[IC] The Depths of Deception

[Hailfire]

Ashley nodded in approval at the loadout descriptions the other two provided and to agree with Coin.

"Yeah. The carbine isn't exceptionally powerful but the rate of fire is high enough to tear things up at close range and it is easy to carry which is my primary need with a main armament... I do prefer to have at least my sidearm and usually sneak it into places when I can, i have to play it safe with a bounty on my head, but this place has securty pretty tight and they got my handgun in no time. Speaking of this place what do you reckon they're doing gathering so many races like this? I've only ever seen this in mercenary companies and not usually the good ones."

Ashley raised an eyebrow at the new arrival. The fact he knew the gun showed he was at least a little more than a literally pretty face and the implication he had survived being hit by one intrigued her. "You've been hit by a Seburo C-X?" She enquired.

[Lightbox]

"Haha, I've been hit by a lot of things. Mostly just skims and grazes though but yeah weapons are painful haha" August turned his head to face Ashley smiling, thankfully noone had yet outraged at his rude barging in but he made a mental note not to make a habit of interrupting conversations, though this was a bit different since he kinda needed to get to know people before they started their missions otherwise things could be a bit difficult. "I couldn't help overhearing mentions of tech manipulation, gun building and explosives?"

[Muttonhawk]

Shiva listened, though she caught herself with an uncertain expression. This was what she was thinking about with Rothians. This one was another case of them taking the time to excel in life because of the resources and time available, essentially becoming a 'badass' as some races would call it. The comment that hit home was considering fifty years old to be young. Shiva had to double check that her translator was still on and converting units of time to something standard, but the Rothian lifespan quickly became apparent. Shiva was a young masulu, but not an immature one. She had accomplished plenty in only forty-two years of life, and Rareth'Jharn's words just made her feel inadvertently patronised in a way.

Rather than speak up about it, Shiva held back for now. She didn't want getting off on the wrong foot with anyone here to be her fault at least. Unfortunately, Rareth'Jharn's next question proved to be a little testing. There was a silence where Shiva looked to one side awkwardly in thought, the only sound from the conversing humans and dirophyd off to one side. She had answered Shuo because he was her superior and it was required, but she wasn't sure she wanted to bring her lifelong shame into the squad if she didn't have to. As far as she knew, they would have the same stigma as other Sovereignty grunts. "I do not think it...well, I guess you could say that the Consilium...'influenced' me to join." She took a breath and held it, then shook her head. She had already said more than she wanted to, "...apologies, I do not want to go into that right now."

In an effort to direct the conversation away from herself, Shiva glanced at Shuo and her tone turned a little more optimistic. "But, 5th echelon Yuyun might have a more interesting story. You're from ArmSpecWar, right sir?" Shiva felt she was stepping onto thin ice talking to Shuo so nonchalantly, but she supposed now would be as good a test as ever for his level of strictness.

[Balmung1100]

"That you did." Bit replied to the newcomer. "Hey, when you say 'August'...do you happen to be the one that took out that group of pirates singlehandedly? I heard some guards a few missions ago mention something along those lines, they're dead now, but it sounded like an interesting story."

Bit was really missing his weapons now, not that he intended to do anything with them, but he still got anxious while unarmed...this was going to be a long two days.

[cqbexpt]

Shuo had for the most part begun staring off into nothing and just paying attention to the people around him conversing. He had read as many of their dossiers of course especially the merc's. Though some of the Rothian's profiles read very similar to his own. Nothing but a name and some things earlier in their lives. He also found the conversation between the Dirophyds and Humans. They out right didn't like not having their weapons which prompted him to crack a smile. Then he heard Shiva, the question about her reason for joining. He wondered if she had actually read Shiva's dossier or not. But then her question came,.

He snapped out of his gaze and looked over at them. He paused for a moment, he needed to choose what he said here instead of his usual answer. "Yes, I'am. I was promoted during the war. I suppose they thought I was good at something before the war and even better during." For a second he paused. How many Shuo? Do you even know anymore? "I'm curious as to why you were inducted into the agents of the Rahn'masser though. From what I've seen you guys are rather hard to kill." Shuo's eye twitched but his face remained as controlled as it was before he said it. The damn twitch was going to kill him one day.

[EliteCommander]

"Like I said, there isn't really much to it. My parents trained me well and gave me good tutors, so I had the prerequisite skills at a young age. Actually, I joined at the absolute youngest age the agency would allow. From there, well, then my real training began. Most who are accepted end up being discharged before completing their training due to the difficulty of it all. The Rahn'Masser are the best among us for a reason," Rareth answered. "As for my reason for joining, well, I suppose it wasn't that much different from any other applicants. The Rahn'Masser are the best and last line of defense we have against any threat. It is a great honor and privilege to be able to serve in that capacity. Not to mention the pay is quite...substantial. As I'm sure you know, hazard pay in our culture tends to be significant. Of course, the people who try to join for just the pay tend to be the same people who leave during training. The work we do is not for the selfish, or frightful."

Rareth continued to speak with the others for an hour or so until they all started to split off to claim their own rooms. Just as she said, Rareth went to the suite next door and claimed one of the rooms next to Shiva's. As soon as she was inside, she turned the temperature up to a level that would give a Masulu heat stroke and allowed her body to bask in the warmth for a few hours while she watched television from the comfort of her bed.

The next two days were uneventful, and honestly rather boring, which Rareth supposed was a good and bad thing. At least no major arguments had sprung up in the group while they were sharing living space. Depending on the size of ship their team was assigned to, they could potentially be stuck in close proximity to one another for weeks at a time, with no way out. While on Pax, they were free to leave the building at any point to relax and get away, but that would not be the case while on a ship in FTL. Nevertheless, just as planned, on the second day, Rareth awoke to the annoying buzzing sound of a priority alert on her room's computer. She dragged herself out of bed to check it, even if she already knew what it was about. It was an official message sent to each of theirs rooms, ordering them to report to a meeting room all the way down on the 32nd floor in an hour and a half. Rareth turned the heat up in her room to help wake her up, then slowly got dressed in a different formal suit, this time a blue one with red markings on the shoulders and thighs.

As she required time to warm up in the morning, Rareth was unsurprisingly not the first one awake in her suite. Shiva was awake in the living room, so Rareth decided to start off the day with a friendly greeting. "Good morning, Shiva. Have you already had breakfast, or should I make something?" She offered.

[Lightbox]

"Hah man yeah It would certainly be safe to guess I'm the same August you've heard about" After they had all talked a little bit more august excused himself to go to the other currently unoccupied suite to claim himself a room. August kept to himself a fair bit for the next two days mostly catching up on sleep since his life style could leave him very exhausted sometimes, he tried to socialise when he could but he felt odd being away from home and not hunting bounties and he was kinda unnerved by the two masulu. He'd been born into the war but he himself didn't harbour really any negative feelings towards the race since it had ended a while ago while he was still young. But even growing up around a lot of racism and hatred he never held onto that, times had moved on and had changed but he couldn't shake the uncomfortableness or even pinpoint why it made him feel uncomfortable. He knew it was something he was going to have to overcome if they were to function as a cohesive unit

[Hailfire]

"Well it'll be interesting to have a celebrity on board." Ashley said following Augusts statement. "Although that makes me wonder again about the nature of the missions we'll be taking on almost as much as the fact there are a number of species present. Maybe they want a fall guy if things go bad on a black op?" she speculated before hastily moving on, worried she might alienate the effeminate bounty hunter standing next to her.

"Anyway it looks as though people are starting to excuse themselves now so I might think about doing the same but all of you guys are welcome to swing by my ship any time you like if you can deal with the gas and the scum in Downtown where she's parked. I'll send the co-ordinates now. The Hummingbird is a real beauty and almost one of a kind and I reckon you guys'd probably appreciate her for what she is... Don'chu dare think about changing anything without my permission though. She's my baby and if I find so much a chip in the paintwork I'm liable to go ballistic." She continued momentarily fiercely defensive before relaxing once more. "But yeah. Feel free to swing by. Downtown isn't a bad place to look if your searching for anything the fuzz [i.e. police] might be trying to clamp down on."

[Muttonhawk]

Shiva's eyes twitched in their shut state, undulating in sync with Rareth's words. She was dressed in the grey military exercise garments that doubled as her pajamas, intending to dress later, and she had laid the length of her body across the couch of their suite with a rather large bag of ice melting against her head. There were several seconds where Shiva simply breathed in and started to clack her vocal chords in such a way that Rareth's translator desperately tried and failed to make sense of whatever pseudo-words were coming out of her mouth. A quicker second breath heralded clearer, if more strained, words. "Morning, Rareth. Thank you for the offer, but I already have something on the way. Do not open the oven if you value your senses, and please..." Shiva raised a hand, "...do not speak so loudly."

A synthetic ding sounded and with another series of groaning clicks, Shiva rotated herself to sit up and slowly rose to her feet with the ice bag still to her head. "That 'Ashley' human, she is very friendly and helped me to get to know the city last night," Shiva said as she walked to the kitchen. "She can hold her drink though. Didn't think it was possible for such a small creature." Shiva put the ice bag back in the freezer then held onto the handle of the oven. Before opening it, Shiva turned to Rareth and pointed at her. "I've seen a Tempu officer faint by whiffing what's in here. With respect, I suggest you cover your nasal passages."

Shiva opened the oven and released what could only be described as a hearty stench. For masulu that was. For anyone else, it would smell like rotten shellfish mixed with durian and roasted sweet potato. It seemed as if it would be good if it weren't for the fact that it was horrible. Shiva pulled forth the source of the smell. There were six of them on the tray; some sort of cupcake-sized crustaceans somewhat similar to armadillos curled up in balls, but more prickly and lobster-like. They steamed, red and fresh as Shiva put the tray onto the bench opposite the oven. "Never thought I would find saezhian seacrawlers in the markets here, but they are the perfect thing to restore a masulu's wits." Shiva chuckled and retrieved some seasoning and started to flavour the cooked bottom feeders. "Don't worry, they only smell while they're freshly cooked. I am going to put them in the refrigerator for a few minutes." Once Shiva was done spicing the surface of the shelled creature, she opened the fridge and slid the tray in, praying silently that it remained closed until the seacrawlers cooled.

Shiva then washed her hands and addressed Rareth with a bit more fizz. It seemed as if just the smell had reinvigorated the medic a little. Over the past few days, Shiva had mostly avoided Rareth and the others at first, but the combination of not receiving any verbal abuse from anyone and general curiosity brought forth a little conversation. Rareth still scared the pants off Shiva in some respects, but at least despite her politeness Rareth wasn't nearly as superficial sounding than the few other Rothians that Shiva had come across. She at least felt comfortable enough to speak freely around her. "So, today is the big day. Finally get to be brought up to speed." Shiva chortled and leaned her hands against the bench, "I bet you know everything about this briefing already, though, right?"

[EliteCommander]

Rareth chuckled. "Indeed, Ashley can be an entertaining individual. I worked with her before on a mission just over a year ago. It was a...complicated situation that brought us together, but it seems to have turned out for the best. I am the one who recommended her for this mission. I would have joined you last night, but I figure it would be best for at least one of us to have a clear head for the meeting." She explained while being courteous enough to keep her voice down. She made sure to steer clear of the kitchen upon Shiva's recommendation. Rareth had no idea what she was cooking, but if it was bad enough to warrant a warning, she trusted it would be a good idea to keep her distance.

Once Shiva secured the tray away within the refrigerator, Rareth joined her in the kitchen for her own meal. Being obligate carnivores, Rothians required a diet of meat to survive. There were some plants they could get away with eating, but for the most part, their digestive system really did not agree with most plant matter. It was technically possible for them to subside on synthetic nutrient supplements, but it was much easier just to go with meat. Of course, Rothians had abandoned farming animals thousands of years prior, as almost all of their meat was simply grown from cultures of stem cells. It was a much more efficient process, and while there were still a few places where one could find meat from a dead animal, they were mostly just curiosities. In blind taste tests, the two types of meat were found to be near identical.

Luckily, the meat was kept in a separate freezer from the refrigerator, so Rareth was able to find something to cook. It was meat grown from an animal native to Anskaria, though she had not tried it before. Technically, since it was lab-grown, it was absolutely safe just to eat it raw, but since she had the time to cook it, she figured she would. It would probably be the only thing she ate all day, given that cold-blooded metabolisms are more efficient than those of warm-bloods, at the expense of being able to regulate their own body temperature. "I'm afraid this is where my knowledge of our mission ends. I was kept up to speed on a lot of the aspects of this mission over the past few months, but whatever decisions they are going to relay to us today, they made recently, probably within the past few days. The only thing I know for sure is that we're going to be put on some kind of mission. I suppose they will also have to give us a ship, or at least assign us to one, but I don't know what kind it will be. No doubt each government has been arguing over that point for a while. Personally, I think the technological advantages of a Rothian ship would be good for a specialized team like this, but maybe I am biased."

[Balmung1100]

Bit woke up with one of the worst headaches he had had in years...and being an explosives expert, that was saying something. He liked to think of himself as a hearty drinker, but once he found that bar that served Dirophyd firebombs, he maybe took three shots before blacking out. Dirophyd drinks were quite strong as the miners for whatever reason were heavy drinkers.

"If I ever find the miner that invented the Dirophyd firebomb, or his kin, I'll level their whole settlement." Bit said as he opened the door to the common area of the suite. He quickly remembered that they had bought some food while they were out. He checked the refrigerator to find a few cans of what a few Dirophyds from some backwater settlement called Searats. He had tried them once or twice many years ago, and remembered the oddly sweet taste. He made up his mind and quickly opened the cans and emptied their contents into an oven safe bowl and threw them into the oven to cook.

[cqbexpt]

Shuo sat up quickly in his bed. He looked around and saw blackness around him. But when he looked towards the window he saw the continuing bustle of the city. He also noticed the sun was not up yet. He began getting fully out of bed in the moonlight and changed into gray-blue exercise clothing. On his shirt it said SA in black lettering. He checked the data pad one more time and made sure that the gym was actually on the floor above them. He made his way upstairs and began a work out routine he had used for decades at this point. It was rigorous enough for him to have made up for the last two days of inactivity that he had. It was essential to Shuo to stay on top of such things. It always had.

After a couple of hours the sun had risen and Shuo was finished. On his way back to his suite just before he opened the door he smelled the seacrawlers. But where would they get those? He thought to himself. He began attempting to trace the source of the smell. It lead him to Shiva's and Rareth's suite. He had only really talked to either of them a little. He guessed Shiva was somewhat apprehensive towards him, which to be fair made sense. He was her commanding officer for the time being. Though he still had no idea what to make of the Rahn'masser. He opened the door to the suite and entered and asked. "Who made sea crawlers?"

[Fatal Error 1337]

The paved path blurred underneath Srath, his long strides carrying him through the park. The cool morning air brushing against his face and arms would have made him shiver it it weren't for the thermal exercise clothing he'd brought. He'd been taking advantage of being on the ground again since he'd finally decided on a room a couple days ago. Finding any excuse to be outside in the open air after being cooped up in that frigate for over a month.

The sun was beginning to dry the mornings dew from the trees as he slowed his pace, letting himself catch his breath before making his way back. On his return trip he noted that the building, for all its flaws, seemed to catch the morning light in such a way as to make it almost pleasing to look upon.

He exited the elevator to see Shuo sticking his head into Rareths and Shivas dorm and to be hit with a smell that his brain tried desperately to identify, getting stuck somewhere between earthy and moldy.

[Fatal Error 1337]

(Double Post)

[baskets]

Coin flung her door open just in time to overhear Bit complaining about Dirophyd alcohol. "Bit, if you can't hold your liquor, better quit now," Coin jabbed, opening up the pantry. She began preparing a cup of coffee for herself. The past couple days had been bland; shopping for food and exploring the city summed up most of Coin's time on Pax. Coin hopped up on to the counter and sat on it. "So, Bit, what do you think this meeting's going to be about? I mean, obviously they'll brief us on what we're actually doing here, but what do you think that is?" Coin wondered aloud, as the coffee grounds crunched behind her. "I like to think that we're gonna be, like, some badass interspecies police force. I honestly can't think of any other possibilities," Coin reasoned.

[Balmung1100]

"I really hope not." Bit said with a sigh. "As badass as being universal police sounds, I think it's something bigger than that."

Bit opened the oven to inhale the strange sweet aroma of the searats. They weren't quite done, but it'd probably only take a few more minutes.

"I'm a bit anxious about this briefing, I joined the SpecOps to get away from politicians...now I'm probably going to be taking orders from them. I'm a bit curious as to how they convinced the Dirophyds to go in on whatever this is though, the bastards in charge need serious bribes just to get out of bed in the morning." Bit said, exaggerating slightly.

[Muttonhawk]

"Eh, I don't much care about the ship as long as it serves the purpose. Would be nice to have comfortable bunks, I suppose." Shiva replied, leaning against the bench and watching whatever cut of flesh Rareth was preparing. "I got to have a tour of Ashley's proud human ship last night as well, thankfully before the drinks started flowing. The Hummingbird I think she called it. It seemed pretty functional, but you really start to see details in people's cleaning once you've had a few decades of drill sergeants scruti-"

Shiva was interrupted by Shuo's voice at the door. She snapped around to confirm that it was her CO, then stood to attention. "I have, sir," Shiva said clearly. She didn't risk giving anything away in her stance, but she swore to Shen, if this 5th echelon took her seacrawlers after spending an hour in the night markets hunting them down, he was going to pay, one way or another.

[baskets]

Coin laughed. "I'm not much of a fan of politicians, either. I'm infamous for blaming politicians irrationally on the last few ships I served on, in fact." The coffee machine responded with a loud ding, alerting her that the coffee was ready. She pulled out the pot and poured herself a cup. "Pax is the center of politics in the wonderful galactic state of affairs that we live in, isn't it? Unfortunately, we're bound to have a run in with a politician, here." Coin took a sip of the coffee. She liked it black, and people often remarked on such a preference. What could she say? Black coffee was refreshing.

"I guess it's wishful thinking that the politicians will stay out of our way, then, isn't it?" Coin sighed. "I wanna believe that we'll all be able to do our jobs in peace but... I'm not so sure," she lamented, taking a perhaps melodramatic sip of coffee.

[EliteCommander]

"Ah, Shuo. Come in, there's no need to knock, really." Rareth commented with a sarcastic chuckle just as she started cooking her breakfast. While she waited, she stepped back into the adjacent living room to join the others. "Anyway, I would definitely say her ship is fairly capable. We used it on our last mission, though I suppose it is hard to say if its performance was due to the ship, or its pilot. Of course, in this case, it is harder than you would think to tell the two apart. Ashley can completely possess almost any form of technology, so she can essentially become the ship, in a manner of speaking. It makes her a capable pilot. It is impressive, but...I would be lying if I said it isn't unsettling. As a magic user myself, Ii can safely say that is one aspect of the craft I will not be studying. No, I think my abilities are practical enough."

With a bit of a smirk, Rareth suddenly disappeared into a dark mist, teleporting the short distance to the kitchen. She decided to check on the breakfast Shiva had made, and immediately regretted her decision. She couldn't teleport away fast enough, appearing once again in the living room while holding her nose. "I think your sea...whatevers are ready. Could you do me a favor and remind me next time I decide to try to show off, to just...not. I'm sure that would be better for me."

[cqbexpt]

Ignoring the Rothians stab Shuo went closer to the glorious morsels. When Shuo finally got a full sniff of the crawlers his pupils dilated fully and his mouth began to water. When Shiva saluted though he realized he neglected to tell her not to. " Two things Shiva. First until we are actually underway there is no need for you to salute me, or call me sir for that matter. Second....where did you find these? I haven't seen them in close to 25 years now. Got addicted to them on a planet called Benign Incandescence during the war. " Shuo stopped when he heard the distinct noise of Rareth teleporting. The noise was always the same, it never changed.

Turning to Rareth as she teleported away from the glorious smell Shuo cracked half a smile. "And that's the thing with teleporting, never quite sure what your teleporting into." Though Shuo was interested in the humans ability, it sounded similar to what the mech pilots experienced when they synced in. Putting that off to the side in his mind he turned back to Shiva."Anyways, you must tell me where you found those. I will head their as soon as possible and acquire them." Shuo said as seriously as he could manage.