ButtsnBalls

Mass Effect: Second Vigil

	RESCUE◢ Cerro Municipality, Havana Evening, April 9, 2187 @Awesomoman64@Shift@Shu@Auz@High Casual

As if on cue, a dog's whine comes from the back alley. Peering past the mangled chain wire fence at the mouth of the alley, the group could see a dirty golden retriever prone next to a row of dumpsters. Clutched between the dog's front paws was a collar.

The walls of the buildings have bullet holes, dark scorch marks and scraped trails of something heavy being dragged through. At Outcast's approach, the golden retriever perked up. It growled. Outcast began scanning with their omni-tool, and the dog's growl became more aggressive.

"Doesn't look like the gangs' guard dogs." Their right hand hovered near their rifle. "And doesn't like me either..."

Zenn kept back and watched as Outcast approached the dog. Even though he was more than protected by is suit, he didn't make it a habit of touch or going near dirty and possibly sick strays. He was close enough to spy the dog had something in it's paws. A collar?

"Hey," Zenn said and pointed to the collar, "aren't they supposed to normally wear those?"

The collar was broken. The bone-shaped tag attached to it read "Ranger". There's also some krogan scribblings on it: "brave little warrior".

The dog didn't show the same level of hostility toward Zenn, so Outcast stepped back behind the quarian.

It's growling eased after a few seconds. The dog turned to a dumpster and started scratching it.

Outcasted scanned said dumpster. "Just bags of trash. Wait, a tick of eezo."

“There’s something familiar about this animal,” Nadara pondered out loud. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why.

“Wanna go check out the trash, Zenn? The mutt doesn’t seem to mind you.”

Zenn really did not want to root around in trash for the same reason he didn’t want to go near the dog, but if he was the only one the animal was hostile with there wasn't really any other options. "Fine..." Zenn groaned "But if I get sick I'm calling us even for the cab."

Amina, readied her Vindicator, raising it up to chest level but keeping her eyes on the dumpster while her finger rested on the trigger. She didn’t like this, any of it - this surprise operative showing up onsite, the look of this dog, the tension in the air. This already unorthodox evening was just getting stranger.

“Go.” Amina nodded to urge Zenn forward.

The smell was nauseating, even through Zenn's suit filters. But it was more foul than just bags of refuse. At the bottom of the dumpster were two corpses.

The first was a krogan clad in heavy armor with decorative bone pieces. Patches of the krogan's armor and skin were burned, but his cause of death was clearly a shotgun blast between his eyes.

This dead krogan was too heavy for Zenn to move alone.

"Help Shadow out." Outcast said.

Once the krogan was out of the dumpster, the golden retriever immediately went to the corpse. It pulled a piece of leather from the krogan's pocket, the missing piece of the broken collar. The the dog pawed, scratched and barked. When it realized there would be no reply, the dog curled up with a defeated whine.

Upon scanning, this krogan matched the descriptions of an Urdnot soldier of the missing team.

Beneath the krogan was another corpse so badly burned that it couldn't be identified at a glance. A scan would reveal the corpse to be an asari, and the tick of eezo was a part of the asari's biotic amp. The amp was the only thing not burned.

Nadara would recognize the amp as a commando grade one tailored for asari adepts.

"Intact amp could be useful." Outcast noted. They took out a scalpel from their bandolier, but after a moment of pause, the scalpel was put away.

Instead, Outcast went to scan the surroundings. "Multiple incendiary grenade impacts; classic Reds tactic."

Outcast proceeded further into the alley. "Prints looked like more bodies dragged this way." They stopped at few footprints. "Though this set is someone running, and not human like the rest."

Nadara was surprised such a high ranking Asari adept would succumb like this. Not to mention the Krogan, and an Urdnot at that. She opened her mouth to object to Outcast’s implication of removing the amp from the fallen Asari then and there, but he must have realized the insensitivity of his action and put it away on his own.

“SRN will need to send a team to collect these bodies,” she said, sending a message indicating as such through her omni-tool.

“One of us should stay back and wait for them. Zenn?”

She didn’t make eye contact with the Quarian, instead moving to inspect the footprints Outcast indicated. Why is he acting like our commanding officer? She thought, further aggravated by the stranger.

Before reaching the footprints however, Nadara paused by the golden retriever. From a closer look, she could tell the mutt had been well cared for until recently. A few baths, and the golden coat beneath should shine through again. She knelt down and placed a hand on his head, not comfortable enough with the grime on his fur for a legitimate caress, but it was probably more affection than he’d received of late anyway.

The dog’s reaction was friendly enough, though he was clearly saddened by the loss of what had to have been his owner. Was Outcast the only one he was distrustful of? This only increased Nadara’s own suspicions.

“Keep an eye on the mutt, too?” Nadara directed to Zenn, still without meeting his gaze. She picked up the colar with the intention of handing it off to him, using the very tips of her fingers to gingerly lift it and the second ripped piece of leather from the ground.

Amina’s brow furrowed as she looked down at the two alien corpses. So this is what became of the last team… she thought, drumming her fingers against her rifle. Amina chewed the inside of her cheek as she processed the scene before the group. “The Reds” it seemed were quite the prepared bunch, Amina wondered if it had been a fair actual fight or just a well executed ambush. Whatever may be they had found the missing team - part of them anyway.

Nadara called in a pickup for the bodies while this “Outcast” ran his scans nearby, noting the footprints. Someone or something had taken off leaving a trail in it’s wake. Nothing to do but follow it.

Nadara requested for Zenn to hang back with the bodies - the dog too, Amina rolling her eyes at the latter. *Now we are animal rescue too?* Someone did need to stay back and secure the extraction of the corpses, though Amina wished the team as it were could stay together rather than splitting and she being stuck with this newcomer. *Better to have him where I can see him…* Amina thought.

Amina remained silent though she took some assertive steps towards the trail, indicating for Nadara to follow along as well as Outcast whom Amina was staring daggers into.

This. Was. Disgusting. Zenn had handled his fair share of bodies, and even a few burned ones before. But burned and buried in a dumpster? He couldn't tell what was a person and what was tossed out leftovers. After this mission he was going to need to change his filters and take a long decontamination shower.

Together they were able to lift the corpses out without much issue, but Zenn remained in the dumpster for a moment longer. He decided this was the perfect opportunity to hopefully get some more info. Crouched down in the garbage and out of sight, the quarian opened his omni-tool and sent a hasty message to Lizbeth

Shadow:
Requesting all data on SRN Associate "Outcast".

Outcast hadn't given them any reason not to trust him. But he also hadn't given them much at all. Zenn didn't want to keep second guessing this guy's every move, and having a confirmation he was who he said he was would be enough to put the quarian's mind at ease.

His task completed, Zenn hopped out of the dumpster hoping he would never have to return. In his brief absence, Outcast had found a trail to follow, while Nadara had called for a team to collect the bodies and requested Zenn stay behind with them. Well, less requested and more expected as she didn't even look at him or ask his opinion. Amina seemed to go along with it as well, but it felt less like she agreed and more she just wanted to get all this over with.

Outvoted before he even got a say. Guess he was stuck with the dog. The dirty possibly diseased dog that was currently pawing at a trash covered decomposing corpse… On second thought.

"Are we sure that's a good idea?" Zenn spoke up before the others left. "If these Reds took down a Krogan and an Asari adept then they're clearly a formidable group. Splitting up now could leave us vulnerable."

Nadara finally looked over to the Quarian and raised an eyebrow. “What do you suggest instead?”

Zenn glanced around for ideas. He had one, but it wasn’t really in good taste. The others would probably disagree, but it was all he had at the moment.

"We could put them back in?" Zenn suggested and pointed to the dumpster. "They were hidden there before just fine. All we have to do is let the collection team know where they are stashed and we'll be set."

Amina shook her head and said to Zenn, “We can’t just toss them back in the dumpster. It would be better for you to just wait here with the corpses. We can manage. And this time damn concealment.” Amina wadded up the oversized jacket she had been wearing and stuffed it inside the suitcase, then tossing both into the dumpster.

“As if that oversized rag did much concealment anyway,” Nadara mumbled to herself under her breath. Then, louder, she said, “I agree with her.” She shrugged to Zenn. “Sorry, seems like you’re outvoted. But hey, at least this way you’re less likely to get sick, right?”

The odds of these thugs returning here now that their targets were dead was low. Especially if their prints indicated they’d run off somewhere.

Nadara wasn’t keen on following Outcast to a potential ambush—his presence was all just too convenient—but they had to follow the lead. And truth be told, after they’d walked in on Zenn on his ass, she felt it was better he stay back. Not that Amina inspired much more confidence. I guess as long as she doesn’t try to throw anything…

She took a few steps over toward the stranger and Amina before turning back to Zenn, indicating her omni tool. “Message if anything.”

The quarian lowered his gaze and shook his head. He really did not like this, but Nadara was right, he was outvoted.

“Alright. Just be careful. Don’t let any cloaked figures get the drop on you.” Zenn relented and released them with a wave.

He leaned against the wall and watched as his teammates left to follow the trail. Once they were out of sight he pushed himself off and headed back out of the alley. As he passed the dog laying by his fallen owner and held his hand out towards the animal and said in a hushed voice, “Stay” before activating his cloak and vanishing from sight.

The others may not have suspected anything, and honestly he really hoped they were right. But there was something still bothering him. They were here to investigate a distress signal, and it would be naïve to assume the Reds were oblivious to said signal. If they were smart, they would realize that signal would bring backup for the SRN operatives they killed. If Zenn were in their shoes the first thing he would do is try to kill it. But if he couldn’t stop the signal, he’d find a way to stall the reinforcements so he could get into position, then trick them to split up. Once they were apart he’d strike the weakest groups first, which in this case would be him. Someone had already gotten the drop on him once today, it wasn’t going to happen again.

The squad had decided he would stay with the bodies, and he was going to follow those orders, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do so from a vantage point. The roof of the building he had followed Outcast into would make a great start. From the top of a two story building he’d have a perfect view of the alley, but more importantly, the surrounding area. If anyone was setting up an ambush on him or his team, he’d see it. Now if only he had actually brought his sniper rifle…

"Are you all done?" Outcast cut in. "No need to get worked up over two corpses, unless..."

"Anyway, trail clearly split into two." Outcast was moving to the other end of the alley. That end opened to another road, a much quieter, much darker and much more poorly paved road. "Bunch of dragging here ended with tire marks near the curb. Reds stuffed into getaway vehicles and drove off."

Outcast highlighted the other trail going across the street. "Runner went through there, but the pursuers stopped."

The threshold in question was a series of sheet metal barriers. Graffiti marred them; one symbol, the letter M, was the most prominent. Just beside the M was a humanoid shaped hole. "Marielitos territory past that point." Outcast pointed out.

"Feel free to go through and investigate. No toughs on the street; most of them must be off partying." Suggested Outcast. "I will go...extract footage from traffic cams; see which way the Reds drove to."

"Here's my comms channel." Outcast revealed on omni-tool display. "Or I can use yours. Or just meet back here when you're done. Go with whatever you think has the least risk of me tricking you."

Nadara made eye contact with Amina before narrowing her eyes at Outcast. “Let’s keep our comms separate for now,” she said, accepting the information from him. Speaking of which…she switched over to their private channel. “Zenn, can you get eyes on us?”

"Already got visual." Zenn confirmed at Nadara's request. "Though that wall of sheet metal will be a problem. Whoever built that did so to block prying eyes like mine. I could try another vantage point, but then I couldn't keep track of the 'dearly departed' or their dog."

Was he being too harsh on the dead? It wasn't their fault he was stuck keeping track of them. Course, this wouldn't have been a problem if they hadn't gotten themselves killed- Nope. Stop. Don't think like that. He didn't know the full story. He couldn't judge them. There was a job to be done and he was assigned it. Gotta focus on that.

Perfect timing, a quick distraction made itself known on Zenn’s omni-tool. Lizbeth had gotten back to him. The info was... inadequate to say the least.

Egghead:
Zenn? Sry, was talking to Thul.

Egghead:
Anyway, quick search shows they joined 10 days ago. Only thing on file is species: human. Probably logistics/admin. Hired a dozen to prep for new office. Half aren't interviewed yet.

Egghead:
Btw, tell Nadara Thul has a present for her. Cigars, "Jack Harper Custom Commission". I'll bring it back to the hotel.

Egghead:
Gtg! There's Jelize. Gotta catch her before she leaves!

All it confirmed was species and that they were a recent addition like the rest of the team, but it's what Lizbeth speculated that was concerning. Logistics and admin? Really? Someone like that wouldn't be in the field. Was Lizbeth playing dumb? Or was she just as much in the dark? Whatever the case, he wasn't going to hide things from his team.

"Oh Nadara, just got a message from Liz. Looks like Thul got you a present. Guess you didn't totally miss out on the party. I'll send you the details." Zenn informed her with a cheerful tone.

Zenn forwarded the messages to both Nadara and Amina. He didn't mention the info regarding Outcast over comms just in case he was being nosey and eavesdropping.

It was such a drag to have to take the leadership role when she would much rather be partying it up with the locals. Nadara sighed internally to herself. But it seemed this was just how this mission would go. It did make her question the capabilities of the others on her team, though, the two who had gone to fetch their shuttle. How were they fairing? And wasn’t there another who didn’t even show to the initial meeting?

Was this really the best and fastest way to get things back to normal? It’s not too late to license that review business, she mused to herself until Zenn got back to her.

Well, at least he’d had the foresight to keep a visual on both them and the bodies. And it seemed he’d even had the wherewithal to double check Outcast’s credentials. The lack of information Liz offered was troubling, further confirming her gut instinct not to trust the mysterious human.

“Ooh goodie,” she said at the mention of a present. As she read through Lizbeth’s message however, her smile fell. “Ah. Yes, cigars, how… kind… of Bragus.” She’d forgotten how tactless the man could be. Nadara couldn’t remember how many times she’d told him she wasn’t fond of the noxious sticks. Perhaps they could be of some use, though. She remembered Cuban cigars were considered quite the delicacy to some. But that was best focused on at a different time.

Keeping the private comms open so Zenn could hear, she said, “I’ll follow the runner. Perhaps you should assist Outcast in his investigation.” She directed the last part to Amina before looking back towards where they came from, wondering what vantage point Zenn was utilizing. “I think it’s best we keep eyes on the bodies for now. If anything happens, I can charge back here quite quickly.”

“Right…” Amina said flatly.

*This whole job is getting more and more complex and annoying by the minute…*

The arrival of this “Outcast” had already thrown a knot in things, and now Amina, Nadara, and Zenn had to split up. Splitting up may have been the best course for following the trail of these killings but that didn’t mean Amina had to like it. She wasn’t sure what exactly to make of this armored newcomer but she didn’t trust them.

Well, not yet.

Amina double checked her rifle and kit, satisfied as she could be, and then nodded to Outcast. “Lead the way.”

"If you say so, Rogue." Outcast admonished, but didn't bother otherwise. "Sunset could've used your help."

Anima planned to stay close and at Outcast's back the whole way. And she did relent to herself that she had Zenn and Nadara to back her up. They didn’t seem to be a completely useless pair - even if a bit on the ditzy side.

Nadara nodded to Amina and walked toward the sheet metal barrier.

“Keep an eye on those two, Shadow.”

Just as said, Outcast made their way to the closest intersection. After making sure no one was around, Outcast pried open a panel at the base of the traffic light pole and began interfacing with their omni-tool. As far as Amina was concerned, Outcast seemed to know their way around hacking.

"Don't suppose you're good with electronics?" Outcast said between omni-tool taps. "Could make this faster."

For Nadara, getting into Marieltos territory was incredibly easy. The hole in the sheet metal was barely covered by a plastic tarp. No alarms or traps were triggered. In fact, this space appeared to be the yard of a two-story villa. The only sources of light came from the villa, both through the windows and next to its doors. Several trees and shrubs made the yard even harder to see.

There were two humans standing around the door. One of them had an M-23 shotgun, while the other lugged around a big machete. Both wore patches with the Marieltos' M, but neither wore any armor.

"My cousin's out there partying and what do I get? Guard duty." Nadara could hear one of them complain.

"What do we even need to guard?." Said the other one. "That turian's out cold. Reds fucked him up good, and we even smashed his comms."

"Something about ransom. Bird-man's some kind of spec op." The first one replied. "Anyway, I'm gonna go take a piss."

The human with the machete went inside, leaving only one shotgun-wielding guard.

The entire alley smelled. She hadn't outwardly complained of the stench because so many other factors had been at play, but that didn't mean she hadn't immediately been repulsed by her surroundings when they stepped onto the grimy passageway that existed behind the building. The sheer notion that she was stepping over and on—she shivered—Goddess knows what, was enough to warrant multiple showers as soon as she was back at the resort. They had better have cleaned the room by the time I get back.

Before carefully pulling aside the tarp that crudely hung over the opening in the sheet metal, she found an unknown viscous liquid underfoot. It was nothing like stepping on the smooth, silky texture of the velvet carpet at the last Ambassador’s Gala she’d attended... but during said event, she had spilled some champagne and attempted to cover her faux pas by stepping on the evidence. She supposed that was slightly more similar to the mysterious viscosity she stood on now. Nadara tried pretending she was back at the luxurious ball, but as soon as she was faced with the glorified shack with an extra floor thrown on top that was the villa that lay beyond the tarp, she was mercilessly thrust into the present moment.

She should be grateful the inhabitants had barely enough to fund adequate lighting, much less afford a groundskeeper, for she easily found cover behind some unkempt foliage, but she simply couldn't bring herself to even feign the emotion. A sickly sweet rotting odor of well expired fermented beverages permeated the yard and various pieces of garbage lay strewn about as if someone purposefully dragged a ripped trash bag through the space. At least the foul smell and sight didn't affect her ability to overhear the conversation between the two guards at the door.

"These 'Reds' are keeping a downed Turian inside a sorry sight of a two-story dwelling that doesn't even come close to the grandeur of a proper villa," she whispered into her omni-tool through the private channel she shared with Zenn and Amina. "I'm going in to extract him."

There were many small items around her, and once the second guard went inside, she used the opportunity to toss a small stone to the opposite end of the yard, hoping to distract the first guard so she could sneak inside the building.

A new message appeared for Nadara and Zenn as the latter settled into position.

Saneamiento 24/7 - SRN Partner:
WTF two dead bodies?? You need to find a better party, amigos...preferably one without krogans o.o

Saneamiento 24/7 - SRN Partner:
Anyway, will be there in 15 with a dog cage.

15 minutes. That was the wait time Zenn was given. It was longer than he’d like to be stuck there, but all things considered it was still a quick response time. Actually, it might be quick enough that there wasn’t any point in waiting around. After all, what were the chances anything would happen to the bodies in the next 15-

“And I get that some supplies are scarce right now, but I could get better food from street vendors.” A voice came into earshot from the streets below. Three humans, all looking rather displeased, were walking down the sidewalk.

“Ugh I know. I’m glad we got out of there, but I really don’t want to walk all the way back home.”

“Well, we could take the alleys? Shave a few minutes off.”

Shit. Okay, don’t panic. Even Zenn knew going down sketchy alleys at this time of night was dangerous. No way they would go for it.

“Can’t we just call a cab instead?”

Yes!

“Are you kidding? This is the final night of celebration. Traffic all over Havana is going to be a nightmare. Our best bet is to cut through here and avoid any of the main roads. We’ll be home in no time!”

No!

“I don’t know. Is that safe?”

Not at all!

“Come on, everyone's out partying! No one is going to care if a few people ‘trespass’ on their territory or whatever.”

Fucking hell!

At that point, Zenn had stopped listening to the group and began his descent from the building. If there was even a possibility of them taking the alley he had to get into position to stop them. Luckily he was still cloaked, and the climb down wasn’t exactly difficult. This gave him just enough time to slip undetected into the alley and check his surrounding area. Hopefully there was something he could use to quickly hide the bodies. If not, he’d have to think of a way to keep the party goers away from here.

After a quick survey of the area, all Zenn was able to find was a tarp hanging from the sheet metal wall. Would it be big enough to cover the bodies? And even if it was he couldn’t exactly move them out of the way. He had to think. The voices were getting closer which meant those humans must have decided to go down the alley. Shit shit come on. There had to be something… Wait. The dog! The mangy mutt was a decent size, any pedestrian would try to avoid it if they thought it was angry. Now he just had to get the dog from riled up, but how?

Hold on, the krogan was the owner right? So maybe… Zen raced over to the krogan’s body and began checking the pockets. Thermal clips, rations, what looked to be teeth of some kind, ah-ha! The quarian removed a bag filled with bone shaped biscuits. He opened the bag and dangled it in front of the dog's nose, hoping it would pick up the scent and focus on them. He carefully removed one of the treats and started backing up to the entrance of the alley. He slipped the bag into one of his own pockets and concealed the treat in his hands. With his cameo still on it was the best way to keep anyone from seeing floating dog biscuits, and as long as the dog had the smell it wouldn’t need to see them to know where they were. Now all he needed was for the dog to make some noise.

“Come on, you mutt.” Zenn muttered under his breath. “Start barking! Growl or something! Speak!”

The dog started barking with all of its golden retriever might as its treats bag disappeared into thin air. It was just when the three humans were about to turn into the back alley. At that moment, they decided taxi was the better choice after all.

While they were hurrying back to Alejandro's to hail a ride, the dog was getting tired of barking. It poised to leap at Zenn's scent.

The plan worked perfectly. Zenn could hear the group as they hesitated, then ultimately decided a dog attack was not worth taking a shortcut. He waited a few moments to make sure they were gone before he deactivated his cloaking and relaxed his shoulders.

“Whew. That was a close one. Good work, Ranger… Ranger?”

The dog had stopped barking and was now bending it’s legs, was it about to-

“No, NO! DOWN! DOWN!” Zenn cried out in vain as the dog lept on top of him. “Okay, fine. Fine! Take it!” The quarian released his hold on the treat and allowed the dog to snatch it from his hands.

He laid on the ground defeated as the dog messily devoured the treat over him. His team was investigating clues and infiltrating gang hideouts, meanwhile he just spent the last few minutes scaring a group of humans with a stray dog that had now pinned him to the ground. As he lay there in that moment, only one thought was going through his head.

I’m a migrant fleet marine. I used to fight geth and reapers...

Meanwhile, Nadara's distraction worked perfectly. The shotgun-wielding guard wandered away from the door for Nadara to slip inside, unaware of her movements in the dark.

Inside, Nadara found several pieces of cheap furniture strewn about the villa lobby. There were three doors, and behind one door came the sound of toilet flushing. Thankfully, the lobby was poorly lit by only one old hanging light, which gave Nadara plenty of hiding spots behind sofas and under tables.

The absentminded guard walked by, oblivious to the clatters of Nadara's stilettos across dirty tiles just seconds ago.

Searching through the two remaining doors, Nadara discovered a kitchen behind one, and a storage behind the last one. At the center of the storage was an unconscious turian tied up to a chair. The turian matched the descriptions of a missing SRN member: Kysar "Venator" Proctus.

Kysar had a bruise on top of his head, where the Marieltos knocked him out with something hard. At the side of his torso armor was a bullet hole, shot by the Reds and haphazardly stuffed full of medi-gel by Marieltos sawbones. Otherwise, Kysar seemed mostly healthy.

At one side of the storage was hard case holding Kysar's weapons. On the other side was a table with a tablet. The tablet displayed plans to ransom Kysar to the highest bidder between SRN, Tenth Street Reds and the turian military. However, the Marieltos went to party before enacting their plan.

Upon releasing Kysar from his bonds, Nadara noticed the turian stirring.

“Oh good,” she said in relief. “For a moment there, I was thinking I’d have to carry you out, and I don’t think that would’ve worked out well for either of us.” She frowned as she looked down and noticed her stilettos had been scuffed in the shuffle from the dilapidated yard to the hovel they were in now. Damn it!

She walked over to the table with the tablet and took it, thinking it might have valuable information. Then, to the private channel, she said, “Target acquired, returning to you, Rogue.”

“Roger that Sunset.” Amina finally replied to Nadara.

Offhandedly, she turned to Kysar once more. “You can walk, right?”

Kysar's whole world spun, frantically pirouetting about as the Turian attempted to grip reality. His senses were an utter mess: flushes of pain from all around his body, mixed with adrenaline and bouts of morphine.

What the fuck is going on?

Images of the not too distant past began to flash through his mind.

Earth. Dead Reapers. SRN. Namibia. Cuba. Alleyway...

Ambush!

The Turian coughed, spitting out blood, unable to tell if it was fresh or hours old. Something had corralled him from his slumber, had someone said something? Was it his captors?

Kysar opened an eye, squinting into the darkness of the night. Standing a few footsteps away was a slender figure, decked out in some serious gear. Looking down, the Turian noticed the remains of bindings littered on the ground.

Rescue op? Turians? Rival Gang? SRN?

Too many variables gave way to too many thoughts and the answers weren't going to miraculously come to him.

"Who the fuck are you?"

Nadara’s expression turned cold. “Excuse you, Venator.”

Hands on her hips, she gave him a once over and sighed. “You’re just coming to after what seems to have been quite the nasty fight, so I’ll overlook it this once.” Goddess, could none of her new teammates hold their own?

Nadara pulled out her handy pack of gum from a back pocket and popped one into her mouth before offering one to the Turian. A gesture of peace.

“Go ahead, it’ll help keep your mind off that,” she said, motioning to the bullet wound.

“I’m with the SRN—Sunset,” she gave a small curtsy. “Came to extract the victim here never expecting it to be one of our own members.”

A noise from somewhere outside, either from within the house or from the yard drew her attention and Nadara paused to listen, hand immediately resting on her blade’s handle.

When no one came bursting through the door, she continued, her tone more urgent, her volume lower, and voice quicker. “There’s two guards at the back door. Not sure how many others, but we need to head back that way to rendezvous with the rest of my team. Can you move? We need to go now before this gets any more complicated.”

Ah, an Asari. What other race could display such arrogance through tone alone.

"No," he pushed the offer of gum away, pausing for just a moment as he ruminated on a thought. To be fair to the woman, she had just saved him from an even stickier situation. "Thanks."

As 'Sunset' went on to introduce herself and their predicament, Kysar stood. Wobbling to his feet like a newborn giraffe he used the chair to stabilise himself. The Turian's eyes widened at the Asari's final statement.

Two of them are still here? Alive?

Kysar's body flared with a deep blue hue for a split second. Rage flowed forth, surging across his body. Revenge was in the air.

Spotting a hard case off to the side of a storage box, he hobbled over. Bringing up his omni-tool, he scanned the case.

Scan suggests it's the right size to hold my weapons. There's a digital lock too. The Turian stroked his mandibles. Could be hacked but it looks as if there's a device connected to it.

He turned to Sunset, "That datapad you're holding, see if it's connected to this hard case. I'm going to collect my gear then head outside and kill whoever is out there. You're more than welcome to join me."

“We don’t have time for this,” she hissed, unsheathing her blade in one quick movement.

There may have been surprise in the Turian’s features as she moved toward him, but Nadara didn’t bother explaining herself as she brought the blade down against the lock. It sliced through easily, and the case split open. Nadara winced, hoping the sound hadn’t been overheard.

As her new teammate began to adorn his gear, his expression was formidable, though she was certain the wound at his side was still smarting. Despite this, he seemed determined to pay back his aggressors tenfold, regardless of how many others there still were besides the two Nadara had outsmarted earlier.

She recognized the look in his eyes. The hunger. The desire for spilled blood. In that moment, her respect for him grew. Even if he’d gotten his ass handed to him.

“Ok,” she said, standing at the door, her sword ready. “Shall we?” She popped a bubble. There was a glint in her eyes as she smiled mischievously at Kysar.

Kysar smiled, igniting his Omni-tool and activating his Tech Armour. As much as revenge was the goal, the Turian needed to make sure he survived long enough to see the light go out in their eyes.

His rifle felt heavy in his arms, perhaps the cacophony of drugs were wearing thin, or perhaps it was the fact blue blood still trickled from his wound. Either way his pistol was the better option.

Taking point he entered the lobby. Sat on one of the dilapidated lounges, snoring away, lay one of the guards armed with a machete. Kysar's free hand drifted upwards, feeling the lump on his scalp. This was the last person he saw before things went dark.

"Time to return the favour." The Turian breathed, his blood boiling over. Kysar's pistol returned to its holster as his electrified omni-blade crackled into existence.

"Oi! You!" He yelled, startling the human into action. The guard began to yell out as the Turian sprinted at him. Bringing up his machete, the man attempted a swing that was easily battered away. Kysar shoulder-charged the guard into the floor, quickly leaping on top of him, bringing down his blade and stabbing the man in three quick concessions.

Suddenly, the front door whipped open. The other guard, brandishing his shotgun, fired immediately into Kysar, wailing as he saw his compatriot on the floor.

Tech armour tanked the initial shot, bursting on impact with the neuron discharge knocking back the second guard. Off balance but not off his feet, the guard regained composure, firing again. The Turian had just enough time to duck back behind the couch, narrowly avoiding the shotgun's spray. He fumbled around in the dark for his sidearm but grew woosier and woosier as the adrenaline dissipated.

Distressed by the sight of a dead comrade, shaken by tech armor explosion and tunnel visioned at the turian, the shotgun guard had no idea Nadara was less than ten meters away. A third shot was lined up toward the couch, and its cushions, shredded by the previous blast, would provide little protection to Kysar.

However, there was a split second for Nadara to act before the guard pulled the trigger.

Nadara was pleasantly surprised by the speed and agility the Turian displayed despite his condition. Even so, he’d only been able to kill the one guard because they’d been asleep on the couch. She doubted he’d be able to survive much longer without her intervening.

The smile she’d given Kysar earlier never faltered as she witnessed the scene before her. The surviving guard firing the second shot was as enticing to her as a dinner bell to a hungry mutt. The excitement within her built to a crescendo as she savored every second of anticipation until her moment of action.

In truth, Nadara would have preferred a more challenging opponent. This one was too easily dispatched with. All it took was a swift charge forward and her sword came down before they had the chance to pull the trigger a third time.

With a low thud the hand, along with the shotgun it still held, fell to the ground. The sound echoed through the room followed by a momentary silence before the subsequent scream of shock and pain.

“My hand!” The guard wailed pitifully.

“Tell me who you’re working for and why you’re targeting the SRN or you’ll lose more than that.” Nadara kicked the shotgun in the direction Kysar had hid behind the couch. She hoped he hadn’t lost consciousness again from the blood loss. It’ll be such a pain if I have to carry him…

Running on empty was an understatement. Kysar slumped to the side, basking for just a moment in the guard's pain. If revenge was a tool for survival, then the Turian was going to need all the sustenance he could get. The shotgun kicked over by his new compatriot slid up next to him, beckoning to be used one final time.

Kysar stood using both the couch and the gun as crutches. The guard cried in agony, mumbling incoherently towards Sunset. The human deserved this and worse but there were more pressing matters. Shouldering the shotgun, the Turian fired a final round into the man’s head. With no armour to speak of, the buck painted the room with brain matter.

The gun clattered to the ground as the Turian grabbed hold of a piece of furniture for stability. “He didn’t know anything,” Kysar said through panted breath. “These animals were nothing but scavenging opportunists, a small-time gang suckling at the tit of the Reds. Let’s get out of here, there’s a lot of work to do.”

Venator clutched his side and began limping to the door. “Tell me,” His voice dropped to a soft whisper. “Did anyone else make it?”

“Figures,” Nadara muttered at Kysar’s revelation that the guard knew nothing of importance. It was then she realized the Turian would certainly have some of the missing pieces to this puzzle.

She nodded at his suggestion they take their leave, and started walking towards the back door but paused at his question.

“We know of at least two who didn’t. We’re having their bodies collected now. Come on.” She began walking again. “You can fill us all in on what happened after we get you patched up.”

Zenn sat on the ground with his back against the alley wall. Ranger lay at his side while the quarian almost begrudgingly pet his head. He still wasn't fond of the animal, but it had helped him complete his job, so this was the least he could do to pay it back. Zenn thought about going back to his vantage point from before, but after the potential crisis he narrowly avoided, he thought it would be safer to just stay with the bodies. Their evac should be there any minute now anyway. And once they were taken care of he would finally be able to join the others in the actual work… Wait what the hell was that?

A muffled bang echoed through the alley. Zenn leaned forward while Ranger's ears perked up, both of them now listening closely. He knew that sound, but he had to be sure. Another bang rang out confirming his hunch. It was the unmistakable sound of a gunshot, and it came from the villa Nadara had slipped into. His first instinct was to jump into action. Run through the fence, kick the door down, and start blasting. But that would probably just get him killed immediately. He needed to slow down, make sure there was even a reason to worry. His omni-tool flashed to life as he called up his teammate.

"Shadow to Sunset. I heard gun shots. Is everything alright? Do you need backup?"

“All fine here, Shadow. I have Venator with me. He’s a bit banged up, but still breathing. He’ll need medical attention soon. Let’s regroup with Rogue at your position.”

Zenn let out a sigh of relief. "Copy that. I'll let Rogue know, but you'll want to hurry. No telling who else heard those shots."

He pressed a few keys on his omni-tool, switching the line to Rogue.

"Shadow to Rogue. Sunset has callsign Venator and it sounds like he needs immediate evac. We're regrouping on my position. Hope you and Outcast had enough time to find something good."

“I copy.” Amina’s voice cropped up. She was still with Outcast, who had managed to interface with the traffic pole from earlier. She was too busy between watching him and watching both their backs to really offer any assistance. “Using the cams to get a bead on our culprits?” Amina guessed aloud. “What have you got? It’s been a good minute there.”

"Yes, rudimentary security. These recordings from two days ago; they're headed to eastern suburbs." Outcast brought up footage of an SUV and two vans. "No cam coverage beyond central city, but I think they went to a reaper processing camp, one of the few left."

“Wait a moment,” Amina threw up an open palm as she tried to process what she had just heard. “A Reaper camp?” Amina immediately realized how ridiculous her surprise sounded. The Reaper War felt like such a distant memory these days but the conflict was not so long past, especially considering the impact it had left on the galaxy as a whole - putting it lightly. Still, the idea of Reaper facilities still standing even now for some reason left Amina feeling a bit perturbed.

Why would any idiot be trifling with Reaper facilities?

Amina knew the answer to that too. With the Reapers seemingly gone as a major threat scavengers, hawkers, and scientists were scrambling to get their hands on Reaper artifacts and technology - even knowing all the harm a single shard of Reaper tech could do.

Thats just it though. With the Reapers no longer perceived as a threat it’s time to harvest all that remains of them and their technology for whatever reason can be came up with.

The traffic footage on Outcast's omni-tool switched to a holomap. "I will go recon the area. Sounds like you need to regroup with your team."

"And for the record, Rogue, I...apologize for the ambush earlier." For the first time, Outcast actually sounded they're speaking to another person. "Been fighting Cerberus alone for too long, and you get anxious. But sometimes we need...allies, you know?"

"Anyway, I forwarded you the footage." Outcast's voice returned to its filtered monotone. "I'm sure we'll be in contact again soon."

“We do have something. I'm on my way back to you now.” Amina notified her team.

Mass Effect: Second Vigil

	DISTRESS SIGNAL◢ Cerro Municipality, Havana Evening, April 9, 2187 @Awesomoman64@Shift@Shu@High Casual

"We need to stay together.” Amina commented on the presence mentioned by Zenn.

Zenn looks back and forth between Nadara and Amina. He places his hand beneath his chin to ponder how to handle a tied vote.

"Well, I could run across the street and just do a quick sweep with my omni-tool? I would still be close by and if I find something we can proceed from there. Does that work?"

A dog bark comes from the back alley.

“Go quick!” Nadara turns to Amina with a frown. “We don’t have time to stop and question every decision in times like this.” If they hadn’t stopped to question the decision earlier she wouldn’t even need to be here in the first place!

Zenn nods at Nadara. He makes sure there aren't any cars coming before running across the street to the spot he saw the cloaked figure. He pulls out his omni-tool and scans the area for anything out of the ordinary. Heat signatures, traces of element zero, etc.

“We also cannot split up at every turn and just go running towards every problem without some forethought.” Amina squeezes the handle of her suitcase.

Now Nadara did roll her eyes. “How can you not see this,” she motioned in the direction Zenn had run off in, “makes the most sense in this situation?” Her tone was louder than it should have been, the absentminded sweeping motion of her arm gaining the attention of those around them. “You’re either still too young to have honed good instincts, or you’re too insecure about your own abilities.” Her attention was fully on Amina. She could have been sipping martinis and coaxing information from Liz on other resorts SRN had on file. She didn’t need this.

“I am just speaking generally. I never actually spoke against the Quarian just running some scans. So long as we don’t go chasing shadows down through the alleys.” Amina ended with a hard jab in Nadara’s midsection. “Young? Don’t talk to me about experience. I certainly don’t need a century or two to mature.”

Air expelled from her lips at the unexpected blow, but Nadara quickly turned it into a scoff, hiding her surprise at the strength Amina had used. “Yes, well, that’s only because you couldn’t last two centuries.” Her eyes trailed over to the Quarian. “He hasn’t even gone down the alley, we won’t need to chase him,” she said, misunderstanding Amina’s point. Zenn’s moniker was “Shadow” after all.

“Hey!” Zenn called out to get the attention of the other to the two across the street. He didn’t want to announce to the world and possibly the person they were tracking they were on to them, so instead of yelling everything, he attempted to signal to them what he found. He held his omni-tool up and tapped on it a few times, then pointed to a nearby dilapidated two-story building the trail led to.

“So much for being inconspicuous,” she murmured to Amina.

Amina clapped her free hand against her face, “Fine, let’s go see what he’s found. Then we go check out that signal location.”

Before they went, three locals walked by Amina and Nadara.

"Damn turistas." One of them grumbled.

"Hey," another one said to Amina, "go argue with your alien girlfriend somewhere else."

“We find that term offensive, cabrón. You’re an alien as much as I am.”

"What, she speaks Spanish?" One of the locals was astonished.

Another dog bark comes from the back alley.

"Uh, sorry. We're just not used to seeing some many new faces." The second one apologized. She glanced at the back alley. "Anyway, don't try to pet that one. Stray came in after the gang went through. Smells like all kinds of nasty."

"Come on, let's go. Party's already started at Alejandro's place." The third local waved them along.

“Come on,” Amina nodded across the way, “let’s go check up with the Quarian.” Amina pulled her coat up tight and hustled along towards the building where Zenn had gone.

“But there’s some kind of nasty dog down this way,” Nadara complained. “Besides, Alejandro’s party might be a good place for intel!”

“Come on!” Amina shouted looking back, brow crinkled in a growing aggravation at the Asari.

Nadara hesitated, shifting the weight on her feet. The Quarian could certainly handle himself, but the opportunity to follow the locals to whomever Alejandro was, was fading fast as they continued farther down the street.

“Ugh!” Her hands came down in fists beside her as she definitively turned away from her last glimpses of the three locals and toward Amina and the building Zenn had indicated.

After crossing the street, Nadara crossed her arms over her chest in a huff. “We better not have just given up valuable information from a group of locals for this.”

Zenn waited a moment to see if his teammates had picked up on his signals. However, he also didn't want to lose the trail. It wouldn't hurt to at least make sure the coast was clear, right? Zenn cautiously entered the building, checking all corners and keeping his hand on his pistol as he stepped inside.

As soon as Zenn crossed into the building, the cloaked figure materialized behind him on the left side of the doorway. The figure was a helmeted human, and they went to grab Zenn.

However, Zenn was able to react first, by a split second.

The quarian released his grip on his pistol and prepared for his attackers grapple. His close quarters combat training kicked in as he instinctively reached up to grab their arm with one hand and wrap his other arm around the back of their head. He then attempted to pull them forward, using their momentum and his low center to throw his assailant over his shoulder.

The human was taller than Zenn by half a head and heavier by at least 20 kilos. He was unable to throw them. Zenn was shoved away forcefully, and landed on his ass. The impact kicked up dirt and dust all around the room.

When the dust cleared a second later, Zenn found the human's rifle pointed at his head. Streetlights shined from the window behind them, revealing the human's silver and yellow armor. It was an advanced stealth armor devoid of any markings of insignias.

Then Amina and Nadra came through the doorway. The human's weapon and armor were familiar to Amina.

"Don't do anything stupid." A filtered voice came from the human's helmet. "Or your friend gets it."

“You’re Cerberus.” Amina blurted suddenly. The woman had dropped her coat onto the floor revealing her own armor in full and was just starting to unlatch her suitcase when the assailant gave his warning.

I guess I gave Zenn more credit than he deserved, Nadara thought as she took in the scene before her. Her hand was on the handle of the Asari blade. She was certain she should could end the Cerberus grunt before they pulled the trigger with the speed of her charge.

“Stupid, huh? I don’t think we’re the ones who made the bad call here.” She made a show of counting their numbers by pointing a finger at Amina, Zenn, and herself before pausing and pointing only at the armored figure. Surely, her blade could slice right through it.

“Were you tailing us?” Perhaps if she got them talking, it would be easier to surprise them with an attack. All Nadara needed was for them to point the gun away from Zenn. Safety first and all that. Besides, if the Quarian died now, she really wouldn’t be able to make that party at Alejandro’s later. Too much paperwork.

You stupid bosh'tet! How the hell did you let yourself get captured? Zenn remained still. His eyes darted between the Cerberus soldier and his teammates as he tried to weigh his options. Think. You have to figure something out or else you're gonna blow this whole mission.

"What, how-" There was an almost imperceptible tremble at Amina's words, then the voice was back to its filtered monotone.

"Not tailing you. I've been watching this area." The human's rifle remain trained on Zenn, but they were now sparing glances at the other two.

"You're too sharp for gangsters." They addressed Zenn. "And don't gear like them either." To Amina and Nadara.

"Who sent you here?"

“Eat it.” Amina made a hard forward swinging with her left arm, her large suitcase containing her rifle flew towards the armed individuals’ legs - ideally it would hit the back of their knee and crumple them. At the least it would make them stumble so she could tussle them to the ground and disarm them.

The suitcase missed its mark completely. Though it did hit someone: Zenn. Just when he had regained his breath, the quarian's wind was knocked out of him again.

On impact, the suitcase opened and Amina's vindicator tumbled out to the armored figure's feet.

There was moment of confusion, then the figure realized something from Amina's weapon.

"You're with SRN." The figure planted a foot on the vindicator, to keep it out of Zenn's reach. "Rogue, isn't it?"

Was the SRN letting just anyone join their ranks? Nadara had seen incompetence before, but this was on a whole new level. She supposed her companions were lucky she’d come along. Goddess knows what would’ve happened had she not.

No matter, this was all the distraction she needed. Not bothering to wonder about how the assailant had so much intel on Amina, Nadara charged, pulling out and unsheathing her sword as she did. Hoping to utilize the surprise of her speed, the Asari angled herself to stop just behind the Cerberus grunt, intending to hold her blade firmly at their neck.

Zenn had been focused on the Cerberus operative when Amina made her move. The quarian let out a long wheeze as the brief case slammed into his chest. He was too stunned to even notice the vindicator rifle until after the Cerberus Op had it pinned under his foot.

The human reacted just Nadara charged. She was too fast for them to evade, though they managed to turn their gun to Nadara as her blade pressed up against their neck. In the same move, they kicked Amina's rifle back to the next room.

A millisecond was all it would take for the blade to decapitate, or the trigger to be pulled. But the millisecond passed and nothing happened.

"Easy now..." The human spoke emotionlessly, though their body was clearly tense. "Was scoping out the alley when your quarian friend came. Locals say a firefight happened two days ago. Valuable intel."

"How about we put the weapons down and talk?" Offering a gesture of goodwill, their right index finger shifted slightly off the trigger.

“What is Cerberus doing here?” Amina blurted out. “And how do you know my handle?”

"Ex-ceberus. I am well-informed on SRN, and other ex-ceberus."

"If you're... so well-informed..." Zenn managed to say between deep breaths. Sis arms clutched his chest as he pulled himself up. "Why the hell... did you try to attack us?"

"Wouldn't you do the same when you get tailed while stealthed?"

"Not... If I knew who it was. Seriously... You have knowledge of SRN... but didn't think the one quarian in the city was also the one they hired?"

"Only? You don't know about the batch at the spaceport? Look, I'll share my intel when there's no risk of decapitation."

“How can we be sure this isn’t just an act you’re putting on? Drop your gun, and I’ll sheathe the sword.”

Spaceport? Weren’t the other human and Turian headed there for something?

The figure holstered their rifle on their back.

Nadara sighed, but released the human and sheathed her sword as promised. Apparently tonight would consist of no fun whatsoever.

“Your helmet too.”

"No." They turned to Zenn again and offered him a hand up. "You should know."

Zenn glared at the cerberus op. He wasn't normally in the habit of accepting a helping hand from someone who nearly put a bullet in his head, but then again, one of his teammates had also nailed him full strength with a briefcase. Kind of hard to tell who the bad guys were. In the end Zenn let out a sigh and grabbed the man's hand to pull himself up.

"Alright. Spill. What's going on here?"

Amina kept her lips pursed, saying nothing as she waited for this apparent ex-Cerberus op to spill their guts.

Nadara narrowed her eyes at the human’s refusal to identify themselves. She didn’t trust them.

"I've been tracking a dangerous ex-cerberus agent called Armistan Banes." They looked at Amina. "SRN and I have been...exchanging information, and it seems Banes has recently associated himself with a gang called Tenth Street Reds."

"Locals told me some Reds entered the back alley shortly after several newcomers went through there." They looked out the window. The sun had set. "Then there were gunfire and explosions. Most of the Reds left. But only one newcomer walked out, supposedly a turian biotic."

"Was going to scan the alley when you showed up. We should still do it now. Isn't that why you are here?"

“I wouldn’t worry yourself about why we’re here,” Nadara said. Honestly, she couldn’t remember exactly. There was some signal?

“Show us some proof you’ve been working with SRN. Seems odd they didn’t tell us about you if they knew you’d be here.” Nadara blinked, suddenly hoping she hadn’t made a fool of herself. Liz hadn’t mentioned this ex-Cerberus grunt earlier, right?

They tapped their omni-tool. A holo-projection appears of a secure extranet page for authorized SRN personnel, where members applied for jobs and received briefings. Their callsign appeared on the top: Outcast - SRN Associate. Their account had no profile picture.

Zenn let out a long sigh as "Outcast" pulled up the secure SRN page. That certainly looked legitimate.

"So we almost killed each other because no one bothered to tell us there was someone else monitoring the area?" Zenn asked. He looked at his companions for confirmation. He certainly hoped one of them would correct him. Tell him he was wrong and that he simply missed that part of the briefing.

Nadara looked at him point blank. “With the reception I received at the resort, this doesn’t surprise me, honestly.”

Amina squinted at the operative, stepping slowly around with the intent to retrieve her weapon - coat left on the floor.

"SRN didn't tell you because I work alone, and discreetly." Outcast shrugged.

They watched Amina pick up her vindicator. "Might want to hydrate, Rogue. You're white hot on thermal."

Outcast started walking out toward the alley. The street was a lot less busy now. Though Alejandro's was booming with sounds of merrymaking down the street.

"What should I call you two?" Outcast asked the quarian and the asari.

Zenn hesitated to answer. Not because he didn't feel like he couldn't say, but because it felt awkward giving a callsign like Shadow after being caught so easily. Regardless, this guy was going to find out anyway.

"They call me Shadow." Zenn replied.

“Sunset.” Nadara peeked out over Outcast’s shoulder towards the alley. “There was talk of some nasty dog out there,” she murmured, eyes quickly losing interest in searching for the animal and instead shifting over to the loud party.

Who cares about Alejandro’s, that place seems intriguing enough.

Mass Effect: Second Vigil

	SHUTTLE RETRIEVAL◢ Havana Spaceport Evening, April 9, 2187 @KaiserElectric@Bonnie@High Casual@Shu

The hangar doors swung wide open to reveal five quarians and a kodiak shuttle inside. Bright white lights, from rows on the ceiling and individual stands on the floor, momentarily blinded those entering from the dark runways.

As Zenobia's eyes adjusted, she could see two quarians doing something to the shuttle (at 20 meters away from the entrance), one quarian using a computer terminal, one carting around mechanical tools and the last one in the middle directing everything.

"Keelah!" The cart pusher literally jumped at the sight of Zenobia. The cart toppled over and the quarian tripped on a mess of spilled tools.

The quarians at the computer and the shuttle all stopped whatever they were doing and turned to the turian intruder. The computer user's omni-tool lit up, the quarian at the shuttle engine stood tensely with a wrench in hand and the one fiddling under the shuttle door came up too quickly, bumped their head and fell back down.

However, their leader was the first to act. Unholstering a carnifex pistol and pointing it toward Zenobia, his tone was not one of welcome.

"Who the hell are you?" The quarian leader barked. "This is a private hangar. Get lost!"

While distracted by the turian, a small door at the rear of the hangar was all but forgotten. And neither was anyone watching the ladder leading up to the maintenance walkway.

"With pleasure, but first..." Zenobia, heedless of the gun pointed at her, cranes her neck to get a better look at the shuttle. "Nice ship. Who does it belong to?"

"Us."

Zenobia could see areas of the shuttle typically marked had been freshly scrubbed.

"That narrows it down succinctly." She takes a few steps forward, barely even acknowledging the weapon pointed at her. "Who's 'us', exactly? Because 'us' looks like they just got done scrubbing the markings off of a shuttle they found." Zenobia's been around the seedier parts of the galaxy long enough to recognize what was going on. Hell, her first job was as a lookout for salvagers trying to claim seemingly abandoned spacecraft at omega for salvage.

"None of your business. What, you never seen people clean their spacecraft before?" The quarian boss grunted.

His finger moved closer to the trigger when Zenobia stepped forward. "That's close enough, any closer and-"

The computer user interrupted. "Boss, truck coming from the control tower!"

"You bosh'tet! Damn snitch!" The boss snarled.

A truck? Zen didn't call for a truck. The boss' choice of words piqued her interest though.

"Oho, what are you up to that can be snitched on, then?"

That was long enough. Nobody had immediately started shooting, and Solveig knew she was still in cover she'd followed Zen slowly around.

The boss was now in a time crunch, and was about to be in another.

Solveig moved silently behind him. Her cybernetic went first, lacing over his shoulder to pin his neck in the elbow.

They had as soon as that truck arrived to get out of here. She knew it. Zen knew it. Solveig hoped the boss knew too.

Her cloak lifted, and fast as lightning she was the ghastly tall form behind him. "It's in your best interest to tell the truth now," she said, momentarily casting a glare to the other Quarians. A warning. "Or..." she tightened her grip just so, "pop."

The wrench wielding quarian was about to charge Solveig.

"Wait, no, wait, everyone!" Boss quarian pleaded. "Please, let's all be reasonable. No pop!"

"Alright, my name is Kenn and we're uh...freelance spacecraft recyclers." He admitted. "But someone hired us to be here; a human called Armistan Banes! Said if we pull the black box for him, we get to keep the shuttle."

Kenn gestured to the computer, where the black box was indeed hooked up to. The computer user's omni-tool shifted nervously between Zenobia and Solveig, but the quarian's real worry seemed to be on the screen.

"Truck's almost here, boss..." Computer quarian warned.

"Hold on, you aren't with the alliance, yeah? Alliance doesn't kick in their own door and hold people at gunpoint. Do they?" Kenn blurted out. "We'll give you the shuttle, if you uh, vouch for us."

"Bad idea." Wrench wielding quarian spat.

"Look, Banes doesn't give a shit about us. He's got those Reds." Kenn tried to reason to both his own crew and the intruders. "We'll quit this job, okay? Do we have a deal?"

"Makes things easy, sure. Get your guys out of here and we'll pretend we never saw you, you won't have to get caught up in...the..."

Zenobia trails off for a moment, then her eyes widen in realization.

"...KENN?" She shouts in surprise. "Holy shit, what are you doing here, dude? It's me, Zenny!"

"Zenny...Zenobia! Lunatic! Wow, small galaxy, huh?" Kenn realized. "Uh yeah so, we were legit contractors, were. Guess now we're unemployed and dextro food's getting expensive, you know?"

"And please tell your scary human pal to let me go?"

Solveig frowned slightly, but did as he asked. Letting the man go but being careful to set her gaze on the jumpier ones of his crew.

"Now, chances of us getting the shuttle, black box, and out of here before this truck arrives is slim..." She furrowed a brow.

"How long before it gets here?"

Now.

An alliance-marked M-080 APC stopped in front of hangar 14. Its blinding headlights poured through the doors Zenobia kicked in. Eight heavily armed military personnel emerged from it, six humans and two turians.

"Back door?" Kenn and his crew were grabbing the black box and whatever else they could carry. They were no doubt seen, and the time to leave was now or never.

But running would also be very suspicious. The military personnel weren't messing around.

"Or maybe you can talk our way out of this?" Kenn hesitated.

“Not likely.”

The eight armed figures strode through the door by two’s, spreading intervals as they entered the hangar. All were fully geared up and ready for action weapons half raised. They wore helmets concealing their faces, including the unit leader who was adorned with a TACC Death Mask. As the seven subordinates maintained a spread between them and remained in a “ready” stance the leader stepped forward to speak, “Captain Riley, I’m here to impound this craft.”

“And while we’re at it,” she added, “you Quarians, you’re all under arrest for looting.” On Riley’s final word the seven other soldiers all raised their weapons to sight, picking a target and holding aim on them. All five of the Quarians were covered as were the two new arrivals.

“Who are you two supposed to be?” Riley demanded of the human and Turian women.

"Damn everyone really wants this thing for themselves, don't they?" Zenobia, again heedless of any weapons pointed at her, steps forward and flashes her identifier. "Well I hate to break it to you Riley Wiley but since this is SRN property I'm here to take it back to SRN."

Things were heating up, that was to be sure, and nobody was getting out of this one easily. Sol took in the details of each of the soldiers, and of the truck. At least they were Alliance. She was Alliance. But she was Alliance now off-duty and at the scene of what they thought was a crime. She took a breath a stepped forward slowly, she knew that name. Riley... Riley...

"Captain Riley... Captain Lee Riley. Commendation for actions on Cyone." She paused, and tried to relax her shoulders, tried to soften her gaze. "Solveig Wistrom, N7 Special Ops. I think there is a misunderstanding here."

Captain Riley hesitated, Solveig Wistrom…, she knew who that was, wholly by word of deed. The Captain glanced at the female Turian noting her ID. Riley Wiley?…

The Quarians were getting fidgety, more than they already were anyway, two of them shuffling their three-toed feet and glancing around. “Everyone stay where you are!” barked one of Riley’s men, voiced warbled by his helmet.

Riley took a few steps closer to Zenobia and Solveig, looking between them and deciding to first address Zenobia, “This shuttle is due for impound, I’m here for it.” Riley looked to Solveig, “No point in tossing around credentials. I have a job to do, two now actually - impound this shuttle and take in these looters.”

“Thanks for tipping me off actually, that elaborate little entrance you made was enough to perk curiosities.”

One quarian wasn't having any of it. The wrench wielder, already on edge before, didn't bother waiting for Kenn's command or obeying Riley's orders.

"Fuck this shit!" The quarian bolted for the back door. "I'm out!"

"And we have the same order to get the shuttle-" Solveig began before the Quarian bolted out. "Jäkla!" She said, turning away from Riley to watch as he escaped.

“Shit!” Riley spat.

One of Riley’s men swiveled around, about to fire his Avenger at the Quarian, “Stop, let him go!” Riley shouted, “Secure everyone else!”

Four of Riley’s men began fast walking towards Kenn and the others, weapons trained directly at their chests. Captain Riley remained where she was as the three others of her squad closed in behind her, keeping their weapons half raised, nervously watching Solveig and Zennobia.

"Damn it," Zenobia muttered, eyes darting between the quarians and the soldiers. "If you're really going to do this you'd better buy me chocolates first," Zenobia says, lowering herself into a combat stance while glaring at the troopers approaching her.

Solveig looked once more to Riley. "We have the same order, there's no danger here Captain. I'm sure we can work this out..." the woman tried to smile, "besides, think of the paperwork we'll both get out of?"

Something clicks and the gears start turning in Zenobia's head. She grabs Solveig by the shoulder. "Hold up, what about the quarians? You're really just going to sell these guys out to save our necks and get the shuttle? Just like that?"

Solveig twitched at the touch and whatever smile she had melted away and made room for a glare. "Who said I'm selling anyone out?" She warned. What was Zenobia thinking? "Back down."

"Oh yes, back down so we can let Stormtrooper Jane over here get to the curbstomping!" Zenobia shouts, playing it up to draw the attention of the soldiers. "Was that your plan the whole time or was fucking me like this a spontaneous decision??"

The Infiltrator scowled. "You're out of line, I'll remind you again to back down, and back off," she glared threateningly toward to Turian, rolling her shoulder slightly before glancing, for but a split second, apologetically toward Captain Riley. "Next warning will be with force."

Kenn was in shock.

He was in shock when Riley's troops showed up. He was in shock when the one of his own took off without a care in the world. Most importantly, he was in shock at how casually Riley let someone fleeing arrest get away, but gave him no leniency when he put up absolutely zero resistance.

Of course, Kenn was in shock when Zenobia and her crude human "ally" were about to turn on one another. His hands started to shake, desperately trying to find something to say. Wait, they said the shuttle was the property of...

"SRN!" Kenn blurted out, loud enough for his words to reverberate around the hangar. "I'm afraid you're mistaken, Captain Lee'Riley vas Wiley! We're all with SRN!"

"There's no looting, just a, uh, sudden maintenance call!" Kenn continued to blabber. "Sorry we didn't notify you, but I'm sure our first-class legal team at SRN will clear up the misunderstanding, and our very well-funded finance department will take care of any outstanding fees!"

"Uh, there's is an SRN legal team, right?" Kenn changed to a whisper for just Solveig and Zenobia. "Hey, we're on the same side,...right?"

Seeing no immediately change in anyone's posture, Kenn lowered his voice to whisper to just Zenobia. "I'm going for the shuttle if shit blows. It's been rigged for snap take off."

Zenobia blinked, a slight smile appearing on her face...

".....yyyeesss....SRN. We're all in SRN. These guys aren't looting anything, we're just overseeing the recovery and repair of our ship." Zenobia slips easily from faux-outrage to faux-professionalism.

"What's an SRN?" Another quarian perked up.

"Enough!" Solveig sighed, too overstimulated and too tired for the hijinks. "I just," she breathed out, closing her eyes, "want to get the shuttle," she said assertively, "and find Katya.

She then dropped down into a low squat, resting her elbows on her knees to place her head in her hands to massage her temples.

"You want to impound the shuttle, let me take the fucking blackbox then. I'll return it to the Alliance." She lifted her head up, her eyes stare as intense as ever in the direction of Riley. "Do we have a deal?"

Captain Riley sighed in exasperation beneath her visor. The lead Quarian was lying in desperation, that was obvious enough to Riley even before his counterpart blurred out their clumsy remark. Between the Quarians and the human-Turian pair before her Riley was at her patience’s end with this whole scenario. Her soldiers kept the Quarians secure, the ones at her back also at the ready. The strange Turian seemed to be the only one that cared about the Quarians while Solveig was more worried about the shuttle, namely the blackbox. Riley was not particularly interested in a heated exchange, much less an outright shoot-out all over a damned shuttle and some scavengers. Not when there were bigger issues to handle these days, to put it lightly.

The Captain shifted her feet, addressing Solveig, “Look, tell you what, just take the shuttle then. With the way things are right now I dare say a shuttle removed late from it’s hangar is at the top of everyone’s worries. But the Quarians are being detained for looting and that’s that. We don’t need vultures picking about right now. That’s my counter offer for you.”

Riley looked to Zenobia, “If you care so much about these five- four… your free to have your ‘SRN legal team’ vouch for them after this.”

Zenobia scowls, dropping any facade she was putting up to try and throw them off. "Fine...we'll take the shuttle," she growls. "But these guys didn't do anything wrong. They got misled and were hired by someone else to take the shuttle."

"What!?" Kenn astonished. "Yeah ok, we'll be released soon, yeah?"

Kenn looked to Zenobia for support, though his focus was also darting between the pistol he dropped earlier and the open shuttle door.

“Don’t even think about it.” Captain Riley snapped at Kenn.

*Zenobia glances back at Kenn with a small smirk.* "Don't worry, I've never left you hanging before."

She then rounds on the Captain, the lightness in her tone vanishing. "We're not done here. I know what you jackboots like to do to 'vultures' like us, and we're not going to leave them rotting in some cell for the crime of trying to survive. So you'd better behave around them or you're going to see me when I get REALLY upset, comprende?" The entire time Zenobia draws uncomfortably close to the captain, though her biotics never spark off once.

"You have my thanks Captain," Solveig said with a relieved smile as she sighed out one more time, standing back up to her full height.

She felt... tense now, around her mission partner. If it wasn't for Katya being missing, she'd have quit SRN on the spot - in saying that, it's not like she couldn't use her own resources to find her cousin...

"Why is the Alliance wanting to impound this anyway? With a whole truckload of soldiers too? Must be important."

“Get out of my face, Turian.” Captain Riley snapped as she stepped to the side. As her men rounded up Kenn and the others, herding them toward the hangar door, Captain Riley looked to Solveig with a shrug, “The shuttle was due for impound, the reason I brought along this whole team was because of all the racket - that and lots of… suspicious and unsavory characters lurking about these days. We have to be careful after all. These Quarians may be illegally scavenging but there is way worse than them to be found around.”

"No kidding."

Kenn was in a mix of relief and resignation. Seeing Zenobia standing up to the captain made him feel a little less helpless. He would not leap for the shuttle or reach for his pistol.

"Alright, Captain vas Wiley, you can take us to, uh, temporary detention." He put up his hands and signaled for his crew to do the same. "Until SRN secures our release, of course."

As he was being led away, the quarian nodded to Zenobia. "Sorry I called you bosh'tet earlier, and thanks for having my back. I appreciate having a friend out here."

"Even if it's only one friend." He added for Solveig.

With the shuttle secured, and the team leaving, Solveig wanted nothing more than to call it and head back. Her stare lingered on the shuttle as the Quarians were taken away; she didn't register the comment.

"Let's get moving too," she eventually sighed out. "The other teams will be waiting on us."

"Sounds good! And uh, sorry about shouting at you earlier. Trying to confuse them and all."

There's a distinctive pause.

"I was never the one in charge of...tactics and stuff." She admits sheepishly.

Solveig thought about biting. About cursing Zenobia for trying to instigate with her in front of Alliance members, but the only thing she bit was her tongue.

After a moments pause, after she really thought about what she wanted to say, she met the gaze of her Turian colleague, "I can try to help them from their detention. I don't know what my word weighs to them, but... maybe I can try something else."

She thought of her mother, of her influence and hold in the Alliance. If there was ever a day to them that the name Wistrom meant something, it was today.

"Hey if you can make it work..." Zenobia says, trailing off as she picks up a bit of junk and looks it over.

"Er...sorry if I caused trouble..." she says after a long pause. "I kinda have a low tolerance for the system that chews folks up and spits them out again, ya know?"

What Are You Listening To?

Mass Effect: Second Vigil

	SPLITTING UP◢ Streets of Havana Evening, April 9, 2187 Clear, 20°C

By the end of the meeting, it was decided that Solveig and Zenobia would go to the spaceport, while Zenn and Amina would investigate the distress signal. Initially, Lizbeth was happy to have Nadara accompany her at the party. But at other's suggestion, she agreed that it might be better to have Nadara go with Zenn and Amina instead. They could use more firepower in case they run afoul of gangs, and judging the already growing tension between them, they could also use Nadara's mediation in case they run afoul of each other. Plus, Nadara looked like she might enjoy herself a bit too much at the party.

Then there was the no-show, Sevipia. Just as everyone was about to leave, Lizbeth received a message from Sevipia saying she was helping a sick local. There wouldn't be enough time for Sevipia to join any of her colleagues, so the group determined it was best for her to stay behind at the resort and have a look through the missing team members' rooms. Additionally, Sevipia would be ready to provide medical support should there be an emergency.

Several hours later, each group had set out to their destinations. The sun was setting, casting a golden hue over Havana's historical streets. The hotter daytime temperature had cooled slightly, and a soft sea breeze made it pleasant to stay outdoors. Celebrations were in full swing; lively banners lined the buildings, music blared from clubs and bars, and there were crowds dancing in every plaza. At least, those were the scenes Lizbeth saw on her way to the Capitol. It was an enjoyable trip in her taxi. Speaking of, Lizbeth forgot to arrange transportation for the other two group. Oh well, surely people would be too cheerful to mind a couple of armed to the teeth military contractors sitting in the back of the bus.

At the spaceport, Solveig and Zenobia would see mostly business as usual. Some last minute arrivals were eager to jump into the festivities of the city, but pilots and ground crew were preoccupied as they always were. Past the bustle of thousands of passengers at the terminal, and beyond the roars of aircraft and spacecraft engines on the runways and launch pads, was a closed section reserved for private and military use. The hangar containing SRN's shuttle were in the back of this section. At the front gate, Solveig and Zenobia found their SRN-issued access passes denied by the security VI. Thankfully, Solveig's alliance ID was able to get them through.

Up ahead, the hangar door is just barely ajar. Light inside seeped out onto the darkening fields, and the multiple indistinct shapes move within. As far as Solveig and Zenobia knew, no one else was authorized to access to hangar.

The neighborhood of Cerro was the opposite of the spaceport. Unlike the ultramodern carbon fiber terminals, or the timeless white marble found in affluent parts of the city, Cerro was made of dirty gravel roads and rusty tin roofs covering unrepaired war scars. Nevertheless, residents there were still celebrating, albeit in a more muted manner without the glitz and glamour. Before going into the back alley where the signal originated, Zenn, with his expertise in optical camouflage, noticed the shimmer of a cloaked figure across the street. Then a car drove by, and the shimmer was gone.

However, several locals nearby had taken notice of the trio. They began murmuring among themselves, and casting wary glances at Zenn and Nadara.

What Are You Listening To?

What Are You Listening To?

Shu’s 1x1 Index - v2 (FULL - No longer seeking new partners at this time.)

Detective x Detective

Mass Effect: Second Vigil

	PRIORITY: HAVANA◢ Cuba, Earth Afternoon, April 9, 2187 Sunny, 24°C

Two days ago, Solveig Wistrom left SRN's crisis response team.

Later that day, Sevipia Paetmus arrived in Havana. Because of travel delays, she didn't get to meet her team before they went to deliver their cargo.

That evening, Solveig and Sevipia both received a message from SRN: a forwarded distress signal. The signal was a momentary blink with no message or location. Whatever Solveig and Sevipia did, they could not find further information. That was the last they heard of the crisis response team.

Yesterday, SRN announced four additional operatives had been dispatched to investigate the signal. Solveig decided to return and help, though she and Sevipia were advised to stay put until they had backup.

Today, Zenn, Zenobia, Amina and Nadara reached Havana at various times in the morning. The city that greeted them was one in celebration, as it had been for the last six days. Colorful stalls formed pop-up markets, antique cars cruised the streets and holographic billboards advertised the last big party, a function hosted by Mayor Bragus Thul himself tonight.

Shortly before noon, a message was sent to all six SRN operatives. The message included descriptions of the missing team's personnel, and directions to meet at Meliá Resort, where Solveig and Sevipia were already staying. The resort, a tall and perfectly undamaged building constructed more than 200 years ago, glistened with its porcelain exteriors. Inside, the newcomers were checked into rooms the were occupied by their missing predecessors.

Zenn was the only one to be given new room. SRN had booked him a specially sanitized and air-filtered suite where quarian guests can safely replace their suit filters. The only catch being Zenn had to pay the deposit with his own credits.

Zenobia got the room previously occupied by another turian biotic, as apparently by a turian bio-amp part in the shower. Said occupant had left a mess of used towels and tangled bed sheets. Though Zenobia would also find a worn-out tennis ball, several packs of dextro rations, and on the reading desk, a letter from a refugee family thanking the missing turian for his assistance.

Amina's room was formerly used by the missing team's leader. The military discipline of Amina's predecessor was apparent. Even though no room service was performed in the two previous nights, the bed was properly made and furniture were in their original places. Amina would find several issues for Fornax and a bottle of laxative in the bathroom.

The first thing Nadara noticed in her room were the smell and stains of omnigel. The person that stayed in her room before was clearly someone who liked to tinker. There were papers on the desk, of a familiar asari make, and they were covered with sketches of various farm animals from earth and beyond.

Next, the group went to the resort's cigar lounge to meet with Lizbeth Baynham, SRN's representative in the city. Surrounded by mahogany panelings and sitting on one of the plush leather sofas was a human woman in a green and gray lab coat. The first few that entered the lounge would see Lizbeth awkwardly lighting up a cigar, taking a tentative drag from it and immediately starting to cough and sputter. It took her a few seconds to notice the arrivals, and when she did, Lizbeth set down the cigar in an ashtray and waved her arms to clear the smoke.

"Ahem, sorry!" Lizbeth clear her throat, though her voice still sounded coarse from coughing.

"Hi!" She held out her hand to shake, and for everyone except Zenn, gestured to a case of cigars. "Help yourselves. The yellow ones should be safe for turians, I think."

With everyone there, Lizbeth began by introducing herself as a former ExoGeni scientist and current SRN associate in Cuba. Apparently Commander Shepard once saved her colony, an act that inspired Lizbeth to join the allied war effort. Now, she believed SRN's philanthropic backers would be earth's best hope for reconstruction.

After the introductions, Lizbeth ordered a bottle of rum. Alcohol seemed to calm her nervousness from earlier, especially with Zenobia. Unfortunately, there's no dextro equivalents available.

Discussed over drinks were the group's next moves. There were three important matters to address, though Lizbeth only recommended tackling one or two of them; splitting into three groups could be dangerous.

The first was the approximate location of the distress signal, something Lizbeth had uncovered while Solveig and Sevipia had been on standby. That area was crawling with gangs, so Lizbeth did not dare to investigate when she triangulated last night. "Though," she added, taking a drink of rum, "I'm better prepared to investigate now."

The second was Mayor Thul's party tonight. Dr. Jelize would be there. Even though the item Jelize wanted to purchase went missing with the first team, perhaps she could be convinced to wait a little longer while they try to find it. In addition, Thul might be able to help find the missing. Thankfully, SRN already had invitations, and there's no need for formal wear (as Thul himself would wear his trademark football jersey anyway).

Last but not least, the missing team's shuttle. They needed to claim it tonight before it would be impounded. Everyone but Solveig had to find their own means of transportation to reach Havana, so having the team's own shuttle would be immensely helpful for getting around on future missions.

Wherever the group decided to go, Lizbeth offered to look into another issue on her own. She sounded more confident after the generous amount of rum drank, but her words started to slur. She picked up another cigar, lit it in one stroke and took a long inhale. She did not cough when she puffed out the smoke; only a faint smirk.

What Are You Listening To?