Serena barged into Vellios’ room, grunting as she dragged the large crate behind her. ”Hey Vellios! I finally got around to giving you that gift I was talking about. Care to help? Everything is still sore and I have this pounding headache because I let those two idiots convince me to drink something. How are you?”

Vellios grunted, his arm hung from his hammock above, and twisted over to the edge. His icy blue eyes peered down at her as his chin rested on the end, cradled by the cloth while he watched her for a moment. With a quiet groan, he moved his legs then casually slide off the hammock then dropped to the floor with a heavy thump. Shaking off the grogginess he moved toward where Serena stood, hauling her collected trinkets from her girls’ night out and reached to help her.

“I’m doing well. Took a walk, got into a sparring match, and cleared the air with Tanya thought I’m pretty sure she trusts me as far as she can throw me in earth gravity.” He said then stopped, noting the smug look Serena gave him, “Don’t give me that smug look. I didn’t want you harassing me into doing it later and that’s why I did it.”

”Doesn’t mean it didn’t wooooooork.” Serena replied in a sing song voice, grinning at him. With his help she set the large crate up in the center of his room, stepping in front of it and gesturing with a dramatic flourish. ”Would you care to guess what it is, or shall I just cut straight to the chase?” She asked, looking up at him expectantly.

The turian rolled his head then removed his hands, stepping back to examine the ‘gift’ she got. His mandible twitched in irritation and spoke, “You realize I did tell you not to get me anything, right? Not to mention, I don’t even know what your innocent mind could actually get…”

Serena nodded. ”Mhmm! I ignored it!

His figure stepped back as his arms crossed over his bare chest. The head tilted and examined the crate, having very little idea what could be in it, “I noticed. Might as well know what I might be returning later so open her up.”

Serena looked briefly hurt before prying open the crate. Standing in the crate was a new suit of turian armor. Black, even the visor, and imposing it seemed to radiate menace. ”I noticed your old suit was falling apart, so I bought a relatively unused one and fixed it up to your specifications! It doesn’t press against your neck like other armors, it can be connected directly to the various comms of the team, integrated sentinel shielding in addition to normal shields, 10 different compartments for your knives, the knuckles end in spikes-”

“Breathe, . Or you’re going to become more blue than Haze is.” Vellios interrupted as he pressed his talon over her lips, his eyes concerned and then tapped his omnitool “List it on my omnitool and if I’m wondering anything, I’ll ask.”

Serena deflated slightly. ”That’s no fun. She mumbled past his talon. But she did it, quickly sending over the specifications. ”One thing you need to know right now is that it has my voice recorded into it. If you have an incident and I don’t have a comms or I’m too busy fighting to talk you down, I can activate it from my omni-tool, it’ll auto activate after thirty minutes, or one of the crew can activate it with a voice command.

Vellios blinked in surprise then softened his expression and scratched his neck, peeling the dead skin off a bit, “That’s… that’s actually pretty handy. Actually keep me from going insane and attacking the crew.”

His eyes whipped through the list as he eyed the features listed, noting their design fitted with Serena’s personal style. After a quick look over, he touched it cautiously over the the surface before he twisted about and patted her on the head, “Also, I was teasing about sending it back so don’t get so sour. Through you realise, I’m wondering where you got the chits for the armor… mainly because we can’t fully afford it.”

The turian sized her for lies when he came to a stop in front of her.

Serena froze, her smile slowly dropping off as Vellios sized her up. It was no use lying, or even trying to. ”Er. Well. You see. We can’t fully afford it. But with my latest payout from the last mission, small as it was, I could afford it. With some favors for them. You know, fix up some other ones they had. Super simple stuff. I kinda have absolutely no money left. But! I’m not in debt either! Progress...right?” She smiled her most winning smile at him.

Vellios’ protective nature came into the surface and hard. His eyes flashed in a predatory fashion and narrowed on her, unfazed by her winning smile. A twitch of his mandible hissed with the subtle tones of his irritation as his talon came up and kneaded his closed eyes a moment. His mind flurried over the mention of having done a few favors. Favors, innocent as the word sounded, often led to trouble because some individuals weren’t willing to be content with a few.

“Who did you do the favors for?” His tone said in a bizarrely calm manner.

Serena seemed to shrink in on herself. ”Bob. Just down the street. Owner of Bob and Tom’s Armorers. Little old man, about seventy. Just had me fix up three armors he couldn’t fix himself and would be too expensive to pay for. Then he said we were all settled and sent me on my way, shipping the armor to the Borealis.” She twiddled her thumbs for a moment in nervousness before something clicked. She straightened, glaring at the turian.

”Vellios you leave him alone! He said our transaction was done, I have the reciept for it, everything is fine! Don’t you dare go down there and try to bully that sweet old man.”

Vellios growled defensively when she glared at him, then turned his head and let out a huff to the side, “Then you shouldn’t have done this. Serena what would’ve happened if he wasn’t a nice, old man? Would you have still done it and risk yourself over his greed for me? Do you recall what happened last time? If it wasn’t for the fact we were starving and I got stupid, I wouldn’t have gotten into trouble with that bitch of a Asari and I had hoped you would’ve learned from that!”

”I did Vellios! I checked, rechecked, and then checked his background again! He’s as squeaky clean as anyone can be! Alliance veteran, served proudly and fought against the batarians. Set up his armor shop with his brother a couple years ago. He’s not greedy he just wanted to help. It’s over Vellios. Leave it and him be. Promise me Vellios. Promise me you’ll leave him alone.” Serena shifted to block the doorway, still glaring up at the turian.

“You should’ve had me come with you. Just because someone looks good on extranet checks doesn’t mean they are good people and you put yourself at risk either way,” Vellios shot back, his figure towered over the human but not in a menacing fashion. His chest exhaled in frustration before he plopped on the bed and begrudging agreed, “Fine…”

Serena looked him over carefully, relaxing. ”You promise? Say you promise.”

“I already said I would but if promising makes you feel better,” Vellios commented then stood upright as he hooked her pink into his last talon, careful not to hurt her and continued, “I promise.”

His hand shook it then released as his eyes returned to the suit, examining it a moment, “Just next time, will you take me? I like to judge for myself so I'm not hauling your ass out of the frying pan later since your track record isn't the best with new people.”

Serena grinned in relief and hugged him. ”Thank you.” She raised a quizzical eyebrow at him as she released him and moved to leave. ”What, and spoil the surprise? No. I’ll bring Tanya or someone along. Anyways, I gotta get going. Gifts to deliver, replies to variations of ‘I didn’t want anything’ to give. Don’t break your new armor too soon!” She left the room with a cheerful wave and a flash of pink hair.

Vellios shook his head while Serena walked out, his middle was still warm from her hug, and instead took the time to admire the armor. He leaned down to test the joints and working parts, even the knives which he realized need sharpening. The turian muttered, a mixture of amused and relieved, to himself, “Only the spirits know why I love that human like a sister because I sure don’t.”

Dex jogged on from Vellios’ room heading straight for the Medbay, assuming Firuzeh would be there checking out her new workspace. The turian knew she’d get one of two reactions from Firuzeh, at least she’d have the opportunity to walk right off the ship. For Dex it would be a matter of making sure she could sleep the following night not regretting her alcoholic decision making.

She arrived to the medbay after a few minutes, opening the door.

Firuzeh looked up curiously from the desk in the medbay, still in the process of correctly formatting the computer set up there and properly installing various medical software. “I swear… in the name of…” She never finished her sentence, interrupted by Dex’s entry. Quirking an eyebrow, she stood, walking over to the Turian, “You need something?” She asked, glancing quickly around the medbay, “Not fully set up here, some people don’t seem to understand how half of this equipment works, so if you need an amputation we may have to resort to a bone saw and bite stick.”

Dex laughed, “This ship is a terrible hand-me-down from dozens of crews before us. I really can’t say I’m surprised nothing is in any kind of order. I think Haze tried when he restocked the supplies but other than that…” She shrugged. “I wanted to talk to you about something pretty important.”

Firuzeh folded her arms, she figured she knew what this conversation would entail. “You want to vet me to make sure I have even a vague idea of what I’m doing here, I assume? Make sure I’m not going to actually amputate something because I don’t know how to treat a superficial shrapnel wound, or somesuch?”

She nodded and conceded, “Good guess. Yes, I want to vet you.” She walked across the Medbay grabbing the stool to sit. “I’ll be honest with you as I was when I first introduced myself to the rest of the crew. I used to work as a spy for an information brokerage out of Palaven. I want to vet you beyond your resume, an invasive dig through your private records, files, browsing history. Everything.” Dex replied with unmistakable seriousness. “If you’ve nothing to hide then you haven’t a thing to worry about.”

“Well, I may have a few things to hide in my browsing history, but nothing of the sort that would imply I’m a fraud.” Firuzeh smirked, fishing around in a small bag slung over her shoulder for a moment before pulling out a datapad and handing it over. “Full resume, including my two degrees from the Medical University of Isfahan, extranet IDs to contact if you need to verify them, and some good old fashioned paper diplomas on the wall over there.” She jerked a thumb in the direction of the wall to Dex’s left. “I’m not a fully qualified doctor, I’ll say that up front. But I have extensive medical training and experience as a paramedic and surgical assistant.” She unfolded her arms, looking up at the much taller Turian, “I won’t lie about any of this.”

Dex scrolled through the datapad, humming through her sub vocals curiously. Happy Firuzeh was alright with the process. Standing from her spot she took a close look at the diplomas taking pictures of both from her omnitool. “Thank you for being cooperative, if you had refused the invasive vetting I would have done so privately for my own peace of mind. I’ll confirm with the rest of the crew you’re legitimate after I’m done my dig. It won’t take me long.” She said managing a tight smile. “Rest assured, this will be the only time I’m going to be taking a peek at your shit.”

She winked, “Unless I’m getting paid of course.”

Firuzeh smirked, “Frankly, I’m surprised it took you this long. Especially now that I know you worked for an information broker. You uh, don’t need to look at any sites with lots of x’s in their address, I can assure you of that.” She tugged uncomfortably at the edges of her headscarf, “Unless you uh, want to see some rather, ahem, awkward content.”

Dex threw her head back laughing, “Spirits, Firuzeh. I really don’t give a single fuck about what gets you hot and bothered.” She chuckled adding, “It took me this long because we’ve been on shore leave, personally... I’ve been trying to get back to my roots but old habits and all that.”

“One last thing.” She paused before heading out the door.

Firuzeh raised an eyebrow expectantly, turning around to face Dex again, “Yes?”

Dex’s talons drummed on the door frame, “You still sure about wanting to ship off with us? Last chance to get out while you still can. It’s a shit ship, questionable crew and no guarantee we’re going to get paid.”

Firuzeh grinned, walking back over, “That’s half the reason I’m here though. Do you know how mind numbingly boring it is working as an assistant in some doctor’s office? I don’t have a full MD, I can’t be a doctor in my own right, but even if I could - what would that get me? Money, stability, and some prestige - sure, it would. But I’d be bored to tears. That’s half the reason I came out here in the first place, a medical job on a far off colony at least has new scenery and some ‘new and exciting people’ to meet in between the monotony of fixing the arm on some idiot who decided to play with an electrical outlet.” She paused for a moment, “I could’ve done without all the heavily armed Batarians shooting at me, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose.” She put on a forced smile at the last sentence, shrugging. “Something tells me the rest of the crew isn’t just in this for the adventure and adrenaline rush, though. Lots of tragic backstories and criminal records as long as my arm, I’m guessing?”

She laughed again lifting her talons up in resignation, catching the note of the Batarians, something she’ll find out in due time with vetting her. “There are worse reasons to become a mercenary. We’re not paragons of virtue and upstanding citizens of the galaxy.”

“Hey, if it’s killing people for money, I have no qualms there.” Firuzeh smirked, though with a more dangerous edge. “I hope you have room for another fighter, ‘cause I’m not too content to sit here with a cybernetic thumb up my ass waiting for someone to get hurt worse than medi-gel can patch up.”

Nodding she replied, “Good, we need grit more than you know. We’ll be taking off soon, so any last minute errands you have to run. Now would be a good time to do so.” She waved her off.

“I’ll make sure to update my porn collection, then.” Firuzeh playfully stuck her tongue out, then paused. “Why tell me you used to be a spy? All it does it give me reason to think there’s more you’re hiding - which I’m sure there is. You could’ve run a search on your own. Why come up and ask me and give me time to fake things if I was a fraud?” After another pause she added, “Though something tells me that wouldn’t have done much good.”

Dex squinted at Firuzeh, “For exactly the reason I said. Honesty. Establishes a notion that you can trust me enough to sleep at night without worrying about changing your passwords on the hour. Besides, if I was worth even half a credit, I could still tell a fake from the real thing.” Her mandibles flicked, “In reality, knowing what I know about this crew, my secrets are easily the biggest bore by comparison. Take some comfort in that.”

“Nothing actually.” Firuzeh shrugged, “I tend to reserve judgement on people until I’ve known them a little while - especially when my first impressions are through a haze of alcohol. I didn’t think you had anything to hide, nor did I think you had nothing to hide. It never really crossed my mind - I’ve never been in the business of being suspicious, and frankly I’d make a terrible spy - too willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, not willing enough to lie. Besides, I didn’t suspect anything from the start, I wouldn’t have changed passwords regularly at all, or even thought of it, and yet now I’m wondering why you mentioned that - the average mercenary isn’t usually a computer whiz, so nobody but the more paranoid among us would be inclined to regularly change passwords. But suddenly you say you were a spy, presumably without the Walther and the suit, and all sorts of questions are raised.” She paused for a moment, then added, “Call it the ramblings of an unfocused mind, if you will.”

Dex shook her head, to this day it was outrageous how flippant people could be with their privacy. The reason why information brokers still found lucrative work, the reason why Dex was paranoid as she was about her own privacy. It was so easy. “Simply trying to be straight with you Firuzeh, why I asked to vet you in the first place instead of doing it anyways from the get go. My attempt at creating boundaries. To be perfectly honest changing passwords isn’t going to stop me. Slow me down a little, sure.” She opened up her omnitool, “While we’ve been talking here, I’ve been running background scans for your name, description and keywords through Systems Alliance channels courtesy of Elysium.”

She minimized the window. “Once I’m done vetting you, you and I are going to sit down and build you some decent security that would give the likes of me a run for my money. Alright?” It wasn’t really a question but more of a confirmation she’d be accepting her help regardless of how she felt about her personal security.

Firuzeh grinned, “Fair enough. Maybe I’m being the paranoid one now, that’d be a twist.” She turned back to her computer, gesturing over to it, “And gladly, I can use a computer just fine, but I’d say my knowledge of cybersecurity is amateur at best. Please enlighten me, oh master.”

“Trust me, I’m more than happy to when we’re cruising. Iosif and Haze are waiting on me.” Heading out the door on that final note heading straight to the cockpit.

SHIT MADE A MISTAKE I'LL PUT AN SB POST HERE IGNORE IT AAAAAH.

Firuzeh sighed, pushing her chair out from the desk in the medbay. The entire system was a mess, and it would take her days to properly format it and sort it out into a language she could understand - or at the very least was human in origin. But that would be something for another day, already she could feel the pinch of boredom and irritability from sitting there for five hours already trying to sort it out. She would probably have to do a complete wipe of the system, but for now, she had a ship to explore.

After a moment’s hesitation she decided to save the bridge for later and, with some trepidation, inspect the kitchen of the ship.

The sight that greeted her as she inspected freezers and refrigerators was… disheartening to say the least. Barely anything but frozen chunks of meat, inedible looking vegetables, and some salt for flavor. Making a face, she began emptying them out, inspecting each one and replacing anything that looked palatable - by the end she had a stack of frozen food and a sinking feeling in her gut - she had the distinct impression that her trip to resupply the crew would be an expensive one.

Dumping the unmentionable frozen food-like objects into a bag, she set out with a purpose back into Illyria with a sense of purpose. She doubted her medical knowledge would be overly necessary for some time - a regular cut could be repaired with medi gel, and any long term conditions were far out of her realm of expertise, but food on the other hand, was something they would immediately benefit from.

She thought back to her Quarian friend, Foru'Meell nar Faevis had been her name, and the… mostly voluntary cooking experiments with her. It had taken her some time, but she had eventually gotten the hang of cooking with dextro ingredients, but the thought of how much those would cost her was one she did not want to consider. But still, there were Turians on board, and she could hardly let them starve - or see the rest of the crew enjoying actual food and stuck with those unnameable frozen meat chunks.

She found a dumpster sitting forlorn in an alley and hurriedly walked over to it, dumping the severely freezer burned and probably years old food like a shameful secret best kept in the darkness. Which - to her eyes, it was.

Now with disposal out of the way, she neatly folded the bag, stopping a moment to orient herself before setting off in the direction of the market.

It was underwhelming, to say the least. For the most part she had avoided the market in the months following the Skyllian Blitz, with nowhere to call home she had taken to looking for odd jobs and wandering off into the wilderness to fire aimlessly at pests and trees before sleeping in one of the shelters set up by the Alliance. With no kitchen to use she had never had cause to visit the market.

It hardly came as a surprise to her - while the market in Illyria had hardly ever compared to Isfahan, it was even smaller now as a result of the Blitz, most stalls were empty or craters, but signs of life had bloomed there again, and even though it was small, vendors hawking their wares could be seen even from her position.

With a determined glare, she began her quest, scanning the meager selection of goods available for proper meat and produce. Levo goods were easy to find, and after fifteen minutes of very aggressive haggling, she had secured a full supply of frozen meat and vegetables, allegedly grown locally, to be delivered to the Jalopy - at the cost of a sizeable dent in her personal finances. She winced, giving her account a once-over before pressing further, asking if the man had any dextro foods on hand.

“Do I look like I have meat for those dinosaurs, lady?”

She pursed her lips, walking away. Normally she might have gotten into an argument with him, but right now she was on a mission to acquire supplies, and now was not the time to get into pointless arguments with racists. Instead, she needed to get into pointless arguments with stingy merchants.

The next store over, conveniently enough, proudly boasted of its stock of dextro meat, vegetables, and spices, though she had her doubts.

Several shouting matches later, complete with a competition for who had the more impressive war story to boast of, an arm wrestling match, and numerous threats of taking her business elsewhere, Firuzeh had managed to secure a sizeable stock of dextro ingredients as well, even if it was making her wallet weep bloody tears.

Now… her face took on a steely look and she scanned the market. She had to find some spices. She wondered if some of them, saffron mainly, would even be available in this pitiful excuse for a market, and prospects looked bleak, mostly general stores and other miscellaneous goods for sale, with the odd grocer here and there.

Then she spotted it, a small, out of the way stall off to the left - boasting of spices and other “rare and exotic ingredients”.

Despite herself, she approached it hopefully, gingerly fingering the much depleted credit chit in her pocket.

_____

“The fuck is this shit, you thrice damned pale imitation of a spice merchant?!” She shouted into the face of a stout, portly man who stood across from her. “You call this real authentic saffron!? Are you blind, or just a crook?” She slammed her right hand down on the counter, cybernetic fingers clenched tightly in frustration.

The source of her outrage lay before her - a cluster of dark red fibers in a neat little plastic baggie labeled “authentic saffron”. Her uncle had taught her many things, but chief among those lessons had been identifying fake spices, saffron in particular due to its cost.

“You charge me real prices for this shit!” She hissed at the man, hurling the offending bag of what was probably marigold petals into his face, “I don’t even want to see what you’re passing off as other spices. Sawdust as granulated onion and leaves from a shrub as basil?”

The man glared back at her with equal intensity, shouting back with a volume to match her own in a thick Italian accent. “I pay exorbitant prices to bring these spices all the way from earth! And what do I get? Some ignorant woman barging into my shop and accusing me of being a fraud! The nerve I say, the nerve!” He levelled an accusatory finger at her, “My selection is the finest in Elysium, grown on my family’s farm in Italy! I pay huge fees to bring it here for you ignorant barbarians to have a taste of proper cooking!”

Firuzeh grinned savagely, poking the man in the chest, “And yet, I’m from earth too! Funny thing that, I had a friend who farmed saffron in Iran, guess what?” She snarled at the man, holding up a few loose strands and throwing them to the floor, “Those are not real saffron!”

The spice merchant puffed up, looking mildly afraid and extremely infuriated. “Get out! Out! Out of my shop before I call the authorities, you slanderous whore!”

Firuzeh beat a hasty retreat, hurling insults at the man the whole way. Once outside she grinned broadly to herself - the man had been right, he did have real saffron, but not at a price she was willing to pay. She had been careful to avoid telling an outright lie, only been… selective with her definition of “real saffron” - she was not a particularly pious person, but it weighed on her mind all the same. Contentedly patting the now decidedly not-empty bag that she had taken the liberty of filling with some of his more expensive stock while arguing with him. By her estimate she had saved herself several thousand credits’ worth of bank breaking and now had the spices to cook for the crew ad infinitum.

Uncle Amir had taught her a few more things than cooking and spice identification.

Serena rounded the corner, looking up from making sure that the two boxes she had were for Drono. ”Hey Drono ho-fuck! What happened to you?! She hurried over to the drell, eyes wide with concern. ”You look like you got mugged! What the hell happened? She put her boxes to the side as she looked him over, seeing if she had to drag him to a hospital before he bled out on her or not.

Drono, startled at Serena’s sudden appearance and the sudden need for a good excuse to not put Vellios in the doghouse for all of eternity, grinned. “Oh you know. Nature.” He said, completely aloof. “Just a few branches, took a tumble.” He continued, trailing off as he saw the packages.

“Did I order something?” He asked, a bit nonplussed.

Serena narrowed her eyes at him. ”Weird. Branches don’t usually leave marks like that. Not wanting to pursue the topic, yet, she hefted the packages. ”Nope! I got you a couple gifts.” She handed him both of the packages before she could think about it and get embarrassed and anxious.

The expected wave of embarrassment and anxiousness washed over her as he took them. She shifted back a couple steps. ”So..yeah. Open them just in case I got you shit gifts and need to return them and buy better ones. She mumbled, a light blush crossing her cheeks.

He blinked up at her. A wave of different, greatly conflicting feelings rushed him. “For me?” He said, with a confused, startled emphasis on the word 'me'. His hands actually shook as he took them. He somehow made the tremors stop, he wasn’t sure if it was because he felt overwhelmed, or the pain from Vellios beating, or his spine. But this was without a doubt something that actually meant a great deal to him. He never got presents, his relationships with other people rarely being that friendly anymore. Even before getting double crossed, he had been stealing most of his possessions. And the last person to give him a gift had been Yestin.

He banished that thought as quickly as it appeared. These were not the same kind of people.

Serena looked up in confusion.”Of course for you. Why wouldn’t it be for you?”

Instead, he closed his eyes and let it reminded him of back home. Back when he had been just another bored Drell kid. He shot her a massive smile then opened the first. “Oh. Haha.” He said, but the mirth was unmistaken. “Would you believe I managed to turn the last of these books I had, into napalm?” He said as he held up the book. “Hmm. New issue?” He said, looking seriously pleased with the turn of events. Looking at the other present, his grin grew conspicuous.

Serena grinned ruefully back at the drell, pleased he was enjoying his gift. ”I could easily believe that. Try not to turn this one into napalm too quickly. I think it’s a new issue. The guy assured me it was top of the line.”

“I think the the others might space you for giving me things that go Boom.” He said without even having to open it. “Our secret?”

Serena held out her pinky finger, smiling conspiratorially. ” Our secret. Pinky promise.”

“Ah. Now it is a double secret. Vellios would never let me live it down if I pinky promised like some adolescent human” Drono chuckled. Today had been a weird day, but it had certainly been a better day then he had thought. He looked around, then stashed the explosives somewhere he figured nobody would look. Then he hooked his finger with Serena. “I have been told by Humans, this is a sacred ritual. “ He said with a perfect deadpan. “Broken only at penalty of losing your pinky”

“Oh yes. The most sacred of rituals. Pinkys are usually ripped off by a rapid varren.” Serena replied solemnly, shaking his pinky. She grinned mischievously at him. ”I’ll let you in on a little secret about Vellios though. Earlier today, he pinky promised as well. Without me even asking for it! If he gives you any crap, just throw that back in his face as well.” She snickered.

Suddenly, her pinky tightened on Drono’s, trapping his. ”Now. You’re going to tell me who beat you the hell up, and why. Or so help me Drono I will break your spine and drag you too that damn hospital in a gurney.” Her eyes seemed to glitter with irritation and grim promise.

“...I can’t. I promised. Lets just say it was my fault.” He winced at her expression. “I really gotta stop taunting people…” He gave her a sincere, apologetic look.

Serena’s eyes narrowed into slits as she thought about who wouldn’t want him to tell people who beat him up. It only took a few seconds for her to make the necessary logical connections. ”Vellios.” She almost hissed in frustration. ”You picked a fight with Vellios? When he was in one of his moods? Are you fucking suicidal? You’re lucky he didn’t kill you!” She let go of his pinky and ran a hand through her hair. ”He’s lucky you started it or I would have killed him!”

She jabbed a finger at the drell. ”Now you listen, and you listen good you maniac. When Vellios wants to beat the shit out of an inanimate object so he doesn’t take his aggression out on something living, you goddamn let him. The only reason I’m not smacking you around for being a well meaning fool is because your body is already beat to shit. Since you seem to need something to focus your attention on, as fighting turians who are struggling with murderous rage seems to be the only thing to assuage your boredom, you’re going to play a chess game with me at least once. In return I won’t constantly remind you of how stupid you were.” Serena glared balefully at him. ”Am I clear?

The drell, to his credit, took it on his chin. When she was done however, he hummed. He kept the hum up for a full minute and then his expression changed to one he rarely shown the rest of the crew. Anger. “No. See. Here is where things get tricky. If Vellios keeps going the way he does, one day, it will kill him. He is looking for the bullet to end him. The guys past is eating him up from the inside.” Dronos lips drew into a thin line. “Just like mine.”

“He is crew, and I do not let crew walk out on their lonesome, without a word to simmer and stew. If nobody stir the pot, that stuff is gonna boil over at a critical moment, and we are all going to die.” He actually did a gesture like he was stirring a pot. “He play the loner, but it is because he like me seem to have had a really bad time around other people in our pasts. What I did was reckless. But I did it for a purpose. Do not think I get beat up for fun.” He paused. “Often.”

It wa his turn to jab a finger at her. “Vellios is your friend. I get that you believe yourself to know him best as you two are tight. But take it from the drell who took a bullet to his back. You do not let crewmembers go alone.” He took a deep breath. “You do not let them beat their knuckles into pulp against a tree because they do not know where else to go, what else to do.”

He sighed. “Look. I do not think anyone onboard this deathtrap of a ship can make a claim for a happy, problem free past. Which is why sacrifices are made. Like my ribs. That dude has a mean left hook.”

“But point taken. I will not provoke a homicidal Turian.” He paused. “Until I got my back fixed. Then I am gonna see if I can’t set up a sparring spot, or at least boxing bag for our broody turian tree killer.”

Serena rubbed her temples. ”Drono. The entire reason he was going to go punch a tree was so that he didn’t simmer over anything. You know what he did when someone like you pushed him before we met? He crippled them. For life. He broke their legs and spines and left them for dead. I’m not saying that your ideas and intentions aren’t wrong. Your execution is just terrible. You don’t just walk into Vellios expecting him to react like the rest of us. I did and I got seven inches of Omni-blade in my stomach.”

She sighed, emotions churning. ”I know Vellios is expecting, if not actively searching for his own death. I’ve been trying to get him to stop believing that he’s past saving for over a year now. The only progress I have made is that he stopped crippling people for life, cut down on on drugs, and is willing to attempt to explain his actions to people. I’m doing my best Drono and it doesn’t seem to be enough.” She leaned against the wall, holding her head in her hands as the reality of what she was saying finally hit her. Optimistic denial wasn’t working anymore.

”I don’t want him to die…”

Drono lay a hand on her shoulder. “We won’t let him. I believe I atleast got one thing through his thick turian skull. And that is that he is not alone in this. And that we won’t let him go.” He shot her a grin.

“Guy like that. I do not know his past. But I know a person trapped in flight or fight when I see them. Whatever went down in his past, it was as bad or worse than my own. And I got shot in my damn back. By my best friend.” He rolled his shoulders. “We won’t let him die Serena, and once he realize what a good crew and structure gives him, he might just stop looking for that bullet. I don’t think we can cure the brooding though. That guy acts like movie anti-hero if you let him.”

Serena looked up in alarm, the surprise helping her get herself back under control. ”Shit Drono. I’m sorry. You probably don’t want or need me breaking down like this when you’ve got your own, much more important, problems. Speaking of that, I heard that Haze drug you to a hospital. Anything interesting come from that or is the goal still ‘get you to Omega hospital ASAFP’?” Serena straightened, waiting for his reply.

“I am no longer on hallucinogens or shitty black market drugs. So it was a 50/50.” he said the last part with a straight face. “He claims it is a good thing, I can’t feel my liver cry. But how am I supposed to know if the medicine work?!”

Serena raised an eyebrow, looking at him. ”You’re still standing after having your ass kicked by Vellios. It’s working.” She moved forward and quickly gave Drono a gentle hug, careful not to do too much pressure. ”Thank you.” Stepping back she flashed a grin at him. ” I gotta go. Other people need their gifts, and I don’t want to be nearby when you start playing with your new toys. We might blow an actual hole in the ship.” She gave a wave and began to leave, heading back towards the hangar.

He waved as she left. He felt a little awkward, he didn’t hug much. The back was one component, but also the fact that even before that, he had never been much of a hugging person. Mostly fistbumps. This sudden level of camaraderie was a shell shock, even for the quick witted, mile-a-minute mouth that was him. He shrugged it off and turned to his box of new, explosive toys.

“Allright. Let’s see what damage we can do with you guys…”

Serena smiled cheerfully at Khosin as he made his way up the ramp, leaning against the wall with his gift in her hand. ”Khosin! I’ve been looking for you all day, trying to give you this.” She shook his gift lightly. How are you?

Khosin was surprised by Serena’s presence in the ramp of the ship as he made his way up, smiling back at her. It didn’t took him long to reach the spot where Serena was leaning against the wall but before he could ask her what she was doing there she was already speaking to him “Been better, been worse.” He said to her, smiling softly as he eyed the gift in Serena’s hands “And, uh, sorry for not leaving a note saying I had to go away for a while, might have saved you a little time.” He apologized to Serena “Maybe we could move to the kitchen or somewhere else and you could tell me what’s in the package?”

”That seems to just sum up about our normal day to day life doesn’t it?” Serena replied smiling warmly. She gestured to have Khosin take the lead, and followed him into the kitchen. ”It’s fine Khosin. I figure whatever was so important you risked Elysium to do was more important than me bugging you about a gift.”

She slid the package over to him, nervousness washing over her. ”I saw how you liked to read, and that your collection of books was a bit bare. But I didn’t know what books you preferred, so I just got a massive collection. If you don’t like it I can take it back and get something you do like.”

Khosin chuckled at Serena’s words “Yeah, true enough.” He said to her, nodding slightly when she gestured for him to take the lead towards the kitchen. “Yeah, trust me, I’d rather not have gone into Elysium.” He said when she mentioned that it was fine and that she understood that it was important if he risked going into Elysium.

He looked as Serena slid the package over to him, the look of nervousness that appeared on her face not going unnoticed by him. He listened as she spoke, mentioning that she had seen how he liked to read alongside the fact that his collection of books was a bit bare, and let her finish before interjecting “Serena, relax.” He said as he took the package into his hands, smiling towards her “I do like the gift, like you said I do like to read so I am rather happy with it.” He said while opening the package, nostalgia washing over him as a wistful look crossed over his face as he took out the book from the package “Must have been a decade or so since the last time I got a book, or a gift at all.” He said softly, looking at the cover of the book as he put it down before turning to look at Serena “Uh, sorry about that.” He said when he realized that he had spoken out loud “Just feeling a bit nostalgic is all.”.

Serena waved a hand, grinning mischievously at him. ”It’s fine Khosin. I know about being nostalgic. I’m going to make up for it. This is just the first of many gifts.” She winked at him. ”It’s a holobook. Just open it and request the book you want to read, or just start from the beginning. There’s thousands in there. Matriarch Shialla was very thorough in her quest to compile 990 years of books.”
She paused for a moment, drumming her fingers. ”What did you do before this crew Khosin? Everyone else I found out. Tanya was Alliance military, Haze operated in Omega, Dex was a spy, Tonka worked as an engineer, Drono, Vellios, Iosif, and I were all freelance mercs. What’d you do? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I’m just curious.”

Khosin chuckled softly at Serena’s words “Alright, alright, thank you Serena.” He said, smiling pleasantly as he once more picked the holobook and casually looked at the list of books that Matriarch Shialla had compiled, whistling in surprise when Serena mentioned that the Asari Matriarch had compiled near a thousand years worth of books “Damn, don't think I'll be looking for new books for a while then.” He said, grinning slightly as he settled down the holobook yet again.

“Hmmmm, well, like Tanya I first started with military service. More specifically I worked for the Hegemony’s Internal Forces, dealing with revolts or the rare pirate attack within Hegemony space itself.” He said “It wasn't good work, nor a just cause, and I am glad that I am far away from that life now. Apart from that not much else to say.” He said, tapping the temple of his skull as he thought “Hmmm, well, there’s one small other thing, I was part of the Suns for a while then I was a freelance merc like you.” He finished, waiting for Serena’s reply.

Serena nodded in gentle understanding. ”I used to run with an ex-Hegemony Special forces. He told me a lot, so I have a better understanding of how shitty it was and is in batarian space than most humans.” She smiled wistfully, thinking back to her time on the Hellstorm. Shaking her head, she gave a dramatic sigh. ”Another former Blue Suns. Great. Please tell me you’re not like Kasy and Haze and don’t actually have a brutal vendetta you’re trying to wage against them. We have enough problems that we don’t need to go trying to even the score against a much larger and more successful merc group.”

Khosin was surprised when Serena told him that she used to run with an ex-Hegemony Special forces “Yeah, I know it's difficult to see it from the outside, you mostly see the slavers and the psycho’s the Hegemony sends outside but it's just as shitty for us Batarians inside of it.” He said with a low sigh although eh couldn't help but laugh slightly at what Serena said next “No, no, don't worry. I mean, I am not exactly on good terms with the organization but I have no vendetta or anything against the, hell I still have a few friends inside of the Suns.” He said shaking his head slightly, a small grin on his face “So don't worry, I won't go berserker or anything if I see a member of the Suns.” He joked, letting out a small chuckle “Though, I do have a question for you, how did you end up working with an ex-member of the Hegemony’s Special forces, you don't see many Batarian freelancer mercenaries since most tend to join the Suns after all.”

Serena grinned in relief. ”Oh thank God. Kasy wanted to blow up the entire mine because it could’ve possibly hurt the Blue Suns and Haze is all to willing to put bullets in them. We don’t need another one of you.” At his next question Serena frowned and patted herself, looking for something.

Where is it...shit I think I left it in the hangar. It’ll be faster just to explain it, and the video is directed at people like Tanya and Iosif anyways. Serena’s eyes went to the heavens as she began remembering her old crewmate, a half smirk on her face as she talked fondly about him.

His name was Bramis Crannek. Old, about sixty maybe? He never gave a straight answer. He was a doctor before the Skyllian Verge was colonized by us. After we did that and everything went to shit, he lost his wife and two of his kids. In order to save the last son he had, he joined the Hegemony military, his intelligence and knowledge of various species anatomy making him an immediate Special Forces candidate and sparing him the mental conditioning most recruits went through.

Served on Mindoir and the Blitz, where he lost his upper right eye, and only managed to be spared Torfan by luck. His son wasn’t so fortunate. Joined the Hegemony without his father’s knowledge, and was at Torfan. After he found out that his son was dead, Bramis didn’t have any reason to stay with the Hegemony, and he certainly didn’t want to join the brutal monsters that fled to the Blue Suns, so he went on his own.

I found him getting the shit beat out of him by some Alliance soldiers on shore leave, and got them off of him. He joined the crew I was in at the time in return, serving as both our doctor and our intelligence officer. Terrible bedside manner. Made Tonka seem warm and loving. Our ship got shot to hell while we were on a mission, killing our captain and pilot in the process, and we managed to limp it to a port on autopilot. Everyone went their separate ways, and I haven’t seen him since. That was about oh...three, four years ago? Hard to tell after a while. Serena smiled at Khosin.

”So that’s why I didn’t give you the side-eye of hatred most humans do, though Iosif and Tanya have only seen the worst of batarians. They have an excuse. She shrugged. ”They haven’t tried to kill you or start a fight, so it’s a lot better than most humans though.

Khosin couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at Serena’s reaction when he told her that he wasn’t like Kasy or Haze, however when she frowned at his question Khosin couldn’t help but imitate Serena “Did I offend her somehow?” He questioned himself inwardly as Serena patted herself in search of something.

He remained silent as Serena began speaking to him, listening intently as she explained to him how she had met her old batarian crewmate. However when she mentioned that Bramis had been on both the Mindoir Raid and the Blitz each of Khosin’s four eyes widened in surprise, both at with the ease at which Serena had admitted the fact and that she didn’t seem to hold the old Batarian in less regard due to the terrible events in which he had participated. “Maybe...maybe I could tell her that I was in Mindoir too? She already knew someone that had been part of the raid, and who was present on the Blitz, maybe she’d understand….” He thought to himself, debating whether or not to tell Serena. In the end he decided against it, remembering the promise he had made to Dex about not telling anyone else that he had been part of the Mindoir raid “Probably for the best, maybe someone else would have overheard, and there is no way to tell how they'd react.” He thought to himself, still recalling the way that Dex had reacted when he had accidentally mentioned Mindoir during that conversation after the mission on Virmire.

“Thank you Serena, I must admit when you told me you had met someone from the Hegemony’s Special forces I didn’t expect him to be someone who had been at both Mindoir and the Blitz.” He said to her “It’s a pity that you lost track of the man, it’d have been nice to meet him.” He said, shaking his head slightly “You know, his story reminds me a bit of myself. I too joined the Hegemony’s forces to help my family.” He said with a sad smile, letting out a soft sigh as he dredged up the painful memories “We, meaning my family that is, lost it all when the Alliance began colonizing the Skyllian Verge.” He explained, a hint of bitterness in his voice “So I can understand the decision that Barmis made in joining the Hegemony’s military.” He said as he let out a low, mirthless, chuckle “Incredible what family can drive us to do, eh? Joining the Special forces of the Hegemony is no easy task let me tell you.”

”He was a very blunt, gruff, and rougher than a krogan’s hide. But he was loyal to his friends. You might have liked him as easily as hated him. Serena smiled at Khosin, listening quietly as he elaborated on his reasons for joining the Hegemony’s military. ”Yeah. You’d do anything for family. Even if it hurt them.”

”Listen, Khosin. If you ever need to talk, about anything, I’m willing to listen. You might want to talk to someone who isn’t a human, for obvious reasons, but if you can’t find anyone else I’ll be there.” She grinned and winked at him. ”And I won’t even charge you a chess match for it.

Khosin nodded at Serena’s words, smiling slightly when she told him that -should he need to talk- she was willing to listen to him “Thank you Serena, it means a lot.” He said quietly, letting out a soft chuckle when she mentioned that she wouldn’t even charge him a chess match for it “I’ll hold you to that.” He said while grinning towards her. “Now, if you excuse me, I’m feeling rather tired so would like to retire to my bunk. But thanks Serena, both for the holobook and for the chat.” He said with a smile as he stood up, picking up the package in which the holobook rested, and made made his way back towards his room.

Serena made her way back to the hangar, smiling as she saw Tanya once again working on the vehicles. ”Do you ever take a break when you’re on this ship? She called out, quickly making her way over to where her small pile of boxes was slowly shrinking. She snagged the two she had gotten for Tanya, making her way carefully over to the other mechanic.

”Can you come out from under there? I have something I want to give you.

”I’d rather we not die due to mechanical failure on a mission. Plus, if I am busy, I don’t have time to think.” Tanya replied, exhaling slowly through her nose, wondering if she’d ever be able to get to work without being interrupted like every day the past week. She pulled herself out from under the shuttle’s thrusters and made eye contact with Serena. ”I’d been hearing rumours you bought everybody something like some kind of fucked up manic Santa Claus. I’d elected to pretend they weren’t real. You didn’t have to get me anything.” she said, wiping her hands on the coveralls.

”Yeah. People have been telling me that a lot. They haven’t seemed to realize I ignore suggestions like those.” Serena smiled, electing to ignore Tanya’s minor annoyance. ”As soon as I’m done I’ll help you finish up the necessary repairs. Big Bertha and Nimble Nancy aren’t great. But they’re in better shape than The Borealis was. I won’t even talk beyond bitching to myself. You’ll actually get some peace and…’ She glanced over at Shithead. ...no talking. Peace and no talking. Anyway!”

Serena hefted up the two gifts, trying not to look too eager. ”Here you go. Try not to go too crazy. We’ve made it a few weeks without any inter-crew wars.”

As Tanya took them, Serena shifted back a few steps, suddenly not having anything to do but wait. ”If you don’t like them and would prefer that I stop bothering you and being annoying I can just take it back and by some extra parts for the vehicles.” She muttered, fidgeting as she looked over at ‘Big Bertha’, a light blush across her cheeks as she pretended to examine the Yolac.

Tanya smiled, accepting the parcel. ”You know, you apologize way too much. Stop doubting yourself. It’s unnatural. I’m sure they’ll be just lovely.” she said, taking care when unwrapping the first of the package. Her smile turned into a grin. ”Well, would you look at that. New paints, and such lovely colours too. This must have cost you more than a few credits, you shouldn’t have! I promise I’ll put it to good use.”, she said, setting down the parcel and hesitating on the second. ”Should I be worried about this one?”

”I only doubt myself when I want to avoid screwing things up, like now, and when I’m in unfamiliar situations! Like last night!” Serena replied, crossing her arms defensively despite the fact she knew what Tanya said was the truth. She smiled in delight at the fact that Tanya was enjoying her first gift, her anxiety washing away at the other woman’s happiness. ”Credit’s shmedits. We’ll get more later.” The airy reply came with a dismissive wave of the hand. She merely smiled more mysteriously at Tanya’s hesitation. ”You’ll be fine. It won’t bite you.”

Offering a final skeptical look, Tanya ripped open the wrapping, let it carelessly fluttery to the floor in ragged heaps. What was left in her hand was a book, and one of the now quite uncommon ones still printed on paper. It was a book entirely dedicated to practical jokes. Tanya smirked. ”Either you’re telling me I need help or you want to make everyone here miserable. Haven’t decided which yet, but thank you all the same.” She said, about to open the pages but noticing she was leaving black smudges along the cover and the pages from her hands, and decided to set it down for now. ”So you went and bought for everyone?” she asked, blinking.

Serena nodded. ”Yeah. I figured everyone needed something to smile about since last mission was such a shitstorm, and since not all of us could go out and get hammered, I just bought everyone gifts based on what I’d seen that they liked or needed. You, Vellios, and Tonka were the easiest. I’m kinda broke, but it’s been worth it. Some of these guys haven’t gotten a gift in forever, judging from their reactions.” Serena shrugged. ”I like making people happy. Gifts are a good way to do that.”

”You could always save it for the holidays. It’s really sweet of you, but you really don’t have to spend what little you have on people you barely know.” Tanya said, leaning on an elbow against the thruster. ”You’re not used to missions going that bad, are you?” she asked.

Serena gave a humorless chuckle. ”Depends on what you mean. If you mean ‘that has never happened to you before’, I’d tell you that that has happened to me nine times before. That exact scenario. Everything went to shit and someone died in front of me, died in my arms, or went missing and the only thing stopping me from confirming their death is that I haven’t seen their body. Well. That was for eight times. The ninth time is why Vellios got so pissy at Haze and is when I came much closer to death than I did last mission. Anyways.” Serena’s voice was only slightly shaky, surprising herself. Maybe she didn’t have any tears left. Maybe she just needed Tanya to understand that she wasn’t as weak as she had been acting the past few days.

If you mean, ‘you’re not used to crewmates dying or going missing with little chances of survival,’ then you’re right. I’m not used to it and I never will be. People tell you it gets easier. That you ‘get used to it’. They’re liars. It never gets any easier to see a friend die. You never get used to it. Barat, Janet, Silus, Hannah, An, Spencer, Omar, Soban.” She listed off the names without hesitation, eyes glancing briefly away from Tanya’s own as she remembered brief flashes of their deaths. Back under control in the same second, she met the other mechanic’s eyes again and continued.

“I can remember every detail of their faces, their peculiarities, and how they died perfectly. It’s etched into my memory even more firmly than Drono’s own memories.” Serena smiled sadly at Tanya. “I know you think I gave these people I barely know gifts for no other reason than I’m naive, childish, and silly. You’re partially right, I am naive and I am childish. But I didn’t just buy gifts on a whim. I gave everyone these gifts because I know all too well how it feels when everything has gone to shit and you have absolutely no idea what happened to someone on your crew. I know that the galaxy seems like a much shittier place.” Serena gave a small shrug.

“Some people take everything going to shit in stride. Some don’t. Regardless of how you dealt with it, everyone could benefit from something happy happening after it. I’m naive, somewhat childish, and gullible Tanya. But there is usually a reason for my actions. This time I wanted to remind everyone that even on this crew of strangers there’s someone who cares enough about them to get them a gift, even if it's a small one, and that it will get better after this.”

Tanya shook her head slowly, plucking a bottle of whiskey she had sitting on a nearby workbench and taking a long chug before offering it over. ”So why keep on with this life, the mercenary one I mean? We don’t have the resources, the training, or manpower of the military and we’re deliberately taking jobs that could get us all killed if it goes tits up. Losses happen, and I’ve made peace for that. I’m not accusing your sense of community or desire to help make everyone’s day a little brighter, and I do appreciate your thoughtfulness, truly I do. We just barely have any credits to our name, and we might run into a jam where we can’t afford to pay anyone out because of repair or fuel costs, someone’s medical expenses, whatever.

“I don’t even want to know how much you spent to get everyone everything, but what if we ran into a situation where we didn’t have the funds to make a jump to another system with proper medical care if Vellios or whoever is shot up and we can’t do anything here? We were lucky we were only a few jumps from Virmire to get to Elysium, but next time we might not be so lucky.” she replied softly, biting her lip apprehensively. ”Look, I know it’s an unlikely scenario, but it’s one we can’t ignore. We also didn’t get paid what we were expecting from the last one because it fucked up, hard. There might be periods of time where we aren’t getting contracts. I’m just saying, we can’t live outside of our means, even if it is really kind hearted. You of anyone should know that the galaxy isn’t keen on the whole mercy thing.”

Serena politely shook her head, smiling at Tanya. ”Originally? I had to keep on the move. Alliance was very pissed about that VI I ran off with. After a few years passed and it became clear that I wasn’t being fervently hunted, I had already ran into Vellios. It’s both all I’ve known for going on ten years now, and he needs me. As for the money, I checked Vellios’ bank account before I went on my little spree. He always stores some and he has enough to cover any unforeseen situations. I mitigated the cost by doing a few favors for some shop keepers, but don’t tell Vellios that. Serena sighed. ”He’ll get pissy and want Dex to do in depth background checks on them.

She idly glanced over her shoulder at Barat’s blueprint, tsking at it. ”But point taken. No more massive spending sprees. I’ll just keep it simple and celebrate my upcoming victory over you in chess with working on Barat more.” She turned back, grinning at the other woman. ”I hope you know the trouble you’ve got yourself in. He’s going to be a bitch to get working.

”You, you don’t need to worry about me telling him anything. Things aren’t exactly the most sociable between us as it is.” Tanya shrugged, following Serena’s gaze to the blueprint. ”I know I’m a bloody killjoy, but there’s such thing as too much of a good thing, yeah? And don’t worry about me. I’ll get your bloody robokrogan up and running. Never been a machine I wasn’t able to top. There’s a reason that I’m never taking a break, as you observed. Keeps me on top of things.”

Serena chuckled grimly. ”Have you checked out his blueprints? He’s going to require a much heavier set armor than almost all of the mech types out there. Which means he’s going to need a much stronger frame and motors powering him. Problem is, we don’t know how much stronger. So we’re going to be getting a lot of ripped off arms or crumpled frames. That’s not even going into how we’re going to make redundant systems work.” Serena grinned, her eye seeming to shine with excitement.

Tanya waved a dismissive hand, like it wasn’t a big deal. ”After working on the Jalopy for this long, I’m pretty sure nothing is impossible. And when it doubt, ask a quarian. They can take literal garbage and make it last 50 more years, so they probably have some ideas behind those breathing masks of theirs. That won’t be a problem, I’m sure.” she said.

”But before we get too far into it, what the hell happened last night? All I remember is bits and pieces of our twenty questions, and maybe me dancing embarrassingly? It's a bit of a blur. Then Dex mentioned someone named Firuzeh, and when I tried to get details from her she just cackled like a maniac. Did I do anything stupid?”

An impish grin crossed Tanya’s lips. ”Oh, nothing big… except for that quickie you had with that turian in the bar, you vomiting up blood, and stripping down to your skivvies and screaming about how hot it was in that place before the bouncers threw us all out. In short, pretty average night.”

”Oh Jesus, Mary, and Joseph…” Serena muttered, facepalming as she felt herself begin to blush in embarrassment. How could I have done that? Why did I do that? That’s it, she decided. I’m never drinking again. At least Tanya hasn’t shared the video with the rest of the crew yet...wait. Serena’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Tanya would have recorded her..’antics’ and then gleefully showed them to Serena rather than spelling it out. Not to mention, she would have most likely already sent it to the crew, and Vellios hadn’t made a single snide remark. ”Where’s the video recordings? There’s no way you would’ve missed out on recording such an average night.”

Tanya wiggled her eyebrows. ”Show you, so soon? No, I’m going to hold onto those, for posterity’s sake. You’ll see them again, whenever I calculate the embarassment to time-heals-all ratio is at it’s peak.” she replied coyly, enjoying milking the hell out of the situation.

Serena’s suspicions faltered, doubt practically radiating off of her. ”You wouldn’t.” Her voice was only slightly uncertain. ”You’ve barely even mocked me about the volus incident.” She paused, eyes widening in alarm and she blushed a bright red in embarrassment. ”Oh god please tell me Firuzeh wasn’t the turian and she’s not going to be knocking on the ship door anytime soon.”

”Who the hell is Frieza? You got more fucked up that I thought. We’re going to have to go through this again soon, yeah?” Tanya teased, easing herself back down into her work space. ”Thank you for the thoughtful gifts. I’ll be sure to share one in turn when the time is right.” she called out, chuckling, face out of sight.

”Oh no. We’re not going through that again anytime soon! I do not need to get anymore blackout drunk than I already have. Twice was good enough for life!” Serena shook her head vehemently, heading towards her pile of boxes. ”I’ll be back after I drop off more gifts. Those videos better not show up or I am replacing all of Shithead’s music with only the shittiest new techno crap I can find! That’s a promise!” She called, carrying off a box.

Bang!

"Just a little down and to the right."

Hazan adjusted the controls on the sight of his sniper rifle and lined up the crosshairs with the virtual target downrange. With the naked eye, the little blue holographic square was nothing more than a dot bigger than a coin. But in his sight, it filled the reticle. Several holes in the target circle made a messy constellation in the hologram. With a slow pull on the trigger, he loosed another round from his rifle that shot through the target and pinged into the sand pit behind it.

"Hmph."

"A little more to the left."

"It was just adjusted to the right. Ugh, spirits...stupid rifle."

Hazan sighed and stood from his prone position. With a weary grunt he stretched out the kinks in his back as he left his rifle on the floor.

"Fine, fuck it. I'm taking a break. This stupid thing can wait to be calibrated."

The range master, a middle aged human with some scruff on his chin and no hair on his head, nodded.

"Alright sir. Just call me when you're ready to finish up here."

He walked off, leaving the gray turian standing there with a finicky rifle and frustration building in his head.

Tonka arrived a few moments later, wearing a surprising bit of formal wear, a well-tailored but functional grey and green suit. It was certainly more rugged than what most other species would wear, and could in some cases be mistaken for casual-wear if one weren't familiar with krogan in a formal setting, which would likely qualify most people. In an ungloved hand Tonka carried a large leather briefcase, the contents of which could only be guessed at.

The krogan found Hazan a few moments later, and he ignored the stares from the other patrons at the rudamentary gun range. "You messaged for me to meet you?" he asked, looking around. "Can't say I've spent much time at one of these places. Too much time shooting at things that wouldn't mind shooting back."

"Hey Tonka, yeah I did. I kinda need your expertise in sniper rifles."

He bent down to pick up the Mantis that laid at his feet. With the barrel still pointing down range, he showed it to the big krogan.

"This thing. Old relic from my past. Thought I'd bring it out for a few test fires to see if it still works. But the sight's all sorts of screwed up, and no matter how much I tweak the distance and leveling calibrations, it doesn't shoot straight."

The krogan headed towards the bench, setting his case on the table and opening it. Another set of clothes was neatly folded, along with some kind of score card and a pen, a bag of jerky, a ticket stub and a small tool pouch. He removed the pouch, pulled out a few screw drivers and some kind of diagnostic machine, and he began to disassemble the rifle, first collapsing it, removing the power core, the ammunition block, and with an almost bored expression began laying the parts out across the table as he took them out. "My guess is it's either not shaving rounds properly, or the targeting software had a bit of a hickup. When's the last time you cleaned it?" he asked.

"Yesterday evening. I took it all apart and cleaned it spic and span. I haven't used this thing in...maybe two or three years. Been cleaning it regularly, but given my rep... I just haven't used it."

Hazan sat on a nearby chair and watched the krogan disassemble the rifle like it was a chore. He gathered that the big guy had done this with his own rifle too many times to count. He could say the same with his Mantis. He gestured with a talon to Tonka's clothes and chuckled.

"What's with the get-up, Tonka? You going to a garage later?"

"Opera, actually. Then there's a golf course. Then the supermarket. What part about my appearance made you think garage?" Tonka asked, glancing up. "And what's the point in owning a gun you never use? This thing could have been shooting people all that time and you left it collecting dust. Disappointing." he said, holding up the receiver to look through the powered-up optics, which were connected to the machine he brought out. Hitting a few buttons, he continued his part inspection.

Hazan shrugged and chuckled.

"I dunno, feels a little... Rugged? Rugged, that's the word. Bit too rugged for an opera. But hey I don't know anything about krogan culture."

He sat back as the krogan worked on his rifle.

"And yeah, well... I guess it's a keepsake? I just can't bear letting go of this bit of my past. Kinda reminds me of who I used to be before the Borealis. Who I knew and who I cared for. It's like a memory, for me."

"When you weigh two hundred kilos and have all sorts of stress points that you squishier aliens don't have to worry about, you build stuff to last. Besides, krogan design philosophy is that you should be ready for a fight even looking your best. The tissue paper you aliens get away with wouldn't last an hour on my frame." Tonka replied, snapping a few of the components back into place. "I really never understood the point of sentimental value. Why carry on to a bunch of crap from your past? When you live as long as I have, I'd have filled like five storage units of garbage I'd never look at again. Everything I own is on the ship, just the way I like it."

"I dunno. Guess it's because I've got some old debts that need clearing with that thing. Old, old debts. Like, y'know, stuff that you had to leave behind that came back to bite you in the ass. And now you gotta deal with it. That sorta thing."

"Seems like most of the people on the Borealis have some sort of baggage. So, who wants you dead?"

"Eh, my old career. I was a wanted turian on Omega, so like half the station's bounty hunters were out for my head. Well earned though, when you do enough contracts on your own to get a bounty on you. Mostly the Suns though, ever since I took one of their gunships on a drunken joyride. That was my own fault, hehe. But since then the bounties have snowballed. The Borealis was my escape, in my stupid hope that if I left the station, I'd leave everything behind."

The krogan was just about done reassembling the rifle and thinking without comment for a few moments. "What you're saying is basically if any of those bounty hunters catch up to you, the entire crew is in danger. Am I getting that right?"

"Basically. But I've got a plan to clear my name. Unfortunately it involves going back to Omega. I've got the address of the assholes who put a bounty on me. Gonna sneak in and quietly wipe my name off their lists. All of them. I talked with Dex and Vellios about this, they suggested the stealthy hacking approach. We figured that if we went in quietly, we'd get away with it without attracting attention, and more danger, in the process."

Tonka stared at Hazan, unblinking. "Probably would be a lot easier to just pay an information broker to erase your identity and give you a new one. Personally, any time I made an enemy, I dealt with it one at a time rather than letting it snowball, as you put it. Krogan aren't really keen on putting things off. Kill the people who want to kill you before they get the chance. Doesn't get much simplier. So how exactly are you planning on accessing all these so-called lists? You miss one, you miss them all." he said, snapping the last of the pieces together and activating the rifle. Stepping out to the firing line, Tonka made a few minute adjustments to the optical assembly and took a series of slow shots at the 100m mark, bringing the rifle back to the bench to work on it some more. "Still hitting a bit to the right. definitely something going on in the optics itself. Rifle's shooting consistently."

"Maybe it's because I've been using the optic as a viewfinder... Hmmh. And Dex was thinking that if the bounty board people held all their information on a central server bank, we hack that."

Hazan shrugged and sighed.

"Honestly it feels like the more I talk to you, the more I'm regretting leaving my business unfinished before I left Omega. Maybe I should've hunted down those fuckers first..."

Something cracked where Tonka's fingers were. He glanced up at Hazan and back down to it. "You didn't hear that." he said, taking a comically undersized screwdriver for his hand and working on taking apart the optics. "From the way you make it sound, you had entirely too much business and nothing resembling a deathwish. Dex knows that shit better than just about anyone, given her illustrious history digging up dirty laundry, but if anyone made a personal copy of that list, wiping it wouldn't take care of the problem." he said, thinking on it a moment. A large panel came free, exposing the wiring and circuit boards.

"So, you need a plan. What if you had Dex hack into one of the pyjaks who want you dead's personal accounts, send a message out to all interested parties that he paid an info broker a hefty sum for your whereabouts and lure as many as you can into one place. Set off a bomb, kill a bunch of them, and if a few survive, they'll always remember that going after you killed a bunch of them. Even if they don't call off the hunt or just get more pissed, they're going to be a lot more nervous about doing it." Tonka pointed out.

"Hmm... That sounds good. More like my style. Sends a pretty clear message. I like this plan more than hacking the little shits' servers." Hazan chuckled to himself as he accessed his omnitool to browse the extranet.

"I hope you bought your own Extranet access packets, because that shit isn't cheap." the krogan observed, methodically going through the connections. "You're also going to have to convince people to help you with that, and to make it worth their while. I shouldn't have to remind you we all barely know each other still. Hard to inspire loyalty without waving a big enough pay cheque."

Hazan nodded, still browsing the extranet on unrelated topics. "I know, Tonka. I'm just banking on the success of our next few missions to rack up enough dough for my own wallet to "convince" a few of us to help me."

He chuckled softly and closed his omnitool, sitting back on his bench.

"Truth be told...this is kinda the best crew I've run with so far. You guys...are pretty cool. Not like my other crews, who I've never felt safe around."

"Here, try this." Tonka replied, tossing the rifle over to Hazan carelessly. "If this lot are your barometer for 'best crew', I'd hate to hear what outfits you used to run with. I specifically signed on here because I wanted to see how bad it could it with people with no idea what the hell they're doing." the krogan grinned. "Last mission exceeded expectations."

Hazan caught the rifle in both hands and nodded. He dropped to a knee, snapped the safety off the rifle and pulled the trigger on the holo-target down range. The rifle barked and a hole appeared in the target just shy of the center, exactly where he'd been aiming. Hazan grinned and clicked the safety back on and chuckled.

"Perfect. Just the way it's always been. You're really good at this, Tonka."

The krogan shrugged non-committally. "After a couple hundred years, I'd better be good at something. You can make it up to me later if you want. Or not, I don't really care." Tonka replied, packing up his briefcase and checking his omnitool. "I'm heading back to the ship, we're dusting off in a few hours and I'd rather figure out if there's last minute shit we need done before we're booted out of the port. You coming?" he asked.

"Yup. I don't have anything to do either, so I figure I might as well get our charts in order before we leave. See you there. And yeah, I'll figure out a way to make it up to you, Tonka. Thanks."

Dex ran one last look over her omnitool window, streams of data downloading concerning Firuzeh. The turian minimized the window then walked through the common areas heading to the cockpit. Some dishes from breakfast were still strewn about with no other crew present. The mess wasn’t an issue but it felt a twinge bit more lived in. Small contributions everyone made in one way or another to making the ship feel more like home were noticeable if one was paying attention. The past two days of shore leave were necessary, she hoped the moments spent bonding did them well in the long run. Maybe even functioning closer to a team than a group of strangers.

Their next destination was solely to see to fixing Drono’s back at Lafayette Station, something she personally wanted to see through. Still carrying a small sliver of blame for his current condition, a failing from back on their first mission. It felt like it had been ages since then.

Dex made it to the cockpit, the door opening up to the small and cramped cockpit where she saw Iosif prepping for flight. She nodded taking her seat, shortly thereafter Haze came in behind her taking his seat at navigation. Without a word, he began loading up the coordinates courtesy of Drono for Lafayette. Plotting their course.

She logged into her terminal, orange holographic windows appeared giving her readings for all over the ship. Her talons began moving automatically without need or pause to look down.

Iosif and Dex ran through preflight checks, sounding off each check as they went down the list. They tried to ensure their rust bucket of a ship was in a half decent condition to take off. When they reached the end of the list Haze had plotted a course, favouring as usual the most fuel efficient course versus the shortest. They saved their credits on fuel where they could.

Tapping a button to activate the speakers ship wide Dex spoke, “Good morning Jury Riggers. Our little shore leave has officially come to an end, whoever isn’t on the ship will have to hitchhike to Lafayette. We’re off to get Drono’s back fixed whether that comes to bullying a doctor or fighting off some assholes. We’ll find out when we get there won’t we?” She laughed her eyes crinkling. “Speaking of assholes, don’t be one and go say hi to our newest addition in the medbay. We picked her up at a local dive bar, so you know she’s legitimate.”

She noted a bit more seriously, “Remember guys, we fucked up on our last mission and instead of our pay checks at risk here it’s one of us.”

“This trip is going to take a few weeks by the looks of it. Word of advice, stagger your horrible pranks, invent a decent pair of earplugs, and kiss cold Elysium goodbye.”

There is a certain something about staring death in the face. A sort of creeping fear that you will lose everything. It keeps you from making connections. It severs ties you did not know you had. It stifles any hope of normalcy. For the past years, he had been doing nothing but surviving. Forced himself through increasingly painful cramps with the sole purpose of paying Yestin back for his betrayal. That and his own in its own right crippling fear of dying without anyone who know or care for him. A drell by nature was not a solitary being, his father had once told him.

Drono had begun to identify that little prickling of absolute, ice cold terror. He felt it now. Staring at the text before him. Going back to LaFayette for the first time since he joined with the crew. And it wasn’t going to be the same old procedure. No. He had a chance. A possibility of finally getting rid of the pain and the crippling fear of paralyzation. It came with a gamble, like all things Drono. The chance of the procedure leading to a fatal end was only 0.5 percent. Partial rejection of the synth spine however, was 30 percent. Those were pretty bad odds when it came to betting your future on something wholesale. But there was nothing else to it. Bringing up the vid message again, he stared at the elderly woman.

“Hello Drono. I have some bad news and some good news. The good news is that I finally found a specialist in drell physiology and a spinal surgeon who specifies in synthetics. “ She smiled, but the smile was strained. “Its just that two men wearing eclipse armor arrived to the station just a while ago, and they’ve been turning the place upside down looking for you. Going so far as to hire some of the local riff raff. I think whoever you didn’t want to find out about your visits here, has been alerted.”

Drono killed the message and ran his hands across his scalp, groaning audibly. “Fucking perfect.” He muttered under his breath. “Yestin...” He got up and began walking towards the Bridge. He was on auto pilot, feet steering him past everyone while snapping his fingers like he was trying to get the attention of waiter at a restaurant. He strolled right up the the ship intercom, all but smashing his finger on the button. “Everyone. Get you asses to the Bridge..” He stood there, cross armed, leaning on their charming, slavic pilots seat. Drono look surprisingly somber as they arrived, one by one. He waited for them all to be gathered before he spoke. There was none of the jovial, snarky tone he usually had. For once, you could hear the calm, very drell like finality all his species seemed to possess.

“I know I am usually the first to crack jokes and be inappropriate at times like this.” He said. “But I can’t now. If you read my earlier message, you know I am in a bad shape. It seems to be progressing at a more rapid pace, and soon, the deterioration of my nerves and spine will reach a critical point. “ He shrugged, clearly trying his damndest not to show the pain he was feeling. He was fidgeting with some of the gifts he gotten from Serena before. Assembling a detonator. Something to keep his fingers dexterous.

“The Salarian who did this to me, Is named Yestin. He was my partner in crime, back during my smuggling days. He left me to die.” He put away the now finished detonator away and started with a second one. “After putting bullet in my spine. And when I asked him why, he dumped a nerve toxin into the wound.” He waited, letting them digest what he was saying. He was stating everything with the most calm, deadpan expression he likely ever shown around them.

“One day. I will kill him. With my own two hands. I will smash his skull like and watch as his frail neck snap.” He said, in the same serene voice of Drell everywhere. The juxtaposition between his tone and his violent words was quite jarring. “But to do that, I have to live that long. And to do that, I need to get lafayette. Dr Sheeva was the one who saved me, however, lafayette is 90 percent humans, and he had never operated on anything alien before. There were..” His left hand spasmed slightly, almost making him drop the detonator. “Complications. The nerve toxin poured into my wound caused rapid necrosis." He let it hang there. He realized he was stalling for some reason.

"They managed to stem it. But they needed a expert in Drell physiology, as well as Synthetic Prosthetic spine, arm and shoulder. None of these are cheap on their own and my involvement in a particularly high stake heist at the time was… problematic for one seeking out public healthcare.”

He sighed. “I squirreled money away. Every job, all my money funneled into that clinic, into helping them set it up for me. And happy days, they found someone who, thanks to you guys, I can now afford.” He made a grimace. “But. Apparently, some people came looking for my records. Armed people.The kind with a black and yellow sun on their crest.”

He put down the second detonator. “I need your guys help. Usually, I can handle a few thugs. But I have a feeling these guys aren’t just here as a case of bad timing. I used Yestins name to get in close during the last job. I think he knows, and that he is looking for whoever helped me survive. If we don’t clear them out quick, I am not gonna make it. Their appear to be only two heavy hitters, Eclipse guys. They have some local muscle with them though. It makes sense, Yestin always liked doing business with they yellow bastards. ” He didn’t mention that the operation was far from a sure thing either. They didn’t need to know that. “I don’t wanna die guys.” He said simply. “Not like this.”
He sighed and and stood straight, palms out and open towards them. “Questions?” A hesitant, weak smile found its way past the grim, deadpanned mask.

---

“Everyone. Get your asses to the Bridge..”

Vellios had just made it to the kitchen. He was about to say hi and investigate their newest recruit when Drono’s voice came on. He gradually rose from his seat at the table, noting the tone in the Drell’s statement, and ignored the wafting aromas drifting from the kitchen on his way toward the bridge. He had likely high hopes that dinner would’ve been uneventful evening but that was now dashed. Quietly grumbling a bit, he shifted through the doorway into the main room and toward the far wall.

There he leaned against the cold metal with his shoulder then watched the others file in. It wasn’t much of a surprise he was among the first there, besides Drono, waiting silently in the background. Listening quietly to the whole briefing going from good to shit in a few moments. His eyes casually swept over the detonator pieces over the console as he tried to ignore the alarm bells ringing in the back of his skull, the sensation strengthened when his mind wandered to the explosives they likely would be linked to and where they were located. Instinctively he shifted in place to shove the notion aside for the time being.

When Drono spasmed and the trigger dropped nearly from grasp, their favorite psychopath had moved. His figure pushed from the wall and walked to the bridge’s center, his arm reached out to catch it. Realizing the Drell had managed to regain his grip, Vellios retracted his hand and then leaned against the table’s edge on his side. His arms crossed over his chest while he continued to listen to the rest.

When Yestin’s name was mentioned, Vellios easily could see the tension and pain brought by it. Through it wasn’t through Drono’s deadpan expression or behavior that tipped the turian off. It was because of the word choice and the knowledge Drono shared with them. The Drell wanted pure, simple revenge for what happened. Something that Vellios knew all too well about and found himself. His eyes tightened when it seemed Drono would continue to ramble, looking for something that felt was being held back and not shared. However, it wasn’t his place to demand it.

Vellios began to speak, “No one wants to die, Drono. I know that well and seen my fair share of it, but it doesn’t mean I’ll stand around on my lazy ass and not help. I do have a few questions.”

He inhaled then held up a digit for each thing he listed, “One: how much do you know about the situation? Two: How well do you know the place? Three: anything from maps, memories, hidden areas or vents are not worthless in giving us an edge. So do you know any? Four: What approach do you feel is best for this mission and what do you need those volunteering to do?”

Vellios’ tone was held in a delicate place between calm and casual. Serena knew he was trying not to take it serious, but also trying to be sincere over his offered help. It wasn’t because he didn’t start to care or wanted Drono to live. It was because he didn’t want his teammates to see the worst part of him at work. His earlier take down of Drono, primary face planting, was only skimming the surface. In the end, the more serious he got… the more tunnel vision he got until only the mission mattered. That was dangerous for Serena or anyone that worked with him.

He only hoped his teammates didn’t think he was alright with getting his carapace blown to pieces more than helping Drono. Then again, it likely didn’t surprise them in the least.

“Everyone. Get your asses to the Bridge..”

Serena looked up from the Kite's (now known as Nimble Nancy) operating systems and frowned. There was an uncharacteristic degree of seriousness in Drono's tone which couldn't mean anything but trouble. Shooting a questioning look at Tanya, she climbed out of the ship and quickly headed towards the bridge. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good.

She stood next to Vellios, smiling briefly at the sight of the detonator Drono was fiddling with. Her smile quickly disappeared as Drono began talking, elaborating on just how he had gotten shot in the back and just how bad his situation was. She didn't move as a spasm went through him, watching Vellios react faster than she could hope to. She continued to listen mostly to Drono, mind moving a mile a minute. Eclipse. That'll mean mechs. Possibly biotics, though given the fact that it's two men the chances are slim. Even if they do my damping should be more than sufficient for them. Local thugs won't be a problem, provided they're the usual kind. Tanya, Dex, and I are all have ways to disable the mechs without too much trouble.

She glanced at Vellios as he began rattling off his questions, already intent upon the mission. Or as intent as he allowed himself to be. Aww, he really does care. She stepped forward, holding up four fingers. "So, those four things," She looked at Vellios and smirked at him, holding out her thumb to make a five. "And five is how soon do you want to deal with Yestin. After you get fixed, and we will get you fixed, he's going to know who you're running with. That means he's going to start gunning for us to get to you. I'd rather deal with him before we get weekly attacks by the Eclipse or other mercs. But that's more pressing after we get you in and out of Layfayette." She paused for a moment, thinking.

"Since it's Eclipse we can assume there'll be mechs and possibly biotics. Dex, Tanya, and I can take care of the mechs pretty easily. If they're low end Eclipse we'll even be able to take their mechs from them. I can suppress their biotics too, if they even have them. After that it'll be the usual job of shooting them before they can shoot us. Though that's assuming the local thugs they hired are the usual kind and they didn't hire a metric crap ton of them." Serena smiled at Drono, trying to reassure him. "You're not going to die. I promise."

Tanya, Hanger Bay…

The call over the intercom erupted suddenly, startling Tanya as she was cleaning one of her paint brushes off in the water pot. Already going off of entirely too little sleep thanks to a combination of alcohol and a series of reoccurring nightmare, the engineer counted her blessings that she wasn’t applying brush to canvas when Drono boomed over the intercom. Considering how seldom it was used for anything serious, since most people just crossed the short distance to speak with people directly, about as serious of a use as the intercom got was to announce meals for the most part.

Catching Serena’s eye, who was busy behind Old Nancy running some diagnostics, the two women shared a look conveying that neither were entirely certain what the hell was going on. Drono wasn’t an angry guy, so this did not bode well. Scaling the ladder to head up to the bridge, Tanya wondered exactly what the hell was about to go down.

Settling against a wall near Tonka and Dex, she listened to Drono go over his less-than-ideal circumstances and Tanya felt she was way under-caffeinated for this, so much so that she realized she was still holding onto the same paint brush as earlier and was idly twirling it like a drumstick between her fingers. There wasn’t really much she had to add; she’d never fought against Eclipse before, but she’d be able to chew into tech without much of an issue. The lack of intel concerning Drono’s proposition was a bit concerning, however.

”Look, Drono…” she began, trying to pick her words carefully. ”We all want to fix you, and you know we’re on board for getting you the help you need, but you’re in a lot of pain, do you actually have an idea of how we’re going to do this? It’s a huge risk going in half-cocked, and nobody’s going to be able to help you if we all get killed. Eclipse is one of the big kids on the block; we aren’t going to be able to match them in a straight-on firefight if it turns out there’s more than two of them. They’ve the manpower and finances that we could only dream about… I mean, look at this heap of ship that we call home. I can’t even hang up a picture without worrying about causing a hull breach. How do we know the thugs aren’t just plainclothes Eclipse so they don’t draw attention?”

Tonka jetted a thumb towards Tanya. ”I’m with her. As fun as it is watching us all bumble around like a bunch of inbred pyjaks who’ve been eating nothing but fermented fruits, I’d rather our colossal fuck-ups be something we walk away from. After Virmire, this team needs a win, or I don’t see us lasting out there because the galaxy will chew us apart and shit us out with a thought. We can’t afford to have Eclipse know who the hell we are. Couldn’t we just sneak you into the clinic and run a diversion if they start getting nosey?”

Dex, Bridge

Dex had barely heard Drono’s footfalls from where she sat at the helm, hadn’t moved since take off. Before getting out a hello he had leaned over Iosif’s chair turning the ship intercom on calling everyone up to the bridge. He looked like shit, what the fuck had he been doing the past two days? She squinted at him. When everyone filed in Drono began to speak and it immediately made her uncomfortable. It was like listening to a hollowed out Drono.

“I know I am usually the first to crack jokes and be inappropriate at times like this.” He said. “But I can’t now. If you read my earlier message, you know I am in a bad shape. It seems to be progressing at a more rapid pace, and soon, the deterioration of my nerves and spine will reach a critical point.”

She didn’t pretend to know what he was feeling, but she felt anger boiling in the pit of her stomach it rumbled through her sub vocals when he mentioned what Yestin did to him. Her fists clenched.

Drono’s attitude right now was produced by fear. That much was evident.

Vellios brought up some good questions about the station, while Serena added her input supporting her ability to take care of Eclipse tech.

While Dex had personally dealt with Eclipse before, they were bastards and ballsy as a two bit thief with credit chit passcodes. They’d be tricky to fend off any of their hacking attempts individually, especially when they tried to ID them. She could fuck with them but not on eight varying fronts.

Tanya and Tonka made the obvious point of needing to be more prepared this time around, Dex nodded at them. “Abso-fucking-lutely. We have three weeks of travel time to make a solid plan A and plan B.”

She pointed to Drono fiddling with his detonator, “If we’re going to be prepared we need to confirm what you know, get some more intel. For the record? This - ” She gestured at him vaguely. “-is making me uncomfortable. If taking on some Eclipse means fixing this then that’s enough incentive for me.”

She had swiveled in her chair facing everyone, “Anyway, I’ll aim for some comm buoys on the way there to grab whatever information I need. I’ve dealt with Eclipse before. I’m sure I can fend off their bullshit hacking attempts, I can’t do it for everyone. Especially those with piss poor security. I can work on bolstering our security as a crew so we don’t register as blip on their radar, can’t be ID’d, and protect our own tech. Cover our tracks.”

“Serena I’ll need your help for crew wide security, I can dig for intel while we plan.” She leaned into her seat, audibly creaking. “Got some all nighters coming up with all this work to do. Worth it though.”

“Drono I’m going to need to steal you after this meeting to get any information you have. Anything and everything. What you’ve heard, seen, have in your files. Station layout, medical staff names and positions, everything.” She paused looking him in the eye, her mandibles flicking. “In between preparing for the Eclipse I can look for leads on Yestin. Where he’s operating and track him. Get some eyes on him. That fucker is going to be a problem, the sooner we deal with him the better.”

As Dex and Iosif settled in their seats, Hazan placed himself in his. In front of his nav console. His talons danced over the holographic windows and inputs as he went through his own pre-flight checklist, and once done, he began plotting a route to LaFayette Station. When the route had been plotted, he threw it over to Dex's console to let her sort out the minutiae. That was her job, and his was done now. The pilots had it in their hands to take them to the station without a bump in the flight. He pulled out his datapad, threw his feet up onto his powered down console and began reading. After all, the cockpit was his second bunk.

It wasn't long before the rather relaxing atmosphere broke though, as Drono's voice rang out from the speakers all over the ship calling for the crew to convene on the bridge. Hazan stowed his datapad and ambled over to the area just behind the cockpit consoles, where the rest of the crew were clustered around their lone drell and their meeting table. Drono was giving a briefing, and the subject was his long-standing back problem and their current trip to Lafayette where he could get patched up and combat ready. Hazan couldn't help but smirk; just before they'd left, he'd had it in him to bring the sickly drell to a clinic on Elysium for a checkup. His idea, of course. The pain meds he'd gotten there were helping, but not by much, as it was apparent from Drono's sickly expression and demeanor. As the crew got to immediate planning, he let his smug smirk fall away to his normal, more serious expression.

While Dex went for the tech and stealthy approach, Hazan took a moment to think. Then he spoke.

"Dex, d'you think you could pull a map or floor plan of the station itself and send it to me? We need to cover routes, alternate routes, points of entry and egress, cover zones, crowd areas, checkpoints, stuff like that."

The turian paced slowly round the table, taking mind not to bump into anyone.

"Plan A... Plan A, hmm... Well if I were the Eclipse, and Yestin is helping them, I'd be monitoring station traffic in and out. I'd be looking for a transport or shuttle that's carrying a casualty or an injured crew member, specifically a drell. Since this is your former accomplice we're talking about, let's assume they know all about you. So we're talking expecting us at the shuttle bay, at the clinic, and en route. Probably have a transport just off station with more troops if they're expecting company, which they should since they're Eclipse."

Hazan activated his omnitool, quietly cursing the holographic display clipping through his arm, and opened a note file where he began tapping out a list.

"So here's what I propose for Plan A: we draft up a cover story for our approach and do the whole "cloak and dagger" thing the whole way. To draw attention away from Drono, we need a decoy. Someone else who's suitably due for a medical examination. Probably Vellios. That's step one. Step two is the escort. We'll need eyes and ears on the ground before Drono steps out so he's covered the moment he's on site, plus an escort to go with him that's suitably discreet. I'll immediately volunteer for recon duty because being a front scout is what I do. I foresee us needing to spread out and blend in, so maybe one or two more scouts should go with me to pad out the route. And step three is a distraction for our Eclipse buddies on site. Probably best if we do something here that doesn't get us blacklisted and booted off the station."

He wrote all this down onto his omnitool and powered it down.

"Oh, one more thing: Drono, send me all the intel you have on Yestin too. It's one thing for Dex to track his galactic whereabouts, I'm not worried about that bit, but I want to be damn sure that he won't be on site with us. So I'll be keeping an eye out for him on station during the escort. If he's there, I'll ring a big alarm bell for the team."

Khosin was on his room, putting back in what little he had taken during his short absence from the Borealis on their intended places inside his room, when the ship’s intercom crackled to life with Drono’s voice “Everyone. Get your asses to the Bridge..” The Drell’s words reached the Batarian as he finished organizing his meager possessions inside of the starship. Something about the way Drono spoke set off alarm bells inside of Khosin’s head, this was an urgent matter -that much was evident by how Drono’s words were devoid of their usual humorous tone- and as such he made haste towards the Borealis’s bridge

After a short walk, Khosin was crossing the threshold that led into the bridge, noticing that the entirety of the crew were already there now that he was present along with someone he didn't recognise "Huh, new member, better ask someone about who they are later on." He listened as Drono spoke, telling them of how the deterioration of his nerves and spines would quickly reach a critical point. When Drono reached the point about Yestin, about how the Salarian had betrayed him, Khosin found himself clenching his fists in anger, his teeth gritting slightly in frustration. He wasn’t a good man by any means, and he was sure that he had done worse than everyone in the ship except perhaps Vellios, but if there was one thing that he couldn’t stand, nor forgive, was betrayal.

He listened on as Drono continued speaking, watching silently as the crew reacted to the news and voiced their opinion on Drono’s plan and what information the Drell had given them. He could empathize with Serena’s words, wanting to save Drono and think everything would go alright, but Tanya’s words -backed by Tonka- also resonated with him. If they didn’t take this seriously this wouldn’t cost them a mere pay but it could end with Drono being crippled for life, not to mention putting themselves in Eclipse’s bad side and that was something they couldn’t afford at all. Internally breathing a sigh of relief when Dex turned to speak to the assembled crew the Batarian soon found himself nodding in agreement with Dex’s assessment of the situation.

Turning to look at Haze, Khosin listened once more in silence as the turian scout began pacing around the table and began coming up with a plan for the mission at Lafayette station. “Well, I’d say we have a pretty solid plan so far.” Spoke Khosin finally once Hazan had finished speaking “I’m more inclined to try the distraction plan, pretty sure I could be of help with that because of….well, I don’t need to tell you guys why a Batarian suddenly appearing in a space station that is mostly filled with humans.” He said before turning to face Drono “Don’t worry Drono you’ll live through this, we’ll make sure of it.” Said the Batarian, trying to reassure Drono’s worries “Oh, and one last thing, send me all info on Yestin you have as well, I have a few contacts on the Blue Suns, they might not have worked with Yestin directly but there’s a chance they’ll be able to find something about him.”

Firuzeh was busy sorting out the nightmarish mess that was the ship's medical system when the intercom disrupted her concentration. Grumbling, she made to shut it off, but stopped as the words crackling through it filtered into her brain. Get our asses to the bridge,
huh? She thought, eyeing it tiredly. She had better things to do, frankly, and the last thing she needed in between trying to sort out the mess of the crew's medical and dietary needs was some new problem to handle. With a resigned huff, she began jogging towards the bridge, still grumbling the whole way.

She entered the bridge ready to grumble at whoever had summoned the entire crew - but stopped as she saw the taciturn faces all around, and instead remained silent, standing a little ways back to avoid being too conspicuous. However, she perked up as the Drell, who she had yet to meet properly, mentioned a cybernetic specialist being required. She rolled her eyes slightly, wishing he'd come straight to her - she couldn't work medical miracles, but while the others wouldn't come cheap, she was right in front of him! She might not have a fortune lying around to buy all the prosthetics required - but at the very least, she had some friends in the industry who could very likely give her a discount for something this urgent.

Patiently, she waited for him to finish speaking, before walking back into a better field of view. Frowning at him, she leveled a finger accusatorily, "I understand I'm new here - but I can't fathom why you never came to speak to me about this. Neurological repair and/or replacement is my specialty! I couldn't have performed a miracle, but did it occur to you that I might have been able to help? Even with the cost - prosthetics are expensive, but I have connections in the industry that could make them significantly less impoverishing for you!" She sighed, pulling herself back under control. "Look, I'm new, I'm sorry - and I'll do anything you need me to to help, and for what it's worth it seems like a solid plan. But for heaven's sake!" She sighed again, "Can you put me in touch with these doctors so I can help on that front? I'm no seasoned mercenary, so I doubt I'll be much help in the actual tactics of the thing, but if nothing else let me help with that?"

“Everyone. Get your asses to the Bridge...”

Whilst the others had been making their way to the bridge, Iosif had been seated there the whole time, enjoying the (relative) comfort of working in his own space. Even when Drono had rested an arm back against his own seat, he'd not deigned to move - he had something to say, clearly, but Iosif figured he could hear it well enough when the drell was right behind him, somber tone and all. He looked worse for wear than usual, that much was clear - none of the jovial, sardonic demeanour he'd seen before. It was funny, really - this was the first time he'd sell the one drell on their ship actually conveying himself as one would expect of his species.

True to thoughts, Drono pointed this out in his next couple of words, before going on to explain that his... condition, was worsening. It wasn't necessarily fear he picked up in the drell's tone, but there was that gloomy, almost accepting tone that he'd seen (or at least heard of) with the older, traditionalist generations of drell whom spent more time around the hanar.

The next line that he heard, however, did manage to get Iosif to pivot in his seat, shifting his gaze towards Drono with an inquisitive expression. “The salarian who did this to me, is named Yestin. He was my partner in crime, back during my smuggling days. He left me to die” It rang a personal chord with him, not least because of the fact that this salarian had also happened to be a treacherous partner. “After putting bullet in my spine. And when I asked him why, he dumped a nerve toxin into the wound.” Iosif's jaw tightened a little at that, a hint of disgust becoming clear on his face. When it came to heinous acts of betrayal, the slavic pilot saw little difference between selling a man off to the fucking batarians and poisoning him instead of finishing the job with a clean shot through the brain stem. Both equally deplorable, both equally deserving of retribution.

He certainly didn't blame Drono for wanting, no, promising to exact some form of violent revenge. In fact, for a second he pictured himself with both of his fingers tightened around the salarian's throat, or perhaps him venting a hole in the treacherous bastard's skull, or something equally violent but nontheless cathartic. It made no difference - for Drono, or Iosif, both salarians were far off somewhere else, out of reach for now.

In the meantime, Drono continued - explaining that his condition was dire and that perhaps the only people who were both able and willing to assist him were in danger at the hands of people who were probably associated with the drell's former partner. Not just an obstacle to Drono's understandable desire to stay alive, but also an obstacle to any hope he might've had at enacting revenge and here, even though Iosif had never particularly gotten to know the drell as well as he had with some of the other crew, he felt a personal need to help his colleague in this plight. so he might have had a shot at the same kind of retribution that he wished to enact upon his own treacheous salarian partner.

Of course, the others were quick to raise their concerns - and they were legitimate concerns. Eclipse weren't exactly the kind of people you wanted to be screwing around with, even if you were only dealing with just a few of their guys, the mercenary organisation didn't take too kindly to attacks on its resources - it didn't send out the best message, after all, if they were seen to be tolerating attacks on their people. Following Tanya and Tonka's comments on needing to be better prepared than their previous shitshow missions, Dex was on-point. Sometimes, it was easy for Iosif to forget that on top of being a competent pilot, his counterpart was arguably the most experienced at cloak-and-dagger type operations than the rest of them combined.

Haze had also been of similar consensus to Dex, also arguing in favour of a subtle, stealth-based approach. Iosif had to stifle an amused snort when Haze pitched the idea of using Vellios in his already fucked up state as part of their cover, if only because he wondered how the fatalistic turian would take the idea of being volunteered for such duty and whether he'd play ball with them on this one. In this case, there wouldn't be any room for mental breakdowns or relapses - Drono's life and the reputation (and future wellbeing) of their crew would be weighing on this. Then, much to the slav's surprise, Khosin had offered up some information in this matter as well - being a batarian, Iosif wasn't too surprised to hear he had some contacts with the Blue Suns, but if anything they might have had to say proved useful it would be worth the while. For perhaps the first time, Iosif gave the batarian a brief look that suggested something other than mild contempt or apathy.

Perhaps the first question that Iosif wanted to raise was just where he'd play a part in this. Given they were actively trying to avoid being flagged on Eclipse's shitlist, he'd probably have been better off going for something that would facilitate a subtle role, rather than the guns-blazing shuttle evac he'd conducted on their last mission. "Dex, if you're better off working remotely from the ship, I can live with that - I can run transport for this job. I'm not exactly the cloak-and-dagger type but I can keep my mouth shut if that's what this needs."

Drono listened to them, and a part of him stirred. They all had their ways of showing it, but there was a kind of camaraderie here. Yes,. they didn’t jump in like idiots on the chance to possibly save him from certain death. But he didn’t want them to, nor did he expect them to. They were planning and preparing. They were working like a team in order to maybe, somehow, save his ass. It would have brought him to tears, but he found himself fresh out of tears. His head was clearer then it had been in years. Part of it was the better, cleaner drugs. Part of it was the calmness of his fellows.

“Alright. I know a person who is wants to fuck with Yestin as bad as I do. So I will throw her a call, she knows us both from old, and if anyone can help throw him off my tail to give us all breathing room. It is her.” He said as he had taken in what they all had to say. Haze in particular was already drafting plans. He was a smidge jealous at how organized the turian was. To him, the general gist of a plan was "Improvise better."

“I agree with your plan Haze, we won’t go in half assed. Subterfuge is our best bet. But we need contingency plans if things get ugly.” He said as he pondered. “Haze. I am going to need you to bring something with you during your scouting. There is a place I want you to stake out, and if possible. Drop of a little explosive package. It is our contingency plan.” He said as he began clicking about on his omnitool, drawing up map of the station. “If we need to get out of dodge fast, this tunnel here leads straight to the port, It would be very simple to make inaccessible behind us if we are retreating.”

He turned to the others again. “Any eyes we can get on the opposition before this stuff goes down, the better. Eclipse are well prepared, but they aren’t expecting anything like us. I wager Yestin has no idea of our set up, our crew or our capabilities. And he is stingy and petty, so he will assume you are all a bunch of losers. If we get the bead on them, we can possible sabotage their heavy stuff, should they have any.”

His eyes fastened of Firu, “That… That is actually a good idea. Once the others have lured them away, I imagine it would be good if someone with actual medical knowledge talked to them. And any help with fixing the cybernetic parts I imagine is good.” He nodded. A little bit of hope returning to him for each thing he took into consideration.

“We need ot locate a good ambush spot, and rig it. The harder and faster we hit them, the better. Dex, you are our cloak and dagger expert here babe. I will leave it to you to do the whole “Set up a digital mumbo jumbo decoy.” He chewed his lip. “Vellios. If we can get them somewhere narrow like a alleyway, your cane mines will come in handy. And if you are indeed the Decoy, try and leave atleast one of them Alive. We need them to know we are going to be to costly a target for them to go after, but that we don’t want to escelate. The are mercenaries and profit is their only concern.”

“As for Yestin himself. We will deal with him in time. Yestins a planner. And whenever shit goes south, he tends to retreat and retrace his steps. That gives up a lot of time do our own digging. When the time comes, we hit him. But I am not going to let my own quest for vengeance get in the way of our business. We’ll keep a eye out, time will provide. Well if old Jalopy doesn't explode due to vented methane or something first.”
He leaned back, Taking a deep breath. “Right. We got work to do. Best get on it people.”

While waiting for Drono to reply, Vellios listened to the others. When Serena held up her fourth and fifth fingers, something he didn’t have, he sighed in surrender over her insistence to be annoyingly helpful. He was lucky the crew were the tolerant type or she would’ve been sent out the airlock after the first mission and forced him to slaughter them all. Like the last group.

He cleared his sub vocals over the thought. When Serena began to jump to the foreseeable future problem of Yestin, Vellios shifted from in front of Drono and to the nearest console. There he parked his ass onto the edge of it and leaned comfortably against it. His arms crossed over his chest while the others immediately jumped in with their own ideas, concerns and information relating to the actual mission about to happen in a few weeks.

Many good points were made.

Both Tanya and Tonka wanted to avoid the fumble that resulted in the last mission. To Vellios it was easier said than done truthfully, mainly because while a good plan could help to make things run smoothly, there was one important fact: no plan ever came out unpunctured against an enemy. Some point during the operation there was a real chance everything would fall apart like a wet paper bag. In that moment, what they did independently would make the most difference in its success or failure. A plan was no good if they couldn’t ensure the goal end was going to happen even when things fell apart.

Vellios’ hand took out his blade from his waist then flicked up and down in his right hand. The motion was comforting and soothing as it kept the loud thoughts in his head from spilling out to ruin things.

Dex, now, seemed to be going after the information he was and more. He inhaled through his nose then let it out, shrugging off the irritation that came. Dex was added to the pile of people that wanted to solve the issue with Yestin quickly, a fact that he found interesting since both Haze and Drono had similar cases that dipped into revenge. Yet, Vellios had told Haze to wait until they had the resources to deal with the piece of trash. Dex appeared unworried about Yestin being just as or more dangerous than someone that literally put a bounty out on Haze.

Again, Vellios bite his tongue through his eyes shifted to Haze. He studied the fellow turian to see his reaction to it all. Haze, on the other hand, was completely focused on helping Drono. That was something that Vellios wasn’t fully expecting, as he spied the turian scout walk about the table in a pacing motion before stopping to address them all.

Upon hearing the part about himself going into the examination room as part of a ‘cloak and dagger’ play, Vellios stopped flipping the knife up and down promptly. His eyes looked at Haze with a frown gracing his lip and mandibles fraying subtly. He inhaled to speak against the ideas, but stopped when he spotted Iosif stifle a snort and distract him. A look was shot at the slav showing he wasn’t interested in playing decoy and let a doctor prod and poke him. Before he could turn to object, Khosin had already leaned toward it.

When Firu, their newest female, stepped into view and frowned at Drono. Being pull a bit from the unlucky drell, Vellios gradually smirked at the fact he had a prime view of the human’s ass. The way she was built was rather curvy unlike a Turian which oddly he found appealing in casual partners. Not bothering to cover his intentions, he took advantage of the situation and let his mind wonder into the gutter to make it worth being silent the whole time. Despite his ‘studying’, his attention continued to listen to her ranting over not being involved over Drono’s spine and curiously learned about her medical speciality. It all made sense why she was brought on now.

Any additional comments were interrupted when Drono spoke, but nothing that would answer his earlier questions. He sighed when Drono mentioned about being the decoy and keeping one of the targets alive. A mandible twitched as he let Drono wrap up, keeping quiet on matters that bothered him.

“I hate to be grim and negative here,” the turian’s hand reattached the knife back to his belt then continued, “Being a decoy is not something I’m keen on and even leaving any of the Eclipse alive to identify me is dangerous. First off, I’m not fond of doctors poking at me as I’m use to healing myself… it’s more comfortable and nature to me. Second point I have is if I go in with Drono and there’s security cameras or someone untrustworthy sees, I’m not keen on being identified, traced and possible create leads back to who I’m seen with. Primarily Serena.”

Before she protest, his eyes shot her a look to silence her and commented in a hard tone, “And don’t chide me over it.”

Vellios turned to Drono, his tone hard to read, “I’m still willing to help you Drono, but I’m against being decoy if it puts her at risk. She’s the only thing keeping me like this.”

The turian’s words meant as he was now and what was considered normal for him.