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Post by KelRiever on Apr 4, 2021 13:26:04 GMT -6
“She will recover. Xanthe is aware of what happened but is disoriented as you might imagine. She wanted me to make sure to thank you for saving her when you woke up.”
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Post by julia on Apr 4, 2021 15:21:32 GMT -6
Naleena tried to nod. "Good. At least it wasn't for nothing."
It looks like it'll be a few days before I can get out of here. But Maldaisi... you know no one will believe us. There's you, me, an acolyte or two who saw something strange happen. Then there's Xanthe who was put on permanent disability for mental issues. So you see, we can't take this to the Council. They'd laugh us out of the Chambers," and then the other figure came into focus. It was a nurse, going over Naleena's vitals.
"I need to speak with Mira in private," Naleena said. The nurse nodded and left. "I don't know if I can even take this to Syra. Would she believe me? I mean Tysis is dead. How could she be alive again? I would need her to take it to the Shadow Council, but you didn't hear about that from me. That is a conspiracy theory that's floated on the Extranet. There is no Shadow Council that makes sure that our e-Democracy doesn't make poor decisions," Naleena winked. Then her tone got serious.
"I think after I get out of here, we should just go through with our ceremony as planned. Then I need to take some time. I need to think about the future. Mira, I've nearly died five times in the past seven years. That's not normal for anyone, let alone for asari. And there's no way I can take on Tysis not without extensive training and a few hundred years. I'm thinking about going to work for Alex. Or maybe just run my nightclub. Or maybe... buy a place out in the country for us where we can enjoy clean water and clean air. I... don't know what I want to do. I'm tired of ending up in places like... this. Would you mind if I went to work for Alex?"
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Post by KelRiever on Apr 4, 2021 16:21:34 GMT -6
“Yes, but, well,” Mira said and sighed. “You just woke up, you may need a rest before thinking of the big decisions. I’m not sure why you’d want to work fir Alex other than she’d be beside herself with enjoyment. I’m sure you wouldn’t be lacking in things to do. Our bonding, of course, as soon as you are ready. I know you don’t want to wait on that, especially now. I just didn’t imagine it happening this way.”
Naleena knew Mira had been set on a happier affair, and a ceremony afterwards. And then Mira, too, might have been disturbed by Naleena’s spirit. But of course, Mira would never admit it.
“Whatever you say, Naleena, we will do. But get yourself well. You need to recover fully.”
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Post by Cknarf on Apr 5, 2021 0:33:45 GMT -6
(Continued from post #122, page 5) The Prairie OysterCommander Daramus wasn't lying when he said Captain Hondo wasn't one to speak to the authorities any more than he had to. Combined with Daliax's absolute lack of tact, no one was getting anywhere fast. That is, until Adir stepped in. Once he'd convinced Daliax to step outside for a little while, he managed to get Hondo to loosen up a some. The old quarian played heavily on his criminal past (and occasionally present), and dropped a name or two, on the off chance that Hondo might recognize them. Knowing the captain came out of Omega, and was still making runs in and out of the terminus, it was only a matter of time before something clicked. " You ever do business with Rota? Custom bikes aren't the only thing she deals in." Adir also praised the Oyster's continued service to the Quarian people, and although he didn't exactly gush, the sincerity in his tone was clear. Questions regarding the photo on the dash elicited a blush from Hondo, and were politely deflected. Adir didn't press it further, although he did mention working alongside one Lucky Seven during a past operation aboard Spectre Gavian's Vepr II. Naturally, that lead to a lengthy story about the original Vepr, and when that went on too long, Adir tried steering the conversation back to Naleena T'sarius. Hondo was on the defense again, until Adir spoke more about his past experiences with the asari Spectre. "I am honestly surprised she didn't kill me right then and there!""Do you remember that reaper vessel that was dragged in-- I was on it!"Adir shared a few more tales of varying significance, some of which he even backed up with images, in order to butter up the human captain. "I have worked with spectre T'sarius, and her crew on and off for years now. So has Dax-- 'Spectre Gavian', rather." Adir fiddled with his omni-tool. "She may not be the person you want to speak with, but she is pretty damn close to the one you do. If there is anything important you think that Naleena needs to know, I promise you that we can get it to her." Captain Hondo subconsciously touched at an OSD that hung from a chain around his neck. Eyes narrowed, and focused on the quarian, he bit at his bottom lip. "Aight." the human finally spoke, after pondering a few moments. He detached the OSD from the chain, and held it in front of him, between his thumb and forefinger. "This was given to me by one of your people some time ago. Real good friend of mine back with the fleet." Hondo gestured with the device. "What's on it?" Adir asked, carefully reaching out for the drive. "I have no idea." Hondo responded, yanking it away from Adir, and holding it close to his chest. "All I know is, whatever is on this drive is reeeeeeal important." "You... haven't looked at it?" "Ain't even thought about it.""...Then how do you know it's important?"
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Post by KelRiever on Apr 5, 2021 16:21:12 GMT -6
Aboard the Medusa.
Jess knew Jocelyn and Reine had perfected the art of becoming her shadow but they’d been staying judiciously out of the way, lately. It appeared they were more concerned about watching each other, in fact.
But Jess could wonder if that’s how the Reith sisters were. Inseparable, and maybe there was something more to that. Both were pleasant enough and really they hadn’t been asked to do much although sometimes Jocelyne would go off and work on the ship’s hard points. If anything was wrong, they would consult each other in whispers now, and it would be hard to get in with them.
Sometimes, though, Jess could overhear them if she pretended well enough to not notice. And recently the snippets of conversations were around Jocelyne suspecting a sort of unease in Reine. The elder sister would not address this, dismissing or making light of it. Still, every now and then, Jocelyne would wonder which began to make Jess wonder.
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Post by julia on Apr 5, 2021 17:02:49 GMT -6
Naleena
A few days passed, Naleena was sitting up and feeling a lot better. She was scheduled for one more full body scan to make sure everything was healing properly before she was to be discharged. Mira had been her daily visitor and to her surprise, Naleena had been occupying herself with planning the ceremony and preparing to send invitations.
Naleena patted the bed. “Sit with me. About our bonding. I originally wanted to do it small, but given recent events…. I feel like celebrating the fact that we’re still alive. I want to do something big. Invite anyone. Don’t worry about the expenses. I’ll cover it. Don’t forget to invite your family, your mother, your sisters. I think we should invite the Medusa gang, the Pegasus gang, the Reith sisters, the Uptons, the Janiri gang, Xanthe, Aria, and of course our own crew. It’s not like I can’t afford this. We only do this once, right?” She said. “And I want to put some distance between us and this place. How about… Omega? There’s a Siarist Temple there where we can have the religious ceremony – it’ll be smaller. Just our inner circle and those really important to us present. And I’ll rent Afterlife for the celebration party… the entire club.
“Or you pick the spot wherever you want to have it. Just some place that will hold a lot of people. I want to do this.”
****
Speaking of Xanthe, she was up and about a little before Naleena and stopped by. After exchanging pleasantries, Naleena gave her a knowing nod.
“I get it now. You were trying to warn me in the garden. But I had to be the hero,” Naleena said. “The evil you were containing and probably would have taken to your grave, I released. But did you want to live that way for the next several hundred years? Eventually, someone would have attempted a meld and released it.
“I’m sure you’ve been laying in bed thinking about things. Do you have any idea as to what you want to do?”
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Post by Cknarf on Apr 5, 2021 19:20:31 GMT -6
Prairie Oyster
Adir continued to press Captain Hondo for information on the drive, but the human held firm. He swore to god, up and down, on his life, and on a momma's life he'd never met-- he'd never taken a look at the drive's contents, and seemed almost insulted at the suggestion that he'd done so.
"Alright." Adir put his hands up some. "You have never looked at the files, whatever they may be. I believe you."
"I ain't no angel, and I'll be the first to tell ya. But I'll be damned if I ain't a man of my word." Hondo crossed his arms, still clutching the drive.
"I respect that." Adir inclined his head. "I do not mean to offend, I am just trying to figure out if I can help you, and a way to go about it that we can both agree on."
"Mmhm."
"It is obvious that you care about the Flotilla, or at least its people in some capacity." Adir glanced toward the photo once more. "As we speak, you have a hold full of quarians. Young ones too, it seems. I know they don't have any credits to give, keelah, they hardly have more than the cloth they wear outside their suits-- how much are you making on this run?"
"Ain't gettin' shit."
"Not a single credit?" Adir asked, as Hondo shook his head. "Why?"
"'Cause dammit, I'm a spacer, same as them." Hondo took a deep breath, and let it go between his lips. "Now I ain't gonna pretend that I've been through the same shit some them kids have-- Hundred fuckin' planets I can settle down on right now, if I wanted to, without a suit and an air supply. But whether you got a choice or not, I know spacin' ain't easy. It's only right that I look out for those I can, when I can. Right now, it happens to be all these youngun's. I know y'all were called home, and those who could pay their way done did it. Those who got transferred money from home did, too. But for those who couldn't? Me and the Oyster are about the only chance they got."
"That is very noble of you."
"Suppose so."
"Again, you have my thanks." Adir shifted his weight some.
"Hey, wait a minute, why ain't you back with the fleet?" Hondo was immediately suspicious again. "You're old as shit, what are you doin' out here still?"
"How do you know how old I am?" Adir asked.
"Well, your voice for one. Your threads, too, they're showing some wear. You got a family dagger in your boot, that's some shit you don't often see anymore... and you're really favorin' that knee."
"You got me." Adir couldn't help but laugh. "But to answer your question, I chose to live this life. Never been back, either."
"Now that don't exactly inspire confidence."
"Just because I haven't gone back home, doesn't mean I don't have people I care about in the Fleet. I... just found another family out here, is all, and I haven't felt the need to go back."
"Sure." Hondo yawned.
"So... you got that drive from someone aboard the Nemati?" Adir opened his omni-tool, as he was getting back on subject.
"How the fuck would you know that?"
"You see, we have a database for our youth to use. A list of ships, names, places to avoid, places to go for help while abroad, that sort of thing. You seem to know more about our culture than most... I get the feeling you might be aware of it?
"I might know a little somethin'."
"Well, since I'm still technically a pilgrim... I have full access to that database. And I know the last ship within the Migrant Fleet that you docked with was the Nemati, was it not?"
"We're done here." Hondo waved Adir away.
"It would not be difficult for me to get hold of a manifest. There can only be so many names..."
"Why are you doin' this, huh?" Hondo asked in frustration.
“Because you have, in your possession, something that may be of great value to the quarian people.”
“The more I think about it... if it was so important, why wouldn’t it just get passed on to an admiral?”
“Your guess is as good as mine!” Adir shrugged. “But if it wasn’t passed on to the admiralty board, or even just a captain… why would it go to a Council Spectre instead of somewhere within the fleet? What authority would a Spectre have over Fleet matters?"
"Well... none, outside of Council Space."
"Exactly. Now what if... what if that drive, and its contents are something that the Admiralty Board isn't supposed to see?"
"Ah, man, you're makin' my head hurt..."
"Look, the person who you got this from, whatever their name may be... do you trust them?"
"Course I do."
"Do you firmly believe that they were acting with the Flotilla's best interests in mind?"
"I... don't know?"
"Then it doesn't sound like you trust them at all. Why not send it home with one of the pilgrims, then? Let them take it to the Admiralty Board?"
"Cause I made a goddamn promise, and I fully intend to keep it!"
"Then quit being so fucking difficult!" Adir cursed, something he very rarely did. He took a breath, and composed himself some. "Please, Captain, help me, help you keep that promise. When's the next time you think you are going to see Naleena T'sarius, hm? How long have been sitting on that drive, waiting for your chance?"
"Well, I..."
"You have a ship load of people, my people, trying to get home. How much longer do you intend to wait here? When will you be able to return? Give me that drive, and I swear to you, It will get where it needs to go!"
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Post by KelRiever on Apr 5, 2021 21:56:28 GMT -6
Mira
“Oh, really! Well let’s schedule it right away. I would...I bet Aria will have a separate, private hall. Afterlife is business but she could bring all her best. Or if you just want to say it was at Afterlife then sure. But let’s have it right away, considering! At yes, since it it us, it will really be just once.”
Mira leaned in. “Of course my mother would be so proud.”
Xanthe
When Naleena was finally able to see Xanthe (wearing a few modern casts that let her about with heavy pain killers), the one time Spectre was more alert and physically better off, but looked far more haggard, particularly since she was 3 decades younger than Naleena. Pergaos that would fade but at the moment, Xanthe had sunken eyes and drawn in cheeks. She was sitting up in a chair, at least.
“Spectre T’Sarius, I assure you my choices were quite limited with the shard of Tysis that dwelt within me. I have tragically been informed of the consequences of the release of that shard, but you can see how formidable even a part of what was once Tysis still holds. I’ve learned much in my ordeal, but I still find my mind fatigued from the ordeal.
“I wish to thank you, most of all, Spectre T’Sarius. I have not always been the best of allies. In truth, my suspicion of you ran deep as we truly are different people. But in understand better now. And without you, we’ll, I would have been worse than dead.
“As to what the future holds for me, I am yet uncertain. I have much to. Insider but I want to assure you, I do not wish to remain idle. I believe I am back, and I have far to go before I am done with my purpose.”
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Post by Cknarf on Apr 5, 2021 22:12:34 GMT -6
Prairie Oyster
Up to this point, Daliax had been listening in on the whole exchange from outside the bridge. Adir had been doing well, and deep down, she was proud of him. But now it had clearly devolved into a screaming match, and she’d had just about enough of this jacking around.
“Fuck it.” Daliax punched the door controls with a fist… a fist that was no longer synthetic, and could very much feel pain. Playing it off, she burst onto the bridge with Adkins in tow. Without hesitation, she cracked Captain Hondo in the face with her pistol, and put him on the ground, keeping her sidearm trained on him on the way down.
“Cap!” Adkins took some steps toward Hondo. “What the hell is wrong with--” He began to protest, but was cut short by a round fired between his feet. It ricocheted, and ended up embedding itself in the ceiling.
“Take another fucking step, and I splatter you all over the interior bulkhead.” Daliax redirected her weapon at Adkins’ chest, while briefly glancing over at Adir. “Lock down the bridge and take the helm.” The quarian complied immediately. “Citadel control, this is Spectre Daliax Gavian. I am commandeering the… the uh… what is the name of this dumpster?”
Adkins couldn’t put words together.
“The name of the ship. What is it?” Daliax aimed a little lower, just below the belt.
“P-prairie Oyster! It’s called the Prairie Oyster! Jesus Christ!”
“The Prairie Oyster. Docking bay C-36. Release the docking clamps immediately, please and thank you!”
“Pre-flight procedures have already been completed. Prairie Oyster, you are clear to depart.”
“Adir, take us out of here.”
“Where are you taking my ship?” Hondo asked, as the Oyster began to pull away.
“Just a little spin around the station.” Daliax replied, crouching to speak with Hondo. “You have any idea how many airlock incidents there are in a galactic standard year?”
Hondo shook his head.
“Neither do I, but there’s about to be a whole fucking lot of them if you don’t start cooperating.”
[Record Scratch]
“Dax, we got what we came for. We can go home now. Dax?” Adir shook the turian, who was giving Adkins an absolute death stare, and had been doing so for the duration Adir’s chat with the captain.
“Huh?” Daliax finally responded. "Oh hey, you got the thing! Nice.”
“Are you alright?” Adir asked her.
“Yeah. Why?”
“No reason.” Adir put a hand on her back, and pushed her along toward the airlock. “Good day, Chief Adkins.” He politely nodded, as they passed by.
Adkins, practically frozen, said nothing. Once the pair had left, he let out a great sigh of relief. “Cap, I love you…" He radioed to the bridge. "but you don’t pay me enough to deal with this shit.”
"You tellin' me you can't handle a couple surprise guests, Chief?"
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Post by julia on Apr 6, 2021 15:15:09 GMT -6
Naleena ...
Naleena was in good spirits. It might have been the drugs. Who knows? But there was a lot to talk about. And Darius knocked on the door and walked in… wearing his grease stained coveralls.
“Uh, boss?”
Naleena motioned for him to enter.
“What’s up, Darius. Oh, I’d like you to meet an old colleague of mine. Xanthe Remi, this is my pilot and engineer, Darius Albinian,” Naleena said.
“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” Darius said and nodded. “You know you gotta watch this one. Every place she goes some bad shit goes down. You shoulda seen the time when we were on this desert planet out in the ass end of nowhere. She was on the ground with the team and I was flying that new rig of hers making strafing passes on giant mechanical centipedes. Spirits! Those 8g turns….”
“Darius….”
“Sorry, boss,” Darius said. “You two look a little busy. I’ll just have a seat over here if you don’t mind…. Ma’am.” And Darius the 6’5” turian made himself comfortable.
Naleena turned her attention back to Xanthe. “You know I’ve been thinking about what to do myself after all this. Technically I’m supposed to submit a report to the Council. But then I thought about it. Tysis is dead. Kira killed her. The Asari Navy dropped a WMD on the site just to make sure. Then somehow she teleported or transferred into Reine Reith and became Iyana. I melded with her and VERA trapped Tysis in a VI and we launched the VI into a singularity. Reine, like you, is now freed. And now I’m supposed to write a report, present it to the Council and say that she’s back again except this time in control of Matriarch Maldaisi?”
Darius had loaded up a game similar to Tetris on his omni-tool, and hit pause. “So what in the Spirits happened back there?”
“It’s a long story, Darius. You wouldn’t understand without me explaining asari melding and all that goes with it to you. Why don’t you tell me what you want?”
“Well, I came to visit, obviously, but then, I didn’t know you were being visited by this nice asari lady… Oh, the business part… right…. Foteni wants to know if it’s okay to make a test batch,” Darius said.
“Yes, fine. Do it,” Naleena said.
“I’ll…,” Darius made a motion to the door. “be going. You know how impatient she can be. Nice meeting you, ma’am. Xanthe, right? Hope to see you around sometime.”
Naleena rubbed her forehead. “Sorry about that. Darius means well, and he’s probably the best engineer I’ve ever had. Where was I? ... I don’t think the Council will believe a word of it. A shard of Tysis? I’m on probationary status for killing a couple of reapers and bringing a reaper corpse back to the Citadel. It was dead. We killed it. Then there’s you… on permanent disability from the Spectres for mental problems after your torture on Maltruvia. And then Mira will be my bondmate, so there’s a conflict of interest. Any acolyte who witnessed it will be passed off as a superstitious fanatic. You know the Council as well as I do.
“I’m going to take a leave of absence. I need to recover from all of this. Mira and I are getting bonded and you’re invited. After that, I’m planning to work for the Upton Industries for a while until I get my bearings. Maybe Alexandra will have something for you, too? Unless you have other plans.”
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Post by KelRiever on Apr 6, 2021 15:38:36 GMT -6
Xanthe, after her recovery, was wearing a simple, form fitting, casual gown, like one might find on the Citadel. “I understand your concerns of believability, however the more who share a common story, the less incredible it sounds. Besides you can’t expect a political body to have the right answer. Sometimes the solution must be handed to them. I would say a crafted response in this case by those who have been affected is best. And we will catch up to this problem, I swear it.
“In the meantime, I understand based on what you’ve been through. I sense you will be back to your old self in time. For me I have no specific place to go at the moment but must resolve my future with the Council body. May I use your QEC, presuming you have one aboard?”
Xanthe also gave Naleena an intrigued stare. “And did you say something about Foteni? Doctor Foteni?”
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Post by julia on Apr 6, 2021 20:00:08 GMT -6
(The hospital where the were was at the spaceport where Naleena had landed the White Rose. It was about 50 km away from the monastery. It wasn't the main hub on the planet.)
"Uh, yeah. Doctor Foteni. I saw the writing on the wall - the Council was going to take the Janiri away and give it to a pair of new Spectres. So I purchased a new ship: the White Rose. It's a Fer De Lance. It's smaller, fast, and very agile. It was once owned by a pirate captain...," and Naleena told her the story about how she got the Silaris Armor, Doctor Foteni, Yalson Sao, and what Foteni is doing now.
"And she'll go back to prison when and if the Republics decide to actually try her for treason. I don't think she'll ever be tried. The Republics holding someone without a trial for years is unprecedented, but they don't know what to do. Foteni will say she did what she did to save her family. Part of Foteni's defense will involve what Iyana really was. She'll want to call Reine Reith as a witness. She'll want to call me as a witness. If the truth about what Iyana really was ever gets out to the rest of the galaxy we'll have a diplomatic shitstorm that you would not believe. We cannot have the galaxy believing that asari minds can jump and steal bodies. This may be the only case in thousands of years that this happened, but you know what the media will do with it. Yet another reason not to submit a report," Naleena said.
"While you were captive, Terra Firma Party rose to power in the Alliance. They're xenophobic and associated with Cerberus. Such information would play right into their hands. It would vindicate everything Cerberus propaganda says about non-humans.
"If we submit any report we should keep it mundane. We should say that I cured you through a meld. That Matriarch Maldaisi was unstable. That she snapped and attacked me because she couldn't cure you despite working with you for years. While I, a lowly peasant with no training, did it in less than two hours. Yes, it's partly a lie. But it's the lie they need to hear. We will track her down, and now that we know how she operates, there may be hope that we can save Maldaisi."
Naleena took a deep breath. "Sorry for being long winded. The QEC, yes, of course. My ship is in Hangar 12. Mira has the access code for the QEC. Jenus and Tallis are likely hanging around, too."
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Post by redbelle on Apr 7, 2021 9:26:07 GMT -6
Aboard the Medusa. Jess knew Jocelyn and Reine had perfected the art of becoming her shadow but they’d been staying judiciously out of the way, lately. It appeared they were more concerned about watching each other, in fact. But Jess could wonder if that’s how the Reith sisters were. Inseparable, and maybe there was something more to that. Both were pleasant enough and really they hadn’t been asked to do much although sometimes Jocelyne would go off and work on the ship’s hard points. If anything was wrong, they would consult each other in whispers now, and it would be hard to get in with them. Sometimes, though, Jess could overhear them if she pretended well enough to not notice. And recently the snippets of conversations were around Jocelyne suspecting a sort of unease in Reine. The elder sister would not address this, dismissing or making light of it. Still, every now and then, Jocelyne would wonder which began to make Jess wonder. Jess for her part had been occupied organising her crews into Research and Development, though if she were honest it was more akin to backwards engineering, using what they observed of the alien tech and trying to replicate it with what they already possessed. While it wasn't creating steller results it was at least indicating where in the technology Jess had available wasn't cutting it... But after awhile the R&D was going well, and Jess was reasonably certain nothing was going to threaten her ship, she eased off overseeing and took time away for herself to relax and in the words of Aelias, Floompf for a bit. The idea of a Turian 'Floompfing' was hard to conjure in the mind but Jess reckoned she could manage quite well as she fell back into one of the crew sofa's with a mug of coffee and relaxed. She'd been so busy her blood alcohol level had fallen dangerously into the sober range. But as the ship's new Doctor had insisted on giving her liver a chance to catch up on it's workload, Jess reckoned a few hours without a tot wouldn't hurt anything. As she relaxed, she heard the twins, her seemingly eternal shadows somewhere behind her and she groaned. "Luvs..! Come on... You've been playing this game for weeks... Has it been weeks? When did we get to where you can't talk to my face?" Jess raised her head and twisted in the twins direction. "Come and sit down. Tell me gossip! I'm weeks behind on my gossip. Tell me something juicy, or how your day went. Anything except work, I'm all worked out." Jess yawned as she righted herself and sunk into the sofa's cushions before taking a sip from her mug.
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Post by KelRiever on Apr 7, 2021 10:19:03 GMT -6
Xanthe
“Other than besmirching Maldaisi’s name I generally agree. Maldaisi fought and if she hadn’t tried to help us, we would not be here. We are different people, Naleena, in our approaches. The Council is not the place to address matters that make little sense to people like Terra Firma.
“I don’t have a good answer yet, but I have always found that the truth comes out. When it does, it will be important that we be on the record for what actually happened. Perhaps this is best handled with internal politics, and then the powers best fit to approach the Council do so. We might speak with Syra, and she can first find allies in the Matriarchs who know this is not pure myth. They in turn can seek our allies among the turians and salarian. Or at least the is another idea.
“May I speak with the Doctor before I leave? I wish to have some questions answered.”
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Post by KelRiever on Apr 7, 2021 10:45:57 GMT -6
The Reith sisters
Jocelyne came over first, as gorgeous and over the top as ever. “I’ve been trying to coax it out of Reine but she’s been keeping secrets from me. Nothing serious, I’m sure.” Suspicious sea blue eyes looked at Reine.
The elder sister followed at sat on the other side of Jess. Reine first said, “Nothing that would do anyone harm I believe.” Then both sisters were a bit uncomfortably silent. Jess wondered if both sisters weren’t keeping a secret.
“Serendipity is onto my discomfort of late, I have a hard time speaking Of it as anything more than a feeling that I’m loathe to speak of because it harkens back to Tysis. Summed up, I feel e she is out there in some way and she is not done with us yet. And by us I specifically mean you, Anika, Jocelyne myself and Morgan.”
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Post by redbelle on Apr 7, 2021 11:36:46 GMT -6
Team A
Boris dragged himself from the limo, clutching his Minigun as he did until he had pulled himself from the cabin before he tried to stand. Having been sat in the side that had taken the impact he'd fared worse, but the limo's side impact protection had prevented the worst of the damage. His helmet however had a dent and cracks in the casing as he slowly stood, staggering a little before he found his centre of balance before taking a breath...
"... BORIS SAY... WOOOOOOO!!!" He roared, raising his hands and gun into the air and shook them in gratification. "WOLVERINE HAS EARNED BORIS RESPECT! WOLVERINE LIKE SMALL TANK! NOT AS GOOD... BUT GOOD FOR INFORMAL OCCASION!" He cried before he stopped and brought his hand down to his helmet. "IS BORIS SPEAKING NORMALLY AGAIN? HARD TO HEAR INSIDE HELMET! SOMETHING RATTLE INSIDE! CAN EVERYONE HEAR BORIS?"
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Post by KelRiever on Apr 7, 2021 13:09:02 GMT -6
Dallas reached up and pat Boris on the shoulder. “We can hear you like a marching band in a closer. By the way, if you like the BI, pull out the black box under the dash, between the seats. Do NOT pull out the red box.”
Dallas turned to Ereba and Janase. “You two okay? Ready to move?”
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Post by julia on Apr 7, 2021 14:05:30 GMT -6
Xanthe “Other than besmirching Maldaisi’s name I generally agree. Maldaisi fought and if she hadn’t tried to help us, we would not be here. We are different people, Naleena, in our approaches. The Council is not the place to address matters that make little sense to people like Terra Firma. “I don’t have a good answer yet, but I have always found that the truth comes out. When it does, it will be important that we be on the record for what actually happened. Perhaps this is best handled with internal politics, and then the powers best fit to approach the Council do so. We might speak with Syra, and she can first find allies in the Matriarchs who know this is not pure myth. They in turn can seek our allies among the turians and salarian. Or at least the is another idea. “May I speak with the Doctor before I leave? I wish to have some questions answered.” Naleena"I'm glad you brought up Syra. I consider her a dear friend. Perhaps it's time to pay her a visit. We should see her. I prefer to see her in person rather than over the QEC. I'm sure she'd love to see you, too, after all these years. Thessia is on the way to where we're headed. You can travel with us. "I was just floating an idea, and it was a bad one. You know, I'm not submitting a report. I am under no obligation to submit one. It's a technicality and I'm going to use it. The Council officially restricted my operations to the Terminus Systems. I was here on a personal visit to see you. That was my only purpose here. So here's what I propose. We keep the Council and official channels out of this. You and I have resources. We use them. We prepare. And when the time comes, together, we strike. We have to be very careful about whom we trust," Naleena said. One of the medical staff entered and ran a scan of Naleena. "Looks like you're good to go. I'll get the wheelchair. You get dressed. Someone named Mira brought these by for you." It was her armor, coat, boots, and gift box. "Can't I just walk?" Naleena asked "Rules." Naleena got dressed and opened the gift box... it was her 9mm. Mira, I love you. Naleena slapped the magazine into the grip, racked the slide, slid the gun into her thigh holster and felt the thunk of the kydex over the trigger guard. She snapped the retaining strap over the grip. "Ready Xanthe?"
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Post by julia on Apr 7, 2021 14:09:42 GMT -6
Dallas reached up and pat Boris on the shoulder. “We can hear you like a marching band in a closer. By the way, if you like the BI, pull out the black box under the dash, between the seats. Do NOT pull out the red box.” Dallas turned to Ereba and Janase. “You two okay? Ready to move?” Ereba crawled out of the back of the car and grabbed her rifle. "Yeah. Shootouts, gunships, chases... I was half expecting T'Sarius ask that question."
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Post by redbelle on Apr 8, 2021 15:28:32 GMT -6
"BOX?" Boris asked, holding a hand up to his helmets side as if cupping an ear next to his audio pickup. "YOU WANT BOX? BORIS KNOW OF BOXES IN WOLVERINE! DO NOT WANT TO PULL RED ONE... UNLESS YOU WANT TO! HAVE PLAN? BORIS LIKE BOX LADY PLAN! BORIS HAPPY TO BE PART OF IT!" He announced as he turned and dived into the limo, looking for the boxes containing the limo's essential computer components.
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Post by julia on Apr 8, 2021 15:46:20 GMT -6
"Red box? Tampering with the red box will create a mass effect core overload. I heard Jenus did that once. You don't know Jenus. It was on Illium. She did that and the explosion took out the Nova Dawn Building and earned the squad the name 'Team Boom.'" Ereba said. "Leave the red box alone."
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Post by KelRiever on Apr 8, 2021 18:33:39 GMT -6
Boris did find the base core of the vehicular VI was located in the black box he could easily get to as soon as he removed the plastic cover panel. Deeper in, and certainly red, but much harder to get to (so it clearly would take a sort of instruction ignoring determined person to get at) was the red box that Boris immediately recognized as the 'do not touch' Eezo regulator that, if removed, would stop monitoring the inherently unstable and always running, tiny but highly volatile, eezo core.
The black box was the control box for anything that would make the limo go, including the VI, and without so much as another thought, Boris ripped it out. He knew that he could take the VI into pretty much any vehicle and link it up. It had to be a somewhat like type vehicle...the VI wasn't going to be able to pilot a shuttle without some add ons. But a tank? Sure. And maybe a tank that could drop from orbit.
Boris had high hopes for the VI.
"Come on," Dallas said, while checking in on Janase herself, "You all look fine to me. We need to ditch this area, find another vehicle that we could preferably pick the others up in, and definitely be ready to back them up. They better not take long because as soon as the reserves are assembled, this place will be crawling with security."
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Post by KelRiever on Apr 9, 2021 14:24:40 GMT -6
Hospital Team The drone led them down the corridor, its soft glowing light illuminating the area as it led them down the darkened rooms. "Operations Base 31 has served as a location for medical treatment. Current operations leader is [Error: Query Not Found]. Currently, all power is currently to be conserved for Computer Operations, on orders of acting supervisor Ren'Dann Vas Nedas." As the team passed the rooms they saw inside were computers, hooked up together with servers and felt the coldness of this entire floor, seeming to keep these systems cool. The drone seemed to flash at keiths words, "Ren'Danna Medical Initiate designation 44214, is currently suspended pending resource allocation. Are you delivering required materials?" It asked as it floated in front of Keith. Tanith spoke up as he looked to the drone. "What exactly is Initiate 44214?" He asked, wanting to get more information as the drone spoke. "Information Requested is Currently Restricted. Are you Delivering Required Materials?" "What are the requested Materials?" Tanith asked as the Drone seemed to pause, searching its databanks. "Requied Materials: Biped Sapient Lifeforms, Ages 28 to 34. Phenotype Male. Biotic Potential Required. Non-Dextro Composition..." The drone continued to list traits as Tanith furrowed his brow. He looked to draco as he spoke. "Test Subjects...They must have ran out of Guinea Pigs for whatever they were trying to do here." He said with disgust, as the drone finished listing its criteria. "Are you delivering required materials?"
Draco said to the drone, "We are here to inspect materials you have on sight, as well as inspect current operations. All information you have available for access. Please lead on."
On sub vocal, Draco said to Lauren, Ahnjan and Keith, "I want you two available in the event there is any critical infrastructure that the drone isn't showing us. We need all the data here that we can get."
Kamau murmured under his breath, "I sure don't like the feel of this place. It is like a morgue, or perhaps even a funeral home, where they are preparing the cadavers for display." He kept his rifle at the ready.
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Post by KelRiever on Apr 9, 2021 14:35:34 GMT -6
Xanthe
"The QEC is for reporting to the Council. I should do it in private, and if you can trust me, I will keep it discreet. They will know that I am using your device, and they will of course see that I am recovered. From there, I believe that is all they really need to know and that I am back in operation. You can believe they will want to know much more than I will tell them, but that is too bad for them."
Xanthe received a pull suitcase at the same time Naleena received her belongings, presumably it was the same for Xanthe. "If I can impose on you, however, after my brief and bereft of most information conversation I have with the Council, I would ask that we both travel to meet Matriarch Syra at once. Together and in person, as you say. By then I will have more clarity on my role. Is this acceptable to you?"
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Post by redbelle on Apr 9, 2021 14:56:50 GMT -6
Team BC
Keith looked around as the drone continued to lead them further into the level. "It sure is bigger on the inside than it looked on the schematics." He commented. "The drone must be some kind of hospitality model. Makes you wonder why they don't have a person on duty. Though if they're waiting for more test subjects maybe they don't need whoever works here... here. Or maybe their all on break... Or maybe whoever runs the place as a no loose ends policy and runs the place by automation after they dealt with anyone who knew about this place. Maybe it's all run by Mr Big? He might be watching us right now through the drone... and the camera's... Where are the camera's?" Keith suddenly asked as he looked up at the ceiling looking for surveillance. "You know, this whole level might be on another security grid which means it should have a Extranet node going to whoever runs the place. Or a control room."
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