we have work. It would be expeditious to get this contract out of the way first so they actually had some credits to spend, and Mirage agreed when heard Valiss make the same argument.

His Omni-tool bleeped and he looked down to see a message from Serana. "Next time ask. I nearly sent a virus back to you." Amused, Mirage sent a quick message back: "Cute, but unwise. I'm just providing overwatch." He realized he should have anticipated something like this. They were all a bunch of paranoid mercenaries and Mirage hadn't actually hired them himself, so he grudgingly admitted it was reasonable they didn't like him rooting around in their personal devices. Well, tough, he thought.

As the meet-and-greet progressed and the various crewmembers introduced themselves, Mirage noted their respective skills into his Omni-tool and attached the information to the dots littering his holo-map with color-coded tags. The techies received orange tags, the biotics purple, the muscle red and Alex, the closest thing they had to a medic, blue. There was a relatively even distribution of skills among the crew and Mirage was glad there were several others who knew emergency first aid, but he anticipated that Alex would become a very valuable member of the crew very soon. For good measure, he added a big, golden tag with silver lining to himself and marked it 'Lord Commander'.

Eventually it was agreed; they'd head out in an hour and tackle the mission first. Mirage noticed a comms channel opening and heard the voice of the female human, Tanya, one of the techies. The one who insisted on calling him 'Wheelie'. Ridiculous. This thing doesn't even have wheels. “Hey, Wheelie, see what you can find for a ride we can beg, borrow, or steal, because it’s going to be a hell of a long walk. What else do you need me to take care of when the show starts?”

Begging or borrowing something on Omega was a hilariously naive notion. Stealing it is, he thought to himself. Omega was full of old mining vehicles; big, eight-wheeled contraptions that were easily converted to troop transports. Local gangs often used them to move around, but stealing from them wasn't necessarily the best idea. Instead, he pulled up O-Market, a local extranet hub for individuals to buy and sell unwanted goods, and scanned the list of vehicles for sale and their associated addresses. One caught his interest, parked relatively closeby in a streetside lockup. "There's a salarian selling an old eight-wheeler, converted for personnel transport, nearby. It's within the district, a 10 minute hike away from the docks. He's parked it in a lockup, but if you patch me into your Omni-tool and wave it in the general vicinity of the door it shouldn't be hard to open. I'll mark the location on your map. Word of advice: don't try to beg or borrow for anything while you're here. And just stay alive, will you? I'll need your Omni-tool to make a local connection to the security systems when you get into the admin building."

Opening his comms to the rest of the crew, Mirage continued: "I still want those squads figured out, children. Group up, hold hands, and tell your teacher, alright?"

[Sundered Echo]

Quarters > Hangar

Kasyra merely rolled her eyes at the Turian pilots loudspeaker comment about arriving at Omega. She’d been here before, it was always unpleasant, and always in the same ways.One of the few places she was happy about the fact she was permanently sealed in an enviro-suit.

Her reaction to the voice suddenly coming from her Bluewire omni tool was much less mild. though no one would be able to see it even if she was in a public place, a snarl formed across her face. This ‘Mirage’ had a lot of nerve to just casually break into her system. However fitting his role may have been as a mission controller, it still didn’t give him the right. She suddenly found herself quite happy at the fact her Nexus tool was not set up to network outside of her suit - a modification made on the fleet by more capable Quarians than her before her fated mission against the Geth.

Preparation was far quicker for her than the others. Her suit was her armor, which meant she was armored at all times by definition. Three hundred years of life confined to a suit may have ruined the Quarian immune system, but at least they now knew how to make damned good suits, combining comfort with protection and utility. She had only to check the state of her pistol, clipped, as ever, to the mag strip at her waist. The vicious M-6 Carnifex was in good condition, as ever. Satisfied, she strolled casually down to the hangar to meet everyone else.

---

One of the first to introduce himself was Vellios Malkai. For a moment, Kasyra felt a sense of recognition, but could not quite place it. She was about to ask him where she knew him from when the Krogan interrupted. Only moments later, she remembered. He had been one of her employers back when she was in the Blue Suns. He’d purchased her services as a chef, not a killer, which had always made him stand out among the list of said employers.

Still, now was not the time for reunions. The Krogan had not interrupted for no reason, he’d found some important information. It seemed to be the now dead captains first mission plan. She listened carefully, considering her own role in such a mission. When he had finished, the Krogan introduced himself, revealing that he went by the name Tonka. She made a mental note of his name, and the others that followed, as well as their various specialties.

”Kasyra Vas Ryushei.”

When her turn came, she introduced herself, choosing only her first name and ship name. They didn’t need to know her full name, and she only included her ship name at all on the off chance someone would understand the significance of the difference between ‘Vas’ and ‘Nar.’ She doubted anyone would.

”Close quarters combat specialist, ex-Migrant Marines. Don't let your racial stereotypes get in the way though, I’m not a tech genius, so don't expect me to do any hacking or miraculously make a broken machine work. I am however, the most lethal Quarian you’ll find this side of the veil.” Her tone was ever so slightly derisive and very much icy. She didn’t plan to get attached to any of these people until she knew a little more about who they were and how trustworthy they were. ”Other than that, I’ve got a wide variety of skills. I can do some modest technical work if we have no one more suited, I can patch up myself and any Turian or Batarian who gets injured, as long as it's not too complex an injury. I can also cook Turian food better than most Turians.” She said the last part with a pointed look at Vellios.

”For the mission, I’ll gladly be on the front line. Fighting in tunnels will be like a good boarding action, just my kind of fight. As for the target, I’d love to be merciful and get that hefty bonus, but this ship doesn’t exactly have a brig. I hope one of you can come up with some way of restraining this man for the delivery, otherwise he’s going to have to die.” She was aware of how callous and cruel she sounded, but she didn’t have time for idealists that didn’t consider the reality of a situation. If that made them dislike her, she didn’t really care.

Her tone lightened then as she moved on to more domestic matters, some of which amused her greatly. ”And once we have finished this mission, I will accompany Marco to get the Dextro supplies. No offense Turians, but the cooking they teach you in your military schools results in food almost as bland as Migrant Fleet food paste.”

[Hellis]

The Drell had stayed silent for most of the Kitchens groups talking after his quip regarding fish. Mainly because the krogan had smashed a fish onto the counter as some sort of statement. It had caught him a bit off guard and the discussion had escaped him at that point. He leaned against the wall and decided instead to listen and to observe. As much as he wasn't the average Drell, and lived by the gun and his wits, he was Drell enough to know when it was best to just watch. He read their body language, committed subtle tells to memory and affixed each of them to a part of his mind where he could draw upon it later, should he need to.

He allowed himself to smile as it was conceded he could skip the fish. ”Thank you Krogan. I am safe from stuffing my face with a distant relative once more.”

The news of Omega hadn't surprised him, so while he was sure more then one of them would have a opinon on the matter hee had just shrugged it off. Omega had been a second home for parts of his life. No place offered such a safehaven for smuggler after all. If he closed his eyes, he could see the floating husk of a meteor and its station. He smiled at this.

“Attention all crew, we’re plotting a course for Omega. We’ll be making a jump within the hour. If you haven’t already started on taking stock of what we need, do that while you have time.”
He looked to the speakers as the pilot called out they were are about to make their jump. He nodded to himself at this and left the kitchen after stealing something to drink and a piece of bread, stale as it was. He'd eat properly later, if there was a later. Who knew if this rusty bucket of a ship would hold for a single relay jump.

As it turns out. It did. He was neatly tucked into the gunners quarters at that point, fidgetting with the weapons systems. It was a mess, and he would likely have to rip the entire targetting computer out when he got the chance. The fact that they had decided to graft a gun onto the ships belly still bewildered him. If anything, they had room to fit missile pods onto its dorsal fins or something more clever. This was just a case of having a bit deterrent onto a ship that could maybe take a single hit before it disintegrated.

"Attention all crew, we have docked successfully at the horrifically dingy Afterlife District. To your left you can see some prostitute giving a batarian a blowjob in the alley, while off to the right you can see some gang members, looks like Bloodpack, shaking down a local for protection money. Please step lightly while exiting, you might just trip over a dead body." Drono hit the intercom. ”Thanks alot for that mental image.” He said as he grabbed his things. ”I have super sharp memory you know.” He quipped before heading towards the hangar. Things were moving now and regardless of his personal misgivings, he knew better then to stand ifront of a boulder rolling downhill.

Drono nodded as he listened to what was being said. Introduction were in order it seemed. His mind was allready commiting everything to memory, every detail. When he noticed a short lull between people stepping up to let the others know what they could do, Drono spoke. ”Name's Drono. Former Smuggler. I've run goods for every shady bigshot from here to Citadel and back again. My speciality is skirmish tactics. I suppose you military types would classify me as a infiltrator.” He patted his executioner as he spoke. ”I hit them hard and vanish before they hit back. Like so.” He activated his cloak, melting in with the surroundings and seemingly dissapearing. Once he reappeared he nodded to the Krogan.

”And Tonka is right. The slavers onboard Twin Star is not used to organized, armed resistence. Even less so a strike team hitting them where they think they are protected. Hit them hard, hit them fast.” He said as he fitted the last piece of his suit in place and holstered the heavy pistol at his side. ”These people rely more on bravado and fear then on tactical advantage. But the Twin Stars crew are not... What do humans say... spring chickens. If we give them enough time to regroup, someone will have the bright idea to fortify their position.”

”I hope one of you can come up with some way of restraining this man for the delivery, otherwise he’s going to have to die.” As he listened to the Quarian, he made a mental note of not asking her to see over his repairs, lest he end up a Drell Kebab. He'd go the human for that, he needed her help with refitting the canon. He noted the Quarians point regarding a brig however and an idea came to his mind. It amused him greatly.

”They are slavers. I am sure you can liberate a shock collar or two. If nothing else, putting a slaver in his own contraption should provide you some sweet irony.” He smirked. ”As for the mission. I'm better at more open spaces and I've climbed walls more then once. The administration building for me.” He didn't add the fact that he wanted a look on their terminals himself.Who knew what kind of information they had on smuggling routes and the like.

"These guys are pirate. Not trained military. Their guard shifts and general sense of proper discipline is about as good as mine I'd say. That is, if we are a lucky, we might just catch them dozing off or drinking."

[Bright_Ops]

Duuka had to have been one of the only crew members to have been perfectly ready and willing to go the moment the call to arms was sounded; He had his weapon on hand and he was wearing his 'armor'... through he knew for a fact that it was likely to do jack shit against anything. He was counting on his natural regeneration to last him until he had enough money to buy himself some proper armor while praying to whatever ancestors of his that might have given enough of a damn to watch over him that he wouldn't encounter anyone that used fire as a weapon. Fire was very, very bad.

As the introductions were made and he listened in, Duuka paid extra attention to Kasyra Vas Ryushei's. Rolling his shoulders a little as he stepped forwards, he took a moment to take a deep breath before speaking. "My name is Duuka. I was born on Omega and have spent nearly all of my life there. When I was young, a vorcha 'pest control' team slaughtered my biological relations. By chance I was adopted by a quarian pilgrim named Sira'sa Nar Viwa-" Those watching and listening would easily notice the great deal of difficulty that Duuka had pronouncing that name "- whom I call Sira or Si for short. Despite her efforts to teach me engineering, I've only ever really been any good at basic weapon maintenance and operating security systems. What I lack in engineering, I make up for with combat ability; If you need extra muscle or another gun at your side, I'm your vorcha. I would like to volunteer to go tunnel fighting. Afterwards I can lead those looking for parts and equipment to the best stores for them."

While telling them about his mother might have been a bit more then what anyone else had offered, Duuka felt the need to answer the unanswered question of why he wasn't a violent killing machine that was normally seen in the blood pack.

[Zombiedude101]

Iosif kept quiet for the most part, yet the presence of the Batarian in the bridge soon caught his notice and was enough by itself to elicit a contemptuous glare whilst the interloper spoke with the pilot about the engine. "Excuse me, ran some scans on the main engine. It's solid but it would be best to not to put it under much stress. Thought I should let you know." No shit, Iosif thought, returning the batarian's subsequent glance towards him with a hard stare before they left the room.

"Fucking batarians," he muttered, reaching around to scratch at the barcode tattooed into the back of his neck. He wondered whether or not their guest had noticed that particular marking on him, but thought nothing of it; if anything, it was a clear warning that he'd dealt with the four-eyed bastards before and would do so again if necessary. Not exactly subtle, but effective enough.

Back to the matter at hand; he found that his partner on the bridge, Dex, seemed about as decent a pilot as he expected - most Turians were - and was glad to be reassured of that, especially on a vessel as ragged as the Borealis. Whilst she focussed on manoeuvring the vessel around Thail's orbit before pulling out of it, he made sure that everything else kept together and worked on tightening up the slack to a minimum to give Dex an easier time.

He jolted a little bit as he felt the ship escaping Thail's orbit, yet couldn't help but smile a little as they approached the relay.

“Approaching Mass Relay, engaging mass effect core. Preparing for relay jump.”

Damn, it felt good to be back into the swing of things.

Hitting the Omega Nebula, Iosif shared the turian pilot's sentiments when she left off a sigh; this vessel was hardly shipshape, as his great-great-grandfather would've probably said, yet it had done its job for now. All they had to do was keep an eye on the fuel gauge and and manoeuvre the Borealis through the dense asteroid field and they'd be good to go.

"There she is," he mused, taking in the front row view of the accursed station as it finally came into view. Somehow, he couldn't help but draw a twisted, ironic sense of nostalgia from the sight of that hellish glow; for all the shitty times that this place had brought, it also held that odd, fond memory of when his partnership had worked out, sans one backstabbing salarian bastard.

“This is Dexureta of the Borealis requesting permission to dock.” It was good to see she'd taken in his advice, judging by the comms hail with the Afterlife district's docking manager. "Permission granted, Borealis. Dock at Bay A4." It'd be about as close to neutral ground that they'd get.

"Attention all crew, we have docked successfully at the horrifically dingy Afterlife District. To your left you can see some prostitute giving a batarian a blowjob in the alley, while off to the right you can see some gang members, looks like Blood Pack, shaking down a local for protection money. Please step lightly while exiting, you might just trip over a dead body."

He couldn't help but quietly chuckle at Dex's in-flight commentary as they docked with the station, his gaze fixated on the console before him just in case anything popped up. Fortunately, nothing out of the ordinary showed up and he soon felt the Borealis come to a halt and the docking clamps attach themselves to the ship. As he got ready to climb out of his seat, he found that Dex was beating him to it. "’m going to slip into my armour, gents. Meet you three in the hangar."

"Yeah, see you." Iosif nodded, climbing out of the co-pilot's seat with a grunt. He recalled leaving his gear in the cargo bay, having deigned not to waste time grabbing a bunk earlier on and instead headed down to grab his gear nad find a space in a quiet corner of the quarters from where he could equip himself. It didn't take him long to slip all his gear on; his armour, the reliable M-8 Avenger, his M-6 Carnifex, which always packed a punch and the M-3 Predator that he kept concealed on his person; always good for close encounters that went bad.

For good measure, he also made sure he had the portable welder on his person; aside from being an all-around reliable tool, he'd seen first-hand on Aratoht that these things were lethal if you were willing to apply them to less-than-constructive purposes. Something else that always came in handy on Omega.

Just as he was halfway done gearing up, that same raspy, laboured voice that had sarcastically remarked about him in the bridge popped up over the comm-link and his own omni-tool.

"Alright children, gather round and listen up. My name is Mirage and I will be your tour guide today on the lovely garden-world known as Omega."

He'd noticed that the sarcasm hadn't changed. Humour wouldn't hurt, at least.

"Pay attention, because Mirage is good and Mirage is wise. Using my extensive deductive capabilities -- and by listening in on your conversations -- I've compiled a list of everything we need to do here."

That little snippet of information was handy; he made a mental note to make sure his omni-tool's security was up to spec and keep an eye on that one. Granted, he'd be working in the same space as the weakened turian, but he knew fully-well from experience that it was never wise to underestimate his type.

"First off; parts. We all know this ship is a rustbucket. If you can tell the wrong end from the right end of a wrench, please take responsibility."

That was true, at least. Depending on how things went, he considered that it might've been worth going along with the search party working on that front.

"We also need food. One of the other levo-based lifeforms on this vessel, please tag along."

Whilst dextro-amino food wasn't exactly his concern, he wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of doing a little shopping for it every once in a while. Rael had always been rather specific about what he ate whenever Iosif had been out to grab provisions, especially given how he had to ensure that said food was properly decontaminated to accomodate the boastful quarian's needs. Still, there was a single quarian onboard and a whole bunch of turians present to ensure that said matter was covered.

"We obviously also need fuel. Drono, you said something about weapon coolant? Whatever, it's on the list. Have fun."

Fuel was definitely something to consider. Weapon coolant and other assets necessary for keeping the ship running too. He made a memo to look into the matter himself if nobody else would.

"Also, in case any of you morons get shot, we need medical supplies."

Well, Iosif wasn't a doctor, but he knew how to patch himself up in a tight situation. Losing an arm had taught him that a little medi-gel could mean the difference between life and death. But as for the specialist supplies, that was outside his field of expertise.

“And last but not least, we need credits, which means we need work. Those of you with actual social skills, please apply. Check?”

There were plenty enough 'social' types on this ship to handle that front. Iosif wasn't exactly in the mood for haggling, either, so he opted to leave that to the others.

"Check. Now, since we're all adults, I'm going to assume you know how to work together; that goes for the humans too. Form groups and distribute the responsibilities. I was born and raised on Omega, so if you have any questions about where you need to go, whisper. Once you've formed the squads, let me know so I can assign you completely randomly generated call-signs. Mirage out."

Finished suiting up, Iosif did well to ensure that the barcode was covered up; whilst he wasn't planning on making an acquaintance with the likes of the four-eyed bastards who'd hauled him off to Aratoht, he figured it'd give him an easier time in the long run. Then, with that sorted, he headed down to the hangar to meet with the others only to find the krogan had paid a visit to the captain's quarters.

Arms folded, Iosif listened in quietly as the late Captain Luzami's recording was played out. Two wanted war criminals from the Skyllian Blitz, batarians if the names and circumstances were anything to go by. A feasible contract, by the sounds of it. Then, when it came down to introductions, he decided to be clear and concise.

"It's Sevchenko, Iosif Sevchenko. Like the rest, I've done my service with the Alliance as a pilot; gunships, shuttles, fighters; if it's lightweight and manoeuvrable I can get behind the cockpit without a problem. Bigger ships, I've got some experience with too; I'll be in the co-pilot's chair if I'm needed." He glanced towards the batarian for a moment. "Can handle myself in a firefight, too. And know how to be resourceful when resources are scarce. Ask the foreman on Aratoht if you want a reference." He opted not to mention much else for the time being, instead leaving them with that little remark. His gaze shifted over to Dex, whom he nodded towards. "I'll head with my pilot, Dex for the fuel. Make sure any other little things along the way get picked up whilst we're on it."

[DearTrickster]

Truck to Kaolin Mining Facility

_{Collab between @DJAtomika, @DearTrickster, @Fallenreaper, @Hank and @Dervish; AKA the Turian Allstars and Tonka}

"Well this is just as much a junker as our little Rust Bucket."

Hazan sat hunched over in the back of the rusted, almost-derelict cargo truck that the crew had "commandeered" just a few minutes earlier. Through the information in the holo display, the crew had a destination. This...was Mirage's idea of "transport". He didn't know how old the truck was, he only knew that at any moment the worn rivets holding the damn thing together would give way and they'd all crash and burn.

He huffed and did the only thing he could: double check his gear. His battle rifle, a M-96 Mattock, sat in his hands. The thing was his best friend since he'd first arrived in Omega, and it hadn't failed him. Yet. He went over the whole assembly with his eyes and hands, releasing the heat sink from its casing a few times to get used to the rhythm. No doubt he'd be doing that often to prevent it from overheating, but he had to be sure.

The truck jerked and bumped over another pothole in the metal, making him drop the rifle on his foot. He swore from the pain as he picked it right back up and checked it, again, to make sure it was alright. Then he directed his attention to the little window between cargo trailer and driver's compartment and banged on it with his fist to get Dex's attention.

"Hey watch where you're driving! Almost shot myself in the face!"

Dex didn't take her eyes off the road snapping back at him, "Why the hell is the end of your barrel doing anywhere near your face? You're asking for it to be shot off there, Haze."

Vellios had been taking a short doze when the truck bucked, his eyes barely opened as he adjusted his gun to keep from shooting himself in the face unlike Hazan. His right eye peered open then lazily moved toward the turian next to him, his mandible pulled up into a wicked smile at the two getting irritated with each other.

"Easy you two. The road's to blame, damn thing's likely filled with potholes from some idiot going for a joyride too often and all the traffic here. Perfect for the pirates since they don't think anyone would chance breaking down around here." Vellios stated in a cheeky tone, his head tilted to look at Hazan.

"I sure as hell wouldn't want to break down here. Wouldn't even want to come here." He groaned and shook his head, half in disappointment at their predicament, the other in disgust at the road.

"Exactly. So let the pretty turian do her job and just be careful not to shoot yourself. I knew a Asari, about well over 300, who shot herself in the face because she was careless and she was older than you, I assume." Vellios replied and leaned back into his seat.

Dex's grip on the wheel was tight, she was concentrating furiously throwing her weight into keeping the old beater set in a straight line. Let alone able to shift it into avoiding pot holes. Thankfully the road was levelling off. The local gangs didn't care much for a smooth infrastructure.

"It would have been too much to ask for something that could fly as opposed to a ground vehicle..." She muttered to herself, the roar of the engine drowning out her grumbling. She shifted gears to slow down, trying to avoid some ancient debris. Dex could only guess what kind of fight left this road in such a mess.

Their destination made it a perfect spot for those willing to traverse the broken road in favour of privacy.

She pulled past more debris, it seemed to be getting worse. She peered into the distance to see some significant blockage. She tried to slow down applying the brakes gingerly, then when realizing it didn't do anything her foot hit the floor with the brakes jolting the hulking truck to a skidding stop.

"Do we have any volunteers? We need to get rid of this shit on the road."

Wordless. Vellios started to shift and lifted up on his feet as much as the low roofed vehicle would allow. He shuffled toward the exit and propped open the door just when Mirage's charming, raspy voice started over his omnitool. He didn't pause to listen because he knew others would follow him.

"Did you idiots seriously just stop to admire the scenery? What's going on?" Mirage said over the crew's Omni-tools. He could see that the truck had come to a halt on his holoscreen. He had been busy playing a video game on his second Omni-tool and hadn't listened to the conversation. Searching for nearby electronics he found, much to his surprise, a dashcam built into the vehicle. The quality was terrible and the lens tilted in such a way that he had to crane his head to one side to make out what he was looking at, but Mirage could vaguely make out the shape of a bunch of big rocks on the road. "Oh."

Dex said pointedly, "I said there's shit on the road. I'm not taking this truck over it until it's cleared." She quickly unbuckled then struggled getting the door open before giving up and kicking it open. Hopping out she walked right up to the debris squinting at it. If they could move or shift the worst of it the truck might be able to climb it.

"I'll help. Spirits, this job is getting on my nerves already."

With a sigh Hazan stood and immediately hit his head on the roof. Another curse escaped his mandibles as he followed Vellios out, landing on the gravel road with a thump. He passed Dex on his way to the rubble pile and stood there with his hands on his hips.

"Well. Isn't this a predicament. Need an earth mover to get rid of some of this crap. Do we have something like that? Does a krogan count as an earth mover?"

"Haha that's cute, but no. We just need something to pull apart the pile." she suggested waving her hand at the debris. "Like rope. Rope and elbow grease."

Skeptical, one of Mirage's characteristic bursts of laughter followed Dex's comment. "Look, I won't claim to be an expert on physical exercise, but are you sure you don't want the honka Tonka clearing the way? You know what; I'll bet the lot of you that you can't even clear these rocks." He fiddled with the vehicle's dashcam some more and figured out how to improve the focus, taking stock of the debris. "Seriously. I mean, what's Vellios going to do? Charm the rocks off the road?"

"Don't you know, Mirage, you shouldn't judge based on someone's thickness but how they use it?" Vellios chuckled, enjoying the innuendo, as he loosened his arms a bit before he eyed the nearest rock. He waited, purposely for the next comment before he decided to show how easily deceptive his size really was.

"Keep talking, Vellios. That's all you're good for. By the way, while it's amusing that all of you are so single-minded you didn't think of turning around to look for a different road, I'll have to disappoint you before anyone actually uses their brain. I can't find anything more accurate than the map I'm working with now and that suggests this is the only road you've got. So... have fun playing with those rocks, children." Mirage leaned back in his chair and put his feet up, anticipating the show to come.

"Someone has to keep you entertained. Sitting on your ass all day, I would imagine all you do is play video games. It's a wonder you know how to use the joystick." Vellios' smirk had widened as he leaned down and started to shove the rocks to the road side.

"Wow guys, seriously. Get a room. Any more and I think a camera crew's gonna show up to film the next episode of this sitcom."

Dex rolled her eyes in response to Mirage's comments, "Alright alright, shut the fuck up the pair of you." She stuck a talon at Vellios, "How about instead of strutting around like you've got something to prove to a guy grav-chair bound, you actually move some rocks? I'm going to look in the trunk for rope since no one has a better idea." She snapped, mandibles flaring.

Dex turned on her heel walking past the truck. She made a beeline for the trunk hoping to find some straps to pull over the larger pieces. She turned on her omnitool's light, searching through the piles of junk stashed in the deep trunk. Most of it was garbage leftover from food packaging or old clothing. Her hand swept past something soft she pulled back finding the body of a dead animal. Throwing it over her shoulder she continued finally finding some industrial rope.

Better than nothing...

She pulled on the full length of it, winding it in loops in the palm of her hand. Several metres came winding out to her genuine delight. It could make this clear up easier.

"Found some rope!"

With a chuckle, Hazan set to work right next to Vellios, grabbing and rolling one of the bigger chunks of rock away from the road. As Dex found some rope, he waved her over and motioned for her to toss him the length of rope.

"Toss that rope over, Dex! Let's get some actual work in while those two work their relationship a little more."

Dex tossed the rope, "Please don't provoke them." She replied drily, "We will never hear the end of their hate-flirting."

"It's called team-building. You should try it sometime," Mirage interjected flatly.

"I think they sound jealous, think we should share the hate-flirting? They could use a little love?" Vellios' tone barely seemed fazed by the conversation they were having as he noted something about the ropes. He frowned then paused in his work, pointing the ropes the pair were about to use. " You got those from the truck, think you should consider using those?"

"Pff, please. Like I could use any of that man-love. For starters, I don't swing that way." He chuckled again, unable to help himself from how amused he was getting.

“Oh, I beg your pardon for ruining your sensitivities princess, and be careful you don’t break a talon. We won’t be able to get you some repair glue until after the job.” Vellios teased and paused while he shoved another boulder to the side. It was a large one that came to his thighs as it tumbled off the road and into the nearest ditch, adding to the growing pile he had accumulated already. His mandible smirking like a child who had found the candy jar and was slowly gorging himself on each sweet piece, clearly enjoying the attention when they tossed insults back and forth.

She laughed with delight genuinely amused. Her tone was becoming lighter with every exchange,"I'm still not hearing any better ideas." She walked back to them. "Give it a try, Haze. If they snap they snap, we'll just have to fall back on clearing it by hand."

Vellios shrugged, then added. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I wouldn’t trust anything in this truck since Mirage got us a death trap. But at least we don’t have to worry about the pirates wanting to steal it since it’s too much of a beaten up ridge like our ship to be worth anything. ”

"Gotcha."

Hazan caught the rope in one hand as he strolled over to one of the bigger chunks of rock. With both hands he wrapped one end of the rope around the chunk and tied it tight. Then he spooled out the rope, stood a distance away, wrapped it around an arm and pulled as hard as he could.

For a few moments, the rope held and the rock shifted, slowly grinding against the road as it moved towards him. With gritted teeth, Hazan kept pulling, digging his feet into the dirt as he hauled with all his might.

Dex picked up the slack of rope wrapping it in her mechanical talons gripping it tightly she pulled, digging her feet in. She grunted against the strain praying quietly for the rope to hold.

Vellios took a break in his work to watch the two, his hands placed on his hips, as he could easily tell they were pushing the rope beyond its usual stress point.

With Dex's help, the rock shifted a little more. Still holding onto the rope, Haze tried to take a step backward.

"Oh c'mon, piece of varren shi -"

SNAP!

And it was at that moment that the rope decided to give way. It snapped audibly, the loose end flying straight at Hazan, smacking him in the face. He let loose a startled yelp as his arms flailed in a panic.

"SONUVABITCH!"

Balance completely lost, he stumbled one step backward, tangled his leg with Dex's, and fell over backwards on top of her.

Dex let out a gasp, reflexes released the rope in record time to catch a stumbling Haze. Her balance spun her around then she planted her feet dipping Haze to catch him from falling to the ground. Her left hand gripped his while her other hand supported his lower back. A blue mark was blooming across his nose from the rope followed by a deep blush.

"Um..." She blinked a few times processing what happened in a split second.

"Well...this is awkward. And also painful."

Mirage laughed so hard he started choking, and coughed violently a few times to clear his airways. His rebreather hissed, expelling the excess air. "My word, it's really love at first sight, isn't it? I assume we'll have a real Palaven wedding. I nominate Vellios as maid of honour." Still wheezing, Mirage continued chuckling quietly, fiddling with the dashcam's controls again to get a better view of the two awkward turians. Without saying a word, he took a snapshot of the scene, chuckling turning into cackling.

Vellios made a brief, snorting chuckle that broke out suddenly into a wave of lighthearted laughter. A rarity for him to relax and let loose with such a display while his figure hunched down and hands placed against his knees. The whole time trying to stop himself from crumbling into a outright mass of uncontrolled giggles at the scene. It was made worse when he heard Mirage's comment and the soft whizzing click of the dash camera taking a snapshot of the whole thing. The ability to keep upright was instantly lost as Vellios' back smacked the truck side and his figure plopped down into a sitting position against a tire.

"Easy there... Hahaaa, Mirage. At the way you're sounding, you might die of laughter before you get to see the wedding-"" Vellios exclaimed. "Oh, god damn, that look! Priceless! HAHAAA. If they were any closer they would be kissing. Though it's nice to know Hazan found his calling as a bride and let's hope Dex can treat him like a precious princess or there's going to be a case of run away bride."

When his breath finally managed to return, Vellios was looking like a shit eating cat that had eaten the bird while leaning against the truck. His heart pounding and rattling away in his chest, his lungs pleasantly burning from his enjoyment.

With blood slowly trickling down his face, Hazan hung in Dex's arms. For a second he didn't want to do anything for fear of making it more awkward, but he did have to stand up.

"...you can let me go now, Dex."

"Right, well can't say I'm surprised the rope snapped." She pulled him back up to stand letting go once he was upright. Rather unfazed by the amount of laughter coming from both Mirage and Vellios. Their display was genuine laughter despite it being at her expense a smile spread her mandibles.

"Thanks." Haze stood, a hand pressed to his nose as dark blue blood trickled between his talons. Sharp pain lanced straight through his face as he stumbled away from the pile of rocks and leaned against the front of the idle truck.

She turned to Vellios who was huffing away at the base of the tire she marched up to him, "Laugh all you want, you know I could sweep any one of you off your feet. Case in point." Throwing a thumb at Haze, "I bet I could even make the likes of you blush." Dex hid her laugh behind her hand, she could have only imagined how ridiculous they must of looked.

"Oh har dee fucking - ow." With a pained hiss, he tilted his head backward and held the bridge of his nose, trying to stop the mild bleeding. Dark blue circles dotted the gravel where he stood.

'Are you sure Hazan isn't going to get jealous? You know you really shouldn't take on more than you can handle, especially with a girl you've yet to propose to, hun." Vellios replied, his legs folded under him while he flashed his grin at her. She was naturally welcome to try, but he was able to roll with the punches and accept the humour even at his expense.

"Says the guy that's got the hate hots for our chair-bound voice with an Extranet connection." He couldn't help but grin past the aching, throbbing pain in his face. The bleeding was just an inconvenience, it'd stop. Eventually.

Crouching down to look him in the eye, "Haze and I have an understanding. Our love was never meant to be." Chuckling a little meaning to tease both of them, "However, you would be surprised how easy it is to get anyone to spill their secrets after you bat your eyes at them. If I were you I wouldn't underestimate my abilities to romance."

"Information is only secrets, if you want to keep them hidden. I've never once hidden mine and you're welcome to look all you want. Then again, you might like some of what you see." The dark carapace flirted, then turned to Hazan's comment. " And at least I wasn't dipped by the girl who dumped my ass almost immediately. Also, put some medigel on that. It should stop the bleeding."

"Yeah I get that a lot. You got any?"

Dex's interest hummed across her subvocals "Is that so? I've seen my fair share of secrets and even when someone claims to have none, there's one. I always find it." Winking she stood back up addressing Haze, "You may refer to me as your ex-lover instead of pilot if you want. It'll be great."

" All you merely need to do is ask." Vellios said then added, holding hands out in an open gesture. " Though I can't promise the details as you might attract unwanted attention."

"That's nice to know, snookums, now does any of you have medigel? I'm still in pain."

"Here," She tapped a few buttons on her omnitool transferring Haze one of hers, "You'll be fine."

"Thanks again." With a weary sigh he held his omnitool to his face and discharged the medigel, feeling the cold substance wash over his face. Immediately his pain disappeared, followed shortly after by the bleeding.

"Thank fuck for medigel."

Dex caught something in his tone shift from the lighthearted to something more foreboding, "How about this, we can start it easy. You tell me how you got your facial scars and I'll tell you how I lost my arm." She said lightly then added with a mischievous sparkle in her eye, "Ease you into it."

Vellios tilted his head, his finger running down the jagged mandible that was almost completely gone."Relay 314 Incident, I was apart of the ground troopers during the event and was only about eighteen. I got up and close with a human male, my blade slashed into the human's eye. At the same moment, his pistol raised and my hand tried to redirect it. It fired and caught my mandible which left me dazed for several dangerous moments."

Dex was surprised by him being involved in the Relay 314 Incident, he was fresh out of training then onto the battlefield. The first time I killed someone in combat was when I was well into my twenties...

"Then how does Serena tie in with you? There's no hard feelings or grievances?"

"I've seen the worst in all races, from Asari to Vorcha. We do what we have to survive and make it through the day. If I blamed all humans for actions that happened in the Relay 314 Incident, I would need to blame to every race, including my own, for wrongs done in the past. Then I would be a rather lonely turian." His eyes shifted to watch Hazan show gratitude for the medigel, commenting about the rope wound. "I hope you don't let every inanimate object make you bleed..."

"314? Spirits, I was just a teenager when that went down. Don't worry though. On Omega, getting a nosebleed from a rope is the least of my concerns. Trust me. I have many reasons not to be on this shithole. Took the navigator job thing to get away from Omega, yet here I am."

He sighed and stood, eyes warily watching around them. He'd forgotten about where they were in that brief moment, but now he remembered where and why.

"So was I, but I had prior killing and combative skills." Vellios admitted, shrugging off the fact as if it wasn't anything serious.

"Sounds rough, then again only the strongest survive." He continued, his eyes flickered with awareness, causing his grin to slip a moment. His eyes watching their companion apply the medigel while the turian from which the words originated from surfaced into his memory. He gave a shudder then shook it away then started to rise. "Everyone has reasons for not wanting to go home. Good or bad, they still matter. Though don't let my serious tone spoil the fun."

Hazan recovered from his little accident, he continued to sweep the area with his eyes. No sense in losing awareness because of a mishap with a rope.

"Now, uh, if you don't mind, I'd really like it if we got to work. Don't want to stay out here longer than I have to. Unwanted attention is my biggest concern for you guys."

That said, Hazan went back to work shoving rocks out of the road. Rough work, but someone had to do it.

"Listening to you girls bicker makes me think you're more handicapped than the cripple in the chair." A voice said behind them, the unmistakable rumbling of a krogan. Tonka approached, placing his helmet on the hood of the vehicle with one hand and holding a mostly finished over-sized snack bar in the other.

He placed the remainder of it in his mouth and haphazardly tossed the wrapper aside, where the faintest of air circulation caused it to flutter somewhere under the truck. Chewing slowly, he walked over to the obstruction, observing various angles on the rubble and glancing back at the vehicle, gauging.

"Someone did a shit job trying to collapse this tunnel, must have been in a rush. It's mostly surface fragmentation with a few big chunks, which means they didn't drill down far enough to destabilize the integrity of the rock formation. Good for us, probably was bad for them." He gestured to three of the larger chunks.

"Those three need to move, the rest there's enough clearance to drive over, assuming Dexuret realizes that our transport has wheels and isn't floating weightlessly in space. Keep to the high terrain and don't let us bottom out, because I don't feel like listening to half the people in that can whine about walking." He returned to his helmet and slipped it over his head, his features concealed behind semi-luminous orange lenses. He looked over at the still-bleeding Hazan.

"You might want to consider wearing one of these all the time. Alright, you lazy pyjaks, get that tow line repaired. I'll go start moving this shit and hope I'm not finished by the time you manage to figure out how to unhook your mandibles after sucking each other's faces for so long. I'd like to get paid before you all die of old age."

Laughing quietly to himself, Mirage piped up one more time: "Turians, right? Useless bunch, the lot of them. I understand exactly how you feel, Tonka."

[Dervish]

ACCESS IDENTIFICATION: TC104-acB4
PASSCODE: **********
WELCOME, T
_> Journal
ACCESSING JOURNAL ENTIRES…
1 Day Ago: RE: I know you’re reading this, Wheelie. I hope you’re enjoying the opera music that piggybacked on your signal. I’m not telling you where it’s hiding, but the entire ship will know when you do.
1 Day Ago: RE: Half strangers, half wankers. Some of these guys are alright, the other guys, however…
1 Day Ago: RE: At least I don’t have to worry about job security in the drone department.
2 Days Ago: RE: I wish I didn’t walk by the docks before taking the job. What. The. Fuck.
3 Days Ago: RE: Arrived on Illium, somewhat nervous about the new job. Been a long time since I’ve been in an organized unit.
_> New Entry
RE: I never want to be this close to these people in a confined space again. Gag.

So, here we are, travelling vast expanses of a mining asteroid turned dystopian boner fuel and I’m starting to think Wheelie and Tia might have had the right idea staying with the ship. This transport is crammed, and it doesn’t help that we somehow managed to cram a krogan in here, who has this shit eating glint in his eye like he’s planning something. If his armour wasn’t sealed, I’d be expecting whatever the fuck they cooked for supper to be turning this compartment into a gas chamber any minute now. Keeping an eye on him, regardless. I have a feeling somebody’s going to be paying for his amusement down the line. I respect that.

About the only people I really know on this little venture are Vellios and Serena. The turian’s been eyefucking anything with tits since we first set down outside the Jalopy, little ol’ me included, but he’s alright. Charming, has a sense of humour, actually fucking does work. More than I can say for most of the shitheels that call this piece of shit ship home.

Serena’s good in my books. Fellow techie, knows her way around machines, even if her introduction was hilariously embarrassing with the exploding drone. It’s oddly endearing. I wonder what’s up with that blueprint she’s got hung up on her workplace, it’s like the pocket protector wearing science nerd counterpart to the Union Jack and old Enfield rifle my family’s passed down for the past few years I’m going to be mounting to the wall when things settle down a bit. She doesn’t like my music, too bad for her. The funny part is, I started listening to the alien metal to annoy the fuck out of my friends back in the service and it started to grow on me, like those shitty pop songs that dominate the music service stations. Either way, it’s like wine or whatever. You get used to it or you don’t, but it keeps people from loitering where I work and that’s the way I like it. Play it loud, shithead.

Mirage is… I don’t know what the fuck to think of him. First time I’ve seen a crippled turian and the guy’s got gimpy legs and a respirator like some kind of B-movie super villain. Only thing he needs is a pet cat or some shit and a volcanic lair with some elaborate death traps and he’s officially a walking… snicker… movie trope. Despite being a gimp, his mind’s sharp and he has a very acidic sense of humour. I like him already, except when he’s fucking bypassing the fucking encryption on my omnitool. It’s a good thing I keep things partitioned behind coded layers of fuck you, because if he really wants to see how deep this rabbit hole goes, he better hope his chair’s got better encryption than the STG intelligence network because motherfucker’s going for a ride.

Tia’s an uptight bitch who seems super paranoid about boogiemen on Omega. She better pull her weight, because I sure as shit don’t want to share profits with somebody who isn’t going to get shot at with us. Maybe someone will try raiding the ship and she’ll heroically save our shit bucket. You know what? I’m just going to tell myself that and hope she’s not rifling through my shit.

Everyone else, well… I don’t really know much about. Alex and Iosef were both ex-Alliance and saw action on Mindoir, so I need to talk to them at some point. I don’t think anyone else will really understand what that was like, the word slaver doesn’t carry much weight until you see what it really means. Mindoir’s effectively shorthand for why my life became so fucked up. Thanks, batarians.

Speaking of which, if I find out our dear four-eyed cunt had anything to do with Mindoir, Mirage is going to have to share custody of that goddamn chair.

And we’re stopped. This is why we don’t let the pilot drive.
-T
_> END
Saving File
_> Log Out

[Fallenreaper]

Shadow Broker Post
Subject Vellios Malkai

Public Terminal Logs...
Date: 04/05/2360 CE
Registered Users

Armis Malkai
Vellios Malkai

16:02 A: Hello, Malkai residence. State name, requested resident and subject of the call please?
16:02 V: *chuckles* You know, you’re not on duty so you don’t have to act all official, right?
16:02 A: Maybe I like being efficient? I bet you never thought o-*background crash*
16:02 A: Hold on a moment, love.
16:02 A: TIBERIAN! *sounds of footsteps leading away* JUST BECAUSE IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY DOESN’T GIVE YOU FULL AUTHORIZATION TO WRECK THE HOUSING UNIT!!!! NOW, GET THIS MESS CLEANED UP IMMEDIATELY BEFORE I LASH YOUR CARAPACE! NOW. NO EXCUSES, YOU DO IT NOW AND THAT’S AN ORDER!

16:15 A: *coughs* Sorry about that, I swear Tiberian has been overactive today since he learned you were taking a leave of absence for his birthday.
16:15 A: Speaking of that, you should be on your way home shortly, right?
16:15 A: So I need you to pick me up som-
16:15 V: Umm, about that. I have something to tell you about my arrival time.
16:15 A: What?
16:15 A: Vellios, the Hierarchy better not have increased your service term because today is Tiberian’s 7th birthday and I will not be delivering the news you’re going to be adding an year to that growing record.
16:15 A: And by my parent’s and my unit commander’s spirits, if you aren’t on your way here then I will raise some serious complaint issues and bury them in paper work for a year!
16:15 V: Hun, hun. Easy, I’m still getting off. Is Tiberian around?
16:15 A: Let me check. *sounds of steps*

16:17 A: No, I just marched him to get the floor cleaner.
16:17 A: Why?
16:17 V: I didn’t want him knowing I was going to be late because I was picking up his birthday present.
16:17 V: I finally, at least I hope, got an authentic quarian model ship I think he would like.
16:17 V: I also wanted to spend some of my bonus pay getting him about a hundred quarian figurines to go with it to make it as real as possible.
16:17 V: Though that number might be a bit low considering what I’ve learned…
16:17 A: Vellios...Please, not again.
16:17 A: How many times have I told you: don’t go crazy over spending.
16:17 A: We should be saving your bonus and not whittling it away on any little thing you think we’ll like.
16:17 A: You’re spoiling us is going to get us into financial debt and I’ll have to take a military allowance on the housing unit.
16:17 V: Armis, hush and hear me out.
16:17 V: I promise, I was careful with how much I spent and it was already established into the budget.
16:17 V: It’s coming out of my medication budget-
16:17 A: Come again?!? No, Vellios, no.
16:17 A: Where did your sanity go?
16:17 A: You need those in order to sleep and I won’t have you stabbing our children when one of them tries to wake you from one of those nightmares!
16:17 A: You’re dangerous when you’re moody and if you think I’m going to put our children at risk because I love you, you’re stupider than a krogan!
16:17 V: I’ve been called worse. *chuckles*
16:17 V: But seriously, please just listen.
16:17 V: I’ve been doing good with the therapist and been slowly working off the drugs.
16:17 V: I’ve gotten it where I don’t always need the shot every night and can still sleep like a rock.
16:17 A: You also snore like one. *sighs*
16:17 A: I don’t like this.
16:17 A: With all the shit you’ve been willing to tell me so far…
16:17 A: I can't help but worried about the effect of getting off the drugs will do to you.
16:17 A: I don’t want to wake up one morning and find you gone, Vellios.
16:17 A: I know you well enough if you think you’re a danger, you’ll vanish without a trace.
16:17 A: Our children need a father and I need you here.
16:17 V: I can’t make that promise I won't run if I'm a threat to our children, and we both know it.
16:17 V: I’m doing this because I love you all and if I didn’t think you were worth it, I wouldn’t be considering getting clean.
16:17 V: I warned you what type of guy I was-even before we got engaged.
16:17 V: My family is the only thing I’ve cared about since…
16:17 A: Since Haides, I know.

16:18 A: I’m sorry, Vellios.
16:18 A: I didn’t mean to create an argument between us, but you can understand my fear, can’t you?
16:18 V: Yeah, I’m scared too.
16:18 V: But I won’t let it stop me.
16:18 A: Fair enough, I just don't want you shutting yourself out.
16:18 A: So to change the subject, what time are you coming home?
16:18 V: Only an hour later, it’s not far from the station I arrived on then I will be heading your direction afterwards.
16:18 V: It will take the very spirit of the Hierarchy to stop me coming home today.
16:18 A: Good, now comes the hard part: giving that message our pain in the carapace son.
16:18 V: Boys will be boys.
16:18 V: Just tell him I’m getting his present and if he tosses a temper about me being late, he won’t get it.
16:18 V: That will get him to behave.
16:18 A: His reckless stunts are irritating me to no ends.
16:18 A: He thinks he can do practically anything without consequences.
16:18 A: Including trying to jump off the house unit’s roof last week!
16:18 V: *busts out laughing hard*
16:18 A: That’s not funny, Vellios!
16:18 A: He watched some idiot turians doing it on the extranet and nearly broke his neck!
16:18 A: I expect that stupidity from you, but not my son!
16:18 A: I’m going to place a parental restriction on those vids.
16:18 V: Oh come on, Armis.
16:18 V: Do you really think that will stop the next stupid stunt?
16:18 A: No... but it might save me some embarrassment.
16:18 A: Can you believe I had to go up there and a haul him all the way down, screeching like Palaven harpix about his behavior?
16:18 A: I think I made our neighbor choke on her guzzard because she was laughing so hard.
16:18 A: My carapace is going to become grey at this rate if he keeps this up.
16:18 A: Worst part, Kilia wanted to follow me up there to get him.
16:18 V: Either way, you make grey look dear.
16:18 A: Funny, Vellios and flirting will not make me overlook the fact our son is acting more and more like you every day.
16:18 V: At least I know he’s mine, right?
16:18 A: VELLIOS?!?
16:18 V: I’m joking.
16:18 V: Really.
16:18 A: How did your mother ever handle you?
16:18 V: Patience, love and a lots of eyes watching me from the shipmates she slept with.
16:18 A: Spirits help me.
16:18 A: How did I ever get stuck with you?
16:18 V: Cause I’m charming and refused to accept your timid no for an answer?
16:18 V: But you love me never the less and when I get home… I’m going to remind you why.
16:18 A: You better mean only crest petting because I’m not shipping Tiberian and Kilia off to stay with my parents.
16:18 V: Why not?
16:18 A: We’ll never get them back and they have academy tomorrow!
16:18 A: My father is nearly as bad as you when it comes to giving into Tiberian’s wants.
16:18 A: I actually got to thinking about your quarian friend when I found a turian meat dish on the Palaven Daily Report.
16:18 A: I miss her cooking.
16:18 V: Been trying to get into contact with her but no luck, I suspect she might’ve returned to the Migrant Fleet.
16:18 A: Oh well.
16:18 A: I believe the sooner I let you go than sooner you’ll be home, right?
16:18 V: Yep and sooner I can sink my mandibles into something delicious.
16:18 V: And I don't mean the cake...
16:18 A: Always the charmer. *snickers quietly*
16:18 A: I love you and we’ll see you soon.
16:18 V: But I love you all the most.
16:18 V: Promise it won't take too long and I'll there shortly.