"... recent influx of Rachni workers to Thessia is believed to have sped up construction projects considerably, though the Rachni refusal of payment has caused controversy among rights activists, who believe the workers are being treated as little more than slaves. Tune in at half an hour from now, we have a spokesasari acting on the behalf of the Rachni Qu...

BZZT

"The council has given its thanks to decorated C-Sec Commander Armando-Owen-Bailey, who has retired from his position on health grounds. Bailey, a decorated hero of the attempted Cerberus coup, was previously posted on Zakera Ward, where he is credited with multiple high profile operations. The favorites to succeed him as commander include Captain's Jordan Noles, Edward Lang and Conrad Ve...

BZZT

Celebrations on Tuchanka reach their third day as the Krogan celebrate the sixth anniversary of the genophage cure. High Clan Chief Urdnot Wrex expressed his thanks to the Systems Alliance for their aid in bringing the millennium long plague to an end, and tributes were made to Mordin Solus, the Salarian Doctor who sacrificed his life to aid in the distribution of the cu...

BZZT

Hey kids! You are watching the show that makes science fun, Perry the Pyja...

BZZT

___________________________________________________

Laurence got up from his chair, switching the vid screen off and marching across the control room to the window overlooking the main hangar. It was completely empty, but looking at such a empty space made him calm, allowed him to think properly. The only other occupant of the room was a Volus, sitting at a swivel chair as high as it could go, tapping at a keyboard. Said Volus turned to him as he stared out of the window.

" [Hhhkk...]Haven't you got much better things to do now? That vid screen was giving me a...[Hhhkk...]headache."
Laurence looked at him as if he were stupid.

"Because last time i checked, i don't need to do anything. If these people are as good as you say they are, we don't have anything to worry about. After all, any dipshit these days can fight off a Blue Sun attack force...how many was it again?"
"Two hundred... [Hhhkk...] soldiers, mainly human and Turian, multiple gunships, and at least thirty... [Hhhkk...] mechs. Not sure what kinds..."

Laurence sighed, and banged his head against the glass of the window.
"Well, we are completely fucked if they all happen to be YMIR's. Which i wouldn't put past the fucking suns these days. When Cerberus fell apart, they were the first to loot their graves..."

"[Hhhkk...]Ssssh." Said Saris Fen, looking at a nearby screen and chuckling slowly to himself. "They are arriving, i must not have noticed when we were talking..."

Laurence still thought this idea was utterly stupid, but even then, he was still curious. A man should at least know a bit about his cannon fodder. "They don't look like much. I cant even see any Krogan yet."

"Neither do you, out of your armor. Though I suppose Krogan might like the [Hhhkk...] missing eye..."

"Fuck you."

Saris chuckled to himself again, as he watched each of the people on the screens. He couldn't tell if any of them were together, or even if they knew exactly where to go. He wasn't sure if all of them were here, but a quick glance at yet another screen told him he didn't have much longer to wait.

He would have to do it now.
A small hand reached for an intercom.

"Greetings, everyone!" a voice boomed out from comm units all around the port, enough for anyone inside to hear.

"My name is Saris Fen, i sincerely hope you are here for the offer that i...[Hhhkk...] sent you several weeks ago. I speak to you now to assure you that this offer is real, and this is not a trap, trafficking operation ...[Hhhkk...] anything, like that.

However, i am at an impasse. It would not do for me to recruit you, pay you, and to watch you die before you can...[Hhhkk...] do anything. I am a businessman, and must make sure that my investments are......[Hhhkk...]as good as they say. Because of this, and other... conveniences, i have devised a small test.

Ten minutes away, a full blue suns attack force of two hundred soldiers with aerial support is heading to this docking bay. Certain...wanted individuals work for me, and it was believed they are...[Hhhkk...] here.

I have wished to burn the tail of the ...[Hhhkk...]...the suns for some time, and this will give us all an opportunity to do so. This attack is highly inconvenient, but i suppose if it allows me to...[Hhhkk...] test you, it will be a blessing in disguise. You will defend this place, and kill every single blue sun that you see. They...[Hhhkk...] may be dangerous opponents, but i have every faith that you will prove equal to this task. If you wish to leave, you may do so. I simply advise that you hurry up.
Until then, relax, you ...[Hhhkk...] have ten minutes until the suns arrive, so load your weapons, ready those omni tools, and ...[Hhhkk...] maybe learn the names of those you are fighting with. Whatever ...[Hhhkk...]works for you.

If you have any questions, i will be more than happy to answer them following this inconvenience. Good luck...[Hhhkk...]everyone!"

Saris turned the intercom off, and stretched slightly in his chair, before holstering a paladin pistol he had kept on his desk, for some reason. Laurence gave him a hard look, then sighed.

"Are you going to tell them you tipped the blue suns so they would come here?"
Saris laughed.

"Not until the suns are gone, release that little tidbit of information, and they might get it in their minds to ...[Hhhkk...] shoot someone else."

Mass Effect: Seraphim Post

Ashton ran through Omega Station's colossal port; he had lost his pursuers, but it was clear that he needed to find a safe place. Yes, a safe place in Omega; those came at a premium and there was no need to remind him. As he turned a corner, the boy found himself raising his arms to protect his face as someone crashed onto him, knocking him back to the ground.

"Ugh..." the boy sat up, brushing his brown hair instinctively even as he faced the person whom he had collided with. His eyes then opened wide in shock as he saw that the person he had crashed onto was another boy, about his age, with red hair and golden eyes.

His fellow kid appeared to be as surprised as he was, but offered a hand to Ashton anyway; he was upright first. As the young 'security expert' took it and was lifted to his feet, he smiles and says, "Thanks for that."

Flame nods, clearly looking over Ashton before asking, "You look like you're from Earth, or at least deep Alliance space. Why are you in Omega?"

Ashton rubs the back of his head awkwardly and says, "It's a long story. Suffice it to say I went alone."

The deep stare the redhead gave him caused Ashton to tense up a little, before Flame responded again, "You don't sound like a liar; just a fool."

Ashton frowns and says, "Well gee, thanks!", before consulting his Omni-Tool's inbox, hoping to find a key to returning home there. Then in a message that he had put on hold, he finds something more; an offer that can change everything. Looking at his fellow kid, he says, "But a fool with resources - Some of them, anyway. Did you receive a strange message in your omni-tool's inbox as well?"

Flame snorts, "Yes, that's what I came for. Don't tell me you went to Omega chasing shady offers from shady people." That was going to be his conclusion, but something didn't sit right. So instead he said, "Let's just talk on the way."

-------

"So let me get this straight, Ashton Andrews," the redhead said, "You came all the way here... For a Batarian?!"

The reply was, "He was my mentor and one of the few Batarians that are friendly to Humans. That and I also wanted adventure and to prove myself more capable than other kids my age."

The other kid laughed as they reached the main hangar, "Well, that's something other kids in Alliance Space can only dream about! Let me help you, then." He glanced at Ashton, his looks lingering longer than was necessary, "My name's Flame Brooks, by the way."

The two boys then looked around at their surroundings; they seemed to have arrived first, but looks can deceive. And so they paused to listen to Saris Fen's message, before Flame looked at Ashton and said, "Two hundred soldiers and air support?! Is this businessman whacked?! We're not all Archangels!"

He then put a hand on Ashton's shoulder and said, "I'm a Biotic and you say you're a 'security specialist'. Therefore, you must be the genius planner who can make a plan for this. I presume other mercenaries would be coming here soon to reinforce us, right?"

Ashton stops hyperventilating; Flame's touch and subtle flattery calms him enough to focus. He opens up his small personal computer; this will have more power than an Omni-tool. The boy then said, trying to hold back the wavering in his tone, "I am going to map out this place by... Hacking into the camera feed. This will allow us to plan possible routs of attack, escape, and ambush, as well as track enemy movments. I am also sure that I can hack into an enemy mech if need be..."

To the dockyard workers, it was a common metal box. To the crew of the freelance freighter, it was a load of stolen thermal clips they were smuggling for the Eclipse. It was for this reason they insisted the box not be checked. The Unit didn’t mind this courtesy. It had disposed of the original cargo and curled up into the crate, gaining an easy way onto Omega. There, it planned to take a hammer to the local Eclipse smuggling operation. With its EM emissions significantly lowered due to power save mode, when only a few dozen runtimes and the most basic sensors were active, the metal box masked it perfectly. Right now, it was just waiting. In less than an hour, an eternity for a machine, the shift would end and the Unit would have an unobstructed way out of the docking bay.

Or not. The platform came to life, all 1464 Geth within it trying to make sense of what was happening outside. It found the announcement quite puzzling, even by organic standards. Several additional sensors came on, but now the metal container was working against it. Undeterred, it dedicated a considerable portion of its processing power to accessing the port’s security system to get a better view. The port’s system security was much stronger than it expected, possibly due to the illegal trade taking place here, preventing it from getting further than the visual feeds. For some reason, there were no dock workers anywhere in sight. All the better, less collateral damage. Consensus: gain deeper understanding of Omega’s computer security systems. It paused in its efforts when it learned someone else was already in the system. Someone competent, by the looks of it. Since it could access the network, that meant the box wasn’t enough to shield it from cyberwarfare attacks, but that hardly mattered. Geth platforms were notoriously hard to affect due to their hivemind construction anyway. Fortunately, the crate it was in was placed near one of the exits. It could ambush the ambushers when they arrived if they entered through that gate, or leave the fight if it had to. Consensus: await hostile forces, devise a plan.

It continued examining the camera feeds in great detail, a process that took around 300 milliseconds. Several armed individuals of varying races were to be expected on Omega, but to its surprise, it found two Human children in the bay. Better yet, it identified several vantage points in addition to the exit. With a general idea of what there was to work with, it turned its attention to the boy’s personal computer. It should have been able to access any consumer electronics without breaking a sweat. After two minutes of fruitless efforts, unaware the two weren’t civilians, it managed to get a text message through. If it was organic, it would feel ashamed of itself.

---

Pop!

A little sound echoed down the corridor.

Pop!

Louder this time, the improvised muffler mod on his Acolyte wearing thin.

Pop!

A third, and then the warp dissolved, and three bodies hit the floor with a wet squish.

They made it too easy, it was so disappointing how easy it was to infiltrate a slaver crew. It's like they never expected a Batarian to turn on them. They probably didn't. Ha.

"Cicero! Clear?" A voice called from doorway.

"Clear." He confirmed easily, holstering the pistol and turning away from the bodies. Porter, his partner for this particular job, emerged from the open door, gun lowered. Taking in the three Batarians slumped in their own blood the man relaxed and holstered his as well.

"Nice," the human said with a grin, pulling his scarf down so it no longer obscured his lower face, "that makes six." He raised his arm and activated his omnitool. Cicero went over to help, nudging the slavers with his boots so their faces could be seen clearly. Porter quickly scanned each of them, storing DNA checks and facial profiles, uploading them directly to their employer's inbox.

"You check the two in the wash?" Cicero asked idly, cleaning his boot off on the nearby couch pillows.

Porter shrugged, "No IDs, must be new." He had thought they looked a bit young to be with this crowd... but judging by their conversation before he knocked their teeth in they were clearly part of this particular slaver crew. Batarians, he tilted his head, annoyed, why couldn't his people get over it already? A dumb question, he knew the answer, had for a while, but it still irked him.

He rolled his shoulder, trying to work out the ache that had started after that second punch had missed and clipped the back of a helmet instead. The 'fresher had been on, so the sound hadn't alerted anyone, but it had been a near thing. He hoped the near slip wasn't a portent of things to come.

"Well, this is me then." Cicero commented simply, preparing to leave.

"Wait, what?" Porter asked loudly, disbelieving, "You're just leaving? Jin said you were with me today, you're not even going to hit the club and cash in? This is a lot of bounty man!"

Omnitool lighting up, Cicero opened a memo and sent it quickly over to Porter's. "I've been paid, the only reason I'm here is because Jin wouldn't just let a medic off his payroll unless I did something like this for him. I don't need any goons hounding me to come back to the fold later."

Porter looked like a kicked puppy, "Really? That's so disappointing... Damn," he cursed, mutinous realization dawning in his eyes, "that means I owe Ollara twenty creds! I bet her I could get you smashed after this gig!"

Cicero grinned, looking the human up and down speculatively and enjoying the suddenly apprehensive flicker of the man's eyes to his newly revealed pointed teeth. Then he stepped forward and plucked the light gray scarf from the man's shoulders and wrapping it around his own neck. Before Porter could get out more than an annoyed grunt of protest, Cicero cut him off; "Next time I'm free we'll go and win your 20 credits- it's technically still after the gig after all."

He'd already begun backtracking as he spoke, and now turned his back and made for the door. "See ya, Porter."

"I- my name is Ben- hey! What about my scarf?!"

"If you want it, come get it!" Cicero called over his shoulder cheekily.

Needless to say, Ben Porter did not chase after him.



The cells of the slaver hide out had a backdoor that lead down to a branch off of the main corridor, and from there it was a simple matter to find an lift to the dockyards. He was rather interested in this deal; paid to brain some scum lords? It'd be perfect if it wasn't so likely to put his name on top of every gangster's most wanted list. Still, couldn't hurt to check it out at least, maybe there'd be disguises or the other mercs would be strong enough to make it worth it- or maybe it was all a trick, in which case he'd sniff it out and get out. Batarians had an excellent sense of smell you know, and his was tailored by necessity for picking out lying, scheming trash bags.

Unfortunately they all kind of reminded him of his father... that was just awful really, the deja vu was not appreciated.

Which was why he'd worked for Jin for so long as a medic and a merc, that woman had a solid head on her shoulders and a no-nonsense attitude that kept things running smoothly. That she ran some kind of boozy strip club as well as a hit list three light years long was just sweet spice in the breeze.

It didn't take too terribly long to reach the specified dockyard; Bay 26, but he did eye up the wide entrances with something like annoyance. He didn't expect to be attacked here, but he still would've appreciated some more choke points and tighter spaces. His go-to move was the good old warp-and-spray, but it wasn't worth much if he couldn't warp enough attackers to even the odds.

...though it was just his luck to expect the area to be secure when it wasn't. By a long shot. There were a number of other interested persons already there, and then the employer had to go and say there was an actual gang about to attack them - and somehow the bastard expected them to just take it in order to prove themselves instead of just moving!

That was not how Cicero rolled, he dealt in ambushes, crowd control, medical support, suppressing fire - he did not participate in full frontal gang wars. Absolutely not.

Cicero approached two humans, a bit on the shorter side... and young looking... he tilted his head and dismissed it. Not his problem if they were underage given this was Omega and they were armed, and really he was probably misjudging them. Human ages were bizarre, why did the hair go white? It made so little sense...

"I'm Cicero; medic," he patted a small medikit attached to his thigh, "crowd control," he rose a hand which briefly flickered with blue biotics, "automatic SMG," hand tapping the M-12 Locust. The Acolyte heavy pistol on his hip was self explanatory.

"Now you." He gestured to them, tone brisk. Ten minutes was not very long.

---

---

"Perhaps a stimulation of some serotonin inhibitor proteins?"

"Megh, never helps." Alexis grunted, mumbling out a sentence through a still burning rolled up cigarette in her mouth. "And neither does your voice rattling around in my head."

"I must protest the usage of unknown substances brought from some unnaturally twitchy Vorcha in some shady back alley."

"I'd tell you to go eat a virus but that'd just make you worse."

"And leave you alone with your morbidly mundane and boring thoughts? I would never inflict such a horror on you. Without my dulcet tones you'd probably cease functioning." Alexis couldn't help but to roll her eyes, running a cloth over the weapon in her lap. A joke she might have laughed at if she was in a good mood, because it was depressingly true.

"I hate you sometimes." To anyone looking, the girl in white armor, was just talking to herself. Probably thought she was crazy. A crazy currently carrying an arsenal, and enough ammunition to probably fight a small army of some sort so most had enough sense to leave her alone. Not to mention the smell of smoking something, and likely a bit high. Honestly, she was completely and utterly suspicious of whatever this was. A job of some sort? Meh, last time she ended up doing some work for some unknown schmucks she ended up working for a remnant Cerberus Cell.

Normally Alexis kept herself in a pretty good mood, but today she had woken up on the wrong side of the futon. Migraine, broke her a few dishes because she had problems holding anything with her left hand without Cinnis' help these days. Accidentally blasted a hole in her shop because she got a bit careless. So basically, not a fun day. At least whatever the fuck was in this blunt was helping ease the pain a bit. Argh, she just wanted to bash some fuckers face in.

"You sure you couldn't dig up anything on this Saris guy?" Alexis asked the AI jostling around in her head.

"Affirmative. Aside from being a particularly round Volus that would make a very good ball of some sort, I could find nothing." A pause as he seemed to move through some files in his data banks. Hearing mechanical whirs in your head was something most people would be terrified to get used too. "...how did the Volus even become the dominant species on their planet? They're so round, squishy, and fat. They're probably hideous under that suit."

"Hah!" Alexis couldn't help but to laugh a bit, before wincing lightly as a sudden surge of pain throbbed in her head. "Urgh, don't make me laugh. I kind of want them to be the most adorable creatures in existence now, just to spite you."

"Well, there is one way to find out you know." Cinnis replied. "Murder and taking their things is always an option."

"Yea, so is stuffing you into a 20 terabyte drive."

"OH DEAR MOTHERBOARD NO IT'D BE SO CRAMPED. Oh I wouldn't have any room to watch blasto reruns on the extranet!"

"Then shut up, and behave."

Alexis looked up from her seat on a nearby shipping crate, immediately taking note of two kids in the area She narrowed her eyes at them, but said nothing. Kids? really? They were either in the wrong place at the wrong time or she was gonna have a stern word with this Saris guy. Mergh, not her problem right now. Grunting and pulling the blunt from her mouth, she tossed it carelessly on the ground before laying the Hydra next to her, reaching for her Talon.

Silently letting Cinnis ramble on in her head about different topics, she began checking the weapon. Checking its parts, interiors, magazines, barrel...everything needed to be in working shape. It was sort of therapeutic at this point. Take a machine apart, put it back together. Take it a part, put it back together. Even simple ones helped take her mind off of everything else. Sighing, she slid the magazine back into place before returning the gun to its holster.

"Problem, Alexis?"

"I got a bad feeling about this." Alexis grunted. She might have limited combat experience, but she knew when she was being fucked with. Like to think she did anyways. Ever since that problem with Cerberus, and the fact her own dad had basically let all of it happen in the first place she had a difficult time actually taking people at face value. "Twitchier than normal. Day started off bad so its just gonna get worse."

"While there is some merit to 'gut feelings' as one calls them, I would suggest using rationale. This Saris has hired us and therefore has no reason to lie or do something underhanded...also I'm almost certain that 'twitchiness' is from whatever you were smoking."

Ignoring the AI, Alexis cast a glance over to the two boys who seemed to be talking about something in a not very discreet manner. Maybe she should say something. Whatever was about to go down here was not a place for kiddos. Grabbing her suits helmet she gave it a look over before she heard Saris over the intercom.

His introduction really didn't instill much confidence. Sounded like he was one of those types that talked too much. What came next, made her trust him even less. A small test? Blue suns? Almost two hundred soldiers?! Son of a fucking robot. Alexis merely sighed, her migraine feeling like it was getting worse.

"Oh good, a bullet party. My favorite." Alexis sighed, slipping on her helmet and securing it around her neck. Well, this was going about as well as she had expected. Ignoring anyone else for now, Alexis got down from her seat, approaching the kids and a Batarian she had just now noticed.

"Portable turrets...check. Combat Drone in optimal condition, as always. Physical stats...nominal. Slightly elevated heart rate and some minor increase in adrenaline. I would advise either fleeing or setting up fortifications."

"Alexis...And I'm kinda in a bad mood right now so we can save the introductions for later." She grunted. "We should probably make some sorta fortifications or we're gonna be pretty fucked."

Mass Effect: Seraphim Post

Ashton typed back to the cyber-intruder, Your warning has been noted. Don't worry; we will use that route if needed. Now either help us deal with these mercs, share how you penetrated my security, or face my prototype firewall program.

Flame, meanwhile, whirls around at Cicero, his eyes wide as he tensed; the crackle of biotic energies can be heard around him. "I remember you; I was a slave of the pirates pursuing your bounty, Ka'Jem Khadorr. Now tell me why you're here posing as an outlaw -"

"Flame!" Ashton broke in, "Don't start a fight when we're going to be fighting in ten - wait, nine minutes now!"

Then, while waiting for Flame's answer, the brown-haired boy began pressing his personal computer's keys, typing in random-looking strings of programming code. This seemed incomprehensible, until one of the nearby lifting mechs suddenly activated itself, lumbering to just in front of the assembled group which now included Alexis. Then, the giant machine sat down, reverting to 'sleep mode'.

Ashton then said, "I can reactivate the mech to fight any time I want; it's under my full control." Looking at Alexis, he said, "By the way, Exit 04 is open to all of us if we can open a way to it; our multiple biotics - Flame and Ka'jem - ought to be able to clear a path for us if things all go wrong."

He then typed to the mysterious cyber-intruder, So, you willing to help?

Catching a ride to Omega from Illium to Omega was quite easy. Due to the inherent lawlessness of the place, she didn't have to worry about customs or some law enforcement agency hassling her over her firearms. It was easy as just paying a few extra credits for a seat on an inbound freighter, and while the trip was long, the green-skinned asari knew how to keep herself entertained during the journey. Playing music on her omni-tool, or having fun with her time-wasting gardening app, she knew how to kill time. She was still just processing everything when she boarded, however, having left her home that she spent the majority of her very short life in. She felt a soft form of grief when she watched Illium slip away from the ship she was in, only to never look back. At that point she knew that while she can easily come back if to Illium to visit if she wanted, she couldn't stay there anymore. Barred from various businesses, blacklisted on quite a few job markets, it was very clear that the powers of Illium no longer wanted her there. Having already said one last goodbye to all of her friends, loved ones and comrades-in-arms, she started her new journey to Omega, with the hopes of starting a new life with new friends and new opportunities.

After docking in Omega at a far different port, Lokea took her time breathing in this new atmosphere. It looked like a grimy pisshole but it had its own smell and flavor that made it unique from all the other pissholes that Lokea went to. Wait, flavor might be the wrong term to use here, Lokea thought. Even then, this crime-ridden hive of scum and villainy felt unique to other hives, and while Lokea might have trouble dealing with the crazy vorcha, asshole batarians, entitled humans, stiff turians and drunk asari, she didn't entirely mind having to settle here for a short time. Having passed the front gates to Club Afterlife on her way towards the shuttles, Lokea took one to Docking Bay 26. In the journey there, she checked what remained of her medicine. Three doses left. This Saris fellow better pay up soon. Lokea thought. While she was somewhat optimistic about the offer, she was still scared of having to experience the pains of her strange biology once again. Her body didn't need to remind her of her floran background, her green skin and planted memories already did their job good enough.

The cab arrived at Bay 26, and Lokea promptly stepped out of the vehicle. Wearing her multicam Rosenkov armor, she had her Carnifex handgun at her side, Avenger assault rifle on her back and a large duffel bag in her hand, already appearing ready to settle in for her new job. The duffel bag, complete with several changes of clothes, some high-calorie snacks, a few thermal clips and some spare parts for her weapons, was a little heavy to say the least, but for a slightly-inferior copy of a powerful Asari Commando, Lokea carried it with her no problem. Walking into the large open docking bay, something already seemed amiss.

Where is everyone? Shouldn't there be maintenance workers or other civilians here? Lokea thought to herself, looking around. Her very subdued suspicions of Saris were starting to rise up from the back of her mind, her gut screaming it's a fucking trap. With cautious optimism, Lokea hoped that this bay was just bought by Saris to allow them some time to discuss privately or something. She then heard the loudspeakers, and she stopped to listen intently.

Needless to say, Lokea was a bit surprised by all of this. She had arrived right on time, only for the Blue Suns to come after them in ten minutes? Good thing she came in her armor, then! While she was on the dock, she didn't see anyone else yet. Oh goddess, am I the only one here? Lokea started to panic a little, but before she can call out Hello! she caught sight of several figures in the distance. She quickly jogged to them, hoping to get a good idea of who's she's working with, and hopefully devise a strategy to survive this 'test'. She hoped at least one of them brought an RPG, she never really had to take on aerial threats herself during the Reaper War and reconstruction. She got a good look at some of the people she was approaching. Two teenage human males, an adult male batarian, a feminine human in white armor, Lokea wasn't feeling too good about her chances just yet.

Well, looks like I'm already off to a great start.

---

The Quarian traversed through the disgusting shithole of Omega. No matter how many times she went, she hated being there. The only reason for her to return were for the bounties which paid far better then most other planets. Which was what led her to even returning to the location at that moment. Some might of been interested to do a good deed, not her. She simply came for the payment, if the Saris fellow could be trusted. Still if it was a trap at least she could crack a few skulls and maybe gain some tech out of it all if it was all to good to be true. She managed to jump onto a shuttle before it left, taking it the rest of the way to her destination.

The bay seemed awfully quiet, more so then usual. She spotted a handful of others mingling about, more then likely others who were called to the location like she had been. She had little time to truly question the few people mingling about before a voice spoke over intercoms, that of a volus and the person who had seemingly sent out the message asking those to meet up. She cursed the volus however at the mention of Blue-Suns a few minutes away. Of course it was never simple. She thought about strangling the volus afterwards but decided to hold off on her decision as she prepared for whatever shit show was about to go down in the bay. She would just have to trust that those few others that had made it to the meeting were as good of shots as she was.

((Collab between Letter Bee, Ceta de Cloyes, AWACS, Rune Alchemist.))

Mass Effect: Seraphim Post

Ashton typed back to the cyber-intruder, Your warning has been noted. Don't worry; we will use that route if needed. Now either help us deal with these mercs, share how you penetrated my security, or face my prototype firewall program.

Flame, meanwhile, whirls around at Cicero, his eyes wide as he tensed; the crackle of biotic energies can be heard around him. "I remember you; I was a slave of the pirates pursuing your bounty, Ka'Jem Khadorr. Now tell me why you're here posing as an outlaw -"

"Flame!" Ashton broke in, "Don't start a fight when we're going to be fighting in ten - wait, nine minutes now!"

---

Cicero stiffened, freezing up at suddenly hearing his name from the lips of another after so long. It took a moment for the accusation to settle in his mind and be understood, unable to fully grasp what the boy was talking about at first, but of course the very last incident where he'd used his real name was one time too many. Even he, who wasn't a fan of the whole caste system and slavery practice, even he fell prey to the stereotype of dismissing lesser castes as unimportant. He'd forgotten all about those slaves on the ship, hadn't even bothered to figure out what happened to them after he escaped. He knew they'd probably followed after him, it had been a perfect oppurtunity and just enough chaos to work, but after that? Not a thought was spared.

Now that was coming back to bite him.

As soon as the threat of what he was facing permeated his thoughts, his Acolyte was suddenly in his hand, drawn without conscious thought, though more reflex than intent, and was pointed low, not quite at the human's center of mass. "What did you say?" He asked breathlessly. He hadn't expected his day to turn around so quickly, he'd grown complacent - after the first year of freedom he'd grown lax on having back up plans and escape routes.

That effectively left him one option: the boy had to die. The other one too, and anyone else they told. the alternative was getting found out and dragged back to the Hegemony.

But... he couldn't do it. How could he hurt a slave- a former slave even - after all he'd fought to oppose and escape from?

Returning to the Hegemony wasn't an option either.

"My name," he ground out tightly, angry and tense, "is Cicero, and I owe you nothing."

A plan was formulating in the back of his mind, foggy and not well thought out, but all he would need was an oppurtunity... all he had to do was look away, to fumble a medkit... he was a medic by necessity, not by oath, if the chance came to him, he wouldn't kill, but he'd do his damnedest not to save either. That went for anyone who figured him out.

This was going to be a very risky and brief job, he was going to have to flee halfway across the Terminus to escape the rumor of his name- no, that was paranoid. It's been two years, the Hegemony was unlikely to have released his name freely, if anyone knew he was missing at all they probably wouldn't even pick up on it after so long...

He shot the other one a narrow look, four eyes and a row of needle-sharp teeth bared in threat. "Do not address me by that name again," he warned curtly, relaxing on his grip on the heavy pistol so he no longer looked as if he were about to shoot them- drawing had been an impulsive fear-driven instinct after all, it wasn't smart to get jumpy when meeting your supposed new allies.

Supposed because anyone who knew was not truly his ally...



What the actual fuck.

They hadn't even got shot at yet and they were already trying to kill each other. Cinnis was droning on about something with the Batarian and his name seeming familiar or something, but she didn't pay any attention to him for now. Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Okay, Cicero." Alexis snapped sarcastically. "Point a gun at a kid again and it'll take a week for them to scrape you off the hangar walls."



Cicero eyed the obvious cybernetics critically, but didn't turn away from the other two. "This is Omega, there are no kids here." He pointed out, annoyed, but retreated back a step all the same. She wasn't wrong though, especially since she confirmed his initial thoughts about their youth, "but that's a fair enough point." He acquiesced simply.



Flame had sheathed himself in a cloak of biotic energy, ready fo fling a Singularity at Cicero should he try anything. Glaring in rage at the Batarian, he opened his mouth to shout -

And was pre-empted by Ashton, who looked at all of them and said, "Enough. I took the liberty of recording this entire conversation, starting from Flame saying 'your bounty', and put in... Precautions for the information's release over the extranet should I not give a countermanding order in three hours. This means that if we die, everyone knows who you are, Cicero."

His face relaxes, and his green eyes meet the Batarian's four ones. The young computer specialist sighs, and says in a conciliatory tone, "But, I am not so crass that I can force you forever through blackmail. So here is a deal; if we live through this, I will delete the recording as a show of good faith."

His look deepens, "I don't have a lot of experience yet, but I do know enough that you value your secrecy enough to point guns at us. But... We need you, plus we all need to survive, and we also need to stay a coherent unit for what this Saris guy wants from us. So, we're willing to make concessions after we survive."

A faint smile at that.



Fantastic, somehow Cicero had managed to not only antagonize the team via his overreaction, but he'd also created a greater threat to his secrecy. That recording was going to make everything so much more difficult. There was no way to just leave now- and he had had half a mind to just turn around and walk away, seek employment on some other Terminus backwater, but that idea was nixed now.

At least they were negotiating, or one of them was, the ex-slave was decidedly a giant question mark on whether or not he'd comply with the other's deal to keep their silence.

...not that Cicero fully believed that one either. He'd have to find some leverage, some counter to the blackmail so they could make a proper bargain, there was no way the kid was going to keep his word. 'A show of good faith' he'd said, as if he wasn't standing in derelict Omega on the opposite side of the galaxy from civilized concepts like faith and trust.

"Fine." He agreed, short and sweet, though his tone was more gruding. He didn't trust them, but he had no choice to keep an eye on them, and maybe the woman too, though she seemed more experienced and less likely to give empty words of trust, or at least more likely to taken some kind of even bribery.

Ugh, he'd really gone native hadn't he? Threats, blackmail, bribery, thank you Omega, for turning me into my father, he thought with disgust, but that was the reality of his situation, the price of his freedom. Unfortunately that price seemed to be going up.

He grinned sharply, a bit forced but he had the advantage of experience of long years faking his emotions, as well as the fact he was Batarian and the four eyes seemed to throw the other species' off a bit. "We have a deal then." He'd let the kid think he wasn't wise to his game, that this was just a ploy to get the medic to pay specific attention to him and his friend during the incoming fight, and then, when he managed to get his own leverage, he'd strike a real deal and make a run for it soon as he was clear.



"Great, we're all friends." Alexis replied with a tired tone deciding that they were done. Honestly, she really wanted to find a good bed, get high as fuck and just pass out. Maybe drunk, too. Would at least make the migraine go away, but she'd have to settle for bashing some guys heads in soon. "Now how about we focus on not dying to some Blue Suns for now? I got a Hydra, some sentry turrets, a really cranky combat drone, and really great aim."

"I am not cranky. I am simply tired of this fleshy prison I'm trapped in, and I would like to inform you, you are a terrible shot. I am the one doing all the work."

"Any ideas?"



Wow I'm late to the party. Lokea thought to herself, having seen the aftermath of the conflict as she arrived. Taking a look at the ragtag group, even though she didn't have any expectations, she still felt let down. Having witnessed the tail end of the conflict, and hearing the hostile tones betwen several of the members, she already knew she was in for a rough ride, and her regrets of taking this job were slowly starting to sink into her mind. However, gathering the information she heard earlier, she turned to Alexis. "You said you got a Hydra?" Lokea asked. "I suggest you use that for the air support the mercs brought. They'll cut us down if they remain in the air."

"I'm Lokea Zhu, by the way." She said to the group. "Sorry I'm late. Got caught in traffic." She used her biotic abilities to telekinetically lift her duffel bag behind the sturdy metal crate that sat in the back. After that brief show of her biotic ability, she immediately drew her Elkoss assault rifle, allowing it to extend itself into her hands. "So, did you all come up with a plan yet or... did I arrive just in time for that part?" Lokea asked, looking between the others.



"Just in time to get on the fun bit if we don't end up killing each other before the suns get here." Alexis quickly replied, taking a quick look over Lokea. An Asari, huh? "Yeah, I got a Hydra ready to use. It'll turn those airships into scrap metal." She gave a quiet chuckle. "If it don't, that just means I get to hit 'em again."



Ashton then says to Lokea, "Hello, Miss Lokea, and we have a plan. Basically, I hacked into a lifter mech and used it as a makeshift fortification, thus saving us from having to endure a frontal assault for the first few moments. I can also perform cyber-security to ensure that we are not hacked in turn, as well as enter the enemy's communications so that we can hear what they're saying to each other as well. However, I have also been informed that one of the exits is open and besides you, we have two biotics - Flame and Cicero. So if worst comes to worst, we can get away using that exit if we clear the way first."

He frowns, "But if you're planning for victory instead of just escape, well... We're going to need more firepower and staying power."



Cicero forced himself to focus on strategy, usually that wasn't hard, but this wasn't usual was it? "Keep them tight, don't let them spread out." He advised, "Knowing the Suns they'll have superior numbers, but they're coming to us." An unusual change for him, he can't remember the last time he was on the defensive team, but he was actually interested in whether being in control of the terrain for once would make a difference.

"Deny them space, keep high suppressing fire to run down they're shields, grenades if we have them, and warps. I'm not really close range, I prefer to warp and throw, but if the other biotic- Flame, right? If you're quick and have good shields, you could keep them on their toes by getting in their faces if they try to gain ground." Cicero almost forgot his ire for a moment, thoughts on the incoming battle, but one glance at Flame made him tense again. He forced the feeling away, it was just a kid. A very unlucky kid. Who happened to know things Cicero would prefer he didn't - but still a kid.

He glanced around the area, the mentioned airships coming to the fore of his thoughts. What was their plan for dealing with attackers from the ships? They'd have mobility and the high ground... and speaking of airships, they made rather big explosions when they crashed and burned, he hoped their employer was on good terms with the Queen of Omega.

Sadly he didn't really have an answer for that- wait, a Hydra huh? "Nice plan," he muttered, gesturing to Alexis, they didn't really have anything else that would deal with the air transports.

"Here," he said, raising his arm and fiddling with his omnitool. A flick of his fingers dropped his contact information to the group. "If you're hacking them I want you to keep in touch, spill on whatever moves they're making."



Lokea raised her omni-tool, syncing up with the others. "Yeah, we should all keep in close contact on shortband, goddess knows what could happen if we're left in the dark." Lokea said. "But I agree with... erm... Cicero, right? Cicero's statement. My biotics are mainly through the power of force, so I can set up a pretty good defense with some barriers." She turned to Ashton. "I'd rather you stick with me. I can put up a bubble if things get rough." She starts adjusting her rifle's scope. "I could keep up suppressing fire and keep crowds under control. We can't let them gain too much ground, otherwise they'll have enough weapons on the playing field to fire at us." She looked around carefully. "But first thing's first, we're gonna need to find a place to hole up in. This ship will make us a sitting duck, and we'll be slaughtered if we stay out in the open."

Doing a quick search around the area, she spots what seems to be a control center not too far from their position. "We might have better chances over there." She thought for a moment. "If we can strike at them and cripple them before they can land a hit on us, all the better. Keep your exits in mind, and keep in frequent contact." She grabbed her duffel bag once again, sighing. "Some test, huh?"

---

Saris had left the security screens, checking something about the incoming Blue Suns. Laurence, being Laurence, didn't care. After much persuading from Saris, he had finally agreed to put his armor on. He was in the process of doing this when he noticed people talking on the screens. Not really caring about his armor as much as he should, he couldn't help but look.

What he saw surprised him. Children? Saris was hiring them now? Granted, they sometimes had useful skills, but they usually got in the way. Not to mention all that nonsense about how children shouldn't kill, or whatever it was all about.

The next two he noticed, on the other hand, intrigued him a great deal more. A Quarian, in some sort of yellow suit. Quarians werent usually good for hired muscle, so he wondered what Saris wanted with this one. Maybe they needed a ship engineer or something. After all, wasn't that what most Quarians were supposed to be good at? The other was an armored figure, most likely female by the...build of it. The armor wasnt something he had seen before, he would have to check on it later. Assuming she survived.

Finally, he noticed another few people on different screens. A green Asari? He had never heard of that before. Was it some kind of weird fashion that was going on at the present? Or did Asari turn green from disease or something? Ugh, hope that wasn't the case. He had heard of all sorts of unpleasant diseases Asari could catch. Mostly sexually transmitted ones. Being compatible with most races must have had its downsides somehow...

Batarian.

Laurence hadn't noticed the other alien there, so fixated on wondering about what made the Asari green. But then he saw him. Laurence's already pale face went a even lighter shade, and he found himself instinctively touching his eye socket.


"Fuck."

He knew Saris wasn't stupid, this Batarian was probably a well known mercenary or some shit. But if this...thing knew the bounty on his head...would he turn on the team? Take him to the Hegemony?

Laurence let a grim smile escape his lips as he imagined how that betrayal would end.

Realizing that they were talking about something, he turned on sound. Hearing what they were saying, he had to stifle laughter, in case he accidentally turned the intercom on. This six-eyed fuck had a bounty on his head too, that sounded like fun. Perhaps that could be useful if he did betray them after all. Granted, the Batarian handled himself well. Better than Laurence would have in such a situation. The walls were clean, for starters. And it turned out the woman in full armor got protective of the kids. How sweet. Unless it was sarcasm, it was hard to tell with the bad sound. They got to planning, and Laurence got bored, pushing his chair from the screens.

Saris was still looking at his terminal, typing something, barely looking up as Laurence lay back in his chair, clearly bored and completely forgetting about his armor. Until something on one of the screens caught his eye.

"...Saris, did you invite a Geth here?"

---

Taria Lucimus had never been to Omega, but she knew it by its absolutely sterling reputation among law enforcement circles. Her favorite observation was one of her old SRD squadmates insisting they should have "let the Reapers annihalate that damned asteroid and done some genuine good". She wouldn't have gone that far, personally, but by this point she could empathize.

"Nice fringes, sweetheart. Guess good things come in small packages, eh?"

Taria scoffed, shouldering past the leering Batarian to the walkway beyond, a few of the seedier individuals looking over her as she bolted past. She had arrived in plainclothes so as not to draw undue attention, with the tradeoff that everyone looked at her with the intent of sizing her up for a fight or propositioning. She was never self-concious about her height, but she still missed how a good set of C-Sec heavy armor shut the creeps and troublemakers up.

Shifting the satchel on her shoulder to the right side to put the bag between her and an approaching human with an unfriendly glint in his eye, Taria went off to the side, checking her omni-tool to get directions. Locating the docking bay where she was scheduled to meet her new employer, she smiled as a notification popped up that her private shipping container had arrived on time from a Turian merchant frieghter. Thanks, mom.

"Hey there," came a gravely voice behind her. "Want to show me what's in that bag?" Glancing up and catching sight of the craggy-faced human standing right behind her, Taria couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Why don't you come and find out?" Taria challenged him. Stepping forward with a grin, the man drew a knife from an inner pocket.

"You're a brave little o-"

There was a yelp that stopped the foot traffic on the bridge and a flash of black and gold. By the time anyone stopped to look, the man was on the ground, Taria's knee planted in the small of his back as she effortlessly bent his arm backwards.

"You still want to know what I have in the bag?" Taria asked again, using her other arm to press her sidearm against the side of his head.

"Uh...erm....no ma'am," the would-be thug stammered, his face rapidly losing color.

"Thought so," Taria said, releasing his arm to pick up the knife discarded in the scuffle and pocketing it, leaving the whimpering wreck behind. "And don't call me little..."

Galm spots the fight from a nearby walkway. "Huh... She looks familiar..." He begins to walk over to her, in full armor.

Taria, not noticing the other Turian following her just yet, smiled as the crowds gave her a wide berth. Checking her omni-tool for directions again, she turned down an alley and came to the docks as scheduled, punching in the passcode she was given by the Volus.

"Ugh, by the spirits these things are slow," Taria grumbled, tapping her foot as the computer processed the passcode.

A bird squawks at Taria, flapping her wings. Galm says "Ethen, quiet now! She might try to kill us... She's also walking on the same path as us." He blinks in confusion, adjusting his omni-tool brightness.

Taria tensed, hearing the strange animal cry echo from nearby. Cautiously, Taria removed the satchel from her shoulder, revealing a stash of ammunition and her M-55 Argus. Loading a clip, she kept her senses tuned as the door finally slid open.

"Better not be some elaborate trap," Taria mumbled in spite of herself. Venok wouldn't have sent her into a trap, and he was too good at his job to be duped like that.

Ethen ignores Galm's plea and squawks again, to a frustrated Galm saying, with a raised voice, "Be quiet, bird! Do you see that gun?" However, he ends up following Taria "Wait, miss, were you invited here too?" He seems more relaxed now.

In a split second, Taria spun around, weapon raised, before she spotted the fellow Turian and his...bird? Relaxing somewhat, Taria lowered her weapon slightly.

"Yeah, I was," she said curiously. The Turian seemed familiar somehow. "Saris Fen sent me an invitation..."

The bird does not like this, and flaps her wings. Galm raises Ethen's shields and his own to low power. "That Volus sent me an invite too." He takes off his helmet, to get a better look. Surprisingly, Galm and his bird look very similar. He squints his eyes, tilting his head. "Miss, you seem familiar... Do I know you?"

Taria's intense focused softened at the sight of him, lowering her firearm just a bit more. "Now that you mention it...you do seem awfully familiar. Did you come from the Citadel, or...?"

"No ma'am, got myself onto a cargo frigate when I was young, got lost in space. Technically kidnapped, I suppose, yet nothing ever bad happened to me, except for the Reaper war." He says, nervously rubbing his neck. Ethen, on the other hand cleans her feathers.

"Heh, yeah, I know the feeling. That was rough for everyone," Taria said, rising up from a fighting stance. "Kinda glad I got stuck on the citadel at the time, considering what happened to Tremellia."

Galm looks utterly shocked "T-Tremellia? I grew up there... It was my home, nice and lovely solar system... Did you live there too?"

"...yeah, I did!" Taria said, her mind working furiously like it was screaming something she forgot at her. "Mom and dad always talked about it being one of the best starports in the galaxy, and I hung out there all the time with Nafteed, Ramsley, Ga-"

The rifle fell to Taria's side with a clatter as everything clicked into place.

"Galm! Galm Ralquera!"

Galm goes wide eyed. "T-TARIA! I thought you died!" He begins having a mini-freakout, runs up to her and hugs her "I'm so glad you're okay!" Ethen flaps her wings and lands on a nearby guardrail.

"I thought you -ng- died!" Taria almost shouted, dropping her guard entirely as the two embraced with a small thud, swaying slightly on the spot. "I'm glad you're okay too, I tried to contact you to say goodbye before I left for Citadel space, but everyone said you were gone!"

He keeps hugging "I've missed you so much! I'm sorry for being an idiot and adventuring that ship!" He looks to be on the verge of tears, unable to find more words to say.

"I-I'm sorry you had no idea where I went," Taria stammered, equally tear-stricken. "We uh, got a lot of catching up to do I guess, ha..."

Galm nods, sniffling "We do, I'm just so happy we're together again. All that matters is that we found each other... In this large galaxy." Meanwhile, Ethen angrily hops towards a bystander, squawking and jutting her foot out at the Batarian, making him back off.

"Somehow I'm not surprised you managed to find a bird like that," Taria grinned.

"Greetings, everyone!" came a booming voice from within the chamber behind them.

"That's the Volus." Galm says happily. "Wanna walk together?" he offers, as the bird keeps harassing the Batarian, then flies back to Galm's head.

"Absolutely," Taria replied, retrieving her rifle as she walked into the docking area and feeling a lot better about this assignment then before.

The bird and Galm seem overjoyed, both smiling. Well, Ethen tries to... Somehow. The Turian seems to be absolutely happy with life at this current moment, like he's achieved peace, despite his armor and guns. He sighs, clearing his thoughts to appear tough. He then walks forward, by Taria's side, Ethen showing off her pretty feathers and wings, asserting her dominance over the group.

Elijah

His ride to Omega had only been short hop since he was only a system away when he received a message regarding a potential job that seemed interesting. He hoped that this would be a simple job so he could head back to the Citadel and head to one of his favorite bars for some R&R. Once he arrived at Omega he noticed that he definitely stood out mainly to due to the conspicuous clothing over his armor marking him as a member of the mercenary organization; White Company. While his group was known to operate in the Terminus system's they were one of the lesser liked ones there. Since they were known to siege slaver and raider compounds. An since this station was the center of the scum in the galaxy he'd have to keep one hand on his pistol just to keep some sort of safety net. Grabbing his duffel bag with his left hand, Elijah pushed his way through the crowds. He made note that several of the people standing off to the sides had looks of contempt on their faces. Luckily though none of them made a move on his, perhaps they would try something later. Though, Elijah hoped they wouldn't.

After several minutes of walking Elijah found himself nearing the bay where he was supposed to meet his new employer. Walking in the bay Elijah saw that several others were already present. 'What a odd group of individuals.' Elijah did a double take at the two young Humans. 'Wait is my new employer hiring children? That's pretty fucked up'. As he made his way closer to the group. Elijah figured it would be a good time to introduce himself, clearing his throat really quick he spoke to the group. " Sorry about being late. Crowds didn't want to get out of the way. Names Elijah Messner, I'm one of the members of the White Company mercenary company. I assume you all are here for this potential job as well, no?" He paused for a moment. "Oh and has a glorious employer said anything yet?"

The Geth were actually confused for a short while. The children were combatants? “We have intercepted several of your outgoing packets, determined their recipient and then sent you a message under the recipient's address.” There was a pause before the Geth replied to the Human child’s second question. ”We will oppose the Blue Suns to the best of our abilities. We are currently in a concealed position. We will remain hidden and ambush the attackers upon their arrival for maximum effect.”

Unfortunately, there was already a schism among the organics, and the fighting hasn’t even started yet. The Batarian wasn’t doing much to disprove the Batarian stereotypes. Unfortunately, the security feed was mute, so it didn’t know what the issue was or even what the individual organics called themselves. The unit enabled additional countermeasures to secure its omni-tool and sent its proper contact to the human so they wouldn’t have to communicate by means of masked transmissions. It was unbearably slow given the security features of the human’s computer and only allowed communication between the Geth and the Human, leaving the other organics out of it, maybe even oblivious to its presence. “You may contact us properly through this channel. For reasons we do not wish to get into, we request maintaining text-based communication until hostilities commence. We recommend this contact be passed to the others as well.” No need for them to know they were talking to Geth. Their reactions were an unknown variable, especially from the recently arrived Quarian. It possessed knowledge of Admiral Xen, and there was no way of knowing if this Quarian was different or not. It’s omni-tool was recovered from a deceased N7 Sentinel, so it shouldn’t give the unit away.

The unit began combat checks, giving its shields, sensors, targeting systems, omni-tool and ammunition stores a once over. All was in order, now it was just a question of when the Blue Suns will arrive, where from and how long will the organics last before falling apart?

---

"Sounds good." Alexis replied to the overall plan, quickly syncing up her own omni-tool. She could hopefully leave the more thorough planning to those more experienced, or at least let Cinnis pick up her slack on that front. "That'll leave me with taking out the heavy stuff then."

"I agree with the green Asari's and Batarian's suggestion." Cinnis replied in his usual dry tone. "We could set up fortifications in the tower...I'd say we could use the robot as a surprise flank if there was anywhere to hide it." Unfortunately it seemed as though the hangar was completely void of anything aside from themselves. Nothing that could be used to hide that work mech with, at least. Otherwise she'd have suggested using it to move some stuff around to make more fortifications with.

"If only I had time to rig some guns on it..." Alexis grumbled.

"Would certainly make me happy. Less chances of us getting shot at and I would love to give the suns a lesson in ballistic accuracy." They'd be doing that anyways, but Alexis didn't comment. She'd like to keep Cinnis a secret for as long as she could. AI's were considered dangerous things, after all. Once things settled down, she'd introduce him as a VI.

"Oi, kiddo." Alexis glanced over to Ashton and Flame. "Probably best if you go with Lokea. I don't got time to be protecting some brats that can't handle a gun. I'm better with the whole shooting things until they're dead." She cut herself off just as a new arrival seemed to show himself. An older guy, with an obvious cybernetic. A trained merc from the sounds of it. Good, less potential for her getting shot at.

"Alexis. We can get better acquainted later." She shifted the weight of her hips, scoffing lightly. "Our 'glorious' employer has decided to give us a little test. We got two hundred blue suns heading this way. We're thinkin' about that control tower is our best bet for defense. You want anything else, talk it over with them. If there's any change, just get me on the shortband." Alexis turned, beginning to walk away as she hefted the Hydra. "I'm gonna get to work on some stuff. Probably set up a few turrets...maybe jury rig an explosive or two..."

Robert had casually watched several people walk towards the meeting point he had received from his new employer. Simply blending into the background he just looked like any other scumbag on the station. Several years on Omega had taught him how to blend in without having to employ his tactical cloak, sometimes it was just less suspicious. If someone sees someone drop out of a tactical cloak they are clearly up to no good. A tall man walked past Rob and like the others before him, made his way into the hanger.

Seems to be a fair few people involved in this job.

Robert's thought was interrupted as a transport pulled up at the far end of the long corridor he was in. From it emerged several Blue Suns mercenaries, all tooled up for a fight. Looking left and right quickly Robert tried to discern their destination but common sense made it clear.

I guess I should go introduce myself.

Pushing himself away from the wall using his shoulders Robert turned and made for the hanger. Along the way he placed two recon mines, if anything they'd let him and the others know if anyone decided to drop in through the main entrance. Eventually he crossed the threshold and saw the group of people. He casually closed the distance between them, giving a half hearted wave as he did.

"I guess you're all here for the party?" Rob dropped his hood to reveal his face to the group. He scratched at his beard briefly before reaching under his cloak to pull out a helmet. "I'd suggest you all get yourselves ready. I just saw a bunch of pricks who look like they are ready to crash our little shindig." Pulling his helmet over his head, he soon heard it click into place, it's limited HUD kicking into action. "I've left them a couple of presents, sorry I didn't bring any for you guys."

Reaching into his coat one more Rob drew his two Talon pistols and beneath his helmet smiled. "How rude of me...my names Robert, but call me Rob...or whatever you want really. It doesn't matter too much." Using one of his guns he gave a slack salute as he introduced himself.

Mass Effect: Seraphim Post

Ashton typed back to the mysterious intruder, saying, Thank you, and I will pass on the contact info to the others. And I must say, I like your style.

He turned to the others, "We also have someone who's crashed the party and is willing to help us fight the Blue Suns behind their lines. Let me pass his contact info." With that, he passed the mysterious intruder's information to the rest of the group, before turning to Lokea, "Affirmative; I'm staying close to you."

The boy then looked at the surprised-looking Elijah, before opening his mouth to address the soldier, only to find Alexis introducing herself first. Thankfully, another opportunity to exposit came when another human mercenary introduced himself.

Talking to Robert, Ashton said, "Yes; our employer says we're going to be attacked by two hundred Blue Suns Soldiers with aerial support and we're holing up in the control center behind us to have a better chance."

Pursuing his lips, Ashton continued, "My alias is Aegis, by the way. I'm a sixteen-year-old security specialist; and yes, that includes mundane security as well as cyber-security. My companion, the other kid, is Flame; we just met. As for the Batarian, his name is Cicero, the Asari is Lokea, the female human already introduced herself, and there are a few others of note; chief among them a mysterious fellow hacker who's promised to help us fight off the Blue Suns from behind their lines."

It wasn't clear as to whether Ashton saw the Turian duo or the Quarian engineer; he wasn't omniscient, after all. "And yes, we've all met for the first time."

Barely a minute has passed and the rest of the party seems to be arriving. Not the Blue Suns, yet, but other folk gathered here for Mr. Fen's request it seems. Lokea squinted her eyes, seeing a quarian in the distance. Hm. She only had rudimentary knowledge on Quarians, just stuff implanted from Shiala telling her the basics. This one must be on her pilgrimage or something, though before Lokea could give it more thought, another human approached the group. This man in full armor, she blinked to him. Elijah Messner the mercenary hot-shot, huh? It's good to have someone like him on the team anyway, if he is what he says he is. She was just about to greet him before Alexis filled him in on the situation. "Yeah, that's basically it. The mercs got air support too, so I'll make sure to grab whatever cover you can. Lokea Zhu at your service." Lokea did a little bow while she rifled through her duffel bag, grabbing an energy bar, snacking on it. It wasn't the best tasting bar, but it would give her the energy needed to operate at intensity with biotics. She finished the energy bar while listening to Alexis.

After Alexis mentioned protecting the two 'brats', Lokea couldn't help but return to the important thought she buried. Oh yeah. Those two are just kids. What the hell are they doing here? She looked to Ashton and Flame. She would probably never live with herself if they got hurt, she's seen enough dead children in the Reaper War to last a lifetime. "I agree with uhm... Alexis here. I'd rather you two stick with me. I can keep you both covered and protected while you both do your thing." She nodded towards them, before tilting her head a little. "Aren't you boys a little young to be doing this sort of thing anyway? None of you look old enough to join the Alliance yet."

Flame blinked and said, "Yes, yes we are. I'm a former slave who escaped back to Alliance Space, then got 'farmed out' to an abusive foster home and a therapist more interested in selling my life story than actually helping me. So I decided I'd prefer to make my living as a Biotic merc."

Ashton sighed and said, "During the Reaper War, I was part of a refugee convoy with a few Batarians on board; outcasts and political dissidents. I was taught the basics of locksmithing, cybersecurity, and security by one of them, Rigger. Rigger disappeared into Omega a few years ago and as he was against the Batarian Hegemony's policies, I doubt he'd have willingly vanished."

Flame looked at Ashton. "I still can't believe you'd risk your life just to save a Batarian. At least tell me that you had other reasons."

The response from Ashton was arch in tone, "Other than repaying a debt for learning valuable life skills? Well, I did want to prove myself better than other kids my age. Other 'normal' kids, I mean. Either way, we should go towards the control tower; we're wasting more time."

Lokea nodded a bit at the two, biting her lower lip. She'll comment and ask about all of that later. However, Lokea couldn't agree more with the last statement, until Rob arrived. She was just about to speak to him, but Ashton already began filling him in. So instead, she synced up her omni-tool with this new contact Ashton met, hoping it wasn't a spammer, and she fished for her helmet from her duffel bag. As Ashton introduced himself and the others to Rob, she smiled and waved, before donning her helmet. It took a little bit to maneuver it around her head, but once she got it down, she used her biotics to help seal it and connect the tube to her oxygen supply, allowing the helmet to supply her air, filter out harmful gases and whatnot. The helmet let out a hissing 'click', indicating that the helmet was indeed sealed. Patting her helmet as a little 'good luck test', she looked ready for battle, to say the least.

Once Ashton finished, she spoke to the two, her voice filtered by the speaker that amplified it. "Are you two good to go?" She asked, raising her assault rifle to shoulder, allowing her duffel bag to levitate next to her. "As Rob said, the bad guys are getting really close. We gotta hole up quick and get ready." She turned to the others. "My shortband channel is NAP-8492, we should all keep in contact as much as possible. The rest of you should hole up somewhere safe so we can hold out against the assault. I'm taking the kids with me to a safe place so we can assist in the op." Lokea said as she stepped backwards. "See you on the other side!" She looked to see if the kids were following her, and if they were, she would continue on her way to the control area. It was a bit of ways away from the dock into the hangar, but they got there in short order.

Ashton obediently followed her, while Flame said to the Asari as he walked beside the 'security expert', "You look like a skeleton in that armor."

The redhead found his new friend turning towards him, saying, "Stop that - Don't be insensitive!"

Lokea chuckled a little bit at that as she made her way to the control center, periodically raising her rifle to check for enemies and hazards. "It's fine, little one. At least I'll look a little frightening to the Blue Suns." She said, a smile in her voice.

Flame looked at Ashton, before saying as the door to the control center came in sight, "Are you sure you're not scared?"

Ashton gazed back at Flame, "I'm a 16-year old who made a series of bad decisions. Of course I'll be scared. But there's no other way out; I have to make it through this battle if I am to repay my debt to Rigger and prove myself better than other kids. Plus, who doesn't want an astronomical sum of cash?"

Lokea held up a hand at Ashton and Flame to signal them to stop, before gesturing for them to form up at the wall behind her. She turned to Ashton while she kept her rifle pointed at the door. "It's okay to be scared, kid. It tells me that you still have your head on your shoulders." She turned back to the door.

Gently using her biotics to use the door interface, she waited for the door to open, and once it did, she entered, sweeping her gun over the large abandoned control room. She activated the night-vision in her helmet, allowing her to see in the dimly-lit room. She checked the corners, looked for hiding spots, and even for hidden ceiling vents. After seeing nothing but desks, computers and several walls separating different workspaces, Lokea relaxed. "Clear!" She shouted, gesturing for the kids to enter.

Flame and Ashton entered, with the former leading the way. Once the door was shut again, Ashton began trying to connect his personal computer with the computers in the control room in order to maximize computing power. As the computer whiz did that, Flame then looked at Lokea and said, "He doesn't deserve to be in this situation. He's smart but he's naive and he has a future ahead of him. I don't."

After leading the two to a nice cubby area that has equal distance to all of the exits, Lokea put her duffel bag down and began using her biotics to lift the desks and other non-computer objects towards them, trying to build as much cover as possible. While the walls that made their cubicles should suffice, Lokea didn't trust them entirely. As she worked, she turned to Flame. "As far as I'm concerned, all three of us have a future ahead. The galaxy is way too big for any of us to run out of opportunities." Lokea said as she shored up their defenses. "While I'd rather have you both not be here at all, there's nothing I can really do to stop you kids from doing what you want. I'm not your mother." Lokea opened up the duffel bag to reveal some clothes and snacks. "But since I have about 7 years experience of protecting non-combatants from bad guys, I may as well keep you boys out of trouble for the time being." It was the least Lokea could do anyway. The asari raised her rifle to shoulder, preparing for a fight.

Flame takes a bag of chips while Ashton takes a fruit drink, before the latter says, "I'm just glad I met a friend before, well, before this entire conflict starts." The boy was multi-tasking between drinking, accessing the control room's mainframe, and talking to Flame. "And for all it's worth, I'm sorry you had to suffer even after you got free from slavery."

A pause as Ashton continued, "You are strong, you know that?"

Flame smiled. "I'll protect you. Also..." he looked around, frowning uncomfortably, "If you umm... Like boys, and we survive this encounter -"

Ashton choked on his drink, before saying, "I do! I do! And girls too. But you're the hottest person I ever met."

Flame's frown faded as he said, "Live, then. Let's both live. And for the love of... Anyone, can we not give the Asari a free show?"

Lokea couldn't help but smirk underneath her helmet. "Hey now, Flame has a point. Please save the awkward flirting until after we kick the Blue Sun's ass, okay?" Lokea asked with a smirk. Regardless, it warms her heart a little to see a budding romance happen right in her presence, despite the circumstances. A thought came to her mind, before it went out of her mouth. "How long have you boys known each other anyway?" She asked, keeping an ear on the comms.

"We just met," Ashton said bluntly. "I had just escaped a bunch of mercenaries who wanted to enslave me after going back on a deal I made with them through the extranet. You see, for the past two years, I've been masquerading as 'Aegis', a freelance security specialist who prevents both cyber and mundane thefts. I then spent most of the funds and connections I made using that identity to get to Omega, although I still have a small nest egg left - it doesn't compare to the sum this job will pay me, though."

Lokea listened. "You know, for an asari you just met, you seem to be trusting me with a whole lot of information about yourselves." Lokea said, chuckling a little. "I'll give you a tip, be careful about what you share. Information out there is valued to the point where people sell that shit. It's why information brokers exist. They can easily use that shit against you." Lokea explained. "But, in good faith I'll give you both a bit about me." Lokea continued to check for hostiles, staying alert. "You've heard of the Thorian from Feros, right?"

Both shook their heads.

"Well, it's this... super old plant being that was like 50,000 years old, and it can control the minds of other beings through spores. An asari commando under Saren's command was given to it as a bargain for some Prothean stuff, and the plant took that commando and made clones of her it can control to speak for it, defend it and perform other tasks." Lokea sighed. "I'm one of those clones."

"Oh, cool!" Ashton said, "Clones are people too."

Flame said, "How do you deal with the degeneration?"

Lokea couldn't help but smile quite a bit. Those kids were so precious! "Oh uh... I appreciate the thought, Ash. So uh... yeah, that's why I have green skin." She turned to Flame. "Oh, I take medication for it. It's expensive but it helps. It's kind of why I'm here." She paused for a moment, thinking about what she said earlier to them. "I'll tell you more about it when we have the time. I'm pretty sure the Suns are getting close."

---

"If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them following this inconvenience. Good luck...[Hhhkk...]everyone!"

"An inconvenience, he calls it...yeah, sure," Taria said dismissively. She didn't buy the Volus' story at face value for a second, but he sounded pretty convincing about there being a massive force of Blue Sun mercenaries on the way. Grumbling can come later; she needed to get ready. Putting her SRD training to work immediately, she scoured the environment, taking in details, lines of fire and entrance points, and spotting a familiar looking chest nearby.

"Right, if these are Blue Suns, they're going to try to take positions on the upper deck here, use elevation to their advantage," she informed Galm, digging into the satchel she carried and removing the other equipment she brought in her carry-on. Stacking a handful of thin metallic discs to the side, she spotted the Bio-Amp in the bottom and plugged it in through her omni-tool, wincing slightly as a bit of biotic feedback trickled back to her. Flexing her hand slightly to check if the Amp was functional, she got to her feet again and picked up the discs, dropping and tossing them around the upper deck area below the skylights and at the junctions between walkways before getting to the familiar chest and punching in a few rapid keystrokes.

"Passcode accepted," came the recorded voice of Gari Lucimus. "Good luck, and give them hell, sweetheart."

"Cute, mom," Taria said with bemusement, barely restraining herself from tearing up. Extracting her Argus assault rifle from the crate, and propping it against the wall, she picked up the helmet lying underneath it, pondered it for a moment, then licked her sleeve and wiped a smudge off the surface to better see her own reflection in the polymer. She furrowed her brow slightly, remembering the last time she wore a helmet like this one.

"Five years now, Taria," she said, furrowing her brow. "Here's hoping you aren't rusty. It's time to get to work."

---

The quarian grumbled under her breath as she grabbed her M-29 Incisor."That spitfire would be good right about now," she stated to herself as she found a position to take, slightly fortifying it before taking up her position for a decent sniping spot. She then checked her other weapons, a M-3 Predator pistol and M-99 Saber auto rifle. The rifle she placed to the side so she could pick up when the Blue Suns would be in closer while the pistol went to her side after making sure the ammo was filled on it.

"Not even on the clock yet and I want a drink," she grumbled while looking at the few others who were also getting ready to fight off the Blue Sun forces that were heading their way. Most seemed to be human, but she spotted a couple of Turians, an Asari, and a Batarian. She shook her head at the sight of some of the humans however didn't look to even be out of there younger years. She doubted they would help much, the rest she would have no other choice but trust that they had some skills with shooting. Why else would they all be contacted by the same benefactor?

"The bosh'tets better have some tech on them to make this worth while," she said while looking at her omni-tool now just waiting for the attack to begin and to start popping a few skulls.

---

Quietly filing away that information - Rigger, associated with Hegemony dissidents - Cicero backed off from the conversation, falling into the background. It was out of character for him to get so heated, but he'd yet to be taken off guard like that, so he allowed himself some forgiveness for losing his cool. It just meant he'd have to play his role better than ever before; level-headed, easy-going, capable, likable. He called on some of the more useful Cloud caste upbringing; long parties spent wearing distantly neutral expressions, speaking with quiet affability, maintaining a relaxed upright posture.

He gravitated vaguely towards one of the newer arrivals who looked like they would keep at range. A Quarian, female, he didn't recall catching her name, but he had been a bit distracted at the time. "Unlikely," he commented as he heard her grumbling, "this is Omega, the best you could hope for is illegal mods, maybe a some unstable junky prototype that's better used as a grenade than a handgun."

He kept his distance, close enough to talk without raising voices, but not too close; if they were both to spread their arms out wide they still would have a decent gap between them.

As a Batarian who tried to come across as anything but a scummy outlaw, all of his interactions with other races were carefully calculated. He didn't stand close enough that it looked like he could assault or grab someone- which, he also never touched anyone without establishing a well-oiled rapport first, not even shoulder taps, which was why it was so difficult to leave Jin's club behind; he would miss sitting with others on a couch without being eyed suspiciously, or someone asking him to hand him something. Most seemed to assume that if a Batarian was too close then they were up to something, if they were too close to your stuff you'd no doubt have to scan it for bombs or tracking devices, and pillars forbid a Batarian come within sniffing distance of your food.

So yeah, Cicero took his perfect etiquette very seriously. He valued his chance to befriend and work with non-Batarians too much to end up shunned for making them uncomfortable. He'd have to find some way of repairing his reputation after that little blunder with the kids. At least he hadn't pointed the gun at them, that'd be too far. This way he could spin it as just a reflex of being startled- which was thankfully the truth - and that he wouldn't have actually shot a couple of mouthy human kids - which was... debatable, but no one else had to know that.

He eyed their environs critically, glancing around at the barren room and calculating the distance to the office doorway from the few means of cover. His eyes followed the others climbing a catwalk, and he pointed it out to the Quarian. "What do ya say we team up around there?" He indicated the section of catwalk closest to the office doors. "You cover me, I'll cover you, we'll keep the Suns at a distance and if it looks like they're getting too close we barrier up and duck into the entrance room?"

On the one hand, Quarians could most understand what it was like for him. Neither Batarians nor Quarians had good reps with the Citadel: pilgrims turned into suit rat criminals under the suspicious gaze of shop owners, and a Batarian became a slaver scoundrel to anyone they so much as looked at. On the other hand... how many Quarians died because a tech specialist was worth so much on the slave market? Too many. So yeah, it was hit or miss, and he really didn't expect her to agree and actually watch his back, but if they were together they would more likely survive, and once under fire he'd stop being a Batarian and become an extra gun killing the people trying to kill her, so he wasn't too worried about getting shot in the back. Yet.

Besides, being so far back, so high up, and so close to the interior entrance meant it'd be easy to keep an eye on the brats so they wouldn't die and get him exposed with that stupid video. This was the best vantage point for some ranged crowd control, as well as a quick retreat into tighter spaces where his 'spray and pray' gun or his warps would be most useful. With the Quarian with him he wouldn't have to worry about someone catching him off guard, but even if she had other plans it was still his best option...

Speaking of; "I'm Cicero, by the way." Tone relaxed, no staring, maintain distance, make no implications that he was anything but professional in his thinking.

---