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Post by Feron on Mar 3, 2017 5:49:23 GMT -6
"Okay, so we're going to hijack a Cerberus freighter, use the Omega-4 relay to go to one of their shipyards, steal a prototype frigate, destroy a dreadnought and anything else we can get our hands on. Fair enough. How many personnel are on-site at the shipyard? And do you have information on the shipyard's layout and defenses, or are we going to have to wing it?"
Feron turned his attention to Fischer. "The freighter is already in our possession. It will be stopping here to take on those of you who wish to accept our offer, as well as a number of crew which the Shadow Broker has hired to operate the freighter and the Okinawa, upon its retrieval. Their dossiers can be provided at the end of this meeting."
"The intelligence regarding the shipyard is limited. Based on the scope of the operation and the logistics behind building a fleet of ships, the Shadow Broker expects that the personnel number in the thousands. Perhaps higher. Exact layout is also unknown, but we do know that the freighter in question was carrying several personal effects of the Okinawa's captain. It is possible that you may be able to dock with the Okinawa directly, or at least at a nearby port. Regarding defenses, we have to assume they are substantial, though we were not able to gather specifics. In those regards, you will have to 'wing it.'"
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Post by Arcus on Mar 3, 2017 5:53:45 GMT -6
The room was gradually becoming more chatty as more people entered, chipping away at the ominous cloud of silence that had hung overhead.
A larger portion of the people in the room seemed to know each other. Indeed the only ones in the room that didn't appeared to himself, the asari, judging by her reaction to the FENRIS mech, and Thrak, who certainly would have greeted anyone else he knew as loudly as he had Arcus.
It was all a long chain of he knows him, and therefore likely them as well. Remembered-Pants knew the salarian, Man-Less-a-Ship's declaration likely linked him to those two and probably Tall-Dark-And-Collector as well. Rocket-Man-Fish clearly knew almost everyone in the room at least by extension, and likely so did his turian companion.
So they all knew each other, but clearly weren't part of the same official group. There were no matching markings on their gear like there would be for say, Blue Suns or Eclipse. This was very unusual, and very interesting.
Arcus’ thoughts were cut off as the drell unceremoniously began the briefing. Arcus listened intently. . . .
This small team going into the heart of a major Cerberus installation, stealing a high-value ship and destroying one of even greater value, then causing chaos on the way out. Arcus had dealt with Cerberus once or twice before. They were ruthless, well manned, and well-funded. This installation would be a fortress.
This was a suicide mission. Arcus loved suicide missions the most.
He found himself grinning wider and wider as the briefing continued. . . .
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Post by Joe Fischer on Mar 3, 2017 6:15:10 GMT -6
Joe chuckled at the drell's response.
"Of course we have to wing it, why make it easy?" he said.
Looking at the assembled group, an idea started forming in his mind on how to proceed, but he held back to see how the others would respond.
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Post by dargene on Mar 3, 2017 18:03:06 GMT -6
"Heya, Mel - good seeing ya again...! Lively bunch, aren't they?"
"Inde.." he was about to say as the next person trickled in, whom spoke to them.
"Gentlemen,I believe some of you owe me a ship."
Meldom opened his mouth to speak yet again, but it seemed that every time he tried, more people trickled through, Joe, the two Asari, he looked everyone over once again, outnumbered race wise, but as was the Krogan and Turian, he smirked to himself Obviously, im the only Salarian good enough he joked to himself, keeping a tiny smile through everyone speaking, keeping politeness up.
Finally the Drell spoke, Meldom leaned in when he started to speak, absorbing every shred of information, nodding slightly the whole time, When finished, he turned to look at Joe, whom was the first to speak, nodding along in agreement.
"Preference, silently, loudly, don't want to announce our presence till we start blowing their assets up?, or would you prefer opening with a bang, several people here are good at making noise" he smirked, offering a nod to Eric "Policy on taking people hostage, possibility of innocents..forced labor ?" he took a breath to resume his questions, but then held back, realizing he has just asked quite a few, offering a bigger smirk to Joe "We seem to be good at Winging it, why change now ?" he said, reaching to scratch a part of his arm, a small thunk noise being made as his Armour prevented him from doing so, he resolved to shifting that part of the Armour best he could, trying to hide his sudden discomfort, turning to The drell once more, waiting for answers.
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Post by Corwin Havens on Mar 4, 2017 0:07:49 GMT -6
Corwin stepped off to the side as more entered, glancing around the room to give it a once over. He made note of every piece of furniture Every pen. Everything and anything that could be a projectile. It was a bad habit he developed. Ne knew he could use his omnitool for that, feeling the subtle weight of the holoprojector on his wrist...but that would be too easy. Such things make people in his profession lazy, makes them easy targets...
The room appeared to be secure enough. At least no immediate threats that the Krogan in the room couldn't crush in moments. So he ran his fingers through his short, spiked hair and leaned back against the wall while the Drell spoke.... and it was not what Corwin expected to hear from someone who represented the most celebrated Information Broker in the galaxy.... the information, to Corwin, amounted to a shrug, pointing in a general direction, and telling the group to "go get 'em..." He expected everyone to storm out of the room, insulted by it...except...
"Of course we have to wing it, why make it easy?"
"Preference, silently, loudly, don't want to announce our presence till we start blowing their assets up?, or would you prefer opening with a bang, several people here are good at making noise. Policy on taking people hostage, possibility of innocents..forced labor? We seem to be good at Winging it, why change now?"
Corwin hid his surprise, keeping his face a mask of calm. His demeanor suggesting this was the type of thing he was used to this sort of thing....
"Winging it isn't a strategy," he spoke up after the Salarian, deciding to be the voice of reason. "We'll need someone familiar with Cerberus strategy leading this mission, or at least being the chief adviser."
He nodded towards Maelstrom... remembering what he read on his one-man war against the spy organization. "With this many unknowns, the only way we walk away alive is to be led by the person who knows Cerberus better than any of us....."
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Post by Feron on Mar 4, 2017 0:48:40 GMT -6
"Preference, silently, loudly, don't want to announce our presence till we start blowing their assets up?, or would you prefer opening with a bang, several people here are good at making noise. Policy on taking people hostage, possibility of innocents..forced labor ?" he took a breath to resume his questions, but then held back, realizing he has just asked quite a few, offering a bigger smirk to Joe "We seem to be good at Winging it, why change now?" Meldom said, his mouth running with the typical speed of a salarian.
"Winging it isn't a strategy," the devil said. "We'll need someone familiar with Cerberus strategy leading this mission, or at least being the chief adviser."
"Let me be clear," Feron said. "The Shadow Broker is familiar with your success of the Valiant group the Collectors on multiple occasions, as well as the qualifications of the other individuals here. The intent of the Shadow Broker is to relay directives and any available information, which is unfortunately limited in this case. It will be left to you in many, if not most cases, to decide the most efficient way to accomplish your goals given the substantial resources with which you will be provided."
He paused for a moment, thinking over the salarian's question. "That said, the Shadow Broker does rather that the group avoid harming innocents when possible, though there may be times when that is not the case."
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Post by Maelstrom on Mar 4, 2017 1:04:58 GMT -6
Maelstrom listened to the newcomer suggesting he lead the group. First question: how the hell does he know me? Second question: how unstable is he if he's suggesting me as a leader?
Feron then responded to the group's questions. Maelstrom nodded at his explanation, finding it satisfactory. To him, though, there was one question, more important than any other, which no one had bothered asking yet.
"First off, I'm happy to advise regarding the mission. I am fairly familiar with Cerberus strategies, codes, and defenses," Maelstrom said, looking to the newcomer.
Looking back to the drell, he said, "To me, though, there's one question begging to be answered. You said we were being put together to face, 'an urgent threat... one which threatens everything we know.' Now as much as I'd love to believe all my Christmases have come at the same time and that you're talking about Cerberus, somehow I just can't imagine myself being that lucky. Who is it, exactly, we're expected to be fighting in the long-term?"
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Post by Feron on Mar 4, 2017 1:28:49 GMT -6
Feron was actually surprised that the man in black's question had not come up sooner, and it had been starting to worry him. Still, he was a little nervous to give the answer. Most people in the galaxy would have laughed the answer off, but he knew that at least some of these people had reason to believe him. In a measured tone, he said, "The Shadow Broker has come to the conclusion that Commander Shepard's claims involving the Reapers are at least for the post part accurate, and that our time is running short. A great deal of attention and and significant resources were devoted to confirming this, from examining archaeological evidence to examining pieces of current geth technology to compare to the dreadnought which attacked the Citadel to examining hundreds of classified military and intelligence reports dating all the way back to the Rachni War. The threat is real, and there is reason to believe it will be coming very soon; in fact, some of you have already faced their agents, the Collectors. Most of your tasks will be related to helping the Shadow Broker subvert their efforts."
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Post by Eric Lysander on Mar 4, 2017 16:28:32 GMT -6
"Inde-" Meldom was cut off mid-response as a new mercenary entered; another familiar face.
Corwin Havens.
"Gentlemen, I believe some of you owe me a ship," he said as he took his place in the room.
Eric leaned over to Maelstrom and commented in a hushed voice. “He should bill the Collectors for that.” As he sat upright again he snorted, catching the joke in his words. The humor faded as the friends and crewmates lost with the ship were remembered.
The solemn atmosphere of the gathering changed as more mercenaries arrived. Joe Fischer and Naetalia Bolianis were next. The turian female’s attention was on her male counterpart while Joe introduced himself in his usual boisterous manner. Solace and comfort grew in Eric, happy that more former teammates were back.
“Pops!” Joe called out to him. “You made it! And you remembered to wear pants this time!”
“Glad to see you remembered which end is the dangerous one, Junior,” was Eric’s response as he indicated Joe’s missile launcher.
A synthetic bark was heard along with the clattering of metallic paws. Eric’s face fell as Naetalia’s FENRIS ran up to him and placed its forepaws directly on the senior N7s lap. Eric held his hands up and away from the mech as it barked happily. Not even the repeated exposure to it and Maelstrom’s VI could help rid Eric of his phobia completely.
“Yeah-yeah! Nice ta see you, too,” Eric shooed. “Go… go n’ hump Joe’s leg, wouldya?”
The FENRIS ignored Eric's request and merely sat by his side. The mech series supposedly didn't have the hardware to support full AI but this one was doing a disturbingly good job of simulating affection. Joe was having a brief exchange with the krogan mercenary when another guest got Eric's attention.
“I love these things!” said the asari, looking up at the senior N7 after closely admiring the mechanical animal. “What’s his name?”
What’s her name? Thought Eric as he stared at the newcomer then shook his head and refocused, chastising himself internally for trying to indulge himself and momentarily forgetting all that he had been through the past three months.
Finally the drell seated at the desk called everyone to attention, introducing himself as Feron, a direct representative of the Shadow Broker. The same Shadow Broker that had first recruited Eric for Nathan Bridges’ team, that helped save Eric’s life and delivered him a recorded message from his best friend Commander Shepard. It appeared that now the Broker wished to utilize the Merc in Silver’s talents and the others for his own operations. An overall vague threat was referenced along with an old nemesis: Cerberus. The terrorist group had recently destroyed a vessel belonging to the Broker. And the galaxy’s foremost information dealer wanted to return the favor, securing one of their transports to help accomplish this.
Eric leaned over to Maelstrom again and whispered “Well, our truck runneth over, Mal! We waxed th’ cell that snatched yer folks and now we get ta stick one to their boss! This definitely calls for a special party favor. Say one in the 80-megaton range?”
Feron finished outlining the overall objectives and opened the floor to questions. Joe asked about personnel strength and the schematics of the shipyard they were to attack. The Broker’s representative replied that the new team would largely have to improvise which met with a trademark jibe by the junior N7.
Meldom offered his input next, alluding to Eric’s specialty in demolitions with a smirk and a nod in the firebug’s direction.
"Winging it isn't a strategy," said Corwin after Meldom "We'll need someone familiar with Cerberus strategy leading this mission, or at least being the chief adviser."
Hohboy.
Eric’s brow arched as Corwin brought attention to Maelstrom. There was no disputing the fact that of everyone present the man in Collector armor did have plenty of firsthand knowledge of Cerberus methods and operations. Maelstrom fielded the offer.
"First off, I'm happy to advise regarding the mission. I am fairly familiar with Cerberus strategies, codes, and defenses," Maelstrom said, looking to Corwin then to Feron. "To me, though, there's one question begging to be answered. You said we were being put together to face, 'an urgent threat... one which threatens everything we know.' Now as much as I'd love to believe all my Christmases have come at the same time and that you're talking about Cerberus, somehow I just can't imagine myself being that lucky. Who is it, exactly, we're expected to be fighting in the long-term?"
Feron seemed to hesitate and then revealed the dread answer. Eric’s gut sank.
Reapers… it could only BE the Reapers…
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Post by Urdnot Thrak on Mar 5, 2017 1:27:57 GMT -6
At the mention of the Reapers, Urdnot Thrak felt his smile grow as large as it could. He was all teeth, as he thought about finally getting to set himself against the foe he had so far only heard about from his old battlemaster and now-clan-chief. Few warriors- well, at least live ones- had ever been given the chance to test their metal against the enemy of all enemies. While he understood the threat and deadly seriousness of the threat, he also could not help but hope the bio-mechanical menace was as ferocious as the stories made them out to be.
Damn, he thought. Wrex warned me about that indoctri... indoctrin... Fuckin' mind control. Probably don't dare take trophies.
Still, even the thought of walking away with only his pay did not dampen his spirits at the thought of pitting himself against a worthy foe. And if it takes half as long as I expect, I'll have gotten that madman half the funds he needs to restore Tuchanka to the Golden Age.
Then he thought about what Wrex told him about Sovereign itself that one drunken night. Hmph. Might need a bigger hammer.
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Post by Arcus on Mar 5, 2017 3:53:58 GMT -6
“We seem to be good at winning, why change now?”
As the Salarian spoke, Arcus named him, “More-Questions-than-Answers” for the time being. He observed the room. Clearly the majority of this group had been working together for quite a while. Interesting that the Shadow Broker would pick such a small team for such a large operation, and what was this “great threat” that the Lizard-Lips spoke of?
“Winging it isn’t a strategy. We'll need someone familiar with Cerberus strategy leading this mission, or at least being the chief adviser." Man-Less-a-Ship nodded towards Tall-Dark-and-Collector, indicating who in the group was the subject matter expert.
He noticed the trinket staring at him again. He could swear its eyes shifted to follow him as he adjusted the position he was sitting in. The thing was becoming unnerving.
"The Shadow Broker is familiar with your success of the Valiant group against the Collectors on multiple occasions, as well as the qualifications of the other individuals here. . . ”
Arcus’ head turned again towards the drell. So the “Valiant Group,” now he had a name for them, had tangled with collectors before. That was. . . well, very impressive. It would explain the one human’s armor.
Collectors were one of the few species he had never even seen in person before, much less killed a member of. In fact, like much of the galaxy, he had thought them a myth until very recently. I wonder what their blood is like, Arcus thought, dwelling for a moment on the prospect of encountering one.
"The Shadow Broker has come to the conclusion that Commander Shepard's claims involving the Reapers are at least for the most part accurate.”
That caught Arcus’ attention. He studied the drell’s face as he continued on, searching his expression for the telltale signs of a person not being fully upfront. There were none, but he supposed the mouth of the Shadow Broker wouldn’t tip his hand so easily.
As far as Arcus was concerned, the geth ship, Sovereign, that attacked the citadel was just that: a geth ship. Impressively advanced, to be sure, but it was built by a sentient AI species. It would make sense that they would advance their technology at a higher rate than other races.
That the Shadow Broker, demi-god of hidden secrets and intellectual espionage in the galaxy, would believe the claims of a mad hero. . . . This would take some thought. If the Shadow Broker did indeed believe in the existence of these “Reapers,” then there was a very real possibility that the galaxy would be facing an imminent extinction. On the other hand, the Shadow Broker could have any number of reasons for leading the team to believe in Reapers in order to distract them from the true purpose of their employment.
Arcus gave a silent prayer that the truth was in the latter rather than the former.
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Post by Geneenh T'Loris on Mar 5, 2017 8:32:25 GMT -6
Geneenh sat back and listened as the other mercs discussed the offer by the drell and the means to carry it out.
The large and loud human—Fischer—asked about the number of personnel, clearly thinking about a direct approach--as if such an approach was even possible--and was quickly chastised by the quiet human sitting by himself.
He intrigued her. He wasn’t wearing armor nor was he visibly armed, yet he had apparently made it through one of the most dangerous places in the known galaxy alone. That meant he was either highly skilled at the art of infiltration or highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat.
Maybe both? she wondered.
If it was the latter, she wondered if he would even be a challenge for her. She had started learning martial arts shortly after being dismissed from school—a necessary skill to possess as a merc—and hadn’t stopped. Only other members of her race could be a match for her, and that was only if they were what was commonly referred to as vanguards.
But back to the matter at hand.
“Of course, fighting the Reapers would be helped if we acquire the frigate,” she said, trying to bring the discussion back to the mission at hand. “And that means keeping alive the people the Broker hired to operate it until they get away with it, yes? Unless someone here is skilled at piloting a frigate they’ve never set foot on before, that means stealth is our first—and best—option.”
Her eyes flicked between the salarian and the interesting human. If anyone in the group was going to have a good idea how to pull it off, it would be them.
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Post by Arcus on Mar 6, 2017 0:48:38 GMT -6
From the dark expressions in the room, Arcus could tell that much of the group was buying into the Reapers, truth or no.
The asari was right, however. It was time to deal with the prospect of raiding Cerberus, not trying to stop the whole known galaxy from burning. It was also time for Arcus to break his silence. Arcus stood, turning to face the rest of the mercenary group. “If I might interject for a moment; Blue-And-Sensible is correct. As much as I adore suicide missions, I have somewhat of a hobby of coming home alive from them, and that means planning, not flying by the seat of our panties.
“Anything other than a stealthy approach would be a pointless waste of our lives, but there will be a point in this operation where stealth inevitably fails us. We can’t simply walk out with their ship without them realizing, much less blow up a dreadnaught. Personally, I am of the opinion that where stealth fails, chaos reigns. We need to figure out the latest point in time we can remain undetected and then create a distraction. Raise as many alarms as we possibly can away from our imposter vessel and our targets so that they are too distracted, hopefully, to notice us until we are ready to make our exit. Then we will only have to worry about being pursued, which is much better than not even making it to a hanger alive in the first place.
“Now, how do human’s put it? The devil’s in the details? I’m not exactly very detail oriented so the when, where, and hows of, well, when, where, and how we create a distraction, I wouldn’t presume to get into. I think we should all differ to our Cerberus--” he questioningly nodded towards Tall-Dark-And-Collector, “expert? For that.”
Arcus sat back down. “Also, I can see that there is a lot of familiarity in the room, with the exception of the esteemed Urdnot Thrak,” he nodded towards the krogan, “myself, and Blue-And-Sensible -- sorry, I didn’t get your name. For what it is worth, my name is Arcus. To borrow from Mr. Fisher-man, I ‘kill people and break things,’ but with more emphasis on killing, less on breaking.” Arcus paused, considering. “Well, A lot more emphasis on killing people. . . Okay, I mainly just kill people, but I can break things. . . If I feel like it.”
He looked over at the staring trinket. He could swear it was mocking him. He picked it up, and snapped it in two, before gently setting the pieces back down on the desk, eyes facing away from him.
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Post by Urdnot Thrak on Mar 6, 2017 1:25:22 GMT -6
Thrak smiled at Arcus' little speech. Decently-put, he thought. Leaning in towards the turian, he said, "'Esteemed," huh? I'll be reminding you of that, stalker."
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Post by Maelstrom on Mar 6, 2017 1:31:11 GMT -6
Maelstrom sighed. He was no stranger to putting in his input, but on missions he was not commissioning, he was not used to being deferred to. This turian too, though, seemed to think he was the one to plan.
"I'll need to look over what details we do have before I can make any solid plans. That said, regarding the dreadnought... I'm no expert in space combat, but isn't getting in close and taking out dreadnoughts kind of what frigates are built for? Probably be a lot easier on one that's not even completed. I don't suppose this... Okinawa... has weapons yet? Oh, and this freighter. Any Cerberus battle-armor or uniforms?"
Looking at Urdnot Thrak, Naetilia, and Arcus, he said, "Pretty much the moment they see an alien, our cover's blown."
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Post by Feron on Mar 6, 2017 1:34:20 GMT -6
"Yes. There is Cerberus armor and some uniforms on-board. And regarding the weapons-status of the Okinawa, one of the reasons this is a prime target is that all critical systems are fully operational. Our understanding is that they are finishing putting up the interior plating, installing the sleeping pods, and optimizing some systems."
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Post by Joe Fischer on Mar 6, 2017 5:31:55 GMT -6
Joe nodded as Arcus and Maelstrom laid out their thoughts on the mission, Maelstrom's in particular. That problem had been running around in his head until he suddenly remembered a sci-fi vid from the 20th.
"Glad you brought that up, Mal, I've been wondering about that myself," he said. "Arcus and our asari friend here are right, we have to go stealthy on this one--as much as it pains me to admit it--and we have to keep it up at least until the frigate's crew get on board.
"What I was thinking was that we come in saying the personnel we got is crew for the frigate," he said. "Now someone over there will probably say that's a load of crap, that the crew is already there, but we stick with the story. Cerberus may be a group of alien-hating fanatics, but I've been around enough bureaucracy to know there's bound to be mistakes. They'll check our story, and that will take time--especially if we can get into their comm systems--and all the while the frigate's crew will be making their way to the target.
"As for the aliens, I had an idea about that," he continued. "Our asari friend here, she can pass as long as she doesn't take her helmet off, we might be able to modify some armor for Arcus and the doc, Meldom can use his cloak, but Thrak...
"Instead of trying to hide who he is, embrace it," he said. "Bind him up like he's prisoner, and as we're escorting him to the brig, he 'breaks loose' and makes his way on to the frigate. Cerberus can't deploy any big guns because they don't want to mess up their pretty ship, so they'll have to send teams in, and we can handle that.
"Right now the only problem is we don't have a dedicated engineer with us to wreak some havoc in their systems while all of this is going on," he said. "We have some people who can do in a pinch, but..."
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Post by Geneenh T'Loris on Mar 6, 2017 5:50:08 GMT -6
Geneenh sat and listened as Fischer laid out his plan, and she was a tad surprised he went along with the stealth plan so easily.
Perhaps there is a brain in his head...
"Actually, you do," she said as he expressed his final concern. "Hello everyone, I'm Geneenh T'Loris. I'm an engineer and I've probably been doing it longer than the sum of your lifespans put together...as long as you don't count Thrak."
She smiled briefly at the krogan before looking at the large human.
"Your plan has some merits, Fischer, especially about bureaucracy," she said. "We can utilize that as cover for our actions. I have some limited experience in dealing with Cerberus, mostly targets that I didn't know belonged to them at the time, but I learned what I can about their inner workings--at least from a technical aspect. I think I can get access to their systems and--what is that saying you humans have?--throw a monkey wrench into them, thus keeping them off balance while we accomplish the mission.
"I had a different idea about Thrak," she said, turning back to the krogan. "I think I can modify your armor to project a tactical cloak, so you can just exit the freighter and make your way to the frigate completely undetected. As long as you don't bump into anything, there shouldn't be a problem."
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Post by Urdnot Thrak on Mar 6, 2017 6:17:16 GMT -6
"I think I can modify your armor to project a tactical cloak, so you can just exit the freighter and make your way to the frigate completely undetected. As long as you don't bump into anything, there shouldn't be a problem."
Thrak grunted disapprovingly. It was one thing to sneak up behind cover to ambush a foe. It was another to go sneaking around like a damned salarian by using holographics. Then again, winning was what counted, he guessed. But damned if there's not a reason you don't see any krogan infiltrators.
"Fine, but nobody takes any damned pictures, or I'll knock their head off their shoulders and halfway across the galaxy," he said, in a bit of a sour mood.
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Post by Joe Fischer on Mar 6, 2017 6:23:01 GMT -6
"With your cloak on, how could we?" Joe teased, unable to pass up such an easy target.
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