El Collabo Libre with Falling in my Skin, Zombie-zombie-yeah-yeah-in-your-head, and My Body is Dervilicious

Borealis Medbay, an uncertain time later...

The sound of an overworked fan became more and more apparent as Tanya came too, the thing probably well past its service date and clogged with dust and debris. Periodically, the almost comforting white noise it emitted was interrupted by the fan choking and sputtering before it picked up speed and carried on its duty.

Next, her vision started to come into focus as she opened her eyes and found she was in the medbay, somewhere she realized she had no real occasion to come into for, so for a brief moment there was a sense of panic as she didn't recognize where she was. When Tanya tried to brush the sleep from her eyes, her arm stopped with a jolt that she didn't really feel, her body was still quite numb. Jerking her arm again, she realized she was restrained and a seeping dread filled her. What the fuck was going on?

She tried to sit up, and her other arm was caught, and so without any other option, she tried to thrash free, wondering why the cuffs weren't biting into her skin. When she realized what they were, she screamed, mortified.

"Mornin' sleeping beauty." Vellios' cheerful voice came just out of her line of sight, the turian padded into view with a few steps. His eyes studied her, noting the lingering grogginess, and paused long enough to add a question. "How do you feel? You had a rough rest, hun. I hope you don't have too many bruises after that little love scratch our little pest gave you."

"What the fuck did you do to me? Tanya snarled, throwing her weight against the cuffs. "I know what these are, if you touched me..."

Vellios chuckled at what he viewed to be a pointless worry, then explained. "Relax. I prefer willing partners. Besides, it was for your own safety. In your high state, you would've hurt yourself and we couldn't have you wandering the ship."

Tanya was decidedly not convinced. "Fuzzy sex cuffs and the same bed you probably banged Dex on? Why didn't you just throw me in my bloody room?" she demanded, staring daggers at the turian. "Release me. Now."

Enjoying the moment, Vellios moved closer and easily snapped the first set of the cuffs off. He showed her the small button on the side which allowed an instant release so she can easily get herself out of the next set. "One, I was more worried the toxin put in your system might kill you so we came in here originally to see if we had an anti-toxin. Two, if we cuffed you in your room then how could we monitor or care for you if your body reacted badly to the venom? Finally... I haven't much reason to lie, but I get the feeling you'll believe what you want."

He then paused, grinning a bit at how quickly she had judged him and the fact she wasn't the first. "Oh, don't break them please. Else I'll have to ask you to replace them and personally be there to make sure you do."

With that, Vellios casually moved toward the cock pit to check on Iosif. His head turned in his wake, partly wondering if Tanya would follow him.

Tanya wasted no time freeing herself from the cuff and slid off the examination bed opposite of Vellios, keeping a distance between them both. Her eyes narrowed and jaw was tense, as were her fists, held tight to the point where her knuckles were skull-white. "You don't want to hear what I believe, you bastard!" she shouted after him, throwing the cuffs roughly in the direction of a trash receptacle. "You expect me to trust you after this shit? Don't you ever stop to think, 'oh wait, maybe that will seem a bit fucking rapey'? So wipe that shit eating smirk off your face, you heartless bastard."

Taking off in the opposite direction with a heavy limp from where she was bit, she headed back to the hanger, where bits of dead animal were still scattered about and Shithead was whistling along as it continued to patrol for intruders. Tanya slumped against a wall, her arms crossed tightly about her waist as she fought the welling of tears in her eyes and the urge to punch something.

Vellios didn't react beyond watching her go down to the hanger.

He was use to people expecting the worst of him and knew she feel bad later for it, even if he already told her the truth and she didn't want to believe him. Vellios decided to let her cool a bit and would likely need to make it up to her later, if she let him. At worst, he would move on like he always did. He doubted anyone would believe he didn't do it and he didn't blame them. After all, his history was an open book and filled with the worst type of nightmares, he was even surprised it didn't cross his mind.

The turian strolled into the cockpit then leaned over by Iosif's chair. "Well, sleeping beauty is awake and free, but I would suggest you let her cool off for a while. She's not happy as she suspects I've been naughty. Either way, I'm going to head back to the observation base with some meds and that should make her feel tons better."

He turned back to the end of the cockpit, ignoring the fact that rain was sheeting down outside. "Though, do take care of her for me. I might've fucked up, but I honestly do like her as a friend."

"I'll talk to her-" Iosif started off, only to completely swivel around in his seat as he processed the turian's intentions to head back out into the wilderness. "What? Hold on..."

"I don't think that will work, Iosif.”

Vellios quickly snatched up his medical kit off the nearest table then wordlessly headed toward the hangar area. He hit the button to open the hatch then started to move down the ramp and sighed at the terrible weather. He quickly made to exit without a word or look toward Tanya, the woman still slumped against the wall. His talons clipped quickly down the ramp and squished into the mud, sending the ramp right back up to close.

Halfway up, however, the ramp was stopped with an awkward jerk as the Borealis' Slavic pilot halted it mid-closure, exasperated from having ran from the cockpit to the hangar.

"Get back in here, you're in no fit state to be out there - you'll compromise the damned job!" He had to raise his just to be heard in the rain.

The cold rain poured without mercy upon Vellios’ carapace and numbed him, chilling what emotional guilt he held within his chest. It seeped deep down, the icy embrace comforting him more than anything else could at that moment. The sensation went beyond words, actions or anything he could consider describing.

For a long moment, it solved everything.

If he didn’t feel, there was no pain and he was free of all consequences. That thought itself held power to his spirit of freedom, putting his head back into order and calming the confliction within his head. In truth, he knew deep down -where the rarely used common sense lurked- he was risking a hell of a lot being out here.

He turned about to face Iosif mid walk then pointed an arm back to the ship, his words barely heard over the storm’s rumbling as he continued to walk backwards. “I won’t compromise the job, but she won’t feel alright until I’m gone. Just trust me on this. Honestly, I’m surprised it didn't happen sooner. So you need to take care of her first.”

Iosif let off an exasperated, before speaking up again. "Fine. But get your ass back inside in the meantime, before you catch a cold or whatever it is that you turians get. If more of those birds get in whilst I'm keeping the ramp open, you're getting fed to the fucking things." Part of him suspected that Vellios was looking for an excuse to head back out into the wilderness and that the situation with Tanya was just a catalyst for that. Frankly, it made no difference beyond its contribution to giving him a headache.

Vellios inhaled and considered not moving, the rain still chilling his carapace, before he shake his crested head and shifted into the cargo bay.The ramp closed behind him as he vanished toward his quarters, the door closed tightly behind him.

And with that, the slavic pilot glanced back over his shoulder, wondering just where the hell Tanya had stormed off to. That question, however, was answered only shortly afterwards when he looked towards where her drone was patrolling, eventually finding her slumped against a wall, arms locked around her waist.

Iosif wasn't entirely sure just what had been said between the two, but judging by the sullen look on Tanya's face and Vellios' choice of wording... yeah, the implications there were definitely unpleasant. All things considered, he might've understood just where she was coming from in her response, particularly on a crew with mercs you've barely known, but for the sake of all involved the matter had to be put to rest.

"I'm a little hazy on what was said back there, but for what it's worth, the turian's telling the truth. The cyka has a smug way of saying it, but nothing happened whilst you out. Trust me on that, if my word amounts to a damn." His tone of voice indicated that he was trying to come across with sincerity, even if he was a little blunt and to-the-point.

Tanya snorted, not looking up to meet Iosif's gaze. "Not the damn point. Put yourself in my position, how the hell would you feel waking up in sex cuffs on a bed that you know that guy banged your team mate on, the same guy who constantly makes passes at people, myself included, and brags about all of his conquests? I wake up after being, what? Poisoned, not knowing where the fuck I am or what happened to me? And he laughs at me! So screw him, asshole's a sociopath."

"I'm the one who restrained you, for the record." Iosif said, wearily running a palm along his jawline. "Look, he's an asshole. Sure. And probably a little sociopathic, but for the sake of keeping things smooth it's in our best interests to work with that."

That hardly helped matters, but at least it helped make their story a bit easier to swallow. In truth, she could understand where they were coming from, and likely would have done something similar in their position, but Tanya was hardly in a mood to be consoled, "And you both couldn't think of a better way to do that?" she asked, with a look that wouldn't have been out of place on a rattlesnake deciding whether or not to strike.

"No." Iosif said, with a rather blunted tone. "If we weren't in the situation we were, things would've probably been different, but we're out in pirate territory and the last thing we needed was the risk of you having a seizure and smashing your head on something. I can't speak for the turian but there was a point to it beyond acting like a smug bastard.

A long sigh escaped through Tanya's nostrils. She heard the logic and the good intention in what Vellios and Iosif did, and they acted with what little information and time they had. "I get it, I do. I just wish it were you keeping an eye on me instead of him. His bedside manner is terrible." she said quietly, forcing the slightest faltering hint of a smile. It wasn't genuine, far from it, but the red-hot anger that drove her minutes ago had largely ebbed, enough for knowing diplomacy was warranted, especially since they did try to save her life in the process. Why the hell couldn't things be simple?

"So, idiot walked off on his own in the storm?" she asked.

Iosif shook his head, "He went off to brood somewhere in the ship after I told him not to run off." In truth it was probably for the best he figured, given the circumstances. "At any rate, we'll-"

Another voice cut him off mid-sentence as his, Tanya and presumably Vellios' comms crackled to life with Serena's voice. "Guys? Guys, can you hear me? We've been compromised. A fucking tree landed one of our turrets and damaged the other. It fired on us. We managed to disable and then repair it, but the gunfire it caused drew a squad on our position. Five smugglers, from what I can see. Haze is attempting to draw them away. My readouts on Tonka say that he's being fired upon, his shields are low. And-" There was the sound of gunfire. "FUCK!" More gunfire. Serena screamed in pain. Then dead silence as the connection cut out.

"Shit... time to move" Iosif grunted as he began to pace away from Tanya, towards the shuttle in the hangar. On the way he brought up his own comms in address of the other two occupants of the ship, "Sounds like they're in need of support. Tanya, can you get the hangar bay open for me? I'm going to prep the shuttle, are you and the turian coming along for the ride or holding back to watch the ship whilst I'm gone?"

Vellios had already been in the hangar from the moment he got Serena's message. He didn't even care he felt like shit as his talon roamed over his omnitool, his device linking back to Serena's and located her within a few minutes. It was unlikely the other two could since they hadn't bothered to sync up their omnitool like he did to hers. He was barely listening to Iosif, his attire already changed, as his heart raced over the news given over his comm. Inwardly, he was cursing at himself for leaving her alone and not merely ignoring Serena's request. So help him if Haze had left her to die...

His talons tightened into a fist at the thought, his consideration of snapping the Turian's neck crossed his mind, before forcing himself to relax. The lost ones that hurt her weren't alive to tell the tale and they were lucky. It took a few moments to collect what little calm he had left after the incident with Tanya and had he been much younger, he doubted he would've been able to center himself at all.

A bitter but amused chuckle cross his throat, unheard by anyone through the helmet. He should've died a long time ago. All Haides survivors did. As he turned to Iosif, his legs twitching and were eager to be off, his decision obvious: He was going after Serena. With or without them.

"Climb in!" The Slavic pilot called to him from a seated position in the cockpit, the entrance doors open as the Kite's systems came to life, lighting up inside. "Can you operate the kinetic weapon on this thing?"

Vellios didn't a second invitation as he shifted into the shuttle, his talons pushing him in deep then shifted into the nearest seat. His helmet head shook in answer, his specialty close range and more manual labor than weapons on a shuttle. His figure hunched over to control the muscle twitches and eagerness to get to Serena. He hadn't bothered to acknowledge Tanya, their fight the last thing on his mind, while within the cramp area.

"Fine, Tanya - you're up again." Iosif remarked as he flicked another couple of switches, the engines letting off a low hum as the hangar doors parted to allow exit.

The news was hardly what anyone wanted to hear, and hearing Serena in pain sobered Tanya up right quick. Goddamn leftovers from the Blitz, should have known it would have been unreliable rubbish... She thought, scrambling for the access pannel for the hanger ramp. When it was lowered, Tanya waited for the Kite to depart the ship, where she hit the close switch and hopped into the waiting vehicle, her M-15 sitting between her legs, buttstock on the deck of the kite. She'd slide open the door, provide covering fire, and get down on the dirt to try and relieve Serena and Haze. Of all the stupid shit that happened tonight...

"I don't know how fast you can get us there, but they can't wait." Tanya said, trying to roughly estimate how a two hour trek through dense jungle would compare to a comparatively easy flight through the storm to get there. And to think, all of this shit could have been avoided if Vellios didn't decide he needed his drugs then and there, she thought bitterly, tense and ready for a fight, and not at all happy with the downtime between touching down in a combat zone.

---------------------------------------

NEW POST HERE

Overhead the surface of Virmire, the crew's

"Borealis? It's Haze. Serena's unconscious and bleeding out. I'm stabilising her but we're compromised pretty badly out here. We got made by about three, four smugglers from the camp. I KOed them all but I can't move Serena on my own without risking her life. We need help, ASAP."

Meanwhile… Back at the Communications Center

“Fuck!”

Dex snapped her organic hand away from the sparked wire she was attempting to splice then tried again with more success. She was working on the physical terminal waiting for Drono to stabilize the generator. She felt a little bad for sending him out in the storm but knew their window was shrinking. It was only a matter of time before the smugglers caught onto what they were doing. Their luck wouldn’t hold out. She’d be long gone before they realized what she had done. As was her way.

Gunshots rang out and startled her into hitting her head against the underside of the terminal. Growling she pushed out from under the terminal and ran to the ladder leading up and out to the tower itself. Before she could yell another clap of thunder rattled the prefabricated walls but… She looked over her shoulder and the terminal didn’t flicker with the surge.

“Done here. Please tell me you can get it fixed now. I don’t like water. I can feel the bloody keppler syndrome already.” Drono’s attitude droned through her ears. A pause in the comms then he yelled out, “I really hope you got your shit working Dex!”

“The systems are stable now enough for me to work! Thanks!” She replied through the comms, Drono pulled through once again. Noting the clear distress and yelling in the background, Dex hailed Kasy and Khosin, sending support hopefully in time to quiet the noise.

“Dodnovran and Zela, Tenrom needs a hand. I’m still working on a special project. Be ready when the light goes green, communication might get shot to shit in a few. While you're at it, lend a hand to Kiv. He's drunk again.”

She dived back into the terminal, quickly working through all the physical barriers that would have slowed her hacking down. Within a few minutes she was finished with the terminal, she popped up then went to work her talons rapidly tapping across the orange keyboard. Eyes clear and focused. She ran her weakening programs while she broke through the initial firewalls. Several alarms turned the screen red and she continued regardless quieting the alarms before they broke across the network. She hummed through her sub vocals, concentrating.

“Probably poked too hard on that chink... What a sensitive system you have, smugglers.” She said to herself with amusement, relishing the push back a bit too much. She loved the challenge of a decent hack, a time limit and the fight of a struggling system. Her onslaught was ruthless. The VI tasked to defending the network hounded her every move. Trying desperately to pin her down. She hopped through servers with ease.

Every time the VI got close she slipped away into data mountains, disappearing amongst the code.

“Catch me if you can.”

Leading the VI into false holes she buried it alive with garbage data dumps, a program courtesy of her days in with the Taetrus Separatists. She dumped enough garbage data to make Hierarchy security techs shudder after one look. Free to work she gained access into the auditory comms listening to the various reports from security and personnel across the compound. She isolated security reports, the noisiest being the ones about the drunk Krogan outside of the communication center. Not worried about Tonka, in spite of the reports escalating from ‘This drunk fuck!’ to ‘Armed and requesting back up!’

He'll be fine... Probably.

She muted those reports then listened to a team feeding reports outside the compound talking about making contact on Happy Cliff.

Dex’s heart rate doubled, her adrenaline spiking. That was where the Observation Team was set up. She pushed her efforts in securing comm lines for the Jury Riggers. She searched Kasy, Khosin, Drono and Tonka’s omnitool signals. Masking their comm lines as indistinguishable from the smugglers and personnel on site. Impossible to tell the difference unless you knew to recognize the tags from memory. A technician possibly would but Dex planned to lock access when she was done. Effectively crippling their ability to organize across the compound.

Moving next to the Borealis she would need to connect with Iosif… She squinted at the line of code, his omnitool not present on the ship and his login being idle. She looked a little further and saw his ID on the Kite instead along with Tanya and Vellios…? What the fuck happened? She shook her head, the three of them being on the shuttle didn’t change the fact she needed to route through the Borealis to make contact with the Observation Team.

Reaching through their own systems to secure lines for all three parties. She saw to masking both the Borealis and the Kite under serial numbers assigned to ships in the compound. Something that would throw off pursuers if they saw duplicates of their own ships in the sky. When she saw Haze and Serena’s signatures appear after reaching through the Borealis, Dex went for Serena’s initially expecting the most reliable connection but… something was wrong. Her omnitool signature was red and offline. Her worry increased but she remained focused and worked through Haze’s instead. She connected the entire team bringing communication line in a complete loop back to the smuggler’s communications center.

All their audio and transmissions went green to Dex and she grinned pressing her talon to her ear speaking to everyone, “We are all green for secure communications. Borealis, Kite, Observation Team, and Infiltration Team are now connected. What the fuck is going on? Security from the compound reported contact on Happy Cliffs, Observation Team. Please tell me they’re taken care of.”

Dex had a growing unease, she surprised herself with how concerned she was but knew her attachment to the crew was growing and the thought of losing someone so early on opened up a nasty pit in her stomach. Serena being offline wasn’t right. Why the fuck was the observation team split up?

Speaking next to others in the infiltration team, “I’ll be crippling their communications and sending the entire compound into the dark. Be ready to initiate sabotage on my signal. Tonk-” She stopped listening instead to a new report coming in from a lone guard.

Dex tapped a key on the board squinting at it’s tag. Volegnar. They were trying to make a report back to security, Dex intercepted the call and listened.

“Moving into the communications center, confirming suspicious male Drell and male Turian. Likely armed. Requesting back up.”

Subconsciously Dex’s hand swept up to the top of her head patting around the ends of her fringe. “My fringe isn’t that long… HEY!” She snapped glaring at Volegnar’s ID on the terminal humming her irritation.

Dex found the guard’s location from her last transmission and she was inside the communications center presumably on her way to find Dex. No doubt going to stumble upon the bloody floor Drono left behind. The turian spy went to work setting up her final lockout sequence for the entire communications network, save for the lines the Jury Riggers were hijacking. Effectively arming it when they were ready to ruin the smuggler’s compound in its entirety.

BAM BAM BAM!

The door was thankfully locked, Dex finished one last line of code then locked the terminal. She quietly stepped up beside the door waiting for the guard to enter.

“Open up! Open the fuck up!” The guard shouted through the door banging again, faintly hearing her attempt to key open the door with her ID.

Dex initiated her cloak blending into the shadows, waiting patiently. Her breathing was even and quiet as was her heart. Focused once again. Her shotgun in her hands, her organic talon brushing lightly across the trigger. It would only be seconds now…

The turians had an unwritten code of conduct one was expected to follow when fighting with or against other soldiers, that you would honour your allies through your actions or your enemy through a good battle, where nothing was held back both out of pragmatic show of force and to show that your enemy is worthy of your best efforts. In defeat, one is expected to show honour and dignity on either side of the battle.

As soon as the bullets had begun to pass through the body of the dead krogan enforcer and start impacting Tonka's armour and shields, it was becoming increasingly apparently that the turians present threw out their goodie two shoe rule books in the trash as soon as they opted to leave the Hierarchy. Shortly after, Tonka's shields gave out and it came down to his increasingly damaged armour to hold out just a little bit longer, and rounds began to bite into his flesh through the padded joints. For a tech power that recharged relatively quickly, the cloak seemed to be taking it's sweet Aralakh-forsaken time building a charge. It finally chimed ready after the body seemed to have lost half of its weight and the sand grain-sized projectiles were digging into his armour, clanging like he were caught in a hailstorm. He activated his cloak as a shot dragged across his cheek, splattering blood across the sands. His body became invisible, but the shots still came. The invisibility trick only worked once for surprising people; now it was a time to run.

And so, Tonka hurled the lump of dead krogan away and sprinted towards the markets, knowing full well his shields would not recharge while the power was diverted to his cloak. Still, he needed a weapon, and as luck would have it, a parade of them were following his heavy footfalls. The shots had slowed down at least, and so Tonka turned a couple more corners before ducking into the same stall that Dex and him had scoped out earlier; he was half hoping the young and gullible turian shopkeeper were still around. After hitting the ground with a thunk, Tonka deactivated his cloak early, giving it and his shields a chance to recharge while his body worked on mending the bullet wounds that checkered his body.

It was turning out to be a pretty fun night.

Patrols of two or three rushed past periodically, checking stalls quickly as they went, and trying to secure too big of an area for so few people, many of which knew shit was now going down at the comm tower. His earpiece was ringing with his own team's chatter, and he was barely paying attention, having more pressing things to worry about. When both his shields and cloak were recharged, Tonka activated it and moved carefully to the edge of the stall.

Two more guards ran past, a human and a salarian, and when the human passed second, Tonka grabbed him from behind by the face and pulled him back towards him, yanking the mercenary off of his feet, bringing the human down over his knee and forcing the head down, where the neck gave out with a loud crack. The salarian was just turning around at this point and found his partner's shotgun in his face, which one explosive report from the weapon later, was no longer there. Tonka moved quickly, finding the grenades on the bodies and removing the safety mechanisms on them as he stuffed them underneath the dead mercs, the weight holding down the pressure mechanism that would arm them once relieved. Either to check if either of them were alive or to salvage their expensive gear, someone would move them eventually and not have more than a few seconds to regret the decision.

The krogan was making his way back towards the Riggers' vehicle, which from chatter from both the infiltration team and observation team suggested would be needed since the ruse was going down in glorious flames.

Now all he had to do was get back and drive off. Easy enough.

"Kinda busy right now, Dex. I'll come back with a lift." Tonka called, ignorant to the peril she was in. Another explosion rippled the night, back the way he came. The krogan grinned as he continued on, taking advantage of the distraction that bought him a few more stalls unnoticed, easily.

Khosin nodded as Drono shot a look at him before saying he’d be right back “Understood boss.” He said as he looked at the Drell and then at the Asari that had entered the room, one of his eyes tracking the pair as Drono dragged the Asari aside away from prying eyes or other unexpected visitors that might enter the room. The look that had crossed on the Asari’s face when she had laid eyes upon Drono, anger and a mixture of confusion, was one that hadn’t gone unnoticed by Khosin, he had seen that look many times directed at him and he was sure that he had given that same kind of stare to other people in turn. As luck would have it nothing seemingly bad happened as Drono walked out of his little chat with his old acquaintance unharmed, the Asari following promptly after the blue Drell and quickly disappearing from Khosin’s view. The brief reunion between the two former friends brought back old memories of the Batarian Sentinel “Huh, wonder how such a meeting would go for me? probably get shot between the eyes as soon as they see me.[/i] He thought, letting out a short, slightly bitter, chuckle directed at himself. Seeing that the Drell seemingly had no further use for his presence, Khosin began to wander around the smuggler’s camp, looking for any weak point that they could use when they tried to attack the camp.

As it turned out their attack didn't had to wait too long as the smugglers that were next to him began complaining about a drunk krogan making a mess around the camp “Hey, wasn't that krogan with the squint over there?” Said one of the gathered smugglers, a human of 40 or so years in heavy armor with a bandolier of grenades strapped to his chest, which prompted at least half a dozen ‘Yes’ and ‘I think so’ from the rest of the gathered criminals “Hey, you, go get your fucking friend under control before he ends up killing someone, unless you want to get him killed that is” Said the heavily armed smuggler as he began making his way towards him. “Probably head of security or something like that.” Thought Khosin as the human approached him still, infuriated by the Batarian’s silence, and grabbed him by the collar of his armor “Didn't you hear me you fucking squint, your friend is making a mess so go and reign him in” Hissed the human, his tone of voice dripping with frustration and no small amount of rage.

In lieu of an immediate answer Khosin merely head butted the human, causing him to let go to the collar of his armor and recoil “It's probably the fault of one of your guys, they probably pissed him off somehow so don't go around dragging me to fix your people’s mess” Hissed Khosin, clearly annoyed with the human smuggler. The smuggler, as if taking a page from Khosin’s book, didn't reply verbally but instead tackled him to the ground. They tumbled and rolled with the momentum, both throwing punches at each other, it wa then that Khosin heard Dex’s voice as his comm-link came to life "Dodnovran and Zela, Tenrom needs a hand. I’m still working on a special project. Be ready when the light goes green, communication might get shot to shit in a few. While you're at it, lend a hand to Kiv. He's drunk again." But it seemed that, to his bad luck, the smugglers had received similar news as him “Hey Anton, that Krogan drunk killed one of us, better put down that Batarian” Said one Salarian to the heavily armed smuggler that was wrestling with him.

Anton, as he now knew his enemy to be called, didn't have time to answer as Khosin hit him square in the side of his head with his enforcement gauntlet. Grey matter and blood splayed to ver Khosin who, in a moment of ingenuity, primed one of the grenades in the bandolier before kicking the corpse far away from himself. Scrambling up from from prone position, Khosin drew his executioner and fired off a few rounds before bolting through the nearest door as the grenade he had primed went off and caused a chain reaction with the other grenades in the bandolier “Affirmative, will try to rendezvous with Tonka as soon as I can, apologies for the radio silence ran into some trouble myself” He said into the frequency of the Jury Riggers, not caring about using their fake identities since he guessed that either Dex had secured their communications or that they would soon wipe out the smuggler base “Uhhh, team, if someone could get me a map of the camp that’d be ideal.” He muttered into the team comms, in his haste to run away from his pursuers he had entered further into the base by accident.

Iosif had brought the Kite up at a steady elevation to avoid any obstructions that might've been obscured by the storm. Whilst the shuttle's kinetic shields could've probably taken a tree branch or two, the veteran pilot was willing to take no chances, particularly whilst he was co-ordinating usage of a topographical map with Vellios' trace of Serena's position. It wasn't long before the three occupants of the shuttle were hailed over the comms by a familiar voice,

"Borealis? It's Haze. Serena's unconscious and bleeding out. I'm stabilizing her but we're compromised pretty badly out here. We got made by about three, four smugglers from the camp. I KOed them all but I can't move Serena on my own without risking her life. We need help, ASAP."

Not one to keep his teammates in the dark, the slavic pilot was quick to respond by hailing Haze's omni-tool. "Iosif here, I'm en route to your position in the shuttle, but I'll need a clear landing zone if we're going to extract the both of you out. But stay where you are for now, Tanya and Vellios are with me, they'll assist where they can."

"I heard you," Iosif acknowledged as they approached Serena's reported position, making a slow descent as a clearing grew closer. It was a tight spot, the kind that took precise and careful action to touchdown in without running the risk of pulling down the environment with them, but with their window of opportunity growing shorter by the moment there was no wasting time.

Soon, Haze could feel the the very force of the shuttle's engines as it made a touchdown in a relatively open spot, the rhythmic pitter-patter of rain pounding against chassis growing louder with each moment. Soon enough the entrance hatch opened to reveal Tanya and Vellios ready and waiting, weapons at the ready, whilst Iosif hailed them over the comms. "On board, now!"

The wet, sodden turian stared upwards at the sky as the dropship hovered over his location, its jets blowing all the rainwater away. With Serena's still form in his arms, Hazan waited until the ship was at foot level before hopping on, wordlessly handing her bloodied body over to whoever was present at the loading bay.

Before Haze, or anyone else, could say a word, Vellios had taken Serena out of Haze's hands and rushed her back to the shuttle's other end. His talon took a blanket then coiled it into a bundle before his arm shoved it under her head. Immediately, he checked her over to take stock of her damage. His talon checked her pulse then inhaled in relief. Next, he tore off a chunk of fabric to push into the stab wound at her shoulder. He couldn't do any better until they got back to the medical bay back on the Borealis.

Gradually, the bitter reality of the knowledge's source slapped him in the mandibles and made a sour taste in his mouth. It was humorous that his knowledge in anatomy became to exist due to his curious nature to become a better killer in order to survive in a hellish ship, but human anatomy lacked greatly because they didn't existence until much later in his life during his war days. He stood still watching Serena breath as he let her rest in his seat, unsure if his knowledge was enough.

No sooner than the two were on board and Serena secured, the Kite's engines gave yet another low hum as Iosif shifted it back into a steady ascent, already highlighting the co-ordinates provided by Drono on the cockpit display. "Drono, we're en route to your position as we speak, just hold out a little longer."

It was only then that he realized they had another problem coming up. "I need a clear sky to throw in support. AA will bring the shuttle down, can you clear us a space?"

"Scratch that," Tanya shouted over the comms. "Those anti-air batteries are still online, and I'd rather not turn into a thousand tiny pieces from an oversized air burst munition. Find another way to extract." she said, killing her connection as she moved across the rumbling shuttle's deck where Vellios was attending to Serena. The pain in his expressions was clear, and she knew what it was like to have lost friends. The same fear must have been with him. Tanya placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll make it. We'll get her back to the ship and into the medbay. Besides," Tanya smiled weakly, looking down at the younger woman. "Still owe her a chess match. I think she'd face down a field of thresher maws if it meant getting that in."

Vellios had been intently staring at Serena, lost in his own worry and frustration, until Tanya's hand rested on his shoulder. His right talon tightened hastily on his dagger at his hip and flinched, nearly tugging it loose before he realized who approached him. He forced his fingers to relax and release his grip. His visor hid his glossed over expression as he didn't say anything for several moments. A hollow, emotionless tone created through the speakers in the suit."I shouldn't have left her alone... This always happens."

"Bit late in the game to have regrets. We're not exactly working behind a desk, people always run the risk of getting hurt doing what we do, and I think that's part of why each of us came back to it. You can't look after her every moment of every day, she chose this life like you did, and I don't think she'll tell you she regrets her decisions." Tanya said softy, breaking contact and grabbing one of the straps that hung from the ceiling for support.

Vellis chuckled in a bitter, dark way at the thought of choice. "No, this isn't the life I would've chosen if we're being honest. It's the only one that makes sense now to me and where I can fluidly exist in without being shot down like a rabid Varren. A fact most Haides survivors face after escaping that damn ship."

Tanya snorted a quiet laugh. "Sounds like you should be working retail. You've got the right mentality for it." she teased before her expression sobered up. After a few quiet moments looking down at Serena, she said, "You know, despite all the shit I've been through, the horrors and losses I've endured... I probably would have still made the same choices, even if I kind of hate myself for it. What Serena went through isn't something I haven't seen a dozen times over in a day. I've been there myself... and I want to say sorry." she said, chest heaving in a heavy sigh. She shook her head. "I shouldn't have gone off on you like that, and I'm still pretty pissed about the whole ordeal, but I get it. But what matters now is getting everyone home safe, everything else comes second."

Vellios didn't react beyond shrugging, his mood still soured by the raising pile of shitty events and avoiding Haze. In his mind, despite what Serena would said, he held Haze fully responsible for her condition and her wounds. If she died, there would be little stopping him from considering beating the Turian black and blue if he was lucky. Pushing off the thought, he refocused on Tanya as his sensitivity to others was lost to truth in his words. "I've come to expect people to believe the worst of me. However, when it comes down to your life and trust... I will chose your life every time. Even if you hate me for it."

"I only assume the worst when I wake up in fuzzy handcuffs. Everything else is fair game. Let's just focus on getting out of here alive, yeah? I'd rather not have our cluster fuck of a second mission involve capping it off with a funeral." she said, turning away and heading to the cockpit to lend a hand to Iosif. "So, today sucks. This planet's single handedly ruined tropical vacations for me." she said, sitting down in the co-pilot seat and buckling in.

Iosif couldn't help but push out a bitter chuckle at Tanya's remark. "Oh definitely, this is a real vacation spot." The cockpit might've been dark, with just the interface to get them any real interior lighting, but one could spot a thin smirk forming across his face. "So, how's things between you and the turian? You gonna kiss and make-up or what? Otherwise, living and working with someone you detest is always going to be a unique experience.""

"No idea where we stand. A truce, at least. Besides, you're one to talk; we both haven't got into a gunfight with Khosin yet. I don't suppose you figured out forgiveness along the way?" Tanya replied, feeling like she'd been awake for a hundred years.

If that remark had touched upon a sore point with the Slavic pilot, he didn't show it. "Different circumstances." Iosif said, somewhat dismissive in his tone.

"Sure, because Khosin actually hasn't done anything to you yet. You can chew over that while you get us back; we're going to have to get the hell off world before unsavory sorts find the ship." Tanya remarked, sinking back into her seat, knowing full well that Serena was on a timer.

Drono held his hands over his head, curling up as the sound of bullets smacking against his cover made his ear canals ache. "Sweet curvy mother of every asari ever." The man shooting at him was a very angry human mechanic who had seen his car's engine get smashed by Drono. The drell saboteur was currently outgunned and in a very hard to defend position.

"Come out you fuck" The angry mechanic screamed. His gun rattling of another few dozen of hot metal into the sparsely armored truck that the Drell was hiding behind. That sparse armor was what was keeping him alive.

"Will you stop shooting?!" He screamed back

"YEAH, WHEN YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD" The Mechanic snarled back.

"Well shit" Drono blind fired a burst from his SMG. The shots went wide but at least got the damn man to pull back into safe cover. This was going from shit creek to shit lake. And he was sure that by the end of it they would be paddling across a great vast ocean of shit. He looked around desperately for a better position. That's when he heard the shots from outside. His friends seemed to have picked up a tail of their own. He began to frantically think of things to do.

"Guys!? I think I am gonna get deadly ill with Swiss cheese disease if this keep up." Drono yelled into his come before ducking from another shot. "He got a bigger gun then me!" The door was luckily big enough, vehicle bay doors that were meant to let out cars.

"Hey man! Do you take bribes!?" Drono screamed and to his great confusion, the shooting stopped. Had his desperate question given the man pause? He would just have to take that gamble and step out.

"How much." The mechanic asked. Still training his gun on him as Drono took a chance and stepped out in full view. The engineer's voice was full of anger. But also greed. A lot of greed.

"How much do you make in one month? I'll give you double. This place is hardly gonna be gainful employer once my friends is done doing their thing." Drono asked as he stepped just outside of reach for him to rush at the man. The Engineers aim didn't waver as he answered.

"Bullshit."

"Yeah? Bullshit is it? Tried to hail someone on the com yet?" Drono shot back. His eyes focused on the end of that barrel. He had to keep it cool and seem confident.

"..."

"That was one of mine. We are many more than you think. In 10 minutes the bomb I put in the generator will go bye bye." Drono bluffed, unaware of Dex little sabotage. He was making this up as he went. Referencing every heist and commando movie he had ever watched. The trick was to keep him thinking, keep him guessing without making him to confused. Confused people shot first and asked questions afterwards.

"Why the hell would you tell me there is a bomb. I could just call it in, save my "employer" as you put it." The man narrowed his eyes.

"Because" Drono said as he glanced towards the door.. "I pay you, you save the day, I slink away."

"And your crew?"

"Fuck 'em. I would not be here if they were half competent." Drono shrugged. His mind worked the next course of action as he spoke. He had to appear as someone cool and collected. Someone that can't be trusted to hold your back, but can trusted to actually buy his way out of things.

"...You are one fucked up person." The man lowered the gun slightly. "You good for the money? Because if you're not, I am gonna take my time killing you, Drell." The man spat. Drono smiled at him. A greedy sadistic xenophobe. Wannabe Socipaths were easier to game then most people realized. They were all ego, no empathy. Some would argue that made them harder to deal with. But they went for baits much easier then normal folks Drono always found. When you can't temper ego with empathy, your skin was thinner than that of a orange.

"Ye-" They were interrupted as the sound of gunfire suddenly slammed around just outside. The soght of his favorite Turian diving inside the Vehicle bay made the engineer whip around to shoot at them. In his surprise and haste to put down a new threat, he forgot the old one. Drono casually scooped up a wrench and smashed it into the back of the mans head. He went down like a sack of potatoes.

[ @Mortarion & @Deartrickster Collab ]

Khosin cursed as he heard the footsteps of the smugglers closer and closer by each passing second. "Ah crap, guess my little distraction didn't last for too long." He thought with a frown as he ran away from his pursuers. It wasn't long before the smugglers caught up with him, this was their base and knew it better than he did which allowed them to easily outmaneuver and flank the Batarian Sentinel.

It didn't take too long for Khosin to find himself cornered inside the smuggler's base. The smugglers approached Khosin slowly, their guns trained on the Batarian's chest ready to leave him full of projectiles, with no other option available to himself Khosin turned on his omni tool and quickly activated his tech-armour.

"Quick, shoot the fucker! Shoot him!!!" Shouted one of the approaching smugglers; the bullets began flying towards Khosin who detonated his tech armour just in that same moment.

The explosion sent a few of the smugglers tumbling to the ground, while others remained on their feet and kept shooting at the form of the running Batarian. His shield held up for a few seconds but a few of the bullets hit their mark as his shield temporarily flickered as it's power source waned. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, need to get out of here and fast." Hissed Khosin as he barged into a room, hoping to find himself outside of the base only to find that he had barged into -unbeknownst to him- the room in the communication center that controlled the main comm's tower.

What he would be surprised was to see Dex standing over an unconscious body of a guard.

"Oh hey, Khosin. She's not dead. Just knocked her out. Little shit actually caught up with me." Dex said searching through her pockets completely unaware of the trouble following Khosin. "She must've been in the bathrooms earlier or something."

Examining her SMG, checking the thermals. The turian carried on with a shrug, "She comes sneaking in like she owns the place, heard her calling for help over the comms I just finished hijacking. Good timing huh? Anyway, didn't waste any time and knocked her out. We've got shit to do."

Standing back up she let the SMG sit on one of her empty mag plates. Finally noticing how harried the batarian looked. "You did lose whoever was chasing you... right?"

Khosin blinked as he saw Dex standing in the room. "Dex?" He asked the Turian, his mouth hanging agape before he recollected himself, "Sorry, was expecting to find an exit, not end up in a room with a terminal." He said, blinking a little when she mentioned that someone was just unconscious and not dead. In his hurry he hadn't noticed the unconscious guard.

"Oh, I see, sorry, didn't notice the guard." Admitted the Batarian somewhat sheepishly, nodding as Dex continued to explain the situation. "Huh, I see, guessing that since you are here this is something of a communications room huh?" He commented, sitting on the ground and leaning against a nearby wall, "Good job on hacking their comms too, that's bound to be useful." He said as he checked his armour. A few of the bullets had managed to pierce it, and blood poured from the small wounds.

Letting out a sigh he began applying medi-gel to the wounds he had accrued as he ran. However Dex's question brought his mind back to the present moment. "Shit, no, they were right on my heels, it'll probably take them a few minutes at best to find me. Pretty sure I also left a small blood trail for them to follow, so it's best we think on a worst-case scenario." He said tiredly as he stood up, wincing slightly as his wounds flared up. "Alright, do you have any explosives with which we can block the door or anything with which we could distract them and, hopefully, escape with our lives?"

Dex tapped her arm thoughtfully, not entirely phased. Things were heating up and it would only be a matter of time before shit really hit the fan. "Who needs explosives when we have access to their entire communications network? We'll just tell them you headed toward the opposite side of the compound. You're going to do the talking while I hook you up to their omnitools."

She padded back to the terminal unlocking it, the red glow of the screen brightening to orange once again. She searched the network tapping into the audio links of the guards nearby, entering the building. She quickly connected the guard's omnitools to Khosin's and gestured for him to come closer, "It's all green, start telling them where to go."

The guard's audio was a mishmash of regular reports of them confirming rooms and areas to be clear. They were systematically searching and covering the main exits.

She gave him a thumbs up.

Khosing listened in silence as Dex explained to him that they wouldn't need explosives to hinder the smugglers since they had access to their whole communications network, that they could just tell them that he had gone to the opposite side of the compound. "Yeah, you are right, sorry, a little rattled up from all the chase. Wasn't thinking clearly." Said Khosin, nodding in agreement to Dex's idea.

He looked as Dex made her way back to the terminal, looking as the Turian infiltrator unlocked the terminal after a few short seconds. He waited for Dex to finish tapping into the audio links of the guards, his omni-tool flashing up once, what he thought signified, she was done, something which was confirmed by her next words.

The sound of the guard's various reports flared into his ear, cementing beyond all doubts that he was connected into their network. Nodding towards her general direction and mouthing a 'Thank you' he brought his omni-tool close to his lips, "Hey guys saw that Batarian, Dodnovran I think he was called, heading into the other side of the compound, opposite to the comms towers." He muttered into the comms network.

As an answer, he received multiple 'Affirmative', 'Roger that', and 'Copy.' Turning to look at Dex he let out a sigh of relief, "Well, hopefully that'll buy us a few minutes to escape somewhat unimpeded." He said as he double-checked his weapons, making sure that they'd be ready in case they had to fight again. "What about you, ready?"

Dex nodded having heard the very same affirmations herself, "That'll do. Come on we can get out through here." She said pointing to the ladder Drono used earlier to access the generator.

Locking the terminal again and arming her destructive sequence to bring down the network in all its data destruction glory. She began climbing the ladder up to the hatch. Unlocking it she pushed it open, the door nearly being ripped from her talon by the strength of the storm still raging on. Her face was splattered with rain she squinted back down. "We better hurry up! Our best chance at finishing this mission and getting out with our heads intact is getting back to the Yolac and Tonka. Drono hasn't checked in since he ran off to fuck with the smugglers. Kasy hasn't responded either and the observation team has been split up for whatever reason." Dex shouted down the ladder over the roar of the storm.

Climbing up out onto the roof of the prefabricated building, she pulled off her shotgun checking the area. When she couldn't see a soul in sight she gave the all clear. The tower well above her and the generator chugging away, struggling to stay operational under the stress of the storm.

Khosin nodded at Dex's words, "Alright, time to get the fuck out of this place. Think I've had enough of Virmire to last me for a lifetime." He said, cracking his knuckles and giving his weapons one last check just in case.

Hearing sounds coming from the computer, Khosin turned to look as Dex worked on the terminal letting out a chuckle when he noticed that she was fiddling with the terminal's interface once more. "Hey, since you are in there couldn't you set some type of VI or something to distract the smugglers?" Asked Khosin, only noticing that the terminal was locking once he was done speaking, "Ah, never mind, probably better this way," He said as he began climbing up the ladder after her, looking as they stopped at the hatch that led to the roof. He was about to ask Dex if she wanted him to help her with it but opted to remain silent when she opened the hatch easily enough by herself.

"Agreed, ah fuck, I knew that something was going to go wrong with this mission." He said as he climbed outside, spitting a litany of curses in Batarian as the force of the storm hit him as he left the -relative- security of the smuggler's compound, "Bloody planet." He grumbled a little, pulling out his mattock and began to check the area. Nodding when she gave him the all-clear signal he relaxed a little, his eyes drawn toward the generator. "Hey, Dex, that generator seems like it needs only a small push to stop working. What do you say if we help with that, could make our lives easier as we try to escape." He said to her as he turned around to look at her, his mattock held firmly in both of his hands.

She quickly swiped at her eyes trying to squint through the cold rain. "It should be easy enough to tamper with it. Drono had just fixed it so I could hijack the comms. Knocking it out would force, at least the comms center, to run on the unreliable main power. Let's give it a go." Dex replied nearly shouting. "Even with the storm raging on I could hear your grumbling, Khosin. Suck it up! We can dry our heads when we're out of here."

She bent low examining the quick fix Drono did, noticing where the problem originated. "If you can sever the main line on the underside it should disable it beyond repair."

She stood back up shining her light on the generator. "Can you see what I mean?"

"Good, that should make sabotaging the generator that much easier," Said Khosin nearly shouting, just like Dex, grumbling a little when she told him to suck it up and keep going, muttering a few curse words in Batarian too low for the Turian to hear over the storm. "Apologies, never been one for tropical climates." He said drily, although the effect was lost since he was still forced to shout for Dex to hear him.

Each of his four eyes blinked as she began to explain to him how they could make sure that the generator stopped working for good. He wasn't sure if it was the hail from the storm, the general shitty day, or the mounting tiredness inside of him but Dex's words didn't register in his mind "Dex, I love technical explanations just as much as the next guy....but I think I've got a simpler way of dealing with this." Said the Batarian.

Raising his feet in the direction where Dex was shining with her light, Khosin began to viciously kick the generator until a panel fell off and exposed the shoddy machinery that struggled to keep the generator working. Aiming with his omni-tool he directed an Incinerate towards the machinery and then -just to be sure- fired several shots with his Executioner until the barrel of the gun was glowing with a light orange colour. "There, I think that did the job." He said drily as black smoke began to come out of the generator, the machine struggling for a brief few seconds to work before falling silent permanently.

Dex stared at the destroyed heap of machinery humming her disagreement. She opened her mouth to say what the fuck but sighed "You know what, fuck it let's go. All of you go for the overkill."

Walking past the tower, shotgun still poised out in front of her. She peered over the edge of the building seeing some structural steps spiraling down the outside of the building. Maintenance stairs. She beckoned him to follow keeping an eye out for guards. Descending the stairs, slick with cascading water. She hid along the wall eyes peeled for movement. Gesturing for Khosin to follow.

She checked her omnitool, searching for Tonka's signal. "Come on... Where are you?" The orange light illuminating her angular features. "Ah ha! There you are."

She locked onto his signal's position then called him, "Tonka, Khosin and I are heading toward the Yolac as well. With any luck we'll beat you there and provide cover. Patching through the audio feed and whereabouts of the guards in the area. Good luck."

Khosin let out a sigh at Dex's reaction, "Dex, we were sent here with the objective of dismantling a smuggler's ring, and this base is a part of that. So I don't see a reason not to make as much damage as possible." Said the Batarian with a slight frown "Why only damage a few pieces that might be replaced when you can make the whole thing useless?" He asked rhetorically but by the time he did Dex had already walked past the tower and didn't hear him most likely.

Letting out a soft sigh Khosin hurried up after Dex, his rifle firmly held in front of him as he scanned the area for any potential hostiles. Following her down the stairs Khosin didn't speak much, his forte wasn't in infiltration and as such he followed Dex silently and without complaint, trusting that the Turian Infiltrator knew what was best to do in their current predicament.

When she gestured for him to follow Khosin promptly complied, a nod from his head being the only sign that he acknowledged the Turian's command, only stopping when Dex checked her omni-tool. Waiting patiently he was a bit startled when Dex began speaking out-loud "What are you looking for Dex?" Khosin asked, although he got his answer promptly enough when Dex sent a call to Tonka telling him that they were going to head towards the Yolac to, hopefully, provide cover for him. "Alright, guess our main priority right now is getting to the Yolac and extracting the rest of the team, correct?" He asked her, making brief eye contact with her as he waited for confirmation.

"That's the plan. My main concern right now is getting out and hopefully the other half of our team gets off their asses and answers my hails. Fuck, we're in here engaging with the target directly and our fire support doesn't bother to respond." Dex snorted, not being entirely truthful for why she was irritated. Dex was worried and no acknowledgment meant something must've gone very wrong very fast.

Moving forward refocusing on her current objective activating her tactical scan, hoping, even through the torrential rain it could pick up on something. Give them some edge over the piss poor visibility. She headed to the stalls of the marketplace opting for some form of cover.

Quietly as they could they moved from stall to stall, Dex had gotten herself in and out of hot water before this was no different. She was confident they could make it to the Yolac undetected.

Meanwhile... enhanced night enhanced night vision goggles were scanning the area.

"Yeah, I understand you, it's always worrying when the fire support team doesn't answers. Hopefully it's interference from the storm." Said Khosin, trying to remain optimistic in light of the communications blackout with the other team. He could understand Dex's worries, the true motive behind them that is, and he himself shared them but saw no point in being pessimistic in regards to the situation of the surveillance team. For all they knew they had to go into radio silence or the storm was messing with their suit radios.

Following Dex as quietly as he could Khosin couldn't help but get increasingly nervous as they moved through the obscured compound, old, unpleasant, memories of similar situations threatened to come up to the surface of his mind which served to put him further on edge than he already was.

Keeping his composure as best he could, Khosin followed Dex as she moved from stall to stall. It was then that he noticed a red dot on the back of her shoulder, acting out of instinct he tackled the Turian away and the sound of a gun being shot was heard mere seconds afterwards promptly followed by what seemed to be curses in Salarian.

Dex let out a soft oofff and splash when they hit the deck, "Fucking snipers! How the hell did they see through the rain?"

Tracking down the source of the gunshot based on both the direction from where the red dot came and the sound of the gun Khosin managed to locate a blurry figure on a nearby rooftop, either Salarian or Quarian from what he could see through the rain, that was moving away already. "Shit, seems that we've been found." He cursed as he let go of Dex, the staccato of a rifle being fired was soon heard alongside the sounds of the storm.

"You don't fucking say." Dex snapped wiping the mud from between her mandibles while they moved again to a new stall putting some cover between the sniper and themselves. "They're probably not alone. We need to split up-"

A biotic pull hit Dex on her back, pulling the turian from her crouch and stumbling back a couple feet where gunshots pittered around her while she scrambled back into cover. Her shields absorbing the worst of the biotic attack.

"Keep moving!" Dex shouted, firing off potshots from her shotgun where the biotic tried to pull her out. Pushing them forward before they became surrounded. The trio of guards were working smart, well within hearing shot of the other and using the storm to their advantage putting the pair on the run.

Meanwhile, the asari biotic tsked audibly throwing a biotic shockwave at their last position, the power burst through the shabby stall.

Khosin growled in annoyance as Dex snapped at him, "And this is the thanks I get, well maybe next time you'd prefer to get fucking shot in your shoulder." He snapped, rather angry at the whole situation with Dex's reply only having worsened his mood.

He was about to reply to her idea of them splitting up when Dex was hit by a biotic pull, Khosin popping from cover and shooting in the direction from which the biotic energy had come. The brief flicker of a biotic barrier was the only indication that he had, unsuccessfully, hit his target.

Khosin nodded when Dex shouted at him to keep moving, firing one last round of bullets before beginning to run just as the biotic shockwave hit the stall in which he had been taking cover. Pointing with his omni-tool in the direction from which the shockwave had come, Khosin activated his drone near the origin of the biotic attack. Once that was done he hurried after Dex, hoping that his drone could buy them a few more seconds.

"Scratch that! We're making a run for the Yolac!" Dex said and saved a little guilt for not saying thanks to Khosin for later when there was time for it. She ran out of the current stall immediately taking the impact of a couple bullets, she activated her cloak disappearing in a shimmer. Throwing a bright orange incinerate behind her at the biotic on their tail, not really bothering to check if it impacted. Running at full speed down the row taking a tight left turn around a stall and making it for the vehicle bay across open grounds. The rain hammered down while she twitched at the sound of another sniper shot was fired grazing her mechanical arm impacting her shields significantly. She hissed at that, knowing she'd inevitably hear about that later from Serena.

"Sounds like a good plan to me!" Said Khosin as he ran behind Dex, looking as the Turian disappeared in a shimmer as she activated her cloak. This had the unintended effect of having the trio of guards shift their efforts towards Khosin "Thanks Dex!" He thought, somewhat annoyed, in his mind, activating his tech-armor to compensate for the increase in firepower that was directed at him. He blinked a little bit when he saw an incinerate being thrown at the biotic, understanding soon dawning upon him when he saw the shimmering silhouette of Dex. "Hey, next time try and tell em in advance when you do that." Said Khosin as he turned around and threw his own incinerate attack towards their pursuers before running after Dex at full speed, his eyes widening slightly when he saw her shield shimmering as she was hit. "Dex, are you okay? Did the shot hit anything vital?" He asked as he stopped running and shot blindly a few times in the direction from where he guessed the sniper had fired.

Dex squinted through the rain, eyes firmly doors of the vehicle bay, slamming her full weight against the door it burst open. She grinned at the sight of the Yolac but the few guards focusing on someone incredibly mouthy, raising her hand she threw another incinerate at the other guard and made short order of them with a few shot gun blasts. Beckoning Khosin inside she shut the door behind her, sealing it. The bay doors were thankfully closed. It would only be minutes before the three on their back would arrive.

The break from the rain was welcomed.

There was no time to appreciate the relief, "In the Yolac, now! We're getting the fuck out of here."

Strangely Like Brother and Sister

Serena woke up to the ever pleasant feeling over everything in her body hurting. She groaned in pain, before realizing that she wasn't laying in the mudstrewn jungle again. Thank fucking God...Wait. Where am I then? She opened her eyes to see the reassuringly familiar face of Vellios. Giving a sigh of relief, she smiled. "I assume that because you look less fucked up than I feel, that we're not captured and the mission is still going." She frowned, wincing at the movement, at the nasally tone of her voice. She reached up to explore her nose only to scream as she tried to move her shoulders. "Ah hell. My nose is broken isn't it? Fix it quick before I get stuck like this."

Vellios didn't say anything. Instead, when Serena lifted her arm, his own shot out and pinned it in place non too gently. His helmet was still on as he took his other hand then removed it to see better. Not a single sign of usual cockiness or lighthearted attitude was etched upon his face as he set the helmet to the side upon a table. His eyes narrowed on the swelled and dislocated joint, a single talon trailed down it then his palm pressed over the edge. He jerked it where it popped back into the socket without warning. It made a loud, fleshy pop as it slid right in.

Serena screamed again. "FUCK. That wasn't my nose!" She complained, glaring up at him.

He didn't reply, the Turian moved to the side then grabbed some strange forceps before turning to the stab wound. His talons pulled it open to examine the damage and if any tissue needed to be reattached, his head turned to snatch up some spare medigel for application. He pushed in a generous amount to stop the bleeding. As it clotted, he twisted to collect some bandages and stitching.

Something seemed to click as Serena watched him work. She hissed in pain as he worked, gritting her teeth. "What happened Vellios."

"Don't worry about it," Vellios said, half heartedly. He stretched the gauze under her shoulder then removed the tool to begin stitching. The medigel likely easily numbed the area as he pushed in the needle and worked on wrapping her up.

Serena snorted, then bit back a scream. Her nose was in bad shape and did not appreciate her attentions to it. "Fuck. Fix my damn nose already. And bullshit it's a 'don't worry about it' situation. What. Happened."

Vellios paused. His eyes narrowed on her expression and grinded his teeth quietly, his action in mid-stitch. "Your nose can wait. It's not life threatening unlike your shoulder, neck and any possibly broken bones you gained."

Inhaling, he returned to stitching her shoulder. "As for what happened, I had a dispute with one of the crew and we came to a truce. Now, let. It. Go."

"And my dislocated shoulder was life threatening?" Serena retorted, glaring up at him. "Like hell I am. Tell me what happened. Or I swear to God I'm getting off this table and asking Iosif and Tanya and you'll just have more wounds to repair."

"Considering if you kept moving your arm, you could ruin it completely!" Vellios snapped, anger flashed over his features briefly then vanished into defeat. He sighed then commented. "It's over, drop it. Now Serena."

"You know me better than that." Serena retorted.

"I do, and I'm firmly putting my talons down. Now you want patched or not?" The turian's stubborness showed in his expression while he glared at his friend, his hands paused in mid sew and waited for her reply. It was clear he would stop if she continued over this issue.

Serena glared back, beginning to sit up. A small grunt of pain exiting her as she was pushed back down. "Only if you tell me what happened."

"Stop being stubborn. There's been a silent understanding and nothing you need more details when I rather not go into the matter again. Now, hold still or I'll pin you between my legs just to stitch you up!" Vellios threatened.

Serena rolled her eyes at Vellios, making sure he saw her exasperation. "Me? Stop being stubborn? That's like the pot calling the kettle black! Now tell me what happened or I'll squrim like a fish out of water!"

"Don't make me tie you up like I've been wanting to do to Dex..."

Serena stuck her tongue out at him. "You wouldn't because I don't bend like her!"

Vellios snorted then retorted. "There's only one way to fix that."

"By telling me what happened, you're right!" She beamed at him through her bloodstained teeth and face. [color=hoptink]"I knew you'd agree eventually![/color]

The turian tossed his arms in the air as he considered punching the nearest table, not caring he might sent delicate supplies into the ground. His talons bunched up into fists and trembling, his crested head twisted back toward his shitty patient. "Why does it matter so much?"

"Because I care about you and I want to know what's upset you."

"And you're an idiot for it." Vellios snapped.

Serena shrugged, wincing in pain. "I prefer the terms idealist or optimistic, but we are on this ship."

"And I finally came to an understanding with Tanya, which doesn't your nose in it. As long as we avoid each other, everything's fine. I don't need you opening that conversation again. Why can't you let things sit? It's over, didn't need you to patch up my fuck ups." Anger withered in his eyes, his figure instinctively leaned in and looked more like an aggressive animal than a well manner turian. His talons were gripping hard into the steel enough that they tried to pentrate through it without success.

"Because avoiding your problems doesn't solve them. It'll just come up again at a nastier time. You've not reached a truce, you've done a more formal version of what you were going to do anyways." Serena replied quietly.

"If you've not noticed, I'm nothing but a series of problems piled on top of each other. Adding more isn't going to break me. It hadn't yet." The turian forced himself to relax, something difficult in his current mind frame as he sighed. "I just did something stupid and I don't need to drag you down with me."

Serena chuckled softly. "Oh Vellios. You should know by now that I'll always stand by your side. No matter how far you 'drag me down.' You leave this ship, I'll follow. And this entire crew is a series of problems piled on top of one another, me included. We just happen to see all of each other's problems.

"Serena..."

"No. You listen to me. Whatever your problem, whatever your fuck up, I don't care. It doesn't matter what you did, or if you think it's impossible to fix. I'm going to stand by you, even if I don't know why I am. I'm going to help you. That's what you do with family. So tell me what happened, so I at least know why I'm standing by you."

Vellios scratched his neck, harshly as he looked back. "You're not very bright, you realize that? You go off and nearly get yourself killed, then making demands. I'm half tempted to lock you up just save myself the trouble."

His arm reached out to finish what he started. His talon stitching her back together while he watched her, daring her to move again.

"I'm not bright at all. We've already figured that out. What you still haven't figured out is that I'm going to win this one way or another." Her eyes narrowed at him. "You wouldn't dare."

"Want to bet on that?" He asked with a smirk on his mandibles.

"I don't need to bet on it. Because I'll win one way or another. I'm going to find out what happened. It's just easier if you tell me now.".

"I can either tell you now or patch you up... not both."

"I can wait. this isn't the first time I've been beat up. Explain."

Vellios glowered at her, knowing she was right, his figure moved forward and gripped Serena's head in his hands. His talons pressed against the sides and held it there despite her struggle. With his thumps, he made a quick, decisive movement over her nose. CRACK! It slipped back into place with a painful flare as he braced himself for her reaction. "I'm not willing to wait though."

Serena screamed again. "FUCK!" She howled, tears streaming down her face. "Why the fuck does my nose being fixed hurt way more than my shoulder?" She hissed, peering up at Vellios through slitted eyes. "You'd best get good at multitasking then." She gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Cause there's more nerves there and I am." His talons resisted the urge to tighten though he knew she could feel them shaking slightly. "Now, I'm finishing the shoulder but you have to hold still.Or you'll never be able to work on Barat properly again.'

Serena glared at him, but held still. Begrudgingly.

With that, he applied the last remaining medigel to the wound and finished the sew job. "We had a pest issue on the ship earlier, Tanya and I got into a dispute which was worked out moments ago. An understanding was met and I'll be avoiding her presence for a few days while I heal up. Happy now?"

He turned to place the needle and thread left overs into a sterilizing solution, it hissed and cleared off the blood. His eyes peered at her to study her reaction.

"See? Was that so hard? I don't even need to know the details." Serena replied, grinning in triumph up at him.

Vellios shook his head in disagreement knowing she wouldn't let this rest. He pulled his helmet over his head, fastening it in place and before Serena could get out of her seat on the table, he reacted. He turned back then gripped her left arm. His other arm easily removed her omnitool, though it was pretty well banged up, then set it aside. He then raised her up, without any care for dignity, to push her and over his shoulder. He gave a heay grunt as his ribs screamed briefly, but ignored it as he twisted about toward her quarters. Vellios carefully treaded along the corridor while his other arm stretched out to steady himself along his path.

"One last thing... because I don't trust you to leave things alone..." He was careful not touch in a place he wasn't suppose to, his mind on one thing: putting Serena somewhere safe.

Serena squealed as she was thrown over his shoulder, in a mixture of pain and surprise. "What are you doing?!" She demanded,not bothering to struggle as she was already in pain and experience taught her it would be useless. She looked behind her, seeing his room come up, and it suddenly clicked into place. "Oh no you don't! I can still be of help on this mission! Don't you fucking dare lock me in there!!"

"No...you won't be. You need to heal, stay out of trouble and if you keep moving, I'm going to break something again." Vellios grunted as he moved closer to his room then flopped her down on the bed he rarely used. He then turned on his heel and strolled to the door, knowing Serena would need time to recover.

As Vellios strode away, Serena struggled to a sitting position. "You're one to talk you bastard! Look at your ribs! What about Del and Sarah! Come in here you son of a bitch and answer me!" Vellios ignored her, heading back towards the door. His hand snaked out and slapped Sarah back into the hallway like a naughty dog. "No, bad bot. Git back!"

She managed to get to her feet as he approached the door.

Within a few seconds, he was on the other side and paused long enough to speak his final statement. "Get some sleep and recoop. Also, if you break my stuff, I'll return the favor..."

"DON'T YOU DARE CLOSE THAT FUCKING DOO-!!!!"

A devilish grin crossed his lips before he shut the door with a hiss. Pausing there, Vellios gently touched his side. The hurt spread from the area causing him to inhale deeply as he walked off to attend to his own injuries.

As the shuttle docked and Serena was whisked away by Vellios, Hazan made for the bridge. Judging from the short burst that he'd received from Dex, she'd been successful in securing private comms to the ship.

The infiltration team deserved an update.

Hazan went straight for Dex's comms console. The lights blinked a myriad of colours as the turian synced his omnitool with the system, then opened a direct channel to their pilot.

"Dex, Hazan here. Serena and I are back in the Borealis. Vellios is tending to her now. Our camp on the cliff was compromised, the turrets got wrecked by the storm and we've probably lost the supplies we brought there. Once you guys get the AA guns down we'll bring in evac asap."

Once he'd sent the message he didn't sit around waiting for a reply. He ditched the cockpit and headed right back to the cargo slash shuttle bay, rifle in his hands. Antsy and eager to help his team.

But what could he do with an absent Iosin and those AA guns still online?

There was still Serena... But she'd been taken away by Vellios. For treatment of those nasty stab wounds.

If he'd just been faster, he would've gotten to the asshole that she'd blown up. Then maybe she wouldn't have passed out in his arms.

Just like...

"Fuck!"

He cursed himself and kicked an empty crate nearby, sending it careening across the shuttle bay, clattering noisily against the plas-steel floor. If he'd just a nanosecond faster, the smuggler would've been unconscious on the forest floor, drowning in rain water, and she would've been just fine. Not...wherever she was now.

Hazan was just thankful she wasn't dead. In Vellios's capable hands, he knew she'd be fine. But to skirt that fine line... It reminded him all too well of times gone by.

The turian sat on a larger crate to wait. As he crossed his legs atop the crate, his mind drifted back to his home of several years.

Omega.

---

Recorded conversation between subject Hazan Volintis and known associate Valla T'karrah vas Marrakech, alias Valiant.

Valla: Hazan, you couldn't have known -

Hazan: I should've, Val! Then maybe things wouldn't have gone this way! Fuck, Val. Why didn't anyone stop her?!

V: We all knew the risks with this op, Hazan. Me, you, the rest of us. For the sake of the mission, just let it go.

H: No, you don't understand, Val. It's not the op. It's me. The op was fine, we were all set up and we did it flawlessly. But those guys that came after us at the end? They weren't after you guys. They were after me.

V: How d'you know?

H: I know bounty hunters when I see them, Val. If they were just more mercs they would've gunned for all of us, not just me. Jori got in their way and she got killed for it. And it's my fault.

V: But Hazan, how could you have known that these...hunters would be coming for you? Is there something I should know?

H: Yeah... I'm a wanted man.

V: I gathered as much, Haze. How much?

H: More than what our damn crew's worth. Combined.

V: Keelah...

H: It was only a matter of time before I got found, Val. I was just hoping that maybe... I could get myself away from everything with your crew. But apparently even changing my identity isn't good enough. I think it's time I erased myself.

V: How're you going to do that?

H: I'm gonna pack up, Val. Take my cut from this op and leave this damn station for good.

V: But where will you go?

H: Far away from here. Some place the hunters won't find me. I think maybe Ilios.

V: Well... Whatever you choose, Haze, if you ever come back to Omega, me and the team will be glad to have you back.

H: Yeah... Thanks.

End recording.

Addendum: Not long after the subject left Omega, Valla T'karrah vas Marrakech went missing. His mercenary team was disbanded and all communications between them ceased. It is currently not known where T'karrah is located.

Dex’s voice once again exploded in Tonka’s ear, who was deeply in concentration of trying to navigate the market stalls without running into more of his head hunters that one, or both, of his hearts felt like they stopped when the turian’s voice projected deep into his ear, all so boomingly frantic and intimate all at once.

"Tonka, Khosin and I are heading toward the Yolac as well. With any luck we'll beat you there and provide cover. Patching through the audio feed and whereabouts of the guards in the area. Good luck."

Hissing a curse under his breath and refraining from the urge of belting out a line of profanities, not out of any form of respect but rather the interest of not getting shot, Tonka thumbed his earpiece to reply. “I’m working my way back now. Thanks for the intel. Now stop calling until I get back.”

It wasn’t hard to find a way back to the Yolac, as it sounded like his teammates had run into the same sort of trouble he’d found. Either his distraction worked way too well, or they had screwed something up beyond compression. The krogan was not amused; everything was falling apart and he got shot for his troubles. Well, watching the team fuck up was part of why he took the job to begin with, wasn’t it? It was hard not to feel somewhat irritable about the whole ordeal, despite all that. Tonka had been so enthralled by the idea of watching a bunch of nobodies fail miserably just to experience life that wasn’t so dull and secure that he’d never considered he’d actually find himself feeling invested in their success at large. Now, as he understood it, there were multiple wounded members of the team, only some of the weapons had been sold off, and now their cover was effectively blown. It was a situation he’d normally be all too happy to fight through, but his armour needed patching and even Tonka knew the numbers weren’t in his favour. And so, moving was slow going as he monitored the blips on his omni-tool’s map to evade patrols, courtesy of Dex, and timing his movements around his active camo. There’d be time to fight, this wasn’t one of them.

Before long, it became apparent there wouldn’t be much of a reason to skip out of the fight. Three enemy mercenaries converged on the Yolac, and for once, Tonka was grateful for the rain; the pyjaks wouldn’t see what was coming to them.

Flipping the “borrowed” shotgun around so the barrel shroud was held like a club, Tonka charged at the nearest of the enemies, a human with a rifle who only became aware of the heavy footfalls when Tonka was only a few meters away. Shouting in surprise and to get his buddies in the know about the incoming threat, Tonka swung the shotgun with all of his running might into the side of the helmet, the pistol grip digging viciously into the composite materials and leaving a horrific impression of the cracked skull as the body slumped to the ground, lifeless. A lot of guns for hire took for granted that kinetic barriers only stopped high-speed projectiles and did nothing against blunt force, as the dead human found out far too late. Tonka turned the gun around, aiming for the next target, who had a marksman rifle, and pulled the trigger.

Instead of the telltale report of a shotgun barking, sparks instead exploded from the gun and the power indicators died. The Elkoss Combine manufacture mark stared back at Tonka tauntingly, justifying his general dislike of the bargain store of weapon manufactures in the most inappropriate of circumstances. The sniper stared at him hatefully, Tonka grinned back sheepishly before hurling the useless chunk of scrap at the sniper, who managed to get a shot off that dug into the mud somewhere behind Tonka as reflexes dictated one does not wait to get hit with two kilos of metal without at least flinching. Taking off towards the transport, Tonka managed to skip around the back ramp with a muddy slide as a second follow-up shot grazed his shoulder plating. The krogan threw himself into the vehicle, grabbing for his Revenant, which was proudly perched in a rack.

Sitting on the Yolac’s floor, Tonka’s machine-gun extended in his hands, trained at the back door. He jabbed a finger at Khosin without looking the batarian’s way. “You. Drive. Also, where in Aralakh is the drell?”

Drono looked down at the man now at floor. Then he quickly looked up as Tonka came barreling into vehicle bay and made a beeline for their ride. A ride he needed to catch. He heard the irate krogan yell his name and began running for the Yolac himself. "I'm here!" He yelled as he ran across the vehicle bay. He slid all but tossed himself into the transport as he heard shouting from outside the bay.

"Missed me?" He huffed through heavy breaths. "Because I've been cutting it close a few to many times now." His back gave a spike of pain that made his vision blur and he slumped down. "Yeah. I'm just... gonna sit here." He groaned as his right arm had begun to go numb. "Just... Gonna... take it... easy." He let out what could have been a whimper, maybe it was just his breathing.

Dex was in the passenger seat as Khosin took the wheel, she turned in her seat and snapped at Drono. "Stay awake! Until we can get your head checked out you stay the fuck awake."

He blinked, looking over at her. "Aint my brains that's the problem, oh scaly and gorgeous... It's my fucking spine."

Her mandibles flattened irritably at the comment, turning back she said, "Strap in. Anyone seen Kasyra?" She helped Khosin boot up the Yolac. Checking for any unusual readings, something that might hint at sabotage. Between Tonka's distraction and now their escape it gave the smugglers little time to actually do anything to slow them down. She checked regardless.

Ah crap. Are we gonna have to play bus driver across the compound before we leave? Drono asked as he strapped in real tight. He was almost choking himself but it stabilized his back in a posture that was far better for the Drell.

"I can look up her omnitool signals to find her, but it's going to delay our escape."

"Oh, quit your whining, Drono. I got shot like..." Tonka took a moment to poke at the tender holes around his armour, returning to his gun with a bloodied hand. "Six times. Builds character. And no, I didn't see our quarian. I don't care. She's probably off trying to suicide bomb that Blue Suns encampment I passed along the way here." the krogan said, looking at his wrist to see a number of blinking red dots approaching rapidly. "I don't know about you idiots, but I don't much care for playing games with a bunch of pyjaks who probably dug out an anti-vehicle launcher by now. We're mercenaries. Losses happen. Move."

"To be fair to Drono, that's probably that thing with his spine, that old bullet wound I think, kicking in, not being shot right Tonka, or at least not being shot now." Chimed Khosin, shooting a worried look towards the blue drell before shaking his head slightly. He nodded in agreement when Tonka mentioned that Kasy had probably gone off towards a nearby Blue Suns outpost that he had passed along the way "Yeah, I agree with Tonka. We can't wait anymore." He said firmly, turning back once more to look at the rest of the group "If Kasy wants to put her vendetta against the Blue Suns ahead of the rest of the group, I say we leave her. We have no time waiting around for her to fulfill whatever petty grudge she has, especially if it puts us at risk, especially with Drono's current condition." He said as he started the engine of the yolac. "Also, if any of you could man the yolac's gun that'd be ideal, that way we can get those bastards off of our backs, especially if they give chase with any vehicles they might have." Said Khosin as he started driving the Yolac towards the exit of the vehicle bay.

Dex hummed her disapproval through her sub vocals, the navigation screens coming to life across the Yolac's dashboard. The bay doors opened at a decent pace. "Losses, sure. When we're back on the Borealis I'll try to reach her again before we leave the planet. If I don't hear from her then we'll assume she's happier left to her own devices, whatever the reasons." Watching the doors her leg bounced impatiently, still receiving reports from the smugglers trying to access the network. Leaving Kasy to her own devices regardless of her reasons felt wrong, if they had time and interest to look for Kasy perhaps Dex would have fought to go back for the Quarian. If they tried to now and she pushed for it - it would only bring about more trouble and a higher chance of the team not making it back to the ship in one piece. It was too bad, but there wasn't much of a choice. "There's no confirmation on her motives for splitting from the group and mission, nor her current status. I would not assume anythin-"

Haze's transmission took priority over the background noise and she listened, he was calling from the Borealis. "Dex, Hazan here. Serena and I are back in the Borealis. Vellios is tending to her now. Our camp on the cliff was compromised, the turrets got wrecked by the storm and we've probably lost the supplies we brought there. Once you guys get the AA guns down we'll bring in evac asap."

She replied relieved and irritated that they finally decided to update them, however miniscule since Haze's terminal was reading idle now. "We're leaving the camp now in the truck. We'll meet back at the ship ETA an hour and a half..." Her sentence stopped as the rest of his message sunk in. She turned around in her seat again looking from Tonka, Drono and then Khosin, "Someone did take care of the AA Batteries... right?"

She squinted not recalling any confirmation on the guns going offline from the system.

"...Who's job was that again?" Drono queried, giving a nervous laugh. Then groaned as his spine tingled with pain.

"What part of me being the drunk distraction so you guys could do that sneaky sabotage crap was complicated? I'm still not entirely clear on how you all managed to screw the op and get detected when I had half of the camp watching the show." Tonka grunted. "So no. No exploding towers from me."

"Don't look at me. I had to climb a damn tower to fuck with their power." Drono said, a tad bit indignant. "And Dex got the coms down."

Dex groaned leaning back into her seat, "Fuck. The only advantage we have against their defences in that junk heap is their targeting systems might mistake us for one of theirs." She leaned forward tapping open her omnitool, trying to think what else she can do with her access. "Any ideas?"

"...Drive by. We got a decent gun on this. Drive by the AA Battery, unload, then hope it is enough." Drono suggested. "Those things weren't dug down to deep or to fortified. This is a pirate installation, not a Alliance Frontier fort. I did take out all their vehicles, they have to pursue us on foot. Either that or you set up shop by it and hold them off using the Yolac gun. Get me enough time to get some sort of improvised charge set. I can cobble something up with all the ordinance laying about. But that is way to risky and my back is fucking murdering me."

"Aye, I agree with Drono, let's just drive by and we blast the whole thing with the Yolac's gun and if necessary one or two of us and get down and add to the firepower with our own guns." Said Khosin, nodding in agreement of Drono's idea "So, anyone's got another idea they'd like to suggest or we go with Drono's idea?" Asked Khosin one last time, wanting to make sure everyone agreed with the plan before driving towards the AA towers.

"Or, y'know, we could just get in the ship, fly in the opposite direction of the camp since we landed out that way so no one would really pick us up on their short range sensors. I'd rather not risk driving around, get blown up on the ground, or try a fly by with the Borealis and get shot out of the sky." Tonka interjected.

The turian thought for a few seconds tapping against her mechanical arm, "Fuck it, Tonka's got the right idea. We sold the tagged weaponry and screwed around with them long enough. Let's get out of here. Khosin?" She turned to the Batarian, "I think we've seen our share of Virmire for today."

Khosin listened in silence as Tonka spoke his mind, opening his mouth to speak once more when Dex beat him to it. "Alright, alright, you two are correct." He said once Dex was done speaking, having agreed with the Krogan's idea "Yeah, let's." Said the Batarian when Dex asked him to get out of there "More like I've seen enough for a lifetime, two even." He snorted a little, turning to face everyone "With that said, someone do me a favor and man the main gun, just in case alright?" He said as he began driving towards the exit of the compound. Unfortunately as Khosin drove the Yolac towards the exit they were spotted by a few of the smuggler's sentries "Ah, crap." He muttered as he heard the sound of gunfire through the Yolac's hull, "Everyone brace, this ride might get a little hectic." He shouted as he set the Yolac to full speed.

Outside of the vehicle, the remaining smugglers were organizing as best they could, one of the sentries shouting for them to close the checkpoint at the entrance as best they could. By the time that the Yolac got there they had managed to set up a few crates and barrels as an impromptu barrier, "Brace again people, things might get crazy!" Shouted Khosin as he rammed the hastily put barrier.

"Works... fine... with me." Drono said between bumps. He braced himself alright.

Dex braced herself holding the dashboard, ducking automatically away out of view. Watching the sensors alert them to the damage taken from the subsequent gunshots the truck absorbed and the barrier they drove through. The noise was as sudden as the impact through, thankfully their momentum carried them through to the other side of the barrier racing down the beach, leaving deep tire tracks in the sandy beach.

The impact was enough to bounce Tonka off the floor somewhat before he came crashing down on his rump, grunting as the tires found purchase again and momentum surged forward. He regained his balanced and gripping one of the support bars on the ceiling to pull himself up into the suspended gunner's seat in the center of the hull. A pair of light anti-infantry cannons were mounted to the top of the vehicle in the small bubble turret, but it was anyone's guess of what condition they were in. Hitting a foot pedal, the turret traversed with a pained groan until it was facing rearward, towards any pursuing threats. The krogan expected the weapons to blow up in his face if he overworked them, and it would be a decidedly terrible end for his day.

Drono swore as he bounced. "F-Fuck o-o-ow" He said between painful bounces. He was going to invest in a entire army worth of yoga instructors and chiropractors once he retired, he promised himself that much. If he lived that long that was.

While Tonka took shots at the fading camp, forcing the remaining sentries to duck for cover. No one followed, as the storm raged on the infiltration team settled into their respective spots for the trip back to the Borealis. Leaving without one member, Kasyra, to whatever she choose to do. The roar of the engine provided background noise to fill the silence that fell over the exhausted Jury Riggers. It had proven to be a long day for both teams, as they were to find out why soon.

On the road back through the dense jungles of Virmire, they were made treacherous by the sheer amount of water that nearly washed out the road in some areas. Under Khosin's steady hand they arrived back to the Borealis in one piece, Dex called for the doors to open. Khosin parked the Yolac inside, carefully pulling up along the other side of the hangar opposite of the Kite.

Dex was the first to exit, stepping quickly towards the cockpit hoping to make an even quicker escape of the planet. Catching Haze on her way and pulling him to follow her.

Khosin left the driver's seat of the Yolac shortly after Dex had exited the vehicle. Making his way to the ramp of the vehicle he stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Drono "Shit man, here, let me help you get to the infirmary." He said as he looked at the Drell, helping him to get off the seat without waiting for an actual answer and then helping him make his way towards the infirmary of the Borealis.

Drono dragged himself out the Yolac, heading straight for the infirmary like a cripple seeking missile, gladly taking the help from Khosin. He pretty much collapsed onto the infirmary bed and waved the other off once he had taken a shot of higly illegal painkillers. He sighed in relief. "Let me die in peace..."

"That comes later." Tonka called to the drell from the infirmary door. He'd finished shoving his Revenant in his quarters, as well as shedding the upper torso armour that needed patching up on his way back to the hanger to finish unloading and prepping for take off.

Securing the vehicle to the floor in anticipation of take off, Tonka noticed Tanya skirting around the vehicle looking like she was suffering from both the world's worst break-up and hangover all at once... which described most spur of the moment marriages in Nos Astra at one of those 24 hour marriage services several asari businesswomen had established over the past few centuries.

"You look like shit." he remarked, climbing the side rails on the yolac to get at the gun. Something was definitely wrong with it, and he wasn't going to leave it to become a pressure cooker bomb while no one was looking.

"So, like your average krogan, then." she replied tiredly. It was clear her heart wasn't in it. She looked up at Tonka, noticing the bullet holes. "So, I get cheeky little cunts try to make a meal out of me and you only get shot. That's rubbish."

"You know I grew up on Tuchanka, right? The planet where even the plants that survived nuclear holocausts want to eat you? I've been through it all, lady. Is that what's crawled up your ass? I could dig it out." Tonka replied, ripping the gun from it's mount and pulling out it's power core before tossing the twin-barreled weapon down to the deck. He landed with a thud next to Tanya, holding the seemingly intact eezo core in his hand.

"I'm not Vellios, I ain't that loose. Want me to shove a few hygiene pads in those bullet holes? Call me a philanthropist." she replied, moving to inspect the gun, tisking loudly. "You know, if you tortured small animals for fun, I'd get it, but treating a gun like the redheaded stepchild? You know no shame."

The confused stare she received was enough to confirm the reference was lost on him.

"Okay, the Weyrloc clan spawn. Better?"

"I think whatever took a bite out of your ass gave you blood loss. Come back to me when you're more coherent than a glue-sniffing salarian meth addict. I blame your kind for that." Tonka said, turning to leave the hanger. "If you'll excuse me, I've got to make sure our engine room doesn't rupture anything and flood the crew compartment with radiation. You don't need chemotherapy on top of alcoholism." he noted.

"Holy shit. You really do care." Tanya replied to his back.

"Don't tell anyone. I charge therapy sessions by the minute." he waved, returning to the latter, unaware of the plot already brewing in the engineer's wicked mind for him for the next few weeks as both returned to their duties.

Once he had left Drono in the infirmary Khosin grabbed a few medical supplies -bandages and such mostly- before he was waved off by Drono. Making his way towards his room, Khosin took off his armor and tended to what few wounds he had accumulated during the mission "Ah, fucking planet." He grumbled as he bandaged the wounds once his armor was off "I pity whatever poor fool has to go on a mission there, place seems cursed." He said as he laid down on his bed, the events of the day having left him completly exhausted, falling asleep but a few short minutes afterwards.

When Dex all but collapsed to her springy seat, she let out a long sigh. Straightening, she booted up the console. Turning to Iosif joining her shortly after she sat, the pair of them looked far worse for wear. Injuries, holes and chips in armour. Dex hated when she was right sometimes. Addressing both Haze and Iosif, "What a fucking day." By their expressions they seemed to have all come to that conclusion.

Starting up the preflight checklists. She began her final message to Kasy opening a private line to the quarian directly.

"Kasyra, this is the last chance. We're leaving the planet without you, whatever it was that pulled you away from the mission, whether injury or other motives, we can't stick around and wait for you any longer. The smuggler's camp is too hot for us to get back to. For what it's worth, if we had time to look for you I would have. As we are now, that was too risky. This line will remain secure and open for you to use to call me right up until we're in orbit..."

She paused glancing at her crewmates, the silence from the line told Dex all she needed to know. "Good bye, Kasyra and good luck."

The turian ended the transmission with a sigh. "The guns are sold, the camp is in a bit of chaos and Kasy disappeared on us." She finished her preflight check lists as she had spoken, solemn. "Let's set a course out of the system, we can relax for a couple hours, debrief together before reporting back to Captain Donnelly."

Remaining productive was her default in spite of the aches settling in with the adrenaline wearing off. She was disciplined and procedure was drilled into her after years spent in the military. Now it was time to say good-bye to Virmire and Kasyra’Tala Vas Ryushei Nar Sherana.

It took quite a while for Drono to even begin to move. He lay, face down, eyes closed and with such stillness some might mistake him for dead. The pain radiated from his spine up his left arm, making it feel almost numb. His fingers curled and uncurled stiffly as he tried to regain some semblance of control. "Get it together..." He groaned to himself as he lifted his arms and pulled them close. Putting them to either side of him he pushed. The pain almost made him black out and he fell back onto his elbows then almost fell out of the bed as one armed slipped.

Through his pain and blackening vision he saw a face. A smug Salarian. Yestin. It fueled the fire inside him and he punched his fists into the bed, gritted his teeth and pulled himself up. Even as he stumbled off the bed he saw that face, laughing at him. If Drono hadn't been numb with pain, he would have realized the drugs he took likely were effecting him. He stumbled and almost fell. "Kill... you.. you son... of a bitch." As the drugs worked he traded his sanity for comforting numbness. His vision bled colors, everything was becoming blurry. This was a problem for Drells who decided to cook up painkillers. Perfect recall, eidic memories did not go well with the drug induced haze. Especially when you unknowingly had weak hallucinogens mixed into your cocktail.

He fell to his knee, feeling as if he was about to evacuate his insides all over the floor. For a second everything was a grey and pale blue of a station street. He collapsed on the floor, everything spinning as his brain began to reach back to that nigh. Reality became hard to place, hard to understand. What was real, and what was not was nigh impossible to deduce in his drugaddled state. His brain triggered by his pain, kept looping the sound of a gun going off. Kept reliving the moment of impact. Everything hurt. Why did it have to hurt so much?

"Kill...You." He repeated to himself. Before him, he saw the station on that night Yestin betrayed him. He felt it so vividly, the rain falling into the open wound on his back as he dragged himself across the station floor. The scraping of his palms, his knees. He pushed himself up to his feet and almost toppled forward onto his face in doing so. He stood, swaying on his feet. A wild look to his eyes as he stumbled out the corridor. "YEEESTIIIN!" He bellowed on the top his lungs then almost toppled over as he was heaving again. Atleast his arm and back was a dull fire now rather then a crippling nerve inferno.

He staggered, half leaning on the wall while doing so. "Where...are you Yestin... You.. son..of a bitch." It was strange, he didn't remember the station corridors being this narrow. Why was there a kitchen? Where was he?

He snapped out of it like being dunked in a bucket of ice cold water. He looked around him, disoriented. Something was wrong, he felt his face. It was wet. Not from blood. Not from sweat. Something else. Something that he had not allowed himself to do ever.

"...Get it together Drono." He told himself and promptly ran to the toilet to throw up.

Vellios walked into a medbay. His right arm reached for the nearest packet of medi gel while his left reached to steady him, his body lowered into the seat. Pain flared across his surface and heated his skin, his mind realized there farther damage done after his interaction with Serena. He immediately regretted tossing her over his shoulder as he gingerly removed his shirt then lifted it. When he pressed a single button upon his torso, the cast hissed and popped open causing him to flinch from the ache. Gently, he removed the hard exterior with the gel insides to set aside onto the table.

His icy eyes lowered to look at the wound’s condition. A nasty, swollen wound spread across his rib area discolored into slight green, drawing a frown upon Vellios’ mandibles. The swollen tissue collected specifically around where he had broken his ribs and he could feel a bit protruding through the muscle as he gingerly touched it, his mouth wrenched open in a silent scream.

It wasn’t the stupidest thing he had ever done, but considering the fact they were on a mission, he could’ve avoided it. Controlling his breathing, Vellios ripped open the medi gel with his pointed teeth. The clear liquid gel oozed out as he applied it generously on his wounds, fighting the reaction to flinch every time, before he finished. By this time, he was pretty sure that Serena had passed out in her ‘outburst’.

Cleaning up his mess, he inched off the seat then headed back to his quarters.

Serena was desperately trying to resist passing out, swaying as she sat on the bed. She had remembered at the last second that Dex would be asking for reports. Then there would be no one replying and Dex would have to assume the worst as unexpected radio silences were never good in mercenary work. Have...to get up… She thought woozily as blood loss and pain medicine drew her ever farther away from consciousness. I can’t fall asleep. Not now. Dex would be distracted by worrying and that might get her killed or worse. No. I can’t fall asleep now.. Her worry and panic did not stop her exhaustion. Carefully and slowly, she forced herself to stand up, stumbling in her tiredness.

He has a spare helmet...I can use that to raise Dex… She took two shaky steps towards his cabinet.

She fell unconscious and hit the ground.

Cautiously, Vellios peered into his quarters a few hours later then sighed at her crumpled form upon the floor. Casually he moved inside then lowered himself to her level and examined her condition. She was still alive through exhausted as he scooped her into his arms then walked back to his rarely touched bed. He gently settled her down into his bed and lifted upright to bring the sheets to cover her up when she seemed to stir, his figure froze much like an animal in headlights and even extended to his still breath within his throat. He eyed her warily expecting her to wake.

She didn’t. Breathing in relief, he finished ensuring her comfort as his ears heard the sounds of others arriving from their mission. Their clamoring made it easy to detect where they were heading and gradually faded to lick their wounds. He was glad because he wasn’t sure he had the patience or energy to deal with them right now. Especially Haze. Pushing the name from his attention, Vellios finished up tucking in Serena then lowered himself to sit cross legged upon the floor to the bedside. His eyes stared at a softly snoring Serena with an expression of thankfulness compared to his earlier fury and anger, letting it fester under the surface for later. It was a sensation he knew well from his younger years that it was easily dealt with.

The door closed leaving the pair alone.



Gone. Gone. They were all gone. Spencer. Omar. Hannah. Janet. Silus. An. Soban. They were all dead, killed because her. It was her fault, her fault, her fault. Dead dead dead. She just gets people killed. She’s weak and pathetic and they’re all dead because of her even- “Barat!” Serena sat up in alarm, then immediately regretted it, curling on herself and groaning in pain as all of her wounds screamed at her. “Fuck….why did I do that...oh right. I was getting my ass kicked.” She groaned, looking around her. She was in Vellios’ room, that bastard.

Speaking of the bastard, he was asleep across the room. Serena’s features softened as she looked at him, reluctantly smiling with a sigh at the sight of the idiot. At least they were off the planet then. Vellios wouldn’t have gone to sleep if they weren’t. Everything still hurt like hell though, safe or not, and pain drugs sounded like a wonderful idea. With more groans Serena carefully got off the bed and began making her way towards the door. “Stupid fucking smuggler and my stupid fucking explosive crossbow and my stupid fucking barrier not working….” She muttered under her breath, slowing getting towards the door.

“Serena, you know I sleep lightly...right?” Vellios’ voice spoke just when she crossed his end edge, the slight creak giving her position away, as his icy blue eyes opened. His head turned toward her with a subtle frown, clearly disapproving of her sneakiness which she failed at. He yawns as his arms raised then stretched over his head as he worked out the kinks. A small pop and crack occurred in his neck causing him to flinch slightly, his breath paused then released.

Gingerly he raised to his feet, his eyes studied her when he spoke, “Currently, what are you up to now?”

Serena jumped slightly, but other than that gave no surprise at Vellios waking up, merely continuing her movement forward and complaints about it. “Yes..fuck...I’m aware...god damn it….I wasn’t trying to ...sonuvabitch….sneak out. I just want...shit this hurts….some fucking pain pills.” Serena reached the door, leaning against it in relief. “And to find out if everyone is okay.”

Vellios slowly nodded as if he was ‘accepting’ a small child’s white lie, his body twisted around toward his bag. His fingers reached for the clasps, which he noted were untouched, then flipped up the lid to seek out the pill killers. He kept a spare stash for Serena since she would never take his drugs and often he was forced to patch her up so it made lots of sense. While he rummaged through the spare clothes, his voice spoke back to her, “I have some here. Through, funny thing… I opened my ‘medicine’ case and suddenly, I was out. However, I know I didn’t use my dose last night. You wouldn’t happen to know how it became empty, would you?”

Serena froze like a deer in headlights, suddenly grateful Vellios’ back was to her. “Huh. That’s weird. Maybe Drono got into them or it popped open on the way to the sight.” She replied, fidgeting as she focused on making her voice steady. “The pain pills are really secondary. I just want to make sure no one died because of me.” She paused, adding under her breath, “Again.”

“I had to lock the door so pointless in trying it. I didn’t want ‘Drono’ getting into my stash again until I’ve talked to him about it,” Vellios said, his smile hidden by his turned back. Her voice sounded a bit jumpier than usually, an indicator she was guilty as he pulled out the pills and added, “Oh, Serena, this is interesting… All my meds are here so whoever emptied my kit, didn’t want them. Now, only one individual knows exactly where I keep my stash. Would you like to guess who?”

“You know Drono...always a practical joker.” Serena said weakly.

“You’re a terrible liar…” He spinned about on his ass and handed the capsule holder out to her, jingling it back in a teasing way for her to take it and get closer to him. His mandibles stretched into a wry grin as he continued, “No offense Serena, you give yourself far too much credit for every death. It happens, if not from your past then something else would’ve killed them later.”

“Thanks for the pep talk mr. ‘I blame lots of things on myself and my past.’ For your information, I only blame the deaths that are my fault on myself.” Serena snapped, gingerly making her way towards the pain pills, cursing quietly as she did so. “I’m gonna be one giant bruise tomorrow.”

“Did you pull the trigger?” Vellios said firmly, his taloned hand immediately shot up and tilted his eyes stared into hers as he continued, “No, you didn’t and you’re not a killer Serena. Just bad luck sometimes since you tend to make things go boom more than Drono in an explosive factory.”

“Inaction is just as bad as action.” She replied. “I may not have pulled the trigger, but I’m just as responsible for not being as alert or warning them in time.”

He let go of Serena’s chin, allowing her to take the medicine, “Sadly that can’t be helped because Haze was stupid enough to leave you alone and an easy target. Currently, I’m still pissed at him.”

“Give him a break Vellios.” Serena sighed, taking the pills. “How was he supposed to know a bastard had slipped around back? The turrets only pinged four of them and the plan was for me to retreat to the cliff, so everyone was in front of me, and report our situation to the various teams while he dealt with them all.”

“Like I gave those assholes that left you to die a break? You came up with excuses for them too but if you had died, not a single one would’ve felt bad. His break is that I’m not seeking him out actively to kill him,” Vellios growled in frustration, his mind recalling the last time someone had left her behind to fend for herself.

Serena sighed. “It’s different and you know it. Haze didn’t intentionally leave me to die and he came back for me when he knew I was in trouble.”

“They just met us, Serena,” Vellios retorted.

“But he came back. The other ones had known us for months and left me. Haze has known me for a week and came back for me. That has to count for something.”

“Serena.”

“It does Vellios. You know it does. Put your frustration at your idea that you failed me and that Haze failed the trust you put in him aside. It means he’s more than just a random merc out for himself and that he cares. If only a tiny bit.”

“You trust everyone and I can’t lose you… This is something we both know and can’t forget,“ Vellios commented coldly as he leaned back against his bag, resisting her plead.

“Vellios, if you don’t trust this crew, you’re always going to assume the worst. Even you can’t be around me all the time. You have to understand that Haze didn’t intentionally leave me and that he came back as soon as he could when he knew I was under attacked. Same as you.”

“It’s too soon,” Vellios answered, his tone exhausted and softening a little.

Serena popped a couple of pain medicine, tucking the rest into her pocket. “Ugh.” She grimaced. “You’d think they’d make them at least taste like nothing. They seem to purposely make them taste as awful as possible.” She gingerly turned around. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go make sure everyone is okay.”

“Alright, just don’t fall on your face heading out. You’re not looking too well and you weren’t in the best condition when you got back,” Vellios stated as he watched her make her way out.

A Rtronian and Dervanator Production

Serena wandered towards the hanger with a pained groan. Everything hurt. Her shoulders. Her neck. Her face. She was pretty sure even her atoms hurt. “Ugh. Fuck. Why did I explode him. Because I didn’t want to die. Right.” She slowly rolled to her feet. “Still debating whether that was worth it. This whole, oh dear god do I hurt, not dying thing. If the pain meds could kick in at any time, that’d be great.”

Serena made her way slowly into the garage, sighing as a familiar trashy music began to slowly grow louder. “Perfect! Someone I need to talk too.” She spoke cheerfully, wincing at the pain.

“Tanya!” She called as she entered the hangar. “Turn that crap down! I want to talk!”

Tanya’s head poked out from under the Yolac as she slid out on a wheeled board that let her move under the vehicle without crawling. ”That means it’s working!” she called back, disappearing under the truck again. Sparks were flying under the chassis as she used her omni-tool’s welding function to spot weld one of the supporting struts that had begun to strain and crack.

All the while, her music continued on, unabated. Shithead was hovering nearby, providing illumination and acting as the source of the music, of which under a heavy synth and percussion track a turian voice was growling about being the last man alive in his platoon and going to go out with a bang. As far as turian standards went, it was considered cheerful.

“Uuugh!” Serena complained, making her way over to Tanya. Slowly, as she both hurt and didn’t trust the footing to be safe. “I thought we were past this! You know, trying to block me out with terrible, terrible, god-awful, ear poison, horrible music!” She cursed, none too quietly. She kicked Tanya’s foot. “We have to stop meeting like this. I thought you agreed to turn the music down?” Sarah and Del floated back from her department, taking their usual positions above and behind her shoulders. “It’s important. I wouldn’t be bothering you while you’re trying to fix our newest addition and you know it.”

The kick prompted an irritable grunt. Still, Tanya shouted out, ”Shithead, lower volume to 20%. Someone’s got a delicate constitution.” she grumbled, pulling herself out from under the Yolac as the music volume cut down considerably. Covered in oil and grease and wearing a pair of grey coveralls that were entirely black in places, Tanya was a veritable mess. Once clear, she sat up, staring up at Serena. ”Block you out? No, I’m simply using an old military tactic called area denial, meaning I’m keeping everyone at arm’s length. Not sure if you noticed, but the whole ship is filled with mopey cunts lately and I’m trying to forget the unfortunate incident with Vellios and Iosif. What could possibly be more important than unfucking our equipment?” Tanya asked, standing up with surprising agility without the use of her hands as she moved to a container that had a bottle of detergent and a pile of rags sitting on it. She began to clean her hands off, shaking her head. ”Shouldn’t you be, you know, in bed recovering? You got fucked up pretty bad. Vellios looked like he was coming to terms with the fact you might die. Pretty crazy, right?”

Serena snorted, rolling her eyes to the heavens. “Delicate constitution my ass….You’re the one who forces me to kick you every time I want to talk in here.” Serena chuckled softly as Tanya continued, rubbing the back of her head. “Mopey Cunts. That’s a new one for ‘team whose members are all having problems at once’.” Which, now that she thought about it, was true. She looked guiltily away as Tanya continued about the incident with Vellios. Serena shuffled out of the way as Tanya got to her feet, watching as she began to clean.

“Being fucked up pretty bad is why I’m here.” She gave a small smile. “If Vellios didn’t have this blank look and was promising to kill Haze, he wasn’t coming to terms with me maybe dying. I talked him down from doing something too stupid. Anyway! You’re good at not getting your face punched in by someone who gets too close to you right?” Serena seemed to shrink in on herself as she continued, embarrassment and shyness coming to the fore. As she ducked her head to avoid looking at Tanya while twiddling with her thumbs.

“Could you, perhaps, maybe, teach me how to not get my own face punched in again….?” She looked up quickly before hurrying in a bit of a babble “You don’t have to, I understand that I’d be a pain in the ass and probably a terrible student and you really don’t have time what with all the vehicles that need maintenance and the vehicles and your own shit with Vellios I’m probably not helping you forget that you’re right, stupid idea I shouldn’t have asked you probably don’t even want someone else to carry around and have to weigh you down and be a general pain in the ass….I’ll just be going...sorry for bothering you…”

”Wait, wait, wait. Are you asking me to teach you how to fight?” Tanya asked, raising an amused eyebrow. ”Or are you asking how you go about not pushing people’s buttons to the point they want to punch you, because I am the exact opposite of what you want for that.”

Serena looked up cautiously. “Yes to the former...the latter I assume I can do on my own.”

A pencil-thin smile crossed Tanya’s face. ”Oh? And what exactly makes you think I’m the one to talk to for that? I’m sure Tonka would get you into shape in no time. Hell, go tell Dex the medbay smells like dinosaur shit after her and one of her fuck buddies desecrated it. She’d give you a crash course without a fuss.”

“Basic Marine training covers melee combat to a proficient degree. Your style is the best suited to work with me. Tonka won’t for obvious reasons. Drono’s is too much based on his insanity. Vellios’ is turian training warped by his time on the Haides. Khosin’s is too brutal, batarian military if I had to guess. Dex prefers to avoid melee combat, relying instead on stealth. Her style, turian training or no, would be sub-par. I’ll be going to her for shooting practice. Iosif’s, given his arm and physical stature, is based on strength I do not possess. Haze is more of a mix of Iosif and Dex. He prefers stealth, but when push comes to shove uses strength I can’t.” Serena stated matter-of-factly.

”You sound like such a dork when you over analyze something.” Tanya interjected, grinning impishly.

Serena rolled her eyes again, shaking her head. Suddenly, she blushed slightly, looking down again and muttering, “All that, and you said you’d keep me safe. It’s stupid, I know, and we just met like two weeks ago, I know, but it made me think of you first. And you’re just one of the people I’m most comfortable around.”

It actually was kind of touching. At least Serena finally cut the the chase and wasn’t hiding behind a wall of pragmatic stoicism. Tanya raised her hand. ”Okay, okay. Puppy dog eyes worked. I’m flattered. First lesson, be ready for anything at any time.” Tanya said, tossing the rag back on the table and crossing her arms. ”Second lesson? Take care of your body and it will take care of you. Lots of cardio, time on a punching bag, basically you need to have the stamina to last a minute at full effort, and most fights only last a fraction of that time. We start at the basics.”

Serena beamed at Tanya, her smile slowly falling as Tanya gave the second lesson. “The basics mean lots of Cardio right now, doesn’t it? Ugh...have I ever told you that I absolutely despise working out? Can’t we just…” She waved a hand vaguely, “Buy cybernetic enhancements and get the same result? No?” Her shoulders slumped. “I didn’t think so.” She heaved a sigh. “Where do we start?”

Tanya approached, and suddenly, she reached out with snap reflexes, grabbing Serena by the wrist and twisting it around her own back, making her arm bend like a chicken wing. ”Remember the first lesson? Now, you don’t have to be stronger than your opponent, but it helps. Failing that, start to figure out pressure points and other weak spots you can exploit. You’re not always going to be bigger or stronger than your opponent, but it doesn’t mean you’re totally at a disadvantage.” Tanya said, releasing Serena with a grin. She stepped back, crossing her arms and leaning against the container. ”You want me to train you? You do exactly what I say for a workout routine and meet up with me once a day for sparring lessons. I also expect a bottle of whiskey every two weeks.” she winked.

Serena cried out as her already bruised arm and stabbed shoulder were wrenched behind her back. She spat out a curse as agony shot through her arm and shoulder. “Fuck. Can’t remember if that was the dislocated shoulder or the stabbed one. Either way this hurts.” She glared at Tanya over her shoulder, listening.

When she was released, she gasped in relief and rolled her shoulder, wincing at the pain. Her head tilted and her eyes narrowed at Tanya, snorting then cursing in pain as it caused a sharp pain in her nose. “I take it these sparring lessons could happen at any moment you damn well please? To enforce lesson 1.”

She gave a mischievous grin. “You’ll have to earn the whiskey. A chess match every two weeks for it. If I recall correctly, you still owe me one at any rate.”

Tanya shrugged. ”If I told you, I’d take the fun out of it. I will say I think it came across well enough already, so I’ll wait until your boo-boos unfuck themselves before we get into the nitty gritty of it all. And hey now, you’re the one asking me for a favour. It’s called commission.” Tanya said, sitting down on the cart again as Shithead floated around the vehicle in sight of both of them. ”And what is with you and chess? I said I’d play you, it isn’t like you’re pulling my arm to do so. We just haven’t had time to sit down and do it yet.” Tanya said, leaning back onto the cart and pushing herself under the Yolac again, leaving her boots exposed. ”I’ll make sure we make time for a game sometime tonight during downtime, probably before I turn in for the night, or whatever the equivalent is during spaceflight.” she called out, continuing the conversation as she traced her fingers along the strut again. Whoever drove it back didn’t do the machine any favours.

“I’m asking you to stick to your promise. Totally different.” Serena retorted, sticking her tongue out at Tanya as the other woman slid back under the Yolac. “What is it with you and blaring terrible music? It has to be more than just ‘I want space and most people won’t put up with that music except annoying people’. I like chess. Reminds me of home and it’s fun to play and teach to these aliens.”

”When have I ever broke a promise to you? Pff. I’m offended.” Tanya replied flippantly, cursing as her finger brushed against a hot piece of steel. The music question made her smile as she continued down the vehicle, trying to locate where a fluid leak was coming from. ”Honestly? I like it. There’s a primal earnestness to it all, and I’m sure you’ve noted most of it’s from aliens. At first, I liked to crank it as a joke because of how absurd it sounded, and to annoy people because I’m a terrible person. But… after a while, I started to listen to it and it grew on me. We live in a wide, beautiful galaxy with so much wonder and so many different kinds of people, and their music is an expression of that. And… Tanya’s smile faded and a long sigh escaped her lips as she found herself stopping her work in recollection.

”It reminds me of home. The people I lost. I was kind of an oddball girl on Terra Nova, grew up largely in the desert and I found my calling in tinkering with old vehicles where other girls stuck their noses into books and dresses and other shit I never really cared much for. People I associated with loved all kinds of music that was like, I don’t know, counter-culture. New age punk, some local metal bands that were a hit with people my age, that sort of shit. None of this sanitized electro synth dance crap and pop music that hasn’t really evolved much in the past two hundred years… stuff that told a story, of experiences, wasn’t afraid to call people and the world out on the shit that was wrong.

“It reminded me of my father, who died in the war. The rest of the galaxy probably loved the turians and how they went about their business, but my father and so many others stood up against their aggression and basically gave the largest and most powerful military in the galaxy a bloody nose they’d never forget. It’s defiance and pride. So, the fact I like my space and play music that people deliberately don’t like is my way of saying, ‘here I am, I dare you to tell me to be like you’. It’s not polite. It’s rude and abrasive, but that’s who I am. I don’t play by the rules of polite society, why do you think I went into merc life instead of taking over the shop when I had the chance?” Tanya said, an earnest pride in her voice.

Serena listened quietly, a small smile playing on her lips.

[color=hotpink]“I figured it was something like that Tanya. Good for you. Though I must say that you’ll be fairly distressed if I ever get enough money to grab dresses and books and other shit you don’t really care for. I love those things.” She looked speculatively at Tanya’s boots. “You know, you’d look really good in a well fitting suit. Even if we somehow wrangled you into a dress, I think you’d look better in a suit. Then again, I haven’t seen you in either, so this is all theory.” She blushed, glad Tanya was staying under the Yolac. “Not that I’m- I don’t mean to impl-Sorry. You probably don’t like being eye dressed by someone you just met. I was always too busy helping dad and mom keep the shop afloat to ever look at or even touch formal clothing. Or even especially pretty dresses. Just had my dreams and imaginings of formal balls and the like.”

”You mistake me. I own dresses. Even go out in them from time to time. What, y’think I spend all this time and product in my hair because I don’t enjoy how I look?” Tanya teased. ”Just because I spent a lot of my life waist deep in some kind of machine and living out in the field for military maneuvers doesn’t mean I don’t find time to clean up, put on the bare minimum make up, and show off the results of the hard cardio and strength training I do for the casual viewer. I like turning heads, Serena. Most girls do from time to time.” she said, not remarking on the sudden shy and embarrassed shift in tone of voice from Serena when she brought up Tanya’s appearance. Why would that be…

Oh.

Ohhhh.

Explained the pink hair.

”Tell you what, next shore leave, we’ll go to a pricy stupid club and grab a few drinks, dance, that sort of thing. We’ll ask Dex if she cares to join us.”

Serena floundered for a moment. “Dresses? I had you pegged as a suit girl. Not that I’m trying to imply that you didn’t-, I didn’t mean-, You’re very- Ugh. I’ll shut up now.”

Serena visibly perked up with excitement at Tanya’s offer. “Really? You wouldn’t mind? I’m sure Dex wouldn’t given her...amorous nature. It’ll be fun! Only other ‘club’ I’ve been to are the school ones in San Pedro Sula, and those were just a lot of drunk teenagers having sex and grinding, and the few we got in Basic. Which were...stiflingly formal. This will be a lovely new experience!” Suddenly she deflated. “But we’ll spend most of the credits trying to make our ship and vehicles less of a death trap...and I don’t have anything other than variations of mechanic clothing, which would probably not be appropriate for a pricy stupid club. You guys can still go! I’ve got plenty to keep me busy here anyways.”

”I work to live, not live to work, as the saying goes, and neither should you. We’ll get you sorted out. I think after Virmire… we all need a bit of a free-form shore leave.”

Serena smiled in gratefulness. “Thank you.”

Her smile dropped and she shifted slightly awkwardly. “And Tanya….Vellios told me what happened, after I refused to sit still until he did so. I’m not gonna defend his actions or try to make you forgive him, but if you ever want to talk about it, or anything else, I’ll be here.” She looked over to her own little section of the hangar. “Most of my shit is here anyway, so it’s not like you’ll have to track me down.” She gave an only slightly awkward chuckle.

Tanya grunted. ”Look, what’s done is done with him. Looking back at it now… the actions he took make sense, I don’t exactly condone it, but I understand. It’s more how smug and dickish he was to me about waking up from a drugged stupor and not having a goddamn shred of compassion for what I was going through that got me. Someone’s scared they got sexually violated on account of being restrained on the same medical bed you know people in your crew fucked on with fucking fuzzy handcuffs? Don’t mock them to their face. Doesn’t take a scientist or a psychiatrist to realize that is a shitty thing to do. But whatever. What’s done is done, and I’m not going to stomp around the ship and causing issues. We barely survived that last mission. Last thing we need to do is have a divide that will get us all killed. I’m not going to drag up skeletons every time him or someone else does something fucking stupid.” She spat, voice dripping with vitriol.

”The facts are Vellios and Iosif were worried I’d get hurt if I wasn’t restrained because they didn’t know what the fuck kind of venom was going through my system. Vellios is an empathy-devoid sociopath without compassion. Iosif’s a bitter fuck who won’t drop a grudge against our batarian team member because he’s of the same species that tortured and enslaved him. I woke up, acted emotionally, it didn’t mesh well, caused friction. We both put that aside to rescue you from your situation and injuries. End of story. In the end, no one took advantage of me, and people are going to be dicks and I’d be a hypocrite if I called them out on it because God knows I have my share of being a jackwad under my belt.”

Serena nodded, then realizing the uselessness of the action, spoke up. “I understand Tanya. But putting your problems aside for the good of the team is not the same as addressing them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I won’t push, but you already know my two credits. Vellios is going to avoid you for a while. He does that when he screws up around people and thinks he’s making them uncomfortable. My offer stands, even if the only thing I can do is listen.”

Tanya scooted out from under the vehicle, looking up at Serena. ”I appreciate your concern, I really do, Serena. Thing is, I’m not the best at putting my heart on the table and I honestly want to pretend the whole ordeal in Virmire didn’t happen. I joined this crew because I was running away from problems, not to find more. I’m just going to follow Tonka’s lead and not give a single fuck about petty things, or at least try not to, and unless someone actually does something that violates me? I’ll put on my big girl pants and get the fuck over it. Not sure if you noticed, but this is not a big ship. It’s way too small to house a grudge. That being said, if he ever wants to, I don’t know, apologize for acting like a cocksucker, I’d be more than happy to accept it.”

Serena sighed, scratching the back of her head. “Yeah. Lot of liking to pretend things didn’t happen going on in this crew. And come on Tanya. You know as well as I that as long as people rub each other wrong there’ll be grudges. Small ship or no. But regardless, I’ll drop it.” She was already planning when she could approach Vellios again about it.

“Is there anything left that you haven’t fixed already? I’m injured, not paraplegic, and can wield an omni-tool well enough to fix these rust buckets.”

”If you have to ask if there’s anything that hasn’t been fixed yet, you may not be qualified for this job.” Tanya teased. ”Everything is busted up. Kite’s flight stabilizer leaking eezo, it’s left view screen keeps kicking in and out, the Yolac’s main gun needs to be stripped down and probably retrofitted, the suspension springs are shot, and that’s not even going into the power issues… so yeah, if you think you can make magic happen, be my guest.”

Serena sighed, stretching her neck from side to side. “I had hoped that you had maybe worked a miracle while I was out. I’ll start on the Kite. The screen won’t be a problem. The Eezo...that might be nasty. I hate working on rust buckets. Sarah, start doing scans on the Kite, Del, run over to my tool belt.”

She glanced at Tanya, smirking. “First person to fix the most of their respective vehicle wins?”

”If we’re doing that, than I’ve already won. I already got a head start on both vehicles, and the ship itself.” Tanya called back. Suddenly, the music kicked up again, and Tanya was back to work, the sounds of welding arcs drowned out by the turian singer.

[Collab @Zombiedude101, @DJAtomika, and @DearTrickster]

Iosif had spent the duration of their departure from Virmire paying close attention to the display at his own little workstation, almost tuned out to the little touches he'd made since claiming it for his own.

Truthfully, he was a little relieved to know that any damage that had been caused by the intrusion of the local wildlife had been superficial at most. The last thing they would've wanted was to be dealing with a loss of functionality of any systems on the ship, especially not whilst they were out in pirate territory. Granted, he'd not forgotten that Tanya was a competent engineer, more than capable of handling the job, but he'd picked up on just how her verbal sparring match with Vellios had gotten under her skin. Not the best state of mind when you were in a rush to keep things running smooth.

And so he'd kept silent for the most part, only speaking to communicate the necessary information with Dex up and until they were about halfway out of the system. Only then did he finally speak up about something other than the immediate task at hand.

"We made a good call with the Kite. She handled rather well back there."

The cockpit crew were totally silent. Iosif and Dex were busy piloting the Borealis away from Virmire, and Hazan was making sure they weren't going off course.

He kept silent. The mission itself was a clusterfuck as soon the first hiccup had occurred. He wasn't sure if it was Tonka getting made, or the storm destroying their turrets, but whatever it was, the mission went tits up. And like it or not, people got hurt.

Dex smiled slowly, "The first chance we get to have a break I'm taking her out. Can't tell you how jealous I was you got the first chance to fly her. Never flown a Kite model before. Maybe squeeze in some target practice." She looked to her co-pilot, his injuries apparent. Then glanced at Haze, solemn but he fidgeted with anxiety.

"So, what happened out there today? Must of been bad, didn't get a response on my hails until we were leaving the compound." She adjusted the thrusters, acknowledging the course adjustments from Haze. "You two look worse for wear, haven't seen the others but I can take a couple guesses. Storm fucked up the equipment, the team sent up to Happy Cliffs made contact, whatever happened here at the ship that had you, Tanya and Vellios back here..." Vaguely gesturing at Iosif.

"I'll understand the piss poor communication skills when you guys tell me what happened."

Hazan sighed and shook his head. Still frustrated over Serena's lasting injury, he snapped at Dex.

"The storm fucked up our turrets. One got totally wrecked, the other started shooting at me and Serena. While she was getting it fixed, some smugglers from the camp found us. They got to Serena before I could, okay? That's why we didn't fucking communicate."

"Cool it, Haze. Dex was out there, too." Iosif grunted, hoping to temper the turian's frustration. It was bad enough that Vellios had been brooding over what happened to Serena without tossing another agitated turian into the mix. For a species of militaristic types, they sure got angsty over things.

But then, who was he to talk? That intrusion from the birds had left him feeling a little sore about the matter, literally in the case of the gouges in his shoulder from those damned claws.

Dex's mandibles pressed flatly as she glared at Haze for his attitude, irritation rumbling across her subvocals only for Haze to hear. In her mind, her calling him out was valid. Iosif thankfully made her point before she could snap back at him.

She believed the situation wasn't enough to excuse ignoring her hails, thinking of dozens of operations similar to today where she still managed to acknowledge a call... Then again they weren't in the military anymore, The Jury Riggers was a crew of mercenaries. She wasn't the communications liaison or in any position of leadership. Her expectations had to be reset.

She grudgingly admitted, "I get it, things went wrong and you called when you got the first chance to. It was better than nothing."

She continued straightening her back, "I heard the reports from the group of smugglers that attacked you while I was hacking the communications network. Believe it or not, I was worried. Persistent radio silence means something horrible happened and it
did."

"Well thankfully the only thing horrible that happened were the turrets and supplies that we lost back there. And, well, Serena getting injured."

He sighed and rubbed his hand over his crests. At least they were in safe hands now, away from danger and away from the stress.

The adrenaline and stress being decompressed in the past few hours took the edge off her anger over the issue of communication during the mission. It'd be a point she'd revisit in the team meeting. Her focus turned to Serena, without Kasy on board they were severely lacking in medical expertise or training.

"How bad are Serena's injuries? Is the first stop going to be a doctor?" She asked Iosif.

"She took a beating. But somehow, I doubt Vellios is going to trust anyone else with her care." He answered, finishing his sentence with an amused exhalation.

"A smuggler sneaked up on her and she got stabbed. She blew the guy up afterward with a point blank omni bow shot. I did what I could to stop the bleeding but once the shuttle landed, Vellios whisked her away and I've not seen her since."

"He's not her father, if she needs a professional we'll find her one." She replied bluntly. "So what brought Tanya and Vellios back to the ship and what gave you those nasty scratches?" She pointed to his organic shoulder.

"Yeah, Iosif. What happened? Last I heard from the ship you three had some troubles of your own."

Hazan swivelled his chair around to face pilot and co-pilot, a small hint of amusement in his sub-vocals.

"When the other two turned up at the ship, they accidentally brought a few specimens of the local wildlife back with them."The slavic pilot's head tilted slightly towards where he'd been attacked by one of the aforementioned specimens. "Vicious little cykas, like birds of prey, but larger, faster and more aggressive. One tried to tear out my throat and left me with these lovemarks." He snorted a little and directly pointed to the gouges in his right shoulder, then used the other arm to indicate the scuff marks on his cybernetic limb.

"Oh, and did I forget to mention that they were venomous, too? Tanya was on the receiving end of that stuff, it's out of her system by now but I'd suggest you avoid bringing it up with her. For both our sakes."

"Fuck, maybe a pit stop to see a doctor wouldn't be a bad idea. If not for Serena but you and Tanya." Dex suggested. "Moreover, why did Tanya and Vellios have to come back to the ship in the first place? Did his injuries start acting up or..." Dex said squinting at Iosif, why would Tanya not want to talk about some venom...

"Mind telling us why it would be a bad idea to bring up it with Tanya? Give us some context."

"Birds? I imagine they'd be smaller than, y'know, a varren or something. It'd be kinda funny if you guys got assaulted by little tiny birds."

Iosif shot Hazan an unamused look. "You're welcome to drop by the planet another time and see for yourself. It's not quite simple when you're trying to avoid shooting up the hangar. As for why it'd be a bad idea to bring it up with Tanya, she had a rough awakening. Just drop it."

Dex pushed, her instincts red flagging her for Iosif reluctance to tell them, "We're going to hear about it one way or another. I'd prefer to hear the objective point of view as opposed to Vellios or Tanya's version of what happened."

She looked at Iosif making eye contact with her co-pilot.

He gave a grunt, paused then finally shrugged with a degree of reluctance.

"When the other two turned up at the ship, they accidentally brought a few specimens of the local wildlife back with them. Little cykas attacked us, Tanya got a good dose of their venom and had to be taken down to medbay, to work it out of her system."

"She was hit with venom? What exactly gave her a rude awakening?" Dex urged.

"A bit insistent there, Dex? Maybe this was something, y'know, harsh on Tanya?"

Hazan folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, propping his legs up on a nearby console. Curiosity crept into his sub-vocals, but he was worried that Dex pushing so aggressively would turn the whole situation into something worse.

But it didn't seem to be particularly bother Iosif. His reluctance to discuss the matter was more out of respect for Tanya and an unwillingness to stir up more drama by bringing the matter up. He figured a little insight couldn't hurt.

"We agreed to restrain her just in case she woke up hallucinating or started having a seizure, something like that, but you know how Vellios can be a smug little fucker, right?" Iosif shifted his focus over towards Dex for a moment to emphasise his point, aware of the... chemistry between the two turians.

Dex nodded and understood what Iosif was laying down.

What an idiot.

"Thanks for clarifying that. I hope Tanya gave him shit for it. If I was in her shoes I would have probably reacted in a similar fashion. Regardless of how well I've come to know him." Dex said with a noncommittal shrug, she hummed with content. "Goes without saying, we're not always going to get along. Fights will happen when we're cramped together on a ship this size. We got lucky with a few level headed personalities to balance out the more chaotic ones. It sounds like you were the balancing act in this case, if no one has acknowledged that - I will. Thank you, Iosif."

She offered a smile.

He shrugged. "Things needed to be kept together. Can't have it all going to shit."

"Thanks, Iosif. And thankfully the team's meshed okay-ish with each other so far. At least, that's what I'm seeing."

Hazan nodded grimly and stretched his arms.

"Well, at least, we are. A good ship is nothing without her bridge crew, eh?"

Brought to you by: @DearTrickster and @Mortarion.

---

Khosin rose from his bed at approximately 2 hours after the Borealis had left Virmire's atmosphere. He winced slightly as the assortment of small wounds, none were lethal in their own right -not even in their current number- and served more as an annoyance than anything else, that he had gathered during the mission. Looking down, he nodded in satisfaction when none of the bandages that he had applied were stained red with his blood "Good, good." He muttered quietly, redressing himself he quickly left the cramped space that was his room aboard the Borealis.

Shortly after he had left his room he made a beeline towards the ship's eezo core, performing a few low-key maintenance to it along with quite a few scans to make sure everything was alright with the old piece of machinery. Once he was satisfied with his work he made his way towards the kitchen in the common area, kneeling down in front of the fridge as he began rummaging for a drink but stopped when he heard the sound of nearby footsteps. He tensed slightly, more out of instinct than any mistrust towards whoever was approaching him, but relaxed after a few seconds "Can I get you anything?" He asked out of courtesy as he continued looking inside the fridge, pulling a bottle of the ale he had brought and putting it on the nearby table while waiting for a reply.

Dex entered the kitchen free of her armour, dressed down to her casual clothes a black tanktop and blue pants. Her prosthetic arm in full view, the shot her arm took earlier was a visible mark but it was no worse for wear. She saw Khosin, hands in the fridge grabbing refreshments. "Actually yeah, can you throw me that bottle of water?"

He tossed her the water and she cracked it open taking a few sips. "Thanks." The turian took a seat on the springy couches stretching out her long legs across the cushions, lounging.

"So Khosin, wanted to thank you for putting up with me today. I know I'm not the easiest to work with. I'm used to working infiltration on my own with no one else to worry about." She said sincerely, offering up an exhausted smile.

Sipping her water again.

Grabbing his bottle of ale, the batarian took a seat on one of the free couches adjacent to the one that Dex had taken for herself "No problem, sure you don't want me to get you anything stronger? Pretty sure there are a couple of dextro drinks." He offered to her, cracking open the bottle fo batarian ale and taking a sip of the alcoholic beverage.

He relaxed on the couch as he felt the burning sensation of the alcohol going down as he drank it, but was pulled out of his self-absorbed state when he heard Dex speaking to him. He listened attentively to what his turian comrade told him, shifting the bottle from one hand to the other as she spoke "Hey, no worries, that's what teammates are for." He said, offering her a smile "Plus, I should be the one thanking you, after all you helped me evade those smugglers who were chasing me." He pointed out to Dex, still smiling a little as he took another sip of his ale "Plus, the mission was successful in the end." He said with a shrug "So, cheers to that." He said, raising up his bottle in the turian's direction in an impromptu toast as he let out a soft chuckle.

She lifted her bottle up to toast. "Have at it, Khosin. I am way too exhausted to start drinking." Contemplating the difference in success he must of seen. After what she heard what happened to the observation team from Haze and Iosif, it was enough to kill any buzz. "Wish I shared the sentiment. The failures today seem to outweigh whatever we accomplished. Sure we got a truck and a shuttle from the arrangement, for a severely injured Serena and Drono. Lost Kasy, weird tension sprung up between Vellios and Tanya." Pressing the water bottle to her face plates. "Knowing Vellios he's probably got it out for Haze now with what happened to Serena."

She groaned, "The night I need to unwind and both of my options are wrapped up in their own shit." She pushed herself up to sit, finding the couch rather uncomfortable. "Ahh, sorry Khosin. I'm rotten company to keep when I am equal parts exhausted and pessimistic. All in all, the vehicles are a huge deal."

Khosin snorted unintentionally when Dex said that the failures of the day seemed to outweigh whatever accomplishments they had made "Sorry, didn't meant anything by that...I was just thinking what my old CO back in the BIF would say about that." Said Khosin, taking another sip of his ale before clutching the bottle more tightly "Yeah, this reminds me of a story....back when I Was still with the Hegemony's military." He said, his voice barely rising above a whisper but he was sure that Dex'd be able to hear him.

Dex sat forward elbows on her knees. Levelling her gaze at him, his tone gave away more than his expression. Four eyes focusing on the bottle and disappearing into the memory.

"It was a joint operation with the Special Intervention Unit, we were to crush some uprising....a group made of some revolutionary groups and runaway slave in a planet much like Virmire." He continued talking, taking another sip of his ale as his mouth suddenly felt all too dry "We were entering this little shanty town....everything seemed to be going fine and then, suddenly, an explosion and the next thing I know the unit's commander is dead, turned to red goop." He said, pausing for a second to take a long sip off of the bottle. "Won't bore you with the details, but we ended up crushing the group....at the cost of most of my unit, me and only one other soldier survived that shit show and what does the CO tells us once we are back? Huh, c'mon, guess." Spat Khosin, venom in his voice as he clutched the bottle in his hand, his biotic field briefly flaring before he calmed down after a deep breath.

"The fucker said 'Excellent job, you are both to be commended for your action.'" Khosin pantomimed his old CO, patting Dex's shoulder to further complete the act. "13 out of 15 men dead, and we get told that our mission was a success, so my standards might be a bit low." He chuckled acidly, finishing off the bottle of ale and heading to the fridge once more and fishing out a second bottle.

Dex twitched at the apparent anger and when he patted her shoulder. Watching him go back to the fridge. "That's terrible. That commander is fucked up, I'm sorry you got dealt a shitty order." Watching him the tension screwed up in the Batarian's back. Dex squinted, a little putt off by his sudden sharing.

The batarian was quiet for what seemed like an eternity in his mind, although probably it had been at most a minute, taking frequent sips of his bottle "Now....if we are talking about bad missions..." He said, his voice quivering slightly as his shoulders slumped down. When he raised his face to look at Dex, there was a haunted look in each of his eyes "Nothing will ever top Mindoir....nothing...." He said, his voice quivering once more, before almost downing the second bottle in one gulp, Khosin's entire body now shivering as old memories came rushing back to him.

Dex's eyes flashed, she jumped up and shoved her hand against his mouth knocking the bottle from his hand. She hissed, "Shut the fuck up! Are you insane?"

"Do you want to be thrown out the fucking airlock? You know how well the humans, let alone the others will take that little fact? Mindoir was a fucking tragedy! What the fuck possessed you to admit that?" She snarled checking both entrances to the common area. "Spirits!"

Dex pushed away from him, stepping up to the far exit looking out the door for anyone. She stomped over to the other side and looked around for anyone. Her talons clenched and she paced the kitchen. Angry, that she was willing to stick up for him if things came from push to shove. Infuriated now that he stuck her with this secret.

When Dex shoved her hand against his mouth Khosin had to fight back the reflex to bite down as hard as he could. When she let go he listened in silence as she rambled, before letting out a bitter chuckle afterwards "Perhaps I do wanna be thrown out of the fucking airlock....or better yet, why I don't go back to my room and pick up one of the gun's there and shoot myself....I think the Kishock would be perfect don't you think?" He said, a feverish look on his eyes as he began to pace around the room like a caged animal.

Her jaw was set in a hardline, staring. Angry but terrified anyone else could walk through the doors and right in on this awful conversation. Dex had run into, spied on, and worked with soldiers dealing with heavy trauma and PTSD. The horrors of war and frontline fighting sticks with you. Hell, regular psyche evaluations were mandatory during her time in with the Hierarchy. Clearly mental health wasn't a priority for the batarians and the Hegemony.

"Because, of course, Mindoir was a tragedy, you think I need someone to tell me that....but have you ever considered that it might have scarred more than a few of the insane fuckers like me that were part of that fucking mess." He said, his biotic aura flaring up again, "You don't think I have nightmares? By the Pillars, I am a monster....I know that well enough without you having to tell me...." He said, collapsing onto the couch once more, grabbing the bottle and finishing it down in one gulp.

"I'm not looking for pity, I don't know what drove me to say that....maybe the alcohol, maybe because I trust you, perhaps both." He said as he began to pace again nervously, the feverish look still in his eyes as he walked in circles mumbling to himself in his native tongue.

Her face screwed up as she took in a deep breath, settling herself and trying to think clearly past her anger. Khosin was wrapped in layers of loathing, memories and now a few bottles of ale. Teetering on the edge of doing something incredibly stupid. He owed her such a big favour for this.

She plucked the ale out of his hand, grabbing him by the cuff she led him out of the kitchen ignoring his flaring biotics. "Put up a fight and I'll knock you out faster than you can throw me with those biotics." She warned and dragged him.

Walking him to down to Life Support away from any prying eyes or ears. She settled him down against the wall of the ship and took a seat next to him. She brought up her omnitool, looking for an old recording of her favourite radio broadcast.

The music from the radio began to play to help drown out any remaining noise that the whirring machinery didn't cover.

Khosin didn't resist when Dex grabbed him by the cuff, not answering when she told him that if he put up a fight she'd knock him out before he had time to react with his biotics, following in an almost mindless state when the turian woman began making his way towards the Life Support section of the ship.

"There. Now, spill every detail. Get it all out of your system, I'll keep whatever you have to say right here and now secret. Mindoir, the Hegemony, let it out. You're keeping all this poison in you Khosin and it'll be the death of you if you don't let it out." She said looking him in the eye. "I'm angry as fuck right now but I've got all night to listen. So, start talking. I handle fucked up well." Dex rested her chin against her mechnical fist.

Khosin settled down next to Dex and nodded slowly when she told him to tell her everything "Might take a while, whole thing is a tangled mess." Said the batarian with a sigh. He began by telling Dex about his life, or more specifically how his father had lost the family's fortune via a bad investment in a colonization venture. "Things were bad after that....we almost didn't have money, we were just one step ahead of having to sell ourselves as slaves to buy food." He said quietly, falling silent for a few seconds as he gathered his thoughts.

"With no other option left, I joined the Hegemony's military...I was pissed off, pissed at the Alliance for having taken the world we Batarian's had already begun colonizing, hating them and humanity for having ruined my family. I was pissed off at the Council for not lifting a finger to help, not even when thousands of families lost their homes and credits after that failed venture." Said Khosin his hands balled into fists as he simmered with a long buried rage. It took him a few more seconds to calm down once again and once he had managed to do so resumed his tale.

He spoke to Dex of his time in the Batarian Internal Forces, shivering slightly as he recalled all the uprisings (both of slaves and resistance groups) that he had crushed along with his unit during his two year stay with the BIF.

"I can relate to that to some degree. Being angry, right down to the very marrow of your bones." Dex mumbled focusing on her mechanical talons flicking the blow torch open and closed. Khosin's family was fucked over by the Alliance and their heavy handed push for colonization rights. The Council took their opportunity to snub the Hegemony by taking what they had and giving it away. News, reports and historians would one day refer to the Skyllian Blitz as 'galactic politics', the consequences were sitting right beside her. Spirits, she hated government.

He paused when it came the time to mention why he had left the Hegemony's armed forces, "Truth be told....I am a deserter of the Hegemony, me and a bunch of other batarians, all unstable like me during that time, were given official discharge, but it was all for show....instead we were rolled into a black ops unit. Our job was to harass Alliance convoys, perfect for those of us with a grudge to settle, and funnel back resources to the Hegemony by a contact within the Specials Intervention Unit." He said to her, his voice quivering once more. "Eventually however we began to grow more independent, more brutal, until the day finally came that we disobeyed our orders and instead of attacking our assigned target we went after bigger prey....Mindoir...." He stopped speaking for a few seconds, "We joined up with the rest of the slavers massing to attack the planet and well, the rest is history you could say..." He told her, shivering slightly as he spoke.

Prey, innocent colonists were prey. Her fist clenched, her anger rumbled through her subvocals. He helped take away the future he was supposed to have from the human colonists. Deciding too late that she was too exhausted to handle the full capacity of this conversation.

Fuck.

"A short while after Mindoir I joined the Blue Suns for a time." He said his fingers gently brushing the faded tattoo in his neck, "If you'd asked me back then why I left my old slaver crew, I'd have told you that I was bored....but I think that the reality of what I was doing finally began to catch up with me as my hate diminished." He explained to Dex, shaking his head slightly.

She gave him a withering look, despite the surmounting horror Khosin caused the guilt was evident.

He finished his story by explaining to Dex how, as guilt caught up with him, he became more unstable again while he was with the Blue Suns, getting into fights with his comrades and superiors, until he was kicked out of the organization. "And that's my tale, the only other thing worth mentioning is my time among the Riggers and I don't need to tell you about those." He said with a defeatist sigh, turning to look at Dex and waiting for her reaction.

The silence settled between the two of them and the turian struggled on what to say next. At a loss. Khosin used to be a slaver, a pirate and then a unhinged Blue Suns merc. The reserved and often apologetic ship hand, Khosin. The two images weren't matching up. She squinted, she wanted to judge him and tell him he was horrible. Tell him, no matter how guilty he felt right now, it would never take back the things he had done.

Quietly, she knew that wasn't fair giving one previous pirate crewmate a pass and not giving the former slaver the same chance... Well not exact same but her moral compass was shaking. She began, switching tact, "You joined this crew to... accomplish what? Some sort of redemption? You've got a lot of work to do."

Khosin shrunk instinctively at the withering look that Dex shot at him, brief thoughts of panic, that she was going to tell the rest of the crew and other similar thoughts, floated through his mind before she spoke again, asking him if he was looking for some sort of redemption when he joined the Borealis crew.

It's instinctive but he let out a bitter chuckle before shaking his head at the turian sitting next to him. "No....I'd like redemption....but I don't think I'll ever get it, don't think if one with as much blood in my hands can get it." He said, letting out another humorless chuckle.

"Listen to me, I sound like a character from a holo-drama....but on more serious thoughts, it was my family that drove me to join the crew of the Borealis." He explained to her, tapping on his omni-tool for a brief second and a picture sprung to life. It showed an old batarian couple, about 50 years old or so, a much younger Khosin and 3 kids. "This is my family, it's a picture before...before we lost everything." He explained to her, his voice quivering ever so slightly as he closes the picture, "My father, my mother, my brothers and sister, are still in Hegemony controlled space, toiling away in a variety of jobs to try and stay afloat." He said to her once more, "I send half of my pay back to them...I want to get them out of the Hegemony, relocate them to Illium if possible, so that they have a chance at a better life." He said to her softly, falling silent as he waited to hear what she'd say next.

She leaned over and studied the faces of his family, listening intently. Family, it wrenched her mind away, he wasn't focused on redemption but trying to help with what he had left. What little he held dear, was his family. Enough reason to not run off and kill himself as well, that brought her a little relief.

"I don't know what to say, Khosin. You've done... horrible things. None of it is okay. Yet here you are willing and ready to be shot out into the vacuum of space from the guilt. I..." She trailed off awkwardly. Taking a deep breath in summoning the dredges of energy she had left, "Despite hearing the whole story I still stand by what I told you, this shit doesn't make or break you. I'll need you to swear to me you'll one, keep this a secret and I'll do the same. Two, after we're done here you'll get some sleep instead of leveling a gun to your head."

She elbowed his gut to shake him from his shivers, prod him back to reality. "You owe me big time for this Khosin, but I'm not going to negotiate favours right now."

Khosin listened in silence as Dex spoke, taking in her words into his mind. He was silent for a few seconds before he let out a soft sigh, "Thank you Dex....for listening to me." He said, letting out a soft sigh as he gathered his thought "For being a friend....it's been a long time since I've talked about these kind of things with other people, years even." He said with a light frown, nodding when she told him to keep this conversation between them secret and to go and get some sleep instead of leveling a gun at his head.

He was a bit surprised when she elbowed him in the gut, stopping him from shivering any further and bringing him back to the present, "I know, I know, thank you Dex." Said Khosin softly, smiling a little towards Dex as he settled against the walls of Life Support, letting out a sigh.

"Sorry for dragging you into all of this." He said quietly, frowning to himself as he realized that if anyone found out it wouldn't be just him that'd be in danger, but that some of it could bleed off towards Dex as well.

She shrugged, "Not much else to do or apologize for now that the secret is out." The clink of metal in shoulder was apparent.

"I'm not a therapist by any means, but I'm here if you need to vent." She pushed up from the wall to stand about to give him a warning but another look at the Batarian told her he understood how serious this was, "If you're alright with it I need to find my bunk and sleep off this exhaustion. Uh, I kind of regret asking for you to spill all your details now. But... I'm glad listening helped you. Sleep well, if you can."

Khosin nodded a little bit when Dex said that there was nothing else to do or apologize for now that his secret was out. "Still, doesn't stop me from feeling like shit for dragging you into this mess with me. I'll make it up to you somehow." Said the Batarian, not exactly sure how he'd make it up for Dex but still willing to do so.

"And yeah, I know, thanks....uh, if you need to vent I'm here as well." He said, shifting slightly before pushing himself up from the wall shortly after Dex. "Yeah, yeah, I'll probably head to my bunk and crash off." He said, nodding slightly. "Not sure about the sleeping well part, haven't done that in years, but I think I'll sleep a bit easier tonight." He said, shaking Dex's hand lightly before he went off to his room.

Watching him leave and turn a corner she stuck her fists deep in her pockets, turning off the radio she had playing. Her thoughts racing without sign of slowing down. She waited a few minutes before heading out as well.

Quietly cursing, "Fuck."

Serena gingerly made her way through the hallways of the Borealis, cursing quietly under her breath, hoping the pain meds would kick in soon. They were already taking too damn long. And hoping that she didn’t take too much. She was quite certain that she was far from an overdose limit, but she didn’t want to find out how much it took to make her loopy.

As she made her way farther down the hall towards Vellios’ room, she began to feel better. The pain receded to a small, dull ache and she began to feel a bit...floaty. “Finally.” She muttered, rounding the corner and slamming smack dab into Dex. “Ooph!” She stumbled back. “I’m sorry I should have been paying attention...Dex!” She beamed at the Turian as a thought she had forgotten to ask Tanya popped in her head. “Just who I was looking for! How is everyone on the crew?”

“Serena! What are you doing out of bed?” Dex had been making her way back to her quarters after a taxing conversation with Khosin. She desperately hoped Khosin didn’t stop to talk to anyone on his way to his own bunk.

“Have to know if everyone is okay. That my fuck up didn’t get anyone else hurt.” Serena replied, somewhat stubbornly.

“Yeah, everyone is fine for the most part. Heard what happened to you from Iosif and Haze. Seriously, you shouldn’t be moving around right now.” The evidence of her injuries were clear as day, bruising, bandages covering the slice on her neck. The stab wound also under layers of bandages. Her eyes were dilated, assumingly from medication. Burns frayed some areas of her clothing. “C’mon let’s head to the common area to sit and chat.”

Offering her arm for Serena to hold onto.

“Thank you. I feel like shit and everything hurts. Which is probably what happens when you detonate an explosive crossbow bolt right in front of you.” Serena smiled happily at the Turian as she leaned on Dex’s arm. Then she frowned. “Wait. What did you mean ‘for the most part.’” Her eyes got wide with alarm. “Did someone get hurt. Did I get someone hurt?”

Dex frowned back down at the human, she had resorted to using a exploding crossbow bolt?

Beaten up? Those shits downplayed it.

“Dex. What do you mean ‘for the most part?’” She suddenly looked even more worried, almost fearful. “Did someone die? Did I get someone killed again?”

They walked to the common area and Dex explained, “Relax, the smugglers making contact didn’t affect much beyond getting yourself hurt.” She set Serena down and took a seat herself. Letting out a long sigh leaning back into the springy cushions. Her instincts were waving red flags at her again, was it the medication helping Serena along in jumping to conclusions or did she honestly think her mistakes got crew killed?

“Was going to wait to tell everyone when we all sat down and debriefed officially but Kasyra disappeared. Last I saw her was when we sold the guns, she didn’t respond to any of my calls. It’s unconfirmed if she deserted us or what her status is.” Dex said, casting a side glance at Serena. “Couldn’t go back to look for her. It was too risky.”

Dex pulled up her omnitool suppressing a yawn, “No new messages since we left Virmire.”

Serena’s eyes squeezed shut, attempting to block the tears that rushed into them. She failed. “Fuck. Not again. Why do I always….” She trailed off, opening her eyes at Dex’s yawn, and feeling even guiltier at how tired the turian looked.. “I’m sorry. You’re probably drop dead tired what with all the shit you went through in the camp because I was busy not doing my job. Get some sleep. Thanks for telling me about Kasy.” She got up to leave with a shaky smile.

Dex leaned forward and tugged on the back of her shirt.

“Sit. I’m tired but I’m not letting you run around the ship looking like you do. What happened to you didn’t fuck everything up.” Dex said firmly looking Serena in the eye. “From what I heard from Iosif and Haze it was a group effort. We don’t know if Kasy is dead or alive, Tonka’s theory is she ran off at the first whiff of Blue Suns. Point is, it’s not your fault.” Dex insisted. She all but forced Serena to sit again.

Dex stood up and said, “I’m getting you some water.”

Serena weakly struggled against Dex before sitting down and putting her head in her hands..

“Like hell it didn’t. It was my job to keep an eye on everything and report when things went wrong. Instead, I barely managed to report a problem before getting my ass kicked and the entire operation exposed by the smugglers. Which resulted in all of you being chased out of the base and Kasy being killed. Don’t give me that ‘we don’t know what happened to her’. Kasy was many things, but she wasn’t one to just suddenly disappear. And the smugglers didn’t just go ‘Oh hey, you’re part of that group that we know are fake and probably spies for the Alliance? Sign on board!’ I got her killed. Just add her to the god damned list.” She didn’t bother looking up as Dex returned.

Dex listened to Serena’s terrible reasoning to pinning everything that happened on herself. She didn’t know what happened down in the camp, the risk largely being created by what the Infiltration team orchestrated on their own. Putting the glass of water on the table in front of her.

“I’m about to blow your mind Serena, because shit still isn’t your fault.” She flopped down beside her again putting her arm up over the ledge of the couch. “Tonka created a distraction for Drono and I to sneak into the communications centre, while I was busy with my head in a console Drono and Khosin were trying to sabotage the best they could. You don’t know half of what happened and you’re assuming everything is your fault. How dumb is that?” She gave Serena a half hearted grin, noting the glassy sheen in her eyes.

“Kasy… Kasy isn’t our problem anymore. You’re not going to like it, regardless if she’s dead or not. Her disappearance still isn’t your fucking fault.” Dex tugged on Serena’s earlobe. “What’s it going to take for you to believe me? More cold hard facts… or let you have a good cry?”

Serena reluctantly looked up as Dex leaned next to her, already figuring out what she actually did wrong to get Kasy killed. “Alright, fine. You all exposed yourselves. I still should have alerted you when I saw Tonka’s shields dropping faster than an Elcor in freefall. You would have known and been prepared rather than caught by surprise when things went to shit. Instead, I was busy fucking around with a turret in a rainstorm, while the smugglers were moving against you. Drono and the rest were caught off guard, and Kasy probably was too. The smugglers don’t shoot to maim either.” She gave a bitter chuckle. “I can attest to that.”

She curled on herself more when Dex pulled on her earlobe. “Crying doesn’t help. It didn’t help for Janet, Silus, Barat, or any of the rest. It’s not going to help with Kasy.”

There it was, names and all. She’d lost teammates before and now was being painfully reminded of it with Kasy. “Serena… Taking everything that happened today and calling it your mistake isn’t going to solve anything. Like I said earlier it was a group effort. Every reason you just listed off was a should have done this or could have done that.” Dex said, sincere. “If the rest of those names on the list could see you right now, they’d be telling you the same thing I am.”

Serena gave a harsh laugh, though it was more of a wracked sob. “Silus got shot in the back by some mercs coming after us, protecting me while I fucked around with a locked door. Barat was killed by grenades because I wasn’t fast enough to cover him with a barrier too. But you can call those just dangers of the job right? Well I got Janet fucking captured by batarian slavers. We were supposed to be evacuated out. The colony was under attack and the mission was completed. Quick and clean.”

“Then I ran back out to go get someone who was lagging behind, and Janet was my protection detail so she followed. Harpooned through the leg and dragged behind their lines. Try and tell me that wasn’t my fucking fault. Try and convince me that the rumors I hear about batarians slaves are just exaggerated. I’ve heard it a thousand times over. Doesn’t do a damn thing. You want more examples about what a fuck up I am? I’ve got five other people dead because of me. Spencer, Omar, An, Hannah, Soban. All my-”

“That’s enough, Serena. I fucking get it.” Dex stopped her, glaring at Serena. She took a deep breath in. Her expression evening out again, “I get it, alright? We can turn this into a pissing contest on who has fucked up more in a vain attempt to make the other feel better. You can throw examples at me all day, but I’ll still be sitting right here. You’ll still be a ball of guilt but…” She gestured vaguely at their surroundings, “At least you’re not alone in this. You’ve got Vellios, Tanya...and me. Much like fucking up is a group effort, pulling your head out of your ass will be too. Yeah?” She smiled at her, genuinely hoping this time her attempt to make her feel better would actually work.

Serena stared at Dex for a moment, in minor surprise. Then she broke down and started sobbing, covering her face with her hands. Her next words were nearly unintelligible through her crying. “Why? Why do you care so much? I’m just going to get you killed too. I’m gonna create a fucking malfunctioning droid, or not be fast enough again...why. Why don’t you just save yourself while you can?”

Gently rubbing her back with her organic hand she quietly joked, “Maybe I see a little of myself in you. Maybe I’ve got a heart in this carapace somewhere. Who knows, I’ve got this mysterious spy rep to keep up. Keep you on your toes.”

“Besides, I get to be the only who decides on how I die. Fuck accidents, stray bullets and bad luck. You can officially not worry about getting me killed because I say so.” She let out a tiny chuckle, then asked, “Is it alright if I give you a hug?”

Serena gave a broken laugh, throwing her arms around Dex’s shoulders. “Of course it is. Silly question.”

Dex wrapped her arms around Serena’s torso, gently as she could. Patting her back, relief flooded through the turian with another wave of physical and mental exhaustion rolling over her. She let out a sigh and content hummed through her sub vocals. They sat together while Serena cried herself out, not much else needing to be said.

Serena pulled back, wiping her eyes. She eyed the turian’s clearly tired form and tsking. “Go to sleep Dex.” She ordered firmly, shooing the turian. “I’m fine now, and I’ll just crash on this couch. My bed is in the hangar anyway. Sleep. Now.”

Dex slowly pushed herself up and ran one eye over Serena, “You don’t have to tell me again. Good night, Serena.”

For The Jury Riggers, the voyage back was uneventful and perhaps more than a little tense. Whatever events had transpired on Virmire had left its share of scars, both physical and otherwise, with most of the crew. Each member went around doing their duties, many staying out of each other’s way and actively avoiding conversations with certain individuals. Tanya herself largely kept to her work area, working on routine maintenance to both the Yolac and Kite with her music even louder than usual; it was all but a sign that she didn’t want to be bothered.

For Tanya, coping with things was simply a matter of removing people from the equation and focusing on her work. There were times she wanted to talk to people about serious shit from time to time; she was only human after all, but as a whole when things started to turn into the depressing shit show that had preoccupied most of the crew of the Borealis since the fuck-up that was their mission on Virmire. Vellios had all but locked himself in his quarters, Serena was ridden with guilt and feeling helpless, Haze was all too aware of Vellios’ anger at him for “abandoning” Serena, Drono was in screeching agony, and Tonka… seemed happy, for whatever reason. He never made it a secret he was along for the ride with the team to see how badly a team could fuck up from the beginning, and with Kasy gone; he acted like he was told he was going to be a father or whatever the krogan equivalent of life goals were.

She still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of her own predicament. Had she overreacted to what Vellios and Iosif did, how they reacted? Perhaps, but she still felt her anger was justified. It was just one of those situations where logic didn’t trump emotions, and she felt like her trust was violated. It was a hideous feeling, especially since deep down, she knew they were both making the best of an unenviable and shitty situation; the cuffs were literally all there were at hand. While she resolved to work past it and try to accept it as a situation come and gone, she knew it wouldn’t be so easy just to drop it from her mind, especially since Serena was now in the now and whatever her issues, one thing she was good for was not letting an issue die if it concerned Vellios. He’d almost certainly be getting an earful about the whole ordeal, which made Tanya groan just thinking about it. Some things just needed to get buried fast, and their spat was one of them.

She’d just have to carry on like everything was normal, or at least force herself to. It was naïve to think a bunch of strangers weren’t going to have growing pains in the beginning. The important thing was most of them were still alive, with Kasy still a big mystery. She didn’t know the quarian that well, past the fact she seemed to be a bit too intense, but still, it was another person in her life gone in the line of duty. It was worth toasting her in drink, at least. She had passed by Dex through the corridor leading to the cockpit earlier, with a prompt asked, ”Drinks?”

”Drinks.” the turian affirmed, and both carried on their respective ways. As far as Tanya was concerned, the encounter was a binding agreement.

The rest of the voyage remained more or less as awkward and tense as it was at the outset, with silent meals, avoided eye contact and conversations among much of the crew, and by the time the Borealis touched down on Elysium, there was a sense of relief just to be out of the confining steel alloy hull as a bunch of forced acquaintances. It was only a short shuttle ride to Hecate Base for a debriefing with Donnelly, and the relief was short lived.

The crux of the mission was that the remaining armour and weapons they didn’t manage to sell were returned and the team had to explain why exactly they managed to not only compromise their entire operation, but fail to offload all of their cargo, and there was always a chance that what they did get rid of was going to be handled suspiciously. Unfortunately, because the tracked equipment wasn’t distributed, only a handful of the total gear was providing the data the team was sent to collect, namely where the weapons and armour would have been distributed to lead to further contracts to strike against the operations of the gangs and illicit groups that used the smuggler camp on Virmire. While the mission wasn’t a complete failure, it would have been hilariously inadequate to describe it being remotely close to a success. Donnelly was not happy, to say the least, even going so far as to rebuke himself for giving the up and coming Riggers the benefit of the doubt; it was a job for professionals.

And so, the mission was concluded with a 15,000 credit paycheque, a fraction of what they would have been looking at had the mission been successful, and the team was escorted out of the base. They would have to scour Illyria for potential contracts to take on, but for the time being, it was widely agreed on that shore leave was direly needed. Agreeing to meet back at the Borealis in two days’ time, The Jury Riggers headed back to the ship to make their arrangements for the following days to recharge and to put the unfortunate setback behind them.

While the mission to Virmire definitely fell apart in the worst way possible, the Riggers did gain two new vehicles which would expand their contract options, and 15,000 credits would certainly get enough fuel and supplies to take them to their next operation.

Hazan sighed as he scrolled through another boring news article onmitool. His talon was wrapped around a whiskey glass, half full of turian brandy. Iced, of course.

It'd been two days after the mission on Virmire. Their course was locked for Elysium but they'd still take time to get there. In the mean time, the crew were doing their own thing. And for Hazan, that meant some severe drinking.

The fact that he'd been unable to stop that smuggler on Virmire from severely hurting Serena... It'd been on his mind for ages. He was sure that Vellios wouldn't forgive him for how badly he'd left her unattended. Hell, he wouldn't forgive himself for letting that smuggler hurt her either. It'd been on his watch. Only him. And he'd let Serena down. He'd let Vellios down too.

And himself.

He sighed and downed another swig of his brandy, appreciating the strong warmth that traveled down into his belly. If anything, the booze helped him forget. For a time.

Serena walked into the bridge room, knocking on the side of the door to get Haze's attention. The turian was drinking, heavily from the looks of it. "Hey Haze. How' are you?" She walked into the bridge, shooing her two drones away as she did so. She some how doubted the turian would want anything more than absolutely necessary for this upcoming conversation.

Hazan looked up and saw... Serena.

He sat up straighter in his chair, a little dumbstruck that she was walking around now. But woozy as he was from the drinking, he slumped back into his chair and his gaze fell towards his omnitool.

She made her way over to where Hazan was sitting and sat in a chair across from him, resting her chin on her hand. "Well? How are you?"

He looked at her, sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know... Happy I guess? That you're up and about. Yaaaay. I didn't completely fail at something for once."

Serena shook her head. "It wasn't your fault Haze. My readouts only mentioned five, and you dealt with all of them. It was simple bullshit with the rain that allowed the other one to slip by and my fault for not having done proper training that got my ass kicked."

She gestured towards the exit. "Don't worry about Vellios. He would've been upset if you'd have let me gotten so much as a splinter. He'll get over himself. You did come back, which is a lot of brownie points over the last group he was pissy at, so you're budding friendship isn't ruined."

"Yeah but I know him enough to know that he's pissed. And...part of me's pissed that I let you down too. Vel trusted me to take care of you and I didn't."

"You didn't fail me either though. It was just bad luck. A massive combination of rain, me sending away my drone, and my shitty fighting skills. Nothing we can do about the first two as rain cares not for our plans and Del will have to assist people at some point. I'm fixing the third one though, so don't worry your pretty little crests. Tanya will help me not get my faced punched in and Dex is working on making sure I have enough accuracy to make Tanya's training a rarity." She suddenly grinned at him. "Ooh, Vel? That's friendly. I like it."

Hazan took a sip from his glass and huffed. All that booze in his system made his mandibles loose, and since the object of his mood was...well, in front of him, he spilled. His voice was low, tinged with guilt.

"It...reminded me of my old crew. Years ago, someone just like you sacrificed herself so we'd get away with a job. Someone I cared about just as much as I care about the crew of this ship. Including you. I was hoping that you wouldn't suffer the same she did and I was right. But...to come so close to losing another... I just couldn't take it."

"We all have our ghosts Haze. But blaming yourself for something out of your control is neither honoring their memory or helping you be prepared for the situations that are in your control. But if you really insist, I'll stick really close to you next time. You'll just have to deal with me constantly tripping and making noise while you try to sneak." She smiled at him.

He smiled rather wryly and shook his head.

"Yeah...thanks, I guess. I'm just glad you're okay, Serena."

Serena chuckled. "You and me both Haze. Now I can give you your gift on time." She stood up, seeming to prepare to head out. "You're sure you're okay? Nothing else you want to talk about?"

He nodded, but stood and turned off his omnitool and console.

"Yeah, nothing else. But I think I'm done here tonight. Maybe for a while. The chairs here aren't comfortable for sleeping in."

A few hours after Dronos painkiller incident.

Pain. That was the worst part. The pain of nerves dying, synapse by synapse giving up due to multiple infections. He didn't know how how long he had laid there. From the buildup of drool, he imagined it quite a while. He didn't have a memory of dragging himself back to his room. That was scarier then anything, his memory was meant remember practically everything. His cocktail had been way off.

He curled up, fishing out a set of tools and started to tinker with his newly aquired SMG. "I am alive. And that is swell." He said, his voice soft as his throat was hoarse from from screaming. "Yestin is alive, I'll send him to hell" He mumbled as he undid the clasp for the cooling unit and slid it out of its groove. Next was the ironsight, it had been crooked. He put it down and looked it over skeptically.

"Should I tell them to hurry?" He mumbled ro himself, realizing the sooner he was off to the clinic, the better. He gingerly removed the stock and put it next to the rest. A twinge of pain ran up his arm. "No, I cannot cause them to worry." He mumbled ot himself again. The rhyming was something he had picked up to amuse himself back in the day. It used to drive Yestin mad, so now he kept it up simply becouse knew somewhere out there, Yestin was growing irrationally angry over something. The receiver came next, he stared long and hard at the piece. "Yeah. That does happen when you drag a gun trough mud."

"You are being used." The voice came to him unbidden. Drono wasn't classically deranged. Just as much of the rocker you would expect a man, Drell, shot in the back would be. But ever so often when doubt crept up his spine and often after coming down his painkillers, there would be a voice nagging him.

"Maybe." He said to nobody. "If I am being used by a group of mercenaries. I am using them to get back at my adversaries." He began to clean the receiver, squinting at it. "If they are legit, and this will last, then I need to find Yestin fast." He mumbled, still rhyminig.

"IN the end it will be fine. We just cannot cross that line."

"I did cross that line. Becouse lady was mighty fine." He grinned a bit. "Mighty fine..." His hand twitched with a sudden flare of pain and he dropped the piece he had been working on. The collant cell dropped with a hollow thunk

"I'm not fine." He said, staring at his shaking hand as the reality of his situation came crashing down. This time, no tears fell. What he felt wasn't the strange, overwhelming sadness that was invoked in him under the influence of drugs and his memories. It was a insane, white hot anger. It gave him clarity. It gave him purpose. He put the rest of his smg together and stared at the door.

"No. We are not fine. But that is ok." He surmised.