Fallenreaper

Essence of the World: The New Age [CLOSED]

Guys, can we move to evening? Also having time go a bit quicker IC might be something to consider if we want future events to happen in this calendar year (like the academy tragedy which shouldn't happen on the 4th day of school). Maybe is we only spend two-three weeks real time (give or take, depending on the situation) on a single IC day?

@Wind Wild

The bad part about establishing 2-3 weeks in real time, I would only get a limited amount of things done since most the IC is collabs. Which time spent depends on many factors, namely at least one collab can take up to about 1-2 week depending on how many are involved and devoted free time. There's more problems trying to do that way imo. Namely as I could likely only get one collab per IC day, 3-4 depending if I'm lucky and pushy. For me, this leaves what happens the rest of the IC day blank and denies a lot of PC development for my characters.

However, I do agree with periods of skipping like say a week or more IC rather than going each individual day. Especially if it helps to spread events around and make it less clustered to one end. Mainly as it covers time without having to rp the dull, every day aspects as even exciting events get dull after happening next to each other. I know we do this in Blood often, with weeks to month skips in order to cover the years it takes to develop their magic. It would also help establish a length of time without us having to rp it and make the events seem wider spread out compared to what they have been. Though I think if something major happens, like I know Rtron's going to try to kidnap Olivia again and might get her this time, there should be less of a time skip. Namely as I can't see Aeris, due to Mairyell's tracking ability and likely aid, allowing Olivia to go missing for longer than a week at most. IF that.

<Snipped quote by Wind Wild>

There's still collabs going on in the afternoon. However, I thought we were allowed to skip around in the day as long as it was written at the top of the post, and was within the same day? I also thought it was decided we were changing the tragedy for now?

@Celaira

We are, Yosh made that announcement a while ago due to lacking IC activity in a hope to keep people from waiting to post at key times and waiting on others.

Essence of the World: The Mending

I'll wait until after the battle as Gabe and Uriel wouldn't be caught in the middle of combat sadly. :p

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Post's incoming now, writing it up

@Raptorman

Corrected. :p

Essence of the World: The Mending

Name: Gabriel (no last name)

Alias/Nickname: Several really, depending on whom you talk to but most the alias and nicknames are degrading and are from disgruntled customers. Clairvoyant Reject, Worthless Failure, ect. Names that he pushes off as mere facts but nothing he can change.

Age: He tells his clients he’s between 200 and 225, making him a regressed angel. Not that it seemed to make any difference in his ability.

Race: Angel (Regressed modern)

Appearance:

If he wasn't so scruffy

He appears to be twenty-nine, the very age his regression had been completed within one of his lifetimes. It also explains, because during that lifetime he had been fascinated with long hair, why he never cut his pure white locks. Instead, it’s usually hanging about his eyes and face, almost hiding it from the world until he’s forced to put it into a ponytail when he has customers. Most the time he pushed it up and out of his light onyx eyes that seem to be filled by the world’s experience or at least a few lifetimes. Standing at 5’9” for his full height, Gabriel has a habit of hunching over due to his less than confident attitude and has cut him down to 5’6” in a slouch. Just under his eyes are rings and pale skin, evidence of his poor care habits and sleep patterns making him seem more like a fragile human rather than an angel.

His wings are the same despite his form though they are rarely out, hidden under his coat usually, and whenever they are the wings appear to be molting all the time. Their overall appearance seems he’s incapable of flight, though it would be more because of the fact none had ever seen him perform as he tends to mention he gets airsick and would likely drop from the sky if he tried. Once out the total length from one tip to another is a meter and a half, or about 4 foot, making them among the smallest on record during his time. His wings seem to be a hybrid between the falcon species of Lanner and Saker. The coloring is tan white with the outside is brown and having black bars over the feather ends, breaking the monotone displayed.

His outfit is consistent of a dirty, and often patched old fashion trench coat over a black shirt, completely button up. The coloring, which had faded, was picked solely to hide all the stains from many coffees, food or other sort of stains that shows his ‘sloppy’ habits. Yes, he does eat... About his neck is an out of date necktie that’s plain red and hangs loosely, crinkled like in its manner. His pants are tan slacks and, like his coat, have been mended repeatedly over their long existence. On his feet are black shoes with the tread and sole worn completely down to an almost smooth finished thanks to his continual pacing around his modest housing.

Social Status: A clairvoyant angel with a below modest living that barely scrapes by making ends meets and keep a roof over his head. Using what is his only barely real talent of clairvoyance, he rarely gets customers (human, angel or the rare demon who doesn’t try to eat him) due to his ability being believed to be rather faulty when it comes to interpretation as he has great difficulty telling ‘visions’ from just ‘nightmares or dreams’ apart. Though ever so often he does hit a true one which why the Council sought to provide him with single protector and housing, tolerating his paranoid nature. In addition, it doesn’t help the fact not everyone has a great fate before them. Even other clairvoyant angels look down on him as something better to be stepped on than approached which surprisingly doesn’t bother Gabriel.

Relations:

Mihr- his deceased twin brother killed during after Hell’s gate fell, trying to protect him.

Uriel- An old, grouchy angel named Uriel acts as Gabriel’s bodyguard/babysitter. Uriel hasn’t a problem reminding the angel he is more likely to lose his mind then predict anything worthwhile (despite evidence of otherwise in the past), even when he’s entertaining the rare customer and tends to hurt his money income sometimes.

General Activity: Currently? He's been volunteering to help rebuild the damage left behind, at least what remains, as he also keeps an eye for his clients who survived Judas' all out war.

Abilities:

*Clairvoyance: Shaky foresight ability, Gabriel has a very high difficulty in telling apart simple nightmares apart from visions. While he has some latent talent, it seems regression hasn’t done much to improve this and only key individuals have been able to set it off. For a slight bit it’s a blessing as Gabriel doesn’t have to worry about the strict leash of the Council choking him with what little interactions he has in the world but it is rather depressing to be a large laughing stock even if he doesn’t show it.

*Flight abilities: Unknown if he even has these…

Equipment:

feather bangel: Enchanted to hid his Angelic essence and as long as he’s wearing it, to any creatures around him, he will read as human. When ‘on’ it glows a soft blue before the energy vanishes, leaving it to look like an average bracelet.

Protective vest: Thin but sturdy, he only wears this under his shirt for protection whenever he heads outside at Uriel’s request. It protects against both blades and bullets rather well, though it limits his torso movement greatly.

Personality:

Gabriel is an average downtrodden clairvoyant angel laughing stock. Despite this, he’s normally friendly and polite to anyone who approaches him though he is rather timid by nature and seems easily frighten by those he thinks will crush him. Forgetfulness and short attention spans seemed to run frequently in his interactions, some times so badly he can’t finish his train of thought before he trains off into stutters and jumbling words. In addition to his scatterbrained interaction is his inability to throw anything out and clumsiness that doesn’t make his pack rat, including old food cartons to mothy blankets and other junk, habit any easier to overlook.

Biography:

Before following his brother's lead and regressing, Gabriel's most cherish and lasting memories were when he was a common, normal surface angel. Hell's gate hadn't fallen back then and life was simpler. His father was a normal human, a gentle and timid man who fell in with a grey, battle angel. Together they produced twin angel offspring, Mihr his older brother and himself. As a child, Gabriel held a deep respect for his older twin and because that, he often followed the boy into the deep trouble during their childhood. It was hard to tell why Mihr had developed a indifference on the outside toward him but it seemed not to faze Gabriel in the least. At the time, they were both raised like normal angel offspring as they were taught their duties, heritage, and the common view toward vile demons and their responsibly of mankind. It was around fourteen when their clairvoyance kicked in and sadly, their levels were vastly different compared to each other.

Gabe's visions were often fleeting and erratic, unable to predict anything with certainty, compared to his brother's clarity and accuracy which allowed their own mother to evade death more than once. Naturally the Council acted accordingly to what they viewed as best for all involved. Mihr, and Gabriel, were both removed from their parents' custody and placed under protection of assigned guardians better suited to protecting their gifts. The effect on his brother was most noted in Gabriel's eyes when the older one drew closer to the only family he had left, Gabriel himself. At the age of sixteen, Mihr began talking about entered regression and seemed to beg Gabriel to follow along for the ride in his brother's wake. Weeks after his power had gotten stronger, Gabriel noted Mihr seemed twitchier than usual. His brother often came back distance, upset and furious from his meetings with the Council, both scheduled and not. Though Mihr never laid a hand on him, Gabe feared what his brother might do in his temper and pulled away in fear. Finally it was revealed what troubled his brother most creating the last nail in Gabriel's decision to join his brother in regression. Presenting their deserves to the Council, there was of course worry about the transgression and the chances one or both could be driven insane.

Mihr's arguments were difficult to counter and drew any needed votes into his favor, his speech seemingly rehearsed to perfection. Using resources provided, namely the experience of past regressed clairvoyant angels and demons bound to tamers, helped both held their bodies and mind together through the process. Inside, when it was all said and done, part of Gabriel regretted the decision because he was nearly driven insane. It proved he was always the weaker of the pair after all.

During the pain, their bodies had slowed in aging and seemed to finally stopped at twenty-nine though several hundred years passed in a blur. However, the addition in memories and power seemed not to have helped Gabriel in the least to increase his clairvoyant powers or add more. The only show that he was now an Original was the fact he appeared to have stopped aging at all. A matter that didn't exactly please the Council very much since it made all their work and effect a vain attempt to salvage what pitiful power he had. Some blamed him while others believe his weak in barely making it was a deep factor. Whatever the cause, Gabriel was no long able to completely tell a true vision from dreams accurately. Instead they melded together into a chaotic mess often enough the result left the Council frustrated with him, again separating the twins and pushing Gabriel into one of the lower living conditions under Council control. Mihr, however, was keep under closer watch as well as inhabitants suited for his usefulness.

It was the last time Gabriel saw his brother for a long time.

Times he caught glimpses time to time. Once time he recalled well was when the Council summoned all angels, from the weak clairvoyant to the proud battle angels under one roof and presented to each one two strange vials. One red and the other white, their task was to aid Melody by attempting to gather essence from their fellow races in order to create a new instrument. Among his brother, he also view more intimidating figures like Hazumi, the mother slayer, and Lucien, the angel once entombed in onyx. Being among those tossed away, it made him silently feel better when he saw they too were summoned. Unable to approach for fear he would be ripped apart, he departed back to his apartment without protest.

When Loom was destroyed by the Flesh construct, the thing finally slaughtered and left for dead on the city's outskirts, it was a surprise he survived it. Even more wasn't dragged into the hidden events transpiring around it until the end. After the event, Mihr paid him a visit and mysteriously wanted to re-council their broken brotherly bond. His guardian had sought a new place for the pair to take refuge while he was left with his brother. The reunion was short lived when several demons chose a half hour later to rip his home apart, hoping to gorge themselves on two defenseless clairvoyant angels. What they didn't count on was Mihr specializing in both Clairvoyance and Battle areas. He fought to protect them both...then lost his life because of it. After receiving reports over an attack, several of those assigned to seek out Mihr arrived too late. They found Gabe's home in ruins, demon guts smeared all over the walls and corpses scattered all over the room while in the center laid Gabriel himself clinging to his brother's dead eyed body. The older twin's chest ripped out, wings melted, and face a mangled mess that supported Gabe's sobbing one.

After being interrogated and subjugated to lawless suspicion, Gabriel shortly left to bury his brother's body and never looked back to Loom. For at that time, his mind scarred by memories thanks to the city's misfortune. During Judas' war he was mostly absent, gone without a trance as the battle for Loom, Kenan and fate of the races was fought over. When the war ended, he found himself discovered shortly towards the end by a battle angel named Uriel.

Currently Uriel and he are in Loom where he's tried to remake a life for himself and help some with the rebuilding.

---

Name: Uriel

Age: 39 years, though he’s really 56 in age.
Race: Angel (Battle Angel)

Appearance:

Despite his age, Uriel’s fitness and appearance depicts him as more in his late-thirties. A Caucasian male with skin the hue of raw sienna color, his skin is covered in faded scars from his experience on the surface battling a wide range of surface demons as well a few hellion-leveled demons. His pale blonde mane of hair has been said to remind many of a young lion’s, and kept much the same way, messy and shaggy. The bangs swept over his left eye, hiding the fact he’s going blind in one of his bright blue one and the iris’ color is fading. In the back, his locks are in slightly longer lengths and gravitate down to just an inch above his shoulders. they are still trimmed close to the neck with two braids consisting of nine red beads, one for each demon, left resting behind his right ear.

His face has a square, rough jawline giving him a slightly grizzled appearance you might expect from most angelic veterans with a faded chin cut vertical through his five o’clock shadow. His height is about 6’0” though he has shrunk some from his previous 6’3” due to his aging years. His wings are 14’4” in total diameter when fully stretched out, each wing coming at about 7’2” each. In addition, they are large and angular, much like a peregrine falcon, made for speed in a free fall and long traveling distance. A silvery white coloring, the feathers are broken in places by old battle scars which edge onto his whole body, each one a memory of his youth.

He usually wears basic Grey tee-shirts, cargo pants or jeans in a tidy appearance. He also wears steel toe boots made for curb stomping the hell out of any unwise surface demon stupid enough to mess with his charge.

Abilities:

Angelic Essence: Uriel has total and complete mastery over his own body from its basic functions to its more complex inner workings. His body’s combative traits like speed, strength, endurance, agility and more have fall into the lower Seraph range of power. Enough to handle most surface demons and some low level hellions well enough. Anything at Warden or beyond gives him great difficulty, mainly problematic due to his lacking experience with any such being.

Fluid manipulation: He can manipulate his own blood and other fluids, from eye to plasma, to make them increase their flow speed or lower it. This can increase his stamina and reflexive reaction well beyond human measures or slow it.

further details

Examples of currently known tactics within this area

-Blood becomes erosive on contact, burning most material that doesn’t originate from his own body, after being exposed to the air.

-Increase or decrease his blood flow. He’s used this to slow demonic poisons then eject them from his system, increase air flow to his system, taper off bleeding wounds, and even increase cushioning against blunt force blows to limit damage as a few examples.

Tissue Manipulation: Able to control his living tissue, he can create multiple effects, both offensive and defensive, which give him an edge over most inexperienced battle angels who arrogantly believe they can outmatch him due to age.

farther details

Examples of currently known tactics within this area

-Regeneration of dead, gone, or damaged tissue is possible like many of his fellow brethren. Minor bruising can take a second, more serious but clean cuts (like from a sharp blade) can take 3-4 seconds, and ripped off, shattered, or worse can take up to 10 seconds depending on the damage total. Obvious higher the damage within a wound then longer the healing will take.

-Control over his ligaments and tendons can allow him to use them in unusual ways in both defense and attack. By increasing the cell reproduction within a ligament or tendon, he can split open his skin and use it to whip out at his foes or wrap around an object. However over use of this ability will result in slowing him down when it comes to fast movement with that limb, namely during the time the ligament or tendon is used, until it is restored back to its original state.

-Extreme and sometimes bizarre contorts by increasing the flexibility, ecstatically and strength within his joints. Uriel can rotate arms, legs and other limbs to almost inhuman angles just to be able to defend himself from everywhere. This can lessen damage from blows, blade tears, and more enabling his healing to meld more rapidly though too many will still leave him drained.

-Other traits include ejection of foreign matter, solid, liquid and more, from within his muscles and depending on the matter could return the attack in his own way. Example of this is whenever Uriel takes a bullet, he’ll allow it to penetrate his flesh and stop it within his muscle, the fibers hardened and coil around the object, then within seconds work it down his hand where the tendon propel it in a direction of Uriel’s choosing. Naturally not all objects can be handled like but it is one example of what can happen.

Protein/Bone Manipulation: By stiffing or changing the structure of key proteins, Uriel can lengthen his nails into slight claws a few inches out of his fingers, increase the cones within his eyes, alter key useful organs, and even turn his hair into stiff, quill like weapons.

farther details

-Calcium exchange. This can be displayed in his fingers or bones when needed. Lightening his bones make him lighter and faster while making them denser allows greater weight resistance and more protection from breakage. However, each has its cons as well. The lighter the bone, the more likely it will break with enough pressure and risks shattering it. Density increases weight and slows his muscles, delaying his reaction time for toughness. Key areas he can fuse bones together creating thick, armor like plating for any venerable point. This includes protecting his heart through fusing his ribs into one solid piece, absorbing his nerves within his spinal column or strengthening a joint against shattering.

-His finger nails unlike humans, are made from carbon. These can retract to a few inches in length and curve like feline claw, making them extremely hard for makeshift weapons should he ever be without. Any longer, they would risk breaking rather than be useful. Though it doesn’t have the reach his gun or guisarme has, it will do in a pinch tearing through almost any threat’s flesh and leaving it a bleeding mess. In addition to his nails, he can stiffen and hollow out his hairs creating a dense, offensive protection around his head back similar to tiny quills. The small roots are able to become detach and if left within the victim, can be harmless either hollowed out hairs or contain a small, injectable trace of blood that slides down the hollow and directly under the skin or into the blood stream. The hair will grow back just as quick. (These aren’t lethal as they are painful and hindering, the blood doesn’t release until the hair is pulled out)

-He’s also able to affect key organs in seconds, trailing from shifting them a few inches and limiting the damage to more drastic, like splitting apart into two smaller pieces. Affecting important organs like heart, lungs and more in this matter will show in his reaction until they are placed back together while the shifting is more to limit damage rather than stop it completely. Sadly, he can’t completely rearrange his interior anatomy to protect all his vital organs as it would affect require his continual focus to retain the effect and merely make his combative skills suffer.

Equipment:

Main weapon: Uriel has a simple, yet effective guisarme as his weapon of choice. It has a reach of about ten foot and enables him to strike out at demon from a safer distance then a sword or dagger. However, it’s not without its flaws as he needs both hands to handle it effectively usually forcing him to wear leather gauntlets on his upper arms for farther protection.

Secondary weapon: As a backup weapon, Uriel also has a more modern yet distasteful 9mm handgun. Fully loaded and a modern tool of the era, he’s not fond of using it though when it comes to life and death, a warrior can’t be picky when it comes to protecting his charge. Namely at any costs.

Bio:

Like many of his angel brothers and sisters, Uriel has been born over and over throughout the ages since Heaven’s gate fell and the surface has been come their new home. Many of his lives have began and ended the same way, some never achieving much while others gained untold glory, though this is the life before he decided to edge into regression. It is the present life which holds the most meaning and will set his path, having the most influence due to his experiences and altering his views on the Council.

Like all angels, he was taken from his family at the tender age of 13 and initiated into the Council’s system for their kind. It was simple back then. He was placed under Remiel Hunter, his mentor and a Senior. Remiel taught him much due to his approach with hands on experience and harsh teaching, often pushing Uriel pass his breaking point even when went beyond Remiel's duty and right. Many of the other Seniors thought Remiel rode Uriel far too hard though few were willing to say it to his face. These physical lessons mingled alongside the Council’s schooling, Uriel learning the angel’s roles to protect humanity and destroy the demonic scum plaguing the world. Sadly little of the book learning stuck due to arrogance and pride, traits obtained thanks to his mentor. It was true when none were surprised when he turned out as he did: a perfect killing machine. It was the fate of all battle angels after all.

It was during his Senior year, Uriel gained his own younger classman to train. The boy's name was Samuel Tyrus and while a bit too scrawny and thin, the boy had potential when Uriel applied the same methods as were taught onto himself. It seemed he would see the boy succeed, but neither could've predicted it wouldn't come to pass. During what supposed to have been a simple training exercise over surveillance became a bloody affair ending in Uriel seriously wounded and Samuel dead. Despite his grave mistake, he had managed to bring the student’s body back before it could’ve been consumed by demons, nearly costing his own life. It was the first and last student he would’ve had, refusing to repeat his mistake.

On graduating Uriel found himself back working alongside Remiel once more. It was their duty to watch over and protect an assigned section of Loom, keeping most the human inhabitants safe. His experience with surface demons grew and developed once more under Remiel’s guidance, the pair unmerciful and vicious in their protection against all demon kind. It was when he was 33 he witnessed the aftermath that transpired in 2014. It was when the monster nearly leveled Loom and rattled the Council’s worries, calling them all- including the black winged ones- to the building. Uriel learned several weeks later that the building was destroyed by a demon who consumed a few archangels and many of his kin, all because one angel was careless and enraged the bastard. Like a vulture it didn’t help the Kinslayer also managed to kill his fair share in archangel despite trying to stop the demon.

A year later, Judas’ war broke out tossed the whole crumbled structure back on its head. Though Uriel never knew any of the angels involved, there was rumors and some evidence, that a small group was trying to once more populate Heaven. Mostly refugees from what he knew though he wasn’t responsible for seeing them to safety or protecting their attempts. Angelic and demonic numbers fell rapidly due to Judas’ xenphobia, his will unyielding to any not human, resulting in casualties in the thousands or more on Hell’s gate breaking. Among it all, Uriel watched the worse and best in war while he fought to survive among his brethren. It was during one rebellion attempt that he lost his eye and his faith in the Council. An angel, young and black winged, had came back wounded and bleeding, her wings in such a mess that flight was impossible. Unknowingly in her recklessness, she was leading a pack of gate killers right to their encampment. Naturally due to the prejudice given to Remiel by the Council, the older angel lashed out in a rage at his fellow angel believing she had betrayed them then left her to die slowly. Uriel showed mercy against his idol’s reason, resulting in Remiel taking his eye, and finally snapped the dark angel's neck, allowing them both to flee undetected by the gatekillers.

That event rattled Uriel’s usually strong faith in the Council, resulting in his separation from Remiel and carving his own way through the war. It was during one of his personal explorations did he come across Gabe, a terrible excuse for a clairvoyant he had ever seen. The angel was hiding in a crumbling bunker and been with him ever since. It didn’t help only one fourth of the population of angels currently lived through the genocide inflicted during the war.

Mass Effect: The Face of Injustice

Raa'Kina & Voira

Voira walked into the spacious area she had cleared quickly out with the help of her biotics. She eyed it critically. For the most part it was empty, except for targets lined up at varying distances. They were varied makeshift targets(stretching from empty glasses, to pieces of wood with painted on targets), granted, but they were targets nonetheless."It could be better. But we will make it work. We've asked every guard here and apparently they don't have a dedicated training room. Considering the ship has Turians out the wazzo, we find this surprisingly sloppy." She said, mostly to herself. Voira made some minor adjustments with her biotics, then finally judged it worthy for what she was planning to do. She walked back to the open door. "Well, we don't like it but we think it'll work. You have to work on your shooting and fighting somewhere and we are not just sitting around.

Raa'Kina stood there, watching the blue, glowing objects float about and shift into an alignment that suited her friend's desire quite well. She tilted her purple tinted face mask while Voira finished up. Her three fingered hand still clenched the pistol in her hand, tightening and loosing in her anxiety in silence. She didn't want to do this but despite her meek, hesitate protests, the Asari refused to take no for an answer. Finally, namely due to her AI's subtle threat of locking Voira into her quarters, she gave in and accepted she wasn't going to find a way around this.

Ever since the near death at some raider's antics on the last ship, Voira had insisted on upping her training. So now most days Raa'Kina, or Raa as she preferred, came back more sore than ever. Thankfully by now, she was use to Voira's bellowing snores. If only the Quarian could harness how the Asari managed to make the room walls vibrate with the sound then they would've had a fool proof alarm and security system. She wasn't even sure if modern sciences could recreate such a noise.

At Voira's mention of her, Raa's visor jerked upward to her friend's direction. "I don't know, the sitting around part sounds less... dangerous."

She looked at the gun in her hands and back to Voira, if the Asari didn't see her worry over this then RK was about to make it very clear.

"Really, Voira? You know I can tap into the omni-tool HUB and aim it for her, right?" RK's bust appeared, her Quarian head glaring at the Asari, with a older model of the Quarian helmet. On first glance she looked like a common, unnoticeable Quarian save for some key differences. Her color was completely tinted orange with decorative and intrinsic designs, floral and tribal almost, covering her hood. "You know her biology isn't built for Close Quarter Combat and pushing it would only result in permanent damage. That much I can calculate without a formula."

Voira chuckled gently at the Quarian's hesitancy. She sighed as RK appeared, clearly preparing for the attack. The Asari waited for the glowing AI to finish telling her what she already knew, glancing occasionally at her omni-tool, as if to check the time. When the AI was done, Voira spoke. "We understand that, RK. We also understand that there have been instances where you couldn't help her aim, and that when you aren't there she's doomed." Voira smiled at Raa to show she didn't mean it hatefully. It was simple facts. "The fucking raiders proved that. You can't be aiming for her all the time and we don't want her reliant completely on you." Her next words were practically dripping with sarcasm. "Also, we thought Quarian's were second only to Krogans in CQC and were planning on training Raa so that she could crush the skull of any dumb ass trying to attack her."

She smirked at the hologram. "Give us some credit to our intelligence, despite all the Ryncol we drink. We're not going to train her to stand toe to toe with a damn Krogan. We're going to train her to defend against enemies who like CQC. We can't be there to stop every enemy from getting to her, and you can't stop a fly from landing on her. Unless, of course, you finally take our advice and get a body. No? We didn't think so."

She turned to Raa, her voice turning notably more gentle. "We know how nervous this makes you. But we can't have a repeat of those fucking raiders. We nearly failed to protect you because of lack of proper training, and we won't fail again."

"I know, but you know how I feel about killing. Taking a life, namely after hearing tales from Noami'lie and Tevura, leaves scars and pain. I just don't think I can handle that type of misery even if came down to my life or another." Raa sighed a bit, her lip being bitten under her helmet though either RK or Voira could see. It was a habit after all. Her fingers wrapped to constrict the lethal device in her hands while the scene from the Raiders played out, the wounds still fresh since it only happened a short time ago, the very images that crept into her head and made her wake up screaming often enough.

While Raa was ignorant of her grasp, RK wasn't. The AI had been about to retort to Voira when her sensors went off about the stress observations, the key pressure applied in Raa's gloves, causing the hologram's head to tilt down. She pointed at the gun, after initiating the safety, and gestured at Voira to take the gun. Her next look seemed annoyed and knowing she was correct that approaching this was too soon.

"Yet you still sound like a Geth...brings a lot of comfort to my server." RK stated, clearly. "Raa'Kina isn't ready for this, at least mentally. If this lesson does anything then it will prove that and likely shatter her self confidence. As for the body, if I had one then I doubt Raa'Kina would've been held at knife point in our last encounter, would she?"

"RK, stop." Raa said as she barely loosened her grip from the gun. Her face mask lifted to face the AI, though it wasn't in anger, and scolded the artificial life form. "It was my own stupidity. I shouldn't have been looking for Voira."

Voira noted Raa's tightening around the same time RK did. However, before she could put a barrier around the pistol so no one got shot, the AI shut down Raa's gun. The Asari sighed in relief, before turning to listen to RK. Voira merely glared at RK, clearly hating the hologram for reminding her of how close Raa came to death, because she hadn't dealt with the invaders fast enough. Her responding smile was paper thin. "You're right. Which makes us wonder why you haven't already gotten a body. Can an artificial life feel fear for herself? We are beginning to suspect so."

"Rather impossible as you know, organic." RK spoke calmly pointing out the problems in the Asari's logic "Machine bodies tend to need up keeping which requires time, money and energy. All three better wasted on yours and her day to day needs. Quarian food products aren't found everywhere or cheapest in certain places, meaning you'll to save the credits for emergencies. Unless you are going to acquire the massive credits for a combative model and spend the time cleansing the numerous glitches or problems in it? A third problem is storage space. It's highly unlikely I'll be in it all the time unless you've got an alternative method to monitor Raa'Kina's status or allow her to shoot should the enemy get too close? If I wasn't within her omni-tool..."

Voira's gaze shifted back to Raa, her head already shaking in vehement denial. "No. It was our fault. We should have said something to RK, or left a note, or anything else to keep you out of harms way. We should have been faster. We should have..." Voira made a sound of frustration, unable to list all the reasons for her failure and the guilt she felt for it. "Our failure is not your failure Raa." She sighed before addressing previous statements. "What if we switched your ammo to non-lethal stun rounds? And trained you for non-lethal takedowns? Would that help you keep from causing scars and pain? We can't fail you again, and we can't force you to change."

"I-I think so." Raa stuttered a bit, her voice still unsure while she weighed the option in a better light. Her head shook in agreement at last as she pulled her gun upward to shift the gun's ammo, putting it on stun rather then kill. "Voira, I willingly went out. You couldn't have known I would've woken up after all, I've never done it before. And even RK was telling me to stay in the room until you returned but I didn't listen. I didn't want something to happen to you."

RK crossed her arms over her chest and seemed to cock her body to one side. "Voira is perfectly able to protect herself. The percentage proves it, several times after all."

"I know, but I worry." The younger Quarian insisted as she paused, her fingers flickering across the interface on her omni-tool and shut down RK's targeting system. "So, which bottle should I aim for first?"

This was her first time firing without the AI's help, a matter that didn't calm her in the least, while she pulled her gun up. She aimed it at the nearest bottle and checked Voira's head for a nod, ready to pull the trigger immediately.

"We still could have done something. We should have been more careful. We should have been more conscious of the danger to you. We should have been...we don't know. Smarter in general! Everything that has happened to you as a result of those bastards is our fault." Voira shook her head angrily, not at Raa or RK, but herself. Her expression softened as Raa spoke. "Rk is right, but we appreciate the feeling. It's nice to know someone worries. Start shooting at the bottle furthest to the left and work your way to the right. We'll be able to see what your best range is." Voira nodded at the Quarian.

Raa knew arguing and trying to utter logic in her favor wasn't going to win against Voira, at least not this time. Instead she nodded and breathed. Her respirators echoed her sound, making it raspy and clearly spoken through a filter, which she had gotten use to again. If it wasn't for the fact she was new to this environment, she would've been able to remove it but to do it right now without RK monitoring her vitals and altering the system every so often to let her exposure level adapt. She knew Voira hated it. Whenever she got sick and couldn't stand upright, the Asari's protective nature seemed to have kicked in overdrive. It made the fussing over her a bit uncalled for even if Raa appreciated it.

Her finger tightened and pulled the trigger.

BAM!

Raa literally jumped when it nicked the bottle to the side, sending it wobbling, yet still standing. It seemed to mock her when she lowered her weapon to see the damage. A small, hole had dented the wall where the ammo's effect flickered and told her it was a stun shot. Though it missed. Raa turned the pistol on its side and checked it over, then tapped her omni-tool a bit. She made sure it all her instruments lined up properly which they, unsurprisingly, did. The Quarian sighed a bit at the disappointment it was her own fault at missing.

"Not as easy as it looks, is it?" She asked Voira, admitting in a roundabout way she had missed because of self error.

Voira, however, was grinning. "Nothing is ever as easy as it looks, we find. But, that was a great shot for the first time without assistance aiming. Far better than our first time. You actually hit the target. We missed by two feet and sent the bullet ricocheting around the training room. Good thing that merc had been wearing armor. Regardless, don't be disappointed. It takes practice to get good at anything, be it using your omni-tool for technology or shooting. Try again, and don't get discouraged. The beginning is always the worst." She made an encouraging gesture, watching Raa more closely this time, to see if there was anything wrong with her form.

"I remember how my first time with my omni-tool went. I ended up shorting the whole area on Rannoch in my neighborhood and it went dark, needless to say upset several quarians came knocking. Including my parents which being a youth wasn't fun." Raa answered in a sheepish tone. She inhaled again and pointed, then shot. This time the bullet missed about three inches. It hit the metal side full on and pinged off, rocketing it through RK's head.

The AI frowned. She was clearly not amused by the 'headshot' or likely by Voira's amusement from it, her eyes turned to the Asari with clear warning. "Don't you think about it."

"I'm sorry, RK, I didn't mean to hit you in the head. It wasn't my aim to." Raa gingerly commented and examined the hologram's image for damage. There wasn't likely to be any but she was still trying to figure out how she managed to get from point A to point E, skipping points B to C and going through point D in the process.

Voira smiled wider. "We'll keep your blackout and my murder attempt our secret of how we both learned the value of practice." She started chuckling as the bullet went through RK's head, quieting down and managing a mostly straight face when the hologram glared at her. "Us? Think about that? We would never." The Asari replied, feigning innocent confusion, while repressing a smile. "If ricocheting helps you get more head shots, we feel that it should be your goal. All joking aside though, we think we see your problem." She stepped behind Raa, having her aim again. As the Quarian did so, Voira placed her hand over Raa's, steadying the weapon. "There's nothing to be afraid of." She said softly, given that she was right next to Raa's ear. "A pistol is nothing more than a tool, like your omni-tool. It won't hurt you, or anyone here. Relax. You can do this."

"Little late for that, my parents already knew." Raa was blunt though she failed to notice the teasing nature or the amusement in Viora's tone, continuing. "My omni-tool never hurt anyone and I never really did more then pointed where RK told me and shot the pistol off. She did the rest really."

Raa's head jerked up when she heard the Asari walk slowly about her back, followed by the impression of her figure close and hand reached to stead her own. Her elbow was straightened which helped keep her hand from shaking as she heard Voira's whisper in her helmet side. It wasn't easy. Her skin seemed to bubble under her suit and made her shiver despite the environment controlled design causing RK's head to tilt in question. For a moment, Raa expected the suit to immediately warm up but found to her surprise it didn't happen. Instead the AI seemed to wait and watch quietly, observing her facts before acting. Her experience with the Barbacus crew seemed to have paid off well in her ability to read individual, even to understand them.

Inhaling a second time, Raa's finger squeezed the trigger again. The vibration rattled through her hand and arm, finding a place in her body while the bullet jettison forward. It sped at the nearest bottle... and nicked it. The item flopped over and clattered to the ground with a loud sound. It made Raa jump in Voira's arms, nearly clashing into the Asari behind her.

It was painful to admit, a lot.

Voira rolled her eyes and chuckled a bit as Raa missed the teasing. She noticed RK tilting her head, but writ it off as the AI analyzing her namesake's form. She steadied Raa, thus preventing them from both falling down, and smiled. "Good job. You're improving, despite all your misgivings." She hadn't moved from her position, and continued to speak quietly. "Though we do find it odd that you're perfectly fine with engines and technology banging, clunking, popping, and making a host of other noises, and yet a bottle falling on the ground causes you to jump six feet in the air." Voira teased.

"Well the hertz are quite different between the two. Noisy machines are mid-level, between 250 hz and reach up to 2000 hz, which makes the noise deafening, longer lasting and easily adaptable. Bottles are much lower, more sudden and doesn't give you much time to adapt to it. Namely since the sound dies so quick-" Raa was suddenly interrupted by RK, the AI's voice hinting to artificial sarcasm in her tone.

"Raa'Kina... that was a joke. Voira wasn't serious, she was teasing you, again."

"Oh..." Raa started to blush through her helmet, feeling heat in her cheeks and face, realizing her mistake rather well. Movement distracted her from berating her own flaws causing her head to turn slightly, still listening to Voira continue.

The bottle rose into the air and reset itself, glowing blue. "Don't think of it as a tool to hurt someone. Think of it as..." The Asari pursed her lips, thinking. "Think of it as a tool to protect. It could be to protect yourself, or RK. It could even be to protect us. We won't always be in our peak, dazzlingly beautiful, condition. Besides, it'd be nice to be fussed over rather than having you tell us we're being too protective. Which we aren't, by the way. Being so sick that you can't stand is not good and we are perfectly justified in everything we do when that happens to you." She had Raa aim again, and steadied her once more. "Try again."

"It's getting better. Quarian immune systems are much stronger than when before the Reaper War which is thanks to a joint effort between Geth and Quarians that makes it possible." Raa defended herself, still thinking Voira made a small thing out of nothing. The weakness only lasted a few days, and it wasn't like she couldn't do anything. She could sit upright, wobble around and stumble in her walk though she often collapsed afterwards. At least it wasn't going to kill her, unlike past years where she heard stories how a simple tear in the suit had a chance in being fatal. She shuddered at the thought then aimed again.

Bam. Another clear miss, though once more the bottle fell off its perch and right into the floor. After hearing and expecting, Raa was much more prepared to brace herself for the hertz reaching her ears than before. As if to encourage her, since stopping Voira's insistence was impossible, RK chirped up with a comment.

"Shot improvement by at least a millimeter."

Voira nodded. "Every time you shoot you get better." She stepped back from Raa, letting the Quarian steady the gun by herself. "One more time. We want you to hold the gun steady by yourself when you shoot. Then we'll start on seeing what you can do if someone tries to get in melee combat with you again." The Asari didn't know when the actual meeting itself was going to begin and she wanted to get at least a basic idea of what to train Raa in. Not again. Never again.

Raa's hand was still shaky as she tried to stop it, increasing it only a bit more, before she closed her eyes. Her fingers tightened and her breath shallow, her heart thumping like a scared animal. Calm... calm down. She whispered to herself, trying to steel her nerves some. Slowly her fingers tightened when her eyes snapped open, pulling the trigger.

Bam!

Ping, clatter. The bottle was hit as the bullet clipping it in the center, where the neck and main body, hitting the floor with a loud sound and shattering into pieces. Raa blinked in shock at what she did. Her body held in place, frozen, while her mind tried to register what she had done. Her surprise was broken when Voira's arms suddenly appeared around her and clasped her close, squeezing her tightly.

"Did I do that?" Raa asked the obvious question.

Voira made a sound of joy, and then promptly attack hugged the Quarian. "You did! See? We told you you could do it! All you need to do now is practice is more and we're sure you'll have it down pat!" She practically shouted in the Quarian's ear, almost shaking poor Raa in her glee. She ignored RK, knowing the AI's feelings on this 'sweet stuff'. Putting Raa down, she grinned at her friend. "And you claimed you couldn't do it. Should have listened to us, hmmm?" She practically sang.

Raa's head felt dizzy and wobbly as the Asari shook her roughly. Her glee was clear though it seemed to have been taken to a whole new level, the Quarian's body easily bruising under the suit and thankful Voira couldn't see it. It was painful but she knew Voira's reaction was only out of happiness rather than malice which only made the pain easily bared. Though, she knew it was likely a good thing she could use medi-gel for such accidents.

When Raa finally felt her feet touch ground, her breath her breath gasped and air filled her lungs again. "Maybe, but the odds of it happening again are rather slim..."

RK scoffed, her systems still monitoring the Qaurian's bio readings, when she enhanced her image into a smaller version of her full image. "I just hope you've not broken a rib with that hug... else, listening might result in bodily harm every time."

Voira snorted. "Don't give us that. It'll happen again, we know it." She looked embarrassed as she recalled how fragile Quarians were. "Sorry, we just got...over excited for you. You're not hurt?" She eyed Raa, looking to see if there were any injuries she could notice with the suit on.

Raa noticed Voira looking at her as she immediately straightened upright, her body flaring with pain while she struggled not to flinch. Bruises weren't dangerous but they did sting well enough. Her lungs finally adjusted to the new intake of air and faded in its sharp prickling pain, the younger alien managed to catch her breath easily enough. She quickly persisted to insist she was alright as she quickly replied. "No, n-no, just a bit breathless. I'm getting use to these hugs, I promise."

Her hand was still holding the gun though her grip was far more relaxed, the fingers loosely dangled it in her grip. "Now what's next? I hope it's just shooting bottles than anything more drastic, I don't like the mention of melee and shooting in your last sentence."

Voira looked suspiciously at Raa for a few more moments before accepting her answer. Omni-gel did have it's uses after all. She grinned mischievously at the Quarain. "No, you won't be shooting during this next part. We meant defending yourself against someone within arms reach who fully intends to hurt you. Stopping them from getting that close is the purpose of the shooting. Right, so what technology do you have that could stun or paralyze temporarily someone coming after you? We somehow suspect that teaching you how to hit someone is not the route to go. Thus, we are going to see what technology you have and how to best use it." Glancing at RK she added, "Technology that isn't an AI."

"Artificial Intelligence details would likely go over your little, blue head if I need to explain the difference between me and some lifeless omni-tool application." RK stated bluntly as she paced about, settling down to sit like any organic would. It seemed pretty clear she picked up some natural habits from the Barbacus' crew.

Raa ignored RK's comment, her hand gratefully putting the pistol away, while she pulled up a list from her omni-tool. The transparent screen blared back with several options useful for a variety of things from repair to transmuting into omni-gel, her finger tapped the list to shorten it drastically when she typed in offensive. Omni-blade and incendiary attack that when activated, she could back hand a target and cause a massive explosion sending them flying back. The bad part was the last time she attempted it, she was knocked flat on her tailbone and defend-less. Not very good in defending herself, save for buying time for Voira to come to her aid. Though she could download more if needed, she choose to omit that little mention to Voira should the Asari not know, and the the thought made her middle twist painfully. The omni-blade and incendiary application was bad enough.

"Just two. An omni-blade, usually used to help pry off stripped bolts and such. A incendiary application that I can use on the lowest setting but it will leave you slightly singed." Raa said in a small voice.

"Hmm. Do you have anything that can apply a shock? Not in your offensive section, but in your regular items?" Voira asked, pointedly ignoring RK and the AI's comment. She wouldn't rise to the robot's baiting...this time. "Since you don't have any actual combat omni-tool programs, we're going have to adapt ones meant for repair. Unless there's a quick way you could get stun programs?" She doubted an incendiary program was going to not kill someone, and on the lowest mode it would merely irritate whoever was attacking her. She smiled gently at Raa. "You're not making this easy you know."

Raa shifted the search engine and the list altered again, instead of shrinking it grew. Basic functions this time as she scanned the items she knew almost by heart. "Blow torch, scanner, flashlight, dispenser, camera, games, flash, overloading application, hacking, and nothing seems to be able to make a shock unless I take something machine base and overload it?"

She admitted she didn't want to download a stun program, namely since didn't know what type or how to apply it. This field was completely out of her scope of understanding which made her uncomfortable. It also felt like personally downloading them would've made her omni-tool less hers and more a weapon of destruction, made for taking life.

Voira sighed. "Unless you want to burn someone with the blowtorch, we're gonna have to take a new approach. Can you add programs? Specifically cloaking to hide yourself, sabotage to shut down their guns so you don't get shot, Overload their shields unless that application works on shields, a cyroblast to freeze rather than kill...what's the other one that merc had...the one that shut down our biotics..." Voira snapped her fingers. "Damping! That's it! Very disconcerting to not be able to use our biotics in that fight. Not to mention, our omni-blade wouldn't work either." Voira looked at Raa. "Would all of those work if you could add them? It reassures us that you can protect yourself and keeps you from killing someone."

Raa immediately shook her head at Voira's facts as she crossed over her chest. Her hips cocked and eyes fixed on her friend, listening to the alternatives. The cloaking, sabotage, overload and even dampening sounded like suitable options. Though she wasn't too keen into turning someone into a popsicle as hypothermia was a dangerous thing and not something she wanted to be responsible for. She stood there thinking for a moment while she divided the pros and cons in her head, weighing the overall risk.

Tilting her head to the side, she spoke in a mousy voice. "So yes, I can download four of the five applications. Sabotage, Dampener, Overload, and Cloaking but you realize I'm not familiar with these so we're going to have to practice with them. Knowing my luck with CyroBlast, I'll end up freezing myself to a wall."

The Asari smiled, happy that there was finally something she could do to help Raa survive one of her protector's failures again "Of course. We wouldn't just ask you to get these programs and then figure them out in the middle of a fight. We'll even be your practice dummy." Voira smirked." A little bit of payback for all the bruises we've accidentally given you from over excited hugs. Though we do suggest you get Cyromancy to actually stop someone."

"Wait, what? That's sarcasm right?" Raa asked, apprehension growing at the thought of hurting a friend. "That's not funny."

RK, on the other hand, seemed to find the prospect rather amusing. "Oh, this will be rather fun to watch."

Raa shot her AI a look, through her glare effectiveness was dampened by the face visor hiding her features. " Keelah, why do you two find pain funny? It's not and there's no way that I would attack a friend. It's not happening."

The Quarian's finger tapped the discussed additions, quickly downloading them while she looked over the spec rapidly. Her eyes flickered in determination to seek any lethal applications and possibly delete it, preventing it from being used. Though her omni-tool was difficult to hack, she wouldn't have been surprised if someone learned how to hack one and shut it down or worse, turn it on its owner. It wasn't a plausible thought but neither were the Reapers in the past and look at how well not being prepared turned out? Raa breathed deeply when she twisted on the spot and faced Voira, "So, really... how are we going to train with these?"

Voira laughed gently. "We don't find lethal or crippling pain funny. We just find minor pain that is well deserved or that the person knew would happen funny. Things that hurt just enough to remind them of what a bad idea whatever they did was, but not enough to break bones or cause permanent damage." She smiled at Raa's denial, and subsequent question.

"What?!? I don't understand how you can find that funny!" Exclaimed Raa, her head taking another look at the Asari.

Voira shrugged. "Must be a mercenary thing." She glanced at RK. "And sarcastic AI thing. As for how we'll train, we just told you. We'll be your sparring partner. There is no other way to copy a living, thinking, opponent in a short amount of time. At the worst, we'll both leave this room with bruises. You're not attacking us. You're helping us prepare you for the next time we fail." Voira activated her shields and drew one of her pistols.

She walked a few steps back. "Surprise us. Use whichever you think would be the best first move against us."

"You realize this whole exercise is pointless, right?" The Quarian utter, her words pouring out as she watched Voira get into a ready position. It was clearly too much for the female to considering attacking violently against someone she admired or cared for. "Sparring doesn't sound much different from fighting and I'm not going to fight you, Voira."

RK rolled her digital eyes, inwardly knowing there was only one way to get Raa to fight her. Give the Quarian no choice in the matter. Something the AI wasn't sure Voira would do. Deciding to kill two birds with one stone, RK jacked back into the omni-tool and immediately took over the system, discreetly selecting the Dampener. Raa and Voira, unless the Asari was putting up a pitiful argument, were likely too busy arguing to notice the omni-tool was working on it's own.

Bzzzttt. The omni-tool glowed blue and before either female knew what happened, Voira's biotics were down.

Voira sighed in frustration. She couldn't understand why Raa didn't want to attack her. This won't hurt us. We know it because we've done this before. Why is she being so damn stubborn? She smiled wryly. Look whose talking. She took a breath before replying. "We think we've rubbed off on you. You didn't used to be this damn stubborn. Just use your new skill set. We'll be fine. We assure you." She didn't notice the Quarian's omni-tool acting oddly as she watched Raa, waiting for her friend to finally act. Thus, it came mostly as a surprise when the omni-tool glowed blue and she felt and saw a familiar, half forgotten, blue crackle across her body. Voira winced, stumbling backwards and falling, caught unprepared by the sudden attack. When she sat back up, she looked at Raa, clearly caught between happiness that Raa had finally done something, and uncertainty if she actually did it when she saw the Quarian's reaction.

"Voira!" Raa shouted, her eyes widened and shock filled her body language. Immediately her body bolted forward, halting abrupt to plop down beside Voira while her omni-tool stopped glowing. She spied a hasty glare at RK, the AI slightly smirking, and held her arm to scan the Asari's figure. Her first scan showed no broken bones, ruptured organs or anything serious, merely bumps and bruises making the Quarian release a breath in relief. She had medi gel on standby in worse case situation though it seemed her distress wasn't needed. Her eyes turned to Voira at hearing her saying something.

"That wasn't you, was it?" The Asari asked her friend, smiling at the abrupt panic and concern, before looking at RK. Or, more aptly, where she currently resided. "We appreciate the help."

"No, I didn't do it." Raa growled, her tone more annoyed than pure rage. She didn't like this one bit and RK had no permission to jack in, even if it was to prove a point. It didn't stop the Quarian from glaring at the AI who brushed off the heated look with a three fingered hand wave, her figure rising to pace toward the pair and keen down beside Voira.

"Well, you did say you wanted a surprise right?" The smugness was very thick in her voice.

"We did say we wanted a surprise, but we were thinking the surprise would come from Raa." Voira replied dryly to the smug AI.

RK took Voira's attempt to barb her in better light than the Asari likely wanted, her body pulled up and cocked her hips while she looked down. "That was your flaw, organic, in not being specific. Though Raa, her bio signs are fine and it might be best not to waste your medi-gel on her if she doesn't need it."

Voira looked up at Raa raising an eyebrow at the Quarian. "Whose being fussy now? If you were that eager in the training we could have been done by now." She winked at her friend, enjoying the brief role reversal far more than she'd thought she would have. "We're fine. A bit more on our ass than we thought we'd be, but perfectly fine. So now will you start sparring with us, or should we just give up, wait for you to build or buy a drone for RK, and then continue from there? You know which we'd prefer, but it is ultimately up to you."

Raa groaned at her options. Truthfully, she didn't like either Voira or RK fighting as she continually told the pair but neither seemed to listen to her anymore. She body turned about, allowing her to settle her back against the transport ship's hull and curled her legs close to her body. The Quarian was nearly a small ball considering her small size with her mask rested on her crossed arms. "You know a drone isn't possible with our currently tight budget. Besides, I already spent 700 credits getting the applications you requested so I might as well learn how to use them."

She immediately regretted speaking when it came to mind Voira would instantly want to know where the credits came from and the answer would've been simple: her own food supply stash. Which meant she was using about three months worth of her own credits without consulting Voira first, a matter that upset the Asari since it was basically taking food out of her own mouth. In an attempt to soften the blow, the Quarian pipped up quickly. "Please don't be mad."

Voira's eyes narrowed at the mention of the cost of the downloads. That sounded way out of their budget range. Before she could ask where the money came from, Raa piped up again. That made everything click into place. Voira shot to her feet. "Raa'Kina Nar Rannoch! What were you thinking?" She shouted. "You could have just told us that you couldn't afford the mods and we would have just improvised! Don't be mad. That's like telling a Krogan not to fight." She scowled, about to go on when she saw Raa's reaction.

Taking a deep breath, she sat next to the Quarian. "We're sorry. But you have to know that was a stupid thing to do. And you're taking our share of the credit stash. No buts. We've been alive one hundred and three years longer than you, and we're better built to take any negative affects not having seven hundred credits might bring on." She sighed and then hugged the little Quarian. "You're lucky we like you, a lot, otherwise we would never put up with you. Fortunately, we like you a lot. Well meant naivety and all."

Raa cringed at Voira's reaction, her face crunched up and shoulders tensed at the shouting Asari's voice. It was like glass on her ears to hear her friend so mad. Her foot circled her toes into the smooth floor while she waited for Voira to finish her rant, bracing for the worse case scenario, and was surprised to see the Asari suddenly breath. Hearing Voira plop down beside her, Raa's mask turned to face her friend's resolution. She went to shake her head but stopped in the middle of it when Voira said no buts, knowing full well RK would lock her access to her credits and give it to the Asari. As much as the AI and her clashed, Raa knew RK knew Voira valued her own less than the Quarian's. Voira always made sure Raa took care of herself after all.

Raa leaned her head over to rest on Voira's shoulder while the Asari hugged her tightly. It was a relief she hadn't screwed up too much while the ship's hull vibrated, signaling their arrival at the station's dock. Shortly they would disembark and enter for the upcoming job Raa had to do. It was difficult getting them to accept her 'unofficial' bodyguard until she mentioned Voira was her personal security to ensure she was safe during her work. The man who recruited her seemed to have found her explanation barely plausible as she struggled with the lie, but he still allowed her to bring her friend along.

"I'm glad, I thought I really messed things up this time." Raa said in a relieved tone.

Voira shook her head, before resting her cheek on Raa's helmet. "No. Though this is right up there with that time you thought that human really wanted to have you help them treat an injured us in the dark ally, out of sight, with no witnesses, alone. Despite the fact we went into the bar for only a few moments. Like we said. We like the well meant naivety and all the rest. Even the insistence upon not killing those who might be trying to kill you. Though we suppose that's why we're here."

"How was I supposed to know? I heard gun shots, saw injured civilians and he knew your name. It's not like I was completely naive. Just didn't like the fact you might be bleeding and helpless, you have to admit you do get reckless. If I didn't have a ready supply of medi-gel, you could've been crippled or worse by now." Raa defended herself recalling the incident and the near mugging. She lost her credits, and nearly ended up being left for dead if Voira didn't show up. It was among the few close encounter with her friend's worse side she rather never remember. "I don't ever want to see you like that. You were really mad and I thought you were going to be purple for days."

Voira's face darkened as she remembered the incident, her body tensing in anger. It was the last time she had entered a bar when Raa was with her. She had entered to get a brief drink, and come out moments later, at RK's repeated alarms in to Voira's omni-tool, to find Raa injured and a human trying to transfer her credits. Voira hadn't bothered with pulling her gun out, simply using her biotics to slam the mugger into the wall. Ignoring him, she had examined Raa in a state of panic, RK having to repeat herself multiple times to get it through to the Asari that Raa wasn't stabbed or shot, just nearly unconscious.. Thus reassured, Voira turned her gaze to the recovering mugger, and her panic turned to white hot rage.

The Asari hadn't used her pistol, or any guns. She had beat the man to death with her bare, biotically charged, fists. She didn't know how much Raa had saw, but enough that Voira knew she had scared the Quarian.

"The bastard had hurt you, and was getting ready to do far worse. We weren't going to let him get away with that. We're never going to let anyone get that close to hurting you again. Not even on this mission." She sighed in disappointment and then, "We'd best get going. Don't want to be late to your meeting with whoever hired you, hmm?"

Raa nodded. Though she knew Voira had good intentions, her heart trembled at the memory and the Asari's hot blooded rage toward the mugger. She saw enough to know a quarter of what her friend was capable of doing to someone when they crossed a line. It made her grateful Voira liked her and was willing to do whatever, even if she wasn't happy about it, to protect her. "Yep, and I much rather make a good impression the first time."

Raa rose upright and bent down to help the Asari up, then when the pair started to move to the door she paused. "Ummm.... shouldn't we clean up our mess first?"

Voira just smirked, looking over her shoulder as everything glowed the familiar biotic blue once more. The objects floated and shifted, each returned to their original place just when the Quarian voiced her question. "What mess?" The biotic asked innocently as she left.

Raa blinked, adding while she following the Asari's wake and passing back the pistol. "I will never get used to that..."

Essence of the World: The Mending

Cool, will tonight when I get on my laptop.

Essence of the World: The Mending

I've been waiting for Gabe and Uriel to be accepted and looking for an entrance somewhere.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

In an unsurprising turn of events, the post has been delayed, slightly. Tomorrow, tonight I have a school sponsored party to celebrate being a college senior.

@Raptorman

Life just loves to make you delay doesn't it? :p

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Mar

The task was almost done, Mar thought bitterly. Her eyes stared at her hands, covered in various wounds and splinters, still lightly bled in her efforts to tearing wood once nailed down. It had taken a long time to find, pull and tear apart the various broken furniture and floor board to add into the dead's pile. She needed the kindling to help feed the oil and keep it going, allowing it to become hot enough to turn the bodies into ashes. Most of it was from the ghost village, making the pile higher now. It would've went faster had Coco helped but she refused, for personal reasons, instead allowing Mar to work alone.

Now came the exhausting work. Sweat and blood weren't strangers to her, though the manual work done by farmers was clearly not something she was designed for. Her work methods clumsy and crude in nature. First Mar began to flattening and dig any large plants within a three foot radius around the burn area, slowly at first. Whatever she couldn't pull up she covered over with dirt, filling the air with the rich, thick earthy scent. It mingled in and out of the corpses' rotting smell, the pile left to linger, drifting the graveyard stank through out the camp. Occasionally her eyes flickered over to the pile. She caught glimpses of the male and female bodies, ranging from child to adult size, all left covered in the lamp oil thanks to Grey. She kept her tongue firmly in as she set about her task to keep the plant ‘massacre’ short and painless. Using her tail to sweep and dig up much the earth below it, her job was nearly complete the moment she heard Althalus call out.

Mar’s head jerked to the three males’ direction, her body positioned near the body pile, when someone stumbled out of the forest. A wood elf, dressed in ragged and tattered garments, her head bound in bloody bandages, appeared. At Althalus’ warning, the woman let out a disturbing, blood curdling laughter. It made every instinct in Mar’s body flare into alert while her head turned to locate her scythe. During her task, she had laid down the scythe after cutting much of the grass low and now was unarmed. That was dangerous in her mind, her spirit rapidly trying to mend her error.

Too late.

Red flashed at her vision side causing Mar to react to protect herself, her arms jerked up. Her head lowered when the flames roared up suddenly in the pile beside her. Heat washed over her skin and pain seared into her brain, the edges brushing closer than comfortable for her, causing minor burns. Impulsively she twisted her back to shield her face from being burnt off. It was minor compared to her prior wounds but no less pleasant. Another blast and more red, her tail coiled back. She felt her torso jerked away from the crackling fire, her arms lowered on hearing a male's voice ring out. Her hardened eyes easily spotting the source.

"Whores of the Eanian Empire! Prepare to defend yourself! The flames of justice come for you." A human male stared, his eyes and mouth flickered with fire at each word.

Taking a moment to survey her damage, Mar's eyes dropped to see her forearms. The flesh was dark pink and hot, the affliction caused by the fire had dulled to a tolerable ache, as she let out a loud warning hiss. Fangs ejected and tail pushes underneath her, raising her a good foot or more higher than before. Her mind noted the intensity of the fire. How quickly it was now turning the corpses into ashes, unusual for a normal fire, which it would’ve taken minutes or days to do.

“Who...are you?” While Mar asked, her tail reached subtly for her scythe just a foot from her.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Working on Mar's reply as we speak.