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_>Article||’Elysium Colonists Still Reeling from Batarian attacks'
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RapBattleMasterForsan posted a review of “Turianosaurs Rex”;

“The composition of this piece is exquisite with brilliant shading and colours that draw your eyes to the primary focus of the painting; the large earth lizard with a turian face and stunted turian arms, along with an exquisitely detailed plumage of feathers along its dorsal area. The faces of its soon to be victims, a pair of humans, a salarian, an asari and disappointingly a krogan are express the appropriate amount of terror for their situation as they flee annihilation in an aesthetically pleasing jungle under a sharply contrasting sunset sky. If the artist understood krogan a bit better, they would know that he would stood and fought valiantly until either he or the beast have perished; one simply has to ask a krogan about how they react to harvesters and thresher maws and other wildlife, and the answer will always be the same: How big is my gun?

Other than that small critique, this is a fantastic piece that will be an excellent conversation starter in my entertainment hall, and it brings me mirth to see turians portrayed as a giant, stupid slobbering monster that will destroy everything it wants to see itself satisfied. So true to life!”

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_> Playback File: 11.13.2156Surprise

A prefabricated garage comes into view with no small amount of sand on the floor, kept as contained as possible in piles as evidenced by the clearly visible broom marks against the concrete floor, and bays for 4 vehicles, 2 of which are occupied by large-wheeled trucks with side steps and mesh net doors hooked to the frames with carabiners. The video focuses on a woman with a high ponytail, tied into a messy bun with a well-worn and thin handled socket wrench and errant stands of dark hair running down her brow.

She’s young, in her late teens, and her wide grey eyes don’t even notice the camera as she is transfixed on a small single-seater buggy with a skeletal metal frame, carefully spray painted cobalt blue, and on a wheeled table is an assortment of tools and engine parts from the rear mounted engine. She sits on an adjustable wheeled stool, and tied about her waist is her coveralls, her arms and torn t-shirt featuring a band logo are covered in grease and carbon fouling, but it’s clear she’s into a project she’s passionate about. A cheap music player sits on a toolbox, a holographic interface showing it’s tuned into her music player, ever lovingly clipped to her belt and covered with epoxy-sealed cracks and a jury-rigged wiring assembly to a battery harness. Heavy synth guitars and a pounding double drum are reaching a crescendo, the band all too familiar.

The camera man speaks with an off-English accent, “There she is! The famed Tanya Carson, champion of the Third Annual Scott Rally! Can she pull it off again with a victory this year? That determination, that iron will to win! Look as she’s absorbed in her work, this lair of hers where she forgets what day it is!”

Tanya looks up and grins. “Oh fuck off, Gary. There were four other racers last year. This year, there’s 15. It’s not hard to win when you’re one of the six people in town who are trained mechanics.” she said, patting her dune buggy affectionately. "I know my machines better than they ever will."

“And humble, too! Tell me, miss Carson, number 3 and returning champion, how do you plan on celebrating your birthday?”

Tanya’s grin faded and her eyes widened before she tilted her head back with a greasy palm that covered her face, leaving black finger smudges that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a military promo reel, and embarrassed chuckle escaped her throat.

“I totally forgot that was today. I just woke up and came out here, there’s lots of prep left, hell… my engine is still in 13 fucking pieces, and… shit.” She smiled apologetically, getting up from her stool and grabbing a rag from a nearby bin, scrubbing her hands. “What would I do without you? I trust you have some big surprise planned, just like last year? You remember Lemmy, that dumbass lemur you bought me that fleed within three hours and escaped into the desert?” Tanya said, walking over and leaning behind the camera, kissing Gary on the cheek. “Thanks for remembering, love. It’s your fault for introducing me to racing, you dashing bastard.”

Gary laughed. “Oh, Lemmy. Maybe he started a cult with the brown-coated dillos… or he died of exposure. Either way, he was a wanker who didn’t know true beauty when he saw it! Now, Tanya, you have to make yourself somewhat presentable. Hakim’s taking both of us out for lunch at that fancy Polish-Iranian restaurant that was founded by that hoarse-voiced asshole from the tele, you know, the guy who keeps getting awards for his cooking but he screams at everyone on his shows like he’s got a jackboot up his arse?”

Tanya rolled her eyes but grinned widely. “It’s only my favorite place to eat out of 8 restaurants in this little neighbourhood of ours. I wonder if Johan what’shisface’s going to make one of the cooks cry again…” she smiled warmly, still cleaning her hands on the dirty rag. “Maybe we should all show up one day after doing a major rebuild without tidying up just to see if we can make him choke to death on his own rage spit. Alright, well, let me lock up here and I’ll head home right after.”

Tanya tossed the now bundled rag towards a bin like she was making a basketball shot and it land in the bin with a heavy thunk. Balling her fist in victory, Tanya turned to head for the change room.

“Tanya.” Gary said, the camera shifting lower. His hand came into the frame, holding a small wooden container, the lid hinged open. Tanya turned, her jaw dropping in surprise, and she rushed to cover her mouth as the tears started to form in her eyes. “Oh my god… Gary…”

“So, marry me, you oily sex goddess?” He asked.

Tanya rushed over, flinging her arms around him, sniffing loudly. “What took you so damn long?” she asked.

“You know, 18, age of consent, didn’t want your mum to have the legal right to lynch mob me, and-"

“Oh, shut the fuck up and kiss me.” Tanya said, her face coming into frame moments later. Tears ran down her face unimpeded, but the joy on her face was unmistakable. “I guess I don’t have an excuse to forget my birthday now, eh?”
“Happy birthday, Tanya.”

“I love you, Gary… I don’t want this moment to end. Like, frame it on a wall or something.” She said, taking the box and pulling the ring out of the box. The ring had the dark grey ring of tungsten and ironwood, the set piece was amber. It slipped onto her finger, getting suck part way up to her finger’s pip joint on the intermediate phalange. Still, she smiled and held it up to the light like it was a perfect fit. “Maybe we can start something new and I’ll just wear it on my pinky? It’s beautiful.”

“Cue smooth comment, ‘so are you’.” Gary replied, placing his hand for Tanya to take. “But I mean it. Ever since I met you, I knew there would be no one else. I need you, now and forever. I love you, Tanya Carson.”

“I love you too, Gary.” Tanya said, her eyes moving between the ring and Gary. “So, fiancé, how much premarital sex do you think we can knock out before we storm the altar?”

“Let’s find out.”

PLAYBACK STOPS
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To: Dex
From: T
Hey, I know you won’t be seeing this until after we get back with new bullet holes on the Borealis, but I could use a night out with somebody who’s not going to stare at my ass or tits the whole time. Want to go make some regrettable life choices?
-T
_> SEND MESSAGE
_>LOGOUT

An ensemble of out of prime actors coming together to make a cheesy action flick that's banking in on your 90's nostalgia, @Mortarion@DearTrickster@Zombiedude101@Rtron@Hellis@Dervish

The Right Fork

"Fucking slaves." Tanya hissed as she heard the ongoing report from Dex, and images of dehumanized people in slave collars and unspeakable violations to their person flooded her mind. She clenched her teeth and fists equally tight as she left off the back of the now useless truck. Her breathing was heavy, and she seethed with rage. "Not one of those batarian bastards leaves here alive, got it?" she said to the others who were back with her by the truck and the now cleared gunner's nets, earning a silent nod from Iosif. She shot a glance towards Khosin, but she couldn't stand to look at him for long; she knew, rationally, he wasn't like the beasts they were fighting and he was pulling his weight in making sure they paid for their transgressions, but he shared their face and it was too much to handle. "We leave the truck, we go on foot, get the drop on them. By the time we repair this fucking heap, they'll be gone. We move in, now."

"She's right. Can't waste our chance to move in while they're bloodied." Iosif was inclined to agree with the ex-servicewoman, not least because she'd already proven that she knew her way around rust buckets like this and worse. By this point, he'd taken the opportunity to run a quick diagnostic on his suit to check for any breaches that he might've missed in the adrenaline-packed intensity of driving that thing, yet he breathed a sigh of relief when it came up clean. Medi-gel had done its work on his leg, though he suspected he'd be having to take another look at it once they got back to their rust-bucket of a ship to make sure nothing serious was done. Otherwise, as it stood, the only thing he had to concern himself with was keeping a steady mindset in the face of those four-eyed bastards, particularly when they already had one among their own ranks.

Serena shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't the fact that they were upset at the slavers. Rather, it was how much pure hatred she could feel radiating from both Tanya and Iosif. Granted, slavers were despicable people who deserved to be wiped out, but this much hatred often lead to them acting not much better than the ones they hated. Warily, she followed.

Drono hunched and pressed against his little hiding place. One of the Pirates was getting closer and closer. Soon he'd have no choice but to blow his cover and pop the guy. He pursed his lips and took a deep breath. "This better fucking work Drono." He told himself as he tossed a rock away from him, hard enough to cause discernible noise. The second the man looked that way he rounded him in stealth mode and hid behind a larger outcropping of rocks. "Hurry the fuck up." He hissed into the com.

Khosin sighed internally when Tanya mentioned that there were slaves, shifting uneasily when she declared that none of the batarian's that they were facing would live. Despite the uneasy feeling resting in his mind, he knew best than to say anything in such a situation since it was certain that whatever it is that he said would only upset Tanya even further. "Understood." He said simply when Tanya mentioned that they were leaving the truck behind, just as he heard Drono speaking into the com.

"Hang in there Drono, we'll be there shortly." He said into the team's comms, beginning to make his way further into the tunnel and in the direction were the slaves were being held.

Dex watched the guard get entirely too close to Drono, his little distraction and movement went unnoticed. Letting out a shaky breath she didn't know she was holding. She didn't dare to speak let alone move not with the guards in close vicinity.

The four mercenaries hurried up the path to regroup with Dex and Drono, who seemed to be direly holding on for as long as they could without detection. The fear Tanya had felt grip her was gone; instead a burning need for vengeance filled her heart, and the shotgun clutched in her hands was going to be her instrument. She heard the batarian slavers before she saw them, their coarse voices screaming contact before rounds began to fly downrange in an attempt to suppress the charging mercs.

Tanya dove into a baseball slide to stabilze herself while making a smaller target, shooting her omni-tool towards the leftmost batarians and hitting him with an energy drain. Her capacitors hummed at the overcharge of energy, but the desired effect was reducing the enemy's shields that the shotgun had no problem chewing through the batarians' armour, four barking shots burying themselves deep within the slaver and killing him near outright. The batarian was dead before he hit the ground. She forced herself back to her feet at the end of her momentum, leading the charge towards the hated foe.

Drono heard the guns open up and found himself drawing a bead on the man closest to him. "Surprise!" He fired into the man's back, through the shields as the Executioner slammed a bullet the size of a grown mans thumb through the man's armor. He stumbled and fell.

Dex took her cue as well pushing up from her hiding spot with an incinerate ready in her hand, a long swipe across her body sent the fiery blast at her target eating away at his shields. Her cloak shimmered away revealing herself with two hands on her pistol firing several shots at the guard's back. Gurgles of pain audible as he went down.

"FUCK ME, THEY ARE BEHIND US!" One of the pirates yelled and turned to fire at Drono's position, diverting some of the firepower away from the charging Mercs.

With the batarians caught between two fronts, Iosif ducked down low as Tanya made her charge and set his sights downrange, opening fire on the batarians in short, furious bursts of suppressing fire, hoping to give the Englishwoman and the others a chance to move. His jaw was clenched, the thrum of his rifle music to his ears as some of the batarians scattered and one slaver took a round through the leg as they dove for cover. A little closer to getting even.

Khosin looked on as chaos engulfed the slaver's camp as Tanya attacked, Drono's and Dex's action behind the enemies lines further throwing the whole camp into disarray as the slavers and mercenaries fought each other. He ran for cover, hiding behind a set of stacked crates before he began to fire at the other batarians when something at the corner of one of his eyes caught his attention.

He saw one of the slaver's hastily shoving one of the few remaining slaves in the back of the truck, taking advantage of the chaos going on to escape in the truck, taking the chance to also escape with all the slaves inside of it for himself. "Hey, guys, one of the slavers is trying to escape with all the slaves, will try to stop him." He said after tuning into the team's comms before he tried to drag down the slaver with a biotic pull, failing due to the shield's stopping his biotics "Shit, forgot about the shields." He cursed internally as he stood up and began firing with his mattock towards the slaver, stopping for a second to unleash his drone near him so as to give the rest of the team a few extra seconds to try and help to take him down.

Incidentally, the warning also caught the attention of Iosif who promptly shifted his focus towards the aforementioned slaver and opened fire in rapid, yet short bursts - hoping to put the slaving bastard down. In the heat of things, it didn't quite occur to him that the batarian of all things would've been the one to point it out.

The would-be driver didn't make it very far as the combined fire of Khosin and Iosif tore through his shields and punctured his armour, the exit wounds splashing blood against the window as the batarian slumped against the wheel, alive but barely holding onto it. Johark, the batarian squad commander, cursed angrily and pulled the man closest to him towards him. "You! Start killing the hostages. Throw a fucking grenade in there, I don't give a shit." shoving the other slaver away, the batarian began his approach towards the group, his heavy shielding and armour laughing away most of the blows. "You think you're walking away from this?!" he yelled, opening fire with his Striker, the krogan-made assault rifle that fired explosive rounds. The ground leading up to Tanya suddenly began to kick of rocks and dirt, and she was forced to take a leap to the side to get out of the line of fire. Unfortunately, Johark's aim continued to follow her and a pair of rounds struck her torso, knocking her back and nearly depleting her shields.

Realizing that Dex was close by, the batarian's own enforcer gauntlet took form and he charged the turian, swinging heavily towards her with a laugh that most would consider at least brushing on insane.

Dex's head whipped around at the war cry of the batarian he had charged her the swing of his terrifying gauntlet aimed directly at her. Dodging the erratic swing with a quick sidestep did Johark take another opportunity aiming for her head. "Fuck!" She gasped taking two steps back keying up another incinerate. At such a close range she had little choice but to throw it. The incinerate ate into his shields as she tried and tried again to create some distance Johark madly raged on still locked on her.

In short order,the team had torn through some of the Batarians. Then, of course, things went to shit. Serena yelped in alarm as explosive rounds began to crash towards her. Fortunately (at least for her) he was aiming for Tanya and she was able to avoid being turned into a fine red mist. Just to make herself feel better, she activated her tech armor.

Her relief at having another layer of protection turned into alarm at seeing a slaver about to throw a grenade into the slave truck. "No!" She shouted, throwing a bubble barrier around him just as he drew his arm back to throw it in.

Left with a ticking time bomb in his hand an little other choice, the slaver tried to break down her barriers. He failed, and Serena released the side that wasn't protecting the slaves. Chunks of slaver went everywhere. "Drono, grab the slaves if you can. Del! Support protocol. Don't hit the turian. Split off and help with the other slaves." One of her drones began to circle Johark and Dex, taking brief bursts of pot shots at the Batarian's back. The other began to circle around the battle, finding slavers to rain bullets down upon.

Del's appearance was well timed, distracting Johark from the turian in front of him. Dex stepped further away firing her pistol picking away at his shields and his armour. Her heart rammed against her chest, teeth locked and her mandibles flared. Looking the part of a terrifying turian. Her pistol ceased up with a cooldown timer and then decided to make a run for the slaves allowing Del to distract the Johark. Long legs carried her quickly but not quick enough to catch up to Drono.

Drono looked at the chaos. "Shit." The he was running, blasting with his Executioner and his SMG as he made sure to move in such a way the heavily armed Bartarian couldn't just swing around and turn him into minced drell meat. For good measure, he tossed one of his scavenged grenades towards the lumbering, immobile juggernaut. A concussive charge to be precise. Perhaps it could buy some time for the others. He dived in behind the car as he scrambled up to the slaves.

"C'monnnn" He grumbled as the terrified slaves stared at him while he tried to work the chains. Another of the pirates started to sight downwards at him when Drono had a idea. He shot off the chain connecting the collars to the car, rather then work each one separately, whilst Iosif quickly jumped aboard the back with the others to throw down some suppressing fire on their tail. The he got into the car and used corpse to step on the pedal before sending the car down range towards the the remaining mooks, forcing them to scatter. One wasn't so lucky as the truck ran him over.

"Drono! Watch your ass!" Dex called falling to her knee and grabbing her Viper off her back. Quickly taking stock and aim she laid down several shots against the batarian still reeling from the grenade. The batarian's shields dropped with her disruptor ammo and with a final pull of the trigger she killed him with a headshot.

Khosin looked as the slaver that was trying to escape in the truck fell under the combined firepower of his mattock and Iosif's avenger assault rifle. Yet that only seemed to worsen the situation as the commander of the group they were fighting ordered one of his underlings to kill the slaves.

He looked on as the slaver prepped a grenade to throw into the back of the truck. A biotic aura manifested around him as he prepared to pull the grenade from the slaver's hand when -suddenly- he saw a barrier forming around Johark's underling, caught in the middle of the motion of throwing the grenade. Khosin was momentarily confused, but he soon understood who had stopped the slaver when he saw Serena, a dim azure glow around her body as she held in the barrier around the slaver "So she's a biotic too." He mused internally, but his thoughts quickly returned when he heard the grenade going off and Serena shouting to Drono to take the slaves away.

He looked as Drono began running towards the truck where the slaves were, trying to release them from the chains which bound them but one of the pirates seemed to have taken notice of him. Raising his mattock he shot in short bursts at the approaching pirate, managing to draw his attention away from the drell. He cursed as he took a few hits to his shield, his armor suit starting to give warnings that the shield would be soon compromised. Raising his omni-tool, he tapped a few commands and, shortly afterwards, his tech armor activated but by that time the pirate had already managed to reached him. "I got you, you little shit! What do you think you are doing, playing the hero?" Said the slaver, condescension clear in his voice as he raised his shotgun and shot at Khosin.

Luckily, his tech armor saved his life but it was obvious that he wouldn't survive for too long in a close-range gunfight with his attacker. In a desperate bid to gain more time, Khosin did the only thing he could think of and tackled the pirate to the ground. Gathering biotic energy around his fist, Khosin unleashed a punch against his adversary but the pirate's heavy armor protected him from the worst of the blow and he was soon on the defensive as the other batarian activated his enforcement gauntlet and charged him.

Tanya coughed as she picked herself off the ground, blood dripping from her nose onto her visor. "Oh, that's not good." she muttered, still shaking off the effects of the concussive force. Her shields and armour held up just fine, but it still didn't mean there wasn't a soft body that couldn't be rattled beneath it all. And how she ached! Using the stock of her shotgun, Tanya forced herself to her feet, and she stumbled back into the fray, shotgun at the ready, activating the Cryo ammunition.

As it turned out, there wasn't much left for her to do, the batarians were effectively neutralized, and the hostages were safe. In the corner of her eye, she saw a slaver charging at Khosin, omni-tool glowing with a gauntlet. Pivoting into a firing position, Tanya drew a bead on the charging slaver and opened fire with her Katana, the shotgun barking in quick succession as the spread dug into the slaver bastard, effectively halting his charge. As his shields broke, frozen molecules worked their way from the shot pellet and expanded in the batarian's flesh and armour. Between the agony and the freezing limbs, he couldn't keep moving his legs if he wanted to, tripping over his own momentum and landing at Khosin's feet.

Khosin panted tiredly as he kept dodging the slaver's attack, his stamina reserves quickly depleting the longer the fight went. After having called upon his biotics three times during the mission, coupled with the glancing wound he had taken from that kishock rifle, had sapped him of most of his strength while the pirate that was charging him still had most of his energy, having not taken part in the other battles that had taken place in the Twin Stars hideout.

Barely dodging the last strike from the pirate's gauntlet, Khosin made some distance between the two of them as he decided to stop dodging the slaver's attack and stand his ground. Activating his own enforcement gauntlet, he prepared to fight the charging batarian head on when, suddenly, a cry of pain left his foe's lips as he suddenly froze, tripping under his own momentum and landing at his feet. Deactivating his gauntlet, Khosin took his Executioner and fired a single round in the head of his frozen foe. With the slaver dead Khosin put his pistol in it's place and turned to look at the source of whatever had frozen his enemy, surprised to see Tanya holding her Katana in the direction of where he had been fighting, his eyes shifting to the small holographic display on the shotgun's side indicating that the rounds were set to Cryo. "Thanks Tanya, without your help I wasn't sure if I'd have managed to kill him." Said Khosin, motioning with his hand to the corpse of the slaver, as he approached the ex-servicewoman, his shoulders sagging tiredly as exhaustion began to catch up with him.

"Uh, yeah..." Tanya responded, still feeling like she had been hit by a car and was walking under nothing more than willpower and stubbornness. She also wasn't quite sure how she felt about having come to an aid of a batarian, even one who for all intents and purposes seemed to be an upstanding guy. She hated herself for her prejudices, because she knew that had Khosin been literally any other species in the galaxy, she wouldn't be holding him up to the standard of the bastards like the ones they'd just taken down. He's just a guy, nothing more, nothing less. He's not a slaver, he fucking killed them... he's not like them. she thought closing her eyes and trying to inhale, instead she found herself sucking back blood.

Pulling off her helmet, Tanya spat her blood on the mine floor and breathed the non-filtered air, which rang heavy with the scents of blood and eezo discharge. She nodded to Khosin, not looking at his face but at his armour, in a vain attempt to fool herself that he was a human, like her. "Don't mention it." she managed, before awkwardly limping away to the bed of the truck. She wished she could have said more, something that didn't feel like a half-hearted acknowledgement, but it was a good enough day when actually talking to a batarian didn't make her totally lock down. One step at a time, she thought. The worst part of it all was she simply reacted to a threat; she wasn't entirely sure if she would have intervened if she'd consciously thought of Khosin being in danger. Her self-resentment only grew deeper.

The faces in the back of the truck were a welcome distraction; all were alive, terrified and abused, but none of them had been killed. She forced a smile, probably looking ridiculous with blood seeping down her face and over her lips. "So, who wants to go home?" she asked, genuinely cheerful and relieved as she climbed into the back of the truck and yelled to the others, "Hey, check to see which one of those bastards has the key for these shackles."

"I've got a hunch." Iosif grunted, clearly discontented by his trip with the slaves. Truth be told, it was a haunting reminder of what could've happened to him if he hadn't escaped. Fucking batarians. Acting on that hunch, he wandered over to one of the dead overseers and opted to rifle through the corpse for the shackle release - eventually finding it. With a grunt, he tossed it over to one of the poor bastards, before taking a moment to check on his leg wound.

Dex wasn't quite ready to put away her rifle while she watched the former slaves pass the key amongst themselves to unlock their collars. Her omnitool blinked at her with a reminder of her shields. A shaky breath and she spoke up, "Good job everyone. Let's get these people up top."

Khosin nodded at Tanya's words, easily able to tell that she was feeling uncomfortable over the whole situation and, as such, doubted that there was anything that he could say that would make the situation any less awkward for her. He looked as the ex-servicewoman limped towards the truck full of slaves and debated whether or not he should go as well. In the end he decided against it, the least thing the former slaves wanted to see was a heavily armed Batarian approaching them "You guys take care of the people in the truck, I'll stay behind, see if there is some weapons or anything we can give them." He said once he was in the teams comms before he began searching the slaver's camp for anything that could help the ex-slaves on Omega.

The team began to wrap things up. The now freed slaves were told to take what they needed from the slavers, weapons, credits, anything they could make use of, and the surviving vehicles for their own personal use. After the indignities they endured, it was the least they could do. With Kapan Nasa'dor and the other prisoners in custody, the team made their way back to their own transport after the bomb cluster was defused and dealt with. All in all, the group felt pretty accomplished. Saving a few of the chains and collars, they slapped them on those who used them on others and brought them back to the Borealis for detainment until they could be delivered. The Alliance was contacted, and proof of capture was provided, leading to the team receiving half of the promised payment up front, the other half on delivery. Back in the questionable comforts of home, the unlikely and as of yet unnamed mercenary team could take pride that they, against all odds, accomplished their mission.

Left Tunnel: Vellios, Serena and Dex

_{@Fallenreaper & @DearTrickster & @Rtron}

---

After Tonka and Haze were gone, Vellios breathe a sigh of relief. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how this was going to go down and he wasn’t keen on taking several innocents down with him. His hand reached for his comm, the one outside his helmet, then pressed it to his ear before activating it. The turian waited a moment or two until he was certain he has connected to Serena. His voice rang out pleasantly in a falsely chipper tone to his favorite mechanic.

“Serena… sweetie, I need a little help with a issue left over from our little skirmish. What do you know about defusing bombs?”

Serena knew something was wrong the instant she heard his false tone. Oh God, what did he do now? She thought, slightly despairingly, that despair turned into severe alarm as he finished his sentence. “Aside from ripping out the wires and praying? Not much. Given time I could probably figure it out. How big is it and how much time do I have? I’m in the right tunnel with Tanya, Drono, Dex, Khosin, and Iosif.”

“Well, I managed to wrestle the detonator and currently it’s the only thing that should set it off, but looking at the bomb… I’m questioning that very much. It looks like a bunch of plastic explosive looped together and wired with explosive caps for the big, bad boom. A job with my quality of work put into it if you know what I mean?” Vellios stated letting her imagination run before detailing it. “Currently, if I recall right he mentioned one had about a 100 tonnes and there’s one...two... thirty-seven of them. Anything else?”

Serena felt her knees go weak. 3700 tonnes of highly explosive material all slapped together in a hurry with nothing to guarantee it would blow up when you wanted it too, or any knowledge of when it would go off... Just what this mission needed. “Shit. Okay, hold on. I’ll give it my best but first I want to see if there’s anyone with actual demolition expertise on my end of the tunnel so we’re not stumbling completely blind into this unholy mess.”

She looked up and around, activating her local comms so Dex and Drono could hear her as well. “I don’t suppose any of you fine people know how to defuse 3700 tonnes worth of slapped together explosives?”

Dex was ushering slaves calling for them to hurry up while they picked supplies from the dead and all but groaned in reply at the prospect of a pile of bombs. “What fresh horrors have they set on us? Slaves, narcotics and now a ridiculous pile of bombs?” Dex replied sarcastically rather unfazed after the day they had spent with the Twin Stars. “I’ll head over to help. Serena you might as well tag along, you might pick up some tips. Nobody is blowing up today.”

“What do you expect? They’re slavers. I’m fairly surprised we haven’t encountered vicious traps or somesuch yet.” Serena replied amicably, studying the area around her. “Really? I think, in fact I know, we’ve blown up several slavers already.” She smirked.

Dex jogged up to Serena tapping her on the shoulder then pointed to her ears speaking over comms. “My hearing is shot so you’ll have to keep your communicator active so I can hear what you say.”

“Whatever you say oh bomb defu-WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR ARM!?!?!” Serena’s sarcastic title was suddenly cut off as she saw the terrible state of Dex’s robotic arm. Dirty, scratched, dented, and Serena thought she could hear a terrible grinding sound. She snagged Dex’s arm without anything more than a glare.

She started examining it, making sure there wasn’t any more than superficial damage. “How the hell did you do this!? How long have you had this arm?!”

Serena grappled Dex’s arm with a vice like grip that had her between feeling as guilty as the dentist makes someone feel for not flossing and bewilderment. “I-I uh? It’s fine! I just had a bad day!” Trying to shake the human off and failing.

“Liar.” Serena accused, merely tightening her grip in response as the Turian tried to shake her. Her initial examination showed it wasn’t in too bad of shape. Nothing that wasn’t easily fixed. “This happens all the time to you, doesn’t it?”

“No!”

“I’ve had grenades, bullets and overloads thrown at me today. I’ve had this thing for over tens years now. It has been through much worse!” Dex said defensively a flustered blue blush growing across her face.

“Oh God. Ten years and you still treat it like this? Worse than this?” Serena scolded, scanning the arm with her Omni-Tool. “Sarah, keep these schematics stored.” She reluctantly let go of the Turian’s arm, giving her one final glare. “After this mission you’re coming into the hangar, and sitting your happy ass down while I fix this.”

“You’re as bad as my prosthetic engineer.” Dex muttered eyeing Serena warily, “Thank you, Serena.” Dex said sincerely. “How much will I owe you? I can cover it before we get paid.”

Dex was always prepared with her savings and emergency funds, enough to get her back in one piece.

“No,” Serena said with a grim smile, “I’m worse.” She gave a genuinely confused look at the Turian. “Going rates? We’re on a team. I’ll do it for free. Thouuuugh….” She said, looking thoughtful. “If you really insist upon paying me back, I can show you how to play chess?” She couldn’t keep the hope from her voice.

An involuntary shiver ran down her back after Serena’s grim turn of a smile. Her mandibles flicked irritably at Serena refusing payment but considered her counter offer, making a thrum through her throat, “I absolutely hate free favours so if learning this chess thing will be enough then by all means.” Dex made a vague gesture with her left hand and the grinding sound was audible even to Dex’s ears. She cringed at the sound and Serena’s expression was that of horror.

Serena joined Dex on their jog over to the left side of the tunnel passing Tonka and Haze on their way down. The pair of them looked like they had seen better days sustaining some nasty injuries themselves. They were alive so that was something.

When they came up to the pile of explosives did Dex react albeit blase, “Now that is one big pile of shit.”

“Too bad it will turn us into a few blue smears or I wouldn’t touch the damn thing.” Vellios popped off, hearing them through comm and replying. “Also, Serena, did you happen to bring any medi-gel? I got shot in the chest with a Batarian’s fucking shotgun at close range, and I think my armor was cracked because of it. Through that scrap earlier with one of our teammates didn’t help much either.”

His palm gingerly touched his sore chest as he hissed from the pressure, wondering idly if he broke or fractured something with that struggle with Kasyra. His face scrunched in pain with the movement while he looked at the approaching girls coming toward him. “Hiya Dex, take it you’re the one who is going to keep us from meeting the spirits sooner than needed?”

“I am. Try not to be too impressed.” Dex laughed good naturedly, “Who was scrapping with you? I wasn’t expecting miracles of blooming friendship but I would have assumed we can all agree on not shooting slaves and not blowing shit up.” Dex squinted seeing the shotgun shot on his chest, “But I’ve been known to be wrong.”

“I wouldn’t really look into depth over it as I wasn’t the target, merely decided to butt in and, well, got a little banged up. One of these days, I’ll learn to mind my own business. Until then, I’ll just have to get use to getting my ass kicked.” Vellios commented, skirting past the direct answer and instead, gave a vague one. Naturally he was making light of the event because if he had let it happen, one of two things would’ve occurred: Kasyra would’ve blown them and the Blue Suns sky high or possibly been beaten near an inch of her life by Tonka. “So, do I let you handle the bomb or do I and you instruct me?”

“I can handle it. You two can watch and maybe pick up on a couple things. Mind handing me the detonator?” Dex held out her hand expectantly eyeing the pile noting the wiring and the pockmarks from gunfire surrounding the wall and even some dents on the casings.

”More than happy to, sweetheart.” Vellios stated, then eagerly passed her the small device with surprising care.

Dex’s mandibles twitched curiously in thought. Vellios had referred to her and others as sweetheart in the least condescending way, it was rather nice for a change. Usually pet names like that were steeped in arrogance and it usually sent her blood boiling. “I’ll still need your help to shift through the pile to see where wires connect and end, sweetheart.” Smirking, amusement humming through her sub vocals.

Serena chuckled, watching the two Turians work. She wasn’t going to be any help here, but she could create a VI that was good at this, and have it run past Dex to make sure it worked well and didn’t kill anyone.

“Alright, though I’ll admit I’m not sweet enough to be called that really.” Vellios stated, then edged closer until he was looking over Dex’s shoulder at the mess of wiring. “What exactly do you need me to do?”

Pointing to a mass of canisters that were dented and wires sprouting from it like a tree. “Can you toss me that particularly dented canister? It’ll be the easiest to open.” Then went to work prying open the back of the detonator.

”This is at least safer than sparring one of Serena’s little projects.” Vellios commented softly as he moved to retract the cannister from the tangled mess, his talons careful not to accidentally cut one with their sharp edge. His tips remained steady and calm during the process through he was debating on the danger level. Finally freeing it, he passed it over with a quick flick of his wrist sending it darting into Dex’s directions, literally tossing it.

She caught the canister with ease in one hand, “Thank you, Vellios. Serena’s brand of mad science is more volatile than these explosives.” Dex smirked at Serena.

“You have known me for literally, one day. How do you know my creations explode often?” She glared at Vellios, daring him to say anything.

“Drone’s exploding in the hanger make for a compelling argument.” Dex replied her thumb flipping off the back of the detonator.

Vellios snickered at the comment Dex made, his eyes wiggled knowingly at his human companion and added. “Knew that incident would come to bite you in the ass later.”

Motioning Serena over to let her see what she was doing, “There isn’t much to disarming bombs. Especially these shitty half assed plastic bombs. The plastic bombs need an electrical charge in order to detonate. Unplug the right wires and remove the battery caps then you have yourself a pile of junk instead of a bomb.” Dex said throwing a thumb at the battery tucked underneath some of the canisters off to the side. “Make sense?”

“Yeah. The only problem is the wires vary bomb to bomb, right?” Serena looked over Dex’s shoulder, genuine interest in her eyes. Not only was it practical, it was also kinda neat being able to make things that should explode not explode, rather than the other way around.

“They do, you want to be able to recognize what wire functions as what and then work at where it leads. Don’t rely on colour but use your head figure out where the charge is being carried in its innards.” Dex pointed at the trigger in particular to emphasize her point.

Naturally Vellios’ eyes were settled upon the rat’s nest, his vision drinking in the sight as she commented on the shitty workmanship of the device. Her thumb jerked over several areas then made the task off to be much lighter than it was, through likely for this shoddy thing it was compared to what she was use to working with. However, a bomb, even a shitty one, could still easily kill an individual who was careless. Thankfully, while on the Haides, no one was stupid enough to risk setting a bomb for fear they all be killed when sucked into space through a rupture and left floating as a cold, lifeless corpse.

“Yeah, but even a shitty made bomb can still blow you up effectively if you’re not cautious. It’s like a delayed gun: if you don’t show it respect, you’re more likely to get shot then hit your target one day. A fact all turians learn early in life.”

Dex shrugged at his note then conceded, “All joking aside you are right. So let’s defuse this and get the hell out of this shitty mineshaft. I’ve seen enough of it today as it is.”

While taking apart the detonator she would slow to show what she was doing and explain why. With the detonator defunct she moved onto the cannister to show Serena and by proxy Vellios, despite her best attempts to ignore him while he entered her bubble to watch her work. It wasn’t a matter of having an audience but after the day she had all her senses were standing on end. Mixed between wanting to find the loneliest corner on Omega for herself to wanting to lose herself in something (or someone) entirely. Steadily she worked at the top of the cannister while her discomfort hummed through her sub vocals doing little to stop it.

Serena glanced at Dex as she began to hum in obvious discomfort when Vellios got close to her. I’ll have to talk to her about that.

Vellios noted the discomfort, his eyes shifted toward her direction and remained perfectly still. Almost too perfect that it might’ve seem unnatural to either of the girls. His talons rested on his head tilted in slight confusion at the cause until he realize her was standing too close. His voice spoke, quietly and with a soothing tone, toward her. “Hun, seeing where I am at is a lot better in this case. Trust me. I’m only observing what you’re doing so I don’t get in this situation again.”

Dex grimaced realizing she must of sounded uncomfortable with where her thoughts had wandered, “Don’t worry for me that was an involuntary noise as my mind was wandering… somewhere else. Nothing to do with you, promise.” Dex lied then gave Vellios a strained smile.

“Now you’re trying to lie to a trained liar.” Vellios stated calmly.

She sighed caught in her poor attempt at covering up, “I’m not uncomfortable because you’re watching me work it’s for something else entirely. You’re fine, I’m just on edge still keyed up from fighting.” Dex replied sincerely looking him in the eye to know she was being truthful. “Honest. Slaves, bombs and fighting are well outside my regular sphere of work.”

“Well, you’re not alone in at least two of the aspects. However, I know those Asari will have a hard time recovering from their experience but they will. At least they aren’t laying in a ditch somewhere with a bullet hole through their skull and they have you, and the others, to thank for that. That should bring some relief at least.” The turian commented quietly as he edged off a bit, bring some space between the two and hopefully giving her more breathing room. His right talon reached up and clawed, lightly, at his neck again. It naturally reopened the scabs he made after digging deep enough to hurt himself during the fight. He quickly hid the bluish tint on his hand from Serena’s sight by wiping them on his pants, creating a discolored stain on his thigh’s outside.

“I swear to God Vellios, if you got shot and injured and haven’t told me...” Serena threatened, having looked away from the bomb to watch Vellios as he replied. She examined his neck, scrutinizing it. “Nothing more than scratches?”

“More or less, the rest is just bruises. Through I have to get my armor repaired while we’re out shopping. It was cracked by a close range shotgun blast.” Vellios shrugged as he leaned over, bring himself into sitting position as he knew she wouldn’t be happy until she inspected nearly every inch of exposed flesh on him. His talon reached up again to make another run over his scarred neck on impulse.



“Stop that.” Serena scolded, as she kept examining him. “Here’s some Medi-Gel, and who were you scrapping with after you got shot in the chest with a shotgun. Don’t avoid the question or lie to me.” Serena handed the Turian some medi-gel, waiting for the reply.

Dex’s mandibles flicked trying not to laugh at Vellios being reprimanded. She let out a short snarky noise then studiously returned to disarming the cannister having delved into the bomb’s wiring while they talked. Multitasking coming rather easily. The scarring on his neck raised a few questions though this didn’t seem the place to be picking at old scars figuratively and literally in his case. He had already admitted his facial scarring to be from the Relay 314 Incident earlier that day, she figured it was just an extension of that.

“Don’t think I forgot about you, miss ‘I’ll just treat my delicate mechanical arm like a damn battering ram.’ You’re still in trouble too.”

Dex grinned cheekily in response to Serena.

“A slaver hit me when I was distracted, I was knifing the little one on the right. Haze got the little ass but not before the breath was knocked out of me. That is the honest truth.” Vellios stated taking the medi-gel where he applied it to his neck. He was glad there was little visible scars on him from the moment that Kasyra and Tonka went at it. Else explaining it would’ve been harder than facing the slavers for round two. He noted Dex’s giggle, then flashed her a small smirk in return for the merry sound then continued to rub his slightly hurting hand, still stinging from Serena’s smack.

“You know, for a human, you have some surprising strength behind that smack of yours.”

Dex smirked back at him the little bits of tension she had floated away. Flicking her talon blowtorch open she sealed off the cannister having finished up with disarming it. Holding it up to admire it then grinning at Serena and Vellios in turn, “A present, for you.”

“Comes from wielding heavy equipment in my parents’ shop for years.” Serena replied, perhaps too cheerfully, before frowning. “Funny. I remember you complaining about not minding your own business. Seems like fighting slavers wouldn’t make you say that… who were you really fighting?”

Dex replied echoing Serena’s cheerfulness “I said, a present for you.” Changing the subject before opening a can of worms in front of a pile of bombs. Pushing the cannister toward Serena.

”What is it Dex?” Vellios asked, trying to shift Serena’s attention back to the turian and hopefully save his carapace. His talon held out for her to drop it within as he would examine it with curiosity.

”Vellios.” Serena’s voice was laced with reproach and warning. “Who were you really fighting.”

Vellios tilted his head as he heard the tone of Serena’s voice. His eyes turned to face her and look innocent as he darted around the question again. “I was killing Slavers. As for me not minding my own business, I got into the middle of a disagreement between two anonymous individuals. I managed to get out of it with… a few bruises. I figured you would be more pissed I let my guard down and got shot, namely with the way my shield readouts operate. An issue you haven’t yet fixed. So don’t give me those evil eyes. I have them too.”

“Which of our teammates went at each other’s throats. And you’re always doing stupid things like letting your guard down enough to get shot in the chest. Yelling at you fixes nothing.”

“Does it matter? I’m sure if you watch people’s interaction with each other, you’ll figure who has the biggest grudge and toward who. Now stop pestering me.”

Dex’s eyes darted between the two of them retracting the cannister to toss it in the pile. “You two will have plenty of time to argue when we get back to The Borealis.”

Serena’s eyes narrowed. “Not until you tell me. I’d like to be aware of situations before they explode in my face. Like, what brought about said conflict. Why the conflict happened. So I’m not stepping in the minefield next.”

Vellios was slowly losing patience with this conversation and ti showed, his face became neutral from his usually charming smirk. He rose upright, and stared down the smaller human. He wasn’t intimidating or forceful with his next reply, but she would know he was clearly dropping the subject and hard. “You stepped into a minefield when you picked this mission, don’t you think? I haven’t complained once and personally, I wish you would trust me to know that should anything happen and it causes me concern then I will let you know. So, Serena, please trust me it wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“How about we go back up the mineshaft accept that we’re dealing with all levels of assholes here, myself included.” Dex suggested trying to defuse the rising tension between the two of them. “And end this conversation.”

“What causes you concern is often entirely different from what causes me concern.” Serena hissed. “But fine. Keep your damn secrets.” With that, she left, heading back towards the others.

Vellios sighed, watching her stomp off like some child tossing a temper because he wasn’t about to tell her latest gossip. It would’ve bothered him if she was one to hold a grudge or personally avoid him for years, but due to the fact he was much better at storing up money, she would be back at some point. It wasn’t in her nature to hate someone for long periods of time and usually after her little fit, she would be right back to pestering him. So Vellios wasn’t worried.

His eyes shifted over to the currently assigned bomb expert, noting her discomfort then replied. “She’ll be fine. Serena doesn’t hold grudges, she barely stays mad for longer than an hour. However, I don’t want her becoming paranoid with two members of our team.”

“Is it that bad you need to keep it secret?” Dex asked curiously.

“Is it really my right to tell?” Vellios began, his eyes stared after Serena, his voice relaxed and thoughtful again. “Would you want your issues aired by me to someone else and behind your back?”

Dex considered that knowing her answer immediately, “No, I wouldn’t. We’ll probably find out what happened otherwise just not from you. We’ve got more important things to worry about besides who is picking fights.”

“Besides, the longer we wait down here the more Serena is going to yell at me for damaging my arm.” Dex handed Vellios the defunct detonator with a reassuring smile, “Or has the witty banter run dry for the day?” She asked, issuing a small challenge.

“The only question, could you keep the pace or need I slow down for you?” Vellios commented taking the device then held out his arm, gesturing for her to take as he would lead her up to the tunnel and back to the rest of the crew.

@Fallenreaper & @Hellis in "Hostile Negotiations"

They were successfull. Bad men were dead, pirates were neutralized and their leaders were about to be cashed in for rewards. But to Drono, he was focused on a nagging feeling in the back of his head. This would send waves. Yestin would know he was alive.

But he couldn't worry about that now. Dronos body was feeling like it had been bashed across a entire office space. Which it had, so it made sense that he hated everything and everyone at the moment. His spine was intact however, and he thanked the ancestors that his condition hadn't flared up. Still. it was getting close to another visit to the clinic, he could feel it. He just hoped they had another job lined up soon, maybe he could afford it after another run. But for now their money was going into the Ship. He bit his lip as he considered what they were going. Banna was a volus merchant who worked both the normal and the black market. Apparently, Vellios knew him as well. Banna was a two bit crook with pockets filled with dishonest cash. So puting the screws to him was not so much immoral as it was simply the way of things. Drono and Banna did go back almost as far as Drono and Yestin had. But Drono knew, from bitter experience that bonds like that meant nothing in the face of large amounts of money.

Like Drono, Vellios felt little attachement to the parasite and the only reason he knew he even knew of the volus was through Groto. His main motivation for going with the odd Drell was to actually learn about his favorite baratian and where he might've been located at. He had heard rumors Groto had set up shop baratian Omega at one point though that had been years ago when he first started off as a merc, the times changed and so did Omega with each new group that ruled over it.

"When I asked around, Banna had apperently moved up in the world since i last met him." Drono said as they navigated a backstreet. "A large amount of cash helped him scale his operations up. I have a vague feeling he owes a lot of that to me." Drono said as he weaved trough the crowd of a bigger streat as their little stroll trough the alleys ended for now. Indeed, he had an idea he knew exactly where those credits had come from.

"Interesting. I only know the volus through Groto, a batarian I met once, but he seemed to have impressed him with his influence at least. Gotta to say, that always bothered ol' shit face how that happened." Vellios stated as he followed closely behind Dronos, his feet easily keeping up and even shortening his strides so not to leave the Levos in the dust.

"Banna always knew how to talk a good game if nothing else." They ducked into a another side street and up a pair of steep stairs. The drelll rapped his knuckles across the metal twice, then waited, then repeated it. Two knocks were heard in response before he he rapped three times hard. The door opened slightly ajar. The Drell didn't wait, he kicked the door with all the force his battered muscle could muster. A yelp and a violent tumbling was heard before Drono stepped in. A shocked looking Banna stared up at him.

Vellios had considered asking the drell if that was really necessarily then stopped. He knew, deep down, if the volus had seen not just Dronos but him as well, there was no way in spirit's wrath he would've opened up. Following the drell in casually, he stood nearby the door as he closed it tightly shut behind him.

"D-Drono... T-they told me you were dead." The tubby little Volus tried to scrabble backwards. Drono just walked past him. The merchant spotted Vellios and his breathing all but stopped.

Naturally, when the volus noted him, the turian waved a talon in greeting. His figure leaned against the frame and watched, idly the scene unfold in silence.

"W-what. Why are you two working together" The merchant demanded to know as Drono kicked a chair towards the panicking Banna. "Sit" He pulled up a chair for himself and sat with the back forward, leaning his forearms on it.

"It's a long story but I don't think we have the time to chit-chat about it." Vellios stated calmly, his head jerked toward to chair as if agreeing with Dronos' suggestion.

"Fine" Banna mumbled as he hopped onto the chair, he would have fixed them with a stare but the Volus mechanical goggles made it impossible to tell where the eyes were really looking.

"We need coolant and ammunition for a Ship mounted cannon. Oh and explosives to." Drono said as he picked up a bag the Volus had at his workbench. Rummaging trough it Drono found a grenade, half assembled.

"You didn't have to kick the door in for tha-" The Volus began but was cut off.

"You owe me money." Drono interrupted him. "Money Yestin gave you."[/color]

"...What are you talking about" Banna spoke, his voice shaky. The hesitation and clear change in tone told Drono all he needed to know. Fury built up inside him and he snarled as he kicked the Volus and his chair over.

"Don't play fucking dumb" Drono said as he went for his gun. The merchant tried to crawl away from the now really angry looking Drell. Drono caught himself and sat back down before he did something stupid. "You said you heard I was dead, right?"

"Y-yeah"

"Who told you that"

"..." Banna looked at his feet.

"WHO." Drono put heavy emphasis on the word as he narrowed his eyes.

"Yestin." Banna said, his voice dropping to a whisper. Drono threw his hands up in surrender.

"....You talk to him Vellios. I am about two second away from killing him."

"Don't worry, I would've stopped you. At least as long as it looked like we were going to get what we came for at a reasonable price." Vellios stated calmly and unfazed by the drell's violent outburst, the alien's hissy fit was a small drop in the bucket compared to his youth. He wasn't stupid as he listened to the conversation and the fact it escalated over this Yestin character wasnt' lost on him. It was something he might have to look into later as he knew the danger an individual set on revenge could be, mostly cause he had been one himself and had the unfortunate chance to witness the aftermath.

As Dronos stepped away, the turian pulled closer. His taloned hand pulled his favorite knife from his holster and proceeded to flip it up then caught it when it fell back down. He did it a few times in full view of the volus, letting the smaller alien's head watch in growing anxiety over the action. They both knew how...unstable he could be, Groto had naturally made a point of emphaising that to the volus when he first introduced him and suggested not to get on his bad side.

He held it on the third catch and idly examined it, admiring it a bit. "You know, it might be best to alter the subject, don't you think? Since you know why we're here, how about you start off with your best price and we'll work from there. The ammunition and coolant needed are for a.. what was the model again, Dronos?"

Vellios' eyes shifted to the drell for an answer since he wasn't the ship's gunner.

"Turian V.2 Mercy 440 millimeter. Technically it is a Turian gunship model, but someone tacked it onto our scrap heap of a ship." Drono said as he seemed to have calmed down. He was playing with another pair of not yet finished explosives from the workbench.

"Never could get into ships so I'm terrible with names and remembering models, or how they go together. Though I'm sure our machine wizards will make the fine tuning." Vellios commented, then turned to Banna with an expected look that told him it was his turn.

"That's expensive stuff.." Banna began slowly but was once again interrupted.

"Not for us it ain't. How much of MY money did Yestin give you" Drono was trying to be more casual, but his left hand twitched and his eyes remained narrowed as he stared at the Volus merchant.

"Tsk. I think you're pressing your luck with a can of worms right now, namely as getting a puncture in your suit could very well answer the age old question of what happens to a volus when he's exposed to gravity not his own." Vellios stated as his head continued to watch Dronos, noting the high tension in the drell's voice. "A bit curious myself as there wasn't many volus from where I came from."

His hand flipped the blade as he walked closer and into the volus' personal space, he was nearly close enough to sent the blade though the volus' throat with one swift movement. Vellios smirked, knowing he could do easily do it and at any time. Though the volus was clearly more worried about the drell then the very turian that could kill him right now.

"Look. Don't rush this now... We could start with his toes." Drono said. "or." He suddenly clicked the bomb together that he had been toying with. "We could tie him up with this attached to his head. They'd think his stash missfired" Drono said the last part with a bit to much enthusiasm then was probobly sane.

"Maybe. Though I have to admit, those bombs look rather shoddy to me. It might not even do the full job after all unless our friend has something to say?" Vellios said, his own smile widening at the tone in Drono's voice. It was like being around a younger version of himself... almost. The memories that passed were gruesome to say the least, his mind shoving them aside for the time being while he heard the volus perk up in a shaky voice.

"Wait! Ok. Okey. Please do not kill me." Bannas lenses widened as if to emulate shocked eyes opening. "Please Drono. I spent it all. Scaled up my buisness"

"I know that. That is why we are getting a discount. Let's say... 90 percent."

"You can't be serius"

"Ninty percent. Or I turn my back and let my friend and his knife do their thing. He has issues man."

"Groto didn't hire me for my good looks alone after all." Vellios commented, his knife still moving up and down though his words continued without missing a beat. It was almost soothing in its motion and he admired how easily the knife glistened in its sharpeness that was almost as good as sex. At least close to it. On the final toss, he caught the blade's handle then flipped it about to press it tightly to the volus' throat with speed that showed he was a very highly trained in its handling. There was little warning in his action and since the foolish business alien was too concern with Drono's temper to realise how close the actual snake had gotten... there was little time to stop Vellios from getting his answer to a volus' anatomy.

"Can't say I ever got a chance to cut up a volus and see what them tick..."

"Don't knock your looks man. You are one handsome psychopath. But let's keep the autopsys to a minimum." Drono was finding himself back in his element. This was similair to how he and Yestin had done things. Only then it was Drono who was the scary one.

"90 percent. We will take what we need only, I promise. That is rather nice of me really. Seeing how you sold me a location with armed guards you forgot to tell me about... Wait a minute" Something occured to him. "Did Yestin know?"

"He.. He did."

"Son of a bitch.. He planned to double cross me all along." Drono leaned back and then stood up from the chair. [color=palegreen]"I changed the deal. Ninty-Five." He said as he stared at the Volus. "Or we will open you up like a fish filet and post the findings on the network." He said, his voice dropping back into agitated coldness for a brief second. "Deal?"

"D-deal."

"Oh. And I am sure Vellios have some questions for you. Better answer them truthfully. He is a good liar. He can spot bad ones."

"Damn, I was looking forward to my first volus." his face looked a little sadden by the fact he was being called off that it would hard to tell if he was earnest or merely keeping up his act.

The learning an art of lying was a talent that was a must have in my youth sadly." Vellios shrugged then slowly withdrew his knife. However, he didn't return it to its holster but once more started to flip it about, letting his words distract the volus a bit. "So, first question, you wouldn't happen to know where I can find Groto? I know you've contacted him with your new acquired forunate before it all was emptied out, mainly as he knew how to play the middle man for some of the cheapest prices around. As well as hide under the radar from the hierarchy too."

"He moves around a lot... But last I heard he runs his operations from a small place just on the border to citadel space." Banna spoke hesitently, eyes flickering from Drono to Vellios. Back and forth, as if he expected to get killed any second for some unknown transgression.

"Oh. Good. That's a good start." Drono said. "And, do you know where Yestins gone?"

"No clue. The second he made the haul. He left man. Gone."

"Shit. DO we have anything else to do here Vellios?"

"Ummm...Not that I can think of currently, though I can keep in contact should we need more. I have my own sources after all and it shouldn't be hard. So, think I can trust you not to kill him whlie you get our stuff? I'm pretty sure my curiosity will get the better of me really." Vellios commented. he wasn't interested in discussing the reason why he wanted this Yestins' fellow found until much later, and obviously not in front of a guy they were suppose to be strong arming into cooperating. Showing a soft underbelly tended to put a target on his back and often gave the prey courage or hope they weren't complete monster, a fact he knew would've done more harm than good.

[color=palegreen]"I can try. It is very tempting."[color=palegreen] Drono said. "Let us just say I have trust issues thanks to people like Banna."[color=palegreen] He tossed the hastily put together explosive to Banna who fumbled and almost screamed in fright before he realized it was harmless, the detonater taken out of it.

"Understandable. Though if you think a volus' insides might be interesting, you should see the inside of a krogan. Those back systems are hellish but fun to trace with your finger and try to find the source cluster. Even more then you have to play hide and go seek." Vellios smiled with a geniune enjoyment on his mandibles. He chuckled at Drono's shitty little trick as he watched the volus slowly realise the grenade was useless now. "Nice though you really don't need to give our volus friend here a heart attack before we're done with him."

"Oh. No worries. Banna doesn't have a heart." Drono scoffed.

"Good," The turian placed his knife away then turned, his figure moving toward the exit. "I'll meet you and the others on the ship later, though if Serena asks where I went... tell her I was out shopping to restock on my sleep medicine."

With those words, he waved good bye on his way out.

Drono waved to him "Don't worry. I will:" He turned back to Banna. "And now. Let's look at what you have in stock. Shall we?"

---

When the mission had finally concluded the crew had divvy up the grocery shopping. Essentials to ensure The Borealis could make it to their next job or destination in one piece. Dex had managed to find a doctor in Nova Principium to get her ears fixed up, once she had that taken care of she looked for her co-pilot, Iosif.

Nova Principium was easily her favourite place to visit on Omega. She knew the streets well it had an undeniable feeling of home. It provided a fleeting sense of nostalgia for her days spent with the separatists on Taetrus. The Taetrus extremists would use the stories of Nova Principium to highlight and give hope to the cause. The turians that settled here and built their homes centuries ago were heroes set up on a pedestal. It took years to unlearn the prevailing biases the extremists had spoonfed her. While the nostalgia warmed her mood a little, logic pushed its way to the forefront reminding her that the extremists were cowards and liars after what they did to her.

Dex found Iosif at a local chemist's store, picking up a few extra supplies to replenish his medi-gel deposits. Not that it was scarce, but time on this rock had taught him that running low on supplies was a one-way ticket to getting caught out if the meat hit the grinder at the last minute. That aside, he'd needed an opportunity to run another diagnostic of his arm for good measure. Of course, he let his Omni-Tool dissipate upon noticing Dex and took a few steps towards her.

"Dex, you said you knew someone who could get you the fuel, right? They happen to be named Roca, by chance?" Iosif inquired, brow arched, curious as to whether or not they knew the same guy.

Dex turned to her co-pilot to reply, "He's this seedy volus on the westside, he'd been my main go to for cheap fuel. Though it has been months since I've last been on Omega for fuel." She tapped a few buttons on her omnitool bringing up her file, "His name is Dorlu Jun. We'll see if he's still offering my old rate."

Dex led the way to a taxi station hailing one to take them there. She climbed in telling the driver the address and Iosif soon followed suit, taking a seat. "Volus, eh."

"He's a bastard, but assuming he plays nice you won't find out how bad he is." Dex replied with a wink. "Most merchants on this place are." Iosif remarked, with a smirk.

After about a fifteen minute ride to Dorlu's office, they arrived at the front doors. Dex paid off the taxi then entered the offices making a beeline past the other office doors in the building. Without knocking she opened the door walking in seeing Dorlu sitting at his desk on a phone call. Short and stout, the volus' suit was of a rusty-brown colouration with patches of white along the mask, arms and mid-section, with a pair of small, lit eyes. By their standards, he was probably getting on in years, having been in the fuel business for a few decades now. Dex had struck a deal with him shortly after working in the Terminus Systems full time since then she always kept a close eye on him. Only meaning to use leverage until she absolutely was forced to. Without her speaking to him months on end and now seperating from Lorthan's information network, he probably thought he was safe to make a profit.

Iosif flexed his palms, opting to silently watch Dex haggle her way through this one. He was curious to see how she'd handle this volus; even if they'd had prior correspondance, he figured the asthmatic merchant would try and weasel out of any 'deal' they might've had.

"Dorlu! You old bastard, miss me?" Dex boomed hoping to catch him off guard. He visibly twitched at her voice, then unceremoniously ended his phone call.

"I don't miss you barging into my office, but can't say I'm surprised to see you, Palaven-Clan. Been hearing some things." Dorlu wheezed drily, regarding the human with little interest as he had no idea who he was. He knew Dex to travel alone.

She took a seat on the opposite side of his desk making herself comfortable "You can imagine why we're here then. I need to fuel up the ship I'm on."

Dorlu didn't seem particularly fazed by her abrupt arrival nor what she came by for. "Always willing to serve... a loyal customer." He tapped his omnitool to life sending her the current rates of fuel. "You'll notice the prices have gone up, this damn economy just isn't making any allowances for discounts anymore."

Dex skimmed through the prices offering for Iosif to take a look himself, she looked at him as he leaned forward, significant distaste humming across her subvocals for no one else to hear. Her mandibles twitched in the silence while they both read. "Sounds like his suppliers are feeling the vice from the Alliance." Iosif muttered, with an amused snort.

When she minimized the window then glared at Dorlu, "Is that really the best you can do? Dorlu, I thought we were friends. I've been helping you out for years now.

Dorlu gave her a rather blank look, shrugging his shoulders, "Sorry to say Dex, but our business dealings have come to a close. You've been off the grid too long to rely on anymore. I've moved on."

Dex waited a beat then stood up with her back turned to Dorlu she winked at a curious Iosif, before turning back around, "You know what? You're right Dorlu, you've been more than reasonable with me so I'll do the same. I'll just be sure to pass along some information then carry on." She said rather coyly, "Say hello to your wife for me."

Dorlu sank behind the desk at the mention of his wife, "What do you know."

"You've been a very busy man since I've been gone. Bankrupting your wife's family, profiting off embezzlement from their business. Small profits but taking a little from each is going unnoticed." Dex pulled up her file on him scrolling through the laundry list of his shit. "I feel horrible for your wife, given she caught you redhanded with another woman," Pausing to look at the picture of him with with an asari, shaking her head with an exaggerated sigh, "Now you're throwing everything you have against her for threatening to go public with it. Well that hardly seems fair."

"How did you... get those files! You rotten...thief!" He wheezed angrily, "You have been rifling... through my privacy... this whole time!?" A smirk slowly crept across Iosif's face as he looked on, his amusement growing.

Iosif, do you think it's fair he's using all the credits she's equally entitled to against her? I think I could fix that." Ignoring the volus' outburst, she was clearly amused at springing this on him.

"It'd be quite the domestic abuse story, I'd imagine." Iosif folded his arms, nodding in agreement with an amused expression, "I'm no expert on Irune law, but I don't think the current legal climate would be accommodating for that kind of behaviour."

"Thank you for clarifying that Iosif. I'm not personally well aware of Volus authority but with the damning evidence I've personally collected over the years, I'd say your chances of winning any legal battle are slim to none." She said leaning forward, "So Dorlu, what's it going to be? Drop the rates seventy percent or see your reputation and bank accounts dry up in real time."

Dorlu slowly sat back down his fists shaking, he stared at Dex. Years ago when he first began working with her he had set up extra security to deflect her attempts at digging into his privacy. He had dealt with Lorthan's spies previously though he did fear Lorthan's growing influence, he underestimated Dex's ability to bypass his walls. Silence dragged as he thought desperately coming up with no way to avoid losing everything. Selling her fuel, albeit heavily discounted, seemed like a trade worth making.

"Sixtey-five percent and you swear you won't...air this information?" He asked warily, "I'd be willing to buy the information back."

Dex considered that then turned to Iosif, What do you think?"

"Sounds fair." He nodded in agreement.

She clapped her hands decisively the sudden noise making Dorlu twitch again, "You have my word Dorlu." She shook his hand, "Not a single word will be reported nor be known to your wife. I'll sell all he evidence back to you. You know my regular prices for this level of information. Also, the Borealis is in Afterlife District dock A4. Please put a rush order on that, we have no intention of sticking around Omega."

She tapped away gathering all the information into a packet to send. While Dorlu transferred the credits over in exchange. Iosif shot her a look, then an approving nod. Somehow, he suspected that he was going to like this one.

'Always a pleasure, Dorlu. Stay out of trouble." She remarked sarcastically then excusing herself her omnitool still open as she looked over the numbers. She let herself out of the office working on quickly transfering half of Dorlu's credits into his wife's account. She noted to Iosif, "She won't know where this came from but hopefully it'll be enough give her an edge against him."

"She'll need it more than him, I suppose." Iosif remarked.

"The credits I received from selling his information is going directly back into the ship. It'll be set aside next time we need to fuel up."

"Sounds about right, can use anything left over for whatever we need."

As they exited the building together Dex finished up the file transfers letting her omnitool fade away into sleep mode. "Now that the business is dealt with I've been curious since you first boarded, I noticed you have a prosthetic arm as well. How'd you lose yours? If you don't mind my prying, especially after that exchange of gross invasion of privacy."

"Sure, I'll tell," Iosif answered back, "If you'll share how you wound up with yours. Deal?"

"You have yourself a deal." She agreed with a chuckle. Dex was curious, she didn't run into many others who lost their left arm. She was more curious to see if he had any features on it.

Iosif raised his cybernetic arm, flexing its fingers as he thought back on it, "Got this about six years ago whilst I was still with the Alliance. Was with the Twenty-First Airborne back then, out in the Traverse, so as you can imagine I spent most of my time on patrol missions to make sure that colonies and other interests weren't touched by the usual warlord-pirate-terrorist crowds."

Dex nodded watching the metalic tendons move while he flexed his fingers. It was simplistic in design meant for functionality more than anything, probably did well enough on reflex tests.

"Anyway, one time I was out on another routine patrol when the sensors picked up on an incoming projectile. I banked to the side, hoping for the kinetic shields to kick in and take it as a graze, yet by some stroke of bad luck - or maybe just shoddy equipment - it took a direct impact which effectively disabled the engine and forced me to make a rapid descent." Talking about it didn't bother him as much as it used to, even if it brought on the odd phantom, so much as it felt like old news. "As you've probably guessed, my arm was damaged beyond the capacity of modern medicine, so I gained this instead as part of my medical discharge." Iosif flexed his fingers once more, shaking off the discomforting tinge that thinking about it could occasionally bring on.

Dex made a pained noise as her imagination filled in the gaps of how it must of felt, her shoulder throbbed with anxiety at the thought. She remembered vague memories of coming in and out of conciousness while they amputated her arm. The pain was searing as they attached cybernetics to her nerve endings.

Her right hand floated up to her left shoulder tapping the metallic plates idly while she thought. "Fuck pirates."

Iosif nodded in agreement with her. "Fuck them. Slavers too." He shared the same sentiment towards Batarians.

"I've had my arm for over ten years now." She rolled up her sleeve to let him see it proudly showcasing the handiwork, the green stenciled spirals were densely covering every inch of it. "My good friend Jorick Demanga is my prosthetic engineer. He built this current model from scratch, if it wasn't for him I would have been dead." Her voice softened when she spoke of her friend, she hadn't seen him in ages.

"I was serving in the military on this beautiful ship named the ISS Fade. We were enroute back to Taetrus, my homeworld. I had been sent away from the bridge to do some maintence checks for the mass effect core when we dropped out of FTL to avoid some debris. The pirates set a net and roped us in. I remember all the alarms blaring while the halls flooded with red light. All I had on me was a data pad..."

It had been a while since she talked about it though everything about that day was crystal clear. She popped open the blowtorch in her talon continuing the story, "I ran as fast as I could out of engineering to get to the closest weapon locker, unfortunately one of the pirates beat me to it. He turned on me, fast as a whip, shoving the end of his barrel into my shoulder then he pulled the trigger."

Iosif arched a brow as he saw the blowtorch, intrigued. Frankly, he was a little impressed at the practicality of it; the arm that the alliance had hooked him up with was about as standard as one would expect. Maybe hardier than the one it'd replaced, but it wasn't as if it held any fancy gimmicks.

That said, he definitely sympathised with her on taking a wound to the shoulder. Pirates used some nasty shit, especially when it came to boarding ships. He'd seen the effects of it first-hand.

Dex quickly tucked the blowtorch away. "From there I had two choices. Die or call for help. I dragged my sorry ass to the terminal after the pirate decided I wasn't going to last long, he ran off to shoot more crew. I sent out a distress signal. From what I was told the crew held out against the pirates until help arrived dispatching them completely. Jorick was among the medic teams helping to attend to the wounded." A smile broke open her mandibles, "The best feeling in the world after rehabilitation was jumping into a gunship to fly it. I had full control again."

It was a sentiment that Iosif could definitely share with his fellow pilot, if the smile that crelt across his face was anything to go by. "Damn straight. You put yourself behind the controls of a bird and it's as if you're the master of your own fate. Almost makes you feel invincible."

It was a pleasant thought, one which left him with a certain sense of nostalgia. A reminder of the days before Aratoht, before the salarian fucked them over. And then, even further back - when he was just another fresh faced kid at the docks, a graduate from Lowell City hoping to get out of the backwater and out into the wider universe.

"Something like that, yeah." She shared a look of admiration with Iosif, feeling more confident that she'd have a like-minded co-pilot. "Is there anything else we need to grab while we're out here?"

"I recall mention that we needed coolant for the weapon systems, but they've got it covered. It'd probably be worth grabbing anything we might need for the bridge. Software upgrades or anything like that."

"Software! That would be perfect, I don't trust the autopilot one bit. We can probably find a good VI program to upgrade the shit on there now. I can buff it up then we'll be golden." Dex said enthusiastically. "I thought Drono was going to be picking up the coolant. For now we'll grab a VI then get in contact with the others to see where they're at."

Iosif shrugged at that, before nodding. "Assuming he hasn't moved shop, there's a quarian who might be able to hook us up with something. Walk isn't too far from here, then we can hitch a ride back."

Dex followed beside Iosif allowing him to lead the way. The walk wasn't too great, but took them through a labyrinthine, narrow walkway that brought them face to face with the apathetic denizens of the great underworld. Eventually, they rounded the corner and hit another wider area, closer to one of the docking sectors, where a few other stalls were found.

Iosif had his sights set on their target for shopping - a stall at the corner with advertisements in various languages, all for components related to spacecraft. Engine parts, weapons systems, VIs - all of them and more were advertised on the storefront, but the two were more interested in the last of the three.

Stepping inside, the slav shot a look towards the storekeeper, a quarian of a busy disposition who seemed to be keeping themself occupied as they tapped away st the fabricated interface of their terminal. Probably another VI, as Rael used to point out. He and the storekeeper had grown up on the same ship.

"Hey, you open?" Iosif asked, rhetorically. He recognised the storekeeper from the patterns on his suit and that less-than-subtle defense turret crudely mounted on the ceiling for potential shoplifters, stick-up artists and thieves. Yep, this was the place, alright.

"Ah, yes," the quarian finally glanced up to them, stepping apart from the terminal and edging over to the counter to greet their newfound customers when they jerked their head upwards in mild surprise. "How can I be of assistance today, I'm aware that.. hey, hold on a moment - I know you from somewhere... you're that human who worked with Rael, yes?"

"That's right, uh.. Roca, right?"

"Yeah, right. Haven't heard from either of you in months, or that salarian either. What gives? Rael said he'd have been back months ago to pick up a package he ordered."

"He's dead." Iosif said, rather bluntly.

"... Dead, wait, seriously?" Roca's head tilted downwards for a moment. "How? I know Rael, he wasn't the type-"

"Salarian turned on us. Stole our cut, murdered Rael and... just screwed us over." A hint of anger was inflected in his voice, though he wasn't forthcoming about what happened to him.

Curiosity flared in Dex, someone betrayed Iosif and with only a tidbit of information it sent her imagination into overdrive. It took a considerable amount of effort to school her expression to that of neutrality. Remaining disinterested in the lives her fellow crewmates had led was proving, with every passing minute she spent with them, to be difficult.

"That's why I was going to ask you a favour, if you'd be so inclined."

"Sure, but I don't entirely work for free."

"Sure. If I recall, Rael had some navigation VI fitted to our old ship - I'm aware you programmed that VI. What I wanted to know is if there's a back-door in the software so I can track that fucking lizard and give him what's due."

"Hrm," Roca tilted his head upwards and brought up the terminal again. "You do realise this could land me in boiling engine coolant, right? If anyone finds-"

"I'm not asking it as a favour for me. Asking it as a favour for Rael, especially since, if I recall, he went out of his way for you a couple of times."

"Bah, fine. For Rael. I won't have it said I backed down on a former crewmate, even an exile."

"Thank you. And I'll make it worth your while, if you can also hook us up with some of your VI software. Please, no backdoors this time."

"I can hook you up with whatever you need."

With that, Iosif shot Dex a look. "You're pilot, it's your call."

Searching for someone through shadier means was nothing new to Dex. She personally took note if ever needing to find someone through a ship, to check with the navigation for any old imprints. It was a good trick and she hoped it would work for Iosif. Inclining her head respectively to Iosif, "Thank you. If you think Roca can provide us with what we need Iosif, then let's do it."

Dex, Iosif and Roca went through several VI's looking for just the right one to cover for The Borealis autopilot. It had to be generally compatible with older systems as well as custmizable enough to fit it. Only when they finally settled on the best option Roca had, did the pilots buy it along with Iosif obtaining his clue to finding the apparent backstabbing Salarian.

He wasn't finished just yet.

Location: Afterlife Club

After Dronos and Vellios had persuaded Banna to hand over cheaper materials for the floating spare parts ship called the Borealis, the turian had shifted his attention to another contact. It was a slight pity that Groto hadn’t set up shop here, unlike what he was told originally, as Vellios enjoyed the slippery batarian’s company compared to the less cooperative volus. At least Groto knew to cooperate when things could mutually benefit both of them despite his unsavory reputation. Though Vellios wondered slightly over how Dronos and Groto might’ve managed to get along with the drell’s rather...hyperactive and extreme personality.

Casting that thought aside, he focused on the individual he had managed to find.

Omega-Enindo-Kelsai-Enol-Kiron-Salihim… or Salihim for short as Vellios insisted on calling him, merely to save the turian a massive headache in uttering the full name every time. It surprised him at how easy it was, namely following the soft whispers within the dark corners of the slums, to know where to find his friend. He accidently overheard the name and merely follow the breadcrumbs. With Serena still fuming at him and the latest credits for the mission being used for strictly the ship, he needed funds outside of their recent mission to support his own needs. With his task done earlier than expected, it was only a good idea he took this time to make a little side cash. Namely in repairing his armor (he had many skills but even he knew jury-rigging a patch job was dangerous), getting spending cash for Serena’s Barat, and possibly feed his addictions. The last thing he wanted was the crew to see the more nasty side of him.

There was only one way to do that: through the underground pit fights. It was risky money and often he had to shed more than his fair share of blood, gain bruises a plenty and sport a few broken ribs but it was better than walking around in broken armor. If Serena had any idea where he was going, she would’ve killed him or wanted to come along. The latter he couldn’t allow due to the danger and while she had her droids, the human had her weaknesses. She could easily be used as a bargaining chip to force his hand into some unsavory, violent acts if he had to value her life over a complete stranger’s.

Shaking that off, his eyes perked upon seeing the Afterlife sign. The letters were flashing their neon lights into his irises causing him to squint and pull up a talon hand, shading his eyes for a moment.

An asari, either bored or interested in the new face, rose from her position near a banister then skirted his way. The movement was enough to draw his attention. Her figure was ideally appealing to him like it was to many races and her strides were confident enough that she knew it obviously. Soft, light blue tattoo patterns decorated her eyebrows and chin with dots and stripes giving her a tribal look. She was dressed in a tight fitting shirt, short over jacket of white with blue stripes and dark leather pants melting into some metal studded boots, a few thin chains dangling from the upper calf just short of the floor. Grey eyes glanced from the top of his crest down to his feet, admiring every inch for a moment.

She stopped just within friendzone, hands on her wide hips, then spoke softly. “Aleera T'Unlon.”

Aleera took another glance at Vellios, his figure paused when she approached him. His head cocked to the side with a cocky smile as he replied. “My, you are a lovely one aren’t you? Vellios Malkrai. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. T’Unlon.”

“And who says there’s no polite turians left within ‘the heart of evil’?” Aleera stated, using the Asari’s common name for Omega, then held out her hand.

Vellios moved a step forward. His talons gently placed the humanoid hand to his closed mouth and touched it in a common turian gesture, one that mimicked a human’s kissing of the hand. Gently he released it and stepped back to his original position, his hands placed behind him. While it looked casual and relaxed, he was anything but letting his guard down. His hands were already firmly near a position where he could either pull out his gun or blade then sent it through the Asari’s heart with one quick motion.

It wasn’t unlikely that she was also equally ready and armed. Most Omega citizens, especially confident Asari maidens, were well adapt to taking on single combatants in both single hand to hand and multiple groups thanks to their botics. It was likely why she wasn’t afraid to approach him after all.

“So, what brings a pretty little maiden like yourself to see a scarred turian like me just randomly?” Vellios asked, his eyes noting the other customers giving the pair a wider than usual berth and then quickly edge into the night club. He wasn’t liking where this scene was building up to, his talons twitching to speed along this conversation by force.

“Salihim wasn’t wrong when he mentioned you were a bit rugged. He did, “ Aleera continued, leaning into Vellios’ space and braced his shoulders when she whispered softly into his ear, “however, forget to mention you were cute.”

With those last words, she planted a light, flirting kiss upon Vellios’ cheek then retreated back. Vellios didn’t flinch though a smirk crossed his mandibles as they wiggled in clear encouragement. This caused the Asari much enjoyment, her own lips pulled up in a small, sexy smile. Her arms crossed over her front while she gestured with her head to the club. “Join me for a drink then I’ll take you right to your Salarian friend. Though it will have to be your treat.”

Vellios could almost see her batting her pretty little eyelashes in a pleading way, hinting to the best way to get on her good side. His mind paused to consider his credit fundings. 500. It wasn’t much, especially for his medications and would only enough to pay for about a week’s worth if he wasn’t overstressed by his work, a fact he doubted very much wouldn’t be the case. This crew was harsh to deal with as it was.

Inhaling then pushing himself into his reply, he gestured to the entrance. His feet moved while waiting for her eventual yes and easily took the lead, holding out his arm for her to take. “What type of gentleman would I be if I didn’t pay for your drink? Shall we?”

Eagerly, she wrapped her arms about the offered one then the two disappeared into the club.

It had been only a few days since the mercenary outfit formed, and already Tonka was enjoying the brief time allotted to escape the group at large, even for a few hours. Even though he was a accompanied by Khosin, the only batarian in the crew after an operation dedicated to wiping batarians out, the krogan couldn't help but feel that Khosin elected to join him because as far as racial tension went, there really wasn't any. Tonka wasn't like Tanya or Iosif, who had experienced the horrors of slavery first hand, and the batarians weren't responsible for the atrocities committed against the krogan. Considering how long their two species had shared time on the galactic stage, it was an oddly amicable relationship, probably due to the intense isolation that both Kharshan and Tuchanka enjoyed or were subjected to.

Tonka had taken some time after the operation to secure a pair of cages meant to transport varren to stuff the prisoners in while they waited transport to Alliance custody, and Tanya left her drone on guard duty, making the deliverance of those assholes about as a nonissue as one could get. The krogan quite enjoyed slapping the heaviest padlocks he could find on the cages and throwing snacks meant for varren pets at them through the slits, and carrying on his way while the idiots screamed themselves hoarse, in about as cramped and indignified positions as possible.

So, after repairing his armour to the best of his ability and replacing the undersuit with one of this three spares, Tonka left to the local cityscape of Nova Principium, one of the many municipalities dotted across Omega's interior and the one where the Borealis found itself docked. While it wasn't an entirely lawless hellhole like Omega was infamous for, it definitely had a wildly anti-establishment vibe, likely due to the fact that this particular sector was founded by turian separatists from the colony worlds that had risen up against Palaven centuries ago and were subjugated. Those not wishing to be put under rule again were forced to flee to the Terminus Systems, where they set up something like a government in exile. Hundreds of years later, its original purpose forgotten and founders long dead, members of all species could be found in the streets, although a distinctly turian feel remained in the city, the streets bearing the names of the founders, the oldest architecture and shops retaining turian names and goods, and the majority of the populace of course, being turians. Being an obviously dextro-friendly locale, no small amount of quarians had settled here, both pilgrims and exiles.

A group of children, mostly human and asari with a pair of salarians, cut them off chasing a ball through the streets. Tonka eyed them suspiciously. "Keep an eye on your pockets. Little shits are just as likely to be pickpockets as they are to be having fun. So, how do you feel about our merry band of idiots?" he asked Khosin.

Khosin looked around as they walked through Nova Principium. Despite his time spent on Omega he had never been to the district in which they were now. The slow pace of their walk gave him time to reflect on the days after the mission against the Twin Suns; he had taken the time to repair his armor and to bandage the wound that he had gotten from the Kishock shot. The fact that they had turned their bounties in to the Alliance bothered him, his blood boiling at the sight of the bastards but, luckily, he had managed to keep his temper in check as they handed them their prisoners. He was brought out of his silent contemplation when Tonka spoke to him, telling him to keep an eye on his pocket as they walked near the children that were playing-

"Oh, I know, don't worry, keeping one of my eyes looking at their general direciton, if they try to pickpocket me, I'll know." Said Khosin, chuckling a little at Tonka's question on how he felt about their merry band of idiots "Hmm, well, for one I am pleasantly surprised that there were no incidents of friendly fire." He said drily, chuckling once more "I suppose that when I saw how Tanya and Iosif looked at me that I was going to wind up with a bullet between each pair of eyes." He said with a light shrug.

"But, in all honesty, I think that this group could work half decently if we put enough effort into it." He explained to the Krogan "It was a bit of a shame that so many left during our first mission as a team but I suppose that means those who have stayed are committed" He said as they walked through Nova Principium, turning his face to look at Tonka "What about you? How do you feel about our merry band of idiots?" He asked him, shooting his question back at him. He had to admit, he was rather curious about what the Krogan thought of their group.

"Heh, can't blame the lot that decided to hightail it out of here. In all likelihood, they're off enjoying their shiny new asari frigate, and we're wondering when the bulkhead is going to rupture on our little freighter. Their whole reason for being here died when Captain Dumbass decided to break his neck in the most pedestrian way imaginable." Tonka remarked, glancing over at the batarian beside him with a lingering green eye. "I wouldn't worry too much about Carson and Svenchenko, both of them are military vets, that counts for something. They might hate you with every fiber of their being, but so long as you're breaking Harvester Thorax with them and working for the same team, they'd keep that hate to angry stares and harsh words. If you can deal with that, you're fine.

"As for the team? Not a bad bunch, in truth. Even our suicidally angry quarian has her uses, so long as she doesn't hear the words 'Blue' and 'Sun' in the same sentence. Nobody really knows how to work together, trust isn't really there, but we managed to pull through a mission without losing anyone, so there’s potential.” Tonka replied with a shrug. The pair were approaching a foot bridge that crossed a chasm where skycar traffic moved through the harrowing canyon at uncomfortably high speed. It occurred to Tonka they’d need some way of transporting the goods to the ship.

"Hmmm, I suppose you are right, Tonka." Said Khosin when the Krogan mentioned that he couldn't blame the members of the crew that left on their decision. Tonka was right of course, the whole venture of the Borealis wasn't one that was very promising, the death of Captain Luzami having made the situation worse. But he had given his word to the deceased captain, and Khosin wasn't a Batarian who was willing to break his word even if he had made it to a man who was dead. "I suppose I don't like going back on my word. Know it sounds pretty stupid, what with Luzami being dead, but I am a man of my word, as I said." He explained to the Krogan "What about you? Why didn't you hightail it out of the Borealis with the rest of them?" He asked curiously, letting out a sigh when Tonka mentioned Tanya and Iosif. "True enough, but it's harder to work effectively with someone that utterly loathes you. For example, I don't think they'd put themselves at risk to save me either. Not that I can blame them, they barely know me and their first impression on me is a rather negative one on account of being a Batarian. Plus, hate can lead you to make stupid decisions as well so I prefer to be cautious." He explained as they walked through Nova Principium.

Khosin nodded at what Tonka said on the team, agreeing with him on his assessment of the group "Yeah, there's potential like you said. But it's up to us whether or not we squander it." He said, turning to look at the skycar traffic that went over the foot bridge that crossed the nearby chasm. He looked around the area, the sudden thought on how they'd transport the goods to the ship having come to his mind aroudn the same time as Tonka. "Hey, look at that, skycar rental office." Said Khosin as he pointed at an office, a neon sing of a skycar on it's entrance, with his hand "Think we have enough credits? We could rent a skycar to bring back the goods we buy, or we could steal one, whatever you think it's best." He said with a shrug, any option was fine with him. They were in Omega, and so he doubted that there would be too much ruckus over a stolen skycar he thought. Or perhaps I've been in the worst parts of Omega for too long. He thought drily as he waited for Tonka to say something.

"Skycar's a bit small. We're going to need at least supplies for 3 weeks, preferably more. Trying to cram more than a few day's worth of rations for a crew our size is going to take more than a car. Plus, those things are expensive and stupid. I think there's probably somewhere where we can get one of those cargo haulers, the small guys that are meant for field shit, and see if we can't rent one or buy it outright, if it's not too expensive. Probably way out of our budget, I think they cost around 12-13 thousand credits for something that's new." Tonka said, continuing on. He chuckled, returning to what Khosin asked earlier.

"Why didn't I run? Let's just say I've been too successful. Had a secure job, good pay, and I had recognition. For most people, that's what they want, then they settle down. I got bored, so I deliberately looked for the most inexperienced crew classified I could find and I decided to see what the other end of the spectrum looks like, where failure is almost guaranteed. It is a lot more entertaining, and I'm not wanting for money, so the stakes for me are less than pretty much everyone else. I could leave at any time and not really be worse off for it, but I'm enjoying myself, even when rogue quarians try to kill half the team." The krogan replied, following a sign that seemed to be pointing to the industrial district. Usually on the border between commercial and industrial areas, there were services that went beyond the kinds of things you'd buy at a mall.

Khosin listened as Tonka spoke, chuckling a little when the Krogan told him why he had stayed with the crew of the Borealis. "Must be a tad disappointed then, what with our first mission being a success and all." He joked, laughing a little bit. "I'll endeavor to make the next mission more interesting, perhaps I'll bandage one pair of eyes to throw off my aim." He said drily, finding the banter with Tonka to be amusing -not to say refreshing after the tense conversation he had with Tanya back on the mission- to say the very least. He followed Tonka to the industrial district, his eyes scanning for any place where they could buy or rent a small cargo hauler.

When they were deep into the industrial district he stopped Tonka, an idea having occurred him "Hey, Tonka, so you say that buying a new cargo hauler would be too expensive, right?" Asked the Batarian "And I agree, 12-13 thousand credits for a cargo hauler that we'll only use when we get supplies for the crew is too expensive but what if we bought a used one?" He said, crossing his arms over his chest "Sure, it'd still be expensive but think of it as an investment. I mean, I'd prefer to have a vehicle at the ready in the logn run than having to rent one each time we have to do supply runs, plus I am guessing that in the long run it'd be cheaper too. Wouldn't you agree?" Said Khosin, scratching his chin a little bit as he waited for Tonka's comment on his idea, his eyes still scanning the surrounding area of the industrial district in search of a shop where they could either rent a hauler or buy an used one.

"We have a bit of space, but we already have a cargo hauler and trailer, but they need parts before they're serviceable, and we have a skid steer, which would move so slowly it would take us all day to get it there and back. We'll just have to rent or borrow one, and bring it back in one piece." The krogan said.

The pair continued on some time before stumbling across an equipment rental shop, a fenced off yard holding anything from small excavators to trailers and everything in between. A small fleet of utility trucks from all kinds of makes and manufactures were lined up in a row with care. "Well, let's see what they have inside."

"Ah, yeah, you are right, slipped out of my mind that we had a cargo hauler in the Borealis, well hopefully we'll get some parts to repair it soon." The batarian said as he continued to walk with Tonka. When they finally found an equipment rental shop Khosin simply nodded at Tonka's words, entering into the rental place alongside the krogan.

It took a while but eventually he and Tonka managed to convince the owner of the shop, an aging Turian, to rent them an old cargo hauler, although Khosin was sure that the old man had charged them more than normal for the old vehicle. "Well, now we have something to transport the goods back to the Borealis. Any idea what are the most pressing supplies that our little crew needs?" Asked Khosin, hoping to buy only the essential and not waste any more extra credit than they already had in renting the old cargo hauler.

"Food." the krogan said simply. "I'm sure we can go buy in bulk if we look hard enough. Probably will have to stock up on non-perishables, like freeze-dried food and canned goods. Water's essential, obviously. Need to make sure about 20% of our purchase is dextro-friendly. Let's go find what we need." he said, climbing into the hauler's driver seat and adjusting it for his comparative size. It was a bit crammed, but Tonka could manage. When Khosin climbed aboard, the two set out into Nova Principium's streets.

Several minutes later, the pair came across a retailer that was exactly what they needed, 'Principium District Bulk Goods and Starship Supplies'. They pulled their vehicle up to park, and after securing it, headed into the store, taking a pair of large carts with removable bins up and down the isles, which were separated by species, and even further by colonies. Tonka grabbed a metal keg with a cartoon hanar on it, promising a children's breakfast paste. "You know, I've always been afraid to ask how a hanar eats, exactly, but I'm even more afraid to open this can to find out." he slid it back where it belonged and they carried on. "I thinking we should do something fresh, actually cook a proper meal for the crew, have dinner together. After the mission, I think there should be something to feel good about. Everyone seems to be rather peturbed for whatever reason. I don't know why they're complaining; I'm the one who got impaled by his own armour." he said, finding a large package of dehydrated and freeze dried cattle strips. He tossed the package into the bin.

"Hmmm, yeah, food's key. Guess the others will take care of the other things that we need." Said Khosin, nodding at Tonka's suggestion on buying in bulk and stocking up on non-perishables "Hmm, true enough we need to keep in mind to buy dextro food as well." He said as he climbed into the co-pilot's seat as Tonka took the driver's, the streets of Nova Principium surrounding them as Tonka searched for a retailer in which they could buy supplies in bulk.

Khosin was relieved when it took them only a few more minutes to find a retailer that would cater to their needs but was a little perplexed when he noticed that interior of the store was not only separated by such categories as species but by their colonies as well "Never understood the Turian's obsession with colonies." He mumbled, shaking his head slightly as he walked through the isles of the shop alongisde Tonka. He chuckled a litle at the krogan's word "Hmm, you know, now that I think of it I'm also curious about how hanar eat" The batarian said, chuckling a little "Maybe we could ask Drono? As far as I know the remaining drell population are rather close to the Hanar." He said as he picked on some non-perishable food

"So, it's either open that package or ask our resident drell, your choice Tonka." He said, chuckling a little as Tonka put the metal keg back on it's place. "Hmmm, sounds like a good idea Tonka." He said, a little surprised by the krogan's suggestion but agreeing to it nonetheless "Might be a tad difficult with the dextros in the crew but I think it'd be worth it, plus like you said could lift the spirits of everyone." He said as he tossed a package of dehydrated and freeze dried fish into the bin.

Tonka glanced over at the batarian and gave him a slow blink. "Your own people have colonies. Humans have colonies, and salarians, hanar, volus, and asari all have colonies. Hell, even the elcor have a couple. We krogan did, too, and then we decided to try to take everything because we couldn't support our population. Whoops." he said, turning back to the shelves.

"Thing is, on each planet, they have their own unique little ecosystem and crops and animals and whatever else you can think of, few things are universal. The reason things are separated into colonies like this isn't so much a pride thing as saying that if you have a taste for something from home, here it is, accept no substitutes." he snorted a laugh at the idea of asking Drono about anything insightful. "I'm pretty sure our drell is baffled enough at his own day to day life that paying attention to what the hanar get up to might be a bit much for him to pick at. Personally, it's not a mystery I need solved. I kind of like the idea of there being some mystery left in the galaxy, even if that mystery is hanar dietary habits."

They continued on, stocking up their cart with various goods before finding the fresh foods section. "Won't be that hard, I've had to cater to mixed species teams before. You just have to keep the food on seperate trays and not mix things or cook with the same stuff. We can make it work." he said, eyeing up some bundles of fruits. "Salad. I want a salad. Grill up some pyjak breast and sprinkle on some Thessian nuts and you're having a good time."

"True enough, but you don't see every batarian, human, salarian, elcor, etc, painting their faces with a colony symbol." Said Khosin drily as he picked something and threw it on the bin but nodded on what Tonka said next "Fair enough, I suppose it makes sense in that aspect but, even so, you have to admit that turians are, in general, rather fixated with their colonies" He commented before laughing at what the krogan said next.

"True enough I suppose, on both accounts." The batarian said, chuckling a little as he pondered on Tonka's words a little "You know...now that you mention it I often forget how big the galaxy is, we Batarian's tend to live most of our life in Kite's Nest, so we often...how to put it, don't see any mystery to the galaxy I suppose. There's the Hegemony, the human's are the enemies, bla bla, repeat ad nauseam." He muttered, shaking his head a little "Sorry about that, got me thinking a little." He said as he looked over the stalls, trying to see if there was anything that could be used for a batarian dish.

"Hmmm, have you worked with many teams in your life?" Asked Khosin curiously as he picked a pack of fresh pyjak meat and put it in the bin at the krogan's comment on having some of it with a seasoning of Thessian nuts. "Hmmm, we should probably pick some drinks as well." He said, noticing a pack of batarian ale and putting it on the bin alongside the rest of the supplies.

"Cultural thing." Tonka said. "They're proud of their homes and customs, and given how rigid turian society is, being able to identify as something different than the Hierarchy is important to them. They've had a few rebellions against Palaven, from what I understand. The colony facial markings were a quick and easy way to tell who was a colonist and who was a 'Bare-face', as they call them back on Palaven. Of course, the rebellions keep failing, but the Hierarchy decided to let them keep their facial markings as a sense of identity.

"It's not unlike how on Tuchanka each of the clans has their own Rite of Passage. My clan, Ravanor, sends its unblooded off into the wastes to find something useful for the territory and clan, usually abandoned machinery and weapons. Quarians do something similar with their flotilla. Urnot sends their unblooded against an arena of wildlife while trying to draw a thresher maw to the Rite. Forsan, from what I've heard, has unblooded fight vorcha into submission. It's all violent, desperate, but it's who we are, and we're all different." Tonka explained. He looked at Khosin with interest. "The Hegemony is pretty big on the propaganda and brainwashing, aren't they? I imagine it was kind of a shock for you to get out into the galaxy at large where the news is less biased. But yeah, I worked with a few teams, most for the same company. There's a difference between professionals and whatever it is we have on the Borealis, let me tell you."

"Hmm, yeah, I suppose you are right. Batarian's usually only have one cultural identity, that is to say the Hegemony." Said Khosin, listening with attention at the Krogan's words "If you don't mind me asking, where did you pick so much knowledge about Turian culture?" He asked curiously, listening as Tonka moved on to the topic of the different rites of passage of various krogan's clans "Hmmm, reminds me of training in the Hegemony's military, the violence I mean, instructors can be quite harsh and it's more often than not a fight for survival, with each man on his own." Commented Khosin thoughtfully. He chuckled bitterly at Tonka's question, more like a statement, on the Hegemony's heavy use of propaganda and brainwashing

"Yes and no. Oh, sure, the propaganda is there but it's far easier to appeal to, say, a bitter kid on the streets with nothing but hate and vengeance for the Alliance." He said. "For example, who do you think would be easier to manipulate. A random kid who, sure enough, has grown listening to propaganda or a kid who lost everything due to the Hegemony losing a planet to the Alliance's colonization, who do you think is more easily brainwashed?" Asked Khosin, taking a breath to calm down "As for the shock of entering an ambient where there's less bias, I'd say it was more being confronted to the idea that not everyone was an enemy that was more shocking. Might be me though." He said with a shrug, picking another package and throwing it into the bin, chuckling in a more good natured manner at his comment on the Borealis crew. "Oh, believe me, I know. So you worked for a company before joining our little crew?"

"My old employer was an asari entrepreneur who was building a manufacturing empire across the Terminus, so her representatives came to Tuchanka looking for a few krogan who were willing to do some good work for good pay. I ran into people from across the galaxy, and I've always been observant. Best way to know how to beat somebody is to understand them, and a lot of pirates are turian expats who got sick of the Hierarchy's shit. So I read up on them, partially because I wanted to know what motivated them, and also the goofy face squiggles had me curious. If something catches my eye, I want information. It's part of why I'm a good sniper, I'm patient and think information is more powerful than a bullet. So, I toured across the Terminus Systems as an anti-piracy expect and security and believe me, I got to see a lot of idiots try their luck. I never kept track, but I'd say a good average for pirate attacks is twice a month? Anyways, I killed a lot of people who bet on the wrong ship." Tonka explained, steering them towards the drink isle and wondering if they shouldn't invest in a new potable water tank.

Grabbing armfuls of water jugs and sports drinks, he answered Khosin's question. "The kid that's easier to manipulate is the one who has nothing to lose. Trust me, I know desperation. A lot of krogan would murder their own brothers for slightly better living conditions, and most gangs and crime syndicates prey on the poor and needy for their grunt work. However, someone who was well off growing up only being able to listen to government propaganda, even if you were skeptical, how can you make an informed decision when that's all you hear?"

"Ah, I see. Seems you've led an interesting life, Tonka, if I might say so." Commented Khosin, rather surprised by what the krogan had told him, as he followed Tonka to the drink isle, his eyes scanning the isle for anything that they should take. "Also, I do have to agree on what you said about information, used properly it can be more powerful than a bullet." He said as he picked a few water jugs and then sport drinks and put them on the bin.

However when Tonka answered his comment he chuckled bitterly once more "Correct, and for the reason you have mentioned though they are not the only ones all the time." He said in response to Tonka's comment, listening to the rest of what he said. "True enough on all accounts Tonka but I think you are missing the point somewhat." He said with a sigh. "True enough, the pampered kid won't be able to form an informed decision but, the thing is...he'll stay on Khar'shan, or whatever planet he was born, and do nothing much else, perhaps help develop Batarian State Arms if he is feeling patriotic enough." Said Khosin, his fingers gripping a jug of water that he was putting on the bin a bit harder than necessary. "But what do you think will happen to the pissed off kid that was in the streets? He'll join the Hegemony's military, perhaps the Special Intervention Unit or the External Forces if he's particularly talented, but in the end they'll burn out and what do you think will happen next Tonka?" Asked the Batarian, his shoulders slumping forward as if he was suddenly tired although the moment lasted for no more than a few seconds. "Sorry about that little outburst, just some old wounds that still need some time to heal. I hope I didn't bother you too much." Said Khosin once he had managed to reigning his emotions back in.

The krogan shrugged his massive shoulders, doing a quick inventory check and deciding they were pretty much there. "No skin off my back. If I spent as much time worrying about what kind of dumb shit the rest of my species was up to as you do yours, I think one of my hearts would have failed by now. Some advice; don't give a shit, about any of it. You only can control what you do, and in the end, it's enough. Trillions of people in the galaxy, there's bound to be a lot of them that need a bullet up the ass, but one step at a time."

The pair headed to the checkout clerk, which happened to be a VI of all things, which made an impossibly quick inventory of the items and presented the price on a terminal. "I've got this." Tonka said, activating his own omni-tool, the payment going through. It was from his own accounts. Well, one of three he maintained. He watched the automatic door slide open, allowing them to exit the store now they had paid. "Don't tell anybody I did that. I wouldn't want them thinking I'm nice. I have a reputation to uphold. That, and I'm probably going to eat like, half of the food we bought." he grinned, pushing the cart along towards their rented mule of a truck. "So, one more stop before we head on home. I'm getting a damn grill."

Khosin nodded at Tonka's words "Yeah, I suppose you are right." He said as he followed the krogan to the checkout clerk. He was a bit surprised when Tonka paid all of their groceries from his own pocket "Yeah, don't worry about it Tonka, won't tell a soul." He said, chuckling a little on his comment on having a reputation to uphold and on eating half of what they bough. He nodded silently on the comment about getting a grill, climbing into the co-pilot's seat of the hauler as he did so.

Serena and Tanya go shopping!

Serena, still angry from Vellios hiding things from her, walked up to the group and straight towards Tanya. Last she knew they were going to go shopping for parts, and frankly, she just wanted to be away from Vellios. "Are you okay?" The other woman seemed shaken and a bit injured. Though, anyone who had just been punched around by a Batarian and shot at with explosive rounds would looke like that. Still, Serena needed to know if she was going to be shopping for parts and tools by herself or not.

"Do you still want to go shopping for tools or would you rather I do it while you take care of yourself on the Ship?"

Tanya sighed, running her hand through her mohawk, realizing she'd need to get a shave soon, it had been a couple weeks. "I've had worse. The bleeding was just from my nose getting pulped from concussive force, nothing serious." she said, in all honesty feeling like a pile of shit who was running off of fumes, but she was alive. More than could be said for a bunch of slaver cocksuckers, and in truth she was still riding somewhat of a high after being able to do what she wasn't able to do on Mindoir; directly save people. Nobody died, and the team made it back intact. Damn fine victory, that.

She gestured for Serena to lead the way. "Getting to pick out new tools and parts is like therapy for me, I feel like a little girl on Christmas morning when I start looking for parts that fit problems I have." she said with a smile. "Plus, I need some time away from the team, clear my head and the angry shitheads running amok. Word is you're pissed at your boy toy, what's up with that?"

"If you say so..." Serena replied uncertainly, looking at the other techie. She looked like hammered shit, but if she insisted upon going, Serena couldn't stop her. She smiled as Tanya smiled. "Ah, a kindred spirit! Someone who finally realizes the full theraputic value of buying tools and working on machinery." She was practically bubbly as she spoke, turning to lead the way through Omega. Serena's smile soured at the mention of Vellios. "He's not my boy toy." The idea itself was disgusting. Not because she couldn't see why he was attracitve to others, but because she just couldn't view him in that way. For various reasons, not all of them good.

"He got in between two of our crew as they went at each other's throats. I wanted to know who, so I'm ready if it happens again, and why so I don't accidentally end up in a fight with one of them, and he refused to tell me. Said 'if it caused me concern, I'd tell you'. As if I was a suicidal bastard who doesn't have a very large sense of self-preservation too!"

Serena huffed, before looking back at Tanya. "Sorry. Give me an hour, I'll be over it." She looked around at the bright lights, buzz of noise, the almost nauseating mix of smells. She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. "Feels like home. Anyway, do you know where we're going?"

"Ah." Tanya said in reply with a blink. She dug her thumbs into her belt loop, her hand not far from the pistol mounted to her hip in a holster in case she needed it. "Probably won't need an hour. Besides, we're all a dysfunctional lot, aren't we? I'm surprised it took this long for two of the crew to be at each other's throats, but whatever, nobody died. Maybe Vellios didn't want you to know so you wouldn't eyefuck the guilty parties to death and give everyone a fair shot going forward." she suggested, looking up at the tacky lights in the skyline, advertising just about anything one could want, illicit or otherwise. "And no fucking idea. I've never been on Omega before today, I just hear it's a total shit show where people think 'the law' means 'total fucking killjoy'. I couldn't even find any reliable maps for this district, truth be told."

"Maybe." Serena muttered, looking around. She didn't want to think about how Vellios might be justified. [color=hotpink]"Alright. Lets wander around the dangerous city at night and shoot whoever decides we'll be easy targets!" She smiled. "Somethings never change, hmm?" Without further adue she lead the way, thinking better of linking their arms at the look on Tanya's face, trying to find a tool shop.

"So, Earth born or Spacer?" Serena asked, dismissing yet another alien shop she thought could have been a tool place. It was the fifth such one and she was very close to just asking a native for directions. But that could get her mugged, or sent into a mugging, or worse.

"Colony kid, although I was born on Earth, just too young to remember it. My mom and dad and I were among the first to settle Terra Nova, so that's home to me." Tanya replied, watching a krogan with a meat cleaver the length of her arm cut the head off of the biggest fish she'd ever seen with a single stroke. "And yourself? Where's home?"

"San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The worst crime place on the planet, everyone says. Even me. It's like Earth's own Omega. It's not so bad if you pay off the right gang or two. Some of them were even like family to me. Mom and Dad and I were the local robotics shop, giving people drones and helpers and VI's to work with. I decided to leave the planet a few years ago. Several jobs and mercenary crews getting tired of me trying to be a modern day paladin later, during which I met up with Vellios, here I am." She smiled tentatively. "Hope you all don't have a problem with that!"

She awkwardly sidestepped a drunken Asari as she stumbled out from a bar. Instinctively, Serena checked her credits to make sure nothing was missing. What little she had was still there.

Tanya raised an eyebrow Serena's way. "Why would I have a problem with that? You made the most of a bad situation, hardly the horror story you make it out to be. Wouldn't surprise me if some of our new friends had some pretty sketchy pasts, but can't dwell on that much. We're all just trying to get by, do something new."

"Thanks, but I didn't mean my past. I meant with my tendency to do the good thing even if it might not be the right thing or the smart thing. It'll get us in trouble sooner or later." Serena's eyes lit up as she saw a tool shop finallly. "Look! Look! I finally found one!" She quickly headed over to it, like a kid in a candy shop.

"How much credits do we have to blow again?"

"Way I see it, if you compromise your principles for money, you're no different than the slavers we just fucked up." Tanya said, looking over the shop Serena had caught onto. It was a promising start, at least. She followed suit and entered the portal, her eyes already adjusted. The thing about asteroids was there wasn't much need for doors to keep weather and critters out, save for when you were closing up for the day. "I think we were alotted about 5000, so just what we need and not the fanciest shit." she said, looking around.

Serene let out a disappointed sigh, putting down a brand new coupling. "Fine...I'll buy the shiny shit later."

Parts from dozens of commercial vehicles were laid out by type, some clearly ripped out of scrap or wreckages, others looking showroom new. Large leaves with tool mounts hung off of a track mounted rack and could be moved aside to see the next set, keeping the space compact. "Off the top of my head, we need new fuel line couplings, a hydralic lift for the cargo hatch, and a hoist would be damn useful." she said.

"Alright. I'll find the hoist, you find the vehicle stuff and we'll meet back here with anything else we feel like we need. Then you'll yell at me for getting a bunch of unneccessary stuff and we'll cut down. Deal?"

"What vehicle? Did you get me a Mako for an early birthday present?" Tanya grinned, waving Serena off. "I'll see what I can rustle up for the Borealis, see if we can't make it semi-safe for habitation." she said, heading off to talk with the shop attendant, a bored looking turian reading a magazine off of his data pad. "Excuse me, I'm looking for parts for a CT-427 commercial freighter. Do you have anything in stock?"

The turian looked up, giving Tanya a slow blink. "They still make those things?" he asked, shaking his head. "I swear they put out a final recall on them twenty standard years ago, something about substandard parts and overly loose tolerances causing catastrophic system failures. You sure that's what you're flying?"

Tanya offered an apologetic smile. "What can I say? I'm a girl who likes a challenge. Well, and it was inherietance so... it's kind of fell into my crew and my lap, for better or worse." she glanced around the room, crossing her arms. "So, uh, did these catastrophic failures kill anyone?"

The turian nodded his head, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, at least six of them killed crew members, in two cases, the entirety of the ship. Electrical fires caused the atmosphere recyclers to go into overdrive, they didn't properly measure the oxygen mixtures, turned the entire ship into a pressure bomb." he stopped, seeing Tanya's horrified expression. "But, uh, if that thing's been going on for 20 years since the recall, I'm sure it's fine. Uh, probably. But yeah! Let's get you some parts!"

The turian led Tanya to the back of the shop, which turned out to be a considerable warehouse, where about seven workers were going about their business. "Since it's an old out of service model, we'll have to go check what we affectionately call 'The Graveyard'. It's just parts sorted by type instead of model because there's simply not enough to go around to justify their own sections." the turian explained, leading Tanya to a large section of spare bins. Encouragingly, the vast majority of the parts looked to be in good condition. The shopkeeper checked through his datapad and clicked a few buttons. Sections of the 'Graveyard' became illuminated. "These are the bins where we have parts for a CT-427. No promises on anything being pristine or exactly what you're looking for, but I will guarantee the parts will work and not fail with regular maintenance."

Tanya pulled up her omni-tool and pulled up her own parts list, showing it to the turian. "These are the immediate things I identified. Let's see what we can do, shall we?"

40 minutes later, Tanya was back at the front of the shop and finishing the transaction. She blinked at the cost. "You seem to be missing a few decimals." she said, looking at the shopkeeper, who simply waved a hand.

"Look, you're doing me a favour and clearing up some shelf space. Those things have been sitting around for years, and excuse my saying so, but I don't like the idea of a nice girl like you flying around in a dangerous piece of shit, so it puts my mind at ease a bit." he smiled, gesturing to the till. "I also know it wasn't what you're looking for, but if it's in your budget, I'll give you 30% off a new air recycler from a comparable turian-made model that is an easy retrofit. That way you buy something that I find useful and valuable and help my business, and you get to carry on knowing your ship won't kill you."

"You know, normally I'd be more hesitant about somebody scamming me at times like this, but let's be honest, I'm already way under budget. Let's have a look." she said.

Not long after, the transaction was complete, and the workers were beginning to package up the parts. The shopkeeper and Tanya shook hands. "I'll have the parts delivered to your ship first thing tomorrow. We have a short backlog of deliveries we need to catch up on, otherwise I'd have it done by the end of the day. So, thanks for shopping here. I hope you'll come back with a glowing opinion of our parts and services. Tell a friend?" he grinned.

"Everything works as advertised, I'll personally make sure to stop in again and do more business. You know, you're far more upstanding than Omega's reputation would suggest anybody has the right to be." Tanya said.

The turian smiled. "Guess my dad raised my right. Do right by people, and they'll do right by you. Trust is hard to come by on this station, I admit, but word gets out that you're fair and dependable, and you'll never want for business."

Tanya nodded agreeably. "Damn right. Look, I have to meet up with my friend and hope she didn't accidentally sign up with Eclipse or some shit. I'll be seeing you around, and thanks again." she said with a smile, heading towards the door. Once outside, Tanya leaned against the wall, waiting for Serena to stop by with news.

Serena winked before running off on her own errands, flitting from place to place like and excited puppy.

For a moment, she stared mournfully at her personal project list. Then, with a sigh, she shifted it away to bring up the parts that ships vehicles needed. She would have plenty of time later to work on him, right now she just needed to find a few parts to fix Del, and get more parts so that their ship didn't explode. Even if they got repeats of the same part, one could never be too careful.

Sarah zoomed over the various parts in the shop, scanning and beeping whenever she found a part that was in acceptable condition. Serena herself used one of her Omni-tools (having stole the Blue Suns Asari's Omni-tool) and the vehicle types to scan all the parts. She largely came up empty, and when she did find something that was actually acceptable it felt like she had hit the lottery. Though, granted, that could have simply been because she was just enjoying herself. Perhaps too much given the asteroid she was on and the fact they had incapacitated a Blue Suns member in the process of collecting a bounty.

It was with much self-control and despair that she finally arrived at the counter with her requested parts, leaving the ship location to be delivered. "Wait. That old junker that that other girl was getting parts for?" The shop attendant asked. Serena nodded. "Yeah, we're both on that sinking death trap. It's even got a couple land based death traps for us! Which we need working as soon as possible." The turian looked up as Sarah floated up behind Serena. "Say, you wouldn't happen to need the shell of another one of those would you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

The turian gestured over. "I have a shell of a drone that no one wants, broken as it is. I'll give it to you cheap if you can afford it."

Thus, Serena got a replacement for Del and all the parts they needed for the vehicles to become somewhat useable.

She walked out to find Tanya, smiling. "I got a hoist, parts for the mobile bombs we call vehicles, and a new shell for the third piece of Del! All in all, not a bad days work. What's your haul?"

"Some piece of mind for the Jalopy's retrofits. Less spontanious fires and potential explosions waiting to happen. It'll probably be a couple day's worth of work to get the important parts installed, but I don't think any of us are in a rush." Tanya gestured to Serena's wrist. "Been thinking about your new omni-tool. Did you sweep it to make sure it doesn't have any tracking software in it? I know some companies have issued omni-tools that are considered company property so they can keep track of workers and make sure they don't go wandering home after shifts. I was thinking the Blue Suns might do something like that for combat and communication purposes. You can coordinate manpower easily if every one of your men are showing up on a map, and you can tell right away where one might be killed." Tanya said, concerned.

Serena nodded. "We'll take our time, make sure it's in actual flying condition this time before we begin using it again." She glanced at her new omni-tool, only slightly worried. "It's been swept. I had Sarah download all the files that might be interesting, and all the programs I'd like to keep, then I deleted everything and reset it. There's basically no software in it all right now. There shouldn't be an actual tracking device on it, Sarah's and my own scans didn't show any at least, but I'll do an in depth search later."

"Not on the Jalopy itself, of course, but somewhere I can stay for a while. That way if it is being tracked, the Blue Suns won't be kicking down the Jalopy's door itself and they'll hopefully think that the ship is just a temp job I'm doing. I doubt there is one, but one can never be too safe. Who knows, we might find interesting Blue Suns information that the authorities would enjoy and reward us for. More money is always nice, right?"

"Right. I'd much rather be the one kicking in the doors. Home invasions never struck me as a particularly alluring thing to experience." Tanya said with a smile. "As far as I'm concerned, unless we have a job, I'd rather not step on anyone's toes we don't have to. We start drawing lines of who's good and bad, and we're going to head down a pretty dangerous road. I'd rather our little venture not end horribly because we got overly ambitious, or fucked with someone who we can't possibly defend ourselves against." she shook her head, stepping away from the wall. "So, we have some time to kill. Want to get something to eat? I never realize how hungry I am until well after I'm off of combat highs, and I don't think I'm quite ready to head back."

"I'll still keep some interesting tid bits. If we ever get a job from the authorities, or agains the Blue Suns, it should come in useful." Serena closed away her new omni-tool, looking up at Tanya.

She smiled brightly. "I'd love to get something to eat!" For a brief moment she looked around. "Er...can you see somewhere to eat in the distance? It took us fifty years to just find this place. I could have Sarah find one for us rather quickly? What would you prefer? We've got Salarian, Krogan, mixed, Hanar, and even human if you're missing home that much. "

Tanya grinned. "Let's go with mixed and pick what the other one eats. I'm feeling adventurous. Let's just, you know, avoid somewhere that looks like it's on the verge of getting shut down." she said, starting to walk down the street with a dismissive wave of the hand. "We'll just follow our nose and see where it takes us. I'm in no rush to return to the asylum." she said.

Half an hour later, both women stumbled across what was clearly a commercial district with shops and restaurants on either side of the street, and foot traffic was much more dense here. Looking at some of the wares harried vendors were hawking in kiosks and window fronts, Tanya spotted one restaurant. "There. 'Taste of the Citadel'. Sounds like a mixed bag if I've ever seen one. Want to check it out? That or we can go to "Enkindle Your Digestive System", which I'm going to say is hanar for catchy, or "Tuchanka's Fallout Diner" if we feel like radiation sickness."

"Hmm, lets not play fast and loose with our digestive tracks and eat Krogan or Hanar. I don't want to be vomiting blood if the Blue Suns suddenly kick down my temporary door. Taste of the Citadel sounds adventurous while still not risking our health and lives." Serena decided, leading the way towards the resturant. "Speaking of adventure, are you going to buy alcohol for our chess match at the end of this week, or are you just going to give in to the inevitable and accept your loss?" Serena looked over her shoulder, smiling mischeviously at the other mechanic.

Tanya ran her hand through her hair again. "Y'know, I almost forgot about that with everything else that's going on. But we're on Omega, I'm pretty sure it's at least 50% liquor stores. Pick something you like, you're going to fucking need it after I'm through with you." Tanya winked, returning the shit eating grin.

Soon, the two women were in the restaurant, which was a lot nicer than Tanya was expecting, Both were led to a table by the window with a pair of stools, and a fetching asari waitress took their drink orders. "Sampson Whiskey on the rocks. Apple juice for my friend." she said, wiggling her eyebrows at Serena.

Serena rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself. "Don't listen to her. I'll just have a water, please and thank you." As the asari nodded and went off, leaving the menus. Serena looked out at the city. "It has it's own little beauty. Rough, and violent. But it's there nonetheless." She turned to Tanya, picking up her own menu. For a moment she was quiet, clearly debating about something. "There's something I should mention about Vellios and I, before we go on this crew much later. A couple things, to be specific."

Serena took a deep breath, putting down her menu. It'll be fine, she told herself, worse case scenario you just get kicked off of a death trap of a ship communally owned by a bunch of strangers. Then why was her heart beating so fast now? "First off; I'm wanted by the Alliance. I'm sure that they've forgotten me by now, so we can go through their space system without my face being plastered everywhere. But photo identifiction may be a bit of a problem. That's what you need to know about me." She paused, eyes worriedly searching Tanya's face for any sign of an adverse reaction.

Tanya's face held firm, expressionless. Cupping her hands, she placed them on the table before her. Staring at Serena for several uncomfortable seconds, she finally spoke, her voice deadpan. "Miss Mathews, I am Agent Piers of Alliance Intelligence. I finally got you to confess." The air hung dead between the two before Tanya's face cracked into a barely concealed grin and she let out a light laugh.

"Okay, that was mean. Sorry. That was an awful joke." she smiled, placing her elbow on the table and her temple rested against two fingers as she locked eyes with Serena. "Look, Serena, I assume the worst about everyone doing this kind of work. I accept that I'm going to be working with some very bad people. You aren't one of those people, even if you do have a criminal background. If you were, you wouldn't be sitting here right now, looking guilty and shamed as hell, confessing you aren't a perfect person. As for photo ID, look around. Somebody around here probably shits out fake IDs for pocket lint. We'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe."

Serena's eyes went wide with panic as Tanya spoke, body tensing like a spring. For a tense moment she was uncertain whether or not the other woman was going to attack, and if she should fight or run and warn Vellios. Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

When Tanya started smiling and laughing, bewilderment and confusion was painted blatantly across Serena's face. She slowly untensed at the apology. By the time Tanya was done talking, Serena was smiling with shaky relief. "Thank you..."

Pretending that she had something in her eyes, Serena rubbed them quickly before continuing. "The thing you need to know about Vellios is less of a problem, in the long run anyway. He has his own form of...hmm, for lack of a better word, Krogan Bloodrage. Sometimes during fights he goes silent. Menacing. Ignores pain, and basically goes into a berserk rage. Given your acceptance of Tonka, I assume this won't be a problem?"

"Did you ever stop to consider that maybe Vellios is actually just a butch lesbian and he's going through his time of the month?" Tanya asked, raising a quizzitive eyebrow, but betrayed by her smirk. "No? Alright then."

"No. I would say 'sometimes I wonder' but he's slept with so many women that it's not even a consideration. Dex and him are making goo-goo eyes at each other. So all I can say is, I'm glad I'm sleeping in the hangar." Serena replied, smiling.

The drinks arrived, and Tanya nodded in thanks to the waitress and picked up the glass of whiskey, the amber-hued spirit shining light across the table thanks to the harsh overhead lighting from a hanging lamp. Without so much as sniffing it, she took a deep sip, her face not even flinching from the harsh burn of the alcohol. It was clear this was not an uncommon occurance for her. She let it sink in, the burn working her way down her tired throat. "Long story short, no, I don't really give a shit. As long as he can do his job and not get my ass shot off, he can go have a bloody good time screaming bloody murder at the bad guys. But what you're saying is we're going to need more medical supplies, yeah?"

Serena thanked the waitress, watching in apprehension as Tanya downed her drink immediately. This is the woman I have to keep up with if I lose. Dear God. She shook her head. I won't lose. "He won't be screaming, but yes. Lots of them, preferably. He tends to...not care if he has an omni-blade through anything vital when he's in that state."

Serena paused briefly, looking down at her menu, as the waitress was. "Uhh, Varren Steak please. With a side of Yasig. My friend would like leather and a salt block."

"It's pronounced test-ick-als, not steak. Uncultured swine. I'll have the... holy shit, you guys have Terra Novan cactus fries?" Tanya asked excitedly, looking up at the waitress who seemed taken aback by Tanya's sudden enthusiasm. "That to start, please. I'll take an order of the Kahje sea serpent, as well. Tomatoes on the side." she said. The waitres took the orders and headed off to the kitchens, presumably, leaving the two women back to their own devices. "So, now that we're not surrounded by testosterone and poor life choices, what's your read on everyone?" she asked.

Serena paused a moment, thinking. She opened her omni-tool, pulling up the picture of Tonka. Sarah had taken them of the entire crew.

"Tonka is an odd mix of 'not your average krogan' and 'definitely a stereotypical krogan'. He seems to think like the average mercenary of their race, but executes differently, as evidenced by his sniper rifle. Reliable, but undiplomatically blunt. We should make sure he does as little talking as possible in delicate situations."

The image shifted to Iosif. "Equally reliable. Knows his way around vehicles, much like you, and keeps his cool under the most trying of situations. I wouldn't trust him with Batarian prisoners, if we have any, or any diplomacy with them. Too much unaddressed history. Avoid mentioning slave camps."

Another shift, this time to Kasyra. "Murderous. Efficient. Cold. She'll be all to willing to make the hard sacrifice choices. Perhaps not even considering other options. An asset in combat, certainly, but I'm not sure if she'll interact smoothly with the other crew."

Drono's face popped up. "Absolutely insane, but loyal and friendly to his allies. Unpredictable, but we can be assured that he never means to actually harm us."

Hazan wavered into view. "All turians are reliable, and well trained. He seems to mesh well, and is fairly solid. Nothing I've seen yet to be of concern."

Dex showed up. "Stealth specialist. A tad unusual to find, but she's good at it. She won't rub anyone the wrong way, as she let me manhandle her arm without getting angry."

Mirage, Alex, Tia, Duuka, and Valiss all popped up together. "The group we sent to the Twin Stars. I don't think they're coming back. No contact since they left. I wouldn't put it past three of the five to be okay with running of with our money. The only real losses we have are Mirage's hacking skills and Alex's medical abilities. We can make up for the biotics ourselves, and probably patch ourselves up for the most part, but she could have dealt with serious injuries out of our league."

Khosin was next. "Quiet. Understanding. Despite your and Iosif's distrust of him, he hasn't gotten angry, or made any apologies. He is not justifying the actions of his people, but neither is he apologizing for something he himself, and likely many others, didn't do. Equally reliable in a firefight."

Vellios wavered into view. "Protective once you gain his trust, loyal, and incredibly good at killing things. Doesn't take well to betrayal, whether you percieve at such or not, and doesn't let betrayers live. He has severe issues. Wake him up cautiously, or you'll end up stabbed. He'll feel bad about it, but it'll still hurt like hell. Charismatic when he wants to be, and loves to tease people, finding out their limits and who they are."

Serena herself showed up. "Used to a firefight, but our weakest combatant. Strengths lie in her drones and her ability to make VI's for almost any situation. Capable of jury rigging and scavenging most machines she comes across. Obsessive, whether it be about her current project or her hobbies. Loves creating prototypes, though they often explode. Naive and somewhat gullible."

Tanya was the last to show up. "Abrasive, but is aware of it and often intentionally is. Naturally a leader, earning trust and loyalty rather quickly, and people seem to have little problem obeying her commands. Extremely skilled at vehicular maintence, it is likely this skill extends into other areas of maintence. However, she has unaddressed issues with Batarians as well. Use caution around her and such prisoners or diplomacy with them. Avoid mention of Mindoir atrocities."

Serena quietly closed her omni-tool, waiting for Tanya's reaction.

Tanya blinked as the slideshow concluded, and it was hard not to feel somewhat violated. "Creepy. You took everyone's picture without them noticing. Kids and their social media these days." she said, returning to her whisky. Another tumble, and she was back on track. "Never took you for the cold, clinical type, and it's weird being talked about in the third person while I'm sitting right friggin' here, but fuck it, thanks for your honestly. I can't say you're particularly wrong on any point, but I'm going to take the wait and see approach. I like to give people the chance to surprise me..." she said, biting her lip. "For better or worse, I suppose. But me, leader? You sure your water isn't spiked?"

"A habit I picked up early on in the mercenary business. It helps to have Sarah do a quick check for any betrayals or other things of concern done by my companions." She shifted uncomfortably, taking a small drink of her water. [color=hoptink]"I don't like doing it. It's just easy when you stop thinking of people as people and more like drones or VI's. What you notice about them is more easily addressed when you don't take into account history, past, emotions."[/color] Serena shook herself. "It makes me uncomfortable, so please don't ask me to do it often."

As Tanya bit her lip, Serena nodded. "You are. In the ungodly mess in the mines you kept everything rather calm and moving forward. You have a...way about you. Friendly. Something that encourages camraderie and a willingness to obey commands. Besides, out of all of us, you're the best suited to be our Captain. Iosif is a maybe, but he's a soldier to the bone. Same thing with Vellios. The rest of them are either completely unsuited for leadership, such as Tonka or Drono, or just wouldn't be good at it. Like Dex or me. Especially me." She shrugged. "Even if you don't think you're a leader, you're the best we have. No pressure."

Tanya shifted uneasily in her seat. "I guess I just project what I need on people? I don't know. If I'm the best of a short list of maybes, then that's not very inspiring. I don't like people getting in my space, or making me make judgement calls, or even checking up on everyone else. I like my own little world, I mean I'm glad I'm getting on with some of you, but I guess I'm still hiding behind a barricade, waiting for the walls to come crashing down. Fuck, I nearly lost my shit in that mission in the mines. I'm not a stablizing element, Serena. I joined this team because I'm trying to get away from my past, not find new problems that remind me of it." she sighted, roughing up her hair. "I don't want to be responsible for choices that can get other people killed. I've had enough friends die on me that I was helpless to do anything about. I'm really not what you're looking for."

"No one likes it. No one likes being responsible for decisions that could cost people their lives. That have cost people their lives. I'm not saying you're the best choice in the universe, or that you're perfect. But the fact is you did keep your 'shit' in the mines. Right now, it's you, Hazan, or Iosif. Khosin is also a consideration, but you and Iosif wouldn't be able to stand it. We've all come here to run from our pasts."

"Vellios and I have, at least. If you don't want to do it, that's understandable. We'll make do. We seem to be doing just fine without a clear leader so far." Serena paused for a moment. "And Tanya. If you ever need help keeping it together, or anything, just talk to me. I can't promise I'll be excellent at it, but I'll give you the same amount of effort and help you'd give me. If not more." She suddenly grinned. "But don't think that extends into teaching you how to properly play chess until after our game. It'll be your little initation ritual, and constant reminder that I'm better."

Tanya smiled, albeit a forced one. "Good, because if I get pressed into wearing the captain's hat, I'm not doing that shit alone. On the plus side, I'd get the bigger bunk. Sure you don't want it?" she asked.

She raised her glass in a toast. "For now, let's just be glad we all managed to pull a victory out of our asses and made some money doing it. Also, I hope you like the taste of liquor, because I am a very quick study. Cheers."

Location: Afterlife Club

The first floor was much like Chora’s Den, the ‘livelier but deadlier’ sensation, as they headed toward the bar. Electric lights flickered and darted about the thriving scene, dowsing them both in various lights and hazy smoke. It all caused their figures to glow brightly in the dim light. In the backdrop several males were ogling at the asari dancers dressed in skimpy outfits and twirling upon their metal poles, bending in ways that the aliens observing them would have wet fantasies about for nights to come. Their lips curled into sexy, teasing smiles while flaunting what they knew they had. Low, steady beat music hummed through the room as it vibrated within Vellios, his eyes fixed on his current associate. When they came to the bar, Vellios extended his arm to offer a seat first.

As she sat, he looked to her for her order. Aleera smiled softly and twirled her fingers playfully upon the counter in thought, her teeth nibbling on her lower lip. After a moment of toying with Vellios, she answered. “I’ll have an Asari Honey Mead. Though... what are you going to have?”

Vellios nodded then spoke to the bartender, another Asari, through he noted she was more plain and professional than his company. “The pretty Asari will have a Honey Mead, and I’ll have a Horsok shot.”

“Oooo, that’s some hard stuff. You like it rough don’t you?” Aleera teased gently as she turned about, propping her back against the bar’s edge. Her leg stretched downward from her stool, her eyes wondering about the scene. However, he suspected it because she was passing time while he asked his questions.

“So, now that I’m paying for your drink, mind telling me how you know Salihim?”

Aleera leaned in closer, her body twisted to reach for her honey mead then took a sip. She let the sweet nectar glide across her tongue and roll its flavor across her memory before she spoke. “Salihim and I are recent business partners. We do everything from orchestrate the pit fights to scouting out possible contenders, even taking the bets and ensuring there’s a location to fight. Simple really. I’m in charge of determining if a fighter is worth the chit he’s asking for or not.”

“Interesting,” Vellios commented, holding the Hosok in his talons. He didn’t take a sip yet until he learned the details. “I can’t say I imagine Salihim is enthusiastic about the notion, is he?”

“He took some convincing and persuasion but in the end, we worked things out. It helped he needed the funding and I had the chits.”

“I wonder what type of spirit brought you to his door just in the nick of time?” Vellios quietly and casually hinted at her involvement with getting the salarian in the tight spot in the first place.

Aleera merely shrugged lightly then continued to sip her drink casually. “Merely good fortune, I suppose. His debt was his own doing, I will make that clear. Now… shall we find Salihim and discuss business?”

“Sounds like a good idea…” Vellios answered and pulled away from the bar, his drink in hand. His arm clasped about Aleera’s waist as he walked alongside her.

There was a salarian waiting for them within one of the booths lining the wall. A young, relaxed looked individual, his horned head kept panning the scene as if passing the time while waiting for someone to arrive. His fingers thumped on the table with a sense of impatience and casually checked his omnitool, noting the time that had passed so often. It didn’t insult Vellios nor was it unusual for the species. All salarians moved at accelerated rates because of their lifespan, the fact showed most obviously in the way they spoke and moved.

Salihim spoke when he spotted Vellios, the words on the verge of clashing into each other and blending that the turian wondered how the other salarians understood each other in the first place. “Aleera,-I-assume-by-Vellios-being-here-that-he-has-passed-your-irrelevant-test?”

Aleera merely smiled deeper as she pulled from Vellios’ grip, her feet pulling her toward Salihim’s side as he brushed her fingertips along his cheek. It was enough to silence him and his eyes darted back to Vellios.

“Yes, he will do perfectly.”

Clearing his throat, he then began to speak clearly with nervous, guilty expression hidden under his businesslike demeanor. His fish eyes blinked when Vellios slide into the booth’s seat across from him. He tried to vainly ignore Aleera’s hands pawing at the salarian before settling down to finish her drink.

“Good. With-that-settled-we-can-move-onto-the details.” Salihim stated calmly, his figure no longer ridgely still when Aleera allowed them to get down to business. His black eyes narrowed upon the chuckling turian and curiosity probed the alien to question Vellios’ actions.

“What’s-so-amusing-about-what-I’ve-said?”

With Aleera’s eyes also fixed upon him, Vellios paused with his drink halfway to his lips then set it back down to answer. “Nay, I didn’t think you were the type to work with a partner. You never really...toyed with the concept before.”

The salarian blinked then shrugged. “Aleera-can-be-rather-persuasive-and-determined-when-she-applies-her-mind-to-it. Her-methods,-however-unorthodox,-are-sound.”

“Right.” Vellios replied then took a cautious draft, settling into the conversation by folding up his talons around his glass. “Now, let’s start with the entrance fee. What is it? I know you’ve likely changed it”

“Now-Vellios,-when-has-that-ever-concerned-you-before?” Salihim asked, his head tilted in back in a surprised gesture.

“It does since I have to pay and last time, I caught you skimming funds off me.” Vellios stated with a sharp edge to his comment. His talons tightened upon his glass, causing it sound close to cracking, as he eyed up the salarian. He was daring the alien to deny it and when/if he did, it was going to get messy.

Sensing the tension, Aleera jumped in. Her voice delicate, calm and reassuring in her tone to address the climbing issue. “I wouldn’t worry about that, Mr. Malkai, as I’ll be handling the payouts rather than Saliham. Can’t have him cheating people out of their hard earn chits, can we?”

Saliham nodded then spoke in agreement. “Yes-she-handles-the-payouts-while-point-out-possible-contenders-and-she-determines-their-worth. I’ve-spoken-highly-of-you,-though-I-had-hoped-you’d-forgiven-me-for-those-past-transgressions.”

“There’s an old human saying I’m rather fond of: Fool me once...shame on you. Fool me twice...shame on me.” Vellios stated clearly, “I don’t intend for there to be a third time. Now, about the entrance fee and I will be recording it, that unless you’re wasting my time.”

Wondering if they would stop him, Vellios tensed and made to rise upright before Aleera spoke. “We both know you won’t turn this down, but to ensure there’s no hard feelings or ill intentions between any of us, I’ll tell you right here. The entrance fee is about 400 chits up front. Can you afford that?”

“Easily. Now, how many rounds, rules, and where should I meet for the matches?” Vellios shot off one after another, his figure gradually sitting back down. “And do be specific.”

Aleera pulled back in her seat, her eyes admiring his figure a moment then went into details. “The chits go to me and I register in our list of current fighters. The tourney round number usually depends on that list’s number.”

She paused long enough to take a drink, and continued. “If we have at least sixteen fighters then each round is a full half hour round and the fighter that is disable in any way, will be eliminated. If neither are by the bell’s end, then both fighters are out. This goes on to result in either a single one vs one match or a three free for the last fight.”

Saliham took over from there, allowing his partner a breather and began to cover the details she had forgotten or yet to cover.

“Currently-we-only-have-about-2-fighters,-not-including-yourself,-which-means-about-3-rounds-total-unless-we-do-a-tag-team-exhibit. This-means-you-will-have-to-find-a-partner.” Salihim stated as he continued. “As-Aleera-mentioned,-all-combatants-are-expected-to-be-unarmed-when-they-enter-but-won’t-likely-remain-that-way. Spectators-tend-to-assist-their-favorites-in-various-of-ways.”

Vellios held up his talons, causing Salihim to pause and then addressed the last sentence. “I’m sure I could find a partner. So, details about the spectators assistance? Do you mean you actually allow them to help in the fights or merely toss in junk for makeshift weapons?”

Salihim was unusually quiet as his eyes shifted, debating on the details before Aleera popped in to save his nervous ass. She leaned in with business like demeanor, her eyes fixed on Vellios and her voice calm. “Well, yes. It seems to invoke more betting and all fighters are required to sign a waiver, namely stating they understand the risk-”

The turian never gave her a chance to finish when he cut in. His tone was harsh and straight to the point, digging into the fact he didn’t trust either of them to the degree they were hoping. “Let me remind you that this is the ‘world without law’ out here, waivers don’t hold the proper sway or power as they do on the Citadel or any other lawful planet. I’m not a young turian after all with a green crest and untested gizzard, so I would be appreciative if you didn’t insult me by acting like I was one...”

His words made it clear he wasn’t the fool they were as he took a drink, letting the Horosk burn his throat fully before setting the drink back down. He spied a hint of anger rise in Aleera’s eyes, followed by a slight hint of lust at his resistance to play her little game. The first reaction made sense but the second caused alarm bells to ring in his instinct, warning him of something dreadful, as he swallowed it down for the moment to continue his conversation. “So, please continue?”

Salihim took this moment to try to recover some benefit in their plan, his hands pulled flat upon the table, while he swallowed his jitteriness. “I-admit-it’s-not-ideal. However-we-have-made-efforts-,with-some-success-to-prevent-outright-killing. Namely-if-we-didn’t-then-we-would-run-out-of-fighters-and-few-newcomers-would-join-on. Any-deaths,-within-the-match,-do-affect-the-gains-and-thus-discouraging-them,-mostly.”

“ I can’t say I’m enthusiastic over this fact. Which brings another question to mind. What if you have asari or some botic enter the fight, how do you monitor botics? Do you disqualify them when they use their extra ability or is everything free game save for their weapons?” Vellios asked as he leaned in, his eyes shifting from Salihim to Aleera, studying them. The pair looked between each other considering what they were going to say. They had enough fighters, but there was clearly something more involved that he knew wasn’t being said.

That fact alone made him unease when Aleera spoke. “Asari are banned from the normal fights due to that specific reason. It’s a well known fact our race has botics and the experience that comes from it often tilts the favor in their direction, requiring us to create specialized rounds where only maidens engage in such combat. Putting them together often costs us more profits than it gains as everyone wants to bet on the sure win rather than take the risk, naturally.”

She took another sip of her Honey Mead, enjoying the taste a moment then added on additoin information. A small, hidden clause that was possibly a key reason many individuals didn’t join. “However, natural botics in other races are less... monitored. We don’t screen individuals because it’s so rare in most races, especially those outside humans like turians and krogans. It’s also difficult to call off bets once the fight’s been going on for a few rounds and refunds often cost us more than merely letting the fight carry out. After the tourney, the individual caught using biotics forfeit their winnings to us while a percentage is divided up between the bet winners.”

“What is the percentage for the fighters?”

Aleera’s eyes turned away for a moment, her gazing avoiding Vellios while she tried to become vague in her answer. Her head held in her hand, her torso leaned closer in a hope to distract the turian as she tried to smooth talk her way past. It was clear she had taken the lead in dealing with the negotiations now instead of Salihim and tried to steer away from any turn offs in the pitch. “Depending on the betting number, rounds, and length the winnings can range from 5000 to 1000 credits. Often the registration fee from each fighter covers the winnings and any other costs needed for the match to carry out. Currently the fight winnings for this fight is about 1000 chits, not credits, as those are too easily traced.”

Vellios was quiet, his mind absorbing the facts given and debated on if they were true or not. His talons tightened about the glass then took another sip, downing of the hot, fiery liquid before he turned to the two individuals. There was one last question on his mind. “What happens when a fighter gets injured?”

Salihim blinked in surprise at Vellio’s question causing him to to address it. “You’ve-never-been-concerned-about-injuries-before...Why-now?”

It was a good question, Vellios admitted and turned to the nervous looking salarian when he answered. His mandibles wiggled with each word as he informed the slippery ring master of his reasons. “I’m bring a partner, aren’t I? I need to inform them of the risks as I’m sure they will ask. Now, mind telling me how you deal with injuries?”

“All-competitors-are-expected-to-bring-their-own-medi-gel-and-deal-with-their-own-wounds-during-the-brief-intermissions. If-they-can’t,-it’s-their-own-issues. Providing-any-clinical-care-would-become-costly,-create-issues-with-body-disposal-and-more-problems-that-the-fighters-would-be-expected-to-take-care-of. Does-that-answer-your-question-thoroughly-Vellios?”

The salarian blinked, then stared causing Vellios to nod. “Crystal, and I assume my partner will require the same registering fee as well?”

“Yes-and-we-need-to-know-what-race-he-or-she-might-be.”

“Why?”

“Fighters’-races-influence-some-speculators-and-their-choices-on-betting,” Salihim stated, his figure leaned backwards and stared at Vellios.

“Fair enough, but you’re going to have to wait on my partner’s race. Namely as I have few options. One big question I forgot: where is the location or rather, where should I meet you?” Vellios asked, still working on his angle then took another Hosok. He had finished it off when his talon tapped down, his eyes looked expectedly at the pair to answer him.

Aleera took the lead this time. Her voice reached out and spoke gently, her mead being finished off around the same time his was. She folded her fingers together upon the table as she leaned forward in order to gain his attention, a fact she did well. His eyes studied her excited little posture within her lithe figure while she began to explain. “Well, you and your partner will need to meet me back here. I will survey your partner, determine if he’s worth the effort, collect his registration fee, and if he passes my expectations than we’ll make our way to the ring.”

“I-take-it,-we-can-complete-the-transaction?” Salihim asked, hoping to bring this deal to an end and seal it. Vellios nodded and rose to leave, his scales still tingling from Aleera’s gaze lingering on him.

“Mind accompanying me to get your chits or would you rather wait for them when I get back?”

“I think I will wait until you come back. Gives me and Salihim a chance to chat over business matters, finishing the last minute details. Through, don’t be a stranger for very long.” She flirted, her fingers tracing her crest suggestively, causing Vellios to smirk. Then he departed. His glass left behind while his figure skirted through the departing patrons, his black carapace vanishing easily within the hazy smoke and flickering lights. In moments… he was completely gone. At that moment, Aleera twisted her face toward Salihim with a slight purr to her next comment. "He's perfect, Salihim. Especially if he's as vicious as you claim he is..."

@DearTrickster & @Rtron

---

Returning to the ship after obtaining fuel, Dex wasn't sure who else had returned. Stepping up beside the outside access hatch with a little effort pulled the lever and the front hull door lowered slowly and kronking metal greeted her newly repaired ears. Pulling a face she walked up the ramp inside, the inner doors had been left open. In her right hand held the new hardware for the autopilot and targeting software upgrades. After explaining the state of the ship Roca threw it in as a sympathetic gesture. His words were pitying, "You will need more than a good autopilot to fly that."

Dex scoffed at the challenge, nothing was going to crash while she was at the helm. That was for damn sure.

Entering the hangar she glanced about calling out, "Anybody here?"

Serena's head popped from behind a pile of parts as she worked on dismantling the wreckage of Del from the tunnels. "Dex! Perfect! Give me a minute and I'll clear a chair." There was a bunch of various parts and tools in the way which she moved to the side via biotics and her own manpower, dragging the chair forward. "Well, come on! You've got space now and I've got time."

Approaching the chair she put her tech aside taking off her brown jacket to properly expose her arm. In full view now Dex did notice it was in pretty rough shape. Granted she hadn't seen it this bad for a long time. The lightly plated mechanical arm extended out from her shoulder. Plated in a similar manner, on closer inspection past the stenciled triple spirals that matched her facial tattoos, one could see the thick tendons of wires that moved much like muscles. Built by a pair of expert hands and designed specifically for Dex, in the latest iteration it was experimental.

"Thanks again, Serena. I really appreciate your help." Dex said getting situated in the chair. "My arm doesn't see this much damage often if at all. Honest."

"Don't mention it!" Serena replied cheerfully, humming happily as she pulled up a stool to examine Dex's ruined arm closer. "Uh. Sure. Vellios uses that excuse all the time too. Doesn't work for him either." She carefully peeled back the light plating, her omni-tool a screwdriver, tsking. "You should really get better cover for this. I mean, just look at it. It's filthy in here!" Her Omni-tool turned into a pair of plyers.. "I'm afraid I'm just gonna have to yank everything out."

"If it's that bad here's the schematics." Her right talons bringing her own omnitool to life sending off the appropriate files to Serena. "Always keep a copy of these on me in case I get in serious trouble."

"Oh. That's not fun." Serena sighed, disappointed at Dex's lack of reaction, switching her omni-tool back to normal. "Give me a minute, I know where the disconnect switch is from Sarah's scan." In short order Serena had turned off Dex's nerves to the arm and detached it from the shoulder. She examined it, irritation crossing her face again. "I swear to God Dex if you ever treat your arm like this again I'm revoking your privileges to it." She scooted away on her stool, grabbing a small end table and a clean pan to put the arm on, scooting back and placing the Turians arm next to her.

"Don't seem so disappointed. I'm used to seeing it being taken apart and put back together all in one sitting too. I'd like to see you try and keep up with all the trouble two prosthetic arms could get up to. We'll be sure to keep you busy." Dex chuckled leaning into the palm of her organic hand wiggling her brow plates at the mechanic.

Serena raised an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge? Because after I'm done scolding Iosif for treating his like a battering ram too, I'll be sure to come back and find something you've done wrong." She talked as she began to take apart Dex's arm, cleaning it with the aid of Del and Sarah, her two drones flitting from place to place with rags and pieces.

"I bet I can make you flustered again though." Serena began, looking at the Turian slyly.

Dex stood up from the chair rolling her shoulders feeling the weird imbalance of the missing weight of her arm. "Ha! You caught me off guard, I'm not easily flustered. Ask Haze."

"So. You want to fuck Vellios huh?" She was busily cleaning and putting a gear back into its shape as best she was able, smiling.

Dex's browplates shot up her then mandibles flickered rapidly, light flapping noises could be heard against her cheeks. "N-nice try. Dropping sex like it would bother me."

"Even if I did, I have a strict policy against sleeping with crewmembers on the first week. I hold some standards." She said not a little defensively. Hardly shameful but Dex often drew a thick line in the dust when it came to her personal life in this case her sex life.

Serena sniggered at the stutter in Dex's voice. "Of course. But unless you were having problems with me being in such close proximity to you, you want to have sex with Vellios after the week is up and you're sure he's not a terrible person....turian. He's not. It's not an act, believe me. He has...issues, but nothing that will affect you. Though, if you're waking him up, be careful. Talk loudly, then touch him when he shifts. Otherwise you'll get stabbed. He's a very cautious sleeper."

She fixed the gear, moving onto the next piece. "Other than that, he treats his lovers very well. Gifts, charm, so on so forth. That's all you really need to know. That and I refuse to upgrade your arm with pleasure devices. You're gonna have to go into Omega for that."

Dex regarded Serena's quick work standing beside the work bench watching the drones while she spoke schooling her face neutrally. "What an oddly specific warning. I'm going to safely assume that happened to you? Getting stabbed I mean, not sleeping with him. I get the vibe that you two are friends without benefits."

"I'd like to believe you, Serena. I've been crawling through the galaxy's underbelly for too long to take what you say at face value." Dex said quietly scratching idly at some old paint on the workbench. "I'll take what you've said into consideration but I haven't made up my mind on anyone as of right now. It's also assuming his issues would be compatible with my own. Beyond that I'm no stranger to appreciating someone to be..." She hummed trying to find the right word. "Aesthetically pleasing? Yeah. I'm a sucker for bright eyes."

"Yeah. It happened early into our partnership. I tried to wake him up when I couldn't remember where he put something. Seven or so inches of Omni-tool blade slammed into my stomach. Still got the scar. He felt bad about it and made sure I didn't die, medi-gelling me and getting me to a hospital, to give him credit, but it's still hard to not flinch whenever he plays with his knives."

She snorted at the idea of sleeping with him. "He's not my type. He flirted once, maybe more than once I'm completely naive of flirting and what it leads too, and I made it clear I wasn't interested. He's respected my decision ever since. Besides. We're better as friends, or unrelated siblings if you prefer. Spats or no."

She nodded. "I'd be surprised if you did Dex. You're too smart for something like that." She smiled. "Bright eyes aren't my taste, but I can understand appreciating aesthetics."

Dex's eyes blinked at the image Serena described of being stabbed, "Must of been quite the shock... to put it mildly." Dex tried to sympathize. "I know I promised not to go digging through anyone's personal histories but I can't help but be curious."

Fuck, I'm not going to last the week at this rate. Between Drono and Vellios I'm done for. It's been way too long and this itch needs to be scratched.

"It was shocking for a moment, then it was just fucking painful. I'm not sure how long I screamed before passing out. I assume long enough to make Vellios wish he had new eardrums. Odd or terrible or whathaveyou thing was, he didn't even acknowledge what he'd done until that point. He was still at least half-asleep." Serena shrugged. "Nothing we've not got past, after profuse and continuous apologizing from him. He even bought me Del. Well, a blank drone I could work on that became Del.

"Know all about that as you can imagine, pain that is." Dex replied poking at the mechanical talon. "I'm kind of relieved to hear that it was an involuntary."

She chuckled, putting down a newly cleaned part. "Don't worry. Tanya's already had me analyze the entire crew, including the ones who ran away with the Twin Star.

Dex was a little taken aback at that note, "Analyze as in observational notes?" Her tone turning rather serious. Dex wasn't a fan of being spied on, hypocritical in the extreme.

Serena looked up at the tone. "Of course. Don't worry, I didn't have a VI go searching through your dirty secrets. Ask Sarah if you want to hear it. She has it all recorded."

"Wouldn't find a single shred of anything if you did. Though I'll be honest, I do not like being observed. Call me paranoid but it raises my hackles pretty quick."

"I'll add that to my observations." Serena grinned, winking at the Turian.

Dex gave Serena a face then said lightly, "Cheeky."

Taking a deep breath in to clear her imagination switching tact to something she picked up when Serena was talking about Vellios. "You said you were naive? As in..."

She paused for effect then a big ole grin broke open her mandibles. "Virgin?" Expertly knocking the ball back to Serena, two could play at the flustering game.

She subtly tensed as Dex began to speak, practically hearing the grin in her voice. Shit. I made a mistake...

Try as she might Serena couldn't keep the blush from creeping on her cheeks. Still she tried, and failed, to force calm into her voice. "W-what? N-n-no!"

Slamming her hand down on the workbench, "Liar."

Serena jumped, biotics stabilizing all the parts that Dex had sent flying when she smacked the table. She glared accusingly at the turian.

Hooting with triumph then cradling her chin in the palm of her hand again, "You've never slept with anyone before. Now isn't that interesting. Someone who fucks too much then onto someone who has never fucked anyone. I can go into detail for you. I'm rather shameless. Though I can't promise it'll be similar to how humans do it."

Serena's eyes popped wide. "No! No thank you! Vellios has already gone into far too much detail already!" She could feel her blush climbing all the way to her ears, knowing she was as red as a tomato. "I'm perfectly fine without having any more details, tips, or hints being given to me. Especially turian specific!"

"Oh darn, he beat me to it." She joked. "You are actually going several shades of red. Your little secret is safe with me. Now, premarital sex is perfectly accept-"

Serena opened her mouth to retort, when suddenly...

Another call came in on Dex's omnitool lighting up around her arm and in big notice of it being Galentos Lorthan calling. "Oh for the love of, fuck off Gal."

Leaning over Serena to ignore the call. "Sorry about that. He's been calling non-stop all day. He can't take a hint."

Latching onto the nearest opportunity to change the subject, Serena spoke immediately. "I could help you? I have a VI that automatically blocks calls....and leaves slightly rude messages in reply if they don't stop."

Dex perked at that then said delightfully amused, "Would that cost me another game of chess?"

"Game? Oh no, our deal was for consistent playing and teaching. This is on the house." Serena smiled. "Speaking of...we should begin now..."

Vellios led Haze into the Afterlife club, his eyes quickly scanned the hypnotic scene. Bodies moved and swayed with the electronic music that rippled through the main room, their figures parted just enough to allow the two turians through without incident. It took moments for Vellios to spy Aleera. The asari was sitting pretty as could be near the main bar as she daintily sipped the drink in her hand, her eyes panned the scene lazily and continued to wiggle impatiently on the seat. The black carapace turian nudged Haze in the ribs then pointed toward his contact.

His voice spoke quietly through the heart pounding noise drowning out his words. “There she is. Keep close and have your chits ready, else she might not wait.”

Putting on his best smile, Vellios strolled through the crowd toward the asari. Her eyes immediately lite up when she spotted him and her figure rose, straightening upright and moving off her seat promptly to greet him. She edged closely with an arm held out as Vellios gently took it, pressing it to his mouth in a brief peck. Smirking at his politeness, her attention shifted to Haze.

“And who’s the handsome turian you brought?” It wasn’t a surprise Aleera was already starting to flirt, her hand removed from his talons then passed it to Haze to see how he would react.

The gray carapace Turian smiled invitingly at the soft Asari hand pressed against his chest. Underneath his off-white shirt, his heart was strangely at ease. He knew the flirting blue-skinned wonder wasn't into him for his looks. The credit chits in his pocket said otherwise.

Afterlife was a dodgy place for Hazan. Many of the mercs and bounty hunters that frequented the place knew him by reputation. But to them, he'd been just a voice at the other end of a sniper rifle's scope. The bank account at the end of a dirty transaction. He'd made sure to keep his face as unknown as possible. As highly as unlikely it was for him to be recognize, he was still quite nervous. He didn't want his newest excursion into Afterlife to be his last.

"Just a friend. Hear you've got a nice little...business proposition for us."

Vellios chuckled at Aleera's flirting nature when she retracted her hand. Her eyes seemed to light up at noting the turian being almost as much comfort as Vellios himself, her hips wiggling their way back to her seat where she sat down once more. "I assume you informed him of all the requirements and such for the fight? You both will be searched from head to toe a few hours before entering the arena. So I hope neither of you are shy about your...figures."

Her tone was teasing as she took another sip of her drink, waiting a moment before commenting. "You two are early compared to the other competitors."

Immediately she seemed to spot another set of the competitors, a turian and human, as she raised her arm to get their attention. She made a simple wave causing the pair to see her then start to make their way toward her. Their figures moving easily through the crowd that Vellios mentally noted it and nudged Haze gently in the ribs to examine the pair coming toward them.

Hazan nodded as he took a seat. His eyes moved right to the incoming pair and examined them silently. Sizing them up. Judging them as opponents. The Turian he could easily take, if his style were to be what he assumed. His facial paint suggested that he was a colony Turian, which meant little training...what he assumed anyway. His size suggested otherwise, which led Hazan to believe that this particular Turian might've been brought up on Omega. Or somewhere that had given him combat experience.

The human was ramrod straight in his posture, muscled and lean. Hazan immediately went for the ex-Alliance route. A former Alliance marine who'd left the service to go mercenary. The stiff posture and the way he carried himself lent to that fact. But the eye patch told a story of many, many fights. Perhaps here, perhaps elsewhere. This man had lost an eye somewhere. A flaw they could take advantage of. After all, with only one eye this man's perception of depth would be quite hampered. Unless of course he was already used to it.

He leaned in towards Vellios and mumbled under his breath, making sure that he wasn't audible past them.

"The Turian's colony born, probably trained on a colony too. He looks formidable, so he's one to watch out for. The human's probably ex-Alliance gone merc. Lost an eye, that's a flaw we can use."

"Interesting..." Vellios stated, calmly as he noted their company edging into try to listen in. He suspected she had her tricks to eavesdrop but he wasn't sure how effective they were and he wasn't about to test it. "Keep an eye on them but keep your observations low key."

"Mhm. In any case, if we do fight them, you can take the human. Your style would confuse the shit of out him. I'll take his friend."

Aleera smirked then took another sip as she watched the two edge to the bar, their asses sitting on the stools and ordered their own drinks. The asari flashed the human a flirty smile and slide over to the turian and human, her head leaned over between them as she whispered something. The human didn't even glance their way though he did shift his head, likely eyeing the pair from his peripheral vision, while he leaned back in his seat. His partner was more blunt when he faced Vellios, the closest, and spoke. "So, you're the fresh meat for the tourney? Ever been in a fight before or this your first?"

Vellios smiled, being friendly. "Name's Vellios and this is my partner..umm, you're going to have to intro yourself friend. I can't always remember names for the life of me."

It was an obvious lie while Vellios tried to give an impression he didn't know Haze well and might toss their competition own observations over them. His talon thumb jerked and pointed toward the grey carapace turian.

Hazan kept quiet as he nursed his drink. When Vellios spoke up, feigning ignorance of their relationship, he looked up and nodded.

"Hazan. Pleasure."

He kept his reply curt and to-the-point. Changing the impression he'd give the other Turian. Playing the same game Vellios was.

"Naturally I had to get the partner who's not much of a chatter, the strong, silent type it seems." Vellios commented, liberally putting a target on Hazan's back for the two. "How long have you two been working together or in this career?"

The turian was about to speak when the human interrupted him. "Long enough. No point in getting to know each other. Another group has arrived and we won't be here long."

Vellios turned his head to glimpse two more individuals enter into the room, a krogan and a salarian was edging closer and drawed Aleera's arm to wave at them. Again, another team joined them while they took a seat nearby the others. The krogan was fairly young, his skin was the yellowish coloring most his species held in their youth. His weight caused the stool to creak while he ordered the harshest things on the meal and began to drain his glasses. The salarian logically ordered water while he waited for the final team to arrive. His eyes lazily look over the crowds, though Vellios was sure he was checking out the competition.

"Looks like that Krogan's got something to prove. He's going to be tough to beat." Hazan mumbled under his breath again, idly glancing at the two new arrivals. His drink lay unfinished on the counter, as watered down as it was he didn't want the buzz of alcohol in his system to impair his ability to fight.

"He's not that bad. It helps he's young..." Vellios mumbled then took a drink of his hosok he had justed ordered. "I'm more curious why the salarian is here and why. He's either got a hidden skill or something he can use in the ring that allows him to consider this career."

Aleera finished her own then moved off the stool, her figure gracefully swayed around to gesture to them to follow her. "The fourth team is already winners of the previous tourney and are waiting for you. They will be a mystery challenge for one of your teams so I hope you enjoy surprises. I also need any chits for the entrance fee, making the end reward about 1300 chit for the team that makes it to the end."

She started to lead them out quickly through the club's back as she held out her hand for each of those who had yet to give her the fee to do so on their way out.

"Not bad a reward for a fight. Hopefully a fair one."

Hazan kept his last words to himself as he stood, abandoning his drink to follow Aleera, though he paused for a second to let Vellios take stride next to him. His credit chit sat in his back pocket, ready for payment once they were at the venue.

"Might want to give that to her when we exit." Vellios stated as he winked at the asari, having given his chits before, and walked out the door only to turn and wait with the human and turian while the krogan and salarian gave theirs.

"Sure." He stated calmly, producing the chit and handing it to Aleera right away.

When Aleera gained the chit, she grasped them tightly, then lead the way. They followed down a long alleyway and into an underground building, their figures vanished from sight. Omnitools casted a faint, orange glow that lead the way. Deeper, and deeper they went until they all could hear the voices of the crowds getting louder with their approach. Slowly, they came into view as well as the area. A rounded area caged in by what some humans might describe as a dog pen of fairly large size, about 12 foot sqaure area with a concrete floor and what seemed to be electricity flowing through the steel fencing.

Vellios looked at Haze for his reaction.

And his reaction was a surprised huff and a slow nodding of his head.

"Not bad."

"Still think this was a good idea?" Vellios teased.

Standing just beside Vellios, he could already hear the soft, low buzzing of the electric fence around the pit. The arena fit the descriptions he'd heard of other fighting rings, offworld or in fictional stories he'd read on the Extranet. To see something like this...was strangely satisfying. To fight in one, even more so.

"Pretty simple setup... Though I think we could use those fences to our advantage, if we play it right." He mumbled to Vellios, hoping he and only he would hear.

"Naturally. Just try not to touch or get caught in the fencing, especially by the krogan. He doesn't look like he'll hestiate to kill you and accidents tend to happen here." Vellios admitted while he looked to Aleera, his voice returned to normal when he addressed her. "So, who's first?"

"So happy you asked, Vellios. I believe we'll stick you two with Sarix and his partner, as a warm up. Then Urdor and his partner can take on the winners..." She said, her fingers pointed to the human and turian team then the krogan and salarian. "Oh... and there's one thing I forgot to mention one little detail: you can't watch each other's match. So any tactics you're hoping to gain, won't be seen. The waiting team is set into a isolation room until it's their turn. First up is Urdor's team."

With those words, she ushered for Vellios, Haze and the other two to follow her while she lead them to separate rooms. It was there the two would sit and wait, allowing them to talk tactics and about their observations. Naturally, Vellios was pacing around instead of sitting. His legs too energetic to stay still for long.

"How fucked do you think we are?" Vellios asked Haze right off the bat.

"Honestly? Not very. You know what you're doing, same here. All we really need to do is mesh together and we're golden. It's our opponents I'm more worried about. Like the krogan and salarian. And since we can't watch them, we can't adapt until we're in the pit with them."

Hazan shrugged his shoulders and rolled them gently, limbering up before they were called into their next fight. The blind waiting room had killed his plans to read the prior fights and strategies, so all he could do now was wait, just like Vellios.

"Adaptation is easy for me. I'm concern, like you, with the winners. At least the other teams we can estimate what to expect. The krogan will likely try to be brute force, the salarian likely knows some fighting style that will limit his damage. The turian will think tactic as in doing the most damage with the least energy while the human is the same way. Which do you think we have the most issue with?"

"I'd say the krogan and salarian. The other team have more predictable fighting styles, since we're both Turians and humans are, well, human."

"Let's hope our winning team isn't a krogan tag team." Vellios smirked, teasing a bit.

"Well, two krogans, we just make them charge each other, right? They're walking tanks, so if they crash into each other, KO?" Hazan chuckled, trying to relax even though he felt nervous.

"You would think, but not as easy as it sounds. They tend to have hard heads." Vellios said.

An hour passed, the two lost in their own thoughts while they heard scrapes of the outside playing out. The crowd cheering the winners on and even placing new bets, the announcer silent and seemed to irritate Vellios in an unsettled state. Thankfully his bio readings were normal or he knew Serena would've read his omnitool, she had likely bugged his equipment, as he looked to it a few times. Aleera stepped into the makeshift locker room as she smiled brightly.

"You two are next."

The wait for the next match was the longest one Vellios could recount in memory. Both Haze and him were licking their wounds, nursing what they could back to tip-top shape for the next fight. Neither knew who had made it to the finals but they both suspected it was the winners. It made Vellios unsettled to not know anything about them save that they were consistant winners. The black carapace turian paced the room's width in a steady, restless pace as he let the minutes tick by.

It wouldn't be long now.

As if reading his mind, Aleera entered the waiting room with a cocky smirk on her lips. She was followed by Haze's little admirer, Ithele, who kept close and still glanced over in Haze's direction with unfazed interesting. Vellios made a guess the asari was very selective in partners or this was her first experience, making him shift his eyes over to his partner to see if he noticed his little fan was back.

"So, well done in the previous round. With mininal scratches too. Impressive." Aleera chirped with a pleased tone.

"Hopefully the next one keeps it that way." Hazan chuckled, a little nervous for their next and final fight.

Ithele was the one that replied. "I'm sure you'll do..."

The younger asari trailed off as if being cautious about to say causing Vellios to raise a eyebrow in Haze's direction for a brief moment, then his expression cracked into a smile. He focused on Aleera to keep her attention centered on him while allowing Haze to deal with Ithele, hopefully gaining some intel from her before they were thrusted into a world of hurt. "Aleera, drink with me? I could use the company as my partner isn't much of a drinking during business hours. I hate drinking alone."

His arm wrapped about the older asari and twisted her gently about, leading her to another section of the waiting room where a bar was this time. It was clearly a different room from before as they didn't have a bar in the last one. Leaving Ithele behind.

"Don't get too worn out before our next fight, Vel." Haze called to his companion as he left with the shapely asari who was hosting them. That left him with Ithele.

The younger, gray turian smiled sheepishly at the asari left behind in the room and patted the bench next to him.

"Have a seat? I won't bite."

Naturally, Ithele's smile had deepen as she edged toward where Haze patted. Her figure showing signs she was in her maiden stage and naive to male company, possibly still learning what she wanted in life and even scouting possible playmates for the future. After all, the maiden stage was all about exploration of all expriences.

When she sat down, her spine become ridged and a bit stiff in nervous energy. It was a bit too obvious she wasn't the manipulator that Aleera was. Though it was clear she had information that might help and needed a little coaxing to draw it out.

"I didn't think you would... though I can't help but wonder how it might feel." Her cheeks blushed when the words involuntarily left her lips. Her hands shoot up while she bit her bottom lip, her eyes widened when she looked to the turian and wondered if she had gone too far.

If turians could blush, he didn't want to know. It immediately harkened back to the mission not hours before, and Dex.

"Well...I guess that makes two of us?" He said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

That statement made her relax almost immediately. Her hands clasped together while they settled into her lap, her eyes lowered down and thinking. "Nice to know I'm not the only one new to this whole... attraction business. I was worried I might go too far and chase you off."

She sighed, trying to chase the butterflies out of her middle.

"Oh you're not the only one..."

Haze chuckled softly as he tried to relax. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his thighs as he clasped his talons together. He tried to take his mind off the fight, which helped some.

"So, uh... M'name's Hazan Volintis, nice to meet you."

"Are you always this flustered around other females?" Ithele asked, her blush lessen when she noted Haze becoming unsettled with their situation. "You were so charming earlier and I can't imagine you're not fawn over, namely with your looks. My name is Ithele Aellis, from Omega. Where are you from?"

"Palaven. Born and raised. And yeah, I am. I've...never really been close with a lady before. You can tell, can't you?.."

He smiled, rather embarrassed that she knew he was really not good with women. But still...he had to try, right?

"Oh I can tell. Unlike your friend who seems to be rather fond of Aleera and somewhat creepy. I get the feeling he wouldn't have hestiated in the least and still managed to give the aura of a perfect gentlemen." Ithele shivered slightly, then added. "With all those scars... he looks more like a wild, dangerous animal than a turian."

She suddenly realized how offensive her words had been toward Haze's friend and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't badmouth your partner."

"Oh believe me he'd take that as a compliment."

"Not sure that's a good thing... I hope you have a muzzle for him." Ithele commented, jokingly.

Hazan chuckled and smiled, shaking his head a little. Nice to know that other people felt the same way about the older turian.

"Anyway...how did you end up working down here? There's plenty of better places for a lady like you to work out there."

"Lady? That's a term more fitting for the matron stage really and I'm far from reaching that stage, believe me." Ithele stated quietly then added on the answer to his question. "Well, I was born on Omega and raised by my mother until she passed away. I wandered the slum regions by navigating the vents which often I lose numerous friends to during our youth. Aleera found me, took me in and cleaned me up. Currently she's teaching me things to use to get by."

Her eyes averted at the last bit from Haze, her body hinting at what type of things she was likely being taught. "Namely how to keep the fighters happy and content."

"I understand. Must've been tough, growing up on Omega. I couldn't imagine how hard that must've been."

Hazan smiled a little and gently, if hesitant, placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, after the fight, d'you wanna...go get something to eat? I've got some shopping to do but after that..."

Ithele took this moment to lean against Haze's shoulder, ready to jerk back if he showed the slightest discomfort. Her nose absorbed his sweaty, musky scent for a moment while listening to his words. She pratically purred when he mentioned something about getting a bite to eat. "I know this really neat dextro sushi place if you like that sort of thing which is on route to the black market. They guarantee fresh and clean meals for a decent price or your next meal is half off."

She giggled a bit considering her words. "Though after getting sick off it, I assume few people come back really. I just hope you're in a good condition after the right between the Jarth brothers."

"Dextro sushi? I haven't had that before, but if it's on your recommendation we should go there. My treat."

Hazan smiled, relaxing as Ithele leaned her head on his shoulder. But her next words made him mentally stumble.

"The Jarth brothers? Who're they?"

"The winners of the last match and running contestants for the title. I'm hoping they don't thrash you up too badly in the match as they aren't know for their gentleness or consideration to leave their opponents able to walk afterwards. At least far. They take pride in their aggression since their race is very well known for it's brutality." Ithele stated, notiing Haze's stumble and looking concerned she might've chased off the turian from the fight. If she did, Aleera would likely make sure she didn't make the same mistake again. Her hand rubbed her arm slowly as if trying to wipe away bad memories from her surface.

"I placed part of my savings on you and your partner winning. Aleera wasn't happy about that due to the fact it was a long shot." Ithele admitted meekly.

"Ah..."

His expression and demeanour softened as he heard her admitting that she'd bet on their winning the next fight, and his arm wrapped around her shoulders gently.

"Well, I'll make sure me and Vel beat them to a pulp. Alright?"

"I'm more concerned with you being able to walk away from it. The Jarth brothers tend not to play by the rules like everyone else. They nearly killed their last opponents before some of the more experienced maidens had to jump in there and force them back." Ithele replied to Haze's carefree and easy going attitude over the news she gave.

"Well...it's just a fist fight, right? What's the worst that could happen?"

---

"Why did I think that we'd been through worse?"

Across from Vellios and Haze were two, fit and young Krogan brothers. Green markings played over their hides and decorated the vivid mazes of scar tissue from various attempts to take them down through sheer, brute force. Their stocky frames were indentical in everything save their faces. The oldest, Uvend, had an eye patch upon his left eye where a sharp tool had pentrated into his skull. He smiled viciously at Krahl and bobbed his head in Haze's direction, chuckling loudly.

"Seems like we'll have a fresh pair of turian boots from that one." His tone was sadistic and harsh, gravelly in nature.

Krahl snickered in agreement then eyed Haze up, trying to intimidate the already worried turian.His foot stomped in excitement.as Vellios took the opotunity to lean over and whisper to his partner.

"Don't break from me. We're going to take them down one at a time. You go on your own, it's not going to end pretty and you can kiss bedding that little asari you were oozing over good bye. Especially being in a clinic bed for a few years."

"And what if they try splitting us up? I'm not sure our happy little partnership would go unnoticed."

"Just keep moving. Don't stop, keep moving in then out. If we're split up merely try to regroup but focus on one Krogan at a time. Now...which one do you want to take?" Vellios asked as the match started, his eyes watching where Haze led.

"Hmm...I'd say Eye Patch. He's only got one eye, so his peripheral vision on his left's gonna be shit. We can take advantage of that. But I'll follow your lead on where to hit."

Hazan eyed up the two big krogans, and even though he was nervous he kept his composure, talons clenching and unclenching as he sized up their opponents.

"Good and keep up. I might go silent and when I do.. make sure to watch yourself." Vellios could feel his blood tingling as excitement raced through his veins. His muscles twitched from the extra energy causing him to shot forward first, his feet hitting the pavement hard and fast on his route to the krogan target.

"I'll keep my eyes and ears open."

Junk, like in the prior match, littered the ground. His eyes briefly flickered through the pieces and smiled when he spotted a sharp, hand size metal shard. He bent at the waist and reached out his arm, his talons snatching it up while Uvend tossed out a haymaker at Vellios' face. Without thinking, his left arm whipped out to guide it past his chest and allowing the rest of him to move to the outside of the punch.

His weaponed hand jerked out to slam the blunt end into the elbow, hitting a part less armored than the rest. His feet didn't pause when he skirted by the large tank.

Hazan quickly followed. He dashed after the older turian, bending down quickly to retrieve a smaller piece of rebar as he followed Vellios' footsteps. Uvend tossed a wild haymaker and Vellios diverted it rather easily. As the fist flew towards him, the black turian raised his right and slammed the butt end of his weapon down on the krogan's elbow. That made the arm bend, the punch no longer flying through the air.

The slender gray turian ran towards Uvend's other side, brandishing the rebar as he skidded to a stop and applied a generous haymaker of his own. The metal bar slammed into the back of the krogan's head.

Vellios ducked, nearly getting clipped by Haze when the turian took the other way around and branished the rebar. Naturally he resisted the urge to snap and tried to focus on his memory. Krogan had redunant systems in their nerves which made paralyzing them impossible though they could be 'overloaded' but it required multiple attacks all happening within the same nerve cluster at once. Something rather hard to accomplish for a single individual with little to no experience with the race.

Reacting quickly, Vellios aimed his shard's end into the neck back following Haze's attack. Uvend was pissed when he felt the blows connect then jerked his elbow back to slam Vellios' head side. Immediately the turian raised his arm to protect himself from a full on collision. The blow smacked hard into his head side sending him jerking to the side and then onto the ground.

He felt something wrong with his arm. It hurt like hell every time he moved it while he shuffled back upright and trying to gain his balance. Krahl then came rushing into the fight, his arm stretched out and ready to clip Vellios across the neck with the force of a charging rhino.

"No you don't!"

Hazan rushed forward and dove in front of Vellios. The rebar he held swung wide at Krahl's legs, intending to trip the younger krogan as he charged. Which he almost did. The blow to his shin made Krahl stumble, and the intended clothesline faltered as he almost lost his balance. The lithe grey turian landed and tucked into a roll, coming up just past Krahl.

Haze got to his feet, reached forward and then shoved the stumbling krogan with both hands, pushing the charging mass away from his friend and sending him somewhere else instead. After which, he rushed to Vellios' side.

"Your arm!"

"I'm fine... I've had much worse. It's merely fractured." Vellios said as he pressed his arm against his torso, his eyes darted to the side just in time to see Uvend coming in for another jab. His weapon hand gripped Haze's neck ring then hauled him downward to avoid the attack. "Stab where a human's liver is located about twice then push back."

"Merely he says!"

Hazan took the hint and ducked. A quick step forward put him inside Uvend's guard and he jabbed the rebar forward like a sword. It impacted where he knew a human's liver was, in the midsection and to his right slightly. But as the blow landed, he saw that Uvend merely grunted and grinned in response.

"That tickles."

A meaty mitt whipped out and Hazan went flying a few feet away from his black-carapace companion. He tumbled onto the concrete and landed amongst a pile of junk, stunned, bleeding from the nose.

When Uvend stretched out his arm to punch Haze. Vellios forced up his fractured arm into slamming into the elbow then thrusted his makeshift weapon into the same place as Haze. Uvend made a harder grunt then slammed his fists down. Naturally, even though he was hurting like the spirit's wrath, the turian had already moved when the fist impacted on hard concrete. A small sound of metal slashing uselessly against the krogan's tendons were heard causing him to whip his arm back. Uvend expected to hit air, but instead hit Vellios' chest, protected by his arms in a cross over formation.

He flew back into Krahl's figure, the other Krogan about to tample Haze under foot and crush the down turian's skull. As Vellios was using the momentum from the blow, his body twisted to jab the metal piece into the Krogan's throat. There was enough power to both propel him and allow the weapon to get past the protective armor. It didn't kill Uvend however.

Haze rolled right out of the way of Krahl's stomping foot, even as Vellios slammed into his side. He got up as the krogan stumbled a step or two backwards while the black turian jammed his weapon into Krahl's neck. Vel released his grip and rolled away, but Uvend charged again.

He had to do something.

And that something was to stop Krahl from sandwiching his friend between two walking tanks.

Vellios felt his pulse start to increase, the pain fueling his adrenaline into new levels. His mandibles smirked, the emotion reaching dangerously into his eyes casting them with a sharp, unnatural edge. He kicked off to charge back at Uvend, looking rather crazy enough to take on the brute with full out force. Faster and faster his feet pounced across the floor, eating away the distance.

At last second, his foot kicked out too wide and his figure turned upon his side. He slide over the rough textured surface as it bite into his carapace, scratching it up a bit. The grating sound echoed in his ears while his leg stretched out and smacked into the Krogan's leg just when Uvend tried to stop and bring down his fists upon Vellios. The turian rolled to the side, escaping most the damage and feeling the edge of the fist clip his back. That would leave a bruise, Vellios thought bitterly.

As the lumbering Krahl thumped forward, Haze leaped onto his back and grabbed onto the length of metal stuck inside his throat. With a firm hold he pushed harder and leaned his entire weight off it, simultaneously kicking at the krogan's shin and the side of his knee. He growled and jabbed at his gut several times with his rebar, aiming at the same "where a human's liver would be" spot with each stab.

The blows were finally showing some effect. A burning occurred in Krahl's gut, then spread like wildfire and edged through out his system in that area. His torso leaned into Haze's attacking direction while he tried to rub the turian off. He smacked his side into the pavement then jerked back upright, his movement a bit slower than before, and tried to scrape the parasite off him using the electrical fencing.

Hazan reacted. He leaped up with his grip still on the krogan and pushed against the concrete wall with his feet. As he landed he yanked on the metal piece stuck in Krahl's neck and delivered one more knockout punch to his gut. After that he dove out of the way of the krogan's next attack, rolling so he was well clear of the walls.

With the turian off, Krahl crumbled to his knee and snorted in pure rage. His eyes hinted red and furiously, filling with the krogan notrious bloodrage. He forced himself up again and let out a bloodcurling yell at Haze.

Vellios hollered at his partner with urgenacy in his voice. "Haze, switch me. NOW."

"Got it!"

With that, Vellios jerked to the right just when Uvend tried to get another punch in. He then followed up with a stomp, missing the black carapaced turian by inches and gaining a counter punch into the knee. Vellios could feel burning happening at the edges of his vision as his sadistic side crept out. Clawing at his mind and trying to twist it bit, by bit and he merely needed a target to be set loose upon.

His eyes fixed on Krahl.

And Hazan's eyes set themselves on Uvend. He ran forward and clapped Vellios on the shoulder signalling their switch of targets. The gray turian stepped forward and jabbed straight at Uvend's liver spot with his rebar, ducking down first in case he swung any wild haymakers at his face.

Uvend was tiring of this game, his nostrils snorted in irritation. His fist thumped into his other as he readied himself, his eyes fixed on Haze then reached out his hand to grasp the jabbing knife hand about the wrist. He was surprisingly quick for his size.

Without waiting for any other cues, Vellios shot from his hunched down position and rushed toward Krahl. His fractured arm was cradled underneath as his breathing deepened and became heavier with each inhale, his mind buzzed with adrenaline that numbed the pain within his pain receptors. He didn’t register anything but the krogan in that moment. Haze, Uvend, and the crowd were all background noise, easily ignorable and forgotten in his task.

He bend down long enough to pick up a hard rock chunk into his talons. His fingers tightened over the porous surface when the turian slide to the right of Krahl’s charge. Vellios’ leg kicked out to catch the krogan on the knee cap causing him to stumble as his toe claws tried to dig into the scratch resistant hid. They didn’t break the skin, sadly, but it did force the krogan to nearly crumple to his knee as he struggled to retain his balance.

Vellios didn’t wait for the krogan to recover when he was on the alien like a varren on a galleus, his figure literally pounced on the krogan’s back and smacked the rock in his hand down upon his head. It didn’t do much at first. Vellios’ legs curled around the underarms and continued to beat away, repeatedly at the target’s head. His other hand trying to dig into the head plate with his claws to rip it apart.

Haze diverted his initial stab to avoid the grab attempt by Uvend and he rolled to the side. As the lumbering krogan tried to grab for him again, he diverted the swing with his left and jammed his rebar into Uvend's wrist repeatedly. The krogan grunted in pain as he swung a backhand which Haze blocked, sending him onto his ass.

The slender gray turian got quickly back to his feet and assaulted Uvend again, slamming the pointy end of the rebar into his chest and midsection again and again.

Uvend snorted in anger. His right fist thrusted forward then followed up by his left, his eyes reddening with growing rage and seeped into bloodlust.

Meanwhile Krahl abruptly clawed at his hump, trying to peel Vellios off and rip the turian into pieces. Vellios' hand finally grasped a section of the head piece then jerked it open. The Krogan roared in pain that sent him to all four, his head thrashing into the concrete and trying to throw off the turian parasite from his back.

Vellios let go. His body rolled across the floor and rose to an upright position. He then turned back for another attack. A wild grin widening across his face like a predator scenting blood. Nothing matter. Not Haze... not the match. All he wanted was blood, to feel, taste and smell it drowning his senses as he couldn't feel a thing. His heart beat thumped heavily in his ears, which was rushing with adrenaline and flowed easily through his veins. His feet pushed him forward while he pounced upon the downed krogan.

Krahl spotted him then head butted Vellios hard. The turian took the blow into the shoulder while his other hand, now fisting a sharp bladed metal piece, shot forward. It tore into the krogan's eye and sank in from the added force, then ripped downward. Orange blood spattered out to stain his front but he didn't care or seemed to notice, his other talons reached to sink into the plated upper head.

Haze swiftly leaned right to avoid the first punch, then as Uvend's left fist flew in towards him he ducked underneath it. He looked up and grabbed Uvend's left arm, and jabbed his wrist with the rebar again. Then as the big krogan roared and tried to grab him he dropped to the ground and stepped forward into the big lug's reach, stabbing his middle with the rebar while pushing him backwards.

Vellios had managed to get past the head plate. His hand was ripping it farther off the krogan's head, the skin resisting and trying to hold together the flesh with each jerk. The black carapace turian didn't give a shit. His other hand joined when the krogan then wrapped his arms around him, applying pressure into what seemed like a backbreaking bear hug. The arms squeezed tighter and tighter.

He slowly felt the breath being pushed out while he exhaled, his spine felt like it was about to give . Knowing he was likely to come out of this badly damaged, Vellios' face jerked forward and slammed into Krahl's face, namely his snout. Vellios felt a hard crack when it broke on impact. The krogan's head jerked backwards from the force as he felt his opponent's hand jab down hard into the soft tissue of the skull. The krogan seemed to have abruptly stopped all movement then crumbled forward. His carcass landed on top of Vellios, the turian wiggling and squirming to get out from under his dead prey.

When Uvend saw his younger brother stop and fall over dead, he roared and charged straight for Vellios. But Haze didn't let him.

As soon as the lumbering krogan began to move, the slender turian hooked his length of rebar around an ankle and pulled. The massive Uvend crashed into the ground and Haze leaped on top of him. He grabbed his left arm by the wrist and pulled it all the way back, yanking with enough force to feel a crack or two from within. The turian jerked Uvend's arm to his right and stamped down on the elbow joint, before letting go. Then as Uvend roared in pain, he did the same to his other arm.

Haze panted and got off the krogan's back and watched as his opponent struggled to right himself, only for his arms to not respond and crumple beneath him.

"Stay down. You don't want to end up like your brother, do you?"

Uvend grunted then stilled. His words were icy and cold, his eye focused on Vellios still trying to claw his way from under his dead brother. "Fine... but your friend is dead."

"Oh trust me, he's been through worse." He said before he went to help his fallen friend. Haze reached the side of Krahl's body and shoved, helping the black-carapace turian out from underneath the mass of dead flesh.

Vellios instinctively growled, his voice harsh and animalistic when Haze touched him. His arm immediately recoiled as if the turian had struck him. The icy blue eyes seemed to become intense with his bloodlust still humming in his veins.

"Oh don't you go all animal on me too, Vellios. I'm way too achy for that. Now get up. We're done here."

Haze extended a hand, open talons for his friend to grasp onto.

Serena's voice cracked out over Vellios' omni-tool, for all to hear, worried and slightly frantic. "Vellios! Vellios! Can you hear me? Calm down. You're better than this. You're not like this. You're not back there. You're not on that ship. You're free. You're not in his control anymore. Calm down. Breathe. Focus on my voice. You're okay now. You're better than this...there we go."

Serena's voice came up over the omnitool, Vellios' mind seemed to calm and his thrashing ceased. He was breathing hard and completely winded when he looked at Haze. Confusion, briefly, flickered over his expression when Haze held out his hand to grab. Piecing together what had happened, the turian inched his arm out and took hold of the offered aid.

Every inch of him was screaming outloud in pain. Several ribs were cracked, his arm was pretty much busted, and muscles seemed bruised beyond what was reasonably possible. Rolling off the dead krogan with his legs, Vellios pulled himself upright...only to suddenly collapse back down.

"By the way, I'm going to kick your ass for going to an underground fight club, as soon as we get there."

"Oh Spirits- "

Hazan caught his falling friend and got a shoulder underneath him as the black turian just...collapsed. He helped his broken friend back up as the crowd fell silent. With Vellios leaned up against him, he activated both his omnitools and jammed two charges of medi-gel into his chest and back.

"You are not passing out on me now, jackass. Wait til we're back at the Borealis."

"Think that's a bit too late. I'm too fucked up to move and I think my hugger might've just fractured my spine so I'm not going anywhere save on a hover stretcher. This is why I hate blacking out during a fight." Vellios stated, his tone trying to be funny and carefree despite the severity of the situation.

"Yeah well your blackout won us the fight, Vel. Good job."

Haze tried to smile and gently, oh so gently, patted his friend on the back.

"Be thankful you weren't nearby...ooww, easy with the patting. I'm still sore as hell." Vellios stated, flinching. His eyes spotted several asari maidens enter the arena, some with medical bags and others with weapons, while they started to establish order again. Ithele was the one carrying the medical bag when she approached to look over Vellios.

However, her first concern was Haze. "Where are you damaged?"

"Don't worry about me, my friend's the one that needs help. I think his back's the worst hit."

"Well, bring him to the back. There's a clinic in another sector, but I don't advise we take him there. That might just make his injuries worse. We need to bring a clinic doctor back with us." She admitted, looking worried. Medi-gel could nearly cure everything, but there were expections. Broken bones, ruptured organs, and much more serious injuries fell in that case. "I just need you to move him there."

"No problem."

//Shadowbroker file. //

//Yesting and Drono. Early in their partnership.//

//Recording//

On a small planet just inside citidel space, a beaten up old cargofreighter of a ship rested. The hangar which it occupied was bustling with activity. Men and women went back and forth, tending to any of the ships that was currently occupying it. On two crates, a Salarian and a Drell sat eating something that looked both unhealthy and delicious. The blue faced drell was trying his best to look like he had not a care in the world. But his eyes kept drifting towards an Asari mechanic.

"You are not gonna try your charms with that Asari are you?" Yestin asked his young drell friend as the two sat devouring the sloppily cooked meat. The two of them looked towards the where their ship was currently undergoing maintenance and the Asari medic tending to it. Leaning in to take a bite, Drono spoke trough mouthful.

"Yestin. I am married to my job. Why? Are you jealous~~ I saw you eye her." Drono responded his friend with a half eaten piece of fried brougfruit. The tomato like fruit was local to the planet and sinfully good eating. The two often stopped by this planet simply to eat it. Drono in particular all but pigged out on it when given the chance.

"you are then, technically married to a criminal." Yestin chuckled as he finished of his last Brougfruit and flicked his friend on the forehead. "And no. I was more concerned you were gonna make a fool out of yourself." He smirked as this clearly got his friend worked up.

"Smartass. And just for that, I AM going for it." Drono said as he hopped of the crate and began to heading towards the ship and the mechanic. "I was always the charmer of us two." He added as Yestin jumped of his crate and followed him.

"Yeah. So. Are we really doing this? This isn't gonna be like our last run to Omega is it?" Yestin asked unconcerned by the apparent Casanova in front of him.The tone in his voice was so full of smugness and fake concern it would have have made a politician blush.

"Fuck Yeah. You don't stand a chance. Asari LOVES me." Drono shot as they approached the hangar. A wide grin plastered on his face as he looked back at his friend.

"Strippers don't count" Yestin deadpanned.

"Hey! fuck you."

---

"Good!" Serena said, smiling as Dex answered correctly the last piece of the chess game. The turian's arm had been completely repaired and cleaned, her omni-tool had downloaded the VI to block and respond to Gal's calls, and Serena had finally taught Dex all the various rules and pieces of chess. They had been at it for an indeterminable amount of time, Serena only occasionally glancing at her Omni-tool and frowning in irritation. "All right. We're gonna go through them all one more time, and then I'll show you my personal set and tell you what each one is supposed to represent. Then, I'll beat you down in chess and we'll all have a grand old time!" She grinned, winking at the Turian.

"I'm pleased we were able to work out some kind of trade off for the repairs. It'd feel wrong otherwise, to me at least." Dex replied turning The Rook to examine it. "Despite beating a new player at the game I'm sure you'll lord it over me in some manner." Dex laughed.

Standing to stretch they had enjoyed uninterrupted time together all thanks to the VI Serena gave Dex. They shared a giggle over the automatic reply after the third phone call.

"Hello! You appear to be trying to contact one Dex Noratus! This is the third time you have attempted this, so if you would kindly fuck off, that would be great! You are unwanted and annoying! Please, do not call again!"

After their giggling session ended Serena pulled up her Omni-Tool. "Iosif, I know you're on the ship and I know you've done something to your arm. Come down here please."

"Don't fall for the polite veneer!" Dex added over the comms.

"Alright. While we're waiting for him, lets go through the pieces and how they move again." She held up a pawn.

Dex's talon traced straight along the line where the other pawns were set. "That is the Pawn. It moves only one space at a time and..." Dex squinted at the board going over the moveset, "Can only take another piece diagonally?"

Pointing at the bishop she said, "While the Bishop can only move diagonally on the square colour it's set on. Here is the Rook, this is my favourite piece so far." Her talon floating over the Rook piece. "It moves in straight lines, horizontal and vertically."

"A pawn can only move one space at a time, except for when it first moves, and then it can move two spaces at a time. It can only move forward and take pieces diagonally." Serena corrected, setting the pawn down. "You're correct on the Rook and the Bishop." She picked up a Knight. "This one?"

"Uh...The knight? It moves in the shape of an..." Dex struggled trying to remember the weird word Serena used the translator gave a vague replacement. "I forget what you called it but it moves like this." Tracing out the shape of an L on the board.

"But only in that shape." She said hesitantly. "...right?"

"Correct! It can also jump over other pieces, whereas all the other pieces on the board are stopped by other pieces." One could hear the happy chirp in Serena's tone. She put down the Knight, picking up the Queen. "What does this piece do?"

"Ruins your day." Dex replied brightly. "That is the Queen, can move like the other pieces. Though has to follow the same rules. For example if you want to move the Queen like a Bishop it has to stay on the same coloured tile until the turn is over."

"There is so much to remember for one game." Dex said squinting at the Queen piece.

"Not really." Serena shrugged. "Just consider all of them your 'team'. Each has their own specific roll and skills." She put down the Queen, picking up the last piece. "And what does this one do?"

"That piece decides the game. The King can only move one space at a time and if you manage to trap it or take it out then you win."

"Only if you trap it. You cannot take the King. But other then that, correct!" Serena placed the last piece of her basic chess set up, moving it aside. "Now. Do you want to play with the automatic custom set, the static custom crafted set, or the hologram set?" Serena spoke brightly, pulling out three brief case like objects and putting them in front of Dex.

Dex smiled humming pleasantly through her sub vocals. "Hologram. It'll be easier to hack and cheat my way to victory." Grinning mischievously at Serena. "I'm just kidding. I'm surprised you cart around all these chess sets. I barely travel with enough change of clothes."

She was still grinning but the strain on Serena's smile gave the turian pause. "I was kidding."

Serena's smile twitched ever so slightly at the mention of hacking her hologram chess set. It remained on her face, but never reached her eyes. "Good. Because if you do decide to do such a thing, I'll sabatoge your arm beyond all repair." She hesitated for a moment, seeming to realize that she may have taken a joke too seriously.

Dex sat up straight crossing her arms over her chest humming displeased.

"Sorry. I cart them around because two of them were made by one of my parents each, and the last one they helped me craft." She opened the one Dex had selected, pressing a button on the side. Immediately two full sets of chess pieces popped up in holographic form. Different races represented the different pieces. Alliance Marines were pawns, Krogan Battlemasters were rooks, Asari Commandos were knights, Salarian STG were bishops, Rachni Queens were the queens, and Elcor 'walking artillery' were the kings.

[color=hoptink]"This is my mom's. Board is fully programmable, so you can switch between all the known races for the various pieces. They change based on what piece you have as the race."[/color] She changed the rook from Krogan Battlemaster to the N7 Destroyer, and then to the Geth Juggernaut. She changed the Rook back to the Battlemaster, smiling at Dex. "If you want to personalize your set, you can flip through all the races and then press the green button in front of you. Say your name, and the set title, and it'll save for next time you want to use that aesthetic."

Dex relaxed at her apology understanding these sets weren't just any old sets. They were keepsakes from her family. Dex could understand that protectiveness completely. "Apology accepted. I don't usually talk about my family but..." Dex began slowly still deciding on sharing something generally personal. "I have three siblings and my mother and father. I'm the oldest."

Proceeding to cycle through the different races for the chess pieces she continuned, "This is pretty cool. I understand why you would be protective of something special like your chess sets. I can see myself reacting the same way if someone messed around with a keepsake."

Settling on changing the King to be a Turian Primarch. "I miss my family like crazy. I was," Dex paused then amended, "I mean I am close with them. Just haven't seen them in person for a long time." She changed the Rooks to be Vorcha Warriors, her Bishops became Volus Merchants, the Knights changed to Batarian Enforcer, Queen was changed to Asari Matriarch. The Pawns changed to Turian Soldiers. Running an eye over her side she liked the mix up and loved that she could customize the pieces. "I don't like to talk about them, they're a big target for counter-spy measures so it felt like even mentioning them painted a target on their backs. But... I don't work as a spy anymore. I'm back to being a pilot."

Dex couldn't help but grin at that little relevation, smiling at Serena. Humming pleasantly again.

Serena nodded, smiling slightly, relieved that Dex wasn't as offended at her overprotective slip. "My family and I were tight knit too. Had to be. Lived in the most dangerous city on the planet. Police are corrupt, or killed before they become a problem. The only protections are the gangs, and they're constantly at war with one another. I'm pretty sure they're well protected, given the gang we sided with. However...." She suddenly bit her lip, worried. "I don't know if the Alliance went after them....I hope not." She shook her head. "Are you going to vist them again? You're a pilot remember. The Borealis could drop by whichever planet they're on."

She gestured towards the board. "You get first move."

Dex tilted her head at the mention of the Alliance, deciding to move the pawn in front of one of her Rooks first. "My homeworld is kind of out of the way and I don't think the team would see much reason for taking a detour. Taetrus isn't the most lucrative colony for mercenary work. Horrible vacation spot. All swamps and well into the megafauna stage." She chuckled. "What's another few years?"

"Your turn, Serena."

"Ah well. If we ever do break up for a brief vacation, I'd be happy to tag along with you on a detour there. Horrible or not, it sounds interesting." Serena sucked in her upper lip, finally deciding upon moving her knight. The asari leapt over the pawns in front of her, coming to a stop in the familiar L shape.

"Besides. It'll give me a great chance to test some of my protoypes in extreme environments like the one you're describing."

Eventually, as the girls enjoyed their homebrew chess game, their slavic co-pilot finally showed up, wearing a quizical expression across his face. "You wanted me for something? I was running a diagnostic on the new software we bought off Roca. What's this about my arm?"

"She's going to check it for repairs. Make you feel guilty for every scratch or dent." Dex replied lightly. Moving out her Rook the Vorcha walked forward brandishing his gun about.

Iosif shrugged at that, "It's seen use." Frankly, he'd not given it a great degree of thought beyond how much of a punch it packed when necessary. One of the overseers on Aratoht had learned that when tasting a mouthful of cybernetics during his escape from that hellish labour camp.

Raising his arm, it was only just clear he'd not made a real check of it since Aratoht. Whilst in working shape, a little tuning wouldn't have hurt - he'd meant to do some work on it a while ago but circumstances had left him with other things on his mind,

"Seen use. Seen use. That's what every idiot with a robotic arm tries to say to make slight of the fact they haven't been treating it right." Serena snorted, moving her knight again, the Commando seeming to glide across the board.

Serena gestured to the chair Dex had vacated. "Sit down in that chair over there Iosif. You're arm is in a much better state than Dex's, which tells me that you'll be treating it better." Serena pointed over at Iosif, smirking at the turian. "See that Dex? That's someone who realizes their arm isn't made for smashing doors and walls. You should sit down with him sometimes, take a few notes."

"[colo=007236]I wasn't smashing anything.[/color]" Dex grumbled moving the pawn in front of her king next. The Turian solider marched forward two spaces, back straight and eyes forward.

Sarah floated over to Iosif, scanning his arm. Serena tsked as she looked at the reading. "However, he doesn't bother to check it. Tune it. Or do anything with it other than punch enemies in the face, it seems. It's been untouched and untuned for so long that I'm frankly surprised it's still in working condition. Dear God Iosif. There are the tech equivalent of blood clots in there. A lovely mixture of blood, oil, dust, and God knows what else. We'll have to give it a full cleaning and replace the older pieces."

"You'll do nothing of the sort, it needs some tuning but that's it. I haven't had the time nor access to the fine tools to do some real work."

"May as well get it over with Iosif, Serena works fast and does a good job. Though she does love to exaggerate if it's not in perfect floor model shape." She said. "All she's charging is a game of chess in return for the repairs."

Serena looked over at Iosif, raising an eyebrow, in a clear 'I wasn't aware I had made a request' look. "I have the fine tools. My specialty is in robotics. I've been working on prosthetic limbs and the like since I was eight. Unless your arm thrives on filth, the cleaning and replacing of the older parts, which I have, can only make it better. And I charge consistent chess gameplay. Currently I only have Dex, Vellios, and Tanya."

She moved her knight, taking Dex's pawn. The Asari lifted the Turian Soldier with her biotics and slammed him into the ground, taking his place as his body disappeared. "And she's not that good of a player yet."

Dex seemed a little disappointed at Serena taking one of her pieces so quickly but the animation was cool. "I just learned how to play. Come on Iosif, the console on the bridge is probably an ungodly mess, decades worth of bandaid fixes are waiting for us to untangle tomorrow. They're not going anywhere." Dex said considering her next move then moved out her bishop, the volus waddled forward seemingly counting credits, though wisely kept it safely out of Serena's knight path.

"Fine, though I haven't touched a board in a long while." Iosif relented, flexing his cybernetic fingers.

"Good! I could help on the board. You pick up a lot of talents when you're the only one really good at mechanical and programming stuff in your various mercenary crews. Now Iosif, just have a se-" Serena's Omni-tool suddenly went off, a clear alarm blaring through it. "Oh fuck. Oh no. Nononono. Fuck!" She typed quickly away at her Omni-tool, muttering to herself. "Come on you piece of shit, connect! I know I made you better than this! Connect! Connect damn it!"

Dex looked up in alarm at Serena's sudden distress. "What's going on."

It took entirely too long, but she finally managed to get it to connect.

She started speaking as soon as she could, in almost tripping over her words. "Vellios! Vellios! Can you hear me? Calm down. You're better than this. You're not like this. You're not back there. You're not on that ship. You're free. You're not in his control anymore. Calm down. Breathe. Focus on my voice. You're okay now. You're better than this...there we go." She slowed down as her omni-tool began to beep less and less, finally silencing.

Dex stared at Serena absorbing everything she was saying, all the red flags in her mind were waving right in front of her. After the conversation they had earlier the way Serena was speaking to Vellios was suggesting something much worse than what she initially thought were his 'issues.'

Meanwhile, Iosif could only look on with a certain curiosity - and a discontented feeling sitting at the pit of his gut. Instincts told him to reach for his sidearm in case some shit was about to hit the turbine.

Serena waited a few moments, looking at the Omni-tool, making sure everything was okay, eyeing the readings balefully.

"By the way, I'm going to kick your ass for going to an underground fight club, as soon as we get there."

Dex's mouth opened and closed with the hundreds of questions she wanted to fire at Serena but settled on, "I'll grab my gear."

She turned to the two of them, worry and relief at Dex's simple acceptance etched in her face. "We need to go. Now. Vellios is in trouble, he killed someone. There will be consequences for it."

"Fine, let's haul him out before he does any more damage." Iosif grunted.

It only took them a short cab ride from the Borealis to reach the club Vellios and Hazan had fought in. It took even less time to go and find Vellios and Hazan, recovering the injured Turian and taking him back to the Borealis, Hazan in tow.

While Serena and Iosif fussed over Vellios, Dex had delved into the security network, slithering her way into it's files and camera access. Within a few minutes of having access she went straight to deleting the footage. When the video feed had showed what happened, Dex hovered watching the action unfold. Deciding to take a few screenshots of Vellios tearing open the Krogan's head. Seemingly unaffected at a glance while Dex was reeling inside her mind. Questions were piling up within every minute.

The screenshots were sent off to her private server, where she stock piled all her secrets and information from just about every job she ever took on. It was absolutely secure within walls of code and multiple safeguards, including but not limited to biometric scans and identification protocols. The information it contained was worth millions of credits. The feeds were deleted along with erasing any evidence the crew was here.

Throwing a glance at the severely beaten turian then staring down the very same Vellios in the screenshots. Missing a crucial link in the chain to understanding what had happened in the pit Dex was determined to find out. Her instincts wouldn't allow anything short of finding out the truth. "All cleaned up, Serena. Beyond the dead body it was as if we were never here." Eyeing the asari, Aleera, that was hovering over Vellios when they arrived.

Having rejoined Serena and Iosif she spoke out the side of her mouth to her fellow crewmembers, "My scanners are combing through the asari's omnitool as we speak. I'll throw up some walls in case she tries anything while our backs are turned."

Taking up Vellios' other arm to balance him out from leaning too heavily on Serena. "Come on tough guy, you've got a medbay gurney with your name on it."

Serena breathed a sigh of relief as they finally returned to the ship. "That went easier than I thought..."

She made a brief omni-tool call to Hazan, the only one still not on the ship. "Hazan, can you return to the ship? We need some help with Vellios. Thanks!"

After the mission, Kasyra headed straight back to the ship. With the battle over and adrenaline no longer flooding her system all her injuries began to rear their ugly heads. Of most note, was the bullet wound in her arm. The tiny slug had pierced her suit and dug into the flesh. Medi-gel deployment had temporarily covered over the breach and local suit seals had closed properly. Her system was already flooded with antibiotics from her suits emergency injection system. As far as her injury response systems went, everything was going perfectly and, even better, it seemed that pirate wasn’t using any special ammunition on that shot.

Of course, that didn’t mean she would completely avoid infection… Or that it didn’t still really hurt, anaesthetising medi-gel or not.

That wasn’t the only pain she was in though. Early in the fight, she had been hit hard by three-eyed Zallak. She could feel her abdomen bruising already. Nothing felt broken, but sadly medi-gel couldn’t really fix the injury. She’d just have to deal with being tender for a week at least. The final injury was her hand. She had punched an armored Krogan in the chin... hard. It had been worth it at the time - she was sure he’d felt it, even if he hadn’t said anything. But now, her hand was incredibly sore. Once again, nothing felt broken, probably by virtue of her suit gauntlet providing some dampening to the strike, but she’d be feeling it for a few days.

She headed initially towards the ship’s medical facilities, intending to use them to remove the round from her arm and patch her suit. Upon arrival, she took one look at the mess that was the room and, with a sound of extreme disgust, turned and headed towards her quarters instead. If anything, she was more likely to get sick working in the medbay than anywhere else right now. If this was any other port in the galaxy, she might consider trying to find a clean room for rent nearby and paying for it for an hour to inspect her injuries properly. But this was Omega. The few clean rooms they had that were good enough for Quarian use were obscenely priced.

It only took fifteen minutes and a great deal of cursing to clean the wound to acceptable standards, and another fifteen to patch the puncture in her suit. It was not the first time she had to deal with injury on her own, and she doubted it’d be the last.

After that, she had a choice. Lay down and rest, try not to think about the pain... or the wasted opportunity to strike at the Blue Suns. Or, go back out into Omega and buy various supplies. She knew the other crew members were going to buy supplies, but she doubted any of them would know what a Quarian would need, or that they could be trusted to get said things properly if asked. Worse still, the human who had claimed to have medical skills had left with the group that went on the Twin Stars ship. That left Kasyra as one of the few people on board with actual medical knowledge - possibly even the most medically skilled of all the crew. A thought which did not inspire confidence for her - she was no medic.

~ Thirty minutes later ~

Kasyra was thankful that the sector they had docked at was not Blue Suns controlled. Right now, she rather doubted she could resist the urge to gun the scum down in the streets if she saw any of them. The district they were docked at was predominantly Turian, but for the most part she was ignored while walking the streets, as most Quarians were. That was one of Omega’s very few good aspects compared to the other usual hubs - Quarians were ignored instead of watched with suspicion.

It took her a moderate amount of time to locate her first destination - a slightly shady looking pharmacy stocking all manner of Dextro drugs. The Turian at the counter was quick to business, asking no questions about the purposes of the various things Kasyra was ordering, though at first she was a little sceptical of the Quarians ability to pay, most Quarians on Omega were not exactly well off after all. Kasyra understood, she was used to be judged in that manner. She took some small pleasure in the slightly surprised look on the Turians face when the not inconsiderable cost was accepted by the system. Kasyra was drawing from the ship's funds in this instance of course, but she could certainly have afforded it from her own pocket if she wanted to - a decent credit balance being one of the few things she still legitimately thanked the Blue Suns for.

Loading the supplies into a large satchel for carrying, she moved to her next destination. It took longer to get to this one, but it was worth it. It was a little place hidden in some back alleys that imported top quality ingredients from Palaven, as well as a few of the other homeworlds. It was run by, of all things, a Hanar. Entering, the familiar filtered smells of strong ingredients from half a dozen planets wafted in pasted her helmets filtration system. “Zapeld!” She said, a rare hint of joy in her voice as she greeted the Hanar. “It’s good to see you.” The Hanar turned, changing color somewhat in what Kasyra liked to think might be a surprised but happy expression…. Though in truth she didn’t know in the slightest.

“It has been a long time since this one saw you last, Kasyra’Tala. It trusts that you are well?” Kasyra smiled at the ever polite nature of the Hanar. She knew it was just normal for them, but she always found it refreshing not to be talked down to or judged openly for being what she was. “I’ve been better, but seeing you are still well certainly brightens my day.” She said genuinely. “This one thanks you for your kind words. You are always welcome in its humble shop Kasyra’Tala.”

“Thanks Zapeld. It’s nice to know someone likes me still. Do you have my old standard order in your computer's still?” She asked, only now realising she wouldn’t be able to carry everything back to the ship with what she planned to order. “This one believes it does. It will investigate.” The Hanar began working the computer system, looking through old records while Kasyra walked through the aisles, taking in the smells and looking at the various stock she was unfamiliar with from planets other than Palaven. “This one has found your standard order.” The Hanar announced from the counter. “Good.” Kasyra replied. “I’ll have a triple order.”

There was a moment of silence before Zapeld replied. Kasyra liked to think his color change indicated shock and surprise, but in a good way. “This one is impressed. It wonders what the occasion is.”

“Nothing special, unfortunately.” She began to reply. “I am simply going to educate my Turian crew members on their own culture.” She had only a hint of mirth in her tone as she said this. Zapeld changed color again. Kasyra imagined he was conducting the Hanar equivalent of an amused smile.

After she completed the transaction, she waved goodbye to Zapeld, wishing him well, and went to find a skycar to hire. Once she found one that looked vaguely serviceable, she loaded everything in and tracked down a store to buy the food purification unit she would need. She found one in a store owned by a tired looking Batarian and payed for it, near depleting her personal funds. It too was loaded into the skycar, and she finally made her way back to the Borealis, feeling quite satisfied with her purchases.

Serena looked back at the Hangar and, seeing Khosin headed over there. She paused briefly to make sure no one had messed with her blue print of Barat before approaching the Batarian. Sarah was making scans of Vellios to make sure the turian wasn't in as bad of condition as he seemed to be in. I'm going to kill him when he wakes up. She decided, before smiling at Khosin. "Well. Vellios and Hazan have had an eventful day. Everything go smoothly in your area?"

Khosin had just finished loading off the supplies that he and Tonka had bought, giving the Krogan the go-ahead to take the truck back to the rental place. He was a bit startled when he heard someone talking to him, but when he noticed that it was Serena he easily returned the smile to the woman "Pretty much, I mean we went shopping, it's not like we were going to get ambushed or anything." He said, chuckling a little as he picked some of the groceries that he and Tonka had bought up "What about you? Had an eventful day as well or not?" He asked Serena as he began making his way to the kitchen "Also, if you don't mind, could you help me carry some of that stuff?" He asked, motioning with his head to the remaining supplies on the ground.

"Depends." Serena replied as she picked up the remaining supplies. "Personally? Nope. Got the parts and tools we need with Tanya. Played some chess with Dex after working on her arm, and was about to start working on Iosif's, the stubborn git, when Vellios got in trouble at the nearby underground fight club. Though, it being Omega, 'underground' might be a loose term. Anyways, managed to get him out, but it's a bit of a mess over there with a dead body and such. I'll explain the exact details at the later team meeting."

"Say..." She looked at Khosin speculatively. "You wouldn't happen to know or want to learn how to play chess, would you?"

Khosin chuckled a little when Serena said that Vellios had gotten into trouble in a nearby underground club, laughing a little when she said that 'underground' might be a bit of a loose term "Ain't that the truth, in Omega every bar, club, or whatever it was, could be considered underground." He said, chuckling slightly, as he setled down the groceries, starting to organize them in the cabinet's of the kitchen.

He raised an eyebrow when Serena asked him if he knew how to play chess, or if he wanted to learn how to play it. "Serena, I've lived most of my life in Kite's Nest and most of my contact with humans didn't leave me with much time to learn about this 'chess' so...what is it?" He asked her curiously, scratching his neck as he leaned against the kitchen's coutner "Is it like...what was this Asari game...Kepesh-Yakshi?" He asked her curiously, having heard about chess but never to learn anything apart from the name.

"Kinda, only with less three dimensions and ships." Serena practically bubbled as she set her load of supplies. She cheerfully twirled around to further explain to Khosin, obviously delighted at the chance to talk about it. "You have two sides, with 24 pieces. They're your army or squad. You each take a turn moving, trying to capture the enemy's king piece. I could teach you how to play in return for the promise of a few games...?" Serena didn't even bother hiding the hope in her voice.

"I see...so a board game I suppose, or is it electronic like Kepesh-Yakshi?" Said Khosin as he listened to Serena explain to him what chess was all about. He was a little surprised at the offer of teaching him to play but that he'd have to play a few games with her in return "Alright then, I don't see why not." He said, scratching his head slightly in perplexity at Serena's reaction "So, do you have a board, or whatever it is you use, to play this game?" Asked Khosin, curiosity plain in his voice.

"Of course! Three of them, four if you count the practice board, total! After Vellios gets done bleeding all over the ship and relatively healed, I'll set up a practice board in the hangar room and we can start teaching you how to play. In the meantime, I'll ship some files of rules and videos on how they work over too you. Who knows, maybe you'll be better than even Dex by the time I get on to actually teaching you." Serena beamed, clearly pleased to have another chess partner.

"If you ever need to find me I'll be in the hangar bay, working on some VI or mech or drone or whatever strikes my fancy."

"Wow, four boards, sure you don't wanna set up a tourney." Said Khosin jokingly, grinning slightly before nodding at what Serena said next "Alright then, I'll watch the videos you send me and then find you." Said the batarian, finding Serena's mood slightly contagious. He nodded when Serena told him that she could be found in the hangar bay most of the time "Alright, see you in a bit then." He said as she left, looking down as his omni-tool notified him that it was recieving a bunch of information files and videos.

Cold sweat dribbled down his face and a green and redflecked puddle of vomit slid down the wall. The reptilian alien blinked as white flecks of pain danced across his vision. IT had started as slight tingle at the nape of his neck. A sensation he knew all too well. Just a hour earlier he had thought he had been saved from taking the trip back to the clinic so early. He should have known better. Even a healthy person would need to look his spine up after being rag dolled by an angry blue sun officer. He was glad it had only started as he did his shopping. He didn’t want the merchant he just strong-armed and kicked around to see him at his weakest. Appearances were everything.

“Shit” He grumbled as he tried to move his right arm. It felt stiff and unresponsive. He knew what he had to do. He really didn’t want to. It was going to hurt him.

“Fucking vorcha fucking shit” He groaned as he slumped against the wall. He tried to support himself but that hurt to. He drew in air in a gulping breath as if he was drowning; closing his eyes he punched the wall with all his might. The pain that shot up his arm was worse then anything he ever felt before. He dropped to a knee, clutching it by the elbow.

“AHIIGHHHH FUUUUCK” But as the pain subsided, he could move his arm properly again. “Good… Good… The nerves are still intact. Shit. That hurt like a motherfucker” HE mumbled as he collected himself enough to stumble back to his feet. He felt like puking his guts out from the pain but he knew it would pass. IT was better he felt it then nothing at all. I meant he still had time to return to the clinic. He sat in the alley, curled up and disregarding any weird looks thrown his way. “I can’t go on like this.” He buried his face in his hands as he tried to calm himself. The fear of being crippled was almost worse them the pain at the times like this.

It took him well over an hour to be fit for walking back and by the time he returned to the ship, the stuff he had “ordered” had arrived ahead of him. The volus shot him a dirty look as he signe. The drell shoo’d him off as he looked over to the ship and eyed it.

“Allright rustbucket. Drono gonna make you spit fire and shit jetfuel in no time” But the usual gusto was nowhere to be found.